Hakka Noodles

This is an Indo-Chinese dish we have enjoyed from time to time when visiting India. I tried to make it last night, I didn't have the right noodles, and also didn't get the frying right. When we've had it in restaurants, even the noodles were stir fried with a bit of black on them. Anyway it was OK and fairly easy to make, Mahesh liked it and the kids ate some.

Vegetable Hakka Noodless

From Cook with Manali

Ingredients

• 300 grams noodles -- I will look in the India store to find "Ching Hakka" noodles as the recipe requires, if I can't find those I might try to substitute angel hair pasta.
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon minced ginger
• 1 green chili, sliced
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 medium red onion, 100 grams, sliced
• 1 large carrot, 100 grams, sliced
• 1 large red pepper, 200 grams, sliced, can use mix of green and red
• 3 stalks green onion, chopped + more to garnish
• 2.5 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, or white vinegar
• 1 teapoon hot sauce, like sriracha
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar, optional
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• pinch white pepper powder
• 1 teaspoon chili oil, optional 
•  
• INSTRUCTIONS:
• 1. Chop all the veggies before you start making the noodles.
  2. Boil the noodles according to instructions on the package. I was supposed to cook my noodles for 2 minutes only.
     
     
  3. Drain the noodles and wash under cold running water, this stops the cooking process. Add 1/2 tablespoon of vegetable oil to the noodles and toss so that the noodles get lightly coated with the oil and don’t stick to each other. Set it aside.
     
     
  4. In a wok heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and 1 tablespoon sesame oil on medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot add the minced garlic and ginger, sliced green chili and chopped celery.
     
     
  5. Saute for few seconds until the ginger garlic starts to change color.
  6. Add sliced onions and saute for a minute or two until the sides of the onion starts turning light golden brown.
     
     
  7. Add in the sliced carrots, bell pepper, green onion and cook for 1 minute on high heat. The veggies should remain crunchy.
     
     
  8. Push veggies to the side, lower the heat and add soy sauce, rice vinegar, hot sauce (like sriracha) and sugar (if using).
     
     
  9. Toss the veggies to combine well with the sauce. Add in the black pepper, salt and white pepper.
  10. Stir in the boiled noodles. Using a pair of tongs, mix it well so that the noodles are well coated with the sauce.
      
      
  11. As a final touch, stir in a teaspoon of chili oil. This is totally optional. Toss the noodles well and garnish with more spring onion greens.
  12. Serve hakka noodles as such or with your favorite Indo chinese dishes! I love mine with chili paneer.
   

Vetta Korrumbuh or vatha kuzhambu

This is a south Indian gravy that is mixed with rice. It is very strong and rich and one of Mahesh's favorites. This is a winter curry and can be made with preserved vegetables or even papadam instead of vegetables. Or, instead of garlic and onion, you can substitute the same amount of eggplant, drumstick, flat bean, or even cooked applam (papadums) instead of onion and garlic.


Garlic and Pearl Onion Vetta Korrumbuh

Ingredients:

-- 1 1/2 cups pearl onions (I will likely sub red onion for this)
-- 2 heads of garlic
-- 2-3 T. Sesame oil (gingerly oil)
-- 1/4 t. mustard seed
-- 2 big shakes asofetida powder
-- 1 1/2 T. chana dal
-- 1/2 t. fenugreek seed (or a little more)
-- 3 t. sambar powder
-- 1 T. tamarind concentrate
-- 2 t. salt
-- little jaggery or sugar if tamarind is too sour

1. Peel the garlic and onions and set aside.

2. Put the oil in the pan with the mustard seed and asofetida powder. Too much asofetida will make it bitter. Turn on the pan. After the mustard pops, add in the chana dal, and then add in the fenugreek.

3. When the dal is a little brown add in the peeled garlic and onions. After a minute add in the sambar powder.

4. After that fries a little add in 2 cups of water and tamarind concentrate and salt. Add a little jaggery or sugar if the tamarind is too sour.

5. Boil until it becomes korrumba consistency (a thickish sauce). If you want to stretch it further you can thicken with a little rice flour mixed with water.

Instead of garlic and onion, you can substitute the same amount of eggplant, drumstick, flat bean, or even cooked applam (papadums) instead of onion and garlic.

Often served with potato curry and raita.

