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Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Soy Beans Dosai and Idlee

soy bean dosai idlee

I grew up on a steady diet of Idlee and Dosai. Along with the fallback "tiffin" of Upma,  the meals were mostly Sambar, Rasam, Rice, Yogurt and an array of vegetable sides. An amazing array.

Anyway, possibly as a result of the intimate connection with Idlee and Dosai during my childhood, my affinity for them has increased exponentially since the kids arrived.

Plus, I greatly appreciate what an easy yet healthy meal option it is for the kids: good protein, low fat, plus the goodness of wild fermentation; and for the cook: a batch of batter lasts several days if stored in the fridge; and as it ages it can become onion oothappam, or diluted with some roasted cream of wheat to make rava dosai, and if indulgent, hot fried appam can come about as well.

Not many South Indian kitchens are without an Appa Karal which is a traditional apparatus resembling the pancake puffs maker that was the rage a few years ago.

Dollops of gracefully aged idlee batter - with some chopped chilies, coconut, onions, maybe some soaked and softened chana dal - typically fried crisp on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside when made in the appa karal - a great tea time snack during monsoon season.

The traditional idlee and dosai get made often, as do brown rice dosai and idlee; but every once in a  while I change things up a bit in the spirit of experimentation and just for the fun of it.

That's how these protein-packed Soy Bean Dosai (and Idlee) came about. Between the soy beans, urad dal, moong dal and chana dal, there is plenty of protein.

And with the wild fermentation, we get the pleasantly sour flavor, with nutrients intact. As Sandor Ellix Katz describes in his book, "Fermentation not only preserves nutrients, it breaks them down into more easily digestible forms. Soybeans are a good example. This extraordinarily protein-rich food is largely indigestible without fermentation. Fermentation breaks down the soybeans’ complex protein into readily digestible amino acids,..."

I am not a nutritionist or a dietician, but, am always conscious of what we consume - at least what I feed my kids. And Idlee and Dosai have certainly earned a permanent place in their diet and what's more, they relish it.

Ingredients
½ cup split white urad dal (skin removed)
½ cup dry soy beans
¼ cup chana dal
1 cup whole green moong dal aka mung beans
1½ cup idlee rice (or brown rice)

Combine the ingredients, wash well, soak overnight or up to 12 hours.

Drain the water and grind to a fine batter, almost as thick as pancake batter.

The batter will not be smooth and silky as with flour batter - it will be a bit gritty and coarse-textured.

Leave the batter in a warm place covered with a cheese cloth or any breathable cloth overnight, for about 12-16 hours, to ferment naturally; even up to 18 - 24 hours. In a cold place like mine, I warm the oven to a low temperature, turn off the oven and leave the batter in there to ferment.

A pleasantly sour smelling batter that develops frothy bubbles when stirred indicates that it is ready for consumption. On cold days, I leave the batter out, but on warmer days I refrigerate it at this point for later use.

Chop up or mash any vegetables as desired and add to the batter before steaming the idlee or making the  Crêpe-like dosai. Serve it with a few chutneys and potato masaal or cabbage and potato alicha for a fusion Ethiopian.

I prefer to start with the basic thick fermented batter for idlee - but dilute it a bit for the dosai as needed to make thin crisp 'paper roast'. Serve it as breakfast, lunch, snack or dinner - it is a versatile meal.

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Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Jackfruit Seed, Rhubarb, Radish Greens Koottu



When the perennial rhubarb comes up every spring, I feel an urge to use it in as many dishes as I can. So, when I get past the usual rhubarb scones, rhubarb-strawberry cobbler, rhubarb chutney/relish, rhubarb sambar, I check the garden for what else can be paired with rhubarb for a wholesome dish.




The last of the radish greens were waiting in the garden. Fresh jackfruit seeds and fresh coconut were handy. And so this Jackfruit seed + rhubarb + radish greens koottu popped into existence.




