Chana Dal Pulao

Simple in its taste, yet flavorful with the spices and chana dal, this pulao is easy to put together.

Ingredients

1 cup - Basmati rice, washed & drained
1/2 cup - Chana dal
1/2 tsp - Cumin seed /Jeera
4 - Cloves
2 small sticks - Cinnamon
2 - Black Cardamom
2 - Bay leaves
2 and 2/3 cups - Water
Ghee or Oil
Salt to taste

Method

1 ) Soak chana dal for at least 2 hours. Drain off the water and set aside.

2 ) Heat ghee or oil in a deep pan, add Cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, bay leaves, cumin and fry for few seconds. Then add chana dal and fry for 3 to 5 minutes on medium heat. Add rice and fry for 2 minutes.

3 ) Meanwhile in another pan, heat 2 and 2/3 cup water and bring to a boil. Pour this water into the rice pan, lowering the heat. Add salt to taste and stir in. Close with a heavy lid and bring to a boil and then lower the heat to low heat. Cook till the rice and dal is cooked and all the water is used up. Switch off the stove and don't open the lid yet. Let rice cook in the steam for a little more while. After 5 minutes or so, open the lid and stir the cooked rice.

Serve rice along with a veg or non vegetarian curry, yogurt and pappad.

Mixed Dal with Spinach

Mixed dal/ lentil used here is masoor dal and moong dal. Both the dals have their distinct flavor and taste. Combining both dals and adding spinach to it, makes it even more healthy dish to have.

Ingredients

1/2 cup - Masoor dal
1/2 cup - Moong dal
1 big bunch - Spinach, washed & chopped
4 to 6 - Green chili, slit in center
1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder
3 to 4 big - Garlic, chopped
1 tbsp - Ghee
Salt to taste

Seasoning

1 tsp - Mustard seeds
1/4 tsp - Jeera
A dash of - Hing powder
2 - Dry whole red chili, split into two
3 to 4 big - Shallots, chopped
2 to 3 sprigs - Curry leaves

Method

1 ) Wash both dals. Heat 4 to 5 cups of water in a pan, add dal, turmeric powder, garlic, green chili, ghee and bring to a boil. When dal is 1/4 th cooked add spinach, salt to taste, simmer and further cook till dal and spinach is fully cooked, covered partially with a lid.

2 ) In another pan for seasoning, heat some ghee or oil on medium heat. Add mustard and pop it, then add jeera, hing, chili, shallot, curry leaves and fry till shallot is browned lightly. Pour this seasoning on the dal, stir and mix.


Serve hot with basmati rice, pappad and curds / yogurt.

Note - You can add one tomato, for sourness and a slight different taste.

Award & Top 10 Picture Meme

Yet again i have received a " you make my day award " from Kalai of " Samaithu paarkalaam " and from Easycrafts of " Simple Indian Food- An Easy Cooking Blog ". Thank you both for this award. Both of you have always made my day, when i get to read the lovely comments on most of my posts. Thank you for those encouraging words.
I want to pass on this award to all my readers and so much more to those who take a moment to say something in the comment section. It may be a few words, but it does really make my day and bring a smile to my face :D

I was also tagged to do the Top 10 picture MEME by Sashree of " A warm welcome to all the foodies ". Thanks sashree for this tag. So to list a few, here are some. Few among them have been tried and liked by some of the readers for which i got feedbacks.

1 ) Almond Macaroons - Amaretti Cookies

2 ) Eggless Banana Cake with Raisins, Dates & Nuts


3 ) Butter Cookies


4 ) Ela Ada - Steamed Sweet Dumpling


5 ) Egg Pakoda


6 ) Potato Bonda


7 ) Shammi Kababs / Kheema Kababs

8 ) Aloo Paratha


9 ) Ras Malai


10 ) Potato Ishtoo / Stew

Hope you all like this post and do let me know your thoughts...

Chutney - With Coconut or Yam

Chutneys are of different varieties, freshly made crushing or grinding together ingredients and seasoned or otherwise that goes along side with dosa, idli or rice. Here are two chutney's with same recipe but the main ingredient is different. One is a coconut chutney and the other yam chutney.