Niti's Dal Makhani

I really like a North Indian lentil dish called Dal Makhani, especially the way my friend Niti makes it, her home version is a little lighter than the typical cream-laden restaurant version of the dish (which I also love). Here is her recipe, I made it tonight for the first time and it turned out pretty good! But not as good as Niti's for some reason. Will have to figure out what went wrong and update.

Niti's Dal Makhani

Ingredients:

-- 1 1/2 c. dried whole urad dal (with peel) (could substitute regular black or green lentils for this)
-- 1/4 c. dried whole kidney bean (with peel)
-- 1/4 c. dried split chana dal

(this is easiest to measure using a 2 cup measure, fill up to 1 1/2 cups with urad dal and add the other two until it reaches 2 c.)

-- 1 t. tumeric
-- 2 whole black cardamom pods
-- 4 garlic cloves, peeled

-- 2 large onions, chopped
-- 1 1/2 inch knob ginger, peeled and minced (approx. 3 Tablespoons)
-- 1 long green chili, cut into half (I omitted this for Kiran's sake but it would be better with it)
-- 3 Tablespoons coriander powder
-- 1 1/2 Tablespoons cumin powder

-- 2 teaspoons salt (or more to taste)
-- milk, if desired for more soupy consistency
-- 1 1/2 Tablespoons amchoor powder (dried mango powder available in Indian stores, if you can't get it you can use lemon juice instead)

Instructions:

1. Rinse beans, cover with water, and soak for 3 hours or overnight.

2. Rinse beans again, add to pressure cooker with 3x the water, add in tumeric, whole cardamom, and garlic cloves. Cook in pressure cooker for 3 whistles, or until beans are soft.

3. While beans are cooking, saute onions, ginger, chili, coriander, and cumin in a large pot over medium heat until soft. You don't want to brown the onions, just get them soft and sweet.

4. Once the pressure cooker has come back to normal pressure, add cooked beans and bean water to cooked onion mixture. Remove cardamom pods. Add in salt and boil for 30 minutes or until the flavors seem to meld.

5. At the end, add in milk until dal is the consistency you want it (I like it soupy), and the amchoor powder.

Rasam

Rasam

Rasam is the second main soupy dish South Indians make to mix with rice and eat with curries. In my opinion, this is especially good with potato curry.  NOTE THAT the previous version of this recipe did not come out right at all. I have adjusted amounts below hoping to have a better result next time.

Ingredients:

1/2 c. toor dal (cooked)
2 t. tumeric
1 tsp. tamarind paste
salt to taste
2 t. sambar powder
3 big shakes of asofetida powder
1 medium tomato, cut up
3-4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped (optional)
2 t. rasam powder
1 handful cilantro
1/2 t. mustard seed

Steps:

1. Cook 1/2 cup dry toor dal plus 2 t. tumeric powder for 3 whistles in a pressure cooker.  Set 1/2 cup aside for this recipe, the rest you can save for later.

2. While that is cooking, in a medium pot mix tamarind paste, sambar powder, salt, asofetida powder, plus 2 cups of water, then add cut up tomatoes and garlic if using, boil until the tomatoes are tender.

3. Add rasam powder to the pot, turn fire to low, add dal to pot and water until it is a watery rasam consistency. Cook until foam comes out on top of the rasam, then turn off the heat and add a handful of minced cilantro.

4. Finally, Cook mustard seed in some oil over a flame until it pops, then add to the rasam. Can also temper 1/2 t. of rough cracked black peppercorn if your spices are a bit old and you want it to be spicier.

Vegetable Kurma or Korma

Vegetable Korma is a traditional north Indian dish but Mahesh's family eats it a lot. This is Amma's south Indian version of it:

Ingredients:

Vegetables:
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 1/4 cauliflower, cut into florets
- 1/3 cup frozen peas
- 1/2 cup green beans, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 big or 2 small potatoes, chopped

Spices:
- 1/2 inch stick cinnamon
- 2 whole dry red chilis
- 4 whole cloves
- 1/2 tsp whole fennel seed
- 4 cashews, roughly broken

Tomato/Onion Mixture:
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 big tomato, chopped
- 1 large or 3 small onions, chopped small
- 1 inch knob of ginger, peeled and minced
- 1 Tablespoon shredded coconut (can used dried or if it's fresh fry first)

Instructions:

1. Vegetables: chop and boil carrots, cauliflower, peas, beans, and potatoes in a little water until just slightly tender -- this will cook more later so don't overdo it!

