Sorekai / Bottle guard Dosa - the best dosa made of a vegetable

Life can sometimes get so busy that you won’t get time to do your most favorite things at all. You want to do certain things but that never becomes possible due to a lot of other things that you have to do! My situation is just that of late. So much of work at office, marathon of meetings, working late hours, guests at home, hmmmmm...... where is the time to blog? And all I had to do was to write a few lines and post the already ready recipe and pics. And that too became impossible. It’s high time I do something about it. May be fix up a dedicated time for blogging or so? Let’s see....

Coming to the recipe part, we have Sorekai/Bottle guard Dosa today! Trust me, it’s one of the best possible dosas you can ever have! What makes this my favorite is that it needs no fermentation; Can add any combination of spices to suit one’s taste, you can make them crispy or soft-soft as you like, your intake of fiber will automatically increase due to the vegetable used, and more than all, the dosas taste awesome.

Enjoy them hot with one of these chutneys.

Bottle Guard / Sorekai Dosa

Preparation time : 20 min (for batter, apart from soaking time) Cooking time : 15 -20 min Serves : 4 Ingredients: Bottle Guard - 1 small (About 500 gms) Dosa Rice - 2-3 cups Cumin seeds - 2-3 Tsp Curry leaves - 1 small bunch Green chilies - 2-3, depending on taste (optional) Ginger - 1" cube Coriander leaves - a small bunch Salt - ¾ Tsp or as per taste Water Cooking oil - 1 Tbsp Method: Batter: • Wash and soak rice in enough water for 3-4 hours or overnight (I generally soak it overnight) • Make slices of the bottle guard (or cut it into small pieces or grate – need not be too fine, as we’ll be grinding it anyway) • Grind the soaked rice with some water in a wet grinder / mixer • Once the rice is ground to a coarse paste add the sliced guard pieces • Also add the raw spices – cumin seeds, chopped coriander, curry leaves, ginger, green chilies and salt • Add water if necessary and grind the batter to a fine paste • Transfer the batter to a separate vessel • Add enough water to make the batter free flowing (Slightly thinner than normal dosa batter) • The batter is ready! Dosa: • Heat a non stick griddle/tawa • Smear 1 tsp of oil evenly on the tawa • Now take a big spoon of the batter and spread it on the tawa outside in. What I mean here is, unlike normal dosa where you pour a big spoon of batter on the centre of the tawa and run the spoon over it, spreading it inside-out, for this dosa, do it the opposite way. Pour in the batter very quickly making a circumference of the dosa first and start filling the inside. Don’t run the spoon over the batter spread on the tawa. For illustrations, check out Neer Dosa • Cover it with a plate/lid • After half a minute, smear another tsp of oil over the dosa • Allow it to crisp if you like it that way • Take it out of the tawa and serve straight to the plate • Enjoy the bisi-bisi dosa with coconut chutney Tips n Tricks: • The batter should not be too thin, as it would take a longer time to cook and may also stick to the tawa Variations: • A small onion can also be added while grinding the batter to give a different flavor • Green chilies and fresh coriander may be replaced with red chilies or back pepper and dry coriander seeds (dhania) • Or all the spices can be avoided and make a simple version of it!

Mango Mania : Mavinkai Gojju - A treat for your taste buds

Are there days in your life when you just don’t have an appetite to eat? You’re just too bored of the daily food, don’t want anything complex or heavy which makes you feel you don’t feel like eating?

Well, summer is one season when this feeling of lack of appetite is the most common. Food generally loses the priority. But wait, summer is also the season of mangoes! And why not make something exciting to hike up your appetite? Something that makes your taste buds crave for more?

Here’s a tangy, spicy raw mango curry to lift up the spirits on such days. My MIL makes it often in the mango season, and stores it in the fridge. And it’s irresistible taste makes anyone with no mood to eat, change their decision and eat some rice with it! And well, it goes great with dosas, rotti, etc too.

