Simple Dal Methi

My hubby and i have chapathi's for dinner so was just thiniking of making something tasty with methi leaves that i had bought and i ended up making this Simple Dal Methi.


Ingredients:
1. Methi leaves
2. Toor Dal (you can also add a little bit of all dals if u want it to be more nutritious)
3. Onions
4. Tomatoes
5. Green chillies
6. Corriander leaves
7. Oil
8. Water
9. Garam masala
10. Dhania powder
12. Mustard seeds
13. Jeera seeds
14. Red chilli powder


Method:
1. Cut onions, tomatoes and also the washed methi leaves.
2. Heat oil in a pressure cooker and add seasoning of mustard seeds and jeera seeds. Add the slit green chillies as well.
3. Now add the onions and saute. At this stage you can add the garam masala and a little bit of red chilli powder (optional).
4. Once the onions turn golden brown add tomatoes and mix well.
5. Next add the cut methi leaves and mix well.
6. Add the toor dal and pour in some water and close the cooker.
7. Let it cook and once the cooker is cooled you can add salt and boil it for about a minute.
8. Garnish with corriander leaves.

Dam Dam Kadamba

It was weekend again and i thought of trying some new recipe... Well actually i had tried making this Kadamba Rice sometime back, but disaster struck as it got burnt coz i tried to cook in a rather thin bottomed stainless steel cooker.. So this time i decided to cook it in an another way.

Ingredients: 

1. Chopped vegetables (I took beans, carrot, potatoes, tomatoes, green peas, capsicum, chayote squash(seemebadanekayi). You can also add pumpkin, drumsticks and anything else you like.
2. Dry redd chillies
3. Pepper corns
4. Chana Dal
5. Urad Dal
6. Toor dal
7. Rice
8. Ghee
9. Cashews
10. Mustard seeds
11. Water
12. Oil
13. Dry grated coconut
14. Salt
15. Tamarind
16. Curry leaves


Method:

1. Cook the vegetables except tomatoes, capsicum along with toor dal in cooker.
2.  With a little oil roast the chana dal and urad dal in equal proportions, dhania (half spoon more than the dals), pepper corns, dry red chillies and curry leaves (Vary the pepper corns and red chillies as per taste)
3. Grind this along with dry grated coconut and some water.
4. Cook Rice in another cooker and let it cool. (If u take 1 cup of toor dal take 1 and half cup rice)
5. Once the dal and vegetables are cooked add seperately cooked tomatoes the ground paste to it and let it boil.
6. Add salt, tamarind pulp and let it boil.
7. In a pan heat ghee and make seasoning of mustard seeds, red chillies, curry leaves and cashews.
8. Add the cooked rice to this and mix well till all ingredients blend well.
9. Your Kadamba rice is ready to serve hot.

You can accompany this with any raitha.. 

Weekly Food Review

AIRLINES HOTEL and CORNER HOUSE, Lavelle Road

Last Sunday we took our lil one to cubbon park, probably the only huge green space leftover in Bangalore. It was a sunday and as usual a lazy day.. Woke up late and had breakfast late. It was almost past 12 when we left home..

My son enjoyed his 1st visit to the park. His 1st time on the toy train, he looked at things around with much amazement. We also had Corn on the roadside, popcorn inside the park and with all this stomach was kind of full but still we decided to go to Airlines for a light lunch.

We ordered a gobi and mushroom manchurian, a chana bathura and an idli for my son. My husband said he loved the khara bath there so he had to have one. Well for me it was the 1st time i would be eating there. Even though i worked nearby for almost 2.5 years I had never tasted the food there.

After some 5 minutes our food arrived.. We started off with the manchurians first.. The taste was quite good but we felt it was a little dry compared to the local guy we usually visit (will post a review of his joint soon). The bathura was also good but only thing was out tummies could not digest more.. My son instead of having the idli was licking by the sauce we got.. I somehow managed to feed him quarter idli..

Then when the bill arrived we were a lil shocked coz they billed Rs 247.. We inquired the waiter how did it sum to this amount... Believe it or not... the manchurians cost a whopping 86Rs and the chana bathura  96Rs.. We were indeed shocked, well not to pay that much but coz of the cost.. We usually pay 40Rs per plate for a manchurian in any other place..

But finally we had to pay the amount and waste some food (which i hate to do) but we had to coz i also had plans of eating an ice cream at CORNER HOUSE coz i had not had one in ages there. I settled for a single scoop vanilla ice cream with choco chips coz that is all my tummy wud permit me to eat at that time.. Needless to say about the taste of a Corner House ice cream..

