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Chana dal sundal (cooked chana dal stir fried in spiced oil with mustard seeds) is one of my favourite things to eat as a side dish with rice and mor kuzhambu. I like to mix the rice and sundal together (as weird as that may sound), which is why I thought that this recipe would work. There's no mor kuzhambu involved this time, though. Just the rice and chana dal. Oh, and some vegetables.
If you think about it, recipes that combine protein, carbs and vegetables in a tasty package have to be top of the list for those occasions where you don't want to spend ages in the kitchen but also don't want to be tempted to order a takeaway. This recipe takes about 30 minutes from start to finish, especially if you prep and cook the vegetables while the rice is cooking. If you have leftover rice, this recipe is even quicker to make. And it tastes lovely.
A word of warning with regard to the chana dal - because it's easy to cook it to mush, I don't add any extra water while cooking it with the rice. I like my chana dal very slightly undercooked so that it still has a gentle bite. If you prefer it well soft, feel free to add another 1/8 cup of water while cooking the rice & dal.
Recipe for: Chana dal-vegetable masala rice
Ingredients:
1 cup basmati rice
1/4 cup chana dal
1 medium potato, chopped into small cubes
1/4 cup sliced runner beans (or green beans)
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 fat clove garlic, sliced
2 medium onions, sliced thin
1 tbsp oil
3-4 green chillies, sliced (to taste)
1 tsp chana masala/garam masala/curry powder
1 tsp cumin seeds
Salt to taste
Chopped coriander leaves for garnish
Roasted peanuts, for garnish (optional)
Method:
1. Wash and soak the basmati rice and chana dal together for 15 minutes. Then place in a saucepan along with 2 cups water over high heat. When the water begins to bubble and holes appear in the rice, stir the rice, turn down the heat to the lowest setting, and cover the pan with a lid placed over a clean tea towel (the towel will absorb the steam). Let it be for about 8-10 minutes, then turn off the heat. Let the rice stay undisturbed for 10 minutes so that it can absorb the moisture, then fluff it up.
2. While the rice is cooking, heat the oil in a saute pan until it shimmers, add the cumin seeds and fry them for 10 seconds, then add the green chillies and garlic and stir-fry for 30 seconds or so. Stir in the onions and cook them till they turn soft.
3. Now add the chopped tomato, potato and runner beans/green beans and stir well. Cover the pan and cook on simmer for 10-15 minutes, till the vegetables are done. Stir in the chana masala/garam masala/curry powder and salt to taste.
4. Finally, add the rice-chana dal and mix it in gently but thoroughly with the vegetable masala. Sprinkle with coriander leaves and peanuts, and serve hot with any raita.
Until my mother mentioned it, I didn’t know that kothavarakkai (cluster beans) could even be made into kootu (although, thinking about it, there’s no reason why not – it’s just that it never occurred to me).
This kootu, however, is quite different from the other kootu recipes I’ve posted so far. I probably wouldn’t have liked it as a kid (preferring it as usili above all, because kothavarakkai has a mild bitterness to it that the dal disguised). But, as a more discerning adult, I have to say I welcomed the chance to learn another way to prepare this vegetable. It was definitely to my taste, what with all the kadalai paruppu in it, but my mother was dissatisfied because she felt it would’ve been better with less of that particular dal.
We’ve agreed to disagree on the issue.
Recipe for: Kothavarakkai kootu
Ingredients:
2 cups kothavarakkai, chopped
1/4 cup masoor dal, cooked and mashed
1/4 cup chana dal/kadalai paruppu, soaked for 15 minutes
1 tsp tamarind paste dissolved in 2 cups water
2-3 tbsp finely grated coconut
2 tsp oil
2 heaped tsp sambar powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp brown mustard seeds
1 tbsp whole urad dal (or regular broken urad dal if you don't have whole)
1/4 tsp asafoetida powder
a few fresh curry leaves, torn up
1 tbsp rice flour
Salt to taste
Method:
1. Pressure cook the kothavarakkai with 2 cups tamarind water (3 whistles) or microwave (8-10 minutes in an 800W oven on full power). You can also cook it on the hob with 2 cups tamarind water till the vegetable is soft.
