Akki Rotti with Dill-Coconut Chutney: Dill Se...

Akki Rotti with Dill-Coconut Chutney

Pretty to look at with vibrating green colours, herbs add lot of flavour, aroma and colour to any food. Few pretty green leaves floating on soups and carefully placed on top of salad or curries, they do brighten up even the simplest food. But does that mean their sole purpose it to serve as a garnish which you can pick and keep aside while eating?

Ayurveda, an ancient science of healthy living, has always emphasised on using fresh herbs everyday. Knowingly or unknowingly, we have been following this ancient wisdom on day to day basis. Any Indian kitchen is incomplete without herbs stored safely in a refrigerator or pots of fresh herbs sitting pretty on kitchen windowsill. Herbs are indispensable in my kitchen and I usually end up adding extra handful of herbs in almost all the food I cook.


When I thought about different herbs used in everyday dish, I realised there are just few which make regular appearance. Curry leaves, coriander, mint and fenugreek are the most important ones that are used in almost all the recipes and basil, chives, rosemary and thyme makes few guest appearances now and then. Given my love for herbs I felt I am yet to discover the true potential of every herb which is easily available throughout the year. So here I am, on my way to taste and discover more herbs used in day to day cooking.


My first stop was at our regualr Asian grocery store to buy fresh bunch of Dill. Dill is more commonly known as Dill Weed and has feathery appearance. The fresh dill leaves has fragrant lemon and anise aroma and it tastes like mixture of parsley and anise. High in iron content, dill is available as fresh, dry and in seeds form. Dill is also one of the main herbs used in Karnataka in many recipes. So it was a safe bet to start my journey of rediscovering herbs. One the most loved food which features dill as the main ingredient is Akki Rotti, pan fried Indian bread made using rice flour. I have posted my mother’s recipe of Masala Akki Rotti sometime back and it was one of the most loved and referred recipes on Monsoon Spice. It is gluten free and also vegan and more importantly very healthy and delicious breakfast idea. First time I tasted Akki Rotti made using Dill and Avare KaLu/Surti Papdi Lilva was when I was doing my post graduation in Bangalore. Bangaloreans love Avare KaLu and use them in many recipes. Palya, Saaru, Sambar are the few to name but Akki Rotti with Avare KaLu tops my list of favourites. Coconut, avare kaLu, green chillies, onion and dill mixed with rice flour and directly patted on hot griddle was instant hit with me from day one. Crisp Akki Rotties with little note of sweetness from coconut and lilva, crunch from onions, citrus-y flavour from dill and touch of spiciness from fresh green chillies is one tasty affair which is hard not to notice. Served with just a dollop of freshly churned Butter or Coconut Chuteny/Brinjal Palya/Gojju, this is one meal that is hard to resist. Serve this to anyone who is not fond of dill and see them falling in love with it.

Ingredients for Akki Rotti

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Akki Rotti with Dill & Surti Papdi Lilva (Rice Flat Bread flavoured with Dill and Surti Papdi Lilva)

Prep Time: 5-10 mins
Cooking Time: 20-30 mins
Makes: 6-7 medium Rotties

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Ingredients:
2-2½ cups Rice Flour
¼ cup grated Coconut, fresh/frozen (Optional but recommended)
½ - ¾ cups Surti Papdi Lilva/Avare KaaLu (I used canned ones. If using fresh or frozen boil them in salted water for around 5 minutes and drain or use as it is)
¼ cup Dill, finely chopped
1 medium Onion, finely chopped
2-4 Green Chillies, finely sliced (Adjust acc to taste)
1½ tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
1-2 tbsp Oil
Salt to taste
Warm water for kneading

Akki Rotti

Method:

Add finely chopped onion, green chillies, dill, fresh/frozen coconut, surti papdi, cumin seeds, oil and salt to taste to rice flour and mix well. Now add warm water, little at a time, and mix well to form dough. This dough should smooth and easy to pat directly on tawa/griddle. Alternatively, bring 2½-3 cups of water to boil and add mixed dry contents to it. Give it a gentle stir. Switch off the flame and cover the vessel. When covered, the steam from hot water helps in getting smooth dough. When dough is cool enough to handle, add oil to it and kneed the dough for few minutes.
The best way to make these rotties is to pat them directly on hot tawa/griddle. Trust me, its much easier than it sounds.
Take large lemon sized balls and place them in a centre of tawa. Pat them with fingers to form a ½ cm thick circle. Place that tawa on flame. Add little oil or ghee to the edges of rotti. Cover and cook the rotties for about 3-4 minutes on medium heat till brown spots start to appear on its surface. Flip it around and cook for another minute or two.
Invert the tawa/griddle and place it under cold running water for few seconds to cook it off slightly before you continue to proceed with patting the dough. Dip fingers in cold water to help in patting thin roties.
Serve these rotties with any Coconut Chutney or Gojju or Playa or Badane Ennegai and enjoy.

Akki Rotti with Dill-Coconut Chutney

I served my Akki Rotti with Dill & Coconut Chutney which I learnt from my Amma. Surprisingly Dill in this chutney tastes little bit like Mango chutney. Don’t you believe me? Then try this for yourself and see. This is my entry for FIC-Green, a unique event by Sunshinemom.

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Dill-Coconut Chutney
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cooking Time: -
Serves: 3-5
Recipe Source: Amma

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Ingredients:
2-3 tbsp Dill weed, chopped
1 cup grated Coconut, fresh/frozen
2-3 Green Chillies (adjust acc to taste)
½ inch Ginger, peeled
1 small marble sized Tamarind Pulp
Salt to taste

Dill-Coconut Chutney

Method:

Place all the ingredients in a mixer jar or food processor and grind to smooth paste adding little water at time.
Serve with Dosa, Idli or Rotti and enjoy.

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Note:

Not too fond of Dill? Replace it with coriander leaves in both the recipes for different flavour.
Keep a bowl of cold water next to you while patting the roties on tawa. This helps in even patting.

Saga of Saagu

Vegetable Saagu with Rava Idli

There lived a house wife in some part of Karnataka with her husband, kids, in-laws and other family members. Every morning, be it on weekday or weekend, she would get up early before the golden sun rays caressed the mother earth. With pearls of water adorning her long curly hair and the diamond studded nose ring sparkling from the golden glow of Diyas she entered her humble kitchen to prepare breakfast for her whole family. She had to prepare something which all her family members enjoyed and it was not an easy thing to achieve. To make the matters worse it was month end and there wasn’t many vegetables left in her kitchen pantry to cook with. She wished it was a bad dream and she just have to close her eyes for a second and open to see an array of baskets filled with vegetables which all her family members liked.

But it wasn’t any nightmare and all she could find were few potatoes, some wrinkling carrots, few beans from backyard vegetable garden and a bowl of green peas and lilva which she had shelled a few days before with her mother-in-law and sisters-in-law while gossiping over a cuppa. This wasn’t the thing she expected to cook with, which not only should fill her family’s tummy but also please their palette. Sighing deeply she opened the kitchen cabinet and took out her prized possession, the spice box. She took a pinch of this and handful of that, added touch of this for flavour and splashed little of that for colour. The heady aroma of roasted spices lifted her spirit! With her lifted spirit she ground these spices with freshly grated coconut which she knew for certain will be loved by her family. She added this ground masala to cooked vegetables and let it simmer for the flavour to blend well with the vegetables. While the curry was simmering she made few poories for her children, rotties for her in-laws, fluffy idlies for her sisters-in-law and crispy dosas for her brothers-in-law. To add the final touch she fried some onion rings to golden brown and mixed with the curry. Thus the new dish was born, packed with flavour and oh so aromatic!!! It is what we know today as Vegetable Saagu, a dish which is a crowd pleaser and great side dish for poori, chapatti, rotti, dosa, idli or even with simple steam cooked rice. While roasting the spices I thought this might be the story behind the birth of Veg Saagu :)


