Brunch 2: Crepes, Eggs and Potatoes

This is yet another Sunday brunch post. Some yummy Crepes filled with eggs and topped with potatoes. Vegetarians, feel free to use tofu for the scramble and an egg substitute in the crepes.

My usual goto are Eggs and Potatoes with a slice of toast. But I felt a bit fancy and tried these crepes. They are delicious.

Add some roasted tomatoes and a couple of orange slices and you have a beautiful meal.

Egg Scramble:
Onion - small chopped 1/2
Eggs - 4
Salt and Paprika - To taste
Parsley/Cilantro - 1 Tbsp chopped
Milk - 2 tbsp
Butter - 1 tbsp

Beat all the ingredients for the scramble. Heat a pan and add some butter to the pan. Add the egg mixture and scramble till done.

Crepes:

All Purpose Flour - 1 Cup

Milk - 1/5 Cups

Butter - 1 Tbsp

Eggs - 2

Salt and Sugar - a pinch each

Thaw the butter and add all the other ingredients to the butter and whisk well until there are no lumps. Heat a pan and grease with some butter. Add about a 1/4 cup of batter to the pan and swirl around till it coats the pan. Cook for about 30 seconds and flip. Cook through and remove. Make the rest of the crepes with the batter.

Sautéed Potatoes:
Red Potatoes - 2
Salt and Paprika or Red Chili Powder - 1 tsp each
Garlic - 2 Cloves Crushed
Oil - 1 tbsp

Cut the potatoes into 1 inch pieces and boil till tender.
In a pan, heat the oil, add the garlic and sauté for 10 seconds. Add the potatoes and the salt and red chili. Sauté till the potatoes are golden brown at the edges.

Tomatoes:
Slice the Tomatoes and roast on an oiled pan till soft on both sides. Sprinkle with Salt,

Add some egg scramble to each crepe and roll. Top with the potatoes and serve with a couple slices of the tomatoes and the Orange slices.

Serve warm.

Breakfast Egg Muffins

We can never get tired of eggs and this is a great recipe for kids too. I have tried making them in batches and freezing them for later. However, they taste best when they are baked fresh.

Ingedients:
Eggs - 6
Red Bell Pepper - 1 small
Onion - 1 small
Spinach - 1 small bunch
Salt and Pepper to taste
Red Chili flakes - small pinch
Milk - 1/4 cup
Grated cheese - 1/2 cup
Cilantro/Parsley - a few springs

Pre-heat the over to 350F.
Dice the vegetables into small pieces. Beat the eggs along with the milk and mix all the ingredients to the beaten eggs except for the cheese.
Gently mx half the cheese and retain half to sprinkle on top.

Spray a Muffin tin and pour the mixture into the muffin tins, filling them 3/4 of the way.
Top with some cheese and bake for about 20 minutes or a little more until the eggs are set.

Remove and serve warm.

Lazy Sunday Brunch

I am at my laziest on Sunday mornings and I love easy quick recipes for a brunch with the fam. Eggs are a go to and the hubby and the kiddo love anything with eggs as well.

This is just a quick thing I pulled together with some left over grilled chicken from dinner and the rest were all just assembled together in a few minutes. Our usual go to are potatoes that are quickly boiled and sautéed into a hash. This is a great substitute for the chicken.

A simple salad and some fresh sliced avocado makes this a complete meal.

Beat the egg and add some salt, pepper and a couple tbsp of milk. Whisk and make some quick omelettes. Meanwhile, toast some bread and toss some mixed greens with whatever dressing you have on hand.
I used up some chicken I had on hand, but potatoes are a great addition here.

Assemble everything with some sliced avocado.

Viola! Brunch is served.

Breakfast Hash

I have several Brunch recipes on the blog with Eggs. This is a quick, simple and not such a pretty but delicious one pot meal.

Ingredients:
Red Potatoes - 3
Bell Pepper - 1
Red Onion - 1/2
Salt - To Taste
Red Chili Flakes - 1 Tsp
Black Pepper - 1 Tsp
Garlic - 4 Cloves Crused
Oil - 1 tbsp
Spring Onion - 1
Eggs - 3

Cube the potatoes, onion and bell pepper into 1 inch pieces. Boil the potatoes till tender. Don not peel.
In a pan, heat the oil, add the garlic, chili flakes and sauté for 10 seconds. Add the onions and bell peppers and sauté till half done. Add the potatoes and the salt, black pepper and red chili. Sauté till the potatoes are golden brown at the edges. Move the hash to the sides and make a well in the middle.
Add a little more oil, break the eggs in the center. Season with salt and pepper and scramble them.

