Kandhe Khas Khas

We  all have  that one  traditional dish, passed on generations after generations.  No matter however trendy the food gets, you always yearn for that delicious dish. Khande Khas Khas is one of them.  'Khande' meaning onions and 'Khas Khas' meaning poppy seeds, this dish is made of chana dal cooked with cubed onions and poppy seeds paste.  This recipe may differ from one family to another. My mother follows this, while my Mother-in-law avoids poppy seeds paste and cooks chana dal with onions.  But, I guarantee you will love this dish and make them quite often.  Combine them with roti or dosa, though they taste best with roti.

Please note that it is a spicy dish.  I have prepared them lightly spiced because my kid doesn't like too much of spice.  If you are preparing for your family, I suggest you add more chilly powder, accordingly.  

Beans usili

Paruppu usili is an common side-dish had with rice & curry in South-Indian cuisine.

 

'Usili' means disaggregated pieces, here dal/lentils are blend, formed as large dumplings, steamed and finally disaggregated, hence the name.  Beans usili is the most common type, they are had with kolambu saadham ie curry rice. 

Padwal ki masaledar dal

Well, well, well... What can I say about this dal?  This is one of my hubby's favourite and he asks them quite often to make.  Little does he know that this dal, when first made was an yesterday's left-over kootu, that got churned over to masala dal with garam masala touch!!  :D  :D  After that, I started preparing masaledar dal frequently, atleast once a week.  Hopefully, this dal has lots of padwal/snakegourd that is healthier too!!

 

I must admit that this dal goes on rocking combo with dosa/kal dosa.  Roti also makes an better match.  They taste best the next day (Don't know why, experts please explain)  Don't worry with snakegourd still staying in your refrigerator.  Just grab them, and prepare this dal, for I am sure, you won't be disappointed :D

Vadakari (SouthIndian curry made with steamed dal dumplings)

    Vadakari is my all-time-favourite.  My mother used to prepare this dish atleast once a month and we used to rejoice it with idly, dosa and  pongal too!  I made it for first time and served it with mini-dosa (to come sooner) and my kid enjoyed it.  Here, Chana dal, which was first soaked, is later blended with selective spices, steamed and mixed with regular onion-tomato gravy base.  The spices usually added are red chilly and dhanya powder, here I added  chana masala which blended  soo well and gave an much richer aroma.  Do try guys and let me know.

Ingredients required

For dumplings

• 1/2 cup chana dal
• 1/2 tsp dry ginger powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp jeera powder
• 1/2 tsp haldi/turmeric powder
• 4 tsp coriander leaves, finely chopped
• Pinch of hing/asoeftida

Soya chunks ki vade

  My kiddoo remained sick for over four days... :( but, slowly she was recovering from her physical illness.  So, this weekend, I decided to make something special for her...She luves vada, and everytime she sees them outside, she will say, 'mai, i want vada'.. But, all left was some sprouts, some dal and soya chunks/mealmaker balls.  It was then, i decided to add them and transform into an pure hybrid vada.. ;)  And yes, result was good... vada was fabulous grabbing everyone's attention and was soo glad that kid liked it...
Afterall, it was an healthy protein combo pack, do try it for ur kids and let me know...

Dal maharani

Dal maharani is an punjabi dal made with combo of black urad dal, chana dal, rajma cooked in creamy base in addition to normal spices.  Using punjabi garam masala can also be done, to enrich flavour.

Ingredients required

• 1 cup black urad dal
• 1/2 cup chana dal
• 1/2 cup rajma
• 4-5 tsp oil
• 1 tsp jeera
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 cup tomato puree
• 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
• 1 tsp punjabi garam masala
• 1 tsp salt
• 11/2 tsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp dhanya powder
• 1/4 cup khoya/cream/milk
• 4 tsp of finely chopped coriander leaves, to garnish

For paste

• 2-3 cashews
• 1 tsp fennel seeds/sombu
• 2-inch piece of ginger
• 4 tsp finely chopped mint leaves
• 2-3 crushed green chillies

Method

Soak all daals, pressure cook them till done and keep aside.

Make paste using all above ingredients using mortar and pestle.

