What MADE my Sunday morning!

Ragi(Finger Millet) Dosa (Jugaadu)

Before talking about the recipe itself, a little intro about the Jugaad term. Most Indians would be familiar with this popular hindi slang "Jugaad" which roughly means get something done by some means or the others. Many times it is used in context with a job being done as best as one can, with least available resources. So this Friday evening I'm grinding some Urad Dal to make batter for Idly and realize a bit too late that the amount of Idly Rava I have is too less for the amount of Urad dal soaked. Question at hand : What do I do with the extra urad dal paste? Since I had a cold/cough, urad vada was ruled out(which did make me very sad! :( ). 

I saw some Ragi flour and decided to mix it with the urad paste to make a dosa batter without much thought and was pleasantly surprised at how the dosas came out today morning! Melt in the mouth and cooked very quickly. I made a quick chutney and we enjoyed it with a steaming hot cup of tea! Ahhh.... my sunday morning was made!! :)

So next time you are planning to make idly, put in that extra cup of urad dal and easily end up with another meal taken care of... Ragi being really healthy is an added bonus.

What you need :

1 cup urad dal - soaked for about 6 hours and ground to a paste

About 2 cups of Ragi(Finger Millet) flour - I don't know exactly how much I added as I just added enough to mix well with the urad paste with a little bit of water.

Salt

Sugar

1 tsp of oil

Procedure :

Mix the Urad dal paste and Ragi Flour well. 

Allow it to ferment overnight. Sometimes takes more time than that depending on the whether. 

You will know when its done when it smells slightly sour, has tiny-bubbly texture.

Once fermented, it can be stored in the fridge easily for a week or more.

To make Dosas : Mix in salt and about 1 tsp each of sugar and oil into the batter. 

Heat a non stick tava. Check by splashing some water on it.

Once it is hot, spread the batter quickly and lightly without pressing the batter on the tava. Keep the heat at medium to high.

Drizzle some oil. Once it turns crispy (took about a minute), turn it around and cook for another 30 seconds.

Serve hot with coconut chutney and a cup of tea/coffee! :)

Grand Opening!

Hello to the world of blogging! :)

In recent times food blogs have been a a very important part of my daily life - reason? simple... I'm a biig (with as many i's that I can think of :D ) Foodie! I love to Eat/ Think/ See/ Cook food... I'm one of those "Live to Eat" people.. I love to look through the wide range of recipes and try them out.

Growing up in India, some of the best food I've had is in the roadside Dhabas - simple and super tasty. And yes, I say this in spite of being a Vegetarian!! I know that Dhabas make most of the people think of Butter chicken, but my mouth waters at the thought of the various types of Parathas, Aloo Gobhi, Baigan Bharta, Paneer Pakodas and of course the unbeatable Dal-Tandoor Roti-Pyaaz mirchi (Raw onion and chilly).. Sluurrrpppp!! :) I've been to Dhabas in many regions in India and the flavor and simplicity of food is unbeatable!

With all this drooling after thinking about Dhabas, lets come to my blog. I think my dream profession would be cooking and eating - and opening a Dhaba is what appeals me the most mainly because of the simplicity of it.. There are no fancy expectations to be taken care of and the focus is on food! My current profession is the the IT industry (Yes, add one more to the gigantic crowd!!!) and I do like it here! :) So here I am.. Giving some shape to my passion about food and cooking by writing at my very own iDhaba.. :)

The huge number of food blogs present today inspired me to write my own. I admit, I'm just a beginner in this field and can't compare to all the experienced and great cooks who have been here for a long time. :)  I will be posting some of my favorite and unique recipes learned/created over the years. The food craze started early on for me and my sister with my mom obviously, who is a fabulous cook and who went through the pain of attending various cooking classes to create a wide array of new dishes(pizza, north indian, chinese, ice creams, cakes were all created at home!!) for us!. Today, my hubby and a group of friends share this food passion with me! This blog encompasses all the knowledge Ive learned from mom, sis, mom-in-law, the numerous aunts, friends and my dad(Yes, he's a big foodie and cooks well too! :D ).  4 aspects of food are very important for me - healthy, easy, variety and of course Tasty!!

This is also a place for those people with limited time looking for nutritious home cooked easy meals.

Hope you all enjoy reading this.. I'm sure I'm going to enjoy writing too! :)

Bon Appetit!