Soy Nilgiri Kurma and Dal Rotis

Blogging Marathon# 29: Week 1/ Day 1
Theme: Cooking with Colors
Dish: Soy Nilgiri Kurma --- Green

Today we are starting the 29th edition of Blogging marathon and my theme for this week is "Cooking with Colors". We can all agree that we eat with our eyes first and the more colorful a dish is, the more healthier and appealing it is. So for the next three days, I'm going to post dishes that have one featured color ingredient.

For the first day, I'm cooking with the color 'Green'. I saw this dish being made on a Telugu Cooking show (abhiruchi) and it looked very appealing, so I jotted down the recipe. As I was looking through my notebook for ideas of dishes to make for BM, I saw this recipe and thought this will highlight the color green really well. 

This dish tastes very earthy and is quite delicious. It is a little time consuming to make, but ones all the components are ready, the curry takes no time to finish.

This dish has quite a few green ingredients -- mint, cilantro, spinach and methi (fenugreek leaves). Then there's the ground masala with cashews, coconut and poppy seeds that makes the dish creamy and delicious. 

I used Soy chunks, but any other protein like paneer or tofu can be used. Mixed Vegetables will taste great too. Here's how I made it:

Ingredients:

Masala Paste 1:
Cashews - 2tbsp
Dry grated coconut - 2tbsp
Poppy seeds - ¼cup

Masala Paste 2:

Mint leaves - ¼cup

Cilantro - ¼cup

Green chilies - 2-3

Salt - ½tsp

Other Ingredients:
Spinach Puree - 1cup
Methi (fenugreek leaves) - 1 cup, finely chopped
Soy Chunks - 1 cup
Onion - 1 medium, finely chopped
Ginger + garlic paste - ½tsp
Red chili powder - to taste
Ground Coriander - 1tsp
Ground Cumin - 1tsp
Salt - to taste

Method:

• Soak soy chunks in hot water for 5 minutes, squeeze out the water and set aside.
• For Masala Paste 1: Soak cashews and dry coconut in warm water for at least 15 minutes. Dry roast poppy seeds on medium flame until lightly golden. Grind these 3 ingredients into a smooth paste using little water. 
• For Masala Paste 2: Grind all the ingredients until smooth.
• Spinach Puree: Cook spinach in tiny bit of oil until wilted, cool and grind to a paste. Alternately spinach can be boiled until tender and then ground to a paste.
• Make curry: Heat 2tbsp oil in a saute pan, add onions and cook until translucent, about 4-5 minutes. Add ginger+garlic paste and cook for another minute.
• Next add methi (fenugreek leaves) and cook until wilted, about 2-3 minutes.
• Add both the masala pastes, red chili powder, salt and spinach puree. Cook covered for 5-6 minutes.
• Next add the soaked soy chunks, ground coriander and cumin. Add water if the curry looks too dry. Simmer for 4-5 minutes. Serve with roti or rice.

I served this green curry with dal roti. Dal rotis are the perfect and easy way to add protein and nutrition to everyday rotis, just add some cooked and mashed dal to dough and make rotis as usual. Super simple, but super healthy and delicious. You can use any combination of dals, I used toor and masoor dal.

Dal Rotis:

Toor Dal - 2tbsp

Masoor dal - 2tbsp

Wholewheat flour (Atta) - 2cups

Red Chili powder - to taste

Asafoetida/ Hing - a pinch

Turmeric - a pinch

Ground Cumin - ½tsp
Salt - to taste

Method:

• Pressure cook dals until very tender. Mash into a smooth paste.
• Combine all the ingredients along with the dal paste and form into a smooth pliable dough using water as needed. Let the dough rest for at least 15 minutes.
• Divide the dough into equal size pieces; roll out into 5-6" roti and cook on hot griddle until brown spots form on both sides. Serve hot with your favorite curry. They taste great just as is.

Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked today for BM# 29.