Desi Fiesta

side dish

Sprouted Moong and Potato curry/ Ankurit Moong Aloo ki sabzi

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Hi friends !! Here i am with another yummy and healthy side or curry from “Homely Food “. Thanks to meenu anuty for give us a nice chance to try her recipes we are loving all her recipes . Today am going to share a healthy curry using sprouts and potato.Click here for +Meena B  anuty’s recipe. Lets move on to this delicious recipe 🙂 Love this curry a lot even my mom make this curry 🙂

Ingredients 

1 cup sprouted moong ( How to sprout Moong dal ?? Click here)
 2 boiled potatoes 
1  Tomato medium sized Chopped
1 Medium sized onion  chopped 
1 tsp  ginger garlic paste
1 tsp red chilli powder 
1/2 tsp haldi powder
2 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin pd
1 tsp amchur powder  

1 green chilli finely chopped
salt to taste
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp  mustard
1 tsp jeera 
a pinch of hing
coriander leaves to garnish 

Method

  • Boil moong sprouts till tender and not over done , keep aside. Peel and dice the boiled potatoes.
  •  In a pan, heat oil, add hing, mustard and jeera. Let them  splutter and add green chilli. 
  • Add onions and saute till they appear transparent . Add ginger garlic paste and saute it for a minute. 
  •  Add tomatoes and cook them till they nice and soft . 
  • Add all spices – red chilli pd, turmeric pd, cumin pd,coriander pd, amchur and atlast add salt and finally add the sprouts and potato. Stir gently with out breaking the potatoes so that all the spices are well combined with sprouts and potatoes. 
  • Serve hot with some poori’s and  garnish them with coriander leaves.
This was so delicious with bajari ki poori . Thank you meenu anuty for this delicious recipe 🙂

Sending to Homely Food

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Dal Palak

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Am here with another healthy dal variety from Homely Food . This is a healthy version of dal which is had with steamed rice. Its is really easy to make and comforting food. As my H likes palak i make  this dal often and its our favourite . Dal palak is an  healthy  combo of spinach and lentils which make this recipe a very healthy side for rice or roti. Lets move on to the recipe  quickly 🙂

Ingredients


4 cups/ 1 bunch tightly packed Spinach
1 cup Pigeon Peas (Tuvar/Toor dal)
1 tsp Red chilli pd 
1/4 tsp Turmeric pd
1/2 tsp Cumin pd
1 tsp Coriander pd
1/2 tsp Turmeric
1-2 tsp Sambar Powder,or as per taste- optional
1 no medium sized- onion
Tamarind – 1 small lemon size (soak it warm water and remove the extract)
1 tsp Ginger garlic paste

For Tempering

1 tsp Mustard Seeds
2 tsp Urad dal, split and skinned (black gram lentil)
1-2 Dried Red Chilli
1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
A pinch of Asafoetida Powder
Salt to taste
Oil / ghee- 2 tbsp

Method

  • While you can cook your lentils on stove top, But pressure cooker makes things easier and faster so i use pressure cooker. Add 2-1/2 cups water to the pigeon peas along with turmeric and cook for 8-10 minutes (3-4 whistles).
  • While that’s cooking, chop off the ends/roots from the fresh  spinach .
  • Fill your basin with water and drop the leaves until they are fully submerged in water and clean them. 
  • Now chop the leaves, In a pan add 1 tsp of oil  and saute onion till transparent, add ginger garlic paste saute for a while and then add  the spinach and saute slightly. Add all the dry masala’s redchilli pd , turmeric pd, cumin pd, coriander pd and sambhar pd. Mix them well. 
  • Remove the cooked pigeon peas from the pressure cooker.
  • Mash it lightly with the a spatula/spoon.
  • Add it to the spinach mixture and also add the tamarind extract  .Mix until combined.
  • For the tempering, heat the ghee/oil in a pan. Add the  red chillies, cumin seeds, urad dhal , mustard seeds and asafoetida.
  • When the seeds crackle, pour the tempering over the cooked dal. Add the chopped coriander, mix well and simmer for 4 to 5 minutes.
  • Serve hot with steamed rice.

Tips 

  • You can use lemon juice instead of tamarind extract.
  • You can even make this dal palak with moong dal that even tastes more delicious.

Thank you for the delicious recipe meenu anuty 🙂

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White Pumpkin Moor Kootu (Come on – Lets cook buddies) Entry 12

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An very happy news for the participants 🙂 There is going to be two giveaway gifts – one is for the ” most yummiest recipe” and other is for ” Top contributor” . Am so happy with the response and the list of yummy entries coming in for my event so announcing this happy news to my participants who have be sharing yummy recipes for my event from past few day’s for “Come on- Let’s cook buddies”. Shh the giveaway is going to be a surprise for all participants i’ll be revealing only while announcing the results . 

