ALOO DHANIAWALLE (POTATOES INFUSED WITH FRESHLY ROASTED AND GROUND CORIANDER SEEDS)

ALOO DHANIAWALLE (POTATOES INFUSED WITH FRESHLY ROASTED AND GROUND CORIANDER SEEDS)

Potatoes are an all time favorite with my kids and I like to try new recipes with this vegetable. My friend usually cooks this and sent some for me to sample and I told myself I must try this. I do add coriander powder when I usually make potatoes, but this recipe had loads of freshly roasted and coarsely ground coriander seeds. The aroma was magical and so was the taste. Do try this recipe and enjoy some hot Aloo Dhaniawalle with some hot and fluffy fulkas.

ALOO DHANIAWALLE

Ingredients

Potatoes – 5-6
Green Peas - 1/2 a tea cup (optional)

Ginger paste – 1 tsp

Green chilly paste – 1 tsp

Freshly roasted coarse coriander powder – 2 tbsps

Coriander powder – 1 tsp

Cumin powder – 1 tsp

Garam Masala – 1tsp

Dry mango powder (Amchur) – 1 tsp (optional)

Anardana powder (Pomegranates seed powder)- 1 tsp (optional)

Asafetida – pinch

Oil – 1 tbsp

Cumin seeds – 1 tsp

Lemon – ½ a lemon juice (optional)

Salt to taste

Coriander leaves for garnish

Another closeup

Method

Wash, boil and peel the potatoes. Mash them and keep it aside. Don’t mash the potatoes into a paste, just crumble them. If you are not good at mashing well, just dice them into chunky cubes. It works both ways.

Freshly dry roast 2 tablespoons of coriander seeds and coarsely grind them.

In a Kadhai (wok), heat some oil add the cumin seeds, once it starts to fry, add the ginger paste and chilly paste and let it fry well. Keep the gas on sim and then add the freshly roasted coarse coriander powder(1 tbsp), coriander powder, cumin powder, garam masala and amchur powder, you can add anardana powder as well(optional, I haven’t used this in my recipe as I didn’t have it at home), asafetida, and salt as per taste, then add the green peas and let it cook for a while after which add the mashed potatoes. Mix well, check for salt, if less, add now and mix. While mixing don’t mash the potato just turn it gently. Ensure the masala is evenly mixed. Let this cook covered for a few minutes.

Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves and the freshly roasted coarse coriander powder(1tbsp). Yopu can squeeze some lemon on top if you like. Mix well and serve hot with Poori/ chappati or hot rice and sambhar/rasam/dal.

A serving for you

PEERKANGAI THOGAYAL (RIDGE GOURD CHUTNEY)

PEERKANGAI THOGAYAL (RIDGE GOURD CHUTNEY)

Thogyal’s are an integral part of “Tambram”(Tamil Brahmin) cuisine. Life without thogayals would be life without spice for a south indian.

Thogayals add that extra zest to a bland meal, an extra flavor and an extra zing to your palate.

Thogayals are made using different vegetables, but ridge gourd is one of the very popular vegetables added to the conventional thogayal.

Ingredients

Ridge gourd – 1

Skinless split Black gram (Udad dal) - 2 tbsps

Bengal gram (Chana dal) – 1 tbsps

Dried red chillies -2-3

Tamarind – small lemon size

Asafetida (Hing) - ½  tsp

Curry Leaves – 8

Salt as per taste

Method

Heat oil in a Wok (kadhai), Add the udad dal, chana dal and the red chillies and roast until the dals turn pink and the chillies turn plump. Keep aside on a plate.

Now add the coconut, salt, curry leaves and asafetida and roast until the coconut is light pink in color and a lovely aroma is emanating, allow this to cool down as well.

Now, run the roasted dal mixture in the dry mill of your blender to a coarse powder consistency. Keep aside.

Then run the coconut mix and keep aside.

De-skin the ridge gourd (you can add the skin as well provided it’s not very sharp and stringy). Chop the peeled ridge gourd. Meanwhile in the same wok, add some oil, once it’s hot, add the chopped ridge gourd pieces and the ridge gourd skin as well incase you are using and a pinch of salt.

You will notice that the ridge gourd mixture becomes watery, sauté until all the water evaporates. Keep aside.

Once it cools down, run in the blender. Then add this paste with the blended coarse dal and coconut powders.

