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PANEER CHILA/ PANEER LENTIL PANCAKE

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Paneer protein chila

Welcome to my new series. 30

Episode 1

30g protein

30 Minutes

Vegetarian version

Recipes that will take you under 30 minutes to make and contains over 30g of protein vegetarian version

This is super simple paneer lentil pancake.

Serving Size:
Time:
Difficulty:

Ingredients

  • To blend
  • Moong dal – 1 cup
  • Green chillies – 2-3
  • Ginger – 1 Inch
  • To add
  • Paneer – 200gm, Grated
  • Red chilli flakes – 1.5 tsp
  • Onion – 1/4 cup, chopped finely.
  • Carrot – 1/4 cup, grated
  • Coriander leaves – 1/4 cup, grated
  • Red chilli powder – 1.5 tsp
  • Salt – 2 tsp or change for your salt level.
  • For pancake
  • Coconut or avocado oil – 1 tbsp .

Directions

  1. Soak green moong dal for 10 minutes in boiling hot water or for 2-3 hours if you have the time.
  2. Meanwhile Finish grating the vegetables.
  3. Now remove the excess water from moong dal and grind it to smooth paste with green chillies and Ginger.
  4. Mix all ingredients well and form a smooth mixture. It does not need to be in liquid consistency.
  5. Take a pan. Pour a spoon of pancake mixture on a pan, drizzle some oil on it.
  6. Once it is cooked, turn it and cook from other side till it is golden brown from both the sides.
  7. Serve it with Chilli oil (or) Greek yogurt (for added protein) and Pickle.

Mashed Spinach curry/ Keerai Masiyal

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A spinach curry which is a comfort food and staple curry every week at my home. 
Anyone who knows me would know I have been having spinach every three days once in the last 2 years or so. I have less iron and ferritin in my body so this spinach really helps. Or I believe it helps. I have started to love spinach recipes recently. 

This is something that my mom made for me when I was back home. It’s a staple for us to have spinach every other day. I guess for all the junk food i was eating the last few years, my childhood healthy food saved me. Otherwise I would have not had this strength. 


You can make this with any spinach you want. 
Other favorite spinach recipes: SPinach Garlic curry, Palak Paneer, lamb spinach curry

Recipe video of Keerai Masiyal

Serving Size:
Time:
Difficulty:

Ingredients

  • Oil – 2 tbsp
  • Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
  • Cumin – 2 tsp
  • Red chillies – 4
  • Garlic cloves – 7-8
  • Onions or shallots- 1 medium or 3/4 cup, finely chopped
  • Green chillies – 2 
  • Salt – 1 tsp
  • Tomatoes – 2, chopped
  • Spinach leaves – 4 cups
  • Tamarind – 1/4 lemon sized
  • Turmeric – 1/2  tsp
  • sambar powder – 1 tsp
  • Ghee – 1 tsp

Directions

  1. Wash the spinach. In a cooker add 2 tablespoon gingelly oil , once the oil is hot add mustard, cumin, and let it splutter . 
  2. Add 3 to 4 red dried chillies  , garlic cloves, onions , green chillies with salt and saute for a minute.
  3.  Add  tomatoes, lemon size tamarind and sauté them all for 5 mins.
  4.  Add the spinach with turmeric and sambar powder , salt and hing.
  5. Share them as well for 5 mins. 
  6. After 2 mins add one cup of water and close the cooker and wait for two whistles.
  7. Open it and slowly mash it together using a masher.
  8. Serve with a spoon of gingelly oil or ghee. 

Vazhaipoo Vadai/ Banana flower Vada

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VazhapooVada-3Crunchy,healthy and delicious deep fried fritters!

Vadai is a popular snack in southern India. It is an addictive snack. Perfect party snack and also it taste best with tea time snack. If you make these for parties, sure it is a great hit. The tips to make these vada tasty are by adding the shallots, and fennel seeds. People think it’s hard to make these. If you make them once, you will know how easy it is to make them. But make sure to not add water when you grind them. I have mentioned some tips in the notes. Do look at it to make it perfect.

My mom made this in India for breakfast with Idli sambar. Vada’s in India usually are for breakfast or we make it for a special occasion or even sometimes just for a snack. For my mom, anytime I or my sister are home 🙂 it is a celebration for her. We even make vada when we make some mor kuzhambu or Punjabi kadhi or even for some rasam or sambar. We soak the vadas in those gravies for some time, it will be soggy but crunchy totally sucking the flavors of the gravies into it. But that vada used for the dipping purpose is Medhu vada. But for me any vada is fine 😉 It still tastes good for me when I dip in sambar or rasam! We have “vada sambar idli Pongal” as a perfect breakfast combo meal in South India. 🙂 It is totally delicious! Any friends who are going to Chennai, try that combo next time!

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For others who do not know what the banana flowers are, the banana flower is the flower of banana plant growing under the bunch of tiny bananas. It is large and maroon colored cone shaped flower with cream colored florets layered inside, and it hangs from the bottom of the bunch of bananas. They stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood.Banana flowers are rich vitamins like C and E. It is free from sodium.This flower has been used as a medicine for constipation, menstrual cramps, and ulcer problems.

