Dal aur Gajar ka shorba / Lentil and carrot soup

Warm, hearty soups. Who doesn't love them in winter? Accompanied by dinner rolls. Hmmm... Though we hardly had winter in Hyderabad this year, me and my family enjoyed this healthy soup regularly.

I saw this soup on Sanjeev Kapoor's How to Cook show. It was something totally different and I knew I had to try it out. This was a hit and I was making this regularly. Its been very hot recently, so I haven't been making this much. But I am sure I'll make it again in the recent future.

Ingredients
1 cup Toor Dal - Washed, Soaked and Drained
1/4 cup Mung Dal(with husk) - Washed, Soaked and Drained
3 Carrots - Roughly Chopped
10 Garlic Cloves
Juice of half of a lemon
2 cups Water
2 tbsp Oil
Salt to Taste
Chopped Coriander for Garnish

Dry Roast and Grind to a coarse powder.
1 tsp Coriander Seeds
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
6 - 8 Peppercorns
2 - 3 Dry Red Chillies

Method

1. In a pressure cooker, heat oil.
2. Add the carrots, Toor Dal, Mung Dal,Garlic Cloves and water and pressure cook till done (about 4 whistles).
3. Once the pressure is released, add the ground masala powder and salt and mix well.
4. Add water as needed and puree to a smooth paste.
5. Add lemon juice and garnish with chopped coriander and serve.

Note: I garnish with a pinch of the ground masala instead of coriander leaves.

This goes to Week 4 of Cooking from Cookbook Challenge Group.

Pappulusu - Moong Dal with Lemon

Pressure Cooker - the basic appliance in most of the Indian households whether they are in India or abroad. When someone is going abroad for the first time, every one asks them to take the pressure cooker without fail. That's the importance of this appliance in the Indian Kitchens.

Most of households have more than 1. I myself have 3. One is in the garden shed as it a huge one. I use the other 2 regularly. Pressure Cookers cut the cooking time by less than half (in most cases) - making them ideal if you want to save on your energy bills.

It takes time to get used to the pressure cooker times. Once you are used to it, you will wonder how you ever got on without it. Since I never cooked before moving here, I didn't know how to use it. When my mother came here during my delivery, I saw her and learnt about the whistles and everything.

I remember when me and my mom used to cook (OK I admit it was only my mom who cooked and I would just stand there and see) after my delivery, my dad would keep V on the dining table (also in the kitchen) and play with him. Every time the whistle went off, V would give a jerk and howl. He was scared then and still is after 3 and a half years. He does an about turn from the kitchen when he sees it on the hob. His nightmare??? Seeing both the Pressure Cookers on the hob side-by-side. So no "help" from him on this dish. It actually finishes fast for me. :D

I am not sure how many of you make this - but this is a regular (and cherished) dish in our house. The preparation is similar to Sambar but without the veggies and sambar powder. You also add lemon juice instead of tamarind pulp to give the tanginess. You can have it with rice or roti (my father swears by it). You should be able to have this as a soup - I haven't tried it, so I can't be sure of this. I like it best with Rice.

This was another dish I never enjoyed so much as sambar when I was growing up. I used to eat it but like it the most with Potato Fry. I enjoy both equally now. The other thing about this dish is that you don't have to soak the tamarind in advance. Just cut a lemon and squeeze the juice. I hate the soaking tamarind bit. I can never remember to do it.

Serves: 6 - 8

Ingredients
1 cup Moong Dal - washed
1 Onion - sliced
5 Green Chillies - Slit vertically
1 Tomato - chopped
1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 Dry Red Chilli - torn in 2 pieces
1/2 tsp Methi Seeds (Fenugreek Seeds)
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
10 - 15 Curry Leaves
4 - 5 cups Water
2 tbsp Oil
Juice of 1 Lemon
Salt to taste
Chopped Coriander Leaves for garnish

Method

1. In a Pressure Cooker, take the Moong Dal, 3/4^thof the Onion, Green Chillies, Tomato,Turmeric Powder and 2 cups of water and cook till the Dal is cooked - I generally cook it for about 2 whisltes depending on the dal.
2. In the meantime, make the popu or tarka.
3. Heat oil in a pan.
4. When hot, add the Dry Red Chilli, Methi, Mustard and Cumin Seeds.
5. When they start spluttering, add the leftover Onion and Curry Leaves and fry till the Onions turn golden. Take the pan off the heat.
6. When the pressure goes down, mash the dal to a smooth, creamy consistency.
7. Now add the salt, 2 cups of water (this depends on the consitency you are looking for), the popu / tarka and mix well and bring to a boil.
8. Add the Chopped Coriander Leaves, mix well and turn off the heat.
9. Add the fresh lemon juice, mix well and cover and let it rest for atleast 10 minutes for the flavours to infuse.
10. Serve hot with Rice and a side dish. I love my Alu Fry with this.

