9799692b348 Nivedhanam: 2012-09-16

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Brown Rice Dhokla

Khaman and Dhokla are used together, but I see in some websites, that they are not the same and are very different from each other. Dhokla is made with rice and urad dal whereas khaman is made with besan. Some people also call this dhokla as White Dhokla and the Besan Dhokla as Dhokla. I will leave this decision to Gujarathis to guide me on this. Coming to this recipe, it is Brown Rice Dhokla, meaning dhokla as mentioned above with rice and urad dal. In South India, we make Idli which is with Rice and Urad dal and it is almost a staple food in many houses. Traditionally made with white rice, this recipe has a little bit of health included with the inclusion of brown rice. I got this recipe from here we all enjoyed it with tomato chutney. It was very spongy and soft and was a pleasure to learn a new dish. You would get about 18 idlis and around a 9 inch pan filled with dhokla with this recipe. I made this in both idli moulds as well as in an 9 inch round tin. So the next time, I would make the recipe in half or do 2 batches.
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Ingredients
Brown Rice - 1 cup
White Rice - 1 cup
Ulutham Parupu / Urad Dal - 3/4 cup
Kadalai Parupu / Channa Dal - 1/4 cup
Green Chili - 5 - 3 slit cut and 2 minced fine (remove seeds if wanted)
Silken Soft Tofu - 12 oz.
Lemon Juice - 1/4 cup
Eno Fruit Salt - 1 tea spoon
Salt - 1 1/2 to 2 tea spoons
Oil - 2 tea spoons
Mustard Seeds - 2 tea spoons
Coriander Leaves (finely chopped) - 1/2 cup
Grated Coconut - 1/4 cup
Cayenne Pepper - to sprinkle on top (optional)

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Method
Soak the rice and dals for around 8 hours or overnight
Drain and blend them to a smooth paste, adding little water at a time. Do not add too much water, then you cannot blend.
Once it becomes a smooth paste, add the tofu (chopped) and lemon juice and blend again till all the tofu is well incorporated
Set aside for 6 hours to ferment. After 6 hours, keep in the fridge until later use. The original recipe suggested to use within 6 hours, but mine was not even close to done, so I allowed it to ferment for the entire 6 hours and then kept in the fridge overnight and made the dhoklas the next day for breakfast
Grease a 9 inch pan or idli plates or dhokla plates and set aside
Add 1/4 cup coriander leaves, minced green chili and salt to the batter and mix it well
Heat water in a pan which is bigger than the greased pan and let it come to a boil
Now add eno fruit salt to the batter and immediately pour the batter to the greased pan and keep inside the bigger pan with boiling water
Steam cook (no whistle if using pressure cooker) for around 12 to 15 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean
Remove from heat and transfer to a plate
Sprinkle little cayenne pepper on top
Heat a pan and add oil and allow the mustard seeds to crackle, add the slit cut green chili and pour the entire oil over the top of the dhokla
Garnish with coconut and coriander leaves and serve warm or on room temperature!!!



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Comparing White rice and Brown Rice (from Wikipedia) -
Brown rice and white rice have similar amounts of calories and carbohydrates. The main differences between the two forms of rice lie in processing and nutritional content. When only the outermost layer of a grain of rice (the husk) is removed, brown rice is produced. To produce white rice, the next layers underneath the husk (the bran layer and the germ) are removed, leaving mostly the starchy endosperm. Several vitamins and dietary minerals are lost in this removal and the subsequent polishing process. A part of these missing nutrients, such as vitamin B1, vitamin B3, and iron are sometimes added back into the white rice making it "enriched". One mineral not added back into white rice is magnesium; one cup (195 g) of cooked long grain brown rice contains 84 mg of magnesium while one cup of white rice contains 19 mg. When the bran layer is removed to make white rice, the oil in the bran is also removed. Rice bran oil may help lower LDL cholesterol.[3] Among other key sources of nutrition lost are small amounts of fatty acids and fiber.[citation needed