In a kadaai, heat oil , saute jeera and onions.

Add in crushed paste and cook

Add in tomato puree, followed by all the spices

After this gets cooked, add cooked dal along with water.  

Add in khoya/cream.  Check the seasoning and spice.  Cook for another 5-10 minutes on simmer flame and serve hot garnished with coriander leaves

It was very nice, yummy too!!

And i have an big kadaai full of dal maharani mixture.. anybody over there... Be my guest!!!

Sindhi saag (sai bhaaji)

   Sai meaning green and bhajji meaning vegetables, this sindhi dish has an great fusion of vegetables along with greens.  This is quite addictive and ever since I made them, my husband, who is an fussy eater, demands them atleast once an week   :)  And, yes who wont resist such an delecious bhajji with an healthy pack of ingredients?  :)

I tried this bhajji many times, and altered the composition of dal to vegetable ratio.  I found the below one to be quick and easy.  Traditionally these bhajji is served with rice, though they make an excellant combo with roti/paratha/dosa etc.  And, yes, there is not limits or constraints on the vegetables added, you can go ahead and experiment with your own stocked up vegetables, because this bhajji will never disappoint you :P

Katachi aamti (Chana dal cooked in sweet, sour and spicy gravy)

  Aamti dal is from maharashtrian cuisine.  It is prepared from lentil (dal) stock, regarded as an spicy dal preparation flavoured with goda masala, tamarind and gur (jaggery).  Aamti prepared using chana dal is as follows

Ingredients required

To be roast and grounded into powder

• 2-3 tsp dry coconut
• Half tsp jeera
• 3-4 dry red chillies
• 2 tsp whole dhanya
• 2 green cardamon
• 1 bayleaf
• 2 cloves
• Half tsp peppercorn
• 2-inch stick cinnamon

For aamti

• Half cup chana dal
• 3 tsp oil
• Salt, to taste
• 4-5 tsp chopped onions
• Half tsp mustard seeds
• Half tsp jeera
• 2 red chillies, broken into half
• 5-6 curry leaves
• 5 tsp of thick tamarind extract
• 3 tsp of grated jaggery
• coriander leaves and grated coconut, to garnish

Method

Soak chana dal in water for 3 hours.  Pressure cook with a pinch of haldi for 3 whistles or till done.  Roast and powder all ingredients in masala section, keep aside.

Heat oil in kadaai, add mustard seeds, wait till it splutters.  This is followed by adding jeera, red chilly, curry leaves and chopped onions.  Saute well.

 Now add masala

Saute masala and add tamarind extract.  Cook till oil separates.

After that, add cooked chana dal and lastly grated jaggery.

 Add salt and check spices, garnish with grated coconut and coriander leaves

This is an  ideal combination with roti .

Kandheche pathi chakala/ spring onions cooked in spicy chana dal gravy

This is gravy composed of spring onions, chana dal and spices, the spring onions can also be replaced by normal onions (in that case the gravy is called as kandhe khaskhas, kandhe meaning onion) This gravy is an excellant combo for roti and is spicy too!!  So, why are you waiting, just see and cook too!! and it is a easy peesy to make!!

Ingredients required

So, it is one cup of spring onions, half a cup of chana dal, one tsp of ginger garlic paste and spice mix. 
Spice mix has 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp garam masala, a pinch of turmeric powder, half tsp chilli powder, 1 tsp dhanya powder.

   Method

At first, pressure cook chana dal with a bit of haldi for two whistles.

Then in a vessel, add one tsp of oil and saute spring onions for fifteen minutes

Add one tsp of ginger-garlic paste and saute for 2-3 minute

Add our prepared spice mix to pressure cooked dal

Then add sauted spring onions too

 Pressure cook for one more whistle
And now you can serve in three ways
   1. Temper with rai and curry leaves
   2. Just add one tsp of oil for glazing and serve
   3. Add coriander leaves and one tsp of lime juice and serve
   
     I choosed last one :)

And our springonion curry is ready

I just served today's dinner plate with cabbage gravy and kandheche pathi chakala

HMMM.....yummy!! quite delicious