Sprouted Moong Fried Rice | Chinese Style

Offlate I am adding lots of sprouted moongs in my cooking. I usually make some salad out of it since we all love salads with sprouted moong. This time I tried a mixed rice and it turned out to be yummy. Posting this as the final recipe for the month of March's blogging Marathon. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#38

Please find the recipe to prepare Sprouted moong here

Ingredients 

Rice - 2 cups 

Onion - 1 

Capsicum - 1 

Sprouted Moong - 1/2 cup

Spring Onions - 3 tbsp  

Garlic - 1 pod 

Cabbage - 1/2 cup (chopped thin)

Soy Sauce - 1.5 tsp 

Chilli Tomato Sauce - 1 tbsp 

Pepper powder - 1 tsp 

Salt and Oil to taste 

Method:

• Fry the rice in a little oil or butter and pressure cook. I used 1:1.5 water instead of the usual 1:2 so that it does not stick. 
• Transfer to a big bowl and cool a little and separate the grains. 
• Slice all the vegetables very thin and keep ready. 
• In a pan, heat some oil. Keep the pan hot all the time. Add the onions and garlic. Saute for a minute. 
• Add the capsicum, cabbage and spring onion. Saute for 2-3 minutes. 
• Add Sprouted Moong and salt. Fry for another 5 minutes.
• Add the soy sauce and chilli sauce along with pepper. Toss well. 
• Add the rice and switch off. You can garnish with some spring onions.

Enjoy the fried rice with a manchurian of your choice. I ate it just like that without any side dishes !!!!

Note: 

We can also add other vegetables like carrot, red pepper, yellow pepper etc.... But I wanted the rice to look more green. So added only green vegetables.

Don't completely cook the veggies until they are mushy. The speciality of Chinese Fried Rice is that the vegetables should be half cooked and have a crunchy taste. Hence the name fried rice.

Paneer Pulav

This would definitely be Kids Favourite... Well I got hold of this recipe from here. This is a very easy one pot meal and a good one for lunch boxes. I served this with a simple raitha and dry salad. Posting this for BM#38 - Gourmet Rice dishes.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#38

Ingredients:

Rice - 1 cup - 125 grams

Paneer - 100 grams - 15 cubes

ginger - 5 grams

garlic - 4 pods

cloves - 3

garam masala - 1/4 tspn

red chilli powder - 1 tspn

mint leaves - few

coriander leaves - few

tomato - 50 grams

onions - 50 grams

Oil - 4 tbspn

Method:

• Grind the mint leaves, coriander leaves, cloves, tomato, ginger and garlic into a smooth paste.
• Wash the rice and keep aside.
• Shallow fry the paneer cubes in oil and immerse them in hot water for few minutes. Drain the water and keep aside.
• Chop the onions into thin slices.
• In a pressure cooker, add oil and add the sliced onions.
• Saute till it becomes translucent.
• Add salt and the ground masala to this.
• Saute in a medium flame till the raw smell goes off.
• Add redchilli powder and garam masala.
• Add the fried paneer cubes and mix well.
• Add the rice and  water to this and cover the cooker with lid and pressure cook till 2 whistles

Serve with raitha and papads.... Yummy Paneer Pulav is ready!!!

Note:

If not frying the paneer just dip them in hot water for 5-10 minutes and drain the water before cooking. This makes the paneer soft.

Adding whole spices can be adjusted according to your own taste. Fennel seeds can be added while grinding the masala.

Even cinnamon,star anise and cardamom can be added in the oil before adding onions.

Tomato Rice in 5 minutes

The Alarm goes off...You get up on that lazy Monday Morning, snooze the alarm for 10 minutes and catch a quick nap. You get up and find that its already 7:00 in the morning!!!!!! You have only 30 minutes before the kid's school van comes and you need to prepare breakfast/lunch, get the kid ready for school....... OH NO!!! what to do...

