Mushroom masala - 2

 This dish was made on the fly and it came out real good with phulkas.

Ingredients
Mushrooms 2 cups cubed to bite size pieces.
Onion 1 big chopped fine
Chilli powder 1 tsp
Garam masala powder to taste
Pepper powder 1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Coconut milk powder 1/2 tsp ( this helps to balance the sharp taste of the masalas)
Cilantro to garnish
Oil 1 tbsp
Salt to taste

Method

1. Boil 2 cups of water with some salt. Once boiling, drop the mushrooms in them. Switch off heat and keep covered for 10-15 mins. By this, the mushrooms get cooked and release the water content. After some 20 mins of mushrooms soaking, drain them and keep. You can use the left over water for soup/broth or whatever.
2. In a pan heat oil. Add the onions and saute them till soft. Once the onions are done, add the mushrooms and give a good mix.
3. Add all the masalas(Chilli powder, garam masala, pepper powder, turmeric powder). Add salt to taste. Sprinkle some water and stir well till the mushrooms are caramerlised.
4. Add a bit of coconut milk powder if you find the dish too sharp to taste. Mix well.
5. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Serve hot with chapiti and some simple dal.

Chana dal with Lauki

This recipe is inspired from http://kajaldreams.blogspot.com/

I was sceptical about the red chilli-garlic paste, but since I had seen through her other recipes and had liked them, I decided to give it a try. It did taste good!!

Ingredients

Lauki cubed 1 cup
Chana Dal (Bengal gram) 1 cup
1\2 tsp turmeric powder
Salt to taste

Lemon juice to taste
Oil, cumin seeds, dry red chillies for seasoning
1 tbsp garlic red chilli paste (I ground about 4 cloves of garlic and 4-5 red chillies to a coarse paste)

Method

1. Cook the chana dal in 3 cups of water till almost mushy.
2. Heat oil in kadai. Add the seasonings, and stir till done.
3. Add lauki, turmeric powder, salt, garlic-red chilli paste and cook till laukis get soft and the raw smell of garlic goes.
4. Add the chana dal. Mix well and cook for 5-6 mins.
5. Add a dash of lemon juice to your taste.

Serve hot with chapiti.

Bulls eye (Half fry / Sunny side up)

This is a wonderful breakfast item which goes well with toast, porridge, and a glass of juice.

Ingredients
Eggs
Oil about 1/2 tsp for an egg
Salt, pepper or any seasoning to your taste.
A good non-stick tawa
A good flat ladle to take the half fry off the tawa

Method

1. Heat the tawa well. Pour a few drops of the oil and spread it to a circle 5-6 cms in diameter.
2. Break the egg and drop the white and yolk onto the tawa. Try not to break the yolk.
3. Add oil around the edges if needed. Quickly sprinkle the salt and seasonings. Wait till the edges leave the tawa.
4. You can take the egg off at this stage. But we find the yolk too raw at this stage. I pour about 1 spoon of water around the edges and quickly cover the egg. Wait for 10 seconds.
5. Now the egg is nicely cooked and can still come off the tawa.
6. Take if off, without breaking the yolk. Breaking the yolk is the privilege of the person eating the egg, you see!!

Serve hot with other breakfast items of your choice.

Green moong dal

This simple dal is a favourite of my mom's side.... And it gets finished up in no time at my place too...

Ingredients
Whole green moong dal 1 cup (washed well and soaked for 6-8 hours)
Chilli powder 1 - 2 tsp (to taste)
Coriander powder 1 tsp
Cumin powder 1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida (a pinch)
Salt to taste
Onion 1 medium chopped
Tomato 1 medium chopped
Oil 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds, Jeera for seasoning
Cilantro to garnish
Jaggery to taste.(1/4 tsp) (optional)

Method

1. Cook the moong dal in pressure cooker for about 15-20 mins with 3 cups of water, salt, asafoetida, turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder.
2. Heat oil in a kadai, add the seasonings and once done, saute the onions till translucent.
3. Add the tomatoes and saute for another 4-5 mins. 
4. Once the tomatoes start breaking, add the cooked dal. Mix well. Adjust salt and water.
5. Simmer for few minutes. I add a wee bit of jaggery at this stage. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Serve hot with chapiti or rice.

Chan-toor dal

Got this recipe from showmethecurry.com. Very simple and hearty, I made it for the yumm biriyani.


Ingredients:
Toor Daal – 1 cup
Channa Daal – 1/2 cup
Green Chili – 2 or to taste, slit
Tomato – 1 large, chopped
Ginger – 1 tsp, minced
Salt – to taste
Water – 3.5 cups

Seasoning:
Oil – 1 tbsp
Panch Puran – 2 tsp
Asafoetida (hing) – 1/8th tsp
Turmeric Powder (haldi) – ½ tsp
Red Chili Powder – to taste
Jaggery – 2 tsp
Garam Masala – 2 tsp
Lemon or Lime Juice – to taste
A few curry leaves
Cilantro – for garnish


Method:
1. Wash, rinse and soak both Daals in water for one hour.
2. Drain out the water and add to Pressure Cooker.
3. Add Green Chili, Minced Ginger, Tomatoes, Salt and Turmeric.
4. Mix well and close and allow it to whistle 1 time and ten turn off the flame. (Non-whistle type of Pressure Cooker, cook for 10 minutes)
5. Allow the pressure to release naturally.
6. In a separate saucepan, heat Oil.
7. Once hot, add Panch Poron mix and allow it to sizzle and pop.
8. Add a pinch of Asafoetida, immediately after that the curry leaves.
9. Fry for just a few seconds, then pour hot mix into the dal.
10. Into the Daal, add the Jaggery and Garam Masala. Cook on medium heat.
11. Allow the Daal to cook for another 5 minutes. Adjust spices and flavors.
12. Add a dash of Lemon or Lime Juice and mix well.
13. At time of serving, garnish with Cilantro.

Lemon rice

This is an easy item well liked by my hubby, especially for dabba lunch in office or in train! So here goes.

Ingredients
Rice 1 cup
Oil for seasoning
Mustard seeds 1 tsp
Urad dal 1 tsp
Chana dal 1 tsp
Green chillies 2 slit
Curry leaves a few
Asafoetida a pinch
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Mor molagai (Green chillies salted and cured in yogurt, dried, preserved, and fried-on-demand. This is optional but gives a wonderful dash to the lemon rice.)
Lemon juice 1 tbsp (to taste)

Mor molagai

Method

1. Cook rice, cool it and spread it out so that the grains are separate.
2. Heat oil in a kadai. Burst mustard. Add urad dal, chana dal, mor molagai, green chillies, curry leaves, asafoetida, turmeric powder, salt and fry till done. Take care to not burn anything.
3. Add the rice and give it a good mix. Adjust salt. Add lemon juice and mix it again.

Let it sit atleast an hour for the flavours to seep in. Serve with any curry, raita of your choice.

Kadala curry

This spicy and hearty gravy can be an accompaniment to many dishes like puttu, dosa, idiappam, nool puttu, upma and even chapiti.

Ingredients
Black chana 1 cup (washed well and soaked for 8-10 hours)
Onion 1 medium chopped
Tomato 1 medium chopped
Red chilli powder 2-3 tsp (to taste)
Saunf 1 tsp
Coriander powder 1 tsp
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Ginger - garlic paste 1/2 tsp (optional)
Grated coconut 2 tbsp
Oil 1 tbsp ( I use coconut oil for this dish)
Salt to taste
Mustard seeds, whole red chillies, curry leaves, oil for seasoning.

Method

1. Cook the soaked black chana in 2-3 cups of water. I pressure cook it for 30-40 minutes.it should be soft and well cooked. Do not discard the water.
2. Heat oil in a kadai. Add the saunf, onions and saute till transparent. Add tomatoes and all the masalas and coconut and fry for 5-6 mins. 
3. Cool the above and grind to a fine paste using very little water.
4. In the same kadai, heat oil and add seasonings. 
5. Once done, add the cooked chana with the water, salt and the ground masala. Adjust salt and water. If the gravy appears too thin, crush some of the cooked dal well and mix in. (I personally do not like the dal to be crushed in, it makes the dish bland. Instead I would increase the ground paste.)
6. Bring to a boil and simmer for a few mins after that.

Serve hot with the main dish of your choice.

Val beans gravy

 I discovered this bean in one of my hunting expeditions in the blogosphere for good(and easy) recipes. Most recipes which use this bean call for tamarind and I took it for granted that this bean needed sour. Took courage and purchased the bean and havent regretted it one bit. I tried my own recipe flinging masalas to get the taste "right". Do take a look at the glossary to get the name of the bean in different languages.

Ingredients
Val bean 1 cup soaked for 6 hours
Onion 1 big chopped fine
Tomato 1 big chopped fine
Cumin powder 1/4 tsp
Coriander powder 1 tsp
Chilli powder 1-2 tsp (to taste)
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Jaggery to taste
Coconut milk powder (or milk cream) (optional)
Ginger garlic paste 1/2 tsp (optional)
Salt to taste
Oil 1 tbsp
Jeera 1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves for garnishing.

