Adai - Protein Dosa

Nutritional Info - Legumes are an excellent source of easily digestible protein, fiber, iron, folic acid, and other B vitamins. Legumes are rich in soluble fiber, which has been shown to help improve insulin resistance. Legumes contain low levels of sodium and high levels of potassium, calcium and magnesium - a combination that is associated with a reduced risk of heart disease. Folate, a mineral also found in abundance in legumes, is thought to reduce blood levels of homocysteine, a compound that can boost heart disease risk.



Adai is an authentic South Indian main dish made with a combination of rice and lentils. It can be had for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Cooking Time : 20 min

Preparation Time : 10-20 min

Serves 4 to 6.







Ingredients



Thoor Dhal - 1/2 cup

Channa Dhal - 1/2 cup

Whole green moong - 1 cup

Brown Rice - 1 cup

Split Urad Dhal - handful

Green or Red chilly - 1 or to taste

Salt to taste

Ginger - 1 inch piece.

Curry leaves - handful

Asafoetida - 1 small piece.

Onion - 1 finely chopped.

Oil

Water





Method to make Adai



1) Rinse and soak the rice and dhal together for 2-3 hours.

2) Drain the water from the rice/dhal and add the ginger, curry leaves, green or red chilly, asafoetida and salt.

3) Use a blender and grind the above to little coarse mixture.

4) Add the chopped onions or you can use your own variation of grated cabbage, carrot, scallion etc to the batter.

5) Heat the iron griddle and pour a ladle full of the batter and make a round dosa, put a small hole(circle shape) in the center of the batter,

as it will evenly and quickly cook.

6) Pour a tsp of oil and once it is cooked on one side , turn and place the other side of the adai and remove it once cooked.

7) Serve it with avial, sambhar, chutney, milagai/Chutney powder.

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Lemon Rasam(Soup)

Rasam is a spicy, tangy South Indian soup prepared with tamarind juice or lemon along with pepper and other spices.

Know what you Eat - A half-cup of juice meets 100% of the RDA for vitamin C.

Cooking Time: 10 to 15 mins

Preparation Time: 5 mins

Serves : 2 to 3

Ingredients

1 Small sized tomato chopped into pieces

Green chilly - 1 (if you want really spicy increase it)

Chopped Ginger - 1 tsp

Chopped Cilantro - 2 table spoons

Asafoetida - 1 small piece or 1/2 tsp

Water - 3 cups

Cooked thoor dhal along with turmeric powder - 1/2 cup

Rasam powder - 1 tsp

Lemon - Juice of half lemon (Increase this if you want to taste it more tangy)

Tempering

Oil - 1/2 tsp

Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp

Garnishing

Chopped Cilantro - 1 tsp

1) In a pan combine water, tomato pieces, green chilli, asafoetida, rasam powder, cilantro, ginger,salt and boil for about 10 minutes.

2) Once the tomato pieces are well cooked, add the cooked toor dhal and let this boil for 2 minutes till the dhal is well combined. Switch off.

3) Heat the oil and add the mustard seeds, once they stop spluttering transfer it to the cooked tomato dhal mixture.

4) Let this cool for few minutes then add the lemon juice and garnish with cilantro.

5) When the rasam is boiling hot, do not add the lemon juice as it will become bittter.

6) Cilantro is normally used only for garnishing at the end, but when boiled along with all the spices the aroma will be awesome.

This dish is our contribution to RCI-Pondicherry Cuisine, hosted by Lavi as an entry from Tamil Nadu. RCI was originally started by Lakshmi.

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Multi Legume Savory Pancake(Dosai) with Sesame Seeds

Know what you Eat - Breakfast is such an important part of the every day meal and  make sure it is high

in protein to give all the energy to get you going throughout the day. Legumes are so rich in fiber they

give you sense of fullness for a longer time.  Legumes are a valuable part of a healthy diet, because they

are low in fat, do not contain cholesterol, and have a significant amount  of fiber, and are low in sugar and

fat. This is such a wholesome and nutritious pancake, which is  packed with different legumes and the

calcium from sesame seeds. The darker the color of the sesame seed the better nutrition profile it is.

Very suitable for kids, adults and even for people with diabetes and gluten free diet.

If you have a picky child at home, surely the Mom has to be creative to whack the brain and come up

with nutritious dishes. Each and every child is different, some like all colorful dishes some might not

eat slight brown or green ones, that’s why i had to peel the peanuts, had to go for white sesame seeds

instead of black and not include the curry leaves  and cilantro, even though i love them and they give

such a flavor and taste to any dish. You can also add chopped veggies, greens etc to make it even

more nutritious.



