Mosoppu Saaru

I was talking to my aunt last week and she said she made mosoppu saaru with rice for lunch. Oh my god! I just love that. My mom learnt it from her. I never knew until that day, “Dill” is what the flavouring agent in this! We used to get this in Bangalore, and I call it “pullu keerai” as it resembles “pullu kattu” a.k.a Grass!! hehehee My mom calls it “sombu keerai”. This has a very strong and pungent smell that just a little goes a long way. You can add them to masala vadai or even with a wonderful baby potato fry.

This serves exactly 2. A cup for each. You could add a mix of variety of spinach, but ensure Dill is present to enhance its flavor.

2 cups just barely chopped palak (I just tore them to bits)
1 cup baby spinach
1/2 cup dill leaves (Separate them from stem)
1/2 cup toor dal (Wash them)
1/2 medium-sized or 1 small tomato
1/2 medium-sized or 1 small onion
2 garlic pods
3-4 green chillies (more or less as per tatse)
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
2 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 garlic pod, 1/2 onion finely chopped, mustard seeds, dash of hing, urad dal, oil for tempering

Method:
1. Add all of them at once to a pressure cooker and cook them for 2-3 whistle until dal is mashed completely.
2. Cool them completely, strain the water and retain it. Run the spinach mixture through a blender completely.
3. Add oil and temper with garlic, onion, mustard seeds, urad dal and hing. Transfer the spinach mixture to it, add them strained water for more thin consistency, check for salt seasoning and bring it to a boil.
4. Serve hot with rice or roti. You could even add fried paneer to make a hearty palak paneer.

Kothamalli thogayal

Today, I made poosanikkai more kootu. And was just wondering how yummy it would be to have a thogayal with it! No pudina….Ok! Bunch of coriander leaves! Kothamalli thogayal!

2 cups washed coriander leaves
1/4 cup channa dal
2 tablespoon urad dal
Dash of hing
6-7 red chillies
2 tablespoon dried/freshly grated coconut
tiny ball of tamarind (soak in water for 15 minutes)
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon oil

Method:
1. Fry dal, hing, red chilli in oil until brown and let them cool.
2. Grind to a coarse paste with little water, coconut, tamarind, coriander bunch and salt.
3. Haha! So simple. Tasty chutney/thogayal is ready to be served with rice or roti.

Cabbage Thogayal/Chutney

I’m trying to reduce the usage of coconut in our daily diet. I know I know…Being a tamilian, an Iyer by birth, how can you live without it. But being conscious of what we eat, really makes you dig in further and learn more wonderful recipes. Thogayal, has always been “thengai thogayal” or at the max “paruppu thogayal” only. But with my recent quests, I have tried to make a lot more than these and pair them up with rice or dosa or idli. And they taste nothing less than coconut chutney!

2 cups shredded cabbage
1 small or 1/2 medium sized tomato
1″ ginger
4-5 red chillies (more or less as per taste)
3 tablespoon chana dal
1 tablespoon urad dal
dash of hing powder
tiny ball of tamarind
3 tablespoon oil
Salt to taste

Method:
1. Add 1 tablespoon oil and roast dal, chilli, hing powder, tamarind and keep aside to cool.
2. Add rest of oil and cook cabbage, tomato and ginger until cabbage is almost cooked and tomato turns soft. Cool completely.
3. Grind these to a fine paste with salt and serve with rice or dosa.

Idli/Dosa milagai podi

Idli soaked in milagai podi, packed for lunch and dunked in thick curd..Slurp slurp!! That’s how much I like it. Off late I have been using the MTR chutney podi, but we ran out of it and getting it in Indian stores is going to take me weeks. So I quickly called my aunt and she gave me this recipe. It does not even require sesame seeds. Somehow, I never have them in my pantry and now I would never need them!!

1 cup chana dal
less than 3/4th cup of urad dal (broken is fine)
10-12 red chillies (more or less as per your heat buds)
A tiny chunk of hing (I don’t use the powder here)
1 spring curry leaves
1/2 teaspoon jaggery
1/4 teaspoon sized tamarind
Salt

Method:
1. Dry roast everything separately on a medium flame until brown except salt. Careful not burn them
2. Let them cool off and run through a mixie until fine powder with salt.
3. Put them on a paper and let them cool.

Spinach basil pesto

I love the basil smell…It so fresh sweet and calming for me. It belongs to “tulsi” family, but less pungent. I made the tomato-basil sauce and still lots of basil were left. Some googling and finally decided to make a pesto and freeze them for a later use.

