Microwave roasted moong dal

Saturday evening, I felt like eating moong dal along with tea. Too lazy to go out and buy a haldiram's packet, I thought of making it at home. I googled and found many microwave roasted recipes. I tried this one. It does not turn out as light as the haldiram's one and it is a little crunchier rather than crispier. Still it is worth a try as it is much healthier than the deep fried version.

Ingredients:

Moong dal - 1/2 cup
Oil - 1 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt

Method:

Soak the moong dal in water for about 30 mins
Drain out the water and pat the moong dal dry
Place in a microwaveable plate and microwave on high for 2 mins
Allow it to cool a little and using a fork separate out the moong dal into individual grains
Microwave again for 1 min
Add the oil, salt and chilli powder and mix using your hands. Ensure the oil coats evenly.
Microwave on high for 1 min.
Remove from microwave oven and use a fork to mix the dal
Microwave again for 1 min.
Cool it and store in airtight container. If it does not crisp up, place it again in the microwave for 1-2 mins.

Majjige huli

Every woman needs a day off from cooking. I decided it was today as I was bogged down with office work (the woes of IT world). I handed over the kitchen to my dearest hubby. Menu was decided as majjige huli and rice. My favourite huli/sambhar is majjige huli. It's base is not with lentils or dal but buttermilk or curd. Hubby promptly called up his mom for the recipe and whipped up an awesome dinner. Ahhh heaven...:) It is my mom-in-law's recipe that follows...

Ingredients:

White pumpkin - 2 cups (peeled, deseeded and cut into cubes)
Fresh grated coconut - 3 tbsp
Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp
Green chillies - 1-2
Ginger - 1/2" piece
Cumin seeds/ Jeera - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Chana dal - 2 tbsp
Curd - 1 cup
Curry leaves - 5-6
Oil - 3 tsp

Method:

Soak the chana dal in half a cup of water and keep aside
Boil the pumpkin in 2 cups of water. Add around 1 tsp salt to the water. The water should cover the pumpkin. Add more water if needed.
Boil the pumpkin until done, it should still be stiff but allow a knife to pierce smoothly through it. Don't let it become too soft, it should still have a bite to it.
Grind together coconut, coriander leaves, ginger, cumin seeds, chana dal (drain out the water), turmeric powder, green chillies and 1 tsp mustard seeds with a little water into a fine paste
Add this paste to the pumpkin and cook for 2 mins
Churn the curd or blend it in a mixer to remove all lumps and add it to the pumpkin. Lower the flame and cook for another minute. Do not cook on high flame else the curd will split.
Add salt as needed.
Heat oil in a small pan and add mustard seeds.
After the mustard seeds splutter, add the curry leaves and pour this tempering into the majjige huli.
Enjoy with rice

Aloo gobi

Sunday nights bring out mixed emotions… Weekend isn’t yet over but the week is visible at the horizon. Sunday nights confuse my brain, should I be happy that it is still the weekend? Or should I be sad that Monday is approaching? Whenever I am in confusion or in sadness, I find solace in food (hence, the weight issues). So food has to be simple, so as not to add to the confusion, and tasty, so it improves my mood. Aloo gobi is a perfect meal for Sunday nights. Easy to make and yummy too. It is a recipe that can seldom go wrong. So go ahead and add a teaspoon of life to aloo gobi…

Ingredients:

Cauliflower – ½ large or 1 small

Potatoes – 2 medium

Onion - 1 medium

Garlic – 2-3 cloves

Ginger – 1” piece

Green chillies – 1-2

Oil – 4 tsp

Cumin seeds / Jeera – 1 tsp

Kasuri methi – 1 tbsp

Turmeric powder / haldi – 1 tsp

Red chili powder – ½-1 tsp

Garam masala – ½ tsp

Coriander powder / Dhania powder – 2 tsp

Cumin powder / Jeera powder – 1 tsp

Hing – a pinch

Coriander leaves – a handful

Method:

Wash the cauliflower in warm water and salt and split into small florets

Peel and cube the potatoes

Cook the potatoes with water and salt until almost done (around 6-7 mins)

Heat oil in a kadhai and add the cumin seeds and chopped green chillies

Add crushed ginger and garlic and chopped onions. You may use ginger garlic paste instead.

Fry until the onion turns translucent.

Add kasuri methi, hing, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, garam masala, coriander powder and cumin powder

Fry for 1 min

Add the cauliflower florets and mix well

Cover and cooke for 7-8 mins until the cauliflower is almost done

Add the potatoes and salt and cover and cook until both potato and cauliflower are done

Serve hot with roti.

