Andhra Tomato Pappu | Vegan, GF Side dish

Andhra tomato Pappu or Tomato Pappu as it’s sometimes called is a delicacy I have been wanting to post here. We make a lot of dals at home as part of the everyday meal with rice / roti . While Chole features fortnightly, Dal makhani is reserved for special occasions. We are not great Rajma fans, so that gets done rarely. 

Tomato Pappu is a quick and delicious side dish that goes great with hot steamed rice as well as hot phulkas. Of late, I have been making this very often as my little one likes the oil-redulant tadka (tempering) I make on top. She calls it Dal tadka - version 2. 

Usually made with Tur dal , I usually add a handful of moong (split green dal) to add a little more creaminess to this. Prep to finish shouldnt take you more than 15 mins , you can also make this dish ahead for lunch / dinner. 

Andhra spice can vary from hot to fiercely spicy. This dal uses 3 kinds of spice as was taught by my neighbour back in Bangalore - green chillies, ginger and Red chillies. Use ripe tomato for best results.

Let’s get this started as this dish makes it way to sshh cooking secret challenge and uses two ingredients - cumin and chillies - that me and Renu (my partner this month) that we both shared. Do check out the Spicy fiery Garlic spice powder that she made for this challenge. 

Prep time - 10 min, cook time -10 mins ; serves -3 adults 

What you need:

• Toor dal / pigeon pea - 1/3 cup
• Moong dal - a small handful / 2 tsp 
• Oil / ghee - 2 tsp (split use)
• Ginger - 1 inch chopped 
• Green chillies - chopped
• Turmeric - 1 pinch 
• Garlic - 2 medium pods, minced (I didn’t use)
• Tomato - ripe 1 large or 2 medium - cubed
• Salt to taste
• Tempering - mustard seeds, 1/2 tsp chilli powder,  cumin seeds, red chillies broken 2-3
• Chopped coriander - 2 tsp for garnish 

How to:

Wash and soak the dals in warm water while the tomatoes are prepped. In a small pressure pan, add half the ghee / oil , add the soaked dals with the water, garlic, green chillies, tomato, salt, turmeric and pressure cook for 2 whistles adding 250 ml water. Let the pressure come down on its own.

Mash up the dal a bit , let it simmer on low for 5-6 mins. Adjust salt and spice. Now in a smal pan / tadka pan, heat the remaining ghee / oil. Splutter mustard and cumin. Then switch off , add the broken chillies, chilli powder and swirl it a bit and add the tadka to the dal. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rice / Phulkas. 

Sending this to the following events:

 MLLA 132 that I am hosting this month : an event ably led by Lisa.

& 

Badusha | How to make Badusha | Balushahi | Diwali Sweets

Happy Diwali to all my readers !! May you have a blessed , safe and joyous Diwali with your family and friends... 

And a long Post alert :)

Diwali - the festival of lights. Fond memories of Amma making her signature Mixture (savoury namkeen / Faral), Kobbari Mithai (Copra Pak / Coconut Fudge) every year. The day used to start with Ganga Snanam  (early morning bath with Til Oil liberally massaged over the hair and body and washed off with Shikakai - Soapnut powder - this was way before Shampoos came into the market). Then we would rush to the road with our secret stash of crackers at 5am and burst the first Lakshmi pattas ,atom bomb, bijili etc.. 

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There were two ultra rich families on our street, and the competition between them was fierce on who would burn the most crackers (read money) ,.. of course it delighted us as we took sides and even bet as to who would win !! Of course , till I moved to Mumbai, I didn’t know that the Lakshmi Puja on the Amavas was significant to one family while the Naraka Chaturdasi (Chaudas) was significant to another. 

As kids, we didn’t worry too much about air or sound pollution. Lighting the evening diyas, arranging them on the compound wall, and indulging in sweets, savouries and another huge round of crackers was the norm. 

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Invariably, it was a rain-drenched Diwali in the South every year, so half the crackers didn’t light up, while the other half would fizzle out before burning fully.  Yet, as kids we looked forward to crackers, sweets and endless supply of homemade snacks…

Ahh … this is truly making me nostalgic…. 

Today’s sweet - Badusha (a.k.a Balushahi) is one of my favourites, mostly made by my pati (Nani) during Janmashtami for the Bhog. No matter what else she made - Omapudi / Maida Biscuit /  Maa Ladoo  this was one sweet I realised I was crazy about. I have tried a small batch for Diwali this year, and am very happy with the results. 

Do check out the Tips at the end for best results

Let’s get to see how to make Badusha as this goes to #DiwaliDhamaka at our group @FoodieMondayBloghop.

Prep time - 15 + 15 mins, Cook time - 20 mins, Makes - 8-10 small badusha

You need:

Maida / All Purpose flour - 1 cup (200 ml)

Ghee / Shortening - 3 tsp

salt - 1/4 tsp

Curd / yogurt - 2 tbsp

Cold water - to knead

Oil - to deep fry

Sugar syrup :

Granulated sugar - 3/4 cup

Water - 4 TBSP +2 tsp

Kewra / Vanilla essence / Saffron strands- few drops (opt.)

cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp  

Lemon juice - 1/2 tsp (to prevent crystallisation) 

How to:

Rub the ghee or shortening into the salted maida till it resembles crumbs (this will take 4-8 mins). Add curd and cold water 1 tsp at a time and knead to a semi soft dough. Cover and keep for 10 mins while you make the syrup.

