Paneer Mushroom Bread Masala / Paneer Mushroom Stumbler

If you like paneer and mushrooms and are looking for an easy, one pan dish for breakfast, lunch, dinner or even a tea-time snack, then dish is for you. You could say this dish is a spin-off of my earlier post on Stumber which, btw, tastes great if you eat eggs. I replaced the eggs in the recipe with paneer and mushroom one day, because I wanted to, and loved the result. Go ahead and make this. The bite of mushrooms, the creaminess of the paneer and the softness of the bread will make you want to make this again and again! Oh and just a small tip. if you have no problem with using an extra couple of spoons of ghee, go ahead and drizzle it. Ghee lends a lovely flavour to this dish.

Ingredients:

4 large onions

2 tsp chilli powder

1 or 2 green chillies

1 1/2 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp haldi (turmeric powder)

2 medium tomatoes

200 g mushroom

200 g paneer

4 or 5 slices of bread

One handful coriander leaves

Ghee or oil

Salt

Method:

In a large pan, heat 2 tbsp ghee. Add chopped onions and sauté till they become brownish. Now add chillipowder and roast for a couple of minutes. To this add finely chopped green chillies and chopped tomatoes and roast till the tomatoes are completely cooked. Add garam masala powder and haldi powder and roast for a minute. Now add chopped mushrooms and 1 tsp salt and cook for a few minutes. To this add paneer chopped to 1" cubes and mix gently. Cook for a couple of minutes. I added another 3/4 tsp salt. Now add bread chopped to 1" cubes and mix. Cook covered on low flame for a couple of minutes and mix well. Adjust salt and spices according to your taste. Sprinkle chopped coriander leaves and mix well.

Happy Cooking!!

Undi

A lot of exciting things transpired in the past few weeks and my blog graciously took a backseat. Back to the grind now with this hot steaming konkani breakfast dish. Undi is made of rice or idli rava (not to be confused with sooji. The rava is made of rice and not wheat) and fresh grated coconut. Some people prepare this dish by grinding soaked rice with coconut milk.

Typically, at Amma's place, undis are accompanied by ravo or godda paank - a syrup make out of jaggery. My husband however prefers undis with chutney.

Ingredients:

1 cup idli rava / rice rava 

1/2 to 3/4 cup grated coconut

3/4 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp urad dal

1/4 tsp methi seeds

5 to 6 curry leaves

Oil / ghee

Salt to taste

Method :

Wash idli rava with water. Drain. 

Blend grated coconut coarsely. [I added a little water]. Pour over idli rava, add 2 cups water and mix thoroughly. Set aside for 5 to 10 minutes.

In a deep bottomed pan, heat oil. Add mustard seeds, urad dal and methi seeds. When they splutter, add curry leaves and roast for a few seconds. Pour idli rava-coconut mixture. Bring to a boil. Add  another 1/2 cup of water. Add salt [I added approx 1 tsp]. Keep stirring for 5 to 10 minutes on medium heat till all the water gets absorbed. Cover and leave aside for 10 minutes till the mixture cools. [When you touch the mixture with your fingers, it shouldn't stick. If it does, cook for another few minutes till  all the water is absorbed].

Shape into balls and a make a depression in the centre with a finger. Steam in a steamer or pressure cooker for 20 minutes. [Do not crowd the undis in the steamer. Allow some space between the undis. I dumped all the undis at once because I was running out of time. If they turn out too soft after steaming, allow to cool and they will harden].

For the ravo or godda paank just boil a huge piece of jaggery with 1/2 cup or so of water. Boil for about 10 minutes (stir in between) till water reduces and the solution becomes slightly thickish.

If you do not have a lot of time to make this dish in the morning, you can do most of the work the previous day. Just store the unsteamed balls in an airtight container and refrigerate it. All you have to do the next day is steam the undis. You can even make the jaggery syrup a few days in advance and store in the refrigerator.

   

Oats - Cooked Rice Dosa

I'm a big fan of instant breakfast. There are times when I'd not have planned what to make for breakfast the previous day - which means I wouldn't have soaked any lentils or rice or whatever else, and I'd be left wondering the next morning what to make for breakfast. My husband doesn't like cereal so in my quest to find instant breakfast dishes, I happened to make this one.

I had heard about using leftover cooked rice to make dosas, by grinding them with pre-soaked uncooked rice. I did not want to add more rice to rice so thought of adding some oats to it. I also added some rava and a couple of other ingredients. You could also add chopped onion if you have time to chop them (I haven't tried yet).

