Waffles

One of my all-time favorite breakfasts! I only recently acquired a waffle iron and have been having waffles every sunday since!

Waffles

1 3/4 cup All-Purpose Flour

1 tsp Salt

2 tsp Baking Powder

3 Eggs

2 tbsp Butter, melted and cooled

1 3/4 cup Milk

1 tbsp Sugar

Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder.

Separate the eggs into yolks and whites.

Beat the yolks well and add the butter and milk and beat again thoroughly to combine.

Beat egg whites very well until you get stiff peaks. Add the sugar and beat well.

Add the beaten yolk mixture to the flour mixture and mix well. Now gently fold in the beaten stiff egg whites.

Pour onto a heated waffle iron.

Enjoy warm with maple syrup. Or Butter. Or Nutella. Or Chocolate Sauce. Or Fresh Strawberries!! mmm.

Appam

Appam, or hoppers, are a common breakfast or dinner food in south India. They originated from Sri Lanka and Kerala, and are known as appams there, while here in Tamil Nadu, they are called aappams. Wikipedia says it well:

Plain hoppers are bowl-shaped thin pancakes made from fermented rice flour. They derive their shape from the small appachatti in which they are cooked. They are fairly bland, and always served with a spicy accompaniment. These hoppers are made from a batter using rice, yeast, salt and a little sugar. After the mixture has stood for a couple of hours, it can be fried in the appachatti with a little oil.

They are slightly sweet because of the coconut milk and sugar.


Appam

3 cups Rice, soak in water for 2 1/2 hours and grind to a thin consistency with a little bit of water.

the semolina mixture:
2 tbsp Semolina (Rava)
1 1/2 cups Water

the yeast mixture:
1 tsp Yeast
1 tsp Sugar
1/4 cup Water

the rest of the ingredients:
1/4 tsp Salt
6 tbsp Sugar
1 cup Coconut Milk

Combine the ingredients for the yeast mixture and set aside for 15-20 minutes until frothy and the yeast has been activated.

For the semolina, heat the 1 1/2 cups of water on medium heat. Add the semolina and cook until dissolved. Set aside to cool completely.

Combine the ingredients from the yeast mixture, the semolina mixture and the rest of the ingredients to the ground rice batter. Cover and set aside for 2 hours or until the mixture has started to develop bubbles on the surface. Transfer the batter into the refrigerator overnight (or at least 8 hours) for a cold fermentation. The batter keeps well for 2-3 days in the refrigerator.


When ready to make the appams, use a slightly rounded pan or appachetti. Here's a photo of the pan from Mahavir Metal Converters. This is the one we have at home and it's excellent.


Pour a ladle of the batter into the center of the pan. Swirl the batter around, so that the sides are thinly coated. The center will get cooked but remain soft, while the edges are thin and crispy.


Cover and allow to cook for 3-4 minutes.


When the sides of the appams are slightly crispy and browned, remove and serve warm with vegetable stew (recipe coming up tomorrow) or a spicy curry like a vegetable kurma or chicken curry. My daughter loves it with sugar filled coconut milk!


Check out my fellow marathoners:
DK, Siri, Srivalli, Ranji, PJ, Curry Leaf, Medha, Priya, Bhawna, Raaji, Ruchii, Kamala, Roopa, Divya Kudua, Rekha, Divya, Lakshmi, Raaga, Lakshmi, Sripriya, Viji, Kamalika, Pavani, Karuna and Roochi.

Bread Upma

Upma is a common breakfast in most south Indian homes. Usually made using semolina or vermicelli, sometimes we also use bread to make this spicy upma.


Bread Upma

2 slices Bread (stale is fine)
1 cup Milk (OR) Yogurt

2 medium Potatoes, boiled and chopped
2 large Onions, chopped
1/2 cup cooked Peas
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
1 tsp Oil
2 Green Chillies, sliced fine
1 pinch Turmeric
1 tsp Salt

2-3 sprigs Cilantro, chopped fine, for garnish

Cut bread into small pieces. Soak the bread in the milk or yogurt for 2-3 minutes.

Heat the oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. When the mustard begins to splutter, add the chillies, onions, turmeric and salt. Stir fry until the onions are tender and translucent.

Add the potatoes and peas. Toss to combine. Add the soaked bread cubes and stir-fry. Garnish with cilantro.