For now enjoy another yummy entry by+Aishwarya Srinivasan . 

Introduction

White pumpkin is used widely in Indian Cuisine. Unlike the orange pumpkin, the white pumpkin doesn’t taste sweet and is very watery. This is a low glycemic vegetable and very ideal for people with diabetes and who are on a weight loss plan. Also the juice of white pumpkin is believed to be a very good brain stimulant. The white pumpkin by itself doesn’t have any taste of its own and the addition of coconut and sour yogurt and green chili gives it a tangy spicy yummy taste and flavor.

Ingredients

Chopped White Pumpkin – 4 Cups
Sour Yogurt – 1/3 cup
Grated Coconut – 1/3 Cup
Green Chili – 2 or to taste
Salt – 1 Tsp. or to taste
Asafoetida powder – pinch

Tempering

Coconut Oil – 2 Tsp.
Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp.
Urad Dal – 1 Tsp.
Curry Leaves – few

Method of Preparation

  •  Boil the chopped white pumpkin pieces adding salt and asafoetida powder with very little water.
  •  Since this vegetable by itself is watery, in the cooking process will become more watery so add very little water and cover and cook till tender.
  •  Once cooked grind the grated coconut, green chili and cumin seeds together into a nice paste and add it to the cooked white pumpkin pieces.
  • Simmer this for 5 minutes, stirring in between and switch off.
  • Heat a pan, add oil and then add mustard seeds, once the mustard seeds stop spluttering add
  • the urad dal and curry leaves. After the Urad dal slightly brown transfer the tempering to the
  • cooked pumpkin.
  •  Let this pumpkin coconut mixture cool for 5-10 minutes, when it is not too hot add the sour yogurt and mix thoroughly.
  •  Serve this with Puliotharai (tamarind rice) or with Chapathi.
I already prepared this kootu and will re-post  it soon 🙂 Stay tuned for more interesting recipes shared by our non blogger friends 🙂 Only @ Desi Fiesta – ” Come on – Lets cook buddies” .

Dhudhi Channadal Ki Sabzi/ Bottle gourd and Bengal gram gravy

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Am very happy in taking part in meenu anuty’s giveaway event @ Homely food or more than that i feel very happy when i try my fellow bloggers recipes and share it here. she has a lovely blog and yummy collection of recipes. Am going cook some of my family favorite dishes from her blog and post it 🙂 Of course all credits to meenu anuty .Today am here with a simple gravy recipe which is very easy and tastes delicious . This is a healthy recipe as it has green veggi and dal in it-” Bottle gourd channadal ”  Here is meenu anuty’s version of this recipe  ( click here ). Lets see all the ingredients needed and method to make this jiffy curry 🙂

Ingredients

1 cup Channa dal (split Bengal gram)
1 cup Chopped bottle gourd (doodhi / lauki)
1 tsp Ginger garlic paste
1/4 tsp Mustard seeds
1/4 tsp Cumin seeds (jeera) 
1 tsp Red chilli pd
1/4 tsp Cumin pd
1 tsp Dhania or coriander pd
1/4 teaspoon Turmeric powder (haldi)
Coriander leaves for garnishing
2 tbsp oil
salt to taste

Method 

  • Wash the dal and soak in water. keep aside for 15 minutes.
  • Pour in the oil into a pressure cooker and add jeera, mustard seeds , asafoetida.. After mustard and jeera splutter’s, add Ginger garlic paste and saute. 
  • Now drain the water and add the soaked channa dal.
  • Add all the dry spices- red chilli pd, turmeric pd, dhania pd, cumin pd and give it a mix
  • Let it cook for 2-3 minutes, now add the bottle gourd and stir them well.
  • Add salt to taste and  2 cups of water.
  • Pressure cook for 10 minutes.
  • Garnish with coriander and serve hot with rice or chapathi.
Tips

  • This can also be made in pot but it takes time cook channa dal and lauki/ Bottle gourd . so pressure cooker makes it easy and ready with in 10 mins.
  • You can also add tomato puree and onion and make this gravy .

Thank you meenu anuty 🙂 we loved this gravy very much .