Method

1. Pressure cook the val beans till tender and not mushy. We need them whole but soft. 10-15 mins should do the trick.
2. Heat oil in a kadai. Crackle jeera. 
3. Add onions and saute till translucent. 
4. Add tomatoes and cumin powder, turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, ginger garlic paste, salt and saute till oil separates.
5. Add the cooked val beans and simmer for 5 mins. Adjust salt and water.
6. Add coconut milk powder or cream if you want a creamy touch to the gravy. 
7. Add jaggery to taste.
8. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Serve hot with chapitis.

Egg Roast

This is a intuitive egg roast that I saw my m-i-l making. Its real yumm and full of masala flavours. Goes well with chapiti. Is a good option when you have unexpected guests.
Serves 3.

Ingredients
Eggs 3 or 4, hard boiled and then shelled.
Onion 1 big chopped fine
Tomato 1 small chopped fine
Chilli powder 1-2 tsp
Coriander powder 1 tsp
Garam masala to taste
Ginger garlic paste 1/2 tsp (optional)
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Coconut milk powder 2-3 tsp (you can add milk cream instead)
Oil 1 tbsp
Saunf 1 tsp
Coriander leaves to garnish.
Salt to taste

Method

1. Heat oil in a kadai and once hot, add the saunf and saute for a few seconds.
2. Add onions and saute till they get translucent. Add tomatoes, ginger-garlic paste, chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, garam masala, salt and saute till oil separates.
3. Add 1/4 cup water and add the coconut milk powder. We dont want too much of gravy. The dish is semi-gravy. Simmer for a few minutes till the gravy looks rich and thick and still has some flow in it.
4. Slice the eggs vertically taking care not to crush the yellow and drop carefully in the simmering gravy,
5. Mix carefully and let it simmer for 4-5 mins. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Let the dish sit for 10 mins so that the eggs absorb some of the masala. Serve hot with phulkas.

Masoor dal tadka

Aaah!! This is something I generally tried and we all loved it. I had whole masoor dal and I really, really was intrigued with the panch phoran masala that seems to be a staple of Bengali seasonings.

  

Ingredients

Masoor dal 1 cup soaked in water for an hour

Oil for seasoning

Panch phoran mix(Fenugreek seeds, Mustard seeds, Jeera seeds, Fennel seeds, Kalonji seeds - all in equal proportion) amounting to 1 and half tsp

Chopped garlic

Turmeric powder and asafoetida

Curry leaves

Cilantro

Method

1. Cook the masoor dal with salt, turmeric powder, asafoetida, 2 cups of water for 10-15 mins in pressure cooker.
2. Heat oil in a kadai. Add the panch phoran mix, curry leaves, chopped garlic and fry for a minute.
3. Add the cooked dal. Mix, adjust salt and water. Bring to a boil.
4. Garnish with cilantro.

Rasavaangi (with pumpkin)

My sister loves this dish! I got the authentic recipe from my darling chitti...

Ingredients
White pumpkin(ash gourd) cubed 1 cup
Tur dal 1 cup
Asafoetida a pinch
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Lemon juice to taste
Mustard seeds, Urad dal, curry leaves, Slit green chillies, oil for seasoning.

For the masala
Red chillies 2-3
Coriander seeds 2 tsp
Chana dal 1/2 tsp
Coconut 3 tsp

Method

1. Cook the pumpkin in salt and water till soft.
2. Cook the tur dal with salt, water, turmeric powder and asafoetida.
3. Roast the ingredients for masala and grind to a fine paste adding only enough water.
4. Mix the pumpkin, tur dal, masala and boil. Adjust salt and water.
5. Season with seasonings.
6. Add lemon juice to taste.

Serve hot with rice and poriyal.

Tomato rice

This is a favourite of mine. A one pot meal that can be done when tomatoes are in season. Serves 2-3 people

Ingredients
Tomatoes 4 large and ripe.
Onion 1 big chopped
Mustard seeds, Urad dal, Cashews, Raisins, curry leaves for garnishing
Chilli powder 2 tsp(to taste)
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Ginger garlic paste 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil 1 tbsp

Rice one and half cup

Method

1. Boil the tomatoes whole in water for 10-15 mins. Let them cool down, skin them and grind them to a puree without adding any water. Take care that no lumps are formed.
2. Cook rice in 3 cups of water, salt to taste(just enough for the rice) and 1 tsp of oil. Spread the rice on a wide plate to cool and separate the grains.
3. Heat oil in a kadai. Add seasonings and fry for a minute. 
4. Add onions and fry till they get translucent. Add ginger garlic paste and saute for 2 mins.
5. Add the tomato puree, chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt to taste (just enough for the masala). Mix well and cook till oil separates.
6. Add the cooled rice and mix well taking care not to crush the rice. 

Serve with a dal and raita. Its yumm!!

Aloo-Palak-Peas gravy

Ingredients
Potato 1 cup cubed
Palak half bunch washed well and chopped
Green peas (frozen or fresh) 1/2 cup
Onion 1 grated
Tomato 1 grated
Ginger garlic paste 1 tsp
Cumin powder 1/4 tsp
Coriander powder 1/4 tsp
Chilli powder 1 tsp
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Saunf 1 tsp
Oil 1 tbsp
Garam masala to taste
Salt to taste
Water to cook

Method

1. Heat oil in a pan. Crackle the saunf. Add grated onion, ginger garlic paste and saute till raw smell goes off.
2. Add tomato puree/grated, turmeric pow, chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and fry for 2-3 mins.
3. Add the potatoes and palak, salt to taste and give it a good mix. Add 1/4 cup water and cook covered, stirring occasionally, till potatoes are almost cooked.
4. Add the green peas, garam masala and cook some more. Add bit more water if needed. Simmer for 5 mins till all the flavours are blended well.

Serve hot with rotis.

Vendakya mezhukku varati (Bhindi-fry-2)

Mezhukku varati is a Mallu term for stir-fry-in-oil. Some subjis are thorans(cooked with coconut and some moisture) and some are mezhukku varatis.
In my Bhindi fry 1, I used a very simple spice of roasted coriander-red chillies powder. Here I use a combination of onion, green chillies, curry leaves, asafoetida to give the bhindi fry a different flavour. And yes, its in coconut oil.

Ingredients
Bhindi washed well, wiped dry and chopped to half inch pieces (remember to wipe the washed bhindis well)
Salt to taste
Green chillies 2-3 chopped
Coconut Oil, mustard seeds, curry leaves for seasoning.
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida a pinch
Onion 1 chopped

Method

1. In a pan, heat oil. Burst mustard. Add salt and stir for a second.
2. Add chopped onions, curry leaves, asafoetida, green chillies and stir till onions turn translucent.
3. Add bhindis, turmeric powder and give it a good stir. Do not add water at all.
4. Cook covered for about 5-10 minutes on low heat till bhindis become soft. Initially the bhindi gets gooey, dont lose heart, stir well and cover again to cook some more.
5. Once the bhindis reach the soft cooked stage and have lost the goo, stir fry with lid open, till its a bit caramerlised.

Bhindi fry - 1

Lets face it... bhindis get gooey once salted. And then they refuse to cook. After a long innings of experiments with all kinds of tawas and imli and what not, I got the solution from my ma. :-)

The below bhindi fry goes well with rasam saadam and is a hit with kids.

Ingredients
Bhindi washed well, wiped dry and chopped to half inch pieces (remember to wipe the washed bhindis well)
Salt to taste
Oil, mustard seeds for seasoning.
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Roasted coriander-chilli powder (I call it curry powder).

Method

1. In a pan, heat oil. Burst mustard. Add salt and stir for a second.
2. Add chopped bhindis, turmeric powder, curry powder and give it a good stir. Do not add water at all.
3. Cook covered for about 5-10 minutes on low heat till bhindis become soft. Initially the bhindi gets gooey, dont lose heart, stir well and cover again to cook some more.
4. Once the bhindis reach the soft cooked stage and have lost the goo, stir fry with lid open, till its a bit caramerlised.

Enjoy!

Rasam

A Tam-Brahm meal isnt really complete without the comforting rasam. Quick to make if you have the hang of the blend of tastes, its wonderful for kids too. It will take a few trials to get the blend of flavours just right. I could do it, so can anyone!

Ingredients
 Tur dal 1/4 cup washed well
Asafoetida a pinch
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Tamarind extract of a small gooseberry sized piece
Sambar powder 1 tsp
Rasam powder 1 tsp
Tomato 1 big chopped to small pieces
Ghee, mustard seeds, curry leaves, red chillies for seasoning.
Chopped coriander to garnish
Salt to taste.
Jaggery to taste

Method

1. In a pan, mix the tamarind water, sambar powder, rasam powder, tomatoes, salt and boil till tomatoes get cooked.
2. Cook the tur dal with asafoetida and turmeric powder in a pressure cooker. Mash the dal well.
3. Once the tamarind mix is cooked, add the dal water. Adjust salt and water levels and simmer for few mins till rasam starts frothing. Switch off heat.
4. Add jaggery and chopped cilantro. On top of this season with seasonings. I add roasted-crushed jeera pepper to the seasonings.

Note:

• Add crushed garlic to the seasonings to make garlic-rasam.
• An extra helping of pepper in the seasonings can give it the pepper-rasam twist.

Lemon rasam

My sonny loves lemon rasam and he was kinda disappointed that my blog hasn't yet carried his favourite. So here it is.