2. Cook the soaked chana dal/kadalai paruppu in 1 cup water on the hob until it is cooked but still retains its shape (should be able to easily squash the dal between your finger and thumb). There should not be too much water left.
3. Add the kothavarakkai to the chana dal along with the cooking water. The liquid level should be just enough to cover the dal and vegetable (you can add more water if required).
4. Add two heaped tsp sambar powder and stir it in.
5. Add salt to taste and stir that in too.
6. Mix the cooked masoor dal and 1 tbsp rice flour with some water from the pan itself, to make a pourable paste, and mix that in with the kothavarakkai in the pan.
Let this simmer on medium-low heat for 5 minutes.
7. In the meantime, heat 2 tsp oil in a small pan. Add the asafoetida powder, 1 tbsp whole urad dal, 1 tsp mustard seeds, the curry leaves and 1 tsp coriander powder and let it fry for 30-40 seconds on medium-high heat. When the urad dal starts turning a lovely reddish colour, add the grated coconut and fry till it begins to get a pale brown tinge and smells nutty and fried.
8. Add the fried coconut mix immediately to the kothavarakkai and stir it in.
Bring the kootu to a boil and let it remain on high heat for 2 minutes. Then take it off the heat and let it rest for 10 minutes. Serve warm with steamed white rice and appalam or vadam and any pickle.
RECIPE: KOTHAVARAKKAI KOOTU
Ingredients:
2 cups kothavarakkai, chopped
1/4 cup masoor dal, cooked and mashed
1/4 cup chana dal, soaked for 15 minutes
1 tsp tamarind paste dissolved in 2 cups water
2-3 tbsp finely grated coconut
2 tsp oil
2 heaped tsp sambar powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp brown mustard seeds
1 tbsp whole urad dal (or regular broken urad dal if you don't have whole)
1/4 tsp asafoetida powder
a few fresh curry leaves, torn up
1 tbsp rice flour
Salt to taste
Method:
1. Pressure cook the kothavarakkai with 2 cups tamarind water (3 whistles) or microwave (8-10 minutes in an 800W oven on full power). You can also cook it on the hob with 2 cups tamarind water till the vegetable is soft.
2. Cook the soaked chana dal/kadalai paruppu in 1 cup water on the hob until it is cooked but still retains its shape (should be able to easily squash the dal between your finger and thumb). There should not be too much water left.
3. Add the kothavarakkai to the chana dal along with the cooking water. The liquid level should be just enough to cover the dal and vegetable (you can add more water if required).
4. Add two heaped tsp sambar powder and stir it in.
5. Add salt to taste and stir that in too.
6. Mix the cooked masoor dal and 1 tbsp rice flour with some water from the pan itself, to make a pourable paste, and mix that in with the kothavarakkai in the pan. Let this simmer on medium-low heat for 5 minutes.
7. In the meantime, heat 2 tsp oil in a small pan. Add the asafoetida powder, 1 tbsp whole urad dal, 1 tsp mustard seeds, the curry leaves and 1 tsp coriander powder and let it fry for 30-40 seconds on medium-high heat. When the urad dal starts turning a lovely reddish colour, add the grated coconut and fry till it begins to get a pale brown tinge and smells nutty and fried.
8. Add the fried coconut mix immediately to the kothavarakkai and stir it in. Bring the kootu to a boil and let it remain on high heat for 2 minutes. Switch off the heat and serve warm with steamed white rice and appalam or vadam and any pickle.
This is the third recipe using flaxseeds that I'm posting here in as many weeks... I haven't gone totally flaxseed crazy, honest. I do have other posts to write, and I have made other things (NOT using flaxseeds!) that need to be posted on my blog. But I'm still feeling an inexplicable antipathy to editing the darn photos, especially if there are lots of photos to choose from, and lots of photos to use with each recipe. Part of the problem is having to use a new photo editing tool (Picnik, free and online, which Nupur mentioned in a comment and which I latched on to quicker than quick) which seems slower than what I was using. Not that Picnik is difficult to use, it's just different... and yes, I'm just cribbing because I can... simbly only.
