MLA Dosa ( Pesarattu / Green Moong Dosa with a filling of Upma )

Many many moons ago when I first stepped onto the Hyderabad soil, I had hardly bargained for the surprises in store. The language, the culture, the food and even the obnoxious auto-wallahs came as a shocker to me. However with the passage of time, I was able to make peace with everything except the food. Used to the mild and less than runny dals, I just could not fathom pairing my rice with rasam ( glorified tamarind water as I called it ), oily shriveled fries and curd. It was tough and the pickle become my only solace except for the weekends when they served Chicken/egg curry. Being on a student budget, Biryani seemed to be a rare luxury that could only be savored on special occasions. Sadly, the scenario did not change much even after I got a job and moved on to a better (read 'more posh') hostel. The cooks were sourced from Andhra and they catered to a South Indian majority.

However, there was a silver lining to this gastronomic cultural shock. And that was the availability of the South Indian tiffin centers that sold Idli/Dosa/Upma during most times of the day. So, if on a particular day we felt nauseated by looking at the hostel menu, we ended up eating a masala dosa for lunch/dinner. It was during one such visit to a joint that I ordered the MLA dosa on a whim. The name had piqued my curiosity but the grandiose imagery that I had conjured up in my mind disappeared the moment it arrived at the table. I realized that I had been tricked into ordering the Pesarattu which I had been avoiding like the plague. I glanced at my roomie with the most innocent 'Puppy eyes' look that I could manage. But she was happily digging into her Choley Bhature and was quite oblivious to my distress.

Left with no option, I gingerly broke a piece of the Pesarattu, wrapped it around some of the upma, dipped it in some spicy chutney and popped it into my mouth with a bundle of misgivings. And was pleasantly surprised !! Turned out that my fears were completely unfounded and it tasted quite mild actually if I were to discount the spicy chutney. I was happy to have discovered yet another ally amongst the inscrutable South Indian menu.

While it took me a few trails and finally the help of my Andhra neighbor to nail this recipe, I am still in the dark about the real story behind the discovery of this dish. Whether it is the popular one about this dosa being a favorite on the Raj Bhavan canteen menu to the more credible one about a sycophant who combined the two favorites to please a member of the Legislature, each one has enough spice to keep one guessing. Try it out for yourself even as figure out the one that captures your imagination.

Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 30 mins

Ingredients -

For the Pesarattu -

• 1 cup whole green moong dal ( even split ones will do )
• a fistful of poha/avalakki/chiwda/chuda
• 1 green chili
• a small piece of ginger
• 1-2 pinch cumin seeds
• salt to taste

For the Upma -

• 1 cup rawa ( I use Bombay rawa )
• 1 tsp channa dal
• 1 tsp urad dal
• 1/3 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 small onion
• 1-2 green chilis
• 1 sprig curry leaves
• a pinch of asafotida
• 1/2 tsp ginger juliennes
• salt to taste
• 2 tsp ghee 

Others -

• Oil for making the dosa
• chopped onions for garnishing (optional)

Preparation - Wash and soak the moong dal overnight. Rub it to loosen the skin. Remove about 50-60 perecent of the skin for a better taste.

Transfer the moong dal, poha, chili, ginger, cumin and salt into a mixer jar. Grind into a fine paste with a consistency that is similar to the dosa batter.

Cooking - Heat 1 tsp ghee in a wok. Add the rawa and fry till it gives off a sweet smell. Remove and keep aside.

Heat the remaining oil. Add the asafoetida, mustard seeds and broken green chili. Once it gets spluttering, add the dals and fry a bit. Then add the chopped onions and curry leaves. Fry till onion is translucent.

Add 2 cups water and bring it to a boil. Add the salt and then the roasted rawa.

Cook till all the water is absorbed. Remove from the flame. Cover and keep aside.

Heat a dosa tawa. Take some of the green moong batter and spread it a little thick.

Once it is a little done, scrape off some of the batter for crispy and thin dosa.

Drizzle the oil on the sides. Place some upma in the center and garnish with onion/ginger/carrot . Fold and remove from the tawa.