Ingredients
Tur dal 1 tbsp washed well.
Tomato 1 big chopped to small pieces
Green chillies 2 slit
Oil 1 tsp
Rasam powder and/or sambar powder 1/2 tsp each.
Lemon juice to taste.
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida a pinch
Chopped coriander leaves
Ghee, mustard seeds, red chilli, curry leaves for seasoning.
Jeera-pepper roasted powder (optional)
Jaggery 1/2 tsp (optional)

Method

1. Heat oil in a small pressure cooker. Add the green chillies, tomatoes, asafoetida, turmeric powder and saute for 2 mins.
2. Add the washed dal, a cup of water, salt, sambar and rasam powder and cook with the lid closed for about 2-3 whistles.
3. Once the pressure is released, open the cooker and mash the cooked dal well. Add more water and salt if required and simmer for few mins till rasam starts frothing.
4. Add the lemon juice, chopped coriander leaves and jaggery (if you like it).
5. Season with seasonings. I normally add the jeera-pepper powder with the seasonings.

Serve hot with rice. Its very easy to cook and delicious.

Masoor dal pulao

Found this recipe at Chefinyou Masoor dal pulao. The below is how I made it.

Ingredients
Long grained rice 1 cup
Masoor dal 1/3 cup
Onion 1 big chopped
Spring onions 1 stalk chopped
Cilantro chopped.
Tomato 1 big chopped
Mint leaves a few
Frozen peas 1/4 cup
Saunf 1 tsp
Ginger-garlic paste 1 tsp
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Green chillies slit 2-3
Biriyani masala powder 1 tsp
Lemon juice few drops
Water or coconut milk 2 cups.
Salt to taste.
Oil 1 tbsp
Cinnamon 1 piece, 1 clove and 1 bay leaf

Method

1. Wash the rice and dal together well and allow to soak for 15-20 mins. Drain water and keep aside.
2. In a heavy bottomed pan, heat oil add the saunf, cinnamon, clove and bay leaf. Once they sizzle, add the onions,green chillies, ginger garlic paste and stir till raw smell goes.
3. Add the mint leaves, tomatoes, salt to taste and stir till tomatoes look mushy.
4. Add the soaked and drained rice mix, turmeric powder, biriyani masala and mix well for about 2-3 minutes.
5. Add the coconut milk/water, peas, lemon juice and simmer for few minutes till rice starts appearing on top.
6. Reduce heat to minimum and cook covered for exactly 15 mins. Switch off heat and let it rest another 5 minutes.
7. Fluff it a bit and garnish with cilantro and/or chopped spring onions.

Serve with raita, papad and pickle. Perfect for days when you dont have too many things at hand and still want some filling meal. The peas, spring onions, mint leaves are optional, if you dont have them, dont hassle yourself too much. And you can even scale it up a bit, with adding more veggies to your taste.

Potato-chow chow subji

This is a yumm subji that goes well with rotis. I made it on-the-fly with just the target taste in mind.

Ingredients
Potato 1 large peeled and cubed
Chow chow 1 peeled and cubed
Onion 1 grated
Ginger-garlic paste
Oil 1 tsp
Saunf 1 tsp
Chilli powder 1 tsp
Coriander powder 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Cumin powder 1/4 tsp
Chicken masala (dont get scared, even garam masala would do fine. The chicken masala I used has a very good mix of spices)
Jaggery 1/2 tsp (optional if you dont like sweet)
Coconut milk 2 tbsp( I used a tbsp of coconut milk powder)
Salt to taste.
Curry leaves a few
Half cup water to cook.

Method

1. Heat oil in kadai. Add the saunf and once they splutter, add the grated onions, ginger garlic paste and stir till raw smell disappears.
2. Add the potatoes, chow-chow, curry leaves, salt and give it a good mix.
3. Add all the powders(chilli pow, coriander pow, turmeric pow, cumin pow, garam masala pow). Mix well. Add a bit of water and cook covered till almost done.
4. Add the coconut milk and jaggery and simmer for a few mins till the gravy thickens well.

Serve hot with rotis.

Beans parupu usili

Learnt this from ma. Delicious!

Ingredients
Beans chopped fine 2 cups
Tur dal 1/4 cup
Red chillies 5-6
Chana dal 1/4 cup
Oil, mustard seeds, curry leaves for seasoning
Asafoetida a pinch
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp

Method

1. Soak tur dal and chana dal in water for 30 mins. 
2. Coarsely grind the dals and red chillies with just enough water.
3. Add salt to taste and asafoetida to the ground paste and steam it for 10-15 mins.
4. Allow the cooked dal mixture to cool and crumble coarsely with hands.
5. Cook beans with turmeric powder and salt to taste with just enough water. The beans should be tender.
6. In a kadai, heat oil, add seasonings and add the beans and cooked dal mixture. Toss it well. The dal and beans should mix thoroughly.

My pa loves it with plain hot rice. :-)

Vetta kozhambu

This is a South Indian Brahmin dish. Its actually vattal kozhambu, the vattals being salted and spiced dried brinjal or black night shade(manathakkali in Tamil). The other veggie options are drumstick or pearl onions or yellow pumpkin. This vetta kozhambu has pearl onions and yellow pumpkin.

I have a HUGE crushing weakness for vetta kozhambu. And please note, my mom makes the best vetta kozhambu ever.

Ingredients
Tamarind extract of gooseberry sized ball.
Sambar powder 2 tsp.
Asafoetida a pinch
Salt to taste
Pearl onions peeled 10
Cubed yellow pumpkin 1/2 cup
Mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds
Til oil 1 tsp
Curry leaves a few
Jaggery to taste
Rice powder if needed.

Method

1. Heat oil in kadai. Once hot, burst mustard, fenugreek seeds, asafoetida, pearl onions and saute.
2. Once onions are transparent, switch off gas. Add the sambar powder and stir for 2-3 seconds. Take good care that the powder is not burnt.
3. Immediately pour the tamarind extract, salt, pumpkin and switch on gas. Cook covered till pumpkin is cooked. 
4. Adjust, salt, water and sambar powder. If sambar powder is less, fry more separately and add. 
5. Add jaggery, curry leaves and simmer for few minutes. If the kozhambu is too watery, mix some rice powder in a tbsp of the gravy and add along with jaggery.

Serve hot with rice, payatam parupu, cabbage thoran.

Radish poriyal

The method and ingredients are similar to that of carrot poriyal.

Ingredients
Radishes 3-4 diced
Red chillies 3 broken
Curry leaves a few
Asafoetida a pinch
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil 1 tsp
Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp
Grated coconut 1 tbsp
Sugar 1/2 tsp or to taste

Method

1. Heat oil in a kadai. Once hot, add the mustard seeds, urad dal, red chillies, curry leaves, asafoetida.
2. Once done, add the redish, turmeric powder, salt and mix well.
3. Cook covered, sprinking water once a few mins for it to get cooked till soft but still firm.
4. Sprinkle grated coconut and sugar and mix well.

Serve hot with rice and sambar.

Aloo methi

This is very similar to aloo capsicum, well atleast the masala is.

Ingredients
2-3 Potatoes peeled and cubed to big pieces.
1/2 bunch methi, washed, destalked, chopped and salted well.
1 Onion grated (optional)
2 large Tomatoes grated
Oil
Salt to taste
Chilli powder
Coriander powder
Turmeric powder
Cumin powder
Jeera
Saunf

Method

1. Heat oil in a kadai or pressure cooker. I used my small pressure cooker.
2. Add jeera and saunf. Once they are done, add the grated onion and fry well.
3. Once done, add tomato paste, all the spice powders and fry for 3-4 mins.
4. Squeeze out the water from methi leaves.
5. Add the aloo and methi, salt, half a cup of water and mix well.
6. Close the lid and let it cook for 2-3 whistles. Take care not to over cook.
7. Open the pan and if you find too much water floating around, let it simmer for a while.
8. You can add chopped coriander leaves.

Serve with phulkas.

Mixed bean curry

I mixed up a few beans : lobia beans, oriental beans, black eyed beans, and green moong(just for the heck of it). Soaked in water for a few hours, the colours looked beautiful while soaking. Simmered in tomato based gravy, they were delicious. Here is how I made it. Ingredients Lobia beans ½ cup Red beans(karamani) ½ cup Oriental beans ¼ cup Moong ½ cup Onion 1 big chopped Tomatoes 2 big chopped Chilli powder 1 tsp Cumin powder ½ tsp Coriander powder 1 tsp Ginger garlic paste 1 tsp Chopped coriander leaves Salt to taste Jeera ½ tsp Saunf ½ tsp Oil 1 tbsp Red beans
	Oriental beans
	Green moong
	Lobia beans
Method Wash and soak the dals for atleast 6 hours. If you don’t have as much time, soak them in sunlight. Once they are soft, wash them again, add cumin powder, coriander powder, chilli powder, turmeric powder, saunf and cook in pressure cooker with 2-3 cups of water. It should be cooked till soft and mashable. In a kadai, heat oil, add jeera, onions and sauté. Once done add the tomatoes and ginger garlic paste, salt and stir for 3-4 mins. Add the cooked beans, adjust salt and water and simmer for few mins. Garnish with chopped cilantro. Serve hot with chapitis or rice.

