Aloo Methi Masala and Beetroot Chapati

Today’s special is  Aloo Methi masala (Potato-Fenugreek leaves Masala) and Beetroot Chapati. Usually for dinner, i always prefer to prepare the kerala style meal, Rice with some veg or non veg sides. Because that's the only time my hus can  really enjoy the  food. During the breakfast time he will be so hurry to leave to work and lunch time he will be in office. So dinner and weekend meals should be our favorite. that's the reason i always add some specials on these meals like fish fry chicken curry etc..But nowadays my little one is making me so busy. sometimes i couldn’t even find time for cooking. Always he  needs his mom to play with him. So today,  i thought i can prepare some simple but delicious meal for the dinner. After a minute thought, i  decided to make the potato curry and Chapathi. Like to make some variation to both dishes. I usually buy frozen methi leaves form Indian grocery. so thought of combining the healthy leaf with the potato..the dish became Aloo methi in my own style....And  for a variety, I made the beet-root chapathi.Very easy and within a short time span i made both the dish.

OK lets talk about the recipes..starting with Alloo Methi Masala
Aloo Methi Masala

Ingredients
Potato: 4 nos
MethiLeaves:: 1/2 cup(i used frozen)
Onion: 1 medium
Tomato: 1 small
Green Chili: 1 no
Garlic: 2 pods
Ginger : 1 medium
Turmeric Powder: 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala: 1 tsp
Coriander Powder: 1 tbsp
Chili Powder: 1 tsp
Kasoori methi: 1/2  tsp
For seasoning
Oil: 1 tsp
Mustard seed:1/2 tsp
Cumin seed: 1/2 tsp(optional)
Red Chili: 1 no
Curry leaves: 1 sprig 
Preparation:

• Slice the onion into very thin pieces.Crush the ginger and garlic Chop the green chili.Cut the tomato into 8 pieces.
• In a pressure cooker add enough water and boil the potatoes until 2 whistle.. Let it cool and peel the potatoes .Dice them into medium sized or mash them ..Keep it aside
• Defrost the methi leaves.. (just keep  outside for 30 minutes then it will be ready to cook).

Procedure

Step1: 

• Heat oil in a pan.Add the mustard seed once it started spluttering add the red chili and some curry leaves.Saute for some time .
• Add the ggg’s followed by the red onion.. saute until the onion are  transparent.
• Add the tomato pieces and saute for 1 minute..
• Add the Turmeric,Chili,coriander,garam masala and kasoori methi powder and mix with the sautéed ingredients.

Step2:

• Add the methi leaves and mix all together.. saute well
• Finally add the mashed potatoes.close the pan and let the mix to cook for 3-5 minutes in medium heat.. 
• Garnish with some curry leaves.

The delicious Potato Methi masala is ready to have Have it with chapati.. 

Cook’s Tip

• Here i used the frozen methi.If u use the fresh one just saute/cook for some more time.
• If u don’t like to mash the potato just cook them accordingly.. Here i mashed the potatoes.Both ways it tastes delicious
• According to ur taste bud change the quantity of chili powder.

Beetroot Chapathi

Ingredients
Beetroot: 1/2 portion of a medium sized beet
Wheat flour: 1 cup
Oil : some
salt : to taste
Ghee/Butter: enough
Water: enough
Preparation

• Dice the beet and cook them in the microwave for about 5 minutes Add some water and salt..
• Make a paste of the cooked beet.
• In a large sized bowl mix the wheat flour, salt, beet  paste and oil together.
• Add enough water and mix it and make a dough with right consistency for the chapati
• Cover the prepared dough with a wet cloth and keep it aside for 30 minutes to 1 hour

Procedure

• Make medium lemon size balls from the prepared dough
• In a flat surface or flat wooden chapati maker roll them into circular shape.Add the flour while rolling it for not sticking to the surface
• Heat the pan ...Place the rolled dough and just heat up both side (30 sec - 1 min)
• Meantime place the chapati grill(see the picture) on the stove top and  heat that and place the half-cooked chapati on it and cook. It will make the chapati so softer and tastier.
• Apply butter/Ghee to the cooked chapathi.. It will give nice flavor..

