Beans Paruppu Usiliyal

Though I already mentioned the process of making Paruppu Usili with Drumstick leaves earlier, I again make this post for Beans paruppu Usili. The main difference here is that I used very less oil ( about 1 tbsp ) for the entire process and steamed the Dal mixture ( Paruppu mixture ) which makes it more healthy and also fastens the process of making.

Method

1. Steam the fresh cut beans with little salt and a pinch of sugar and keep it aside.
2. Grind the soaked dals ( Toor dal, Channa Dal, Moong Dal ) with a dash of Hing \ Asafoetida and 5-6 dry red chillies with some water.
3. Steam cook the grounded mixture in Idly pans like regular idlies. Then, grind the steamed Dal Idlies in a mixer grinder few rounds to get a coarse Dal mixture ( like a Dal Puttu ).
4. Then, add the ingredients for tempering in a pan followed by the coarse dal mixture, steamed beans and required amount of salt.
5. Mix them well and let the usiliyal cook for about two minutes. Then, switch off the heat.
6. Its ready to be eaten with rice.

Onion Pakoda - With Wheat Rava Leftover Idly batter

It was very breezy, cloudy and slightly drizzling since afternoon. Its a perfect weather in all aspects to have some crunchy pakodas on the side of hot chai. We have been avoiding oil fried pakoda or any snacks as we have been trying to lose weight and be more conscious about what we eat. But today we have got a nice excuse. Yes.!!! Our friends family was visiting us this evening, and I decided to make crunchy pakodas with my leftover wheat rava idly batter. I added few extra ingredients to the leftover batter and finally the pakodas came out well.

Ingredients

Wheat Rava Idly Batter ( Leftover ) - 3 Cups

Besan \ Kadalai Maavu \ Senaga Pindi - 3 tbsp

Rice Flour \ Biyam Pindi \ Arisi Maavu - 3 tbsp

Red Chilli Powder - 3 tsp

Salt - To Taste

Hing \ Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Green chilli - 3 Medium finely cut into tiny pieces

Sombu \ Fennel - 1 tbsp

Coriander Leaves chopped - 2 tbsp

Curry Leaves - 5 or 6 crushed into tiny pieces

Red Onion - 1 medium cut into small pieces

Method

1. Take the left over wheat rava idly batter in a big bowl. Add the other ingredients as mentioned above to the left over idly batter and mix everything in the bowl thoroughly without adding any water.
2. Heat oil in a small pan. When you start noticing flames coming out of the oil, simmer the heat and small dropping the pakoda batter by hand into different small shapes. 
3. Now increase the heat to medium level and allow the pakodas to get fried uniformly.
4. When its golden brown, take out the pakodas and spread them on a plate covered with a tissue paper.
5. As noticed, there is not much oil in these type of pakodas. Unnoticed extra oil from the pakodas would be absorbed in the tissue paper.
6. Continue the process till you finish the whole pakoda batter.

Tips

Try to make the pakodas into very smaller shapes to get more crunchy ones.

Try to use red onion instead of yellow or white onions in this batter as its more tastier with red onions.

Pappu Charu - Andhra Style

For so many days, I was quite confused about Pappu Charu, Sambar, Rasam. Atleast rasam would be easily differentiated with its watery nature. But I was unable to get the correct differentiation between the other two. Now I can clearly conclude by telling that Sambar is a thick version of lentils, sambar powder, veggies whereas Pappu charu is a thin version with lentil water, powders and veggies as I do both Sambar and charu regularly at home. We can add any vegetables in Pappu Charu and it can be well accompanied by any vegetable fry.  As I am a veggie freaker, I add lots of vegetables into the Pappu Charu.

Ingredients

Toor Dal -- 1/2 Cup

Tamarind Extract - 1 Cup

Jaggery - 2 tbsp full

Salt - To Taste

Turmeric Powder - 2 tsp

Coriander Powder - 1 tbsp

Red Chilli Powder - 3 tsp

Fenugreek Powder / Methi powder - 1/2 tsp

Tempering

Olive Oil - 1 tbsp

Mustard Seeds - 2 tsp

Jeera - 2 tsp

Fenugreek Seeds / Menthilu / Vendhayam - 1/2 tsp

Hing / Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Dry Red Chillies - 2 big

Curry Leaves - 1 stem

Vegetables

Okra / Ladyfinger / Vendaikai - 4  ( cut into finger size )

Carrot - 1 Small ( Sliced into smaller rounds )