How many of you have been in this situation? Well I have been more than once and have managed to escape with the help of this dish :-) Yes whenever I am late, I prepare a quick breakfast of cornflakes + milk or toast + milk and this tomato rice in 5 minutes. So kitchen activities take 15 minutes of my time and I have rest 15 minutes for other activities and getting ready.

For the second theme in this month's Blogging Marathon I chose Gourmet rice dishes. What better idea would I get than to post this recipe....Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#38

Ok - 5 minutes here means 5 minutes of your time. Since we cook this in pressure cooker the rice takes around 5-7 minutes to cook and another 5-10 minutes to open the cooker. But meanwhile you can prepare other stuff.

Ingredients: (4 servings)

Rice - 1 Cup - 125 grams
Onions - 100 grams
Tomatoes - 150 grams
Ginger – 5 grams
Garlic – 3 pods
Green chillies – 2 nos
Water – 2 cups
Salt – to taste
Coriander powder – 1 tspn
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tspn
Garam masala powder – ½ tspn
Ghee – 2 tbspn

Spices:
Bay leaf – 1
Cinnamon – ½ inch stick
Cloves – 4
Cardamom – 2
Star anise – 1

Coriander leaves – few
Spring onions – few

Method:

• Wash the rice and keep aside.
• Grind the onions, tomatoes, green chillies, ginger, garlic into a coarse paste.
• In a pressure cooker, add ghee and add all the spices. Fry for about 30 seconds
• Add the ground paste and fry for another minute.
• Add the washed rice and throw in all the powders including salt.
• Mix well. Add the required amount of water (1:2 ratio).
• Mix well. Check for salt. Close the pressure cooker.
• Cook for one pressure. Then bring doen the heat to minimum. Cook for another minute and switch off the stove.
• Open the pressure cooker as soon as the pressure is released and transfer the contents to a wide mouthed bowl.
• Garnish with coriander leaves. In my home since spring onions were growing, so I garnished with those.

Tomato rice in 5 minutes is ready!!!! Just grab a packet of potato chips and then enjoy a relishing lunch!!!

Spaghetti in White sauce

Another one of H's favourite. I am not a fan of pasta in white sauce - I prefer pasta in red sauce with lot of tomatoes.... But this is a very big hit among kids with lots of cheese and butter in the recipe.
My third contribution to BM#38 - Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#38

Ingredients:

1.      Spaghetti– 200 grams

2.      Vegetables – ½ cup or more (boiled)

For the sauce

1.       Garlic – 1 clove

2.       Butter – 2 tsp

3.       All purpose flour/ Maida – 1 tbsp

4.       Milk - 1 ½ cups

5.       Cheese – 2 small cubes 

6.       Chilli Flakes – ½ tsp

7.       Oregano – a big pinch

8.       Pepper powder – ½ tsp

9.       Salt to taste

Method

• Cook the Spaghetti as per the instruction on the packet. Drain and refresh with cold water, drain again and keep aside. 
• Add the boiled vegetables to it. I used carrots, capsicum, mushroom and paneer. Just boiled these in microwave oven and added.
• Heat a non stick pan with butter, add crushed garlic and sauté.
• Next add maida and sauté for a few minutes or till the raw smell disappears.
• Now slowly add the milk while whisking continuously, so that no lumps are formed. Let this cook for about 2 to 3 minutes or till the sauce starts boiling.
• Next add in one cube of grated cheese and mix well. Now add the chilli flakes, oregano and pepper powder and salt to taste. Mix well.
• Now add the cooked spaghetti and the vegetables. Mix well without breaking the pasta.
• Finally, before serving add another cube of grated cheese.

That’s yummy and delicious Spaghetti is ready to dig in. Serve hot!!! Kids would be overjoyed to have this after-school.

Linking this to after-school snacks, valli's page

Sundal - Black Channa | black chick peas stir fry

These were my favourite evening snacks as a kid.... I used to enjoy the navarathiri season for these snacks. So posting one for the BM #38 series of kids delight. Very easy to prepare except that we need a little planning since the chick peas needs to be soaked for about 8-12 hours. This sundal can be prepared with a lot of other items like white chick peas, peas, channa dal etc...

