Madras Sambar

Ingredients:
Tomato 2
Onion 1
Ginger 1/2 inch Piece
Garlic 1 big Clove
Tamarind 2 inch Piece
Toor Dal 1/2 Cup
Madras Sambar Powder 1 Tbsp
Turmeric Powder 1/4 tsp
Red Chili Powder 1 tsp
Sugar 1/2 tsp
Cilantro few Sprigs
Salt to taste
Oil 2 tsps

Talimpu:
Mustard Seeds 1/2 tsp
Cumin Seeds 1/2 tsp
Urad Dal 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida a pinch
Broken Red Chiles 3
Curry Leaves 6
Oil 1 tsp

Method of preparation:
Peel and chop the onion into big chunks.
Wash and finely chop the tomato.
Soak tamarind in quarter cup of warm water for sometime and extract all the juice discarding the veins.
Wash, separate leaves and finely chop the cilantro.
Grind ginger and garlic into paste.
Alternatively, grate both ginger and garlic and keep aside.
Wash and pressure cook toor dal in a cup of water for 3 whistles.
Alternatively, boil toor dal in around cup and half of water for around 40 minutes for it to soften.
Mash the dal with a masher and keep aside.
Heat a tsp of oil in a sauce pot, add chopped onion.
Fry till onion starts to change color.
Stir in ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw smell of the paste disappears and the onions turn golden brown.
Remove the pot from heat.
Heat a sauce pot on medium heat, add chopped tomato, tamarind extract, a cup of water, turmeric and salt.
Boil till the tomatoes turn extremely soft but not mushy.
Now add the fried onion to the pot along with mashed dal and around a cup of water.
Mix well and stir in sambar powder, turmeric powder, red chili powder, sugar and salt.
Bring to boil and let the sambar bubble for couple of minutes.
Heat a tsp of oil in a pan, add all talimpu ingredients in order.
When mustard seeds start spluttering and urad dal changes color, remove from heat and add to the sambar.
Garnish with cilantro and serve madras sambar with steamed rice or with idli, dosa etc…

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Fenugreek Leaves Dosa

Ingredients:
Fenugreek Leaves a Handful
Rice Flour 4 Tbsps
Besan 1 Tbsp
Cumin Seeds 1/4 tsp
Red Chili Powder 1/4 tsp
Curry Leaves 3
Salt to taste

Method of preparation:
Separate fenugreek leaves from its stems and wash them thoroughly.
If curry leaves are big, tear them into pieces.
In a mixing bowl, mix together rice flour, besan, fenugreek leaves, cumin seeds, red chili powder, curry leaves and salt.
Add enough water to make it somewhat thin batter.
Heat a flat pan on medium high heat, apply few drops of oil with back of a spoon.
When pan gets hot, pour a ladle full of fenugreek dosa batter on pan in circular motions.
Make sure batter is thin enough that it makes small holes when it hits the hot pan.
Try to fill up any big holes and form into around 5 inch diameter dosa.
Don’t spread the dosa with back of the ladle.
Cook covered for couple of seconds for leaves to soften.
Uncover and fry till bottom side starts to turn golden brown.
Pour few drops of oil on top and turn on other side.
Reduce the heat a bit and cook on this side for around a minute before removing from heat.
Repeat the same with remaining fenugreek dosa batter.
Serve fenugreek dosa with sambar or with any chutney of your choice.

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Chana Dal Powder

Ingredients:
Chana Dal 1 Cup
Cumin Seeds 1/2 tsp
Whole Red Chiles 4 – 5
Salt to taste

Method of preparation:
Heat a heavy bottomed pan on medium heat, add chana dal.
Roast the chana dal until aromatic or until it changes to light golden color.
Stir in cumin seeds, broken red chiles and fry briefly.
Remove from heat and the heat from the pan is enough to crisp up the red chiles.
Cool the ingredients to room temperature.
Grind it mixture into fine powder along with salt using a spice blender.
Remove the chana dal powder onto a jar and serve with steamed rice or with idly, dosa etc..

