Oats Veg Bhakri

Hello Friends, Its been quite a while ( to be precise almost 6 years ) since I have published any post on my blog. I might say that a lot of water has flown under the bridge. My grand-daughter just completed six years now and in the meantime, we have also changed our residence. So, overall it was quite hectic these last few years; but seeing my grand daughter growing up gave me and my spouse enough joy and believe me she is quite a handful! 

Well, I am now trying to get back to blogging  {I hope I have not forgotten how to go about it :) }.  I have now to get in touch with all my blogger friends, and hope to revive their contacts too. Looking forward to  your comments and reply like the good old days.

Frankly speaking, what gave me this sudden impetus to restart my blog is that I participated (having got the info from my husband's nephew) in a recipe contest organised by youthofGSB (Gowd Saraswat Brahmin community to which I belong) and they have published all the recipes in the book named Gowd Saraswat Recipe contest book in a pdf format. I think that's enough of my blabbering.  

As you all know that we are all looking for a healthy breakfast to start our day. I was in a mood to start something new and hence started searching on the net for some oats preparation. After a lot of search, I came across Oats Bhakri. I made some changes to suit the texture & palate. Bhakri is generally spread thickly. You can also refer to my earlier recipe of Red Pumpkin Bhakri

Oats Veg Bhakri served with a dollop of white home made butter

Ingredients:

Oats (Instant)            - 1 cup

Semolina (regular)    - 1/2 cup

Curds                         - 1/4 cup

Green chillies            - 1 or 2 chopped

Water                        - approx 1 cup

Corriander leaves      - a small bunch chopped

Grated carrot             - 2 tbsps

Capsicum (chopped) - 2 tbsps

Tomato (chopped)     - 1 medium

Onion (chopped)       - 2 tbsps

Salt to taste

Oil for shallow frying

Method:

1.  In a bowl, mix oats, semolina and salt.
2.  Add curds & mix again.
3. Next add water to dilute it slightly.
4. Now add all the chopped vegetables, green chilies and coriander leaves and give it a good mix.
5. At this stage, add water and mix again without any lumps. The batter should not be very dilute or thick. Let it sit for for about 10 mins.
6. In the meantime, heat a griddle or tawa . Smear oil
7. When the pan is hot enough, lower the heat and spread a ladle of the prepared batter not thinly.
8. Dribble oil all around the bhakri and keep the flame on medium. 
9. Now flip the bhakri and fry on the other side too.
10. Continue in the same manner with the remaining batter.
11. Tastes good with white home made butter.

Preparation Time: 15-20mins

Cooking time       :  20 mins

Makes                   :  8 Bhakris  of  size approx 5-6inches

Ingredients

                                                                   

Oats, Semolina & Salt placed in a bowl

                                               

Curds added to the above mixture

                                                            

Chopped vegetables added to the above mixture

                                       

                                      Batter is mixed thoroughly so that no lumps are formed

                                      

Bhakri has been spread thickly on the hot griddle

                                              

Bhakri has been flipped over

All set & ready to serve

                                                            

Note: 

• Chop the vegetables as finely as possible.
• Oats can also be powdered though not much change in the texture of the bhakri.
• Do not spread the batter thinly.
• Serve with any chutney of your choice if you do not have white butter.
• Bhakris have to be eaten hot.

Bajre Ki Cheela

Hello friends, Diwali kept me quite busy before, during and even after the festival and with the result, blogging took a back seat. All said and done, we had a wonderful time. I hope you all had a nice Diwali too.

After all the sweets and savoury items that we devoured, I thought its time to eat healthy stuff and one such item that I came across is the Bajre Ki Cheela. I had jotted down this recipe from a TV cookery show. It seemed easy and healthy so tried it for the evening snack. I am glad to say it turned out quite well. And according to my opinion, it tastes best with a dollop of white home-made butter.

Bajra also known as Pearl millet is loaded with nutrients and has enormous health benefits.

Ingredients:

Bajra flour	1 cup
Salt	As per taste
Coconut gratings	1 tbsp
Green chilies (chopped)	1
Coriander leaves (chopped)	1 tbsp
Curds	3 Tbsps
Oil	For shallow frying

Method:

1. In a bowl add bajra flour, salt, coconut gratings, green chilies and chopped coriander leaves.
2. Mix well
3. Finally add curds and blend in to form a thick batter.
4. Take a ladle full of the prepared batter and spread it thickly on a heated skillet/ non-stick pan like a dosa - frying on either sides with a little oil on the edges of the dosa.
5. Remove and serve hot.

