Cracked wheat and spinach khichdi

Ingredients

1 cup coarse cracked wheat
3/4 cup yellow moong daal
2 cups spinach chopped roughly
1/2 tsp whole black pepper
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
Pinch of asafoetida
1 sprig curry leaves
1 whole red chilli
2 tbsp clarified butter/ghee
2 tbsp oil
Salt to taste
5 cups water

Recipe

Pressure cook cracked wheat, moong daal and spinach in 5 cups of water for 3 whistles.
In a small pan, heat oil and clarified butter together on medium heat. Once the pan is hot, add cumin and mustard seeds and let them splutter. Add black pepper corns, asafoetida, red chilli. Lastly add curry leaves and immediately add to the cooked cracked wheat.
Add salt to taste.
Drizzle ghee/clarified butter on top(optional).
Serve hot with a pickle of choice.

Whole wheat pancakes

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 cup milk
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 Tbsp sugar
1 egg

2 Tbsp oil

1 Tbsp butter
Blueberries or any berries of choice
Maple syrup to drizzle on top

Recipe

Take cold milk in a cup and add lemon juice to it. Keep aside for 5 minutes.

Beat egg in a mixing bowl. 

Add milk and lemon juice mixture,sugar,oil to the egg and beat till everything blends.

Sift whole wheat flour,salt, baking soda and baking powder .Mix into the wet ingredients.

Mix with a spatula till everything just blends. Small lumps is fine in pancake batter.

Heat a pan on low. Brush some oil or butter on the pan

Pour a ladle full of batter into the pan.

after 30 seconds,try to lift the sides slowly using a wide spatula. 

Once the pancake is golden brown on the bottom side, flip it gently.

once the other side is also light brown,Use a toothpick and prick in the center to see if the pancake is cooked throughout.

Transfer to a plate.Drizzle maple syrup on top. Add some berries. Serve hot with a dollop of whipped cream or butter.

Idli

Ingredients

1 cup Urad Daal
2 cups Idli rice
1 cup of Regular oats
1/4 tsp Fenugreek seeds
Water as needed
Salt to taste

Recipe

Soak urad daal and fenugreek seeds together in a bowl for 40 minutes. Soak rice and oats in a separate bowl for 1 hr.

Drain and grind urad daal and fenugreek seeds till a smooth fluffy mixture is formed.Use water as needed to aide in grinding.

If a 1/4 tsp of ground urad daal is put in water,it should float and not sink to the bottom.This is when it is done.Keep this aside.

Next, grind idli rice till a coarse mixture is formed. 

Finally, grind the urad daal mixture and rice mixture together with a 1/4 tsp of salt, till everything blends in well.

Put the batter in a tall container and leave it in a warm place for the batter to ferment and rise.It takes approximately 8-10 hrs in a cold climate.During summer it may take much less time.

Once the batter ferments, add required amount of salt to taste(already there is a 1/4 tsp of salt, so be careful while adding more). Mix well.

Take an idli stand. Apply oil/ghee and pour in batter(do not fill batter to the brim,leave some place for the idli to rise while steaming). 

In a cooker/idli steamer, add water and bring it to boil. Put idli stand in and steam for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes take the idli stand out, and let it rest for a minute or so. Use a blunt knife to take idlis out.

Apply ghee on top and serve hot with Sambhar/chutney/spice powder of choice.

Some tips for proper fermentation in cold weather:

• Fill a large container with warm water and place the idli batter container in that. Leave this in a warm place.
• Keep batter in a warm oven. Switch on the oven light.
• Put idli batter container  near the stove while cooking

If batter does not ferment and rise even after doing all this. Make dosa/uttapam with the batter and try again next time.