Srilankan Coconut Dal | Blog Hop Wednesday

Dal in any form is hubby dear’s favorite. He can have dal with rice or roti for days together. Even when we go out for lunch or dinner he never fails to order some variety of dal. His favorite being the simple Dal fry.  I too am ok with it, since making a simple dal is always a breeze. And paired with some spicy potato curry and rice it does make a scrumptious and filling meal on a lazy day when you are not in mood to cook something elaborate.  

So when I saw this recipe at Swetha’s space I wanted to try it out. The result was a creamy and tasty dal with a blend of aromatic flavors. We had it with rotis and the dal tasted very different from the usual ones.  And I see myself making this regularly in future. You can find the original recipe here.

Serves: 3 to 4

Ingredients

1.       Red Lentils - 1/2 cup

2.       Onions/shallots/Sambar Onions - chopped - 1 big

3.       Garlic - 1-2 small cloves

4.       Curry Leaves a few sprigs

5.       Green Chillies - slit 2

6.       Turmeric Powder- a pinch

7.       Fenugreek Seeds - 1/2 tsp

8.       Cumin seeds + Black Pepper crushed - 1 tsp

9.       Coconut Milk - ½ cup

10.   Lemon juice

Tempering 

1.       Vegetable Oil/Ghee

2.       Dried Red Chillies - 1-2 chopped

3.       Curry Leaves

4.       Onion finely chopped - 1-2 tbsp

Seasoning Spices

1.       Equal amounts of mustard, cumin and fennel seeds.

Method

Wash dal, and add chopped onions, garlic, slit green chilli, curry leaves, turmeric powder, freshly ground, cumin and black pepper powder, fenugreek seeds and required amount of water. Pressure cook this for 3 whistles. Once cooled, remove the dal and transfer it into a Kadai.

Place Kadai on heat, add coconut milk. (I used store bought and added ½ cup of thick coconut milk diluted with ½ cup water.) Add salt and let it simmer for 5 minutes.

Heat a small frying pan, add a teaspoon of oil/ghee.  Add the dried red chillies and curry leaves. Once they turn crisp add the chopped onions and fry till they turn brown.  Finally add the mustard, cumin and fennel and when they splutter pour it over the dal. Mix well. Squeeze a dash of lemon juice and mix well. ( I used ½ of a lemon)

Yummy and tasty dal is ready to be served with rotis or rice.

Let's check out the other blog hoppers spaces.

Sending this to Blog Hop Wednesdays and event started by Radhika and to MLAA hosted by Cathy and started by Susan.

Beans Carrot Thoran

Hi Friends!

Onam is one of the important festivals of Kerala and is celebrated in a grand way. According to popular legend, onam is celebrated to welcome King Mahabali, whose spirit is said to visit Kerala during Onam. The festival is a 10 day affair, starting on the Attam day and continuing to the last day Thiruvonam. The start of the festivities is marked by the floral designs laid on the floor in the front yard of houses. On the day of thiruvonam, huge and exquisite pookalams (floral designs) are laid out; people wear new clothes, go to temples and have a grand feast. This feast is called the onasadhya. The sadhya or feast would consist of 11 to 13 main dishes and people whether rich or poor, will make it a point to cook and have a grand feast atleast on this particular day. So that’s a wee bit of info regarding Onam.

Since Onam is fast approaching, we at home are getting ready for the Ona sadhya. A typical onasadhya would consist of Kalan, Olan, Aviyal, Thoran, Kootu Curry, Kichadi, Pulinji, Achar, Kaaya Upperi, Papadam, Pazham, Payasam, Paruppu, Sambar, Rasam, Curds and ofcourse Rice! Today I am posting a simple thoran.

Serves: 3 to 4

What you’ll need

1.       French Beans – 250 gms

2.       Carrots – 3 Medium

3.       Scraped coconut – 2 tbsp

4.       Green Chilies – 2 to 3

5.       Turmeric Powder – a pinch

6.       Salt to taste

7.       Curry Leaves a few

8.       Mustard Seeds – ½ tsp

9.       Split Urad Dal – ½ tsp

10.   Oil – 2 tsps

Method

Wash string and finely chop beans. Wash, peel and finely chop carrots.

Heat a Kadai with oil, add mustard seeds once it crackles add the urad dal. Stir, once dal changes color, add the chopped beans and carrots. Stir well. Now add the turmeric powder and salt mix well. Sprinkle a little water and cook covered on medium flame till done. Keep stirring and checking once in a while so that the vegetables don’t burn. Add more water if required.

In the meanwhile, pulse the scraped coconut, green chillies and curry leaves just for few seconds or till the chillies and curry leaves are ground properly. Do not add water.

Once the vegetables are cooked, check if any water or moisture is remaining, if so, cook uncovered till the moisture evaporates then add the ground coconut, stir well.

