Healthy Kabuli chana

My kid loves chhole.She eats only the chana & I eat the liquid curry  !

Ingredients : 1/2 cup kabuli chana soaked overnight ,2 onions,1-2 tomataoes,1 carrot ( optional ),1/2' grated ginger ,1-2 green chillies, a few sprig curry leaves,1 tsp garam masala powder,1/2 tsp haldi,1/2 tsp hing,2 tsp oil,salt to taste.

Method : Pressure cook the soaked  kabuli chana in cooker for 2 whistles.I throw the water in which it has been soaked & take fresh water which is enough to drown the chana.I add salt to the chana when I pressure cook.Pressure cook for 2-3 whistles.

Then lower the flame & let it cook on low for 10 minutes.Put off the gas.

Now roughly chop the onions,tomatoes,curry leaves ,green chillies &  carrots.Blend them all in a mixer - I mince the onions,curry leaves ,mirchi,ginger & carrot at one go .Later I add the chopped tomatoes to the onion -ginger carrot paste & run the mixer again to get a mixed veggie paste.

Take oil in a kadhai & put on the gas.Now add the garam  masala to it.Mix so that the oil & garma masala get blended.Now add the mixed veggie paste from the blender.Add haldi & hing.Let the mixed veggie paste start boiling .Add the cooked chana to it & bring to a boil again .Alternatively ,after chana has been added ,the contents can be transferred to another vessel which fits in cooker & pressure cooked for 2-3 whistles.

Serve chhole garnished with fresh dhania .Also a little lemon juice can be added before serving to make it tangier ! I add some whole masur sometimes,which has been soaked overnight along with chana in pressure cooker as the masur will add to the body of the curry.

Chhole is ideal for rotis as also rice !

I am sending this to Linking toCWS  hosted by Foodomania) & to Priya's page .

Pundi palya chutni

I love pundi playa chutni.Pundi palya is Kannada  for Gonghura or Ambadi leaves.It is said that Ambadi & Alu leaves are the freshest in monsoons & must be consumed in monsoons.Whenever this chutni or dal with gonghura leaves is made ,I eat till my tummy is ready to burst.I can eat chappatis & rice with this chutni or dal.I can eat it just like that .In other words, I tend to overeat whenever this pundi palya is cooked either as chutni or in dal form.I love it so much.

Gongura or sorrel leaves are rich in iron & folic acid which helps in absorption of iron by the human body. So for anemics, Gongura leave are a good source of iron. And consuming this in any form like chutni or gongura dal will help in improving iron deficiency.

Ingredients : 1 bunch of Ambadi leaves ( it is available as a bunch -tied by a jute string ) ,1/2 tsp mustard seeds,1 tbsp oil,1/4 -1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds, 5-6 green chillies, 1-2 tsp red chilli powder ( optional ),1/2 tsp hing,1/2 tsp haldi,1/3-1/2 cup jaggery shavings  or jggery bits, salt to taste.

Method : Remove the leaves from the stems & clean them in water as any leafy vegetable.The leaves can be chopped roughly or the leaves can be used as such after washing .I used whole leaves.I did not cut them.

Take oil in a kadhai & heat it.Add mustard seeds followed by methi seeds.When they splutter ,add chopped green chillies,hing & haldi.Mix all .Now add the leaves .Mix the leaves with green chillies,haldi hing mixture.Cover the kadhai with a lid & let it cook.After 5-6 minutes,remove the lid & the leaves will have contracted into a grennish brown mass.If some leaves are still green ,mix again & cover with lid.Remove lid & if the whole mass is greenish brown ,add jaggery or gur & mix again.Cover with lid & cook.After five minutes,remove lid.Check with spoon  for any chunks of gur remaining in the veggie mass.If all gur has melted,add slat & mix again.Allow to cook for another 2-3 minutes till it becomes little dry.Remove from gas.

If chunks of gur are still there,cook till all jaggery has melted & then add salt.

I tasted the chutni thus made & found that it was very sour.I added 1-2 tsp red chilli powder & mixed again .Then the taste was somewhat less sour.

The amount of red chilli powder or green chillies ,gur & salt depends on how sour the ghungaroo leaves are.Many times ,one may have to add more chillies or jaggery or salt or all three to make the chutni less sour or lessen the tanginess !

This dish is very rich in iron as it has jaggery as well. Jaggery is a rich source of iron as well.So this chutni has twin benefits of sorrel leaves & jaggery , both rich sources of iron .So this chutni has twin advantages of iron!

This is my #livogenironchef entry for the Iron Chef contest on IndiBlogger.

Gundpangulu

Ingredients : Rice 2 cups,urad dal 1 cup ,1/2 poha or 1 tsp methi (fenugreek seeds),1 tsp jeera,1 ' inch ginger ,2 large onions,1-2green chillies (hari mirchi),4 tbsp oil  ,salt to taste.

Method :Soak rice & urad dal together with poha or methi seeds for 5-6 hours.Drain the water & grind finely in a grinder.Add little water while grinding.The dough after grinding must be of idli batter consistency. Ferment this overnight.Next day ,add finely cut onions,green chillies,grated ginger & jeera to this mixture.Add salt.Mix thoroughly.

