Pesar pappu Payasam / Moong Dal Payasam / Sweetened Split Mung Bean with Jaggery

Happy Dasera to everyone! May Goddess Durga shower you with prosperity and strength to overcome all and any obstacles which come in your life.
Be happy always and enjoy lots!

This recipe is a little different from all the payasams which we encounter. It is also made with a variety of ingredients, that is with a mix of other dals. In my house, we make it only with Pesar pappu or Moong Daal.

I have also known people to add a bit of gasagasalu or white poppy seeds to this, which I didn't.
Making it with jaggery or belam, give this payasam and well defined taste which along with pesar pappu, tastes very good and yummy.

Its very easy to make and by pressure cooking it it can be made in very less time. But if you want to control how much soft the moong daal gets cooked to, it better to do it on stovetop, even tho it takes a little longer time! I prefer this method to pressure cooking it, so that there is some texture left in the payasam and it doesn't get totally soft!


Ingredients:

3/4 cup pesar pappu or split yellow moong bean / dal + 3 times the water to cook it to soft

1 1/4 cup jaggery or belam (more or less)

1/2 cup grated coconut (fresh or frozen can be used)

2 tbsp of cashew nuts + golden raisins

2 tbsp ghee or neyyi

about 1 cup of milk (more or less, depending on the consistency you prefer)

Pinch of elaichi or cardamom powder

pinch of kesar or Saffron strands or kesar food color



Method:

Cook the pesar pappu with the water in a pressure cooker until soft. This can also be done on the stovetop, but it will take little longer time. But by this way, you can control how soft they are cooked to.

After the moong daal gets cooked, add milk, mix well and let it come to a boil on a low flame.

Add the grated coconut and Jaggery and mix well.

In another small pan, heat the ghee and fry the cashews and raisins till golden in color.
Add this to the Payasam.

Add Elaichi powder.

If it gets too thick, add milk or water.

Add a pinch of saffron strands or kesar or food color.

Serve as Naivedhyam. Serve warm....Enjoy!!!

Read More

Homey comforting Dal - Spinach with split green lentils or Mung lentils / Spinach Pesarapappu kootu

I know, I know!! I disappeared from the blogging world all of a sudden. I totally dropped out of this scene altogether....right!!!...yeah yeah....sorry guys!!....I totally miss you too and miss blogging!! but some really bigger things are keeping me away and I hope to be back to regular blogging in a couple of months hopefully. Till them I won't disappoint you all and whenever I have time and am not tired to fall asleep right away, will make time to post something.

But till then I think, I wont be able to take part in any of the fun stuff happening here in the blogging world. I wish I can, but right now it won't be possible until next couple of months. But Soon I will be back onto a full swing surely!!!!!!

So as promised, whenever I get time to write something up, I will surely do!
For that sake, here is a comforting and homey Spinach pesarapappu kootu. Easy and quick to make and if you love the taste of moong daal more than toor daal (like me!)...you are sure to love this.

Tho usualy, dal or pappu means making it out of toor daal or kandi pappu. But pesarappu or moong daal has a very yum taste, which I totally adore. So which ever daal I make out of toor dal, I make it with Pesarapappu too. But since, when we make it with pesarapappu, it is kept whole and not completely mushy and is called kootu instead of pappu!! And is made the following way ---- :))


Ingredients:

A big bunch of fresh spinach or 1 cup frozen spinach can be used
1 cup of pesara pappu, moong daal, split mung bean

1 small onion, chopped
4-5 green chillies slit

3 garlic chopped
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tbsp chana dal
1/2 tsp urad dal
1/4 mustard seeds
1/4 jeera, cumin seeds
pinch of hing, inguva, asfoetida
few curry leaves
2-3 dry red chillies, broken
salt to taste
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
Chopped coriander leaves for garnish.

Method:

Wash spinach and chop roughly.

