bonellilou

          This Payatham Payaru Sweet Sundal had been on my do list for a long time, finally I did it today. This is again a simple recipe, the only part that has to been taken care is cooking the moong beans perfectly, they should be cooked well but at the same time not mushy. We add a little jaggery to give a slight sweetish taste to the sundal, other than that, everything else is like the regular sundal..

Need To Have

• Moong Beans/Payatham Payaru - 1/3 cup
• Grated Coconut - 2 to 3 tablespoons
• Jaggery Powder - 4 to 5 teaspoons
• Urad Dal/Husked Black Gram - 2 teaspoons
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Dried Red Chilly - 1
• Curry Leaves - 6 to 10
• Salt to taste

Method


          Soak the moong beans overnight and pressure cook it with salt and just enough water to cover the beans, for just one whistle, the beans should be cooked but not mushy. Drain the beans if it has some water left in it.


          Heat some oil, add the urad dal and mustard seeds, when it starts spluttering, add the dried red chilly and asafoetida followed by the curry leaves and mix for a few seconds.


          Add the cooked beans and mix for a couple of minutes, finally add the jaggery and grated coconut and mix for another minute or two and remove.


Note
Though I have pressure cooked the beans, I would say it's better to cook the beans in a regular pot, you can be sure that the beans are cooked to the correct level, without becoming mushy.
I have used organic jaggery powder, if the jaggery is not pure, then melt the jaggery in a little water, strain and cook the syrup till thick and then add it to the sundal.
You can add even 2 or 21/2 tablespoons of jaggery, I limited to 4 to 5 teaspoons, since I was not sure whether my family would like it very sweet.

          Today's dish, a curry with fresh lobia/karamani/ black eyed beans is another dish that I had made sometime back. Though dried lobia is available easily, fresh karamani is not found every time, so whenever I find fresh beans like this, I always buy and stock some. We can make all the dishes that we make with dried beans with these fresh ones, no need of soaking and of course they taste awesome. I have added some capsicum for some flavor and also a paste of coconut, small onions and fennel seeds to make a thick curry. We had it with rotis, but the curry would go very well with any kind of pilaf too..

Need To Have

• Fresh Lobia/Black Eyed Beans/Karamani - 1 cup
• Bay Leaf - 1 small
• Black Cardamom - 1
• Cloves - 3
• Green Capsicum - 1 medium, chopped
• Toamto - 1 medium, chopped
• Turmeric Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Red Chilly Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Coriander Powder - 11/2 teaspoon
• Garam Masala - 1/2 teaspoon
• Chopped Coriander - 2 tablespoons
• Salt to taste

To Grind

• Grated Coconut - 2 tablespoons
• Small Onions, Shallots - 5
• Fennel Seeds - 1 teaspoon

Method


          Wash and keep the fresh lobia beans, grind together all the ingredients given under ' to grind '.


          Heat some oil in a pressure pan, add the bay leaf, cloves and cardamom, when it starts sizzling, add the capsicum and tomatoes and saute for a minute. Add the turmeric, chilly and coriander powders and mix.


          Then add the salt and the fresh beans along with 1 1/2 cups of water, cover and cook for 2 whistles, then reduce the heat to low and cook for another 7 minutes and switch off.


          Once the pressure is released, open the pressure pan, add the ground paste and garam masala, mix and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes. Finally, garnish with the chopped coriander and serve.


Note
The same curry can be made with dried beans.

          As I had mentioned in my last post, today's dish is the simple and tasty Paruppu Thogayal or Lentil Chutney. When I say Paruppu/Lentils, I mean tuvar dal or arhar dal or split pigeon pea and the thogayal needs just 3 more ingredients along with the dal. An easy and flavorful chutney that makes a perfect combination with the Sundakkai Vathal kuzhambu, serve it with some hot white rice, drizzled with ghee or sesame oil and some sutta appalam ( pappads ) for a simple and delicious lunch..

Need To Have

• Tuvar Dal/Split Pigeon Pea - 1/4 cup
• Dried Red Chillies - 2
• Grated Coconut - 1 tablespoon
• Asafoetida - 1/8 teaspoon
• Salt to taste

Method


          Heat a little oil ( about 1/2 teaspoon ), add the tuvar dal and red chillies and roast them till the dal turns golden. Remove, cool and grind it with the coconut, asafoetida and salt, adding as little water as possible. Remove and serve.


Note
Thogayal should be thick and slightly coarse, not a smooth paste.

          Though Bengali cuisine is more famous for non-vegetarian dishes, especially fish, there are still many vegetarian dishes that we can try, and I really liked the few dishes that I had a chance to taste at a restaurant here. Today's dish is one of them, Cholar Dal, it's chana dal cooked in Bengali style, this dal has a slight sweet taste from the raisins and sugar added, it's not very spicy and has a nice flavor from the ghee and coconut pieces and goes really well with luchis..

