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Thursday 30 June 2016

Rava Dosa




chitrannaa.blogspot.in
                                                                          


  Ingredients 


  • 1 cup unroasted rava/sooji/semolina)
  • 1 cup rice flour.
  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour/maida.
  • 4 green chilli, finely chopped.
  • 3 medium onion, finely chopped.
  • 10 to 15 curry leaves, chopped.
  • 1 inch ginger, finely chopped (optional)
  • Buttermilk as required.
  • 1/2 cup chopped coriander leaves. 
  • Salt as required.

For tempering


  • 2 tsp oil
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 2 tsp cumin seeds
  • Oil or ghee as required for roasting the dosa

  • Preparation:


  • Take rava, rice flour, all purpose flour, green chilies, ginger, onion, coriander leaves in a mixing bowl.
  • Heat 1 tsp oil in a small frying pan add mustard seeds when they stop spluttering, add the cumin seeds. Then add the curry leaves. Saute for a few seconds.
  • Add this tempering mixture along with the oil to the other ingredients in the bowl and add salt.
  • Pour buttermilk and make a thin batter without any lumps. The batter should not be thick or of medium consistency. If the batter becomes too thin, then add some rice flour to lightly thicken it. keep aside for 30 minutes.
  • Heat the tawa or non-stick pan. Smear a bit oil with a slice of onion or paper napkin.
  • With a ladle pour the dosa batter from the edges towards the center. Don't try to spread it.
  • Sprinkle ¼ or ½ or 1 tsp of oil from the top.
  • Let the base becomes golden and crisp. Flip and cook the other side. When both the sides are cooked, remove the dosa from the pan. 
  • Serve the onion rava dosa hot with coconut chutney or vegetable sambar. Onion rava dosa has to be served immediately.

Saturday 25 June 2016

Bisi Bele Bath | Bisibelebath | Bisibele Bhath or Bisibele Rice Recipe

chitrannaa.blogspot.com


Prep Time          10 Minutes
Cooking Time  30 Minutes
Serves                  4


Ingredients :


Rice 2 cup
Toor Dal 2 1/2 cup
Tamarind 1 Lemon sized
Jaggery 1 Tablespoon – depending on the sweetness you wish
Bisibele bhath powder / Sambar/Garam masala powder 2 Tablespoon
Red Chilli Powder   1 Tablespoon
Ghee  2 tablespoons
Salt to taste

Recipe Video :





Vegetables :


The following vegetables cut in 1” length
Beans
Onion
Potato
Tomato
Finely chopped methi leaves 1 cup
Curry leaves
Coriander leaves
Fresh peas or  Hyacinth Bean - Avarekalu 1 cup ( If you have neither, then you can use peanuts. But Avarekalu tastes best. In the season if you get Jackfruit seeds, you use them. After Avarekalu, they are the next best :-) )
PS : Here I would like to mention that the choice of vegetables is entirely yours. If there is a plus or minus, it is absolutely no problem.
 

For Tadka :



Oil 1 tablespoon
Mustard seeds 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder ½ teaspoon
Hing

Preparation :



  • Soak tamarind in water.
  • In a cooker cook daal along with vegetables and rice in separate containers.
  • For rice generally we add water at 1:2 proportion. But here, you need to put a little more water so that the rice is cooked soft.
  • Once it cools down, in a thick bottomed kadai, heat oil and add mustard seed. Once they splutter, add turmeric powder and hing. 
  • Squeeze the tamarind pulp in it and add 2 glasses of water and let it come to a boil.
  • While it is boiling, add jaggery, red chilli powder, bisibele bhath powder, salt and curry leaves and let it boil for another 5-6 minutes till it gives some fine aroma.
  • Then add the dal cooked with veggies, add water if required and boil for five more minutes.
  • Add the cooked rice, mix well and taste to check if you need some more salt, chilli powder Sambar powder or jaggery. 
  • Cook on low fire.
  • The bisi bele bhath at this point should be quite liquid. If you make it solid at this point, later on it will turn still hard. The best option would be to get a right liquid consistency at this point and still add half a glass of water and cook for just a few seconds and turn off the gas. So even if you eat it after hours, it will remain liquid and light.
  • Add ghee and garnish with finely chopped coriander and cover for five minutes.
  • Serve hot with Raita, Boondi kaalu or chips.