Check for the salt, if required, add at this stage Run once more in the blender with some water (about 4-5 tablespoonful), this time don’t run the blender too much, just one spin would be enough. Just remember, don’t make it a fine powder. The mix should be coarse. 

This should be coarse as shown in the picture not too fine.

If you grind all the ingredients together and not separately as directed then you will notice that the dals don’t get powdered and if you run it too much to ensure that the dals get powdered then the mixture will be too fine and not so tasty.

All the ingredients get grounded at different levels hence it has to be done separately.

The best way to grind it is always using a stone manual grinder and if not you can achieve the similar taste if you grind in the wet/dry automated grinder which we use nowadays to grind idly/ dosa batter.

GREEN DHOKLA / HARA BHARA DHOKLA

GREEN DHOKLA / HARA BHARA DHOKLA

Schools have started and so has the daily grind for me with 2 little school going children and it is very important for me to ensure that the children eat a balanced diet which includes vegetables and greens.

I hid some greens (Spinach leaves, dried fenugreek leaves powder and coriander leaves), in my children’s favorite snack “dhokla”, my kids were enticed by the lovely fresh green colored dhoklas and ate them with delight.

I think it’s a nice way to make kids eats vegetables. Do try this steam cooked recipe packed with nutrition

HARA BHARA DHOKLA / GREEN DHOKLA

Ingredients

Besan (gram flour) - 1 cup

Semolina (Rava) - 1 1/2 tablespoons

Spinach leaves (Palak) – 10-12

Kasuri methi powder – ¼ tsp

Coriander powder – 1 tsp

Cumin powder – 1 tsp

Sugar – 1tbsp

Ginger paste - 1 teaspoon

Green chilly paste - 1 teaspoon

Garlic paste – 1 tsp (optional)

Citric Acid (Nimbu ke phool) - 1/2 teaspoon or Lemon juice – 1 tsp

Eno Fruit salt or Soda Bicarb – 1 ½ tsp

For the tempering

Oil - 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds – ½ tsp

Cumin seeds – ½ tsp

White Sesame seeds (til) – ½ tsp

Green chillies – 2-3

Curry leaves – A sprig

Asafetida (hing) - a pinch

For the garnish

Freshly grated Coconut – 1 tbsp

Coriander leaves – 3-4 tbsp

A CLOSE UP OF THE HARA BHARA DHOKLA

Method

Rinse the Spinach leaves and 3 tablespoons of coriander leaves in a colander. Make a fine puree of the leaves in a blender without adding water.

In a big bowl add in all the ingredients except the Eno fruit salt and mix well using water to make a thick idli like batter. Let this rest for 10 minutes.

Add in the Eno fruit salt or Soda bicarb, Add little water and mix well.

You will notice that the mixture rises. Don’t wait too long once the batter rises.

When you see that the batter has risen immediately pour it onto a greased thali and steam, else your dholkas won’t turn out puffy and nice.

Remember the batter should’nt rest after adding the fruit salt.

Once the batter is poured into a deep greased plate, steam for about 10 - 15 minutes in a pressure cooker without the whistle or in a steamer.

When it’s done in a pressure cooker, keep it for about 10 minutes after you hear the whooshing sound of steam coming out through the top nozzle.

Once you turn off the gas, let the dhoklas rest for a while. Check with a knife, insert into the cake, if it comes free your dhoklas are done.

If not, steam cook for some more time.

For the tempering, heat the oil in a small pan and add the mustard seeds, when the mustard seeds crackle add in the cumin seeds & sesame seeds. Fry 2 -3 whole green chillies with the stalk, Add the curry leaves, Add in some asafetida and pour this over the steamed dhoklas.

Garnish with Finely chopped coriander leaves and some freshly grated coconut.

Cut into pieces and serve with coriander chutney or tamarind and date chutney.

I would like to pack some of my Hara bhara dhoklas to Priya Sreeram’s Fast Food Not Fat Food event.

This event was originally started by Priya Mahadevan 

OLAN (ASH GOURD AND BLACK EYED BEANS IN A MILD COCONUT MILK GRAVY)

I love revisits and I would like to revisit this post of mine posted on the 4th of July 2006. I love this dish, its simple, not too spicy and nutritious. Enjoy this post with new pictures.

