Mutton Jhalfrezie: leftover meat re-cooked with sauteed onions and garlic, some leftover gravy, and spices. (Originated in Bengal as a repurposing of leftovers with aromatics and spices, and one of my Dad’s favorite things to make from leftiver kid / baby goat roast, but I forgot the potatoes in his version.)
Vatana / green peas: One of my favorite preps, but haven’t eaten this in ages. Simply cooked with tempering, cumin, coriander, and chilli powders, ginger, and finished with garam masala. (Gujarat / Maharashtra)
Masoor Dal (red lentils) cooked with vegetables: cauliflower stem and zucchini, plus ginger, garlic, and onion. Simple tempering of cumin seeds and garlic. I forgot the green chilli. (Many regions cook vegetable stubs with dal, though mine is inspired by a friend’s Bihari dal.)
Idlis with coconut chutney.
Idlis hail from the southern states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh, but are popular across the country. Classic idlis are made from rice and udad / urad dal (matpe beans), but there are many variations.
Handvo – a savory cake made from a mixed lentil and rice batter, spiced and tempered, with optional vegetables. I grated in zucchini and carrot today.
This is a popular Gujarati breakfast, snack, or light meal.
Rava Fried Fish — a specialty of the Konkan coast.
Fish is marinated with spices or a paste, then coasted with semolina and flash fried to produce a thin, crisp coating with perfectly cooked fish inside.
I pan-fried the fish instead of deep frying, which takes a bit of extra effort because the fish has to be turned for the semolina on every surface to crisp up.
Dal-chawal-fish fry (lentils+rice+fried fish) is comfort food.
DHOKLA — steamed lentil or grain (or both) savory cake.
This is a beloved breakfast / snack / “farsan” from Gujarat. Steamed in flat trays and cut into diamonds.
The type most recognized outside India is the yellow Khaman Dhokla, made from besan / Bengal gram flour, because they are sturdy in a store sale context (and easy to make). Topped with tempering, fresh coconut, and cilantro.
The most common home version, however, is a thin, white type called Idada / Khatta (sour) Dhokla / Safed (white) Dhokla, made from rice and matpe beans / udad dal that are soaked, ground into a batter, and fermented. Topped with red chilli powder or black pepper.
This batter worked really well for the second type.
When you say “different ingredients” is it just the Masala/Spicing that is on the Top?
Looks like the cooking Method is the same(steamed) just the format is different.
The batter can be rice and urad, but in a different proportion than idlis (and no fenugreek), or it can be individual other lentils (yellow / moong, bengal gram / chana, black eyed peas / chola).
It’s always steamed as a large cake and cut into diamonds, vs the individual molds for idli.
There’s always a topping, either ground red chilli or black pepper, or tempering.
And they’re all served with green (coriander / cilantro) chutney.
This is a quick and tasty crepe that can be made from a variety of grain and / or legume flours. Popular by different names across most of the top half of the country (the south tends to use fermented batter for crepes more often, though unfermented versions are also eaten).
I made the besan / chana lot (gram flour) version using a recipe from Serious Eats (for kicks – this is really a no-recipe, use-what-you-have dish).
Today’s rendition had finely minced red onion, cilantro, and green chilli in addition to powdered spices.
Eaten today with zhoug (for green chutney) and spinach raita / borani.