Carrot poriyal

My boys aren't fond of carrots. I see their faces go down, when served a carrot dish. But this is one dish they eat silently, even enjoy it a bit. But there are many conditions you see.. I shouldn't make it too often, the spices should be just right and so on... Personally if you ask me, I love it. :-)

Ingredients
Carrots 3-4 diced
Red chillies 3 broken
Curry leaves a few
Asafoetida a pinch
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil 1 tsp
Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp
Grated coconut 1 tbsp
Sugar 1/2 tsp or to taste

Method

1. Heat oil in a kadai. Once hot, add the mustard seeds, urad dal, red chillies, curry leaves, asafoetida.
2. Once done, add the carrots, turmeric powder, salt and mix well.
3. Cook covered, sprinking water once a few mins for it to get cooked till soft but still firm.
4. Sprinkle grated coconut and sugar and mix well.

Serve hot with rice and sambar.

Turia subji

This is a subji that I tried a few weeks ago. Liked the blend of turia, spices and peanut. Try it sometime, you will like it. I found this at someother blog and do not remember which. :-(


Ingredients

serves 2-3
2 ridge gourds, peeled and diced
1 onion, diced
1 potato, diced
4-5 curry leaves
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp red chili powder
1/4 tsp cumin powder
1/4 tsp coriander powder
1/4 tsp garam masala
1/4 cup roasted peanut powder
1 tsp jaggery crushed
1 tsp tamarind paste

Method

1. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, when they sputter, add curry leaves and onion. Stir till onion is transluscent. 
2. Add turmeric, salt, chili powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, garam masala and stir for a few seconds. 
3. Add ridge gourd and potato and stir for 2 minutes. Add a cup of water, peanut powder, jaggery, tamarind paste and let simmer on medium heat till potatoes are tender and curry is thickened. 
4. Garnish with cilantro. Serve hot with chapitis.

Methi pulao

When I got a frantic message from a cousin on my chat window for a dish with methi leaves and that she was dying of hunger, Methi pulao was the first dish that came to my mind. One dish meal, easy to cook and tasty too,the flavour of methi in this is just too good! I found it at showmethecurry.com

Here it is.

Ingredients:
Fenugreek/Methi – 1 bunch
Rice- 2 cups
Oil – 2 tbsp
Cumin Seeds – 1/2 tsp
Tomato – 1, med. diced
Turmeric Powder (Haldi) – 1/2 tsp
Green Chillies – to taste, finely chopped
Red Chili Powder – to taste
Coriander Powder (Dhaniya) – 1 tbsp
Salt – to taste
Water – 4 cups

1. Chop the roots and the thick stems off the bunch of fenugreek leaves.
2. Wash well and finely chop the rest.
3. Sprinkle a generous amount of salt on the leaves, mix and keep aside for 15-20 minutes.
4. Wash the rice well and soak in some water and keep aside for 20 minutes.
5. In a pan (that has a tight fitting lid), heat oil on medium heat.
6. Once the oil is hot, add in the cumin seeds and allow them to change color.
7. Add in green chillies and tomatoes, turmeric powder.
8. Squeeze out the water from the fenugreek leaves and put them in the pan.
9. Add in coriander powder and red chili powder.
10. Cook for a couple of minutes.
11. Drain the water from the rice and add the rice to the methi leaves.
12. Cook for 2 minutes.
13. Add the water and mix well.
14. Check on the salt, add if needed.
15. Increase the heat, and allow the rice to cook till most of the water has evaporated and you can see the rice come up to the surface.
16. Mix, lower heat, preferably to simmer and cover. Cook for 15 minutes.
17. After 15 minutes, open cover, turn off the heat, mix/fluff gently.
18. Cover and allow the Rice to rest for a couple of minutes before serving.
19. Serve hot with Raita and pickle.

Cucumber raita

It was searingly hot when I brought back sonny from school. So hot that he agreed to have a cup of cucumber raita after lunch. The version that I made was very simple cucumber and yogurt beaten well and salted. I like to grate my cucumber rather than chop it. I know, its more work and messy, but it just slips down when you spoon it in!! The yogurt should be fresh and not sour, and beaten well. You can add a bit of cumin powder or chat masala, or mint masala or green chillies chopped, or coriander leaves chopped. Or any permutation and combination that takes your fancy. Enjoy!

Capsicum Rice

Capsicums. I tend to start wondering what to do with them when they sit staring at me everytime I slide open the veggie basket in the refridgerator. Decided to cook capsicum rice for dabba since the Man likes 'kalandha saadams' for dabba. My reference was Mallika Badrinath's cook book 100 Rice Delights.

Ingredients
Rice 1 cup
Capsicum 2 chopped
Lemon juice to taste(optional)
Grated coconut 2 tbsp scraped
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Mustard seeds, chana dal, urad dal, red chillies, curry leaves to season
Cashews and peanuts to season(optional)

Masala powder (fry in oil and powder)

Red chillies 3
Cinnamon 1/2 inch stick
Coriander seeds 2 tsp
Cumin seeds 1/2 tsp
Chana dal 1 tsp
Urad dal 1 tsp

Method

1. Cook rice with 2 cups water. Cool and separate the grains.
2. Heat oil in a kadai. Add the seasonings and stir for 1 min.
3. Once done add the capsicum, turmeric powder, salt and cook till capsicums turn soft. Add the coconut and stir for a minute or so.
4. Add cooked rice to this, the masala powder and mix well. Adjust salt. Add lemon juice and mix well.

Moong dal with Chow-chow

This is a very simple and delicious kootu, goes well with phulkas. No masala whatsoever!
I learnt it from my Ma.

Ingredients
Moong dal(split, yellow) 1/2 cup
Chow-chow chopped 1 cup
Sambar powder 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Chopped onion 1 small
Green chillies to taste
Curry leaves few
Mustard seeds
Oil 1 tbsp

Method

1. Wash the moong dal well. 
2. Add the moong dal, or chow-chow, sambar powder, salt, a cup of water and cook for 10-15 mins, till the dal and chow-chow are cooked well.
3. Heat oil. Once hot, add the mustard seeds, chopped onions, green chillies, curry leaves and saute.
4. Add to the cooked dal.

Serve hot with phulkas.

Drumstick leaves curry (Murunga ela kootaan)

Simple, nutritious and tasty. Thats drumstick leaves curry for you.

Ingredients
Drumstick leaves 1 cup washed well. The leaves should be off the main stalks.
Tur dal 1 cup
Chilli powder 1 tsp
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida a pinch
Coconut 2 tbsp scraped
Jeera 1 tsp
Oil, mustard seeds, curry leaves, red chilli broken for seasoning.

Method

1. Wash the dal well. Cook it with turmeric powder, chilli powder and asafoetida. 
2. When it is half cooked, add the drumstick leaves and cook some more. Do not over cook the drumstick leaves.
3. Grind the coconut and jeera to a fine paste. Add it to the dal and mix well. Add salt and simmer for few minutes.
4. Season with the mentioned seasonings.

Serve hot with rice.

Note
If you over cook  the leaves, they tend to turn bitter.

Nellikkai rasam (Gooseberry rasam)

Intriguing?? Me too was intrigued when me came across this rasam at awesomecuisine.com
I went through the ingredients and recipe and finally decided to try it my way. Here is how I did it. And yes, my boys liked it, inspite of it having the very slight caustic bitter of gooseberry.

Ingredients
Tur dal 1 tbsp (washed well)
Green chillies 2 chopped
Tomato 1 big chopped
Oil 1 tsp
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Sambar powder 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida a pinch
Gooseberry - 2 boiled, deseeded and chopped to small pieces.
Lemon juice 2 tsp (or to taste)
Ginger 1/2 inch chopped fine
Coriander leaves chopped
Roasted cumin-pepper powder, curry leaves, mustard seeds, broken red chilli for seasoning
Ghee for seasoning
Crushed jaggery to taste.
Salt to taste.

Method

1. Heat oil in a small pressure cooker(my favourite tiny hawkins, what would I do without you?).
2. Add the green chillies. Once they turn whitish, add the tomatoes, sambar powder, ginger, gooseberries, turmeric powder, asafoetida and stir for 2-3 mins.
3. Add the tur dal, 1 cup of water and cook well for 15 - 20 mins.
4. Once cooked, mash well with a potato masher or whisk well. Transfer to a handi or kadai, add more water if required, salt to taste. Heat at min. Let it start frothing.
5. When it just starts frothing, add the lemon juice and jaggery. Adjust the lemon juice-jaggery-salt so that the bitter taste of gooseberries is masked, and just its caustic flavour remains.
6. Add chopped coriander leaves. 
7. Heat ghee and add the seasonings. Add on top of the coriander leaves.

Serve hot with rice.

Note

• Go easy on the quantity of gooseberry. 
• The above measures serve 2-3 people.
  

Peas pulao

The Man is not a chapiti lover. He wants rice. Some rice, any rice, but please... rice with every meal. So it was peas pulao with kadi, chapiti, and subji tonight. I did not want to go the whole hog, so cut down on the richness aspect. This is the bare-bones peas pulav as I see it. See note below to make a real fragrant peas pulao.