Dry roast the pesara pappu to light brown color, wash and cook in water covering the lentils till they are cooked, but not mushy totally. Add more water in intervals if required.
Add the chopped spinach and cook until spinach is cooked, which shouldn't take more than 5 minutes.
Add the onions, green chillies and cook for another 5 minutes. Add salt and turmeric.
By now the daal will be totally cooked, almost to get mushy.
Now you can prepare the tempering with the rest of the ingredients.
Heat Oil in a small pan.
Add the channa daal and urad daal along with garlic. Let them brown.
Add the mustard and jeera and let them splutter.
Add the curry leaves, dry red chillies and hing to the tempering oil.
After few seconds, add this to the cooked pesarapappu and spinach.
Add chopped coriander leaves for garnish.
Serve hot with roti, chapathi or with hot steaming rice, along with a drop of ghee or two, with a side of papad or vadiyalu.
Enjoy!!!

Read More

Cabbage Pesar Pappu koora / Cabbage Moong Daal curry

When you are tired of regular daal, sambars or pulusu...here is a variation you can try.
I would put this curry somewhere between the daals and sambars. Its more like a curry with whole daal in it!...you can enjoy it as a daal or as a curry.

The other good thing about this is that you can add vegetable in it and you get your vegetable serving. This curry also tastes good with rotis as well as rice.
My kids enjoy this because of the whole daal in it. I guess its fun to chew on the whole daal...:)
Here in this curry the daal is left whole, if it is mushy...then you get what we call as kootu!...

Its also a perfect comfort food...when served with hot rice. Eat it with a drop of ghee and its amazing!...Have a side of papad of dahi mirchi and its yummy!

Ingredients:

1 cup split pesar pappu, moong daal
3/4 cup cabbage, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
4 green chillies, chopped
salt to taste
1/4 tsp turmeric
Chopped coriander leaves for garnish

1 tbsp of oil
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 tsp urad daal
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp jeera
pinch of hing, inguva, asfoetida
2 dry red chillies, broken
5-6 curry leaves

Method:

Dry roast the moong daal to light brown. Let cool and wash
Add some water and start cooking on medium.
When its about half-cooked, add the chopped cabbage and let cook till the cabbage it cooked. By this time the moong daal also will get cooked. It shouldn't be mushy.
Add the onions and green chillies and let it cook for another 5 minutes. Add salt and turmeric.
If in any point of time the curry starts getting dry or sticking to the bottom, add small amount of water, just not too much, as this will make the moong become mushy. Towards the end the curry shouldn't have any water...it should be dry.
Prepare for tempering by heating 1 tbsp of oil. Add the urad daal and garlic and saute till brown. Add mustard seeds and jeera, let them splutter.
Add the dry red chillies and curry leaves. Add the hing to the tempering and mix it with the curry. Add the chopped coriander leaves.

Serve with rice, chapathi or roti. Enjoy!!!

Read More

Attu pulusu / Moong daal dosa in tangy tamarind sauce

Welcome New Year!! and welcome everyone to my blog in the new year :))

This month is going to be pretty exciting for me....soon my blog will turn an year...an year on blogging...gosh didn't think I would last that long!!! which I say becos of my habit of starting and stopping stuff in the middle, way too many times....but it you guys and you lovely comments which kept me going I guess...I am always enthusiastic to see all the comments I get!!! yaaaayyy...and also to all my social network friends who keep me sane from day to day...thank you all!!

All you all know I  haven't done much cooking or baking or anything much except enjoying my vacation in LA. I will soon write up on what all I did and ate in what restuarants while I was in LA....soon (head nodding)....

So I was thinking what to write as my first post this year and settles on this from my drafts....a favorite dish my childhood....still love it now and its perfect comfort food in winters too. Only that I don't make it too often to enjoy it so. And who doesn't love warm tangy and spicy dishes in winters....just mix it up in some hot rice and gobble it up!! yumm! Its called 'Attu Pulusu' or translated Moong daal dosa in tangy tamarind sauce....As much as I know its made only with moong daal dosa batter, that too left over. But I have tried making it the same with egg omlete or also with besan dosa, but nothing ever tastes so good as and when made with Moong daal dosa or pesar attu.

