Cooking can sometimes feel like a chore at the end of a busy day. It’s often tempting to throw a ready meal in the oven or call for take out. And now with doctors and nutritionists asking us to incorporate healthy alternatives such as millets into our meals, it can seem even more daunting. But preparing a simple and healthy family meal doesn’t have to be hard or time-consuming. Here’s how to make millet dosa using bajra or pearl millets.
Ingredients
Bajra or pearl millet 1 1/2 cups
Mung dal whole 1/2 cup
Urad dal 1/2 cup
Idli rice 1 cup
Salt to taste
Oil to apply on griddle
Method
Soak the bajra or pearl millets for 8-10 hours. I usually soak this around 11 am and then soak the other ingredients at the end of the day around 10 pm.
The next morning, grind all the ingredients. Start with the bajra or pearl millets first.then add the dals. Lastly add the rice. Grind to a smooth batter, adding as much water as needed. Add salt according to taste.
Leave to ferment till the evening.
Heat an iron griddle and oil it. Make thin and round dosas.
One of my favourites is the Gujarati mango chutney called chunda. Its delicious mix of sweet and spicy flavours makes it a great accompaniment with bread, paranthas and puris. This recipe is an adaptation I developed to make using the local Kerala mangoes. These mangoes are from my cousin’s garden and have a lovely tangy flavour. This chutney can be made from any variety of mangoes and unlike the traditional chunda, they don’t all have to be completely raw. I used mangoes that had started to turn yellow and the chutney still came out perfect.
Ingredients
Raw mangoes — 4-5
Turmeric — 1/2 tsp
Chilli powder — 1 tsp
Cumin powder — 1/2 tsp
Salt — 1 tsp or according to your taste
Sugar — 1 1/2 cups
Method
Wash and dry the mangoes. Peel and grate them.
Add the turmeric, chilli powder, cumin powder and salt.
Mix well.
Add the sugar and mix well. Transfer the contents to a wok and place it on the heat. Cook through, stirring all the while.
Cook for about 10-15 minutes till the sugar is of string consistency. Keep the heat high so that the mango has a crunch.
Cool and transfer to clean glass bottles. Store in the refrigerator.
My husband loved mutton, especially the tender meat from a goat, and I came up with this recipe so that I could make it at a moment’s notice. The secret was that I would marinate the mutton and then keep it overnight in the refrigerator or even freeze it. This meant I could make biryani on call.
Ingredients
Mutton 1/2 kg, cut into cubes and on the bone
Basmati rice 3 cups, washed and soaked for 30 minutes
Tomatoes 2 large, chopped
Green chillies 2, chopped
Onions 2 large + 1, thinly sliced
Ginger 1”
Garlic 4 cloves
Mint leaves, a few
Cloves 2
Bay leaf 1
Cinnamon 1” piece
Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds 1/2 tsp
Coconut oil 2 tbsps
Coriander leaves for garnish
Raisins 3 tbsps
Ghee 1 tbsp
For the marinade:
Yoghurt 1 cup
Turmeric powder 1 tsp
Coriander powder 2 tsps
Chilli powder 1 tsp
Pepper powder 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Method
Marinate the washed mutton in all the ingredients and leave it overnight in the refrigerator.
Heat the pressure cooker and add the oil. Add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds.
When they stop sputtering, add the two large sliced onions. Sauté till they turn transparent.
Crush the ginger and garlic and add to the cooker. Sauté for two minutes till the raw smell disappears.
Add the marinated mutton pieces. Add the cloves, bay leaf, cinnamon, tomatoes and green chillies. Mix well. Add 1 and 1/2 cups of water and cook in the pressure cooker for two whistles on high flame. Reduce the heat and cook for five minutes. Switch off the heat and let the pressure cooker cool down.
Once the cooker is cool and the steam has escaped, open it and stir through once.
Drain the rice and add to the pressure cooker. Close the lid and cook for one whistle. Reduce the heat and cook for one whistle. Let the pressure cooker cool down.
Heat the ghee in a small frying pan and fry the small onion, sliced, till they are brown and crisp. Take care not to burn the slices. Take it out and fry the raisins in the same ghee for a few seconds. Take them out with a slotted spoon.
Open the pressure cooker and stir the remaining ghee in the frying pan through the fluffed up biryani.
