Bansi rava was very new to me till I come to Bangalore. In Tamil nadu, we used to buy Bombay rava for all the dishes like upma, dosa, idli, kesari, pongal and kichadi. Bansi rava is quite popular in Karnataka and in many other South Indian homes. People make uppittu and Kharabath here. When I Googled about the difference between bansi rava and normal white rava / suji , I found both kinds of semolina (rava) are obtained from wheat, albeit different varieties.
Bansi rava is darker in color than plain semolina / rava. Some people also say Bansi rava is made from corn kernels as its yellow in color. Its healthier than normal rava in terms of nutrition (Source : Quora). We should use 3 cups of water for 1 cup of rava (1:3 ratio of bansi rava and water). It takes more time to cook than Bombay rava.
This upma tastes similar to Godhumai rava upma / wheat rava upma. It stays soft for hours. So you can prepare it for lunch box as well. Its a tummy filling one. It can be opted for diet recipes too. Ok, lets see how to make Karnataka style bansi rava uppittu with step by step pictures and video.
Coriander leaves & grated coconut - a fistful (to garnish)
HOW TO MAKE BANSI RAVA UPMA
Wash and chop onion, tomato, slit green chilli. Set aside.
In a kadai, heat oil and roast bansi rava in medium flame till golden.
Transfer to a plate. In the same kadai, heat oil.
Splutter mustard seeds, urad dal , chana dal and curry leaves.
Saute onion, green chilli for a minute. Add tomato and saute till mushy.
Add boiling water or cold water and required salt. When it comes to roll boil, add rava.
Mix till water is absorbed. Cover cook for few minutes till done.
Lastly garnish with coriander leaves and grated coconut. Serve hot with coconut chutney !
BANSI RAVA UPMA - STEP BY STEP PICTURES
Wash and chop onion, tomato and slit green chilli. Chop the vegetables finely if using. Set aside.
Heat 2 tbsp oil in a kadai. Roast bansi rava in low to medium flame for 5 minutes. Remove in a plate.
In the same kadai, heat another 2 tbsp oil. Splutter mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal. Saute for few seconds. Add onion, curry leaves and slit green chilli. Saute till onion becomes transparent.
Now add chopped tomato and saute till mushy. Add 3 cups of water and required salt. Let it come to a roll boil.
Keep the flame low and add roasted bansi rava. Mix well. Take care it splashes. Keep mixing till most of the water is absorbed by the rava. Keep the flame low and cover the kadai with a lid. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes. Open the kadai and stir the upma once or twice.
Cook till rava is completely soft. Switch off the flame and garnish with coriander leaves and grated coconut. Upma looks mushy when hot but becomes fluffy as it cools down. Enjoy this healthy, yummy bansi rava upma with coconut chutney, chutney podi or sugar.
Note
For healthy variations, you can use finely chopped vegetables like carrot, potato, beans and green peas.
In that case, add the vegetables along with onion, saute for few minutes. You may also need to add 1/2 cup more water for the veggies to cook.
Instead of slit green chilli you can use MTR vangi bath powder and make kharabath.
Water quantity can be adjusted based on your taste.
Coriander leaves and grated coconut adds a nice flavor & taste to this dish. So don't skip it.
Try this healthy Bansi rava upma and share your feedback with me !
I make this noi arisi upma / broken rice upma at least twice in a month but I haven’t recorded this recipe in my blog. Broken rice upma is a very simple and easy to make, one pot upma recipe. Whenever I run short of time or back from travel, I make this upma instantly in a pressure cooker. Food gets ready under 15 minutes. Its ideal for bachelors & working women to make a quick breakfast / dinner. Idli Sambar or coconut chutney / thengai thogayal is the ideal side dish for this arisi noi upma. In Bangalore and Tamil nadu, I have seen this broken rice in most of the stores. In Karnataka, people call it as akki nuchu in Kannada. It is known as virigina biyyam in Telugu and tuta hua chawal in Hindi. To make this broken rice upma more healthy, you can add chopped vegetables like carrot, potato and green peas, use broken brown rice or millets. You can also add a handful of roasted moong dal to make it more flavorful. Friends, do try this easy, yummy broken rice upma and share your feedback with me.
Water - 2.5 cups ( add 2.5 to 3 cups based on rice)
HOW TO MAKE BROKEN RICE UPMA
Wash the broken rice and set aside.
Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Splutter mustard, urad dal, chana dal.
