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Showing posts with label Legumes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Legumes. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Moong Dhal Pakoda (Guest Writer: R. Parvadha Vardhini) : KIDS SPECIAL

What happens when you are affected by Production issue syndrome(at work) ? Answer: A delayed post, no time for cooking, frustrated mind and so on. I was down with this syndrome since last Tuesday. Some strange bug had invaded our production server which eventually bit me. I had no clue from where it came and how it infiltrated. I tried to treat it with various smart solutions but it was not ready to quit. Somehow I quarantined and fixed the bug. Later I found that the Mother bug was actually residing in one of the distant relative of our production server which had sent her kiddos to infect us and our neighboring server. This bug not only screwed up the Christmas holiday weekend, but also shattered my terrific plans. It was so infectious that it affected my retail therapy, blog posts, baking plans and lot more. 
Do you come across such bugs at work or home, which screws up all your plans? Share it with me.

Ok, take a break. Let me introduce my guest writer Mrs. Parvadha Vardhini. She has contributed delicious and healthy Moong Dhal Pakoda for the Kids Special event. Thank you Vardhini for allowing me to post your entry in my blogspace.
(Below post is written by Mrs.R.Parvadha Vardhini. She has also sent step by step pictures for this event)



It was a rainy day evening, I thought of something hot and crispy. Children need protein as major supplement for their growth in all aspects, I preferred this chilka moong dal recipe, which was easy to make, tasty and my children always wish to have this after they come from school.
Also this chilka moong dal is light and it never gives GIT discomfort (Gastro Intestinal Tract).



INGREDIENTS:
  Chilka moong dal - 1 & ½ cups.
  Onion                 - 1 large, finely chopped.
  Mint leaves         -  few, finely chopped.
  Coriander leaves - 1 bunch, finely chopped.
  Ginger                - 1 small piece, chopped.
  Red chillies         - 4 to 5
  Fennel seeds       - 2 tbsp
  Curry leaves       - few
  Salt                   - according to taste
  Oil                    - for deep fry
PREPARATION:
Soak chilka moong dal for 2 hours. Drain and grind to a coarse paste along with salt and red chillies. Don’t add water; squeeze out water and grind. Mix all other ingredients to this paste.


Heat oil in a kadai, take small ball of batter by hand and release the batter little by little randomly, take care that the oil does not splash on the hands. (I use to cook in simmer mode for all pakodas).
Cook pakodas by turning it with the spatula till it gets a brownish colour. Take care not to overcook it.
Now, the hot and crispy moong dal pakodas are ready to serve. It goes with tomato ketch up.

GENERAL TIPS:
If salt proportion goes high in any of the dishes, make small balls of wheat flour and put these balls into the salty dish.
After 5 to 10 minutes, remove these balls, the dish tastes normal. This is applicable only for gravy dishes. So, take care not to make dry recipes salty.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Sundal (Tamil Brahmin style)



Navratri is celebrated for 9 days in Autumn and it marks the beginning of long festival season in India. This festival is celebrated across India in umpteen number of ways. The first 3 days of this festival is dedicated to Durga (Goddess of power), the next 3 days for Lakshmi (Goddess of Wealth) and the last 3 days for the  Saraswathi (Goddess of Wisdom). In south India, most of the tamil brahmin families exhibit various dolls and figurines in odd (usually 5, 7, 9, or 11) numbered tiers ("padis"). They invite their relatives and friends on this occasion and offer prasadam, goodies, Turmeric and Kumkum. When it comes to prasadam sundals (legumes tempered with coconut) are the most offered dish during this season. A legume is chosen each day to prepare the Sundal. 
I feel so excited when I think about this festival so for the second consecutive year, I planned to prepare prashad for all 9 days but even this year I wouldn't be able to implement it. But still I am excited that I will be attending the Durga pooja celebrations in Richmond, Virginia on 26th of September. Thanks to V for performing in the musical concert part of this event. Coming back to my plan, I had been thinking of preparing 9 dish with 9 different legumes. Though I wouldn't be able to post 9 recipes due to my travel plans, I will try to post as many as possible for the rest of the days of Navratri. To start with I decided to prepare Sundal in tamil brahmin style.
Ingredients from my pantry:
(Serves 2)
Soaking
       Chana dhal / Kadalai parupu / Dalia - 1/4 cup
Grinding
       Coconut / Thengai - 4-5 small pieces or 1 3/4 tbsp grated coconut
       Green Chili / Pachai Milagai- 3
       Curry leaves / Karuvaipilai - 2
Tempering
      Oil / Ennai - 1/2 tbsp
      Mustard Seeds / Kadugu - 1/4 tsp
      Cumin Seeds / Jeergam - 1/4 tsp
      Broken Urad dhal / Ulutam parupu - 1/2 tsp
      Asafoetida / Hing (Sprinkle)
      Lemon Juice  - 2 tsp
      Salt to taste
Cooking Instructions:
      Wash and Soak chana dhal in water for 4 hrs. It becomes easy to cook when we soak it longer. 

      In a small sauce pan add some water (the chana dhal should soak) and let it cook for 20 minutes on a low flame. Then run a small test to check if it is cooked properly. Remove one chana and try to mash it. If it easily mashes without applying any pressure then it is the right time to remove it from flame. At this stage 98% of water would have got evaporated. Please check in intervals to ensure that the water doesn't get evaporated completely. T o avoid all these hassles, you can put them in a pressure cooker and cook it up for 1 whistle with little water( just to soak the chana). 

