Carrot palya

I had the good fortune of tasting carrot sabzi ( sabzi is palya in Kannada) at my in laws place.I loved it,. This sabzi  has a sweet flavour because carrots are sweet. In fact the summer carrots are good as they are firm, in comparison, to the red  carrots of winter.

Carrots have innumerable health benefits .I use them in making upma, sambhar, soup, pulao. etc.

I made it last week & my husband loved it too. The firm orange carrots are somewhat hard to chop finely & yet the efforts pay off when one tastes the sabzi !

Ingredients : 250-300 gm carrots- peeled & chopped into fine cubes, , 1-2 green chillies finely chopped, 1 byadgi or any other dry red chilli broken into pieces, 1 tbsp oil, 1/4 tsp urad dal, 1/2 tsp mustard seeds,1/4 tsp haldi , 1/4 tsp powdered hing, 1 tbsp fresh grated coconut,  a few curry leaves, salt to taste.

Method : Take a kadahi & put it on gas stove. Put on the gas on slow flame. Add oil to kadahi. Add mustard seeds.After they opo up, add urad dal. The urad dal will turn golden brown.Add powdered hing followed by curry leaves ( kadi patta ) & dry red  chilli  pieces.Mix all nicely with big spoon. Add chopped carrots & green chillies. Mix all ingredients nicely. Add haldi. Mix once gain so that haldi gets coated on all carrot pieces. Cover with lid & cook for two-three minutes. Add 1/4 to 1/3 cup water to kadahi by uncovering lid .Mix all again. Cover with lid & cook for 8-10 minutes on slow flame. In between , keep removing lid to see if water has dried up.

After water has nearly dried up, add salt .Mix again. Add fresh grated coconut. Mix all ingredients in kadahi again. Cover with lid & cook for 2-3 minutes. Put off gas.

Serve carrot palya with rotis or rice rasam combo.

Kantola stir fry

I had heard about Kantola  or Kakori vegetable that it has many health benefits . I got it in monsoons. Its available during monsoons & must be consumed during monsoons.I made it by asking my friends & googling for recipes.

My recipe is little different, as I used less oil & sprinkled some water as well.

Ingredients : 250 gm kantola, 3-4 tsp oil, 1/4 tsp turmeric, 1/4 tsp powdered hing, 1/4 tsp black pepper powder, 1/4 tsp jeera powder, 1tsp dhania powder, 1tsp red chilli powder, salt to taste.

Method : Wash the kantolas by immersing them in bowl of water for 10-15 minutes. If any dirt is sticking to the kantolas, please remove the dirt by scraping them off. Cut thin round slices of kantolas like one cuts thin slices of potatoes for pakoras or bhajiyas.If the seeds lining inside the kantolas are  hard and or orange in colour, remove the seeds .If the orange is too dark a shade, discard those slices.

Sprinkle pepper powder & turmeric on these thinly sliced kantola pieces.Stir them all so that pepper & turmeric gets coated on all the slices. Keep aside for ten to twelve minutes.

After 10-12 minutes, take a kadhai & heat it. Add oil & the pepper & turmeric coated kantola slices & stir fry them in the oil. After 5  minutes,add hing powder. Mix all nicely., give the ingredients a good stir. Add dhania powder & again mix all ingredients well. Sprinkle about 1 tbsp of water. Cook it covered with a plate. After another five minutes, add jeera powder. Stir all ingredients again so that jeera powder gets nicely mixed with all other ingredients. Let it cook for five minutes. Add red chilli powder. Mix all ingredients again.Add 1 tbsp water. Mix all nicely. Cook covered for about five minutes. Next remove plate cover. Add salt & mix all again. Cook till all water has evaporated. Put off gas.

Serve kakori or kantola fry with rotis or rice dal. It tastes very different .I love the taste !

Tiffin Sambhar

I came across this tiffin sambhar on the net. I got  interested . And then, I learnt that it is made from moong dal or a mixture of moong & tur dals. I read in the recipes that in hotel style sambhar, masoor dal is used.

I googled & liked this recipe by Kannamma cooks.I have made this recipe 3 times by now. I used moong dal the first time I made it,. Then the last two times, I made it using green split moong dal or chilke wali moong dal.

I have used ready made sambhar powder.Some recipes of tiffin sambhar use  freshly ground sambhar powder made at home .Some recipes even use fresh coconut for sambhar.

Yellow mung dal sambhar.

Ingredients : 1/4 cup heaped moong dal or green split moong dal,  assorted veggies ( beans, cabbage,tindora, white , red pumpkin, carrots,capsicum, etal), 1-2 green chillies roughly chopped, 2 -3 tomatoes roughly chopped or pureed or 1 tbsp  tamarind paste , 1 tsp sambhar masala,1 tbsp oil,1/4 tsp turmeric, 1/4 tsp hing powder, 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, 1/8 tsp methi dana, 1 byadgi mirchi broken into 2-3 pieces, 1 tsp jaggery ( optional ) , salt to taste.

Method :  Pressure cook the dal to two whistles along with assorted veggies & green chillies.
. Cabbage, pumpkin, beans, carrots tindora s can be added to dal & pressure cooked. Capsicum, tomatoes, need seperate cooking.Keep aside the dal veggie mix.

Green split mung dal sambhar.

In a vessel, take oil.Heat it. Add mustard seeds followed by methi dana. After they have turned aromatic, add brokemn byadgi mirchi pieces & curry leaves. Add powdered hing. Then add capsicum (optional ) .Saute  it all for some time.Then add tomato puree or roughly chopped tomatoes or tamarind paste. Mix all ingredients nicely. Add salt & jaggery ( optional ) . Let this all cook to a boil. Add sambhar powder. Mix. Let this boil for 3-4 minutes. Add 1/4 cup water. Bring to a boil. Add the dal veggie mix. Mix nicely. Let it all simmer for 5  minutes .Switch off gas.

Serve tiffin sambhar with idli, dosa and rice.