2. Spices: Put 2 tablespoons of oil in a pot, heat over medium heat, and one by one add in the cinnamon, chili, cloves, fennel seeds, and cashews. Fry a little bit and then take spices out of the pot and set aside.

3. Tomato/onion mixture: In the same pot, add a bit more oil if necessary and add in the garlic, ginger, onion, tomato and coconut. Cook until the onions are tender, then let cool.

4. In a grinder or Indian Mixee, grind the spices until they are a fine powder. Then add the Tomato/onion mixture and grind into a paste. Add this back into the cooking pot, mix in the boiled vegetables, and cook a little more until the vegetables are done to your liking.

5. Finally, taste the korma. Add salt to taste and if you want it to be a bit more sour (if the tomatoes are very sweet), add in a scoop of plain yogurt. Only add yogurt directly before serving, as it may separate if it sits.

Enjoy with rice, or with chapatis (can substitute whole-wheat tortillas for chapatis), or bread

Pongal

Pongal is a fluffy savory rice and lentil dish that is commonly eaten for breakfast alongside vada, sambar, and chutney -- but it can be eaten at any meal. Mahesh loves it and it is very easy to make, today I got the recipe from Amma.

PONGAL

Ingredients:

-- 100 ml (between 1/3 and 1/2 cup) Green Gram Dal
-- 1 3/4 cups rice, uncooked
-- 1 heaping Tablespoon Ghee (or oil)
-- 1 1/2 t. whole black peppercorns (can break up for a more spicy taste)
-- 1 1/2 t. whole cumin seed
-- 6 curry leaves, roughly chopped
-- 2 T. peeled and minced ginger
-- 1/4. cup cashews
-- 1 t. salt

Instructions:

1. In a hot dry pan, toast dry dal over medium/high heat until it is very hot to the touch, about 2 minutes.

2. Turn off heat, add dry rice to the pan, and using residual heat in pan, toast rice for another 2-3 minutes.

3. Add ghee, peppercorns, and cumin to a small saucepan or tawa, cook over medium heat for 2 minutes, then add in curry leaves, ginger, and cashews and fry for another 2-3 minutes or until brown and toasty.

4. Pour rice and dal into a large pan that will go into the pressure cooker. Add 6 cups of water, salt, and contents of small saucepan. Cover and cook for 3 whistles or until rice and dal are cooked throughly.

Enjoy with sambar and/or chutney!!

Potato Curry - With Skin

Potato curry is the most popular vegetarian Indian curry (at least in this house). My mother-in-law makes two versions, this is her "skin on" variety. And, because I am so awesome, I even took some photos so you all can see what this one looks like!!

SKIN - ON POTATO CURRY

Ingredients:

-- 6 medium red potatoes, scrubbed, cut into 1/4 inch matchsticks (pictured below), and rinsed to remove extra starch.

-- 2 T. oil 
-- 1/4 - 1/2 t. whole mustard seed
-- 1 1/2 - 2 T. urad dal
-- 3 dashes asofetida
-- 1 1/2 T - 2 T. dried curry leaves (these are not powdered - if it is powdered use much less)
-- 1 t. salt
-- 1/2 t. spicy chili powder

Instructions:

1. Add approx. 2. T. oil to a hot pan, heat up over medium heat. Add in mustard seeds and cook until they pop.

2. Add in urad dal, and cook until a little brown. Add in the rest of the spices, and mix around and cook a bit.

3. Add the potatoes into the pan, and stir so they are coated with the spices and oil.

4. Mix and fry with cover off for a couple minutes, then cover and steam for approx. 10 minutes, until cooked through. Then take the cover off and fry for approx. 10 minutes more over med-low heat, until fried up a little.

Enjoy!

You can eat this with rice and sambar, rice and rasam, or rice and Vetta Kozambo and raita, etc. 

Cracked Wheat Uppama with vegetables

Upama is sort of like "fried rice" in Southern India. It is commonly made with cracked wheat, rice, and puffed rice, although you can make it with quinoa or any small grain. Here is my mother-in-law's version, made with cracked wheat or broken wheat (I think this is what we call bulgur wheat) and loads of vegetables:

Cracked Wheat Upma with vegetables

Ingredients:

1 cup broken wheat -- cracked wheat
3 Tablespoons oil
1/2 tsp. whole mustard seed
1 dash asofetida powder (optional)
1 onion, finely cut
1 green chili (spicy small one), minced
1 1/2 teaspoon of minced ginger
3/4 tsp. salt.
1 big 2 small tomato, finely cut
1 large handful cabbage, chopped small (about 2 cups)
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped small
1 carrot, chopped small

Instructions:

1. Dry fry the broken wheat in a dry pan until it is hot to the touch -- the idea is to take away all the moisture so it is not sticky. Set aside.