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#38




Ingredients:

Black Channa - 1 cup - 125 grams
Grated Coconut - 1/2 cup - 50 grams
Salt - to taste
Mango pieces (grated) - 2 tspn
Oil - 2 tspn
mustard seeds - 1 tspn
urad dal - 1/2 tspn
Red chillies - 3 nos
Curry leaves - few

Method:

• Soak the black channa / chickpeas for about 8-12 hours of overnight.
• Pressure cook the channa / chickpeas with salt and turmeric powder and enough water until the channas are cooked soft. Drain the water and keep aside.
• In a kadai pour oil. Add the mustard seeds. Once mustard splutters add the urad dal and fry for about 10 seconds.
• Add the curry leaves and the red chillies. Fry for about a minute.
• Add the grated coconut and grated mangoes (raw). Fry for about 5 minutes in low flame. 
• Add the cooked chickpeas and mix well. Heat for another 2 minutes.

Sundal is ready!!! This can be served hot or cold!!!!

We at home enjoy this with rasam-rice also...

Linking this to after-school snacks, valli's page

Coconut stuffed wheat dosa | a quick snack with grated coconut and sugar

This is my first port for the Blogging Marathon. I am participating in BM#38. But I guess I started at the wrong time. There was no internet connectivity and hence I missed the first day. I should actually be publishing this post on 3rd March but alas I am posting on 4th March. Anyways I will compensate by pusblishing 2 recipes today. And My first choice was kids recipes. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#38
So here goes my first recipe for the Blogging Marathon series.

H introduced me to this recipe. And this is a big hit among kids mainly because it is sweet. A quick to make evening snack and most of the ingredients you would find at home!!! grated coconut, sugar, wheat flour.... And the snack is ready in 10 minutes...



Ingredients:

Wheat Flour - 1 cup - 125 grams
Water - 3/4 cup
Egg - 1
salt - to taste

Stuffing:
Grated Coconut - 1/2 cup - 50 grams
Sugar - 1/4 cup - 30 grams
Cardamom powder - 1 tspn - 5 grams

To Temper:
Oil - 1 tspn - 5 grams
Mustard - 1 tspn - 5 grams
urad dal - 1/2 t spn - 3 grams

Coriander leaves - few

Method:

• Mix the wheat flour and salt. Add water and make it into a batter similar to that of dosa batter consistency.
• Beat one egg and add this to the batter and mix well. This makes the dosas very soft. For vegetarian people this step can be avoided. Instead add a pinch of baking soda.
• Chop the coriander leaves and add this to the batter. Mix well
• For the stuffing - just mix the grated coconut, sugar and cardamom powder and keep it ready.
• In a kadai, pour oil, add the mustard seeds. Once mustard splutters, add the urad dal. Fry until urad dal turns light pink - add this to the batter and mix well.
• Heat a dosa pan. Make a thin dosa of the batter. Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes. 
• Put 2 spoons of the stuffing in the middle as shown in the below picture.

• 
• Fold the dosa from both sides and press with the ladle so that the dosa seals itself.
• Cook for another one minute.

Serve hot!!!!

A quick and healthy snack is ready!!!!

We sometimes have this for a late breakfast on weekends since this is very easy to prepare :-) and filling.

Linking this to after-school snacks, valli's page

Vendakka Thoran | Okra stir fired with coconut

The usual side dish prepared with okra is just a fry with lots of spices and chilly powder. But H doesn't like it that way. Recently he told me that his favourite recipe in okra is with lots of coconuts and onions. I am just waiting for people around me to say - please cook me this.... I  immediately donned my cooking hat and came out with a recipe which H relished to the fullest.

