Varan Bhaat Recipe | Arhar Dal Chawal | Ganesh Chaturthi Recipes

Ganesh Chaturthi count down as begin and today I am sharing Varan Bhaat an popular and important dish during Ganesh Chaturthi in Maharastra. Varan bhaat is Arhar/Tuar dal (lentil) with steamed rice and there are many variations of Varan Bhaat like any recipe. Varan Bhaat is offered as bhog (Naivedyam) to Ganeshji during along with vegetables, modak, laddu, poli during Ganesh Chaturthi and a typical lunch on Ganesh Ustav day.

Moong Dal Kheer | Pasi Paruppu Payasam | Ganesh Chaturthi Recipes

Moong dal payasam is something I really like though I make it rare, it always reminds me of our neighbor aunt whom used to share yellow and green moong dal payasam on every Onam with us.  Delicious kheer with bites of moong dal is a treat to eat.  Mostly served as Neivadyam in various festivals, pooja this payasam is easy to prepare and minimal ingredients.

Drumstick Sambar | Murungakkai Sambar Recipe

Sambar is something that used to be very rare at my parents place and it's still the same in our house too and the classic drumstick sambar is what I make most of the time if sambar is on menu. Steamed rice, hot sambar, some ghee along itself is great comfort food for me, add a potato fry and some papad on side and it's becomes a grand affair to me. Sambar is one versatile recipe we can use any vegetable or combination of vegetables of our choice and following the same basic recipe.  Other popular vegetables used in sambar are brinjal (eggplant), raddish, okra, potato etc.  

Gongura Pappu | Khatta Bhaji Dal Recipe

I learnt to make Gongura Pappu or Khatta Bhaji Dal as called in North from my sis's mother-in-law she is one awesome cook, slow and steady with loads of patience makes everything with such love and care I guess I can never be like that for me everything is multi-tasking.  Gongura papuu (dal) is another popular recipe from Andhra, it's taste delicious and very easy to prepare just in few steps and minimal ingredients.  If you like gongura (sorrel leaves/khatta bhaji/Pulichakeerai) or sour food then you will love this humble dal too.

Chana Dal | Dal Recipes

Chana dal is one of my favorite dal specially on the day I am not in mood to cook a elaborated meal because with this chana dal a simple salad or even onion chunks or pickle goes perfectly plus this dal goes well with roti or rice. Channa dal is one of the dal variety made most in my parents home it's comes at number two after tuar dal.  As I said in most of my dal posts it's important ingredient in our diet, in a month minimum 25 days I prepare dal and mostly twice a day.

Saayi Dal | Sindhi Chilka Moong Dal

Dal is staple food in our life I make dal almost everyday so I keep trying different variety and method of dal mostly to keep myself entertain as I get bored of routine very fast.  I have already blogged hara moong dal tadka recipe and chilka mung dal fry recipe too and this dal is similar to chilka moong dal fry but then this is a Sindhi recipe of mung dal, this dal has very simple flavor of cumin, garlic and it's also very light and mild to eat, for a spicy and little on heavy side of dal check the hara mung dal recipe.  

Katte Masoor Dal | Dal Recipes

I have already posted masoor dal recipe and this katte masoor dal is almost same. This recipe is from Chhattisgarh ie from my in-law's place and a very popular recipe.  Dahi/yogurt is mixed with masoor dal to make it more flavorful, tasty, and tangy.  In North curd is used to make any dish a little tangy than tamarind.  Best thing about this dal is we don't require a side dish just this dal and rice or roti makes a full meal but as I said earlier if am making this during weekend then I try to do a simple sabzi along in this case I made Cabbage and Peas stirfry.  

Hara Moong Dal Tadka | Hara Dal Fry Recipe

Hara moong dal tadka or hari dal fry is the recipe that gave me confidence and declared me as a good cook.  If I recall anything that I cooked first properly that is this hara (moong) dal and I still remember the 1st time I made this dal it was just too good that cooking became my department.

Sindhi Kadhi | Kadhi Chawal |No Onion No Garlic Recipe

In Sindhi cuisine one of famous dish is Sindhi Kadhi, at least I think so! I had first time sindhi kadhi in Kailash Parbat during my friend's birthday lunch meet (this was almost a year and half ago) and I didn't liked it cause they made it just plain bad.  But since my friend was going ga-ga over her neighbor aunt famous sindhi kadhi and how good actually it suppose to be I thought of trying and I have also heard only good things about it.   What makes Sindhi Kadhi unique is no curd(yogurt) is used which is a key ingredient in any kadhi and on the other hand vegetables are added which normally doesn't happens in kadhi so it's very different from any other popular kadhi.

