Chena Kadi - Yam Stew with Lentils and Roasted Coconut

Chena Kadi is a dish that invokes memories of my childhood. It is a dish my mom used to make often and we used to love it. The food prepared in my home was a wonderful mix of all the cultures we have been part of. Tamil food from our origins, Kerala food from the land we lived in, North Indian food cause my dad liked it and then many others that my mom learned from friends and family. This is probably a recipe she learned from a friend cause it is not a common dish among Malayalees nor is it a Tamil dish. This is a dish prepared by the Varma Community in Kerala. 

As I have told you before, I was not too much into cooking when I was younger. So I lost the recipe for this dish with my mom. I have been craving to make this for a long time and finally got a chance to see it being made in a TV show. I was really excited and noted the recipe. When I made it today and tasted the first spoonful, it literally brought tears to my eyes. It was exactly as I remember it. 

Punjabi Rajma Masala - Red Kidney Bean Stew

Rajma Masala is basically a Kidney bean stew and is a staple in Punjabi Households. It is one of those recipes that has to be enjoyed in an authentic kitchen. I have had a few punjabi friends who have made the best Rajma for me and I totally love it (if made right). Yes, you read it. I am not a fan of it if the recipe is messed up.

Kadala Paruppu Kurma - Channa Dal Kurma

Kurma is a gravy usually made with Veggies of some sort (and in many cases mixed vegetables) and a coconut based sauce. It usually has a lot of masala items like clove, cinnamon etc to add flavour to it. I have made my share of Kurma recipes and posted in this blog. Do check them out. This one was quite unique and I found it in my friend PT's blog. Do check her space for the original recipe. Here is my take on the Kurma.

Zucchini Kootu - Zucchini cooked in a coconut sauce - Courgette Kootu

Kootu is a South Indian preparation of Vegetables (mostly watery kind) with dal (lentils) and spiced with coconuts, green chillies and curry leaves. It is finally given a tempering with mustard, urad dal and red chillies.

So now the question is - What is Zucchini or Courgette doing in a Kootu? A very valid question. The simple answer is that it is something that is easily available for me in the British Supermarket. So no need to make a trip to the Indian Store.

Now you might ask - How was it? The simple answer to that question is, it is out of the world. It works great in kootu. To be honest a perfect vegetable born to be cooked as a kootu!

So what are you waiting for? Go on, make a kootu this weekend with Zucchini/Courgette and let me know what you think!



Ingredients (Serves 6)

Zucchini 4 (about 8 cups)
Moong Dal 1 cup
Turmeric 1 tsp

To ground to a paste

Coconut 1/2 cup
Jeera/Cumin 1 tsp
Green Chilli 1
Curry leaves few

Tempering

Mustard 1/2 tsp
Dry Red Chilli 1
Urad dal 1 tsp
Curry leaves few
Hing a little
Coconut oil 2 tsp (or any oil)



Method of Preparation

1. Pressure cook the dal with 3 cups of water till it is well mushed. I have added lot of dal here as I feel it makes the curry filling, tasty and healthy. You can add just 1/2 cup or may be 3/4 th. We liked it this way with 1 cup of dal.

2. Chop the zucchini and add to a pot with a couple of cups of water. Add turmeric and salt. Bring to a boil. Let till cook till it is almost done.

3. In the mean while make a fine paste of coconut, green chilli (more for a spicy dish), curry leaf and jeera adding enough water.

4. Add the coconut mix and dal to the zucchini. Add more water and salt if needed. Simmer for a little while till everything comes together.

5. For tempering, heat a little coconut oil in a small pan. You can use any oil. Coconut oil gives it a nice flavour. Add mustard. When it sputters, urad dal. When it starts to brown, add red chilli, curry leaf and hing. Let it sizzle. Add to the pot of Zucchini.

Pasi Paruppu Sundal - Moong Dal Sundal with a twist!

Moong Dal is a popular Sundal for Navarathri. I have a made this version with a twist. Why not, right? You get bored after a few days of eating sundal with the same flavours. So the ginger will add a very different taste to this sundal and I have cooked the dal without adding much water. Sort of crunchy.



