If you think that you just don't have the ingredients for preparing any decent dish when guests arrive unexpectedly,then, this recipe comes in handy. You just need to have a packet of ready-made rice noodles at home and this dish is ready in 15 minutes flat. How would you like that for a quick and delicious dish?
It's so simple to make except that you should concentrate on only one thing. Time. The noodles should be kept immersed in hot water for exactly 5 minutes and no more. I think the instructions on the pack say that you need to soak the noodles for 3 to 5 minutes. But I removed the noodles after 5 minutes and the dish turned out really well.
The half kilo pack makes noodles for 8 people. Here is the simplest breakfast recipe for you.
Ready made rice noodles 1/4 kg
Mustard seeds 1 tsp.
Urad dal 1 tsp.
Chana dal 1 tsp.
Fried gram 1 tsp.
Peanuts 8 to 10
cashewnuts (optional) a few
Green chilli 1
Red chilli 1
Salt 1 to 1 1/2 tsp or as per taste
Hing 1/2 tsp.
Cooking oil 4 tbsp.
In a vessel, boil water enough to immerse the noodles.
Pour boiling water over the noodles in another vessel.
Keep it covered for exactly 5 minutes.
Drain the water completely and spread on a flat plate for about 5 minutes.
In the meanwhile, to a pan of hot oil, add the seasoning ingredients --mustard, urad dal, chana dal, fried gram, hing, red chilli -- one after the other adding the green chilli and curry leaves last.
Add salt to the seasoning and mix well.
Add the seasoning to the spread out noodles on the plate and mix well.
Alternatively, empty the noodles from the plate on to the pan and mix on the stove on a low flame for 1 or 2 minutes.
I really don't do the last step but if you want the dish to be hot, mixing this way is the only solution. I would suggest a simple mixing of the seasoning and the noodles and heating in the microwave for a minute or two.
Fry peanuts and/or cashew nuts in a little oil or ghee and garnish. You'll realize how simple it is only after you try preparing it.
Milk 500 ml.
Thick curd 3 tbsp.
Boil milk in a pan.
Let it boil.
Add curd and continue boiling in medium heat. Milk will curdle.
Pour the curdled mixture onto a sieve or even a tea strainer and let it stand for a while.
Alternatively, tie the paneer in a thin cloth and hang it in a dry place.
Remove paneer from cloth/strainer and squeeze excess liquid.
Use this paneer for various recipes.
Spinach 1 bunch
Onions 2
Tomatoes 2
Green chillies 2
Ginger garlic paste 2 tsp. OR ginger- a small piece and garlic 3 pods
Salt 1 - 1 1 /2 tsp.
Cilantro
Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp.
Cumin (Jeera) powder 1/2 tsp.
Coriander powder 1 tsp.
Garam masala 1 tsp.
Asafoetida 1/2 tsp.
Paneer 500 ml milk curdled
Cooking oil 2 - 3 tbsp.
Milk 1/2 cup (optional)
Clean spinach leaves well and boil it with turmeric powder in 2 cups of water.
This cooks very fast, so remove from heat within 3 - 4 minutes.
Remove the spinach (leaving the water aside) onto a blender.
Grind ginger, garlic, green chillies, tomatoes, cilantro, asafoetida, cumin powder, coriander powder and garam masala powder into a smooth paste.
Don't worry if it's a little watery. It's perfectly alright.
Fry finely chopped onions in oil till they are transparent.
Add the ground spinach paste and stir well.
Let it boil for 5 minutes on medium heat.
If you think the mixture is thick, add a little milk and mix well.
Add salt and paneer.
Let it boil for a few minutes more and remove.
Serve hot with chapathi or poori.
Serves 3 people.
Onion 1
Small carrot 1/2
Green bell pepper (Capsicum) 1/4
Green chillies 1 or 1 1/2
Fresh coconut 1/2
Salt 1 tsp. or as necessary
Oil 2 tbsp.
For seasoning:
Oil 1 tsp.
Mustard 1/2 tsp.
Fried gram 1 tsp.
Curry leaves a few
In a pan fry chopped onion.
when it turns pink, add finely chopped carrot and bell pepper.
Fry well till they become soft.
