Adai, Sambar, Aloo bhaji and Mirchi ki chutney - a South Indian breakfast on the plate today

I am on a serious mission these days. A mission of doing nothing.
Yes, doing nothing. And that means doing nothing at all.
Call it a strike; call it a rebellion .... call it anything you want to. But that is the truth and the whole truth.
I do not remember exactly when it happened ... but something inside me has snapped. The last I remember is cooking up a storm ... two huge degchis of biryani ... yummy, fragrant, spicy yet non greasy biryani .... one chicken and one paneer ... for guests and ourselves on Sunday.
If you are following me in Instagram or on Facebook, you must have seen the photographs there.

Spent the whole day sweating it out in the kitchen ... and loved every moment of it. Enjoyed through the latter half of the day ... watched the match .... felt totally disappointed at what our team was doling out and left it halfway to go out and have waffles ... and all in all had a good day.
And the very next day, something broke inside me. And I just did not feel like getting up and doing any chores.
At all.
At first I thought it might just be the 'start of another week' blues. But no, it worsened as the days went by and today, we are bang in the middle of the week and I am still not moving.
B is indulging .... we went out for dinner on Monday but at other times he has been cooking.
Let me see how long this goes on.

I think I need a break; a trip. Seriously.
And all those photos of  road trips or overseas trips on fb and insta are not helping too.
Social media has its own pressures ... that I can say.
So when the weather in Pune has turned so unbelievably beautiful and the view and the breeze on my balcony is to happily die for, I ignore it like a moron and long for a drive out into the unknown.

Yes, I am a moron after all, I guess.
Like, I have not done anything all this morning except to wallow in morbidity and letting Jagjit singh croon and pull me all the more down into the dark.
Like I have not made a single post here since the last one. And neither am I clicking any photos too. Just the ones that are offhandedly clicked on my iphone and posted on insta.
I'm giving in to social media, finally.

So, pulled myself up and without moving an inch from my settled position in my den and post this beautiful plateful of breakfast before it languishes any more in my 'to post' folder.

I often soak rice + dal and make a batter and store it. And never have to worry about breakfast most days of the week.
Sometimes I up the amount of the dal or soak mixed dals for a protein rich yet light meal.
While this kind of breakfast is very common in my house ... check out the Chakuli pitha or the soru chakli pithe and others, I have not done a post just for the lack of time needed to click proper photographs.
I do post photos on my page on facebook though ... and now on instagram too.
If you follow me there, you are more updated with my cooking, I would say.

To make this light yet very filling breakfast, all the prep work you need is to keep the batter ready. And maybe have some boiled potatoes in the fridge too.
This aloo ki bhaji is usually made for the masala dosa, but it goes perfectly well with the Adai too ... so do try to pair them.
I make it slightly on the sweeter side ... the kind that the Udipi restaurants serve with puris too as puri bhaji.

Adai sambar chutney

How to make the Potato bhaji for masala dosa :

Need :


Boiled potatoes - 2 medium, lightly smashed
Onion - 1 medium, chopped roughly
Haldi / Turmeric powder - a pinch
Fresh green chillies - 2, chopped
Curry leaves - a sprig will do
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Sugar - to taste
Cooking oil - 1 tsp
Water - a little
Urid dal - 1 tsp


How to :


Heat the oil in a small wok.


Add the mustard seeds.
As soon as they splutter, add the dal and fry a little.
Now add the onions and green chillies and fry till the onions turn translucent.

Add the curry leaves and the boiled potato.

Add the haldi + salt + sugar.

Mix well. Raise heat and add a little water ... just so everything comes together.

Keep stirring till it dries up.

Remove and keep aside.


How to make the Mirchi ki chutney :

Need :

Ripe chillies - (not the dry, red ones) 6
Garlic - 2 cloves
Jeera - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Sugar - to taste

How to :

Run everything in the mixer to make a coarse paste.

You can also try my other chutneys too.

How to make the Adai :

 Need :


Red Masoor dal - 1 cup
Yellow moong dal - 1 cup
Urad dal - 1 cup
Rice - 3 cups
Water to grind
Salt - to taste

How to :

Soak everything for 4 to 5 hours.

Grind in a mixie and let the batter stand overnight.

Use a little at a time and refrigerate the rest. I keep mine for almost a week.

Heat a seasoned tawa or a non stick griddle.

Apply a little oil and on high heat pour a ladleful of the batter.
Spread quickly and lower heat.

Don't try to make it too thin.
Cover and let one side cook well.

Remove cover and flip and let the other side cook .
Apply a little oil if needed.
Do not cover.

The slightly thick Adai is good to soak in the sambar.

How to make the Sambar :

You can follow the recipe for Sambar here ... or here.
Will make a new post on it later.

I will be back with a better post and better writing, hopefully soon.

Till then ... enjoy!!