Amaranth Pancake

#AmaranthPancake or #AmaranthAdai :
#Amaranth is a leafy vegetable ( greens ) and a seed. Amaranth is nothing but widely used leafy vegetable called Thandu keerai or Mulai keerai in Tamil. The seeds are called amarnath seeds or amaranth in Tamil. It is called Rajkir Kara in Chhattisgarh.
There are many varieties of amaranth. Some are cultivated and some grow in wild. The leaves of some amaranth are in green in color, some are green and red in the middle and fully red in color. The whole plant is edible. The leaves are used as leafy vegetable, the stem is also cooked and the seeds are also used to make dishes. Some amaranth flowers are strikingly beautiful and red in color and which produce lots of seeds. All the seeds are edible whether its cultivated or garden or wild varieties .
To know more about the plant
Amaranth Plant

Amaranth seeds contain lysine, an essential amino acid, limited in other grains or plant sources. Amaranth too is limited in some essential amino acids, such as leucine and threonine. Amaranth seeds are therefore promising complement to common grains such as wheat germ, oats, corn because these common grains are abundant sources of essential amino acids found to be limited in amaranth.
Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amaranth

Yesterday, I came back fully loaded with Palak greens from local market. It would get spoiled in this hot Summer even if I store them in fridge. So I decided to prepare dinner using palak. This is how I made use of a good amount of greens yesterday.

Ingredients :
1/2 cup                                 whole wheat flour
1/2 cup                                 Amaranth flour
1/4 cup                                 Green gram flour
2 Tsp                                   Rice flour
1/2 Tsp                                 Salt
1/4 cup                                 Onion nicely chopped
1 cup                                    Palak nicely chopped
2 Tsp                                   Coriander leaves finely chopped
5 or 6                                   Curry leaves
Oil to make adai.

Method :
Take all the given flours in a wide mouthed vessel.
Mix well by adding a cup of water and prepare a slightly thick batter just like idly batter.
Now add onion and greens. Mix well.
Keep a tawa on a stove over medium flame.
Spread oil over the tawa.
Now place 2 ladle full of batter and spread using the back of the ladle.
Sprinkle oil along the rims of the adai and also over it.
Close with a lid.

When the adai turns to golden color along the rim flip the side to cook.

When both sides are done then transfer on to a plate.

Serve with Ginger chutney or coconut chutney or any chutney of your choice.

Note :
Green gram flour can be replaced with Besan [ Gram flour ].
Spinach or drum stick leaves can also be used instead of palak.



Other recipes you may like to try

Pumpkin Pancake

Amaranth Payasam

Amaranth Payasam 1

Arisi Roti

Kezhvaragu Adai

For other Chutney Recipes

Chutney Varieties

For varieties of tiffins for breakfast and dinner

Tiffin Varieties

Muskmelon Juice

#Muskmelon #juice : This is a perfect Summer fruit. It comes in a variety of colors. This fruit is sweet and watery. It is rich in Vitamin A and C also minerals like potassium and magnesium.

Here we will see how to prepare a simple juice with this fruit.

muskmelon juice - mulampazham juice - karpuja juice

Ingredients :
1 Cup                                Muskmelon pieces
1 pinch                              Salt
2 Tsp                                Honey ( optional )
1 Tsp                                Lemon juice ( if you want it to be tangy )

Method :
Peel muskmelon and chop.

Take muskmelon pieces and salt in a mixie jar.
Make into juice by adding 1/2 cup of water.
Transfer into glasses.
Add honey and lemon juice.
Mix well and serve chilled.

muskmelon juice

You might also like to try

Bael fruit - Vilva pazha juice

Muskmelon Mint juice

Pappaya Soup

Aam Panna - Raw Mango Juice

Mango Milk Shake

For other Juice, Soups and Porridge varieties

Refreshments

Buckwheat Spinach Roti

#BuckwheatSpinachRoti  [ #BuckwheatRotiwithGreens ] : #Buckwheat is an edible seed. Here let me present a recipe to prepare roti using buckwheat and water chestnut flour [ singhara ]. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients :
1/2 Cup                                Buckwheat flour
3/4 Cup                                Whole wheat flour
1/2 Cup                                 Water chestnut flour [ singhara ]+
1/2 Cup                                Spinach nicely chopped
1/2 Tsp                                Omam*
1/2 Tsp                                 Salt
1 Tsp                                    Green chilly paste
1/2 cup                                 Water

+If Water chestnut flour is not available then Amaranth flour can be used.

*Trachyspermum ammi, commonly known as ajowan or ajwain, bishop's weed, ajowan caraway, carom seeds or thymol seeds, or vaamu in Telugu or Omam in Thamizh is a plant of India, Pakistan, Iran, Egypt where these seeds are used as spice.

[ Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trachyspermum_ammi ]

Method :
Combine all the given ingredients in a wide mouthed vessel.
Knead into a tight dough.

Keep a tawa on a stove over medium flame.
Spread roti using a rolling pin over a platform.

Transfer the rolled roti over the hot tawa.
Add few drops of oil and spread over the roti with dosai ladle.
Flip the side and spread a few drops of oil on this side also.

Transfer into a casserole after cooking well on both the sides.
Enjoy with Cauliflower kuruma or any side dish of your choice.





