Category: Breakfast Eats

Poha chutney is a typical Konkani breakfast which is made on days when one is rushed. Easy to make, delicious and extremely filling! I have shared two recipes of Poha Chutney earlier. One was flavoured with Asafoetida and the other with Sambhar powder. Posting one flavoured with onions today.

Ingredients :

• 1/2 coconut grated
• 7 green chillies
• 1 large onion finely chopped
• 1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
• Salt
• 3 tbsps coconut oil
• Poha/Flattened Rice (thin variety) as required.

Method :

Grind the coconut, green chillies and salt roughly. Just a couple of pulsations of the whipper blade will give you the right texture. Tip this coarse mixture into a bowl. Add finely chopped onions and coriander leaves. Drizzle with Coconut oil and mix everything thoroughly. Keep aside. Take three tbsps of this mixture in a bowl. Add two fistfuls of Poha to it and mix thoroughly. Serve immediately.

Note: Poha should be added to the coconut onion mixture just before serving as the water released by the onions can make it soggy if kept standing for long.
Copyright © 2018 by Vinaya Prabhu. All rights reserved.

Making Wheat Semia is a tedious and long drawn process, so rarely does anybody attempt making it in the metropolis. The soaking, grinding, stirring, and drying process takes up a lot of time and any working woman thinks twice before attempting to make it! It is now usually made by people who run small home product industries in the rural areas and it is then transported to the urban areas. A quick and easy breakfast option, it needs to be soaked for only about fifteen minutes and is then seasoned and served hot garnished with coconut.

Ingredients :

• 500 gms Wheat Semia
• 7 green chillies chopped fine
• 1 dry red chilly broken into two
• 3 tsps sugar
• Salt
• 1 tsp Hing/asafoetida
• 3 sprigs Curry leaves
• 1 tbsp Ghee/clarified butter
• 5 tbsps Coconut oil (or any oil)
• 1 heaped tsp Mustard
• 1tsp Urad Dal/ Split Black Gram
• 1/4 coconut grated

Method :

Soak the Wheat Semia for about fifteen minutes. Drain thoroughly. Tip it into a colander so that all the remaining water if any, drains out too. Add Hing, sugar and salt to the drained Semia and mix well. Heat the Ghee and oil mixture in a pan. Add the mustard. After it splutters add the Urad Dal. Allow it to turn golden yellow, before adding the broken red chilly bits, green chillies and curry leaves. Toss. Drop in the Semia, mix well and cover and cook over a gentle flame for five minutes. Garnish with the grated Coconut and serve hot.

Copyright © 2018 by Vinaya Prabhu. All rights reserved.

A healthy option for those who are watching their carbohydrate intake is the Urad dal/Split Black Gram and Rava/Semolina Idli. Turns out extremely soft and fluffy and teamed with a Chutney or Sambhar is delicious!

Ingredients :

• 250 gms Urad Dal/Split Black Gram
• 500 gms Rava/Semolina
• 1/2 tsp Methi/Fenugreek seeds
• Salt

Method :

Wash the Urad Dal well. Soak it along with the Methi for four hours. Wash it again and grind it to a smooth batter in the wet grinder non stop for half an hour adding a little water at a time to make a batter of pouring consistency. Add salt and allow to ferment for 10-12 hours. Meanwhile tip the Rava in a thin cloth. Tie it into a bundle and steam it in a steamer for fifteen minutes. Remove and keep aside. Allow to cool thoroughly. Tip it into a vessel. Add just enough water to wet it. Mix it well with your fingers and add it to the fermented Urad batter. Mix thoroughly. Keep aside for fifteen minutes. The batter takes on a dropping consistency as the Rava absorbs the moisture. Meanwhile get the steamer boiling. Grease the Idli stand. Pour the prepared batter into it and steam for ten minutes in a steamer. A knife inserted in the Idli should come out clean. Allow to cool for five minutes and then unmould the Idlis. Serve hot with Chutney of your choice. You can find the recipes to a variety of Chutneys under the catagory of ‘Chutneys’ of this website.

Note: The proportion of Urad Dal to Rava is 1:2 when grinding the batter in a wet grinder. If using the blender or mixer the portion is 1:1 as the batter made in the wet grinder increases in volume as compared to the blender.

Adding cooked rice is a tradition while making Vellappam to lend it softness. Some add yeast. I have posted a Vellappam using Poha/Flattened Rice and Rice earlier. Today posting an Appam made with Rice, Coconut and a pinch of soda bicarb.

Ingredients :

• 250 gms Rice
• 1/2 of a small coconut grated
• A pinch of soda bicarb
• Salt

Method :

Wash and, soak the rice for three hours. Grind to a fine paste along with the coconut adding just enough water to make a batter of pouring, consistency. Add salt and the soda bicarb, mix and allow to ferment for ten hours. Heat the Appam pan. Pour a ladleful of batter in the centre of the pan and gently rotate the pan so that the sides too get coated thinly. Cover and cook for a minute or two. The centre is soft and fluffy and the sides crisp. Serve it hot with Vegetable Stew. The recipe link to the Stew is mentioned below.

Vegetable Stew Recipe

One of the most popular breakfasts at home is Vada/Dumplings made of Black gram Dal either accompanied by a Chutney, a Sambhar or dunked in Rasam. The Vadas are to be prepared beforehand and then dunked a few minutes before serving in boiling Rasam. The vadas absorb the fragrance of the Rasam and taste delicious! Recipes to both the recipes are, given below.

Urad vada/ Biscuit Ambado / Black gram dumplings Recipe

Rasam Recipe

Copyright © 2018 by Vinaya Prabhu. All rights reserved.