Pappula podi (Bhuna chana powder)

This is one of the quick and easy powder that goes well with Dosa, Upma, Capsicum fry, Borugula (puffed rice) upma and many more. It hardly takes 5 minutes to prepare with the following ingredients:

• 1 cup pappulu
• 1/2 tsp chilli powder or as per your taste
• Salt
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 5 garlic cloves unpeeled

You can add dry coconut or skip garlic. I prefer unpeeled garlic as it saves time, keeps the fiber and tastes great...better option than eating raw garlic alone or taking garlic supplements ;-). But if you believe in Viswamitra's trisanku swarga and don't eat garlic, then simply skip it. Grind all the ingredients in mixer or food processor. Olaaaa....powder is ready to eat.

And here is the picture borrowed from Mini Dosa.

Sarson Ka Saag with Paneer/Tofu

This is one of my favorite Punjabi dish and my first choice to go with Tandoori roti, even though Makki ki roti is its true companion. I love the color and taste. To make it kids friendly, add Paneer or Tofu. 

Ingredients:  

• 2 bunches Sarson ka saag  (green mustard)
• 1 bunch Spinach
• 1 medium size Onion
• One large size Tomato
• 2 tbp ginger garlic paste
• 1/2 tsp chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• Salt to taste
• 3 tbp makki ka atta (maize flour)
• 3 tbp ghee
• 3 green chillies
• Paneer/Tofu cubes 

Preparation:   

Wash and clean the greens, chop them, add 2/3 green chillies and boil in 2 cups of  water until cooked. Please don't pressure cook the green vegetables.

In the mean time, shallow fry Paneer/Tofu cubes in oil and keep them aside.

Heat oil in a pan, add onions, ginger garlic paste and fry for sometime. Then add tomatoes and fry until tomato pieces become soft. Add makki ki atta and stir for some more time. You can also add paste (makki ki atta and water) instead of powder directly.

Note: You can skip Tomatoes, but I don't mind throwing some antioxidants. If you are worried about Kidney stones with Tomato and Spinach combination, do skip tomatoes.

Grind the green vegetables and make a rough paste. Make sure not to over paste the greens. Add the paste to pan and stir fry. Add chilli powder, garam masala, salt and fried Paneer/Tofu at the end. Add butter or ghee and serve with Rotis.

Also check out Mini Dosa for kids....

Mini Dosa

OK.. Dosa batter is waiting for me to put Dosas on the blog. Most of the Indians know how to prepare Dosa... but I'm adding the instructions to make the blog post complete for others:

• I use multipurpose Dosa batter for preparing Dosa, Uttappam, Idli, Masala Dosa and Ponganaalu.
• As the consistency of the batter is bit think, take the batter in a bowl, add little bit water and mix it well.
• Heat non-stick tawa and pour half a ladle of batter in the center and then spread it with the back of the ladle. Spread it from inside to the outside. 

• To make Dosa interesting for kids, make it small. Kids love mini Dosas over regular Dosas. This is a small trick to attract kid's attention.
• I don't like giving crispy Dosas to kids as they hardly fill their tummy. So make it bit thicker than regular Dosa. Instead of using too much oil, cover the Dosa for one minute. 
• Uncover Dosa and then add little bit oil or Ghee.

• When the dosa is red, turn the dosa and cook on the other side. 

 

• Dosa is ready!!

My kids love Dosa with Pappula podi (baked chana daal powder). It hardly takes any time to prepare and it's my favorite too. I use ghee for kids and Olive oil for big kids.

 

If there is chutney, spread the chutney over dosa. This makes it less messy for kids and keeps the plate clean for us to wash ;-).