TOGARI NUCCHINUNDE (A Tur dal recipe)

Togari nucchinunde, a specialty of Karnataka, is a wonder dish made of togari bele/tuvar dal. The name of the dish implies that they are balls made of broken tur dal. Probably in olden days, when there was no the concept of supplying cleaned togari bele, grocery shops supplied  one which was a mix of whole and broken togari bele.  So, while cleaning and separating them some innovative lady must have found a unique way to use this broken bele and created this dish. Now that clean bele is available, the dish is made by soaking and grinding the whole togari bele.   It is one of the main dishes of a Karnataka meal, but made comparatively rarely. This is a protein rich, steam cooked dish and so is a very healthy dish. Very filling also. Though it is an item of main meals, it can also be used as a snack. Usually it is accompanied by another dish, majjige huli/paladya.

Ingredients

Togaribele/Tur dal                                            1 cup

Water                                                               3 cups

Salt                                                                  1 teaspoon

Ginger grated                                                  1 tablespoon

Ingu/asafoetida                                                3 or 4 pinches

Green chilies                                                    2-3

Grated coconut                                                1 cup

Menthya soppu/methi finely chopped              2 cups

Procedure:

Soak  togari bele in water for 3-4 hours.  Transfer to a colander and drain completely. See that no water remains.

Grind , ginger, green chilies, salt and ingu to a coarse paste without adding water. Then add grated coconut and run the mixer just for a few seconds so that it mixes well with the ground togari bele mixture.  Add finely chopped menthya soppu and mix well.

Now take one small fistful of the ground mixture and make balls as shown. Take a steel plate which has holes, smear with oil and arrange the balls in the plate. If you don’t have such plate you can arrange them in idli stand as shown. 

Now heat water in a pressure cooker. Place a steel ring or any other narrow vessel in the cooker. When water starts boiling, place the plate in the cooker, cover the cooker lid and steam for 10 minutes and turn off the flame. If you use idli stand, follow the same procedure.

Leave for five minutes and transfer the balls into a box.  

Serve hot with ghee and  majjige huli.

You can to eat the balls just with ghee, or mix with only rice or mix with rice and majjige huli, both.

Usually majjige huli a south Indian version of kadhi, has  in it vegetables like pumpkin, chow chow, snake gourd etc. But one used as an accompaniment of  Togari NucchinunDe can be made plain without vegetables too.

Note: One cup of  togari bele yields about 15 pieces of the dish. Serves 4-5

MENTHYA/ METHI / FENUGREEK SPROUTS SALAD

Menthya sprouts??!! How can one eat these bitter seeds?? I know, this is the reaction of whoever has not tasted this salad! But, it is a wonderful tasting salad, very good for health too. You have to eat this to believe it! Preparing this easy too, but needs a little bit of advanced planning because I have noticed that these seeds take more time to sprout compared to our usual green gram sprouts. I can say, you soak it approximately 2 days before you plan to make this.

I am sure you would love the lovely flavour of Menthya minus its bitterness.

You need to take:

Menthya/Methi seeds                            ½ cup

Water                                                     2 cups

Salt                                                        ½ teaspoon

Lemon juice                                           1 teaspoon

Grated carrot(optional)                          2 or 3 tablespoons

Grated coconut                                      2 tablespoons

Peanuts crushed                                    2 or 3 tablespoons

For seasoning:

Oil                                                          2 teaspoons

Mustard seeds                                       1 teaspoon

Black gram                                             2 teaspoons

Ingu/ asafoetida                                     2 pinches

Curry leaves                                           3 or 4, cut into pieces

Green chilies chopped                           1 teaspoon 

Coriander leaves chopped                     2 tablespoons

Procedure:

Soak menthya seeds overnight in water. Next morning drain it completely and store in a plastic box and keep in a warm place. It is a good idea to toss it once or twice a day . So, better keep it in such a place that you notice it whenever you enter the kitchen or else you may forget it :) . By next day, you can see small sprouts shooting out. Leave it for one more day or two, tossing it, till the sprouts are about 3mms. long.  

Or

You can even tie the soaked seeds in a thin cloth. You can just open twice a day and check if they have sprouted.

When  ready, sprinkle salt  and keep aside.

Roast peanuts and crush them to small pieces and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan, add mustard. When it sputters, add black gram  and fry till golden brown. Add  cut curry leaves, chopped green chillies, ingu, one tablespoon of coriander leaves and fry for a few seconds. Add in sprouted menthya. Add  salt and mix well. Simmer the flame and leave for about two minutes, stirring in between. Mix in grated carrot and turn off the flame. Add lemon juice. Mix well and then add roasted peanuts and grated coconut  and mix well.  Garnish with rest of chopped coriander.