2. Put 3 Tablespoons oil in the pan, heat up. Add 1/2 teaspoon whole mustard seed. Heat until it pops, if you want add one dash of asofetida powder.

3. Add in the onion, cook until transluscent, then add in the tomatoes, green chili, salt, and ginger, cook for a while, then add the rest of the vegetables and saute until cooked -- you are looking to cook them through, not brown them too much. NOTE: you can substitute the cabbage, bell pepper, and carrot in this recipe for 3 cups of pretty much any other vegetables you like, chopped small

4. Add your 1 cup of bulgur wheat and 2 1/2 cups of water to the vegetable mixture, boil until about half the water is evaporated, then put the contents of the pan in a pressure cooker (or in a metal container that goes in a pressure cooker) and cook for 3 whistles. Then it will be done! NOTE: If you don't have a pressure cooker, you can boil it until the wheat is cooked through.

Serve with coconut chutney -- Amma adds coriander and mint leaves into her coconut chutney to serve with this.

Tomato Onion Chutney or Vengaia chutney

Tomato Onion chutney (or Vengaia chutney)

This is a delicious and surprisingly easy chutney.

INGREDIENTS

2 medium onions
2 medium tomatoes
1 tablespoon oil
1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
1/4 teaspoon tamarind paste (or to taste)

 DIRECTIONS

1. Dice the onion and tomato.

2. Fry up the onion in canola oil until it is translucent and cooked through.

3. Add tomatoes and saute, until the onion and tomatoes are cooked together.

4. Add salt and tamarind paste and grind in a blender or mixee until a paste is formed. 

Ashoka or Moong dal Halva

This is Amma's famous sweet from India. I am not a huge fan of Indian sweets but I like this one.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/3 cup moong dal
2 cups milk
2 cups water
2 1/3 cups sugar
1 1/3 cup ghee
pinch of ground nutmeg (or more to taste)

OPTIONAL ALMOND PASTE
Take one handful almonds, soak in hot water for 2 hours, peel, add milk and grind to a smooth paste. 

METHOD.

1. Take the moong dal, put it in a small pan and heat up dry over medium heat just until the beans feel hot to the touch.

2. Wash the moong dal and drain it, then add 1 1/2 cups milk 1 1/2 cups water to the moong dal. Cook in a pressure cooker for 3 whistles or until dal is cooked.

3. Put the cooked moong dal in a large stock pot. Add in the sugar and almond paste if using and heat over medium heat until the sugar melts (approx. 5 minutes).

4. Add in 2/3 cup ghee, and cook, stirring over medium heat. As it cooks, you will see it get thicker and thicker.

5. After about 10 minutes of boiling over a low heat, add in another 1/3 cup of ghee. After 10 more minutes, add in the final 1/3 cup ghee.

6. When the mixture gets to the correct consistency, sort of like a jam or hot fudge consistency (and the ghee separates from the mixture a tiny bit), take it off the heat.

7. Mix in a small amount of ground nutmeg.

8. Leave the Halva in the pot, as it cools it will get thicker and end up a thick pudding consistency and fall away from the sides of the bowl.

Amma's chana (or channa)

This is my (South Indian) mother-in-law's version of the famous North Indian garbanzo bean dish Chana Masala or Chole you see in Indian restaurants everywhere. In my opinion, it is the best. Can eat with rice but typically eaten with flat bread like chapatis or naan, can substitute whole wheat tortillas.