Ingredients

Moong Dal (Split Yellow Lentils) 1 cup
Ginger 1 inch piece
Green Chillies 2
Curry Leaves 1 sprig
Cumin 1/2 tsp
Hing a generous pinch
Turmeric 1/2 tsp
Water 1/2 to 3/4 cup

Oil and salt to taste

Method of Preparation

1. Soak the moong dal in water for 2-3 hours. This helps in quick cooking. Drain the water and keep ready.

2. Heat a little oil in a pan. Add the cumin, turmeric, hing, curry leaves, slit green chillies and chopped ginger.

3. When it sizzles add the moong dal. Stir well.

4. Add water little at a time and cook till the dal is cooked to your taste. You can make it as crunchy or as mashed as you like. Keep stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. This step should not take more than  5-10 min.

5. Add coconut and salt. Mix well. Cook in low flame for 2 more minutes.

Moong Dal Sundal - Paasi Paruppu Sundal is ready.

Musur Dal er Bora - Masoor Dal Dumplings in a spicy sauce - Bengali Recipe

Bengali Cuisine reminds me of two things - the amazing fish dishes and the sweets in no particular order. Avant Garde Cookies decided to make something Bengali. I loved this recipe from here. I decided to make it. It was awesome. Just out of the world. The only issue was the it was supposed to be a gravy. But the dumplings absorbed all the liquid. Well another issue was we were fighting at home to decide who gets more.

(sorry about the poor photo)



Ingredients

For Dumplings
Split Red Masoor Dal 1 cup
Ginger 1" piece
Green Chillies 1
Water 1/4 cup (or as needed)

Cumin Powder 1 tsp
Salt as needed
Onion finely chopped 1
Coriander leaves chopped 1/4 cup

For the sauce

Cinnamon 2" piece
Bay leaf 1
Cardamom 4
Cumin 1/2 tsp

Potato cubed 2
Turmeric 1/2 tsp

Tomato 2 (pureed)
Ginger 1 inch piece
Green Chilli 1

Cumin Powder 1 tsp
Kashmiri Chilli Powder 1/2 tsp

Warm Water 1 - 1.5 cups (as needed)
Salt as neeed
Sugar 1/2 tsp

Method of Preparation

1. Soak Masoor Dal in water for an hour.

2. Drain water and add the lentils, ginger, green chillies and water (as required) to a blender. Make a thick paste.

3. To the paste cumin powder, salt, onion and coriander leaves. Mix well.

4. In a pan, heat oil and deep fry tablespoon of this. (i did not do this). I used a pan called Paniyaram pan to shallow fry. It looks like the ebelskiver pan. Keep aside.

5. Heat some Oil in a pan. Add cinnamon, bay leaf, cardamom and cumin seeds.

6. When the spices sizzle, add the potato.and Turmeric Powder and saute till the potatoes start to cook.

7. Make a puree of the tomato along with ginger and green chillies. Add this to the pan along with some salt. Cook till the tomato is done and oil starts oozing out.

8. Now add the cumin powder and chilli powder. Saute for 3-4 min till a nice reddish colour develops.

9. Add 1 cup of warm water. Add salt and sugar to taste. Cover and cook till potatoes are done.

10. Finally add the fried lentil fritters. Let them simmer in the gravy at low heat for a few minutes. The fritters will soak up the gravy. I did not get the liquid consistency that the original recipe had, but tasty nevertheless.

Serve with rice or roti. 

Gujarati Dal - Toor Dal Cooked in Gujarati Flavours

Gujarati Dal - Toor Dal Cooked in Gujarati Flavours, I prepared this dal as part of the Thali Meal that I made.