So yeah, before my solitary (but persistent) troll, who has cribbed before about the number and the quality of pics I use for each recipe, suggests that I use NO pix at all and thus resolve my anti-editing issues, I hasten to say that YES, that would be one solution. The other solution would be to perhaps cut down on the number of pics for each recipe... but I'm averse to doing that too. What I need is for someone to take over and kindly edit my photos. Actually what I need is someone who will take AND edit the photos, thereby hopefully making my blog a thing of beauty... but sadly that is not going to happen any time soon. *deep sigh* So until then I'm going to be posting recipes which have only a few instructions, and therefore only a few photos!
So, about today's recipe - the upma is really quite nice. But I'd probably powder the roasted flaxseeds next time, so as to release their aroma and flavour. (This is an older recipe than the previous one, and I hadn't discovered that powdered roasted flaxseeds are far superior in taste and aroma!)
PS. If you're wondering why there are no trolly comments to be seen on any of my posts, it's because I delete them. Not because they're critical of my efforts, but because the troll chooses to stay anonymous. I'll be damned if I let a coward take up any space on my blog.
Recipe for: Flaxseed aval/poha upma
Ingredients:
1 cup aval/poha/beaten rice
2 tbsp golden flaxseeds/linseeds
1 tsp chana dal
1 tsp urad dal (I used whole)
1 medium onion, chopped finely
3-4 green chillies (or to taste), sliced finely
3 tsp oil
2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
Handful of red peanuts with skin
salt to taste
lemon juice to taste
Method:
1. Soak the chana dal and urad dal in hot water for 15 minutes.
2. Rinse the aval/poha in water once or twice, sprinkle with 3-4 tbsp water and set aside covered so that the aval can absorb the water and rehydrate. The soaked aval/poha should be soft but not gooey or sticky.
3. Heat 2 tsp oil in a pan and add the asafoetida powder, mustard seeds and green chillies. Cover the pan and let the mustard seeds pop. Add the chana and urad dals (drained), and fry them for 3-4 minutes. Then add the chopped onions and stir-fry till they are soft and cooked.
4. Add the soaked softened aval/poha to the pan and stir it in.
5. Add the dry-roasted linseeds/flaxseeds and mix that in as well, along with salt to taste.
and the chopped coriander. Sprinkle lemon/lime juice to taste and mix it in.
6. Fry the peanuts separately in the remaining tsp oil till they emit a nice aroma and the skin turns a shiny dark red. Scatter them over the poha and serve the finished upma for a snack or a light meal.
This is the recipe which changed my mind about the tasteworthiness of flaxseeds/linseeds and convinced me that these seeds have a permanent place in my kitchen.
I understand these seeds are chemically stable in seed form and keep well without going rancid, but flaxseed oil goes rancid quickly. What I don't know, however, is how long they keep after being roasted and powdered. But I figure that if you make this podi (powder) in small batches, it should get around any potential problems of rancidity.
Oh, and a cautionary note on the pack of flax seeds I bought: Please ensure that you drink at least 150ml water extra per tbsp of flax seeds you consume, as they can cause constipation (especially if you don't normally drink plenty of water in the course of your day, I guess). I should think, however, that if you use a tbsp - or even two - of the paruppu podi with rice for a single portion, the flax seeds should not interfere with the digestion because of the other ingredients that also go to make up the powder.
Try this podi mixed with hot cooked rice and a dollop of ghee... ahhh, heaven!
Recipe for: Flax seed/linseed paruppu podi
Ingredients:
1/4 cup tur dal
1/8 cup urad dal
1/8 cup chana dal
1/8 cup golden flax seeds
5-6 dried red chillies
3/4 tsp black peppercorns
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
10 fresh or frozen curry leaves
1/4 tsp asafoetida powder
Salt to taste
1. Dry roast the chana dal and tuvar dal together with the dried red chillies till they turn aromatic and pale golden brown and the red chillies are a darker shade.
2. Dry roast the urad dal, golden flax seeds, black pepper corns, curry leaves and cumin seeds till the seeds are golden brown and the curry leaves are crisp
3. Let all the dals and seeds cool completely, then grind to a powder that is the texture of fine sand. Add salt to taste and mix well. Store in a clean dry jar.