I try making this whenever I make Pesar attu. There is always a cup of batter leftover (or not, but we can always make it leftover ;)). A thick dosa is made and mixed with pulusu. Doesn't take much time to make it, but sure do try it when you next time make pesar attu.

Ingredients:
For pesar attu:

1 cup pesar attu batter
1 small onion, chopped
1 green chilli, chopped
some chopped coriander leaves
1/2 tsp oil

For pulusu:

1 tsp methi seeds, fenugreek seeds, dry roasted and ground to powder
1 large onion, sliced long or julienned
1 large tomato or 2 small chopped
4-5 green chillies
1/4 - 1/2 cup thick squeezed tamarind juice from pulp
1 tsp sugar or jaggery
1/2 cup water

1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp jeera or cumin seeds
1/4 tsp urad daal
2-4 dry red chillies
5-6 curry leaves
1/2 tbsp oil

Method:

Add chopped onions, green chilli and chopped coriander leaves to the pesar attu batter.
Heat tawa with oil and make a dosa with the batter. It should be thick not thin like dosa.
Let it brown on both sides. After cool, cut into about 2 inch square or smaller.

Dry roast methi seeds and grind them into powder after cool.

Heat oil in a pan. Add the urad daal and saute for 1 minute. Add the mustard seeds and jeera and let them splutter. Add the curry leaves and dry red chillies before adding onions and green chillies. When the onions turn translucent, add the chopped tomatoes and saute them till they are cooked and soft.
Add the thick tamarind juice and add about 1/2 cup water to make the sauce. Let cook for 5 minutes.
Add the sugar or jaggery and mix well.
Add the chopped attu pieces into the sauce cook for about 5 minutes.
Add the methi seeds powder and mix well taking care not to break the attu pieces. Add more water if the sauce gets thick after adding the attu pieces cos they absorb the juice.
Add chopped coriander leaves for garnish.
Serve hot with roti or chappathi or with hot rice.
Enjoy!!!

Read More

Pappu Vadalu, Gaarelu, Fried Lentil Dumplings....another version!

There are so many version of vadalu or gaarelu in Indian, especially in South India.
Here is another version made with two different types of pappulu / lentils. The lentils I used here are split, skin on pesara pappu / mung bean / moong daal and minapa pappu / Urad daal, this too split with skin on.
This is a recipe which I got from a friend. She had made it for a party and my husband wanted me to make these again for my son's birthday party. Well I made it...made 60-70 pieces of them. They did come out good and everyone enjoyed.
We, Andraites make vadas for festivals, lunch breakfast or dinner. They are yummy to be eaten with chutney or with chicken curry. So why not make them for a celebration.

The good part is, since these are made with skin on daal, you get some fiber in them. When these are fried, they tend to be darker in color than the regular minapa gaarelu, which I have blogged before. And since its only daal, lots and lots of protein.
Only down part is it being deep fried, aren't all yummy dishes deep fried!!!
Well you can use less oil and make them in the appe pan, if you want!
In the regular vadalu, we only add onions, ginger, green chillies, and coriander if required. We can make them plain too.
But in this I added green chillies, ginger, cinamon stick, cloves into the batter to be grinded and into the ground batter, added onions and coriander.
So the taste is more of masala vada taste.

The batter has to be ground thick so as to perfect shapes can be made out of them, mine was a little thin, so thats why as you can see in the picture, different shapes!! If you think the batter is thin, you can always add a small amount of rice flour to make it thick again. Adding too much will make it hard, so don't put too much.
Putting the hole is the center is purely optional.

Another thing to remember is to put aside atleast 1/4 to 1/3 amount of the soaked daal aside, not to be ground. This is to be added to the batter later on. This gives a good crispy texture to the vadas.
I made a big batch so I soaked lot of daal, but always remember ratio is 1:1 for urad daal to moong daal.

