Rava Dosa

Rava dosa is a popular south Indian tiffin which can be made instantly as there is no need for grinding or fermenting the batter.The consistency of the dosa batter is important to get crispy,lacy dosa.It pairs well with coconut chutney.

Ingredients:

Rice flour	1 cup
Rava	½ cup
Maida	¼ cup
Onion	1
Green chilli	1
Cumin seeds	½ tsp
Ginger finely chopped	1 tblsp
Coriander leaves finely chopped	As needed
Asafoetida	A pinch
Salt	As needed

Method:

• Chop onion to fine thin slices.Finely chop the green chilli too.
• Take a bowl and add Rice flour,Rava and Maida.Add salt and all the other ingredients.
• Add enough water and mix well.Batter should be thin like butter milk.
• Heat a tawa and when it is hot,Take a ladle of batter and start pouring the batter forming the outer circle first and filling the center.
• Add little oil over the dosa and keep the flame in medium low and cook till it turns golden.Now just flip to the other side and cook for few seconds and transfer to a plate.

Note:

• Always mix the batter well before making each dosa.
• The batter tends to thicken so add little water to get the right consistency.
• You can add pepper corns to the batter.
• Don't use the ladle to spread as we do for regular dosa.Just pour and it forms lacy pattern.

Avarakkai Poricha Kootu

A delicious and easy to make kootu using Avarakkai(Broad beans) and dhal.It  tastes good when mixed with rice and also as a side dish ..tastes great both ways.

Ingredients:

Avarakkai(Broad beans) chopped	1 cup
Toor dhal	¼ cup
Turmeric powder	a pinch
Salt	as needed
Curry leaves	as needed
Asafoetida	a pinch
Mustard seeds	1 tsp
Oil	1 tsp
To grind
Urad dhal	1 tsp
Red chilli	1 or 2
Cumin seeds	1/2 tsp
Coconut grated	4 tblsp

Method:

• Pressure cook Toor dhal.Mash it well and keep aside.
• Heat 1/2 tsp oil in a fry pan and add Urad dhal,red chilli and fry till dhal turns golden in colour and transfer to a plate.Once cooled grind this along with fresh grated coconut and cumin seeds to a fine paste.
• Cook avarakkai in enough water with a pinch of turmeric powder.
• Once the vegetable is cooked,add the ground paste and mashed toor dhal,salt.Add water to get the right consistency.Cook for few minutes till bubbles appear over the surface.
• Take a pan,add oil followed by Mustard seeds and curry leaves and add it to the Kootu.

Note:

• You can also add 4-5 pepper corns in the " To grind " ingredients.
• Pressure cook the vegetable to save time.
• keerai,Drum stick also suits well for this kootu.

Eggless Raspberry Coffee Cake

I enjoyed making this Raspberry Coffee cake which I tried from Sally's baking addiction.This is the first time I am baking a coffee cake and its a nice change to the regular plain cake.The buttery crunchy streusel and the fruity punch from the raspberries adds a nice flavour to the cake.The original recipe uses egg and I used hung curd instead.

Ingredients:

For the cake
All purpose flour	1 cup
Baking powder	1 tsp
Salt	¼ tsp
Sugar	¼ cup + 2 tblsp
Butter(soft)	2 tblsp
Hung curd(see note below)	4 tblsp
Milk	½ cup
Vanilla essence	½ tsp
Raspberries	¾ cup
For the streusel topping
Butter	1 ½ tblsp
Sugar	2 tblsp
All purpose flour	2 tblsp
Almond slivers/slices	¼ cup

Method:

• For the streusel take a small bowl and mash the cold butter gently.Add the flour and sugar and mix with a fork till you get a crumbly mixture.Add the almond slivers and set aside.
• Preheat oven to 170 º C. Prepare the cake pan by applying butter and dusting with flour.
• Take all the ingredients given for the cake in a large bowl and mix till everything is combined well.Don't over mix/beat.The mixture will be slightly thicker in consistency than the regular cake batter.
• Spread half of the mixture in the cake pan.Spread some streusel and layer with raspberries keeping some for the top layer.Now spread the remaining batter and layer with the remaining streusel topping.Top with the remaining raspberries.
• Bake the cake in preheated oven for about 40-45 minutes.To test whether the cake is done,insert a toothpick in the middle and if it comes out clean then its done.
• Take the pan out of the oven,cool for sometime.
• Yummy Coffee cake is ready to serve.

Note:

• I have used hung curd in this recipe.You can replace it with thick fresh yogurt too.(I haven't tried using yogurt for this cake).
• The batter consistency is quite thick spreadable consistency and not pouring consistency.
• I used fresh berries in this recipe and you can use frozen ones too.You can try with strawberries too.

