Urad & moong Dal/Black gram and green gram Dal

When we for the first time had this dal, the taste was so good that even after a year we kept remembering it. So finally we decided to get the recipe from Reena, and Thank you Reena for the prompt reply. Another healthy North Indian Dal.

Preparation time: 30-40 mins

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

Green gram (moong dal/pesara pappu) 1 cup (200gms)
Black gram (urad dal/minapappu) 1/4th cup (50 gms)
Refined cooking oil 1tbsp
Onion 1
Tomato 2
Green chillies 2
Ginger 1/4th inch
Cumin seeds 1tsp
Red chilli powder 1tsp
Garam masala 1tsp
Pinch of turmeric
Salt to taste

Coriander to Garnish

Method:

Soak the black gram and green gram for around an hour.

Finely chop an onion and 2 tomatoes, slit the green chillies.

Pressure cook the soaked dals, with a pinch of turmeric upto 3 whistles. If doing it in a cooking pot, add required water, turmeric, the dals and cook for around 20-25 mins on simmer.

In a kadai/pan(bandli/mookudu), heat oil. Add cumin seeds and as they pop, add the chopped onion, ginger and green chillies. Cook till the onions are transparent. This can take around 2 mins.

Add the tomatoes and cook till nicely mashed. This takes another 2-5 mins.

Add red chilli powder, garam masala, salt to taste & stir once. Now add the pressure cooked/boiled dal mixture and stir well for the dals to absorb all the masalas. Add water if and as required.

Cook for a few mins, garnish with fresh and chopped coriander and serve.

We had Urad & moong dal with some yummy tawa rotis so it goes well with any of the Indian bread is obvious. But being moong, it also tastes well with flavored rice or plain rice topped with ghee.

Beans curry/Beans kura/Beans palya

French beans or green beans or just beans as they are referred to are low in fat content and high on vitamins, minerals and other micro nutrients. Beans curry is the first ever curry amma taught us, and more so one of our favorites.

Preparation time: 25-30mins

Serves: 2



Ingredients:

French beans 1/4th kg
Green chillies 2
Refined cooking oil 2tsp
Mustard seeds 1tsp
Cumin seeds 1tsp
Black gram 2tsp
Curry leaves 4-5
Coriander 4-5strands

Salt to taste

Fresh and grated coconut to garnish

Method:

Most of the Beans will have a fibrous string running along its length unless of course, they are very tender. So wash, remove the fibrous string by plucking on the head of the bean and pulling out the string-like fibre and then chop finely.

Slit 2 green chillies.

In a pan/kadai(bandli/mookudu), heat oil and add mustard seeds. As they pop, add cumin, black gram, curry leaves, green chillies, finely chopped coriander and sauté till tempering is done.

To the above tempering add finely chopped beans, salt to taste and mix well. Add 1 cup water and cook for around 10 mins, till the water has evaporated and the beans are cooked.

A quicker way is to pressure cook the beans in the pressure cooker up to 1 whistle and then add the above tempering to it.

Either which way, beans curry is done. In Andhra Pradesh, the beans curry is served as is but in Karnataka it is a must to add half a cup of fresh and grated coconut to the curry before serving. Whichever method used, beans curry is indeed one of the simplest and highly nutritious foods ever known. It can be had with rice and/or phulkas.

Potato Onion Sambar

Well, with inflation touching double digits in India, This recipe is probably the most reasonable one to make at home. Even a quarter kilo of potatoes will serve 4 to 5 people. Added to that, it’s a sweet and spicy sambar that is really simple to make.

Preparation time: 20-25 mins

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

Potatoes (Aloo) 2
Onion (ullipaya) 1
Pigeon peas (toor dal/kandipappu) 1cup (100gms)
Sambar powder 1tbsp
Tamarind/tamarind paste 1tsp
Ghee/refined cooking oil 1tsp
Mustard seeds 1tsp
Cumin seeds (jeera) 1tsp
Curry leaves 4-5
Pinch of asafoetida (hing)
Pinch of sugar

Salt to taste

Fresh and chopped coriander/ fresh and grated coconut to garnish. (optional)


Method:

Pressure cook 1 cup pigeon peas or boil the pigeon peas and set aside.

