Strawberry season is slowly creeping up the lines of latitude, and although it hasn’t quite reached as far as New York state, it’s close. And that’s such good news. My kids have been aching for strawberries, and I just don’t know how much longer I can ignore their pleas in the grocery store when we walk by the big, hard, pink, pesticide-laden, gas-guzzling, globes labeled “strawberries.” “Soon,” I tell them, “soon we will eat strawberries …” And now soon is almost here.

We will eat them plain, we will eat them with yogurt, we will eat them with fresh local cream. And then we will eat more plain, and then some more. Eventually, I will start making jam. But before that, I will have to make crepes with ricotta cheese smothered in macerated strawberries. For those of you who have been blessed with strawberries already, let me share the recipe. For those of you as north or farther than me, save this recipe and remember, “soon …”

Macerate the Strawberries
There are any number of ways to macerate strawberries–many recipes call for liqueur or wine, some spice it up with black pepper. Since this recipe is intended to be kid-friendly, I have kept it on the tame side.

2 cups fresh strawberries, cleaned, hulled and halved
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons orange juice

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, stir, and refrigerate for 2two hours.

Make the Crepes
This recipe is for thin (and quite nutritious) pancakes that I use in place of a more traditional crepe.

1 cups white whole-wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup Sucanat
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups organic buttermilk
1 large free-range egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoons melted butter
Oil or butter for the pan

1. Stir all dry ingredients together in a large bowl, then add wet ingredients.

2. Lightly stir until just combined, leaving some lumps. Overbeating will result in tough pancakes.

3. Brush skillet with oil or butter over medium heat until a droplet of water sizzles. Pour batter into pan and cook until small bubbles form in pancake. Flip, cook and remove to a warm plate.

Compose the Crepes
Spoon ricotta cheese on a crepe, roll it up, and douse with macerated strawberries. You can also use cottage cheese–when I can’t find organic ricotta, I blend organic cottage cheese in the blender until smooth for a reasonable approximation of ricotta.

Ragi Idli/Dosai

Ingredients:

Whole Ragi Grain- 1 cup
(I sprouted these for added nutritional benefits. But it’s not strictly necessary)
Idli rice (parboiled) – 1 cup
Whole skinned Urad dal – ¾ cup
Methi seeds -1 tablespoon
Salt to taste
Oil- to grease idli moulds (I used PAM oil spray)

Method:
1. After multiple washes, soak the Ragi for a day. Drain and let it rest for another day or two till you see tiny white sprouts.

2. Alternatively, you can skip the sprouting and just soak the ragi for 3-4 hours longer than you soak the rice.

3. Soak rice, whole urad and methi seeds in separate containers for 4-6 hours or overnight.

4. In a wet grinder or a mixie /blender, grind the urad dal till light and fluffy. A test for fluffiness is to keep a bowl of water and drop a tiny pinch of batter. If it floats, it is light enough.

5. Then add and grind the Ragi grains and Methi and finally the rice.

6. Take care that the rice should not be ground too smooth. It should be of rice Rava consistency. Alternatively, you can use rice Rava instead.

7. Take the batter in a vessel, fold in some salt to taste and leave it overnight to ferment. I found that the dough fermented really well, doubling up and overflowing the vessel. So take adequate precautions.

8. For Idli: Next morning, lightly stir the well-fermented batter. Grease Idli moulds and steam in a pressure cooker for 12-15 minutes till done.

9. For Dosai: You can make dosais with the same batter.

10. Ragi idlis/dosai can be served with a dollop of butter or ghee on top, along with the usual fixings on the side: sambar, chutney and/or Milagai Podi.