Ground coconut chutney (for idli and dosa)

All my ground coconut woes have been sorted, thanks to the Philips mixer i got back from India this time, much to Ro's protests. I regret not having bought one earlier and suffering the last 9 years with all sorts of blenders from here where it would not grind the coconut to a smooth paste, and i used to hate having small bits floating around my curries. So those contemplating, just don't think twice, do yourself a favour and buy it.

Serves 3 (as a side to idli or dosa)

Grated coconut- 1 cup

Shallots- 1 tbsp, roughly chopped

Dried red chilli- 1 ( add more according to spice)

Kashmiri chilli powder- 1 tsp

Ginger- 1 tsp, peeled and roughly chopped

Salt- to taste

To temper

Coconut oil- 1/2 tbsp

Mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp

Urad dal- 1/2 tsp

Dried red chilli- 1, broken in half

Curry leaves- 5 to 6 leaves

Onion- 1 heaped tbsp, finely chopped

Into a mixer bowl add the coconut, onion, dried red chilli, chilli powder and ginger.

(Add enough water to just cover the coconut. Please don't add a lot of water, as this would make the chutney too watery. That said, if the water is too less then that wont grind the coconut well enough. However, if in doubt, start with smaller quantities of water and then add more if required)

Grind everything together to a smooth paste.

Pour into a serving bowl and keep aside.

In a deep pan or kadai, heat the coconut oil and add the mustard seeds.

Once they start to splutter add the urad dal and stir till it begins to brown a wee bit. Take care not to burn it.

Throw in the dried red chilli and curry leaves followed by chopped onions.

Fry till the onions have turned a golden brown.

Immediately pour over the ground coconut mix and  it would sizzle a bit.

Stir the tadka into the coconut chutney and serve with idli or dosa.

Kuzhi paniyaram

That's one more thing crossed off the "to make" list. I kept whining about not having an unniappam/aebleskiver pan for so long, my mum sent hers through my sister-in-law last year. For some strange reason I thought I couldn't use it on my flat glass hob and packed it up to send it back. But an over packed suitcase meant she had to leave some stuff behind and this pan was the first thing to be thrown out of the suitcase because my mum really couldn't care less about unniappams and she said she dint really want it back. So it was stashed away in a corner and forgotten....

...till a few weeks back when Vineetha sent me some yummy unniappam from her Vishu celebrations and I decided it was high time I fixed my unniappam pan issue. I mean I was having unniappam after some 2 or 3 years and it brought back all those memories and cravings for the same. Took the pan out and decided to give it a go (before Ro got back home from work, or else he would find some fault with it). As usual the necessary ingredients- jaggery and bananas- weren't in stock, but since the pan was out I HAD to make something in it. 

The dosa batter (store bought) came to my rescue and since kuzhi paniyarams were a close second on the list, I got down to business. The pan worked and the paniyarams came out great. I was so excited at the outcome I couldn't wait to show Ro when he got back home. Of course he couldn't understand why I was getting hyper about the "idli's," after he bit into one. Thank god for whatsapp, I sent my sister-in-law (yes the one who brought me the pan) a pic and she was as excited as me, cos I introduced her to paniyarams at a South Indian restaurant here in London.

I served these with coconut chutney and it was the perfect tea time snack. The pan was put to good use shortly after where I made tiny vada's using the MTR vada mix. Like a fellow blogger friend said, it would be great as a starter with drinks and such.

Idli/ dosa batter- 2 cups

Baking soda- 1/4 tsp

Coriander leaves- 3 tbsp, finely chopped

Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves- 6 to 8, finely chopped
Ginger- 1 tsp, finely grated (optional)

Green chillies- 2, finely chopped

Shallots- 1/4 cup

Asafoetida- a pinch (optional)

Grated coconut- 2 tbsp

Salt- to taste

Oil- to fry

In a large bowl mix the batter with baking soda and salt and keep aside for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tbsp oil in a saucepan and splutter mustard seeds followed by curry leaves.