Ingredients:

1 cup split, skin on urad daal, minapa pappu
1 cup split, skin on moong daal, mung bean, pesara pappu

To be ground with the daal:

1 inch piece of ginger
3-4 green chillies
1 inch piece of cinamon stick
3-4 cloves

To be added to the batter after grinding:

1 small onion, chopped to small pieces
1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
5-6 curry leaves, chopped (optional)

Salt to taste

Oil for deep frying

Method:

Soak both the daals overnight.
Remove about 1/4 of both the daals and keep aside.
Grind the rest along with ginger, chillies, cinamon stick, cloves and salt. Grind to a thick batter.
After grinding, add the rest of the ingredients. Check for salt now.
Heat oil in a deep kadai.
On a plastic sheet, like a ziplock bag, wet lightly with water. Take some batter and make a round shape on the sheet with a hole in it, patting it down with water to make the shape. Don't use too much water, as it might make the batter runny. Remove slowly from the sheet and drop into the oil, very carefully!!!
If the vadas start turning color very quick, lower the heat, as you want the vada to cook before it turns color.
Fry till they are golden and remove onto a paper nakin.
Serve hot with chutneys like idli chutney, coconut chutney, coriander-mint chutney, Tomato chutney or red bell pepper chutney, like I did. These even go good with chicken curry, one of the favorites of Andra cuisine!!!
Enjoy!!!

Read More

Nimmakaya Pappu / Katti daal / Tempered Lemony Lentils

This is one of the easiest of all daals. If you don't have any other veggies to put in the daal, but surely have lemons or like in Indian kitchens, have some lemon juice hid away in some corner of the fridge, use it to make this easy dish.
Like pappu kattu which is also easy, but its more liquidy than this. This should be as thick as the usual daal we make and will go with rice or roti. Make it as katti or sour as you want.
The day I made this, I was little worried that I made too much and a lot would be left over for the next day. But to my surprise, not even a big spoon of it was left over. Kids and my husband ate it all up!!!
If you have some left over plain daal, it will take even less time to make it. Otherwise, it takes about the time it takes to pressure cook the daal and about 10 mins to temper it and add lemon.

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked toor daal / kandi pappu
1 small onion, chopped
4-5 green chillies, chopped
Enough lemon juice to suit your taste
4-5 garlic cloves, smashed or chopped
1/4 tsp urad daal
1/4 tsp jeera
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
pinch of hing or asfoetida ot inguva
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp chilli powder
5-6 curry leaves
2 dry red chillies, broken
1 tbsp oil
salt to taste
1 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped

Method:

Mash the cooked daal to your consistency by adding some water if required.
In a small pot, heat oil, add urad daal and garlic, saute to brown it. Add mustard seeds and jeera and let them splutter. Add curry leaves and red chillies. Add the onions and green chillies and saute till translucent. Add hing, turmeric powder and chilli powder and saute. Add the daal to this mix and mix well. Remove from heat and add the lemon juice. Add coriander leaves to garnish.
Serve hot with rice, roti or chapathi. Enjoy!!!

This is going to Suma Gandlur from Veggie Platter's 'Delicious Dals' event.

Read More

Sambaar / Spicy lentil soup with veggies

Sambaar / Spicy lentil soup with veggies

Sambaar is very popular dish of south India. It a important dish during festivals, wedding or parties too. It is eaten along side other dishes like rice, idli, dosa or vada. Many of the restaurants or eateries serve it with such tiffins.
In our house, sambaar is made on a regular basis to eat with rice, as a side dish. Many people make sambaar with lots of veggies or with few veggies. Carrots, beans, bottle gourd (anapakaya / kaddu/sorakai), bendi (bendakai), brinjal (eggplant), drumsticks (mulakaada) etc., are few which are regularly used. My favorites to use are bottle gourd, onions (is a must, I use pearl onions too sometimes), tomatoes (is a must too), brinjal, bendi and drumsticks.
Since we don't find fresh drumsticks, I used frozen ones. Using grated coconut  is also optional. I use which ever I have at home, fresh, frozen or dry coconut powder.
The recipe is to my taste and consistency, please adjust is to your taste and consistency.