Ingredients
¼ cup finely diced fresh coconut
1 Serrano or Jalapeño chili (or a milder variety if preferred)

½ yellow onion, diced finely
½ cup cooked jackfruit seeds
½ cup diced rhubarb
radish greens (about 2 cups chopped and loosely packed)
½ cup yellow split moong dal
3 to 4 cups water
½ tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste

For tempering: 1 Tbsp gingelly oil / sesame oil, ½ tsp mustard seeds


Preparation

  1. Combine the green chili and coconut and grind to a fine paste
  2. Heat the oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds and wait till they pop; add the onions, turmeric, and a pinch of salt, sauté for a few minutes
  3. Add the rhubarb, radish greens, jackfruit seeds, and moong dal, 3 cups water, cover and simmer on medium low heat till moong dal is cooked; (check as add more water as needed)
  4. Off heat stir in the coconut-chili paste and serve warm with hot basmati rice or roti  or naan

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Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Smoked Eggplant Relish: Baingan Bartha


With texture similar to Baba Ghanouj, smokiness close to Chutta Kathrikkai Pachadi, and flavor that is rich and deep, Baingan (eggpant) Bartha is a side dish that takes center stage every time I make it.

The recipe here is tweaked to suit my taste: the masala paste can be made in advance and stored in an airtight container in the fridge for a few days. Use it to make chicken curry or my favotire cauliflower korma.

Ingredients
2 long eggplant, roasted, finely chopped or mashed
¼ tsp Tamicon® tamarind paste
1 Tbsp sesame oil

Masala paste:
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 Tbsp grated ginger
½ tsp poppy seeds (khus-khus from Indian stores)
1-inch piece Indian cinnamon bark
2 -3 dry red chilies
1 tsp coriander powder
1/3 cup stewed tomatoes
½ medium yellow onions, chopped

optional: tempering with cumin and mustard seeds

Preparation
  1. Combine the ingredients for masala paste and blend to a fine smooth paste
  2. Heat the oil in a pan, add the masala paste, tamarind, mashed roasted eggplant, a pinch of salt, cover and allow to simmer over medium low heat
  3. Add a few tablespoon of water as needed to continue simmering till flavors meld, about 20 minutes
  4. Serve warm with naan or roti or basmati rice

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Monday, May 06, 2013

Jackfruit Seed Hummus



Recently, and rather unexpectedly, I found a huge 10+ pound Jackfruit on my kitchen counter.

Rather than speculate on whether it is still raw and green, in which case I can savor the green jackfruit delicacies, or ripe and ready, in which case I can relish the sweet flesh and make jam, I decided to cut it open. More precisely, have it cut open by the handy sous-chef, the other adult in the household.

The jackfruit we were beholding seemed a giant next to a large avocado. Amid discussions of how many avocados will it take to make a jackfruit that size vs. how many avocados will it take to weigh the same as that jackfruit, I thought a picture of their relative sizes was in order.



Right from the first bit of it I had probably when I was 5-ish, I've loved jackfruit - everything about it: the heady aroma, the way it hangs in the tree, the size it can get up to, the hard thorny-looking exterior, the precious yellow flesh covering the seed, and not the least of all, the meaty chestnut-like seeds! Yes, the jackfruit seeds are amazingly tasty when cooked especially in savory dishes, like my mom's specialty Chakka Kottai Molagoottal.

Having sung the virtues of Jackfruit a few years ago, I'll try to refrain from waxing eloquent on it again.

Ignoring the pleas of Please don't hurt the porcupine egg from the youngest, the jackfruit was cut into chunks. The earnest task of extracting the best edible parts had just begun.


With meticulous work, the juicy ripe yellow fruit sections/bulbs/pods were cut out discarding the fibrous innards. And then, the jackfruit seeds inside this flesh was pried out, again with practised ease (on my part) and much joy.

I remember spreading newspapers on the floor and, as a family, doing the exact same extraction procedure when I was young. Each jackfruit season. When, of course, there were fruit vendors who had already done the hard work and were lined up at the market to sell just the clean yellow flesh for a nominal price. I think my mom relished in making us work for it. And I thank her for it - now.



After making a small batch of Chakka Varatti, and some Elai Adai, it was time to focus on the seeds.

The seeds were pressure cooked till they were just done, not mushy. The harder greyish outer skin were  removed from the seeds as needed. One batch got dutifully frozen. Another batch created a new combination for Koottu that sort of came together that day as I was gathering a few things from the garden.

The last batch got made into hummus. Well, chutney/dip, if hummus purists feel strongly about it. But, hummus it shall remain for me. One of the best hummus born in my kitchen.

Jackfruit Seed Hummus

1 Tbsp Tahini
12 cooked jackfruit seeds
½ Tbsp sambal oelek
1 tsp red wine vinegar
 2 Tbsp olive oil
2 to 3 Tbsp water
1 small garlic clove, squeezed through a garlic press

Combine all the ingredients in  a food processor and blend to a paste.







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