White Raddish / Mullangi - 1 ( Sliced into smaller rounds )

Sorakai / BottleGourd - 1/2 Cup ( Cut into small squares )

Onion - 1 Small

Tomato - 1 Small ( cut into small pieces )

Brinjal - 2 ( Cut into small pieces )

Broad Beans/Avaraikai/ Chikkudukaya - 5 or 6 ( Cut into finger size)

Green Chillies - 4 ( Slit into Halves)

Method 

1. Soak the tamarind in water and extract the juice and keep it handy.
2. Cook the toor dal / Thuvaram paruppu / Kandi Pappu in a pressure cooker to a fine paste. Add some water, mix and keep the dal water ready.
3. Wash and cut all the vegetables in desired form and keep it ready.
4. On a thick bottomed vessel, add all the vegetables, turmeric powder, little salt, hing/asafoetida, tamarind juice and little water and allow them to cook till the vegetables get mashy and softer.
5. Then, add the dal water into the vessel followed by salt, coriander powder, red chilli powder, fenugreek powder and jaggery. Mix them well and let the charu cooks and comes to a boil.
6. Add more water if you feel that the consistency of the charu is thick due to excess boiling.
7. On a separate tempering pan, add all the ingredients in order in Olive Oil and pour the tempered contents from the pan into the Pappu Charu.
8. Garnish with coriander leaves and switch off the heat.
9. Enjoy the Pappu Charu with white rice and ghee.

Variations

You can add more green chillies to increase the spicyness of the charu.

You can add any vegetables of your choice into the Pappu Charu.

Tips

Dal water and tamarind juice are very important in this charu. So make these perfect and keep it ready.

If you add few drops of ghee during tempering, the whole pappu charu smells very good.

Adding drumsticks,small onions to the pappu charu gives an excellent flavour and taste.

Patiently wait till the vegetables get completely cooked. After its cooked fully, continue the process. Otherwise, your veggies would be little raw in the Pappu charu making it difficult for the kids to eat the veggies.

Groundnut Chutney / Peanut Chutney / Verusenaga Pachidi

Peanut Chutney is a good substitute for Coconut Chutney.  Any south indian tiffin varieties can be nicely accompanied by this creamy, spicy groundnut chutney.   As its one of my daughter's favourite, I make this chutney more often at home. Very easy to make with minimal ingredients.
Ingredients
Groundnuts - 1 Cup
Dry Red Chillies - 6 or 7
Jeera - 1 tsp
Urad Dal - 1 tsp
Tamarind - 1 small pinch
Salt - To Taste
For tempering
Olive Oil - 1 tbsp
Hing / Asafoetida - 1 Dash
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Jeera - 1 tsp
Urad Dal / Minna Pappu / Ulutham Paruppu - 1 tsp
Red Chillies - 1 big
Curry Leaves - 3 or 4 crushed
Method

1. Roast the groundnuts, dry red chillies, jeera, urad dal, tamarind with a tsp of Olive Oil till the groundnuts turn golden brown. But don't roast them to black. Keep it aside.
2. On the same pan, add Olive oil and add the ingredients in order for tempering.
3. Grind the groundnut mix in a mixer grinder and add required amount of salt into it.
4. Pour the tempered oil and its contents over the chutney. Mix it well and serve with idli, doasa, pongal or any other south indian tiffin.

Variations
You can add more red chillies to the chutney to make it more spicy. Spicyness totally depends on the type of red chillies too.

Veg Fried Rice-Restaurant Style-Type 2

For the potluck we had on last weekend, I made a different vegetable fried rice, not in a typical south indian style. This try is mainly due to the fried rice I tasted in Delhi couple of years ago..It would be in a mild yellow colour with small veggie pieces, little nuts and flavoured with some special spice powder. Having that in mind, I started making this type of veg fried rice since few years.  This type of fried rice would go well with any north indian dishes like Dal Tadka, Dal Makhani, paneer dishes and other vegetable dishes.

