Chilke Wali Moong Dal & Rose Matta Rice

Chilke Wali Moong Dal

Maybe you all knew this but we bought some Chilka Moong Dal (half broken with green skin) as yellow moong wasn’t available. This also cooks really well in an open saucepan.



Today I cooked some dal in an saucepan with one carrot and one yellow squash & a little turmeric powder. After it was cooked well, seasoned with cumin seeds, asafoetida, 1 tsp curry powder and 2 green chillies. It came out awesome & very tasty and I will probably not go back to regular yellow moong dal.

Recipe similar to mine https://www.archanaskitchen.com/chilke-wali-mung-dal-curry-recipe


Rose Matta Rice - Palakkadan




Other thing I wanted to share is that not all rice is available in Indian stores. One rice we like is Red Rice (also called Rose Matta Rice) which is still available in stores. This has a nice earthy taste and very filling with low glycemic index. It is normally painful to cook but I found an easy way with instant pot.
2 cups rice washed well, 5 cups water and pressure cook in InstandPot for 22 minutes and let it release steam normally. Quantity is amazing and tastes excellent and you don’t feel hungry quickly.

Rajasthani Kadhi

We made Rajasthani Kadhi using this recipe on YouTube and it came out great.

Reduced the oil and red chilli powder to suit our taste. The recipe calls for buttermilk, we started with 2 cups of plain yoghurt churned and added 1.5 cups water,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5ueUfNY3xY

Simple Lentil Soup with InstantPot

Sharing the recipe for a simple Lentil soup - very easy to make using an InstantPot

Ingredients:

Green Lentils - 1 cup
Water - 3 cups
Onion - 1
Garlic Pearls - 1-2
Carrots - 2
Celery - 2-3 stalks
Potatoes - 1
Tomatoes - 1

Black Pepper Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Italian seasoning - 1 tablespoon
Salt - 1 teaspoon

Cooking oil - 2 teaspoons

Steps:

Wash the Lentils with water in a small container
Wash all vegetables and chop the Onions, Carrots, Celery, Potatoes, Tomatoes - keep each separately
Fine dice the peeled Garlic pearls

Plug in and turn on your InstantPot
Press the 'saute' button

Add the 2 teaspoons of oil and let it heat for a minute

Add the chopped onions, garlic and fry for 2 minutes

Add all the remaining vegetables and mix together

Add the black pepper, salt, Italian seasoning and give a quick mix

Add 3 cups of water

Hit Cancel on the InstantPot

Pressure 'Pressure Cook' and adjust time to 12 minutes

Close the lid and ensure sealing mode

Come back in about 30 minutes or when the pressure has fully released

Enjoy your soup with any crackers, bread or toppings you like.

Tips & Substitutions:
a. 1 teaspoon salt is a starter, in the end adjust to your taste if you need more
b. If you want more spice adjust the black pepper quantity
c. If you do not want to cut vegetables - dump a small bag of frozen vegetables
d. You can substitute any of the vegetables you have at hand
e. If you do not have Italian seasoning, you can add basil, rosemary, oregano, parsely - just add 1/4 teaspoon each.
f. If you want the soup to be thinner, add little water to adjust the consistency

Onion Pakora

1 cup Gram flour (called besan in India)

1/4 cup rice flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Salt to taste

¼ teaspoon red chilly powder

One large onion chopped fine

1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

Optional – chopped green pepper (Serrano or Thai or find something milder)

One pinch Asafeotida (called Hing in Indian store)



Dry mix all above in a mixing bowl. Add about half cup water, mix it up. Add more water till we get to a thick mix.



Heat up cooking oil, after it is heated up use a tablespoon and drop the mix one TBSP at a time. Should be able to fry 4-6 TBSps at a time, make sure they don’t stick to one another.

Flip one side to other and fry till golden brown.



Enjoy with a chutney of your choice.

Chenai Puzhuku

Cut vegetables into cubes - following can be used
Mainly Chenai and one Raw Banana,

In a vessel add some water and add a pinch of turmeric powder and some curry leaves
Cook in a pressure cooker for 3-4 whistles. This will depend on your cooker to cook the Chenai

Take about 1 cup grated coconut, one teaspoon of cumin seeds, some green chillies, one red chilly and grind them coarse.

Add the ground mixture to the cooked vegetables, after 2-3 minutes add 1-2 Tablespoon of coconut oil and some more curry leaves.

No other garnishing is required.

Thengai Araicha Kuzhambu

Select either one vegetable or a variety

Single could be - okra (ladies finger) or white pumpkin, along with drumstick

Variety could include a mixture of vegetables -
Drumstick, White pumpkin, etc

Use small quantities of each vegetable and cut them as cubes

In a vessel add some water and cook the vegetables, add a pinch of turmeric powder and some curry leaves

When vegetables are reasonably cooked (dont want to cook too much to make them pasty - al dente should work) add small quantity TAMRIND extract juice. Let it cook together for couple of minutes. Adding the TAMRIND juice at first will make the vegetables tart.

Fry half teaspoon fenugreek seeds, couple of red chillies and add to 1 cup grated coconut and grind them coarse.

Add the ground mixture to the cooked vegetables, and cook for 2-3 minutes till it froths.

Garnish with mustard seeds tempered in oil

VARIATION: Along with fenugreek seeds and red chillies you can also add 1 teaspoon Urad dal and fry, This will give a different taste.

VARIATION: Add a little churned yoghurt - 2-3 Tablespoons after everything is complete and mix it up. Heating with the yoghurt will curdle

Aviyal recipe

This is the recipe from my mother.

Cut vegetables into long one inch pieces - following can be used
Carrot, Drumstick, White pumpkin, Raw Banana, green beans etc

Use small quantities of each vegetable

In a vessel add some water and cook the vegetables, add a pinch of turmeric powder and some curry leaves

When vegetables are reasonably cooked (dont want to cook too much to make them pasty - al dente should work) add small quantity TAMRIND extract juice. Let it cook together for couple of minutes. Adding the TAMRIND juice at first will make the vegetables tart.

Take about 1 cup grated coconut, one teaspoon of cumin seeds, some green chillies, one red chilly and grind them coarse.

Add the ground mixture to the cooked vegetables, after 2-3 minutes add 1-2 Tablespoon of coconut oil and some more curry leaves.

No other garnishing is required.