Jhatphat Dosa

This is another childhood fave...I would get so excited to see this brown crispy, yet soft dosa on my plate. I attempted to make it a year ago, working on memory for a list of ingredients. It did not turn out well. C ate it, most likely because we were still in the honeymoon phase of our marriage and he felt obligated. I made it once more trying to perfect it, this time with help from the Konkani cooking goddess (a.k.a. my mom). It came out better, but C was not a fan. Then, inspiration struck and I added a lot more water and voila! It came out perfect! This time, I added too much salt, so C was just about done with this dosa but nevertheless, I persevered. I begged him to try it justonemoretimepleaseifyoureallylovemeyou'lljusteatitandstopbeingapain pretty please and he did and whaddaya know? It came out perfect. He is now a jhatphat dosa fan. Not as big a fan as I am, but I'll take it! :)

On to the recipe!

Serves: 3-4

1/2 cup all purpose flour
1.5 cups water
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp asafoetida
2 tsp freshly grated coconut
1/2 tsp freshly grated ginger
3 green chillies, chopped
4 curry leaves (karbev)
1/2 tsp mustard seeds (sasam)
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp oil

1. Place chopped chillies, coconut, ginger, salt, asafoetida and sugar in a bowl. Muddle until all the ingredients are well mixed. Add flour and stir. Gradually add water until batter has a thin consistency.
2. Add 1 tsp oil and mustard seeds to a pan on medium high. When mustard seeds start to pop, add curry leaves. Be careful, because the oil will splatter once you add the leaves.
3. Quickly take pan off heat and add oil/seeds/leaves (phan) to the batter. Stir until mixed evenly.
4. Pour 1/4 cup of batter into a hot, well-oiled pan. Batter should spread instantly and bubble. If it does not spread, add more water. Mix batter before pouring as some ingredients will settle to the bottom. Place a little oil at the circumference of the dosa to make it easier for removal. Flip dosa until both sides are browned to your satisfaction.
5. Put on a plate and serve!

'Til the next dish...

Bread Upkari (Spiced bread)

I thought I would break the monotony of Indian/Konkani dishes by throwing in a Pad Thai dish. That didn't last too long because here I am again with a Konkani dish. For me, the point of this blog is to create an online recipe book for myself, so that I have a record of the winning recipes for my favorite dishes. :) 


Bread upkari isn't a 'fixed' recipe and by that I mean there are tons of variations on the recipe I'm about to post. I've looked online for some and found that people add peas and carrots to theirs. I'm a purist (or rather, I grew up eating a purist recipe) and I don't like adding peas and carrots and whatnot to my bread upkari. Although, there's nothing to stop you from adding them if you prefer them. :) 


Ingredients:


1/2 pound slightly stale bread (1/4 a sliced loaf), cubed
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsps plain non-fat yogurt*
2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 medium red onion, sliced
3 green chillies, sliced
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
4-5 curry leaves
3 tbsp shredded coconut
1 tbsp finely chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp fresh lime juice 
1/2 cup water


*Omit if using fresh bread


1. Place bread cubes in a large bowl and add the turmeric, salt and yogurt. The yogurt is used to soften the slightly stale bread, so do not use it if the bread is fresh. Mix until the turmeric is evenly distributed. The bread should have a slightly yellowish hue to it, so add a little turmeric and then increase if it looks very pale. 

2. Heat oil and butter in a pan. Add mustard seeds until they start to pop. Then quickly add green chillies and curry leaves. Fry for about 10 seconds and add the sliced onions.

3. Cook onions until they are translucent. Add the bread and stir. Once the bread and onions are well mixed, add two tbsp of water around the edge of the pan and quickly stir the bread. Continue to add water (sprinkling is better than pouring) until bread achieves soft and slightly moist texture. 


4. Add coconut, cilantro and lime juice. Stir until well mixed and serve!


'Til the next dish..

Nevri/Karanji

As a kid, one of my aunts would make this every so often and I loved them so much, I would call them "Ds" because of their shape. I never learned the actual name of the dessert, tsk tsk. Luckily, my mom knew what I was referring to, but would refuse to make it because it involved frying. *sigh*

I had a hankering for them a few days ago and found out that in Konkani, they're called Nevris. In Marathi, they're called Karanjis. I call them delicious. :) Funny story, I was in India having dinner with my parents and uncle before leaving for the airport when my uncle asked if I wanted dessert. I had an upset stomach, so I wasn't too keen on it but he insisted I would love it when it came out. I half-heartedly agreed and when it came out, I was SO excited (it had been years since I had one) that I dug in, tummy ache and all. Point being, nothing gets in between my nevris and me. :)

Alright, on to the recipe... (I made a few changes to the recipe for the filling)

Ingredients:

Dough

1 cup flour

2 tbsp warm oil

1/2 cup water

1/2 tsp salt

Oil for frying

Filling

1 cup shredded coconut

3/4 cup jaggery

1/2 cup water

1 tsp ground cardamom (20 pods worth)

1. Make the dough by adding oil and salt to the flour. Once mixed, slowly add in a little water until the dough is formed. It should feel sticky, but not stick to the fingers. The description on the site said "stiff" dough, but I think a better word is dry dough. Stiff, to me, means a rock hard ball of flour, which is not what you want.