Ingredients:

Okra/Vendakka - 350 grams

Coconut (grated) - 75 grams

Onions - 100 grams

Garlic pod - 2

Green chillies - 2

Salt - to taste

turmeric powder - 1 spoon

To Temper:

Oil - 5 grams

Mustard - 5 grams

Jeera - 2 grams

Curry leaves - few

Method:
Wash and pat dry the okra. Finely chop the onions.
Cut into small pieces. Microwave with little salt for 6-7 minutes so that the okra is half cooked.
Meanwhile grind/crush the coconut, garlic, green chillies and turmeric powder without adding water.
In a kadai - add oil and mustard seeds. Once mustard splutters add the jeera and curry leaves and saute for 10 seconds.
Add the chopped onions and fry until onions turn translucent.
Add the crushed coconut paste and fry for about 2 minutes until the raw smell goes off.
Add the cooked okra and fry for about 5 minutes until the stickiness vanishes.

Vendakka Thoran is ready!!! Serve with rice or chapathis!!!!

Linking this to "Walk through Memory Lane" event happening at Motions and Emotions conducted by Gayathriscookspot

Linking this recipe to the event South-Indian Cooking conducted by anuzhealthykitchen and hosted by nandooskitchen.

Avial | Kerala Speciality | Veggies in Coconut and Yoghurt gravy

From the time I have started blogging I have been wanting to post this recipe. I make this dish rarely and the until now the photos were not good. So I had to postpone publishing this recipe. But this time I made this avial with the intention of taking good pictures and I was satisfied with the outcome. So here goes the recipe...

Avial is a yummy blend of different veggies in a spicy coconut and yoghurt gravy flavored with coconut oil. It makes use of vegetables like, Ashgourd, pumpkin, raw banana, yam, drumstick, yard long beans, snake gourd, carrots and French beans. Some people even add eggplants or brinjals. But I don’t add it. My mom says avial should not be made without raw banana and yam. Some people prefer to substitute yoghurt with raw mango or tamarind pulp. During mango seasons I do make avials with raw mangoes otherwise its yoghurt. Avial is made in two ways, one has more gravy and can be mixed with rice, just like Mor Kuzhambu, we call it Avial Kootan and the other is Gatti Avial, which is slightly thicker in consistency and acts more like a side dish for Sambar or Molagootal.

There is an interesting story about how avial came into being which my grandparents (in Kerala) often tell.The king of Travancore, conducted poojas, (there is some specific name - which I don't remember) for a specified period of days, every year, in which a many vedic scholars participated. One year, it so happened that there were no vegetables left for the last day of this pooja. A small quantity of different vegetables left over from the previous days was available. So the head cook, used all these left over vegetables and prepared a dish and he named it avial, which means a combination of this and that. This dish was liked very much by the king and all. The cook was handsomely rewarded and avial became a regular fare in any feast. 

Ingredients:

Ashgourd – 100 gms
Pumpkin – 100gms
Raw banana – 1
Yam – 100gms
Carrot – 1 Medium
Drumstick – 2
Beans – 75 grams
Potato – 1 small
Salt to taste
Yoghurt – 1/4 cup slightly sour
Coconut oil – 1 tbsp
Curry Leaves a few

To Grind:

Scraped Coconut – 1 ½ cups

Green chillies – 5 ( adjust according to taste)

Method:

• Wash peel and cut all vegetables lengthwise into about 2” sized pieces.
• In a heavy bottom Kadai, add the Yam, plantains, beans, potato at the bottom (since these veggies take slightly longer time to cook) and then add the other veggies. Add salt to taste. Add about 1 cup of water and cook covered until the vegetables are just done. They should not get mushy. If after the veggies get cooked there is lot of water remaining, cook uncovered till the moisture has almost dried up.
• I do it differently sometimes - I cook the vegetables (which take longer time to cook) in a pressure cooker just for one whistle and the others in a kadai with little water and then later merge both.
• In the meanwhile, grind fresh scraped coconuts with the green chillies into a fine paste using very little water.
• Add the ground paste and the sour yoghurt. Mix slowly without mashing the vegetables. Add curry leaves and drizzle the coconut oil. Mix carefully until the veggies are coated with the coconut and yogurt. Remove from heat.
• Yummy gatti avial is ready. This can be used as a side dish for Sambar and rice or with Molagootal.
• To make Avial Kootan, i.e avial of pouring consistency, use more of yoghurts and do not let the water evaporate while cooking the vegetables. This is best had with papads.

