Rava Idli

Ingredients:

• Rava - 2 cups
• Coconut - 1.5 cups
• Cashewnut (broken into small pieces) - 1.5 tbsp
• Curd - 4 cups
• Mustard - 1/4 tsp
• Channa Dhal - 1.25 tsp
• Urad Dhal - 1.25 tsp
• Coriander Leaves (finely chopped) - 1/2 cup
• Curry Leaves (finely chopped) - 1 tbsp
• Hing - 1 pinch
• Turmeric Powder - 1 pinch
• Ginger (grated) - 1/2 tsp 
• Ghee or oil - 2 tbsp
• Salt - to taste

Method:

1. Put ghee in kadai, and after it is heated, splutter mustard seeds. 
2. Add channa dhal, cashews and urad dhal and saute till it becomes golden brown.
3. Now add turmeric, hing and curry leaves.
4. Add rava and roast along with the other ingredients in the pan on medium flame.
5. Transfer the contents to a larger vessel and add coconut, curd, coriander leaves and salt.
6. Place aside for an hour.
7. Test the consistency of the batter. If it is too thick, you can add some water. Do not make the batter too thin either.
8. Grease the idli plate with ghee. Add the batter into the idli cups and steam for about 10 to 15 minutes.
9. Serve hot with ghee and chutney/chutney powder.
10. Optional: You can add grated carrot on the top of the idlis before serving.

Aloo Bonda - Stuffed Potato Snack

Ingredients:

• Potatoes - 4 big
• Gram flour (besan) - 3 cups
• Rice flour - 1 cup
• Peas - 3/4 cup
• Coriander Leaves (chopped) - 1/2 cup
• Ginger (grated) - 1/2 tsp
• Oil - 4 tbsp
• Chilli powder - 3/4 tsp 
• Garam Masala - 1 tsp
• Asafoetida - A pinch
• Salt - To taste

Method:

1. Cut potatoes into half and pressure cook with salt. 
2. Cook peas separately with salt.
3. Peel the skin of the potatoes and mash well. Transfer mashed potatoes into a mixing bowl.
4. Add peas, coriander leaves, ginger and garam masala to the potatoes, and mix well. Place it aside.
5. Take another bowl and add besan, rice flour, chilli powder, asafoetida, oil and salt. Mix well.
6. Now add water to this mixture and mix well till it forms a flowy and sticky consistency.
7. Make lemon-sized balls of the potato-peas mixture.
8. Add oil into a deep frying pan and once heated, dip the potato-peas balls into the flour and deep fry.
9. Serve hot with tomato ketchup or chutney.

Sweet Pumpkin Goddu Kozhambu

Ingredients:

• Sweet pumpkin - 1/2 kg
• Fenugreek (methi seeds) - 1/2 tsp
• Jaggery - 2 tbsp
• Tamarind - lemon sized
• Rasam powder - 1/2 to 1 tsp
• Curry leaves - 2 stalks
• Mustard - 1/4 tsp
• Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
• Hing - less than 1/4 tsp
• Red chili - 1 to 2 depending on taste
• Urad Dhal - 1/2 tsp
• Channa Dhal - 1/2 tsp
• Oil - 1 tbsp
• Salt - to taste
• Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp chopped

Method:

1. Cut sweet pumpkin with skin into big pieces.
2. Cook in a pan with appropriate amount of water and salt till it becomes soft.
3. Dry roast fenugreek seeds and grind into fine powder. Keep it aside.
4. Add oil to a heated frying pan and splutter mustard seeds.
5. Add channa dhal, urad dhal, red chilli, turmeric, hing and curry leaves in the same order to the pan.
6. Add the cooked sweet pumpkin to the pan, and boil for few minutes along with rasam powder.
7. Now add tamarind, jaggery and the ground fenugreek powder to the mixture and continue to boil for another 7 to 10 minutes.
8. Garnish with coriander leaves before serving.