Ingredients

Toor Dal 1 cup
Peanuts 2 tbsp
Tomato 1
Jaggery 2 tbsp
Ginger 1 inch piece
Green Chilli 1
Red Chilli Powder 1/4 tsp
Turmeric Powder 1/2 tsp
Date Syrup 1 tbsp
Lemon Juice 1 tbsp

Tempering

Ghee (clarified butter) 1 tbsp (skip for vegan version)
Oil 1 tbsp
Mustard 1/2 tsp
Clove 2
Cinnamon 1 inch piece
Hing a little
Dry Red Chili 1
Curry Leaves few

Method of Preparation

1. Pressure cook the toor dal with enough water. Let it cool and then grind into a smooth paste.

2. Boil the peanuts in some water for 10 min till it is cooked.

3. Heat oil and ghee in pan. Add the mustard seeds.

4. When it sputters, add the clove, cinnamon, hing, red chillies and curry leaves.

5. When it sizzles, add the toor dal along with tomato, jaggery, chopped ginger, chopped green chilli, chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt.

6. Add some water as needed to adjust consistency.

7. The original recipe called for 2-3 dates as well. I did not have any. So I added a tbsp of Date syrup.

8. Bring to boil and simmer for a few minutes.

9. Switch off. Add the lemon juice. 

Keerai Molagootal - Spinach Cooked in a Lentil and Coconut Gravy - Palakkad Iyer Recipe

Palakkad is a place in Kerala. Palakkad Iyers (Tamilians living in Kerala) have developed a unique Cuisine for themselves over the years which has influence of Tamil and Kerala Cuisines. I am a Tamilian from Trivandrum. So it is not a surprise that I have not posted many Palakkad Recipes. This one has been in my list for a long time and so I decided to make it. Where else would I go for Authentic Palakkad Recipe than my friend Kaveri's Blog! I have used her recipe to prepare it. To be honest we felt it was quite similar to the Keerai Kootu that we make. May be we do not call it Molagootal :-)

Tasted Fabulous. And this is coming from someone who is not a very crazy fan of Spinach!



Ingredients

Spinach about 900gms
Toor Dal 1/2 cup

Urad Dal 2 tsp
Dried Red Chilli 2
Coconut 1 cup
Jeera/Cumin 2 tsp

Mustard 1 tsp
Coconut oil 2-3 tsp
Salt to taste

Method of Preparation

1. Pressure cook the Toor Dal with 2 cups of water till it is well mushed up. Whisk it and keep aside. Alternately cook the dal on stove top till it is fully cooked. Soaking the dal ahead of time helps if you are cooking it on the stovetop

2. In a pot add Spinach and 2 cups of water. Cook till it wilts. You might have to do it in batches. Once wilted I was left with about 3-4 cups of spinach. Reserve the cooking water.

3. Cool and Make a coarse puree of the spinach. Use the reserved water as required.

4. In a small pan, add 2 tsp of coconut oil (Use any oil). Add Urad dal. When it starts to brown, add the red chillies and let it sizzle. Drain and Add to a mixie along with coconut and cumin. Keep the oil in the pan. Grind into a smooth paste adding enough water. You can use the spinach water for this as well.

5. Add the spinach puree, coconut paste and dal into the pot along with any left over cooking water (add more if needed). Add some salt as well. Bring to a boil and simmer for a few minutes.

6. In the small pan, add 1 tsp of oil if needed and add mustard. When it sputters, transfer to the spinach pot. Stir well.

Serve with Rice.

Avarakka Varutharacha Kootu - Runner Beans Gravy with Roasted Coconut and Spices

Avarakka or Runner beans is a very versatile vegetable. I have once made a dry side dish with it called Runner Beans Pallya. It is a family favourite. You can make thoran (with coconut and green chillies) or mizhukku varatti (with onions and red chilli powder). It also make a perfect option for making Paruppusli.



Today I was wondering which dish to make with the bunch of avarakka I had. I first decided to make a simple Kootu. After I started I thought why not fancy it up and make a kootu with roasted spices. It was a big hit at home. We enjoyed it with some chapatti. Will make a perfect combo with rice and sambar.





Ingredients

Runner Beans/Avarakka About 800gms
Toor Dal 1 cup
Turmeric 1/2 tsp

Oil and salt to taste

To roast and grind

Coconut 1 cup
Whole pealed urad dal 1 tbsp
Coriander Seeds 1 tbsp
Cumin seeds 1 tsp
Red Chillies 2 (more for spicier version)



Method of Preparation

1. Pressure cook the toor dal with 4 cups of water till it is cooked very well.

2. Chop the runner beans. Add to a pot along with 2-3 cups of water and turmeric powder. Boil till the beans is mostly cooked.