The ambience of the place was good... its an open air place so it has to be good.. but only when it doesn't rain or when its too sunny.. There were many people who enjoyed their cuppa's of coffee there... They serve coffee in a water glass and my hubby says it tastes nice. Seated behind us were a group of young guys who were supposed to be on their college reunion chatting away and eating away... I wondered i wish even i could go on such reunion...

Overall it was a good experience eating out on Sunday.

Avalakki with a twist

Watched this on a cookery show on TV and thought i wud try this at home for breakfast... Pretty simple and tasty...

Ingredients:

1. Hard avalakki
2. Potatoes
3. Onions
4. Chana dal
5. Urad dal
6. Corriander leaves
7. Curry leaves
8. Coconut
9. Lemon juice
10. Salt
11. Oil
12. Water
13. Jeera seeds
14. Mustard seeds
15. Green chillies

Method:

1. Grind the avalakki into a coarse mixture. Soak this in luke warm water for about 10 minutes.. Drain the excess water and add coconut, corriander leaves and mix well.
2. In a pan heat oil. Add seasoning of mustard seeds, chana dal, urad dal, jeera seeds and curry leaves. Also add slit green chillies.
3. Now add onions and saute till they turn golden brown.
4. Next add the potatoes and cook until they turn tender.
5. To this add the avalakki mixture.
6. Add salt to taste and add lemon juice and mix well.
7. Garnish with some more coriander leaves. 

Traditional Breakfast for a festive day

After the aashada season for one whole month it was Bhimanaamavasya - the day when women pray for the longevity of their hubbies.. So did I. After the pooja i had to cook something both for breakfast as well as lunch and it had to be traditional but i wanted to make something different... So i thought if making Sweet and Khara pongal.. Though i could change nothing much about the sweet pongal i did make small variations to the khara pongal...

Lets start with something sweet...

Sweet Pongal


Ingredients:
1. Milk
2.Moong Dal (Hesaru Bele)
3. Cashews and raisins for seasoning
4. Jaggery
5. Ghee
6. Rice

Method:

1. Slightly roast the moong dal and rice separately with a little ghee.
2. Now let it cook in a pressure cooker.
3. After the cooker has cooled add milk and jaggery to the cooked rice and moong dal.
4. Let the jaggery melt well. Keep a watch on the sweetness of the jaggery though. Keep stirring in between.
5. Once all the jaggery has melted and u get a wonderful aroma make a seasoning of the cashews and raisins in ghee and add it.
6. Your sweet pongal is ready to serve.



Khara Pongal


Ingredients:

1. Chopped Vegetables like beans, carrot, potato. 200 gms
2. Green peas 100 gms
3. Garam masala 1 tsp
4. Coarsely pound black pepper 10-12 peppercorns
5. Oil 3-4 tbps
6. Salt to taste
7. Ghee 1-2 tbsp
8. Mustard seeds for seasoning
9. Jeera seeds for seasoning
10. Green chillies 6-7 slit
11. Water 4 cups
12. Rice 1 cup
13. Moong Dal 1 cup
(Note: Rice and moong dal should be of the same quantity).
14. Curry leaves
15. Coriander leaves

You can alter the ingredients as per your requirement
Water should always be double the amount of moong dal and rice u have taken

Method:

1. Roast the rice and moong dal separately with a little ghee.
2. In a cooker add oil and ghee. Let it heat.
3. Now add seasoning of mustard seeds, jeera seeds and also curry leaves.
4. Next add coarsely pound pepper corns and also the green chillies
5. Add the chopped vegetables and fry for a while.
6. Add garam masala and mix well.
7. Now add the moong dal and rice. Pour in the water, add salt and let it cook with the weight on.
8. Let the cooker whistle a couple of times.
9. Once the cooker is cooled garnish with corriander leaves.

You can accompany the khara pongal with Tamarind Gojju or with a little different Cucumber Raitha. I made cucumber raitha. But it tastes equally good with Tamarind gojju.


Cucumber raitha:

Ingredients:

1.Cucumber finely chopped
2. Green chillies chopped
3. Curd finely beaten
4. Salt
5. mustard seeds and oil for seasoning


Method:

1. To beaten curds add finely chopped cucumber.
2. Heat oil add seasoning of mustard seeds and green chillies.  Mix this to the curd.
3. Add salt and serve.


Tamarind Gojju:

Ingredients:
1. Tamarind - a handful
2. Jaggery
3. Salt
4.Green chilies
5. Corriander leaves
6. Mustard seeds and oil for seasoning
7. Sambar powder or red chiili powder


Method: 

1. Soak a handful of tamarind in luke warm water for about 15 min.
2. Once its done squeeze only the pulp.
3. Now to this add some water, sambar/red chilli powder.
4. Grate the jaggery and add it to this.
5. Make a seasoning with mustard seeds, oil and green chillies
6. Add coriander leaves and let the jaggery melt for a while.