Make the syrup to 1-1.5 string consistency. Add the cardamom powder / essence and keep aside. Let the syrup remain warm. Add the lemon juice and stir well. 

Pinch out a lemon sized ball of the dough. Make pleats as shown on the collage above. Keep all the badusha ready (keep them covered to prevent them from going dry)

Heat adequate oil (about 1-125 cups) to fry. Gently slide the badusha one by one  into the oil, (don’t over crowd your pan) and cook on medium flame till it turns golden brown and the hissing stops.

Drain to a colander and then soak in the warm sugar syrup for 3-4 mins. Then remove with a slotted spoon and place on a greased / parchment lined tray. Repeat till all is fried and soaked.

Store in airtight container . Keeps upto a week without refrigeration. 

Notes / Tips:

1. Use fresh maida / flour and ghee for best results. 
2. If using butter as shortening, prefer the unsalted one. Else the badusha will turn very salty
3. Sugar syrup has to be warm for soaking. If it turns too thick, add 1-2 drops of water and keep on flame for 1 min, it will turn normal
4. You can add desiccated coconut / powdered sugar or nuts as topping. We prefer it plain.
5. Don’t over crowd the pan else the temperature of the oil will come down. Fry on medium flame only. 

Other Diwali Sweets you may like on this blog:

Elakkaai Badam-Paal Kesari

Instant Jalebi

Badam Katli / Almond Fudge (GF)

Javvarisi Carrot Payasam (Sago Carrot Pudding / Kheer)

Rava Ladoo

Kashi Halwa (a.k.a Damrot)

Stuffed Dry Jamun

Low fat Malpua

 

Ghavachi Lapsi - a guestpost by Poonam | Guestpost series #20

Poonam who blogs at Annapoorna is a dear blogger-friend whom I have known for about a year now. She is the guest blogger of this month at SizzlingTastebuds... 

I am simply floored by two things majorly on her blog : her bakes with wholewheat and jaggery + her styling and photography. No fancy props, but each of her pictures come alive. .. and so much to learn from her and the blog too. Poonam blogs mostly about Maharashtrian cuisine, but her blog is replete with cuisines from across the world. She's also very active on Social Media and one can see her cooking and baking prowess across all her posts. 

Poonam kindly accepted my GuestBlog invite, and sent me this lusciously divine Ghavachi Lapsi - a heirloom recipe which is a sweet, sticky pudding made of broken wheat, ghee and jaggery.. Can it get any better? 

Yes. Do check out her guestpost below and one can literally (nay, virtually) drool at the mouthwatering dish. Thanks Poonam for consenting to do this Guestpost.

Over to Poonam now.. in her own words...

***********************

I love cooking and started helping my mom in kitchen from the

tender age of 12 years. I feel cooking is in my genes and my mom is my greatest

inspiration. A microbiologist by profession , i am happily married and mother to a

naughty 11 year old kid. Quit my job to take care of my son and was happy feeding

my family and friends. The idea to get into blogging was purely from the

motivation by some of my buddies while i was in Penang, Malaysia. Blogging has

become a part of my life from last 4 years and i am enjoying every bit of it. Came

across many lovely souls and learnt a lot during this blogging journey.

I am very thankful to Kalyani for giving me this opportunity to do a guest post for

her blog. I know Kalyani through the blogging world, from the various food groups that we are a part of . I have yet to meet her in person but I am already a great fan 

of her cooking. Her blog is a home to a plethora of delicious healthy dishes, mostly

vegan. I have bookmarked many of her traditional South Indian dishes to try out. I

like her writing style and the fact that she makes a conscious effort to cook

nutritious food , avoiding refined sugar and flours in her cooking.

Now to the recipe..

Ghavachi Lapsi is a traditional Maharashtrian sweet dish made with broken wheat (dalia) and jaggery. It is a porridge consistency kheer/ pudding that can be served as a healthy winter breakfast or had as a dessert all year round. Broken wheat / dalia is fiber rich food full of nutrition. It is easy to cook and digest and best food for the weight watchers and diabetic patients. It is also one of the healthy weaning food for babies and great for growing kids.

Ghavachi lapsi has been one of my favorite winter breakfast since mychildhood days. We use to have a bowl of ghavachi lapsi with milk for our breakfast. Whenever someone was ill in my family, mumma used to make this lapsi as it was easy to digest. Even today i make this dish at least once every week. Ghavachi lapsi was also one of the first foods

my son had as a toddler. Ghavachi lapsi can also be made as Naivedhyam on festivals.