Sending to Homely Food

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Snack Gourd Paal Kootu (Come on – Lets cook Buddies ) Entry -6

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Thank you to all my blogger friends for encouraging words  you have been showering for my event . There is so many recipes being poured in my mail everyday . Have lots of recipes in my hand to try already 🙂 Will re-post each and every entry giving all credits to the non blogger who are sharing lovely recipes in my blog . Thank you so much to all keep supporting this event and enjoying all the entries shared by our very kind non blogger’s  :). It’s really going to be tough for me and the judges to select a winner as the contest is filled with so many yummy recipes .. All my reader stay tuned more yummy and innovative recipes is to come for this contest 🙂

Now lets come to today’s entry … She is rocking in this contest with so much of enthu but there are many more entries to come 🙂 . Once again its +Aishwarya Srinivasan  with a delicious entry for the contest . Enjoy her recipe dearies 🙂 Over to her ..

Introduction  

This is my favorite recipe. It gives more taste if u use young snack guard. My mom Prepares this dish so yummy. I dedicates this recipe to my mom.This recipe can be serve as a side dish for Hot Poori or Chapati and u could also serve it as a dessert.

Ingredients

Snack guard – 2 medium
2% Milk – 3 cup
Jaggery – 3/4 cup
Coconut – 2 tbsp
Cardamon powder – 1/8 tsp
Saffron – a pinch
ghee – 4 tbsp
Cashews, Almond, Raisin, Urad dal – For Seasoning

Method of Preparation

  •  Cut the Snack Gourd into two halves and remove the seed.
  •  Chop into small pieces.
  •  Heat the pan , add some ghee and then add chopped snack guard, saffron and milk. Stir it occasionally.
  • Cook on medium heat. The mixture can stick at the bottom.
  •  Cook it well till the snack gourd becomes very soft.
  •  Once it comes to semi solid state , add jaggery, coconut, cardamon pd.
  •  Switch off the flame, When it becomes thick .
  •  Take another vessel, add some ghee. Fry chopped cashews, Almonds, raisin, urad dal  and pour it on top.
  •  Serve hot or cold.

Urad dal gives an extra flavour to this recipe.

Variation

You can use White and Yellow Pumpkin also to prepare this  paal kottu.



Urundai Kozhumbu

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I have joined this new group “Taste and create”  in which each month i’ll be paired with a blogger and have to try any recipe from their blog and post it  in my blog . Was really glad that this month i have been paired with my dear friend Rekha of “Food lover/Priya’s menu ” 🙂 she is an awesome blogger with lots of yummy and innovative collection of recipes in her blog . Was really confused and had tough time  in selecting recipes bcoz there was so many yummy recipes in her blog. Priya Aka Rekha was so kind a tell me about this kuzhambu. Was really happy that she posted this yummy recipe recently and one of favorite south Indian kuzhambu variety which made me to think about my maasi/chithi who is an awesome cook and a great inspiration who used cook yummy and delicious  food with love for us. She is famous for her south indian kozhambu and urundai kozhambu is one variety of  kozhambu which i carve for. Thank you  Rekha for the yummilicious recipe you shared , I thoroughly loved it.. 🙂 

Urundai kozhambu/dal balls in gravy are a south indian special stew based on the broth made of tamarind  and the steamed dal balls are cooked in this broth which form a thick gravy . This kuzhambu is had with steamed rice.

Ingredients


For urundai / dal balls:

Bengal gram – 1 cup
Onion – 1 no
Green chilli – 2 no
Fennel seeds – ½ tea spoon
Ginger small piece – 1inch (chopped)
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Salt to taste



 For kuzhambu:

Tamarind – lemon sized ball
(soak an little amount of water for 15-20 mins and then extract the pulp by just mashing it and straining the water)
Mustard seeds- 1tsp
Asafoetida – 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves – 1 spring
sambar powder – 3 tbsp
Redchilli pd – 1/2 tsp
Turmeric pd- 1/4 tsp
Dhania pd/ coriander pd- 2tsp
Onion – 1 medium sized (chopped)
Tomato – 1 medium sized (chopped)
salt to taste

Method:


For preparing urundai / dal balls:

  • Soak channa dal for 3-4 hours.
  • After 3-4 hours drain channa dal completely and add it in two batches and grind coarsely. Not too smooth not very coarse too. One or two channa dal can be whole.
  • Mix finely chopped onion,chopped green chillies, chopped ginger,fennel seeds, salt and curry leaves.

  • Form the batter into disk shapes(or small dumplings) and steam it in an idly cooker.
              
  • Once the vadas are done, set it aside and let it cool and scramble them.

