Langar ki dal

I love langar ka khana.The feast is so simple & yet fulfills sumptuously.I have been thinking of trying the dal which is served at langars for quite some time. I choose two recipes .....one from divinetaste & another from vegrecipesofindia.I mixed the two & made this dal.

Ingredients : 1 /4 cup split urad dal + 1 tbsp chana dal soaked for 2-3 hours, 1 small onion finely chopped, 2-3 small tomatoes pureed in mixer , 1 green chilly finely chopped, 1 tsp grated ginger, 1/2 tsp red chilli powder, 1tbsp dhania powder, 1/2 tsp whole jeera , 1 tbsp ghee, 1/2 tsp haldi, salt to taste.

Method : Pressure cook the dals with haldi upto   1 whistle.Then cook on slow flame for upto 15-20 minutes, Put off gas Let it cool.

In a kadhai take ghee.Heat it.Add jeera.When they splutter add finely chopped onions ,grated ginger & hari mirchi.Nicely shallow fry till the onions start turning brown.Add tomato puree. Mix nicely.Cook for five minutes. Then add dhania powder followed by red chilli powder. Mix nicely.Add the cooked dal. Add water if consistency is too thick.Add salt.Mix.Let it simmer for 5 minutes or till it thickens.Put off gas .Serve with garnished fresh dhania.This goes well with rice as also rotis.

I generally make a paste of chopped onions ,grated ginger & chopped hari mirchi & put it in kadhai.Then I make a puree of tomatoes & put it in kadhai.I am not good at chopping finely & so this shortcut.

I loved the langar ki dal Will make this often now.

Mavinkayi anna

My mom uses raw mango to make flavoured rice during the mango season. I thought that since I had a small kairi in the refrigerator,why not make use of that.I googled for the recipe.I came across one at Padhu's kitchen .

 Ingredients : 1 cup washed rice , 1/4 cup raw grated mango, 1 tbsp peanuts, 1 byadgi mirchi broken into 2-3 pieces, 1/2 tsp mustard seeds,1 tsp urad dal, 2-3 green chillies chopped roughly, a sprig of curry leaves washed,1/4 tsp haldi,1/4 tsp hing, 1-2 tbsp oil,1/2 tsp sugar ( optional ) , salt to taste.

 Method : Pressure cook rice. After the cooker has cooled down ,spread rice in a large plate so that grains are separated. Keep aside.

 In a kadhai ,heat oil. Add mustard seeds.After they splutter add peanuts.Let them brown a little.Add urad dal.After the dal gets golden brown ,add curry leaves followed by byadgi mirchi & chopped green chillies.Add grated mango. Add haldi & hing .

Mix all nicely.Let it cook for 2-3 minutes.Add salt to taste & if you like. 1 tsp sugar  .Let it all cook for 1-2 minutes. Put off gas. Pour the vagar mix of grated mango on to the spread out rice. Mix nicely so that the grated mango vagar coats all rice nicely.Serve with raita or papad.

 

 It looks just like lemon rice except for those translucent flakes of grated kairi or raw mango . And kairi is a cooling food.Enjoy !

Kosambri

This is a salad. This requires minimal cooking. It is specially good for summers & very light on the tummy. It is a must in feasts as well as it is is considered to be shubh for festivities.It is one of the dishes offered as prasad on Ram Navami ,the other being Panaka.Panaka is lemon sharbat or shikanaji falvoured with elaichi & saffron. 

This is generally served as Haldi kumkum snack in households in Karnataka & Maharashtra & parts of Goa. It is known as koshimbir in Maharashtra & Goa.

Kosambri is a must in all feasts in temples & even at social functions like weddings, etal. It is considered auspicious.

Ingredients: 

1/3 cup mung dal or split mung ( soaked for 2-3 hours in water ) ,

1 tbsp grated raw mango

1 small cucumber grated ( 1/4 cup grated cucumber )

1 small carrot grated ( 1/4 cup grated carrot ) .This is optional.

1 byadgi mirchi ( red dry chilly of byadgi variety )

1 finely chopped green chilli

8-10 curry leaves ( kadipatta )

1/4 tsp mustard seeds

1/4 tsp jeera

1/4 tsp hing

    1/4 tsp haldi

1 tbsp oil

salt to taste

1 tbsp Fresh grated coconut ( optional ) .

1 tbsp finely chopped dhania

Directions: 

Take the soaked mung dal & discard the water. Add grated carrot,cucumber & mango to it. Add green chillies & salt.Make vagar by heating oil.Add mustard to heated oil. After they splutter add byadgi mirchi ,curry leaves & jeera. Add hing & haldi. Put off gas.Pour this vagar over the mung dal veggie mix.Kosambri is ready !

Footnotes: 

Garnish with fresh grated coconut topped with hara dhania.

In case raw mango is unavailable, it can be replaced by lemon juice.