Preparation time : 10 mins

Cooking time : 3-4mins for each cheela

Makes : 5-6 cheelas depending upon the size

Note:

• The batter does not spread thinly so do not even try it. Once the pan/skillet is heated, keep the flame low.
• Make small dosas the size of Rawa (semolina) Bhakri or a pancake.
• If your skillet or griddle is large, you can easily make three or four at a time.
• For more info on Bajra or Pearl millet health benefits, see here :http://recipeclout.india-server.com/pearl-millet.html

Red Pumpkin Bhakri (pancake)

“Bhakri” is a term used for round, flat Indian bread and is generally thick and not very soft. Different parts of India prepare their own variety of "Bhakri".

The GSB community or the Konkani speaking community of Mangalore and Udupi are familiar with “rawa bhakri” which we normally have for breakfast or for evening snack.

Unlike chapattis, these Bhakris are made by flattening the dough by hand directly on the hot tawa or the griddle.

Red Pumpkin Bakri is very similar to “Rawa Bhakri”. The addition of the red pumpkin not only gives a good texture to the Bhakri but also lends a subtle sweetness without the addition of sugar and makes for a healthy and a tasty breakfast.

Ingredients:

Grated Red Pumpkin	4 cups
Grated coconut	½ cup
Fine Sooji (semolina)	21/2 cups
Wheat flour	½ cup
Asafoetida	½ tsp
Green chilies (chopped)	3-4
Salt	As per taste
Oil	For shallow frying
Water	For dough

Method :

1. In a bowl, crush green chilies, asafetida and salt together.
2. Add the grated coconut and mix well with your hands.
3. Next add the grated pumpkin, semolina and the wheat flour. Mix all these ingredients well and add water a little at a time to form a soft pliable dough. Keep it aside.
4. Heat a griddle or a tawa. Smear it with oil.
5. Now, take a small ball of the dough and place it on the tawa/gridle and flatten it with your hands evenly. To prevent the dough from sticking to your hand, dip your fingers in a bowl of water and then flatten them into small “bhakris” or pancakes.
6. Dribble a little oil on the sides and fry on both sides on a medium flame until brown spots appear.
7. Follow the same procedure for the remaining dough.
8. Serve hot.

Serves: 4
Makes : 16 Bhakris (depending upon the size)

Ingredients for Red Pumpkin Bhakri

 Grated Red Pumpkin

 

 Red Pumpkinn Bhakri Dough

Note :

• This is an excellent breakfast dish. It has to be eaten hot. It is generally eaten with a dollop of white butter. But any chutney of your choice also goes well with it.
• Before grating the pumpkin, wash it and remove the seeds. Peeling the skin is not necessary.
• The size of each bhakri that I prepared was roughly 3'' in diameter. 
• You can increase the quantity of grated coconut if you so desire.

Snakegourd Seed Pancake (" Poddale Biye Sannapolo")

“Poddale Biye Sanna Polo” in Konkani language literary means Snake-gourd seed Pancake. This pancake is unique to our Konkani or GSB community.

Generally the seed and the pulp inside the snake gourd are discarded. But if the seeds are tender, then both the seed and the pulp can be used to make this tasty pancake.

The tenderness of the seeds can be tested as follows: Hold one of the seeds in between your index finger and thumb and apply pressure on the seed with your thumb. If it gets crushed, then it is tender but if it jumps out of your fingers then discard it!!

Ingredients:

Snake Gourd seeds (tender) + pulp	About 1 cup
Rice Flour	2 tbsps
Gram Flour	2 tbsps
Turmeric powder	¼ tsp
Red Chilly Powder	1 tsp or as per taste
Asafoetida	¼ tsp
Salt	As per taste
Water	½ cup

Method:

• Mash the snake gourd seeds & pulp. (If you have a food processor, you can put this in and run it for a second – it will give a better result. Remove it in a bowl.
• To this add turmeric powder, red chilly powder, salt and asafoetida. Mix well.
• Then add the gram flour and rice flour and make sure that no lumps are formed.
• Add a little water if necessary. Do not make it watery.
• Heat a tawa/frying pan. Smear a little oil on it. Spread the batter with a ladle on the frying pan (3 or 4 pancake/polo at a time depending upon the size of your tawa/frying pan) each about 5” in diameter.
• Fry it as you fry any pancake or polo – overturning it on the other side too till dark brown spots appear.
• Serve Hot.

Makes about 4-5 pancakes or polo

Variation:

Another variation of this pancake or polo is, to substitute red chilly powder and asafoetida with chopped green chilies, onion and coriander leaves. Rest of the method is the same.

Note:

This pancake or polo is served as a side dish during lunch.

For info on Snake gourd :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichosanthes_cucumerina

Watch out for my next recipe on snake gourd.