...and some more

Dear foodies,

kala chana, pre-soaked, boiled in salted water, drained and seasoned with mustard, cumin, urad dal, red chillies, curry leaves, a pinch of turmeric and fresh grated coconut.

I have told many many times on this space how much I like sundal - boiled lentils/beans delicately seasoned with coconut, cumin & mustard seeds, with a hint of hing. When you want something filling, fun and simple to act as a protein booster in your diet, this is the way to go! Its healthy and cheap! I bought some chickpeas & pinto beans from the bulk bins at the local organic store and a pack each of raw peanuts and kala channa from the Indian store last month.

raw peanuts, boiled in salted water, drained & seasoned with mustard, cumin, urad dal, red chillies and a hint of turmeric

I pre-soaked the beans and boiled them in salted water for 3 whistles in my Prestige cooker, drained and stored in the fridge or freezer, I have a quick snack/meal waiting for me. They also are perfect side to a vegetable salad or soup, giving it the well needed protein addition and making a meal out of it. With the weather stubbornly sticking to its cold winter patterns and rainy evenings this is one recipe I've been going back to. I've also made them with chickpeas, chana dal and whole moong beans. When I have some English cucumber on hand, I dice them and add them along with diced tomatoes and chopped cilantro. Some chaat masala on top and its perfect. The added bonus of using dried beans is the ability to sprout them. It makes you feel good about the chips or chocolates you might be eating on the side :-P

I've always been using canned beans out of convenience. At 99cents a can, they seemed cheap and going through the soaking and boiling looked like a chore I could pass on. But over the last 2 months I forced myself to get rid of all the canned stuff and try the dried beans to check how much of a hassle they really were. None at all! yes, its not much work at all. No matter how big or small a batch, your prep time taken is the same. So I end up going for larger portions which I can store in the freezer. I now have some cooked pinto beans, chickpeas and kala chana sitting in the freezer ready to be thrown into soups, curries or a sundal. It's so much more cheaper and tastier to boot. The canned stuff mostly ended up being a last resort meal option rather than a well thought out dinner plan, I never really cared much for how I used them. All that's changed now. and I like it this way. So if you have canned beans sitting deep within your pantry closet, give them a break and try your hand at using dry beans. Black-eyed peas and dried peas are next on my shopping list, I did not want to buy them all at once and end up not using any.

So if you are having a lazy Sunday like I am, then set some beans out for soaking, make yourself a warm cup of tea and finish this crossword!

are those the answers there, hmmmm

Sundal - Happy Dasara!

Dear foodies,

A very Happy Dasara to all of you!

I could not go through Dasara and not make sundal, that would be blasphemous! I used to look forward to this festival so I can go around hogging on sundal, not just made my mom but everyone in the neighbor hood :P (now don't you bring this up!) So here goes this year's quota,

Ingredients:

• 1 can - Chickpeas, or dry beans, soaked overnight and pressure cooked until tender but still holding shape.
• 1 tsp - Mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp - Cumin seeds
• 1 tsp - Chana dal
• 1 tsp - finely chopped Green chillies
• 1 nos -Red chili
• 5-6 nos - Curry leaves
• a pinch of Asafoetida/hing
  
• 2 Tbsp - grated, fresh Coconut
• 2 tsp - Oil
• Salt to taste

Method:

1. Heat a suate pan with oil on medium heat. Add the mustard and cumin seeds, when they start splutering add the dal. As they start turning a deep orange add the chopped green chilli, saute for a minute, then the broken red chili and curry leaves with a pinch of asafoetida.
2. Next add the chickpeas, salt and saute for 3-4 mins. Since they are pre-cooked, we only need to get them coated well with the seasonings. Before turning off the heat add the grated coconut and saute for an additional minute, cover and let it rest for a sometime so the flavors blend together.

Thats it, you are all done. You can add chopped green mango to this recipe in the last step like I did here. I seem to have done much better in the cooking department when I was still in school! hmph!!

My mother would make sundal with a different legume/bean every day for Navratri. I've only tried it with chickpeas and lima beans until now. Peanuts, chana dal, moong dal, kala chana, dry green/white peas, blackeyed peas can all be used. I am sure I've left out a few more options but you get the idea right ? :)

Enjoy your day :)

Sundal Cravings...

Dear Foodies,

Sundal

If some one asks me what I miss most about the start of the festive season, food would fight for the top position along with the new clothes and the pooja customs. Each one of our festivals is accompanied by its very own, unique 'menu'. Its like rules written on stone, each preparation will invoke the memories of one particular festival. Varalakshmi vratam and Dussehra start the Sundal cravings for me. Varalakshmi vratam is like the "starter", just one evening of going arnd collecting all the various types of Sundal. My brother and I would tag along with my mom as she goes from house to house for tambulam just for the extra packet of Sundal. By the end of the trip we would have nearly every legume covered and soo many different flavor combos. Though the list of ingredients is pretty narrow, when paired with the legumes/beans used, the permutations and combinations are way too many ! And then comes Dasara, the "main course", my mom would prepare a different variety of sundal for each of the 9 days....yummmy !