Mix everything and top with chopped Spring Onion. Sprinkle some cheese on top if you desire and drizzle some Sriracha.

Sunday Brunch - 3

This is another version of my simple Sunday brunch.  As always, you will find Eggs, Potatoes and Bread in the mix. There is something really hearty about these ingredients and also the ease of making it makes this a regular in our home.

I had frozen waffles and I just toasted them up in the Toaster for a sweet and fun element on the plate. I am not a big fan of pancakes but I do love waffles.

Scrambled Eggs:
Eggs - 4
Salt and Black Pepper - To taste
Milk - 2 tbsp
Butter - 1 tbsp

Beat all the ingredients for the scramble. Heat a pan and add some butter to the pan. Add the egg mixture and scramble till done.

Potato Hash:
Red Potatoes - 2
Salt and Paprika or Red Chili Powder - 1 tsp each
Garlic - 2 Cloves Crused
Oil - 1 tbsp
Spring Onion - 1

Cut the potatoes into 1 inch pieces and boil till tender.
In a pan, heat the oil, add the garlic and saute for 10 seconds. Add the potatoes and the salt and red chili. Saute till the potatoes are golden brown at the edges. Top with chopped Spring Onion.

Serve with some Waffles drizzled with Maple Syrup and Toast.

Oats Pancakes/Uthappam

This is a special request from my mom. She has been asking me to make these for a while now and we are not  big on breakfast. As always, this was a light brunch for us on a Saturday morning and it's quick and easy. Nutritious and filled with vegetables.

Ingredients:
Oats - 1 Cup
Sooji/Semolina - 1/2 Cup
Yogurt/Curd - 1/2 Cup
Salt - to taste
Green Chilis - 2
Ginger - 1 inch
Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tbsp
Onion - 1/2 to 2
Carrot grated - 1
Curry leaves and Cilantro - A few

Grind the oats into a coarse powder. Mix with Sooji and yogurt and add water. It will clump up as the sooji absorbs the liquid. Chop all the vegetables finely and add to the batter. Mix and add salt and water as required. 

Heat a pan and add one heaping ladle of the batter and make thick pancakes or oothappam. Fry on one side, filp and cook on the other side. I had a mini oothappam pan and I made these in that pan.  

Serve hot with Chutney or Sambar of your choice.

Peanut Chutney

Ingredients:
Peanuts - 1 Cup
Green Chilis - 6 to 8 (depending on how hot you like the chutney)
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Garlic Clove - 1
Salt - to taste
Tamarind Paste - 1 tsp

Tempering:
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
Red Chili - 1
Chana daal - 1 tbsp
Garlic clove - 1
Curry Leaves - 1 sprig

Dry fry the peanuts and grind with the rest of the ingredients, adding water as you go. Use water based on how thick you want the consistency of the chutney to be.
Temper with Mustard Seeds, Cumin Seeds, Crushed Garlic Clove, broken Red Clili, Chana Daal and Curry leaves.

Soft Idlis with Idli Rawa

Idlis have been rated amongst the best breakfast foods in the world. I fall into the category of people who thought that an Idli was the bane of my existence as a kid, but I have begun to like them as an adult. My mom used to make the combined batter that was used to make Idlis and dosas too. The batter would be used for making Idlis for day 1 to 3 and then dosas from 4 to 6. if there was more batter left after day 6, we would have ootappams. These are spongy idlis and very different from the ones that you make with Idli rawa. 

I discovered the Idlis with Idli rawa and I fell in love with them. They are easy to make and the best part is, they turn out soft even when the batter is made in a blender or a mixie instead of a wet grinder. The boys are really fond of Idlis with Peanut Chutney and I make it often. Well, I love it too :)

Idlis:
Ingredients:
Idli Rawa - 3 Cups
Urad Daal - 1 Cup
Fenugreek Seeds - a big pinch
Salt - To taste

Wash and soak the daal for about 4 hours of more. When you are ready to grind, soak the Rawa in water. Grind to a smooth batter, adding water as you go. In a grinder, this could take a half hour or more. Wash the rawa a couple times and squeeze out the water, a handful at a time and add to the batter. Mix well. The batter should not be runny but semi solid.  Add salt and mix well.

Ferement over night. If you live in a colder climate, pre-heat the oven to it's lowest setting or in keep warm and turn off. When it's still warm, place the batter inside and let it sit over night.

The batter will raise and become fluffy. Mix and make the idlis and store in the refrigerator.

