Mung beans dosa (Green lentils crepe)

As usual I was putting my head in the food cabinet trying to figure out what to make for dinner and my eyes fell on the mung beans. I wasn't too keen on making a curry or dal and after a bit of thinking decided to make dosa. Since I had come home early yesterday, I had enough time to soak the beans. If you wish to make dosa for dinner, I would suggest soaking the beans in the morning. If that isn't possible, 3-4 hours should be fine.

This is quite a simple recipe, although I must admit that initially whenever I have made dosa, the first dosa from the batter has always been a total disaster but the rest would turn out fine. Now after practice and some patience, I manage to get them right ;) The key thing is to get the consistency of the batter and the heat of the pan right. The batter should be thin enough to spread and if the pan gets too hot, reduce the heat and let it stand for sometime before putting the batter. 

The batter makes about 10-12 dosas (depending on the size).

 Ingredients

1 cup Mung beans
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp green chilli paste
2 green chillies finely chopped (optional)
250 - 275 ml of water
Salt to taste
oil

Method

Soak the mung beans in water (enough to cover them completely) for at least 3-4 hours.

Drain the water and add the beans to a blender. Add the ginger garlic paste and green chilli paste. Add 250 ml of water and blend. Add the remaining water if the consistency of the batter is too thick. Then add the salt and chopped chillies and combine well.

Heat a non stick griddle pan. Add a couple of drops of oil and spread it with a spatula. Lower the heat and pour a ladleful of mixture onto the centre of the pan.

Immediately start spreading the mixture in circular manner to get a round and thin dosa. Increase the heat and let the dosa cook for a couple of minutes. Flip the dosa and cook the other side.

Serve with any of your favourite dips. I like having it with yoghurt or with some hot & sweet sauce or chutney. If you follow a vegan diet, try them with coconut chutney.  

Scrambled tofu with rocket

For me, Sunday morning breakfast usually means eggs - scrambled, poached eggs in tomatoes, fried, egg bhurji (spiced scrambled eggs) or a full English breakfast. But last week I experimented with tofu - I had a nice hearty breakfast of scrambled tofu with spinach, with some veggie sausages and grilled tomatoes on the side. So I decided to recreate it this morning, but this time using rocket instead of the spinach. This recipe is for my vegan friends. Hope you guys like it! :)




Serves 1
Ingredients

150 gm organic tofu
1 tsp pure coconut oil
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 red chilli, finely chopped (optional)
Handful of rocket leaves
Salt and pepper, as per taste

Method

Heat the coconut oil in a pan, on medium heat. Add the cumin and let it sputter. Add in the chopped onion and green chilli and cook for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook for a further minute.

Add the turmeric powder and salt to taste, and stir well. Lightly crumble the tofu and and mix gently. Cook for 5 minutes. Toss in the rocket, mix and cook for a couple of minutes. Season with some pepper.

Serve the scrambled tofu with some grilled tomatoes, rocket leaves and vegan sausages. 

Salmon with roasted vegetables

After pigging out on a lot of unhealthy food, unbelievably yummy, delicious, hearty, scrumptious, heavenly......FOCUS!!! Sorry let me start again. After pigging out on a lot of unhealthy food on our holiday last week, I am finally back to eating healthy, home cooked meals again. 

This salmon dish was a perfect start to get back on track - lovely roasted and caramelised veg and nicely seasoned salmon fillet... very, very pleased! :)

Serves 2
Ingredients

1 potato
1 parsnip
1 carrot
1 onion, sliced
150 gms cherry tomatoes
2 salmon fillets
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp lemon juice
Salt, pepper and paprika for seasoning
2 tsp of fresh rosemary and thyme, chopped

Method

Season the salmon fillets with some salt, pepper and a pinch of paprika and keep aside.

Preheat the oven to 200 C.  Roughly dice the potatoes, parsnips and carrots and add to a roasting tray. Drizzle over the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Mix well and roast for 15 minutes. Add in the onion and roast for a further 10-15 minutes

Place the salmon fillets and tomatoes between the veg. Drizzle the lemon juice and sprinkle over the rosemary and thyme. Season lightly with salt and pepper and roast for 10-15 minutes or until the salmon and veg is cooked through.

Serve with some green salad.