South Indian tiffin items are tasty and filling. They make for a quick snack or breakfast on those hurried mornings. Most often we think of idlis and dosas in this category, but there are other delicious recipes to try as well. Go ahead and get cooking!
All these recipes given below are considered healthy as most of them are steamed, not fried.
1. Uthappam
Ingredients- for batter
3 cups dosa rice
1 cup urad daal
½ tsp. dry active yeast
For topping
1 medium onion- finely chopped
¼ cup grated carrot
1 tsp. roasted jeera seeds
2 finely chopped green chillies
Method
- Soak dosa rice, urad daal and fenugreek seeds in a deep bowl with enough water. Close with a lid and keep aside to soak for 5-6 hours or overnight.
- Wash and drain the ingredients and blend in a mixie along with poha which has been soaked for 5 to 10 minutes. This should give a smooth paste, add water as needed.
- Dissolve ½ tsp. yeast and 2 tsp. of sugar in warm water. Add this to the batter. Allow to ferment for 8 hours or overnight. The batter consistency should not be too thick nor too runny.
- Heat a pan over medium flame, once hot, add a few drops of oil. Pour dosa batter in the centre. Add a few drops of oil on the sides if needed. Sprinkle chopped vegetables on top.
- After 2 minutes when bubbles appear, flip the dosa and cook evenly on the other side.
- Remove from the flame and serve hot.
This can be had with sambhar or chutney (coconut/ tomato/ garlic).
2. Fluffy Idlis
Ingredients
1/2 cup urad dal
2 cups idli rice
½ cup poha
Method
- Soak idli rice, urad daal and fenugreek seeds in a deep bowl with enough water. Close with a lid and keep aside to soak for 5-6 hours or overnight.
- Wash and drain the ingredients and blend in a mixie along with poha which has been soaked for 5 to 10 minutes. This should give a smooth paste, add water as needed. Do not allow the batter to become watery, it should be slightly thick.
- Dissolve ½ tsp. yeast and 2 tsp. of sugar in warm water. Add this to the batter. Allow to ferment for 8 hours or overnight.
- Before steaming, stir the batter well. Place an idli steamer/ pressure cooker containing 2-3 glasses of water on the stove. Grease individual idli moulds with 2-3 drops of oil. Pour a ladle of batter into each of the greased moulds.
- Steam for 10 to 12 minutes until idlis are cooked. They should be soft and spongy.
- Allow to cool for 5-7 minutes and remove moulds from the cooker. Using a spoon gently loosen idlis and scoop them out. Place in a casserole to keep warm.
- Serve hot with vegetable sambhar or green chutney.
3. Plain Dosa
Ingredients
Method
- Soak dosa rice, urad daal and fenugreek seeds in a deep bowl with enough water. Close with a lid and keep aside to soak for 5-6 hours or overnight.
- Wash and drain the ingredients and blend in a mixie along with poha which has been soaked for 5 to 10 minutes. This should give a smooth paste, add water as needed.
- Dissolve ½ tsp. yeast and 2 tsp. of sugar in warm water. Add this to the batter. Allow to ferment for 8 hours or overnight. The batter consistency should not be too thick nor too runny.
- Heat a pan over medium flame, once hot, add a few drops of oil. Spread dosa batter evenly in concentric circles from the middle to the outside.
- Add a few drops of oil on the sides if needed. After 2 minutes, flip the dosa and cook evenly on the other side.
- Remove from flame and serve hot.
This can be had with sambhar or chutney (coconut/ tomato/ garlic).
6. Khara Pongal
Ingredients:
1 green chilli – slit
1-inch piece of ginger- chopped
1 tsp. jeera seeds
1 sprig of curry leaves (wash and remove leaves)
5-6 broken cashew nut bits
1 tbsp vegetable oil
½ tsp. ghee
Salt- to taste
Method:
- Heat oil in a pressure cooker, add the rice and moong daal, fry for 3-5 minutes over low flame. Add 2-2.5 cups of water and salt (to taste), cover with pressure cooker lid and whistle. Cook for 3 whistles.
- In a separate non-stick pan, add ghee and fry jeera seeds, broken cashewnuts, green chilli, ginger and curry leaves. Fry these ingredients for a minute over low flame.
