Moong Dhal with Mint!

A dhal is comfort food. It can be consumed as a soup on a cold/rainy day, enjoyed with roti or mixed with steaming hot rice and a lop of ghee or just simply eaten out of a bowl with a drop of Indian pickle on the side. As a tribute to this multifaceted Dhal, I offer my humble effort at making one more kind: the one with Mint.

Ingredients:
1. Moong Dhal - Split green / totally yellow kinds - 1/2 cup
2. Mint leaves - 8 to 10
3. Tomatoes - 1 medium, sliced into 4 pieces
4. Salt to taste


Spices to temper
1. Jeera - 1.5 tsp
2. Turmeric - 1 tsp
3. Green chillis - minced 3 nos
4. Pepper powder - 0.5 tsp
5. Asafoetida/Hing - 1 pinch
6. Ginger paste (Optional) - 0.5 tsp

Method de Prep:
1. The moong dhal needs to be pressure cooked along with the tomato quarters
2. In a wok, heat 1 tsp of oil. When the oil is hot, add jeera, hing, green chillis, turmeric and ginger paste and fry till green chillis turn slightly brown.
3. Simmer and then add the mint leaves. Gently toss till the mint leaves are dark green.
4. Add the pressure cooked dhal and salt to taste
5. Simmer and boil for 2 mins
6. Garnish with corriander (optional)

Pipping hot dhal is ready to be enjoyed anyway you like!

Bon App!

Tangy Spinach Dhal

Lately, I'm enjoying cooking different varieties of dhal and greens. This is inspired from italian and indian cuisine. Italians tend to add tomatoes to give a tangy flavor to their soups. I wanted to try to give this an indian twist that resulted in this tasty dish!

Ingredients
1. Spinach - 1 bunch, washed and chopped
2. Tomato - either puree/paste/2 big nos
3. Payatham Paruppu/Moong Dhal - 2 handfuls
4. Dhania Powder - 1 tsp
6. Chilli Powder - 1 tsp/to taste
7. Ginger - to taste (optional)
8. Onions - 1/4 piece just for flavor
9. Oil to cook
10. Salt to taste
11. Jeera, urad dhal for tadka

Method de Preparation:
1. Pressure cook the moong dhal (2 whistles)
2. Boil the chopped spinach. It is known that spinach should not be let to boil for too long. Keep the spinach uncovered while boiling to preserve the green color
3. Drain the water. I usually preserve this water and later add it to dhal, if it turns out a little too thick
4. In a tava, sputter some jeera and urad dhal. If you prefer, you can add a dash of asafoetida to this.
5. Fry the chopped onions to golden brown. Add the finely chopped tomatoes/tomato puree. Let the mix heat up well.
6. Add Dhania powder and chilli powder and let this melange cook for a coupla mins till the raw tomato smell goes away
7. Add the cooked dhal and follow it with the spinach. Add salt and mix well.

It is ready to be enjoyed with rice/roti! Don't overcook the spinach as you'll loose the valuable nutrients from spinach in the water :).

Bon App!

Surakkai Kootu

I've always ignored bottle gourd when I do my groceries. May be it was the resemblance to the brinjal(eggplant) that B doesn't like, or may be it was I could accept the shape of the vegetable in green color! This time, I decided to give this vegetable a shot. I was pleasantly surprised by the taste.
Ingredients
1. Bottle Gourd - 1 nos
2. Moong Dhal/Paasi paruppu/payatham paruppu - 1.5 cups
3. For tadka: mustard seeds - 1 tsp
4. Red chillis - 2 nos
5. Urad dhal - 1 tsp
6. Hing - 1 pinch
7. Salt to taste

Method de preparation:
1. Skin the bottle gourd. Cut it into small cubes and boil it in some water with salt. This will help prevent the bottle gourd from turning into a dark color. Bottle gourd itself has a lot of water content, so you needn't take too much of water to boil in. It also cooks pretty quickly
2. Pressure cook the moong dhal. Once cooked, add a pinch of hing and stir the mix.
3. Heat oil in a tava, temper with mustard, red chillis, urad dhal. Add the cooked dhal and the cooked bottle gourd. Add some salt to taste and remove from the heat

The dish is read to enjoy with rice/roti. They key point with this dish is that the bottle gourd doesn't have to cook way to long. Ensure that the vitamins/minerals of the healthy vegetable is not lost simply by cooking too long. I try to even use the water in which I boil the vegetable to liquify the dhal.

Bon app