Masala Rava Idlis, Potato-Carrot Kurma, Peanut Chutney and Flax seed Chutney powder Paratha

I trust that you are all enjoying relatively better weather for the past few days. We had almost 60F after a month of bitter cold temperature, great to feel the warm Sun on your face. Of course I have already forgotten all about those dog days of last Summer with 98F! :D

Martin Luther King, Jr.:
This is the house where he was born on Jan 15th, 1929 in Atlanta, GA. We were in Atlanta, GA for New Year's weekend, visited the Zoo, GA Aquarium and Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Museum, his home, his church etc,. Thought I would post this photo of his pretty house for you.

Last weekend was fun too. We went to Monster Truck Jam at last after missing that event many times before. It was so much fun. There were about 6-7 Monster trucks and was only one lady driver in this Dalmatian Monster Truck with a tail and a pink tongue too, very cute! We screamed the loudest for the lady. She was very good!! But a truck called Grave Digger won in the end. With a name like that, you better believe he would win too! :D

Well..looks like my brain is thawed too just like the weather. Last week, I couldn't think of anything new to post for this week. I guess with my 166+ posts and thousands of dishes here, I have anything left to post every Wednesday! That was what I was thinking but then I realized that I have never posted Rave/Rava idlis as my mother makes them back home. So I made Rava Idlis with some herbs and spices along with a Kurma and Peanut chutney. Makes great combo for dinner and I also used Porcelain or ceramic cereal bowls to steam the Rava idlis instead of using regular Idli stand, so one single idli would be very filling. Give it try if you like, Idlis are my mother's version, Kurma is something I usually cook with different combination of vegetables with the same spice paste, this time with just Carrots and Potatoes and I love the taste of roasted Peanuts in chutney with these Idlis! :)

Masala Rava/Semolina/Cream of Wheat Idlis, Potato-Carrot Kurma with spicy Peanut Chutney:
I steamed these idlis in a wide mouthed ceramic/Porcelain cereal bowls, two at a time in the pressure cooker, stacking the bowls on top of each other. I keep one bowl filled halfway with batter at the bottom of the pressure cooker, use Chinese (flat wooden) chop sticks across the bowl and keep another bowl on top to steam without the use of pressure cooker weight. You can just use the regular Idli stand with this batter. Also adjust the Buttermilk in this recipe to add less or more depending on the quality of Semolina you have at hand, should be like Idli batter somewhat.

Masala Rava Idli:
1 1/2 cups of coarse Semolina/Rava (don't use very fine textured Rava, roast this in a non-stick pan without oil until golden, cool it),
2 cups Buttermilk (mix 1 cup Yogurt and 1 cup water, beat well), add enough salt to taste and 1/4 tsp Baking soda. (You can add chopped cooked or canned Peas, sliced Green beans and grated Carrots to the batter)
For seasoning:
Heat 1 tbsp ghee, add 1/2 tsp Mustard seeds, 1 tsp Cumin seeds, 2 tsp Urad dal and 2 tsp Chana dal, 3 tbsp broken Cashewnuts, let the dals turn little golden. Add 1 tsp finely chopped Green Chillies or 1/4 tsp red chilli flakes, 11/2" finely chopped ginger, few curry leaves, finely chopped and 2 tbsp Cilantro, finely chopped. Stir for a minute until the Cilantro wilts. Take off the heat and cool it.
Mix cooled seasoning into beaten Yogurt, salt and baking soda, mix well. Add the cooled Semolina to Yogurt and mix well until you get a smooth batter. Cover and rest the batter for 10-15mins.
To Steam:

1. Add about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of batter to two cereal bowls, keep them aside. Add 3" of water inside the pressure cooker, place the stand (which comes with pressure cooker) on the bottom, let it boil.
2. Place in a bowl carefully on the stand or grill, place few wooden chopsticks across the bowl and place another bowl on top of first one.
3. Cover with the lid and steam for 15mins on high heat without weight. Turn off the heat, take the bowls out carefully and invert them after few seconds of cooling. Serve hot.

Potato-Carrot Kurma:
You need to:
Cook 1 cup whole Baby Carrots, salt and 2 cups of 2" peeled and cubed Potatoes with some water in the microwave until almost done and keep it aside.(can add more vegs if you like)
Dry roast until reddish and grind these spices with few tbsp of water:
1 tbsp Poppy seeds, 1 tbsp Coriander seeds, 2 tsp Chana dal, 2 tbsp dry coconut, few dry red chillies, 2 cloves and 1" Cinnamon (Indian Cassia Bark/chakke).
For seasoning:
1 tsbp oil, 1 tsp Mustard seeds, pinch of Hing and few curry leaves (optional), 1tbsp ground or grated ginger. 1/4 cup Tomato sauce.
Garnish: with finely chopped Cilantro.

To make Kurma:
1. Heat oil and add mustard seeds, hing, curry leaves, let it splutter. Add ground ginger, stir for a while and then add tomato sauce, fry until oil shows up on top. Add ground wet masala/spices, stir fry for a minute.
2. Add cooked Carrots and Potatoes with it's water, boil, and simmer until they are cooked but not very soft and most water is gone and sauce is thicker.
3. Adjust the salt and chilli pd if needed. Garnish with cilantro. Serve with Rava idlis.