The famous combination is Adai and avial. Check the recipe for adai here.

Note:
Other vegetables that can be added are
snakeguard
chayotte (chow-chow)
bottleguard
long beans
Tindora (Kovakkai)

Linking this to "Walk through Memory Lane" event happening at Motions and Emotions conducted by Gayathriscookspot

Linking this recipe to the event South-Indian Cooking conducted by anuzhealthykitchen and hosted by nandooskitchen.

Manga Murungakka Sambar | Sambar with raw mangoes and Drumsticks

Well Well Well - We are approaching Summer and ready to welcome the king of fruits - MANGOES!!!! We need to wait for about a month or two to relish nice juicy mangoes. Meanwhile raw mangoes have started hitting the markets... And here goes my first contribution - a nice and delicious sambar!!!!

Sambar is a default menu item in most of the South Indians lunch or dinner. So there are numerous ways of making sambar - with dal and coconut, with dal but no coconut, with coconut and no dal and so on.... Oh yes and also add tamarind - the permutations and combinations increase. Here I tried a sambar with coconut and dal but no tamarind. Since raw mango by itself has a tangy taste, I didn't like to add more tanginess to the sambar. So I just added tomatoes. 

Ingredients:

Toor dal – 1/2 cup - 75 grams

Hing – ¼ Tspn

Onions – 1 - 50 grams

Green chillies – 2

Tomatoes – 2 - 100 grams

Drumstick – 4 

Raw mango – 1

Brinjal/Egg plant – 2 - 25 grams

Salt – To taste

Turmeric powder - 1/2 Tspn

Coriander leaves – Few

To Temper:

Oil – 2 Tbspn - 20 grams

Fenugreek seeds – 1/2 Tspn - 3 grams

Cumin seeds – 1 Tspn - 5 grams

Mustard seeds – 1 Tspn - 5 grams

Urad dal – 1 Tspn - 5 grams

Dry red chillies – 1

Curry leaves - few

To grind:

Coconut - 1/2 cup - 50 grams

Homemade sambhar powder – 3-4 Tspn

 

Method:

Cook the dal with salt and turmeric powder in a pressure cooker until mushy. Separate the water and keep it aside.

Heat oil in pan, add mustard and wait for it to sputter. Add urad dal, fenugreek, cumin, red chillies and hing. Fry for 10-15 seconds.

Add chopped shallots/onions and curry leaves, sauté it till translucent.

Add green chillies and drumsticks and sauté it.

Now add chopped tomatoes and sauté till the tomato turns mushy.

Meanwhile grind the coconut and sambar powder.

Now add the dal cooked water, boil for 10 minutes, until the drumsticks are cooked.

Add mangoes and brinjals and cook for another 5 minutes on low flame.

Finally add the cooked toor dal, ground coconut paste and mix it well. Check for salt and boil the gravy.

Garnish with coriander leaves.

Manga Murungakka Sambar is ready!! Serve with hot rice and papads!!!

Linking this to "Walk through Memory Lane" event happening at Motions and Emotions conducted by Gayathriscookspot

Linking this recipe to the event South-Indian Cooking conducted by anuzhealthykitchen and hosted by nandooskitchen.

Paneer Mutter Masala | a simple gravy with Paneer and Peas

This is the season of peas and we are getting peas at 10-15 Rupees per kg and I am planning to make full use of this :-). So am making more and more mutter alias peas dishes and Paneer mutter masala is one among them. I made this gravy a side dish for chapathi.



Paneer is a favourite of H. I have also heard that paneer and peas is famous among kids. So this recipe would be a kids favourite... Try this and find it out!!!


