Medu Vada and Rasam with Rasam Powder recipe

Tamil Nadu is the final destination of my Dakshin Rail. Shall we call it Chennai Express 😀
I often make Sambar but had never tried Rasam- the very thin, watery soup like wonder. I love Medu Vadas with it. In fact the vadas are favoured over Idlis in my house ( Umm …why is fried stuff more popular I wonder…)

My darling buddy Jaya Amit shared her Ma’s recipes and I got them both perfect in the first go. And no surprises there. Moms recipes always rock ❤
J also gave me the recipe to do fresh rasam masala at home. I made a small batch and  the aroma that filled my kitchen was moth watering. So here goes

For the Rasam Masala Powder
 (Makes about ¼  cup)
2 Tbsb coriander/dhaniya seeds
2 tsp tur/arhar dal
2 tsp chana/Bengal gram dal
8 whole red chillies
1 tsp peppercorns/whole kali mirch
1 tsp cumin/jeera

Dry roast all the above on a hot griddle one by one. Cool completely and grind. Store in an airtight box.

For the Rasam
(Serves 4)

A very small lemon-sized ball of tamarind
1 tsp desi ghee/clarified butter
1 small tomato chopped fine
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
½ tsp haldi/turmeric
1 Tbsp Rasam Masala
4-5  curry leaves
½ cup diluted tur dal (optional)
A handful of fresh coriander/cilantro, chopped fine

For the tadka/tempering
1 tsp desi ghee
½ tsp heeng/asafetida
1 tsp rai/mustard seeds
½ tsp jeera/turmeric
A pinch of pepper powder
4-5 curry leaves
Soak the tamarind in a cup of water for an hour. ( See the small ball. It is less than a tbsp )
Pulp and strain it. Add 2 ½ cups of water to the pulp.

Heat a tsp of ghee and add garlic, curry leaves and  tomatoes. Cook stirring for 3-4 minutes till the tomatoes are mushy.
Add the tamarind water, salt and turmeric and bring to boil. The diluted tur dal can be added at this point (If using). Add more water if needed. The rasam has to be nice and watery.
Add the Rasam powder and just bring to a froth and take off the heat.
Tempering – Heat ghee and add heeng and rai. As soon as the rai starts to crackle, take off the heat. Add the curry leaves and pepper powder and spread over the rasam. Serve hot with medu vada!

Recipe for  Medu Vada ( Complete with tips and tricks!)
 ( Makes 12-15 medium sized vadas)
1 Cup Whole urad or good quality urad dal
1 small onion, chopped fine
2 green chillies, chopped fine and seeds removed
6-7 curry leaves, torn roughly
2 tsp grated ginger
Salt to taste
½ tsp heeng/asafetida
Soak a cup of urad dal for two hours ( Do not over soak else the batter gets watery)
Drain and grind till thick and fluffy, adding very little water slowly. Do not add too much water else the batter will be runny and the vadas won’t form well. Grind just before you are going to fry them for better results
.(TIP- If the batter does get runny, add a little semolina and make simple round Pakoda like vadas as it might be difficult to get the doughnut like shape)

Add all the other listed ingredients to the batter and mix well.
Pour oil generously in a  kadai/wok. Don’t be skimpy with oil, else the vadas will stick to the bottom of the wok.
Take a clean plastic sheet. Moisten the sheet and your hands. Take 2 tsbp batter and make the vadas.
Drop gently into the oil and fry on medium heat till golden brown. Serve hot!

Upma- Quick Light Healthy Breakfast

Upma

This light and quick fix breakfast is healthy and versatile. You can make it just with the basic tempering of mustard seeds and curry leaves or as many seasonal vegetables as you want, to make a mixed vegetable Upma.
Although it may be made in oil, but the taste of the ghee-roasted upma is unsurpassable.
(This recipe serves 3-4)

½ cup semolina/sooji
1 tbsp ghee
1 tsp mustard seeds/rai
6-7 curry leaves
1 small onion, chopped fine ( can omit if making Jain style)
2 green chillies chopped fine
5-6 cashew nuts, chopped coarse
1 tsp lime juice
2 ½ cups of water
1 tsp of urad dal and chana dal each, soaked for 20 minutes
A handful of fresh coriander

Roast the semolina in 1 tsp of ghee till it begins to change colour and gives a toasty aroma.
In another pan, heat the remaining ghee and splutter the mustard. Keep the heat on medium.
Add the cashew nuts and roast them till they get light brown. Add curry leaves and the soaked dals and stir for a minute.
Add onions and fry them till they begin to brown. Add green chillies (and any vegetables if using) and stir for a minute.
Increase the heat to full. Add water and bring to a boil. Add the lime juice.
Slowly add the semolina, stirring continuously till the upma comes together and loose fudge like consistency is reached.
Sprinkle fresh coriander, mix well and serve immediately.