Gobi Mussallam

Gobi mussallam is actually an entire head of cauliflower or gobi cooked in a tomato and cream based gravy. I searched the internet for this recipe but nothing looked similar to the one I eat at a restaurant near my house. So I decided to use the ingredients mentioned and just make it with instinct. Well, that worked, and I got a yummy gobi mussallam. I did not use an entire head of cauliflower as I was looking at making a smaller quantity, so I just cut it into florets and used.

Gobi mussallam

Steam and fry the gobi

Fry onion, ginger, garlic paste along with the whole spices

Add tomato and all the powder spices and cook for 15 mins

Add milk and cook until desired consistency is reached

Cauliflower cooked in a creamy tomato gravy

Serve hot with roti or rice

Gobi Mussallam

Head of cauliflower cooked in a tomato and cream based gravy. Vegetarian cauliflower curry.
Recipe Type: Main
Cuisine: North Indian
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Yield: Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

1/2 large or 1 small Cauliflower
3 Tomatoes
3 Onion
4 cloves Garlic
1" piece of Ginger
1/4 cup Cashew nuts (Optional)
4 tsp Coriander powder / Dhania powder
1-2 tsp Cumin powder / Jeera powder
1 tsp Garam masala
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder / Haldi
1 tsp Red chilli powder
1 Bay leaf /Tej patta
1-2 Clove / Lawang
1 Star anise
4-5 Peppercorns
1 small piece Cinnamon / Dalchini(about 1.5")
1 Cardamom / Elaichi
1 cup Milk
5-6 tsp Oil
Salt
4-5 Almonds (Optional)
A handful of Coriander leaves

Method:

Soak cashew nuts in warm water. If you don't have cashew nuts you can skip this.
Break cauliflower into large florets.
Soak cauliflower in hot water with 1 tsp of salt added to it for around 2 mins.
Steam or boil the cauliflower until almost done. It should not be completely cooked and it should still be crunchy. I steamed it for around 3-4 mins.
Remove the cauliflower and pat them dry using a kitchen towel
Heat 3 tsp of oil in a kadhai and fry the cauliflower until they slightly brown
Remove the cauliflower form heat and keep aside
Puree the onion, ginger and garlic in the mixer
Puree the soaked cashew nuts using a little water
Puree the tomatoes
Heat the remaining oil in a kadhai and add the onion paste
Add the bay leaf, clove, star anise, peppercorns, cinnamon and cardamom and fry until the onion turns slightly brown. Add more oil or a little water if the paste starts sticking to the bottom of the kadhai
Add tomato and cashew nut puree
Add turmeric powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, red chilli powder and garam masala and cook on low flame for 10-15 mins. Keep stirring to avoid the paste from burning or sticking to the bottom of the kadhai. I cooked for almost 15 mins.
Add the milk and salt and continue cooking on low flame until the gravy obtains the consistency needed. I cooked it for around 5-10 mins more.
Add the cauliflower and cook for 2 mins
Garnish with chopped almonds and finely chopped coriander leaves
Serve hot with roti or rice

Heerekai Sippe Chutney | Ridgegourd Chutney | Toorai Chutney

Heerekai Sippe Chutney is a flavorful chutney made from Ridge gourd peel, coconut, red chillies and cumin seeds.

heerekai turai toorai tori luffa ridge gourd sippe peel chutney

What's your pick with that hot Dosa on a Sunday morning? Chutney or Sambar?

If you just chose Chutney, you are gonna love this new flavorful fibre filled Heerekai Sippe Chutney.

If you chose Sambar, may be it is time you tried this flavorful fibre filled Heerekai Sippe Chutney.

See what I did there? *wink*

Heerekai means Ridge gourd or Toorai or Tori. It a long green vegetable with ridges running through its sides. Heerekai is one of the healthiest vegetable around. It isn't starchy like the potato or slimy like the okra or juicy like the cucumber. It is somewhere in the middle there, totally forgotten by many. You may also know it as Luffa and this is what a natural Luffah is made of. Heerekai is eaten when it is still green and not yet ripened. It is full of fiber and super low in calories. Win-win!!!

Sippe means Peel in Kannada. This chutney is made using the peel of the Heerekai and fresh Coconut. While the Heerekai flesh has a very neutral taste, it's peel is very Earthy in taste. To make this chutney, we first need to lightly peel the Heerekai and discard the "ridges". Once all the ridges are discarded, peel again to remove the dark green peel. This is what we will use in our chutney.