CHANA MASALA

INGREDIENTS:

-- 2 cups dried garbanzo beans, soaked overnight (or 7 hours) 
-- 2 small potatoes or one big one, peeled (we used red potatoes)

-- 4 tablespoons oil
-- 2 medium-sized yellow onions, peeled and chopped
-- chili powder 1/2 tsp, or to taste

-- 2 big tomatoes, chopped

-- 4-5 cashew nuts (optional - makes the sauce creamier and richer)
-- 2 tsp. salt, or to taste
-- 1 tsp. tamarind paste, or 1 lemon (Amma prefers tamarind paste, unless you will eat all the channa immediately, because if you store something cooked with lemon it becomes bitter)
-- 2 tsp. chana masala (spice mix available in Indian stores - MTR brand is Amma's favorite)
-- 1 tsp. garam masala (spice mix available in Indian stores - MTR brand is Amma's favorite)

-- 1/2 bunch cilantro, removed from stems and minced (1 big handful)

NOTE: it probably goes without saying for Indian food, but just about everything here is adjustable according to the strength of your ingredients and personal taste.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1.  Rinse and drain garbanzo beans. Put in pressure cooker with potatoes and cover with water plus an inch, cook for four whistles (you may need to cook longer if your beans are old). When cooked, mash the potato roughly up into bits. NOTE: The potato is there for a thicker consistency to the sauce -- if time is short can use canned cooked garbanzo beans and either cook the potato separately or leave out entirely.

2. Add oil to a big pan, heat up, add the onion and chili powder and saute until starting to get transluscent. NOTE: The tomato and onion mixture is what makes up the bulk of the sauce, if you want more sauce, you can scale up the tomatoes, onions, and oil. 

3.  Add tomato and cook over medium heat until the tomato and onion are cooked through, for about 10-15 minutes, or until "oil comes out on the sides."

4. Add cashews into blender and pulverise into a powder (if using), then add in the cooked onion and tomato mixture and grind to a paste/sauce.

5. Add cooked garbanzo beans and potato into the pan, along with the salt. mix the tomato/onion mixture into the chana, add garam masala, chana masala, tamarind paste or lemon, and mix. It should be a soupy consistency -- you may need to add some water to get this.

6. Boil for 10-15 minutes until flavors have melded and the consistency is a bit thicker -- you see slow, bloopy bubbles coming up in the pot.

7. Turn off the heat and add minced cilantro. The channa masala will darken a bit as it sits.

Enjoy! This is traditionally eaten with pilav, chapati, toast and butter, or heated tortillas. 

FINAL Roasted Gobi Manchurian recipe

I have been perfecting this recipe for a while now, I have other versions on this blog but this is the one I made today, I am very happy with it and would make it again.

Ingredients:

-- 1 large head cauliflower, cut into small florets
-- 2 teaspoons oil
-- salt, pepper
-- 2 teaspoons sesame seeds

-- 2 teaspoons oil
-- 2 Tablespoons garlic, minced
-- 2 Tablespoons ginger, minced
-- 1 bunch spring onions, sliced thinly on the diagonal

-- 1 Tablespoons soy sauce
-- 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar (or asian black vinegar, if you have it)
-- 1 teaspoon rooster sauce (or other spicy sauce)
-- 1/2 teaspoon sugar

-- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
-- 1/2 cup water

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Put cauliflower florets on a baking sheet. Drizzle with oil, sesame seeds, salt, and pepper. Put in oven, turning every 15 minutes until tender and beginning to brown, about 40 minutes.

2. Heat frying pan to medium-high heat. Add oil, then ginger, garlic, and most of the spring onions. Fry for a minute until fragrant and then add in the soy sauce, vinegar, and spicy sauce. Let that bubble a bit.

3. Mix the cornstarch, sugar, and water together, then add the mixture to your pan, boil for about a minute, it should thicken up a bit into a sticky sauce. Add more water if you need to to get the consistency right.

3. Add the roasted cauliflower to the sauce, stir to coat everything completely. Turn out onto your serving dish, add the reserved spring onions for garnish and serve.

Cilantro chutney, Indian style

This is an extremely common condiment in Indian cooking, I didn't get Mahesh's mom's recipe for this so I googled a recipe online that is good also. We use this on those potato masala burgers from Trader Joe's, on samosas, and much much more.

Ingredients:

• 1 big bunch of Cilantro (coriander), chopped
• 3 green chilis such as jalapeno or serrano, chopped (or just add some tabasco to taste)
• 3 tablespoons of lemon juice
• 1/2 inch ginger (this means 1/2 inch of an approx. 1 inch round root)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (also called jeera)
• 1 teaspoon oil
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• Pinch of asafetida (hing) -- make this a really small pinch or you will overwhelm the rest of the flavors. 

Method:

1. Blend all ingredients, except the cilantro, into a paste.
2. Add the cilantro, a little at a time, and blend. If needed, add 2 to 3 tablespoons of water. The water will help in blending.
3. Blend well and add more salt, green chilies, or lemon juice to taste.