HESARU KAALU- MOONG SPROUT

Sprouted moong is a very common item in our kitchens as an ingredient to make salads, as you know.  Since it is such a healthy food item, I was just  wondering how to make a more interesting salad out of it.  Most important for me was that the raw smell of the sprout should go. So I tried this method and it so happened that the consistency of the sprouted moong also changed for better! So, try this. I am sure you will love it!

Ingredients:

Sprouted moong                                     1 cup

Salt                                                         1 teaspoon                              

Roasted peanuts                                    1 tablespoon (crushed)

Grated carrot(optional)                           1 tablespoon

Grated coconut                                       1 tablespoon

Lemon juice            

                             

For seasoning:

Oil                                                           1 teaspoon

Mustard seeds                                        1/2 teaspoon

Ingu/hing/asafoetida)                              1 pinch

Green chily                                             1 (finely cut)

Coriander leaves                                    1 tablespoon (chopped)

Procedure:

Heat oil in a  kaDai. Add mustard seeds. When they sputter add cut chilies, hing and chopped coriander leaves. Join in the sprouted moong and salt, and immediately turn off the flame. (By doing so, the moong stays crisp and this is what gives that special consistency for the dish). Stir well. Keep the kaDai closed for a few minutes. When cool add grated carrot, coconut, crushed peanuts and lemon juice and mix well. The dish is ready to serve!

By just doing this, the raw smell of the moong disappears and you can consume four times the usual quantity that you consume  This can even be more of a `between meal' very healthy snack than just a salad. Usually in mixed vegetable salads, the the proportion of sprouted moong is about one fifth  the quantity of vegetables. Here you may or may not use vegetables- choice is left to you!

A rare combination of nutrition and good taste :)

Try now!

PUMPKIN BREAD

This is the recipe I got from the land lady of the chalet amidst red wood trees, where we stayed during our Yosemite National Park trip. To welcome us to her holiday home, Ms.Debby had brought for us this hot,  freshly baked bread with an  appetizing aroma . The bread tasted just wonderful. I requested her for the recipe and it is really nice of her to share it with me. I baked it. It came out really great! You must try this. Cake recipes  usually have maida/flour as the main ingredient, but now a days I use it whole wheat flour. Cakes turn out quite well

You need:

Maida/whole wheat flour                                                 1 ½ cups

Sugar                                                                               1 ¼ cups

Egg                                                                                  1

Butter                                                                              ¼ cup

Cold milk                                                                         ½ cup

Baking soda                                                                     1 teaspoon

Baking powder                                                                 ¼ teaspoon

Pumpkin puree                                                                 ¾ cup

Salt                                                                                   ¼ teaspoon

Ginger grated/powder                                                      ½ teaspoon           

Clove ground                                                                   ½ teaspoon

Cinnamon ground                                                           1 teaspoon

Chopped nuts, preferably walnuts                                   ½ cup                      

Procedure:                   

To make pumpkin puree:

Take thin slices of pumpkin (sihi kumbaLakai) and microwave for 2 or 4 minutes till it is half cooked. Blend coarsely in a mixer.  If you need 3/4 cups of puree, you need to take about 1 1/2 cups of sliced pumpkin. Cooked pumpkin looks like this.

For the rest of the recipe:

Sieve together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger powder, clove powder powder and cinnamon powder. (If you take grated ginger, beat together with egg, butter etc.).


Now, beat the butter and sugar, preferably with an electric hand mixer. Add egg and beat well. Now add cold milk and pumpkin puree and blend very well. Blend in chopped nuts.

Pre heat the oven for about  5 minutes.

Add the sieved flour mixture to the egg mixture and blend them together. Pour the mixture into a 8" loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes at 180 degree Celsius.  Test whether the baking is complete by inserting a knitting needle or a knife in the middle of the bread. If the batter sticks to the needle, it means that the baking is not complete. Bake again for 5 or 6 minutes more. When done, cool to room temperature before cutting.

Now, ENJOY!!!!

DHOKLA

As you know, this is a Gujarathi dish. If I am right, the original recipe is one in which mixture of dals is used. That requires a little planning and also time. (Plan to post it some time later)! But this is a very quick method and the ingredients except Eno's fruit salt are always available at home. But you can always keep a stock of  a few 5gm. sachets of fruit salt at home.  Fruit salt comes in different flavours, but take care to buy the `regular'  one which  suitable for this. It is available in all medical shops and for those who live outside India,  it is available in Indian Stores. It is important to check the expiry date.

A very tasty, protein filled, non greasy, healthy and any time snack! If you come to know about the arrival of your guests three to four hours in advance, you can make and keep this ready!

