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Sandiga Koora / Patoli / Paruppu usili is one of the traditional and healthy side dishes served in south Indian regions to go along with rice. Of course the health factor comes into picture only when the spicy lentil paste is steamed instead of being sauteed in a generous amount oil. It is a dry curry prepared using a vegetable with a sauteed or steamed and sauteed spicy lentil paste. And I obviously prefer the latter because of the less usage of oil in the recipe. The vegetables that usually go into the dish are green beans, fresh fenugreek greens, cabbage and such.
The legume that usually goes in the preparation of this delicious would be split chick peas (chana dal) whereas in Andhra regions, split pigeon peas (toordal), yellow lentils (moong dal) or even a combo of legumes are used. I heard the name sandiga koora for patoli for the first time from one of my husband's aunts and so, I assume that is Rayalaseema in origin and the version uses split pigeon peas rather than split chick peas.
Ingredients: (Yield 6 servings)
3 cups finely chopped yard long beans
4 to 6 tbsp. toor dal / split pigeon peas / kandi pappu
2 tsp. cumin seeds
3 to 4 tbsp. shredded dry coconut / copra / endu kobbari
4 dried Indian variety or any spicy red chillies
1 tbsp. oil
1 tsp. chana dal / split chickpeas
1 tsp. urad dal / skinned, split black gram
1 tsp. mustard seeds
1 tsp. cumin seeds
Few curry leaves
1/8 tsp. turmeric powder
Salt to taste
Method:
* Soak split pigeon peas in water for at least 2 hours and drain.
*
Coarsely grind split pigeon peas, cumin seeds, coconut and red chilies with as
little water as possible.
* Place this mixture in a container and steam
on medium flame in a pressure cooker without the weight on until it is done
(as one would steam idlis). The mixture should be dry and crumbly by the time it is cooked and it usually takes about 30 minutes. Let it cool
for a while.
*
Crumble the steamed mixture, which would have become dry at this point. It can be immediately used or frozen to use later.
*
Heat oil in a pan and add split chickpeas, black gram, cumin and mustard seeds. When split chickpeas and black gram begin to turn
reddish, add curry leaves and turmeric powder. Stir once and add yard long beans to the pan. Cook on low flame until the beans are cooked. Next add the crumbled steamed mixture and salt. Stir well and cook for a couple of minutes. Turn off the stove.
* Serve warm with rice or rotis.
This post goes to Blogging marathon #77 under the theme "Healthy Lunches". Check out the page to read what other marathoners are cooking.
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The recipes I try from kingarthurflour website usually turn out to be hits and these waffles are no exception. These whole wheat waffles are adapted from this recipe and they yield light, little crunchy on the outside and fluffy inside kind waffles. I cooked them for extra time and so, they have a dark hue. I was planning to freeze them and so, there are not any toppings in the pictures.
Yield: 4 generous, round 7 inched Belgian style waffles
Ingredients:
1 flax egg or any substitute for 1 egg
1.5 cup white whole wheat flour *
1.5 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tbsp. sugar (I used Splenda sweetener.)
1.5 cup like warm milk
2 tsp. vanilla
1/3 cup oil / melted butter (I used scant 1/4 cup canola oil.)
* I used atta, Indian style whole wheat flour
Instructions:
* For flax egg, combine 1 tbsp. flax meal and 3 tbsp. warm water in a small bowl and leave aside for about 5 minutes.
* Preheat the waffle iron.
* Combine all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.
* Whisk together egg, milk, vanilla and oil / butter in another bowl.
* Mix together the dry and wet ingredients, stirring until just combined.
* Cook waffles according to your waffle iron instructions.
This post goes to Blogging marathon #77 under the theme "Whole Grains". Check out the page to read what other marathoners are cooking.
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Ragi - Finger Millet
Upma- A south Indian savory breakfast usually made with semolina with a thick porridge like consistency.
Ragi aka finger millet is a whole grain which is beneficial when included in any one's diet, especially the diabetics. This upma uses the vermicelli made with finger millet and whole wheat flours. Unlike the wheat vermicelli which is cooked in boiling water, this vermicelli is soaked in cold water for a few minutes, drained and then steamed.
