EVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #256 DOSA DEN RECIPE : RAGI DOSA/ FINGER MILLET DOSA What is Ragi Dosa? First of all, let me explain what a dosa is. Dosa is a flatbread or pancake more like a crepe that is the staple breakfast in the South Indian Cuisine. Ragi Dosa is dosa made using ragi or finger millet. The fermented batter is spread on a flat pan or tawa into a thin circular crepe or pancake like dosa. Having said that, you will find that dosa is available in any nook and cranny part of India. While most South Indians consider dosa as a breakfast or snack option, for Gujjus like me its a main meal. Rice and lentil fermented batter is used to make dosa.…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #255 DAHI DELIGHTS DISH: PEACH CARDAMOM LASSI This Week’s Theme on FoodieMonday/Bloghop Group: This week’s theme Dahi Delights has been suggested by Poonam who blogs at Annapurna. Poonam’s suggestion was to try and use dahi as a main ingredient, for any dish be it a drink, starter, main or dessert. Before I go into explaining what is dahi, I have to mention that Poonam’s crisp, clear and colourful photos of all her dishes is a treat for the eyes. Her blog is a a wonderful balance of vegetarian dishes from India and International. What is Dahi? Dahi is the Hindi/Gujarati word for yogurt. The word yogurt is also referred to curd in India. If you ask a shopkeeper for yogurt, he probably…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: PANCAKES What are Pancakes? Pancakes are flat, often thin or slightly thick cakes made in a frying pan or griddle using a a batter. Can be either sweet or savory. Traditionally, the batter is made with flour, egg, butter and milk. However, these days there are so many variations of pancakes. Though the description has the word cake, in reality pancakes are one of the oldest forms of bread known to mankind. Each country has its own kind of pancake. For some the batter may be more or less the same with a few changes or in some countries the ingredients may be totally different from the more famous American pancakes we know. Take for example Indonesian pancakes which are…
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Continue ReadingDid you know that today is Pancake Day? Also known as Shrove Tuesday, preceding Ash Wednesday. Its usually celebrated by Christians with pancakes. Pancakes are flat cakes made from a batter and are usually cooked on the griddle or frying pan. Here’s my collection of Pancakes, pick your choice. Lahooh /Lahoh – Somali pancake Baghrir – Moroccan Pancakes Hoppers – Sri Lankan Pancakes Dangella – Gujarati Pancakes Apple Aebleskiver Farali Uttapams Chocolate Crepes with Strawberries Vibibi – Swahili Pancake Kabalagala – Ugandan pancakes Koiloreo / Kuilodde/ Koilori – Goan Pancakes Dutch Baby Pancakes Savory Millet Pancakes Buckwheat Savory Pancakes Chickpea Flour Savory Pancakes Oladushki – Russian Pancakes Savory Oat Pancakes Pudla /Chila / Puda – Indian pancakes
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #234 SUPER NUTS AND SEEDS FoodieMonday/Bloghop Group FoodieMonday is a group of 12 enthusiastic food blogger who prepare a dish for every Monday based on a chosen theme. Through this group, not only have I learnt a lot more about different regional cuisines from the members but we tend to hold productive discussions about ingredients, cooking methods, recipes and in this manner share cooking related knowledge with each other. Theme Suggestion Using seeds or nuts or both is this week’s theme. You may think, that’s a pretty easy theme. However, it was not as easy as one may presume. Did you know that almonds, pistachios, cashew nuts, pine nuts, walnuts are not true nuts but seeds? Pecans, chestnuts are true nuts. Swaty suggested…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #233 NUTRI BREKKIE FoodieMonday/Bloghop Group This week starts off with some healthy breakfast options by FoodieMonday/Bloghop group. Sujata who blogs at Batter Up With Sujata, suggested we make breakfast that is healthy, not sweetened with any sort of sugar if possible. Sujata’s Sattu Appe which is made from roasted chickpeas along with oats, semolina and spices is a good healthy way to begin the morning. You could also serve her veggie filled Cornmeal Oats Soya Idlis for breakfast. FoodieMonday is a group of 12 enthusiastic food blogger who prepare a dish for every Monday based on a chosen theme. Through this group, not only have I learnt a lot more about different regional cuisines from the members but we tend to hold productive discussions…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #232 GO FOR GOBI What is Gobi? Today’s recipe is Keto Cauliflower Paneer Poha. However, before we get to the recipe, lets find out what gobi is. No I’m not talking about the Gobi Desert. Gobhi, phoolkobi is cauliflower. Cauliflower is a cruciferous(brassicaceae) vegetable that looks like a white version of its cousin, broccoli. Belonging to the genus brassica oleracea, its white head sometimes called the curd is the edible part. Brussel Sprouts, Broccoli, cabbage, collard green, kale, bok choy belong to the same genus and are sometimes called cole crops. Some interesting facts about Cauliflower: Did you know that yellow/orange, green and purple cauliflowers exist? Yes they do. Its during my first trip to the famous Jean Talon market in Montreal…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #225 CHRISTMAS TREATS FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME With Christmas approaching, I was hoping that my friends from this group would choose Christmas Gifts from your kitchen as opposed to the second option which was Curry Leaves. Don’t get me wrong, curry leaves too is a good theme but perhaps for a later time. For now wanted to jump onto the Christmas preparation bandwagon. Nowadays, Christmas is a festival celebrated by almost everyone even if they are not Christians. My family in UK tend to celebrate Christmas with the same fervor as Diwali or perhaps even more. You just cannot help but get into the joyous celebration mood because of the decorations, carol singing, festival deals in the shops etc. CHRISTMAS GIFTS FROM MY KITCHEN…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #209 THINDI YENU What an interesting theme name you may be thinking. I too was completed intrigued by these two simple words. In Kannada yenu means what and thindi is snacks or tiffin. So its simply translates as What is for Snacks/Tiffin? Yeah! I now know a few more Kannada words 🙂 besides Namaskara and Thumba Dhanyanvadagalu. On a serious note, if hubby and I ever plan to stay in Bangalore for a longer period, learning Kannada would definitely be on my list. This interesting theme was suggested by Aruna. She wanted us to prepare any breakfast dish which is very much a part of Karnataka. As I was browsing through her blog Vasu’s Veg Kitchen, I came across a very interesting…
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Continue ReadingEVENT:FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME:#188 IDLY MEDLEY What is Idli? Idli or Idly is a popular South Indian savory steamed cake which is usually made from rice and black lentils(urad dal). The batter is allowed to ferment overnight without yeast or other raising agents. Next day its steamed in a idli stand or in small bowls. Its a popular breakfast dish and is served with usually with a coconut chutney and sambhar. Sambhar is a lentil stew or dal, with some vegetables and spices added to it. The idli is soaked in the sambhar, topped with chutney and enjoyed. There are a variety of instant Idlis which requires no fermenting and can be made within 30-40 minutes. The most common one is made using semolina but these days…