Ingredients :

1 cup cooked rice

1 cup oats [I used Quaker Oats - Quick 1 minute]

1/4 cup rava (sooji)

3/4 tsp jeera

3/4 tsp chilli powder

Salt

Water

Method:

Grind cooked rice and oats with 2 cups water for about a minute or till properly ground. Transfer to a large vessel. Add rava and mix well.

Add jeera, chilli powder. Add 3/4 to 1 cup water and mix well (to get a buttermilk like consistency). Add salt to taste [ I added a little more than 1 tsp] and mix well.

Roast uncovered on both sides.

Note : The dosa takes some time to roast. I roasted one side for 3 minutes, flipped the dosa and roasted for another 2 minutes.  Do not flip until the dosa is roasted well, otherwise it can break in several places. Make sure the griddle is hot before you pour the batter. Check my post on Rice Flour Dosa for tips.

Here are a couple more recipes with oats -
Instant Oats Dosa
Oats Idli

Idli Sambar

Idli Sambar is one of the most common breakfast dishes in most South Indian homes. At my Amma's place idli sambar is, by default, the breakfast on sundays. Somehow I have never taken a fancy to idli-sambar in restaurants - the strong smell of sambar totally puts me off. But this one, I like. I learnt this from my Pachi (aunt) when she visited us in Bangalore. She did all the cooking and I did all the hogging but thankfully I took some notes.

There are a few variations in making the idli batter. Some people add 1:2 (dal: rice) measure, some add cooked rice, some add beaten rice, fenugreek seeds. I have never tried these methods since I'm quite satisfied with this measure.

IDLI
Ingredients:
1 cup urad dal
1 1/2 cups idli rava
Salt

Method:
Wash and soak urad dal in about 3 cups water for three to four hours. Drain completely.
Grind with very little water [start with 1/2 cup water and add more as needed] into a thick but pour-able consistency. [ Make sure the dal is completely ground]. Transfer to a large vessel.
Wash idli rava. Squeeze out all the excess water and add the idli rava to the ground dal. Mix thoroughly.

Cover and place the vessel in a warm place and allow to ferment overnight.
[The vessel has to have enough place to accommodate the fermented batter or else the batter will spill out.]

Next morning, mix the idli batter, add salt [there are times when I have totally forgotten to add salt!] and mix again.

Boil some water in a pressure cooker or steamer. Grease the idli plates with oil or cooking spray. Pour idli batter into each mould till it is 3/4th full [the batter will expand when heated, so leave some room].

Place the idli stand in the cooker. Make sure that the holes and the moulds alternate so that steam can escape easily, otherwise the idlis will become soggy. [Also, I use a perforated steel plate under the idli stand (upside-down), so that it gets some height and the lowest one doesn't get soggy -  a useful tip from my mum-in-law].
If using a pressure cooker, do not add the weight. Cook for about 8 to 10 minutes. Switch the gas off and allow to cool for sometime. Remove the idlis from the stand with the back of a spoon or a flat butter knife.

SAMBAR
Ingredients:
3/4 cup dal (I used 1/2 cup toordal + 1/4 cup moong dal)
2 medium onions, finely chopped
1 gooseberry sized tamarind
3 to 4 tsp sambar powder
Salt
Oil / ghee
3/4 tsp mustard seeds
6 to 8 curry leaves

Method:
Pressure cook dal with about 2 1/2 cups water for 3 to 4 whistles. Churn with a whisk or large spoon.
Soak tamarind in 3 tbsp warm water, pressing it into the water.

In a large deep bottomed pan, heat oil + ghee. Saute onions till they turn transluscent.
Add sambar powder and roast for a couple of minutes. Squeeze out and discard tamarind and add the tamarind water to the onions. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes.

Now add dal and mix. Add 3 cups water and bring to a boil. [I like my sambar a little watery, so adjust water accordingly. Also if you refrigerate the sambar, it will thicken so add more water and boil before serving]. Add salt and cook.

To season, heat oil/ ghee. Add mustard seeds, when they splutter add curry leaves. Immediately add to the sambar.

Serve idlis with steaming hot sambar. My dad likes to put a dollop of curd on top. It does add a different taste.

Note - If you stay in a cold region where the batter does not ferment overnight, you can heat the oven to about 105ºF. Turn the oven off and after a couple of minutes, place the batter in the oven. The warmth in the oven will speed up the fermenting process. Thought it's spring here right now and the weather is warm, I applied this method to make sure the batter ferments.


