Potato Masala for Masala Dosa

Masala dosas are ridiculously amazing. Dosa is the indian equivalent of crepes (made out of rice). This very delicious and spicy potato and onion mixture is the filling. It is served hot with chutney and sambar. Each place has its take on the masala and this is my mom's. This is the only version *I* love, so that should be good enough for you all.

You can also serve this with Rotis/naans, or basmati rice or even make indian style paninis with it.

Ingredients:

1-2 Boiled potatoes (I used baby small yellow potatoes, red potatoes are too sweet for this dish); chop into cubes
1 small red onion or 1/2 large onion thinly sliced
1.5 tspn black mustard seeds
10 curry leaves (can omit)
1/2 tspn red chilli powder
1/4 tspn turmeric powder
2 pinches of asafoetida (can omit)
1 tspn of Channa dhal (can totally omit) [basically dried and split chickpeas without the seedcoat. TOTALLY not required)
1 tbspn of vegetable oil
1 serrano chilli sliced lengthwise or a couple of jalapenos would work too (can omit entirely)
Salt to taste


Directions

1. In a pan, add the oil and let it heat up. Add mustard seeds, Channa dal, and asafoetida. After about 30 seconds toss in the curry leaves. You should hear a lot of popping and hissing now.

2.Once the popping subsides (don't wait for everything to burn) add in the sliced onions and green chillies. Saute until translucent and cooked. After about 2 minutes of sauteing add the turmeric, red chilli powder, and salt.

3. Once the onion has cooked, add in the rough chopped boiled potatoes and mix and let it cook/heat up. after about 2 minutes your dish should be ready!

optional: garnish with fresh chopped cilantro.

Green Chilli and Coconut Chutney

I grew up in Tamil Nadu, India. I love my dosas, chutneys, and sambars. I've been trying to get this chutney just right and it's really hard to get the right consistency with a blender or cusinart chopper. Even now it's not perfect, but it's close enough for me to post it here! i've been experimenting and there's one ingredient in the list that will not make it 100% Indian and I will let you guess what it is in the comments section. Winner can get lunch/dinner cooked by me someday (feat. this chutney and dosas).

I did not measure since I was experimenting but here is the gist.


Ingredients
1/4 cup fresh grated coconut (can get this frozen in Asian and Indian stores)
1/4-1/3 rd cup ice berg lettuce
1/4 cup-1/2 cup coconut milk
Tamarind Paste - 2 teaspoons
6 jalapeno peppers (maybe 2-3 Serranos...adjust spice accordingly. I ran out of peppers :( )


Directions

In your blender, add the coconut, green chillies, ice berg lettuce, tamarind paste and some coconut milk. Hit the liquefy button and it will take about 15-20 mins of blending to get it to a nice chutney consistency. You basically want the liquid part and coconut and ice berg all blended together so that it doesnt separate out easily.

To get this consistency, you might have to add more ice berg lettuce. trial and error, my friends!

Maida-Peetaché Bakri / All-purpose Flour Pancake

My go-to breakfast. Actually a lot of the Konkani breakfast recipes that I will be posting shortly are going to be my go-to recipes soon. I love breakfast. I don't usually eat breakfast except when my mom makes it and that's only if I visit India or if she visits here. Time has come to rectify that, so here is my konkani breakfast recipe #1 : maida (all purpose)peet (flour) bakris (dosa/bread/pancake/whatever; everyone should pick up konkani words anyway).

Makes about 4 bakris
Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup water (give or take, the batter should be fluid but not liquidy)
10 torn up Curry leaves
1 Serrano or about 3 thai chillies (fresh green chillies) roughly chopped
1/2 cup of fresh shredded coconut (can find this frozen in Indian stores)
1/2 tspn salt
1 tspn sugar (give or take)
Vegetable oil to cook the batter in a pan.


Method

1. Mix the flour and water until there are absolutely no lumps. To this add the salt, sugar, curry leaves, shredded coconut, and green chillies.

2. The batter should be relatively thick but not too thick that it doesn't fall off a spoon.

3. In a non-stick pan, add some oil and let it heat up at medium-low heat. then using your hand or a ladle, ladle out some of the batter and slowly spread it around until its about the same thickness all over.. a little thinner than a pancake. I just used my hands to spread out the batter.

4. Cover it and let it cook for about 5-8 minutes. then uncover, the top should be as in the picture. Turn the heat up just a little and let it brown up on the other side. Flip and let the cooked side brown up.

5. Serve with some butter! that's how I like it, but you could use any leftover curry or eat as it!

Chicken/Paneer Tikka Pizza

Who doesn't enjoy a good pizza? I know; everyone's version of "good" differs. A brief history about my tastes perhaps will help. I used to love pizza hut, little caesars, etc. But around 2005, the visuals of thick layers of cheese and greasy dough just turned me off. But they taste sooo good, you say, and I agree!
Anyway around that time, i cut down my intake. From 2006-2008 I was in grad school and every Friday we had to have lunch with a visiting scholar and guess what was the lunch? that's right, more greasy pizza. Suffice to say, that's when I started cooking for myself and just the aroma of a pizza began turning me off. *sad-face*

So here we are now. I like pizzas again, but not the cheap greasy fast-food kind. I enjoy the weird thin crust versions with eclectic toppings (Welcome to California). But I don't like paying an arm and a leg for these. So I make them myself!

Since apart from putting it together and toasting it in the oven everything else is store bought, my pizzas are a super-quick dinner or snack.

Serves 1

Ingredients

Chicken/Paneer Tikka Masala (I had some leftover from dinner outside) 1-2 tbspn
Marinara Sauce (optional) - 1 tbspn
1 Whole Wheat Pita (can use whatever pita you prefer)
Cheese (I used Gouda and Havarti, because again, those were leftover and tasted much better than normal mozarella. Could mix all three!)
Some italian seasoning - a pinch or so to sprinkle on top of the pizza
Thai chillies (can substitute green pepper): thinly sliced (1 per pita)
Red onion : thinly sliced, less than a 1/4; depends on how much you like on your pizza


Method
1. Set oven to 400 degrees and let bread heat up for about 3 minutes.

2. Spread the marinara and tikka masala (chop up the chicken or paneer) onto the bread. You can go for 50-50 or put more of the tikka than the marinara.

3. top this off of the red onions, green chillies, sprinkle of italian seasoning, and cheeses.

4. put it back in the oven and at 425 degrees let this toast up until the cheese has melted and crust is crispy.

Cut into 4's and enjoy with a salad! Dinner done!