DUM MASOOR

Here I cooked masoor dal in 'Dum' process. 'Dum' means cooking on low heat, letting all the spices and contains bring all their flavours out, also all the ingredients get cooked in the steam built inside. A protein packed, tangy, spicy, easy to make dish, this one's for you.. 

INGREDIENTS:

100 gm Red Lentils (Masoor Dal)
1 Large Onion (Chopped)
1 tbsp Minced Garlic (Lehsun)
1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder (Haldi)
1/2 tbsp Sugar
2 Green Chilies (Finely Chopped)
1 tbsp Raisins (Kismis)
1 Chopped Tomato
1 Bay Leaf
1/4 tsp Garam Masala
2 tbsp Mustard Oil
1 tbsp Clarified Butter (Ghee)
1 tbsp Finely Chopped Coriander Leaves / Cilantro
Salt to taste

METHOD:

Wash and soak red lentils in water for 30 minutes. Drain water completely and set it aside.

Heat oil in a kadai. Add bay leaf and saute for few secods. Add garlic and onion in it. Fry till onion changes its colour into golden brown.

Add red lentils in ti. and fry for 3-4 minutes. Now add turmeric powder, sugar, green chilies, raisins, chopped tomato, garam masala powder and salt one by one. Fry till spices leaves oil and tomato turns mushy.

Pour a cup of warm water in it, cover and cook on low heat till lentils are tender, yet not mushy.

Sprinkle clarified butter (ghee) and coriander leaves on the top. Turn off the heat now.

Serve hot with warm phulka or paratha.

NOTE: Those who don't like to eat vegetarian dish, they can add shrimps at the time of frying onion, it makes the whole dish more luscious and tasty.

GREEN MOONG DAL DOSA

This highly nutritious dosa is a very popular breakfast recipe of Andhra Pradesh, also known as 'Pesarattu Dosa'. This dosa can be made with whole green gram or split green gram lentils. This dosa can be served with coconut chutney, onion chutney, tomato chutney or any other chutney. A very crisp and really thin dosa has an unique taste and flavor, which is filling, protein pack and has a soothing texture. Serve warn with any spicy chutney and enjoy it in your breakfast or dinner table.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 Cup Green Moong Dal
2 tbsp Rice Flour (instead of that may use gram flour)
2 Green Chilies (finely chopped)
1 Small Onion (finely chopped)
2 tbsp Finely Chopped Coriander Leaves / Cilantro
1 tsp + Oil for Roasting
Salt to taste

METHOD:

Soak the moong dal for 6 hrs, after that drain water and wash it very nicely, so that you can easily remove the maximum green peels at the time of washing dal.

For preparing dosa batter, grind moong dal, green chilies, onions, coriander leaves together. Add little bit water and make a coarse paste.

In a large bowl, combine moong dal paste, rice flour, salt and 1 tsp oil. Mix the batter. Add 1/2 cup water and stir well to get the right spreading consistancy of the dosa batter.

Heat a non-stick pan or tawa or griddle. Now going to get it off the flame. Pour some batter with a spoon and spread it round with the back of the spoon (in a circular motion).

Let it cook on medium heat. First dried out a bit, brush with little oil. After 2 minutes, flip on the other side and cook for another 2 minutes. Remove dosa from the griddle. Set it aside.

After every dosa that you made, just remove the excess batter from the pan. To sprinkle little bit water to bring down the temperature of the griddle. After the water dries out, spread the other dosa.

Serve moong dal dosa warm with any chutney. Anyone will surely enjoy this delicious, filling and protein pack breakfast; a great way to start the day.

OATS MOONG TIKKI

Once when I surfed net, these beautiful healthy tikkis attracted my attention at tarladalal.com. I got impressed and jotted down the recipe, little changes I made, but these flavoursome diabetic friendly tikkis are really awesome! These days, I am always fond of healthy food with very less oil and I prefer to use olive oil in my daily cooking. So, here is the fiber rich, protein pack toothsome tikkis, hope you will like it.

INGREDIENTS (FOR MAKING 12 TIKKIS):

1/2 Cup Quaker Rolled Oats
1/2 Cup Split Yellow Gram (yellow moong dal)
1/4 Cup Finely Chopped Onions
2 tbsp Plain Yogurt (fresh curd)
1 tsp Finely Chopped Green Chilies
1/2 tsp Ginger Paste
1/2 tsp Garlic Paste
1 tsp Red Chili Powder
1 tsp Chaat Masala
1&1/2 tsp Dried Mango Powder (amchur)
1/4 tsp Garam Masala Powder
2 tbsp Finely Chopped Cilantro / Coriander Leaves
2 tsp Olive Oil (for greasing tawa and brushing tikkis)
Salt to taste

METHOD:

Wash moong dal nicely. Boil it in a sauce pan with 1 Cup of water, till dal is soft, tendered and all the water has evaporated.
Let it cool, drain and blend the dal in a mixer to make a coarse paste.