Peanut Chutney:
For chutney:
1. Heat a pan, roast 1/2 cup Peanuts until crisp. Take them out and cool them. Add 1/4 cup grated coconut, roast them until slightly golden. Take it out.
2. Add few dry red chillies, 1 tsp Cumin seeds, 1/2 tsp Coriander seeds, stir fry for few mins. Cool.
3. Add all the above to a mixie bowl along with 1" chopped ginger, 1/2 tsp tamarind paste, few tender Cilantro stems and enough salt.
4. Grind to a smooth paste with minimum of water added. Take out in a bowl.
5. Heat 2 tsp oil, add 1 tsp mustard seeds. When they splutter, take off the heat and cool. Add to chutney and mix.
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Flax seeds Chutney Powder:
I have heard that Flax seeds are one of the super foods and I have seen some Indian bloggers making the chutney powder with Flax seeds. I read that eating whole Flax seeds do not help you because they are hard to digest. You have to powder the Flax seeds to aid digestion and advised not to use more than 1-2 tbsps a day since too much of intake of these seeds in a day causes stomach upset. Like everything in life moderation helps!
I found a big pack of Flax seeds in our usual grocery store last week, so I thought of making some chutney powder in a similar (but not the same, no coconut added to this) way my mother makes Chana dal and Urad dal chutney pudi but added roasted Flax seeds. Turned very well and I use chutney pudi with Chapatis or rice topped with some ghee. Tastes wonderful.

To make flax seed chutney powder:

1. Dry roast 1 cup of Flax seeds until they splutter slightly. Don't roast too much, it will taste bitter. Take them out on a paper, cool.
2. To the same pan, add 2 tbsp Chana dal, 1 tsp Cumin seeds, 1/2 tsp Coriander seeds, few (or as many you like) dry red chillies, few black pepper corns, dry until reddish. Cool.
3. Add all this to a mixie with salt, pinch of Hing, 1 tsp dry Garlic powder, 1 tsp Tamarind powder (if you have it) or roast a piece of lumpy Tamarind until crisp, cool, add it and powder.
4. Spread on a paper towel, cool the chutney powder completely before storing it in a bottle with tight lid. I keep it in the fridge, lasts longer as Seeds get rancid quickly at room temperature.
Make it spicy, tastes wonderful and good for you too.

Flax seed chutney powder in layered Parathas:
I also experimented by adding 1 tbsp of Flax seed chutney pd to make layered Parathas. See the link to see how to roll out triangular Parathas. You sprinkle the chutney pudi in between layer as you fold the layered Parathas and cook them as usual.

Here is how to make layered triangular Parathas.
Roll out the dough to a circle, brush some oil or ghee on top and sprinkle 1 1/2 tsp of chutney pudi, fold the Paratha into half. Brush with ghee or oil again, sprinkle 1 1/2 tsp of Chutney pudi and fold again to a triangle and roll out again. Heat a griddle and cook Parathas on both sides and serve hot.
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Movies I watched last week:

"The Hurt Locker":
A very realistic movie about US Army Bomb sqaud who are detonating or disarming the bombs on the streets of Iraq on a daily basis. It scares you and makes you understand (although it's a fictional movie) what and how these soldiers go thru' everyday there. The fear, insecurity, bravery and heartaches of those soldiers are so palpable, always looking over their shoulders for some enemy attack is unfathomable for most of us. For some of them, even when they go home after they serve their term just can't deal with family life because they are so used to the adrenaline rush of being in the middle of a war. Even I was thinking "Hey, go back to war, you are better off there!". In the end , the main character of this movie walks off of a Army Helicopter smiling to serve another term of war!
War is always a sad thing but it also makes you grateful for these soldiers who put themselves between us and the enemy so that we can stay home safe while they take care of this harsh and dangerous, sometimes necessary business called war.

"The Book of Eli":
Visually stunning movie, a bit religious for me but I liked the movie. It's a story of what happens 30 years after the Apocalypse or "The last war" and few who survived the war were fighting to survive in chaos. One man called Eli has "The book" and walks across the country (USA) to the West trying to protect the sacred book which is supposed to save the humanity. Yes, it's a British guy who welcomes him at the Alcatraz, prints out the book which was retold by Eli's memory and stores it in a shelf along with other holy books but I didn't see the "Gita" among the books, where is it?! And does it always have to be a British guy who saves us all from every situation? ;D
Moreover the reason why I went to see this movie is because I LOVE Denzel Washington, a very handsome (still!) old guy and a great actor. I had to drag my family members to watch this movie but I did it! :P

"Paranormal activity" and "The Final Destination" are the other two movies I watched last week but I wouldn't recommend them particularly unless you are a fan of such genre of movies. I do like horror/scary/thriller movies!

I didn't have much time to read books for the past few days. I am yet to read the Kindle edition of Reader's Digest, will try and do it today.

Have a great rest of the week, see you all next Wednesday. I am planning to bake a bread for next week but don't know it will happen, will see! :)