Bread Upma

Bread Upma is one of the first dishes which I learnt to prepare because of my love for it. It is really simple and gets ready in about 10minutes time. You can have it at any time of the day. I usually have it either for breakfast or when I am too bored to prepare an elaborate dinner. It is really a quick fix dish. Needs very few basic ingredients and bread of course!

This dish brings back some very sweet childhood memories. A hot favorite with me and my brother. Whenever my mom prepared this and shared it between me and my brother, both of us would check if we really have got equal halves or by any chance if the other has got a few pieces more...It was one of my favorites for the school snack box too. Now it has become my children’s favorite as well.

So here’s how my mom used to prepare bread upma and I continue to make it the same way…

Ingredients Serves 2

1. Bread – 8 slices
2. Onion – 1 Medium size
3. Tomatoes – 1 big
4. Green chillies –4
5. Turmeric Powder – a pinch
6. Rasam Powder – 1 tsp
7. Salt to taste
8. Coriander leaves – a few

For Seasoning

1. Oil – 2 tsps
2. Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
3. Jeera – 1 tsp
4. Urad Dal – ½ tsp
5. Channa dal – ½ tsp
6. Curry leaves a few

Method

Chop the onions and chillies into small pieces. Cut tomatoes into cubes of medium size. Cut the bread sliced into medium sized pieces.

Heat a Kadai with oil, add mustard seeds once they splutter add jeera, urad dal and channa dal. Once the dals change color add the curry leaves. Then add green chillies and chopped onions. Fry till onions turn translucent. Then add tomatoes and cook on high heat. Don’t the tomatoes get too mushy. Now add turmeric powder, salt and rasam powder. Fry for a minute. Then add the bread pieces and fry on high heat till the bread absorbs the flavors of the tomatoes and onions. Turn off heat. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Delicious bread upma is ready.

Sending this treasured recipe to Gayathri's Event Walking Through the Memory Lane and to Srivalli's Kids Delight Guest hosted by Priya.

Note:

1. Add salt only for the tomatoes and onions as bread will have enough salt.
2. Take care while sautéing tomatoes, if they become too softy and mushy then the Upma will become very soggy.

Pavakkai Puli Pachadi

Bitter gourd or Pavakkai is one vegetable which I think has the fewest takers. Most don’t like it owing to its bitter taste. But it is packed with many health benefits. Also, when cooked in the right way using the right ingredients most of the bitterness can be masked. So, as I mentioned in my earlier post on Pavakkai Pitlai, I try to incorporate it in our menu at least once in 10 days.

Pachadi is a saucy vegetable preparation. Pachadis are of two types: one is the puli pachadi (vegetables cooked in tamarind and flavored with coconut and green chillies) and the other is the thayir pachadi (curd based). This tangy, sweet and spicy pachadi is the perfect combination with the rather mild molagootal and mulagutiam. Puli pachadi can be prepared with a variety of vegetables like lady’s finger, brinjals, Yellow Pumkins etc. Today I have used bitter gourd.

Ingredients Serves: 3 -4

1. Bittergourd - 2 medium Sized
2. Tamarind – A large lemon size
3. Jaggery – 2 tblsps
4. Turmeric Powder – a pinch
5. Salt to taste

For seasoning

1. Oil – 2 tsps
2. Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp
3. Channa Dal – 1 tsp
4. Asfoetida – little
5. Curry leaves – a few sprigs

Roast and grind

1. Urad Dal – 1 tsp
2. Dry Red Chillies – 4
3. Til/Sesame seeds – 1 tblsps

Method

Wash and chop the bitter gourd into small pieces. Soak tamarind in hot water for 10 mins. Squeeze and extract tamarind juice and keep aside. In a Kadai, dry roast sesame seeds till color changes. Remove into a plate. Heat Kadai with ½ a tsp of oil, roast urad dal and dry red chillies till dal changes color. Cool and grind the three.
Heat a Kadai with oil, add mustard seeds. Once they crackle and channa dal. After dal changes color, add asfoetida and curry leaves. Then add the chopped bitter gourd, turmeric powder and salt. Fry for 5 to 6 mins. Now add the tamarind extract with ½ a cup of water and jaggery. Check for salt. Allow to boil for 5 mins or till the gourd is cooked. Finally sprinkle the ground powder and mix well. Pachadi should not be very water or too thick. It should be of a saucy consistency. Pavakkai Puli Pachadi is ready.

Note: Adjust quantity of jaggery depending on your taste. Generally this is slightly sweet, spicy and tangy. All these flavors together mask the bitterness of the gourd.

Variations: Instead of adding the ground powder you can also add Rasam powder and chilly powder while the tamarind is boiling. This also gives a good taste.

You can also add onions, while frying the gourd. Onions lend a slight sweetness to the dish.

You could also add a handful of groundnuts while tempering.

Pori Upma / Puffed Rice Upma

Me and my daughters like puffed rice in any form. I give my younger one, some puffed rice in a cup and she just sits quietly nibbling on them. But that’s only till her cup is empty!! Though all of us like this so much I never ventured into making anything out of it other than some basic Kaara pori. Kaara pori is also a hot favorite in my house. It just vanishes as soon as I make them. I’ll leave that for later though.

