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.

Sweet Corn Sundal

Sundal forms an integral part of Navarathri in south India. When it comes to Sundal, the first thing that comes to my mind is dried lentils and legumes. Mostly salt version is  made with a few that are made as sweet versions as well. When challenged with making something different for Navarathri by my group AGC, I decided to make a sundal that is not made by my mom or for that matter, that I have never eaten before. This is unique because it is not made with dried stuff but with fresh vegetable! Hope you enjoy this sundal!



Ingredients

Frozen Corn 1 cup
Coconut 2 tbsp
Cumin 1/2 tsp
Turmeric 1/2 tsp
Dry Red Chilli 1
Oil and Salt to taste

Method of Preparation

1. Steam corn in microwave for 2-3 min.

2. Heat oil in a pan. Add the cumin, turmeric and red chilli.

3. When it sizzles, add the corn along with some salt. Stir well.

4. Cook in low flame for 2 min.

5. Add coconut and saute for 2 more minutes.

Corn Sundal is ready!

Kala Channa Sundal

Presenting to you my favourite sundal! I love enjoying it as an evening snack. Serve this to kids and they will finish in no time... And you can be proud of serving a super healthy snack.. Made during Navarathri. Missed posting this one.



Ingredients

Kala Channa Cooked 1.5 cups (about 3/4cup dry)
Coconut 1/2 cup
Red Chilli 1
Curry Leaf 2 springs
Mustard 1/2 tsp
Jeera/Cumin 1 tsp
Turmeric 1/2 tsp

Oil and Salt to taste

Method of Preparation

1. Soak and pressure cook the kala channa. I had some already cooked. So I used it.

2. Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard. When it sputters, add jeera, red chilli, turmeric and curry leaves.

3. When it sizzles, add the kala channa. Mix well.

4. Add some salt and coconut.

5. Saute for a few more minutes and switch off.

Kondakadalai Sundal - Channa Sundal

Kondakadalai or Kabuli Channa makes an excellent Sundal. Do you guys call in Kabuli Channa?? Wonder if it really did come from Kabul.



When I was little, we used to go to Ahmedabad as my maternal grand parents and paternal uncle (dads bro and family) and aunt (dads sister and family) all used to live there. So that was our summer holidays.

Along with all the fun memories of family time, other thing that comes to my mind are the people of Gujarat. They have something special going on about them. The hospitality and friendliness to even strangers is something we all have to learn from them.

Walking a little further thru those memories, there is this little shop that we used to buy clothes from. Gujarat is quite famous for its textiles even in those days. And was much cheaper and better quality than what we used to get in Kerala. So we used to bring years worth of clothes from there. And to buy it we used to go no other place but Bachu Bhai's Dukan (shop) in Teen Darwaza. It was a tiny little place which somehow seemed to stock all that you needed. It is quite popular name as there are around 10 shops now in the same street which claim to be the 'asli' bachu bhai (original one). It was the place where my mom got her clothes as a kid.

There were some food related memories that are also quite different from what we were used to in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The love for sweets - i mean, we do love sweets, but to eat a bowl full of it for breakfast is totally beyond me. Summers and mangoes go hand in hand right? the aamras and aamrakhand from gujarat is just out of the world. just give me some roti/puri and aamras and that is all I need.

A memory always pop into my head when I see Channa. Early morning (this was during one winter trip) when it is all cold and misty, you would see people hurrying away in their bicycles (yes they were used a lot when we were kids). And in front of all these cycles were baskets with bunches of greens in it. Wondering what they were. Fresh Chickpeas!!. They will just bike along popping the pods open and munching on it.

Ok now.. story over... lets get on to the sundal recipe, shall we?

Ingredients

Dried Chickpeas/Channa 1 cup
Coconut 1/4 cup
Curry leaf 2 sprigs
Coriander leaves 2 tbsp chopped
Mustard 1/2 tsp
Jeera 1/2 tsp
Turmeric 1/4 tsp
Red Chillies 2
Lemon Juice 1-2 tbsp

Method of Preparation

1. Soak Chickpeas overnight and pressure cook with enough water till it is cooked well but still has its shape. Drain and keep aside.

2. Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard. When it sputters, add the red chilli, jeera, turmeric and curry leaves.