Ingredients

Basmati Rice - 3 Cups

Beans - 1 Cup cut into tiny squares

Carrot - 3/4  Cup cut into tiny squares

Potato - 1 Cup cut into tiny squares

Fresh Peas or Frozen Peas - 3/4 Cup

Green Capsicum - 1/2 cut into thin pieces

Onion - 1 Medium cut into small pieces

Cashew Nuts - 1 Handful

Jeera - 2 tsp

Cinnamon Sticks / Pattai - 2 Medium

Lavang / Cloves - 3 or 4

Bay Leaves - 5 or 6

Marathi Moggu - 1

Elachi / Cardamom - 2

Pudina Leaves - 1 Handful

Olive Oil - 2 tbsp

Ghee or clarified butter - 1 tbsp

Salt - To Taste

Turmeric Powder - 2 tsp

Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tbsp

Green Chillies - 4 Big slit into halves

For the Powder

Cinnamon Stick / Pattai - 2

Cloves / Lavang - 5 or 6

Jeera - 1 tsp

Black Pepper - 1 tsp

Elachi - 1

Cashew Nuts - 1 tbsp

Marathi Moggu - 1

Pista - 1/2 tbsp

Method

1. Wash and cut the vegetables into desired shapes and keep it aside.
2. Roast the ingredients slightly for the powder and grind them in a mixer grinder and keep it ready.
3. Wash and soak the basmati rice in a separate vessel. Now start the process of making...
4. On a medium heat, keep a thick bottomed cooker or a thick bottomed nonstick vessel on the stove.
5. Add 2 tbsp of Olive Oil and 1 tbsp of clarified butter into it. When its heated, add jeera, cinnamon sticks, cloves, Cardamom, Marati Moggu, Bay Leaves into it and fry them for few seconds.
6. Add the onions and fry them for a minute with a small pinch of salt.
7. Add the ginger garlic paste now and fry till the raw smell goes off completely.
8. Add green capsicum, pudina leaves,green chillies in order and fry them again for a minute.
9. Add all the cut veggies, turmeric powder, cashew nuts, little salt and fry them for a minute. Now close the lid and let the contents in the pan cook for about 3-4 minutes on a low flame.
10. Veggies would get cooked with the steam formed inside..Open the lid and add the grounded powder now and fry all the contents in the vessel or pan for few minutes.
11. Now drain the water from Basmati Rice and add the rice into the cooking vessel directly.
12. Fry them again for few seconds till the basmati rice becomes little dry and get fried a bit.
13. Now add water ( about 5 Cups ) ans required amount of salt to the vessel and close the lid. Let the vegetable fried rice cooks completely on a low flame for about 10-12 minutes.
14. If you are making this rice in an electric cooker, transfer the contents from the pan into the cooker and then add water.
15. Generally I prepare this veg fried rice directly in a Non stick flat bottomed vessel which makes my process easier.
16. After 10-12 minutes, the veg fried rice would have risen upto the edge of the vessel nicely. Carefully mix the fried rice upside down without breaking the basmati rice and close it.
17. Now the vegetable fried rice would be in a mild yellow colour with a nice aroma of Indian spices. Serve this with any good side dish and a raita.

Variations

Amount of water depends on the quality of the Basmati rice. So, add water accordingly.

You can add slightly fried cashew nuts, pista, badam into pieces on the top of the fried rice at the end instead of adding the cashew nuts in the beginning.

Tips

Take out the green chilli slits after the veg fried rice is completely done. Its very helpful especially when you are serving this in parties.

No need to add more spices during the tempering process as you would be adding the grounded spice powder too.

Wheat Rava Idlies

Though I am a big fan of regular Idlies, I just wanted to try the same Idli concept with wheat rava. Since few weeks, I have been planning to try this out by myself.  I substituted Idly rice ( Idly Rava ) with Wheat rava, the one that we generally use for making Uppuma. Looking at the idlies, its difficult to find out that its made out of wheat rava. As these idlies don't have any rice, I am sure that it should be a good tiffin item for diabetic people and a very healthy breakfast for all ages. With a side of good spicy chutney, these mild yellow colour idlies would definitely be added in your regular breakfast menu or dinner menu.

