How to make Dosa | Dosa Batter Recipe | South-Indian Style Dosa Recipe (With Video)

I already have a post on How to make Soft Idli, a year back. I wanted to post some tips and tricks about making dosa for a long time. I wanted to make it simple by giving a video presentation, but being a lazy bugger, I don’t have the patience to take a video of my own. TH was there at home last weekend and I asked him for the help. He patiently took this video for me.

I don’t make separate batter for making dosa. The same batter which I use for idli, makes the work easier. To get the thin and crisp version of dosa, I used to add a cup of water to thinner the batter. Click here to see on How to make Batter for Idli and Dosa.

Stay tuned to get more variations of Dosa. 

Don’t forget to look into the video for more information.

Naan | Tawa Naan Recipe (Without Yeast)

TH always insists me to make naan. But, I never attempted to make at home, rather I can eat nicely when bought outside. The one thing which prevented me from trying is “Yeast”. I don’t have a good opinion on that, donno why! And I don’t want to buy yeast just for making naan alone. We I went through the internet for naan without yeast, I got some idea on that and tried making naan at home Without Yeast.  

The texture was almost like the way we get in the restaurants. Since I have electric gas, I used my grill rack. If you have a wire mesh, that will also work well. Always use thick curd which is freshly made. Sour curd will spoil the taste of the naan. I used store bought plain yogurt. Give the resting period for the dough to increase its volume. I gave 3 hours; you can even keep the dough for about 5-6 hours in room temperature. If the dough is sticky after the resting time, add some maida on top to make it even.

Please see below for the variations u can make with this recipe. Paneer butter Masala would be a perfect combo for this naan. Give it a try and let me know the reviews.

Quinoa Kichadi Recipe

Quinoa is something which am looking and hearing for the first time. It is an American grown grain which is high in protein and also a gluten free grain. I was very hesitant to cook this as am not aware of the taste. When I tried a salad with quinoa in Wood Ranch, I fell in love with it. It was just awesome. You will get the tummy full effect in just with a cup. It takes longer time to chew the grain and makes you feel full for a longer time.

I made this kichadi after watching it in a TV show. One cup of dry quinoa can serve 3 cups of cooked quinoa. So make as per ur need. The measurement which I had mentioned here can be served for 3-4 people. On the other hand, the grain is bit costly from the other multi grains. But this has the capacity to control ur blood glucose levels and maintains the cholesterol in control. This is the best alternative for the rice, I would say.

Hey wait!!! Check out these recipes too. Am sure you will like it.

Ragi Dosa, Oats Dosa, Aval Upma, Brown rice Pilaf

Restaurant-Style Chinese Noodle Recipe | Indo-Chinese Noodle Recipe | Easy Veg Chinese Noodles

Chinese items are something which I always crave to eat outside. Who else will not like??!! They are extremely delicious and in the same way they also use MSG and vinegar which is not recommended for health. I started making it at home and finalized with the recipe. I hope you all remember the Chicken fried Rice Recipe which I shared long before. The recipe is applicable for this too.

I used the sauces which are store bought and even the noodle pack from a local Chinese shop. The trick is to follow the pack instruction correctly to get the long no-mess noodle. I had given the hyperlink for the sauce I had used in the recipe. To give a special touch, I use Anaheim peppers and I loved the taste of it along with the noodle. Never allow the veggies to be soggy. Make sure the flame is high and the veggies remain crunchy. Also add enough of oil to avoid burning of the veggies and chillies in the bottom. A wide open wok will help to do the job best. You need real patience to chop the veggies, else chop them nicely in a chopper. Don’t start with the recipe, unless you are ready with the veggies. Hey there! Don’t forget to check my other Indo-chinese Recipes here. 