3. In the meanwhile, in a non stock pan add a little oil. Add the urad dal. When it starts to brown, add the coriander seeds, cumin seeds and red chillies. Roast till a nice aroma comes. Add to the mixie.

4. In the same pan, add the coconut and roast till it turns reddish brown. Add that to the mixie. Cool and powder.

4. Once the beans are cooked, add the coconut powder and dal to it. Add salt as required. Bring to boil and simmer for some time till it thickens and it all comes together. 

Mathanga Erissery with Van Payar - Pumpkin Erissery - Pumpkin and Cow Peas cooked in a peppery coconut gravy

Erissery is a dish very popular in Kerala. No Sadya (festive meal) is complete without this. Though not as popular as Avial, this is a dish loved by all Malayalees.



There are a couple of variations to this dish. It can be made with a combo of Vazhakka (Plantain) and Chena (Yam) or with Pumpkin. I have already posted the Vazhakka Erissery. So today I have made the Mathanga Erissery.

The use of Cow Peas (Thatta payar, Van Payar, Red Chori) is quite optional. Some people like it and some don't. I never miss the chance to add loads of Lentils and Legumes in my dishes. So I have used 1 cup of cow peas. You can reduce it to 1/2 cup as well or skip it.

From this month on Anusha, Radhika and I are joining hands to party with our cooking pans - Palooza in a Pan. The idea is to cook 4 dishes of a theme exploring different things together. Am really excited about it. This month we are cooking with Legumes. Do check out my friends as well.



Ingredients

Pumpkin (or use Butternut Squash) 4 cups
Turmeric 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste

Cow Peas 1 cup

To grind to paste
Coconut 1/2 cup
Pepper 1/2 tsp (add 1 tsp for more spicy flavour)
Jeera/Cumin 1 tsp

To Roast
Coconut oil (or any oil) 2 tsp
Mustard 1 tsp
Coconut 1/4 cup
Dry Red Chilli 2
Curry leaves few

Method of Preparation

1. Soak the cow peas overnight and pressure cook by adding enough water for 1 whistle till it is cooked well, but retains its shape.

2. Cut the pumpkin into small pieces. Add 1-2 cups of water and boil till it is almost fully cooked.

3. In the meanwhile make a paste of coconut, pepper and jeera adding enough water.

4. In a small pan, add the coconut oil. Add mustard. When it sputters, add the red chilli and curry leaves. When it sizzles, add the coconut and saute in a medium-low flame till it is nicely browned. Keep aside.

5. When the pumpkin is ready, add the cowpeas and coconut paste. Add water if required. Bring to a boil and simmer till water is almost absorbed and everything comes together. About 5-10 min.

6. Finally add in the roasted coconut and stir well.

Serve with rice. We enjoyed it with some Roti today. It was also a good combination (unexpected)!

Panchratni Dal - Rajastan Recipe

Panchratni dal is basically a mix of 5 different dals. I have used Toor dal, channa dal, urad dal, masoor dal and moong dal, all pealed and split. You can also make this with whole unpealed dal (moong, masoor and urad). If so, soak the dal overnight.

On the onset this might look like your everyday dal. But believe me, the ingredients in it took it to a whole new level. We all totally loved it.



Ingredients

Toor Dal 1/4 cup
Channa Dal 1/4 cup
Moong Dal 1/4 cup
Masoor Dal 1/4 cup
Urad Dal 1/4 cup

Cardamom 3
Cinnamon 1 inch piece
Cumin 1 tsp
Fennel seeds 1 tsp

Onions 1 big chopped
Tomato 2 chopped

Coriander powder 1 tsp
Chilli powder 1 tsp
Turmeric 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder 1/2 tsp

Curd 1/2 cup

Oil and salt to taste

Method of Preparation

1. Pressure cook the dal with 4 cups of water. Cook till it is all mushed up.

2. Heat oil in a pot. Add Cardamom, Cinnamon, Cumin and Fennel seeds.

3. When it sizzles, add Onions. Saute till it is nicely browned.

4. Add Tomatoes and saute.

5. Once cooked, add the coriander powder, cumin powder, chilli powder and turmeric. Mix well and cook for a couple more minutes.