To make the Idlis:
Place and Idli Steamer or a regular Rice cooker with 2 cups of water on the stove on Medium heat. Grease the idli moulds and add about 1.5 heaping tbsp of batter into each mould. Place in the steamer and steam for about 12 min or so. Open and check for doneness. It will be firm but slightly wet on top. Remove, wait for a minute and them take the idlis out with a sharp spoon.

Serve the Idlis with Chutney or Sambar of your choice.

Mini Pancake Muffins

This recipe is inspired from a post in the Pioneer Woman's blog. She has some amazing recipes and I haven't tried many, but this one is a sure winner. It's extremely easy, quick and the kids will love them.

I have a recipe for Pancakes on my blog. It's the same recipe that we can use for this dish as well.

Mini Muffin Pan
Pancake Batter
Blueberries or Chocolate Chips

Spray the Muffin pan generously and add the pancake batter to the moulds up to 3/4 full. Top with blueberries or chocolate chips.
Pre-heat the oven to 400F and bake for 8 to 10 min until baked through.

Remove and cool. Remove and serve with some syrup. This is also a good lunch box recipe for kids.

Breakfast sandwich

Eggs - 2
Bagels/Bread - 2 slices
Spinach - 2 cups
Crushed Garlic - 2 cloves
Tomatoes - 2
Onion - 1/2
Cream cheese/Any spreadable cheese - 2 tbsp
Salt and pepper - to taste
Oil/Non-stick spray

I use baby spinach here. If using regular spinach, just use the leafy part. Heat a pan and drizzle some oil or use some non-stick spray and add the crushed garlic and the spinach. Saute till the spinach is wilted. Season with some salt and pepper. Remove and set aside. Slice the tomatoes and in the same pan, spread the tomato slices in a single layer and sprinkle some salt and pepper on them. Cook about a minute on each side and remove. They should retain their shape. Now, break the eggs, season and cook till the eggs are set. Cook them the way you desire. Sunny side up, scrambled, poached. I like to break them on the pan, and cook on one side, flip and cook until the outside is set, but the inside is still gooey. When you cut into the egg, the yolk should be creamy and act like a sauce. Trust me, it's delicious. Toast the bread or bagels, smear the cream cheese and top with the sliced onions, sauteed spinach, tomatoes and egg. Serve open faced.

Instant Rawa Idli

Sooji/Rawa - 2 cups
Curd/Yogurt - 1.5 cups
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Green chilis - 2
Red chilis - 2
Cilantro - 3 to 4 sprigs (leaves only)
Ginger - 1/2 inch
Cashews - 3 to 4
Chana daal - 1 tbsp
Carrot - 1
Salt - to taste
Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Heat oil in a pan. Splutter the mustard seeds. Add the chana daal, broken cashews and red chilis. Fry till golden brown. Add the chopped green chilis, curry leaves, chopped ginger and the rawa. Fry till it's fragrant and turns a light golden brown color. Remove and cool in a bowl. Peel and grate the carrot and add to the rawa. Add the chopped cilantro, salt and the curd. Mix well and set aside. The rawa will absorb all the moisture. Add water to the batter, to get it to the consistency or an idli batter. Set aside for 15 min.

Grease idli moulds and fill them with the batter. Steam in an idli steamer or a cooker for about 8 min. Remove and serve with chutney and sambar.

Yields about 16 idlis.

Note: I did not add baking soda during the process, but some recipes call for 1/3 tsp baking soda to yield softer idlis.

Recipe for Tomato chutney:  http://yumm-o.blogspot.com/2011/04/tangy-tomato-chutney.html

Aloo Gobi Paratha - Simplified

The best part of a paratha is the filling. So, the more filling the better. Right? The problem with excess filling is, when we try to roll the parathas, it starts to come out and it becomes very hard to roll them. Also gets messy. I tried this different method, where instead of rolling the parathas before they go on the tawa, I used a flat bottomed spatula to spread the parathas right on the tawa. This ensured that there was a lot of filling in each of the parathas, and also saved me the trouble of having to roll them. I am making these a lot more, now that I found this simple technique.

Potatoes - 2 medium
Cauliflower - 1/2 small
Onion - 1/2 Red chopped fine
Ginger grated - 1 tsp
Green chili - 2 chopped fine
Citantro - few sprigs chopped
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Red chili powder - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Amchur powder - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Shajeera - 1 tsp
Regular roti dough

Boil the potatoes until soft, peel and mash. Chop the cauliflower into small pieces.
In a pan, heat 1 tbsp oil, add shajeera, and the onions. Cook till soft, add the cauliflower and cook till soft, and it falls apart. Mix the rest of the masalas, salt and the potatoes. Add the cilantro and cool.
Take some dough, roll into a ball, and make with your hands, make it into a small bowl and fill with the filling. Close the ends and seal the ball. Make the rest of the balls this way.
With your hands, flatten the dough ball with the filling.