Saturday 11 June 2016

Dhatri - The Village resort

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I had set my eyes on this destination, a rural, rustic, village resort for more than a year. It was my idea of a holiday. An escapade into the nature. I have written about my craving for nature and village life a million times, may be ad-nauseum. The regular weekend resorts with swimming pool, badminton court and table tennis, the staple North and South Indian dishes is not my cup of tea. I would rather have a village home, with its aangan, plants, flowers and fauna, birds chirping in the background and of course our very own grandma's cuisine. And Dhatri Village Resort fitted the bill to the T. So off we went. Fifteen girls from Basavanagudi Branch. But of course, why that smirk? We are as young as we feel :-D I would take you through the resort and have given the contact details at the end. I bet you would scroll to it before fully reading through the details! Hold on !!!






This is the resort and this is the type of welcome you get on arrival .....







The beauty of this destination is it is not very far off from Bangalore. It is just about 80 kilometers from Bangalore near Kyathsandra, Tumkur. It caters mainly to a full day package, from dawn to dusk. You can arrive here by morning 8 o'clock where a sumptuous treat of breakfast would be waiting for you.They are not your staple bread and butter, but delicious desi delicacies, with abundant dose of fresh desi ghee. The menu varies and on the day we went it was Ottu Shavige with gojju and ghee, Ottu shavige with Kai haalu and ghee, Ottu shavige with capsicum and chillies with ghee, Avalakki khara pongal with ghee, Ragi Hurihittu with ghee ... Yes! that's the breakfast we were offered with piping hot filter coffee!!!



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And personally I feel this is the ideal season to visit the resort because it would be fresh and green everywhere, all the plants washed in rain and flowers blooming everywhere. With Jackfruits and Jamuns inviting you and peacocks flying around, you will feel as if you are in Malnad!


And the host Sri.Ravi will then engage you with innovative village games, witty and full of fun. They were so interesting and funny that we fell off our chairs unable to control our laughter :-)



He conducted one game after another, engaging us in one activity after another giving a small break in between and we were so engrossed and relaxed that we forgot everything else in the world. You will have the choice to play or just sit back and relax soaking in the beauty of the nature. Mats and pillows are arranged inside the hall for those lazy bones!



And even before that healthy sumptuous breakfast could be digested, he invited us for a light snacks and juice. Now again!?! But none could resist the tempting sihi and khara avalakki with panaka :-)



And then again back to games, so innovative were his ideas that we could not help but marvel at his ingenuity and involvement and became children again!
And the lunch at 3 PM was again healthy, tasty home cooked delicacies. Look at these snaps and watch the video because I may not be able to do justice trying to explain the dishes. and rounded off by the bananas and betel leaves grown in their farm. The hosts will then give you the option to buy their innumerable home made products.


Post lunch a tour through the farm amidst the greenery was what we needed to burn all the calories. But because it was all healthy and home grown food and included none of those sweet and fried dishes, we were all feeling rejuvenated and raring to go with the fresh air and rain drops and flying peacocks giving us company.




And along with coffee, the hosts distributed the prizes, conspicuously taking care to see that each and every visitor got a prize! And what were the prizes? All the fresh veggies grown by them!!!
And it was time to bid adieu and like the old kannada adage " Undoo hoda, kondu hoda", they gave us boiled groundnuts to munch on our return journey.


PS :
Sri. Ravi, along with his family is the host and the organiser of this resort comprising of about 5 acres, which was started three years ago. The charge is 600 rupees and it's a day package. However if you wish to stay back for the evening, they will arrange "Kai tuttu oota" for the night and rooms to stay at an additional cost. But beware of the hounding mosquitoes!
It would be usually thrice a week and you have to book in advance. He prefers a minimum group of 20 to 25 persons. If your party contains less number or if you are going just with a family, you have to wait for his date to accommodate with other party.
His contact number is  9945179936
Have a fun filled rural escapade!!!