Upma Pesarattu or MLA Pesarattu – Green Lentil Dosa from Andhra served with Upma and Tangy Ginger Chutney

Andhra Pradesh is destination next on my Dakshin Samyal aka my Southern sojourn. My friend Sushma, was kind enough to share some of her family recipes with me and I was able to get together this meal.
The MLA Pesarattu, called so because it is popular in the the MLA quarters at Hyderabad. The green lentils dosas are roasted in ghee and served with a tangy ginger tamarind chutney (Allam Pachadi) and ghee laden Upma. A rich platter!

For the Pesarattu/ green lentil pancakes
Pesarattu (Andhra)
(This recipe makes 10-12 pesarattu)

1 cup whole moong dal with skin/ chhilke waali moong dal
2-3 green chillies
2 inch piece of ginger
Salt to taste
1 tbsp rice flour (optional)
1 onion, chopped fine
A few cashew nuts, chopped coarse
Some fresh coriander
Ghee/clarified butter to cook the pesarattu (may use oil)

Chop the ginger and green chilles into large chunks and soak them with the dal in enough water for 4-5 hours.

Rinse and blend into a thick paste. Do not throw the water used to soak. Add as required while grinding. Do not add too much. We need a thick batter. Some rice flour may be used if the batter is difficult to work with.

Add salt just before making the pesarattu.
Heat a heavy griddle. Sprikle water and wipe. Immediately, spread a ladle of the batter like a dosa. Drizzle some ghee around and in the centre.
Spread a little thick for sofe pesarattu and really thin for crisp ones.

Lower the flame and cook till done. If required, flip and cook the other side.
On top of it sprinkle the onions, cashews and coriander.
Spread two tablespoons of upma ( Find recipe here) inside the pancake  and serve hot with the tangy garlic chutney.

For the Ginger Tamarind Chutney /Allam Pachadi

(Makes ¼ cup chutney)

This tangy spicy chutney is a tease! You cannot stop licking it off the bowl. It is that yum!!  😀

2 Tbsp tamarind pulp ( take a lemon sized ball of tamrind, soaked in 1 cup of water and strain it)
1 2×2 inch block of jaggery/gud, crushed to small pieces
3 Tbsp grated ginger
Salt to taste
½ tsp red chilli powder ( or more if you want it hotter)
1 tsp oil

Soak the jaggery in tamarind pulp for 2 hours.
After the mixture has been soaking for 2 hours, heat the oil and  sauté  the ginger in it. Add salt and chilli powder, stir for a few seconds and remove.
Cool and add the sautéed ginger to the tamrind jaggery mixture.
Soak for another 2 hours to imbibe all the juices and the flavours to come together.
Blitz the mixture and cook on the gas on low heat for about 40 minutes to an hour to get a sticky spicy delicious ginger tamarind chutney! Yum 😀 :DBe careful. If you don’t stop ‘tasting’, you might have none left to serve with the pesarattu. Works well with dosas too.

Masala Akki Roti/Rotti- A crunchy pancake from Karnataka

Akki rotti/roti from Karnatka, the second destination of my Dakshin Samyaal 😀
This Masala Akki is a vegetable filled crunchy delight. And so healthy! I have discovered a smart way to feed my kids lots of fresh seasonal vegetables and have been able to sneak in a load of never-appreciated veggies like beets, red cabbage, radish, cucumber and beans.