Ingredients

1 cup - Freshly grated coconut
4 - Whole dry red chili
1 tbsp - Urad dal
1/2 tsp - Jeera
1 flake - Garlic
A small marble size - Tamarind, seedless
Salt to taste

Seasoning

1/2 tsp - Mustard seeds
1/4 tsp - Jeera
1 sprig - Curry leave
A pinch of - Hing powder (optional )

Method

1 ) Heat little oil in a pan, fry red chili and take it off the oil. Then add to the oil urad dal and fry in oil till urad dal's color changes to a golden brown. Take it off the oil and set aside with red chili.

2 ) To a blender /grinder add grated coconut, fried red chili, urad dal, jeera, tamarind, garlic and salt to taste. Adding water, just enough to make the blender run, grind to a smooth paste. Transfer to a bowl.

3 ) Heat little oil in a pan, add mustard and pop it. Then add jeera, curry leaves and hing. Fry for few seconds. Pour this seasoning on the ground chutney and mix in.

To make Yam Chutney - Follow the same recipe as above. Replace coconut with one cup grated yam to make yam chutney and season as above.

Serve with dosa or rice.

Spinach / Palak Raita

Raita's are condiments, yogurt based with veggies and seasoned with spices. Here for this spinach raita, i have used baby spinach and tossed in some nuts , raisins and seasoned it with spices. You should make this raita, way ahead of serving time and keep it refrigerated for atleast 2 to 3 hours before serving.

Ingredients

1 cup - Spinach, cut into thin strips
2 cups - Rich, creamy thick and slightly sour yogurt
2 tbsp - Coriander leaves, chopped finely
1 tbsp - Almonds, coarsely chopped
1 tbsp - Cashew nuts, coarsely chopped
1 to 2 tbsp - Golden raisins

Masala powders

A dash of - Roasted jeera powder
A dash of - Red chili powder
A pinch of - Coriander powder
Salt to taste

Seasoning

1/2 tsp - Mustard seeds
1/4 tsp - Jeera /Cumin seeds
1/2 tsp - Urad dal
1/2 tsp - Chana dal
1 sprig - Curry leaves
Oil or Ghee

Method

1 ) Beat yogurt well, add spinach, coriander leaves, almond, cashew, raisins and salt to taste. Mix in well, place in refrigerator for at least 2 to 3 hours. Take the raita out to season, after 2-3 hours. Sprinkle the masala powders, one by one, on top of the raita and mix in.

2 ) Heat oil in a pan, add mustard and pop it. Then add jeera, urad dal, chana dal and curry leaves. Fry for few seconds and pour this seasoning on the raita. Mix in well and serve.

Serve cold as a side dish with paratha's or pulao's.

Adai

Adai, prepared with a batter made with rice and different lentils / dals into a savoury pancake. This is nutritious and protein rich. More like a dosa, but has mixed dals in making the batter and doesn't need fermenting to make adai.

Ingredients

1 cup - Raw rice
1/2 cup - Urad dal
1/2 cup - Toor dal
1/2 cup - Chana dal
1/2 cup - Moong dal
2 to 3 - Green chili
4 - Whole dry red chili
1'' piece - Ginger
3 big flakes - Garlic
2 sprigs - Curry leaves
Salt to taste

Method

1 ) Wash, soak rice and dal for 6 hours or overnight. Grind in little batches, rice, dal along with green chili, red chili, ginger, garlic and curry leaves with little water. Batter can be slightly coarse. Add salt to taste and mix in the batter.

2 ) Heat a tawa, slightly smear with oil, wipe off excess oil. When the tawa is hot , pour one ladle full of the batter and spread in circular motion with the ladle, to give a round shape. Drizzle oil on top and sides of the adai. When the bottom of the adai is set and golden in color, flip it to the other side and cook till both sides are evenly cooked. Take it off the tawa and transfer to a plate.Use up rest of the batter to make more adai. If you have excess batter, store in fridge.

Serve with chutney or chutney powder.

Dal Makhani Cooked In Slow cooker

Dal makani is prepared with whole black urad dal and red kidney beans (rajma). This is a delicacy in punjab which is rich in proteins and fiber. Traditionally dal is slow cooked for hours together to get a creamier texture. Cream /malai gives a rich taste to this dal. Since cooking dal for a long duration gives good flavor and taste, i have cooked dal in slow cooker/crockpot. Cooking duration in slow cooker is for 7 hours and by the end of which you will get a creamy dal makhani. Dal will taste even better the next day.

