Lemon Rasam

Blogging Marathon#66: Week 4/ Day 1

Theme: Bookmarked Recipes 

Dish: Lemon Rasam from Nalini

We are starting our final week of blogging marathon today and my theme for the week is 'Bookmarked recipes'. For the first day I made this simple yet very tasty Lemon rasam from Nalini's blog.

Nalini made it for the April mega marathon and I bookmarked and made it right away. It took this long to post the recipe here. Rasam in our households is made with tomato and tamarind. Toor dal or any kind of dal is not usually added. Our version is rather watery and is usually eaten along with a thicker dal.

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Leeks Sambar

Blogging Marathon#64: Week 4/ Day 3

Theme: Mega BM Bookmarked Recipes 

Dish: Leeks Sambar from Vidhya

For the final day of this month's marathon, I have an interesting sambar made with Leeks from Vidhya's blog. I bookmarked it the minute I saw it on her blog and made it once I got my hands on some leeks.

Leeks belong to the 'Allium' family along with onions and garlic. They have a mild onion-like taste and are crunchy when eaten raw. But they get soft and mild when cooked. I buy leeks quite often and make pasta sauces or dry sautes with them. Vidhya's leek sambar sounded very interesting and delicious.

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Rajasthani Dal Dhokli

Blogging Marathon#64: Week 3/ Day 1

Theme: Wholewheat Dishes

Dish: Dal Dhokli

We are starting our 3rd week of blogging marathon today and my theme for the week is 'Wholewheat Dishes'. For the first day I made a hearty and comforting dish popular in both Gujarat and Rajasthan, Dal Dhokli. This has been on my list of dishes to try for a very long time and finally got a chance to try it out.

Dal dhokli is a filling one pot meal where dhoklis aka Indian style wheat pasta :-) are simmered in dal until cooked through. From what I read, Rajasthani version is slightly spicier than Gujarati version. I tried the spicy version and it was amazing, both my kids loved it too. I told them this how close an Indian dish can get to Italian pasta and they were very happy to try.

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Punjabi Dal Tadka

I made this Punjabi Dal tadka along with this Aloo curry for a mini Punjabi meal. Recipe for the dal is from a Telugu cooking show and I have made it quite a few times already.

Like any dal, this is very easy to make and is very hearty and comforting dish. It is a simple dish but tastes amazing and the lovely thing about this dish is it can whipped up for a simple dal-chawal menu on a weeknight or can be served with naans and jeera rice for a party.

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Saravana Bhavan Sambar

Blogging Marathon# 53: Week 4/ Day 2

Theme: Bookmarked Recipes -- Veena's Veg Nation

Dish: Saravana Bhavan Sambar
For the 2nd day of cooking from Veena's space, I made this perfect Saravana Bhavan sambar. Saravana bhavan is a popular restaurant in Chennai and this sambar replicates the one served there.

I've never been to this restaurant in India, but heard a lot about it. So we went to their Edison location in NJ, but lets just say the experience is nothing to talk about. The food was 'meh' and the service was 'blah' :-) But I want to visit the restaurant in Chennai some time. Hopefully that day will come sooner than later.

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Asparagus Tomato Dal

Blogging Marathon# 52: Week 2/ Day 1

Theme: Seasonal Veggies & Fruits

Dish: Asparagus Tomato Dal

My theme for the second week of this month's marathon is 'Dishes with Seasonal Veggies & Fruits'. First up is a simple dal with asparagus and tomato.

Asparagus is a spring vegetable and I look forward to buying it when in season. Asparagus has a delicate flavor and is composed of 93% water. It is low in calories and very low in sodium. It is a good source of vitamins and minerals, dietary fiber, protein etc etc.

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Arisi Upma

Blogging Marathon# 49: Week 2/ Day 1

Theme: Cooking for 1

Dish: Arisi Upma

I will be 'Cooking for 1' this week. Ever since I started cooking, just cooking for myself has rarely happened. Back in the grad school days, my roomies and I used to cook for the whole gang. After getting married, never got to cook for just 1. But with my husband traveling a lot lately and both the kids in the school, there are days when I have to cook for myself.