Note1: If the Dal is not mashing up easily after cooking, it means the dal is not cooked properly or you have used too much water. If you are sure the dal is cooked, you can blend it using a hand blender. Or put it back on the stove for a couple of more whistles.
Note2: There is absolutely NO SUBSTITUTE for Fresh Lemon in this recipe. I admit I used to do it with the concentrate one but it s just not the same. Trust me on this.

This goes to the following events
Krithi's and Denny's Serve It - Pressure Cooked / Slow Cooked
Priya's Healthy Diet Event hosted by Vardhini

Quinoa Lentil Veg Soup

What a week its been. The day temperatures have been in double figures. The cool breeze feels pleasant and refreshing; not freezing. For the whole week, I felt spring was just round the corner.

Until today... As I was driving to work today, there were signs on the road saying "Snow forecast on Saturday." I was like "Just when I thought the weather was getting better do I have to see this." I guess that's part and parcel of living in Scotland.

Anyway, I have been wanting to make a quinoa soup for the longest time. Never got around to do it - as usual. Finally made it this week and here I am blogging about it. Good for children as it has plenty of protien. We had this along with store bought bread rolls.

Serves: 4 - 5

Ingredients
1/2 cup Red Lentils - washed
1/2 cup Quinoa - washed
2 cups Mixed Vegetables
1 Onion - finely chopped
1 tsp Chopped Garlic
1 tsp Chopped Ginger
1 tsp Cumin Powder
1 tsp Coriander Powder
600 ml Vegetable Stock
2 tbsp Oil
Salt to Taste
Freshly Ground Black Pepper (optional)

Method

1. Heat oil in a pressure cooker.
2. Once hot, add the Onions, Ginger and Garlic and fry till Onion turns translucent.
3. Add the Mixed Vegetables, Quinoa, Cumin Powder, Coriander Powder and Vegetable Stock and cover and cook for 1 to 2 whistles.
4. Once the pressure goes down, adjust the salt.
5. Sprinkle freshly ground Black Pepper and serve hot with a roll of bread.

Note: You cannot see the Lentils as they got mashed. That's the same reason you can see only carrots and peas and not the other veggies. Atleast you still know what you put in and that its good for you.

This goes to the following events:

Nupur's Kitchen Chronicles : Soup it Up started by Kalyani

Jyothi's Healthy Hearty

Kalyani's Valentine Fest :: Served with Love

Srav's Cooking Concepts #7 - Dish for Loved Ones

Mini Idli – Sambar

Another of V's favourite. He loves to hold the small idlis and gobble them up. We try our best to make him eat slowly. But he somehow manages to eat them really fast.

Its such a pleasure to see him eat like that. I think why cant he eat everything like that???

I make this once in 10 to 15 days. He gets excited when he sees the idli cooker and the mini idli stand on the counter.

For the idlis, grease the mini idli stand and keep it to the side. Add water in the idli cooker and get it to a rolling boil.

In the mean time, take sufficient amount of Idli / Dosa batter in a bowl. If you need, add boiling water to get the consistency for idli batter. Now add enough salt and a pinch of Soda-bi-carbonate and mix well. You will notice that the batter rises almost immediately. Spoon out the batter into the idli stand. Put this in an idli cooker and steam for around 20 mins.

Look at the mini idli stand ready to go into the idli cooker.