How to clean Banana flower: Cleaning Vazhaipoo makes your fingers black.So, Grease your hands with gingely oil very well or wear some thick gloves. Take the banana flower and when u remove the cover,u will see bunches of flowers.Take out the bunch and place it in the newspaper.Remove all the florets and collect in the newspaper. Take a big floret, or a bunch of it and remove the stamen and thin white colored cover portions. Repeat the same for all the big florets. No need to remove the stamen part for very small ones.You can chop and use it as it is. Chop it fine, immerse it in buttermilk to avoid browning.

Other Vada recipes: Beetroot Vadai/ Beetroot lentil fritters, Masala vadai/Lentil fritters, Medhu vada, Milagu Vadai



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Vazhaipoo Vadai/ Banana flower Vada
Author: 
Recipe type: Appetizer
Cuisine: Indian
Serves: 15
 
Ingredients
  • Vazhaipoo(Banana flower) Cleaned – 2 cups , chopped
  • Chana dal – ¾ cup
  • Onion – ¼ cup, finely chopped
  • Buttermilk - 2 tbsp
  • Mint leaves – 2 tbsp, chopped
  • Rice flour – 1 tbsp
  • Dry red chillies – 2
  • Green chillies - 2
  • Curry leaves – 10-15
  • Coriander leaves – 1 tbsp
  • Salt – to taste
Instructions
  1. Clean vazhaipoo (check how to clean vazhaipoo above) and chop it fine. Immerse with 2 tbsp of buttermilk just to avoid browning.



  2. Soak channa dal for 4 hours.

  3. First grind ginger, red chillies,green chillies, mint and fennel coarsely in a blender jar.
  4. Drain channa dal completely and add it to the same jar of the ginger paste and grind coarsely. 4-5 channa dal pieces can be whole.

  5. Just squeeze and remove excess water from vazhaipoo and just give a quick grind for vazhaipoo(just one or two pulse, do not blend it too much, you should be able to see the vazhaipoo) and add it together in a mixing bowl.
  6. Mix finely chopped onion, coriander, salt, rice flour and curry leaves.
  7. Heat oil in pan/kadai.
  8. Meanwhile Keep a bowl with water and wet both hands. Make equal sized balls first for uniform sized vadas. Shape each ball to flat patties of medium thickness.

  9. The oil should be hot and when it is hot, Drop the vadas. Simmer the heat and deep fry them in hot oil until golden brown in color, flipping once in between. It is always good to cook in medium flame to ensure even cooking and golden colour.
Notes
1. Make sure not to add water while grinding.
2. Make sure to soak lentils for three to four hours. It is hard to grind them otherwise and also if it is not soaked well, it may turn hard and too crisp.
3. Rice flour helps to make it crispier. It is optional. You can soak 1 spoon for rice with the dal and grind instead.
4. Garlic is optional too.
5. Shallots can be replaced with normal red/white onions. But shallots give great texture and flavor.
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Paneer Potato Lentil Dumplings/ Paneer Koftas

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PaneerPotatoBalls-4Delicious, crispy dumpling fritters! Rich & perfect for any party! It has a texture that is melting soft inside and crispy outside!

Paneer in any form is bliss to me. And that when it is fried 😉 how will I say no to it! I never knew my mom’s loves paneer as much as I love them. When I went to India last month, I saw my mom craving for paneer most of the times 🙂 She just tries to avoid them on her health note. I have a collection of paneer recipes on this blog 😉 so for you to know I love them! I made these for my malai kofta but totally loved the taste and texture of these koftas as an appetizer so thought of posting them. My mom had them as kofta balls than having them with gravy :). If my Mom loves it 😉 I am sure kids would love these!!!!!

I added lentils to it instead of boiled veggies and it does give a different texture and flavor. My favorite part of the meal has always been appetizer. When my mom and I go out for dinner we order a lot of appetizers only 😀 This one has become a personal favorite now!

Vegan note: Replace paneer with tofu!

PaneerPotatoBalls-6

I have collection of paneer & tofu recipes collection with all my paneer tofu recipes that you would love to look at.

Other favorite Paneer Recipes: Paneer Makhanwala, Paneer peas masala, Palak Paneer, Paneer sandwich.




5.0 from 1 reviews
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Paneer Potato Lentil Dumplings/ Paneer Koftas
Author: 
Recipe type: Appetizer
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 10-12
 
Ingredients
  • For koftas: (roughly makes 10 kofta balls)
  • • • Paneer/Firm Tofu(if vegan) - ½ cup,grated
  • • • Potatoes - 2 , medium, boiled and washed
  • • • Split Bengal gram (chana dal) - ¼ cup
  • • • Salt to taste
  • • • Red chilli powder - 1.5 tsp
  • • • Garam masala powder - ½ tsp
  • • • Cashew nuts - 5, broken
  • • • Green chillies - 1, finely chopped
  • • • Cumin powder- ½ tsp
  • • • Coriander powder-1.5 tsp
  • • • Cornflour/ corn starch - 4 tbsp
  • • • Oil - to deep fry
Instructions
  1. Wash and Soak the chana dal for 2 hours. Add chana dal with 2 cups of water in a pan and bring to a boil. Cook until the dal is tender, strain and grind to a smooth mixture with no water.