Dice the onion into average sized cubes. Dice the potatoes into average sized cubes without peeling them.

In a cooking pot/vessel, add 3 and half cups of water, diced potatoes, onion, and salt to taste, a tsp of sugar and a blob of tamarind or a tsp of tamarind paste as available and leave to boil for around 10 mins on medium heat. The onions will loose color and become transparent while the potato peels wither off and the potatoes get cooked.

Once the potatoes are cooked, add the boiled pigeon peas and stir for a min. leave to boil for 2 mins. Add 1 tbsp of sambar powder and stir well. Leave to boil for another 5 mins.

In a pan/kadai, heat ghee/oil. Add mustard seeds and as they splutter, add cumin seeds, curry leaves and a pinch of asafoetida.

Add the tempering to the sambar and serve. Garnish with fresh coriander and fresh and grated coconut before serving(optional)

As depicted in the picture, Potato onion sambar tastes best with rice, topped with ghee. So if planning to have guests at home, you know what to have on the menu at least in these times to fit into your Budget.

Radish Chutney/mooli chutney/Mullangi pachadi

Radish is a root that is known to be rich in vitamin C and acts as a protective against cancer. It is also known to be a good digestive and good for the liver. We have seen radish being used in salads, paranthas and in sambar in the south, but Radish chutney is not only a pungent and tasty one but also good for health.

To see how Radish Chutney is made, please click here.

 Preparation time: 15-20 mins

Serves: 2Ingredients:
 Radish(mullangi)1
Onion (ullipaya)1
Red chilli powder 1tsp
Refined cooking oil 4tsp
Mustard seeds 1tsp
Black gram 1tsp
Curry leaves 4
Pinch of asafoetida (hing)
Salt to taste
 

 




 

Method:


Wash and peel the radish and onion. Finely chop the onion and the radish into slices.


Blend into fine paste: radish slices, onion, a tsp of red chilli powder and a pinch of salt. Since both radish and onion contain water, there is no need to add water. Also both radish and onion are pungent, so a tsp of red chilli powder will do.


In a kadai, heat oil. Add mustard seeds and as they splutter, add black gram, curry leaves and a pinch of asafoetida. To the tempering add the blended radish and onion paste and cook till the raw smell is gone. This takes around 5-8 mins on medium heat.


Adjust the salt and cook for 2 more mins.


Serve with rice or any of the Indian bread. A perfect recipe for the wise and elderly who love some spice in food but are to keep nutritious food on the top of the mind. While the taste buds get a pungent kick, the body receives its required set of nutrients.

Mint and lemon sherbet

This recipe is especially for all of us in the Middle East crumbling under the summer sun that has just begun to blaze. Our counterparts in India seem luckier, thanks to the timely rains.

Preparation time: 15-20 mins

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

Lime 2
Mint 1 bunch
Sugar 2tbsp
Pinch of pepper
Chat masala to taste
Salt to taste


Method:

Dissolve 2 tbsp sugar in ice cold water for 15 mins. Add juice extracted from the lemons and stir well.

Wash & pluck the mint leaves. Blend together: the mint leaves and half a cup of water.

Strain excess mint leaves in the mint water through a strainer.

Add the strained mint water, to the lemon juice prepared above. Add pinch of salt, pepper and sprinkle chat masala.

Serve immediately with crushed ice or as it is. The mint flavor doesn’t last long and thus, the sooner the tastier. Now, this is indeed a yummy and simple way to cut the heat and stay chilled.

Kandi untalu and Majjiga pulusu

Namo Narayana. This is our 100th post and we thank all our blog readers for encouraging us and supporting our effort.

