Set Dosa with Saagu

Dosa is a versatile dish. Set Dosa with Saagu dish is like a couple made in heaven. They complement each other just perfectly. Set dosa is very spongy and soft in texture and is also known as Aval Dosa or Poha Dosa. The batter you get and the method to cook/roast is just like how we make the pancakes. While Saagu is a mixture of vegetables cooked in a thick textured curry where a blend of some interesting spices come together. It is one yummy curry!

Set dosa is similar to mushti pola (another Konkani style dosas) which is very soft and fluffy and has grated coconut ingredient in it. At home, my mom made it once in a while, as everyone loved Plain Dosas. My husband loves this combo so much that I am forced to make it and I prefer to have it for dinner instead of breakfast. It fits perfectly in the dinner menu. Filling and Yumilicious!!

So let us take a look at the Set Dosa Recipe and Saagu Recipe as well.

Set Dosa
Ingredients:

• 2 cups rice ( I use basmati because that is my staple rice)
• 1 cup parboiled rice of any kind
• 3/4 cup urad dal
• 3/4 cup thin poha (flattened rice)
• 1 tsp methi seeds
• salt as per taste
• 1/2 - 1tsp sugar (optional)
• oil for frying

Preparation:

 

• Soak all the ingredients (preferably separately) except salt and sugar (duhh :)) for 6-8 hours or overnight. Drain the water and transfer to the blender.
• Blend urad dal first by adding just enough water till it is immersed. Make a smooth paste and transfer it into a big bowl.
• Then in 2 parts add rice and soaked poha, grind and transfer to the urad dal paste. Mix everything nicely.
• Make the batter of pouring consistency not too thick nor running. Keep it in a warm place to ferment for good 8-12 hours.
• Just before you are ready to make set dosas, add salt and sugar to the batter. Mix properly.Pre-heat a tawa till it's really hot, pour 2 ladles of batter (do not spread the batter like we do for plain dosas) and leave it to cook gradually over medium heat. 
• Drizzle some oil along the edges and let it cook for 2 more minutes or till nicely roasted. You will notice bubbles formation on it(see pictures) just like pancakes.
• Flip the set dosa over (this is optional) and let it cook further for less than a minute or so till it is slightly roasted. 
• Serve hot with Coriander Chutney and Saagu or Sambar etc.

Saagu:

Ingredients:

• 2-3 cups cubed mixed vegetables (carrots, beans, peas, potatoes, capsicum)
• 1 onion chopped roughly (or cubed)
• few curry leaves
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
• salt to taste
• 1/2 tbsp oil
• chopped coriander leaves for garnish

For the wet masala:

• 2 tbsp grated coconut
• 2 inch piece of ginger
• 1-2 tbsp coriander leaves
• 3-4 green chillis

For the dry masala:

• 1 tbsp poppy seeds
• 1 tbsp coriander seeds
• 1″ cinnamon stick
• 2 cloves
• 1 1/2 tbsps roasted channa dal

Preparation:

• In a blender make a smooth paste by adding the ingredients under wet masala. Keep aside.
• Then in a coffee grinder(maybe), make the powder using ingredients under dry masala. 
• Heat oil in a pressure cooker, add the mustard seeds and let them splutter. Add the onions and curry leaves and saute till transparent, just for a couple of minutes.
• Add the mixed vegetables and combine well. Add salt and turmeric pwd and cook on medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Pour the wet ground masala paste, powdered dry spices masala and mix everything quickly. Add 1-1 1/2 cups of water, stir everything and pressure cook for 1 whistle, then simmer the gas and cook for 6-7 minutes. *
• Switch off the gas, and wait for the steam to be released.  Open the lid and your hot saagu is ready to be devoured. 
• Garnish it with cilantro leaves and serve with set dosa, poori, roti etc.

You may also like Idli Sambar, Rava Thalipeeth (Rava Bhakri), Tomato Omelette(Besan Chilla), Tomato Poori

njoY!! happY cookinG!!

Notes:* You can cook it in a regular pan too. First, cook the vegetables till 3/4th done, then add all the masalas, water and cook till done.

Health Benefits:
Dosa is a great source of complete protein for vegetarians as it is made of rice batter and urad dal (black gram lentil) Dosa contains healthy carbs which provide our body with the energy needed to carry out different functions. It is a good option for people on a weight loss diet as well. Cutting out carbs from your diet can make you lethargic, low on energy and also lead to depression in some cases. Protein is another essential nutrient required by our body. It keeps us full for longer as it slowly releases energy and also helps make our hair, bones, and muscles stronger. Lentils used in the Dosa helps us with that. It is a low-calorie dish. Saagu is a dish with healthy vegetables providing all adequate nutreints, minerals, and vitamins.

Saagu recipe adapted from Sailus Kitchen.