This peel is then cooked until it is slightly soft and blended together with cumin seeds, dried red chillies and fresh coconut to give an earthy fiber filled chutney.

I added a tempering of mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves because I am a big fan of tempered chutneys. You can skip this.

If you liked this, you may also like:

Mint Coriander Chutney - A tangy chutney made using mint and coriander. Goes well with snacks such as Samosa and Pakoda or Chats.
Red Chilli Chutney or Ranjaka - A super spicy chutney made from fresh red chillies. Goes well with Joladda Rotti or as a marinade.
Heerekai Tove or Ridge Gourd Dal - A simple Dal or Lentil curry made using Ridge gourd.

Heerekai Sippe Chutney | Ridgegourd Chutney | Toorai Chutney

Heerekai Sippe Chutney is a flavorful chutney made from Ridge gourd peel, coconut, red chillies and cumin seeds.

Recipe Type: Side
Cuisine: South Indian
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Yield: 1 cup

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Ridge Gourd Peel or Heerekai Sippe
1/3 cup fresh Coconut
1/2 tsp Tamarind pulp
2-3 dry Red Chilli
1/4 tsp Cumin seeds or Jeera
3 tsp Oil (Optional)
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds(Optional)
1/2 tsp Urad Dal (Optional)
6-8 Curry leaves (Optional)
3-4 Tbsp Water
Salt to taste

Method:

Peel the heerekai/ ridge gourd. Do not use the ridges in the chutney, they are very hard and will not grind properly. Use the remaining part of the peel.
Heat 1 tsp of Oil in a pan and add the chopped peel. Fry for 1-2 minutes. Add 2 Tbsp of water and cover and cook for 4-5 minutes.
Allow the peel to cool.
Grind together the coconut, peel, cumin seeds, tamarind, red chillies, and using 2 tbsp water into a fine consistency.
Heat oil in a pan.
Once hot add the mustard seeds and let them splutter. Add the urad dal and curry leaves and immediately pour the oil on the chutney.
This tempering is optional. Chutney tastes good even without it.

Bean sprouts salad

Abroad, salads now form a part of every meal almost. People are getting conscious of their eating habits. For us in India, salad generally means kosambri/ Koshimbir, raita or cut veggies like carrot, tomato, cucumber etc. The same salad on daily basis gets boring. So I keep searching for different
types of salad recipes. On sunday, I was very excited to find bean sprouts in my veggie store. I think you can make this at home too, but I've never tried to get the sprouts to grow so thick. Anyway, it was very cheap and I remembered a yummy bean sprout salad I had in a restaurant buffet. Although I don't know their exact recipe, I decided to try something out. The try was successful, and gave us a tasty salad for dinner...

Ingredients:

Bean sprouts - 2 cups
Capsicum - 1/2 (Optional)
Coriander leaves - a handful
Baby spinach - a handful (Optional)
Sunflower seeds/ Peanuts/ Pinenuts - 2 tbsp (Optional)

For dressing:

Garlic - 1 clove
Olive oil - 1 tbsp
Dark soy sauce - 1 tsp
Lime juice - 2 tbsp
Honey - 2 tbsp
Sugar - 1 tsp
Onion powder - 1/2 tsp (Optional)
Pepper powder- 1 tsp
Celery salt (Can use regular salt, I used this as I had it)

Method:

Wash and drain the bean sprouts
Cut the capsicum into fine juliennes and add to bean sprouts
Finely chop the coriander and the baby spinach and add to the bean sprouts.
Roast the sunflower seeds in a pan for 1-2 minutes, until they turn a light brown and keep aside to be added later. You may use any nuts like peanuts, pinenuts, almonds or skip nuts altogether
For the dressing, heat the olive oil in a pan and fry finely chopped garlic in it until the garlic turns brown.
Pour out the oil into a bowl and add the dark soy sauce, lime juice, salt, sugar, honey, onion powder and pepper powder.
I used dark soy sauce because that was what I had. Any soy sauce can be used.
I used sugar along with the honey because the honey did not cut through the acidity of the dressing up to my liking. You can skip the sugar and increase the amount of honey or reduce the amount of lime juice. The dressing should have a mild sweet taste without being overpowering.
Mix the dressing well.
Spoon the dressing on the salad and add the sunflower seeds on top.