You may also like to try

Vaeppampoo Thuvaiyal - Neem Flower Chutney

#VaeppampooThuvaiyal  #NeemflowerChutney : #Neemflower starts blooming in the month of March or April. The flowers have a distinct aroma and taste bitter. These flowers that fall from the tree are collected  by spreading a clean cloth under the neem tree. Then these flowers are dried in shade. These dried leaves are stored in an air tight container for furthur use.

Neem flowers are rich source of  antioxidants. It expels intestinal worms of kids. It also helpful in treating many ailments related to stomach.
The dried flowers can be mixed with honey and stored in a clean and dry bottle.
This can be taken daily on an empty stomach in the morning to get full benefit of these flowers.

Now let us see how to prepare a thuvaiyal [ chutney ] with neem flower. A small quantity of jaggery is added to reduce the bitterness of the flower. The flower is also sauteed with ghee to make its bitterness mild.
Her comes the recipe


Ingredients :
2 Tsp                           Neem flower dried
4 Tsp                           Coconut scrap
1 Tsp                           Black gram [ urad dal ]
2                                  Red chilly [ adjust ]
1 Tsp                           Jaggery [ Adjust ]
a small marble size        Tamarind
4                                   Black pepper
1/4 Tsp                         Asafoetida powder
1/2 Tsp                         Salt
1/2 Tsp                         Oil
1/2 Tsp                         Ghee

Method :
Soak tamarind in a small bowl with 3 tsp of lukewarm water.

Heat a kadai with oil over a medium flame.
Roast red chilly,urad dal and asafoetida.
Transfer into a bowl and keep aside.

Now add ghee and add neem flowers.
Saute for a few seconds or until it gives our nice aroma.
Turn off the stove and transfer into the same bowl.

Now take all the ingredients along with roasted ones in a mixie jar.
Grind into a smooth paste.
Adjust salt.

Transfer into a serving bowl.

This is an excellent side dish for pongal and upma.
This can also be mixed with white rice adding a tsp of gingelly oil. Enjoy neem thuvaiyal mixed rice with any sambar.
This thuvaiyal goes well with curd rice also.




Other chutney varieties to try

Maangai spicy Chutney

Vallarai [ Centella ] Chutney

Karisalangkanni  Thuvaiyal

Kadalai Chutney [ Peanut chutney ]

Nellikkai peerkangkai chutney

For tasty accompaniments

Chutney Recipes

Ideas for tiffins and other dishes

Recipe Index

Cauliflower Chick pea Masala Curry

#CauliflowerKondakadalaiMasalaCurry - #CauliflowerChickpeaMasalaCurry :
#Cauliflower can be roasted, boiled,fried, steamed, or eaten raw.
Steaming or microwaving better preserves anticancer compounds than boiling.When cooking, the outer leaves and thick stalks are removed, leaving only the florets. The leaves are also edible, but are most often discarded.The florets should be broken into similar-sized pieces so they are cooked evenly.
After eight minutes of steaming, or five minutes of boiling, the florets should be soft, but not mushy (depending on size). Stirring while cooking can break the florets into smaller, uneven pieces.
Low carbohydrate dieters can use cauliflower as a reasonable substitute for potatoes, rice while they can produce a similar texture, , they lack the starch of the originals.

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cauliflower

Cauliflower is generally used in the preparation of manchurian, cauliflower 65, kuruma, and vegetable stir fry. I recently prepared Cauliflower masala curry  in combination with boiled black chick pea [ black channa ] and the taste was very very good.

 Let us see the preparation.

Ingredients :
1 Cup                               Cauliflower pieces
1/4 Cup                            Chick pea, soaked for 6 hours [ sprouts can also be used ]
1/4 Cup                            Siru keerai [ Greens ]
1 pinch                             Turmeric powder
1/4 Tsp                            Salt

For Masala :
2 Tbsp                               Coconut scrap
2                                        Green chilly
1 Tsp                                 Cumin
1 Tsp                                 Fennel seeds
1/2 Tsp                              Coriander seeds
3 cloves                             Garlic
1 small size                        Onion
Small quantities of Coriander leaves and Curry leaves.

Tempering :
1/2 Tsp                             Mustard seeds
1 Tsp                                Urad dal
1 Tsp                                Oil

To Garnish :
A small amount of Coriander leaves.

Method :
Take all the ingredients given for masala in a mixie jar except onion.
First run mixie without water and then grind adding little water.
Finally add onion pieces and run for few seconds only.
Onion should not be ground into fine paste.
Keep aside.

Pressure cook chick pea in 1/2 cup of water with salt  for 1 whistle and 2 minutes at SIM.
Open the cooker after steam subsides.
Transfer into a bowl and keep aside.

Keep a kadai with oil on a stove over slow flame.
Crackle mustard seeds and then add urad dal.
When urad dal turns golden color, add turmeric powder & cauliflower pieces.

Add salt and Saute for few second.
Close with a lid to cook cauliflower soft.
When it becomes soft add prepared masala and cooked chick pea.

Mix well with a ladle and allow to cook on slow fire for 3 to 5 minutes.
Keep stirring at regular intervals to avoid burning at the bottom.

Now add the greens and stir well.

Turn off the stove when the greens are cooked soft.

A very good side dish for sambar

and rasam rice.

It also goes well with curd rice.




You might also like to try

Cauliflower Vadai

Potato mochai masala curry

Keerai [ greens ] Vadai

Cauliflower Manchurian

Vazhaipoo vadai

Varieties of Poriyal and spicy curry - Curry Index

Dishes related to Lunch

Ideas for Breakfast and Dinner

Recipe Index