Chow Chow Dal Recipe

Chayote, chow chow or as known as Bengaluru katharikkai (brinjal) in tamil is one of those veggie which makes rare appearance at home. And most of the time I make this simple dal, though the recipe is easy but this dal taste very delicious. It's my sister recipe, I learnt this from her as in our parents place chow chow is total no-no, South Indian vegetables makes very rare appearance in my parents place.

Moong Dal Tadka Recipe

Today I’m posting simple dal takda recipe which can be done in jiffy in the most easy way.  It’s similar to my tindora dal where I add everything, pressure cook and then give a simple tadka.   Though this dal very easy to prepare but it taste delicious with plain steamed rice or roti, even a side dish is not really necessary.  I do this when I am in hurry or have no mood to cook which becoming more and more these days.  I have used split green gram dal but you can use whole green gram too in that case soak the dal as it takes longer time to cook.  Try this simple day and you going to love it. 

Ingredients:

Split Green Gram/ Dhuli Moong Dal - 1 Cup
Onion - 1 Large
Tomato - 1 Large
Green Chillies - 4
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
Red Chili Powder - 1 tsp
Salt - To taste
For Tempering
Oil/Ghee - 1 tbsp
Asafetida/Hing - a pinch
Cumin Seeds /Jeera - 1 tsp
Minced Garlic - 1/2 tbsp
Curry Leaves - 1 sprig

Method:

1. Slice onion, tomato, slit chilies.
2.  Wash dal, add onion, tomato, chilies, salt, turmeric & chili powder with enough water.  Pressure cook for 3 whistles.

3.  Once cooker pressure released, mash dal slightly and add 1 cup water. 
4. In a pan or wok heat oil or ghee add hing, cumin seeds and allow to splutter.  Add curry leaves, garlic and sauté until light brown.  Add cooked dal mix and bring it to boil, adjust salt, water if required.  Simmer for 2 minutes.

Our simple and quick dal is ready, add ghee on top for extra taste. 

Have a nice day ~~

Muttakos Kootu | Cabbage Kootu Recipe

Cabbage Kootu is one of favorite recipe because it’s very simple to make and taste wonderful with sambar, rasam or with any dal tadka or I like to eat with just plain steamed rice too.  The fact that DH also like this kootu very much makes my life easy and I do cabbage kootu once in a while,  there are many ways of doing this kootu or gravy but I prefer this way of not very much gravy type & with minimum ingredients, it taste much delicious than these pictures.   If you haven’t tried cabbage kootu yet then you should give it a try it’s good change from usual cabbage stir fry and it can be done in less than 15 minutes.   Some people add more of mung dal, turmeric, coconut, onion if you wish you can add that but as I said I like this simple, quick version.  There’s no step vise pictures for this recipe as that particular Saturday I was cooking storm with dal, rasam, dry soya bean kurma and few other things.

Ingredients
Cabbage Chopped - 2 Cups
Mung Dal - 2 tbsp
Green Chilies - 3
Salt - to taste
Water - 3/4 Cup
For Tempering
Oil - 2 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad Dal - 1/2 tsp
Curry Leaves - 1 sprig
Dry Red Chili - 1
Asafetida/Hing - a pinch

Method

1.  Wash and chop cabbage and green chilies (I used fresh red chilli), wash and soak mung dal for 10 minutes.
2.  In a wok or pan add mung dal with water and cook until dal get’s cooked, if required add more water.
3. When the dal gets soft add cabbage, green chilies and cook until cabbage becomes soft and almost no water remains.  Adjust salt if required. 
4. In a seperate pan prepare tempering, heat oil, add asafetida mustard seeds and allow it to splutter.  Now add urad dal, curry leaves and red chilli sauté until urad dal becomes golden brown.  Pour seasoning over prepared kootu, mix and serve.
That’s all our kootu is ready, simple right? 

Variations ~
~ You can add 1/2 tsp turmeric along with dal and cook.
~ If you want to add coconut, add grated 2 tbsp coconut after cabbage gets cooked and then add tempering.
~ You can use onion, prepare tempering, add 1 chopped onion saute until light brown and add with kootu.
~ You can also pressure cook dal and cabbage together, this mash the cabbage which I don’t like personally so I don’t do that. 
~ If you want little gravy type kootu then add more water while cooking cabbage and dal.

Have a nice day ~~

Tindora Dal | Kundru Dal Recipe

It’s been so long I posted any dal recipe to think of it I hardly have any daal recipe in my blog it’s not that we don’t eat any dal or lentils infact that’s part of our diet everyday - day and night.  It’s just that I think everyone knows how to make a dal that I don’t post it  Ivy Gourd/Tindora or Kundru was introduced to me by DH, in our home we never made any thing related to kundru, we are more of patal bhaji people. 


