Growing up, we used to visit our granny every holiday. Reaching late at her house and being treated with warm and comforting Bajra khichda (millet porridge) was the best part of our trip.
She would welcome us with a sweet smile and rush to her kitchen to cook a quick meal. The wooden hearth would be hurriedly filled with charcoal to light the fire. She would then open the large round aluminum box placed neatly on wooden shelf and take out handful of wholegrain and lentil grits from it.
The spice-mixed grits were added to the earthen pot of boiling water on the hearth. In between her cooking, she would look at us admiringly from the side of her glasses and continue stirring the pot vigorously with a wooden ladle pouring ghee at regular intervals.
The food she cooked was plain and simple but it has created many enduring memories. These memories are so special that they root us in a time & place making us happy every time that we cook the same food at home.
My mom follows the same and her kitchen shelves are always stacked with jars filled with various combinations of spices, lentils, millet and other cereal grits.
At home I do follow the same. These time-saving, versatile wholegrain & lentil mixes are really handy when you need a quick meal or are lazy to spend hours in your kitchen. There are many other ways these grits could be used to make a nourishing meal. I whip up a savory porridge, a healthy vegetable Khichdi, breakfast pancakes or Bisi-Bhele Bhat with these mixes.
Here is what I did with one of my red rice and lentil mix the other day, I made delicious crepes or Dosas or Chilla as called in India. Call it an Indian Pesarattu, Adai, Cheela or any other name, these crepes make a filling and healthy breakfast treat.
I have used a mix of brown rice and a popular Indian variety of Kerala rice called ‘Matta‘ rice in this recipe, you can use any other rice you wish.
1. Red rice lentil crepes
Ingredients;
(makes 10-12 crepes)
1 cup red rice
1/4 cup split green gram
1/4 cup pigeon pea
1 onion
1 tbsp black peppercorns
1 tsp. cumin seeds
Coriander leaves
1/2 tsp. salt
Oil
Water
Method;
Wash red rice, green gram (moong dal) and pigeon pea (toovar dal) with water and dry in sunlight for a day.
Coarsely grind red rice, both the lentils, with black peppercorns (kali mirch) and cumin seeds (jeera).
Store the above mix in an air-tight container. It stays good for many days.
For making the crepes, take one cup of above grain and lentil mix and soak in water for an hour.
Grind the soaked rice-lentil mix into fine paste using a cup of water.
Add salt, finely chopped onion and coriander leaves to the batter and keep it aside for an hour.
Heat a griddle and pour a ladleful of batter on it. Spread the batter with the back of ladle into a thin circle.
Drizzle a few drops of oil and cook it for a minute.
Flip to other side and cook for another minute till the crepe becomes crisp.
Serve with green chutney or tomato sauce.
2. Foxtail Millet lentil crepes
Ingredients;
(makes 10-12 crepes)
1 cup Foxtail millet
1/2 cup Bengal gram
1/2 cup Black gram
2 dry red chilies
1 tsp. cumin seeds
1 onion
1 tsp. grated ginger
Coriander leaves
1/2 tsp salt
Oil
water
Method; Wash and soak Foxtail millet, Bengal gram (chana dal), and black gram (urad dal) in water for an hour.
Grind the soaked millet and lentil with cumin seeds and red chilies using one cup of water into fine batter.
Finely chop onion, ginger and coriander leaves and add it to the batter. Add salt to the batter and let it rest for an hour.
Heat a griddle and pour a ladleful of batter on it. Spread the batter to make a pancake or crepe. Drizzle a little oil and cook on both the sides till it s crisp. Serve with chutney or a dollop of fresh butter.
Read on wiki about Foxtail millet . Here are the recipes of the two quick spreads served with these crepes above;
1. Coriander yogurt chutney
Ingredients;
1 cup chopped coriander leaves
1/4 cup chopped mint leaves
2 tbsp. yogurt
1 onion
3 green chilies
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. roasted cumin powder
1/2 tsp. salt
Method; Grind coriander leaves and mint leaves with green chilies, garlic cloves and salt into fine paste.
Take it out in a bowl and add rest of the ingredients and store in refrigerator.
2. Peanut-tomato chutney
Ingredients;
3 medium tomatoes
1/2 cup roasted and shelled peanuts
1 tsp. tamarind paste
2 tsp. red chilly powder
1 tbsp. oil
1/4 tsp. turmeric powder
1/2 tsp. mustard seeds
1/2 tsp. salt
A pinch of asafetida powder
Method; Grind roasted and shelled peanuts into coarse powder.
Heat oil in a pan and add crackle mustard seeds in it. Add chopped tomatoes, , turmeric powder, red chilly powder, tamarind paste, salt and cook for 4-5 minutes on medium heat.
Add coarsely ground peanut powder, asafetida powder and take it off from flame. Store the chutney in refrigerator. The chutney stays good for a week.
Notes;
Use buttermilk to grind the batter for Foxtail millet crepes.
Use the grits to make a quick healthy ‘Khichdi‘ or porridge.
You can even powder the grits and store for making instant crepes.
Replace Foxtail millet with any other millet of your choice to make these crepes.
Keep the batter slightly liquid or runny to get thin crepes. You may find it slightly difficult to spread the thin batter initially.
These crepes does not require any fermentation.
Prepare the batter a day before and refrigerate to make quick healthy breakfast crepes in morning.
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The post Recipes | Healthy Wholegrain and Lentil Crepes with quick Spreads – Memories which root us in a time and place appeared first on Lite Bite.