Tip in the ginger, green chillies and shallots and asafoetida and sauté till the onions wilt and turn light brown.

Add the grated coconut, stir for a couple more minutes and take it off the heat. Keep aside to cool.

Into the batter throw in coriander leaves and cooked mix and stir well to combine. Do a taste test and add more salt if required.

Heat the paniyaram pan and add a few drops of oil into each of the holes.

Once the oil is hot, add a tbsp of batter into each of the holes.

Cook on medium heat till the edges start turning brown.

At this point flip them using a fork or a skewer and let the other side cook equally. Drain on paper towels.

Add more oil into the holes and repeat till all of the batter is used up.

Notes: The batter I get from the store is very thick and so I dilute it with a bit of water.

The baking soda helps in achieving nice soft idlis and such and so by practise I always mix it in my batter. The paniyarams puffed up nicely with that addition.
Of course, you can make the same without a paniyaram pan, just that you wont get the perfect rounds. I have tried the same here is the recipe. Tasted just the same.

Mysore masala dosa and an event announcement

Before you go ahead and judge me by saying, omg another dosa recipe, who needs that? let me confirm that its actually for my benefit than yours because i really had to have a fool proof recipe on record since my life was wasted searching the internet for chutney and masala recipes. I don't make my own dosa batter, let me make that very clear, and am very happy with the results the ready made dosa batter gives me. 

I also suck at making a normal sambar and an even simpler chutney which is why I like to serve dosa with chicken curry (for dinner that is) and idli with fish curry. Have you tried the combo? Its divine, really it is! But on some very rare occasions, I feel like going all out and the Mysore Masala Dosa was an after effect of one of those days. 

I have fond memories of Mysore masala dosa and I don't think i have had any as good as the ones from Sangeetha restaurant in Nungabakkam, Chennai. My hostel was just around the corner from the restaurant and on Sundays, usually after a hang over from hitting the clubs the previous night, we would all wake up by around 11 or 12 and conveniently miss breakfast at the hostel (which would be upma or something uninteresting like that). With rumbling tummies we would then start discussing brunch/lunch options. Ideally it would be Crescent hotel which we would want to go to, for their yummy Prawn biryani (which btw if you haven't tried, YOU SHOULD!), but mostly we would all be broke and so Sangeetha Vegetarian restaurant would be our next best choice. And the Mysore masala dosa there is perhaps one of the best i have ever had. Let me assure you, this is no where close to what they serve, but it was good enough to shut me up about Mysore masala dosa for a while.

I would suggest you make all the items a day ahead so you dont ruin the whole assembling process. My dosa making skills are not so good and mostly the first 2 or 3 dosas always get dumped. Either the heat is not right or the spreading is not correct or something usually goes wrong. I also like my dosas crispy and so this time I was determined to make them right so I could take a few pics, which is no easy feat. One, because there are not many ways to make a dosa look appealing and two, they don't really stay crisp for that long. So this was the best I could do :)

For a recipe for perfect dosa batter, check out this informative post by Sala here

If it's idli's you are looking for then Nags has summed it up pretty well in her post here

I, on the other hand, use the store bought batter for both idli and dosa. I always freeze the batter the day i pick it up and it stays for a really long time. I thaw it at room temperature and use it as desired. I usually make idlis the day I open it. I mix a tsp of baking soda to the batter and leave it for about an hour. This has fetched me really really soft idli's. I then thin down the batter with some water for using it in dosas, or if I'm up to it I separate them in the beginning itself and use them accordingly. But really, if you are up to making your own batter, follow the above mentioned links like the Bible :)

Mysore masala dosa

Dosa batter- around 1 cup

Ghee- enough to drizzle

For the filling

Idli podi/ mulaga podi- here & here (I buy mine from the store. Yes, I am a disgrace to the food blogger community)

Onion chutney

Red onion- 1 medium, roughly chopped

Garlic- 4 to 5 pods, peeled and roughly chopped

Chilli powder- 1 tsp

Tamarind paste- 1 tsp

Salt- to taste

Oil- 1 tbsp

Heat oil in a pan and add the onions and some salt

Sauté on medium heat till they become a light brown in colour.