This time the theme at our blogger buddies group was to use a hitherto unused fruit or vegetable. I picked Indian broad beans/ Sem ki phali. The recipe is adapted from my friend Aruna’s wonderful blog Aahaaram.
This recipe gives about 6-8  akki rotis.
1 ½ cups rice flour
1 medium onion, chopped fine
½ cup of broad bean seeds ( Peel the beans to get the seeds inside. I used the peels to make a quick stir fry with potatoes )
¼ of a small cabbage, chopped fine
1 small carrot grated
2-3 green chillies, chopped fine
2 Tbsp Malai/Fresh cream (the original recipe uses oil, but I found Malai keeps the akki rottis softer for a longer period of time. Else they tend to dry up)
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp asafoetida
3-4 tbsp milk, used as needed to get the dough together ( the original recipe uses water)
Oil to cook the rottis
In a big bowl add all the chopped vegetables, rice flour, salt, asafoetida  and cream.
Mix well with fingers and add milk slowly to make a soft and supple dough.
Knead the dough just when you are making the rotis. This doesn’t keep well when made ahead and stored.
Heat a non stick pan and brush lightly with oil.
(Traditionally the dough is flattened directly on the pan. This is how I did it)
Take a plastic sheet and smear lightly with oil. Even a banana leaf works well. Also grease your palms and fingers.
Take a lemon sized ball from the dough and flatten in on the plastic sheet with your fingers, sealing the edges with the other hand.
When rolled out to a regular chapatti size disc, make a hole in the middle of the roti with your fingertip and poke 5-6 holes around the periphery of the rotti. This helps in cooking evenly.
Gently, lift the roti off the plastic sheet/banana leaf  and put it into the hot pan.
Reduce heat and cook covered till brown spots appear. Brush the top with a little oil and flip and cook from the other side till done.
Serve with coconut chutney, tomato chutney or just fresh curd!

This blog post is part of the monthly “Cooking With Friends” themed blog post challenge. This challenge was started by a bunch of virtual friends united by their love of food, with the aim of tackling a different food related theme each month. If you want to try this month’s theme, please feel free to do so and link your recipe in the comments section. We’d love to check it out.
Meanwhile, check out what the others in the group have come up with this month.

Dolphia of Story Of Cooks
Anjana of At The Corner Of Happy And Harried
Jayasri of My Veg Fare
Jyothi of Curry Trail
Madhuri of Mad About Kitchen
Subhasmita of The Flavours Of Kitchen
Sujatha of Spices N Treats

Kerala Style Vegetable Stew and How to extract Coconut Milk

Kerala Style vegetable stew is a wonderful concoction of mixed vegetables gently simmered in aromatic whole spices and thin coconut milk.
I served the stew with appams and a bowl of chilled sweetened coconut milk. It made for an extremely satisfying meal!

This meal needs copious amounts of coconut milk. You can use store bought, but it is really simple to make at home. And preservative free completely!

All you need is some fresh coconut, cubed and some hot water.


Grinds a cup of coconut, add hot water and strain. This is the first extract/thick milk.
Add another cup of hot water to the precipitate and grind again. Strain to get the second extract/ thin milk.

The stew gets its flavour from the whole spices completely and needs no ground spices apart from black pepper really. You can add a dash of cumin- coriander powder if you like. The stew gets heat from green chillies and pairs beautifully with the mild flavoured appams.

You need
2 cups of mixed vegetables, cubed.
I used carrots, cauliflower, French Beans, potatoes, peas and onion
1 tsp ginger,grated
2-3 cloves of garlic,minced
2 large green chillies (or less if you want to reduce the heat)
¼  tsp black pepper powder
1 cup of thin coconut milk/water
1 cup of thick coconut milk
Salt, to taste
Whole spices-  2 bay leaves, a small stick of cinnamon, 4-5 cloves
1 tsp oil
5-6 curry leaves

In a pan (can use the pressure cooker) heat oil and add curry leaves.
Add the whole spices and roast for a few seconds.( I sometimes make it oil free and just dry roast the spices like I did here)
Add the vegetables, green chillies and black pepper powder.
Season with salt.
Add the thin coconut water and cover and cook till vegetables are done but firm.

(If making in pressure cooker, use water instead of coconut milk)
Take off the heat and add the thick coconut milk.
Stir well and serve hot.

* In case whole spices are not available, use some Garam Masala powder
* I always take the stew off the heat and then stir in the coconut milk so that the milk does not split.
* A tsp of mustard seeds can be added right after the curry leaves if desired.

Kerala Appam or Palappam

As much as I love food from Dakshin Bharat aka South India, I realised there is very little I know to cook apart from idli and dosa (yum as they are!)
So May is a month to venture that way
A Southern sojourn, so to say.

Up first are the feather-light and super yum ‘Lacy Hoppers’ from Kerala .Yeah! They have a cute English name!  Appams or Palappmas are soft pancakes which are made from rice and coconut milk.