Check out my fellow marathoners:
DK, Siri, Srivalli, Ranji, PJ, Curry Leaf, Medha, Priya, Bhawna, Raaji, Ruchii, Kamala, Roopa, Divya Kudua, Rekha, Divya, Lakshmi, Raaga, Lakshmi, Sripriya, Viji, Kamalika, Pavani, Karuna and Roochi.

Whole Wheat Pancakes

I first saw this post on Arundati's blog, Escapades, and I told myself I should make this. I wasn't sure though since any whole wheat pancakes I've attempted (with eggs) have been tough and not-so-nice.

Then I saw it on Divya's blog, Dil Se. It was time to stop procrastinating and make it already. So I made them and they were light and fluffy and lovely. We had them drizzled with maple syrup. This picture is off to Click: June (Stacks).


Whole Wheat Pancakes

1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 tbsp Brown Sugar
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1 cup Buttermilk

The only thing I did different was leaving out the cinnamon and reducing the sugar from 2 tbsp. Mix the dry ingredients together and then add the buttermilk. Mix until combined and leave covered for 10-15 minutes.

Heat a pan on low heat. If a drop of the dough dances on the pan, its hot enough. Drop about a quarter cup (or less) at a time onto the pan. When little bubbles begin to form on top, flip it over for a minute until browned. I made tiny dollar pancakes.

Thanks, Arundati for a fantastic recipe. My faith in whole wheat pancakes is restored!


This is off to dear Sunshinemom for FIC: Brown. Its egg-free just for you!

Frittatas

I saw these great frittatas in Stephanie's Kitchen, and I wanted to reach in and grab one! It all sounded so simple, and I made a veggie version for breakfast this morning. They are delicious and simple and fun for kids too.


Mini Frittatas

4 eggs
3/4 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano or Cheese of your choice
2 tbsp Milk
2 tbsp Mushrooms, chopped
2 tbsp Cilantro, chopped
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Beat the eggs well. Add the remaining ingredients and mix to combine.

Pour into greased mini muffin pans. Bake for 10-15 minutes at 180 deg C.

Thanks, Stephanie, for a great recipe!

Garlic Greens and Breakfast

After reading Bee and Jai's post on Jugalbandi about Garlic Greens, I started craving it. I mean, did you see that cheese log? Mmm. I have absolutely not a single ounce of a green thumb. I even killed a cactus when I was in college!

Not sure what to do, I made my daughter plant the garlic, hoping to trick the curse! And it worked. She is so delighted as well and waters it when she remembers. And today we jumped around the little patch of garden, because there were beautiful green leaves poking out of the ground. We even ate little bits of it right there in the garden!


We had scrambled eggs with cheese and garlic greens, toast and papaya for a complete breakfast.


I got the idea from Nupur's comment on the post. Thanks Nupur. It was just fabulous. And thanks, Bee and Jai, for that post - I might even try the potatoes next since I'm feeling ever so confident!

This is off to Latha at Masala Magic for WBB's combination breakfast for August. WBB was started by Nandita of Saffron Trail.

Vermicelli Upma

Vermicelli (or Semiya as it is known in southern India), is a versatile ingredient used in different types of foods. Most popularly it is used in kheer or payasam (a sweet dessert pudding) and in upma. Sometimes, it is even used as a substitute for rice in a yogurt-rice mix. It looks and feels like a thin rice noodle, and is probably the closest thing that India has to the noodle.



Here, I've made a semiya upma. A very popular breakfast food in several parts of India, and a huge favorite of mine.

1 cup vermicelli, lightly toasted to a golden color
1.5 cups water
2-3 green chillies, slit lengthwise
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tsp mustard seeds, for seasoning
2-3 curry leaves, for seasoning
Salt, to taste

Add a tablespoon of oil to a saute pan. When the oil is warm, add the mustard seeds. When the mustard starts to splutter, add the curry leaves, green chillies and onions and fry for a couple of minutes.

Add the water and salt to the pan and let it come to a boil. Now add the vermicelli and keep stirring. The water will be absorbed and the vermicelli noodles will become soft. Remove from heat.

Enjoy!

This is my entry for Presto Pasta Night. Check out some of the recipes - they're delicious.