1 cup baby spinach leaves (tightly packed)
1 cup basil leaves
2 garlic
1/3 cup toasted almonds / pine nuts (Original recipe called for pine nuts, but I didn’t have them)
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red chilli flakes

Method:
1. Run them through a mixer except the oil first.
2. Once they crumble well, keep adding the oil and pulse them to a smooth paste. Check for salt and pepper seasoning, add more if required and pulse again.
3. Store them in refrigerator and use within 3 -4 days. Else put them in a ice-cube tray and cover with a plastic wrap and freeze. Doing this, you can use them for months. These can be added to your pasta, salads, dips or even as a pizza sauce.

Mangai Pachadi

Mangai pachadi or raw mango pachadi is something a sort of both desert and a side in my house. Since summer season (april – june maximum) is when we get mangoes in chennai, mangoes in any form are used in our kitchen. Mangai pickle…mangai thokku, avakkai, vadu mangai, vendaya mangai, mangai sadam, mangai pachadi, mangai kozhambu, kas mangai, mangai pappu…..the list is just endless. In US, getting raw mango is like a boon. Last week I bumped into few and grabbed couple of them. So started with mangai pachadi today. This will be a good side for pooris or chapathis or…err…eat it just like that!

1 Raw mango
1/4 cup powdered jaggery
1 green chilli
About 2 cups water

Method:
1. Peel the mango and slice them roughly into chunks. Pour water until they immerse well. Add slit green chilli and boil them until they are nice and soft.
2. Add the jaggery and cook until it melts evenly and forms a sticky texture. This will not take more than 10 minutes.
3. Cool and devour them!

Peerkangai thol thogayal

I had saved the peerkangai thol and about 1/4 peerkangai to make my thogayal to pair with my Idly for a weekend breakfast. Weekdays goes off mostly with bread or cereals. So its weekends when we make a hearty breakfast.

Wash peerkangai thol well, chop roughly and keep aside
Chop the left over peerkangai (flesh alone, remove the seeds)
3 tablespoon kadalai paruppu
4-5 dry red chillies
1 tablespoon urad dal
1 teaspoon hing
2 teaspoon oil
2 tablespoon tamarind water
Salt to taste

Method:
1. Add oil to the pan, roast all dal, hing, red chillies to nice brown colour and keep aside.
2. To the same pan, add the veggie, peel, sprinkle little water and fry for a minute until the peel turns tender. It takes just about 2-3 minutes.
3. Let them cool and blend all together in a mixie until smooth paste, adding very little water if required. Serve with rice or as chutney for idli/dosa.

Raitha

Raitha is an easy dip for any flavored rice or chapathi. This is a simple one that goes with rice. Will come up with more flavors soon.

1 cup curd
1 green chilli finely chopped
1/2 medium-sized onion finely chopped
1 medium-sized carrot grated
Handful of fresh coriander finely chopped
Salt to taste

Method:
1. First mix grated carrots, chopped onions, green chilli with salt and keep aside for 15 mins. This will let their flavors come out and mix well with curd.
2. Then add the curd and mix well. If you need it little thin add some more curd and just a little water mix well, garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve with rice or roti.

Peanut chutney

I have tried peanut chutney couple of times with coconut. Didn’t like the taste of it.. Yesterday one of my friend gave me this and asked me to try. And it was just perfect for my dosai breakfast today

1/2 cup Peanut (Not roasted)
4-5 red chillies (as per heat required)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 onion
2 garlic pods
Salt (as per taste)
2 teaspoon oil
Mustard seeds, curry leaves, urad dal for tempering

Method:
1. Dry roast the peanuts until they turn golden brown and keep aside. It’s ok if they are not peeled.
2. Dry roast cumin and red chillies and keep aside.
3. Add oil, and fry onion and garlic until translucent.
4. Once they are cooled, grind them with salt.
5. Temper them with mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves.

Alfredo Sauce

This is the most yummiest cheesy sauce, I would always love to have for pasta. Though, my husband always prefers the tomato sauce, hmmm still this is my favourite This is such a simple easy quick sauce to make, provided you are not on DIET or strictly restricting yourself from dipping into cheese or having a quick watch on your calorie.

1/2 cup salted butter
1/2 cup softened cream cheese brought to room temperature
1/2 cup grated room temperature mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated room temperature parmesan cheese
1/2 cup heavy whipped cream
Milk to thin the sauce (only if required)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon of white pepper (optional)

Method:
1. In a heavy bottom pan, melt the butter.
2. To this add the cream cheese and use your wire whisk to whisk quickly to blend butter and cream cheese.
3. Then add the grated mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese and whisk them nicely to a smooth consistency.
4. Once the cheese melts, add the cream, chopped parsley, (white pepper+salt, as per taste buds) and whisk continuously until the sauce thickens and is smooth.
5. Pour this over cooked pasta.

You cooked also pre-cook all your veggies with salt, and have your sauce poured over pasta+veggies. This is my custom+altered recipe for Alfredo sauce… So definitely might not be authentic enough, but tastes just yummy.