OLAN (ASH GOURD AND BLACK EYED BEANS IN A MILD COCONUT MILK GRAVY)

Olan is the one of the simplest dishes of Kerala. I think this dish is very unique to Kerala. The speciality of this dish is it has no spices at all except a little green chillies to add some punch to this otherwise bland dish.

The dish is made with Pumpkins and black eyed beans in coconut milk gravy and the seasoning of curry leaves in coconut oil gives it a totally Kerala feel to the dish.

The dish is extremely nutritious and healthy, it is supposed to be very easy to digest and light on the stomach. This dish is low in calories.

The Brahmins usually eat a lot of Pumpkins as they believe it is good for the brain.

The White Pumpkin is rich in calcium and vitamins B and C and has a high fibre content. The Orange Pumpkin is rich in Vitamins A and B, protein and calcium

The Black eyed Beans (Lobia) though a high calorie food is rich in protein, calcium and vitamins A and B.

Olan is prepared by Kerala Iyers in their weddings, Upanayanam (thread ceremony), for festivals, It could be easily said that no Saddhi (Feast) is said to be complete without the olan.

It is a must try dish, the aroma of the coconut milk and the taste will make u crave for more. Below is the recipe of this “tasty” health food.

Ingredients
1 cup Black-eyed beans (Lobia or Van Payaru)
1 cup White pumpkin / Ash Gourd (Elavan)
1 cup Orange Pumpkin (Matthan)
3-4 nos. Green chillies (preferably slit)
11/2 cups Coconut milk (refer to tip)
5-6 nos. Curry leaves
1 tablespoon Oil (preferably coconut oil)
Salt

Method
Soak the Black eyed beans overnight. Pressure cook it the next day till 3/4th done. Don’t cook it completely else it will get mashed in the olan.
Remove the skin of the White Pumpkin and Orange Pumpkin (the skin of the orange pumpkin can be retained as it gets cooked, provided the skin is tender, if very tough to cut then please de-skin it) and cut it into small square pieces. The chopping of the vegetables is also very important in Olan. It has to be cut into square pieces only.
Cook the vegetables and the half done black eyed beans with salt and the slit green chillies in a little water. When the pumpkins and the beans are completely cooked (don’t overcook the pumpkins, take in a spoon and see if it is soft, that means it is done, don’t cook it to the level that it gets mashed), To the cooked pumpkins and beans add 1cup coconut milk i.e. your second milk (refer to tip) and boil. When it thickens well, add ¼ cup of your first coconut milk.
Bring this to a boil and remove from fire.
Season it by frying curry leaves in 1tbs coconut oil.
Mix well and serve hot.

Tip : Grate ½ a coconut. Squeeze out 1/4cup of the milk from the coconut without adding water, this is known as the first milk which is very concentrated. Grind in a mixie with little water and take one more cup of milk from the coconut.

Nowadays, we can buy coconut milk in a tetra pack, even the ready coconut milk can be used, but incase of using the ready coconut milk, no need to follow the first and second milk etc. just add the coconut milk as per the measure given and follow the method.

**Olan can be prepared with just one type of pumpkin also, that is either the White Pumpkin or the Orange Pumpkin.

BOTTLE GOURD PARATHA /LAUKI /DOODHI PARATHA/ DHEBRA/THEPLA

BOTTLE GOURD PARATHA /LAUKI /DOODHI PARATHA/ DHEBRA/THEPLA

Bottle gourd also known as Lauki and doodhi in India is a vegetable that many find tasteless and associate it with food that is usually served during sickness but the high nutrient value of this vegetable makes it an invaluable food in terms of the health benefits it provides and it would be excellent to add this vegetable to your diet.

Bottle Gourd - Image courtesy -Wikipedia

Benefits of eating Bottle gourd

Bottle gourd is a good source of fiber easy to digest and helpful in curing digestion related disorders like constipation, flatulence and piles.

•  It is an effective food for weight loss as it is low in fat and cholesterol. It contains around 96% water and provides around 12 Kcal of energy.

•  Bottle gourd is also rich in iron and has vitamin B complex and Vitamin C. If you are suffering from bleeding gums or scurvy bottle guard should be included in your diet.

•  Bottle gourd is found to be a very healthy food for hypertension patients because it contains only 1.8 mg per 100gm sodium and 87 mg of potassium.

