Where we twist a little

recipes that is I love to experiment in my kitchen and regular readers know it by mostly… So when I read this post by Roop, which says that she finds desi cooking boring. This is what she has to say

No matter what cookbook I read, it’s the same recipe one after another. A combination of various spices to be tempered, onions to be browned, garlic/ginger to be added if liked, and the rest. True, you can add in new flavors, play with ingredients – example, adding chickpeas to your standard fare of baingan ka bhartha – but really, the base of all cooking remains similar. How much can one ignore the mundane?

Well I for one couldnt disagree more I started to type a looooooong comment to her and than thoought of giving a couple of recipes to prove otherwise roop I hope these are good enough to make it intersting for u

Uttapam Sandwich

Yes you heard it right, I had first read about it long long ago in a magazine somewhere and since than I have been making it at home regularly and I can’t tell you what a hit it is at home… I make it with various stuffings and turns out well with every one of them… this one is my favourite though, something about combining the chinese and the indian flavours

What I used

• Dosa batter
• Mix vegetables I used yellow and red peppers, onions and carrots
• Soya sauce – 2 tsp
• Vinegar – 1 tsp
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Olive Oil for stir frying

How I made it

• Heat oil in a pan, add onions and fry till pink
• Add the cut and grated veggies and stir fry on high flame till just about tender
• Add salt, pepper and sauces fry for another 1 minute
• Keep it away to cool down

• Now heat the dosa tawa/pan and spread the batter on it a little thick to make a utthapam
• Flip when cooked and cook the other side
• Cut from the center and spread the veggies on one half

• Cover with second half and grill it, I use the sandwich maker and griller that I have at home

And gulp them down

Oats Idly

There is no limit to what can we done with the humble idly, the variations that I make with idlies are so many that when I wanted to choose one for here I was totally confused, I make pumpkin idly, cucumber idly, spinach and cheese idly and ofcourse the good old rava idly… What is my favorite here is the oats idly… I have said that on the blog before that I love oats and a cereal but unfortunately no one in my house eats it… hence I keep discovering recipes that contains oats in forms other than porridge and that is when I chanced upon oats idlies and trust me they are worth the try… totally nutritous and give the regular idly such a nice facelift

What I used

• Oats – 1 1/2 cups
• Semolina/Rawa – 1/2cup
• Mix veggies – 1 cup (I used grated carrots, capsicum, chopped onions and boiled peas)
• Sour Curds – 2 cup
• Green chilli – 2 chopped
• Corainder leaves – a handful
• Curry leaves – 6-7
• Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
• Chana dal – 1 tsp
• Urad dal – 1 tsp
• Oil – 1 tsp
• Eno Fruit Salt – 1 tsp

How I made it

• Mix oats, rawa and curds and keep aside for 30 minutes
• Heat oil in a small pan, add mustard seeds
• when they crack add curry leaves, channa dal and urad dal
• fry till it turns light brown in color
• Add the tempering to the oats mixture.
• Add the veggies and salt to taste and mix well
• Grease the idly mould and keep them ready
• Add the eno fruit salt and pour in moulds immediately
• Steam for about 15 minutes and your idlies and ready to be demolished

Dunk in a bowl of sambhar and relish

or if u like my little one who just wants to touch sambhar and eat, ur loss

So roop does this excite u enough