Tips:

1. Using little oil and sugar help keeping the color fresh.
2. You can make this chutney in large quantities in advance and freeze it in ice cube trays. When ready to serve, defrost as many cubes of hari chutney as needed. If you freeze the chutney immediately after preparing, the chutney will not lose its bright green color and freshness.

Rava dosa

This is the dosa I like the most when we go to eat at Saravanaa Bhavan, this is Mahesh's mother's recipe, I like it because it does not require any grinding or fermenting so you can make this dosa immediately.

RAVA DOSA

INGREDIENTS

-- 1 measure (maybe 1/2 cup) rice flour
-- 1 measure wheat flour
-- 1 1/2 measures rava flour

-- whole jeera (cumin) seed
-- 1/2 inch cube of ginger, minced finely
-- curry leaves (optional) minced finely
-- 1/2 tsp. crushed black pepper
-- 1 fresh indian green chili, minced

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Mix all ingredients together with water until it resembles crepe batter.

2. Cook like a crepe or dosa -- the bubbles will produce that trademark "rava dosa" look that resembles giraffe skin.

3. eat!

If dosa is too chewy, add a little wheat flour

eggplant chutney -- tohial

This is another chutney Mahesh's mom made that was tasty, we mixed it with rice and ate it with the buttermilk curry.

INGREDIENTS

-- 3 medium-sized baby eggplants, each one approx. 5 inches long by 3 inches wide. Or similar amount of other eggplants.
-- 1 tablespoon oil
-- 4 dried red indian chilis
-- 1/4 teaspoon asofetida powder, or a small chunk of asofetida
-- 2 tablespoons black gram dal or urdu dal

-- salt to taste
-- 1/2 teaspoon tamarind paste

-- 1 handful cilantro

1. cut off the top of the eggplant and pierce the body of each eggplant. Cook over a gas flame or in a hot oven, constantly turning until the eggplant is black all over.

2. Put the eggplant in water just to cover, and peel the black skin off the eggplant and discard the black skin.

3. In a small pan on the stove, add oil, chilis, asofetida, and dal. Fry until it becomes a light brown color. Switch off the heat.

4. Cool the dal mixture, add to grinder, along with salt and tamarind paste, grind coarsley. Add cilantro and grind again. Then add the eggplant and grind again.

DONE!!

More Korrumba Kozambu -- buttermilk curry

This is a strange but delicious sauce that is poured on rice and eaten, usually with a chutney like lentil chutney or eggplant chutney

INGREDIENTS

1 teaspoon whole coriander seeds (for easier version, can use 1 tsp. coriander powder instead)
1 teaspoon chana dal (different from chana) (can use 2 Tablespoon fried chana dal instead)
1/2 teaspoon cumin (jeera) seeds (for easier version, can use 1 tsp. cumin powder instead)
1 fresh medium indian green chili
approx 1/2 inch cube of fresh ginger, skin removed

2 tablespoons dried coconut powder (can use fresh coconut instead)
1/2 tsp salt

2 cups of yogurt
1 tablespoon rice flour

1/2 teaspoon whole mustard seeds
4 or 5 dried or fresh curry leaves

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Soak first five ingredients in hot water for 15 minutes.

2. Add coconut and salt and grind finely in mixee. (as an easier version, can use powdered cumin and coriander instead, and fried chana dal instead of dried -- then you just have to grind the coconut and dal, which is much easier)

3. In a small pan on the stove, add rice flour to yogurt and mix well. Add ground mixture to yogurt, mix well.

4. Heat the yogurt mixture slightly, do not boil, until it foams, then switch the heat off.

5. Cook mustard seeds in a little oil until they pop, add to yogurt mixture along with curry leaves.

ALL DONE

parpu togial -- lentil chutney

Mahesh's mom made this today and it was good!

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon oil
1/3 cup split toor dal
3 whole dried red indian chilis
1/4 teaspoon asofetida
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 tablespoon dried shredded coconut

INSTRUCTIONS

1. put oil in a pan on a low fire, add toor dal, chilis, and asofetida. Fry on low fire until until it's a light brown color -- you will get a fried smell.

2. Remove the chilis from the pan and reserve, add just enough water to cover fried toor dal and soak for 30 minutes.

3. Grind chilis and salt in the mixee, then add the toor dal and grind it all together to make a paste. Add coconut and grind again.