•  Since the number of calories in bottle gourd is low, it can be used as a food for low-cal diets as well as for small children, diabetics and convalescents suffering from digestive problems.

•  This vegetable has a large quantity of water and contains cooling, calming and diuretic properties.

•  Drinking a glass of bottle gourd juice in the morning helps to prevent a heat stroke during summers.

•  It also helps in curing the burning sensation in the urinary passage because of its water content.

•  Taking a glass of bottle gourd juice in the morning daily can be very helpful for treating graying hair.

•  Conditions like diarrhea can be controlled by consuming bottle gourd.

•  Bottle gourd juice is helpful to curb hunger pangs in starvation condition.

•  A mixture of sesame oil with bottle gourd juice is an effective medicine for the treatment of insomnia condition.

•  Bottle gourd is also effective in treating cardiac ailments, alleviating bronchitis, cough, asthma and biligenic ailments

With so many benefits that the humble bottle gourd has, we should be including it in our diet shouldn’t we? One such dish is the Doodhi paratha or Lauki paratha also known as Dhebra in Gujarat, which is so tasty that we won’t be realizing how many parathas we are gobbling and enjoying the inherent qualities of bottle gourd at the same time. So do try this recipe and enjoy it.

Ingredients

Wheat flour - 3 cups

Gram flour(Besan) – 1 tbspn

Bottle gourd - 1 (peeled and grated)

Yogurt – 1 tbsp

Ginger – ½ inch 

Green chillies  - 2-3 (finely chopped)

Red chilli powder - 1 tspn

Turmeric powder- 1 tspn

Kasuri Methi powder – ½ tsp

Coriander powder- 1 tspn

Cumin powder - 1 tspn

Asafetida – ½ tsp

Salt to taste

Oil - 2 tspns

Sesame seeds – 1 tbsp

Method

Peel the bottle gourd and grate it. Squeeze out water by pressing lightly between both palms, save the water, you may need it later and can add it to the dough instead of using water. It is better to remove it initially and add later, because bottle gourd has too much water and you may end up with a very runny dough if you don't.  Make a paste of ginger and green chillies and add this to the grated bottle gourd, add 2 tbsps of oil, 1 tbsp yogurt, turmeric powder, kasuri methi powder, red chilly powder, asafetida, coriander powder, cumin powder, sesame seeds and salt and mix well with the grated bottle gourd, allow this to marinate for 10 minutes. After this add the wheat flour and gram flour and mix well, add some more salt at this point as salt added before may not be enough. Mix without adding water so that the flour and grated bottle gourd becomes one mixture. If required slowly add the squeezed out water from the grated bottle gourd that we earlier kept aside. just enough to form a firm dough, and knead till smooth. (like chappati /roti dough). Cover, let rest at least 1/2 hour, and knead again briefly. If resting more than 1 hour, punch and knead dough again before rolling out.

Divide into small balls about golf-ball size, and roll out into 12" rounds on a smooth surface. Heat a tava(flat non-stick pan) on medium flame, cook the paratha on one side first then flip to the other side after 2 mins. Flip one or two times more on either sides, adding vegetable cooking oil until you see brown spots on either sides. Serve hot.

This dish can be eaten with vegetables or with chutney and sauce as well.

It can be served as a nutritious breakfast or a main course for lunch or dinner.

This dish is not only healthy but also tasty.

VEGETARIAN RISOTTO WITH TOMATOES AND CHEESE

VEGETARIAN RISOTTO WITH TOMATOES AND CHEESE

It’s vacation time here in Singapore and the kids are at home demanding for interesting food. So I decided to make this Italian dish for them which is rich in proteins, calcium and carbohydrates essential for kids.

Risotto is an Italian dish and I recently had this at an Italian joint here in Singapore and kind of liked it a lot. I felt it tasted very much like our Rice Khichdi / Pongal. They usually make this with Arborio rice which is a special kind of Italian short grained rice, this rice is named after the town of Arborio, in the Po Valley, where it is grown. When cooked, the rounded grains are firm, creamy, and chewy, due to its higher amylopectin starch content thus it has a starchy taste but blends well with other flavours. It is used to make risotto. But in my recipe I used normal Indian short grained rice. I also used fresh tomatoes and cheese to make it interesting for my kids.