Saute green chilli, ginger, curry leaves. Add hing, required water and salt.
When the water comes to roll boil, add washed rice. Mix well.
Pressure cook in low flame for one whistle. Open the cooker lid after steam is released.
Fluff gently and serve hot with idli sambar or coconut rice.
BROKEN RICE UPMA / ARISI NOI UPMA - STEP BY STEP PICTURES
Wash the broken rice, drain the water and set aside. Chop ginger, slit green chilli.
Heat oil in a pressure cooker base. Splutter mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal. When the dal turns golden brown add slit green chilli, ginger pieces and curry leaves.
Saute for a minute. Now add the required salt and water. When the water comes to roll boil, add the washed rice. Mix well and close the cooker. Keep the flame high till steam comes off from the nozzle.
As soon as the steam comes off, lower the flame completely. Put the weight valve and pressure cook in very low flame for one whistle. It takes 10 to 12 minutes based on the size of cooker.
Switch off the flame after one whistle. Let it rest till steam releases. Open the cooker lid and fluff the rice gently. Serve hot with idli sambar or coconut chutney or spicy coconut thogayal. Tastes yummy !
Enjoy !
Note
Water quantity for rice varies from 2.25 to 3 cups based on the rice. Broken rice made from raw rice takes less water (around 2.5 cups ) whereas broken rice made from boiled rice takes more water (around 3 cups).
Add more chilli based on your taste.
You can use finely chopped carrot, beans, potato and green peas to make it more colorful and healthy.
Try this easy, one pot noi upma recipe and share your feedback with me.
Eggless wheat flour pancake is one of our favorite weekend breakfast recipes. We love to have it with chocolate syrup and honey. I have heard my sister and friends in abroad telling me about store bought pancake mix. I got tempted to try eggless homemade pancake mix and prepared it. It came out so well, soft and fluffy. Raksha and Sendhil loved it. Usually all purpose flour / Maida is used in store bought pancake mix. But I am happy that I tried it with some healthy alternative, whole wheat flour instead of Maida. I used Choco chips in my pancake batter. You can add blueberries, mashed banana for healthy variations. Friends, do try this easy pancake mix at home and make the pancakes instantly.
Wheat flour/Atta - 3 cups ( I used Aashirvaad brand)
Baking powder - 3 tsp / 1 tbsp ( use fresh powders for best result)
Cinnamon powder - 1.5 tsp
Salt - a big pinch
Sugar – 3 tsp/ 1 tbsp
To make pancake
Pancake mix - 1 cup
Water - 2 tbsp.
Milk - 1 cup ( boiled, at room temp)
Cooking oil - 1 tbsp ( use odorless oil, I used refined oil)
Melted Butter - 2 tbsp
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Choco chips – 1 tbsp
Wheat flour – 1/2 tsp ( mix with Choco chips to avoid sinking)
HOW TO MAKE EGGLESS PANCAKE MIX
In a wide bowl mix the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and sugar.
Store in a box. Homemade pancake mix is ready.
To make eggless pancakes, take 1 cup of pancake mix in a bowl.
Add milk, water, butter,vanilla essence and cooking oil.
Mix without lumps. To this batter, add 1 tbsp of choco chips mixed with wheat flour. Heat a tawa and grease with butter.
Pour a small ladleful of pancake batter. It should be thick and round.
Cook in medium flame. Flip and cook the other side too.
Remove and serve with honey / maple syrup.
HOW TO MAKE PANCAKE MIX AND EGGLESS PANCAKE AT HOME - STEP BY STEP PICTURES
To make homemade pancake mix, take wheat flour, baking powder, cinnamon powder, salt and sugar. Mix well. Store in an air tight box. Homemade pancake mix is ready.
To make eggless pancakes with the mix, take 1 cup of pancake mix in a bowl. Add the mentioned quantity of melted butter, vegetable oil, vanilla essence, boiled milk at room temperature and water.
Mix well to make lumps free batter. In a small bowl, take choco chips and add 1/2 tsp wheat flour. Mix well and add to pancake batter. This step helps to avoid choco chips sinking in the batter. Batter should be thick but flowing.
Heat a pan / tawa. Grease with butter. Pour a small ladleful of batter. Do not spread it. Make it thick and small.
Cook in medium flame till it bubbles on top. Flip the other side and cook till golden.