Serve hot with onion-tamarind chutney !!

Note - If you are very particular about the bright green color, use a few coriander leaves for making the gravy. 

Vegetable Daliya ( Vegetables with cracked wheat )

A very simple and nutritious daliya recipe that I made for my son. Apart from the regular vegetables, one can also add some sweet corn/baby corn and colorful peppers to give the dish a visual lift. I have kept the spice level low as it is intended for toddlers but one can add more for that extra zing.

Read on for the recipe -

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Preparation Time - 25 mins

Ingredients -

• 1 cup daliya or cracked wheat ( used Patanjali brand )
• 1 1/2 cup assorted vegetables ( carrot, cauliflower, french beans, peppers, sweet corn, beetroot, potato )
• 1 small onion
• 1 small tomato
• 1/5 tsp red chili powder
• 1/6 tsp coriander powder
• a pinch of cumin powder
• a pinch of turmeric
• a pinch of cumin seeds
• 2 1/2 tsp ghee (Patanjali brand)
• 1 tsp oil
• salt to taste
• coriander for garnishing

Preparation - Heat a frying pan. Add 1 tsp ghee followed by the daliya. Roast for 5-6 minutes on medium heat.
Remove and keep aside.

Chop the onion and tomato into small pieces.

All the vegetables should also be chopped into tiny pieces if they are to be pan cooked. Bigger sizes are Ok for pressure cooking.

Cooking - Take the roasted daliya in a cooker. Add 4  cups warm water and salt to taste. Close lid and cook for 3-4 whistles. Remove from flame and keep aside till steam escapes.

Heat  the oil and 1/2 tsp of ghee in a wok. Add the cumin seeds and allow to pop.

Add and fry till translucent.

Add the vegetables along with salt, turmeric, chilli powder, cumin power and coriander powder. Mix well and fry for a few minutes till vegetables are cooked through. (Sprinkle some water and cover with a lid for faster cooking)

Finally add the tomatoes and allow them to soften a bit. Now add the cooked daliya and mix thoroughly. Cook for a few minutes more so that the flavors are properly assimilated into the daliya. Remove from flame and keep covered for 4-5 minutes.

Sprinkle remaining ghee and coriander leaves. Serve hot.

 Note - One can add some more hot water during the last stages of cooking to thin the consistency further. This is especially good for younger kids ( less than 1.5 years of age ) as they tend to swallow rather than chew down their food. One should also pressure cook the vegetables before combining with the cooked daliya for such toddlers.

Khoya Paratha

If there is one food hotspot of India that gets featured over and over on television, its the -'Paranthe wali gali' in Delhi. Ofcourse the 'Khao Gali' in Mumbai comes close. Or maybe its a tie between the two for the Numero Uno position. I guess it just depends on how many times an individual has caught it on television. But coming back to the 'Paranthe Wali gali', the last time I caught it on TV inspired me to try out atleast a dozen of the varities described. Some really sounded exotic like this 'Khoya parantha'.

Preparation Time - 12-15 mins

Ingredients -

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat atta
• 2/3 cup unsweetened khoya
• 1/4 cup chopped raisins and cashews
• 2-3 tsp sugar
• salt to taste
• milk for kneading the dough (optional)
• 3-4 tsp oil or ghee for frying the Paranthas

Preparation - Take the dough on a kneading plate/ wide vessel. Sprinkle salt and mix in.

Add milk little by little and make a smooth and soft dough. Apply little oil or cling film over the dough and keep aside.

Cooking - Heat a frying pan. Add 1/2 tsp oil/ghee. Add the raisins and cashews and fry for 10-15 seconds.

Next add the crumbled khoya and fry till it turns light brown in color. Sprinkle sugar and cook on low flame till sugar melts in. Switch off flame and keep aside.

Pinch small balls out of the dough and roll into small circles. Place a little of the khoya mixture over one circle and apply little water around its circumference. Put another circle over it and press lightly to close the ends.