Ingredients

Arborio rice – 1 cup

Onion – 1

Tomatoes – 2 ripe ones

Garlic – 2 cloves (optional)

Olive oil – 2 tbsps

Italian seasoning – 1 -2 tsps

Salt as per taste

Pepper – 2 pinches or as per taste

Fresh basil – ¼ cup

Fresh parsley – 2 tsp

Parmesan cheese – 3 heaped tablespoons

Method

In a wok, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, don’t allow it to fume. When it’s mildly hot, add in the garlic and the finely chopped onion and sauté for 3 to 5 minutes. Once the onions are transparent, add in the finely chopped tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes are squashy and soft. Add the risotto rice and cook, stirring constantly to avoid burning. Allow to cook for about 2 to 3 minutes, or until rice just starts to brown.

At this point add 1 cup of water and stir well to combine. Add a dash of salt and pepper. When most of the liquid has been absorbed, add one more cup of water, add in the   finely chopped fresh basil and parsley and stir well.

As the water gets absorbed into the rice, continue to add water one cup at a time, stirring frequently, until the rice is cooked. After this I lay this cooked Risotto in a glass bowl and

Sprinkled it with some parmesan cheese and some Italian seasoning (Italian seasoning is a dried mix of popular Italian herbs, this is easily available in the markets) and  put it in the microwave on a high until the cheese melted and became golden brown. After this I cut the Risotto like a cake and served it to my kids. The kids enjoyed it and asked for more helpings.

HARE CHANE AUR PANEER KI KARI / CHOLIYA AUR PANEER KI KARI/ HARBHARA AUR PANEER KI KARI / FRESH WHOLE GREEN CHICKPEAS WITH CRUMBLED COTTAGE CHEESE IN GRAVY

HARE CHANE AUR PANEER KI KARI / CHOLIYA AUR PANEER KI KARI/ HARBHARA AUR PANEER KI KARI / FRESH WHOLE GREEN CHICKPEAS WITH CRUMBLED COTTAGE CHEESE IN GRAVY

Sony TV airs one of my favorite serials, “Kuch tho log kahenge” in which the heroine makes hare chane ki kari methi muthia ke saath for the hero with love.

This spurted my search for the recipe of hare chane ki kari and I stumbled upon Tarla Dalalji’s site and found this recipe. But my recipe has a twist from the original recipe as it doesn’t follow the same ingredients and also because I added crumbled paneer to the dish.

Fresh green sorted whole chickpeas-Image courtesy Wikipedia

Now for many like me who didn’t know what’s hara chana, they are whole green chick peas packed with a lot of nutritional value. Typically, these are available only a few weeks a year.

Fresh green whole chickpeas-Image courtesy Wikipedia

Whenever I go to Pune, my husband always buys harbhara (choliya/ hara chana/ fresh whole green chick peas). It comes in a bunch and you have to split open the pea like thing and get the harbhara in it, he eats it raw.  I saw many people on the roads grabbing onto bunches of fresh harhara and eating it like peanuts.

Yo(my husband) asked me to try some, I somehow didn’t like the taste. I guess you need to develop a flair for it.

This dish is specially made for my dear husband and my little one who troubles me zillions to eat.

When you are using the fresh ones, you have to pick the peas, open them and sort them, after which you have to rinse them through a colander, it’s a very lengthy process and to get a decent quantity of chickpeas you have to pick a few bunches of the plant.  

Since the fresh chick peas are not available in Singapore, I used the frozen ones available in Mustafa (a shopping mall which has a lot of Indian products). It’s known as Choliya under the Greentech brand.

For those who are unable to get the frozen ones you can find the dry green chanas in any Indian store all through the year. When you are using the dry ones, you have to soak them overnight and pressure cook them up to 3 whistles before you follow my recipe.

Since I am not too fond of the taste of the green chickpeas I tried to lace it with as many spices as I could lay my hand on and also added some crumbled paneer and when the dish was done it was so yummy that I would never say that I don’t like the green chickpeas much and I am looking forward to making it and relishing it again and again.

Hare Chane ki kari

Ingredients

1 ½ cups hare chane (whole green chickpeas)

Spinach (Palak leaves) - 4-5 for color/alternatively use green food color-1-2 drops.

