Amaranth Grain Uttapam

I thought I was done with trying new recipes for 2015, and I was wrong. Here’s another keeper recipe.

I wasn’t really sure how this would turn out. I had a lot of Amaranth grain and since making the upma sometime back, I haven’t really tried anything else. On a whim, I soaked it overnight along with urad dal and decided to give it a go. And it was all good!

Amaranth grain is actually a seed, quite minuscule in size and interestingly enough it doesn’t grow in size much when cooked or soaked in water and might be difficult to determine if it is cooked. It has nutty flavor, and is rich in protein, vitamins and minerals.

Ingredients:

1 cup amaranth grain
1 cup urad dal
salt to taste

Soak the urad dal and amaranth grain in water in two separate bowls overnight or for 8-10 hours.

Rinse and blend the urad dal with some water to make a thick batter. Rinse and add the amaranth grain to the blender and continue blending to make smooth batter. Season with salt.

To make uttapam, scoop 4-5 tablespoons of the batter into a separate bowl. Add in your favorite vegetables and mix well. My favorite combination is peas, kale and sliced mini-heirloom tomatoes.

Heat a flat pan on the stove. Add 1-2 tbsp of oil and grease it generously. Pour in the batter and spread evenly into a circle. Cover with a lid and cook on medium low until lightly browned. Flip and cook on the other side.

Serve warm with chutney.

See Also:

Spicy Kale and Pea Uttapam
Brussels Sprouts Uttapam
Cabbage Uttapam
Brown Rice and Whole Black Gram Uttapam
Sweet and Sour Ginger Pickle
Tomato chutney

Spicy Kale and Pea Uttapam

It is March. St Paddy’s Day. Believe it or not, a snow day in the Mid-Atlantic!

I had ample free time, and some left over Idli batter to play with, and green was in my mind 🙂

Ingredients
2-3 tbsp Idli batter
1/4 white or yellow onion chopped fine
a handful of frozen green peas rinsed
a handful of organic Tuscan kale chopped fine
1 green jalapeno chopped fine
a few sprigs of green cilantro chopped fine
4-6 cherry tomatoes sliced (optional)…. I love a colorful palate 🙂

Mix all ingredients. Add water as needed to lighten the batter.

Place a flat  non-stick pan on the stove on medium heat. Add 1 tbsp oil to grease the pan. Add the mixed batter and spread evenly with a spoon. Add additional oil as needed. Cover with a plate and cook until the side is lightly browned.

Flip and cook the other side until lightly golden, adding oil as needed,

Serve warm with chutney. Can be eaten stand alone or serve with a chutney such as peanut, coconut or mango. Or sweet ginger pickle my favorite!

Use any Idli batter: With brown rice or with the usual idli rava. Since I first made brown rice Idli batter, I rarely make any other. It’s healthy and good for you. Try it!

See Also:
Uttappam
Brown Rice with Cabbage Uttappam
Brown Rice Brussels Sprouts Uttappam
Brown Rice and Whole Black Gram Uttappam

Brown Rice Brussels Sprouts Uttapam

Brussels Sprouts? You say. Yes I say. When I can make cabbage uttapam, why not brussels sprouts uttapam?

Brussels sprouts belongs to the cabbage family, and look like miniature cabbages. Quite often, I substitute them for cabbage. They are rich in Vitamin A & C and dietary fiber. This one is an old recipe…

Ingredients:

Batter:
1 cup brown rice
1 cup urad dal
salt to taste (approx 1 tsp)

Uttapam:
2-3 tbsp batter
2-3 brussels sprouts

Prep time: up to 24 hrs.
Cooking time: 10 min
Makes 3-4 medium uttapams. Refrigerate any left over batter. Will keep for at least a week.

Soak rice and dal in separate bowls with water up to at least 8 hours. I usually soak mine over night. Rinse and blend the dal in a blender with some water to make thick, smooth batter. Rinse and add the rice, continue blending until the rice is blended to very fine particles. You can blend the rice separately and add to the urad dal batter or blend together. Add salt and mix well. Set aside for at least 10-12 hours to allow the batter to ferment. Fermenting, especially is necessary to make fluffy idlis. But you can still make uttapam without the fermentation.

