Video : Undi (Steamed Rice Dumplings)| Using Idli Rava

'Undi' is a popular breakfast dish in the coastal region of Karnataka. Traditionally it is prepared by grinding rice and coconut. This version is quicker as it uses idli rava. It is a filling breakfast and very helpful for those pressed for time. I hope you enjoy making it. Please leave me a comment if you liked it or have any questions.

Video recipe is here. Please subscribe to my channel for regular updates.

Ingredients:
Coconut Oil - 2 Tbsp Mustard seeds - 2 tsp Urad dal - 3 tsp Methi (Fenugreek) seeds- 1/2 tsp Curry Leaves - 1 sprig Salt- 1 1/2 tsp Grated Coconut (fresh/frozen) - 1/4 cup (I used dessicated) Water - 2 2/3 cup Idli Rava - 1 1/2 cup

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Mini Blueberry Muffins

Blueberry Muffins are one of the most popular muffins in the US. I enjoy eating muffins. I bake it once in a while to pamper myself. My husband hates any kind of berry..be it strawberry, blueberry etc. So we never buy berries. But few months back I felt like baking blueberry muffins and hence got blueberries. I decided to give this recipe a try. The muffins turned out very delicious. It was very moist with a crunchy top and not too sweet. The oil added keeps the muffins moist. I also decided to add vanilla bean paste instead of the extract and it did add a lot of flavor. Overall one of the best muffins I ever baked. I shared most of the muffins with my friend. She was very happy the way they turned out.

I decided to make the mini muffins as they look very cute and a very good size too. Do try making these muffins as the berries are in season. Trust me, nothing like a fresh, warm homemade muffin. I hope you enjoy as much as I do!

Ingredients:

• All Purpose Flour - 1 1/2 cups
• Baking Powder - 2 tsp
• Salt - 1/2 tsp
• Sugar - 3/4 cup + extra for topping
• Oil* - 1/3 cup
• Large egg - 1
• Milk - 1/3 to 1/2 cup
• Vanilla Bean paste (or extract) - 1 1/2 tsp
• Fresh Blueberries - 1 cup (170g or 6oz)

*Use any flavorless oil of your choice like canola, vegetable etc.

Procedure:

Set out the milk and egg for half an hour so that it comes to room temperature.
Wash the blueberries and pat it dry using a kitchen towel.
Now take the 'dry ingredients' in a bowl - flour, salt and baking powder. Give it a mix and set it aside until required.

Then take a measuring cup (preferably 2 cup or 1 cup capacity). All the 'wet ingredients' goes into this cup. Firstly, add in the oil. Then break in the egg, followed by addition of the milk until it reaches the 1 cup mark (a little more than 1/3 cup of milk). Finally add in the vanilla extract (I added vanilla bean paste for that extra flavor).

Now take a large mixing bowl. Add sugar and the 'wet ingredients' mixture and whisk it until combined.

Now add in the 'dry ingredients' leaving 2-3 Tbsp of the flour mixture.
Add the blueberries in the 2-3 Tbsp of flour mixture and mix in until it gets coated with flour (this step helps in preventing the blueberries from sinking to the bottom of the muffin).

Now mix in the dry and wet ingredients until it comes together. 

Then add in the blueberries along with the little flour and fold in gently until you don't see any flour. Don't over mix the batter as it will result in tough muffins.

Now preheat the oven to 400F (200c). Then line the mini cupcake pan with the liners. 
Add the batter in each mould. Then top it off with little sugar on top. The sugar makes the top crunchy, once baked.

Then bake the muffin in a preheated oven until the tooth pick inserted in the centre of the muffin, comes out clean. My muffins took 12 minutes. 

Leave the muffins in the pan for 2-3 minutes and then transfer it to cool on a cooling rack.
Mini Blueberry Muffins are ready!

Serve it warm or at room temperature. Above measurement makes 24 mini muffins.

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Old Fashioned Raisin Bread

Old Fashioned Raisin Bread is one of my favorite bread. I love raisins and got introduced to raisin bread at Mancini's Bakery in Pittsburgh (They sell 'Paska', which is a sweet bread with raisins). We would buy once in a month and I would finish it off within a day or two all by myself. But then we moved out from Pittsburgh and I couldn't find anything like that in Atlanta. Then my husband encouraged me to bake my own bread. Once I started making it, we have stopped buying bread from the stores. Nothing like eating freshly baked bread. The whole process of making it is so therapeutic to me. 

