Kuthiraivali-Spinach-Pancake

#KuthiraivaliSpinachPancake : #Kuthiraivali is one of the #minormillets which is rich in fiber and thiamin [ Vitamin B6 ]. #Millets are small seeded grass which grow well in dry places as a rain fed crop. 
#Millets are grouped into two categories as #Majormillets and #Minormillet. Ragi, Sorghum & Pearl millet grouped under major millet as the name suggests grown in major part of India. Little millet [ Samai ], Barnyard millet [ Kuthiraivali ], Foxtail Millet [ Thinai ] & Kodo millet come under minor millet. These are cultivated in only some parts of India and consumed by very small population.
#Kuthiraivali is known by different names in various languages as given below.
English                               : #BarnyardMillet Or Japanese Barnyard Millet
Common Name                  : Sawan Or sanwa Or Samo Or Morio
Marathi & Chhattisgarh       : Bhagar Or Varai
Kannada                             : Oodalu
Oriya                                  : Kira
Punjabi                               : Swank
Telugu                                : Udalu Or Kodi Sama
Scientific Name                   : Echinochloa Frumentacea
Source : Echinochloa , Barnyard Millet 
To know on Millets

Millet has to be soaked for a minimum of two hours before cooking to get its full health benefit and also to cook soft.

The pancake preparation involves three stages

• Soaking #Kuthiraivali for two hours and then cooking
• Making dough adding greens and other ingredients
• Spreading dough on plantain leaf and cooking on tawa

The ingredients given below is enough to make 6 -7 pancakes approximately.

Ingredients :
1/2 Cup	Kuthiraivali [ Barnyard Millet ]
To coarsely grind :
1 or 2	Green chilly [ Adjust ]
1/2 Tsp	Cumin seed
5 - 6	Pudhina leaves [ Mint ]
To make dough :
1/2 Tsp	Cumin seed
1/4 Tsp	Ajwain [ Omam ]
1 pinch	Turmeric powder
2 Tbsp	Spinach chopped nicely
1 Tbsp	Coriander leaf chopped
1 Tbsp	Vazhaipoo chopped [ optional ]
1/2 Tsp	Salt [ Adjust ]
1 Tbsp	Besan [ Kadalai maavu ]

Gingelly oil [ til/sesame ] or any cooking oil to spread and to make pancake on tawa.

Method :
Take kuthiraivali [ barnyard millet ] in a 2 or 3 liter pressure cooker.
Wash it with water two or three times and drain completely.
Now soak in 1 cup of water for 2 hours.
After two hours pressure cook for a whistle and 3 minutes at Sim.
Open the cooker only after it ran out of steam.
Transfer into a wide mouthed vessel.
Mash with a potato masher or using a blender.

Take green chilly, pudhina leaves and cumin seeds in a mixie jar.
Grind coarsely and transfer into the vessel containing mashed kuthiraivali.
Add all other chopped ingredients and knead well with hand into a tight dough.
If the dough is slightly loose, add either rice flour or besan [ kadalai maavu ] to make it a tight dough.
Divide the dough into equal portions and make into a ball.

Heat tawa on a stove over medium flame.
Take a clean and dry plantain leaf or a plastic sheet to spread the dough.
Grease the leaf and hand with oil.
Keep a ball on the leaf and gently spread into a pancake.
Keep greasing fingers regularly to avoid dough sticking to them.
Sprinkle oil on tawa and gently transfer pancake onto the tawa.
Sprinkle oil over the pancake and also along the rim of the pancake.
Flip pancake using a dosai ladle once rim turns golden color.
Again sprinkle some oil and cook both sides well.
Transfer onto a serving plate.

In the same way spread each ball into a pancake on the leaf and cook well on hot tawa. Idli Milagai podi or Milagu podi [ Pepper powder ] can also be sprinkled on the pancake while spreading dough on the leaf to get more spicy and aromatic #KuthiraivaliSpinachPancake. 

Serve hot with Coconut Chutney or Mint Chutney or any chutney of your choice.

