Simple Dhal recipe

Days are getting busier after my sis's marriage got fixed . I hardly find time to even think what to cook . Too much of baking in the last few days have resulted in me adding on like 4 kgs which is definitely not good . So I am so much resisting myself from baking , cooking rich foods and got back into diet phase again .

I am also planning to post from now on for next few months about the basic recipes to make it easier for my sister ;). She hardly knows to make dhal leave alone making sambhar . So this simple recipes period starts with this simple Dal which is anytime comfort food . It goes well with rice,idli, dosa and roti as well .

Ingredients :

1. Split yellow moong dhal - 1/2 cup
2. Small onion - 3 nos.
3. Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp.
4. Tomato - 1 no.
5. Sambhar powder - 1 tsp.
6. Green chilly - 2 nos.
7. Garlic - 1 pod

Method :

1. Pressure cook dhal upto 3 whistle along with sambhar powder and keep it aside.
2. Heat a pan , add oil and once it is hot add cumin seeds , let it splutter , then add onions and saute for about 30 secs.
3. Now add chopped garlic, tomato, green chilly,  and salt . Fry until tomato is completely cooked .
4. Add the boiled dhal into the pan , adjust the water and simmer it until the dhal gets thickened. 

Notes :

• Any dhal like split masoor dhal, toor dhal can be substituted for moong dhal. 

kollu( horsegram) paruppu and kollu rasam

There is a popular saying in tamil .. elachavanukku ellu and koluthavanukku kollu means sesame seeds for fatty and horse gram for skinny.No wonder , I have started using kollu often in my diet .
I must say horse gram is one of the unexplored dals here. I have never tasted this dal until I got married. and I used to think it is a cattle feed. It is surprising to find that this tastes better and has innumerable medicinal benefits .
Recipe for rasam and dhal , both can be made just in time and the whole meal can be fixed in less than half an hour. I remember having this whenever I have sore throat which is the symptom of fever. Thadal sore throat disappears in a day and fever would have never shown its face. Try this ,I bet it works for you too. This is one of the gramathu samayals.. What happened to me errrrrr,,, trying out all gramathu samayal .. I hope I dont become one gramathu manushi .. Hee Hee .. Lets get into the recipe ..

Horse gram Dal :

Ingredients :

1. Horse dhal - 1/2 a cup
2. Garlic - 5 pods
3. small onion - 4 nos.
4. Coriander seeds - 2 tsp.
5. Red chillies - 3 nos.
6. Curry leaves - few
7. Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
8. Mustard - 1/2 tsp
9.Oil - 1 tsp.
10. Salt to taste.

Method

1. Pressure cook dal with just more than enough water for about 20 mins.
2. After pressure is down , drain the water and keep the dhal separately.
2. Heat oil in a pan , let mustard to pop out , add onion and saute until it is cooked and add garlic fry for 30 secs , add cumin seeds, coriander seeds, curry leaves, red chillies and salt.
3.Add the dal to the above mixture and add little of water and bring the dal to boil again.Remove from fire.Let it cool completely.Grind it in a mixie giving a couple of pulse.
4. Dal is done.

I am sending this to Delicious dal from India by Suma.

Horse Gram Rasam

1. Dal water -  2/3 cup
2. Tamarind extract - 1/3 cup
2. Garlic - 4 pods
3. Rasam Powder - 1 tsp.
4. Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp.
5. Curry leaves - few.
6. Ghee - 1 tsp.
7. Hing - a pinch
8. Salt to taste

Method :

1. Mix dal water, tamarind extract , rasam powder, hing and salt and keep it aside for 10 minutes.
2. Add ghee in a pan, add cumin seeds to pop up and then fry garlic pods.
3. Add water given as in 1 to the 2 and bring it to boil and then simmer for 5 mins.

bottle gourd and cow pea curry

I have suddenly become more addicted to this naattu( country )vegetables.Back in my native I used to hate all these veggies for many reasons. My parents never make anything with hybrid vegetables or that is straight from cold storage box. Amma still says try to avoid store bought food and it is after these many years slowly starting to sink into my head.
To my surprise , most of the sites suggested this to include in your daily intake if you are on diet .
Gourd is:

•Low in Saturated Fat, and Cholesterol

•High in Dietary Fiber, Vitamin C, Riboflavin, Zinc, Thiamin, Iron, Magnesium and Manganese. Note that Wax Gourd is high in Sodium.

The nutritional value of gourd makes it suitable for:

•Maintaining optimum health

•Weight loss

Avoid including gourd in your diet if you're interested in:

•Weight gain

This is awesome right. More interesting fact I found when I wikied for Bottle gourd is I got this Pic . Isn't it beautiful ?
Pic Source : Wikipedia

Going to try this on my own after my exams are over for sure.

So now the time for recipe :

Ingredients

Bottle Gourd chopped - 1 cup
Cow Pea - 1/2 cup
Small Onion - 6 nos.
Tomato - 1 no.
Tamarind - 1 small meon size ball
Coconut - 1 tbsp.
Sambhar Powder - 2 tsp.
Oil - 2 tsp
Mustard , curry leaves for seasoning
Salt to taste

Method :

1. Boil cow pea in pressure cooker for about 15 mins.
2. Then take a pan and add oil , once oil is hot enough add mustard and let it pop up.
3. Now add onion and saute them until it changes color.
4. Add tomato, chopped bottle gourd ,sambhar powder,tamarind extract and salt .Close the lid and cook until bottle gourds are 5. done.You Can put everything together except cowpea in cooker and give one whistle which is very faster.
6. Add Cooked cowpea and coconut and boil it for a minute .
7. Now add cooked cow peas and coconut

Serve it with hot rice drizzling some ghee on it. Perfect for the lunch .

I am sending this to Delicious dals from India hosted by Suma.