Godi Maavu Unde (Wheat flour sweet laddus)

Ingredients:

• Wheat flour - 2 cups
• Coconut - 1.5 cups
• Jaggery - 2 cups
• Elaichi - 8 to 10 
• Ghee - 3 to 4 tbsp

Method:

1. Roast wheat flour in a kadai in a low flame till it give a nice aroma. Keep it aside.
2. Put two cups of jaggery and one cup of water in a kadai and place on the stove on medium flame.
3. When it melts fully, sieve the liquid to remove any sediments that might be in the jaggery.
4. Continue to boil the mixture, and when it becomes slightly thick, add coconut and elaichi powder. Let it boil for few minutes.
5. Add roasted flour and mix it well.
6. Add ghee and mix once again.
7. Remove from the stove and make medium-sized round balls.

Bisibele Bhaat - A wholesome rice-dhal-vegetable recipe from Karnataka

Ingredients:

• Vegetables - such as carrot, beans, potato, chow-chow, peas, avare-kaayi
• Tomato - 1 to 2
• Toor dhal - 1 cup
• Rice - 1 cup
• Coconut - 3/4 cup
• Tamarind - 1.5 tsp
• Curry leaves - 2 to 3 stalks
• Ghee - 5 to 6 tsp 
• Sambhar Powder - 2.5 tbsp
• Rasam Powder - 1 to 1.5 tsp 
• Salt - to taste

To garnish:

• Mustard - 1 tsp
• Asafoetida - A pinch
• Red chilli - 1
• Ghee or oil - 1 tsp

Method:

1. Cook rice and dhal in separate containers in a cooker (for 4-5 whistles if you are using a pressure cooker). 
• Cut tomatoes into halves and add to dhal to cook, along with turmeric and a few drops of oil or ghee.
• Optional: You can also cook peanuts along with the dhal.
2. Cook vegetables separately with salt.
3. Add dhal and vegetables into a big vessel (with a thick base to avoid charring) with appropriate amount of water, and place on stove.
4. Add rasam powder and let it boil for 5 minutes.
5. Grind sambhar powder with coconut and add to the boiling mixture, along with tamarind, curry leaves and ghee.
6. When it starts to boil, add cooked rice to the mixture.
7. Allow the mixture to book for about 15 to 20 minutes. Keep stirring during the process.
8. Garnish with mustard, red chilli and asafoetida in ghee or oil.
9. Serve hot with a dash of ghee and chips by the side.

Sambhar Powder

Ingredients:

Roast and Dry Grind

• Coriander Seeds - 1/2 cup
• Channa Dhal - 1/4 cup
• Urad Dhal - 1/4 cup
• Red chilli - 3
• Jeera - 1/2 tsp
• Pepper - 1/4 tsp
• Fenugreek - less than 1/2 tsp
• Hing - A pinch (less than 1/4 tsp)
• Cinnamon - 1 inch

Method:

1. Dry roast each ingredient separately and place aside.
2. Grind all roasted ingredients into a powder.
3. You can add more chillies if you like the sambhar to be spicy.

Pongal - Rice-Moong Breakfast

Ingredients:

• Rice - 1 cup
• Moong Dhal - 1/4 cup
• Black Peppercorn - 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp (depending on how spicy you want it to be)
• Jeera - 1.5 tsp
• Salt - 1/2 tbsp
• Hing - less than 1/4 tsp
• Turmeric porder - 1/4 tsp
• Ghee - 3 tbsp for cooking + 1 tbsp for garnishing
• Coconut or Copra (Dry coconut) - 3
• Cashew pieces - 1 to 2 tbsp

Method:

1. Dry roast jeera and pepper separately till they splutter and powder the mixture.
2. Dry roast rice and moong dhal separately for few minutes and place them aside.
3. Wash rice and moong dhal and put in a pressure cooker.
4. Add 6 cups of water, turmeric powder, salt, ghee, hing and close the lid. Let it cook for few whistles.
5. After it cools, remove the lid and place on low flame.
6. Add coconut and jeera-pepper powder and stir the pongal.
7. For garnishing: Add some ghee in a small frying pan and add cashews. Roast till golden brown and garnish (Optional: Add curry leaves also along with cashews during garnishing).
8. Serve hot with either jaggery-coconut mixture or chutney.