Idli dosa Batter recipe with lentils and Rice

South Indian food is my family's all time favorite. Idli or Dosa can be eaten at any time of the day and is very light as a food. Here is the recipe to prepare batter that can be used for either idli or for dosa. For idli the batter can be used as it is and for dosa it can be diluted with little water.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Urad dal 
• 3 cups of Idli rice (3 times the quantity of urad dal) 
• half a tsp of fenugreek seeds or Methi seeds 
• 2-3 table spoons of thick Poha

Instructions

• Soak rice and Urad dal separately in water. Also add fenugreek seeds and Poha with Urad dal. Let them soak in water for around 4-6 hours. 
  

• Drain out water. 
  

• Grind rice in a mixer in batches with little water to form smooth paste. 
  

• Now grind urad dal with little water to form smooth paste and add to the grinded rice paste. 
  

• Add little salt and water if required. Now mix it well. For proper fermentation, beat the batter in one direction for around 2-3 minutes. 

• Now cover it and let it rest in warm place (e.g Oven) for around 8-10 hours or overnight. Let it ferment.
  

• Increase in batter quantity and the presence of air pockets will confirm the proper fermentation.
  

Basic Cheese Sandwich

This is a very basic 5 minute breakfast recipe and my son like it a lot.

Ingredients

• 2 Bread slices
• 1 Cheese slice
• Butter or oil

Procedure

• Put a pan on medium heat and let it warm.
  

• Apply butter on pan and toast 1 side of both the breads.
  

• Now make a sandwich of both the breads by putting cheese slice in between and toasted side inside.
  

• Apply little butter again on the pan and toast the outer sides of the breads as well in low flame. This will also melt the cheese inside.
  

Tomato Onion Chutney for Idli and Dosa

Whenever I prepare Idli at home, my son always wants to have it with Tomato onion chutney. He likes this combination so much that he won't even touch Samber. We like this chutney little spicy. So, here is the receipy.

Ingredients

• 2 tomatoes cut in big blocks (avoid taking soft tomatoes)
• 2 onion cut in big pieces
• 2 green chili (or as per your taste)
• 2-3 garlic cloves
• a block of garlic cut in big pieces
• 1 dried red chili (optional)
• 1-2 table spoon oil
  
• Spices (Red chili powder, Turmeric powder, Salt to taste, mustard seeds, kari leaves)
  

Procedure

• Heat 1 table spoon oil in a pan.
  

• Add ginger, garlic, green and red chili on oil
  

• Add Onion and let it cook for 1-2 minutes till onion looks little soft or translucent.
  

• Add tomatoes and let it cook for another 2-3 minutes
  

• We don't have to cook tomatoes too much. We just have to saute it. Personally I don't like tomatoes to be too soft and loose water here. 
  

• Let it cool now. Once cooled, grind this in grinder to form a paste.
  

• For garnishing: heat half a table spoon oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds. Add kari leaves when mustard seeds start to crackle. Add this on the paste.
  

Bedmi Puri

Puri is an integral part of our festival food. But we don't have to wait for any festival to have it. We can also have it in breakfast with any pickle and it is also very convenient to carry when going out for any trip. It is also mostly liked by the kids. Here I will tell you a variation of Puri with Dal (Indian pulse) filling, which will add some nutritional value to it. There are two ways of making it. One is by stuffing the paste inside the puri (when you roll it) and another is by mixing the paste directly in the dough while preparing it. I will tell here the second option i.e. adding the paste in dough which is also the simpler option. 

Ingredients

• 1 cup of Moong chilka daal or Udad daal
• Some ginger
• 1-2 green chili
• 3-4 cups of Wheat flour
• oil
• Spices (red chili powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, Hing, salt)
  

Procedure

• Soak Udad daal in water for around 1-2 hours (Moong chilka daal can also be used)

• Grid daal with little water, green chili and ginger to form a paste
  

• Now add this daal in wheat flour and add spices (red chili powder, coriander powder, hing, cumin powder and salt) and mix it well. Add water little by little to make it a dough. Also add some oil in dough to make it little hard but smooth puri like dough.

• Now divide the dough in small portions and make balls out of it. Take 1 ball at a time and roll it to form puri like shown in picture below
  

• Parallelly heat oil in a pan and deep fry the puri when oil is hot. Enjoy it with any pickle or Aloo Tomato sabji.
  

Bombay Aaloo

We tried the dish first time from a restaurant. Though it was little spicy but my son liked it. It is a dish that goes well with either rice or with Naan or chapati. This is neither too dry nor to gravy and can be a good choice for a side dish.

Ingredients

• 4-5 Boiled Potatoes cut in big pieces
• 3-4 tomatoes finely chopped
• 1 medium size onion finely chopped
• 1 green chili slit in half
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• Spices (Salt, Turmeric powder, Red Chili powder, Coriander powder, Kasturi Methi or coriander leaves, cumin seeds, Tez Patta or Bay leaves)
• 2-3 table spoon of Oil
  

Procedure

• Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds and tez patta to oil when hot. 

• Add chopped onion and garlic. Fry it till onion is little golden brown. 
  

• Add red chili powder and turmeric powder on pan and mix it well. 

• Now add chopped tomatoes and let it cook till it is soft for around 5-6 mins. Mix it well and mesh tomatoes while mixing. Add coriander powder. 

• Add small cup of water in the pan and let it cook for another 3-4 mins till it forms a paste. Keep it mixing in between to prevent it from getting burnt. 

• Now add potatoes to the paste and mix it well. Let it cook for another 2-3 mins. Keep on mixing gently to make sure potatoes have a proper coating of the gravy. Sprinkle Kasturi Methi powder or Coriander leaves on top.

• Enjoy the meal with Naan or Chapati.