My search for raisin bread without cinnamon started few months back. When googled for raisin bread, all I get is recipes for Cinnamon swirl bread. I am not a great fan of cinnamon. But finally I bumped into Nick Malgieri's Raisin bread. It was like finding an oasis in the middle of a desert. I tried making it and it turned out exactly the way I wanted it. I am really thankful for his recipe. I have slightly changed the original recipe and method. Do try it and I hope you all will enjoy it as much as I do :-)

Ingredients

• Room Temperature Water - 1/2 cup
• Whole Milk - 1/2 cup, scalded and cooled
• Active Dry Yeast - 1 1/2 tsp
• Unbleached Bread Flour - 2 1/2 cups
• Sugar - 1/6 cup
• Salt - 3/4 tsp
• Butter, softened - 2 Tbsp
• Golden Raisins - 1/2 cup
• Dark Raisins - 1/2 cup

Note: # Make sure your yeast has not expired.
#You can add 3/4 cup each of the raisins (the original recipe called for total 1 1/2 cups of raisins but I was happy with 1 cup of total raisins).
#If you can't find bread flour, substitute it with All purpose flour (maida).
#Don't skip the step of heating milk. It is because-
"Scalded and cooled milk is used in bread and other yeast doughs, as pasteurization does not kill all bacteria, and with the wild yeasts that may also be present, these can alter the texture and flavor. Recipes old enough to have been based on hand-milked, slowly cooled, unpasteurized, milk specify scalded milk with much more justification, and modern cookbooks tend to maintain the tradition. In addition, scalding milk improves the rise due to inhibition of bread rise by certain undenatured milk proteins". (From Wikipedia)
#I use a stand mixer for kneading my dough. It makes life lot easier. If you don't have one, then make sure you knead the dough for 10- 15 minutes. Kneading helps in the formation of gluten.

Procedure:

Heat the milk up to boiling point and then cool it completely.

Next in a big bowl, add in the water, yeast and room temperature milk. Mix and set it aside.

In another bowl add flour, sugar, salt. Mix well and add it to the bowl containing milk mixture.

Start mixing it in a stand mixer attached with a dough hook or use a wooden spoon. Once everything comes together, add in the softened butter and knead it for a good 7-8 minutes in a stand mixer or 10- 15 minutes using hands. The final dough should be soft, non sticky and elastic. Once done, take the dough on a clean counter.

Then spread it out a little bit using your hands. Then add in the raisins as shown below.

Now gently mix in the raisins so that it gets distributed evenly throughout and form a ball as shown below.

Now place this dough in a greased bowl. Cover it tightly and let it rest in a warm place for an hour or so, until it double in its size.

Once it doubles, take it out gently on the clean counter and punch out the gas gently.

Then roll it like a jelly roll to form a loaf shape.

Place this in a well greased 9x5 loaf pan. 

Close it with a plastic wrap and allow it to rise until the dough rises an inch above the pan (around 30 minutes).

Then bake it in an oven which is preheated to 350F (180c) until an internal temperature of the loaf reads 2ooF (or a light tap on the loaf sounds hollow). It takes around 40- 45 minutes. Once done remove from the oven.

After 2-3 minutes, loosen the edges and remove the loaf and let it cool completely on a wire rack before cutting.
Old Fashioned Raisin Bread is ready!

Serve it along with tea or coffee. Above measurement makes one loaf which can serve 3-4 people.

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Soppina Akki Rotti (Mixed Greens Rice Flatbread)

Soppina Akki Rotti is a gluten free flatbread which is very popular in Karnataka. 2-3 varieties of greens are mixed with rice flour and few other veggies. It is then cooked on a skillet to get a crispy flatbread. It is a very flavorful bread and tastes good on its own. I had written down this recipe from my MIL's sister years ago and finally gave it a try. It turned out very tasty. Do try making this version of 'Akki rotti' and I hope you all like it as much as we do :-)

Ingredients:

• Rice Flour - 1/2 cup
• Chopped Methi (fenugreek) leaves - Small handful
• Chopped Sabsige (dill) leaves - Small handful
• Chopped Cilantro (coriander leaves) - 1-2 Tbsp
• Chopped Onion - 1/4 cup
• Grated carrot - 2-3 Tbsp
• Grated coconut - 1-2 Tbsp
• Hurikadle (roasted gram) - 1 tsp
• Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Green chilli, chopped - 1 (I didn't add)
• Salt- To taste
• Oil - As required, for frying
• A piece of banana leaf or parchment paper - For making rotti

Procedure:

Wash fenugreek (methi), Sabsige (dill) leaves and cilantro. Chop them finely. Chop the onion too. 

