Asparagus Usili Recipe

TH loves usili. Its one of the first dishes I cooked for him back in the day when we had just started seeing each other. I made it totally 'wrong' - with onions, coconut and garlic - stuff that's not really preferred much in a Brahmin household (expect maybe the coconut).



Of course, you can make Usili with cabbage, capsicum, cluster beans, broad beans and the most popular French beans, so I was tempted to try it with asparagus.

Asparagus Usili Recipe
Serves 2-3  

Asparagus (I used the thinner Thai variety) - 1 cup, cut into 1" pieces and par boiled in boiling water for 3 mins
Toor dal / tuvaram paruppu - 1/2 cup
Channa dal / kadala paruppu  - 1 tbsp
Dried red chillies - 3 to 4
Hing/asafoetida (kayam) - 1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Oil - 1 tbsp (depends on the method you use to cook the dal)
Salt - to taste 

How I Made It:

1. Wash and soak the toor dal and channa dal (you can put them together) for about 1.5 hours.

2. Once soft, grind this coarsely with red chillies, turmeric, some salt and hing and as little water as possible (Sprinkle a few drops so the mixture comes together a bit).

3. The next step is to cook this dal mixture with the asparagus. Its really that simple. There are different ways to cook the dal.

(a) Microwave it till almost done, stirring every one minute. It will take about 4 minutes for it to be almost cooked.

(b) Pat the dal mixture with your hand until you have one thick round roti-like disc and then steam it for 3-4 minutes. This won't work if you added too much water while grinding. Not to worry, either follow step (a) or

(c) Pour copious amounts of oil (you need atleast 3-4 tbsp) into a pan and stir-fry the dal mixture. This will take anywhere between 7-10 minutes and is allegedly the tastiest of them all.

I have tried all three methods and found that the steaming method makes the softest and healthiest usili. The microwave version tends to make it a bit dry but its really not that bad at all. The oil-heavy one is the best of course. It has to be, otherwise it defies the rules of healthy cooking and eating.

4. If you already started out in a pan, then just add the asparagus when the dal is almost done and cook for another 4-5 minutes without adding more oil. If you microwaved or steamed the dal, then heat a pan, add 1 tbsp oil and dump in the dal and asparagus and mix well for about 5 minutes.

Gongura Adugula Pappu / Gongura Dal - Thick Version

Remember that Andhra meal I posted a few days back? Yeah, so there I was with a big bunch of Gongura leaves and very resourcefully I decided to make the Gongura Pachadi and the Gongura Adugula Pappu from Mahanandi, my first recipe attempt from that site.



The idea is to cook the toor dal just right, where they can keep their individuality. Quite nice, if you ask me. The only issue I had with this dish is, it ended up a bit too dry. So its advisable to have some rasam or vatha kozhambu or something to kind of balance the texture.

Gongura Adugula Pappu / Thick Gongura Dal Recipe
Serves 2

Ingredients:
4 cups chopped gongura leaves
1/2 cup toor dal, soaked for atleast an hour
1 chopped onion
4-5 green chillies
A pinch of turmeric
Salt to taste
2 tsp oil

For tempering/tadka
1/2 tsp channa dal / kadala paruppu
1/2 tsp urad dal / ulutham paruppu
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp jeera / cumin seeds
A few curry leaves
A generous pinch of hing / asafoetida
1 tbsp oil

How I Made It:

1. Heat 2 tsp oil and add onions and slit green chillies. Fry until transparent and pink - 2 to 3 mins.

2. Add the chopped gongura leaves and fry for another 3 mins. Sprinkle with salt and turmeric powder and add the soaked toor dal. Mix well and cook covered on sim for 25-30 mins. Sprinkle some water if necessary - I had to because my gongura leaves were probably not super fresh. Otherwise, the water from the leaves should be sufficient, as Indira points out.

3. Once the toor dal is cooked soft yet holds its shape, remove from fire. Heat oil for tadka and add the mustard seeds and jeera first. When the seeds pop, add the dals. Once they are golden brown, add the curry leaves and hing and mix well.