6. Add curd and cook in low flame for 2-3 minutes.

7. Now add the cooked mixed dal and salt. Add water if need be. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Serve with roti or rice. 

Vali Ambat - Spinach and toor dal in a coconut gravy

My mom prepares spinach with coconut and green chilli gravy with toor dal. In Kerala, it is also prepared as a dry subzi with coconut. I have tried other variations as well.

Hariyali Dal
Spinach with peanuts
Spinach Moong Dal Fry - my favourite

Spinach Kofta

Palak Paneer
Rajma Palak
Aloo Palak

Today I present to you yet another Spinach Dish from the Konkan region.



Recipe from here

Ingredients (Serves 6)

Spinach 500 gm

Onions 1
Tomato 2
Toor Dal 1 cup
Water 4 cups

For paste
Coconut 1.5 cups
Red Chilli 4
Tamarind paste 1 tsp
Turmeric 1/2 tsp

Tempering
Onions 1
Curry leaves few

Method of Preparation



1. Add toor dal directly to a pressure cooker. Add water.

2. Chop the spinach, onions and tomato. Add to the dal. (I switched the gas on after adding onions, tomato and dal. Added spinach in and kept stirring as I was chopping. This way it got wilted a little and I was able to put all the spinach in).

3. Close cooker and pressure cook for a few whistles till everything is cooked (the number basically depends on how quickly your toor dal cooks. Mine needs atleast 5-6 whistles usually. So I did the same number now).

4. In a pan, heat a little oil. Add the red chillies and fry for a minute. Transfer to the mixie.

5. Add coconut, tamarind and turmeric. Grind into a smooth paste adding enough water (little at a time).

6. Add the coconut paste and salt to the cooker. Simmer for some time.

7. In the mean while, in the same pan and oil used to chillies, add the other onions finely chopped along with the curry leaves. Saute till it is nicely browned.

8. Add to the dish at the end.

You can serve this as a soup or with roti or rice.

Green Dal

Ingredients

Moong Dal 1.5 cups
Mustard 1/2 tsp
Jeera 1 tsp

To make Paste
Coconut 3/4 cup
Coriander leaves 1 cup
Green Chilli 2
Curry leaves few
Garlic 10 pods (less for less garlicky taste)
Ginger 1 inch piece



Method of Preparation

1. Cook Moong dal with 4-5 cups of water.

2. Make a paste of coconut, coriander leaves, green chilli, curry leaves, garlic and ginger adding enough water.

3. Heat a little oil in a pan. Add mustard. When it sputters, add jeera.

4. When it sizzles, add the paste and saute for a couple if minutes.

5. Add the cooked dal along with some salt.

6. Bring it boil and simmer for a little bit till the raw smell of masala is gone.

Enjoy with some rice.

Dal Maharani

Dal Maharani is a variation of Dal Makhani, which I have posted before. It uses Whole Urad Dal and has a very creamy texture to it though it does not use much fat in it. It has an awesome medley of flavours that you will fall in love with.

AGC are bloghopping this week. I am cooking from Veena's blog. I am quite familiar with her blog and love it. I have previously made Nankatai from her blog which has been a great success in our house. I chose this recipe cause I fell in love with the name. A dal fit for a queen!



Ingredients (Serves 5-6 ppl)

Whole Black Urad Dal 2 cups
Rajma 1/2 cup
Water 5 cups

Cumin 2 tsp
Poppy seeds 2 tsp
Garlic 10 pods
Ginger 2 inch piece
Green Chilli 2
Red Chilli 2
Curry Leaves 2 sprigs
Turmeric 1 tsp
Garam Masala 2 tsp
Kashmiri Red Chilli powder 1 tsp

Tomato 3
Curd 2 tbsp
Coriander leaves to garnish

Oil and salt to taste

Method of Preparation

1. Soak the dals overnight. Drain and pressure cook with the 5 cups of water till it is well cooked.

2. Heat oil in a pan. Add the cumin seeds, poppy seeds, sliced garlic, sliced ginger, sliced green chillies, red chillies and curry leaves.