Sending this to Bookmarked Recipes.

Stumbler / Scrambled Eggs with Bite-Sized Bread / Scrumbler

This dish is another childhood-favourite. I've been calling it 'stumbler' from the time I can remember. I've had it in a couple of fast-food joints in M'lore most often with a dear cousin, same age as me. During my summer vacations I would end up at her place and we would walk aimlessly, 'accidently' bumping into a particular store to have a plate each of spicy, hot stumbler.
My favourite stumbler, however is prepared by my Pachi who recently corrected me saying it's actually 'scrumbler' and gets it's name from the scrambled eggs in it.

I was expecting a friend and her family for tea today so prepared this dish following Pachi's recipe. It's an easy to make, delicious dish which your guests will enjoy eating.

[Video update on 1/08/2016

 ]

Ingredients:
3 or 4 medium onions
2 tsp chilli powder
2 medium tomatoes
2 green chillies
5 eggs
1 tsp garam masala
4 or 5 slices bread
Salt
Ghee
Oil
Coriander leaves
1 pinch black pepper powder (optional)

Method :
Chop bread slices into small bite-sized squares.
Chop onions, tomatoes and green chillies finely.

In a deep bottomed pan, heat 1 tbsp oil + 1 tbsp ghee. Sauté onions till they turn translucent. Add chilli powder, roast for a couple of minutes and add tomatoes. Sauté till tomatoes are completely cooked. Add minced green chillies and black pepper powder and mix.

Now add eggs one by one, beating each egg till it gets scrambled. [ Add one egg, whisk, add another, whisk ]. To this add garam masala. Now add 2 tsp of ghee and salt to taste and mix. Add the bread slices, mix well and cook for 5 to 6 minutes till the bread becomes soft and pulls in the masalas. [ I added 5 bread slices. If you don't like bread in every bite you can reduce it.  Adjust the spices accordingly].

Garnish with coriander leaves.

Relish it for breakfast, lunch, tea or dinner - it's a complete meal in itself.

Instant Oats Dosa

Here's another dosa that you can make a few minutes before breakfast, instead of worrying about soaking and grinding the previous night. I got this recipe from my aunt Jyothi Prabhu who adapted it from here.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup oats [I used Quaker quick 1-minute oats]
1/2 cup rava (sooji)
1/4 cup rice flour or wheat flour
1/2 cup yogurt (curd), whisked
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 green chillies, finely chopped
Salt

Dry grind oats in the mixer (about 10 seconds). In a large bowl mix oats powder with the rest of the ingredients. Add enough water and mix well to remove lumps [I use a manual whisk]. The batter must be of thin buttermilk consistency. Let stand for a few minutes.

Roast on both sides. (You can refer Rice Flour Dosa for tips).

Please note that they take a long time to roast, so do not flip until one side is completely cooked, otherwise it can break.

Oats dosa tastes great with Mint Chutney.

Easy Rice Flour Dosa

This is a simple and easy instant dosa recipe from aayisrecipes.com which I have tried several times.

Ingredients :
1 cup rice flour
2 tbsp rava (sooji)
1/2 tsp jeera
1 tsp chilli powder
1 medium onion, finely chopped
Salt
Oil
Water

Method :
In a large bowl, mix rice flour, rava, jeera, chilli powder and finely chopped onion. Add salt [I added approx 1 1/4 tsp].

Add enough water [I added approx 2 cups] and mix thoroughly to get a thin dosa batter.

Heat a flat non-stick pan. Sprinkle oil and spread it across with a spatula.

When the oil is sufficiently hot [you can check by adding just one drop of water - if it sizzles, oil is hot enough], pour a ladleful of batter onto the tawa and let it spread across. You can lift the tawa and move it around so that it spreads more.

Cover and cook for a few minutes. Uncover and carefully flip the dosa. Cook for another few minutes.

We like this crispy dosa best with loshne (garlic) chutney, but if you don't have time to make that, you can have it with tomato ketchup (mixed with some hot chilli sauce).

This goes to Anyone can cook and Kids Lunch Box Treats.