Sending this to My Guest Hosting event – Taste of the Tropics – Coconut, Chef Mireille’s page, Healthy Foods for Healthy Kids - Combo Meal, Nithu's page, Bon Viviant - Rice Dishes, Breakfast Recipes, Lentils and Legumes, FFNF, Priya's page, Nupur's What's with my cuppa, CWS - Urad Dal, Priya's page,


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Thursday, September 20, 2012

Eggless Nutritious Gingersnaps

Gingersnaps are a cookie that have a very unique flavor and texture. Other names they are called with are Ginger cookies, Ginger biscuits or Ginger nuts. I was making these cookies and the whole house was filled with the aroma of ginger and it was amazing. I got this recipe from here and it is sure a keeper. This is surely a cookie with which you cannot stop with one. So making it a little more healthier reduces the guilt load… This has very little processed ingredients. Most of the ingredients are unprocessed like whole wheat flour, wheat germ, molasses, brown sugar and hey this is also Vegan…The cracks on these cookies are its signature and looks so perfect that it is hard to go wrong. You can substitute vanilla for cardamom powder and also if you cannot lay your hands on wheat germ, just add more whole wheat flour.
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Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Monday, September 17, 2012

Vella Kozhukattai (வெல்ல கொழுக்கட்டை)

Happy Vinayaka Chathurthi to all!! This is the first festival I am celebrating on my blog and what a better start than to start with Lord Ganesha's festival!!! Vella Kozhukattai is a traditional sweet prepared during Vinayaka Chathurthi. It is one of the difficult sweets to prepare. Vinayaka Chathurthi is celebrated on the birthday of Lord Ganesha. Main Ingredients for the Vella Kozhukattai are rice flour, Coconut and Jaggery. There are many forms of kozhukattai and vella kozhukattai is the main form. I love this preparation my mom makes and I am trying my best to recreate her magic!! Still trying!!
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Ingredients for the maavu / dough:Rice Flour – 1 cup (No need to roast)
Water 1 ¼ cup
Salt – ½ tea spoon
Sesame Oil – 2 tea spoon
Ingredients for the pooranam / stuffing:
Coconut grated – 1 cup
Cardamom – 4
Jaggery – 1 ½ cups
Water – 3 table spoons

Method
For Maavu / dough:
Heat water in a pan
Add oil and salt to it
Once the water comes to a boil, add the rice flour and blend it well
Stir it continuously till it becomes into a soft dough
Remove from heat and close with a lid and keep aside
For Pooranam / stuffing:Heat the jaggery with water and stir occasionally
Stir well till all the jaggery is dissolved and starts to froth
Stir it well again for couple of more minutes. Ensure that the mixture has very little water.
Add the cardamom to it
Now add the grated coconut to this and mix well
Remove from heat and allow it to cool
For the Kozhukattai:
Coat the palms with little sesame oil to avoid the sticking
Make small balls of the maavu
Press the balls and make a small choppu
Keep the pooranam inside and seal the top making it look like a kozhukattai
Do the above for all the maavu and pooranam
Grease the Idli plates with little sesame oil
Keep these kozhukattai on it and steam cook it (without weight) for about 10-15 minutes
After 10 minutes, check status.
Kozhukattai is done when it looks like it has sweat.
Generally it takes about 10-15 minutes to be done in steaming
Remove the Kozhukattai from the idli plate and is ready!!


Sending this to Taste of the Tropics - Coconut hosted by me, Mireille's page, Pari's Show me your Dessert, Jagruti's I'm well stuffed, Srivalli's giveaway, FFNF in Archana's page, Priya's page, Sumi's Rice Event, Festival Food - Ganesh Chathurthi, South Indian Cooking#2, Anu's page, Steamed Foods, Priya's page, Gayathri's WTML, hosted by SmithaCelebrate - Indian Sweets





 
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