Shavige uppit / Semiyan upma / Savoury vermicelli

I always get tired of thinking what to make for breakfast. Somehow, cornflakes never was my favorite and with store bought bread being mainly of maida/flour, I need to keep making something different everyday so I don't get bored and skip breakfast. Being the most important meal of the day, breakfast has to be energy packed to get you through the day. Shavige uppit is an easy and quick to make breakfast.

Ingredients:

Shavige/ Semiya/ Vermicelli – 1 cup (dried)

Onion – 1 small

Tomato – 1 small

Green chillies – 1-2

Oil – 2 tsp

Mustard – ½ tsp

Coriander leaves – a handful

Fresh grated coconut – 2 tbsp (Optional)

Curry leaves – 5-6 (Optional)

Water – 2 cups

Salt

Method:

Heat a kadhai and roast the vermicelli without oil for 2-3 mins until they turn faintly brown and keep aside. Do not let them burn, keep stirring.

Heat oil in a kadhai and add the mustard seeds.

Add the curry leaves and chopped green chillies to the oil after the mustard seeds splutter.

Add the chopped onion and fry until they are translucent.

Add the chopped tomato and fry until they are soft.

Add the water and salt. Allow it to boil.

Once the water boils, add the roasted vermicelli and cover it.

Cook for around 5 mins until all the water evaporates and the vermicelli is cooked.

Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and fresh grated coconut and serve hot.

Kochhidu moolangi salad | Mooli salad | Radish salad

Crunchy, Peppery, Sharp - That's how I describe this Radish Salad made using both the root and the leaves.

mooli moolangi salad kosambri daikon radish kochhidu grated

What have you been upto this week? Me, I've been gardening a little.

Tomatoes are blooming, I see 2-3 juicy ones in the future. But today, was the day to harvest the Mooli (Daikon or Moolangi). I was surprised at how easy and low maintenance Mooli. Just throw in the seeds and stop worrying about them. Wait until they pop out of the ground, and they are ready to be harvested. Two lovely white moolis were peeking out of the soil in my pot. So harvest them, I did.

Whatever I've grown in my little balcony garden, I've tried to celebrate those vegetables. Home grown vegetables are so fresh and tasty, they need to be celebrated. Hence, this healthy awesome crunchy salad that uses the root as well as the leaves. Waste nothing my friend. And this salad needs the leaves, it taste absolutely nothing like what it should without those peppery leaves. If you cannot find Mooli with the leaves attached to them, I suggest using any other peppery leaves like Arugula.

This is my Grandmother's recipe and one knows Grandmothers are rarely wrong when it comes to food. I've never been too fond of daikon or Moolangi (Mooli), but this Salad is one that I will never refuse.

This Mooli Salad is not a salad that can be had for lunch or dinner on its own like Caesars salad. This is more like an accompaniment to a meal. Give me a plate of rice and dal and this salad makes an amazing side with its crunch and freshness.

If you liked this, you may also like:

Kosambri - Simple salad made using cucumbers and soaked moong dal. Serve as an accompaniment with a full meal.
Mooli Palak Sabzi - Rajasthani sabzi made with the mooli root and palak leaves.

Kochhidu Moolangi Salad | Mooli Salad | Radish Salad

Fresh salad made from finely chopped daikon radish or mooli and its leaves.

Recipe Type: Salad
Cuisine: South Indian
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Yield: Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

2 Daikon Radish or Mooli or Moolangi
Daikon leaves or Mooli ke patte or Moolangi Soppu
2-3 dry Red Chilli
2 tsp Oil
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
Salt to taste

Method:

Break off the leaves of the mooli and wash nicely
Chop the leaves finely
Peel the mooli and cut it finely.
Mix the leaves, mooli and salt.
Heat the oil and add mustard seeds.
Once they splutter, add the red chillies to the oil and fry for 30 seconds.
Add this tempering to the salad and mix well

Instant Khaman dhokla

Khaman dhokla is probably the most famous Gujrati snack across India. Easily available in some states and difficult to find in others. Somehow, I love this healthy steamed snack with tea in the evenings, but Bangalore disappoints me by not having it so readily available. I actually have to go in search of it and most times it is just so sweet that it turns me off. Since it is so easy to make, I often end up making it at home myself.

Ingredients:

Besan - 1 cup

Fine rava - 1/4 cup

Eno salt - 2 sachets

Green chillies - 4-5

Ginger - 1 small piece

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Coriander leaves - a handful

Fresh grated coconut - 2 tbsp

Salt

Water - 1/2 cup

Oil - 4-5 tsp

Method:

Mix the besan and rava. Using rava is optional, dhokla can be made with only besan also.