Ingredients:

1 cup cook toor daal / kandhi pappu
almost 2 1/2 to 3 cups of water
1 tomato, chopped big
1 onion, chopped big (use whole pearl onions if you like)
5 green chillies, slit
10-15 pieces of bottled gourd / anapakaya
8-10 pieces of drumsticks
1 -2 tbsp frozen grated coconut (optional)
1 lemon size ball of tamarind (juices squeezed and keep aside)
1-2 tbsp sambaar powder(you can use homemade or store bought, I used MTR brand)
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
1 tbsp coriander leaves

For Tempering:

4-5 cloves of garlic, crushed or chopped
1/4 tsp urad daal
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp jeera
2 dry red chillies, broken
4-6 curry leaves
a pinc of hing
2 tbsp oil

Method:

Cook toor daal and keep aside.

In a pot, put about 2 tbsp of water and add the veggies like onion, green chillies, tomato, bottle gourd, drumsticks. Add some salt and let cook till they are soft but not mushy. Add the sambaar powder, chilli powder, turmeric powder and the tamarind juice. Let it cook for couple of minutes. Add the cooked daal and the required amount of water and let it come to a boil. In a tempering pan, heat oil, add garlic, urad daal, mustard seeds, jeera and let them brown and splutter. Then add the red chillies, curry leaves and hing and cook for few seconds before adding to the saambar. Let it come to a boil one more time befor eremoving from heat. Add the grated coconut and chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot with rice, idli, dosa or vada. Enjoy!!!

Read More

Tamata Pappu / Tamatar ki daal / Tangy Tempered Lentils with Tomato

 

Tamata Pappu / Tamatar ki daal / Tangy Tempered Lentils with Tomato

Tomato pappu, another all time favorite. I simply love the way my Mom makes it. Its tangy, it spicy, it just on a whole new level. Mine doesn't come out like that, never. But it does taste good too. I think thats because I don't make it that tangy and spicy, because of the kids!!! But anyways its one of our favorite, me and my siblings. We can have it any time and with any thing. I love to eat this daal with idli, dosa too. And to tell you my secret favorite...I like to eat it with perugu annam. Yes, plain yogurt with rice and tomato daal on the side...its plain yummy!!! FOR ME!!! Well I like perugu annam with banana, mango and thats a whole other story!!!
So coming to how to make it, its very easy. 2 ways like with any other daal, adding plain daal to the tomato mixture and tempering it or the easier way, put everything into the pressure cooker and later add the tamarind and temper it. They both taste slightly different. I prefer the tatse of the first method better tho it takes some time (not long...how long does tomato take to cook!!).
It is a good combo with potato fry like I mentioned in my previous post. But it can be served with roti or chapati, even idli or dosa if you are serving me!!

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked toor daal (cook in pressure cooker for about 3-5 whistles or till cooked)
1 1/2 tomato or 2 tomatoes, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
4-5 green chillies, slit lengthwise
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
salt to taste

1 lemon size ball of tamarind (juices squeezed and put aside)

For tempering:

4-5 garlic cloves, crushed or chopped
1/4 tsp urad daal
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp jeera
2 dry red chillies, broken
5-6 curry leaves
1 -2 tbsp oil

Chopped coriander leaves for garnish

Method:

In a pot, add few drops of oil, add onions, green chillies and saute for couple of minutes. Add the tomatoes too and cook till cooked. Add the turmeric and chilli powder and saute. Now add the tamarind juice and lower heat before adding the cooked daal. Mix well and turn up heat to medium. Add water if you think the daal is too thick. Add salt. Just be careful that the daal may splutter when on heat. Prepare small pan for tempering. Heat oil and add the garlic. When they brown, add the urad daal and let it brown. Add the mustard seeds and jeera and let them splutter. Add the red chillies and curry leaves. Add the tempering mixture to the daal and mix. Add the coriander leaves for garnish before removing from heat. Serve hot!! Enjoy!!!

