The Times of India says:

“LONDON: The one billion pound Indian food industry in UK is showing signs of decline as most young ethnic Asians are not interested in working in kitchens and new immigration rules make hiring chefs from the Indian sub-continent difficult.

There is not a single British town or village which does not have an Indian restaurant, but staff shortage has led to several of them closing down”.

According to the news Children of first generation restaurant owners prefer to take up professions other than those of their parents.  And they don’t want to work in the kitchens.

I can understand that because I hardly spend time in cooking. Just today I had a conversation with another lady who is not been able to pursue a desired course because most of her time is spent in cooking and cleaning.

Not only in developed countries, but even in India where most people love home cooked meal, it is becoming more and more difficult to find time for cooking. At the same time we have to have healthy food rather than go for junk foods.

This has started a trend of instant ready to make items that save time, help you churn out dishes in minutes and are filled with healthy nutrients. In such food items you have to carefully note their shelf life and what type of preservatives are used.

Instant Dosa Mix that is used to make dosa batter in minutes has no artificial preservatives. Whatever is added to the mix is rich nutritious ingredients that help you keep fit. You can preserve the powder for months.

Aloo Bonda

Potato is called Aloo in Hindi.

Ingredients to make Aloo Bonda

Potato curry - 1 cup

Chickpea flour - 2cups

Water - 1/2 cup

Cooking oil - 1/2 ltr (for frying the aloo bonda

curry powder - 1/2 tsp

lemon juice - 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Make potato curry as explained in the previous post:

Potato Curry and Masala Dosa

- Roll potato curry in small balls (a small lemon size)

- Take the chickpea flour in a bowl, add curry powder and salt

(curry powder is free with instant dosa mix)

Alternatively you can add garam masala or chillie powder.

- Add water little by little and mix the chickpea into a smooth paste.

- Add a pinch of cooking soda (optional)

- Add the lemon juice and mix well (optional)

- Warm the cooking oil over medium heat in a deep frying pan.

- Take a potato ball, dip it in chickpea paste and roll it so as to cover it completely with chickpea paste.

- Gently drop the potato balls, dipped in chickpea paste, one by one, into the warm oil.

- Deep fry the potato balls in warm oil. At a time you can fry five or six balls together.

- Roll the balls in oil so that all sides are evenly friend.

- When well fried the bondas will turn golden brown.

You can eat the aloo bondas with tomato sauce or mustard paste.

You can also eat the bondas with coconut chutney (free with instant dosa mix)

There are a number of types of Instant Dosa Mix and you can cook a variety of healthy Instant Dosa Recipes.

For example, here are a few of the Instant Dosa Powders:

1. Plain Dosa Mix

2. Masala Dosa - Plain Dosa Mix can be used for this too

3. Adai Dosa - Lentil Dosa

4. Wheat Dosa

5. Rava Dosa

If you take any one of these a variety of Instant Dosa Recipes can be prepared.

Let us take Adai Mix. This mix has rice and all the pulses in different proportions to make a nice blend and help us prepare delicious “adai”.

Take one cup of Adai Mix and add two cups of water - your batter is ready. Everything else including salt and spices are added to the mix.

Now using this Instant Adai Dosa Mix you can prepare…

1. Plain Adai

Just take a ladle full of adai batter, make a circular shape on a flat pan, cook over medium heat, add two tea spoons of cooking oil, flip and cook for haf a minute - and you are done!

2. Onion Adai

Take a ladle full of adai batter, make a circular shape on a flat pan, cook over medium heat, add two tea spoons of cooking oil, sprinkle finely chopped onion on the adai, flip and cook for a minute - and you are done! The onion will get roasted and the adai will get cooked - and the smell will make you hungry

3. Carrot Adai

Make adai in the same way as before. This time sprinkle grated carrot before flipping the dosa. This is a healthy nutritious food and good for children and old people too.

4. Cheese Adai

Grate cheese over the adai cooking over medium heat. Fold the dosa before flipping.

5. Green Adai

Take green vegetables such as peas, spinach, curry leaves, coriander, etc. Add them to the adai mix along with the water. Mix well, take a ladle full and make adai as before.

6. Mixed Vegetable Adai

You can add finely chopped pieces of your favorite vegetables to the adai mix along with water and make the adai.

Alternatively you can cook these vegetables with the curry powder and then prepare a sandwich by keeping it between two adais.

Using your imagination and creativity you can churn out a variety of dishes using the plain dosa mix or the adai mix. By adding vegetables we improve the nutritious value of the dish and it becomes a complete meal.

The curry powder adds an exotic taste to the vegetables. The chutney powder is a very tasty side dish that goes with the dosa perfectly.

Try out these instant dosa recipes and send me your questions, clarifications or feedback.

And don’t forget we have a variety of instant mixes for Indian Recipes.

Ragi or finger millet is known for its nutritious qualities.

Ragi Dosa tastes different from Masala Dosa or Plain Dosa made with rice and dal.

A variety of tasty dishes are made out of Ragi. ragi recipes or finger millet recipes are supposed to be good for diabetic patients.

You can check out a special Ragi Health Drink on this site.

Radha Deep’s Ragi Recipe

Ingredients:

Two cups of ragi; 2 cups of wheat; one cup of sprouted green gram (moong dal in India); two tablespoons of almond; 2 tablespoon of fried gram, one tablespoon of peanuts, a pinch of saffron; 5 cardamoms

Method:

Roast all ingredients, except fried gram, cardamom and saffron. (Roast peanuts separately and remove the outer skin.) Add these two to the roasted mix and grind to a fine flour. Add one tablespoon of the malt thus obtained to 1 cup of warm milk. Add sugar/ sugar substitute or honey as sweetener, for a delicious and healthy beverage.

Cardamom and saffron are storehouses of nutrition containing ample proteins. Minerals like calcium and iron, and Vitamin C. Saffron also contains vitamin A. Besides, the carbohydrates, minerals and fiber of the various grains are counterbalanced by the proteins provided by the green gram lentil and the almonds. Adding fruits and milk to the malt provides essential vitamins and antioxidants. All in all, a fully balanced meal that is delicious and easy to prepare.