2. Cover the dough with plastic and keep aside for 1/2 hour. I usually make the dough first, and then make the filling.

3. Heat the water on a low flame until bubbly. Add jaggery (best if they're in small pieces). Stir until all the jaggery is dissolved, the liquid is golden brown and when you try to part the liquid it stays separate for 4-5 seconds. Basically, it should have the consistency of thick syrup.

4. Stir in the shredded coconut. Take the pan off the heat and add the ground cardamom. The amount of cardamom can be reduced if you're not a fan.

5. Keep aside to let it come to room temperature.

6. Divide the dough into 16 portions (or 8, if you want larger nevris). Roll out each portion into a thin circle (see pic). The thinner the better.

7. Add 1 tsp (twice for a larger nevri) of filling to the right side and fold the left half over the filling. Crimp edges using a fork or by hand. There are also molds available to give a uniform look to the nevris.

8. Fry and serve!

I can't get my nevris to be crispy the next day. I'm trying to figure out what I can add to the dough that will make them remain crispy. I also remember the nevris from my childhood have a rounded shape, like they ballooned during frying. I'll have to keep tinkering and find out the tricks to making them that way.

'Til the next dish...

Set dosa

There's a Hindu temple in Flushing, NY that has a canteen in the basement. When I used to live in NJ, and my parents would suggest a visit to the temple, I would jump at the chance because that meant I would get to eat at the canteen. Sounds irreverent, but I was never very religious, except when it comes to dosas. :)

The composition of the set dosa batter is slightly different from regular dosa batter in that the former has the addition of flattened rice. Regular dosa and masala dosa (posts to follow soon) batters have black gram (urad dal), rice (medium grain), fenugreek seeds (methi), split chick peas (channa dal), and pigeon peas (toor dal). Set dosas have urad dal, rice, fenugreek seeds, split chick peas and beaten rice. Almost the same, but not quite. In any case, it's supremely delicious!

The recipe isn't tedious, but it is time consuming. Most of it involves soaking the grains or letting the batter ferment. Nothing you can do about it other than let it happen.

Recipe:

2 cups medium grain rice

1 cup urad dal gota (black gram whole)

2 tsp chana dal

1/2 tsp methi seeds

1 cup beaten rice (poha)

1. Wash the rice a couple of times and cover with water. Place the urad dal, channa dal and methi seeds in another bowl, rinse and cover with water. Soak overnight (6-12 hours)

2. Reserve water in a measuring cup and place rice, urad dal, channa dal and methi seeds in a food processor. Grind to a fine paste while adding water to produce a batter with the consistency

of pancake batter (should be pretty thick, simple test: if you pour a spoonful in a pan, it should not rapidly increase in size, that's an indication it has too much water). At this point, add the poha and continue processing until the batter is smooth.

3. Pour out the batter into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Keep in a warm place for 6-12 hours. If that's not possible, heat the oven to 100F, let it cool a little and place it in the oven overnight. The dosa batter ferments best in a temperature similar to a hot summer day so if the oven temperature feels very hot, it will probably cook the batter. Unfortunately, this is not a step you can skip since it produces a unique taste in set dosas.

4. Pour out 1/4 cup of batter onto a well-oiled/seasoned pan. Cover with a lid until set dosa has bubbles on the surface. Place a few drops of oil onto the top surface and flip to cook the other side. Once done, you're ready to serve (or eat).

Yum, I just finished the leftover batter tonight and these pictures are making me drool... :P

Enjoy!!

'Til the next dish...

Shevai usli

Health-0-meter: 4/5 (5 being the healthiest)
Ease: 4/5 (5 being the easiest)

I love shevai and shevai usli. The form of shevai most often eaten by Konkanis is made from a rice and coconut paste of sorts that is cooked and then pressed through a dye to get long thin noodles. Shevai usli (usli meaning spiced mix) is made using wheat noodles. I'm not familiar with the process of making the wheat version, but I know it's sold in a dried form in India. My parents always buy packs and packs of them so it looks like this favorite runs in the family! :)

This is a perfect recipe if you're looking for a quick and hearty breakfast that doesn't require a lot of talent to make. The bulk of the prep lies in rehydrating the noodles.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups dried shevai noodles (will yield ~1 cup cooked shevai per person for 2 people)
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp jeera (cumin) seeds
• 3-4 dried red chillies
• 3-4 curry leaves
• 1/4 tsp asafoetida powder (heeng)
• 1 tsp shredded unsweetened coconut
• salt

1. Rehydrate noodles in room temperature water. Place noodles in bowl and fill with water until noodles are completely covered. Noodles are ready when they feel flexible and feel soft enough to chew (usually about 30 minutes). They will also change color and become a lighter shade of brown.

rehydrated shevai

2. Place 1 tbsp oil in a pan. When oil is hot, add mustard seeds and cumin seeds. When mustard seeds begin to pop, add dried red chillies and curry leaves. Fry for 10 - 15 seconds and add noodles. Add salt and asafoetida powder. Stir until mixed. Garnish with shredded coconut.

Spices used (L-R): dried red chillies, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, curry leaves, shredded coconut

What did I tell you? Quick n' easy. Once the noodles are rehydrated, it's about 10 minutes to get to the fully cooked stage. So, in under an hour, you have a hearty and authentic breakfast for 2 or more!

'Til the next dish...