- Remove the daal and rice from cooker and pour the seasoning over it. Stir gently before serving.
- Serve hot with chutney or sambhar.
7. Appam
2 tsp. sugar
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. baking soda
Method:
- Soak the raw rice in water overnight, in the morning drain and blend them in a mixie along with grated coconut. Add enough water to make a smooth paste. Leave to ferment for 8 hours.
- After 8 hours, add sugar, salt and baking soda and water to adjust the consistency, the batter should be runny.
- Take an appam kadai/ chati and place over a medium flame. Add a few drops of oil and swirl to coat. Pour a ladle of batter in the centre and swirl to coat the sides of the pan. Cover with a lid and allow to cook for a minute over low flame. Open the lid and remove appam with a wooden spoon.
- Serve hot with vegetable stew or gram (kadla) curry.
8. Pesarattu
Ingredients:
2 cups green gram dal – wash well under water and soak in a covered vessel overnight
1/2 cup rice – wash and soak overnight
1 green chillies - chopped
4 tbsp. coriander leaves – chopped
1 small onion- chopped
2 tbsp. oil – for frying
Salt- to taste
Method:
- Drain water from rice and green gram daal and blend both together coarsely in a mixie. Transfer to a bowl and add green chillies, coriander leaves, onion and salt. Add enough water to make a batter (do not add to much or the batter will turn runny).
- Heat oil in a non-stick frying pan over low- medium heat. When hot, lower the flame and pour a ladle full of batter onto the pan and spread into a dosa. Add a few drops of oil around the edges.
- After 2 minutes, flip over and cook on the other side for another 2 minutes.
- Serve hot.
9. Sambhar
Ingredients:
1 medium sized tomato- chopped
5-6 small sambhar onions- sliced fine
1 cup mixed vegetables (can be according to your preference)- commonly used sambhar vegetables include- drumstick, carrot, radish, yellow pumpkin
1 green chilli- slit
½ tsp. turmeric powder
For the tempering:
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tsp. mustard seeds
1 tsp. jeera seeds
¼ tsp. methi (Fenugreek) seeds
1 sprig curry leaves
2 dry red chillies (broken)
A pinch of Hing- asafoetida
2 tbsp. chopped coriander leaves- for garnishing
Method:
- In a pressure cooker add daals, green chilli, tamarind, vegetables, salt and turmeric powder and pressure cook with enough water for 2-3 whistles. If you are using drumstick, pressure cook daal along with other vegetables for 2 whistles, cool and allow the steam to escape. Then add drumstick and again cook along with daal for 1 more whistle. This prevents the drumstick from getting mashed.
- While the pressure comes down. Prepare the tempering. In a vessel, add oil and heat over low-medium flame. When hot, lower flame and add mustard and jeera seeds. When they begin to splutter, add methi seeds, curry leaves and dry red chillies. Stir for a minute and add a pinch of hing. Switch off the flame.
- Pour the tempering over the cooked daal and vegetables. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
- Serve sambhar hot with idlis or dosa
10. Green Chutney
Ingredients:
½ cup coriander leaves- washed well and roughly chopped
¼ cup mint leaves- washed well and roughly chopped
¼ cup freshly grated coconut
1 tsp. urad daal
½ tsp. channa daal
3 tbsp. roasted gram
1 sprig curry leaves
1 small green chilli
2 cloves of garlic
For tempering
1 tsp. vegetable oil
½ tsp. mustard seeds
¼ tsp. jeera seeds
1 dry red chilli- broken
1 sprig of curry leaves
Method:
- In a pan, heat oil, add urad and channa daal, fry until golden brown. Over low flame, add mint and coriander leaves, curry leaves, garlic cloves, green chillies and grated coconut. Sauté for a minute and turn off the gas.
- Cool and transfer mixture to a mixie jar, add roasted gram and salt to taste. Cover and blend, adding a little water until you get a smooth paste. Transfer into a serving bowl.
- To season, heat oil in a small pan, add mustard, jeera seeds, dry red chilli and curry leaves. Once they crackle, stir and remove from flame. Pour seasoning over the chutney and mix well.
- This can be had with idlis and dosas.
