Sooji Uttapa (semolina pancake)

This recipe is perfect for weekdays evening one dish meal or weekend breakfast. It can be made in just 10-15 minutes. It does not require any grinding or fermenting process.....so lot of work has been cut. It tastes so good with coconut chutney or dalia chutney.

Ingredients

one and half cup sooji (cream of wheat)

3/4 cup curd

1 tsp fruit soda

1/2 cup cabbage (shredded)

1/4 cup carrot (shredded)

1/3 cup green onion/spring onion(finely chopped)

1 tomato (finely chopped)

1/2 yellow belle pepper (cut thin and long strips)

1/2 orange belle pepper(cut thin and long strips)

2 tbsp green chili paste

2 tbsp coriander chopped

1-2 tbsp soy sauce

salt as per taste

oil for cooking

Soak the sooji in one bowl with curd, soda,green chili paste and salt. Add water as required. It should have batter consistency like idli or dosa. Keep it for half an hour.

Take one big bowl and add all the cut vegetables. Just before you start to make uttapa, add soy sauce and salt and mix well along with all the vegetables.

Take one flat griddle or tava and put it on high flame on stove. Take ladle full of batter and spread it on the tava in circle of around 100 mm dia. Put some oil around edges. Take approx. 2 tbsp of chopped vegetables and spread by your hand. Cook both sides till golden brown.

Serve it hot with coconut chutney or tomato chutney.

Note

You can add any other vegetables, also you like.

Uttapa is much thicker than dosa,so pour sufficient amout of batter.

You can use any kind of belle pepper.

Medu Vada/Vadai(lentil dumplings)

Winter has been almost started in this part of US. In this cold weather, let's have some spicy medu vada along with hot sambhar. From my childhood, I was always fascinated for this vada because of the hole in the centre. Once I started my experiments in the kitchen, I always wanted to try this recipe but hesitated because of the 'hole'. After some trial and error, I was successful to make perfect medu vada with hole in the centre.

Ingredients

2 cups split black gram(skinless udad dal)

2-3 tspoon ginger chili paste

pinch of asafoetida

oil for frying

salt as per taste

Wash and soak the udad dal for 18-20 hours. Make sure udad dal is soaked well in the water before grinding because that is the key for good medu vada.(you have to grind it without water, make sure it soaked good amount of water). Before grind it remove all the water from udal dal. Grind it in small batches without any water and make smooth fluffy paste. Paste should have thick consistency (you should be able to hold it in your palm and give shape).

Add all the spices and salt in the paste and mix them well in the paste.

Take one deep pan for frying and add oil in it. Put the pan on medium flame on gas. Wet your palm with water. Then as shown in the picture, take some paste in your hand and give it a shape with another palm. Then make one hole in the centre with your finger.

Put it carefully in the deep frying pan. Fry it till the golden brown, on slow flame.

Serve it hot with sambhar and coconut chutney.

Tips

Make sure you wet your hands everytime for new vada.

Fry it on the slow flame, for crispy outer texture