Foodie Workz

With some leftover boiled black eyed peas in my refrigerator, I decided to use in sambar preparation and found it very tasty.  This is a nice change from the masala gravy that I always try with this fast cooking bean.... 1 cup of cooked lobiya 1/3 cup finely chopped onion 1 small tomato chopped 1 green chilli 1 red chilli 1/2 tsp sambar powder 1 flat tsp tamarind paste salt to taste 1/2 tsp sambar powder(fresh) curry leaves coriander leaves 3/4 tsp mustard 1/8 tsp methi seeds Take little oil and when it gets hot splutter the methi seeds followed by mustard.  Add the red chilli, green chilli, curry leaves and hing powder.  Add the onions and saute it for a couple of minutes followed by the tomatoes.  Let this cook for 3-5 minutes.  Add water and bring this to a rolling boil.  Add salt and a spoon of tamarind paste(you can always taste and add it also).  After this has cooked for a minut...

There can be no greater joy of outsourcing the ingredients from your own garden for using in your kitchen.  We started our own karpooravalli or omavalli(tamil names for ajwain) plant from a cutting given to us by my cousin sometime last year just to add to our collection of health benefical plants like tulasi, curry leaves and manathakkali.  Ajwain is more popular in northern India and the seeds are used as seasonings in dal or in the parathas and more so in the snacks.  Who can forget the aromatic taste of these lovely seeds in the very popular "omapodi" in the tamil households. However the leaves in abundance on my plant tempted me to try this dish which I would be making it again and again for sure.  Infact I do not hestitate to add these chopped leaves anytime I make rotis and puris..... /4 tsp methi seeds 1/4 tsp urad dal 2 tsp dhaniya 1 tsp each tuar and chana dal 1/2 tsp cumin seeds 2  long red chillies 15 to 20 black pepper 20 medium s...

Bok Choy also know as Chinese leaf cabbage is a very popular crop in the oriental regions especially in China.  It is well known for its light, sweet flavor, crisp texture and nutritional value.   It is not only high in Vitamin A, Vitamin C and calcium, but also low in calories.  Combined with dal and minimal spices, this makes a very delicious and healthy side for rice. 1/2 cup of yellow moong dal 2lb of baby Bok Choy(each is about 3-4 inches in height) Salt to taste 1/4 tsp turmeric hing 1 tsp of cumin seeds 1/2 tsp sambar powder mustard seed and urad dal for seasoning oil or ghee Wash the bok choy thoroughly.  Trim the ends of the bok choy and chop the rest including the stem part. You will lose almost a pound of bok choy after trimming. Pressure cook the moong dal with little salt and turmeric.  Transfer the cooked moong dal to a wide mouthed vessel and add the chopped bok choy salt, cumin seeds to it.  Once it settles and shri...

This is one of the traditional recipes of the Tamil households.  Usually it is prepared in little large quantities that will last for a week.  I really love having this during cold wintery days to get the heat from the pepper.  This time I prepared this based on the recipe given by my aunt. 12-15 medium size sprigs of curry leaves big lemon sized tamarind ball 2 tsp black pepper 4 long red chillies 2 tsp urad dal tiny ginger piece Take two spoons of oil and roast the urad dal and the red chillies without burning them.  Lower the heat and add the black pepper, curry leaves and the tamarind pieces and saute it lightly.   Add the ginger as well.   Take all this and grind everything to a smooth paste with salt and 1/2 tsp of brown sugar.  Use about 4 cups of water. Take a pan with 3-4 tbsp of oil, season mustard and add the paste.  Let all this cook nicely till the kuzhambu reduces in quantity by one cup by which time you will also get...