  2. Take all the ingredients under the kofa ingredient list with the blended chana dal, mix together check for salt. Shape them into lemon sized balls. If you think they cannot form into a lemon sized balls, add more corn flour and mix well.

  3. Heat oil in a kadai, deep fry the koftas until golden brown. Drain on a tissue paper and set aside.


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Lentil Malai Kofta

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MalaiKofta-2Paneer and Potato cheese dumplings in an almond-cream sauce. A royal Indian treat!

I have used Almond Breeze almond milk for this recipe. I always like to use almond milk for my recipes to replace cream for my gravy recipes  for a healthier option. And I always use them for my milkshakes. And if I wanted to make vegan recipes, almond milk always stays in my refrigerator. You can find these Almond Breeze products in the refrigerated section of your grocery store. 

IMG_3742

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Paneer is a type of fresh cheese that can be made easily at home.  Paneer has a milky flavor on its own, so it taste best when paired with strong spicy flavor like curries or tikka. This is a cheese that won’t melt like mozzarella or cheddar will. We can add them on any curry, or crumble them into flat breads like roti. Or even add them to kebabs and the cheese will keep its shape and chewy texture. Anything with paneer is a definite win. The texture of paneer is similar to greek feta which is prepared in a similar manner. This healthy and delicious vegetarian curry can be on your plate in one hour. It is one of the popular recipe amongst the north Indian recipes. I have seen that it’s a part of most restaurants menu. Goes well with steamed rice, ghee rice, Pulao,paratha, parotta, naan or roti. Paneer can be replaced with tofu also. Don’t add lots of cashews to make it rich, it will spoil the originality of the taste.

 Vegan note: Replace paneer with tofu, ghee/butter with oil. 

I have collection of paneer & tofu recipes collection with all my paneer tofu recipes that you should look at.

Other favorite Paneer Recipes: Paneer Makhanwala, Paneer peas masala, Palak Paneer, Paneer sandwich.

4.5 from 2 reviews
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Lentil Malai Kofta
Author: 
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4 cups
 
Ingredients
  • For koftas: (roughly makes 10 kofta balls)
  • • Paneer/Firm Tofu(if vegan) - ½ cup,grated
  • • Potatoes - 2 , medium, boiled and washed
  • • Split Bengal gram (chana dal) - ¼ cup
  • • Salt to taste
  • • Red chilli powder - 1.5 tsp
  • • Garam masala powder - ½ tsp
  • • Cashew nuts - 5, broken
  • • Green chillies - 1, finely chopped
  • • Cumin powder- ½ tsp
  • • Coriander powder-1.5 tsp
  • • Cornflour/ corn starch - 4 tbsp
  • • Oil - to deep fry


    For gravy
  • Oil - 2 - 3 tbsp
  • • Onion - 2 medium, roughly chopped
  • • Garlic - 4, roughly chopped
  • • Ginger paste - 1inch, roughly chopped
  • • Turmeric powder - ¼ tsp
  • • Tomato - 2, medium,roughly chopped
  • • Coriander powder - 1 tsp
  • • Cumin powder = ½ tsp
  • • Chilli powder - 1.5 tsp
  • • Dry Methi Leaves - 1 tsp
  • • Cashewnuts - 6
  • • Almond milk - ¼ cup
  • • Fresh coriander leaves chopped 2 tablespoons
Instructions
  1. Wash and Soak the chana dal for 2 hours. Add chana dal with 2 cups of water in a pan and bring to a boil. Cook until the dal is tender, strain and grind to a smooth mixture with no water.
  2. Take all the ingredients under the kofa ingredient list with the blended chana dal, mix together check for salt. Shape them into lemon sized balls. If you think they cannot form into a lemon sized balls, add more corn flour and mix well.



  3. Heat oil in a kadai, deep fry the koftas until golden brown. Drain on a tissue paper and set aside.



  4. Meanwhile, for the gravy, heat 2 tbso of oil in a pan in medium flame, add chopped onions, garlic, ginger and saute until golden brown. Add tomatoes, turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder and sauté for few mins till it oozes out oil. Add 2 tbsp of water, cashew nuts and cook for 5 mins till they mix together and raw smell goes away. Switch off, cool and blend it into a smooth paste.

  5. Take the same pan, add 1 tsp of oil/butter, add the blended paste, almond milk, dry methi leaves, 1.5 cups of water , mix and bring to boil for 5-7 mins in medium-low heat.

  6. It will form into a correct gravy consistency, now add the kofta balls, top up with chopped coriander leaves, switch off and serve hot.