Prep time: Other than time taken for daal to cook in the pressure cooker, should take less than 20 minutes.

Read More

Pappu Kattu / Tempered Liquidy Lemony Daal

Pappu Kattu / Tempered Liquidy Lemony Daal

This is one of the easiest daal to make and its more easy when you have some leftover plain daal. Just put everything together and let it come to a boil and add lemon. How much easier can it get?
It make for a good side dish when the main dish is something spicy like chicken curry or fish fry or even some masala veggie curry or fry.
I tho like to eat it plain with white rice. It tastes yummy that way too... I remember when I was in college and was living with my grandmother for sometime, this was the only thing I would ask her to make everyday. That's how much I like it :)
At home, I make only enough for one meal, either night or day. It tastes good when made fresh (it still tastes good later on too but still....). I add few drops of lemon juice into my rice, but you can add it directly to the daal too.

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked daal
enough water to suit your consistency (I used double and half of how much daal I used)
1 small onion, chopped
4 green chillies, slit or cut lengthwise
enough juice to make it lemony (to suit your taste)
Chopped coriander leaves for garnish

For tempering:

4-5 garlic pods, crushed
1/4 tsp urad daal
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp jeera
2 dry red chillies, broken
5-6 curry leaves
1-2 tbsp oil

Method:

In a pot, heat oil, add garlic and let it brown. Then add the urad daal, let it brown. Add the mustard seeds and jeera, let them splutter. Add the red chillies and curry leaves. Then add the chopped onion and green chillies. When they turn translucent, add the daal and mix everything with water. Let it come to a boil and then turn off the heat. Garnish with chopped coriander. Serve hot with rice. You can add the lemon directly into the daal after boiling or add few drops to the rice when mixing. Enjoy!!!

This is going to Suma Gandlur from Veggie Platter's 'Delicious Dals' Event.

Read More

Anapakaya pappu / Bottle gourd daal

Anapakaya pappu / Bottle gourd daal

Anapakaya or bottle gourd is a very commonly used vegetable in India. Its used in daals, curries and also chutneys or dosas. My Mom makes koftas with shredded bottle gourd and they come out good.
Its nice to use veggies in daal because then it makes one dish with both protein with veggies included.
I made this daal the easy way, making most of it in the pressure cooker and later tempering it.
I like to put tomato in some of the daals and this is one of them In which I do. But its totally optional.

Ingredients:

Into the pressure cooker:

1/4 piece of a large anapakaya / bottle gourd, peeled and cut into large cubes, 1/2 inch size
3/4 cup daal, washed
1 1/2 cup water to cook daal (double water of daal)
1 small tomato, chopped
1 small onion chopped or 1/2 onion
4 green chillies, slit lengthwise

1 lemon size ball of tamarind (squeezed of it juices and kept aside)
salt to taste
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp chilli powder

For Tempering (tadka):

4 garlic pods, crushed
1/4 tsp urad daal
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp jeera
2 dry red chillies, broken
5-6 curry leaves
1 tbsp oil
garnish with coriander leaves

Method:

Wash the daal and add enough water to cook the daal. Add the cubed anapakaya, chopped onion, green chillies and chopped tomato to the washed daal and put this into the pressure cooker. Let it cook for 3 to 4 whistles and then on low heat for about 5 to 10 min. After cooking, let the steam come out by itself, don't open it. When the steam is gone, open it and add the tamarind juice, turmeric and chilli powder.
Prepare for tempering in a small pan or a tadka pan. Heat oil and put in the crushed garlic pods. When browned add the urad daal and brown. Then add the mustard seeds and jeera and let them splutter. Add the red chillies and curry leaves. Add the tadka or tempering to the cooked daal and mix well. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with rice or chapathi or roti. Enjoy!!!