4. Add the dal mixture to this combine well. Adjust salt.



I got inspired by Indira's picture and served this with rice, ghee, gongura pachadi and some masala vade. Taste of authentic Andhra food!

Methi Yellow Dal / Fenugreek Leaves in Yellow Dal Recipe

I am a huge methi fan and at every given chance, I try to catch up on all the methi eating I missed while in Kerala where methi leaves are almost unheard of (although fenugreek seeds are very much part of the cuisine).

Sometimes methi parathas are too much trouble because I am so darn lazy so I whip up this super easy methi dal. All you need to serve it is some steamed white rice and ghee. 

Methi Yellow Dal 

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 bunch of fenugreek/methi leaves

3/4 cup toor dal / tuvar dal

1/2 tsp tamarind paste or 1 tsp amchur / dried mango powder

3-4 green chillies, slit

1 tsp red chilli powder (optional)

A pinch of turmeric

Salt to taste

For tempering:

2 tsp oil

1/4 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp jeera / cumin seeds

A pinch of hing / asafoetida / perungaayam

2 cloves garlic, sliced long

A few curry leaves

How I Made It:

1. Pressure cook the toor dal in 2 cups water with chopped methi leaves, turmeric and green chillies until soft (about 4 whistles). 

2. Once the pressure leaves the pan, set it back on moderate heat and add salt, chilli powder and amchur or tamarind paste. Bring to a slow boil. If the consistency is too thick, add some water when boiling. Once the ingredients all come together, remove from fire and set aside. 

3. Heat oil for tempering and add all the items in the list to temper. When the mustard seeds start popping, dunk it all into the prepared dal and mix well. 

Serve warm with rice and ghee or rotis.

Sending this to Priya's Think Spice - Think Fenugreek event, a brainchild of Sunita. 

Mullangi Sambar / Radish Sambar Recipe

A trip to Little India is always much looked forward to, especially because of the fresh and cheap 'Indian' vegetables that are available in every nook and corner of the place. A typical trip to Little India will comprise of a 1-hour long elbowing through the grocery section of Mustafa, a good Indian dinner at Murugan Idli Kadai, Anjappar or one of those super-crowded Indian restaurants in Little India.

The last time we went, I saw some freshly dug up radishes in the Indian vegetable store (this pic was taken 3 days after the shopping day so the shoots have wilted) and I had to buy them. I was thinking mooli paratha when I bought some, but the moment TH saw them, he said "ahh, we can have some nice mullangi sambar tomorrow!"

So mullangi sambar it was! Check out the lovely patterns on the radish pieces, they are so pretty!

Sambar is a very popular South Indian dish that is primarily toor dal and tamarind pulp and sambar powder (a blend of spices, sambar powder recipe here). Depending on what vegetable(s) you add to it, the flavour changes. In Kerala, there is only one kind of sambar because we believe in using mixed vegetables in it and this joins the other curries and theeyals that we keep rotating through the week.

In Tamil Nadu, the story is entirely different since sambar is often made on a daily basis and the vegetables rotated for some variation. Arachuvitta sambar is one of those variations that also has coconut added for a kick.

This is the first time I am making and tasting mullangi sambar and let's just say the radish added a lovely flavour to the versatile sambar!

Mullangi Sambar / Radish Sambar Recipe

Preparation time: 30-40 mins

Serves: 4

What I Used:

1 cup toor dal

2 white radishes, cut into 1" thick discs

8-10 shallots / pearl onions (or 1 red onion cut into chunks)

1 lime-sized ball of tamarind

1 tbsp sambar powder

1 generous pinch of hing / asafoetida / perungaayam

1 pinch of turmeric powder

1/4 tsp sugar or 1/2 tsp grated jaggery

For tempering:

1 tbsp oil or ghee

A few curry leaves

2 shallots/pearl onions cut into long slivers

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp jeera / jeerakam / cumin seeds

How I Made It:

1. Pressure cook the toor dal with 2 cups water, the radish pieces and pearl onions for 3 whistles. Make sure that you regulate the cooking time depending on your cooker because otherwise the radish will get mushy and mix with the dal. Mine's an ooold cooker so no risk of that ;)

2. Soak the tamarind in 1/2 cup warm water for 10 mins and extract the juice, discarding the pulp.

3. Once the pressure leaves the cooker, open and add the tamarind juice, turmeric, hing and sambar powder. Bring to boil on a medium flame, stirring gently just to mix the ingredients. If the sambar seems too thick at this point, add some water.