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Disclaimer: This post has been sponsored by the Almond Breeze and I have been compensated monetarily! However all opinions are my own as always.

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Whole Green lentil recipe/ Punjabi Sabut Moong Dal Recipe

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GreenMoongdal

Insanely delicious & addictive Indian classic dal. Perfect for weeknight! So easy & healthy, no more takeaway!

It’s an authentic culinary dish from North Indian cuisine. It has only a handful of ingredients but yet the flavor and the spices with the fragrance ghee make the dish finger licking good for all seasons. I make dal always at least once in a week. But I really do not take pictures of it as it will be very late for me for have the food. I always feel it is delicious and perfect comfort food. And also healthy. Dal can be made in different ways using different dal like Normal simple dal, dal tadka, dal fry using different dal. I really love to make dal because it is simple and very comforting food. I make sure I make them once in a week atleast. I usually make them on a weekday because it just takes 10 minutes for me in a kitchen. I pressure cook them, meanwhile I chop some veggies for side dish. You can replace the dal with any dal you want.

You can have this as soup. This dal taste great with plain rice and some papad/veggies stir fry or paratha & some salad.


Vegan Note: use any oil in this recipe instead of ghee. 



My other Favorite Dal/ Lentil recipes: Dal with caramelized shallots, Lasooni Dal Tadka/ Garlic Tempered Lentils, Trevti dal/ Three Lentil dal, Gujarati Surati dal/ Peanut Tomato Lentil Recipe, Chana dal Paratha/ stuffed Lentil Paratha, Tomato dal Rasam/ Tomato Soup,Indian Style Lentils/ South Indian sambar, Bisibelabath/Hot spicy lentil Rice, crunchy lentil nuggets/Uppu seedai,spinach with lentils/ Keerai Moolagootal.



GreenMoongdal

4.8 from 6 reviews
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Whole Green lentil recipe/ Punjabi Sabut Moong Dal Recipe
Author: 
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 2 cups
 
Ingredients
  • • Green Moong Dal – 1 cup
  • • Tomatoes – 2 medium sized, chopped
  • • Onions – 1 medium sized, chopped
  • • Green Chilli – 1, chopped
  • • Garlic – 5, finely chopped
  • • Ginger – ½ inch, finely chopped
  • • Red chili powder – 1 tsp
  • • Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
  • • Cumin powder – ½ tsp
  • • Garam Masala – 1 tsp
  • • Jaggery – ½ tbsp
  • • Lemon juice – ½ tbsp
  • • Dry Methi leaves – 1 tsp
  • • Coriander leaves – to garnish
  • • Salt – 2 tbsp

    For Tempering:
  • • Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
  • • Dry Red chillies – 3, broken
  • • Asafoetida – a pinch
  • • Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Instructions
  1. Rinse lentils and soak for an hour. And keep it in pressure cooker with tomatoes, onions, garlic, ginger, green chilles, turmeric powder with 3.5 -4 cups of water for 7-8 whistles in medium heat .
  2. Mash the lentils using a wooden spoon or a masher to a smooth mixture.
  3. Add the ½ tsp red chilli powder, cumin powder, garam masala and salt to the dal.
  4. Bring the dal to boil in medium-low heat for 5 minutes and add jaggery and methi leaves to it in this step. If you find the consistency to the dal becomes thick, add more water. If you think it’s too liquidy, boil it for few more minutes.
  5. It’s time to temper by heating oil or ghee in a pan, then add the mustard seeds, ½ tsp of red chilli powder and then when its pops, add the asafetida, curry leaves and red chillies. Fry for a few seconds but don’t burn it.
  6. Pour the tempering on top of dal. And squeeze some lemon juice and stir with the seasonings. Garnish with coriander leaves.
Notes
1. If you think it’s too spicy, you can reduce the green chillies.
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GreenMoongdal

Beetroot vadai / Beetroot Lentil Fritters

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beetrootvada-7Crunchy,healthy and delicious deep fried lentil fritters using beetroot.

Vadai is a popular snack in southern India. It is super addictive snack. Perfect party snack and also it taste best with tea time snack. So, when I was asking my best friend, Divya casually what to make with beetroot that I have at home, she suggested Beetroot vadai. And 🙂 the next day I made this. 🙂 Thanks to you my sweety! 😀

beetrootvada-6

And if you make these for parties, sure it is a great hit. The tips to make these vada tasty are by adding the shallots, and fennel seeds. And also people think it’s hard to make these. If you make them once, you will know how easy it is to make them. But make sure to not add water when you grind them. I have mentioned some tips in the notes. Do look at it 🙂 to make it perfect.

