The basic rawa idli

Well, for all those years I had been dreading making idlis or dhoklas for the simple reason that they would not come out fluffy and will be sheer waste of time and effort.
However, last weekend I gorged on around 12 idlis made by one of my very dear friend Nikita.
The ease with which she was rolling out those fluffy idlis left me gaping awe stricken! Believe me it was just irresistible for me to stop at two, three, five, seven......She intended to fry the idlis with onion and capsicum but I was too impatient for that!
I tried the basic idli this morning which came out ' oh so nicely!'
I am going to experiment a LOT with this basic idli and this can be imputed to my newly found LOVE for them!
Here's the recipe, and believe me you just cant go wrong with this!

INGREDIENTS:

Semolina (Sooji) : 1cup
Sour curd           :  1cup
Water                 :  1/3 cup
Fruit salt (unflavoured eno) : 1t
Oil                      :  1t


PROCEDURE:

1. Mix semolina, curd , oil and water into a very smooth batter.
2. You may whisk it with an electronic whisker
3 Let it stand for 14-20 minutes
4 Add the fruit salt and give it a gentle mix. Remember not to overmix it.
5 Fill 1/3 of moulds and place in the steamer.
6 Microwave for 5 minutes.
7 Wait a while before you demould them.
8 Serve while still hot.

PS : Do not let the batter sit for long after you have mixed with eno.
If you have an idli stand, pour some water in a pressure cooker and bring it to boil before you place the batter filled idli stand. Remove the weight, cook on high heat for 3 minutes and medium for 9 minutes.
Check with a skewer, 'cooked' means the skewer comes out clean. Do not cook on high flame for a long time, if you want the idlis to be fluffy.

Tapenade

INGREDIENTS

Black Pitted/Sliced Olives - 1 cup  Extra Virgin Olive Oil - ½ cup Capers - 2 T Garlic, crushed - 2T Fresh Basil or Parsley, chopped -1 T Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice - 1 T Lemon Zest - ½ t Cracked Black Pepper - ½ t Salt - ½ t

Method Blend all ingredients in a blender/pestle and mortar to combine until mixture becomes a coarse paste. This can be served  as a spread on bread or crackers. Tapenade & slices of mozzarella cheese in wholewheat bread will make a hearty & delicious sandwich.

Lichi Icecream

Ingredients:

Lychee : 1.5kg
Milk : 1kg
Condensed milk: 1/2 tin
Corn flour: 2T


Procedure:

1. Peel all the lychees.
2. Remove all stones, carefully securing all juice that drips.


3 Puree half the lychees and tear the rest.
4 In a heavy bottomed pan, boil milk and reduce to half
5 Add condensed milk  and cook for 5 minutes.
6 Dissolve cornflour in cold milk and slowly add to above mixture.
7 Cook till you achieve, 'coat a spoon' consistency.
8 Pour in aluminium vessel, cover with foil and freeze.
9 Churn the mixture with a whipper when the freezing sets in.

10 Repeat above step 2-3 times.
11. Add the pureed lychee and the lychee chunks.
12 Let it freeze.
13. Serve chilled

PS:: Instead of 1.5kg buy 2kg lychees, you will end up eating half a kilo while peeling!
Now this is sheer experience.

Melon-Mint salad

The salad truly brings out the flavours of summer with its melony - minty notes.

INGREDIENTS

Water Melon : 1 big bowl (sliced and deseeded)

Mixed Leaves: 8-10 nos

Ginger : thinly sliced (8-10 nos)

Ginger juice 1t

Fresh mint leaves: 1small bunch

Hazelnut : 8-10 nos.

Sugar: 1T

Extra Virgin Olive oil : 1T

Lime Juice: 2T

Cracked Black Pepper: 1t

Salt: To taste

PROCEDURE

1 Place the watermelon slices in the freezer to ensure they are super chilled.

 2 In a deep bowl take some chilled water and ice, and soak the leaves. This is called 'shocking' and will ensure crunchiness in the leaves.

3. In a heavy bottomed pan, melt the sugar and caramelize it a little bit. Dip the ginger slices in this caramel and quickly float it in iced water. Remove and let it dry.

4. Add some water to any caramel left in the pan and dissolve properly. Mix it with ginger juice.

5. In a dressing shaker, pour in the above liquid, olive oil, lime juice, salt, pepper and finely minced mint leaves. Shake well.

6. In a salad dish, make a bed of the crunchy leaves and arrange chilled melon slices on top.

7.Pour in the dressing liberally.

8 Top it with candied ginger and hazelnuts.

PS: Hazelnuts can be here easily substituted by some nuts such as almonds or walnuts.