Ingredients
Rice 1 cup
Water 2 cups
Frozen peas 1 cup (thawed to room temperature)
Jeera 1 tsp
Onion 1 medium chopped
Green chilli chopped to taste
Red chilli powder to taste
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Ginger-garlic paste 1 tsp
Handful of mint leaves chopped (absolutely optional, I added them simply because they were staring at me threatening to spoil unless consumed quickly)
Oil 1 tbsp
Salt to taste

Method

1. Cook the rice with salt and little bit of ghee. Spread so that the grains separate.
2. Heat oil in a kadai. Add jeera. Once it splutters, add onion, green chillies. Fry till onions turn translucent.
3. Add the green chillies, ginger garlic paste and saute for a couple of minutes.
4. Add green peas, salt to taste, turmeric powder, chilli powder, chopped mint leaves and saute for a few mins more.
5. Mix in the rice, thoroughly so that it heats all the way through.

Serve hot with raita, papad, or any combo of your choice.

Note:

• Can fry cashews, kismis and add. It will more rich.
• One clove, cardamom, 1/2 inch piece of cinnamon before adding the onions will give added flavour.
• The rice can be cooked with some coconut milk. Gets real delicious that way.
• I add salt for the rice and salt for the peas masala separately. So that the salt level is just right for the dish.

Sweet potato-turia-lauki subji

I had sweet potatoes, a few chunks of lauki which were already chopped and which I wanted to finish, and a turia. I just wanted to try this combination, and with some trepidation, set about thinking up of how I wanted it to taste.
Do let me know by comments or email, if you can think of a different and interesting masala to this combo.

Ingredients
Sweet potato skinned and chopped to chunks 1 cup
Lauki skinned chopped to chunks 1 cup
Turia skinned and chopped to chunks 1 cup
Onion 1 big grated
Tomato 1 big grated
Ginger garlic paste 1 tsp
Chilli powder 1 tsp
Coriander powder 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder 1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Garam masala to taste
Crushed jaggery 2 tsp
Chopped coriander leaves 1 tbsp
Oil 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
Water 1/2 cup

Method

1. Heat oil in a pan or kadai. I used my tiny hawkins.
2. Add the grated onion and stir for few mins. Add the ginger garlic paste and grated tomato and stir for a minute or two.
3. Add the chopped sweet potato, lauki, turia salt and mix well.
4. Add the chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder, garam masala and mix well.
5. Add 1/2 cup water and cook covered for 10 mins or till well cooked. 
6. Adjust salt to taste, add the jaggery and simmer for few mins. 
7. Add chopped coriander leaves and give it a good mix.

Serve hot with rotis or phulkas. It will be a semi-gravy dish.
Sonny baba loved it.  :-)

Gujarati kadi

Dinner was a sweet potato-turia-lauki subji that I invented on the fly to go with phulkas. It seemed too simple for a weekend meal, so I decided to add Gujarati kadi. Reminds me of home. I love it.


Ingredients:
2 cups sour and thick buttermilk (or yogurt/curd) beaten well
1.5 tbl spn besan(gram flour)
1 tea spn chili-ginger paste
3-4 curry leaves
1 tbl spn sugar
2-3 strands coriander leaves
1/2 tea spn cumin seeds
1/4 tea spn fenugreek seeds
A pinch asafoetida
1 tbl spn ghee
Salt to taste
Turmeric 1/4 tsp


Method:

1. Make a mixture of buttermilk/yogurt and besan. Beat it really well. Add the turmeric and mix well.
2. Heat Ghee, add cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds and asafoetida. 
3. Now add the buttermilk mixture and mix well. 
4. Add the curry leaves, salt, coriander leaves, chilly-ginger paste and sugar.
5. Bring it to a boil.

Serve hot with phulkas, rice and another subji.

Ven pongal(White pongal)

What is a wedding breakfast without pongal-chutney as one of the items?? My father's eternal favourite.
At my place, I sometimes make it for lunch or dinner, light, easy and hearty.

This is how we make it. Pongal increases to many times its original volume. The below measures are for 4-5 people.

Ingredients
Rice 1 cup
Moong dal 1/4 cup
Jeera 2 tsp
Peppercorn 1 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves
Asafoetida a pinch
Cashew broken
Ghee 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds and red chillies (optional)
Salt to taste.
Water 5 cups.

Method

1. Dry roast the jeera and pepper corn. Once they cool, powder them coarsely. Keep aside.
2. Heat a kadai. Dry roast the rice and moong dal. Keep stirring. Dont let it burn. Let it cool once the rice starts curling up. Once its cool, wash thoroughly with water.
3. In a cooker, add the rice and moong dal, 5 cups of water, salt, asafoetida. Cook it for one whistle on high and one more whistle on low.
4. The pongal should be very well cooked.
5. Heat ghee. Add the cashew, curry leaves, pepper-jeera powder, mustard seeds, red chillies.
6. Add it to the cooked pongal and mix well. 

Serve hot with chutney and gotsu.

Sakkarai pongal (sweet pongal)

This is a yumm comfort food, one which takes me down memory lane to Amma's food. It was a happy moment when my sonny said its one of his favourites and asked to make it sometime.
This recipe is from my mother. Very simple. No frills.

Ingredients

Raw rice 1 cup

Crushed jaggery 1 and half cup

Ghee half cup

Cashews and raisins, cardamom powder

Milk 2 cups

payatham paruppu (moong dal) 1.4 cup

Method

• Roast rice and payatham parupu withour oil in a kadai till it turns slightly brown.

• Cool, wash well and drain water well.

• Add 5 cups of water to milk in a thick bottemed vessel. Add the rice and cook.

• Mix 1 cup of water in jaggery and heat till it dissolves.

• When it is almost cooked add the jaggery after straining for mud.

• Add the ghee and seasoning and cook till it becomes thick.

Note
water can taken less increasing the milk

Aloo tikki

My boy has been asking for this simple snack, and I was only too happy to find it in showmethecurry.com
I blindly followed their recipe and it was pretty good.

Here it is

Ingredients:
Potatoes – 2 large, boiled & peeled
Dried Fenugreek Leaves – 1 Tbsp (aka Kasoori Methi)
Roasted Peanuts – 2 Tbsp, roughly crushed (optional)
Onion – 1/4 medium, finely chopped
Green Chilies – to taste, finely chopped
Salt – to taste
Roasted Cumin Powder – 1/2 tsp
Chaat Masala – 1 tsp
Dried Mango Powder – 1/4 tsp (aka Amchur)
Cilantro – 2 Tbsp, finely chopped
Bread Crumbs – as needed for coating tikkis
Oil – for pan frying


Method:
1. Using a grater, grate boiled potatoes (big shred). Potatoes can also be mashed using potato masher.
2. Add Onions, Peanuts, Cilantro, Green Chilies and Dried Fenugreek Leaves. Mix gently.
3. Add Salt, Chaat Masala, Roasted Cumin Powder and Dried Mango Powder. Mix well.
4. Apply a little Oil to your hands and take a portion of the potato mixture into your hands. Roll it into a ball and flatten it out gently. Tikki can be rolled small for appetizers or larger for veggie burgers.
5. Roll out all of the tikkis.
6. Pour out some bread crumbs on a flat plate and dip and roll the tikkis to coat completely.
7. Heat a little oil in a non-stick skillet on medium heat and shallow fry the tikkis until they are crispy and brown. Both sides should be browned.
8. Serve hot with mint or coriander chutney and tamarind chutney.

Yumm biriyani

This is the Hyderabadi biriyani dish I made from Archana's kitchen. I made slight changes to her sequence, but the spirit remains the same. I have christened it to 'yumm biriyani'. Dont let the long list of ingredients scare you. Its not as difficult as it looks, and worth every minute of the effort.

Ingredients

• beans sliced to long pieces
• carrots sliced to long pieces
• potatoes sliced to long pieces
• cauliflower florets
• peas
• capsicum sliced to long pieces

Wet Ingredients

• 2 - 3 tablespoons of garlic + ginger + green chilli paste
• 1 cup sliced onions

Dry Ingredients

• 1 cloves
• 1/2 inch stick of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 2 whole cardamoms
• 1 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
• 2 teaspoons of red chilli powder (or 3-4 whole red chillies)

Other Ingredients

• 2 cups of good quality basmati rice
• 1 cup of freshly chopped tomatoes
• 1 cup yogurt beaten well
• ½ cup freshly chopped mint leaves
• 1 pinch of saffron
• 1/2 cup of sliced and caramelized onions
• Salt to taste
• 1-2 tablespoon of Sunflower Oil/Vegetable oil

Method

• Cook the rice with 3 cups of water. The water added is less than is required, we don't want to rice to get fully cooked, as it will get cooked again with the biriyani masala, whose process follows below.

• Steam the vegetables until done and not over cooked.

• Heat oil in a big sauce pan; add the clove, cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaf, fennel seeds, jeera. Once done add the onions and saute. Add the grren chilli-garlic-ginger paste sauté on low/medium heat until it releases a nice aroma and also has changed color to a slight golden brown.

• Now add the chopped tomato, turmeric powder, chilli powder and saute until it has turned soft and almost like a paste.

• Add the yogurt, salt, saffron and mint leaves and the vegetables. Bring it to one boil.