The Delicious beet chapathi is ready to have..Have it with Aloomethi masala

Cook’s Tip

• Do not add more water to cook the beet-root.. if excess water is there just use that for mixing the flour ..
• If u like  u can increase the quantity of the beet.
• Instead of mixing all the ingredients together you can  do it separately.First mix and  make a dough then add the beet paste and mix together 

sending the aloo methi to  Think Spice-Think Fenugreek guest hosted by Priya, event by Sunita..

Puttu and Kadala curry/ Rice Steam cake and Black chickpea curry

Hope you had a nice weekend...As I haven't posted any breakfast recipes in my blog yet, I am going to start with a traditional kerala recipe: Puttu and KadalaCurry(Steamed rice cake and black chickpea curry)...

"Puttu" is a traditional kerela breakfast and non-keralites hardly know this dish  and its preparation.why i am saying like that because my non-malayalee friends curiously ask about this puttu..may be because the preparation of this dish is so unique ..It is a very easy to make recipe but it requires a specific mould for the preparation.

The best combinations with puttu are : payar (moong dal curry); kadala curry  ; pappadam and pazham(ripe banana).My brother used to have the puttu with the egg curry.Thats also a best combination.

There are two types of puttu mould(Puttu kutty). Hemisphere mould (you can even use coconut shell) and cylinderical mould. I used both the moulds for preparing the Puttu today.. (Traditionally the puttu was prepared using a cylendrical mould ("Puttu Kutty") coming along with a small pot("Puttu Kudam"). Nowadays, we use pressure cooker instead of this pot).I do remember sometimes amma used to prepare the puttu with the idlimaker instead of the puttu-kutty.. Add the flour in each idli plate and just steam it..Within minutes plateful of puttu will be ready.If u are interested u could use the coconut shell as well. Add the grated coconut and flour in the shell and make a hole in the shell (by opening of the eye of the shell).. Place  this into the pressure cooker nozzle and cook..
Below are the moulds which I used for preparing puttu:

Let me explain the preparation steps of this steamed rice cake
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
Rice Flour: 2 cup
Grated coconut: 1/4 cup
salt : to taste
Water : enough
Preparation
Step1: In a pan add the rice flour and heat it for 5 minutes.stir constantly. Remove from heat, and set aside to cool.
Step2: In a bowl add this flour and sprinkle some water (add salt too) and prepare wet flour. This is an important step. Do not add more water and also make sure that the flour is wet enough.
Step3: In a pressure cooker boil 2-3 cups of water.
Step4: In the puttu kutty add the grated coconut and then the flour in layers( in the cylinderical  -add 3 layers of coconut (1-2 tsp)and 2 layers of flour,in the hemishere just one layer if u wish u could add some grated coconut on the top as well)
Step5: Place the mould on the pressure cooker nozzle(vent pipe). Once the flour is well cooked  you could see the steam coming from puttu mould.let it cook for some more time.(refer the picture below)

Step6: Remove it from the pressure cooker and with the help of a stick take off  the puttu from the mould.
The delicious puttu is ready to have..Have it with kadala curry.

Points to ponder

• Insted of using the flour..u can soak the rice for 4-5 hour and make the nice powder of it and use that...
• Heat the flour just before making the puttu.It will help to make the puttu softer.

Kadala curry(Black Chickpea Curry)

Black chickpea(kadala):1 cup
Onion: 1 medium sie
Tomato: 1 small
Green chili: 2 nos
salt : to taste
ginger: medium sie
Garlic: 3 pods
Coconut pieces: 5-10(optional)
Making the paste
Grated coconut :1/2 cup
Chili powder: 1 tsp
Coriander Powder: 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala: 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder:1/2 tsp
Seasoning
Oil : 1 tsp
Mustard seed: 1 tsp
Redchili: 1 no
Curry leaves: 1 spring
Preparation:
Step1:

• Heat the pan .Add the grated coconut and fry until golden brown color.Add the chili powder coriander powder garam masala and turmeric powder fry it for 3 minute.Switch off the heat and let the mix to cool..
• Make a nice paste of the above mixture.Add water accordingly.