4. Let the sambar boil for about 7 - 10 mins until it all comes together and switch off fire.

5. Heat the oil/ghee for tempering and add all other ingredients. Once the mustard pops and the shallots turn a light brown, remove from fire and add to the sambar. Mix well.

6. Optionally, you can garnish with chopped fresh coriander leaves. This changes the flavour of the sambar and takes it in a different direction :)

Serve hot with steamed rice and appalam/vadaam.

Instant Sambar Powder Recipe

My mom-in-law has three sisters, each of them different and unique in their own ways. During this trip, TH and I stayed in Bombay with her elder sister, Geetha Perima. She is a cooking wiz, makes her own ghee in 10 mins flat, always has pickles, thokku and different kozhambu pastes in her fridge - all homemade, and makes ice-cream which makes one wonder why we ever buy ice cream! She makes all of this seem extremely simple too.

One recipe of hers that immediately caught my attention is the instant sambar powder recipe. Her son is studying in the US and recently, she sent him this powder. All you need to do is add it to boiling water with your choice of vegetable(s) and chopped onions if you like them. The powder has all other ingredients for a sambar, like toor dal, tamarind, chilly powder, hing, etc etc.

Here's how you can make this powder. Great for lazy people, working folks and of course, for you to pack it for your son/daughter who is moving abroad and needs a quick fix of homemade sambar in no time!

Geetha Perima's Instant Sambar Powder
Makes about 1.5kg powder

What She Used:

1kg toor dal
100 gm dhania / malli / coriander
25gm channa dal / bengal gram / kadala paruppu
50 gm dry red chillies
10gm fenugreek seeds / uluva / menthayam
A large lime-sized ball of tamarind
2 tbsp whole black pepper
2 tsp jeera
1 tsp hing / asafoetida / perungayam
1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder (optional, added for the colour)

How She Made It:

1. Heat about 2 tsp oil in a pan and lightly fry the red chillies. When they start to brown, remove and set aside to cool.

2. Remove all strings and other stuff from the tamarind. Separate into pieces. Add these to the same oil and fry by pressing down, making sure all the sides are roasted. Keep fire on sim and continue to roast for about 5 mins. It will be very soft at this stage. Drain and set aside to cool. You will find that the tamarind has gone crisp and brittle to touch.

3. The other ingredients don't need to be roasted. Starting with the dal, powder each ingredient separately and keep adding to a big bowl. The tamarind will powder nicely once its cool.

4. Mix all ingredients well with salt. Store in an air tight container and use to make easy and quick sambar.

To Use:

To serve two, boil about 3 glasses water and add 2-3 tbsp of the instant sambar powder. Add chopped vegetables and onions. Let it boil on sim until the vegetables are cooked. Serve hot. This powder will make sambar that's a bit watery. If you want it thicker, also add some cooked toor dal while preparing it.

Chakkakkuru Parippu Curry / Jackfruit Seeds in Lentils

I love chakka kuru aka jackfruit seeds. In Kottayam, where I grew up, most houses have a backyard with various trees, most popular being jackfruit, banana, mangoes and of course the staple curry leaves plant. We've always had generous neighbours who share the fruits during season time and during summer, there's always a sack of some fruit or the other from friends and family around.

My mom makes the maximum use of any vegetable or fruit. She makes kumbil / varatti with the ripe jackfruit and reserves the seeds for aviyal or mezhukkupuratti, the two most popular chakkakkuru recipes in our house.