• With this masala being at the bottom of the pan, add the almost cooked rice on top of this masala, don't mix it as yet. Now cover the pan with a lid and let it sit for 15 more minutes on low heat. Turn off heat and let the biriyani sit for another 15-20 minutes, covered.

• Finally add the add the caremelized onions and gently stir in the masala from the bottom into the rice. The flavors released are simply aromatic. Do not mix too thoroughly.

Note: Cooking Time and Water for each rice might vary. So at the end of the cooking process if you feel the rice is still a little hard, then add a little more water and cook on the lowest heat for a few more minutes.

Sweet potato subji

I want to explore the sweet potato, so bought a few. Lunch today is simple rasam and sweet potato subji. Here is how I made it.

Ingredients
Sweet potato 1 skinned and cubed
Mustard seeds 1/4 tsp
Urad dal 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida 1 pinch
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Chilli-Coriander powder 1/2 tsp (I dry roast red chillies and coriander seeds in 1:1 proportion, grind and keep)
Salt to taste
Oil 1/2 tsp

Method

1. Heat oil in kadai. Once hot, burst mustard, urad dal. 
2. Add the sweet potato chunks, turmeric powder, chilli-coriander powder, salt to taste. Mix well.
3. Sprinkle some water and cook covered.
4. It should soften and feel like potatoes once cooked.
5. Give a good toss.  

Serve hot with rice and some curry of your choice.

Mushroom masala

We like mushrooms. Mushroom sandwich, mushroom subji, mushroom pulao and so on.
I should mention that showmethecurry.com, had shown a good way to precook mushrooms since its a little dicey to add them and cook like other veggies.
This is one way I do mushroom subji. Goes well with chapati.

Ingredients
Mushrooms 2 cups, washed well and chopped to bite size pieces.
Water 2 cups.
Salt to taste.
Onion 1 big chopped
Tomatoes 2 big chopped
Green chillies 2 chopped
Chilli powder 1 tsp
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Coriander powder 1 tsp
Cumin powder 1/2 tsp
Ginger garlic paste 1 tsp
Coriander leaves for garnishing
Jeera seeds for seasoning.
Oil 1 tsp

Method

1. Boil the water with a bit of salt. Once its boiling, add the mushrooms, switch off the heat and cover. Keep aside for atleast 10 mins.
2. Heat oil in a kadai. Add jeera seeds. Once they splutter, add onions, green chillies and fry till onions are transparent.
3. Add tomatoes, all the powders, ginger garlic paste and fry till oil separates.
4. Drain the water from the mushrooms. Add the mushrooms to the masala and cook again. You can add the water from blanched mushrooms if you need a bit of gravy. Simmer for 5 mins.
5. Dress with coriander leaves.

Serve hot with phulkas.

Note
If you have tried cooking mushrooms before, you will know that they keep sweating water when salt is added and refuse to get cooked. Dunking them in salted boiling water takes away all this water and helps them to cook. You can use this water in other dishes. Courtesy showmethecurry.com

Egg curry

We love egg curry with chapiti, appam, nool puttu(which reminds me, I have to try this dish)... and so on...

I was kinda bored with the usual onion-tomato based gravy, and so decided to try my own gravy for the same. Here is how I did it.

Ingredients
Eggs - 3 - boiled well, shelled, and sliced to two halves each (for the three of us)
Onion 1 large chopped
Coriander seeds 1 tsp
Red chillies 2-3
Peppercorn 1/4 tsp
Saunf 1/4 tsp
Coconut grated 1/2 cup
Garam masala to taste
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds, Curry leaves, Red chillies to season

Method

1. Heat part of the oil in a kadai. When its hot, add the saunf, coriander seeds, onion, pepper corn, red chilli and fry. Transfer to mixie when onion turns transparent.
2. Heat the kadai again and roast the coconut till it browns. Stay with it stirring continuously. Transfer to mixie.
3. Grind all this together with some water to make a smooth paste.
4. Heat oil in kadai, add the seasonings. Once they are done, add the ground masala, garam masala, turmeric powder, salt , water as needed and bring to one boil. Simmer for 5 mins or so. The thickness of the gravy depends on how much water you add.
5. In a wide, serving dish, arrange the eggs with the yellow side up. Pour the gravy over it and around it. This will help the eggs soak up the gravy.

Note

• You can garnish with cilantro leaves.
• Some people do not slice the eggs fully. They just slit it on one side and dunk the eggs into the gravy. My observation is that the eggs do not soak up as much gravy by this method.
• You can add some kasuri methi too for added flavour.
• The same gravy can be used to make kadala curry (which is an accompaniment to puttu).

Ulli theeyal

I love this close cousin of vetta kozhambu. Its the ulli theeyal of mallu-land. Pearl onions simmered in tamarind based gravy with select spices. I found the recipe on the internet. Unfortunately, I do not remember the website. And I have made a couple of additions to take the dish to another level.

Spicy and heavenly with hot white rice, the perfect accompaniment to it would be a non-sour dish like olan or ishtoo. And today's ishtoo was kappa ishtoo.

Here it goes

Ingredients

Small onions - 20 of them(peeled, washed and sliced)

Dry red chillies - 6 nos

Coriander seeds - 2 tbsp

Coconut - 1/2 of one grated finely

Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Coconut oil - 1 tbsp

Tamarind extract of a gooseberry sized ball

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Dry red chillies - 2 - 3 nos for seasoning

Curry leaves - A few

Jaggery crushed 1-2 tsp

Rice powder as and if needed

Salt - As reqd

Method

 

1. Heat up a pan or a kadai.
2. Add fenugreek seeds and stir for a sec.
3. Add red chillies and coriander seeds and fry for a while, transfer to mixie.
4. Roast the coconut well, till it turns brown. Be careful to not let it burn. Stir constantly. This step may be a little exasperating since you will find bigger bits of the coconut refusing to brown. Its enough if most of the coconut is brown.Transfer to mixie.
5. Allow the above roasted mixture to cool.
6. Grind it in a mixer grinder along with enough water into a smooth paste.
7. Heat oil in a pan or a kadai.
8. Splutter mustard seeds and saute dry red chillies and curry leaves.
9. Add sliced onions and saute, till they turn golden brown in colour.
10. Add turmeric powder and saute again.
11. Add tamarind extract and mix well.
12. Allow it to boil.
13. When the first boil comes up, add the coconut paste and salt.
14. Mix well the whole contents.
15. Simmer it for a while.
16. Add the jaggery.
17. When the required consistency is reached (which is neither too thick nor too thin), remove from the flame.
18. If you find it a little too thin, add half a tsp of rice powder by first mixing it in a tbsp of the curry and then simmering for 10 mins.

  Serve hot with rice and porial and pappad.  Believe me its very tasty!!

Kappa Ishtoo (Tapioca stew)

As I had some tapioca, I wanted to try the tapioca stew, which is similar to the potato stew. Only thing to be careful is about the cooking time of tapioca. It takes much longer to cook than potatoes.
Take a look at the Potato stew recipe, and simply replace potatoes with chunks of tapioca.

Lunch was kappa ishtoo, ulli theeyal and cabbage thoran. All yumm!

Tapioca Mash (Kappa)

This is a native Kerala dish, which I encountered during my hostel days. It was so simple and tasty, the perfect snack with chai after coming back from college in the evening.

Tapioca(called kappa) is a tuber. I am sure there are ways to find out if the tapioca is fresh and good, but I am not aware. I got about half a foot of the tuber and was so happy, that I decided to cook it right away.

Ingredients
Tapioca 6 inches long, skinned, and chopped to big chunks. It should be white in colour.
Oil, mustard seeds, green chillies, curry leaves, turmeric powder for seasoning.
Salt to taste.

Method

1. Cook the tapioca in a pressure cooker with some water. It takes longer than potatoes to cook. 
2. Once cooked, mash it up well, keep the water aside.
3. Heat oil in a kadai, add the seasoning. Add the cooked tapioca , salt and mix well. Add little water if its too dry. Its ready!

The regular combination is kappa with fish. I have no clue as to how that will be.
Another good option is to have it with chammandi(coconut-onion chutney).  I can tell you that this combo is just yumm....

Remember, kappa in itself is a little bland, so the chutney gives it the tang.

Poricha kozhambu

This is another pepper based dish that my boys are fond of. They love it with parupu saadam and nei. :-) Did you get the aroma of simple parupu saadam and nei???

Credit to my chitti for the recipe.

Ingredients

Tur dal 1 cup
Asafoetida 1 pinch
Veggies cubed 1 cup (carrot, pumpkin, beans, drumstick any of these)
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Sambar powder 1 tsp
Red chilli 1
Urad dal 1 tsp
Peppercorns 3/4 tsp
Coconut scraped 2 tsp
Oil 1/2 tsp
Oil, curry leaves, mustard for seasoning.
Salt to taste

Method

1. Cook tur dal with turmeric and asafoetida in 2 cups of water. Mash well. Keep aside.
2. Cook the veggies with sambar powder and salt in 1 cup of water.
3. Fry the urad dal, peppercorns,red chilli, coconut in oil. Grind to smooth paste.
4. Mix all the above three. Adjust salt and water and bring to boil.
5. Season with the seasonings.

Serve hot with rice and a nice sabji.