Tip: If you cut the gourd into small pieces, it will disintegrate completely when you pressure cook it. Thats why big pieces are better. After pressure cooking, if the daal gets cold before you do the tempering, heat it put before adding the tamarind juice, turmeric and chilli powder. This is so that the tamarind juice, turmeric and chilli powder get cooked too.
There are two ways to cook in the pressure cooker:
1. add enough water in the pressure cooker and put a different pot in it with the daal, water and veggies
2. add the daal, water and veggies directly into the pressure cooker.

Read More

Methi daal / Menthi koora pappu / Lentils with Fenugreek leaves

Methi daal / Menthi koora pappu / Lentils with Fenugreek leaves

Methi or Menthi koora or Fenugreek leaves are used as a herb or in whole for curries or the seeds as a spice. The leaves are used all over India in many different dishes. They even taste good with combination of other veggies. Dried leaves are also used as a herb to flavor dishes and its called 'Kasuri Methi'.
I use Menthi koora whenever available to make curries or daal too.
Almost all the daals are made in a similar fashion. There are two ways that I make daal at home. One when I have time and other when I don't have time. Though making it the longer way always tastes more better. I call it long but its easy, not difficult at all. You can make it this way too when you have extra plain daal leftover too. Extra daal, ya I keep some extra plain daal in the fridge so that I can use it couple of days later for making quick daal or pappu kattu or sambar.
So to make daal when you don't have time is to put everything including the toor daal and methi leaves (any other veggie for that matter), along with chilli powder, turmeric, onion and green chillies into the pressure cooker and cook till done. Then add the tamarind juice and add tempering. Thats the easy way.
The other way is as follows:

Ingredients:

1 cup toor daal
1 cup methi leaves
1 small chopped onion
3-4 green chillies
1-2 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 lemon size ball of tamarind (squeezed out of its juices)

For tempering:

3-4 garlic pods, chopped or crushed
1 tsp urad daal
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp jeera
2 dry red chillies
5-6 curry leaves
1 tbsp oil
some water

Chopped coriander leaves for garnish

Method:

The second way or the one I do when I have time is like this.
Cook the daal in a pressure cooker till cooked.
In a different pot, add some water and add the methi leaves, chopped onions and green chillies. Saute until cooked and then add the tamarind juice. Cook for couple of minutes. Now add the cooked daal into the same pot after lowering the heat or it will splutter. If you think its too thick, add some water. Don't worry you can cook away the water later. After mixing properly prepare for tempering. In a tempering pot or small pan, heat oil and add the crushed garlic. When they start to brown add the urad daal. When that starts to brown, add the mustard seeds and jeera. Let them splutter before adding the broken red chillies and curry leaves. Now add this tempering to the daal and mix. Let cook for 5 minutes till it bubbles away. Then you can stop the heat. Serve with steaming rice, with ghee, or with roti or chapathi. Enjoy!!!

Read More

Saturday morning breakfast - Green moong daal dosa / Pesarattu / Green Lentil crepes

Who can say no to dosa! I can't. Be it any kind of dosa, I like them all. Just the time it takes for it to get ready, by that I mean, soaking, grinding and fermenting....thats a long time. On top of that, in winter, for us....fermenting time increases!!!! So sometimes, to cut out the fermenting time, I make easy dosas :). Like this one, Pesarattu or Green Moong daal dosa. Its healthy, has lots of fiber, so it has to be good for you right!! It doesn't have any fermenting time so you can directly go to making the dosa.

To the moong daal / pesara pappu, add a little amount of rice (brown rice can be substituted) and soak it overnight or 5-6 hours. Grind it with a little bit of water and salt to the dosa consistency. I like to add ginger and green chillies to the daal while grinding, it gives a good flavor to the batter and you can omit putting them on the dosa like some people do. I do this so that I dont have to pick out little pieces of ginger and chillies when I serve it to kids. But my kids like to eat it plain and by already adding it to the batter, the dosa becomes more flavorful. And for the rest of the people, I add chopped onion and sprinkle jeera on the dosa while roasting it.