Kundru is still makes rare appearance at home simply cause it’s difficult to find good, fresh kundru in Singapore and when it does I end up making simple stir fry along with some plain dal.  This time for a change I made this tindora dal and loved it.  It goes well with steamed rice, you don’t really have to make any side dish along with it or a simple and quick potato fry goes well too. 



Other Ivy Gourd recipe - Tindora Masala
Ingredients:

Split Green Gram/Moong Dal/Pilli Dal- 1/2 cup
Chopped Tindora/Ivy Gourd/Kundru - 1 Cup
Onion - 1 [large]
Tomato - 1 [large]
Green Chilies - 4-5
Salt - to taste
Water - as required
For Tempering
Ghee/Oil - 2 tsp
Asafoetida/Hing - a pinch
Dry Red Chili/Lal Mirch - 1
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Cumin Seeds/Jeera - 1 tsp
Minced Garlic/Lahsun - 1 tsp
Cilantro - 2 tbsp [chopped]


Method:

1. Chop tindora, onion, tomato, chilies and pressure cook with washed dal along with enough water (around 2 cups) for 2-3 whistles.  Once pressure released, mash dal slightly.  Add 1/2-1 cup water if required and add salt. 
2. To prepare tempering, heat oil in a small pan and add all the ingredients in order under ‘for tempering’, sauté until  garlic becomes golden brown and pour over dal.  Garnish with cilantro.
 

Serve warm with rice or roti with a dollop of ghee for that extra taste.  Easy, what you say?


Variations ~
~ You can do the same with toor dal.
~ If you are using the dal later, it might thicken up so add little water and warm up.

Have a nice day ~~

Dahi Bhalla | Dahi Bhalle (Vada) Recipe | North Indian Street Food

Dahi Bhalla or Dahi Bhalle is similar to Dahi/thayir vada. Today we will learn how to make Dahi bhalla chaat which served with sweet and green chutney along spices which makes these dahi bhalla much more flavorful and a perfect chaat. My mom would make this dahi bhalls on each Diwali morning and we would have this as breakfast along with other Diwali goodies and rest of it will be kept for guests as during Diwali day there will guests dropping by to exchange sweets. If you have people coming over for gift/sweet exchange or lunch/dinner then this dahi bhallas can be very refreshing other than usual sweet and savory items.

Mochakottai Sundal | Val Beans Salad | Navratri Vrat Recipes

How your Navratri Celebration is going?  Hope you are having fun, food and laughter.  Thanks to facebook I’m able to see beautiful Golu setup from other bloggers friends it’s a virtual treat indeed, I hope to see some Durga Pandal pictures too.   We don’t make sundal much, not during Navratri too which is very famous in down South (India).  Sundal is spiced up like Channa Chat recipe or famous Channa Jor Garam, there’s also few old hindi songs goes by same name. 

I hardly make sundal, it’s rare then once in a blue moon, but since it’s sundal everywhere in blogs now a days I wanted to eat some too.  One can make sundal of any beans like chickpeas, black chickpeas, peanuts etc and here am using mochakottai (mochai kottai) aka Val Beans which is delicious option to try. 

Ingredients:
Mochakottai/Val Beans - 1 cup/150gms
Grated Coconut - 2 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - 1 tsp
  For Tempering:
Hing/Asafoetida - a pinch
Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tsp
Urad Dal - 1/4 tsp
Dry Red Chillies - 1
Slit Green Chillies - 1
Minced Ginger - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 sprig

   Method:
1. Rinse and soak mochakottai/val beans for 5-6 hours or overnight. 

  ~ Mochai kottai double in size after soaking over night, you can see in the below picture the size of beans before and after soaking. 

2. Rinse again and pressure cook with enough water (around 3 cups) and salt for 4-5 whistles, once pressure is release drain water and keep boiled mochakottai aside.

3. In a pan or wok heat oil and add ingredients ‘for tempering’ in order.   Once mustard seeds splutters and urad dal gets light brown add boiled mochakotttai and give a good stir.

4. Add grated coconut mix well (adjust salt if required) and fry for 2 minute, turn off flame.

Our mochakottia.val beans sundal is ready.  A wonderful way to munch on these guilt free snacks.  We had with as always tea.

 Variations:
~ You can add 2 tbsp of fresh cilantro or mint.
~ Add little fresh crushed peppercorn for that extra spicy kick.  I add little pepper for DH and he liked it that way.
~ Fresh minched ginger adds good flavour so try not to skip it.