Preparation time: 15-20mins

Cooking time: 5-7 mins

Broccoli Paratha Recipe

I must first apologize for my long absence and not being active in blogging. Had lots and lots of work scheduled for the whole month and badly gets time to relax. I had so much of recipe pending to be blogged and am sure I ll share those as soon as possible. Now coming to the recipe Broccoli Paratha is something new which am trying for the past few days. I generally don’t stuff vegetables inside chapathi. We (I and TH) don’t like the stuffed paratha. But nowadays felt bored to having the same usual chapathi and hitting head for the gravies to match up. Hence I tried Mixed Vegetable Paratha (recipe Coming Soon) and also this Broccoli Paratha.

This idea came up after making Broccoli rice. I, kind of minced the broccoli in my chopper and mixed it with rice. TH who doesn’t even like the taste of broccoli, surprisingly liked the dish.  This made me to think of stuffing the chapathi with broccoli, since they are healthier and importantly doesn’t need time to spend for making gravies. I rolled few chapathi as thick and finally tuned to roll it as thin as possible. The thin version is much tastier than the other. But you can try both as per ur wish. Now let’s move the recipe quick!!!

Preparation time: 10 mins

Cooking time: 2-4 mins

Aval Upma | Poha Upma | Flattened Rice Upma with Vegetables

Whenever I run out of time for making breakfast or even for dinner, the first thing comes to my mind is aval upma. Instead going for Maggie, we make this for dinner some times. Since it is rice flakes it gives u tummy full feeling when had a little and they are rich in nutrition. Adding roasted peanuts gives a crunchy effect to the soft poha. You can even try adding roasted cashews.

Aval will swell after adding any type of liquids, either water or milk. But too much of soaking in water may give a soggy texture. So just give a quick soaking time in water before starting up with the recipe. Check outanother recipe for aval here. 

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 10-15 minutes

Kanchipuram Idli | Kancheevaram Idli Recipe | Traditional South Indian Breakfast

Sometimes I run out of recipes to make for dinner. The usual idli and dosa gets boredom and TH needs something special most of the times. Instead of doing the regular idli I tried with the Kanchipuram Idli which amma usually makes for the dinner. This in particular is my appa’s favorite when served with simple coconut chutney.

Kanchipuram idli are much softer than the usual ones since we are adding more of urad dal. Make sure u grind the batter correct. Urad dal must need to be fluffy so that the idli turns beautifully soft. The major ingredient which makes the idli much tastier is the tempering. Peppercorns and cumin are the highlight. Since TH doesn't like whole pepper corns I crushed it a little with my mortar and pestle. Never forget to add the dry ginger powder. If u doesn't have it, never mind, add few pieces of ginger either grated or crushed to the batter. Appa likes the coconut slices which give a crunchy feel in between the idlis. Since TH doesn't like it, I dint add. It’s optional for using coconut slices.

Be more generous in greasing the plates with ghee. It gives an extraordinary flavor to the final product, idli. I served it with carrot coconut (recipe coming soon)

Preparation time: 10 hours (for soaking and fermentation)

Cooking time: 10mins

Methi Tepla Recipe | Gujarati Methi Tepla Recipe

I never failed to grab a bunch of methi leaves whenever I see it fresh in the market. Methi leaves or fenugreek leaves has a distinct taste than the other greens. I love the taste even if it is dried, which we call as kasoori methi. I prefer to add kasoori methi to most of my gravies. When I was in India, I had a cute little garden in my terrace which had mint, coriander, tomatoes, curry leaves and also methi leaves. I planted fenugreek seeds to get the methi leaves. In that way I had my own-grown fresh veggies. It is always fun to plant ur own veggies and the joy when u get ur first bud is enormous which can’t be expressed.

Whenever I think of methi tepla, I remember the Kashmir trip we went in my college. We went to Kashmir Vaishno Devi temple and also to Delhi and Punjab. It was a ten day trip and we had lots and lots of fun there. We used to travel in Air bus to visit the places and there won’t be time to spend for breakfast, since we ran out of it. So we need to skip our breakfast and sometimes even lunch. 