Remove in a plate. Make the other pancakes and stack them. Drizzle chocolate syrup or honey or maple syrup. Enjoy !
Enjoy !
Note
This pancake mix stays good for a month.
Consistency of the batter should be thick, smooth but flowing.
Cook the pancake in low to medium flame patiently.
Try this homemade, eggless pancake mix and enjoy !
Karnataka style idli rava idli (also known as rice rava idli) became my favorite when I tasted this idli with sambar in my School moms group friends Megha’s house. As a big fan of idli recipes, I love to eat only pillow soft, spongy idli. But Idli rava idli has a grainy texture. It will crumble if you dip in sambar which I didn’t like it in early days. So I used to make idli rava idli by grinding idli rava / rice rava along with urad dal to a smooth batter. I made a detailed blog post too. Please check this link.
We can make super soft idli and crispy dosa with that batter. But the authentic and traditional Karnataka style idli recipe that is prepared in home and hotels is very easy to make and tastes different. This batter can be prepared using a mixie. Here people use Idli rava and urad dal in the ratio of 3:1. All we have to do is to soak idli rava and urad dal separately for 1 to 3 hours. Grind urad dal to a smooth batter and mix the soaked idli rava. Make the batter and ferment it. Batter doubles beautifully the next day. Just mix well, add salt, baking soda (optional) and make idli. Idli comes out super soft and white in color.
The only disadvantage in this recipe is you can only make idli with this batter. Dosa cannot be prepared with idli rava as the batter is very coarse. It will come out hard. Friends, do try this easy and yummy Karnataka hotel style idli recipe with step by step pictures and video. Soon I will post Karnataka hotel idli sambar.
Wash and soak idli rava in enough water for 1 to 3 hours.
Wash & soak urad dal in 3 cups of water for 1 to 3 hours.
In a mixie jar, grind urad dal to a smooth batter adding the soaked water.
Take the batter in a big vessel. Drain the excess water in soaked idli rava.
Squeeze it gently and add the idli rava to urad dal batter.
Mix both well. Ferment overnight. Batter will double in quantity.
Add salt, baking soda and mix well.
Steam water in idli pot. Pour idli batter in greased idli plate.
Steam it for 10 minutes till its cooked.
Remove the idli plate and rest for 2 minutes.
Scoop the idli and enjoy with sambar or chutney.
HOW TO MAKE IDLI WITH IDLI RAVA - STEP BY STEP PICTURES
In a bowl, wash and soak idli rava / rice rava in enough water for 1 to 3 hours. In another bowl, wash and soak urad dal in 3 cups of drinking water for 1 to 3 hours.
Take the urad dal in a big mixie jar. Add the soaked water and grind to a smooth paste. Batter should be thick, smooth, not too thin and watery. So adjust the quantity of soaked water accordingly.
Transfer the batter to a bigger sized vessel. Now take the soaked idli rava. Drain the excess water carefully by sliding the vessel. Squeeze the idli rava gently and add to urad dal batter. Do not squeeze hard to remove all the water content. There should be some water while mixing with urad dal batter.
Squeeze and mix all the idli rava to the urad dal batter. Mix well with your hands to aid fermentation. Consistency of batter should be like regular idli dosa batter.
Do not add salt now. Salt curbs fermentation process. So we are going to add the next morning after fermentation. Close the batter container and set aside for fermentation. Keep it overnight or minimum 12 hours based on the weather.
The next morning batter would have doubled in quantity, sometimes overflowing too. Add required salt and a pinch of baking soda (optional). Mix well with a ladle.
Heat water in an idli pot. Take an idli plate and grease with sesame oil. Pour the batter in each mould. Steam it for 10 to 12 minutes till idli is cooked well. Dip your finger in water and make a hole in the idli. If your finger comes out non-sticky, idli is cooked else cook for more time.
Switch off the flame. Remove the idli plate. Rest for 2 minutes. Then remove the idli using a flat, big spoon. Enjoy with hot sambar or watery chutney !
Note
Urad dal should be soaked a minimum of 1 hour. Its ok if you soak for 3 to 4 hours too.
This idli crumbles if you try to dip in sambar. So its better to serve as shown in the picture below. You should use a spoon to eat this idli.
You cannot make dosa with this batter.
Make sure idli batter consistency is not thick. It should be pourable like usual batter.
You can refrigerate this batter and use up to one week.
Enjoy this easy Karnataka style idli rava idli with sambar or watery chutney !