During a recent trip to KL, I bought a box of jackfruits. It had precisely 10 pieces inside which TH and I polished off in 2 mins. I washed and kept the seeds outside and once they dried, wrapped them in a shower cap and brought them back to Singapore. I had 10 seeds which meant there wasn't enough to make aviyal or mezhukkupuratti. I browsed around and finally zeroes in on this recipe from Sunita's blog. Her last post made me sad.. So here's wishing her all the very best in life.

Jackfruit Seeds in Lentils

Serves: 2

Recipe adapted from Sunita's recipe.

What I Used:

1/2 cup split red lentils / masoor dal, washed and drained

1/2 cup toor dal, washed and drained

10 jackfruit seeds / chakkakkuru, soaked, peeled and halved

1 tomato, chopped

3 pods of garlic, chopped

1 tsp finely chopped ginger

1 tsp chilli powder

1/3 tsp turmeric powder

A pinch of hing

Oil and mustard seeds, for tempering

Salt to taste

How I Made It:

1. Place the dals and the jackfruit seeds in a pressure cooker with 5 cups water. Cook for 3 whistles and let it cool.

2. Heat oil and add the mustard seeds. Once they pop, add the ginger, garlic, hing, chilli powder and turmeric. Fry for 1 min.

3. Add the tomatoes and fry for another 2-3 mins. To this, add the cooked dal and jackfruit seeds. Mix well.

4. Add salt. Remove.

I served the dish with some warm chapatis. Sunita's version has vegetables too but I wanted to keep it simpler and give more 'importance' to the jackfruit seeds.

On a different note, thank you so much for taking part in my b'day giveaway. The winner has been announced :)

Sri Lankan Palak Dal Recipe

Ever since Siri hosted AWED Sri Lanka Recipes event, I got hooked to the cuisine. I had borrowed a book and this is the third recipe I tried from it. A simple palak dal recipe (lentils and spinach) but enhanced in true Sri Lankan way not to mention the addition of the ever-present coconut milk.

Fresh Green Spinach

The book I had only mentioned dal and I wasn't sure which dal they were referring to. So I used toor dal. You could also try this with moong dal and get a totally different flavour. Yummy either ways, I am sure.

Soaked Toor Dal

Sri Lankan Palak Dal /Lentils with Spinach
Preparation time: 40 mins
Serves: 2 to 4

What I Used:

1.5 cups toor dal
A big bunch of spinach, chopped (about 4 cups loosely packed)
1 small onion, chopped fine
1 small tomato, chopped fine
2 dried red chillies
2 garlic pods, crushed
A 1" piece of cinnamon
1/2 tsp cumin seeds / jeera
1.5 cups light coconut milk
Salt to taste

For tempering:

2 tsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
A few pieces of rampe/pandan leaves or curry leaves

How I Made It:

1. The first step is to cook the lentils. Usually I use pressure cooker but for this recipe, its important not to cook them mushy. So, add about 4 cups water to the 1.5 cups toor dal and soak for an hour. Then, keep on a medium fire to cook for about 20-25 mins. The lentils should be cooked yet stay as individual pods.

2. Heat oil and add the ingredients for tempering. Once the mustard seeds start popping, add the cinnamon, chillies, garlic, jeera and onions. Fry until onions turn transparent.

3. Then add the tomatoes and mix well for another minute. Add the chopped spinach now and lower fire. Let it wilt and reduce in size. Keep stirring till the it mixes well with the rest of the added ingredients.

4. Now add the cooked lentils and combine gently. Bring to boil. Reduce fire and add the coconut milk and salt. You can add some chilli powder if you'd like more heat. Simmer for 5 mins and remove from fire.

Serve hot with steamed white rice or roti.

This is my entry to MLLA-13 conceived by Susan of the "Well-Seasoned Cook" and currently being hosted by Sunshinemom of "Tongue Ticklers".