Ingredients:
Paneer - 1/2 pkt - 100 grams
Green peas : 1/2 cup - 75 grams
Onions : 1 no - 75 grams
Tomatoes - 2 nos - 100 grams
Green chilli - 2 nos
ginger/garlic paste - 1 tsp - 5 grams
Yogurt - 1/2 cup
cloves - 2
cardamom - 1
cinnamon - 1/2 inch
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp - 3 grams
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp - 10 grams
Coriander powder - 1 tsp - `0 grams
Garam Masala powder - 1/2 tsp - 5 grams
Cumin powder - 1/4 tsp - 3 grams
Salt as reqd
Oil - 2 tbsp - 10 grams
Fresh coriander leaves - 2 tbsp, chopped



Method:

• In a pan add oil, fry the paneer cubes lightly and keep aside.
• In the same pan heat oil, add the cloves, cardamom and cinnamon. Fry them for 10 seconds.
• Add finely chopped onions and green chillies and saute until onions turn translucent
• Add ginger-garlic paste and saute until the raw smell goes off.
• Add finely chopped tomato and cook till softens.
• Cool this mixture and grind to a smooth paste.
• Meanwhile microwave the peas for about 5 minutes.
• Add the ground paste to the pan as well as the cooked peas. Add salt and all the other powders.
• Whisk in the yogurt and switch to very low flame Cook for about 2 minutes.
• Add paneer cubes and coriander leaves and switch off the flame. .

Paneer mutter masala is ready!!! Serve hot with phulkas n salad!!!!

Linking this to "Only food for Growing Children" happening at shrutisrasoi conducted by Pari

Linking this to "Walk through Memory Lane" event happening at Motions and Emotions conducted by Gayathriscookspot

Kashmiri Pulav | Rice rich with fruits and dry fruits

We have tasted Kashmiri Pulav in restaurants but I have never tried this in home. This time when I had home grown papaya and pineapple - this recipe struck me...

Kashmiri pulao is unlike the normal pulao recipes will not be spicy rather it will be slightly sweet. This  pulao is garnished with both dry fruits and fresh fruits. Dry fruits gives warmth and is ideal for the cold climate of kashmir. The fresh fruits which are usually added in kashmiri pulao are pineapple, apple and pomegranate. Dry fruits which are added are generally a mix of almonds, raisins, pistachios, walnuts and cashews. Most variations of making this pulao will use a different mix of fruits and dry fruits.



H is a fan of this pulav. So needless to say - he just loved it. I served this with a spicy curry. PAneer curries would be good combination.

Ingredients:

Basmathi Rice / Jeera rice - 2 cups - 250 grams
Milk - 1 cup - 125 grams
Saffron - 2 pinch
Papaya - 1 cup - 100 grams
Pineapple - 1 cup - 100 grams
Raisins - 2 tbspn - 20 grams
Cashewnuts - 2 tbspn - 20 grams
Cherries - 2 tbspn - 20 grams
Onion - 1 - 100 grams
Ghee - 2 tbspn - 25 grams
Mace - 1
cloves - 4
Cardamom - 3
Sugar - 1/2 tsp - 3 grams
Vegetables - 1/2 cup - 50 grams (optional)
Salt - as per taste

Method:

• Wash the rice and soak it in water for 20 minutes.
• In a heavy bottomed deep pan, add ghee (reserve 1-2 tsp for roasting the nuts)and add the whole spices (mace,cloves and cardamom) and add sugar.
• Add in the soaked rice to this (keeping the water aside).
• Saute well, without changing the colour.
• Soak the saffron in a tblsp of warm milk.
• Add the water and milk to the rice. Add 3/4 th of the saffron mixture.
• Add the chopped vegetables.
• Add salt and cook this in a medium low flame.
• Once the rice is cooked fluff it with fork and add the remaining saffron milk mixture.
• In a small pan add ghee and roast the raisins and cashew nuts
• Thinly slice the onions and fry them till golden brown and add to the rice.
• Lastly add the chopped fruits and cherries and gently mix everything.

Aromatic, mild and sweet Kashmiri Pulav is ready!!!! Relish this with a spicy gravy or with ice creams as H does....