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Ragi Flour Roti

Ingredients:
Ragi Flour 1 Cup
Onion 1 Small
Green Chiles 2
Cumin Seeds 1/2 tsp
Sesame Seeds 1 tsp
Curry Leaves 3
Cilantro few Sprigs
Salt to taste
Oil 2 tsps

Method of preparation:
Peel and finely chop the onion.
Remove stems, wash and finely chop the green chiles.
Wash and finely chop the cilantro leaves.
Wash and tear curry leaves into small pieces.
In a mixing bowl, add ragi flour, onion, green chiles, cumin seeds, half of sesame seeds, curry leaves, cilantro and salt.
Add a little less than a cup of water gradually and mix the ingredients into soft non sticky dough.
Divide the dough into two parts and keep aside.
Heat a small wok or appam pan on medium heat.
Apply quarter tsp of oil and place a portion of ragi flour mixture on the pan.
Carefully spread the mixture with wet fingers into somewhat thick roti.
Sprinkle half of the remaining sesame seeds and press them lightly with a spatula.
Cook covered on low flame for around 5 minutes and remove the lid.
Uncover, apply few drops of oil and turn on other side and fry the roti on medium heat for a minute or two.
Remove the ragi flour roti onto a plate and repeat the same with remaining portion of the mixture.
Serve ragi roti with mango pickle or with any raita of your choice.

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Gooseberry Rice

Ingredients:
Raw Rice 1 1/2 cups
Gooseberry (Fresh or Frozen) 5 – 6
Grated Coconut 1/2 Cup
Green Chiles 4 – 5
Turmeric Powder few Pinches
Salt to taste

Talimpu:
Mustard Seeds 1/2 tsp
Cumin Seeds 1/2 tsp
Chana Dal 1/2 tsp
Urad Dal 1/2 tsp
Broken Red Chiles 5
Asafoetida a pinch
Curry Leaves 6
Oil 1 tbsp

Method of preparation:
Wash and chop the gooseberry around the seed and discard the seed and chop up the flesh.
Remove stems, wash and slice the green chiles.
Grind chopped gooseberry, coconut, green chiles and salt into paste adding enough water.
Refresh rice with water and cook in 3 cups of water until all the water has been absorbed and rice turns soft.
Fluff up the rice on a wide plate and keep aside.
Heat oil in a pan, add all talimpu ingredients in order.
When mustard seeds start spluttering, add ground gooseberry paste and turmeric powder.
Cook till the raw smell of the gooseberry and the green chile is gone (around 3 mintues).
Stir in steamed rice and fry for a minute or two to let the rice absorb all the flavors.
Cover and remove from heat.
Serve gooseberry rice immediately with raita or with any pickle.

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Bread Basundi

Ingredients:
Bread Slices 2
Milk 1 1/2 cups
Sweetened Condensed Milk 2 Tbsps
Cardamom Powder a Pinch
Almonds 4
Saffron few strands
Sugar 1/2 cup

Method of preparation:
Microwave almonds in half a cup of water for a minute.
Peel off the skin and slice the almonds.
Soak saffron in a tbsp of warm milk for a minute.
Chop off and discard the sides of the bread and crumble the bread.
Boil milk in a heavy bottomed vessel on medium – low flame until it reduces to almost a cup.
Keep stirring during the process to avoid scorching.
Stir in cardamom powder and saffron milk.
After a few seconds, add bread and let it soak up the flavored milk.
Finally stir in sweetened condensed milk and half of chopped almonds.
When the desired consistency of the basundi is reached, remove from heat.
Garnish bread basoondi with sliced almonds and serve hot or cold.

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Wheat Flour Coconut Burfi

Ingredients:
Wheat Flour 1 Cup
Jaggery 3/4 Cup
Sesame Seeds 3 Tbsps
Dry Coconut Powder 1/4 Cup
Ghee 2 Tbsps
Milk 1/8 Cup

Method of preparation:
Grease a 7 X 5 inch dish with a drop of ghee and keep aside.
Mash the jaggery into powder without any big chunks with help of a pestle.
Grind dry coconut pieces into fine powder using a spice grinder.
Heat ghee in a nonstick pan on medium – low flame
Add wheat flour and fry for around 5 minutes by stirring continuously.
Once wheat flour turns to light golden color, stir in jaggery powder, dry coconut powder and sesame seeds.
Cook on low flame till the jaggery starts to melt (around 2 minutes).
Add milk to wheat flour mixture which makes it turn wet and crumbly.
Pour the cooked wheat flour mixture into greased dish.
Press the warm wheat flour mixture with back of a small bowl or wide spatula to tighten it into a block.
The top becomes soft and while the mixture is little warm, make perforations to cut later into 2 inch blocks.
Let the golpapdi cool off to room temperature before you carefully cut them again into pieces.
Store tight in a clean dry jar and serve wheat flour burfi as a snack or dessert.

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