Crush the ginger and make a paste of the 2 green chillies and add to besan.

Add salt and water

Fill a steamer with water and keep on stove.

Grease a small vessel/ bowl. I used an idli steamer so I used the idli plates itself to steam the dhoklas.

Once the steamer is ready, mix the Eno salt into the besan and immediately transfer to the greased vessel and place in the steamer.

Allow it to steam for 7-10 minutes.

Remove from steamer and cut into 2" pieces.

Heat 3 tsp oil, add mustard seeds.

Once the mustard seeds splutter, slit the remaining chillies and add to te oil.

Pour the oil on the dhokla

Garnish with finely chopped coriander and freshly grated coconut

Enjoy with curd or chutney

Generally, when we buy dhokla outside, a very thin solution of water, sugar, lime juice is also poured on the dhokla to give it a sweet and sour taste. I am not a fan of the sweet dhokla, hence I skipped this step.

Pita bread

My husband likes pita bread a lot. It is not so easily found unless we go to gourmet food stores in Bangalore. I always wanted to try making it at home. So I finally thought, this Friday evening I shall give it a try. Try was successful and hubby munched down on the whole lot :)

Pita bread with hummus

Knead into a smooth dough

After 2 hours, the dough has doubled it size

Divide dough into balls

Flatten out the dough

Roll out the dough to 5 mm thickness

Puffing in the oven

Puffed up pita bread

Pita bread

Enjoy pita bread with hummus

Ingredients:

Maida / Flour - 1.5 cups
Active dry yeast - 1 tsp
Warm water - 0.5 cups
Sugar - 1 tsp (Powdered) (Optional)
Olive oil - 1 tbsp (Optional)
Salt

Method:

Mix the active dry yeast in the water and let it proof for 5-10 mins.
Add 1 cup flour to it. Add salt, sugar and olive oil.
Mix well and knead.
Add the remaining flour while kneading to get a smooth dough.
Clean the vessel used to make the dough and grease it with olive oil.
Place the dough in the vessel and move around the dough so it is coated with olive oil.
Cover the vessel with a clean towel or a plastic wrap and allow to rest for 1-2 hours until the dough doubles in size.
Gently flatten the dough and move the dough to the working surface.
Divide the dough into balls. I made 4 for this quantity.
Preheat the oven to 240 degree Celsius. Keep the baking tray/ baking stone in the oven during preheat.
Using some more dry flour, gently roll out the dough ball to a thickness of about 5mm
Place the rolled out pita bread on the baking sheet and bake for 3 minutes.
It will puff up after 1-2 mins.
If it does not puff, it means the baking sheet is not hot enough. Whether it puffs or not does not matter if you are eating it with a dip.
This can be made using a tava/ griddle also, so instead of preheating the oven, heat the tava and place the pita bread on it when the tava is hot.
Remove from tava after it puffs or after 2 mins appx.
Enjoy it hot with hummus.

Hummus

I simply love hummus, I can eat it with anything, pita bread, regular bread, chapati etc. I looked around in all the big gourmet food chains recently, but somehow none of them carried hummus. May be it does not sell well here or as it has a lower shelf life, they don't keep them. Anyway, I had this huge wish to eat hummus and pita bread, so I decided to make them both at home. Very simple recipe and you can vary it the way you like...

Hummus

Ingredients except Olive oil

Sesame paste I used instead of tahini

Enjoy with bread

Ingredients:

Chickpeas / Garbanzo beans /Kabuli chana - 1/2 cup (dried)
Olive oil - 2 tbsp.
Lime juice - 1-2 tbsp.
Garlic - 1-2 cloves (Optional)
Dried red chilli flakes / Red chilli powder - 1 tsp (Optional)
Tahini / Sesame / Til paste - 1 tbsp (Optional)
Salt

Method:

Soak the chickpeas for 7-8 hours.
Boil them in a pressure cooker with 1 tsp of salt until cooked. (Appx 15-20 mins)
Blend together the cooked chickpeas, 1 tbsp. Olive oil, 1 tbsp lime juice, 1 garlic, 1 tsp red chilli flakes, Sesame paste and salt. I used homemade sesame paste instead of tahini that is traditionally used. You can skip this if required. It does not alter the taste.
Add the remaining ingredients if required as per taste.
Blend into a fine paste. I added around 1tbsp of water to achieve a thinner consistency. Generally water is not used, more lime juice or olive oil is used.

You can vary it by putting cumin instead of garlic also. Roasted red pepper also is a nice addition.