You may also like to try :

Paruppu Adai

Vazhaipoo spinach Adai

Pesarattu

Arisi Roti

Kezhvaragu Adai

For other Adai/Pancake Varieties

Adai/Pancake

To cook for breakfast/Dinner

Tiffin varieties

Broccoli-Poriyal

#BroccoliPoriyal : #Broccoli belongs to a family called cruciferous vegetables and the family is scientifically called  Brassicaceae family [ also called Cruciferae ]. Some of the cruciferous vegetables are cabbage, cauliflower, kale, brussels sprouts and similar green leaf vegetables.
#Broccoli is rich in minerals, vitamins, fiber and low in calories.
It is tasteless and flavorless. So it is suitable for stir fry [ poriyal ] along with other vegetables and also it takes less time to cook.

Ingredients :
1 cup	Broccoli chopped
1/4 cup	Carrot chopped
1/4 cup	Green peas
2	Brinjal, chop
1	Onion, chop
1/4 cup	Broccoli stem chopped
2	Green chilly, slit lengthwise
1/2 Tsp	Mustard seed
1 Tsp	Black gram split
1 pinch	Turmeric powder
1/2 Tsp	Salt [Adjust]
1/4 cup	Coconut scrapping
1/2 Tsp	Groundnut oil

Small quantity of coriander leaves to garnish.

Method : 
Soak broccoli florets in salt dissolved water for half an hour to remove impurities and insects.
Then cut into equal sized pieces.
Chop the broccoli stem also into quarter inch pieces.

Heat a kadai on a stove with oil over medium flame.
Crackle mustard seeds after oil starts fuming and then add black gram split.
After black gram turns golden brown color add green chilly and chopped onion.
Saute for a few seconds and then add turmeric powder, broccoli stem, chopped brinjal, carrot and green peas.
Close with a lid and cook for a minute on slow flame.
After a minute remove the lid and stir with a ladle.
Then add chopped broccoli and salt.
Stir well with the ladle and close the kadai with lid.
Allow to cook on slow flame till vegetables become soft.
Check salt and then add coconut.
Stir well on high flame for half a second and transfer into a serving bowl.
Garnish with coriander leaves.

An excellent poriyal to relish with sambar 

or rasam mixed with white rice for lunch.

Other interesting recipes you might like to try



For Stir fry and dry curry

Curry Index

For Dishes related to Lunch

Lunch Index

For variety of Dishes

Recipe Index

Red Greens Vadai

#RedGreensVadai : #MedhuVadai [ Ulundhu vadai ] is the only dish that can be served for breakfast, lunch, evening snack and also dinner. 
#Medhuvadai can be relished with coconut chutney for morning tiffin/dinner, as Thayir Vadai [ vadai in curd ] during midday, in the meal during lunch and also as an excellent snack in the evening along with hot coffee/tea. Sipping aromatic coffee from a mug on left hand and biting hot vadai from right hand gives a soothing effect on ones body and soul. 
If the vadai is prepared with green leafy vegetable then the vadai becomes more nutritious and avoid feeling guilty of eating an oil fried item!! 
Here comes a recipe to make Ulundhu vadai with cauliflower and redgreens.

Ingredients
3/4 Cup	Ulundu [ Black gram ] batter
2 Tbsp	Rawa [ Sooji ]
1 1/2 Tbsp	Rice flour
1 small size	Onion, chop nicely
2 - 3 florets	Cauliflower, chopped nicely
1/3 Cup	Red Greens chopped
1/2 Tsp	Green chilly nicely chopped
1/4 Cup	Coriander leaf chopped
1/2 Tsp	Cumin seeds
1/4 Tsp	Carom seeds
1/4 Tsp	Black pepper crushed
10 - 12	Curry leaf, chop nicely
1/2 Tsp	Salt [ Adjust ]
3/4 Cup	Groundnut oil to fry

Method :

Add 1/3 cup extra black gram while soaking black gram for idli maavu grinding.
When grinding for idli maavu, take out approximately 3/4 cup black gram batter to prepare vadai.

Add rawa to the urad dhal batter and mix well. Store in the fridge for half an hour to avoid fermentation.

After half an hour heat kadai with oil on a stove over a medium flame.

Take out the batter from the fridge.
Add rice flour, salt.
Beat well with your hand to make the batter fluffy.

Then add chopped ingredients, cumin and pepper powder.
Mix well. If the batter is little watery add 1 or 2 Tsp of rice flour.

By the time oil would have become slightly fuming hot.

Make a ball after lubricating hands with water.
Then flatten it making a hole at the center and slowly glide into the hot fuming oil.
After sometime flip it over to cook other side.
Fry over a medium flame until it turns golden brown on both sides.