Ingredients: (Yield 2 servings)
2 cups ragi vermicelli
1 tbsp. oil
1 tsp. split chickpeas / chana dal
1 tsp. skinned black gram / urad dal
1/2 tsp. mustard seeds
1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
2 green chillies, finely chopped
10 - 12 curry leaves
1 big onion, finely chopped
1 tomato, finely chopped
Mixed vegetables *
1 tsp. salt
* I used frozen carrot and peas. Finely chopped potato, beans and chayote can also be used.
Method:
* Heat oil in a pan and split chickpeas, skinned black gram, mustard seeds and cumin seeds. When the split chickpeas start to turn golden brown, add green chillies and curry leaves. Saute for few seconds and add onion. If using any chopped fresh vegetables, it is time to add them too. Stir intermittently and cook covered on low flame until the onion (and vegetables) turns soft. Next add tomatoes, salt and frozen vegetables if using. Cook until the tomatoes turn soft and mushy.
* Soak the ragi vermicelli in cold water for 3 minutes such that all the vermicelli strands are immersed completely in water. Soak for not more than three minutes. Drain the vermicelli completely after three minutes.
* Add vermicelli to the onion - tomato mixture and cook covered on low flame for about 8 to 10 minutes. Serve warm with chutney.
This post goes to Blogging marathon #77 under the theme "Whole Grains". Check out the page to read what other marathoners are cooking.
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Overnight oats is a make-ahead and no cook option when looking for a fuss free breakfast. It is also an easier and quicker way to include whole grains into one's diet. The humble bowl of oats could be transformed from a boring one to a delicious one with the add-ons that can go into an overnight oats dish. Besides, overnight oats can get interesting since there are plenty of variations one could think of depending upon the fresh / dried fruits, nuts, liquid base choices, sweeteners and flavorings that can go into the bowl of oats.
Ingredients: (Yield 1 serving)
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
3/4 cup milk or milk + yogurt
1/4 cup or more mango cubes
2 tbsp. grated fresh coconut or coconut flakes
A sweetener to taste
Method:
* Combine oats and milk or milk and yogurt in a closable container. Close the lid and refrigerate overnight.
* Add mango cubes and coconut to the oats before serving. Stir in a sweetener of your choice as needed and serve.
This post goes to Blogging marathon #77 under the theme "Whole Grains". Check out the page to read what other marathoners are cooking.
Comments
Granny Smith apples, especially the sour ones work well in some of the south Indian style dishes and this chutney is one of those. Along with the instant pickle variety, this is a regularly made and well liked chutney in my home.
Ingredients:
2 small green apples / 1 cup peeled and grated apple
2 tsp. oil
1/2 tsp. mustard seeds
2 tsp. skinned black gram / urad dal
2 dried red chillies, broken into bits
1 pinch of asafoetida powder
Salt to taste
Method:
* Heat oil in a small pan and add mustard seeds and black gram. When black gram starts to turn golden brown, add red chillies and asafoetida. Stir once, turn off the stove and let it cool.
* Peel and grate the apple just before grinding. Add the above tempering, grated apple and salt to a food processor or blender and grind coarsely. In case if the apples are not sour, add lime / lemon juice to taste, if preferred.
* Serve immediately and refrigerate the left over chutney.
Comments
Remember the pumpkin pie pancakes I made from pumpkin pie? This pumpkin pie overnight oats is one more dish that I tried to finish off that left over pumpkin pie. And so, this one is not a pumpkin pie flavored oatmeal but literally uses the pumpkin pie. Alternatively, canned pumpkin pie filling or canned pumpkin puree + flavoring + sweetener can be used.
This is a quick breakfast option as this is overnight oats recipe and flavor filled one for pumpkin pie lovers. For those wondering what I did with the remaining pie, I used the leftover filling to make some cupcakes and I broke the crust into pieces and baked them until crispy and used as a topping for some Indian chaat.
Ingredients:
1/3 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup to scant 1 cup milk
1/4 cup pumpkin pie filling from the pie
Roughly chopped pecans / walnuts to garnish
Method:
* Mix the oats and milk in a bowl, cover and leave it in the refrigerator overnight.
* Stir in the pumpkin pie filling and the walnuts before serving.
This post goes to Blogging marathon #76 and check out the page to read what ot marathoners are cooking.