Mint Rice / Pudina Rice

Mint rice is a simple and easy to make variety rice and it tastes different from the usual pulao varieties.I learnt this recipe from my MIL and its my hubby's favourite too.It serves as a great lunchbox recipe.

Ingredients:

Rice(I used sona masoori)	1 cup
Mint leaves	1 cup tightly packed
Onion	1
Garlic cloves	2
Ginger	A small piece
Green chilli (see note below)	1 -2
Coconut grated	4 tblsp
Cumin seeds	1 tsp
Peanuts	2-3 tblsp
Oil	1 tblsp

Method:

• Take out mint leaves from the stem and rinse well.
• Cook rice and spread the cooked rice on a wide plate.Drizzle little oil to prevent rice from becoming dry.
• Heat a kadai with little oil,add green chilli,garlic,a small piece of onion and fry for 2 mins.Add the mint leaves and just keep in flame till it wilts and slightly reduce in volume.No need to fry it for long time.Allow to cool.
• Grind the above sauted mint leaves along with ginger and fresh grated coconut using little water to a paste.
• Heat Oil in a kadai and add the peanuts and fry till its roasted well.Now add the cumin seeds followed by onion and fry till onion turns translucent.
• Add the ground mint paste,salt and fry well till the raw smell goes off . Add the cooked rice and gently mix so that the rice is mixed well with the mint paste.Cover the kadai with a lid and keep the flame to the lowest and cook for 2-3 mins.Mint rice is ready to serve.I served it with cucumber raita and fryums.

Note:

• Add green chilli according to your spice level.
• Peanuts add a nice crunch to this recipe.If you don't prefer peanuts,add cashewnuts instead and proceed.

Bajji

Bajji is a tasty deep fried snack made using Gram flour and Vegetables.It is a quick recipe and if you have all the ingredients ready you can make it instantly.It serves as a perfect evening snack along with Coffee/Tea.

Ingredients:

Gram flour(Besan)	1 cup
Rice flour	1/2 cup
Baking soda	a pinch
Asafoetida	¼ tsp
Red chilli powder	as needed
Salt	as needed
Ajwain seeds/Omam (Optional)	½ tsp
Oil	For deep frying

Method:

• Slice the vegetables.
• Take a bowl,add gram flour,rice flour,asafoetida,red chilli powder,salt,ajwain seeds and baking soda.Mix well and add water to get thick dropping consistency.
• Heat oil in a fry pan and when its hot,dip the sliced vegetables in the bajji mixture one by one and fry in oil till it turns golden brown.Drain on paper towels and serve as such or with Coconut chutney/ketchup.

Note:

• The vegetables used are purely of your choice.You can make it with only one vegetable also.I have used Plantain,Onion,brinjal,capsicum.
• If you are using Plantain/Brinjal keep the sliced ones in a bowl containing water to prevent them from turning dark.
• Adding Ajwain seeds is optional,you can skip it if you don't have.
• Use little kashmiri chilli powder to get nice colour.

Kara Kuzhambu

This Kara kuzhambu is one of my favourites and I learnt it from my Grandmother.It tastes great with hot steaming rice accompanied by Potato curry and Papad.

Ingredients:

Tamarind	Small lime size
Salt	As needed
Gingelly oil	1 tblsp
Small onions	½ cup
Mustard seeds	1 tsp
Curry  leaves	As needed
To Roast and grind
Channa dhal	2 tsp
Coriander seeds	3 tsp
Red chilli(see Note below)	4
Methi seeds(Vendayam)	½ tsp
Asafoetida	A generous pinch
Oil(for roasting the spices)	½ tsp

Method:

• Take a fry pan,add oil and roast the items given under 'To roast and grind' table.Cool and grind to a fine powder.
• Take a kadai,add little gingelly oil and fry the small onions till it turns golden brown.
• Extract two cups of tamarind juice from the tamarind extract.Take this tamarind juice,salt,fried small onions and cook for few minutes till the raw smell of the tamarind goes off completely.
• Now mix the ground spice powder with little water to make a paste and add to the kuzhambu.Mix well and cook in low flame for about 5 mins.
• When the kuzhambu thickens in consistency,switch off the flame.
• Take some oil in a pan,add mustard seeds followed by curry leaves and once the mustard seeds splutter add it to the kuzhambu.Kara kuzhambu is ready to serve.

Note:

• Increase or decrease the red chilli to suit your spice level.
• You can also add some cooked baby potatoes roasted in oil for some time and add to the kuzhambu along with small onions.