This sambar is a little different (and easy) from the regular sambar. This is how they make at my house when they make idlis (every day). Its more watery than the usual sambar. You can make it thick if that’s how you like.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Toor Dal washed
1/2 Onion sliced thinly
3 Red Chillies torn in the middle
3 tsp Chopped Tomato
¼ tsp Fenugreek Seeds
½ tsp Mustard Seeds
½ tsp Cumin Seeds
10 to 15 Curry Leaves
½ tsp Tamarind Concentrate
¼ tsp Hing
2 tbsp Oil
Salt to Taste
Chopped Coriander Leaves for garnish

Method

1. Pressure cook Toor Dal, Onion, Red Chillies, Chopped Tomato, Hing in 1 and a half cup of water till done (it takes about 3 whistles for me). Mash it well.
2. In a separate pan, heat Oil.
3. When hot, add the Fenugreek Seeds, Mustard Seeds and Cumin Seeds and let them crackle.
4. Add the Curry Leaves and fry for a minute.
5. Add the Tamarind Concentrate and cook for 2 minutes. Add a little water if necessary.
6. Transfer this to the pressure cooker along with 1 and a half cup of water and Salt.
7. Mix well and bring to a rolling boil and turn off the stove.
8. Garnish with Coriander Leaves and serve hot with idlis.

Note 1: If you haven’t made idlis till date, I would suggest you watch it (either live or on the web) to know the consistency of the batter. It will be a trial and error later. But atleast you have a base to work on.
Note 2: If you want the sambar to be thick, add less water when mixing the salt.
Note 3: I like to put my idlis in a bowl, add the sambar and leave it for some time to cool and soak.
Note 4: If there’s any left over, I mix the idlis and sambar and put in the fridge. It tastes much better when the idlis are soaked well.

This goes to the following events:

Srivalli's Breakfast Mela

Suma's Cooking with Whole Foods (Legumes / Beans) - Toor Dal / Pegion Peas that was started by Kiran.

50th Post and Mamidikaya pappu / Mango Dal

My 50th post. Its taken me 7 months to get to this. A bit too long for a lot of you. But its OK for me. I am happy I am still posting after 7 months. I haven't given up... yet.

When V was staying in India, my parents told me that Mamidikaya Pappu was one of his favourite dish. I had totally forgotten about this. P was working on Saturday. So I took V and went to the Asian shop first thing in the morning. I was there by 10. Not many people had been there so every thing was still fresh.

I saw these small green mangoes and thought I bought them on instinct. I wanted to make this dal and see if V still likes it. I am so glad I bought the mangoes. V absolutely enjoyed it. He doesn't eat on his own anyway. We need to keep him busy and feed him.

Its extremely easy to prepare as well. I guess I'll be making this more often - atleast till V gets tired of it. Here's the recipe...

Ingredients:
1 cup Toor Dal - washed
1Kg small green Mangoes - the tangy variety - cut into bite size pieces
3 Green Chillies - slit vertically
1 Onion - chopped
2 tsp Chopped Tomatoes
1/4 tsp Fenugreek Seeds
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
2 tsp Cumin Seeds
20 Curry Leaves
1/2 tsp Hing
2 tbsp Oil
Chopped Coriander Leaves to garnish
Salt to taste

Method

1. Pressure cook Toor Dal, Mangoes, Chillies, Onion and Hing in 3 cups of water for 3 to 4 whistles.
2. Once its cooked, mash well.
3. In another pan, add Oil.
4. Once hot, add the Fenugreek Seeds, Mustard Seeds and Cumin Seeds.
5. Once they crackle, add the Curry Leaves and fry for a minute.
6. Now add the chopped tomoato and cook till the oil separates.
7. Add this to the cooked dal, add salt, mix well.
8. Add a cup of water and boil till you get the desired consistency.
9. If you feel the "tanginess" is not enough, add some lime juice.
10. Garnish with Coriander leaves.
11. Serve hot with Rice and Ghee or Roti.

Hope you enjoy this as much as we did. I made small rice balls for V. I generally do this so I can feed him fast. But this time, he picked up and started eating them on his own. We were shocked. Here's how his rice balls looked.

Mullangi / Radish Sambar

V was "cracking a joke" yesterday. He was calling me "ammamma (mom's mom)" and P "tata (mom's dad)" and laughing. Even though when we were telling him we were amma and naanna (mom and dad in telugu), he would call us ammamma and tata and laugh. Not that he got confused or anything (he's 2 and half and knows very well who his parents are), he was just "cracking a joke". When we started playing along, he gave up soon.