Onion - 1 Big

Tomatoes – 2 red and ripe ones

Green chillies – 2

Ginger – ½ inch

Cumin seeds – 1 tsp

Badi elaichi – 1

Cinnamon stick – 1

Star Anise – 1 tsp

Kasuri Methi powder – 1 tsp

Coriander powder – 1 tsp

Cumin powder – 1 tsp

Garam Masala – 1 tsp

Chole Masala – 1 tsp

Chaat Masala – 1 tsp

Asafetida – a pinch

Paneer (Cottage Cheese) crumbled 3-4 heaped tablespoons

Salt as per taste

Oil – 2 tbsps

Fresh Green Coriander leaves for garnish

A close up of the dish

Method

Finely Chop the onion and tomatoes. Make a coarse paste of the ginger and green chillies in a blender. Soak the frozen paneer in some warm water. After a while crumble and keep it aside. Blend the spinach leaves with some water and keep aside.

Rinse the frozen choliya (whole green chick peas), drain and keep aside. For those who are using the fresh green chickpeas or the dried ones kindly read above the ingredients list, the method to cook it.

Heat oil in a wok(kadhai), add the cumin seeds, badi elaichi, cinnamon stick & star anise.

Once the cumin is fried, Add in the coarsely grounded ginger and chilly paste and fry, after a minute add the finely chopped onions and sauté, once the onions are transparent, add the finely chopped tomatoes and sauté until it is totally squashy and fried. Add in the Kasuri Methi powder, Coriander powder, Cumin powder, Garam Masala, Chole Masala and Chaat Masala, asafetida and salt and fry for a minute. The masala should get fried well, At this point add in the blended spinach leaves paste, sauté until the oil comes out of the puree. Now add the whole green chickpea without any water and mix well with all the masala. If you are not using spinach for color, you can add in 1-2 drops of green color just for the color (this is optional)

Cover and cook in a low flame. Let the green chana cook in its own juices. When you see the water is getting dried. Add in 2 teacups of water and let it cook on a slow flame. Keep adding water everytime you see that the chana is dry until you can see that the chickpeas are cooked. Once the chickpeas are cooked and can be mashed easily with the back of the spatula, add the crumbled paneer, cook covered for a while. While cooking, keep mashing a few chickpeas with the back of the spatula for a mushy thick gravy. Cook for about 10-15 minutes on a slow flame. Ensure that the mix has gravy by adding water and letting the mix boil. When you see that it is an even mix and has enough gravy to your heart’s desire. Put off the flame. Garnish with finely chopped fresh green coriander leaves and serve hot with fulkas or rice.

PANEER BURJI (SCRAMBLED COTTAGE CHEESE)

PANEER BURJI (SCRAMBLED COTTAGE CHEESE)

My kids absolutely love this dish, it’s not spicy and tastes yummy and the best part is it can be cooked in a jiffy. Bombay is very famous for its stalls selling bread and anda burji (scrambled eggs).

The way you cook Paneer burji is similar to the way anda burji is made is what my dear hubby says.

Since we don’t eat eggs we enjoy the richer version of the burji, “scrambled cottage cheese”. Anything which has cheese does sound luxurious doesn’t it? LOL!!!!!

Paneer Burji

Ingredients

Paneer – 500 gms

Onions – 2 small or 1 big

Tomatoes – 1 ripe and big

Green chillies – 2-3

Turmeric powder – ½ tsp

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Salt as per taste

Oil – 1 tbsp

Coriander leaves 1-2 tbsps for garnish

Close up

Method

Soak the Paneer chunks/cubes in hot water for 15-20 minutes. Rinse well and crumble the paneer using your hand. Keep this aside. Meanwhile finely chop the onions, tomatoes, green chillies and coriander leaves.

In a wok(kadhai). Add 1 tbsp oil, add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds and when they start to splutter, add in the green chillies and when they are fried add in the onions and sauté until transparent, now, add in the tomatoes and some salt and sauté until you see the oil comes out of the masala. Now add the crumbled paneer, add salt, turmeric powder and toss everything well till you see the masala is mixed well with the crumbled paneer. Now keep the flame of the gas low and cook it covered for about 5-7 minutes. The paneer gets further softened and the masala enters into it during this time. Garnish liberally with finely chopped fresh green coriander leaves. Toss well and serve hot with fulkas/ parathas.

Leftover specials

If Paneer burji remains until the next day.