Pori upma/ puffed rice upma was in my try list for long time. I usually make kara pori and bhel puri at home. Recently my friend was telling me about this easy pori upma for breakfast.
Last time when I went to Salem, I got a bag of puffed rice. As I wanted to empty the pack soon, I tried this pori upma for our breakfast yesterday. The best thing about this upma is it can be made in jiffy because the cooking time is very less. It tastes super soft like aval upma and flavorful too.
For 2 persons, you need to use 5 cups of puffed rice. It shrinks as soon as we wash and add to upma. So this upma is the best way to finish off the leftover, excess puffed rice. If you have leftover puffed rice at home after the festivals like Ayudha poojai / Saraswathi pooja, you can try this upma.
This recipe is ideal for bachelors and working women to whip up a quick breakfast or dinner. Ok, Lets see how to make this easy, yummy and quick pori upma recipe for instant breakfast.
Heat oil in a kadai. Temper mustard, urad, chana dal, roasted peanuts and curry leaves.
Saute onion, green chilli till transparent.
Add turmeric powder, sambar powder and salt.
Saute for a minute in low flame.
Wash the puffed rice and squeeze gently.
Now add the squeezed puffed rice.
Mix gently and cook till its heated. Switch off the flame.
Add lemon juice and mix gently. Serve hot !
PORI UPMA RECIPE - STEP BY STEP PICTURES
Heat oil in a kadai. Splutter mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal, roasted peanuts and curry leaves.
Add finely chopped onion, green chilli , red chilli. Saute till onion becomes transparent.
Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder or sambar powder, salt. Saute for a minute in low flame without burning. Take puffed rice. Add water to cover it. Squeeze gently and add to the kadai.
Toss gently to coat the masala. Cook till puffed rice is heated and reduced in quantity. Switch off the flame. Add lemon juice and garnish with coriander leaves.
Enjoy hot for best taste.
Note
Puffed rice reduces in quantity after cooking. So you need to use minimum 2 cups for 1 person.
For variations, you can skip sambar powder / red chilli powder and use slit green chillies.
Do not add the pori without washing and squeezing the water. Puffed rice become chewy.
For healthy options, you can saute finely chopped carrot, beans, potato and frozen peas till cooked and then add puffed rice.
Try this interesting pori upma with excess puffed rice at home. You will love it.
7 Taste Uthappam / 5 Taste Uthappam Recipe – Many of you would have tasted this dosa variety in restaurants like Saravana bhavan and many restaurants in Tamil nadu.
Basically uthappam is a soft, spongy dosa that looks round and small in size. You can make it with freshly ground fermented idli, dosa batter or with leftover idli batter. Both tastes great. Onion uthappam is the most common oothappam variety. But this 5 taste / 7 taste uthappam with 7 different toppings makes this simple dish much more interesting.
Though I haven’t tasted this recipe in Chennai Saravana bhavan, I have tasted it in Salem Saravana bhavan – asai dosai and Sree Saravana bhavan restaurant in Krishnagiri. But both the restaurants served 5 taste uthappam with masala toppings like mushroom masala, paneer masala, Gobi masala, grated carrot and small onion. It was so filling that I wasn’t able to eat 3 uthappam.
But the recipe I have shared here is very simple with light toppings. It won’t make you feel full at the same time its so appealing to eyes. Kids would love it for sure. Even we adults would be craving to eat it by seeing their colors.
I have made this uthappam with the mini uthappam pan which I bought recently. I purchased it mainly for this recipe and to make pancakes for Raksha. If you are interested to buy this mini uthappam / pancake pan, please check THIS LINK in Amazon. There are many brands available in it. If you don’t want this pan, you can make in dosa tawa itself. You can make 3 to 4 per batch based on the size of your dosa tawa.
I have used onion, carrot, capsicum, coriander leaves, tomato + crushed pepper, Idli podi / Gun powder, dry fruits and nuts toppings. You can skip any two and make 5 taste uthappam. For variations, you can use paneer bhurji, grated cheese, chocolate chips even finely cut apple for different and interesting toppings.
Friends, do try this easy and colorful 7 taste uthappam recipe and share your feedback with me !
7 taste uthappam / 5 taste uthappam recipe
How to make easy and colorful 7 taste uthappam with idli dosa batter.
