MTR Podi Chutney Uttapam/ Idli Pancake-- Kids School lunch.

Hello Sweeties!!!! We make Idli Sambar so many times, that at times we have been asked if we belong to South India. The thing is Idli Sambar is one item, everyone loves, Its like Pizzas to Indians. Easily found and  most popular. 

I make dosas often with the leftover batter. But they are not ideal to be given as school lunch, so I made these for my kids school lunch and was happy to see empty boxes licked clean.

 

To make Idli batter;

2 cups rice or idli rava

1 cup Urad dal

2 tbspn Oil

Salt to taste

Soak the rice and urad dal in water for 6-8 hours. If using idli rava skip soaking the rava; soak only the dal and then grind it fine into a smooth paste, use the water from the soaking if needed. remove this in a bigger vessel, then grind the idli rava or soaked rice and remove it in the same vessel as the grinded dal. 

 

Mix the grinded dal and rava with your hand. This is because the heat of your palms will help in fermenting the batter faster. Then cover this vessel and keep it in a warm place to ferment and rise up. 

 

Take  a bigger vessel and fill the batter only half way as the batter will rise and double in size. After the rising, add the oil and the salt to the batter and mix with a spoon. 

 

The base batter for idli is ready.  The Podi Chutney Uttapams are basically pancakes from idli battter. 

You will need;

leftover or idli batter

onion chopped

cilantro chopped

 1 tspn MTR Podi Chutney also called Gun powder-- Store brought.

In a pan, greased with some oil, pour the batter with a ladle. Usually Idli batter is thick, we like thick pancakes, you can thin it with some water if you like thin pancakes. Pour the batter, then sprinkle with chopped onion, cilantro and the chutney powder, cover and let cook for 2-3 minutes, flip and cover and cook for another 2-3 minutes. The Uttapas are ready to be served.

 

 The toppings can be anything you like, onions, veggies, peas, corn, tomatoes are the regular ones, but you can feel free to mix and match according to your kids liking. 

This is what my kids ate for lunch that day. Fruits/Yogurt is sneaked in as snacks as they don't eat so much at one time. 

Mango Sheera/ Mango Sooji Halwa/Ambyacha sheera

Hello Sweeties!!! Back to back two posts, I must be shedding my lazy skin. But, it was Donut's Birthday yesterday. Big Digit demands big and new dessert.

 I made the Minion cake and put in the full day at work, I was sort of tired of making anything elaborate. Sheera or Sooji halwa is a staple in Ashland, when we have unannounced guests. This is no fail dish and every one loves it. Make it for prasad as god's offering or snack or dessert, it's  a hit every time.

The world of blogging and internet has made me try different combinations like using pineapple , banana and now mango. Hoping to try many new varieties maybe strawberry, what say, next time for sure.

You will need;

1 and 1/2 cup of sooji/ semolina/ cream of wheat, **I prefer Coarse sooji than fine sooji.

1 cup sugar

3 cups mixture of milk and water or use milk wholly.

6-8 tbspns Ghee-Clarified butter

1 Cup Mango Pulp-- I used canned

1 cup sugar

1 tsp Elaichi or Cardamom Powder

1 tbspn Cashew nuts powdered -Optional

1tbspn Raisins Optional

few Saffron strands-Optional

-In a pan/wok, heat the ghee over medium or low flame and then add the sooji, roast the sooji stirring continuously, till the sooji changes colour and the aroma fills the house. 

Simultaneously boil the milk+water mixture and once boiled, add the milk+water mixture to the roasted sooji and continue stirring...the sooji will be slightly wet, cover for 2-3 minutes, taking care that the sooji is not getting burnt, if needed reduce the time to about 1.5 to 2 minutes. 

After this add in the pulp and  let it get cooked with the roasted sooji, cover with the lid and steam it for anr 2-3 mins. 

Finally add in the sugar  and stir well, the mixture will be wet now, cover and lower the flame to low and cook for 5-7 minutes. 

Then add the saffron, elaichi and the raisins. Serve hot or cold. It's yummy either way.