Rava Dosai

Ingredients:
Ravai /semolina – 1/2 cup
Rice flour – 1/2 cup
All purpose flour/maida –1/4 cup
Water - 3 - 3 1/2 cups
Green Chillies - 1 finely chopped
Ginger – 1 inch piece
Whole black pepper – 1 tsp
Cumin seeds –1 tsp
Salt as required
For seasoning:
Mustard – 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida – a generous pinch
Curry leaves- a little

Method:
Soak semolina in a little buttermilk for 1 hour.
Then mix rice flour, maida and water with it. The batter should be thin and watery.
Add finely chopped ginger, finely chopped chillies, cumin seeds, whole black pepper and salt.
Heat a tsp of oil, add the ingredients for seasoning and pour it over the batter.
Heat a non stick tawa/iron griddle, take a little batter in a ladle and start filling it from the outer corners of the tawa to the inside in a net like pattern.
Drizzle a tsp of oil around the dosa.
Cover it with a lid, when it becomes golden brown, flip it over to the other side and let it get cooked.
Serve hot with any chutney or sambar of your choice.

Upma Kozhakattai with Thuvaiyal

Ingredients:
1.5 cups Idli Rava
2-3 small dried red chillies
2 T grated fresh / frozen coconut
1 tsp udad dal
1 tsp mustard seeds
pinch of asafoetida
a small piece of jaggery
Water to cook the rava is used in proportion of 1:3, for one cup idli rava, use 3 cups water
1 tsp oil
1 1/2 tsp of salt/ salt to taste

Method:
1.Heat 1 tsp oil in preferably a large non-stick wok. Splutter the mustard seeds. Add the udad dal and fry till golden brown, and then saute the dried red chillies and asafoetida for a few seconds.

2.To this, add 4 1/2 cups of water. In the water, put in the coconut, jaggery and salt. Bring it to a rolling boil.

3. Keep the flame on sim, and add the idli rava little by little with oonstant stirring to avoid any lump formation. Stir the rava for 5-6 minutes like how you would make an upma. All the water must get absorbed and the resulting mass shouldn't stick to your fingers.

4. Remove the 'upma' onto a big dish / thali and cool off for 5-10 minutes. Once cooled, take a big handful of upma and shape it into ovals / spheres. You will get roughly 14-15 such kozhakattais from 1 1/2 cups of flour. Arrange this in a steamer and steam them for 10 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.

5. Serve hot with lentil-coconut-tamarind chutney and a nice cuppa 'extra strong' filter coffee. Don't forget to play some old Tamil songs in the background togive that finishing touch to the atmosphere.

You would find this recipe in any of the Udipi hotels, so the only way to experience this bliss of a breakfast is to make it yourself

For Thuvaiyal:
1.Heat some oil in a pan. Splutter some mustard seeds, add 2 T of bengal gram lentils (chana dal), 2 T of udad dad (split black gram lentils), 4 dried red chillies. Saute till the dals are golden brown. Add a pinch of asafoetida. Remove from flame and cool.
2.In a chutney grinder, place 1 cup grated coconut, 1 tsp softened tamarind, 1 tsp of jaggery, the sauted mix, salt to taste. Grind till the mixture is fine.

Bagara Baingan

Ingredients:
Brinjal - 12 small sized brinjals (purple variety)
Oil -1/4 cup
Onion -1 big
Ginger- garlic paste -1 tsp
Tamarind - Gooseberry sized ball

To be dry roasted and grounded:
Ground nuts - 1/3 cup
Sesame seeds (white )- 1/4 cup
Coconut -1/4 cup ( matured ones)

For seasoning:
Mustard -1 tsp
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
Fenugreek -1/4 tsp
Asafoetida/Hing -a generous pinch
Curry leaves - little
Spice powder
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Chilli Powder - 1 tsp
Coriander Powder - 1 tbsp
Cumin/Jeera powder - 2 tsp
Garam Masala powder - 1 tsp
Salt as required

