Urad Dal~Varai~Nachani Seasoned Doddaka.

Urad Dal ~ Varai (Indian Barnyard Millet / Bhagar / Samo) ~ Nachani ...... Seasoned Doddaka Served with Amul Butter ...... Yumz .....

Doddak’s are similar to Idly, except that they are prepared in small deep pans with seasonings. They are fried crispy on both the sides and look like baked bun in shape. These taste simply awesome and can be served just with some fresh home made butter as spices are added to the batter. You can also serve the same with sambar or chutney as per individual liking. Usually doddak is prepared with the same Idly batter but with addition of spices and any other ground lentil. Kulith or Horse gram is one that is used by most of my community people in preparing doddak. We GSB Saraswath Konkani’s have an immense collection of mix and match recipes in preparation of Idly’s. I am always eager to try out new combinations in making of Idly or vadas as posted earlier in the blog. Idly’s are healthy and with newer combinations you can not only enjoy different combination one’s but also gain the health benefits by and large. These doddak’s have come to stay for good in my kitchen as I simply love them. They are one more a treasure recipe in my healthier versions of the same. Here I have added Varai / Indian barnyard millet to the doddak which is considered very good for health. Varai or Indian Barnyard millet has a lot of dietary benefits of its own. Added to it is the benefit of Ragi / Nachani which is high in calcium. This doddak is best served with homemade white butter, and I vouch your kids will simply love them, but you can also serve them with simple dalitoy (A very well know regular GSB / Konkani Saraswat's preparation of Dal) or sambar or any other medium spicy gravy of your liking. Again, this one too is highly recommended breakfast for every individual young and old alike and so also for those who are health conscious and diabetic or BP Patients too. I have already added a few versions before here in my blog too. Please check the same in the Idly section. This doddaks turn out crispy from outside while they are very soft and spongy within. Do try this out, you will simple love this porous idly texture within while you get the crunchiness on every bite. 

Ingredients:

Urad Dal : 1 cup.

Varai / Indian barnyard millet : 2 cups.

Nachani / Ragi Powder : 1 cup.

Methi : 1 tsp.

Green Chillies : 7-8 coarsely crushed.

Ginger : 1 inch grated.

Salt to taste.

For Seasoning :

Oil as required. 

Mustard Seeds.

Curry leaves.

Wash and soak urad dal in plenty of water with 1tsp methi seeds for 2-3 hours. Rinse well and drain off all the excess water. Wash and soak Varai / Indian barnyard millet in water for 30 minutes just before you start grinding the urad dal. Grind urad dal to a fine paste with about 1 cup of water. I use wet grinder you can use any method. Add more water if necessary only. The batter should become very fluffy. Remove and pour the urad batter in the vessel, add in the Varai / Indian barnyard millet after draining off excess water and mix well. The batter should be of thick consistency. Lastly add salt to taste, cover with a tight lid and keep aside near a warm place to ferment for 6-8 hours or overnight. The fermentation process defers from place to place. Where the weather is hot it may take lesser time and vice versa. Once the batter has fermented mix it well once again. Now add in the Nachani / Ragi powder along with the grated ginger and coarsely ground green chillies. Mix the batter well, there should not be any lumps and the batter should be smooth. 

For Preparing Panna (Seasoned) Doddak : Heat a small kadai (use Teflon coated to save on oil) with 1 tblsp oil, when hot add ½ tsp some mustard seeds, when they begin to splutter and a few curry leaves. Now lower the heat to minimum and gently pour about 1 to 1-½ cups of batter into the kadai with the help of a rounded spatula. The batter should not cross ¾ th level of the kadai. There should be gap on top for the doddak to get cooked properly. Cover the Kadai with a fitting lid and cook on slow (minimum) heat till crispy on the bottom. This does take time say about 7-10 minutes. But it has to be cooked on slow as it has to get cooked within too. Now remove the lid and check if the top part of the doddak is cooked. For testing just touch slightly the top portion with fingers, if the batter touches the fingers then cover and cook for few more minutes. When done gently flip the doddak over and cook uncovered on other side too for few minutes say 3-4mins only. Remove the doddak and keep aside. Continue the procedure with the remaining batter depending on the number of doddaks you want ready. You can put the remaining batter immediately in the fridge. Remains good for 24 hours. Serve Doddaks hot with chutney / butter or dalitoy / spiced dal.

** Note: The proportions mentioned above of Varai / Indian barnyard millet is when using the wet grinder method. If using mixer then you have got to adjust the proportions as the result of grinding urad dal in wet grinder and mixer are not the same. Wet grinder yields in softer and bulkier quantity of urad when ground were as the mixer does not do the same. So you can decrease the amount of Varai / Indian barnyard millet by half glass if using mixer grinder method. Ie. 1 cup of Urad dal :1.5 Varai / Indian barnyard millet : ¾ cup Nachani / Ragi powder.