3. When they are slightly roased, add finely chopped tomatoes. Mix well and cook till the tomatoes are mushed well.

4. Add the curd, turmeric powder and kashmiri red chilli (you can add regular chilli powder as well. add in less quantity) along with some salt.

5. Now add the cooked dal along with the water in it (as required). I added 2 more cups of water to it.  Also add the garam masala.

6. Simmer for a little while till it all comes together.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with roti or rice.

Sindhi Toor Dal

I guess I need not tell you guys about the love of dal runs in our family. To make the H and kid happy, I made another simple dal. I found the recipe for it here.



Ingredients

Toor Dal 1 cup
Water 3 cups
Tomato 2
Curry Leaves few
Turmeric 1/2 tsp
Ghee 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste

For Tadka (tempering)

Mustard 1/2 tsp
Jeera 1/2 tsp
Methi seeds 1/4 tsp
Hing a generous pinch
Ginger 1 inch piece
Green chilli 1
Dried Red Chilli 2
Curry Powder (I used sambar powder) 1/2 tsp
Water 1/4 cup

Lemon Juice 1 tsp
Coriander leaves little
Oil and salt to taste



Method of Preparation

1. Add the toor dal, water, curry leaves, tomatoes, turmeric, ghee and salt to a vessel. Pressure cook till every thing is cooked well.

2. Let it cool and grind it once in the mixie to make a smooth paste. I just made a paste of half the dal mix and left the rest as is for some texture.

3. In a pan, add some oil. Add mustard, jeera, methi, hing, ginger, green chilli, red chilli.

4. When it sizzles, add the curry powder and 1/4 cup of water. Cook for a couple of min.

5. Add the dal paste and simmer for a few minutes.

6. Garnish with some coriander leaves and add the lemon juice and mix well.

Dilwala Dal - A dal with a heart - Channa Dal with Dil leaves

Quirky name? Ha? Just thought will present this to you on Valentine's day! I picked up dil leaves for the first time ever... oh well was thrust upon me by a over friendly salesman in our Indian shop... He even suggested I make dal with dil leaves telling me how his bhabi made it the day before and how much he loved it..

I came home and googled to make sure that dil does go well with dal. To my surprise, it was a popular recipe. We all really enjoyed it.



Ingredients

Channa Dal 1.5 cups
Dil leaves 3/4 cup chopped
Chilli powder 1 tsp
Turmeric 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala 1 tsp
Onions 1

Oil and salt to taste

Method of Preparation

1. Heat oil in a pan. Add the chopped onions and let it cook.

2. When it starts to brown, add the chopped dil leaves and saute for a couple of minutes.

3. Add chilli powder, turmeric and garam masala along with some salt. Mix well.

4. Cook the channa dal (it should hold its shape). Drain (retain a little water). Add to the pan. Add a little bit of the water as well.

5. Mix and cook for a few more minutes and switch off.

Serve with some rotis. 

Andhra Pappu - Tomato Dal

Dals are a family favourite. My little one will happily eat his roti if I give it to him with some simple dal. 'This is my favourite' he said after finishing his roti with this dal. My husband suggested that I should make dal every day. So much for me exploring and learning new recipes and cooking it for them. All they want is simple dal :-)

Andhra food is one of my favourites. Though not sure how authentic they are, I have fond memories of eating lunch from Andhra Mess while living in Chennai. My favourite at that time was the pappu or dal. Here is my humble effort to recreate it.



