A Healthy Mixed Vegetable Curry for Dosas

I love eating stuffed dosas with peanut chutney. 

However, none of the South Indian restaurants ever serve the dosas with this chutney. They always serve them with coconut chutney and sambhar and potato curry, which is stuffed inside the dosa. The curry is always bland. It tastes like they just boiled the potatoes, mashed them up and mixed with some spices. It doesn't complement the dosa at all.

It's been brought to my attention that peanut chutney is only made at home and never served at restaurants. I wonder why? It's so good. 

I was so sick of eating the "bland" potato curry, that my mom decided to make her own, better version. No need to give our money away to the restaurants who can't even make a decent curry. 

Dosas served with peanut chutney and mixed vegetable curry

My mom's version has more vegetables in it and it's much more tasty. Let's take a look at the ingredients for this dosa curry...

Ingredients / Serves 6-8:

- 4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" cubes

- 2 cups of cauliflower, cut into small florets

- 2 large carrots, diced into ½” cubes

- 1½ cups of frozen French cut beans

- 1 large onion, chopped into 1" pieces

- 3 medium tomatoes, chopped

- ½ cup frozen green peas

- 4 to 5 green chilies, chopped per taste

- 3 Tbsp Vegetable oil

- ½ tsp whole mustard

- ½ tsp whole cumin

- 1 Tbsp urad dal (black gram lentil)

- ¼ tsp turmeric powder

- 1 Tbsp salt (or as needed)

- ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped for garnish (optional)

Procedure

1) Heat oil in a large saucepan, add urad dal, and fry for 1 to 2 minutes. When they brown, add mustard and cumin. When the mustard and cumin start to splutter, add turmeric powder, onions, and green chilies. Sauté for 1 to 2 minutes and add tomatoes. Sprinkle a pinch of salt, mix well and allow it to cook under the lid for 2 to 3 more minutes. 

2) When the tomatoes are cooked, and form a gravy, add potatoes, beans (pre-cooked in microwave for 4 minutes), carrots and cauliflower. Then add salt and cook for another 12 to 15 minutes under closed lid mixing every couple of minutes.

3) When the potatoes are cooked or soft (can be cut easily with the spatula), remove the lid and allow any remaining water to evaporate. Mash the potatoes slightly for curry to come together. Taste to adjust salt and spice level.

4) Transfer into a bowl and garnish with chopped fresh coriander and serve hot with dosas either as a filling or alongside.

Quick Tips

- Potatoes can be replaced with grated paneer and will be added when veggies are half-cooked.

- Fry cashews and add to the curry in the end to give a crunchy taste.

Mirchi Restaurant - Spicing It Up with South Indian Dishes

It has been a while since we went out as a family including my grandmother. This past weekend was surely a delight in that respect. My sister and my brother-in-law came to visit us and spent some quality time with the parents and of course me. All of us went out to dinner together to this newly opened South Indian restaurant called Mirchi (chilies in English) located in Parsippany NJ. This restaurant replaced another Indian restaurant  located in the same complex called Amiya.

When you enter the restaurant, on your right you will see a party room with a bar and as you walk further into the lobby, you will see the concierge desk. To the left of the desk is the entrance to the dining area (click here to see pictures). The dining area is very spacious and comfortable. In the back, there's a glass door leading to the wine cellar, which I thought was really cool.

We started off our dinner with a couple of vegetarian appetizers: Gobi 65 and Baby Corn Pepper Fry. 

Gobi 65*

Gobi 65 is a dish where well marinated cauliflower florets are brown to perfection (description from menu). These florets were definitely cooked, marinated and seasoned very well. Additionally, the portion size was adequate for 4 or more people. We were a party of 6 so we got about 3 pieces each and were very satisfied.

The Baby Corn Pepper Fry failed to meet the same flavor expectations as the Gobi 65. I felt the corn was more doughy than crispy and the taste was not as satisfying. 

We had never dined here before so we had no idea about entree portions. We ended up ordering 5 separate dishes to make sure everyone was happy.

My parents and grandmother are vegetarian so they ordered mixed vegetable Uttappam, Rava Masala Dosa, and Hyderabadi Vegetable Biryani.