For preparing  Kuzhambu :

  • Heat a pan add mustard seeds when it starts to splutter asafoetida and curry leaves.
  • Add the chopped onion and saute till transparent then add tomatoes and cook them till mashed.
  • Add the dry spice pd red chilli pd, sambhar pd, dhania pd,Turmeric pd, cumin pd and salt. Mix then well till combined and add 2 cups of water and bring to a nice boil.
  • Add the steamed urandai/ channa dal balls to the kuzhambu/ gravy and boil them .
  • Let the gravy boil till they combine well and the balls change the color.
  • Add  the tamarind extract at last, simmer and boil the gravy till the oil floats on top of this gravy/ kuzhambu.
  • This kumbhu/ gravy is awesome south indian accompaniment for steamed rice. 

Note :

  • You can reduce the size of the balls i have made big lemon sized balls because i like them big.
  • You can also add some grated coconut in the gravy to make rich but i like this kuzhambu the way i made as my anut used to make this way. 
  • This gravy taste much more yummm when had the next day and can be stored in refrigerator for up to 2 days . 

Saidapette vadakari/ vada curry N variations

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Hi my dear SNC group !!!Am so happy to complete  the 4th challenge …As you all know there is an event going on +Divya Pramil  space You Too Can Cook  .. The event is all about two teams north and south team ..A member from north team and a member south team respectively  will challenge  the opposite team members with a recipe from their respective zone  and opposite teams have to post the same recipe on their Blog .. this takes place every month .. The idea of this event is that we learn so many different recipes from different zones .. Hats off to divya for this great idea .. click here to partcipate

An update on whats going on till now in SNC challenge:

Challenge 1– October month’s challenge

North team Host shruti dhingra from ” shruti’s rasoi”- Bhel puri
South team Host divya from “Divya’s culinary journey “- Mysore pak

WINNER
NORTH TEAM

Challenge 2– November month’s challenge

North team host Pallavi from “cook -eat- burrp” – Gulab jamun
South team host Yashodha from “yashodha’s kitchen” – Adhirasam

WINNER
SOUTH TEAM

Challenge 3– December month’s challenge

North team Host Meena from ” Random rambling ” – Misal pav
South team Host Sherin from ” Kuk’s kitchen” – Medu vada

WINNER
SOUTH TEAM

Challenge 4– Janurary month’s challenge

 

North team Host ” me ” (Manjula bharath) from “Desi fiesta” – Rajasthani  mini ghevar topped with kesar rabdi  click here

South team Host Ramya  from ” Lemon Kurry” – Vada curry click here

I was so happy to  receive 3 precious awards for last months challenge – Medu vada . I have to thank december months host for north team  sherin from ” Kuk’s kitchen”  for the lovely challenge and also for nominating me for the awards.. thank u so much sherin :). I am also thankful to divya pramil for these lovely awards thank u so much divya  🙂

These are the awards i received for my Madras donuts/Medu vada  post click here

 

I felt like am crowned for miss india or universe he he 😛 thanks again divya  🙂

Now coming to this months challenge .. I was so very excited to host this month challenge, challenging my south team pal’s with one of my  favorite  traditional dessert and am double excited  to finish this months challenge given to north team . One of my favorite side dish which i love a lot . Thanks Ramya for the super duper delicious challenge 🙂 This months challenge for north team is “Vadakari”.

It is the tasty, crispy, aromatic  popular side dish of Tamil Nadu and all over south India. Bengal gram is soaked and prepared like masala vadai. It is then crushed in a masala gravy. The method for making vada karai may vary in each home.

Now i have to  say this why i have prefixed vadakari with saidapet. Saidapet is where i belong to in chennai . One of the oldest hotel in saidapet  is MARI HOTEL where Vadakari is very famous and will be available at all time .There used to be so much of rush in this hotel for their delicious finger licking vadakari.. Remembering my childhood days how my bro and  i used fight for vadakari we got from the hotel..  we just liked to eat it as such and it was so yummm… Mari hotel located centrally in saidapet is famous for  Vadakari and there after they started calling the dish as saidapet vadakari 🙂

I was so excited to try a dish which was famous in my home town and one of my fav side dish for idli and dosa. This dish is known with variations as Vadakari/Vada Kari/Vadai Curry.

 

Ingredients

For Batter :
Bengal gram – 1 cup
Onion – 1 no
Green chilli – 2 no
Fennel seeds – ½ tea spoon
Ginger small piece – 1inch (chopped)
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Salt to taste

For gravy :
Onion-1 no
Tomato – 1 no
Ginger garlic paste – 1 tsp
Red chilli powder – ½ tea spoon
Turmeric powder – ¼ tea spoon
Garam masala powder –½ tea spoon
Coconut milk – ½ cup (optional)
Mint and coriander leaves – few strings
Salt – as per taste
Oil – for deep frying and seasoning