Beans carrot thoran is ready. Serve it as an accompaniment with Sambar and rice.

Here are few other Ona Sadhya Recipes

1. Sambar
2. Olan
3. Idichakka Thoran
4. Paal Payasam
5. Paruppu Pradhaman

Linking this to Kerala Kitchen hosted by Divya and to Life is green hosted by Shilpa

Channa Tondak | Blog Hop Wednesday

How time flies by? It feels as if it was only yesterday that Radhika had sent us a mail regarding Blog Hop and we had some interesting email exchanges and then everything got finalized and is in full swing now. I can’t believe we are already into the 3rd week of Blog Hopping. Through this I have been introduced to many new blogger friends.

This time around, I landed in Raksha’s space. I came by her space through the blog hop and am glad to have found it. She has a good collection of recipes with a few traditional Goan recipes. I wanted to try out something different and Goan recipes are something very new to me. I decided to try out this simple but authentic recipe of Channa Tondak. I have followed her recipe to the T adjusting only the spice levels. You can find the original recipe here.

The result was something very similar to the Kerala Kadala Curry with flavors of Whole coriander seeds and peppercorns. I also loved the addition of tamarind in it rather than always using tomatoes for the tanginess. Now to the recipe:

Serves: 3 – 4

What you’ll need:

1. Brown Channa - 1 cup
2. Potato – 1 medium
3. Onion - 3 medium sized
4. Scraped Fresh Coconut – ½ cup
5. Whole Coriander Seeds – 2 tsps
6. Black Peppercorns – 7 to 8
7. Dried Red Chillies – 2
8. Cloves – 2
9. Garlic – 4 pods
10. Tamarind - marble sized ball
11. Turmeric Powder – a big pinch
12. Salt to taste
13. Oil – 1 tbsp

Method:

Soak Channa overnight. Drain the water, wash well and pressure cook it with the potato. Keep aside.
Heat Kadai, dry roast the coriander seeds, peppercorns, red chillies and cloves till nice aroma comes. Transfer to a plate and keep aside.

Now add ½ tbsp of oil in the same Kadai, add the sliced onions and sauté for few minutes next add the chopped garlic and fry for another 2 minutes. Now add the scraped coconut and fry in medium flame till the coconut changes color slightly, finally add the tamarind and switch off the flame. This is to ensure that the tamarind becomes soft.

Once the above ingredients have cooled, grind everything, i.e, the coriander seeds, peppercorns, red chillies, cloves and the fried onion, coconut and tamarind to a fine paste using little water.

Now heat a Kadai, with the remaining oil, add the ground paste, a pinch of turmeric powder, cooked Channa , diced potatoes and salt to taste. Add about ½ to 1 cup of water depending upon the consistency and let everything boil together for about 5 to 8 minutes in medium flame. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves.

Hot and tasty Channa Tondak is ready. Serve with rotis or phulkas.

Note:

You can use any variety of legumes for preparing this like dried green peas, Kabuli Channa etc.

Now let's check out what our other blogger friends are upto.

Linking this to Blog Hop Wednesday and MLAA - 38

hosted by Preeti started by Susan

Pachha Papaya Thoran/Raw Papaya Stir Fry

Coconut trees, Jackfruit trees, Banana trees, Papaya trees are a common sight in most Kerala houses. The fruits of these trees are a major part of the Kerala cuisine. Extensive use of coconuts in all Kerala dishes is known to most of us. Papaya fruits also find their way in their daily cooking. Raw Papayas are used to make many dishes like Olan, Kootu, Molaguttal, Pachadi etc.
Today‘s post is on Raw Papaya Thoran. I have never seen my mom or grandma prepare this at home. Though we are from Kerala we never lived in Kerala as such. It was during my hostel days in Cochin that I first tasted this thoran. I took an immediate liking to it. It became one of my favorite items that was prepared in the hostel canteen and I used to eagerly wait for it. And now, whenever I find raw papayas in the stores, I pick them up to prepare this yummy stir fry which gets ready in about 20 minutes time. It goes very well with White rice and Sambar or even a simple tomato rasam.

What you’ll need (Serves -2)

1. Raw Papaya – 1 medium sized
2. Turmeric Powder – ¼ tsp
3. Salt to taste

For Seasoning

1. Coconut oil – 2 tsps
2. Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
3. Split urad dal – 1 tsp
4. Curry leaves – a few

To Grind

1. Fresh grated coconut – 1/3 cup
2. Green Chillies – 2
3. Cumin seeds – ½ tsp

Method

Wash, peel and chop papaya into small cubes. Heat a Kadai with coconut oil. Add mustard seed, once the splutter, add urad dal. As the dal changes color, add curry leaves, and papaya pieces. Stir well. Next add turmeric powder, salt and ½ a cup of water. Mix well. Cook covered till papayas get done. If there is water remaining after the pieces are cooked, keep stirring without lid on medium flame till water evaporates. In the meanwhile, grind all the items mentioned under To Grind list, without adding water. After the papaya pieces are cooked and all the water has evaporated, add the ground coconut mixture. Stir well.
Delicious Papaya Thoran is ready.

