Dalia and moong dal upma

Since winter started here, one or the other family member is sick these days. I decided to make khichdi with dalia one night. I didn't have cracked wheat. Instead used broken wheat and thought of making it finer by just putting it in the mixie. By the time, I got myself to prepare dinner, I didn't have the energy to break the wheat fine or cut the vegetables. This is how I discovered/invented ;-) dalia upma with moong dal.

Ingredients:-
Broken wheat - 1 cup
Moong dal - 1/4 cup
Pepper powder - 1tbsp
Onion - 1 medium(finely chopped)
Garlic - 5 cloves(chopped fine)
Refined Oil - 1tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1tsp
Cumin seeds/jeera - 1tsp
curry leaves - 1 spring, remove the leaves.
Water - 2 cups

Preparation:-

Take a kadai and first dry roast broken wheat until you get a nice aroma. Transfer it to a bowl and next dry roast moong dal. Moong dal will turn slightly golden in colour letting out a nice aroma. Transfer it to another bowl and wash it and set aside.

In the same kadai, add little oil. Since, we had sick people at home, I didn't use ghee and instead used refined oil and that too very little. When the oil is hot, add mustard seeds, when they crackle, add cumin seeds and curry leaves. Cumin seeds will start sizzling. Next, add chopped onions and garlic. Fry them until onions become translucent. Add pepper powder to it and quickly fry it making sure not to burn. Add the washed moong dal and dalia and give a quick mix. Transfer this to a steel container and add 2 cups of water and sufficient salt.  Put a pressure cooker with sufficient water. Put the plate inside the cooker. Put the steel vessel and close it with a lid. Close the cooker and wait till the steam comes out of the nozzle. Put the weight on the cooker and pressure cook for 3 whistles in medium flame. Wait for the pressure to release and relish the hot and tasty upma. We were so hungry that I could not take any pictures.

Hyderabadi bhagara bhainghan masala

I had a bunch of brinjals lying in my fridge for some time. I wanted to try some dish to go with chappathi to be made out of this. I came across this recipe on one of the blogs that I frequent and decided to try it out my way.

Ingredients:-
Brinjals/Kathirikkai - 6 small ones, slice along its length into four pieces.
Peanuts(unsalted) - 1tbsp
White sesame seeds - 1 tbsp
Coconut - 1tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1tsp
Chilli powder - 1tsp
Coriander powder - 1tsp
Green chilly - 1 chopped fine
Onion - 1 large, chopped roughly
Tomato - 1 medium, chopped roughly
Ginger - 1" piece, chopped roughly
Garlic - 4 cloved, chopped roughly
Mustard seeds - 1tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1tsp
Curry leaves - few
Coriander leaves - for garnishing
Salt - to taste
Refined oil - 1tsp + 1tbsp for frying onions and for frying brinjals respectively
Water - 1 cup

Preparation:-
Dry roast the white sesame seeds until it turns slightly brown. Transfer it to a vessel. Dry roast peanuts next until it turns brown and set aside. Next dry roast, coconut until it turns brown and transfer it to a bowl.

Heat a kadai and add a tsp of oil. Add onion, ginger and garlic to this and fry it until brown. To this, add tomato and salt. Continue frying this until tomato turns mushy. Now, add turmeric, chilli and coriander powder. Mix it well and remove it to a bowl for grinding along with sesame seeds, peanut and coconut. Grind this into a smooth paste adding enough water.

Heat a tbsp of oil in a kadai. Add mustard seeds when hot. Once the mustard seeds splutter, add fenugreek seeds and curry leaves and fry for few seconds. To this, add brinjals and fry till it becomes soft. Set this aside. In the same kadai, add the ground mixture and fry it till it leaves the side of the kadai. At this stage add a cup of water and mix it. To this add brinjals and cook until brinjals are soft. Transfer it to a serving bowl and garnish with coriander leaves.

Mour kozhambu/Butter milk gravy

I was longing to have sevai from a long time. I had it when my mom visited last year. Sevai aka rice noodles is prepared in the traditional seva nazhi. it goes well with mour kozhambu. Here, I'm going to post the recipe of mour kozhambu. My folks @ home hate sour curd/buttermilk, so this kozhambu is best to make when you have sour curds.

Ingredients:-
Sour curd - 1 cup
Water - 1cup
Turmeric powder - 1tsp
Asafoetida/perungayam - 1tsp
Curry leaves - few
Coriander leaves - few for garnishing
Coconut - 1tbsp grated
Refined oil - 1tsp
Mustard seeds - 1tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1tsp
Salt - to taste

To soak and grind
Red chilly -1
Green chilly - 1
Cumin seeds/jeera - 1 tsp
Toor dal - 1tbsp
Chana dal -tbsp


Preparation:-

First soak the ingredients under 'To soak and grind' for around 20 minutes.

Heat a kadai and dry roast fenugreek seeds until it turns slightly brown. It lets out a nice aroma at this stage. This roasted fenugreek seeds will be ground along with the other ingredients.

Take the 'To soak and grind' ingredients at the end of 20 minutes and grind it to a smooth paste along with grated coconut. At this stage, add fenugreek seeds and grind it coarsely. It will taste bitter if ground fine.

Blend this paste with curd and water to a smooth texture. Add turmeric, asafoetida powder and salt to this.

Heat oil in a kadai and add mustard seeds when hot. After it crackles, add curry leaves and fry it for few seconds. At this stage, add the blended mixture of curd. Reduce the heat to the minimum as the curd may split if boiled on high flame. Keep stirring so that the heat is uniformly spread. Leave it for few minutes until a froth appears on top. Immediately transfer it to a serving bowl and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.