In case you have rice flour at hand, here is a wonderful recipe by my friend Rieby Jeetu Matthew which I have tried and tested numerous times. It is super simple and no fail! The batter is ready is all of two hours!
Rieby, our appam connection is now documented 😀 ❤

Appam recipe with Rice Flour or Appam Podi
This recipe gives 20 appams
You need
2 cups of rice flour
Half a cup of coconut milk/ desiccated coconut/ coconut milk powder
4-5 tbsp cooked rice
½ tsp Instant yeast or 1 tsp active dry yeast
4 tbsp sugar
¾ tsp salt
Grind all the ingredients apart from salt in the mixture adding water very slowly as required.
If using coconut milk, first grind only with the milk and then add water if needed.
We need a batter runnier / looser than the dosa batter.
Cover and let ferment. It took about two hours here in this hot weather. The batter is ready. Add salt, mix well and make appams.
(To make appams, follow the steps shown below)
If not using immediately, do not add salt and store the batter in the refrigerator for up to two days.

I had requested a dear blogger friend for a recipe with rice rather than rice flour and she, very sweetly, did an appam post for me. Thanks a ton Shannu. They came out perfect! Here is Shannu’s recipe at Food Passion and Love.

I make them both ways, with rice and with rice flour. Both come out equally good. Just that, if you want to skip the step of soaking and grinding the rice, the rice flour recipe is really handy and all the prep gets done is just about two hours.

Appam recipe with Rice
(Makes about 15-18 appams)
1 ½ cup  Rice
¾ cup grated coconut or ¾ cup thick coconut milk
A handful of cooked rice
¾  tsp salt
3 Tbsp sugar
½ to ¾ cup of water for grinding ( To be added gradually)
1 tsp Instant yeast
(or 2 tsp active dry yeast  and 2 Tbsp luke warm water and a tsp of sugar to soak the yeast)

Soak the raw rice in water for about 4 -5 hours.
If using active dry yeast– When you are ready to grind the rice, soak the yeast in warm water and sugar. In about 10-15 minutes the mixture gets frothy.
Instant Yeast can be added directly to the batter, without soaking/blooming.
Grind the coconut

Drain the water and grind the rice in the mixer adding water gradually. We need a fine paste.

Add the cooked rice and  and  Instant yeast or the frothy yeast mixture ( if using active dry yeast)  and mix well.

Transfer to a large steel or plastic container and keep covered for 3-4 hours till the mixture ferments well and doubles up.

Add salt and sugar to the fermented batter and mix well. Add some water if the batter is too thick. We need a runny sort of batter. Runnier than a dosa batter.
Appams are made in a small shallow kadai called appa chatti. They can be made in a non stick pan but won’t get the intrinsic appam shape. Will be a treat nevertheless!

Heat the appa chatti and  put a drop of desi ghee or butter. Wipe clean with a tissue paper. The chatti should not be too hot else the batter won’t stick.
Pour a ladle full of batter ( about ¼ cup) in the centre of the chatti.

Holding the pan from the handles, take it off the heat and swirl the batter all the way around to form a circle. Try not to swirl after the first layer. There will be more batter in the centre and the edges will be thin. Don’t worry. That’s the way it is meant to be!
Increase the heat and cover  and cook for a minutes.

Lower the heat and cook another minute if you like white appams. Make sure the centre is cooked.

I like them soft in the centre and crispy and lacy around the edges so I wait another couple of minutes till the sides become nice and brown.

With a wooden spatula lift the appams from one side. In fact I just life it with my hands. It leaves the pan easily.

Serve with stew and coconut milk.
The leftover batter can be stored in the refrigerator for up to two days.
I served the appams with chilled, sweetened coconut milk and Vegetable Stew.
Find the recipe for the Stew here.

For the Sweet coconut milk- Chill some thick coconut milk and add some sugar or condensed milk to make it as sweet as you like it.  I added a couple of tsp condensed milk to a cup of coconut milk. Done!

No Fry Falafels with Unleavened instant Pitas aka Chapati Pitas!

Simple chapatis don’t cut much ice with my boys, so I play the sneak and ‘Lebanise’ them sometimes 😉
Rolled small and thick and nicely puffed up, chapatis make crisp unleavened Pita pockets. Off late I have started making no fry falafels thanks to my dear friend Sonal Kalra’s wonderful recipe. I now cook the chick peas before I  grind them rather than grinding them raw. Also, I pan fry them in very little oil rather than deep frying them. As they get made very often in my kitchen, this healthy variation is a blessing. And honestly, we don’t miss then fried ones.