Transfer the paste to a bowl, add all the remaining ingredients (except oil) and mix everything very well.
Divide the mixture into 12 equal portions and shape each portion into 2&1/2" round flat tikki.
Lightly grease a non-stick tawa and brush it with 1/2 tsp oil.
Place 2-3 tikkis on a tawa at a time. Cook each tikki on medium flame using 1/8 tsp of olive oil, till it is evenly cooked and got golden from both sides.

Serve hot with any sauce or chutney, it is filling, fiber rich, protein pack yet delicious.

DAL AMRITSARI

'Dal Amritsari' as the name suggests is a dal from the city of Amritsar, Northern India. This is a delightful as well as protein pack Punjabi delicacy, as mouthwatery as dal makhani, but not that much rich. The speciality of this dal recipe, 'spices are always fried in desi ghee' and give an authentic aromatic touch of Punjab. A comforting rich dal recipe that goes best with the hot phulkas.

INGREDIENTS:

½ Cup Split Bengal Gram (Chana Dal)

½ Cup Black Gram (Whole Urad)

1” Ginger (Minced)

3 Green Chilies (Finely Chopped)

1 Medium Onion (Finely Chopped)

2 Medium Tomatoes (Chopped)

1 tsp Caraway Seeds (shah Jeera)

¼ tsp Turmeric Powder

½ tsp Red Chili Powder

½ tsp Garam Masala Powder

1-2 tbsp Finelly Chopped Coriander Leaves / Cilantro

2 tbsp Clarified Butter (Desi Ghee)

1 tsp Butter (optional)

Salt to taste

METHOD:

 Wash and soak both lentils in water overnight.

Pressure cook both lentils along with turmeric powder and little salt until soft and mushy. Let it cool down normally. Open the lid and mash lentils a little with the back of a ladle and keep it aside.

For the tempering, heat clarified butter in a deep pan or wok. Add caraway seeds in it. Saute till it changes its colour slightly. Add minced ginger, green chilies and sauté for 20 seconds followed by adding onions in it.

Fry till onions turn golden, add red chili powder and give a nice stir. Add chopped tomato and salt in it. Fry for 3-4 minutes till tomato turns soft and mushy and leaves oil from the sides.

Pour cooked lentils in it and fold till lentils mix with spices well. Now add 1 cup warm water in it. Mix well. Cover and cook for another 6-8 minutes on medium heat.

Sprinkle garam masala, coriander leaves and butter on it. Keep stirring for a minute and switch off the heat now.

Serve hot garnished with coriander leaves, very well goes with paratha, tandoori roti or naan….

Sending to:  Holiday Recipes ~ 3rd Blog Anniversary Event

DAL PAKHTOONI

I saw this recipe at www.sanjeevkapoor.com. After triedout I literally fallen love on it, a delicious, buttery, creamy dal, simply awesome! Though I made little alteration according my tastebuds, yet it was truely fingerlicking good. This is an amazing dal curry from North-West Frontier province of undivided India, which is mostly located in Pakistan. Tryout in your home with nearer and dearer ones, definitely recieve loads of compliment for this delightful dish.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 Cup Black Urad Dal
1/2 tbsp Ginger Paste
1/2 tbsp Garlic Paste
1/2 tsp Kashmiri Red Chili Powder
1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
1/2 tsp Garam Masala Powder
2-3 Chopped Green Chilies (according to taste)
2/3 Cup Tomato Puree
1/2 Cup Fresh Cream
1 tbsp Finely Chopped Coriander Leaves / Cilantro
2 tbsp Butter
Salt to taste

METHOD:

Wash and soak dal in water for overnight. Drain water completely and rinse 3-4 times.

Pressure cook dal with chopped green chilies and little salt upto 4 whistles or till it is tender. Lightly mash the cooked black urad by using a spatula.

Heat 2 tbsp butter in a pan. After melting butter completely, add ginger-garlic paste and 1 tbsp water in it. Mix well. Saute for 2-3 minutes, till it leaves oil from the sides. Add turmeric powder, kashmiri red chili powder in it.

At this moment, add tomato puree and little salt in it (be causious of adding salt, as we added it before while pressure cooking dal). Fold nicely for 4-5 minutes.

Now pour cooked urad onto it. Fold well. Add garam masala powder, stir nicely and cook for 2 minutes.

Add fresh cream and give a nice stir. Cook for another 2-3 minutes. Sprinkle coriander leaves on top and turn off heat now.

Serve hot with warm chapati, paratha or plain rice.

Sending to:  Cook with Comfort ~Blog Anniversary Event,  Holiday Recipes ~ 3rd Blog Anniversary Event

DURGA PUJA ASHTAMI SPECIAL KHICHDI BHOG / BHOGER KHICHURI

Durga Puja offers a culinary feast. Very simple ingredients are used here, this is also one of the best kept secrets, bhoger khichuri has a distinct flavour.Khichudi is an essential partof the spread offered to Devi Durga. Apart from that luchi (puffed pooris) or pulao can be given as bhog too. Here is a delectable khichuri recipe which we, Bengalis offer to Ma Durga as a 'bhog'.