This red color vegetable is linked up with lot of health benefits like better stamina, improved blood flow and lower blood pressure. The beetroot has a sweet taste and is earthy and tender to eat. Beets are highly nutrious and healthy. It is a great dish for kids. Kids don’t love beetroot a lot, so it  is a good way to sneak it into their diet. Even beetroot tikki, Beetroot Halwa, Beetroot coconut stir fry, Beetroot paratha are good ideas to make them have this veggie.

beetrootvada-8

5.0 from 2 reviews
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Beetroot vadai / Beetroot Lentil Fritters
Author: 
Recipe type: Appetizer
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 16
 
Ingredients
  • • Channa Dal – 1 cup
  • • Shallots/Small onions – 1 cup, chopped
  • • Red Chillies – 3, broken
  • • Beetroot – 2, small, grated
  • • Curry leaves – 1 sprig
  • • Green Chillies – 2
  • • Fennel seeds/ Soambu – 1 tsp
  • • Ginger – 1 inch piece
  • • Garlic – 6 cloves
  • • Rice flour – 2 tbsp
  • • Salt – 1 ½ tbsp
Instructions
  1. Soak channa dal with red chillies for an hour.
  2. First grind ginger, chillies, garlic and fennel coarsely in a blender jar.

  3. Drain channa dal completely and keep aside 5-6 chana dal whole. And blend the rest of the soaked dal with the ginger paste in the same blender jar. Do not add water at all when you blend the dal.

  4. Mix the blended batter with finely chopped onion, grated beetroot , coriander, salt, rice flour and curry leaves.
  5. Heat oil in pan/kadai.
  6. Meanwhile Keep a bowl with water and wet both hands. Make equal sized balls first for uniform sized vadas. Shape each ball to flat patties of medium thickness.
  7. The oil should be hot and when it is hot, Drop the vadas. Simmer the heat and deep fry them in hot oil until golden brown in color, flipping once in between. It is always good to cook in medium flame to ensure even cooking and golden red colour.
Notes
1. Make sure not to add water while grinding.
2. Make sure to soak vada for three to four hours. It is hard to grind them otherwise and also if it is not soaked well, it may turn hard and too crisp.
3. Rice flour helps to make it crispier. It is optional. You can soak 1 spoon for rice with the dal and grind instead.
4. Garlic is optional too.
5. Shallots can be replaced with normal red/white onions. But shallots give great texture and flavor.
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Lentils with caramelized shallots/ Kutty Vengaya Dal

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Shallots dal

Hearty and comforting Indian dal with shallots.

Many might not usually think about using shallots as a vegetable, but I am sure everyone would agree that it is flavorful and nuanced in taste than onions. It adds a more subtle, sweet aromatic flavor to dal, stews, and salad dressings or even for savories like bacon onion bun or paneer bun. They are a bit more expensive than onions but surely worth every penny. I even have shallots roasted with some veggies, or cooking shallots by tossing them with extra virgin oil and grilling them. You can always even roast them in an oven. If you substitute in most dishes by substituting shallots than onion, you would surely know the meaning of the delicious ingredient.

Shallots dal
I make dal always at least once in a week. But I really do not take pictures of it as it will be very late for me for have the food. I always feel it is delicious and comfort food. And also it is very healthy. Dal can be made in different ways using different dal like Normal simple dal, dal tadka, dal fry using different dal. I really love to make dal because it is simple and very comforting food. I make sure I make them once in a week at least. I usually make them on a weekday because it just takes 10 minutes for me in a kitchen. I pressure cook them, meanwhile I chop some veggies for side dish. You can replace the dal with any dal you want. the idea is to make using three dal/lentils. I made this with cabbage peas curry. I usually make my dal with potato roast as sides. I have a collection of mouthwatering potato recipes that you need to try.

 Vegan Note: use any oil in this recipe instead of ghee. 

My other Favorite Dal recipes: Lasooni Dal Tadka/ Garlic Tempered Lentils, Trevti dal/ Three Lentil dal, Gujarati Surati dal/ Peanut Tomato Lentil Recipe, Chana dal Paratha/ stuffed Lentil Paratha, Tomato dal Rasam/ Tomato Soup, Indian Style Lentils/ South Indian sambar, Bisibelabath/Hot spicy lentil Rice, crunchy lentil nuggets/Uppu seedai, spinach with lentils/ Keerai Moolagootal.

Shallots dal

5.0 from 2 reviews
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LENTILS WITH CARAMELISED SHALLOTS/ KUTTY VENGAYA DAL
Author: 
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 2.5 cups
 
Ingredients
  • • Tuvar dal/pigeon pea lentils – 1 cup
  • • Green chillies – 3, chopped roughly
  • • Turmeric – 1 tsp
  • • Tomato – 1, chopped finely
  • • Salt – as needed (around 1 tbsp)
  • • Water – 3 cups for pressure-cooking the lentils
  • [For tempering]
  • • Ghee /oil – 3 tbsp (mix of both)
  • • Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
  • • Garlic – 4, chopped
  • • Ginger- 2 inch, julienne or grated cut
  • • Red chilli – 2, broken
  • • Asafetida/hing – pinch
  • • Shallots – 8, skin removed
  • • Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
  • • Amchur powder – 1 tsp
  • • Sugar – a pinch
  • • Dry methi leaves – ½ tbsp, crushed
  • • Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp finely chopped for garnish
  • • Lemon – squeeze a little for garnish
Instructions
  1. Add washed tuvar dal, tomatoes, green chillies, turmeric and salt in the pressure cooker with water.Pressure-cook the lentils for 5-6 whistles till you get a mashable smooth consistency.
  2. Meanwhile in a small sauce pan, heat up the ghee or oil in medium-low flame. Add the cumin seeds, when it crackles, add the whole red chillies, shallots,sugar, garlic, ginger, curry leaves and let them cook in low –medium flame till the shallots gets roasted or caramelized. Turn off the heat and add the red chilli powder, dry methi leaves, asafoetida and amchur powder.