Note :
Pepper makes the dish very hot. Go easy on it at first.

Beetroot upperi

Upperi is a veggie dry side-dish.   A different treatment of beetroot from what I have grown up with, this dish is just another that I learnt from my mother-in-law.
You can even mix beetroot and carrot in this.

Ingredients
Beetroot 1 or 2, skinned and grated. The volume increases after grating.
Carrot grated 1 (optional)
Onion 1 chopped very fine. We do not want to see bigger pieces of onion in between the grated beetroot.
Green chillies 2-3 chopped
Curry leaves, oil, mustard seeds for seasoning.
Turmeric powder
Salt to taste.

Method

1. Heat oil(I use coconut oil for this dish), add seasonings. 
2. Once that is done, add beetroot, carrot, onion, turmeric powder, salt to taste and mix well.
3. Sprinkle some water and cook covered. Stir occasionally and sprinkle water as needed. The raw smell of onions should disappear and the beetroot should soften.
4. Serve hot with rice and any curry of your choice.

Beans thoran

Thoran is poriyal with coconut shavings and the specific veggie. Most common thoran in 'sadhyas' is cabbage thoran. My personal favourite is beans thoran done the below mentioned way.

Fresh french beans chopped very fine, cooked in coconut-onion-green chilli paste. This is something I learnt from my mother in law. I just love this way of cooking beans. The colour and flavour is awesome.

Ingredients
French beans chopped very fine. The slices should be as thin as possible.
Onion chopped 1 big
Green chillies 2-3
Coconut 3 tsp scraped
Mustard, curry leaves, oil for seasoning. (I use coconut oil for this poriyal)
Turmeric powder

Method

1. Grind the coconut, green chillies and onion to a fine paste. Add water just enough for grinding.
2. Heat oil, add the seasonings.
3. Once that is done, add the beans, turmeric, salt to taste, and the ground masala.
4. Cook covered till beans are soft and raw smell goes. Sprinkle some water to cook.

Enjoy with rice and any curry of your choice.

Khatta - Meetha karela (sweet and sour bitter gourd)

This is one bitter gourd dish that my son loves, so much so that he takes it to school for lunch with curd rice. :-)


This dish is inspired from Archana's Kitchen.

Ingredients
Bitter gourd 1-2 skinned, deseeded and chopped to small cubes. Salt and keep aside.
Oil 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Chilli powder 1 tsp
Coriander powder 1 tsp
Cumin powder 1/2 tsp
Aamchur 1 tsp (Dry mango powder)
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp.
Curry leaves few.
Asafoetida a pinch
Jeera 1/2 tsp
Jaggery 1 tsp crumbled well

Method

1. Heat oil, once hot add jeera, asafoetida, curry leaves. 
2. Squeeze out the water from the bitter gourd and add to the tadka. Add all the spices(except the jaggery, which is anyway not a spice).  Add salt to taste. Mix well. 
3. Cook covered till cooked soft. Sprinkle just enough water for it to cook.
4. Once cooked, add the jaggery and mix well. The jaggery will caramelise.

It goes well with rice and sambar or any curry of your choice.

Methi - Masoor dal

Yeah, I know. I am guilty of cooking masoor dal way too often. Parrr.. mein kya karoon?? Its so easy and so delicious, I keep thinking up of variations of the dal.
Had a quarter bunch of fenugreek leaves(methi), wanted to see how the two go together. Well, it turned out delicious, creamy, and so on....

Here is how I made it. If you want, you can make it less spicy, go with the more basic and native ingredients. I am very sure it will come out delicious, creamy et all...

Ingredients
Masoor dal half cup
Moong dal 1 tbsp
Methi leaves chopped 1 cup
Onion 1 big chopped
Tomatoes 2 big chopped
Green chillies 2 chopped fine
Ginger-garlic paste 1 tsp
Chilli powder 1 tsp
Asafoetida 1 pinch
Turmeric powder quarter tsp
Coriander powder 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder 1/4 tsp
Garam masala 1/4 tsp
Jeera 1 tsp, Saunf 1/2 tsp for seasoning.
Oil for frying.

Method

1. Wash the methi well. Salt it, mix and keep aside.
2. Wash the dals together well. The water should run clear. Cook with 2 cups water, turmeric powder and asafoetida. The dals cook very quickly.
3. Heat oil in a kadai. Add the jeera, saunf. Once they are done add the onions and fry till transparent.
4. Once it is done, add the green chillies, ginger-garlic paste and fry till raw smell goes.
5. Add tomatoes, chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, garam masala and mix well.
6. Once oil starts separating, rinse the salted fenugreek leaves and add them to the masala. Do not use the water which was sweated out by the methi. Pour little water and cook for 5 mins.
7. Add the cooked dal. Adjust salt and water. Simmer for a few mins. 
8. You can add a few drops of lemon juice just before serving.

Serve hot with phulkas. 

Paarkai pitlai (Bitter gourd sambar)

Lets face it, I hate bitter gourd, could never bring myself to eat it, and even now cant have more than a bite, of whatever preparation. However well it is made.
Lets also face it, my boys love it. So today I decided to make paarkai pitlai. Had a few stalks of thandu keerai, thought of throwing in that too to see how it goes.

Here is how I made it. I blindly followed my Amma's recipe (sub-junior chef that I am).

Ingredients
Bitter gourd 1 - skinned, deseeded and sliced to long pieces. Smear with salt and keep aside.
Extract of a lemon sized piece of tamarind
Sambar powder 1 and half tsp
Tur dal half cup
Asafoetida a pinch
Turmeric powder quarter tsp
Coriander seeds 2 tsp
Chana dal 1 tsp
Urad dal 1 tsp
Red chillies 2-3
Coconut scraped 2 tsp
Oil for frying and seasoning 2 tsp
Mustard seeds, Curry leaves, Red chillies for seasoning
Salt to taste

Method

1. Boil the tamarind extract with sambar powder. (I cooked the green stalks along with this).
2. Cook tur dal with turmeric powder, asafoetida and water in pressure cooker. Dal should be well cooked.
3. Cook/steam the sliced bitter gourd pieces. Discard any water that is left due to cooking.
4. Fry coriander seeds, chana dal, urad dal, red chillies, coconut in oil. Grind to fine paste.
5. Mix all the above four and bring to a boil. Adjust salt.
6. Season with the seasonings mentioned.

Erissery

Erissery is a tasty Kerala dish of two types, one with plantain or yam and the other with yellow pumpkin and red beans. I like the red beans waala, and tried it out.

Within this itself, I found many variations and many ingredients. Here is how I made it.

Ingredients

Red beans (glossary of bean varieties incase you are wondering what it is) - 1/2 cup
Yellow pumpkin cubed 1 cup
Red chilli powder 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Grated coconut 2 tsp
Jeera 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds, red chillies, curry leaves, coconut scrapped for seasoning.
Oil for seasoning

Method

1. Cook the yellow pumpkin with salt, turmeric powder and chilli powder in 1/2 cup water. The pumpkin should be cooked but still firm, not mushy. Keep aside.
2. Cook the red beans with water in a pressure cooker. The red beans should be well cooked.
3. Grind coconut and jeera to a fine paste. Add it to the beans + pumpkin. Simmer for few minutes. Add half spoon sugar if there is no sweet taste at all. The dish should be slightly sweet.
4. Heat coconut oil, add mustard seeds, red chillies, curry leaves and season. Fry coconut separately and season.

Note
I have purposefully omitted the onion and garlic in my preparation, since I do not consider them to be 'sadhya' specific ingredients. Many recipies that I saw called for garlic and few pearl onions to be ground with the coconut.
I omitted green chillies too in my paste since the spice of the red chilli was sufficient.

This is a side dish. Consistency should be that of an avial or kootu.

Turia Muthia nu shaak

This dish is inspired from Archana's kitchen. I never knew anything about muthias, but now realise that there is a whole healthy world of muthia dishes out there. Will try more in the times to come.

And remember, I am still trying to finish my besan :-)

Ingredients
For the subji
Ridge gourd 2 cups
Oil 1 tsp
Jeera 1 tsp
Chilli powder 1 tsp
Ginger-green chilli paste 1 tsp
Asafoetida
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste

For the muthias
Fenugreek leaves chopped 1/2 cup
Besan 1 cup
Lemon juice 1 tbsp
Ginger-green chilli paste 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste
Soda (which I did not have and hence did not add)
Oil to fry (Muthias are ideally steamed, but I did not know it then you see??)

Method
Make the muthias

1. Mix all the muthia ingredients to make a soft dough. Make small rolls.
2. Fry in oil or steam in steamer.

Subji

1. Heat oil. Add jeera, asafoetida, ginger-green chilli paste and fry.
2. Once that is done, add the ridge gourd pieces, salt, chilli powder and cook covered till done.
3. Add sugar and mix well.
4. Crumble the prepared muthias coarsely and add. Cook covered again on sim for 10-15 mins.
5. Serve hot with phulkas.

Well, well, well.... Its tasty and am not sure that the steamed version will be as tasty as the fried version.  The original recipe did not call for crumbling the muthias. I felt the dumplings would blend better when crumbled than whole.