Cooking oil / Sesame oil /Ghee - to drizzle over dosa
HOW TO MAKE 7 TASTE UTHAPPAM RECIPE
Wash and chop all the vegetables finely. Grate carrot.
Take idli dosa batter and add little water if batter is too thick.
Heat a dosa pan or uthappam pan. Pour small ladleful of batter. Do not spread it.
Sprinkle the topping over each dosa. Drizzle oil around the dosa.
Cook in medium flame. Flip and cook the other side till toppings become golden in color.
Remove and serve hot with chutney or sambar !
7 TASTE UTHAPPAM - STEP BY STEP PICTURES
To make 7 taste or 5 taste uthappam, prepare the toppings by finely chopping onion, capsicum, cashew nuts, tomato, coriander leaves. Grate carrot and keep aside.
Take 1 to 2 cups of idli dosa batter. You can use leftover idli dosa batter or with fresh fermented idli batter. If the batter is too thick add little water and bring to pouring consistency. Remember batter should not be too thin and watery.
Heat a dosa tawa or mini uthappam pan (If you have it). Pour small ladles of batter in each hole. In dosa tawa, make 3 to 4 small sized thick dosa. Do not spread the batter.
Place the toppings over each dosa. Put chopped small onion in one, tomato and sprinkle some pepper powder in the second, capsicum in third, grated carrot, chopped coriander leaves, dry fruits and nuts in the remaining uthappam. Lastly sprinkle idli podi over the 7th uthappam. Drizzle oil or ghee (for kids) around each dosa. Cook in medium flame and flip the dosa.
Cook the toppings side patiently till each of them is cooked well and turns slight golden brown in color. You can remove carrot and coriander uthappam earlier than onion uthappam.
Remove in a plate and serve hot with chutney and sambar !
Enjoy !
Note
For variations you can use grated cheese, grated paneer, chocolate chips and favorite fruits.
To make 5 taste uthappam, skip any two toppings and make the remaining.
Adding ghee gives the best taste. But you can use cooking oil or sesame oil for low calorie version.
Coconut chutney or sambar is the best side dish for these uthappam.
Colorful, tasty 7 taste uthappam is ready ! Enjoy !
Last week I prepared few easy, instant breakfast and dinner recipes with bread. This Bread besan toast is one among them. Its a super quick recipe that can be prepared under 10 minutes. We can make this bread toast in a dosa tawa or oven. Usually I make this besan toast for Sunday breakfast if I wake up late in the morning. I used besan and rice flour to make the toast crispy. You can use rava / semolina too. Its a simple bread toast recipe with less calories. You can do many variations in this recipe by adding grated carrot, cheese etc. This recipe would be helpful for bachelors, working women to make a quick breakfast, dinner or evening snack. Kids would love it with tomato ketchup. It tastes the best when served hot. Friends, do try this easy, yummy bread besan toast and share your feedback with me. Check out the video below !
Cooking oil or butter or ghee - to toast the bread
HOW TO MAKE BESAN BREAD TOAST
Wash and chop onion, tomato, capsicum.
In a wide bowl, mix all the ingredients given above except cooking oil.
Add required water and make a smooth, thick batter.
Dip the bread slice in the besan batter. Heat dosa tawa adding oil or butter.
Put the bread slice and toast both sides by drizzling oil, ghee or butter.
Remove and enjoy hot with tomato ketchup.
BESAN TOAST RECIPE - STEP BY STEP PICTURES
Wash and chop the vegetables finely. In a wide bowl, mix besan flour, rice flour, cumin or ajwain, chopped vegetables, coriander leaves, salt, chilli powder, turmeric and garam masala powder.
Add required water and mix well without any lumps. Batter should be slightly thick and spreadable.
Take a bread slice ( you can cut the bread slice into 2 triangles and use it too) and dip in the batter. Apply batter on both sides of the bread.
Heat a dosa tawa with butter or ghee. Keep the bread slice dipped in besan batter. Cook in low to medium flame on one side. Flip and cook the other side. Drizzle some cooking oil / butter or ghee all over the bread slice.
Remove after cooking both the sides to golden brown. Serve hot with tomato ketchup. Tastes yummy !
Enjoy !
Note
For variations you can add 1 tsp of ginger garlic paste to the batter.
You can also add grated carrot, boiled corn kernels to the batter.
For kids, you can add some grated cheese while toasting the bread or garnish with grated cheese and serve it.
Try this easy, yummy, kids friendly besan toast recipe and enjoy !