Have a nice day ~~

Vada Kari | Lentil Curry

Vada Kari, Vada Curry, Vadai Curry or Vade Curry whatever we may call it but it's the same curry which is just delicious infused with spices.  I love vade curry, a delicacy in Chennai but its pity that now a days it's so difficult to get this wonderful dish in Chennai restaurants or udupi hotels.  Few of the upudi hotels still server this wonderful dish but one has to go there early morning, so why not make of our own and enjoy? It's a simple recipe only list of ingredients may look long but then it's quite simple, lot of people use leftover masala vada to make this & you can do the same.

 

Ingredients:

For Vadai

Channa Dal - 1 cup

Fennel Seeds - 1 tsp

Green Chiles - 2

Ginger - 1 tsp chopped [optional]

Onion -1/2

Cilantro - 2 tbsp chopped

Salt - to taste

Water - 1-2 tbsp [if required]

Oil - To brush pan

For Curry

Oil - 1 tbsp

Bay Leaf - 1

Clove - 2

Cinnamon - 1" pieces

Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tps

Onion - 1 large

Tomato - 2 large

Minced Ginger-Garlic - 1 tbsp [or ginger-garlic paste 1 tbsp]

Green Chilies - 2

Red Chili Powder - 1/2 tsp

Coriander Powder - 1/2 tsp

Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp

Coconut - 1/4 cup grated

Salt - to taste

Cilantro - 1 tbsp chopped

Water - 2-3 cups

Method:

1. Wash and soak channa dal either for 2-4 hours or overnight.  Chop onion, tomato, and cilantro, slit the chilies and keep aside.

2. Wash, drain all the water from soaked dal and grind coarse with fennel seeds, ginger, chilies.  Add 1 tbsp of water only if required.  

3.With the grinded mixture add 1/2 chopped onion, cilantro, salt and mix well.

4. Heat a skillet or pan, brush oil and make small adai of dal mixture, drizzle little oil and cook both sides until brown.  Don't worry about the shape, it's not we are focusing on.  Do the same for remaining dal mixture.

[To make the adai use small amount of dal mixture and spread over tawa, wet hand with water so it will be easy to spread the mixture]  

5. Meanwhile we can start making the gravy, in pan heat oil, add bay leaf, cloves, cinnamon, and cumin seeds allow it to crack.  Add ginger-garlic, onion and green chilies sauté until onion becomes pink, add all the spice powder and mix well.

6.  Add chopped tomato, cook with lid until tomato mash well, add salt and 2-3 cups water; bring it to good boil and simmer for 5 minutes.  

7. Once all the adai done, tire them into small pieces and add in to the curry mix gently.   

8. Grind coconut with little water in to smooth paste and add to the curry, mix carefully, adjust salt if required.  Simmer for 5 more minutes and off the flame. Garnish with cilantro.  

If the vade curry kept for long time the dal mixture will absorb all the gravy so have it while it's warm with dosa/ idly or even with roti it goes well. 

 
And this goes to Srivalli's Breakfast Mela.

Have a good day ~~

Beetroot Daal ~ Lentil Curry with Beets

As said umpteen times I like to make things simple, so here comes a simple Beetroot Daal.  I like beets but that's doesn't goes same with DH, he doesn't really like to eat Beetroot Fry.  So one day in hurry just added the beets to daal as I had to use the beets before it dies!  Much to my surprised he liked the daal so I tried this again and simply love this daal, doesn't it looks pretty :) 

Ingredients:

Pigeon Peas/ Toor Daal - 1 cup

Beetroot - 1  [ medium]

Onion - 1 [Large]

Tomato - 1 [Medium]

Green Chiles - 3

Cilantro- 2 tbsp [chopped]

Sambar Powder - 2 tsp [ Or Red Chili Powder - 2 tsp]

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp [optional]

Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp

Garlic - 3 pods [big]

Oil - 1 tbsp

Salt - to taste

Water - 

Method:

1. Wash and soak the daal for 1 half or less than that [soaking is optional]

2. Wash, peel and chop beetroot in medium size pieces. 

3.  Cook beetroot and daal with 1 1/2cup or 2 cups of water for 3-4 whistles or normally how you cook your daal.

4.  Meanwhile chop onion, tomato and slit the chilies.  Chop or crush the garlic and keep aside.

5. In a pan heat oil add cumin seeds and let it splutter.  Add garlic,onion and chilies and saute until onion turns light brown.

6. Add sambar and turmeric powders and give a stir, cook for 1 minute.

7. Add tomato, salt and cook until tomato gets mash.

8. Add cooked daal with beets and 1 cup water.  Add more salt or water if required and bring it to good boil, add chopped cilantro.

And our pretty looking daal is ready to indulge.

Have a nice day ~~