Serve on a rice platter, garnished with the coriander leaves, fried onions and raisins. It goes well with a green salad, raita and pappadams.
This dish was created by my mom as a healthy packed lunch for my sister when she started working. Made from cooked rice, this is easy to assemble and make. It is a delicious lunch option.
Ingredients
(Serves 5 persons)
Rice 2 cups, cooked
Tomatoes 2 large, sliced
Onions 2 medium, sliced
Coconut oil 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds 1 tsp
Sambar powder 5 tbsps
Salt to taste
Curry leaves for garnish
Method
Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed wok and add the mustard seeds.
When the seeds stop sputtering, add the onions. Sauté till they turn a light brown.
Add the tomatoes and curry leaves. Cook on medium heat till they soften.
Add the sambar powder and sauté for two minutes.
Add the rice and salt and mix well till the masala coats the rice grains completely
This is actually known as just khaman in Gujarat, but as a pan-Indian dish it is known as dhokla. Filled with protein, this is a light snack that is good any time of the day.
Ingredients
(Serves 5)
Chickpea flour or besan 1 cup (136 g)
Semolina or suji 1 tbsp
Turmeric 1/2 tsp
Water 3/4 cup
Sugar 1 tsp
Oil 1 tbsp
Lemon juice 1 tbsp
Salt 1/2 tsp
Baking soda 1 tsp
Ginger 1” piece
Green chillies 3
Grated coconut 1 tbsp
For tempering:
Mustard seeds 1 tsp
Oil 1 tbsp
Sugar 1 tsp
Curry leaves few sprigs
Coriander leaves for garnish
Asafoetida 1/2 tsp
Salt 1/2 tsp
Green chillies 5
Method
Mix the chickpea flour, suji, baking soda and turmeric together in a bowl.
In another bowl mix the water, oil, sugar, salt and lemon juice. Stir well till the sugar dissolves.
Add to the dry ingredients and whisk well to form a batter.
Pour into a greased tray and steam for 20 minutes.
Heat oil in a frying pan and add the mustard seeds. When they stop sputtering, add the curry leaves and asafoetida. Add the asafoetida and salt and add three tablespoons of water. Stir till the sugar dissolves. Add the green chillies and cool for two minutes.
Pour over the cooked dhokla. Garnish with scraped coconut and coriander leaves.
I could never understand how much time my aunt would spend on making Vegetable Pulao, ensuring each piece was of the same size, blanching and frying each kind of vegetable separately and then bringing it all together to make the final dish. Till the Covid-19 pandemic locked us in our homes. I found myself enjoying the care in cooking and the precision of each step in the making of a dish. I learnt to enjoy the magic of botany and chemistry in the process of cooking.
Ingredients
Basmati rice 2 cups
Cauliflower 1 cup of florets, each 1” thick
Carrots 1 cup of 1” cubes
Frozen peas 1 cup
Potatoes 2 medium, cut into 1” cubes
Onion 1 medium, sliced
Cumin seeds 1 tsp
Cinnamon 1” piece
Ginger 2” piece, crushed
Bay leaf 1
Peppercorns 1 tbsp
Cloves 4
Oil 5 tbsps
Method
Soak the rice for 20 minutes and drain.
Boil a pan of water with 2 tablespoons of salt and blanch the vegetables separately. Don’t blanch the peas.
Heat the oil in a iron pot — I use Le Creuset — and fry the onion slices till they are brown and keep aside.
Fry the blanched vegetables separately and keep aside. Don’t fry the peas.
Add the cumin seeds. When they stop sputtering, add the bay leaf, cinnamon stick, cloves and peppercorns.
Add the crushed ginger and sauté for a few minutes.
Add the peas and the drained rice. Add the fried vegetables and salt to taste.
Mix well and add enough water to cover the rice and 1” above.
Bring to a boil, reduce the flame, cover and cook till the rice is cooked and the water is completely absorbed.
Spinach with mutton is a combo that few can say no to. Winter is a season when spinach is available in plenty and this is something that tastes delicious as temperatures plunge.