One of my Gujju friend had brought these teplas along with some pickle. Her mom made the best tepla I had in my lifetime and it was super delicious to have after a day of starving. Wen I made this tepla I remembered the good old days!!! Feeling nostalgic… the main reason in writing in this story is, you can store the teplas in room temperature for weeks… It never gets spoiled so easily. It can be a life savior in ur busy picnic schedules. 

Preparation time: 5-7 mins

Cooking time: 1-2 mins

Spinach Dosai | Palak Dosai | Simple Breakfast Recipe

I love to add lots of greens in my lunch menu. But I don’t find any good variety of greens here as like we get in India. So I need to completely depend on spinach all the time. I make all the traditional kootu, poriyal and masiyal with this spinach and it became very boring day by day. Amma gave this idea of adding spinach leaves to chapathi and dosa. I already posted recipe about palak chapathi and now here is the time to share palak dosai/spinach dosai.

In this recipe I used red chillies and I have mentioned of using either green chillies or red chillies. When ur serving for kids try avoid using green chillies since they are extremely hot than the red ones. I served it with chili-garlic pickle; you can try with any types of chutney. 

Preparation time: less than 5 mins

Cooking time: 2-3 mins

Palak Paratha | Spinach Paratha Recipe

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 1-2 minutes

How to make PavBhaji Masala | PavBhaji Masala Recipe

Back, after a long vacation… It was our anniversary and we celebrated it in LasVegas. Wow!!! Watta place to hang out for a vacation. It was all fun there and no mood to return back home… wen ever to get come here, neva miss the Caesar Palace Buffet. It was all time awesome and worth the money. It took us nearly 2 hours to finish off the entire buffet. OMG!!!

Now back to my kitchen, trying new recipes and posting it… I decided to try some north Indian foods for our dinner one day. I thought of making pav bhaji at home and got an idea of using hamburger buns instead of pan. It was the exact replica of the pavbhaji we get to have in the streets of Mumbai. I referred to Vahchef to get this recipe for bhaji and added veggies of my choice. 

Preparation time: 5 mins

Cooking time: 20 mins

How to Make Soft Idli | Tips for Soft Idli | Idli Recipe

Idli and Dosa are the staple meal in all the South-Indian families most especially in Tamilnadu. Amma used to make the batter in the weekends which stays in the fridge always. She takes up a little for day-to-day use. These two are our daily breakfast for most of the days… and she makes a perfect combo chutneys to accompany the soft idlis… she uses Laxmi wet grinder which she bought during her marriage and it is working till now… almost twenty five years or so… and now she switched over to a table top grinder to make things easier…

My first preparation of making idli batter was a grand success. I just followed the instruction from amma, the idlis turned out super soft. After coming to US I bought a Mixer grinder which is very good for making idli batter for a people of two. Even I have the habit of grinding the batter in the weekend and it makes super soft idlis and dosai for the next entire week.

I came upon several queries in many groups and forums about idli batter and thought of posting in my blog. There are several important factors which makes ur idlis soft. I will be posting the tips and tricks along with pics below. Go through and enjoy “batter-ing” 

Preparation time: 6-7 hours (includes Soaking time)

Cooking time: 10 mins

Chilli Chapathi Recipe - Recipe with Left over Chapathi

How many of you had tried the Chilli Parotta which we get in Saravana Bhavan? This dish is one of my favorite recipes in their menu. I knew about the extra calories am gonna get from that. But still I can’t even control myself from ordering it whenever I visit there. Amma always make this chilli chapathi instead of parotta with the left over chapathis. I sometimes prefer to have this as my lunch box special goody. Try the same recipe with Parotta for Chilli Parotta. 

 I got enough appreciation when I served it in a potluck. Do u need to get appreciation by making a delicious dish with the left over chapathis? Then, this is the “must try recipe”.

Check out my another recipe by using the “Left-Over Rice”.