As the 100th post, we bring another set of dual recipe(s) that compliment and supplement each other. Kandi untalu and majjiga pulusu also known as togribele nucchinunde and majjige huli in Kannada and kanduntlu majjigpulsu in the local rayalaseema dialect is a completely Karnataka and Rayalaseema recipe. Totally nutritious and prepared in a healthy way, this dual recipe is one of the tastiest south Indian delicacies. Unta meaning rolls, kandi untalu are steamed pigeon pea rolls, while majjiga pulusu is yoghurt based recipe.

Thank you Vijaya aunty for the expert inputs.

Preparation time: 20-30mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

Kandi untalu:

Pigeon peas (Toor dal/ kandipappu/ togri bele) 200gms
Green chillies 2
Ginger ½ inch
Grated fresh coconut 1/4th cup
Pinch of Asafoetida (hing)
Pinch of salt
Few drops of refined cooking oil
Fresh and finely chopped coriander

Majjiga pulusu

Bengal gram (Senagabedalu/Channa dal) 2 tbsp
Green chilly 1
Coriander 2 strands
Ginger 1/4th inch
Cumin seeds (jeera) 1tsp
Fresh and grated Coconut 2 tsp
Buttermilk 1 ladle
Refined cooking oil 2 tsp
Mustard seeds 1 tsp
Fenugreek(menthulu/methi) seeds 1/4th tsp
Red chilli 1
Curry leaves 4-5
Pinch of Asafoetida
Pinch of turmeric
Salt to taste

Method:

Kandi untalu:

Wash and soak the pigeon peas for 2 hours. Drain the water.

Grind into a coarse paste: the pigeon peas, 2 green chillies and ginger. Note that the paste should be coarse or else it will be difficult to make rolls.

To the coarsely ground paste, add grated coconut, asafoetida and chopped coriander and mix well. Add a pinch of salt and mix. Chopped onions and mint can also be added (optional).

Take lumps of the mixture and make oval shaped rolls by clutching in between the hand.

Grease the idli plates with a drop of oil. Place the rolls in the idli plates of an idli cooker and leave to cook. Incase using a normal pressure cooker or any large and shallow vessel; place the rolls at enough distance from each other on a shallow and flat dish that is greased with a drop of oil. Add water into the pressure cooker/large vessel. Place the dish with the rolls, cover and steam for 8-10 mins till cooked. Pierce with a fork/toothpick to ensure the rolls are cooked. If the tooth pick comes out smooth, the rolls are done.

Remove the rolls carefully into a serving dish.

Majjiga pulusu


Wash and soak the Bengal gram for half an hour.

Grind to fine paste: soaked Bengal gram, green chilly, cumin seeds, coriander, ginger, pinch of asafoetida, pinch of turmeric, pinch of salt and grated coconut.

Boil water with a pinch of salt. To the boiling water add the Bengal gram paste and mix.
Keep stirring till one boil.


Add buttermilk and mix. Leave for 2 mins and switch the stove off. Incase thick curds is being used, beat the curds thoroughly before adding to ensure no lumps are formed.

Heat 2 tsp of oil in a pan. Add the red chilli, mustard seeds and as the mustard seeds pop, add curry leaves and fenugreek seeds. Season the majjiga pulusu with this tempering.


Kandi untalu and majjiga pulusu are ready to serve. The authentic way of having them is to scramble the kandi untalu, mix it with ghee topped rice and have it along with majjiga pulusu or vice versa. Sometimes the kandi untalu are dipped in to the majjiga pulusu and had as it is. There also times, when the kandi untalu are soaked in the majjiga pulusu and served. However had, kandi untalu and majjiga pulusu is probably the most nutritious and healthy recipe ever known. Right from proteins to calcium, every nutrient is available in this dual recipe. The icing is the procedure used: steam cooking.

Thanking all for the successful 100th post, we promise to write more, serve better and reach your hearts, for this is food for art heart and thought!