Preparation Time – 30 Minutes

Cooking Time – 30 Minutes

Serves - 6



Ingredients



Peanuts – 1/2 cup

Split Moong Dal/Mung Bean – 1/2 cup

Split Channa Dal(Split Chick Pea) – 1/2 cup

Whole Urad Dal( white lentil) – 1/2 cup

Green Chili – 2 or to taste

Ginger – 1 inch piece

Salt – 1 1/2 tsp or to taste

Asafoetida – 1 small piece or 1/4 tsp powder

Curry leaves – handful (optional)

Onion – 2 medium sized

Cilantro – chopped 2 tbsp(optional)

Sesame seeds – 4 Tbsp

Oil – 2-3 Tbsp



Method



1) Except the peanuts, rinse and soak the other three legumes together and  soak the

peanut separately overnight.

2) Take handful of peanuts in your hand and roll between your palms so the peanut peel will come out

or if you don’t mind the color of the peel go to step 3 without peeling.

3) Drain all the water from the legumes, add salt, ginger, green chili, asafoetida, curry leaves(add this

only if there are no issue of food color) and grind to fine paste(batter) adding water as needed

at time.

4) Chop the onion into small pieces and mix with batter and add water as needed to get the

consistency little thinner than pancake.

5) Refrigerate and use this batter as needed.

6) When preparing add the chopped cilantro to the batter, heat a griddle(iron and not nonstick

for additional health benefits).  Take a ladle full of batter and spread into a thin circle shape

and take a 1 to 2 tsp of white sesame seeds and  spread on top of the batter and pour a tsp

of oil around the batter.

7) Once one side of the dosai/pancake is well cooked and the batter color has changed on the top

flip it and let the other side get cooked.

8) Remove from the griddle and serve hot with chutney or sambar of your choice. I served

it with Tomato Thokku(Tangy & Spicy Tomato Pickle) and i will post the recipe later.



Notes – If you have the batter ready, it will take a maximum of 30 minutes to make a full breakfast

for 6 people. So even on a time crunchy day, you don’t have to compromise on the your health, but

just prepare this in a jiffy and enjoy.

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Mung Bean/Moong Dal Halwa for ICC – Aspartame Free /Sugar Free & Low Cal

This year for past few weeks starting (from the last week of December) there are too many parties and eating out.  With the ICC challenge to be posted for the 15th, i thought of trying out this delicious Indian sweet with Xylitol for Bhogi. I had to combine both the recipes from Srivalli as using xylitol will give a dry texture to the end product so added 1/4 cup milk. Xylitol is a natural sweetener manufactured from the Birch tree bark, which is vegan looks like sugar and has only 1/3 calories as sugar and the best of all doesn’t cause cavities like refined sugar. Xylitol and Stevia another herb are the kind of natural sweetner available in the market, do more research and check out for yourself .

If you are going to use Natura, Equal etc which are artificial sweeteners, the white sugar is way better than these dangerous chemicals. So don't use them. The artificial sweetener contain a dangerous chemical called aspartame about which i will post later.



Ingredients



Split Yellow Moong Dal(Mung Bean) – 1 cup

Ghee (clarified butter) – 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp

Khoa/Mawa(Thickened unsweetened milk ) – 1/2 cup

Xylitol – 3/4 cup Milk – 1/4 cup

Saffron – few strands

 Toasted nuts – 1 tbsp for garnishing



Method



1) Soak Moong Dal overnight in water.



2) Next day rinse the mung dal few times with enough water.



3) Drain the water completely from the mung bean and grind this into a fine paste using as little water as possible.



4) Heat the milk add xylitol, saffron and once the xylitol dissolves, add the khoa and keep this paste ready.



5) Heat 1/4 cup of the ghee(1/2 the quantity) once it is hot and melted, simmer the stove into minimum and add the grind mung bean paste little by little stirring continuously with a egg beater as this part is very tricky because the mung bean will stick to the bottom of the vessel if not taken care. Add the remaining 1/4 cup of ghee and keep stirring till the mung bean gets cooked and the color of the bean paste changes color to slight brown.



6) Now add the khoa paste to the bean mixture and stir till everything combines and well cooked and the halwa starts leaving the side.



 7) Switch off and a tsp of ghee, toasted nuts and serve warm.

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Garlic Rasam

Good to Know - Garlic is thought to play a role in providing natural protection against some forms of cancer, and the compounds in this herb continue to be studied as possible cancer treatments. It is thought that many of the compounds found in garlic have the ability to neutralize many cancer causing compounds, and that the compounds found in garlic may even be able to slow the growth of tumors.