Today I wanted to share this particular upma recipe out of Puffed rice. Though I had heard about it from my Kannada and Telugu friends, I used to always wonder how one could prepare upma out of Puffed rice. Won’t it just turn mushy… But then my doubts were cleared when I had this upma at one of my H’s friend’s house here in Hyderabad. She had prepared it very well and I liked it very much. Here’s what I did:

Ingredients Serves 2

1. Puffed Rice – 3 big cups
2. Onions – 1 big chopped into small pieces
3. Green Chillies – 3 – 4
4. Boiled Green peas – 100 gms
5. Salt to taste

For Seasoning

1. Oil – 2 tsps
2. Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
3. Urad Dal – 1 tsp
4. Groundnuts – a handful
5. A few sprigs of Curry Leaves

Method

Heat a Kadai with oil. Add the mustard seeds. Once they crackle add urad dal, and groundnuts. When they change color add the curry leaves. Then add chopped onions and green chillies. Sauté until onions turn slightly brown. Add turmeric powder and salt to taste. Mix well. Then add the boiled peas and mix well. Wash puffed rice under running water. Squeeze all excess water and add it to the Kadai. Mix well on high heat for 2 mins or till puffed rice turns hot. Puffed Rice Upma is ready. Serve hot.

Sending this to Kurinji Kathambam – Healthy Recipe Hunt – Puffed Rice

Also to Anyone can Cook - Series 20 hosted by Taste of Pearl City

Idichakka Thoran

Jackfruit is a seasonal fruit available from Mid March to May. In the beginning of the season you get the really small jackfruits or tender jackfruits called iddichakka in Malayalam. As days progress the jackfruit grows in size; you start getting the huge chakkas, which have beautiful golden yellow bulbs inside them. Jackfruit trees are a common sight in the backyards of Kerala homes. Come, Jackfruit season (summer), and the menu would be anything from iddichakka thoran, Chakka Chips, Chakka Curry, to Elai adai or Chakka Pradaman. Jackfruit jam or Chakka varrati is another delicacy. This way, it would be preserved for the whole year and Chakka Pradhaman or Elai Adai can be prepared at any time of the year.

Cutting the jackfruit is a really time consuming and tedious task, but the results are very sweet. Oil your palms and the knife with coconut oil since sticky gum oozes out of the fruit when you cut it open. Usually the Jackfruit is cut into a half and those into further halves. For the tender Jackfruit, only the prickly thick outer skin needs to be removed and the rest can be cut into pieces just like any other fruit or vegetable. For the ripe ones, the yellow bulbs have to be separated and the seeds have to be removed.

Idichakka Thoran is made out of fresh tender jackfruits, mildly spiced and flavored with fresh coconut. Thoran refers to any kind of dry curry. Here I am sharing the traditional Palakkad recipe. Though I’ve seen many of my Malayalee friends would add some onions and garlic too but we at home make it this way sans onions and garlic.

Ingredients

1. Small tender Jackfruit or Idichakka – 1
2. Fresh Grated Coconut – ½ cup
3. Green Chillies – 2
4. Turmeric Powder – a pinch
5. Salt to Taste

For seasoning

1. Coconut oil – 1 tblsp
2. Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp
3. Urad Dal – 1 tsp
4. Dried Red Chillies – 1 or 2
5. A few curry leaves

Method

Spread a newspaper on the counter, Oil your palms and the knife with coconut oil. Cut the jackfruit into half and then again into further halves, until they are of manageable size. Then remove the thick out skin and cut into pieces.
Cook these pieces with turmeric powder and little water for about 2 whistles in a pressure cooker.

Once cool, remove and pound the pieces with a pestle or use the back of a wooden spoon or a masher to get some shredded jackfruit. You could blend it in the processor too, but make sure the jackfruit pieces don’t become a paste. Grind the grated coconut and green chillies without adding any water. Keep aside.

Now, heat a Kadai with coconut oil, add the mustard seeds, once they splutter, add the urad dal and red chillies and curry leaves. Once, the dal changes color, add the shredded jackfruit pieces and sauté. Add salt to taste and fry for few minutes in medium flame. Then add the ground coconut and green chillies. Mix well. Finally drizzle about 2 tsps of coconut oil over the thoran.

Relish this yummy thoran with steaming hot rice and Moru Kootan or Sambar.

Sending this to A.W.E.D - Indian Cuisine originally started by DK of Chef in You and guest hosted by Ayeesha of Taste of Pearl City.

1. 

Vella Dosai

Dosa is a well liked South Indian tiffin item. It has gained popularity all over the world. People experiment with the batter and filling and many many different kinds of dosas are seen today. Like Plain Dosa, Paper Dosa, Masala Dosa, Ghee Dosa, Rava Dosa etc etc. Of these Vella Dosai is one; though these have been made from time immemorial. This dosa is generally not available in restaurants.

Vella Dosai is yet another of my favorites. At my home mom used to prepare it very regularly though after marriage these have become really rare, thanks to their aversion to sweets. These sweet dosas are usually made on certain days of fasting like Sivarathri, Ekadasi, Shasti etc since they are made out of wheat flour. On the days of fasting, people generally avoid rice and items made out of rice. But it is not necessary that it has to be a day of fast to make these yummy sweet dosas. Generally, an uppu dosai (salt dosai – exact translation) is also made along with it. I’ll leave that for later.

Ingredients

1. Wheat Flour – 1 cup
2. Powdered Jaggery – ¾ cup to 1 cup (according to your taste)
3. Cardamom powder – ¼ tsp
4. Ghee for frying

Method

In a vessel, take about ½ a cup of water and add the powdered jaggery. Heat it till the jaggery dissolves completely. Strain to remove impurities. Now add this to the wheat flour and mix well without forming lumps. Add sufficient water and mix into a smooth Dosa batter. Add the Cardamom powder and mix well.
Now heat a tawa, pour a ladle full of batter and spread like regular dosai. Drizzle ½ tsp of ghee and let it cook. Flip over and cook on the other side also. Cook on low heat only as Jaggery can easily burn. Serve with a blob of homemade butter or a spoonful of ghee.

Sending this recipe to Cooking with Seeds guest hosted by Suma of Veggie Platter