Note:

1. While selecting the papayas, choose one which just starting to ripen. This will lend a mild sweet taste to the curry. If not, then add about ½ tsp of jaggery. (I got only very raw ones, so added a little jaggery)
2. You can grate the papayas for faster cooking.

Check out the Blogging Marathoners doing BM#5 along with me 

Curry in a hurry under 30 min: Aarthi, Divya, Jayashree, Kaveri, Pavani,
Seven Days of Indian Sweets:Gayathri, Priya Suresh,
Seven Days of Microwave Meals: Monika,
Seven Days of Regional Specials:Harini, Vaishali, Suma, PJ
Seven Days of Colorful Dishes Kid's Special: Kalyani
Summer Coolers: Jayasree, Kamalika, Srivalli

Palak Babycorn Masala

When I was newly married, we used to live in a place called Domlur in Bangalore and from that house Shanthi Sagar was just about 5 minutes walk. So whenever I used to feel lazy to cook or just was not in mood to go into the kitchen, we would head straight to our favorite haunt - Shanthi Sagar. You guys must be wondering as to what all this has got to do with today’s post. I tasted this curry for the first time here. I was very intrigued by the name, “Palak Babycorn Masala” – nothing intriguing in the name, but you know, in those days, I cooked only some regular daily fare, that too with the help of my diary. Then, the name Babycorn itself sounded exotic, different from the regular Paneer Butter Masala, Malai Kofta etc that’s how I gave it a try. Loved the taste and in due course of time recreated it at home. So here is the recipe:

(Serves 4)

What you’ll need:

1. Spinach or Palak – 2 big bunches
2. Babycorn – 1 packet
3. Onions – 2 big, finely chopped
4. Tomatoes – 3, finely chopped
5. Green Chillies – 3 to 4
6. Jeera – 1 tsp
7. Coriander Powder – 1 tsp
8. Garam Masala – ½ tsp
9. Oil – 2 tsps

Method

Clean and chop palak roughly. Cook the chopped palak, cool and grind it. Cut babycorn into round slices.
Heat a Kadai with oil. Add jeera. Once it changes color, add slit green chillies and chopped onions. Saute for a few minutes. Next add the babycorn pieces. Cook covered for a few minutes or till babycorn is done. Now add the coriander powder and garam masala. Saute for a minute. Next add the chopped tomatoes and sauté till they turn mushy. Then, add the ground palak paste and salt to taste. Let it simmer for a few minutes. (Do not cover and cook as Palak will change color).

Delicious Palak Babycorn Masala is ready to be served with some hot rotis.

Note:

1. This is a semi dry gravy, if you want it to be a gravy like add about ½ cup of water after adding the palak puree.
2. The spiciness of the dish is from green chillies only, so adjust spice according to your taste. The one I tasted at the restaurant was quite spicy.


Check out the Blogging Marathoners doing BM#5 along with me 

Curry in a hurry under 30 min: Aarthi, Divya, Jayashree, Kaveri, Pavani,
Seven Days of Indian Sweets:Gayathri, Priya Suresh,
Seven Days of Microwave Meals: Monika,
Seven Days of Regional Specials:Harini, Vaishali, Suma, PJ
Seven Days of Colorful Dishes Kid's Special: Kalyani
Summer Coolers: Jayasree, Kamalika, Srivalli

Also linking this to Veggie/Fruit of the month - Spinach hosted by Reshmi started by Priya.

Podalangai/Snake Gourd Poricha Kootu

Whenever I want to cook a quick meal I opt for the pressure cooking method, which not only saves time, but preserves nutrients and helps in using minimum oil.
As a child I never liked kootu, but over the years my taste buds have changed and now I love these simple and comforting dishes. Thankfully, my daughter likes molagootal and kootu very much. Both are quite similar, Molagootal is mixed with rice and eaten (like Sambar) whereas kootu is thicker and is made as an accompaniment to Sambar, Rasam or Mor Kootan. We have it even with rotis and it tastes very good.
Poricha kootu is a typical Tamil recipe. It is slightly different from the regular kootu in its ground spices. I learnt this from a Tanjore Aunty who was our neighbor in Chennai. This is a very simple and wholesome dish from which you can obtain the day’s requirement of proteins.