Heat a tawa and place the flattened dough ball with the stuffing on the tawa. Spray the back of a flat spatula with some non-stick spray or add a few drops of oil and spread it well. Press the spatula on the dough, and press until it expands. Continue to do this until it forms into a paratha. This is a very simple step, and gets done in seconds.






Cook on one side, turn and cook till the other side is lightly brown. Drizzle some oil at this point if you wish.
Remove and serve with pickle and yogurt.

Multi bean and grain Adai

This adai/dosa is really rich in protein and tastes good too. I used Usal mix from the Indian store. Any kind of a bean mix can be used here.



Usal Mix - 1 cup
Boiled Rice - 1 cup
Urad daal - 1/2 cup
Chana daal - 1/4 cup
Toor daal - 1/4 cup
Red chilis - 8
Salt - to taste
Ginger - 1 1/2 inch
Cumin seeds - 2 tbsp
Cilantro - 1 handful

Soak the daals, beans and rice for 3 to 4 hrs. Grind with the rest of the ingredients and water. The consistency should look like a thick dosa batter.
Adai takes a little longer to cook than a regular dosa.

Vegetable Fritatta

What is the difference between a fritatta and an omelet? Goggled and found this: Omelets traditionally have the egg mixture cooked and folded around a filling, while a frittata just mixes it all up, cooked in a mishmash combination all at once. According to this explanation, what we Indians refer to as an omelet is in fact a fritatta. Anyway, fritatta's are usually thicker and have lots of vegetables and meats in them. Throw in anything you like, you can never go wrong here. 

Eggs - 4 (or Egg Beaters - 1 cup)

Milk - 3 to 4 tbsp

Spinach - 1 cup

Corn - 1/2 cup

Broccoli - 1 cup

Salt and pepper - to taste

Red chili flakes - 1 tsp

Goat cheese - 1/4 cup (or Any shredded cheese)

Butter - 1 tsp

In a flat bottom pan, heat the butter and saute the corn, broccoli and spinach. I used frozen vegetables here. 

In a bowl, whisk the eggs with the milk, salt and pepper. If using egg beaters, skip this step.

Egg beaters is an egg substitute. It's made with real egg whites and comes in a carton. However, you do not miss the yolk here, as it is just as creamy and tasty as a whole egg. I really like it when making quick omelets or fritattas. 

When the veggies are tender, pour the eggs into the pan and season with pepper flakes. Top with crumbled goat cheese. 

When the eggs are set at the bottom, pop this under a broiler in the oven. Else, just close the lid and let it cook on low heat until cooked through.

Serve with toast and sauce of your choice. Tabasco works great with this.

Instant Rawa Dosa

We love dosas, but sometimes when we crave them, there is no batter at home to make them. This instant rawa dosa comes to my rescue everytime. The funny thing about the batter is, it seems to never end. After making a few of them, the batter gets thick, and I add water to dilute it. We almost get twice the amount of dosas with the same amount of the regular dosa batter.

Roasted Sooji/Rawa - 1 cup
Rice Flour - 1 cup
All Purpose Flour - 1/3 cup
Grated Carrots - 2
Black Pepper - 1 tsp
Chopped Green Chilis - 3
Salt - to taste
Chopped Cilantro - few sprigs
Chopped Ginger - 1 inch

Mix all the ingredients with water. The batter consistency should be thinner than the regular dosa batter. Almost like buttermilk.
Heat a tawa and sprinkle the batter on the pan, covering the pan and forming a round.
The rawa dosa batter will not spread like a regular batter.
There will be holes in the dosa and will take longer to cook. Add oil around the dosa if you desire.
When the dosa is crisp around the edges, turn and cook on the other side.
Mix well and add water if the batter looks think, before making the next dosa.
Serve with chutney of your choice.

Pancakes

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour - 1 cup
All purpose flour - 1 cup

Baking powder - 2 tsp
Sugar - 3 tbsp
Salt  - a pinch

Eggs - 2
Milk - 1 1/2 cups
Melted butter - 2 tbsp

Sliced Bananas - 2

Frozen mixed berries - 1 bag

Maple syrup - to drizzle

Mix all the dry ingredients together. In a bowl, whisk the wet ingredients and slowly mix in the dry mix.

Mix till its a smooth batter. On a griddle, pour a ladle full of batter and cook till light brown and fluffy.

Serve with bananas and thawed berries. Drizzle with maple syrup.