I try to keep the dishes I make for myself very simple with few ingredients (usually the odds and ends in the fridge) and few dishes to clean. So for the first day, I made this simple and comforting rice upma from Sandhya's blog. The good thing about this dish is it can easily be made for 1 or for 10. A quick and easy dish that takes about 30 minutes from start to finish and needs about 15 minutes of hands on time.

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Gujarati Khichdi

Blogging Marathon# 49: Week 1/ Day 1

Theme: Weekend Brunch Recipes

Dish: Gujarati Khichdi

My theme for the first week of this month's marathon is 'Brunch Recipes'. Brunch should be hearty and filling, but not too filling that it is going to make you take an early afternoon nap. Also since we are skipping breakfast to eat brunch, it should be nutritious enough to keep you going and charged for at least 3~4 hours. 

With all those in mind, here's a one pot dish that is sure to keep you full and energized until the next meal. Being a south Indian, I grew up eating rice for just about all the meals. Breakfast could be anything like lemon rice, tamarind rice, curd rice or pongal and that used to keep us full till lunch. But nowadays eating rice for breakfast or even brunch has become quite a rarity in my household.

As I was thinking of Indian dishes to make for brunch, khichdi came to my mind right away. It has dal (lentils) for protein and rice for carbs, which in my mind is perfect dish for any time of day. I found this Gujarati Khichdi recipe in Sanjeev Kapoor's Vegetarian Rice, Biryani & pulao cookbook.

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Green Beans Kootu

Good times don't last for too long. I say this because we are almost at the very end of our vacation in India and we will be back home before we even realize it. I haven't had a chance to finish my shopping and these last few days will be really busy with shopping and packing. 

Today's kootu is my mom's recipe. I'm not sure where she learnt it, but she has been making it for years now. Green beans can be substituted with cabbage, spring onions or other vegetables of choice. This kootu is thick and is the perfect combination of vegetables and lentils. It is great to serve with either rice or roti.

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Mor Rasam (Buttermilk Rasam)

This is one recipe that I have been wanting to make for quite some time now. When my yogurt-phobic husband is around, I usually stay away from yogurt based recipes. But when he's traveling, I go all out making my favorite foods.

 

On one such occasion when my husband was away, I made this mor rasam. Adding dal to with buttermilk to make rasam is new to me.It turned out delicious -- goes perfect with some steamed rice. Recipe is from Chandra Padmanabhan's Dakshin.

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Thelaga Pindi Kura

Blogging Marathon# 32: Letter T
Theme: A-Z Vegetarian Dishes of Andhra Pradesh
Dish: Thelaga Pindi Kura

Letter T stands for Thotakoora (amaranth leaves). I actually made a dish with thotakoora for today, but changed it a more traditional and lesser known dish at the last minute because my mom brought Thelaga Pindi from India.

To be honest, I've never heard about Thelaga pindi while in India. It is only recently that I started seeing it on Telugu cooking shows.After extracting oil from sesame seeds, the pulp that is leftover is ground to a powder and that powder is called Thelaga pindi. It has all the nutrients present in sesame seeds and is considered especially good for new-mothers. Infact as per my mom, today's dish is made on the 11th day after delivery for the new mom.

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Mamidikaya Pappu (Andhra Style Raw Mango Dal)

Bonus Dish for Week 3:

Theme: A-Z  Vegetarian Dishes from Andhra Pradesh
Dish: M for Mamikidikaya Pappu (Raw Mango Dal)

This pappu for my first pick for the Letter 'M', but it fell off the regular A-Z Vegetarian dishes from A.P. truck because of various reasons. One reason was that I made 'Nuvvulu-Mamidikaya pachadi' for N and I didn't want the same ingredient (mango) to be used in the dishes that I was posting on consecutive days. So for M I posted Menthikura pappu.

Mamidikaya pappu screams summer for me, even though we get good quality raw mangoes in the Indian store almost all year long. It is one of the dishes that is made on special occasions, festivals, when guests are visiting etc. If your mango is not sour enough, then feel free to add some tamarind paste.

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Masala Vada/ Paruppu Vadai

Blogging Marathon# 30: Week 4/ Day 1
Theme: Tea Kadai Menu
Dish: Masala Vada/ Paruppu Vadai

We are starting the last week of Blogging Marathon for this month and my theme for this week is 'Tea Kadai Menu'. Valli gave us a set of typical dishes that feature in the roadside Tea shops in Tamil Nadu. For the first day I made 'Masala Vadai/ Vada'.