Pav Bhaji (Street food of Mumbai)

Getting back to blogging after a short break, feels so good to be back in my comfort zone :)
It was Monday, Presidents day a long weekend in USA. Had a busy rest of the weekend having too much fun! Thought of lazying around while cleaning up the house and at sharp 11:08am had a craving to eat pav bhaji after my eyes wandered on the potato bag in the pantry :) Got lucky as I had all the ingredients in the fridge except pav (Indian bread). After begging for 5 minutes to my Pati-dev who thinks weekends are his right to be a couch potato, sent him off to the store to get the pav while I geared myself to make some YUMM-O street food.

This dish is a big hit at my house and relished amongst my friends. I got this recipe from a Juhu beach vendor in Mumbai on Youtube some years back. Can't go wrong, right? I have customized the recipe just a little bit as per my convenience. I was actually surprised to see couple of ingredients that went into it like kasoori methi and hing. Well, it only adds more great flavors to say the least.

Another huge USP of this dish, can add as many variety of vegetables you want and kids will not even know :) because potatoes overpowers the rest of the clan :)- So yes, Moms can go YAY!!

Pav Bhaji was invented as a midnight dish by street food vendors, made with all the leftover vegetables from the day, mashed up together, with loads of added spice, and butter. Bhaji is the Marathi word for a vegetable dish, and pav probably comes from the Portuguese word for bread.

All I can say is try it and see if you like it.

Ingredients:

For the Bhaji:

• 2 big potatoes boiled, peeled and mashed lightly
• 4-5 ripe tomatoes chopped ( if not sour enough, add extra tbsp of tomato paste)
• 1 capsicum chopped
• 10 flowerets of cauliflower (roughly chopped)
• 1 small carrot chopped (optional)
• 1/2 cup peas boiled
• 1 1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 tsp Kashmiri chili pwd (to give more color than spiciness)
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/4th tsp turmeric pwd
• 1- 2 tbsp pav bhaji masala (everest or mtr)
• handful chopped cilantro leaves
• 1 tbsp fenugreek leaves
• pinch asafetida 
• 2 tbsp of oil
• food color orange 1 pinch ( if you want that gorgeous color :))

To Fry the Pav:

• Butter
• Cilantro leaves
• Prepared Pav Bhaji

Garnish Ingredients:

• Chopped onion
• Sev
• Lemon pieces
• Dallop of butter on it

6 Pav (store bought for now)
Minimum 2 Pav each person to relish all that goodness of buttery bhaji :)

Preparation:

• In a non stick pan, heat oil, add capsicum, cauliflower, (carrots if using it) and quickly saute it for 2 to 3 minutes. 
• Add ginger garlic paste and let it cook for little bit more till the raw smell goes away. Add asafetida, kasoori methi and cook for a minute.
• Now add chopped tomatoes and saute it for couple of minutes. You can add 1 tbsp butter now and let it cook till you see some oil coming out from the corners. Stir in between.
• Add masalas - turmeric pwd, chilli pwd and pav bhaji masala, salt mix everything together quickly. 
• Add boiled potatoes and with a masher, start mashing everything together. Add water little by little till you get the consistency of thickness/thinness you want. It is always semi thick. Potatoes basically absorb water. 
• Taste it and see if it needs adjustment, if your tomatoes are not sour enough, add lemon juice.
• Add food color if you want.
• Let it cook on sim flame for about 7-8 minutes. Keep stirring in between and add water as you like. Add another tbsp of butter :)
• Garnish it with Cilantro and switch off the gas.

How to fry the Pav just before serving:

• Cut the Pav in the centre and semi open it.
• On a frying pan, add butter, as it sizzles add bhaji, cilantro and place the pav face down and cook for few sec. Drizzle some butter or oil on top and serve hot.

How to Serve Pav Bhaji:
Serve good amount of bhaji in a compartmented plate, chopped onion, cilantro and lemon slices on one end, you can add onions, sev and butter on top of the hot bhaji, and masala fresh pav on the other side.

Trust me, eating is much easier than writing how to serve Pav Bhaji :):) (joke)

If you are street food junkie, you may also like
Missal Pav,  Baked Potatoes Wedges,  Mumbai's special Masala Sandwich

njoY!! happY cookinG!!

Health Benefits:

Due to the increased interest in foods that are low-carb or low-glycemic index, the potato has unjustly earned a bad reputation. Potatoes consumed in simple roasted, grilled, boiled, steamed manner with little or no oil/butter is very healthy and nutritious for health.
It is loaded with calcium, phosphorus, zinc, magnesium, iron that helps in having strong bones.
It has vitamin B6 which supports heart health.
Choline is a very important and versatile nutrient in potatoes that helps with sleep, muscle movement, learning and memory.