According to my dad, the Mixed Vegetable Uttapam was a good size and tasty. The Rava Masal Dosa and Hyderabadi Vegetable Biryani didn't make the cut. Both my mother and grandmother were disappointed in their dishes. 

ENTREES CHOICES

Top Left -  Garlic Naan
Bottom Left - Vegetable Biryani
Right - Malabar Fish Curry

My sister, brother-in-law and I (the non-vegetarians) shared the Shangri-la Biryani and Malabar Fish Curry with Garlic Naan. All 3 of us really enjoyed the Malabar Fish Curry served with plain white rice. The fish curry was made with selected fish pieces simmered in tamarind pulp and coconut milk. It was quite tasty and flavorful. You can't go wrong with coconut milk; it makes everything taste better and rich-er. 

Third disappoint of the evening was the Shangri-la Biryani,  combination of Chicken 65 and biryani. Before we placed our order, we specified that we all wanted our dishes to be Medium spicy, which in my book means, add some chilies to our dish. However, our biryani and the chicken lacked flavor. It was not until I added the spicy raita that I actually tasted something in my biryani. It was like eating saffron rice with crispy chicken. The combination was did not suit us at all.



Takeaways from our experience - 3 STARS 

- The portions for appetizers and entrees are big enough for two people.
- When placing your order, specify your spice level: Mild, Medium and Spicy. If you order biryani, it should be spicy, not bland.
- The best part of our dining experience was the service. The waitstaff were helpful and friendly.


Although half of our dishes were disappointing, I would definitely dine here again as it was my first time. I would never dismiss going to a particular restaurant again if it rated 3 or more stars in the first experience. Next time, I will stick to regular Hyderabadi Dum Biryani instead something totally exotic. Also, I will steer clear of anything on the menu with dish titles ending with 65, not my cup of tea.



***Until next time, happy eating. If you know of a good Indian restaurant for us to try, let us know.  Looking to dine out, check out our Restaurant Reviews page for suggestions. ***

The "Other" Dosa Chutney

Masala Dosa at Chennai Garden, NYC

What a lovely sight, indeed! Above is a great example of a dosa. It is a kind of crepe which is most commonly made from fermented rice and urad dal batter. Usually, most South Indian restaurants serve dosas with sambar, fiery chutney powder, and coconut chutney.  In my experience, the sambar is usually too spicy and so is the chutney powder. The coconut chutney is okay if it's properly made and sometimes, it's too watery which ruins the taste of the dosa. And that is why I have to speak out. I know of another chutney that deserves to take center stage and push the coconut one aside. It's creamy, a little tangy and sweet and oh so flavorful. I used to think this chutney recipe was a well kept secret but my mom only told me recently that variations of it are served in restaurants in Southern India. I guess it's not a secret anymore.

Yummy Peanut Chutney!

Feast your eyes on the one and only chutney that should be accompanied with the rice and urad dal dosa. 

Ingredients: 

1 cup of Peanuts
2 Dry Red chillies (or 1 tsp crushed red chilies)
1" ball of Dry Tamarind or 1 tbsp of Tamarind Concentrate
1 tbsp of Jaggery or Brown sugar
½ Salt tsp or as needed
1 tsp of Vegetable oil

Procedure:
1) Fry peanuts and chillies in oil on medium heat to low heat until peanuts give out the roasted aroma. It should take about 6-7 minutes.

2)  If using tamarind, use sufficient water to cover it and microwave it for 15-20 seconds. Allow it to soak for 5 minutes; this will loosen it up so you can squeeze the juice out.

3) Blend peanuts and chillies to a fine powder. Then add salt and brown sugar. Squeeze the juice out of soaked tamarind and add the juice to the mixture. Next, add water to make the mixture wet and blend it to a smooth paste. Taste the chutney to adjust salt or brown sugar as needed and remove from the blender.

Quick Tips 
- You can also season the chutney with mustard seeds, jeera and curry leaves. It gives it that extra kick. 


I know you're dying to make dosas now, just so you can dip the dosa into this creamy and "nutty" chutney. Check out India on a Griddle: A Savory Dosa Recipe Worth the Effort.