Jhatpat rice

Had to figure out a quick rice item for the man's lunch box, and decided to throw in everything that I could use. None of them were in sufficient quantity to able to own the dish, but the result was still tasty and interesting.

Ingredients

Cooked rice, half cup
Onions chopped 1 small
Green chillies chopped 1
Lemon juice (I just had a few drops)
Mint leaves (I just had very few of them on me) chopped
Jeera 1 tsp
Green peas frozen 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil 2 tsp

Method

1. Heat oil, add the jeera and fry.
2. Then add the onions, green chillies and fry. Once that is done, add mint leaves and fry. Add the green peas and cook till soft.
3. Add the rice, salt and mix well. Once it is mixed well, add the lemon juice and again mix.
4. Serve with raita. Khatham kahaani.

I can think of N number of variations to this. Adding curry powder, cashews, chopped veggies, whatever comes to mind. No hard and fast rule to this rice, you can have a field day with the ingredients.

Onion chutney

There are many versions of onion chutney. This is the one I make most often. The boys love the fiery, tangy flavours.

Ingredients

Pearl onions - 10-15, peeled
Onion big - chopped
Small piece of tamarind
Curry leaves - few
Red chillies - 4-5
Ginger - a small piece.
Salt to taste.
Coconut oil - 2 tsp

Method

Heat oil and fry all the ingredients. Grind to a smooth paste without adding too much water. Done-danaa-done!

Note
1. You can add tomato, and coconut to make a different version.
2. You can add tadka if the chutney is semi gravy. Do it as per your taste!!!

Potato stew (Ishtoo)

Potatoes cooked in coconut milk, spiced very selectively, it can't get simpler or tastier than this. Have it with idli, dosa, rice, bread or even phulkas.

My boys love it with dosa and onion chutney.


Ingredients

Potatoes 2-3 peeled, cubed to large pieces
Onion 1 big sliced to long pieces
Green chillies 2-3 slit lengthwise
Curry leaves a few
Ginger 1 inch piece
Coconut oil 1 tsp
Coconut milk 1 - 2 cups

Method

1. Mix the potatoes, onions, green chillies, curry leaves, ginger, salt to taste, a cup of water and cook covered. I cook in my favourite tiny hawkins pressure cooker. The potatoes should become mushy.
2. Mix well, mash up a few potato chunks with a spatula.
3. Add the coconut milk and simmer for a few mins. Add a few drops of coconut oil and mix well.

 Swadisht ishtoo tayyaar!!!!

Note

• We do not fry any ingredient in this.
• Do not cook for too long after adding coconut milk.
• Take care with the quantity of water. The dish should have consistency of that of a dal or sambar.

This is the most basic version of ishtoo. I have seen people add cloves, cardamom etc, add in a few more veggies like carrot, peas etc. But I am happy with the simpler, down-to-earth version.

Ridge gourd thohayal

Yeah I know, I am nuts about thohayal.

Ingredients
Ridge gourd 1. Skinned and chopped.
Oil 1 tsp
Red chillies 2-3
Asafoetida a pinch
Urad dal 1 tsp.
Tomato 1 chopped
Tamarind small piece
Ginger 1 inch

Method
1. Fry in oil red chillies, asafoetida, urad dal. Keep aside.
2. Fry the ridge gourd, tomato, tamarind and let it cook covered till soft and water is absorbed. Let it cool.
3. Grind the all the ingredients (omitting the urad dal) with salt. After it is done, add urad dal and grind very coarse.
Goes well with rice and even phulkas!!

Coconut thohayal

Yet another thohayal!! This recipe came from my lovely chitti....

Ingredients
Oil 1 tsp
Red chillies 2-3
Urad dal 2 tsp
Asafoetida a pinch

Coconut scraped 4-5 tbsp
Small piece of tamarind
Ginger 1 inch
Curry/coriander/mint leaves (entirely optional)


Method

1. Fry in oil, red chillies, urad dal and small piece of asafoetida. Keep aside.
2. Fry coconut till it becums slightly dry. 
3. Put the tamarind in the hot fried coconut. Let it cool.
4. Grind red chillies, asafoetida, ginger, coconut, salt to a fine paste.
5. Once ground, add the fried urad dal and grind just a bit. The urad dal should not be ground too fine.

For coconut thohayal, avoid wet ingredients as they will make the thohayal bad.

You can add fried curry leaves or green dhania or few leaves of mint to this to enhance taste.

Parupu thohayal

Thohayals can be best described as South Indian chutney. Had with rice, a yogurt based gravy, they are just delicious.
This thohayal is made out of lentils. The taste of the thohayal is in its fiery, tangy tones.


Ingredients
Half lemon sized piece of tamarind.
Tur dal - 2 tbsp
Red chillies - 5 to 6
Onion 1 chopped.
Ginger 1 inch piece.
Mint or curry leaves (for added flavour, this is optional)
Oil 1 tsp
Salt to taste.


Method

1. Soak small half lemon size imli in water
2. Fry the tur dal and red chillies in oil. Transfer to mixie and set aside.
3. Fry the onion and ginger. If you add mint/curry leaves, fry them too one the onion is fried.
4. Transfer to mixie. Add the soaked tamarind piece, salt and grind well. Do not add too much water.

Your parupu thohayal is ready!!

Palak - Masoor dal

I found the list of ingredients at Tarla Dalal's website and grew very intrigued. I have fallen in love with masoor dal and wanted to try this.

This is how I understood the recipe. And I sure did like the results.

Ingredients

½ cup masoor dal (split red lentils) 1 cup spinach (palak), chopped 1 teaspoon ginger-green chilli- garlic paste a pinch turmeric powder (haldi) 1 tablespoon tamarind (imli) pulp (I used imli - kajoor chutney) salt to taste

For the tempering

1/2 teaspoon saunf 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera) 3 dry red chillies, broken 6 to 8 curry leaves   1 tsp oil Method

1. Wash the masoor dal well in water. It should run clear. 
2. Heat oil in a cooker, add jeera, saunf, red chillies, curry leaves and fry.
3. Once that is done, add the ginger-green chilli-garlic paste till raw smell goes.
4. Add the dal + palak, turmeric, salt, 2 cups of water. 
5. Cook till 1 in high heat whistle and 2 whistles in low heat.
6. Add water if dal is too thick.  Add the tamarind extract. Simmer for few mins.
7. Goes very well with phulkas. Light and healthy!

Mint rasam

Rasam with mint!!! I just tried this new rasam, courtesy my sister. I was pretty apprehensive while adding the final ground paste, and worried that the whole dish would have to be discarded. But somewhere I had faith in my sister, and if she says a dish is good, it has to be!!!

This is how I made it.

Ingredients
Tamarind extract - 1 cup
Tomato - 1 large
Sambar powder - 1/2 tsp
Rasam powder - 1/2 tsp
Dal water - 1 cup
Mint - 1/3 of a bunch.
Coriander leaves - a closed fistful.
Green chillies 2
Ginger 1/4 inch
Turmeric powder
Asafoetida - a pinch
Salt to taste.
Pepper - jeera roasted and crushed
Curry leaves
Mustard seeds
Ghee for tempering

Method

1. Boil the tamarind water, turmeric powder, asafoetida, chopped tomato, sambar and rasam powder with salt till cooked.
2. While it is boiling, grind the mint, coriander, green chillies and ginger to a fine paste.
3. Once the tamarind mix is cooked well, add the ground paste, dal water and simmer till the rasam froths. Adjust salt and water.
4. Heat ghee. Add mustard seeds, curry leaves, pepper-jeera powder. Temper onto the rasam.

Note: Since we add green chillies, add a little less of rasam powder and sambar powder than you usually would.

Masoor-Moong dal

Masoor dal is not a dal we make at my place. And when I came across several recipes which mentioned "delicious", "creamy" etc, I was intrigued. Bought a packet of orangish split masoor dal and after again going through several recipes, decided that I can safely try my ingenuity on this. And yes, it is 'delicious', 'creamy' and so on... Try it sometime. Very wholesome and simple (I managed to add two adjectives to it!!).

Ingredients
Masoor dal - 1 cup
Moong dal (split,yellow) - 1/2 cup or even lesser.
Onion - 1 chopped
Tomato - 2 chopped
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/4 tsp
Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Jeera - 1 tsp
Oil - 2 tsp
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves chopped - handful

Method

1.  Wash the dals together in water well. The water should run clear. Soak in 2 cups of water.
2. Heat oil in a pressure cooker. I use my tiny hawkins.
3. Once it is hot, add jeera and let it crackle. Add onion and fry till translucent.
4. Add tomatoes, salt, chilli powder, cumin powder, coriander powder and cook till done.
5. Add the soaked dal along with the water. Mix well. Close the lid and on high heat bring it to one whistle. After that, reduce the heat to low and wait for two more whistles. Switch off the stove.
6. Once the pressure is released, open the cooker. Add coriander leaves. You can add a few drops of lime juice.
7. Serve hot with phulkas or lachchaa paranthas.

Note :

• The dal should be cooked and creamy. You should not see dal and water separately. If you do, you need to cook it more. 
• If the dal is too thick, add water, mix well and simmer on low heat.
• I added moong dal just to give it some body. Masoor dal alone can make the dish too creamy.
• You can add your own spices to your taste. The dal has a very native delicious flavour and goes well with most spices.