Pappu Pulusu - Andhra Food Series

This is the ultimate comfort food as far as I am concerned. Hot steaming rice, a dollop of ghee, pour this dal on top and you have got yourself a perfect meal. Its all very well to want to eat out and try out different foods, but after a while home food is the best.

My mother used to make this the best but I like to think mine is not that far behind in either taste or appearance. Even if I have to say so myself, it is pretty darn delicious!!!!

Try it out and let me know...

INGREDIENTS:


1 cup Toor Dal
1 Large Onion, Sliced
1 Tomato, diced
2 tablespoons Tamarind Extract
2 Green Chillis, sliced

4 Cloves of Garlic, chopped into big pieces.
1/2 teaspoon Mustard Seeds
2 Red Chillis
6-8 Curry Leaves
1 teaspoon Coriander Leaves , finely chopped
1 teaspoon Oil
Salt to taste


METHOD:

Soak the Dal for about half an hour.

Pressure cook along with the sliced onions, diced tomatoes, sliced green chillis till cooked.

Mash till onions, tomatoes, dal and chillis are well blended.

Heat oil.

Add the mustard seeds, red chillis, curry leaves and garlic and fry until garlic is well browned.

Pour the cooked dal mixture over this and let it simmer for a few minutes.

Garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve hot with rice.

ENJOY!!!!!!!!!

Dal Palak

I used to hate spinach as a child and those days Popeye wasn't such a popular character. So I received absolutely zilch inspiration on that front. I simply hated the sight of spinach in any form. I don't think I even tried it once. I guess just the look of it (so green and bursting with goodness and health) that was so unappealing. It used to make an appearance in many avatars and find its way on to the dining table ever so often but no, I would not touch it.

One day when my mom was out of town, I came back from college and I was simply starving. You know the of feeling rats gnawing in the tummy and all that. I went into the kitchen looking for something yummy to eat. To my horror, all I saw in the fridge was rice and palak dal. OMG!!! That was the scariest thing to happen to me ever. But by now I was starving. I had no choice in the matter. Took the rice, added some dal very gingerly, put in lots and lots of ghee and heated the whole thing up in hopes that it will morph into something that I loved. But no, the gods were not on my side. It still remained the same vile looking palak dal and rice..

Put the whole thing into a bowl and sat at the table with a book for company (mom wasn't there, remember?). Put one spoon of it into my mouth. I cannot even start to describe the shock I got.

It was heavenly. Tasted so good. Till today I cannot say if I loved the taste because I was hungry or because it just tasted yummy. But ever since then, it has remained one of my favorite dals. And has triggered my tastebuds into loving all the different varieties of greens.

So now I dont ever refuse anything until I taste it once and the same rule applies to the kids too. One taste and if you still don't like it, then its ok, you don't have to eat it. But one taste is mandatory.

So here goes my mom's version of the Palak Dal

Ingredients

1 Bunch Palak ( maybe about 100 gms)

6 cloves of garlic peeled (if the smaller garlic is used, feel free to put in more)

1 teaspoon jeera

1 teaspoon oil

1 cup toor dal washed and boiled till done

1/2 teaspoon chilli powder

salt to taste

Method

Wash and chop the spinach finely.

Heat oil in the kadai and when medium hot, add the jeera and fry till it sizzles.

Add garlic at this point.

When the garlic is browned nicely, pour the dal into the kadai. Add salt and chilli powder.

When it starts to boil add the finely chopped spinach leaves. Heat through for about 5 minutes till the leaves start to wilt.

Switch off the heat.

Serve hot with rice or chapatis.

Note: The garlic adds a lot of taste to the dal. So feel free to use a little more than the quantity I have mentioned.

Green Moong Dal - Wholesome goodness simplified

You know how it is with all these experts. They keep changing all the things that we think are sacrosanct. One day you think that coffee is good for you then the very next day you are informed that it is the worst thing for you. If on one page of the newspaper you see an article that says a glass of wine does wonders for the health of your heart, then just turn the page over and you will promptly see another article which says wine increases risks of heart attack. If it the Atkins Diet or South Sea one day, it is the Cabbage Soup Diet or General Motors Diet the next... CARBS!!! (gasp)are a big no-no these days.

How do lay people like us know what is right?

In my opinion, I think moderation is the key. Its ok to eat or drink anything as long as it is in moderation. Wouldn't you agree? Excessively eating only veggeis and fruit without any carbs, I think is as bad for the body as overdoing the rice and chapatis without adequate amounts of greens and fresh food.

If you look at what we call 'home food' in any part of India, you will find that it is a mix of complex carbs, proteins, vegetables, spices, curd, all of which come together in one wholesome meal. It covers most of the food groups and in the right quantities. I am not an expert in this field but I am sure you will agree with me here. There are the carbs in the form of rice or chapatis, proteins in the dals and sambars, vitamins and minerals in the raw and cooked vegetables and finally that powerhouse of nutrition yoghurt/curd without which no Indian meal is complete.

With all the talk these days of eating complex carbohydrates, here is a recipe that is simple, nutritious and tasty. It is whole green moong dal cooked simply with onions and tomatoes.

Ingredients:

1 cup green moong dal

1 teaspoon jeera
2 onions chopped finely

2 tomatoes chopped finely

1/2 ' piece ginger

3 cloves garlic chopped finely

3 green chillies chopped lengthwise

1 tablespoon kasuti methi

salt to taste

1 tablespoon oil

1 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves

Wash and soak the green moong dal in water for about 4 hours. Boil in a pressure cooker or on the stovetop till cooked through.

Heat oil in the kadai/wok.

When hot add jeera till it sizzles and is golden brown. Add onions at this point along with ginger and garlic. When they turn translucent and start getting a little brown round the edges, add the tomatoes and the green chillies. Cook till pulpy. Add salt and kasooti methi.

Add the cooked green moong dal along with its water and boil till it thickens a little.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rice or chapatis.

Adai

One of the few things I really enjoyed discovering after moving to Chennai was this concept of TIFFIN.
Tiffin usually refers to the small meal eaten in between major meals. Or any hot light snack taken at any time during the day. In Tamil Nadu, often the main meal i.e lunch is eaten first thing in the morning. So at about 2 or 3 in the afternoon, when the tummy starts making demands for food, then a light snack is called for. This snack could be a variety of dosas, idly, sandwiches, upma, khichadi, pongal, vada etc. Adai features as a major dish in the tiffin listing.
Adai is a thickish dosa made of different dals ground together. Adai is traditionally served with a little blob of white freshly churned butter, jaggery and a chutney.
It is normally a dense and not too crispy styled dosa. It can be really filling.
On the nutrition front, it is a dish which is rich in proteins because of its high dal/lentil content.




Recipe:

Ingredients

1/2 cup moong dal
1/2 cup toor dal
1/2 cup chana dal
1/4 urad dal
2 cups raw rice
4 red chillies

4 green chillies chopped finely
2 onions chopped finely
handful of Coriander leaves chopped finely
3 sprigs of curry leaves chopped finely
1/2 inch piece of ginger chopped finely
a pinch of asafoetida
salt to taste

Soak the dals, rice and red chillies for about 4 hours.
Grind to a coarse paste. Add the remaining ingredients.
Heat the dosa tava ( griddle) till medium hot. Put a tablespoon of oil on the tava. Spread a spoonful of the batter on the tava till flat and like a pancake.
Pour a little oil on the sides and on top of the dosa. When the bottom turns golden brown, turn over and fry the other side too. Serve hot with jaggery, butter and a chutney of choice.