Ragi Dosa

Ragi Dosa

I like Ragi (Finger Millet) for its nutrional value. In my first attempt to give V Ragi, I made Ragi Dosa. He loves Dosa so I assumed he will like this as well.

I was wrong. He didn't like the taste. But P kept him busy and fed him.

I first had this dosa when my cousin made for me last September. I really liked it. She got it very thin and "lacy". I didn't get it anything like that. It was more like dosa. I guess I need to practice more to get it right. It was tasty though. I will be making this more often and keep giving it to V. He'll develop a taste for it.

This is quiet simple. It doesn't need fermentation time. Just some "resting" time of about half an hour.

Ingredients
2 cups Ragi Flour
1 cup Rice Flour
1 cup Curd – Beaten well
1/2 Onion – Finely Chopped
2 Chillies – Finely Chopped
1 Carrot – Grated (optional – but healthy)
2 cups Water
Salt to taste
Oil for making dosas

Method

1. Sift the flours and Salt into a bowl. Add curd to this and mix well.
2. Add water and keep stirring so that no lumps are formed.
3. Add the Onion, Chillies and Carrot and mix well.
4. Add more water if needed. It should be watery in consistency.
5. Keep aside for atleast half an hour.
6. Heat a dosa pan and pour the batter to form a dosa. You will not be able to spread it.
7. Turn the heat to medium and cover and cook for atleast 2 minutes.
8. Add Oil to the edges so the dosa wont stick to the pan.
9. Flip the dosa and again cover and cook for atleast 2 minutes.
10. Serve with Chutney or by itself.

Note 1:I made dosa for V before adding the Onion and Chillies.
Note 2:My dosas came out a bit thick. So I had to cook it for around 3 minutes on each side. Any tips are welcome if you know where I went wrong. :)

This goes to Denny's Cooking with Whole Foods - Ragi / Finger Millet that was started by Kiran.

Beans Curry

Ever since my parents have gone, my freezer has been bursting with food that my mother made and froze before she left and other stuff. So I am trying to empty the freezer – eating her food and using up other veggies.

This is another of my "invention". I had made beetroot rotis (recipe will come soon) the other day and was toggling and googling for a "new" side dish. There were beans in my freezer for quiet some time. So I decided use them up.

I called up my mother (her sister – my usual source of recipes – sleeps early. So I didn't want to disturb her). She gave me the usual recipe for beans. Then I asked my sis-in-law – she was even more vague than my mother. After chatting for sometime, my sis-in-law said – "You try out a dish and let me know how to make it if it come out fine."

I thought this wasn't working out. It was time to put my thinking cap on. That's how this extremely simple dish was born. P liked it a lot. So it was worth the experiment. I took some left over curry for lunch the next day with rice. It tasted good with rice also.

Ingredients
300gms Green Beans – cut into 1 inch pieces (I used frozen cut beans)
1 Onion – chopped
1 Tomato – chopped
1 Dry Red Chilli - torn into pieces
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 to 2 tsp Sambar Powder
20 Curry Leaves
2 tbsp Oil
Salt to taste

Method

1. Heat oil in a pan. When hot, add the torn red chilli and fry for a minute.
2. Then add the Mustard and Cumin Seeds and let them crackle.
3. Now add the Onions and Curry Leaves and fry till the Onions turn golden brown.
4. Add the Salt, Turmeric Powder and Tomatoes and cook till the tomatoes are mushy.
5. Now add the beans, mix well, cover and cook till the beans are done. Add a little water if necessary.
6. Once the beans are done, add the Sambar Powder, mix well and turn off the heat.
7. Serve hot with rotis / rice.