What you’ll need:

1. Sanke gourd or Podalangai – 3 cups (cut into small pieces)
2. Yellow Moong Dal – 3 tblsps
3. Channa Dal – 1 tblsp
4. Turmeric Powder – ¼ tsp
5. Salt to taste

To grind

1. Urad Dal – 1 tsp
2. Red Chillies – 1
3. Black Peppercorns – 5 – 6
4. Green Chillies – 1 or 2
5. Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp
6. Fresh Grated Coconut – ½ cup

For Seasoning

1. Coconut oil – 1 tsp
2. Mustard Seeds – ½ tsp
3. Split Urad Dal – ½ tsp
4. Hing – 1 pinch
5. Curry leaves a few

Method

Pressure cook the dals and snake gourd pieces with a pinch of turmeric powder. In the meanwhile, heat a small frying pan with very little oil, fry the items 1 to 3 mentioned under to grind till dal changes color. Let it cool. Now grind it with all the other ingredients mentioned under To grind, adding little water as and when needed.
Now, transfer the cooked dal and snake gourd pieces in a vessel. Add salt and let it boil for 2 to 3 minutes. Now add the ground paste and let it simmer for few minutes or till the kootu thickens.
Remove from heat. Heat a small frying pan with a tsp of coconut oil. Add mustard seeds, once they crackle, add urad dal, as it changes color add hing and curry leaves. Pour this onto the porichha kootu.
Tasty Poricha kootu is ready to be relished with white rice and rasam.

Notes:

1. You could add a piece of Drumstick to this kootu which gives a very good flavor.
2. Cook Dals and vegetables in different containers.
3. Do not add water while cooking the snake gourd as it gives out lot of water.
4. If there is lot of water after the vegetable is cooked, allow it boil for a longer time, before adding the ground paste.
5. Adjust spice according to your taste.

Check out the Blogging Marathoners doing BM#5 along with me 

Curry in a hurry under 30 min: Aarthi, Divya, Jayashree, Kaveri, Pavani,
Seven Days of Indian Sweets:Gayathri, Priya Suresh,
Seven Days of Microwave Meals: Monika,
Seven Days of Regional Specials:Harini, Vaishali, Suma, PJ
Seven Days of Colorful Dishes Kid's Special: Kalyani
Summer Coolers: Jayasree, Kamalika, Srivalli

Corn Capsicum and Paneer Masala

This is my first marathon and I am thoroughly enjoying it. We are into the 3rd day of the blogging marathon and I am posting under the theme Currys in a Hurry. Here is my post for Day 3.

Every day, I have to prepare some curry for my husband’s lunch box. And he generally likes his curry to have some gravy or at least semi gravy. As I prepare the same thing for my daughter’s lunch box also, I try to incorporate veggies which my daughter likes – else the box will come back untouched. Since my daughter loves paneer and sweet corn, I make this dish quite often. It is a simple and healthy curry which goes very well with rotis and parathas. Let’s get to the recipe:

Serves 2 - 3

What you’ll need:

1. Boiled Sweet Corn Kernels – 1 Cup
2. Paneer – 150 gms, cubed
3. Capsicum – 1 big, chopped into small pieces
4. Onion – 2 medium, finely chopped
5. Tomato Puree – ½ cup
6. Ginger Garlic paste – ½ tsp
7. Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp
8. Turmeric Powder – ¼ tsp
9. Coriander Powder – 1 tsp
10. Chilly Powder – 1 tsp (adjust according to taste)
11. Garam Masala Powder – ½ tsp
12. Kasoori Methi – 1 tblsp
13. Salt to taste
14. Sugar – ½ tsp
15. Oil – 2 tsps

Method

Heat a Kadai with oil, add the cumin seeds. Once they change color add the chopped onions and sauté for 2 minutes. Next add the ginger garlic paste and sauté till the onions turn translucent. Add in the chopped capsicum and sauté for a few minutes. Next add the spice powders – Turmeric, Chilly and Coriander Powder, Saute for a min. (If you feel that the mixture is sticking to the bottom add a spoon or two of water). Next put it in the tomato puree and sauté till the mixture comes together. Now, add the boiled sweet corn and paneer cubes. Add salt, sugar, and garam masala. Stir well. Add about ½ cup of water and kasoori methi. Cover and simmer for a few minutes.

Enjoy this yummy curry with hot phulkas or parathas.

Check out the Blogging Marathoners doing BM#5 along with me 

Curry in a hurry under 30 min: Aarthi, Divya, Jayashree, Kaveri, Pavani,
Seven Days of Indian Sweets:Gayathri, Priya Suresh,
Seven Days of Microwave Meals: Monika,
Seven Days of Regional Specials:Harini, Vaishali, Suma
Seven Days of Colorful Dishes Kid's Special: Kalyani
Summer Coolers: Jayasree, Kamalika, Srivalli