 Serve it with fresh ginger chutney or ginger pachadi. I served it with homemade ginger pickle (not fresh made). The sweet sour taste of the pickle goes good with this spicy dosa.

Ingredients:
1 cup of moong daal / Pesara pappu
1/4 cup rice (brown rice can be substituted)
1 inch piece of ginger
2-3 green chillies
salt to taste
oil for roasting the dosa
chopped onion
jeera

Method:

Soak daal and rice overnight or 5-6 hours. Grind with ginger and green chillies. Make the dosa on the pan, sprinkle some oil for roasting. When you see the dosa browning, add the chopped onion and jeera and fold over. After fold, roast on both sides till brown and remove. Serve hot with chutney.

You can convert this dosa into Pesarattu upma, one of Andhra's specialities, by adding plain upma made from sooji or ravva. You just have to wrap or stuff the upma inside the fold of the dosa. Serve it hot and Enjoy!!!

Read More

Something other than Sambaar / Pappu Chaaru (Lentil Soup with veggies)

Something other than Sambaar / Pappu Chaaru (Lentil soup with veggies)

Sometimes sambaar gets too redundant and I feel like making something other than sambaar. Thats when I make Pappu chaaru or Pappu kattu. I donot know where these chaarus and kattus originated from, but since I learned to make them from my Mom, I too make them at home. Pappu kattu is little different from Pappu chaaru, I will blog that later sometime. Pappu chaaru means nothing but Pappu meaning daal and chaaru meaning rasam or soup. Only difference is that in rasam many people dont add daal or any veggies. Here in sambaar or pappu chaaru you can add a variety of veggies like - anapakaya (bottle gourd), drumsticks, pearl onions, tomatoes, regular onions, lady's finger (bendi), brinjal (eggplant), carrots, beans etc.,. I made with what I had in my fridge...only pearl onions and anapakaya :( . The only difference between this and sambaar is that the main ingredient of sambaar which is sambaar powder doesnot go in it. So Pappu chaaru = sambaar - sambaar powder. So easy right!!...trust me it is!!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup cooked daal (toor daal, khandi pappu)
triple the amount of water as of daal (or to whatever consistency you like)
12-15 pieces of cut anapakaya (bottle gourd)
15 pieces of pearl onions
1 tomato
1 onion (chopped into big pieces)
3-4 thai green chillies
you can add any other veggies you like
1 lemon ball size tamarind ( soaked in warm water, and strain out the pulp)
salt to taste
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp chilli powder
Garnish with coriander leaves

Tempering:

3-4 cloves of garlic ( smashed a bit)
1/4 tsp urad daal
1/4 tsp jeera
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
2-3 whole red chillies broken into halves5
5-6 curry leaves
1-2 tbsp oil
a big pich of hing / inguva

Method:

In a pot add a small amount of water, add the veggies including the onions, green chillies, tomato and salt. Cook until everything is cooked but not soft or smooshy. Add turmeric, chilli powder and tamarind juice to it. Then add the cooked daal and three times the water. Cook for 5 min. until well combined. If you think its too thin or watery, add more daal or if its too thick, add more water. In a separate pan for tempering, add oil, garlic, urad daal, jeera and mustard seeds. When they start to splutter, add red chillies, curry leaves and hing. Mix this into the pappu chaaru mixture and stir. Let the whole come to a boil once before turning off the heat. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Enjoy!!! :)

TIP: Do not add the tamarind with the veggies in the beginning, the veggies will not cook. If you think its not sour enough, add lemon juice or more tamarind juice. Tomatoes can get smooshy but if you dont want smooshy tomatoes, add them towards the end, same goes with the onions.

Read More