Grind in a blender along with coconut, chillies and salt.
Season with mustard, fried gram and curry leaves.
Goes well with Idli , Dosa , Sevai, Kichadi and Upma.
Variation:
Use only onion and carrot or onion and bell pepper, tastes equally good. A combination of all the three also makes a tasty chutney.
Although this is called instant dosa, it takes a minimum of two hours for the dough to set before you can make the dosas. If you mix the flours and keep the mixture overnight, you'll get better tasting (crisper) and easy-to-make dosas.
Some people dislike the taste of mint in dosa. You can avoid it in such cases. I like to add mint to almost any recipe because of its nutritive value. The rest is your own creativity, you can try many variations according to your taste.
Wheat flour 1 cup
Rice flour 1/2 cup
Water 2 to 2 1/2 cups
Salt 1 tsp.
Onion 1
Green chillies 2
chopped Mint leaves (optional) a handful
chopped Coriander leaves 2 tsp.
Mix wheat and rice flours with salt and 2 cups of water to make dosa batter of pouring consistency.
Take care to remove lumps by mixing well. This takes a little time and patience.
Add more water if necessary to get the right consistency.
Leave covered for at least an hour. The longer you let it stay, the better is the dosa texture.
Chop onions, green chillies and mint and coriander leaves finely and add to the batter. The batter should be almost watery.
Heat a dosa pan and make dosas by pouring the batter in circles starting from the outside and filling the inside.
Do not spread. The heat should be slightly high.
Pour a teaspoon of oil around the dosa and turn in half a minute. It cooks very fast.
Let it cook for another half minute, then remove.
Slightly high heat gives the dosa a nice brown colour.
Variation:
Grind 1 tomato and cilantro leaves and add to the batter. This gives it a lovely taste.
You can grind curry leaves(just a few), cilantro and/or mint leaves and add to dosa batter.
Onion 1
Carrots 2
French Beans 10
Potatoes 2 small
Green peas (fresh or frozen) 1/2 cup
Green bell pepper (capsicum) 1 medium
Milk 1/2 cup
Cooking oil 2 to 3 tbsp.
Wheat flour 2 to 3 tsp.
Finely chopped Cilantro 3 tsp.
To be ground to a smooth paste:
Green chillies 2
Tomatoes 2
Ginger small piece
Garlic 5 big pods or 2 tsp of ginger garlic paste
Aniseeds (saunf) 1 tsp
Khus Khus 1 tsp.
Coriander seeds 1 tsp.
Cumin seeds 1/4 tsp. OR coriander cumin powder-1 heaped tsp.(2 parts coriander seeds and 1 part cumin seeds lightly roasted and powdered).
Garam masala 1 tsp.
Red chilli powder 1/2 tsp.
Fresh coconut scrapings 2 tbsp. (optional)
Cut all the vegetables lengthwise into finger-sized pieces.
Boil vegetables in just enough water(1 to 1 1/2 cups) and milk.
Grind together all the dry ingredients with tomatoes and coconut along with ginger and garlic.
Chop onions lengthwise and fry in oil till they turn pink.
Add the ground paste to the onion and fry till the raw smell leaves. If the mixture is very thick add some more milk and let boil.
Now mix in the cooked vegetables along with the water, add salt and let it boil for a few minutes.
Make a slightly watery paste with wheat flour and water.
Once the kurma boils say for about 5 minutes, add the paste and keep stirring as you add it to avoid lumps forming.
After a few more minutes of boiling with the lid on, remove from heat. Serve hot with chapathi, poori, idiyaappam and aappam.
Garnish with fresh cilantro.
Cilantro can be added to the ingredients to be ground. This gives it a different flavor.
As a first timer, I used to find it difficult to get a recipe right. With practice and a lot of experimenting, I found that there was a great cook in me. If I could do it, why not you? I'm dedicating the contents of this blog to beginners/first-timers in cooking. Of course, experienced cooks may also find a recipe or two new and interesting. No harm in trying out a simple yet innovative recipe, right? Let's get started then friends!! I earnestly believe that you would find this humble beginning of mine useful. Please do give me a feedback, so that I can make changes wherever necessary. Happy Cooking!!!!!!!!!!!