Step2

• Soak the chickpea in water overnight(otherwise atleast 8-10 hours)
• Cook the chick pea in 3 cups of water(add salt too)

 Step3

• Heat oil in a pan,add the sliced onion,Once it get slight brown color add the garlic ginger paste, green chili and coconut piece. sauté well .
• Add the tomato pieces saute until the oil seperate from the mix.
• Add the black chickpea saute for sometime
• Add the coocnut paste and mix it with the chickpeas
• Add enough water(use the same water  for cooking the chickpea) and cook for 10-15 minutes in medium heat

Step4

• Heat oil in another pan..add the mustard seeds ,once the mustards seeds get splutter ,add the red chili and curry leaves 
• Pour the mix into the kadala curry.

The Kadala curry is ready to have..Have it with Puttu.

Points to ponder

• If you like more spice add more green chili and chili powder
• If you like to make more gravy add 2-3 cup of water .
• Do not overcook the black chickpea.

Sending this  to JIHVA-Breakfast event hosted by veggieplatter and the event started by Indira

Palak chapati/ Indian whole wheat Bread with Spinach

You may wonder about this title - what is this "Palak chapati"?. Yes, today i am going to share with you a new dish called "Palak (spinach) chapati"...I think many of you may have tried and tasted this  dish. You know chapati itself is very nutritious. It is a very effective diet for weight control and cholesterol control. If you add the very healthy leafy vegetable - Spinach to it then there is no need to describe more about its nutritional effect.  Having the plain chapati  everyday is really boring, even if we try different combination of curries with it..But if u add some changes to the plain chapati..you can feel that it is something different..adding the changes means adding any additional ingredient. This palak chapati is a good choice for that kind of change.

I got this idea from one of my friend..when she invited us for dinner she served this green chapati(i didn't know it was the palak chapati). I was so excited because i really loved the color and was quiet confused about how she made this green color. Many questions were going through my mind, whether she added some food color or added any special ingredient for this etc ..while tasting that i felt she added some vegetables but the color was still in confusion. At last I asked about this secret ingredient and she told me that it was Palak. I collected the recipe from her. I tried the dish in few days. I was so happy because for the first time, i prepared the green colored chapati.I usually prefer to serve it for guest because it is not a common dish. After started blogging I saw the recipe in so many fellow blogger s funny right:))

If you have any left over dough after the preparation, wrap them into foil paper (or place it in a tight container) and keep it in the refrigerator for about a week..this would make your work easier..I like to mention one more thing,there is a chapati grill(I bought it from a nearby Indian grocery shop) While preparing it,Just place the chapati grill  in the stove top and place the half cooked chapathi and heat that, you can see how well it is puffing up. It will make the chapathi so softer and tastier. I think it will be available in almost all Indian grocery.if u get a chance buy that, it really helps to puff the chapathi.

Hope u guys are also going to try this one, Once u try it, i can guarantee that  u will add it in your menu..one of the best meal u can prefer for kids because it is a very rich in vitamins. We had it with stew. It is a best combo with any non veg dish too. Ok let me talk about the preparation..

Ingredients

Wheat flour: 2 cup
Maida Flour:1/2 cup(optional)
Salt : to taste
Water: to make the dough
Oil: 1 tbsp
Spinach:1/2 cup

Preparation
Step1: Cook the spinach until completely done.
Step2: Make a nice paste of the cooked spinach.
Step3: In a large sized bowl mix the wheat flour, maida flour salt spinach paste and oil together.
Step4: Add water and mix it and make a dough with right consistency for the chapatti
Step5: Cover the prepared dough with a wet cloth and keep it aside for 30 minutes to 1 hour
Step6: Make medium lemon size balls from the prepared dough
Step7: In a flat surface or flat wooden chapati maker roll them into circular shape.Add the flour while rolling it for not sticking to the surface
Step8: Heat the pan ...Place the rolled dough and just heat up both side (30 sec - 1 min)
Step9: Meantime place the chapati grill(mentioned above) on the stove top and  heat that and place the half-cooked chapati on it and cook. It will make the chapati so softer and tastier.

The palak chapati is ready to serve.Have it with any of your favorite dish

 Points to ponder

•  Do not add any water while cooking the palak..While grinding just add 1-2 tsp of water for getting a nice paste.
•  Do not add more water while preparing the dough as because the palak paste have its own moisture ...
• Here i used the frozen palak..If u r buying the bunch just take some and chop them into small pieces and then cook.
• The maida flour  is an optional one.

Hope this would be a good entry for the 'Healing Foods Event' hosted by Dilse and the event started by Suri