Comments
A colorful salsa recipe representing the fresh summer bounty, though late winter and spring seasons are still colliding in our neck of the woods. As any salsa recipe, this one too is a quick one and all one need to do is dice the ingredients and mix.
The mangoes I had were somewhere in between sour and sweet tasting and were perfect in this dish. I skipped the tomatoes so that the mango flavor would be more prominent in the dish though tomatoes add an a extra flavor layer. Mash the avocado for a mango based guacamole.
Ingredients:
1 avocado, diced
1 small mango, diced
1/4 cup finely diced red onion
1 finely diced small tomato (Optional. I didn't use any.)
1 green chillie, seeded and finely chopped
Roughly chopped cilantro (as much as needed)
1 lime / lemon
Salt to taste
Method:
* Add everything except lime juice and cilantro to a mixing bowl and stir to combine.
* Add lime juice according to taste and finally stir in cilantro.
* Serve immediately.
This post goes to Blogging marathon #76 and check out the page to read what ot marathoners are cooking.
Comments
I had bookmarked these muffins from here sometime ago to try. These muffins are simple to prepare and are loaded with a generous sprinkling of nuts, raisins and of course carrot. These tasted good, accentuated with cinnamon flavor and would be a great addition to any breakfast / brunch or picnic table.
I ended up baking two batches as I forgot to turn off the oven accidentally during the first time and they ended
up baked for double the recommended time. Those are the ones in green
muffin liners which had tops turned crispy and to my surprise, they
tasted still good with a crunchy top when eaten warm. And of course they softened by the next day. I baked a second batch which are
in the blue muffin liners, remembering to sprinkle some extra nuts and
raisins over the tops.
I halved the recipe and got around 7 to 8
muffins. I omitted the ground ginger from the recipe and used an egg substitute in place of the egg. The muffin batter was dry and I had to increase the quantity of liquid than the original recipe. And also I replaced half
the quantity of water with fat free yogurt. Skip yogurt for a vegan version.
Ingredients: (Yield 6 - 8 muffins)
1 cup + 2 tbsp. all purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
6 tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 cup raisins & chopped walnuts + Extra for sprinkling
2 tbsp. + 2 tsp. oil
1/2 cup water (I replaced half quantity with yogurt.)
1 egg substitute (I used Ener- G egg replacer.)
1/2 cup grated carrot
Method:
* Preheat the oven to 400 deg F / 22 deg C. Grease the muffin tray or line them with paper liners.
* Combine all the dry ingredients including raisins and nuts in a mixing bowl.
* Mix water, yogurt if using, oil and egg substitute in another bowl.
* Stir in the wet ingredients into dry ingredients. (If the batter appears too dry, add extra water in small increments.)
* Fold in the carrot, gently stirring to combine.
* Spoon the mixture into muffin cups until almost full. Sprinkle some raisins and nuts over the tops, if preferred.
* Place the muffin tray into the preheated oven and bake until a tooth pick inserted at the center comes out clean, about 20 to 22 minutes.
* Remove the pan from the oven and cool.
This goes to Blogging marathon #76, under the theme 'Picnic Recipes'. Check out the page to read what other marathoners are cooking.
Comments
Initially I had planned to participate in the 'baking' themed April mega marathon and I had diligently prepared the list. I even baked some when it dawned on me that I was the one who was going to end up eating all those goodies if I made it through the list. The kid who supposedly was to devour them and share the calories with me was away from the home and the kid who was at home wouldn't look at the sweet stuff unless it is laden with chocolate. And so, I finally gave up the idea of baking marathon though I ended up baking a few dishes for the first time.
These simple, sweet cornmeal cookies from Ivory Coast was one of them and they would be a great pick for a picnic menu. I actually tried these cookie two times, halving the recipe both times. The first time, I tried to shape the cookies by patting the dough into perfect circles and they spread like crazy while baking though they held the shape. The second time, I dropped dough by spoonful and they were chubby (as shown in the pictures) while the first batch ones were thinner and bigger. These crispy, crunchy cookies fall under the easier to prepare variety cookies.