Ingredients

1.5 cup - Whole black urad dal, washed well

1/2 cup - Kidney beans / Rajma, washed well

4 tbsp - Ghee

3 to 4 tbsp - Heavy Cream /Malai

8 cups - Water

Salt to taste

Grind to coarse paste

7 to 8 - Green chili

2'' piece - Ginger

1 - Whole garlic pod ( about 8 to 10 flakes )

Seasoning

1 tsp - Jeera

1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder

1/4 to 1/2 tsp - Hing powder

1 tsp - Garam masala powder

1/2 tsp - Red chili powder

1 tsp - Shan dal masala powder

1/2 cup - Green onion, chopped

3 to 4 - Tomato, coarsely ground

Garnishing

2 tbsp - Coriander leaves, chopped

1 tsp - Ginger, julienne

1 tbsp - Cream

Method

1 ) Since this is a slow cooker recipe, you have to use more water to cook dal, which will reduce as dal gets cooked. To a crockpot add 8 cups of water, then 1 tbsp ghee, coarsely ground paste, black urad dal and rajma. Set the temperature to high and cook for 45 minutes on high setting. Open the lid and give a quick stir, to loosen any dal stuck to the bottom.

2 ) Lower the temperature to low and cook for 6 hours. Prepare the seasoning to add to the dal.Heat a pan, add 3 tbsp ghee, then add jeera, turmeric powder, hing, red chili powder, garam masala powder, shaan dal masala powder and fry for a few seconds on low heat. Then add onion and fry for a minute, then add tomato, cook till tomato is well cooked and oil separates.

3 ) Since you should not add cold ingredients to hot cooked ingredients in crock pot, add 3 to 4 tbsp heavy cream to the seasoning and warm it up. Then pour this seasoning to the dal, that has been cooking for 6 hours. Add salt to taste, stir and mix in. Close the lid and cook for one more hour. Let all the spices blend in with the dal.

4 ) After 7 hours of cooking in slow cooker the dal will be all creamy and thick. Now you can transfer the dal to a serving dish and garnish with coriander leaves, ginger julienne and heavy cream.

Serve hot with butter naan or basmati rice.

A Yummy Award !

My blog have been bestowed with an award and this time it's an yummy blog award by Kalai of 'Samaithu paarkalaam' and also by Jamie of 'Flavor Pantry'. Thanks to both of you for considering my blog worthy of this award.

Roopa of Kitchen Treats who started this yummy blog award said that the "Yummy Blog Award is the award given to the blog with the most yummy recipes/photos”.

As for the rules for this award -

Upon receiving this award, the person who receives the award should display the "Yummy Blog !" logo on their blog and also the meaning of the award which is "Yummy blog award is the award given to the blog with most yummy recipes/photos". The receiver should also quote their favorite yummy-licious :) dessert(s) that they have ever prepared/eaten. Don’t restrict yourself to any dessert, chocolate bars also welcome. Also the receiver should pass on the award to four other blogger whose blog they find "yummy" and let them know about the rules.

I really don't have a sweet tooth, but at time enjoy something sweet. Since i have to tell you all about the yummiest desserts that I have prepared or tasted, here are few i enjoy at times.

Black forest cake
Plum cake
Jelebi, the yellow one you get in kerala
Payasams, mostly ones made with jaggery

Passing on this award to four yummy food blogger, who blogs so very yummy recipes with captivating pictures.

Shn of Mishmash

Happy Cook of 'My Kitchen Treasures'

Padmaja of 'Spicyandhra'

Nags of 'For The Cook In Me'


Congratulations to each one of you !

Potato Upperi

A simple preparation with potato, which is easy to prepare and will be a good side dish with roti or rice.

Ingredients

3 big - Potatoes, cut to small pieces

Salt to taste

Seasoning

1 tsp - Mustard seeds

2 - Dry whole red chili, split into two

2 sprigs - Curry leaves

1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder

4 big - Shallots, chopped

4 - Green chili, chopped

Coconut oil

Method

1 ) Use a non-stick pan. Heat coconut oil, add mustard seeds and pop it. Then add curry leaves, red chili, turmeric powder and fry for few seconds. Then add green chili, onion and fry lightly. Sprinkle some salt ,this will make the onion brown faster. But for this recipe you don't have to fry the onion till it turns brown.

2 ) Add the potato pieces, stir, mix and fry for a few seconds. Now lower the heat to a low setting. Close with a tight lid and cook. Open the lid only to give a quick stir to the pieces so that it does not stick to the pan. If needed sprinkle little water and cook till the potatoes are fully cooked in its steam.

Serve hot as a side dish with roti.