Heat a flat tawa and place the parantha over it. Drizzle ghee/oil and cook on medium flame till little brown spots appear. Flip over to the other side and add some more ghee/oil. Cook till brown spots appear and then remove from tawa.

Repeat for the remaining paranthas.

Serve as it is or with some sweet / savoury side dish. ( This is usually accompanied by 'kele ki chutney' in Paranthe Wali Gali. Will post the recipe soon. )

Note - Any leftover khoya mixture can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for upto a month (as per my experience). No need to warm it before using. It reverts to its original texture as it gets cooked with the paranthas.

Gobi and Chenna Paratha

When the kids start school, one invariably runs out of options for the tiffin/lunchbox sooner or later. With time being a constraint and junk not a healthy option, a variety of parathas/upmas and sandwiches are the best alternatives available to working mothers. This is one such 'Paratha' that is filled with the goodness of cauliflower and chenna(panner). Best part is that it takes very less time to make and can also be made in the microwave (Just brush on some oil on the rolled out paratha and place it in the microwave for 2 mins) .

Read on for the easy recipe-

Preparation Time - 15-20 mins

Ingredients -

• Whole wheat flour ( 1 1/2 cups)
• chenna ( 1/3 cup )
• cauliflower florets (1/2 cup)
• onion ( 1 small, chopped )
• coriander leaves ( 1 tbs, chopped )
• cumin powder ( 1/5 tsp )
• red chilli powder ( 1/5 tsp )
• salt to taste
• oil/ghee ( 2 tsp )
• warm ghee ( 1/2 tsp ).

Preparation - Boil water in a saucepan. Add salt and a little turmeric. Add cauliflower florets and boil for 3-4 mins. Drain and transfer to a bowl containing cold water. Allow to stand for 2 -3 mins. Darin excess water. Buzz in a hand blender/food processor for 1 minute along with the chenna to get a coarse mix.

Take the flour in a plate. Rub in the warm ghee.

Add the chopped onion, chenna, cauliflower paste, cumin powder, red chilli powder, coriander and salt. Mix well. Add water little by little to get a stiff dough as the chenna and cauliflower also have quite a bit of moisture. Cover with moist cloth and keep aside for 15 mins.

Make 4-5 balls out of the dough. Roll out the balls into parathas/circles.

Cooking- Heat a non-stick tawa. Put one paratha, add little ghee/oil and cook for 1-2 minutes. Flip and add some more oil/ghee. Cook till done.

Repeat for the other parathas as well.

Note - Skip the chenna or replace with some grated silken tofu for a vegan version.

Bread Upma

Sandwiched, toasted, dipped in egg/batter and fried, slathered with jam. Does that bring on a sense of 'deja vu'? Yeah we are talking about the very unpretentious bread. Available in varieties like sweet. milk, sandwich, fruit, whole wheat, multi-grain, it is the Holy Grail breakfast for most of us.

Today we will be adding to this repertoire with another easy-breezy bread recipe . And this is one great way of masking that stale bread lying unused in the fridge ( The bread has to be in edible condition....Crumbly is OK Fungus is a strict No-No ). Read on for the recipe:

Preparation Time - 10 mins or less

Ingredients - 4 pieces bread, 1 small onion, 1 green chilli, 2 tsp oil, a pinch of mustard seeds, a pinch of cumin seeds, 1/5 tsp red chilli powder, pinch of turmeric, salt to taste.

For garnishing - 1 tbs chopped coriander leaves, 2 tbs freshly grated coconut(optional), 1 tsp lime juice.

Preparation - Cut the onion into thin long pieces. Cut the green chilli into small pieces.

Cooking - Heat the oil in a wok. Add the cumin and mustard seeds. Allow to splutter. Add the chopped onion and fry for 30-40 seconds. Add the green chilli .

Dip the bread slices in water for 1-2 seconds, take it out and squeeze out all the water.

Crumble the soaked bread and add it to the wok. Add salt, turmeric and red chilli powder. Fry for 3-4 minutes. Add the chopped coriander, grated coconut and lime juice. Mix well.

Serve hot .