BTW, his latest is to call me and P by name. If he calls us and we don't listen to him, fourth time, he calls our names and runs – expecting us to chase him. He's really becoming a handful. P keeps telling, he was better off not talking. Can't stop him now. And to think of it, it was P who really wanted V to talk fast.

When Vanessa announced Radish as this month's Veg, the only dish I could think of is Radish Sambar as I don't know anything else that you can make with this vegetable. I don't remember anyone making any other dish with this at home. So for me, Radish is synonymous with Sambar.

For a change, I didn't call my Pinni for this recipe. This is one of those recipes I had written down in my recipe book when I came to UK.

Ingredients:
1 cup Toor Dal
1 (or more) white radish cut into desired shapes (I sliced them round)
1 Onion sliced thinly
3 – 4 Chillies slit length wise
3 tbsp Chopped Tomatoes
1 tsp Tamarind Concentrate
2 tsp Sambar Powder – made a thick paste with water
1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
2 tsp Cumin Seeds
15 to 20 Curry Leaves
2 tbsp Oil
Salt to Taste
Chopped Coriander Leaves to garnish

Method

1. Pressure cook Toor dal with 3/4th of the Sliced Onion, Chillies and Turmeric Powder in 2 and a half cups water for 3 to 4 whistles. Once the pressure comes down, mash it and leave in the cooker.
2. In a separate pan, heat the oil and add the Mustard Seeds.
3. Once they start popping, add the Cumin Seeds and let them crackle.
4. Now add the Curry Leaves and saute for a minute.
5. Add the remaining Onion and fry till brown.
6. Now add the Tomatoes, and fry till the oil separates.
7. Add the Tamarind Concentrate and fry till it mixes completely.
8. Add the radish, mix well and fry for 5 minutes.
9. Put this mixture along with Salt in the pressure cooker and let it cook for 1 to 2 whistles. This is to cook the Radish. So this time depends on the size of the Radish.
10. Once the pressure comes down, add the Sambar Powder and mix well.
11. Garnish with Coriander Leaves and serve hot with rice, ghee and papad. Yum.

Note: I use Tamarind Concentrate so my Sambar will be darker in colour. If you are using freshly squeezed tamarind "juice", your colour will be better and you can add the "juice" after you fry the radish.

This goes to the following events:

Vanessa's Veggie / Fruit a Month - Radish that was started by Priya

Mymoonah's A.W.E.D - Indian that was started by DK

ARS C for Colourful Currys

Barley Lentil Soup

The moment I saw this recipe, something told me I had to try it out. It looked delicious, healthy and simple to make. Today, I made it and I was extremely satisfied. My son ate it without a fuss. Me and my husband also liked it a lot. I am sure I will be making this more often.

I followed the recipe quiet a bit, but changed it a little. The ingredients are almost the same, but the quantities differ. The way I cooked it is also different. With due credit to Siri, I am rewriting the recipe for reference.

Ingredients:
1 Cup Green Lentils - washed and soaked for atleast 6 hours
1 Cup Pearl Barley - washed and soaked for atleast 6 hours
1 Onion - finely chopped
1 big Carrot - cubed
5 cubes of frozen Spinach
1 tsp Garlic Paste
2 cubes Vegetable Stock (I used very low salt one)
1 tsp Cumin Powder
1 tsp Coriander Powder
200gm (1/2 tin) Chopped Tomatoes
2 tbsp Oil
Salt to taste (I used 1.5 tsp)

Method

1. Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Once the oil is hot, add the onions and fry for 5 mins till the onions are translucent.
2. Now add the carrots and saute for another 5 mins.
3. Then add the garlic paste and saute for 2 mins.
4. Now add the lentils & barley and mix well.
5. Add the cubes of vegetable stock and mix well.
6. Now add the tomatoes, cumin powder, coriander powder and spinach cubes and mix well.
7. Add 5 cups of water (I added 3.5) and pressure cook for 4 to 5 whistles. I left it for 5 whistles as my son likes his food soft.
8. Once the pressure comes down, add salt, mix and serve.
9. As Siri pointed out, it tastes really good with curd.

PS: My soup turned out to be a curry as I added less water. I will be adding 5 cups next time.

This is going to Winter Warmers started and hosted by The Veggie Hut

This also goes to Soup Recipes hosted by My Culinary Creations.

This is also going to Priya's bookmarked recipes