The moment I made this smoothie for breakfast this morning, I just knew I had to share it here as today's post. This is the second smoothie recipe I'm sharing here in the raw food theme I have going on for Vegan MoFo this time. The first was a regular old Healthy Green Smoothie. Today, I didn't have any greens at home, so I decided to put some veggies in there with the fruits. And I am soooo happy I did that. The beetroot gives it such a gorgeous colour! Red is the colour of vitality, and as I sipped on this smoothie, I could feel the positive, healing energy of the red coursing through my system. My friend Angela at Canned-Time is doing a red theme throughout this MoFo. I'm sure she'll be very happy when she sees these smoothie photos. As with all smoothies, this is a highly flexible recipe. You can switch the ingredients around and add in whatever you have on hand. If you have a high speed blender, you can roughly shop the veggies and pop them in. If not, then grate the veggies before grinding them to get the best results.

3 medium, ripe Bananas 1 T Flax Seeds 1 tsp Sesame Seeds 1-2 T Lime juice pinch of Pachha Karpura (Edible Camphor) 1 C clean, filtered Water Agave Nectar - optional ingredient for sweetening * Wash and scrub the beets and radish well (don't peel them) * Roughly chop them and add to a large blender jar * Add cubed guava and peeled and cubed bananas * Add all the remaining ingredients * Mix, add a some water and blend * Add the remaining water and blend well to get a creamy smoothie * Pour into large mugs and add some ice cubes if you like * Sip and enjoy! A word about high speed blenders. I'm a firm believer in the strength and superiority of our old Indian mixer-grinder brands. It makes sense that at least a few awesome mixies come from a country where chutney, idli batter and masalas are ground on a regular basis. We own an Elgi Ultra Choice+ that we got a couple of months ago and it has made a very significant impact on the amount I grind/blend now.

It runs on a powerful 1000W motor and has some neat features that I'm very happy with. cuisinart poweredge 700 electronic blenderIf you live in India and are looking to upgrade the mixie at your home, I highly recommend this one.kitchenaid blender pakning I have also heard good things about the Preethi brand. kitchenaid blender anthrazitThough most of their mixer-grinders have only 750W motors, they have a commercial mixie called Xpro, that runs on 1300W. osterizer 10 speed blender 6650Preethi is more easily available throughout India and also in many other parts of the world (with country specific power features).buy orpat ohm-207 hand blender

There are many other good Indian mixie brands but I had to mention the two above because they're the most powerful ones. ninja mega kitchen system 1500 kohlsGive them a try before you import a Vitamix, Blendtec or other expensive, fancy blenders. kitchenaid mixer zerlegenJust like the gluten-free samosa, I’m struggling with making dosa. It’s hard to accept that I learned how to make both of these dishes in India, but can’t seem to replicate the process in my own kitchen no matter how hard I try. First error in all this dosa making attempting was trying to make my own lentil flour. Sure, it’s good in theory… if you soak them and have a proper grinder. Not so good when you’re relying on your coffee grinder to do the job. Second error was thinking green lentils would yield a white (classic) dosa.

Where was my head at when I made this assumption? Third error (that I keep reliving over, and over, and over again…) making the potato mixture before I try out the dough. One more lunch of unused masala potatoes and samosa filling and I think I’ll turn into a potato. That’s not a bad thing though… right? This is how the dough should look, how it should be spread across the pan, Maybe if I just look at these pictures over and over it’ll give me the power I need to get ‘er done? Is there a recipe or task in your life currently that you can’t seem to master?Do you want to impress your Indian friends or make a vegan-friendly meal for your sweetie?  We’ve got the perfect south Indian recipe for you…  homemade dosas!  Since you need to allow the batter to ferment for 12 hours, this recipe requires a bit of planning.  But homemade dosa batter is so yummy and packed with protein, that the end result is absolutely worth waiting for! Note: pair with our recipe for Tomato and Onion Chutney for an authentic Indian dosa experience.  

And see our recipe for Potato Masala Filling to make a masala dosa. ½ cup urad dal 2 ¼ cups white long-grain rice (or special idly rice from the Indian store) 1 ½ teaspoons salt a few teaspoons of oil to cook the dosas 1. Place the dal lentils and the rice in two separate containers. Cover each container with water and soak for 4 hours. 2. After 4 hours, drain each container, conserving the soak water from the rice. Discard the soak water from the lentils. 3. Place the soaked lentils in your Vitamix, Blend-tec, food processor or blender. Add water to cover the dal and blend until smooth. Note: the dal MUST be very smooth. It cannot be grainy in texture. Transfer to a very large container. 4. Place the soaked rice in your Vitamix, Blend-tec, food processor or blender. Add enough of the soak water from the to cover and blend until smooth. (If your blender is small, process the rice in two batches, adding half of the rice and water each time). Transfer the smooth mixture to the same large container with the processed lentils.

5. Mix the smoothly processed lentils and rice together to create the dosa batter. Add 1 ½ teaspoons of salt. Ferment the mixture on the counter for 12 hours, or until the mixture rises and begins to bubble. 6. The fermented mixture will increase in volume. It will most likely not double, but you may see a 25% - 30% increase. Make sure to use a container that is large enough to accommodate the batter’s expansion. Once the batter has expanded, put the dosa batter in the refrigerator. (If you don't refrigerate it, the batter will keep expanding!) 7. Once the level of the mixture is higher than what you started with, and the mixture is regularly bubbling, (like pancake batter), you’re ready to make the dosa! You can either prepare the dosa now or store in the fridge until you're ready to make dinner. 8. Heat a non-stick griddle or pan to medium. Once the pan is hot, spread a few drops of oil with a folded paper towel. Scoop one ladle of batter into the hot pan and immediately spread it in a circular motion.

It must be very thin – like a crepe. It will need to cook for about 2 – 3 minutes, depending on the thickness of the dosa. While the dosa is cooking, you may want to add a bit of oil around the edges to help make it easier to lift out of the pan (optional). Let it cook until the dosa is golden brown. 9. When the top side of the dosa turns off white in color, (the side facing you), the dosa is cooked. If the top side remains white, check the bottom side. Once the bottom turns golden brown, flip the dosa until the other side turns off-white. 10. Use a spatula to loosen the dosa all round its edges, lift it from the pan and serve it immediately. You may fill with the potato masala or just eat it plain. Serve with chutney for the true south Indian experience. 11. After each dosa is cooked, take the folded paper towel and wipe the pan to cool it a bit before adding more batter. Any unused batter may be stored in the fridge for up to a week. If the dosa batter is not fermenting, try putting the container in an unheated oven with the oven light turned on.