• Just make a Frankie (Recipe coming soon) out of it or
• Make a paratha with the mix and it becomes Paneer paratha and a tastier version of Paneer paratha at that.

MUTTAKOSE PATTANI THUVARAN (CABBAGE AND GREEN PEAS DRY CURRY)

MUTTAKOSE PATTANI THUVARAN (CABBAGE AND GREEN PEAS DRY CURRY)

As I mentioned in my earlier post, after Diwali I am looking to cook foods that are bland, not so colorful and light. So I decided to make cabbage and green peas thuvaran with some molaghu rasam. I love the combo of cabbage and green peas. Its absolutely delightful.

Close up for Muttakose pattani thuvaran

Ingredients

Cabbage - 1 medium size

Green peas – 1 ½ cup (fresh or frozen)

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Udad dal - 1 tsp

Green chillies – 1-2

Grated ginger / ginger paste – 1 tsp

Asafetida (Hing) - a small pinch

Freshly grated Coconut – 1-2 tbsps

Cooking oil - 1 tbsp (Prefer coconut oil)

Salt as per taste.

CABBAGE AND GREEN PEAS DRY

Method

Chop the cabbage & rinse well under running water in a colander. Rinse the green peas as well and keep aside.

In a Kadhai (wok), Add 1 tbsp of coconut oil, when it is hot, Add the mustard seeds and udad dal, when it begins to crackle, when the udad dal becomes slightly pink, add the green chillies and grated ginger and fry well, Add the green peas and sauté for 2-3 minutes, after this add the chopped cabbage. Add asafetida and salt and stir well. Close with the lid and cook on low flame till it is cooked. Stir well, wait until the water drains completely and then add in the freshly grated coconut and stir fry till everything is mixed well. Serve hot with Rice and Rasam.

Tips :-

• You can add turmeric powder for some color, but after all the colors of Diwali I wanted it plain and bland.
• Instead  of green chilly you can add red chilly
• You can avoid coconut for health reasons.

PARUPPU THOGAIYAL (A Chutney made with Lentils)

PARUPPU THOGAIYAL (A Chutney made with Lentils)

After the Diwali snacks and sweets onslaught, I am thinking of foods which are easy to digest and lighter on the stomach. Togayal is one such dish which usually is a treat to the taste buds and light on the stomach as well. Thogayal is generally served as an accompaniment to a meal.

I made bottle gourd kootu and paruppu thogayal and it felt like a slice of heaven.

Paruppu thogayal can be eaten with Idly, dosai or any snack. We can also eat this by mixing it with hot rice and a dollop of ghee or some gingelly oil.

This thogayal can be made with Moong dal or toor dal. I used moong dal as it’s a healthier option.

Ingredients

Yellow split Moong dal / Pigeon Pea (Toor dal) – 1 cup

Coconut – 2 tbsps (Freshly grated)

Dry red chilli – 1 (To taste)

Curry leaves – A sprig

Peppercorns – 1 tsp

Asafetida – ½ tsp

Salt as per taste

Oil – 1-2 tbsp

Method

Heat oil in a Wok (kadhai), Add the Yellow split moong dal or Toor dal (whichever you are using) and the red chillies and roast until the dals turn pink and the chillies turn plump. Keep aside on a plate. Dry roast the peppercorns and keep aside. Now add the coconut, salt, curry leaves and asafetida and roast until the coconut is light pink in color and a lovely aroma is emanating, allow this to cool down as well.

Now, run the roasted dal mixture in the dry mill of your blender to a coarse powder consistency. Keep aside.

After this, run the roasted coconut. Mix the dal mixtures and coconut mixture together.

Check for the salt, if required, add at this stage Run once more in the blender with some water(about 4-5 tablespoonful), This time don’t run the blender too much, just one spin would be enough. Remember, don’t make it a fine powder. The mix should be coarse.  

This should be coarse as shown in the picture not too fine. If you grind all the ingredients together and not separately as directed then you will notice that the dals don’t get powdered and if you run it too much to ensure that the dals get powdered then the mixture will be too fine and not so tasty. All the ingredients get grounded at different levels hence it has to be done separately. The best way to grind it is always using a stone manual grinder and if not you can achieve the similar taste if you grind in the wet/dry automated grinder which we use nowadays to grind idly/dosa batter.