Methi-Tomato dal

Ingredients:

Chopped methi leaves – 1 cup

Cooked MoongDal – 1 cup

Tomato (Big) – 1

Green chillies – 2

Crushed Red chillies – 1 tsp

Finely chopped Ginger and Garlic – 1 and ½ tsp

Salt

Water 1 cup

Termeric powder

Tamarind extract – 3 - 4 tsp

Jaggery – small piece

For Seasoning – Ghee – 2 tsp, Jeera – 1 tsp, Curry leaves, hing, Mustard seeds

Method:

1. In a pan add ghee mustard seeds, jeera once it splutters add hing, curry leaves
2. Now add chopped tomatoes, fry for 2 mins then add methi leaves, green chillies, ginger,garlic saute till it becomes soft and gives nice aroma.
3. Add tamarind extract,water,turmeric powder,jaggery,red chilli,salt and continue boiling for 3 min
4. Finely add cooked dal and boil for 4-5 min
5. Tastes good with rice

Serves - 2

Badam burfi

Ingredients:

1. Badam – 1 cup (200 gms)
2. Milk – ½ cup
3. Ghee – 4 tsp
4. Sugar – 1 and ¼ cup
5. Cardamom – 7 nos

Method:

1. Soak almonds in hot water for 2 hrs
2. Peel the almonds skin and grind with milk, cardamom, sugar to fine paste.
3. Heat ghee in a heavy pan.
4. Add paste and cook on medium high flame, stir continuously.
5. After a while it should turn a light brown and aromatic.
6. Stir gently till a soft lump forms and ghee begins to separate.
7. Grease the plate, spread above mixture uniformly and allow it to cool for some time
8. Once it becomes lukewarm, cut into square pieces.

Makes - 12 piece

Mix Veg Sambar (TamilNadu Style)

Ingredients:

1. Toor dal  - 1 cup
2. Vegetables - 1 and 1/2 cup
3. Onion - 1/2 (small)
4. Tomato - 1/2 (small)
5. Tamarind juice
6. Salt
7. Coriander leaves
8. For seasoning: Oil – 2 tsp, Curry leaves, Methi seeds – ¼ tsp, Mustard seeds – ¼ tsp, hing

For Masala:

Dhania – 1 tsp

Jeera – ½ tsp

Uradal – 1 tsp

Channadal – 1 tsp

Black pepper – ½ tsp

Red chillies – 4 nos

Fresh grated coconut – ¼ cup

Method:

1. Cook dal and vegetables separately
2. Dry roast ingredients for masala (except coconut), set it aside to cool
3. In a pan add 1 tsp of oil, saute chopped onion and tomato and grind it with coconut and roasted masala ingredients to smooth paste
4. Take a frying pan, make seasoning by adding all ingredients then add cooked vegetables, sauté it for a minute, add tamarind extract, salt and grounded masala paste
5. Boil till it leaves raw smell, finely add cooked dal and continue boiling for 5 more min
6. Garnish with coriander leaves

Makes for - 2

Veg Biryani

Ingredients:

1. Basmathi rice – 2 cups
2. Vegetables – 1 cup
3. Curd – ½ cup
4. Salt
5. Coriander powder – 1 tsp
6. Chilli powder – 1 tsp
7. Cloves – 2
8. Cinnamon – small piece
9. Bay leaves
10. Crushed whole pepper – ½ tsp
11. Jeera – 1 tsp
12. Hing
13. Ghee – 3 tsp
14. Coriander leaves

Method:

1. Soak basmathi rice for about 30 min
2. In a frying pan add ghee, add bay leaves, jeera, pepper and once it splutters,add cinnamon,cloves, hing, chilli powder, coriander powder, sauté it for 2 min
3. Now add chopped vegetables (cut it lengthwise), salt, curd and sauté it for 2 more min
4. Mix this with soaked rice and cook it till done.
5. Garnish with coriander leaves

Seemebadane Kai Palya (Chayote curry)

Ingredients:

1. Chayote – 1
2. Red chillies – 4
3. Grated coconut – ½ cup
4. Coriander leaves
5. Fried gram – 2 tsp
6. Salt
7. Garlic – small piece
8. For Seasoning – oil - 2 tsp, mustard seeds – ¼ tsp, hing, channa dal – ½ tsp

Method:

1. Peel off the skin of chayote, cut it lengthwise and pressure cook it.
2. For masala, grind coconut, salt, fried gram, garlic, red chillies to coarse powder.
3. In a frying pan, add oil, mustard seeds, once it splutters, add hing, channa dal
4. When channa dal turns brown, add cooked chayote and sauté it for few seconds
5. Now add grounded masala and sauté it for 5 more min
6. Garnish with coriander leaves
7. Tastes good with chapathi, rice-rasam

Holige

Ingredients:

• Maida/All purpose flour – 2 cups
• Toor dal – 1 cup
• Channa dal – ½ cup
• Jaggery (Small pieces) – 1 and ¼ cup
• Oil – 1/4 cup
• Water for mixing dough
• Salt - pinch
• Turmeric – ¼ tsp
• Cardamom – 4 nos

Method:

• For making dough/Kanaka, take a mixing bowl, add maida, pinch of salt, turmeric powder, 4 tsp of oil, mix well. Then add little water and make dough slightly softer than chapati dough. Apply 1 tsp of oil over dough, cover bowl with plate and set it aside for 2 hrs.
• For making hoorana(Stuffing part) , pressure cook dal together and once it gets cooled drain out water from dal. In a pan add jaggery and dal, keep stirring till entire mixture becomes soft and jaggery melts completely.
• Take out pan from the stove and allow it to cool
• Now grind this dal and jaggery mixture without adding water to a smooth paste (consistency should be thick enough to make balls) add cardamom while grinding.
• Tip: If grinding becomes difficult, add little milk and later microwave the grinded paste for about 20 min and set it aside to get cooled. This helps in maintaining the consistency of hoorana.
• Once Hoorana is ready, make small lemon size balls.
• For making Holige, first knead the dough thoroughly, Greece palm with oil, take a  small lemon size dough, spread it slightly and place hoorana ball over it, cover hoorana with dough (similar to how stuffed parathas are made)
• Dip stuffed dough in maida and roll it like chapatti, Heat the tawa and cook holige on both side
• Serve hot with ghee or sugar syrup

Makes – 8 Holiges

Vegetable kofta Curry

Ingredients:

For Kofta:

• Cooked Vegetables - 1 cup (Peas, beans, carrot)
• Boiled potato - 1 (Medium size potato)
• Chilli powder - 1 tsp
• Dhania powder/Coriander powder - 1 tsp
• Salt
• Besan – 2 tsp
• Wheat flour - 1/2 cup
• Oil for deep fry

For Gravy:

• Tomato – 2
• Onion paste – ½ cup
• Chilli powder - 2 tsp
• Dhania powder/Coriander powder - 2 tsp
• Salt
• Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
• Coriander leaves to garnish
• Cinnamon – small piece
• Ginger – small piece
• Cloves – 2
• Ghee – 4 tsp
• Water – 1/2 cup
• Bay leaf - 1

Method:

• In a mixing bowl mash boiled potato, add cooked vegetables, chilli powder, dhania powder, besan, salt and mix well
• Make small balls of the above mixture and slightly roll it over wheat flour (This helps in giving good binding to the vegetable mixture) and deep fry them till golden brown
• Now Koftas are ready, set them aside
• Grind tomatoes, ginger, cinnamon to fine paste
• Take a pan, add ghee, once it’s heated add cloves, bay leaf and fry for 1 mins
• Add onion paste and keep stirring till it turns brown
• Now add tomato paste, turmeric powder and continue stirring for few more minutes
• Add chilli powder, dhania powder, salt , water and boil for 10 min. Stir occasionally
• Just before serving, heat the gravy, add koftas to the gravy, mix it slightly and garnish with coriander leaves
• Tastes good with Chapatis/Rotis

Servings – For 2 people