3. Add the drained chick peas.

4. Add coconut and salt. Mix well.

5. Switch off and add the coriander leaves and lemon juice. Mix well and serve




Linking this to Lets Cook - Protein Rich Food Event by Radhika

Linking this to South Indian Cooking - Event by Anu, Hosted by Sangee

Peanut Sundal - Verkadalai Sundal

For the second day of Navarathri, I made Peanut Sundal (Verkadalai Sundal)



When I told my husband what I was making, he asked peanut sundalaaa? Meaning - there is no such sundal. Ok, I kind of have to give it to him. My mom never made peanut sundal. Neither did my MIL (so says my husband). I vaguely remember my dad telling me that his mom used to make it.

But I read and reread a lot of my blogging friends make peanut sundal. Now come to think of it, it is nothing but the steamed masala peanuts that you buy in the beach.

I was a little sceptical today when I started making it as I was not sure about the soaking and cooking part of it. How may whistles, how much water etc. I googled around and then took a guess as to how my peanut will cook and got it right (luckily).

Ingredients

Raw Peanut 1.5 cups
Red Chillies 2
Mustard 1/2 tsp
Turmeric a pinch
Hing a pinch

Coconut 2 tbsp (optional)
Curry leaf (i did not have it. so none added in mine)

Oil and Salt to taste

Method of Preparation

1. Soak the peanut for about 3 hours. Drained water. And then add water till it is covered. Pressure cooked for about 2 whistles. Drain water and keep aside.

2. In a pan, heat a little oil. Add mustard.

3. When it sputters, add red chillies (and curry leaf), turmeric and hing.

4. Add the drained peanuts, salt and coconut. Toss well.

5. Simmer for 1-2 min and switch off

Peanut sundal (Verkadalai Sundal) is ready! Its as simple as that.


Linking this to Lets Cook - Protein Rich Food Event by Radhika

Linking this to South Indian Cooking - Event by Anu, Hosted by Sangee

Green Moong Dal Sundal - Pacha Payar Sundal

Sundals are basically lentils or legumes cooked, tempered with mustard, jeera and then spiced with coconut, green chillies and curry leaves.



I am starting this Navarathri with a Green Moong Dal Sundal. I have made this into a healthier version by making sprouts out of it. I could not sprout it fully. Many people have asked me how to sprout perfectly. The fact that in Indian stores they sell packets of sprouted moong in the fridge isle shows that some people are wasting too much money on such a simple thing. I thought I will add a little note on that here.

Soak Whole Green Moong Dal in water for atleast 12 hours. Then drain the water completely. Keep the dal (the wet one) for about 24 hours tossing once in between. You will see small sprouts appear. This is the stage I used today. To get a good sprout, just toss it again and leave it for another 24 hours. When the weather gets too cold here, it is very difficult to get sprouts. What I do at that time is - preheat the conventional oven for a 3 minutes. Switch off. Keep the drained dal inside and close. Just leave it there for 24 hours. The warmth from the oven will speed up the formation of sprouts.

Now off to the simple sundal recipe. I made a slightly bigger batch as I enjoyed it as a salad. You can just make a little less if you are making just sundal.

Ingredients



Whole Green Moong Dal 1.5 cups
Coconut 1/2 to 3/4 cup (according to taste. I had a little over 1/2 cup)
Green Chilli 1 (more for spicier version)
Curry leaf few
Jeera 1 tsp
Mustard 1/2 tsp
Turmeric 1/2 tsp

Oil and salt to taste

Method of Preparation

1. Soak Green Moong dal (pacha payar) overnight. Drain. You can either use the above method of make sprout or just use as is. Also, I did not cook in pressure cooker as I did not want it to mush up. But you can do that as well. I love the slight crunchiness of the stove cooked moong.

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

3. When it sizzles, add the green moong dal. If you are not making as sundal for navarathri, you can also add some onions (or even garlic) at this stage. It will taste awesome. Saute till the onions are slightly browned and then add the dal. As I am making this for Navarathri, I avoided the onions.

4. Stir well and sprinkle a little water and close the lid immediately to contain the steam. Cook in low flame.

5. Keep stirring in between and add a sprinkle of water if needed. It will be cooked in 10 minutes or less.

6. In the meanwhile, pulse coconut, green chilli and curry leaf. Do not grind into fine paste. Do not add any water.

7. Add to the dal along with some salt. Mix and cook for a couple more minutes.



Tasty Green Moong Sundal - Pacha Payar sundal is ready


Linking this to Lets Cook - Protein Rich Food Event by Radhika

Linking this to South Indian Cooking - Event by Anu, Hosted by Sangee