INGREDIENTS:

1 Cup Gobindo bhog/ kalo jeera/ basmati rice

1&1/4 Cups of Moong Dal (Split green gram lentils)

1/3 Cup Green Peas (I used frozen)

6 Florets of Cauliflower

2 Potatoes (peeled and cut into halves)

2-3 tbsps Clarified Butter (ghee)

1-2 Bay Leaves

1 Dried Red Chillies

1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds

Garam Masala Crushed (1" Cinnamon, 3 Green Cardamoms & 3-4 Cloves)

1-2 Green Chilles (cut in slits)

3/4 tsp Minced Ginger

1/2 tsp Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

1 tsp Sugar

Salt to taste

METHOD:

In a wok, dry roast moong dal. After few seconds, you will get a nice aroma of bhuni/roasting dal. Its colour will change to brown. Turn off heat. Pour some water over it. Drain water completely and keep the moong dal seperate. Wash the rice under running water and keep it aside.

Heat clarified butter in a pressure panor kadai. Add minced ginger in it. Saute for few seconds, add cumin seeds and let it change its colour a little. Now add dried red chilli and bay leaf, again saute for few more seconds. Mix crushed garam masala and green chillies in it, a nice aroma comes out. 

Now add potato and cauliflower in it. Saute for 3-4 minutes on medium heat.

Pour 1/2 Cup warm water and spread the dal in it. 

When dal started to boil, add rice and green peas in it. 

Add kashmiri red chilli powder, salt, sugar and turmeric powder in it. Fold nicely for 2-3 minutes or till everything incorporated very well.

Add 3&1/2 Cups of water in it. Let it come to boil. 

Close the lid of pressure cooker and pressure cook in low till you get one whistle. Switch off the heat now, let it rest in stream for few minutes. If dal is not cooked fully, add 1/2 cup of water and cook for another 7-8 minutes on low heat.

Khichuri bhog is ready. Serve infront of Ma Durga with five kinds of fried vegetables, Rice Kheer or Chaler payesh and Tomato Date chutney. Enjoy this simple but super scumptious meal.

NOTES: Do not use any onions and garlic, since Bengali customs consider these ingredients to be non vegetarian. 

It is not custom, but if you wish, may add tomato in it to enhance the flavour and taste.

PAASI PARUPPU PAYASAM / PAYATHAM PARUPPU PAYASAM / MOONG DAL KHEER

May lord Krishna

Show you the way in your life

As he has shown the way to
Arjuna in kurukshetra
May lord Krishna bless you on your way.

HAPPY JANMASHTAMI TO ALL....

I am very happy to take part of this interesting SNC event. A great going event started and organished by our sweet friend Divya Pramil from YOU TOO CAN COOK - INDIAN FOOD RECIPES. This is a monthly event where two teams, Southern and Northern team have to challenge each other with their authentic and regional dishes.

This month North team got a challenge to prepare Paasi Paruppu Payasam / Moong Dal Kheer from Divya Pramil and South team is challenged with Kesar Pista Kulfi by Shruti.

'Paruppu Payasam' is an easy payasam of specially Tamil Nadu, which is made with moong dal or chana dal. Here I added raw rice to it, that is purely optional. It is a jaggery based sweet. Getting the right consistency is difficult part, as it should not be too thick nor too runny. Milk adds richness and enhances the taste. Thanks Divya for this delicious kheer, we relished your recipe dear.

INGREDIENTS (FOR 6 SERVINGS):

100 gm / 1 Cup Split Green Gram Lentil (yellow moong dal)

25 gm / ½ Cup Raw Rice (pacharisi)

250 gms  Jaggery / Achu Vellam

10-15 Cashew Nuts (slitted)

5-6 Almonds (chopped)

1 tbsp Raisins

4 Pods Cardamom

2 tbsp Grated Coconut

1 Cup Milk

2 tbsp Clarified Butter / Ghee

METHOD:

Wash moong dal and raw rice in water and set aside.

Grind grated coconut and cardamom pods. Keep it aside.

In a pressure cooker add moong dal and raw rice with 300 ml water. Pressure cook for 10 minutes on low heat. Open the lid after the pressure drops.  Mash well the cooked dal and rice.

Pour milk in it.

Mix well and place the pan on heat again. Cook for several minutes on low heat. This consistency is very perfect, so extra water in not necessary here. (But if you think your dal is thick even after adding milk, add little water in it)

Pour jiggery in it and stir nicely. Check the sweetness, add more jaggery if necessary. 

Add coconut – cardamom powder here, keep stirring for another 2 minutes on medium heat.

In another pan / tadka pan, add clarified butter (ghee). When it starts to melt, add cashew nuts, almonds and raisins. Fry for 2 minutes on minimam heat, don't fry on high heat, nuts will burn quickly.

Add nuts as well as clarified butter in payasam. Fold nicely and remove from heat. (when it will cool down, the payasam will be thicken. If so, add little more milk or water and re-heat a little and stir well)

Garnish with few nuts and raisins on the top. Serve as a mouth watery dessert. 

Sending to Divya's "SNC Challenge"