Need To Have

• Chana Dal/Bengal Gram - 1/2 cup
• Red Chilly Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Coriander Cumin Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Ginger - 1", grated
• Sliced Coconut Pieces - 11/2 tablespoon
• Golden Raisins - 1 tablespoon
• Sugar - 1/2 teaspoon
• Bay Leaf - 1 small
• Clove - 1
• Cardamom - 1
• Dried Red Chilly - 1
• Garam Masala - 1/2 teaspoon

Method


          Pressure cook the chana dal with some turmeric powder till done. Add the chilly powder, coriander-cumin powder, grated ginger, salt, sugar, mix and cook for 5 minutes.


          Meanwhile, heat some ghee, toast the raisins and coconut pieces separatley, remove and keep. Once the dal has cooked for 5 minutes, add the raisins and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.


         Heat some more ghee, add the bay leaf, clove, cardamom, once it starts sizzling, add the garam masala , mix and add it to the dal and serve.


Note
The dal can be cooked in a regular pot too, soak it for 30 minutes or more to speedup the cooking.

          Whenever we ordered naans at restaurants, we usually order some kind of dal and vegetable curry to go with it. When it comes to dal/lentils, my personal favorite is always dal tadka, I simply love the flavor of the tadka/seasoning, cumin and garlic seasoned in ghee gives an amzing flavor to this dish. I have used a combination of masoor dal/ red lentils and moong dal/husked green gram, again, masoor dal has a unique flavor, it's a very simple dish but extremely tasty with both rotis and rice..

Need To Have

• Masoor Dal/Red Lentil - 1/4 cup
• Moong Dal/Green Gram - 1/4 cup
• Onion - 1 small, chopped
• Tomato - 1 small, chopped
• Green Chilly - 1 slit
• Ginger - 1" piece, grated
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Kasuri Methi - 1 tablespoon
• Dried Red Chillies - 2
• Cumin Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Garlic - 4 cloves, chopped
• Garam Masala - 1/2 teaspoon
• Chopped Coriander to garnish
• Salt to taste

Original recipe here, I have used moong dal instead of tuvar dal.

Method


           Wash the dals and pressure cook them along with the onion, tomato,green chilly, grated ginger, turmeric powder and enough water. I have used a pressure pan to cook, so after 1 whistle, reduce the heat and cook for 6 to 7 minutes and switch off.


          When all the pressure is released, remove the green chilly, then put it back on the stove, add some salt and mix. Add the kasuri methi, garam masala, about 1 cup of water and simmer for a couple of minutes and remove. Just before serving, heat some ghee and oil, add the cumin seeds, red chillies, chopped garlic, saute till the garlic turns golden, then add it to the dal/cooked lentils, finally garnish with the chopped coriander and serve.


Note
You can cook the dals in a regular pot instead of the pressure cooker, if using regular pot, soak the dals for 30 minutes and then cook, the dal will cook faster.
I would love to do the flavoring with burnt charcoal, didn't have the charcoal, next time I am surely going to try and will surely update it here.

          Another Sundal for Navratri, Payatham Paruppu/Paasi Paruppu/Moong Dal/Husked Split Green Gram Sundal. This is very easy to make and tastes very good with the grated coconut added to it. Cooking the moong dal perfectly without making it mushy is the tricky part, other than that, it is so simple to make, very healthy and delicious snack..

Need To Have

• Payatham Paruppu/Moong Dal - 1/4 cup
• Green Chilly - 1, slit
• Dried Red Chilly - 1, broken into 2
• Hing - 1/8 teaspoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
• Turmeric Powder - 1/8 teaspoon
• Grated Coconut - 1 tablespoon
• Curry Leaves - 5
• Salt to taste

Method


          Wash and soak the moong for about 1 hour, then boil it along with some water and salt, when it's cooked al dente ( should hold its shape but soft when pressed between your fingers and it takes just about 5 minutes ), remove and drain excess water and keep.


          Heat some oil, add the mustard seeds, when it starts spluttering, add the green and red chillies, asafoetida, turmeric powder and curry leaves.


          Mix for a few seconds, then add the cooked moong dal and mix for a minute. Finally add the grated coconut, mix and remove.


Note
Since I did a very small quantity, while cooking the dal/paruppu, I just increased the heat and let the water to evaporate, instead of draining the water. But when doing a large quantity, this might not work, the dal might become mushy, so once the dal is cooked, it's better to drain the water.
While cooking the dal, when it starts to boil reduce the heat, otherwise it might boil over the pot.