Whole Wheat Cherry Pancakes

There was a huge box of fresh cherries lying in my fridge and I was wondering what to do with them. My husband had bought the cherries at Costco just a few days before we were going on a vacation and I did not want them to get wasted. As I was scouting around in my fridge wondering how to use them, I saw the box of oats on top of the fridge and thought of putting the two together with a little bit of flax powder which was staring at me, as if to remind me of it's heallthy oils that I mentioned here. Next to the box of ground flax seeds was a bottle of buttermilk which I was planning to finish off before our trip. And the lonely egg in it's little shell was screaming to be used. Now what could I do with all these guys - how about a cherry pancake!

I wanted to use whole wheat flour for the pancakes. So I looked around for some recipes and found this on Jane Maynard's blog and added my healthy li'l agents to it.

Ingredients :

2 cups Whole wheat flour
1/2 cups Oats, powdered
2 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground flax seeds
3 tbsp butter
1 egg
2  to 2 and 1/2 cups buttermilk (depending on the consistency)
3/4 cup chopped cherries

Method :
Combine the dry ingredients. Separately, whisk egg and butter. Add the buttermilk and whisk lightly. Mix this with the dry ingredients. Don't beat too much as this can make the pancakes hard. Add more buttermilk (or water) if necessary, but don't make the batter too runny. Add the cherries and mix.

Heat a few drops of oil in a medium skillet. Pour about 1/4 cup of batter on the pan. Spread a little if necessary. When small bubbles start forming at the top of the pancake, it is time to flip.

Maple syrup is the best combination with pancakes. But the sweet, juicy cherries add their own flavour, so we did not use any syrup. If the pancakes look too dry, add a dash of butter.

Sending the pancakes to Umm's Veggie/ Fruit a Month - Cherry started by Priya and to Only Kid's Delight.

Oats Idli

Oats are high in fiber and are known to have several health benefits, including lowering LDL cholesterol. I've been trying to include oats into our meals in several ways. So when I saw this recipe, I thought of trying it out. And of course, this is another of those idlis which don't need soaking, grinding or overnight fermenting. Except, again, for the few seconds of grinding of the oats.
I halved the ingredients of the recipe and also added some of my own - ginger, urad dal and curry leaves which are a must have for me when I make any seasoning. 


Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup Oats (Quick 1 minute)

3/4 cup Semolina (rava)

1 pinch baking soda

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp chana dal

1 tsp urad dal

2 to 3 green chillies

5 to 6 curry leaves

1 tsp chopped ginger

A few strands of coriander leaves

Salt

Oil

Curd (about 2 cups).

Method:

In a pan, dry roast oats for a few minutes until slightly brownish. Cool and pulse in the blender to get a coarse powder.

In the same pan dry roast rava for about 5 minutes until light brown. Cool and mix with powdered oats in another vessel. Add baking soda, salt ( I added a little more than a teaspoon), mix well and keep aside.

Heat oil, mustard seeds, chana dal, urad dal, finely chopped green chillies, curry leaves, ginger. Add the seasoning and coriander leaves to the oats-rava mixture and mix well. To this add curd (yogurt). If the curd is thick, whisk it well with a fork or a whisk and then add it. Also, Usha suggests to add curd only to the mixture that you would use instanty. If you feel the mixture is extra, refrigerate it for later use. Add curd as and when required.

Steam in an idli stand for 7 to 8 minutes.

Serve with chutney.

The instant oats idli was an instant hit with my family, specially my son who loves idlis and did not really notice that this was a different type of idli than his favourite vermicilli idli.

Vermicelli Idli

This is one of my favourite breakfast items, and the best part - no soaking, grinding and overnight fermenting! Except the half hour soaking of the vermicelli in the curd. Recipe adapted from Shilpa's blog.

Ingredients :
1 tsp ghee
1 cup vermicelli
1/2 cup rava
3/4 cup curd
2 tbsp coconut
2 finely chopped green chillies
3 or 4 strands of corriander leaves
2 tsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp urad dal
1/2 tsp chana dal
4 to 5 curry leaves
1 pinch baking soda
Salt to taste


In a pan, heat ghee, fry vermicelli and rava for 5 mts.  Remove from pan and soak in curd (yogurt) for half an hour. Mix coconut, chillies and corriander leaves. Shilpa suggests adding more curd if the batter becomes too dry (which I invariably end up doing).

Separately, heat oil, add urad dal, chana dal, mustard seeds, curry leaves and baking soda. Add it to the vermicelli mixture, add salt and mix well.

Grease the idli stand, place the batter and steam.

Tastes good with green chutney. Shilpa suggests chutney powder.