Here go two varieties of sundal that I have tried and loved. The first one is with Lima beans. I absolutely love these. They taste a little like peas, but not as sweet and have a nice bite to them. I use them in a lot of mixed vegetable & rice preparations. I had a whole pack of these and knew this was the best way to get rid of the whole batch and enjoy the dish.

Lima Beans Sundal

Ingredients:

• 1 pack: frozen Lima beans
• 1/2 Tbsp: Oil
• 2 tsp: Mustard seeds
• 1 tsp: Cumin seeds
• 2 tsp: Urad dal
• A pinch of hing/asafoetida and turmeric
• 2 nos: dry Red chillies
• 10nos: Curry leaves
  
• 1/2 cup: desiccated coconut flakes or fresh/frozen grated coconut

Method:

1. Thaw the frozen beans and microwave them for about 5-6mins. Sprinkle a few drops of water before microwaving if they look too dry. The beans should be cooked but not mushy.
   
2. Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds, jeera and urad dal.
3. Once the dal starts changing color add the turmeric, hing, red chillies and curry leaves. Give it a minute for the curry leaves to turn crispy and then add the cooked beans and coconut.
4. Mix well and season with salt. Reduce the flame and cook for another extra minute allowing the flavors to blend.

Thats it ! I think I might have to take away the 'Method' sub-heading going by its length in my last few entires :))

The next one is my all time favorite ! The king of all Sundals, made with chickpeas :) With canned chickpeas making this one is a breeze. I also had some semi-ripe mangoes that I added to it and I was all set to go on an outing to the beach in Madras :)

Sundal 'to go' potlam for you

The only difference in this version is you don't have to cook the chickpeas separately. Just drain and wash them thoroughly to get rid of all the liquid that comes in the can. I used chana dal in the seasoning. I chopped the mango and tossed it in the oil before the chickpeas so that the oil also gets infused with the mango flavor too. I used frozen fresh coconut that you get in the Indian stores for this one. I also used a green chilli, but you can adjust the heat to your taste. This one is surely the best combo for Sundal, the slight tang and sweetness from the mango paired with the chickpeas and coconut is absolutely fantastic.

Other Sundal victims: black eyed peas, Green peas, boiled chana dal, boiled peanuts, cooked kala chana, batani...the options are endless!

Enjoy & Have a great day !

Happy Dasara

Dear Foodies,

~~ A VERY HAPPY DASARA TO ALL OF YOU !! ~~

I made Pongal and Sundal as naivedyam on Friday and here are the pictures. I will be posting the recipes a little later as I plan to make more goodies for Vijayadasami too. :-)

Dasara in our house is a big event. We have the custom of keeping 'kolu/golu', which is an exhibit of dolls(made of clay or wood), majorly consisting of Gods. We usually have a 5 or7 step arrangement. A few dolls that we have in our collection in India are:a Ashtalakshmi set, Dasavataram, a doll set depicting a market place, a collection of animals which we arrange in some wet soil to depict a zoo, a temple with a band of muscians. The most reacent major entrant is a cricket set which is soo much fun to set-up :-). I miss being at home for this festival. It was always soo interesting to help my mom arrange the dolls.

I was of the opinion that Dasara and Dussera were just two different ways of spelling the festival name in English, but wikipedia says otherwise....read about the interesting twist:
Dasara and Dussera

I made some Rava Kesari and Bajji(potato fritters) on Sunday for the Saraswati puja naivedyam. A little about the puja from wiki

The goddess Saraswati is worshipped during Navaratri. In South India, Saraswati Puja is a very important festival. The last three days of Navarathri starting from Mahalaya Amavasya (the New Moon day) are dedicated to the goddess. On the ninth day of Navaratri (Mahanavami), books and all musical instruments are ceremoniously kept near the gods early at dawn and worshipped with special prayers. No studies or any performance of arts is carried out, as it is considered that the Goddess herself is blessing the books and the instruments.

I had some batter left even after I used up all the sliced potatoes. It was then in a sudden flash that I realised my mother uses a slotted spoon to make boondi and I was using one such spoon to drain the oil from the fritters. And soo... I happyily made use of the extra batter in making boondi's instead of peeling another potato for the fritters :-) They were nice n crisp and it was wonderful eating them after a looong time :-) I think I am going to make boondi's more often as they are soo simple to make and yet soo tasty.