You mix this with rice and eat it with more kurumba. Kozambu?

Kooto

Kooto or Kutu? How to spell this tasty treat? I do not know. Another recipe from Mahesh's mom. 


INGREDIENTS

-- 1/2 teaspoon tumeric powder
-- 2/3 cup moong dal

-- 2 cups cut up cabbage and/or cauliflower.
-- salt to taste
-- 1 teaspoon sambar powder

-- 2 teaspoons oil
-- 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
-- 4 teaspoons black gram dal
-- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
-- 3 teaspoons dried shredded coconut


INSTRUCTIONS

1. Boil moong dal and tumeric in water until it gets tender. Keep aside.

2. In a separate container, put your vegetables, salt, and sambar powder. Boil until the vegetables are tender.

3. In a seperate small pan (tawa), put mustard seeds and oil, cook until mustard seeds splatter. Add black gram dal, ground black pepper and coconut fry it a little, then add to vegetables. Add cooked moong dal to the vegetables as well.

4. Boil everything together for 2-3 minutes, then you are done!

Rasam

This is the 2nd main soupy dish that South Indians mix with rice and eat with curries. I have never made it but if I do I want it to taste good, this is Mahesh's mother's recipe.

INGREDIENTS

-- 1/2 teaspoon tumeric powder
-- 2/3 cup toor dal, cooked

--3/4 liter water
-- 1 teaspoon Tamarind paste
-- salt to taste
-- 1/2 teaspoon sambar power (can substitute storebought curry powder for this)
-- 1/4 teaspoon asofetida
-- 1 small tomato, cut into pieces
 
-- 1/2 teaspoon rasam powder

-- 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
-- little oil

-- 1 handful cilantro


INSTRUCTIONS

1. Mix tumeric powder with toor dal, soak it 30 minutes, or 10-15 minutes with hot water. Then cover with 1-2 inches water and cook in pressure cooker for 4 whistles or until soft. If it doesn't get soft, grind in mixee.

2. While that is going, boil the water with tamarind, salt, asofetida, sambar powder, and tomato until the tomato is tender.

3. Add cooked toor dal, rasam powder, and extra water to the container until the container is filled. On a slow fire boil until froth comes to the top. Turn off the heat.

4. In a seperate pan, cook mustard seeds in a little oil over a flame until they pop. Add to rasam.

5. Add a handful of chopped cilantro to the finished dish.

Dosa / Idly (or Idli)

Dosas are my favorite, I have never made them but now that Mahesh's mom and dad bought us a proper Indian mixee (grinder/blender) I will give it a shot someday.

Dosas

INGREDIENTS

-- 2 1/2 measures idly rice
-- 1 measure Urad (or Broken Black Gram) dal
-- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt or to taste (if using 1 cup measure)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cover dal with water, soak at least 5 hours, in a separate container, cover rice with water, soak for at least five hours.

2. Thoroughly rinse rice at least 3 times after it has soaked. Rinse dal also but you don't need to be so thorough.

3. First grind dal with water in blender or mixee until it gets fluffy, not too liquid. Pour in a bowl.

4. Using the same bowl for the mixee, grind rice in two or three batches with water (only fill mixie halfway) until it is a smooth nice batter (can grind a bit more coarsley for idli batter), add to bowl with dal and keep grinding until all rice has turned into batter.

5. Add salt to your batter and mix it thoroughly. Ferment it on the counter for one night, depends on the weather, until it gets fluffy and full of air bubbles. Then stir the batter and and keep it in the fridge after that.

6. When you are ready to cook dosas, make sure the consistency of the batter is right, you may need to add some water.

7. You fry dosas sort of like crepes, pour one spoon in a flat pan, then spread it out in a circular fashion. Drip a little oil on the outside edges of the dosa as it cooks to make the edges crispy. Flip the dosa when one side is finished, cook the other side until done.

8. Eat with gunpowder, sambar, chutney, whatever you want.

TO PREPARE IDLY:

You can use dosa batter to make idlies. To do so, add 4 cups water to pressure cooker, oil idly plate and fill each divot with batter until it is flat. Put in pressure cooker, DO NOT ADD WEIGHT, put on high flame for 10 minutes, medium five minute for 5 minutes, low for 5 minutes, then turn it off. Wait 5-10 minutes, then open pressure cooker and enjoy idlies!