      Meanwhile, grate the coconut coarsely in a blender for few seconds. Then add green chili and grind it for 5 seconds. At last add curry leaves and run it for 2-3 seconds. You should have a mix of grated coconut and chili. 

      In a pan, add oil. When it is hot add mustard seeds and let it splutter, then immediately add cumin seeds. Reduce the flame and add urad dhal and curry leaves. Reducing flame prevents the urad dhal from burning out. Fry for couple of seconds when the urad dhal starts changing color add cooked chana dhal and toss for 30-40 seconds. Then add grated coconut -chili mix, salt and toss it well for 1 minute so that the coconut blends nicely with each and every legume in the pan. 
    Add hing, lemon juice, toss it well and remove from flame immediately. 

    I offered this as prasadh to god and later served to V. He said he was "speechless" :-)

F.A.Q
  Why did I grind Chili?
  Grinding chili along with coconut gives a glimpse of spice to the Sundal. You can always reduce the amount of chili according to your taste buds. 
  Can I use frozen coconut?
  Yes, Please

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Mangodae (Mung bean Fritters)


One of my colleague brought some vada like stuff during lunch. She said it is a Bhopal specialty and they call this golden mung bean fritters as Mangodae. It tasted so great that I was tempted to pick up the recipe from her. Many thanks to my colleague and her mom for sharing such a wonderful recipe with me.


Ingredients from my pantry:


Moong dhal / Pachai payiru / Moong bean - 3/4 cup
Pepper powder - 1/4 tsp
Ginger - 1 cm
Red Chili Powder - 1/2 tsp
Cumin Powder - 1 tsp
Green Chili - 2 - 4 (depends on how spicy you want it to be)
Salt to taste
Cumin Seeds - 1/4 tsp
Garam masala - 1/4 tsp
Fennel Seeds - 1/4 tsp
Coriander / Cilantro leaves chopped - 1 tbsp
Asafoetida - sprinkle



Cooking Instructions

Soaking & Grinding:

Soak moong dhal overnight. It is good to grind when the skin peels off from moong.
In a blender coarsely grind moong dhal without adding water.

In a bowl, add the moong dhal batter, finely chopped or grated ginger, pepper powder, chili powder, finely chopped green chili, salt, cumin seeds, garam masala and mix it well. Leave the batter to ferment for an hour.



Frying

Heat oil in a kadai (you will need 2 cup of oil for small kadai).
Take a spoon full of moong dhal batter and drop it in the oil just like you would do for frying appam or vadas.
Flip it when the bottom is cooked, repeat flipping until it turns golden brown. When the crackling noise of the oil reduces remove and put it on the kitchen towel or napkin for the excess oil to get absorbed. You can fry 4-5 mangoodae's in each batch.


Serving
Serve it with Tomato ketchup or Green(mint/coriander) chutney.



Thanks to Sonal for suggesting me to add fennel seeds, cilantro and asafoetida for an authentic bhopalwala taste.



I would like to submit this bhopal delicacy to My Legume affair event hosted by Sia and Susan




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Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Tadka Dhal (Using Masoor dhal)




Ingredients
  • Masoor Dhal - 2 handful
  • Onion (Large) - 1/2
  • Tomato (Large) - 1/2
  • Castor Oil - few drops
  • Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
  • Olive Oil - 3/4 tbsp
  • Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp
  • Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp
  • Hing / Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp
  • Garlic - 2 flakes
  • Ginger - thin slice
  • Red Chili - 1
  • Green chili - 1
  • Cumin Powder - 1 tsp
  • Coriander Powder - 1 tsp
  • Chili Powder - 1/2 tsp
  • Salt to taste
  • Water - 3 cup
Method
  • Wash and soak dhal for 30 minutes ( 15 minutes in warm water)
  • Pressure cook masoor dhal with diced onions, tomatoes and 1 1/2 cup of water. Add turmeric powder and few drops of castor oil before the lid is closed. Cook it for 4 whistles. Some dhal might require 1 or 2 whistles extra. Amma says Castor oil helps the dhal to cook faster.
  • Open the lid after the steam is released.
  • In a kadai, add oil, When it is hot add mustard seeds and let it splutter. Then add cumin seeds, hing, chopped ginger and garlic and saute. Add green chili, red chili and saute. (Bay leaves, cloves and cinnamon can be added while seasoning and it gives a different flavor to dhal).
  • Then add the cooked dhal to it. Then add cumin powder, coriander powder, chili powder, salt. Add more water (around 1 cup) as per your like. Let it boil on a low flame for 10 minutes and remove from flame.
  • Serve it hot with rotis, parathas or rice.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Sundal




Ingredients
  • Chickpeas/Channa (Brown) - 1 cup
  • Coconut (finely chopped) - 2 tbsp
  • Whole Urad dhal - 1 tbsp
  • Sesame Seeds - 1/2 tbsp
  • Mustard seeds and Cumin Seeds for Seasoning
  • Curry leaves - 1 strand
  • Cilantro/Coriander leaves(chopped) - 2 tbsp [optional]
  • Salt to taste
  • Oil - 1/2 tbsp
Method
  • Add water, chickpeas, salt and pressure cook up to 5 whistles.
  • Heat 3/4 tbsp of oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds, once it stops spluttering add cumin seeds and curry leaves.
  • Add Urad dhal, Sesame seeds.
  • Add chickpeas and fry for 3-5 minutes. Add salt if necessary.
  • Add finely chopped coconut and fry it for 15-20 seconds. (Frying coconut for long time is not good for health)
  • Add cilantro leaves.
Tips
  • You can also add onions and green chillies before adding chickpeas.