To make the uttapam, take 2-3 tbsp of batter, shred 2-3 brussels sprouts and add to the batter. Heat a wide pan and grease with some oil. Add some water to the batter, to thin it. Pour onto the greased pan and spread out evenly. Add more oil to prevent sticking. Cover and cook until golden. Flip over, add oil as needed and cook the other side till golden.

Serve warm with chutney. You can use any such as the Peanut chutney or coconut chutney. Although I like mine with sweet ginger pickle.

Note: Brown rice is heavier than if you use white rice or even idli rava.

What’s in my kitchen series #1

Over the last few years, each time my mom came for a visit, she would bring one or more of her nifty kitchen gadgets and stick them in my cupboard. When I protested that it was wasted on me: that I had neither the patience nor the desire to try elaborate procedures to make something that was not only rich and heavy in calories but too time consuming, she started to do it silently. Sometimes it was months, even years, after she left, that  I did not discover some strange gadget in my kitchen cupboard and wondered where it had come from. Sometimes it was not until I was packing my kitchen items for a move to another residence or city, that I discovered something and felt myself smiling, thinking of my mother and her devious ways!

Rather than offend her, I learned to let it slide. After all she made delicious stuff with them while she visited. Who am I to complain?

In memory of her, over the next year I hope to recollect (recipes), learn (how to use) and utilize these nifty kitchen gadgets that she has used since my childhood to make delightful, and delicious snacks and food items so patiently and so carefully with love.

The first gadget in this series is an Aebleskiver. I even had to scour the web to figure out what it was called :-). The recipe to use this was an easy one. Remember my Chicago trip and the whole cabbage Uttapam? Well my friend Anu used this cool gadget to make something exciting for her kids.

Vaguely I remember my mom using it. But yeah, if you have some idli batter sitting around and wondering what else you can do with it, here is a fun new way to use it! Bite size, it is a fun alternative to making something for kids as well as adults to enjoy!

Lightly drizzle oil into each of the cups of the Ableskiver. Add one tbsp of idli/uttapam batter and cook on the stove till lightly brown. Use a spoon to rotate the balls to cook evenly on the other side. Remove and serve hot with chutney.

Brown Rice Uttapam with Cabbage

When I visited my friend Anu in Chicago last time, she made this for breakfast. Seeing her toss cabbage into batter and make uttapams I was surprised. “Really, cabbage in uttapam?” I asked her. I wouldn’t have thought of doing that. But it was excellent! Especially with the simple, fast chutney she made. Roasted peanuts, garlic, whole red chilli and tamarind ground with some water. No seasoning. No need to turn on the stove. That too was tasty and excellent.

Cabbage is such a bland vegetable that I am always at a loss on how best to create something exciting with it. The one or two recipes I commonly use cabbage in long exhausted, these days I rarely buy cabbage when I go grocery shopping. So it was a pleasant change to find a refreshing new use for cabbage.

Continuing my resolve for healthy eating and fitness (see Spinach on my mind), I decided to make brown rice uttapam for brunch for the weekend. To see the recipe for making the batter see my posting on brown rice idli here. Uttapam is a traditional South Indian breakfast and different people use different batter and ingredients in different ratios. I have evolved my recipe based on what works for my palate. For the traditional recipe I use to make idli/uttapam batter check here.

To make batter from scratch requires planning and preparation. Rice and dal need to be soaked at least for 8 hrs before blending into almost smooth batter. Then another 8-12 hrs or longer for proper fermentation. But once that is done, you can use the batter to make different dishes. The batter can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Here is the chutney recipe I used. Since I was short on peanuts, I ended up using 1/2 cup peanuts with some coconut and roasted dal. You can never go wrong with these ingredients. It was scrumptious!

Chutney:
1 cup roasted peanuts
5-6 dry red chilli
2-3 garlic cloves
some tamarind paste or fresh
cliantro (optional)
1 green jalapeno (optional)
salt to taste

Toss all in a blender and add some water and blend to a smooth paste. Alternately you can also add coconut, roasted sesame seeds, cashews, and/or roasted dal. Any combination of these can also be used. Always adjust spices and salt for personal preference.