Add the chilli powder and continue to cook for a minute or so. 

Remove from heat and leave aside to cool for a while.

Add the cooled mix, garlic and tamarind paste and blend to a smooth consistency.

Resist the urge to add water, but if absolutely necessary, add a tsp or so and increase gradually.

You can do the above without cooking the onions by pulse all the ingredients in a blender. I find it a bit too overpowering and so I cook the onions.

Potato masala

Potaoes- 2 medium, quartered and pre cooked

Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves- a sprig

Asafoetida- a generous pinch

Onion- 1 medium, thinly sliced

Ginger- 1.2 inch piece, thinly sliced (optional)

Green chillies- 2, slit

Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp

Salt- to taste

Break down the pre-cooked potatoes using a fork, but don't mash it up. Keep aside.

In a kadai heat the oil and temper mustard seeds, curry leaves and asafoetida.

To this add the onion, ginger and green chillies and cook till the onions wilt and turn a light brown colour.

Add the turmeric powder and cook for a minute or two after which you dump in the potato and give a good stir, making sure the potatoes are well mixed with the masala.

Check for salt, add a dash of water to prevent it from drying out and cook for a further 2 to 3 minutes after which you can transfer the masala to a serving plate and keep ready. 

Accompaniment

Sambar- here & here

Coconut chutney (recipe adapted from here)

 

Grated coconut- 1/2 cup

Shallots- 1 small, roughly chopped

Ginger- 1/2 inch piece, peeled and roughly chopped

Chilli powder- 3/4th tsp

Water- 2 tbsp, adjust accordingly

Salt- to taste

Oil- 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp

Curry leaves- a sprig

Grind together the coconut, shallots, ginger, chilli powder and salt with the water in a blender till you get a smooth paste.

In a saucepan, heat the oil and splutter mustard seeds and curry leaves.

Keep the heat to medium and pour in the coconut paste mix along with about a 1/4 cup of water.

Cook, stirring continuously, till you see the steam coming from the spatula when lifted off the chutney. 

make sure the chutney doesn't boil.

Also adjust water according to taste. I like mine a wee bit thick, so i reduced the water.

Assembling

Keep a non-stick dosa tawa over medium heat.

When ready, add a ladle full of dosa batter and spread it in a circle.

Drizzle a spoon full of ghee over the spread out batter and along the side, lightly dabbing it into the batter. Wait for the dosa to slightly cook.

Spread a spoon of the onion chutney, sprinkle some idli podi and cook till the dosa slightly crisps.

Finally top one half of the dosa with a generous serving of the potato masala, fold over and cook for a minute or two after which you can transfer to a serving plate.

have them warm with a side of the chutney or sambar.

Bloggers' Buzz event announcement

A bunch us food bloggers met early this year in London and we had such a blast, we thought it was high time we took this whole thing to another level. So we brainstormed a bit and came up with Bloggers' Buzz, a platform for like-minded people to come together to share their passion for one thing- FOOD.

This is going to be a one day event with food blogging related master classes like basics in food photography, ethics and copyright, monetising your blog etc. and there will also be loads of networking opportunities with those attending. If that's not good enough then wait till you see the fabulous sponsors that we have roped in for the event and we assure you, you will be leaving the event with a big smile, some new friends and a goody bag full of surprises.

If you are a food blogger based out of UK or Europe or someone who simply fancies food in general, then this is definitely where you need to be. Do check out our official event blog http://bloggersbuzzuk.blogspot.co.uk/ for more details and updates and register right away as we have some really cool prizes to be won for a few competitions we will be running from Jan onwards. If you would like any more details regarding this, drop in a line to Nupur at bloggerbuzzuk@gmail.com or just leave a comment on this post :)

We are counting on you guys out there to make this event a success. So do book a place and feel free to spread the word. The more! the merrier!

With loads of love and Christmas cheer,

The Bloggers' Buzz Team