Clicking Spring Mint and Garlic Chives, Egg Jalfrezi, Brown Rice and Besan Uttappa

My Spring Mint and Garlic Chives, goes to Bee and Jai's "Click-Spring/Autumn" event.

Egg Jalfrezi, goes to Sudeshna's "Eggs" event who is celebrating her first blog anniversary.

Brown Rice, Besan/Chickpea flour and Carrot Uttappa, goes to Trupti who is guest hosting "Cooking for Kids-Rice" event, which is started by Sharmi.

Thanks to all of you ladies, enjoy my 150th post at Aroma! :)

Spring Mint and Garlic Chives from my backyard!

Camera: Sony Cyber-Shot 8.1pxl in Macro mode.

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Beautiful Spring Tulips which I clicked without the home owner's permission while driving to the next city! I saw these Tulips in their front yard, one of my favorite flowers of all, stopped the car, took the photo and ran back to the car with a lightening speed!! :D

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About Jalfrezi:
Wikipedia says "The jalfrezi dates from the times of the British Raj when it was created as a way of using leftover meat; the chillies helped to disguise any disagreeable taste. The name comes indirectly from Bengali jhāl, spicy food, and Urdu parhezī, suitable for a diet"

Egg Jalfrezi:
Jalfrezi is a tasty sweet and spicy concoction of Bell Peppers, Tomato and Onion. You can add any vegetable of your choice or mixed veggies, meat or hard boiled Eggs into this thickish gravy.
There are many ways to make the Jalfrezi, here is my milder version since my kids like milder and sweeter sauce than spicy. You can add green chillies if you like, gives it a nice heat. I added red bell peppers for sweetness and color.

How to make Egg Jalfrezi my way!
Hard boil 6 eggs in water for 15mins, take off the heat, pour out the hot water and add cold water. This makes the Egg shells peel easy after they are cold. Peel the shells, cut the eggs 1/2 way to the center but do not cut it thru' to split them into half.

1. Heat 1 tbsp oil + 2 tsp Butter, add 1tsp Cumin seeds. When they turn reddish, add 1" grated fresh Ginger, saute for 2 mins.
2. Add 2 medium sized thinly sliced onions, saute for 3 mins, until they are soft. Add 2 large red Bell peppers, sliced into the sauce, stir fry for 3 mins, until they wilt a bit and soften.
2. Now, add 2-3 Plum Tomatoes, sliced to the pan, stir again and let it cook and oil shows on top a little, sauce leaves the sides of the pan.
3. Now, add enough salt, 1/4 or more tsp Chilli pd or Paprika (you can add green chillies too), 1/2 tsp Sugar, 1 1/2 tsp Coriander powder, 1/2 tsp good quality Garam masala pd, homemade is better. Mix well and add 3/4 cup water and 1 tbsp cream or full cream milk (optional). Simmer for 5 mins.
4. Take off the heat, adjust the salt and chilli pd. Sprinkle 3 tbsp chopped Cilantro.

Serve with Lemon slices and cooked Basmati rice.

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Uttappa:
In Karnataka or in Kannada, we call Uttappam as Uttappa, although method of making these is always the same. You use the usual Dosa or Idli batter, soured overnight to use the next day and adding onion, Tomato, chillies etc on top to make Uttappa like this recipe I posted long time ago at my Foodie's Hope blog. They are usually served with chutney or Sambhar, a thick dal dip.

For this event which we are cooking for kids, I came up with these trying to make it little healthier adding Brown rice, Carrots and Besan. Since we are mixing protein packed Besan which is Chickpea flour to finely ground rice, there is no need to ferment this Uttappa batter, go ahead and make them after few hrs of grinding rice.

Quick to make and kids love them too if you add Carrots and green peppers to make them colorful. Instead of chutney, added ghee and sprinkled my homemade Chutney pudi which is a coarsely ground mixed dal powder with spices. My chutney pudi is not very spicy but adds great color and nutrition to Uttappa. Here is my version of Uttappa, enjoy! :)

Brown Rice, Besan and Carrot masala Uttappa, topped with ghee and chutney pudi:
Looks like Pizza, isn't it? Great to serve to kids and adults alike. Brown rice has lot of fiber retained than the regular white rice and Besan and Carrots gives this pancake a pinkish hue which kids usually dig! :)

To make Uttappa:

1. Soak 1 1/2 cup Brown rice overnight or for at least for 3-4 hrs in water. Drain the water, add to a mixer. Grind it with 2 cups of water until it's smooth to touch or finely ground. Add 3 tbsp Besan to the rice batter, blend just until well mixed.
2. Take the batter in to a bowl, add enough salt, 1/2 cup finely grated Carrots, 2 tbsp chopped Cilantro, few chopped curry leaves, 1/2" grated Ginger, 1 tsp Cumin seeds powder, 1/4 tsp chilli pd or green chillies chopped (Skip both if your kids can't handle the heat), finely chopped 4 tbsp onion, mix well. Keep it aside for 15mins.
3. Heat a non-stick griddle, pour a ladleful of batter, drizzle few drops of oil on top. Let it cook until the bottom is golden, flip it to cook the other side.
4. As soon as you take the pancake or Uttappa on to plate, brush some ghee on top, sprinkle a tsp of Chutney pudi on top evenly and serve immediately.

There you are! Nutritious and tasty South Indian Pancake/Crepe/Uttappa! :)