So, here are the

Ingredients:

KaDale hiTTu or besan                                          3/4 cup
Chiroti rava                                                            1/4 cup
Sour curds                                                              About 3/4 to 1 cup
Thick tamarind paste                                             1/2 spoon (to be used if the curds is not sour)
Ginger                                                                    1 teaspon (finely grated)
Green chillies                                                         1 or 2 (finely cut)
Turmeric                                                                 1 pinch
Sugar                                                                      1 teaspoon
Eno's fruit salt                                                        5gm (1 sachet)
Salt                                                                         1 level teaspoon

For garnishing:

Oil                                                                           1-2 teaspoons
Mustard                                                                   1 teaspoon
Grated coconut                                                        2-3 table spoons
Coriander leaves                                                      2-3 table spoons (finely chopped)
Ingu/hing/asafoetida                                                2-3 pinches teaspoon    



Procedure:

Mix besan, chiroti rava, salt, turmeric, salt, ginger, green chilies and sugar together. Add curds and mix well till you get a consistency of idli batter. Remember to add tamarind paste if  curds is not sour. Leave it for about three hours. (If you are short of time, you can leave it just for 1 1/2 to two hours).

 Grease a 4"-6"  flat aluminium/steel pan.

Heat water in a pressure cooker on a high flame.  Keep a steel ring or a narrow container to give a bit height to place the pan. Wait till water starts boiling.

Now, the next step is to be done a bit quickly. Cut open the fruit salt sachet and quickly sprinkle over the above mixture.  You can see bubbles of gas (carbon di oxide) coming out. Now stir the contents well very quickly with a spatula and pour it into the greased pan.  It is good to finish the whole process within one minute. Now place the pan in the pressure cooker, close the lid and wait till steam starts coming out uniformly. Then steam it for about 10 minutes on a medium flame. Turn off the flame.

Allow the contents to cool for about half an hour. Take a knife around the Dhokla to make sure that the sides of the Dhokla is not sticking to the wall of the pan. Now reverse the pan on a plate and pat its base.  Transfer it the plate. 

Now your  Dhokla is ready!

Garnishing:

Heat oil and add mustard seeds. When the seeds  sputter, add ingu.  Spread this uniformly on the Dhokla.

Spread grated coconut and chopped coriander.

The Dhokla is ready to serve. Tastes great when hot.

This is usually served with tamarind chutney and or coconut chutney. But if you have enough of salt and chillies, I dont find the need of these.

SPICY CRISPY CAULIFLOWER SABZI (a quick recipe)

Got bored with same old recipes to make cauliflower sabzi. I tried gobi manchurian type masala. Turned out to be quite easy and tasty. It is very quick also.

I used:

Cauliflower                                            1 kg.
Garlic                                                     7-8 cloves, finely cut
Green chilies                                         3-4, finely chopped
Coriander leaves                                   about 1/2 cup finely chopped
Salt                                                        1/4 teaspoon
Tomato ketchup                                     1 cup
Oil                                                          1 tablespoon

Method:

Wash and cut cauliflower into small florets. Sprinkle salt and microwave for 2-3 minutes till half cooked, tossing once or twice in between.

Heat oil in a pan.  Add cut garlic and fry till brown. Now add cut chilies, stir and after about 10 seconds and tomato ketchup. Once it starts boiling add florets of cauliflower, mix well and cover with a lid.  After one minute add chopped coriander leaves, turn the contents again, cover with lid and turn off the stove. After about five minutes turn the contents again. The sabzi is ready.  The florets are still crispy and ready to serve.

HALASANDE KAALU and SOPPU `MUDHPALYA'

Protein packed dish which goes well both with rice and chapatis. Very easy to make. Got bored of usual stuff and tried this and came out well.

You need:

Halsande kaaLu(bharbhati/lobia)                1/2 cup
Togari beLe (Tuvar)                                    1/4 cup (mainly to get thick palya)
DanTu/Chakota/Palak                                  3 cups (finely chopped)
Salt                                                              1 teaspoon
Tamarind extract                                          1/2 spoon if thick
HuLi puDi(sambar powder)                        1 teaspoon
Grated coconut                                             1/2 cup
Oil                                                                1 teaspoon
Ingu (hing)                                                     1 pinch
Turmeric                                                        1 pinch
Curry leaves                                                  about 10
Jaggery                                                          1 teaspoon (optional)

How to make:

Soak halsande kaaLu and togari beLe for 2-3 hours.  Pressure cook till soft.
Cook greens.
Take oil in a kaDai, heat it. When hot add mustard. When it sputters, add ingu, curry leaves, turmeric and then add the cooked kaaLu and beLe, cooked greens, salt, tamarind juice, huLi puDi, jaggery and grated coconut.  Mix well and bring to boil. Boil for 2-3 minutes and turn off the stove.  Mudpalya is ready to serve or to eat :)

I enjoyed this with hot rice. Why don`t you try soon and let me know it came out?

PS: You can use other pulses like hesaru kaLu (whole green moong)