Vegetable Saagu is a classic Kannadiga dish. Visit any of the Darshini hotels or Dosa corners and you are sure to see Vegetable Saagu as their signature dish. Just visit any Kannadiga home at breakfast time and the probability of finding Saagu for breakfast is very high. And why not? It is one of the delicious blends of spices with sweet coconut which is sure to show its magic on any vegetables it touches. The leftover vegetables at the weekend or month end dazzle with flavour and aroma and are not less worthy than any other exotic dish. Here is my Amma’s signature Vegetable Saagu recipe which I treasure a lot. It is full of flavours and scores high when it comes to taste department. And I love it more the next day. So don’t forget to make extra batch of Saagu which is sure to blow you away when you taste it next day. I just love the aroma of Saagu which lingers for hours on my finger tips and can’t help but feel hungry again in spite of having it just few minutes back.

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Vegetable Saagu
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cooking Time: 30 mins
Serves: 4-5

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Ingredients:
1 large Potato, chopped into ½ inch cubes
2 medium Carrots, cubed
Few Cauliflower Florets
½ cup Avarekaalu/Tuvar Lilva
¼ cup Green Peas, fresh/frozen
Few French Beans
Few Flat Beans
(Basically, take about 5-6 cups of mixed vegetables of your choice)
½ tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tbsp Jaggary/Brown Sugar (Adjust acc to taste)
1 tbsp Coriander Leaves, finely chopped
1 large Onion, thinly sliced
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
Big pinch of Hing/Asafoetida
1 tbsp Oil
Few Curry Leaves

For Ground Masala:
1-1½ inch Cinnamon Stick
3-4 Cloves
3-4 Cardamom pods
4-6 Dry Red Chillies (adjust acc to taste)
1 tbsp Coriander Seeds
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
1-2 Green Chillies (Optional)
¾ - 1 cup Coconut, fresh/frozen
1 tbsp Raw Rice, soaked in water for 15 mins
½ tbsp Poppy Seeds
2 tbsp Coriander Leaves, including stems

Roasted Spices for Saagu Masala

Method:
Cook vegetables with turmeric powder and salt to taste in a pan or pressure cook till they are fork tender.
While the vegetables are cooking, dry roast all the spices (cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, coriander seeds, jeera, dry red chillies) for 1-2 minutes on a medium to low heat till nice aroma appears.
Grind these spices with coconut, soaked rice, poppy seeds, coriander leaves, and green chillies, if using any, to a smooth paste adding very little water.
Mix this ground paste with cooked vegetables. Add jaggary and adjust the seasoning and let it cook on a medium flame for 15-20 minutes for all the flavours to blend well.
While the Saagu is cooking, heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When the mustard starts to pop and splutter, add curry leaves and hing. Sauté it for few seconds and add thinly sliced onion. Saute it on a medium flame for about 5-10 minutes till it turns golden brown.
Remove Saagu from fire and mix browned onions and coriander leaves. Cover and let it sit for 10-15 minutes for the flavours to blend well. Serve hot Saagu with Poori, Chapatti, Dosa, Idli or with steaming Rice and enjoy. It tastes better the next day.

Veg Saagu with Rava Idli

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Note:
Other Saagu Recipes worth trying in Blogsphere
Asha’s Chayote-Carrot-Green Peas Saagu
Latha’s Vegetable Saagu
Sailu’s Veg Saagu with Set Dosa
MT’s Veg Saagu

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Reminder!

An Ode to Potato ends on 15th of March (GMT Time). Send in your entry before the deadline and join us in the singing. Bake, boil, mash, fry, sauté, grill, stuff, cook... The choice is endless.

Deadline: 15th March, 2008

Please go through the guidelines and include all the required information in your post and mail when sending me your entry. Don't forget to add Your Name, Your Blog Name, Name of the Dish you cooked, Perm Link of the entry along with the gorgeous Photo of Potato dish.

Click Here to find out more information on this event.