I love masala vada, but don't make it often at home because of the deep frying that is involved. BM gave me a chance to try my favorite snack and we thoroughly enjoyed these deep fried goodies.

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Amti (Maharashtrian Dal)

Blogging Marathon# 25: Week 3/ Day 1
Theme: Cooking with Alphabets - A, L, F
Dish: A for Amti
My theme for this week of BM# 25 is "Cooking with Alphabets" and I picked "A, L & F". So for the next 3 days I'm going to make dishes that start with these letters. For the first day, I have "A for Amti".

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Kathrikkai Rasavangy (Eggplant Lentil Curry)

Blogging Marathon #25: Week 2/ Day 2
Theme: Cooking from a Book
Dish: Kathrikkai Rasavangi

Being an eggplant lover, I'm always in the lookout for some good baby eggplants whenever I visit the India grocery. I usually get very upset if they don't have good looking fresh eggplants, because the thought of not eating Indian style eggplants for at least another month makes me a little cranky. (I know I'm weird about my beloved eggplant).

On my latest visit to the Indian store last week, the first store I went into had really bad, almost rotten eggplants. But luckily being in New Jersey, there are more Indian groceries in the same street to shop around. Fortunately the second store had some fresh looking eggplants that I bought without a second thought.

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Bisi Bele Bath (Tangy Lentil Rice with Mixed Veggies)

It has been a busy September with the early arrival of our little bundle of joy, Disha, and her big brother turning 5 in the same month. It has been a bit crazy around here with the late night wakings for the little one and early morning running around for the older one's kindergarten. We are slowly settling in and getting used to the new schedule and responsibilities.

I had to think really hard before signing up for this year's VeganMOFO. I wasn't sure if I can do it, but the thought of waiting for an ENTIRE YEAR to do it, made me sign up and now I've to make sure that I post consistently this month. I'm planning to keep it simple and post dishes that I make on a daily basis. Also I pulled out all of my Vegan cookbooks and I want to try some of the dishes that I've been meaning to make forever.

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Beans Patoli (Beans Paruppu Usili)

For Day 2 of BM# 18, I have this protein rich veggie dish that is one of my favorites. Patoli or paruppu usili is a delicious dish with the goodness of lentils and the veggie. I love the use of lentils in almost any dish and this dish with the ground lentils gives it an earthy, mild taste is very addictive.

Growing up my mom used to make patoli by sauteing leftover kandi pachadi with onions and it tasted divine with steamed white rice and a good dollop of ghee. 

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Dal Baati

It's time for Blogging Marathon #12 and I chose "Rajasthani Specials" as my theme for this week. I've heard a lot about Rajasthani cuisine, but never tried to make any dishes myself. So when I saw Srivalli's theme for this edition of the BM, I wanted to try as many delicious Rajasthani recipes as I can. 

For Day 1, I made the most famous dish from the Indian desert - "Dal Baati". Recipe from a dear friend who shared her family recipe with me when I told her that I will be making Rajasthani dishes for my blog. Big thanks to her for a fool-proof modern day kitchen recipe that tasted amazing. Baati's are traditionally baked on charcoal grills or well heated cow dung cakes. But for the modern day home cooks, ovens are the best alternate to use.

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Thotakura Pappu (Amaranth leaves dal)

This recipe is from September of last year. I made this dish with thotakura/ amaranth greens that I harvested from my little container garden, took pictures and after a very emotional and whirlwind India trip completely forgot about it. I thought I’ll clear my drafts before moving ahead with the New Year. 

I planted thotakura seeds in my container garden last summer (it seems so long ago) and got decent harvest. 

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Mixed Vegetable Sambar

For a lot of South Indians Sambar does not fall under holiday special dishes. But for me this sambar with freshly ground masala (spice) paste makes for a comforting weekend meal. I usually make sambar with sambar powder (store-bought or homemade), but when I have time or have company coming over, I take the time to make the masala myself.

Recipe I use is from Chandra Padmanabhan’s Dakshin cookbook.

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