Preparation time: 15 mins ( includes making chapathi)
Cooking time: 20-25 mins

Cheesy Garlic Bread Recipe - Quick & Simple Garlic Bread Recipe

Garlic bread is something which am greatly impressed with. We used to buy the Instant garlic bread from Walmart for our snacking things. On a good day I came to know abt the recipe for this delicious bread and from then on the first snack which comes to my mind is Garlic Bread. I sometimes make this for the breakfast too.

If u have left out bread at home and ur not in a mood to make sandwiches or toast, try this out and am sure you will love it. It can also be served as an appetizer for the parties at home and it is really easy to prepare.

Check out the recipe for chilli cheese toast

Preparation time: 5-6 mins

Cooking time: 3-4 mins

Chocolate Muffins Recipe | 100th Blog Post

I wanted to share something new which I haven’t tried it before. You must be asking me, why, wats spl??? Yes!!! This post is something special to me. This is my 100^th post and am so excited!!! I must thank all the readers and friends for the constant encouragement. Your feedback means a lot to me. Keep posting it...

On this happy occasion I thought of sharing a sweet recipe with you all.  But something insisted me to post a recipe which I haven’t tried before. Yeah, its muffin… this is my first muffin recipe, which is a basic one. As a chocolate lover, I tried a simple and easy chocolate muffin. You can innovate it by ur choice of adding more and more ingredients. 

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 20-30 minutes

Andhra Pesarattu | Green Gram Dosai Recipe

I was waiting for a long time to make pesarattu and blog it. TH doesn’t like it and he never gave me an option of making it. And now it is my turn. No time to make a batter for idli or dosa, here comes the pesarattu… It will definitely help you, trust me. It doesn’t require fermentation time. You can grind the green gram and make the dosa as such. You can even store the batter for days. 

 I haven’t tasted this delicious recipe, since I went to Hyderabad. I must thank the Telegu fren of mine for introducing me to this recipe. We were roaming in the streets of Hyderabad searching for a perfect breakfast after a tiresome journey.  We wanted to taste something different and authentic food of Hyderabad and she called me for a road-side shop making hot and spicy pesarattu. That was the time I got mesmerized. Yes!!! I must use the word mesmerize.  It was really awesome. 

We went to the shop, where we need to stand and eat at the corner of the road. The best part is, I can able to see the way he is making the pesarattu. It was very neat and clean. The way he is trained to make a pesarattu was unbelievable. He makes around 5-7 pesarattu in a minute or so. It was served with a filling of upma inside and hot ginger chutney to the sides. From that day I would never ever miss the chance of having pesarattu whenever I visit Hyderabad.

Check out the Tomato Thokku Recipe which I served with Pesarattu.

Preparation time: 4-5 hours 

Cooking time: 2-3 minutes

Khaman Dhokla | Dhokla Recipe

Vermicelli Biryani | Semiya Biryani

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes

Chilli Cheese Toast | Easy Breakfast Recipe

Preparation time: 2-3 minutes

Cooking time: 6-7 minutes

Serves: 1-2

Inspried from: Sanjeevkapoor khazana

Instant Ragi Dosa | Finger Millet Dosa

I make this dosa as my breakfast for most of the days. It is easy to cook and there is no fermentation and no grinding process involved. Check out my another recipe for a quick fix Oats Dosa.

Let me first tell the health benefits of ragi which made me to start eating it.

• Substitute ragi instead of rice and you will find a great difference in ur weight loss. It controls obesity.
• It can be taken by all diabetic patients; since it has low glycemic index. It results in slow increase of blood sugar level.
• It can surely be taken in this hot weather. It turns out your body literally cool.
• It is very rich in calcium, so you can surely replace ur calcium pills with ragi.
• The rich source of fiber in it controls the blood cholesterol levels.

After knowing all this benefits, who will not follow eating it? Then why wait for… let’s go to the recipe straight away.