You need
A cup of cooked chick peas/kabuli chane/chhole
1  medium sized onions, chopped into cubes
6 Tbsp fresh cilantro/hara dhaniya, chopped coarse
3 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped coarse
5 cloves garlic, chopped coarse
1 tsp salt
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp roasted cumin powder
1 Tsp lemon juice
1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
Oil to brush the falafels
2-4 Tbsp bread crumbs (Add slowly only as much needed to bind the falafels)

Drain the chickpeas well and grind them coarse. Do NOT add any water.


Grind the remaining ingredients (barring bread crumbs)
Mix the two.

Now slowly add breadcrumbs, a tsp at a time, so that the falafel mixture comes together to form patties.

Make all the patties as per desired size.

Pan fry the patties on a non stick pan brushing slightly with oil till they are browned on both sides.

We had them with some green pepper hummus, stuffed into our chapati-Pitas 😀

Whole Wheat Pitas

You can always got the traditional way and make the dough with yeast. I have gone completely whole wheat off late.
Knead the pita dough with 4 cups of aata/whole wheat flour  with a tsp of salt, 1 tsp of instant yeast (bloomed in half a cup of warm water and 1 tsp of sugar) and rest it for a couple of hours. Here it is all doubled up and proved.

Roll out small flatbreads

Bake at full heat in the oven till they puff up and brown.
Alternatively make them on the stove top on a heavy griddle.
These will be browner than the Maida/All purpose flour pitas, but as good in taste!

Dal Dhokli

Summer seems to have arrived before time this year. It is unseasonably warm. One feels like simple, low oil meals. Discs of spicy dough cooked in lentil soup, Dal Dhokli makes for a wholesome bowl of joy. It is quick and simple to make too!
Thinking about it made me wonder how this came to be first made. I have a feeling that in the good old no-refrigerator days, a housewife may have been left with some excess chapatti dough and dal. And she came up with this brilliant idea of rolling and cutting small diamonds or discs of dough and boiling them with the dal. Voila! It is made with a mixture of dhuli and chhilke waali moong dal in Rajasthan and with toor dal in Gujrat and Maharashtra. It is made with a dash of the black Goda Masala in Maharashtra and called Varan Phala. Thanks to my friend Kirti Tabib’s delicious looking Varan Phala post, I was tempted to make this the very same day!  I made it using Kirti’s recipe with quite a few inputs from my friends Ruchita and Pragya.Thanks girls.

For the dal

½ cup of toor daal (pigeon pea lentils) or a mixture of husked and dehusked moong lentils (dhuli aur chhilke waali moong dal)
2 cups of water
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp turmeric/haldi powder

Pressure cook all of the above. Let cool and mash well.

While the dal cooks, prepare the dough for dhokli.
2  cup whole wheat dough/aata
2 tbsp gram flour/besan
2 tbsp rice flour
¾  tsp salt
¼ tsp turmeric/haldi powder
½ tsp coriander/dhaniya powder
½ tsp red chilli powder/lal mirch powder
2 tbsp oil
2 tsp ghee
A pinch of sugar
A handful of fresh coriander, chopped fine
1 large green chilli, chopped fine
½ tsp ginger, minced
1 tsp carom seeds/ajwain

Mix all the listed ingredients and knead into a dough. Keep covered till the dal is done.



For making Dal Dhokli
1 Tbsp Oil
¼ tsp asafoetida/heeng
½ tsp cumin/jeera
A pinch of mustard seeds/rai
5-6 cloves/laung
1 inch piece of cinnamon/dalchini
½ tsp salt
½ tsp red chilli powder
½ tsp coriander powder
¼ tsp cumin powder
¼ tsp Maharashtrian Goda masala (optional)
1 medium tomato,chopped fine
1 large green chilli, a small piece of ginger and 3 cloves of garlic, ground coarse
1 tbsp tamarind pulp (skip if making with moong dal. Use lemon juice instead)
A small piece of jaggery/gud (or as per the desired sweetness)
8-10 curry leaves (skip if making with moong dal)

In a large kadai or heavy bottomed pan, heat oil and add cinnamon,cloves, asafoetida, cumin and mustard seeds.

Add curry leaves, the coarsely ground green chilli, ginger and garlic mixture and the dry spices (salt,red chilli powder, turmeric powder,coriander powder and goda masala)

Add tomatoes and cook till the tomatoes are pulpy.