Dal Makhani is a one of the traditional dish of the Punjabi cuisine packed with proteins and rich in fibre.  A generous amount of butter and cream are also added to lend a rich flavor.  However, I wanted to replicate this dish with some fat milk instead of the rich cream.  And the outcome was quite good and we all got a fulfilling meal!!   1 and a 1/4 cup of whole urad 1/2 cup rajma 1 medium onion finely chopped 3 medium ripe tomatoes pureed 2 inch piece ginger grated 4-5 big garlic cloves 2 slit green chili 1 tsp chili powder 2 tsp coriander powder 2 tsp garam masala powder oil as required 2 tsp butter 1/2 to 1 cup fat milk  Soak the dals together overnight and pressure cook in water about 5 times the quantity of the dal.  Add salt and little amount of the chili powder and some ginger while cooking.  Once the pressure is released, mash the dals with the masher while it is still hot. Take sufficient oil and when it is hot splut...

We all know that white pumpkin is a very widely used vegetable in the South Indian cooking with possibility of varied dishes like the Sambar, Kootu, Morkootu, Aviyal.   However to my knowledge, I have not known or hear anybody say that they have made a subzi with these pumpkins to go well with the rotis.  Today,  I got this wonderful home grown pumpkin from my friend(never seen one like this so firm yet tender and pure white in color).  Since I always like to come with some new innovations,  decided to make a dish out of these pumpkins that could be eaten with the rotis.  Hence, this kootu preparation combining the north and south flavors.   This is my typical preparation of the Kootu for rotis when I do not feel like having any gravy dishes with garam masala. 3-4 cups of chopped white pumpkin 1 small onion chopped 1 tomato chopped 1 green chili 1 tsp grated ginger 2 tbsp chana dal 1/4 cup moong dal 1 tsp sambar powder pinc...

As mentioned in my earlier post,  I successfully tried the watermelon dosa with some left over batter I had.  To make it even more nutritious, I added some milled flax seeds which I always keep in stock in my pantry.  I have added these to the dosa batter in the past and my kids have not realized that they were eating them. I got so overjoyed with my attempt that I soaked a small batch of rice over the weekend to make some more crispy dosas.   But this time, I decided to make these dosas using brown rice.  Below I have given the recipe for this as well and the recipe for the quick sambar that I made to go along with the dosas. 2 cups fermented idli batter 1 cup cubed watermelon rind 1 tablespoon  milled flax seeds Grind the watermelon rind into a puree and mix  this and the flax seeds with the batter and make dosas with this batter.  Very tasty and nutritious!! We enjoyed these Dosas with the Moong dal Sambar given below  ...

3-4 cups of cubed pumpkin 1/4 to 1/3 cup of toor dal 1/4 cup of fresh field beans(mochai) salt to taste pinch of turmeric pinch of hing Paste: 4 tea spoons coconut 1 red chilli 1/4 tsp cumin seeds Seasoning: Mustard, Urad dal, curry leaves Cook the pumpkin with salt and turmeric adding little water until it is translucent.  Cook the toor dal  and mochai in the pressure cooker in separate containers.   Add little salt and water to the mochai. Grind the paste ingredients adding little water to a coarse consistency.  I do not use too much coconut in my cooking even though traditionally it calls for.  Of course, needless to say more coconut makes the dish even more tasty.  So please feel free to add more coconut. Add the paste.... bring it to a boil, add the cooked dal and let it come to a boil again.   If you find the consistency to be thin, you can add half a spoon of rice flour and bring it to a boil to thicken.  Take a spoon of o...

1/2 cup moong dal 1/2 tsp sambar powder 1/4 cup onion or few sprigs of spring onion chopped 1 big tomato salt to taste tamarind to taste Water 2 cups Seasoning : pinch of methi seeds, mustard, red chilli(1), green chilli(1), few curry leaves and pinch of hing Season all the ingredients with a tsp of oil. Quickly saute the spring onion and add the chopped tomatoes. Saute this for about 1-2 minutes. Add this and the water to the washed dal. Put half the amount of salt that is going to be used into the dal and half of the tamarind and pressure cook upto 3 to 4 whistles. Once the pressure goes down, remove from the cooker, check for salt and tamarind and bring the sambar to a boil. Let it boil on low medium heat for 5 minutes. Garnish with coriander leaves. PS: The same can be done using winter melon (vellai poosanikkai) cut into big cubes. The vegetable disintegrates with the sambar. This way there is no problem in getting the kids to eat and vegetables are consumed without their ...