Method:
Soak tamarind in warm water and extract 1 cup of juice. Throw the pulp. Keep it aside.
Dry roast groundnuts and after it is half roasted, add sesame seeds and dry roast both together. You can roast it separately also. Grind it with coconut to a paste adding water. Keep it aside.See picture below
Wash and slit the brinjals in a + as shown in the picture below leaving the stem intact.
Heat 1/4 cup oil and shallow fry the brinjals till it becomes soft .Keep it aside.
(Traditionally it is deep fried, but I did not want to do that)
In the same oil, add mustard seeds,cumin seeds/ jeera, fenugreek, hing and curry leaves. After mustard splutters, add finely chopped onions and saute till onions turn golden brown.
Then add ginger-garlic paste and saute for a few more minutes.
Add turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin/jeera powder, garam masala powder and salt required.
Saute for some more time and then add the grounded mixture.
Cook it well for a few minutes.
Then add the fried brinjals and tamarind water.
Simmer and cook till it leaves oil and everything gets blended well and the gravy becomes thick.
You can adjust the consistency of the gravy as per your preferences. If you want more gravy, you can add water and get your desired consistency

Arachu vitta Kulambu

Ingredients:
Tamarind - small lemon sized ball
Brinjal -2-3 medium size
Pearl onions/shallots - 1/2 cup
Tomato -2
Oil - 3 tbsp
Salt as needed



For grinding:
Urad dal - 2 tsp
Red chilli- 4
Coriander seeds - 1 tbsp
Coconut - 1 tbsp
Khus khus/kasa kasa -1 tsp
Onion - 1 roughly chopped



Spice powder:
Turmeric powder-1/4 tsp
Chilli Powder -1/2 tsp
Coriander powder- 1 1/2 tsp



For the seasoning:
Mustard - 1 tsp
Asafoetida/Hing - a pinch
Bengal gram -1/2 tsp
Fenugreek -1/4 tsp
Red chilli -1(break it into 2 pieces)
Curry leaves – little

Preparation:
Soak tamarind in 2 1/2 cups hot water. Extract its juice and discard the pulp.
Cut brinjal lengthwise into 4 pieces.
Fry all the ingredients mentioned under For grinding separately in a little oil and grind everything together to a smooth paste. Keep it aside. (onion also should be sauteed separately)

Method:
Heat oil, add mustard seeds, when mustard splutters, add the rest of the ingredients mentioned under seasoning.
Add baby onions, brinjal and saute for a few minutes till onion turn transparent.
Add finely chopped tomatoes and fry for some more time.
Add turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder and needed salt.
Add tamarind water and the grounded paste and cook till the gravy thickens

Arachu vitta Kulambu

Ingredients:
Tamarind - small lemon sized ball
Brinjal -2-3 medium size
Pearl onions/shallots - 1/2 cup
Tomato -2
Oil - 3 tbsp
Salt as needed

For grinding:
Urad dal - 2 tsp
Red chilli- 4
Coriander seeds - 1 tbsp
Coconut - 1 tbsp
Khus khus/kasa kasa -1 tsp
Onion - 1 roughly chopped

Spice powder:
Turmeric powder-1/4 tsp
Chilli Powder -1/2 tsp
Coriander powder- 1 1/2 tsp

For the seasoning:
Mustard - 1 tsp
Asafoetida/Hing - a pinch
Bengal gram -1/2 tsp
Fenugreek -1/4 tsp
Red chilli -1(break it into 2 pieces)
Curry leaves – little

Preparation:
Soak tamarind in 2 1/2 cups hot water. Extract its juice and discard the pulp.
Cut brinjal lengthwise into 4 pieces.
Fry all the ingredients mentioned under For grinding separately in a little oil and grind everything together to a smooth paste. Keep it aside. (onion also should be sauteed separately)

Method:
Heat oil, add mustard seeds, when mustard splutters, add the rest of the ingredients mentioned under seasoning.
Add baby onions, brinjal and saute for a few minutes till onion turn transparent.
Add finely chopped tomatoes and fry for some more time.
Add turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder and needed salt.
Add tamarind water and the grounded paste and cook till the gravy thickens.