Now take a mixing bowl. Add rice flour, chopped greens, chopped onions, grated carrot, grated coconut, roasted gram, cumin seeds and salt.

Mix well and make a stiff dough by adding water little at a time.

Divide the dough into three good portions. Then pat it (using your hand) into a thick, round shaped flatbread on a parchment paper or banana leaf (the first flatbread can be directly spread on a tawa. Once done turn on the heat).

Transfer it carefully on the pre heated skillet (place the flatbread along with parchment paper, with flatbread facing the skillet. Then peel off the paper and use it for the next one) and sprinkle some oil. Close it with a lid for a minute.

Once it turns golden brown and crispy, flip it to get golden brown spots on the other side.

Once done, transfer it to a plate. Repeat with the rest of the dough. 
Soppina Akki Rotti is ready!!

Serve it hot as it is or along with any chutney powder of your choice. Above measurement makes three good sized flatbread(rotti).

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Lemon Sevai (Lemony Rice Noodles)

Lemon Sevai is a quick and simple South Indian breakfast. In Southern part of India, people make rice noodles at home and the left over noodles generally gets transformed into lemon sevai. Recently we had this for breakfast at our's friend's place and I was inspired to post this recipe. I used the dried rice noodles from International market for this recipe and it turned out very good. I adapted the recipe from here.

Do try making this for breakfast or for lunch box or you can also serve this as an evening snack for your kids.

Ingredients:

• Rice Noodles - 150 g
• Oil - 2 Tbsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Curry Leaves - Few
• Green Chilli - 1-2
• Dry Red Chilli - 1
• Peanuts (or cashew nut) - 2 Tbsp
• Chanadal (split chickpeas) - 1 1/2 tsp
• Urad dal - 1 tsp
• Asafoetida (Hing) - 1/8 tsp
• Grated Ginger - 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
• Lemon Juice - From half a lime (or to taste)
• Sugar - 1/2 tsp (optional)
• Salt - To taste

Procedure:

Heat enough water and when it starts to boil, add in the rice noodles.

Then turn off the heat and close it with a lid. Let it sit for 3-4 minutes. Now the noodles are cooked (since they are very long and difficult to eat, I cut them randomly using a kitchen scissors).

Transfer the noodles in a strainer to remove excess water. Then pour cold water and let it drain completely. 

Now take a pan and heat oil. Once hot, add mustard seeds. Once it pops, add curry leaves, cut green chilli, red chilli and peanuts. Fry for few seconds.

Then add in chanadal, urad dal, asafoetida, grated ginger and turmeric powder. 

Once everything is toasty and light brown, add in the cooked rice noodles, salt and sugar.

Mix it gently. Finally add in lime juice and toss it well. Taste the noodles and add more salt or lime juice, if required. Then turn off the heat. 

Lemon Sevai is ready!!

Serve it hot. Above measurement serves two people.

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Ghare Polo (Unripe Jackfruit Dosa)

Ghare Polo is a simple breakfast. I got this recipe from my mother. May- June is the peak season for jackfruit in India. We use jackfruit for cooking, in its every stage. We make curries using tender jackfruit. Once it is fully grown, some of them are plucked in unripe condition. The unripe pods are removed and stored in salt for year long use. The unripe pods are also used to make delicious chips. Dosa is one more way of using these unripe jackfruit pods. My MIL makes this dosa at least once, every year. 

I wanted to try this recipe, as I had a pack of frozen unripe jackfruit pods. The recipe calls for only few ingredients and it is pretty simple to whip up the batter. The dosa goes well with any spicy curry or chutney.
I am happy that this dosa will be my 50th dosa:-)

Ingredients:

• Unripe Jackfruit Pods, chopped- 1 cup
• Rice - 1 cup
• Grated Coconut, fresh/frozen - 1 Tbsp
• Salt- To taste

Procedure:

Wash and soak rice for two hours. Drain the water and add it in a blender along with unripe jackfruit pods and grated coconut.

Grind it along with little water to get a smooth paste.

Transfer it into a bowl and let it ferment overnight. Once fermented, add salt and mix well. Add water as desired to get a medium thick batter. 

Now, heat the dosa pan. Once hot, add a ladel full of batter and spread it in circular motion.

Once the base gets cooked, flip it on the other side. 

After it gets light brown spots, transfer it to a plate. Continue with the rest of the batter.

Ghare Polo is ready!!

Serve it hot with any chutney of your choice.

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