  3. When it’s pressure-cooked, open the cooker and check if the consistency is good. If not mash it, add little water and boil for two minutes. Or leave it.
  4. Add the tempering of shallots to the pressure cooked lentils.
  5. Garnish with chopped coriander and squeeze lemon. Check for salt and serve this shallot dal hot with steamed rice and a potato fry. You can also serve this with rotis/naan.
Notes
1. Vegan Note: use any oil in this recipe instead of ghee.
2. Hing or asafetida is a strong, aromatic spice. It gives unique flavor to daal. But it is optional.
3. If you do not have a pressure cooker, us a heavy bottomed pot with lid and cook for aroung 30-40 minutes in medium low flame.
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Shallots dal

Taste great with Breads like paratha, or with rice and dry curry/stir fry or simple exotic potato roast sides.

 

Shallots dal

BISI BELE BATH/ HOT SPICY LENTIL RICE

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bisibelabath-7A signature south Indian one pot meal with rice, lentils, shallots & spice powder.

 Bisi bela bath is a hot spicy lentil rice from Karnataka, India. It is one of the famous south Indian dishes made from cooked rice and lentils, mashed and added to spicy tamarind mixture. It is served with raita, mixed vegetable curry, aviyal, papad for lunch or dinner. The authentic recipe does not contain any onions or veggies in fact, it is simply done by grinding those masalas, adding them into the tamarind water and mix it will rice lentil mixture. But these days everybody loves to add vegetables to it. I like it simple with just shallots. The shallots/pearl onions added with curry leaves gives great flavor. Feel free to add any veggie of your choice. If you think, this involves a lot of process, you can always buy the store-bough MTR Bisi Bela Baath powder. It tastes good for sure.  I love my mom’s recipe. She is just a pro in bisi bela bath. When she tempers the ingredients in ghee, I go crazy. I just love it when she makes the bisi bela bath. She prepares it with aviyal, raita and papad. She used to make it often just for me. After I came here, whenever I go to meet her in India, she makes it for me without fail. 🙂 I really miss her and her cooking 😉 . This time when she made it in India, I couldn’t have it ;( Bad me!

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 The tempering of ingredients in ghee and topping it on bisibelabath makes anyone in the house hungry. It gives great flavor. Even the blended masala powder, I would say you could always make the bisi belath bath powder and store it. But if you are planning to do so, store it in air tight container without adding coconut. Many like to avoid ghee/clarified butter because of the fat. But once in a while, I am sure its ok. You can cut down in something else. This is worth it.

Vegan note: If you vegan, please avoid ghee or you can use vegan butter and melt and top it.

 It taste great with Bittergourd Chips,raita,  potato roast, potato sukka or raw banana fry. Even with aviyal or mixed vegetable curry.

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5.0 from 1 reviews
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BISI BELA BATH/ HOT SPICY LENTIL RICE
Author: 
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • For rice lentils:
  • Rice – 1 cup
  • Toor dal – 1 cup
  • Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
  • Salt – as needed.
  • Water – 5 cups.


    Bisi bela bath spice powder:
  • Chana dal/ bengal gram spilt and skinned – 1 tbsp
  • Urad dal/split black gram – 1 tbsp
  • Cloves – 3
  • Cardamom pods – 2
  • Cinnamom stick – 1 inch
  • Red chillies – 4
  • Fenugreek seeds – 1 tsp
  • Coriander seeds – 2 tbsp
  • Grated coconut – ¼ cup
  • Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
  • Asafortida powder – ½ tsp


    For bisi belabath:
  • Tamarind lemon size in 4.5 cups water
  • Shallots//Pearl onions – 15, peeled
  • Jaggery – 2 tsp
  • Salt – to taste
  • Oil – 1 tbsp
  • Curry leaves – 6
  • Tomato – 1, chopped finely
  • Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp


    To temper:
  • Ghee – 3 tbsp
  • Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
  • Cumin seeds – ½ tsp
  • Dry red chilli – 2
  • Curry leaves - 8
  • Peanuts – 7-8
Instructions
  1. For Bisi Bele Bath Powder:
  2. Heat a small pan on medium heat, add in the channa dal, urad dal, and stir continuously till they lightly brown. Then add cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamom pods, dry red chillies, fenugreek seeds and coriander seeds. Roast until the chilies begin to brown.
  3. Next add the poppy seeds and coconut. And roast for 30 seconds until coconut loses its moisture. Add turmeric powder and asafetida powder finally. Stir and switch off the heat.
  4. When cooled, blend them into a fine powder. Keep it aside. You can store in an air tight container and use for a while.