Add the boiled dal and 4 cups of water.

Take a lemon sized ball from the dhokli dough, roll out as thick as a chapatti and cut dhokli into desired shapes- diamonds or discs.

Drop the dhokli into boiling dal and cook stirring in between for fifteen minutes.

The dhokli floats to the top when done. Taste for doneness. It should not taste doughy.

Once done, squeeze some lemon juice, top with fresh green coriander and serve hot.
Enjoy 😀

The perfect Rawa Dosa

I learn so much at CaL every day (Chef At Large, the food forum where my food love blossomed)! I had an urge to have rawa dosa the other day and tried my buddy Amruta Iyer’s fabulous recipe with perfect results. And thanks to dear Sushma Ayyalasomayajula for her oh so yum sambar recipe.
Ams and Sush- you rock girls!
Here is the link to Amsie’s perfect rawa dosas.
And here is my plate of yum!

For the rawa dosas you need

(Makes 6-7 dosas)
A cup of coarse semolina/sooji/rawa (roasted and cooled)
3 tbsp rice flour
1/2 cup of curd
A cup and a half of water (can add more if the batter gets thick)
2 large green chillies, chopped fine
½ tsp Asafoetida/  heeng
1 medium onion, chopped fine
A small bunch or coriander, chopped fine
Salt to taste
Oil as needed for making the dosas.

Mix the rawa, rice flour,salt,curd,onions,green chillies,coriander,asafoetida and beat together with a ladle so that it blends well.

Slowly add water to make a liquidy,runny sort of batter. Rest for 15-20 minutes.

Heat a non stick pan.
Splash some water and let it evaporate.
Spread a ladle full of the batter from the outer periphery of the pan. Fill the larger gaps with very little batter, but let some gaps remain for the characteristic webbed effect of  rawa dosa.
Alternatively, scoop some batter in your palm and throw splashes of it on  the pan, creating the web. This needs practice and a safe distance from the hot pan and hence, for beginners the ladle method works better 😀

Lower the heat and drizzle oil around the dosa and over the the holes/gaps.

Cover and let cook on low heat for about 3-4 minutes.
Uncover and increase the flame to full.

Once the edges brown,flip and cook for a couple of minutes.

Serve hot!

Before making the next dosa, mix the batter well so that the semolina settled at the bottom mixes well.
If the batter feels thick, add some more water.
Let the pan heat nicely before making the next dosa.
Serve it with this wonderful Andhra style tangy Sambar like I did!

Onion-Yougurt Tawa Sandwich with some Fresh Grape Juice

Another sandwich! Can we ever enough of them? I guess not. I love desi sandwiches as much as I love the fancy ones. Remember my Desi Tawa Masala Sandwich! A sandwich with juice makes for a perfect summer meal.

This one’s a memory from my teenage years and I reckon most kids who grew up in the eighties and nineties fixed themselves this yogurt spread quick- fix-delight!  There are probably a variety of ways this sandwich is made. Here I share the way my granny made it and then my Mum. I could fix this myself when I was about 13.

It takes five minutes to make and packs a punch.

You need
White or brown sandwich bread
Some oil to brush the pan
Some mustard seeds/rai
10-15 curry leaves

For the spread
A cup of thick yogurt/curd/dahi
A medium onion chopped fine
A large green chilly chopped fine
A small bunch of coriander chopped fine
Salt to taste
½ tsp red chilly powder
¼ tsp asafoetida
(I sometimes like to splutter some mustard seeds in a tsp of oil, add some curry leaves and asafoetida and add to the yogurt spread)

Heat a non stick pan and brush it will oil. Drizzle a few drops in the centre.
Spread the slices with the yogurt mix.

Once the pan heats up, splutter half a tsp of mustard seeds and throw in a few curly leaves.

Quickly place the sandwich on the mustard seeds.

Press down with a spatula so that the sandwich browns well all over.
Brush the top lightly with oil.

Flip the sandwich and brown the other side too.

Serve hot. It doesn’t really need any dip, ketchup or chutney.

Best enjoyed with a tall glass of chilled juice.

I blitzed a cup of grapes with half a tsp of sugar, some rock salt,chat masala and a dash of lime and it was a fabulous meal!

Shannu, who blogs at  Food Passion and Love ,gave me the fabulous idea of this refreshing juice. Thanks Shannu 😀