To begin with making ghavachi lapsi, broken wheat is roasted in ghee until you get a nutty aroma. It is further pressure cooked in water, sweetened with jaggery syrup and cooked till desired consistency is reached. You may garnish this delectable pudding with some slivered nuts to make it all the more rich. Ghavachi lapsi has a creamy texture and is mildly flavored with cardamom powder. This is one of my heirloom recipes and i am sharing the way we cook it in our family. 

For a vegan version, skip using ghee and dry roast the broken wheat before

pressure cooking it.

Preparation Time: 10 minutes | Cooking Time : 20 minutes | Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:

3/4 cup broken wheat / dalia

1/2 cup jaggery , grated or powdered

1 tablespoon ghee

1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder

2 tablespoon slivered nuts of your choice

Method:

1. Heat ghee in a pressure cooker.

2. Add broken wheat to it and roast until you get a nutty aroma and the broken wheat turns golden brown in color. Take care not to burn the dalia.

3. Now add 1 1/2 cup water to it and pressure cook for 2 whistles.

4. Meanwhile in a sauce pan take 1/2 cup water and add jaggery to it. Allow the mixture to boil. Once all the jaggery is dissolved put off the flame. You may strain the jaggery syrup to remove the impurities from jaggery if any.

5. Once the pressure has been released naturally, open the pressure cooker and mash the cooked dalia. Add the hot jaggery syrup to it and cook the mixture until desired consistency is reached.

6. The dalia kheer thickens further on cooling so put off the flame accordingly.

7. Flavor the ghavachi lapsi with cardamom powder and give a quick stir. Spoon out the lapsi in individual serving bowls and garnish with slivered nuts.

8. Serve immediately and enjoy the delectable ghavachi lapsi with your loved ones.

Sesame Broccoli Fried Rice | Gluten Free, Vegan One Pot Meal

One Pot Meals are so fuss free, kid friendly and with some prior prep, can be put together in a jiffy even on weekday mornings for the school lunchbox. As I have mentioned on many of my broccoli dish recipes, the little one is really fond of broccoli in most forms - Baked Casserole, Soup, Pulav, pizza, Tandoori broccoli and even in cutlets. Thanks to her, I too get to eat one of my most favourite veggies.

Today's dish is inspired from Poonam's blog which has an amazing collection of kid-friendly recipes. As I was paired with her for this edition of Recipe Swap Challenge, I narrowed down 2-3 recipes which were doable during the busy Navratri week as well as with the kids' exams going on. Recipe Swap is a group where the paired bloggers cook from each other's blogs. 

This quick Broccoli vegetable rice amped up with veggies caught my eye. I have modified that version slightly in an Indo Chinese fashion to make it more appealing for my kid as well as added some sesame for that nutrition boost. 

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Prep time - 15 mins, Cook time - 15 mins, serves - 2

Ingredients: (1 cup = 200 ml)
Long grained rice - 2/3 cup
Broccoli florets - 1/2 cup 
Chopped veggies - beans, carrots - 1/2 cup - blanched slightly with salt
Bell peppers - 1/4 medium, diced
Onion - lengthwise sliced
Garlic - 1 large pod, minced
Ginger- 1 inch, grated
Soya Sauce - 1/2 tsp
Cashewnuts  - few (halved/ chopped coarse)
Salt - to taste
Oil - 2 tsp (I used sesame oil)
Slit green chillies - 1 or 2 (adjust spice) - I didn't add
Crushed Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
Roasted sesame seeds - 1 tsp (for garnish)
    

Method:
Wash, soak and cook the long grained rice as per packet instructions or how you would cook for a pula. Fluff them up with a fork and let it cool.
Meanwhile, in a heavy bottomed pan, add the oil. saute onions and garlic till onions turn soft and translucent. Now add the green chillies, bell peppers, ginger , saute them well. Add the broccoli, blanched veggies and keep tossing them on high flame. once the broccoli begins to char a bit, add the cashews, soya sauce and toss well. 
Now add salt, cooked rice and crushed black pepper. Give it one final toss. Sprinkle roasted sesame seeds and serve hot. If packing for the lunch box, add the sesame seeds just before packing. 

Hosting MLLA # 132

It’s October and yay! I am so happy to host another edition of MLLA (My Legume Love Affair) at my blog- twice in am year , and am tickled pink ! Thanks Lisa for this wonderful opportunity and am sure my blogger friends would pitch in with their wonderful, plant protein / legume based entries. I have had the privilege to host editions 130, 58, 91 and 97 over the years. 

Did you know Tamarind is considered a legume too ? If you are keen to know, check out this list of Legumes and link up any post between 1-31st oct on the following linky tool with the follwing rules.

1. One vegetarian / vegan entry per blogger. Non-bloggers can send me their entries too at momchef77@gmail.com (hi-res pic and text recipe) 

2. Fresh posts betn 1-31st Oct are allowed. No archives / reposts pls. Make sure your entry is linked back to this announcement and Lisa's MLLA announcement page

3. Make sure the legumes are majorly featured in your recipe. 

4. Usage of Logo is optional but recommended 

Look forward to all your entries !

Cheers

Kalyani