Tofu, Vegetables Rice Bowl with Mongolian Sauce

Valentine's Day is here and every year I try to cook something neat, fancy and different from what my kitchen usually witnesses. Again I try to keep it as simple as I can. For the past few years I have been cooking at home instead of going out to an over crowded restaurants. We do a candle light dinner at home and it has become a ritual which all of us enjoy as a family :)

Mongolian food bowls are simple, filling, eye pleasing and yummy in my tummy kinda comfort food. I love their stews, rice bowls, noodle soups and stir fries. I came across this recipe which Sonal had posted. She is a fantastic cook and owns a blog known as simplyvegetarain777!  I had immediately bookmarked it :) Finally I got a chance to make it and it tastes simply awesome.

This dish brings back memories from my office lunch break days when I used to go hog at Mongolian Grill place. Also have fond memories of Genghis Grill where my friends and families have enjoyed fun meals but after witnessing an incident I wouldn't recommend that place :( [hygiene issues].

This Tofu rice bowl with Mongolian sauce is a very simple preparation, you need to chop few veggies, ginger garlic and cook rice, make sauce and put everything together! It is a bowl of slurpicious goodness full of flavors and comfort feeling! Try it and enjoy with your family!

Let us take a look at this Tofu Vegetables Rice Bowl with Mongolian Sauce:

Ingredients: 
for Mongolian Sauce

• 1/2 tbsp Ginger finely chopped
• 1/2 tbsp Garlic finely chopped
• 3- tbsp Soy sauce (low sodium)
• 2 tbsp  Brown sugar 
• 2 tsp veg oil 
• 1 tbsp dissolved in 2 tbsp water - Corn starch/flour 
• 1 cup Water 
• 1 tsp or to taste  Red Chili flakes 

for Stir Fry

• 1 tbsp Oil
• 1 - 2 Red Chili whole dry or fresh
• 4 cups  assorted Vegetables (julienned or roundels carrots, celery, spring onion, broccoli, bell peppers, green beans)
• 1/2 tsp- 1 tsp black pepper powder
• 14 oz / 400 gms (extra firm) Tofu
• Grilled with little salt pepper till slightly golden

about 2 1/2 cups Rice cooked

for Garnish

• Sesame seeds and scallion green

Mongolian Sauce

Tofu

All veggies

Preparation:

Mongolian Sauce

• Dissolve cornstarch (cornflour) in 2 tbsp cold water and set aside.
• Take a heavy bottom sauce pan and heat 2 tsp oil in it. 
• Add ginger and garlic to it and saute on medium heat for few seconds. Now add soy sauce, red chili flakes, brown sugar and water to the pan. 
• Add cornstarch (flour) mixture to it slowly while you keep stirring the sauce.
• Bring it to a boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Take it off the gas stove and set aside. Check the salt and adjust. 

Preparing the Vegetable Stir Fry

• Heat 1 tbsp oil in heavy bottom saute pan. Add whole red chili and white part of spring onion to the hot oil. 
• Saute for few seconds and then add all the other vegetables to the pan. Saute them on high heat for about 2-3 minutes, while stirring continuously. Set aside.

Preparing the Tofu

• You can either use the extra firm tofu as is, or buy the baked version from the market. 
• Slice the tofu into rectangular shaped blocks and pan grill it lightly as you sprinkle little salt and pepper over it. Use little oil while frying. Keep aside.

Now put this delicious dish together:

• Take a bowl. Add rice. Add stir fried vegetables and tofu in the bowl.
• Pour Mongolian Sauce over the vegetables and tofu, as desired. Garnish with sesame seeds and the greens of spring onions.
• Serve warm.
• You may adjust the salt and heat of the dish, as desired.

njoY!! happY cookinG!!

You may also like:

Indo- Chinese Fried Rice
Burmese Curry Noodle Soup - Khou Suey
Tofu pan fry

Health Benefits: 

Tofu is a good source of protein and contains all eight essential amino acids. It is also an excellent source of iron and calcium and the minerals manganese, selenium and phosphorous. In addition, tofu is a good source of magnesium, copper, zinc and vitamin B1. Tofu is an excellent food from a nutritional and health perspective. It is thought to provide the same sort of protection against cancer and heart disease as soya beans. Soya protein (from which tofu is derived) is believed to help lower levels of bad cholesterol (LDL). Also take a note of this--> Tofu and all soya products contain large amounts of oxalate. Individuals with a history of oxalate containing kidney stones should avoid over consuming soya products. Women who have or have had oestrogen-sensitive breast tumours should restrict their soya intake to no more than four servings per week.
other than tofu, Stir Fry vegetables contain loads of minerals and vitamins and provide the much needed carbohydrates that our body deserves. Rice is again a low calorie food, one can substitute it with brown rice or brown noodles too.

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