For seasoning
Cinnamon sticks – 2 no
Bay leaf – 1 no
Cloves – 5 no
Fennel seeds – ½ tea spoon (this is the must ingredient bcoz the main flavour of an authentic vada kari comes from this flavorful ingredient )
Mustard – ½ tea spoon
Curry leaves – few

Today we are going to see 3 methods of making vada for vadakari.. Vada’s for vadakari can be made in 3 ways :

 

  • Frying method (i.e.. making masal vadai)
  • Steaming method
  • Adai method (Adai is nothing but a type of dosa or south indian crepe )

 

Method:

Batter preparation (vada/adai/steam vadas) :

  • Soak channa dal for 3-4 hours.
  • After 3-4 hours drain channa dal completely and add it in two batches and grind coarsely. Not too smooth not very coarse too. One or two channa dal can be whole.
  • Mix finely chopped onion,chopped green chillies, chopped ginger,fennel seeds, salt and curry leaves.
Frying Method :
Check my masala vadai post for frying the vada’s Click here
                 
Scramble the vada and keep it a side.

For Steaming Vada batter (Steaming method:):

  • Form the batter into disk shapes(or small dumplings) and steam it in an idly cooker.
              
  • Once the vadas are done, set it aside and let it cool and scramble them.
Adai method:
  • Heat a dosa pan and make thick adai’s(about 2 inch thickness) use your hands to spread them on tawa (take care while spreading the batter as the tawa in hot) and  add little oil on the sides.
               
  • Keep the heat in medium and allow it to cook well, until browned on both sides(as shown in picture above).
  • Cool it and scramble it into tiny pieces and keep a side.

To proceed -Gravy 

 

  • Heat oil in a kadai, add mustard seeds,fennel seeds, curry leaves and let it splutter.
  • Add cinnamon stick, bay leaf, cloves and stir for a second.
  • Add onions, green chillies, ginger garlic paste,tomato and saute well till the raw smell goes.
  • Now add garam masala , turmeric powder and chilly powder.(increase/decrease chilly powder according to your taste)
  • Add  5 cups of water and cook for a few minutes.Add more water if necessary.
  • Add the scrambled fried vadas/steamed vadas/adai to the curry.
  • Now add the coconut milk, cover and cook for a minute.
  • The channa dhal mixture will soak up all the liquid. Add  chopped coriander leaves and mint leaves and stir well.  Vadakari is ready to serve!!!
Vadakari(Fried vadas)

 

Vadakari (Steamed vada)
Tips
  • Vada’s will absorb some water from vadakari gravy . Quantity of water to be added, can be varied accordingly.
  • Adding coconut milk is optional. It makes the dish creamy and rich in taste
  • You can also use ginger garlic paste instead of  chopped ginger.
  • Adjust the amount of water to the gravy according to the consistency needed i.e., reduce the amount of water for a thicker consistency. I usually like the thick vadakari than making them thin.
  • Do not skip the coriander leaves, it is a must for this dish.

Serving options:

You can serve vadakari with  Idiyappam, hot piping idli or dosa’s, and also with  poori’s.  My daughter likes different shaped dosa’s so i made flower shaped dosa for her 🙂

 

 

Variations 1:

  •  Use equal measures of channa dhal and thoor dhal combination  or just thoor dhal  to make the Adais/ vada. These also turns out very well with slightly different taste.

Variation 2:

Channa Masala Vadakari

 

Ingredients

Masal vadai – 4-5 (click here for masal vadai recipe)

Boiled Channa/chickpea – 1 cup
Tomato onion puree 1 cup
Cashew, dhani/coriander seeds and coconut paste- 3 tbsp (1tbsp each to make a paste)
Red chilli pd 1 tsp
Turmeric pd 1/4 tsp
Cloves- 2 no
Cardamon – 2 no
Bay leaf- 1 no
Fennel seeds – 1/2 tsp

Method :

 

  • Make masal vadai’s you can even use leftover vada’s. In a deep pan heat oil. add cloves,bay leaf, cardamon, fennel seeds, tomato onion paste and saute  . Then add dhania, coconut and cashew paste,salt and cook till the raw smell goes off.
  • Add red chilli pd, turmeric pd mix well and add the boiled channa  . Let the mixture boil for a while and at last add crushed masala vadai in the gravy and cook till the vadai combine well in the gravy .
  • Channa masala vadakari is ready to serve with poori, idli, dosa, idiyappam or even roti or paratha.

My family and i enjoyed all three versions of vadakari and especially my hubby loved the variation of vadakari with channa masala 🙂 This was another yummy and delicious challenge from south team !!! Completing the first challenge for this new year and waiting for more such delicious and interesting challenges from the glorious South team!!! 🙂