A bowl of hot soup is all I ask for in this cold weather. I usually make some or the other kind of soup when I reach home literally shivering. It is very challenging to come up with new soups as we get bored of having same again and again.
I usually keep a big batch of drumsticks in freezer. So when I saw a drumstick soup recipe in my collection, I wanted to give it a try. I changed it to suit our tastes. Increase the number of drumsticks if you like a strong taste of it. With the following amount, it had a mild taste of drumstick.
Ingredients: 10-15 pieces of drumsticks 1/3 cup chopped onion 1 tea spn butter 2 cloves 1 bay leaf 1/2 tea spn pepper Salt
Method: Cook drumstick in enough water. Press it down with a spoon to remove all the juicy flesh or if you have more time, scoop out the fleshy part.
Discard the outer skin. Blend it along with water used to cook them to get a smooth paste. Heat butter and fry onions. Blend them to smooth paste. Mix this with drumstick paste, add powdered cloves, bay leaf, pepper powder, salt and cook till soup thickens a bit. Serve hot with a dollop of butter on top.
Serves : 2 Preparation time : 15mins
Do you have a brother or sister whose tastes are very different than yours? I do. While growing up, my brother and I had exact opposite favorites. It was so bad that if he liked something, I would just hate it and vice versa. He never liked crabs and I never liked fish. If idli was prepared, he would always ask for chutney and I would ask for sambar . He liked chicken with chapathis and I liked it with rice. In case aayi made something he liked, I would accuse that she loves him more than me and he would do the same if she cooked something I liked. There were many times, aayi would prepare two sets of dishes just to keep both of us happy.
This is one such dish over which we both would fight. I liked this version very much and he would ask for rice flour bhakri (pita bhakri) . Even if he made peace with this, he would ask for onion version and I loved it without onion :).
When we were growing up, the idli rava ( rava is also called sooji or rullavu ) was not readily available in markets. So it was made fresh at home using rice mills ( dante or chakki ) . Whenever aayi prepared this rava on these mills, she would make it in big quantities and use it for idli , tausalli , kadamb , this simple bhakri and many more dishes. After few years, these mills were completely replaced by mixers. I am a very lazy person, so I use ready made idli rava for it. It makes a very hearty breakfast for me. As soon as I get up, I just mix up all the ingredients and keep it aside. By the time I finish cooking lunch and complete my yoga, this gets ready to go on the pan. I simply love it.
Ingredients: 1 cup rice rava or idli rava 1/2 cup fresh/frozen coconut 1/2 tea spn chopped ginger(optional) 1/2 tea spn chopped green chilies(optional) 1 tea spn sugar(optional) 1/2 cup onions (optional) Ghee /oil Salt
Rice rava (normally called as idli rava ) is usually available in grocery stores. If it is not available, soak rice in water for about 30mins. Drain all water and spread it on a clean towel for about 30mins. Then grind it to a coarse powder (do not add water).
Method: Mix all the ingredients (except oil/ ghee ) with enough water to make a semi liquid mixture. Leave it for about 30mins. Heat a tava , apply ghee /oil. Spread the mixture into about 1/2 to 1 inch thick circle using your hands. Fry from both sides. To help in turning the bhakri upside down, use one more tava . When one side is done, lift the tava, cover it with second tava and turn upside down. This can be done with the help of a wooden spoon also, but since this bhakri crumbles easily, I find two tavas very helpful. Serve hot with honey or chutney powder .
Serves : 2 Preparation time : 20mins(excluding soaking time).