Source: Here
Ingredients: (Yield 50)
1 & 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
5 to 6 tbsp. butter
1/2 cup + 2tbsp. sugar
1 flax egg or 1 egg substitute
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Method:
* Mix 1 tbsp. flax meal and 3 tbsp. warm water in a small bowl and keep aside for five minutes.
* Preheat the oven to 350 degree F. Grease a cookie sheet or line with parchment paper / aluminum foil and keep aside.
* Combine flour, cornmeal, salt and baking powder in a bowl.
* Beat butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the egg substitute and vanilla and beat again. Slowly add the dry ingredients from the above step and mix well.
* Drop dough in spoonful onto the prepared baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes or until they are done.
This goes to Blogging marathon #76, under the theme 'Picnic Recipes'. Check out the page to read what other marathoners are cooking.
Comments
A rice dish would be a commonly prepared main dish when thinking in terms of a south Indian picnic. Until a few decades ago (or even now in many households), the spicy tamarind rice and the soothing yogurt rice combo would be blindly packed for lunches during any outdoor activities. The dishes would be prepared and relished without any second thought. The spicy tamarind based paste used for the tamarind rice can be prepared ahead and all that needs to be done on the picnic day is to mix it with cooked rice. It doesn't spoil at least for a couple of days even during the high summer temperatures, even when not refrigerated. While the yogurt rice is cooling and soothing, during the hot, sultry days.
And coming from that kind of background, I could not stop myself today from posting a rice dish as a part of this week's BM theme of 'picnic dishes'. Besides, I thought of celebrating the sudden summer temperatures we are encountering this week after the 40s (around 4 deg C) we were freezing in last week. And what is a better way to celebrate the warm weather than a 'mango' that is almost synonymous to Indian summers? And the combo of rice and raw mango lead to this dish which is simpler than a pulihora preparation but nonetheless delicious in it's own way. This is prepared along the lines of 'kaayi saasive anna' from Karnataka and uses the extra step of grinding some ingredients and sauteing the paste.
Click on the recipe names below if interested to access the recipes of the rice dishes mentioned in the post.
Green Mango - Coconut rice
Tamarind rice / Pulihora
Yogurt rice / Daddhojanam
Kaayi Saasive Anna / Coconut - Mustard Rice
Green Mango Rice / Maamidikaaya Pulihora
Ingredients to grind:
1 cup firmly packed, peeled and grated raw mango
1/4 cup grated fresh coconut
3 red chillies + 1 green chillie
1/2 tsp. mustard seeds
1/2 tsp. to 1 tsp. jaggery powder
Other Ingredients:
3 tbsp. oil
2 tbsp. peanuts
1 tsp. split chickpeas / chana dal
1 tsp. black gram / urad dal
1 tsp. mustard seeds
Few curry leaves
1/8 tsp. turmeric powder
2 pinches of asafoetida powder
4 cups cooked rice
Salt to taste
Method:
* Spread the rice on a wide plate and allow it cool. Once cool, break any rice lumps if present.
* Keep a handful of grated mango aside and grind everything under 'ingredients to grind' to a slightly coarse paste, adding a little water.
* Heat oil in a saute pan and add peanuts, split chickpeas, black gram and mustard seeds. When the peanuts turn golden brown, add curry leaves, turmeric powder and asafoetida powder. Saute for about 10 seconds and add the ground paste. Saute the paste on medium flame, constantly stirring until the raw smell leaves, about 4 to 5 minutes. Next add the remaining mango gratings and salt and cook for a minute.
* Now the rice from the first step can be added to the pan and mixed or the cooked raw mango stuff from the above step can be added to the rice plate. Mix well so that the rice grains are coated well with the paste. Taste and adjust the seasonings if needed.
* Serve warm with lentil wafers or potato chips.
Notes:
1. Use south Indian style rice for this preparation, where the cooked rice grains could be seen individually. I used sona masuri rice and pressure cooked it with a rice and water ratio of 1:2.
2. Let the rice cool before adding it to the pan since the hot rice will turn mushy when stirred.
3. If the raw mango is not sour enough to your taste, lime or lemon juice can be added to the dish at the final stage as needed. Or a tiny ball of tamarind can be added while grinding the paste.
This goes to Blogging marathon #76, under the theme 'Picnic Recipes'. Check out the page to read what other marathoners are cooking.
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