    For Bisi Bela Bath:
  5. In a pressure cook, add the washed rice, washed lentils, turmeric powder, salt and water. Keep it in medium to high heat and whistle for 5 whistles. Mash it and keep it aside.
  6. Soak tamarind in warm water and keep it aside.
  7. Take a big wide pan, add oil, add the curry leaves and pearl onions, sauté well in medium to low flame.
  8. Then add the tomatoes, turmeric powder and salt and sauté till the raw smell leaves. Add the tamarind water and blended bisi bela bhaat spice powder. Added little extra water as we are going to add rice to it. Add the jaggery and mix well.
  9. Let them boil for 5-7 minutes, then add the cooked rice dal to it slowly and mix well as you add it. Switch off.
  10. Now to temper, heat a small pan on medium heat, add in tbsp. of ghee and allow it to melt, add in the mustard seeds, the cumin seeds. Allow it to crackle. Then add in the red chilli, peanuts, curry leaves, asafetida and roast them. Once roasted, top it on the bibebelabath seasoning with two more tbsp. of ghee. Serve it hot.
Notes
1. Even the blended masala powder, I would say you could always make the bisi belath bath powder and store it. But if you are planning to do so, store it in air tight container without adding coconut.
2. If you vegan, please avoid ghee or you can use vegan butter and melt and top it.
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 It taste great with Bittergourd Chips,raita,  potato roast, potato sukka or raw banana fry. Even with aviyal or mixed vegetable curry.

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Trevti dal/ Three Lentil Dal

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Threedal-12Classic north Indian dish bursting with flavours, healthy and comforting. All in a single bowl.This is a combination of three lentils – Mung Lentils, Pigeon pea lentils and Bengal gram.

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Threedal-13

Trevti means three. So this recipe is basically with any three dal recipes. Dal can be made in different ways using different dal like Normal simple dal, dal tadka, dal fry using different dal. I really love to make dal because it is simple and very comforting food. I make sure I make them once in a week atleast. I usually make them on a weekday because it just atkes 10 minutes for me in a kitchen. I pressure cook them, meanwhile I chop some veggies for side dish. You can replace the dal with any dal you want. the idea is to make using three dal/lentils. There are different types of dal like garlic dal, 5 dal-pancharatna dal, peanut surati dal,khatti meethi dal,spinach dal and so on.

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Served with some potato sukka, potato roast, rice, paratha, roti and so on.

 

Other Dal recipes: Chana dal paratha, Tomato dal rasam, Sambar-spicy lentil soup, Garlic dal and peanut dal.

5.0 from 2 reviews
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Trevti dal/ Three Lentil Dal
Author: 
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 2cups
 
Ingredients
  • Tuvar dal/pigeon pea lentils – ⅓ cup
  • Moong dal/split mung lentils – ⅓ cup
  • Chana dal/ Split Bengal gram lentils – ⅓ cup
  • Green chillies – 4, chopped roughly
  • Turmeric – 1 tsp
  • Salt – as needed (around 1 tbsp)
  • Water – 3 cups for pressure-cooking the lentils
    [For tempering]
  • Ghee /oil – 1 tbsp
  • Mustard seeds– ¼ tsp
  • Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
  • Red chilli – 2, broken
  • Asafetida/hing – pinch
  • Tomato – 1, chopped finely
  • Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
  • Amchur powder – 1 tsp
  • Sugar – a pinch
  • Dry methi leaves – ½ tbsp, crushed
  • Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp finely chopped for garnish
  • Lemon – squeeze a little for garnish
Instructions
  1. Add washed tuvar dal,moong dal and chana dal, green chillies, turmeric and little salt in the pressure cooker with water.
  2. Pressure-cook the lentils for 8 whistles till you get a mashable smooth consistency.
  3. When it’s pressure-cooked, open the cooker and check if the consistency is ok. If not mash it, add little water and boil for two minutes. Or leave it.
  4. Heat ghee/oil in a pan. Ghee gives great flavors to dal but. Sometimes I use oil too. Temper it with mustard seeds and wait till it crackles. Then add cumin seeds,asafetida, red chillies till they change color. Now add chopped garlic, ginger and tomato. Sauté them till they are free from raw flavor and mushy.
  5. Switch off the flame, add red chilli powder, amchur powder, sugar and dry methi leaves. Stir and pour the entire tempering on the dal.


  6. Garnish with chopped coriander and squeeze lemon. Check for salt and serve this gujarati trevti dal tadka hot with steamed rice and a potato fry. You can also serve this with rotis/naan.
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Gujarati Surati Dal / Peanut Tomato Lentil Recipe

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Dal-4Sweet, sour and crunchy lentil curry with peanuts and tomatoes – simple, flavorful and delicious!