Ingredients

Toor Dal 1 cup cooked with 3 cups of water
Mustard 1/2 tsp
Jeera 1 tsp
Turmeric 1/2 tsp
Hing a little
Garlic 6-8 pods
Onion 1 big
Tomato 3 big
Curry leaves a few sprigs
Green Chilli 3
Coriander leaves to garnish

Oil and salt to taste

For tempering

Mustard 1/2 tsp
Jeera 1/2 tsp
Red Chilli 5

Method of Preparation

1. Pressure cook the dal with 3 cups of water till it is well cooked.

2. Heat some oil in a pan. Add mustard. When it sputters, add the jeera and turmeric. Let it sizzle.

3. Add chopped garlic and saute till it starts to brown.

4. Add the chopped onions and saute till it changes colour.

5. Add curry leaves and green chill. Saute for another minute.

6. Add chopped tomatoes, turmeric, hing and salt. Mix well. Let it cook.

7. Once cooked, add the cooked dal and some water as required. Bring it to a boil and simmer.

8. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with roti or rice.

Dal Tadka

When a blog friend of mine Anu posted a dal recipe from Tarla Dalal book - Dals, I remembered I had not made dals from it in a while. So decided to give this simple dal a shot. It is super comforting to eat with rotis



Ingredients

Split masoor dal (Split red lenthils) 1 cup
Moong dal (Split yellow lenthils) 1/2 cup
Green chillies 2
Ginger 1 inch piece grated or finely chopped
Garlic 4 pods grated or finely chopped
Turmeric 1/2 tsp

Oil and Salt to taste

For tempering

Mustard 1/2 tsp
Cumin 1 tsp
Red Chilli 1
Onions 1 big chopped
Tomato 2 chopped



Method of Preparation

1. Take dal in a vessel. Add 4 cups of water, slit green chillies, ginger, garlic and turmeric. Pressure cook till the dal is well cooked. I cooked for 5-6 whistles. Whisk and keep aside

2. In a pan take some oil or ghee. Add mustard. When it sputters, add cumin.

3. When it sizzles, add onions and saute till it starts to brown.

4. Add tomatoes and cook till it is well done and oil starts to separate.

5. Add the cooked dal and salt. Mix well.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with roti

Hariyali Dal

Spinach and Channa dal make an interesting combo. I have been making this dish for years. Found a variation of this a long time ago from Tarla Dalal.



Ingredients

Spinach 250 gm (about 4 cups)
Channa Dal 1 cup
Cumin 1 tsp
Turmeric 1/2 tsp
Onions 2
Tomatoes 3
Garam Masala 1 tsp
Milk 1 cup

Oil and Salt to taste

Method of Preparation

1. Pressure cook the channa dal till it is well cooked. Make sure you do not mush it.

2. In a pan, add some oil. Add cumin. When it sizzles, add onions.

3. When it starts to brown, add the tomatoes.

4. When it cooks, add the spinach. No need to chop them. It will wilt in a few minutes. 


5. Grind into a smooth paste. 


6. Transfer back to the pan. Add salt and garam masala. Mix well. 


7. Drain the cooked dal and add to the pan. Add the milk as well. 


8. Bring it to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. 


Serve with Rotis.

Kumbakonam Kadappa

I saw the recipe for Kadappa in Radhika's blog. I knew I had to try it cause my husband spent a good portion of his childhood in Kumbakonam and this is my treat to him. I did not deviate much from Radhika's recipe.

Ingredients

Moong Dal 1/2 cup

Potatoes 2

Onion 2

Garlic 5 pods

Turmeric 1 tsp

Cinnamon 1 inch Stick

Cloves 3

Lime Juice 2 tsp

Curry Leaves few

Coriander Leaves To garnish

To make paste

Pottu Kadalai 1/4 cup

Poppy Seeds 2 tsp

Green Chillies 4

Coconut 1/4 cup

Garlic 4 pods

Oil and Salt to taste

Method of Preparation

1. Cook the Moong Dal in a pressure cooker till it is cooked well. Boil the potatoes and crumble them.Grind and make a paste of 'to make paste' ingredients adding enough water.

2. Heat oil in a pan. Add the cinnamon and clove. When it sizzles, add sliced onions, garlic  and curry leaves. Saute till onion is browned.

3. Add the cooked dal, crumbled potatoes and ground paste. Add salt and mix well. Bring it to a boil and simmer for a little bit till the raw smell of garlic goes off.

4. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with idli, dosa or puri.

Standard combo is with idlis but it tasted amazing with puris as well.



Linking this to Show me your hits - lentils and legumes. Event by Sangee, hosted by Nalini