Now take the vessel as shown in the photograph .Oil the inside of the cups in the vessel.Pour a tablespoon of the dough mixture into each of the cups in the vessel.Light up the gas & keep the vessel on the burner.Cover with a lid.After two minutes,turn the balls in the cups with a spoon & reverse them one by one.They will all have turned golden brown.Again cover the vessel with lid & let it cook for another 1 minute.Now remove the balls from the cups with a spoon with sharp edges.The gundpangulu are ready to be served with coconut
chutney.

More gundpangulus can be prepared by oiling the cups after each batch gets cooked.

Tips: Grated carrot can be added to the dough to make it more healthy.Appams are also made in this fashion & they are sweet in taste.

If the vessel is a non -stick one then less oil is needed.

Corn bread tikkis

This was tried by my mother today morning.

Ingredients : Corn cobs from one & another half corn ( corn kernels removed from 1 1/2 corns).Two bread slices ( the topmost & bottom ones in a loaf of bread ),the bread crusts from all sides of the bread slices in a loaf of bread,a few sprigs of kadipattas,2 hari mirchi,1" inch adrak (ginger),1/2 tsp red chilli powder( optional ) ,2 tbsp oil,salt to taste.

Method : Boil the American sweet corn in cooker.Grind the corn into a coarse mixture by adding the finely cut hari mirchi,adrak,kadipatta leaves & red chilli powder.Keep aside.

Take the bread slices & crusts & cut them. Now soak this in water & squeeze out the water.Now crush this wet bread mixture.

Mix the corn & bread mixture nicely after adding salt.Apply a little oil on the palms & take a small part of the corn bread mixture & shape them into flat round tikkis.Take a tawa & shallow fry the tikkis on the tawa .Reverse the tikkis & shallow fry them again.Now both the sides of tikkis have become golden brown.
Alternatively,the tikkis can be baked in microwave oven for 4 minutes on each side of a tikki  to brown the tikki.So ,this will take a total of 8 minutes.

The tikkis can be eaten plain and or accompanied by tomato ketchup or dhania ki chutney.

Tips : One can add 1 tsp lemon juice to add tanginess.Even grated carrot can be  mixed in the bread corn mixture.The bread used in this recipe was brown bread.Even white bread can be used.

Rajma

I love rajma ( kidney beans ) .I opt for the dark red ones called sharmilee The buff colored ones with spots are also available.

Ingredients : 1 / 2 cup rajma beans -soaked overnight,2  small  onions, 2 small  tomatoes, 1 small carrot Grated),1' inch ginger ( grated ),2/3 - hari mirchi, 1/2 tsp jeera, 1-2 bay leaves,  1 tbsp oil, salt to taste.

Method : Pressure cook the soaked rajma by adding  a little salt to the rajma.Let it cook for two whistles,then lower the heat & let it cook for 18-20 minutes. Now,put off the gas.

Chop onions., Puree them in mixer.Pureeing is optional.I puree them as I want my teen to eat some gravy as well.My chopping of onions is not fine & my teen simply skips eating onions. Finely chop green chillies & grate ginger. The chilli-ginger mix can be pureeed as well .Chop tomatoes & carrot.Puree tomato carrot mix as well.Keep aside all mixes seperately in 3 bowls.

Take a kadhai & add oil.Heat the kadhai.Add cumin seeds. When they splutter add chopped onions. Fry them till smell of raw onions  goes away. add bay leaves. Next add green chilli ginger mix. to kadhai.Mix nicely with onions& bay leaves.After 4-5  minutes, add tomato carrot purree to kadhai. Mix nicely.After 5 minutes , add little salt so that chopped tomatoes will get cooked more.Remember that salt has been added to rajma while being pressure cooked.So add little salt to cook tomatoes more.Mix nicely.

Add cooked rajma. Mix nicely.Simmer on gas for 10-15 minutes  Garnish rajma with fresh finely chopped coriander.

Tips :
I pressure cook for rajma with onion tomato carrot gravy up to 2 whistles  as I have top cook rice in pressure cooker & so I can cook the cooked rajma beans with veggie gravy along with rice.

Those of you who are off onions simply skip adding onions as I skip adding garlic. 

Needless to add that I have learnt to cook great rajma from Sangeeta Khanna's blog 

Doodhi raita

This is a dish often served by my mom.It has delighted many guests.

Ingredients : 1 doodhi,1 katori dahi,1 hari mirchi,1 sukhi lal mirch, a sprig of curry leaves, 1 tsp oil,1/4 tsp mustard,1/4 tsp jeera,1/4 tsp hing,salt to taste.

Method : Peel the doodhi & remove the seeds.Cut it into 1/2 inch pieces & pressure cook the diced pieces .After the pieces have cooled,take 1/4 of the same & put it in a blender or mixie .Add dahi,one hari mirchi,curry leaves,hing & salt.Blend all into a puree.Pour over the 3/4 remaining pieces of diced doodhi.
Prepare the seasoning by taking the oil & spluttering mustard & jeera & lal mirch in the oil.Pour over the raita.

Hara dhania can be used as a garnish or added while blending in the dahi.