Raw Mango Gravy(Raw Mango Gravy)

Preparation time : 15 min Cooking time : 15 - 20 min Makes : A bowlful of gojju Shelf life : ~ 1 week, if refrigerated Ingredients: Raw Mango - 2- 3 medium sized, sour variety Red chilies - 10 -12, byadagi variety (use Guntur variety for spicier version) Curry leaves - 10 - 15 Fenugreek seeds - ¾ tsp Sesame seeds - 1 tsp Urad dal - 2 tsp Coconut - 1 cup, grated Cooking oil - 1 tbsp Turmeric - a small pinch Jaggery - 2-3 big marble sized lumps Salt - 1 tsp, vary acc to taste For tempering: Cooking oil - 2 tsp Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Sesame seeds - 1 tsp Curry leaves - 15-20 Method: • Cut the raw mangoes into ½ inch pieces. Peel off the husk if it is too thick or bitter; else it can be retained • In a thick bottomed pan, heat the oil and add chopped mango pieces and turmeric • Sauté it for a while and cook the mango on low to medium flame for 5 to 10 minutes, or till it is cooked soft. Stir occasionally. • Meanwhile, in a separate pan, dry roast urad dal, fenugreek seeds, sesame seeds, red chilies and curry leaves for 1-2 minutes till they become aromatic and golden brown • Allow to cool slightly and grind the roasted spices with grated coconut, salt and jaggery, adding water if required • Add this ground paste to the cooked mangoes, and bring it to a gentle boil • Add water to maintain gravy-like consistency • Put off the flame after a couple of minutes of boiling For tempering • Heat oil in a small skillet • Add mustard seed and allow to splutter • Add curry leaves and stir till they become crisp • Add sesame seeds and switch off the flame after a few seconds; Do not allow the sesame to get overly fried • Transfer this tempering to the gravy prepared • Serve with rice or akki rotti or dosa, etc Tips n Tricks: • Choose sour mangoes for better taste • This gojju / gravy can cooled and refrigerated in a container, so that it stays for about a week Variations: • The same can be tried with green chilies too.

Mangalore bajji : Back after a break with Spongy Goli Baje

No no! I had not forgotten that I have a food blog that I had thought I should update at least once a week. Nor did I have nothing to blog about. But just that I had temporarily lost interest to blog anything! In fact I had lost interest to do anything at all!

Not that I did not cook at all, but all I managed to cook was some mundane rice, rasam, or some palya and chapathi. Neither did I have interest to eat anything exciting, nor to cook, let alone blog it!

Well, blame Dee for this condition on mine. He was away for two weeks, and well, nothing seemed to interest me without him! Hmmmmm..... this may sound a little too crazy, but that’s what it was. I had planned to do a lot of things that I had not found time for, during is absence. Like painting a couple of sketches, blogging all the recipes for which the material is ready, sorting the thousands of photos, going shopping, inviting friends home for a meal, hmmmmm... the list just goes on. And ask me what all I did among the listed ones, and there’s nothing I can claim I did, except to finish reading a book that I had started.
And food was my least priority these two weeks, be it cooking, eating or blogging!

Anyways, he is back in town now, and I am back to cooking and blogging! Check out this wonderful snack - spongy yet crispy Goli baje, or Mangalore bajji as we call it. The crunchy coconut pieces in between the spongy bajjis make it a great snack, which anyone is sure to indulge in! And what’s more? It’s real simple to make!

Goli Baje

Preparation time : 10 min, apart from resting time Cooking time : 15 min Serves : 4 Ingredients: Maida - 1 cup Sour curd - ¾ cup Buttermilk - ¼ cup Green chilies - 3-4, finely chopped Coriander leaves - 2 tsp, finely chopped Curry leaves - 10-12 leaves, finely chopped Ginger - 1” cube, grated Coconut - 2 tsp, cut into small pieces Cooking Soda - 1 pinch Salt - ½ - ¾ tsp, depending on taste Oil for frying Method: • Mix Maida in sour curd, to form a sticky batter, with no lumps • Keep aside for 30 min to 1 hr • Heat oil in a frying pan • While the oil is getting heated, add finely chopped chilies, coriander leave, curry leaves, ginger, a pinch of cooking soda and salt to the maida batter • If the paste is too thick, mix in a little more curd or buttermilk • Make round balls of about 1 inch diameter, and deep fry, 4-5 at a time • Turn around in between, ensuring it is evenly done to a golden brown color • Take out from oil and place on a kitchen towel so that the extra oil is absorbed • Serve hot with chutney / sauce Variations: • A small onion can be chopped and added