Chettinadu Kadala Kuzhambu | White Chick peas in coconut gravy

I have always used the white chick peas (vellai kondai kadalai) to make chole or just sundal. I came across this chettinadu style gravy in a couple of blogs and wanted to try it for a long time. This is a wonderful combination to rice - making a difference to our daily routines of rice, sambar, thoran etc...


I would say this is basically like sambar wherein we have coconut, tamarind and this chick peas. In most of the recipes I saw for Chettinadu Kuzhambu - tamarind was used. We generally don't like a very sour/ tangy taste to the curries. So I made a small change. I didn't use tamarind - just added tomatoes. Also this curry can be made either with black chick peas or white chick peas.



Ingredients :

Kondai kadalai / White channa - 1/2 cup - 75 grams
Chopped Onion - 1 - 75 grams
Chopped Tomato - 2 - 100 grams
Chopped Potato - 1 - 75 grams
Chopped Brinjal - 3 - 75 grams
Turmeric powder - 1/2 spn - 3 grams
Salt - to taste

To Grind:

Grated Coconut - 4 tbspns -  100 grams
Sambar Powder - 2 tspn - 10 grams
Black pepper - 1 tspn - 3 grams

To Temper:

Oil - 2 tspn - 10 grams
mustard - 1 tspn - 3 grams
cumin seeds - 1/2 tspn - 2 grams
Curry leaves - few




Method:

• Wash and soak chick peas over night. Cook the chick peas with salt and turmeric powder and enough water in a pressure cooker.
• In a kadai, heat oil. Add Mustard, once the mustard splutters - add cumin seeds and curry leaves.
• Add chopped onions and fry it until translucent.
• Add tomatoes, potatoes and brinjal. Drain the water from the cooked chick peas and add it here. 
• Let these get cooked. Meanwhile Grind the ingredients under "To Grind" with a little water.
• Once the vegetables are cooked add the chick peas and the ground paste.
• Mix well and check for salt. Cook until all veggies are cooked enough.

Chettinadu Kadala Kuzhambu is ready!!!! Serve with steaming hot rice and papads.


Note:

If you want to add tamarind, take juice from a small lemon sized tamarind and add it along with the ground paste to the curry and boil.
Garlic can also be added. But generally we avoid garlic in sambar like curries.

Linking this recipe to the event South-Indian Cooking conducted by anuzhealthykitchen and hosted by nandooskitchen.

Linking this recipe to the Walk Through Memory Lane event - hosted by Motions and Emotions and conducted by gayathriscookspot

Moong Sprouts - Green Gram Sprouts - How to make at home

Sprouted Seeds are rich in nutrients and proteins. They are rich in antioxidants,enzymes ,minerals and vitamins (vitamin C and B12).. Also, Green gram gets digested very easily and sprouted green gram is very low in calorie when compared to actual green gram. I have started adding sprouted green gram salads to our diet very frequently.

I prefer making things at home rather than buying. So started sprouting Green gram also at home. Many people have asked me - how to do this. Also some people came back saying it took 4-5 days for them to make sprouted green gram and they don't feel like eating it after 4-5 days. So I thought of sharing how I go about making it and for me this is ready in 36 hours.


Ingredients:

Green gram - one cup - 125 grams
water - to soak
A cotton cloth - about 4 feet * 4 feet
A closed lid container


Method:

Select good quality green gram. Wash it thoroughly. Soak it in enough water. Add enough water. Remember that green gram would become double the quantity after some time. Soak it overnight or for 12 hours.



After 12 hours, remove the water from the green gram. Take the cotton cloth and wet it. Squeeze out the excess water. Put the soaked green gram into this cloth and tie the cloth loosely Keep it in a container at room temperature. Container should be dry. Close the container with a lid. I kept it in a Hot pack!!

Don't disturb the container for about 14-16 hours. Then open the cloth and check. Sprouts would have definitely started but if you want long ones tie the cloth again and keep it aside for anouther 6-8 hours. Mine was done in 24 hours.

Please check the recipe Sprouted Moong Salad to enjoy a nourishing salad!!!