If you are very health conscious you may have already come across scores of articles and debates about the need to buy organic vegetables and fruits. But the price tag of organic veggies and fruits can be a little steep:-( My rule of thumb so far has been, for greens like spinach and chard, I always buy organic and for the other vegetables, I am not very insistent on it being organic. But recently I came across this article that lists vegetables and fruits that contain the most pesticides and also contains a list of the cleanest veggies and fruits, meaning ones that contain the least amount of pesticides.
It is a very informative and illuminating article. I was surprised to find items like apple, celery, strawberries and peaches at the top of the list of items that have the most pesticides. Spinach actually comes fifth on the list of items that contain the most pesticides. I guess I am going to have to revise my "definitely needs to be organic" list and soon ! If you too do not buy all organic veggies and fruits you may want to glance at the above article so you get an idea of which ones are safe to buy inorganic and which ones are better organic.
Moving on, it has been a while since I posted any type of dosai recipe in this space. Not because I am not making dosai these days, but because my hectic schedule these days does not allow me very much time for experimenting and I end up making tried and tested recipes that I have already posted here. Finally a few weeks back I tried something new....................... this time I combined oats, wheat, brown rice and spinach for a super nutritious dosai that we both loved. It was fast and quick to make. A little soaking + a little grinding + no fermentation= fast and yum dosai :-) So if you are looking for new ideas to sneak in a little oats or spinach or both into your diet, give this dosai a try..... you may end up liking it as much as we did :-)
Click here for a printable view of this recipe
Ingredients and Method to make Spinach oat dosai
1 cup cracked wheat (broken wheat/ dalia / fada)
1 cup brown rice (can be substituted with white raw rice ) (chawal/ arisi)
1 cup rolled oats
2 cups of baby spinach or regular spinach leaves (washed, rinsed and dried) (about 5 oz/140 gms) (palak/keerai)
salt to taste (namak/uppu)
a little sesame oil to shallow fry the dosai (til ka tel/ nalla ennai)
Soak the first three ingredients in sufficient water for at least 3 to 4 hours.
Grind together in batches in a blender/ mixer, adding water as required to get a smooth and slightly thick batter. The batter should be not too thin and not too thick, definitely not runny. When in doubt err on the side of a thicker batter, its much simpler to add a little more water later on to achieve correct consistency.
If the grains have been divided into 3 parts to process , then divide the spinach in 3 parts too and add one part of the spinach leaves to the processed batter and give it another turn or two in the blender until the spinach is pureed completely . Remove and continue for the rest of the grains until they are all processed.
The copyright of this content belongs to Veginspirations.com
Add salt to taste and mix well.This batter can be stored in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days.
When making dosai, heat a flat pan/ tawa/ griddle. When hot pour a little of the batter in the center and immediately spread into a thin even circle. Add a few drops of sesame oil around the circumference of the circle and a couple of drops in the center. Allow to cook until the lower side begins to get a little brownish. Flip over and cook the other side until the other side begins to get a few brown spots.
Remove and serve hot with sambar of choice/ chutney of choice or molaga podi or any combination of the three. I served this with oat coconut chutney for a double dose of oats in one go :-)
This dosa is off to the Show me your dosa event being hosted by Divya
It is a very informative and illuminating article. I was surprised to find items like apple, celery, strawberries and peaches at the top of the list of items that have the most pesticides. Spinach actually comes fifth on the list of items that contain the most pesticides. I guess I am going to have to revise my "definitely needs to be organic" list and soon ! If you too do not buy all organic veggies and fruits you may want to glance at the above article so you get an idea of which ones are safe to buy inorganic and which ones are better organic.
Moving on, it has been a while since I posted any type of dosai recipe in this space. Not because I am not making dosai these days, but because my hectic schedule these days does not allow me very much time for experimenting and I end up making tried and tested recipes that I have already posted here. Finally a few weeks back I tried something new....................... this time I combined oats, wheat, brown rice and spinach for a super nutritious dosai that we both loved. It was fast and quick to make. A little soaking + a little grinding + no fermentation= fast and yum dosai :-) So if you are looking for new ideas to sneak in a little oats or spinach or both into your diet, give this dosai a try..... you may end up liking it as much as we did :-)
Click here for a printable view of this recipe
Ingredients and Method to make Spinach oat dosai
1 cup cracked wheat (broken wheat/ dalia / fada)
1 cup brown rice (can be substituted with white raw rice ) (chawal/ arisi)
1 cup rolled oats
2 cups of baby spinach or regular spinach leaves (washed, rinsed and dried) (about 5 oz/140 gms) (palak/keerai)
salt to taste (namak/uppu)
a little sesame oil to shallow fry the dosai (til ka tel/ nalla ennai)
Soak the first three ingredients in sufficient water for at least 3 to 4 hours.
Grind together in batches in a blender/ mixer, adding water as required to get a smooth and slightly thick batter. The batter should be not too thin and not too thick, definitely not runny. When in doubt err on the side of a thicker batter, its much simpler to add a little more water later on to achieve correct consistency.
If the grains have been divided into 3 parts to process , then divide the spinach in 3 parts too and add one part of the spinach leaves to the processed batter and give it another turn or two in the blender until the spinach is pureed completely . Remove and continue for the rest of the grains until they are all processed.
The copyright of this content belongs to Veginspirations.com
Add salt to taste and mix well.This batter can be stored in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days.
When making dosai, heat a flat pan/ tawa/ griddle. When hot pour a little of the batter in the center and immediately spread into a thin even circle. Add a few drops of sesame oil around the circumference of the circle and a couple of drops in the center. Allow to cook until the lower side begins to get a little brownish. Flip over and cook the other side until the other side begins to get a few brown spots.
Remove and serve hot with sambar of choice/ chutney of choice or molaga podi or any combination of the three. I served this with oat coconut chutney for a double dose of oats in one go :-)
This dosa is off to the Show me your dosa event being hosted by Divya