Ingredients
(Serves 5)
Mutton 500 g
Spinach 500 g
Yoghurt 1 cup
Red chilli powder 2 tbsps
Salt to taste
Turmeric 1 tsp
Coriander powder 1 tsp
Pepper powder 1/2 tsp
Ginger 2” piece
Garlic 6 cloves
Onion 1 large, chopped
Tomato 1 large, chopped
Bay leaf 1
Cumin seeds 1 tsp
Cinnamon stick 1” piece
Cloves 3
Vegetable oil 2 tbsps
Method
Divide the ginger into two and crush one half with three cloves of garlic. Slice the other half into slivers. Slice the rest of the garlic cloves.
Marinate the mutton with the crushed ginger-garlic paste, yoghurt, chilli powder, salt, coriander powder and pepper powder. Rest in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours.
Boil the spinach and purée in a blender.
Pour oil in a pressure cooker and add cumin seeds. When they stop sputtering, add the bay leaf, cinnamon and cloves.
Add the onions and sauté till they turn translucent.
Add the garlic slices and fry for a few seconds. Be careful not to burn the garlic or the curry will turn bitter.
Add the marinated mutton and fry for five minutes. Add the tomatoes.
Add about half a cup of water and cook on high for one whistle. Reduce the heat and cook for three whistles. Let the cooker cool.
Add the puréed spinach and cook till the gravy thickens.
Garnish with the ginger slices and serve hot with rice, paranthas or whole wheat bread.
A version of the Indian puri or fried bread that has the nutty flavour of caraway seeds. It is easy to make using the recipe given here by adding caraway seeds when making the dough.
Ingredients
(Serves 5) Wheat flour (atta) 3 cups (400 g) Caraway seeds 3 tsp Salt to taste Water as needed Oil for frying
When we were a newly married couple, my husband and I used to cook dinner together. We had a lovely terrace off the kitchen in our first home. We would take a drink each — my preferred drink was and is Coca Cola — and we would concoct all kinds of delectable dishes. One of our favourites was the simple moong dal, made with tomatoes, onions, garlic and fresh coriander leaves. We would team it with paranthas or rotis and rice and with fried fish or prawns as a side dish.
Ingredients
(Serves 3)
Moong dal, split 1/2 cup Onion 1 medium, chopped Tomatoes 2 medium, chopped Green chillies 2, chopped Garlic 5 cloves, chopped Turmeric 1/2 tsp Red chilli powder 1 tsp Cumin seeds 1/2 tsp Ghee 1 tsp Salt to taste Coriander leaves for garnish, chopped
Method
Wash and drain the moong dal. Add the onions, tomatoes, green chillies and garlic. Add water and boil.
Add salt, turmeric and red chilli powder. Simmer till the dal is cooked completely. Add water as needed.
Heat the ghee in a small frying pan and cumin seeds. When they stop sputtering, add them to the dal.
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rice or roti.
I was not a big fan of the bottle gourd or any member of the squash family. Till I got a bumper crop from the garden and the fresh bottle gourd with firm fleshy white meat and no seeds or very tender seeds turned me into a fan. The only dish I would make from bottle gourd or lauki was kofta curry. Then I tried my hand at this humble dal and surprised myself at how tasty it turned out. Using chana dal (split Bengal gram) gives the dish a lovely creamy texture.
Creamy and wholesome
Ingredients
(Serves 4 persons)
Bottle gourd or lauki 1 1/2 cups, peeled and cubed Chana dal 1/4 cup Onion 1, chopped Tomato 1 large, chopped Mustard seeds 1 tsp Garlic 4 cloves, chopped Red chilli powder 1 tsp Coriander powder 1 tsp Turmeric 1/2 tsp Salt to taste Oil 1 tbsp Coriander leaves a few sprigs, chopped Mint a few leaves
Method
Soak the chana dal in water for 30 minutes. Drain.
Add oil to the pressure cooker and sputter the mustard seeds. Add the onions and fry till they turn translucent. Add the garlic and fry for a few seconds. Add the tomatoes and fry till they soften. Add the spices. Saute for 1 minute.
Add the chana dal and the cubed lauki. Add salt and mix well. Fry for two minutes. Add enough water to cover the dal. Close the lid and let it cook on high flame for one whistle and on low flame for four whistles. Switch off the heat and let the pressure cooker cool.
Take the lid off and check the gravy. If needed, heat it till the gravy thickens.
Garnish with coriander leaves and mint and serve hot with rice or bread.
Chills & Chillies 