I make dal always at least once in a week. But I really do not take pictures of it as it will be very late for me for have the food. I always feel it is delicious and comfort food. And also healthy 🙂 This dal recipe has sweet and sour taste together and still it is delicious. And that peanut gives the extra crunch to it. Sweet, sour, crunchy -this combo looks crazy but trust me, Its yum!!!

I have other lentil recipes: Garlic dal, Chana dal Paratha,tomato dal rasam and Sambar.

Dal-2 Dal-3

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Gujarati Surati Dal / Peanut Tomato Lentil Recipe
Author: 
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 3 cups
 
Ingredients
  • Pigeon Pea Lentils/ Tuvar Dal – 1 cup
  • Tomatoes – 2 medium sized, chopped
  • Onions – 1 medium sized, chopped
  • Green Chilli – 1, chopped
  • Ginger – ½ inch, finely chopped
  • Red chili powder – 1 tsp
  • Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
  • Cumin powder – ½ tsp
  • Garam Masala – 1 tsp
  • Jaggery – ½ tbsp
  • Unroasted raw peanuts – 2 tbsp
  • Lemon juice – ½ tbsp
  • Dry Methi leaves – 1 tsp
  • Salt – 2 tbsp

    For Tempering:
  • Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
  • Dry Red chillies – 3, broken
  • Asafoetida – a pinch
  • Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Instructions
  1. rinse lentils and keep it in pressure cooker with tomatoes, onions, green chilles with 3.5 -4 cups of water for 7-8 whistles in medium heat.
  2. Mash the lentils using a wooden spoon or a masher to a smooth mixture.
  3. Add the peanuts, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, cumin powder, garam masala,ginger and salt to the dal.
  4. Bring the dal to boil in medium-low heat for 5 minutes and add jaggery and methi leaves to it in this step. If you find the consistency to the dal becomes thick, add more water. If you think its too liquidy, boil it for few more minutes.
  5. Its time to temper by heating oil or ghee in a pan, then add the mustard seeds and then when its pops, add the asafetida, curry leaves and red chillies. Fry for a few seconds but don’t burn it.
  6. Pour the tempering on top of dal. and squueze some lemon juice and stir with the seasonings. Garnish with coriander leaves.
Notes
1. If you think its too spicy, you can reduce the green chillies.
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Dal

Serve the hot surati dal with parathas,rotis or rice and side dish like potato roast.

Masal Vadai/ Masala Vada/ Paruppu Vada recipe:

by 4 Comments

MasalVada3NameCrunchy and delicious deep fried lentil fritters. Perfect snack on this cold winter day!

It is a popular snack in southern India. It is super addictive snack. Perfect party snack and also it taste best with tea time snack. And if you make these for parties, it is a great hit. Whenever there is a tea time here, people tend to have biscuits or cakes. But I guess in India, It is always spicy crunchy snacks with tea. Whenever I walk in streets in Chennai, I used to have this masala vada aroma near the road side shops. It smells so good! I have never got the chance to taste them. It is been in my drafts for a long time to post, so I am posting it today.

MasalVada

The tips to make these vada tasty are by adding the shallots, mint and fennel seeds. And also people think it’s hard to make these. If you make them once, you will know how easy it is to make them. But make sure to not add water when you grind them. I have mentioned some tips in the notes. Do look at it.

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Masal Vadai/ Masala Vada/ Paruppu Vada recipe:
Author: 
Recipe type: Appetizer
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 15 Vada
 
Ingredients
  • Channa Dal – 1 cup
  • Shallots/Small onions – 1 cup, chopped
  • Corainder leaves – 2 tbsp, chopped
  • Mint leaves – 2 tbsp, chopped
  • Curry leaves – 1 sprig
  • Green Chillies – 4
  • Fennel seeds/ Soambu – 1 tsp
  • Ginger – 1 inch piece
  • Garlic – 6 cloves
  • Rice flour – 1 tbsp
  • Salt – 1 ½ tbsp
Instructions
  1. Soak channa dal for 4 hours.
  2. First grind ginger, chillies, garlic and fennel coarsely in a blender jar.
  3. Drain channa dal completely and add it to the same jar of the ginger paste and grind coarsely. 4-5 channa dal pieces can be whole.
  4. Mix finely chopped onion, mint, coriander, salt, rice flour and curry leaves.
  5. Heat oil in pan/kadai.
  6. Meanwhile Keep a bowl with water and wet both hands. Make equal sized balls first for uniform sized vadas. Shape each ball to flat patties of medium thickness.
  7. The oil should be hot and when it is hot, Drop the vadas. Simmer the heat and deep fry them in hot oil until golden brown in color, flipping once in between. It is always good to cook in medium flame to ensure even cooking and golden colour.
Notes
1. Make sure not to add water while grinding.
2. Make sure to soak vada for three to four hours. It is hard to grind them otherwise and also if it is not soaked well, it may turn hard and too crisp.
3. Rice flour helps to make it crispier. It is optional. You can soak 1 spoon for rice with the dal and grind instead.
4. Garlic is optional too.
5. Shallots can be replaced with normal red/white onions. But shallots give great texture and flavor.
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