Chilli peanuts

Peanuts
Oil
Chilli powder hot or extra hot
Salt


Take a teaspoon of oil and warm until very hot.
Add the salt and chilli powder. The oil should be so hot that  masalas should "sizzle boil" when added
Add the peanuts.
Saute on medium heat . Keep stirring so the peanuts are ciated with masala.
They get crunchy as they cool so you will need to test them by cooling  

pop corn salted

Popping corn kernels
Oil
Salt and seasinig


Take a couple of tablespoons of oil in a oan . Allow to warm.
Add the pop corn kernels , salt. And any other seasonig.
Keep stirring until the first kernel pops.
Cover with lid and allow the kernels to pop occasionally flipping the lidded  pan.

Sambhar

Half cup toor daal.
Chopped vegetables of your choice ( optional) I don't add to sambhar
Seedless tamarind soaked /wet kokum
Sambhar masala. ( i make fresh but you can buy )
Curry leaves.
Tomatoes
Turmeric, ginger, green chillis, corriander etc

Soak the tamarind
Wash and Soak toor daal in hot water or pressure cook for 7/8 whistles. If not pressure cooking boil soaked daal.
 Make sure it  is well cooked and no seeds are visible. It should be mushy, blend the daal with hand blender. This freezes really well so you can make and freeze

Take a couple of spoons oil in a pan and add cinnamon sticks ,mustard seeds, fenugrrek seed a few only , ( garlic, dry red   chillis optional)
Add curry leaves once the seeds have crackled.
Add tomatoes and saute till soft.
Add vegetables if using.p.s. If you are using fresh vegetables which take a while to cook add before tomatoes or steam/ stir fry first.
Once tomatoes are mushy add masalas like turmeric, ginger, green chillis, salt, kokum. Saute until it all comes together and the oil starts to selarate.
 add  daal and boil for a few minutes. Now add tamarand pulp, garam masala and sambhar masala. Note this will thicken once sambhar masala is added so go easy. Ready to enjoy after adding corriander 

corriander chutney

Half cup corriader
Cooking apple half or raw mango
Daria, peanuts or sev
Handful of mint ( optional add if you want mint/corriander chutney)
Half capsicum to add bulk if you need.
Green chilli to taste
Salt, sugar, lemon juice

Wash, chop finely and blend .
Season according to taste

tomato onion chutney for dhosa/ idli or uttapam

2 onions
3 tomatoes
1 tbsp chana  daal or use daria ready made
1 teaspoon urad daal
Ginger, garlic,
Red dry chilis or chilli powder
Salt
Lemon juice


Dry roast the chana till golden and set aside.
Lightly fry onions in warm oil. Add garlic and saute on high flame until you get an aroma.
 set aside.
Saute tomatoes in same oil until mushy

Add the above sauted ingredients except urad daal into blender jar and blend till smooth

Heat a little oil in a pan and add cumin seeds, mustard seeds and urad daal. Saute until daal turns golden. Add curry leaves and when the curry leaves turn crisp add to the blended chutney. Season with salt, lemon juice, red chilli powder .

coconut chutney for dhosa, idli and uttapam

About half bowl Fresh or frozen coconut shredded.( you can use dessicated as a last resort)

1 teaspoon chana daal roasted ( you can use daria available in stores)

Green chilli, ginger

1 teaspoon urad daal for tempering

Curry leaves

Plain  yoghurt ( optional) 

Add the coconut, ginger, chilli in grinder jar together with roasted chana daal. 

Add water and blend to a smooth paste.

Remove into a heat proof bowl or jar

Heat oil in a small pan, add mustard seeds and wait for these to crackle.

Add cumin seeds, and urad daal, fry till urad daal is golden brown. 

Add curry leaves. Once curry keaves are crisp, pour the tempering into the coconut.

Add yoghurt or lemon juice 

potato and onion filling for dhosa

4 to 6 medium size potatoes either boiled or peeled , diced into small pieces and steamed
Either chana or urad daal about 1 teaspoon soaked for 20/30 minutes
One onion chopped
4/6 cashews (optional)
Ginger,green chillis, curry leaves turmeric etc to taste

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil and temper some mustard seeds. Once mustard seeds crackle, add the soaked daal and a few curry leaves, ginger sliced or crushed and the green chiilis. Saute the onions until soft and translucent. Add salt, turmeric powder and mix well. Add cashews
Add the potatoes and saute for a few minutes.
Switch off the flame and add corriander.

This is the masala ready.

Variations; you can add peas too. Or cabbage shredded.

basic Dhosa idli uttapam mix

1 cup urad daal white
3 cups long grain or broken rice
1 teaspoon of fenugreek seeeds

Wash and Soak the above ingredients individually for 12 hours

Blend in a blender or liquidiser. Adding about two tablespoons of cooked rice and salt to taste.
Leave in a warm place to rise. This rises really well so ensure there is expansion room. I put it on the boiler but you could leave it in a warm oven.

Once your mix is ready, it can be stored in the fridge for a week or longer, and sometimes it continues to rise. Bring it to room temperature before use.

You can use this for idli, uttapam ( pancake with vegetables) and dhosa.

Vegetable soup

8 Ripe tomatoes
Handful of peas
Handful of shredded cabbage
Handful of sweetcorn
Boiled pasta
Ps you can use vegetables of your own choice and pasta is optional
Salt, blackpepper, lemon juice. Hot green peppers optional
Oil
Cumin seeds

Mark a cross on the tomatoes and put in microwave with a bit of water ( or you can boil)
When they are done, the skin becomes wrinkly.
Remove from heat and save the water.
Peel the tomatoes and blend.
Put a couple of teaspoons of oil in a pan on the gas
Add a pimch of cumin seeds ( u can also add curry leaves if unlike)
When seeds crackle, add the vegetables. If you are using fresh , add them in the order of how long they take to cook.
Saute for a few minutes.
Flavour with salt and pepper ( or italian herbs, basil etc..)
Add the blended tomatoes.
You may now add the boiled pasta to make it more wholsome.
Adjust taste esp add so e lemon juice
Enjoy with some warm bread or rice.

Pizza base

320g strong white bread flour,
1x5ml yeast
1x5ml salt
2x5 ml sugar.
250ml Luke warm water( if you want really crusty replace 15 ml water with milk)
Around 20 ml sunflower oil 

Make sure room is warm.
Mix dry ingredients. Add oil . Mix until it resembles bread crumbs. If not add a bit more oil.
Add water a bit by bit and make dough 
Put on a floured board . Knead vigorously for 5 minutes. Really get that yeast working 

Grease and Cover the dough . Put in warm place until it has doubled in size.
You can make your sauce and toppings and grease/warm pizza stone . And the oven.
Now you need to knead it again. This time 3 minutes will do. Divide the dough into 2 or 3. Stretch it well and roll in shape . You need to knock the air out here . Place on your greases pizza trays and cover. Allow for this to rise . Add a few drops of oil on the top to save the crust from drying out
Takes half hour in my hot house.
Half bake in the oven.180 degrees for around 15 minutes.
Turn out on cool rack.
At this stage you can freeze them.
Turn upside down so you are putting the toppings on the smooth side and the bottom of pizza will be crusty.

Enjoy!