Take out from the oil and place on a tissue/ kitchen paper to remove excess oil.

In the same way fry next batch of vadai.


Have vadai with white coconut chutney or sambar.

Keerai vadai is even more delicious if relished without any accompaniment.


Note :For Ulundu [ Black gram ] batter :

 Soak Black gram [ ulundu ] in warer for 2 hours and then grind using grinder/mixie sprinkling little water time to time. 





Other related recipes

Masaal Vadai

Cauliflower Vadai

Medhu Vadai

Urulaikizhangu bonda

Vazhaipoo fingers

Broccoli-Paruppu-Adai

#BroccoliParuppuAdai  #BroccoliPancake : Many times I have seen #Broccoli in big supermarkets, but never bought as its price happened to be very high.  Now I got this vegetable in our local market at #Chittaranjan, West Bengal. The vegetable is very cheap and fresh too.
#Broccoli belongs to cruciferous vegetables family that includes cauliflower and cabbage. Cruciferous vegetables are good source of Sulfur and beta carotene.
#Broccoli is less in calories and rich in fiber, minerals and vitamins.

Now I am trying all sorts of  preparations using #broccoli. I recently prepared #Adai [ #pancake ] using broccoli and came out well with lovely greenish color.

With the given ingredients can prepare approximately 5 - 6 adai [ pancakes ].

Ingredients:
To soak:
1/3 Cup	Boiled Rice [ Idli rice ]
1/3 Cup	Raw Rice
1/3 Cup	Thuvaram paruppu [ red gram ]
1/3 Cup	kadalai paruppu [ bengal gram ]
1/3 Cup	Payatham paruppu [ green gram split ]
To grind:
Small piece	Asafoetida
1 Tsp	Fennel seed
1 Tsp	Cumin seed
1/2 inch long	Ginger piece
1/4 inch long	Turmeric Tuber [ optional ]
2 - 3	Dry Red chilly [ adjust ]
1 Tsp	Salt [ adjust ]
To add:
1/2 Cup	Broccoli chopped nicely
1 medium size	onion, chop nicely
6 - 7	Small Onion, chop nicely
10 - 12	Vazhaipoo florets, chop nicely
6 Tsp	Coriander leaves chopped
10 - 12	Curry leaves tear into pieces
10 - 12	Vallarai leaves chop nicely

Gingelly oil [ till/sesame oil ] or groundnut oil to cook adai on tawa [ dosai kal ].
Ghee to apply over the adai

Note : Vazhaipoo florets [ banana blossom ] and vallarai leaves [ centella ] optional


Method :
Take boiled rice and raw rice in a vessel.
Wash and soak for 2 hours.
Take thuvaram paruppu, payatham paruppu and kadalai paruppu in another vessel and soak for 2 hours.

After two hours take asafoetida, ginger piece, turmeric tuber, red chilly, salt, cumin and fennel seed in a mixie jar.
Grind coarsely and then add soaked rice.
Add little water and grind coarsely.
Transfer into a wide mouthed vessel.

Now take soaked thuvaram paruppu, payatham paruppu and kadalai paruupu and run for a few seconds without adding water.
Transfer into the same vessel containing rice batter.
Mix well and adjust salt.

Add chopped onion, chopped broccoli, coriander leaves, chopped vazhaipoo, chopped vallarai leaves and curry leaves.
Mix well the batter and adjust salt.
The batter should be slightly thick and able to spread on tawa easily.
If it is too thick add little water and mix well.

Heat a tawa [ dosai kal ] on a stove over medium flame.
Apply a teaspoon of oil over hot tawa.
Keep two ladle full of adai batter at the center of the tawa and spread evenly using the bottom side of the ladle.
Apply oil on and along the rim of the adai.
Close with a lid for a minutes.
After one minute remove the lid.
Flip the adai once the rim becomes golden color and cook the other side also.
Transfer on to a plate once both sides become golden color.

In the same way make adai with remaining adai batter [ adai maavu ].

Apply 1/2 Tsp of ghee over adai [ optional ].

Serve hot with Aviyal 


or coconut chutny 


or murungaikai sambar.

Adai tastes too good with jaggery.










You may also like to try :

Paruppu Adai

Vazhaipoo spinach Adai

Pesarattu

Arisi Roti

Kezhvaragu Adai

For other Adai/Pancake Varieties

Adai/Pancake

To cook for breakfast/Dinner

Tiffin varieties