Easy Bisi Bele Bath / Sambar Sadam Recipe

Though I have always loved vatha kozhambu and theeyals better than sambar, ever since I started cooking on my own, I love sambar! However, making sambar on a weeknight means also making a thoran or poriyal to go with it. Sambar sadam or Bise Bele Bath is the quick answer for that. Add in all the vegetables you have in hand and there you go - a nutritious one-dish meal in no time that's very forgiving when it comes to what vegetables you add to it.

Here's how I make mine.

Bisi Bele Bath / Sambar Sadam Recipe
Serves 2-3
Preparation time - 15 mins
Special utensil needed - pressure cooker

What I Use:

Rice - 1.5 cups
I use ponni or basmati but the regular rice you use every day will work just fine.
Toor / tuvar / kandi pappu / pigeon peas - 3/4 to 1 cup
Tamarind - a marble-sized ball or 2 tbsp tamarind paste
Chopped vegetables - 1.5 cups
You can use any vegetables you have in hand like French beans, carrots, potatoes, peas, tomatoes, drumstick, capsicum, etc.
Shallots - 6 (optional)
Green chillies - 2
Sambar powder - 1.5 to 2 tbsp
Hing / Asafoetida / Perungayam - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - a pinch

For tempering:

Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - a few
Shallots - 2, sliced thin (optional)

How I Make It:

1. Add 1 cup warm water to the tamarind and extract juice. Discard pulp. If using tamarind paste, dissolve it in 1 cup water without any lumps.

2. Heat oil for tempering in the pressure cooker pan and add the rest of the ingredients. Fry the shallots for tempering, if using, until golden brown. Then add the hing, green chillies, turmeric and sambar powder and mix well for 10 seconds.

3. Add all the ingredients and sufficient water. To cook the rice I use every day, the ratio of rice:water is 1:2. Since I have used 1.5 cups rice here, I need 3 cups water in total. Tamarind juice is in 1 cup water so I added approximately 2 more cups of water to the cooker. Its fine if its slightly more than that.

4. Cook for 3 whistles. If you like your sambar sadam a bit mushy, then cook for 4 whistles and make sure you add slightly more water than specified above.

5. Wait till pressure leaves and serve hot with vadaam / chips / appalam and raita / curd.

This goes to Mahimaa's 15-Minute Cooking Event, EC's WYF - Quick Meals.

Yellow Dal / Dal Tadka Recipe

I had used the pictures of this recipe for one of my photography series posts - angles in food photography. Like I mentioned in that post, sometimes the simplest of dishes can make a great meal, like we enjoyed that weekend. I just wanted to jot down the recipe here for those of you looking for a comforting bowl of yellow dal for your dal chawal. 

What I Used:

Toor dal - 1 cup

(you can also use masoor dal / red lentils)

Tomato - 1, cubed

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Asafoetida / hing - a pinch

Amchoor / dry mango powder - 1/2 tsp 

(if you want it tangy)

Sugar - a pinch (optional)

Salt - to taste

For Tempering:

Onion - 1/4 cup, chopped fine

Garlic - 3 pods crushed (optional)

Jeera / cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Dry red chillies - 3 to 4, halved

Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp

Oil - 2 tsp

For Garnishing:

Chopped fresh coriander leaves (optional)

How I Made It:

1. Pressure cook the dal, tomatoes and turmeric powder with 3 cups water. I cook it usually for 4 whistles since it takes longer to cook dal in Singapore. 3 whistles should usually be enough. If you don't have a pressure cooker, cook in a closed, thick-bottomed pan for about 20-30 mins until the dal is cooked soft. 

2. Heat oil in a pan and add the ingredients for tempering. Once the mustard seeds start to pop and the onions turn transparent, add the cooked dal. 

3. Next, add salt, hing, sugar and amchoor and mix well. If the dal is too thick, add some water. If too watery, let it remain on fire for longer until the desired consistency is reached. 

4. Garnish wtih coriander leaves and serve with steamed white rice, papad and pickles. YUM!

NOTE

You will see that a lot of ingredients I add are optional. This is because the basic yellow dal recipe is plain and simple with minimum flavours. Customize according to your taste and use just the bare minimum ingredients. It tastes great any which way.