Coconut chutney with Urad Dal & Chana Dal

Ingredients

1 tablespoon urad dal (split black lentils)
1 tablespoon chana dal (Split bengal gram)
1/2 teaspoon cumin
5 kashmiri chilles (dried)

1 cup fresh dessicated coconut
1/4 teaspoon tamarind  paste
     you can use fresh tamarind too - just take a small ball of tamarind and let it soak in water and then extract the juice
      and use it
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon urad dal (for tempering)
1/2 teaspoon cumin (for tempering)
7 to 8 curry leaves
1/4 teaspoon asafoetida
2 tablespoons oil (I used coconut oil)
1/2 teaspoon sugar
salt to taste

Method

In a Karahi add 1 tablespoon oil. When it gets hot, add the bengal gram to it and let it fry on medium heat until it gets a nice golden color. To this then add the urad dal and the cumin and fry till the urad dal gets a golden color. Now add 4 kashmiri chillies (remove stem) and shut the heat. Add the coconut to this mixture and mix well and let it cool. Once the mixture gets cold, add it to a blender/mixer along with tamarind paste, sugar, salt and about 1/4 cup water and blend into a chutney. Add more water - little by llittle, if the mixture is too thick. remove it into a serving bowl. In a karahi add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil. When it gets hot add the mustard seeds and let it splutter, now add the cumin and the curry leaves and 1 kashmiri chilli and the asafoetida. Temper the chutney with this mixture. Just before serving, mix well. Serve this chutney with idlis, dosas, vada etc.

Quinoa & Zucchini Warm Salad

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1 yellow squash - chopped into bite size pieces
2 zucchinis- chopped into bite size pieces
1 sweet onion - roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic - grated
1 teaspoon crush red pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary (if you get fresh rosemary, use 1 teaspoon of it chopped)
salt to taste
1 teaspoon olive oil

Method

Wash the quinoa and cook it in 2 cups of water and a pinch of salt in a covered saucepan (just like you would cook rice). In a karahi, add the oil. When it gets hot, add the onions and garlic and saute it for a couple of minutes. When the onions turn transparent, add the yellow squash and the zucchini along with the crushed pepper and crushed rosemary and salt to taste. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes. We do not want to cook the zucchini and squash soft here, we need a bite to them. Add the cooked quinoa mixture to this and mix well. Serve as a side of warm salad with grilled fish or grilled veggies.

Urd dal & Moong dal Laddoos

Ingredients

1 cup urad dal (split black lentils)
1 cup moong dal
1 3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
pinch of saffron
1 teaspoon cardamom powder
1/4 cup sunflower seeds (you can use pine nuts, broken cashews, slivered almonds)
handful raisins
2 tablespoons ghee (or more - as required)

Method

In a karahi roast the urad dal till it becomes a nice golden color and fragnant. be careful to do so on medium low flame as you do not want burnt dal. Remove it into a plate. Now dry roast the moong dal untill it gets into a nice golden color. Remove it into a plate and let it cool. In the same karahi, dry roast the sunflower seeds or any nuts that you are using.
Grind both the dals in a mixer untill they are a fairly fine powder. Mix both the powders along with the cardamom powder and keep aside.
In a saucepan, add the sugar and water along with the saffron and let it boil untill you get a one strand consistency - you can check this with your fingers (be careful as its very hot) or with a spatula.
Add the ground dal mixture into the sugar syrup along with the nuts and mix well untill there are no lumps. let it stand for about 5 minutes or untill it gets a bit cool so that you can roll the laddoos. When you roll the ladddoos add a raising to each. If the mixture becomes too dry, you can add teaspoon of ghee to get it a little softer.
Store in an airtight container.

This laddoo can be made only with urad dal or only wit moong dal too.

Besan Barfi/Vadi

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups besan
1 cup ghee
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
2 tablespoons rose water
pinch of saffron strands
1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder
1/2 cup chopped almonds

Method

In a karahi add the ghee and fry the besan on a medium low flame till it becomes aromatic be careful not to burn the besan - this is a slow and time consuming process, but well worth it. Once done, get it off the flame and let it cool.
In a sauce pan, add the sugar, rose water and water and bring it to a boil. Boil this mixture till you get a 1 string consistency. check this either with your fingers of with a spatula. To this add the saffron strands and the cardamom powder and mix well. Now add the besan and ghee mixture and mix well so that no lumps are formed.
Take a greased cookie tray and add this mixture to it to form an even layer. Top with chopped almonds and let it cool down completely before you cut it into barfi squares.

Tindora/Tendli (ivy gourd) and Gajar (carrots) Sukki Bhaji

Ingredients

1 cup tindora (ivy gourd) - cut lenghtwise into 4 pieces
1 cup carrots - cut into the same size as the ivy gourd
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 teaspoons bhaji masala (http://merakitchen.blogspot.com/2012/10/bhaji-masala.html)
1/4 cup dessicated coconut
1/4 teaspoon asafoetida (hing)
1/2 teaspoon sugar
salt as per taste
1 tablespoon oil

Method

In a frying pan add the oil. when it gets hot add the mustard seeds and let it splutter, then add the cumin seeds and in about 10 seconds add the tindora and the carrots and mix well so that each piece of carrot and tindora is coated in oil. Cover and let it cook for about 5 to 7 minutes on medium heat. Now add the sugar, the bhaji masala, the coconut, the asafoetida and salt as per taste and mix well. Cover and cook for about 10 to 15 minutes on medium heat till the tindora and carrots are cooked. serve with hot rotis and yogurt.

You can add more bhaji masala if you like, you can also add some chilli powder if you want to make it more spicy.