Rasam is a South Indian soup cooked with spices, lentil and tamarind or lemon juice.
Cooking Time: 10 min

Preparation Time: 5 min

Serves: 3

Ingredients

Tamarind - 1 small lemon size ball.
Salt - 1 1/2 tsp or to taste
Garlic - 8 cloves
Curry leaves

Oil/ Ghee - 1/2 tsp


To Grid (Rasam Masala)

Red Chilli – 1 (or to taste)
Black pepper - 1tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 3/4 stalks
Ginger – 1 inch piece
Ghee – ½ tsp

Tempering

Ghee – ½ tsp
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp

Method

1) Soak tamarind in warm water for a while and once soaked squeeze the juice thoroughly and filter and keep it.
2) Heat the ghee and roast Black Pepper, Jeera, Red Chilly and curry leaves and set them aside.
5) Chop the tomato and keep it aside, crush the garlic slightly without making them to pieces.
6) Now heat 1/2 tsp oil and add the crushed garlic and saute till they turn golden.
7) Add the tamarind juice, salt, asafoetida and tomato pieces and boil for till the tomato and garlic is cooked.
8) Mix the cooked horse gram and the roasted pepper, jeera, red chilly and curry leaves into a fine paste and add it to boiling mixture.
9) If the mixture is thick add little more water and boil it for another 5 minutes till all the spices are well mixed.
10) Heat the 1/2 tsp ghee and add cumin seeds and once they splutter turn golden add it to rasam.

This dish is our contribution to RCI-Pondicherry Cuisine, hosted by Lavi as an entry from Tamil Nadu. RCI was originally started by Lakshmi.

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Kollu Rasam

Good to Know - Horse gram is a very healthy legume and is one of the home remedies for cold and body aches.

Rasam is a South Indian soup cooked with spices, lentil and tamarind or lemon juice.


Cooking Time : 15 min
Preparation Time : 10 min
Serves : 4

Ingredients

Kollu (Horse Gram) - 4 tbsp
Tamarind - 1 small lemon size ball.
Salt - 1 1/2 tsp or to taste
Garlic - 5/6 cloves (optional)
Tomato - 1/2
Curry leaves
Asafoetida - 1 small piece or if using powder 1/2 tsp


To Grid (Rasam Masala)

Red Chilli – 2 (or to taste)
Black pepper - 1tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 3/4 stalks

Tempering

Oil - 1 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Garnishing

Chopped cilantro – 2 table spoons

Method

1) Soak tamarind in warm water for a while and once soaked squeeze the juice thoroughly and filter and keep it.
2) Dry roast the horse gram till it is well roasted, watch carefully as it will burn out very quickly.
3) Remove the horse gram and pour enough water to immerse it and pressure cook it along with rice or whatever you cook. Once cooked filter any excess water
and keep this aside
4) Dry roast Black Pepper, Jeera, Red Chilly and curry leaves and set them aside.
5) Chop the tomato and keep it aside, crush the garlic slightly without making them to pieces.
6) Now heat 1/2 tsp oil and add the crushed garlic and saute till they turn golden.
7) Add the tamarind juice, salt, asafoetida and tomato pieces and boil for till the tomato and garlic is cooked.
8) Mix the cooked horse gram and the roasted pepper, jeera, red chilly,curry leaves and grind into a fine paste and add it to boiling mixture.
9) If the mixture is thick add little more water and boil it for another 5 minutes till all the spices are well mixed.
10) Heat the remaining oil and add mustard seeds and once they splutter add it to the rasam.
11) Garnish with cilantro and serve.

This dish is our contribution to RCI-Pondicherry Cuisine, hosted by Lavi as an entry from Tamil Nadu. RCI was originally started by Lakshmi.

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Lentil and Vegetable Soup

Nutritional Info - Lentils are loaded with fiber, folate, iron, protein. They are the single most important dietary factor in longevity.






Cooking Time - 30-40 min
Preparation Time - 15 min
Serves - 4

Ingredients

Lentil - 1 Cup
Finely Chopped Vegetables - 3 Cups (Cauliflower, Broccoli, Cabbage, Carrot, Bell Pepper)
Celery - 2 Sticks cut into big pieces
Scallion - 4 stalks
Mint - few
Onion powder - 1/2 tsp
Garlic powder - 1/2 tsp (optional)
Oregano - 1/2 tsp
Pepper - 1/2 tsp or to taste
Coconut Oil/Ghee/Butter - 2 tsp
Water

Method of Preparation

1) Pressure cook lentils and celery sticks with enough water and salt. Let this cooked lentil cool thoroughly.
2) Heat the oil and add the scallion, mint leaves and the chopped vegetables. Add the salt and sauté; leave it till they are well cooked.
3) Transfer the celery sticks and 3/4 of the lentils to a blender and blend thoroughly till they become a puree with some water.
4) Now add the blended puree and the remaining 1/4 of the lentils to the cooked vegetables and add just enough water and simmer it.
5) Add the onion powder, garlic powder, oregano and salt and mix it thoroughly and switch of once the soup starts bubbling.
6) Add the pepper powder and garnish with mint leaves, the soup is ready to serve.

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