Ingredients

Wheat rava -  3 Cups

Urad Dal / Ulatham paruppu / Minna Pappu - 1 Cup

Fresh Coriander Leaves - 1 Handful finely shredded

Salt - To Taste

Fresh Curd - 1 / 2 Cup

For Tempering

Olive Oil - 2 tsp

Hing / Asafoetida - 1 dash

Mustard Seeds - 2 tsp

Jeera - 2 tsp

Curry Leaves - 5 or 6 crushed

Black Pepper Powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Method

1. Soak the wheat rava and the urad dal separately for 3-4 hours.
2. Grind the Urad Dal to a fluffy consistency like how you grind for a normal Idly.
3. Now mix the Urad dal batter with the wheat rava in a big container thoroughly.
4. Add required amount of salt to the Idly Batter and keep it for fermentation.
5. After its fermented, do tempering process with the ingredients as mentioned above with little oil and pour them over the batter.
6. Add a handful of finely shredded coriander leaves on top of it.
7. Add 0.5 cup of fresh curd to the Idly batter and mix very well.
8. Now add drops of oil into the Idly Moulds and spread the oil over the Idly plates.  Pour the idly batter over the Idly moulds upto the level equally on all the moulds.
9. Cook all the Idlies in a Idly cooker for about 10-12 minutes.
10. Check whether the Idlies are fully cooked inside. After its cooked, allow the cooker to cool down for few minutes.
11. Then open the Idly plates and carefully take out the Idlies from the Idly moulds one by one.
12. Serve the Idlies with any spicy chutney.

Variations

You can add finely shredded carrot, peas to the Idly batter and serve it to kids.

You can add a cup of sour curd to the Idly batter and can make the Idlies instantly without the process of  fermentation. But from my experience, if you make these Idlies with a slightly fermented batter, the idlies are softer and have enough moist content inside and not too dry.

You can make mini idlies with this batter and give it as an evening snack to kids.

Tips

Allow the Idly batter to ferment atleast for few hours before making the idlies.

Don't grind the batter too watery. Grind the batter to the correct Idly consistency.

Dal Makhani - Creamy Soup of Lentils / Lentils Soup

We had a Potluck on Saturday night with a full course of North Indian Menu starting from chat...I made Dal Makhani as one of the side dishes..This time I made it with Rajma ( Dark Red Beans ), Kali Masoor Dal ( Black Lentils ), Red Chori ( Red karamani ) not with black urad dal. This brownish bowl of lentil soup fills the stomach of the family greatly and fills my heart with great satisfaction as it contains high amount of protein, folate,vitamins, energy ,etc. Its great for parties as its very easier to prepare this Dal Makhani and the process is also quicker. Did not add the fresh cream at the end as we liked to taste the Makhani with its mild spicyness..

Ingredients

Red Beans ( Rajma ) - 1/2 Cup

Red Chori ( Red Karamani ) - 3/4 Cup

Kala Masoor ( Black Lentils ) - 3/4 Cup

Jeera - 2 tsp

Cloves / Lavang - 4 or 5

Cinnamon Sticks / Pattai - 3 Medium Size

Olive Oil - 1 tbsp

Onion - 1 Medium

Ripe Tomato - 1 Big

Green Chilli - 1 Medium

Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tbsp

Turmeric Powder - 2 tsp

Garam Masala Powder - 1 tbsp

Coriander Powder - 1 tbsp

Red Chilli Powder -  0.5 tbsp

Salt - To Taste

Sugar - 1 Pinch

Coriander Leaves - To Garnish

Method

1. Wash the Red Beans ( Rajma ), Kala Masoor, Red Chori ( Karamani ) first thoroughly and soak it in water for 3 - 4 hours.
2. After its soaked, pressure cook the Lentils with 1 tsp of turmeric powder, 1 cinnamon stick, 1 tsp of salt for 4-5 whistles.
3. Meantime, cut the tomato, onion,green chilli into desired shapes, keep the other ingredients ready on the side.
4. On a thick bottomed kadai, add Olive Oil first for tempering. When its heated, add the jeera, cinnamon stick, cloves first. Then, add the finely cut onion, green chilli pieces and fry them for a minute.
5. Add ginger garlic paste next to the mix and fry till the raw smell goes off.
6. Add the tomato pieces next to the mix and fry them till they all get mashed and pasty.
7. Then, add all the powders as mentioned above and fry them nicely till all the powders get mixed with the tomato paste and fried little bit.
8. Add a pinch of sugar and pour the cooked dal from the pressure cooker directly onto the kadai with the remaining cooked water in the pressure cooker.
9. Add required amount of salt into the kadai and mix all the contents well. Allow them to cook for 4-5 minutes for the Makhani to get settled with all the powders and flavours.
10. After its cooked, switch off the flame and garnish with coriander leaves. It can be well served with a combination of Ghee rice, Jeera Rice, Peas Pulao or with plain chappathi / rotis.

Tips

Soak the Lentils for more time if they are too dry and cook them very well to get a creamy texture of the Dal Makhani.

Add few tsp of ghee or melted butter at the end if its made for a potluck or a party.

Variations

You can add fresh cream at the end on top of the Dal Makhani.

You can add or reduce red chilli powder to fine tune the spicyness of the Makhani.

You can substitute different lentils like Black Urad Dal in this dish with the ones I used.