Vaangi baath

Yet another week day lunch recipe :)

My husband loves it and i don't need to make a veggie side dish to go with it since there are already so many veggies in it!

Ingredients
MTR vaangibaath masala
1.5 cups raw rice
1 capsicum , thinly sliced longitudinally
10-15 baby carrots , cut longitudinally in to thin slices
15-20 beans sliced in to diamonds
handful of peas (Too lazy to get the fresh peas, so i end up using frozen :( )
Cilantro to garnish

For saute
1/2 - 1 handful channa daal
mustard
curry leaves
3 dry red chillies
optional - handful peanuts

Procedure
1. Heat sesame oil in a pan.Add channa daal, mustard, curry leaves, red chillies and peanuts.(You can roast peanuts in the microwave)
2. Add the veggies with turmeric and salt. Saute till cooked
3. Add tamarind and boil till raw smell goes away.
4. Add the MTR masala and mix well
5. Add cilantro to garnish

Masala Rice

We had this dish at a movie party at our friend Santhan's place.Our friend Abhi made it and I was surprised to learn how easy it was to make it.

I make it often for weekday lunches.It goes well with raita and chips (baked, of course :).

Ingredients
Raw rice - 1 cup
Toor daal - 1/3 cup
peanuts - 1/2 cup (approx. a handful)
Onion - 1, finely chopped
Ginger garlic paste - 1 spoon
turmeric
Garam masala - 1 tbsp (or more if you want it to be more spicy)
(Ideally you should use kaala garam masala, but i could not find it in the indian store)
4.5 cups water

For Saute
Mustard 1 spoon
Jeera 1.5 spoons

Procedure
1. Heat oil.Add mustard, jeera, gg paste.
2. Add onions with salt and saute till onions turn golden brown.
3. Add rice and daal with water.
4. Add garam masala .
5. Cook for 3 or 4 whistles.

More Kolambu

This a a good dish for hot summer days!!I usually make urulakangu or beans usuli to go with this dish.

Ingredients

Soak and grind:
1.5 heaped spoons coriander seeds
1 spoon channa daal
1 spoon jeera
2 dry red chillies
1 small slice coconut (if you dont want coconut, just increase the amount of channa daal and coriander seeds.It comes out great)

For Saute:
Mustard
Asafoetida
Red chilli -1
Curry leaves
Turmeric

Procedure

1. After grinding, slowly add curd and beat in the mixie so that the curd mixes well with the other ingredients.
2. Heat sesame oil.Add mustard, asafoetida, chilli, curry leaves and turmeric.
3. Add mix from step 1.Add salt.
4. Remove after the mix just starts boiling.
5. Add finely chopped cilantro. (I sometimes add lemon juice to make it more sour).

Rasam

Rasam from scratch - heavenly with paruppu, appalam and uralakalangu!! It is easy to make !!

Ingredients

Grind:
2 Tomatoes on the vine
3/4 spoon pepper
1.5 spoons Jeera
5 cloves of garlic
4 curry leaves
1/2 handful cilantro

For saute:
mustard
asafoetida
red chillies-2

1/4 lime size tamarind

Procedure
1. Heat sesame oil in a pan.Add mustard, red chillies curry leaves and asafoetida.
2. Add the mix ground above.Saute for 5 minutes or so. the color of the mix will change and the raw smell will go away.
3. If needed, you can added the tamarind as well with some water.(I also add one spoon rasam powder and half spoon saambhar powder that my mom makes for more flavor.)
4. Add ghee if you want its delightful aroma
5. Dont let the mix come to a boil (if you did not add tamarind) .Remove from heat once froth appears.

Masal Dosai

This is a dish that i used to take for granted back home. My mom used to make it even on week day mornings with saambhar and chutney. After 4 years of having cereal and milk in the morning, that seems like the breakfast that dreams are made of!!

But I cant even imagine going through so much trouble for breakfast - my husband may get used to such comforts all too soon ;) So I usually make it for dinner on weekends or when we have friends come over for brunch.

Ingredients
Potatoes- 2 (I get the big, long baking potatoes)
Onions - 2 (big Sweet Onions)- Finely chopped
Green chillies - 2-3 finely chopped green chillies
Cilantro - Few stems
Mustard - 1/2 spoon
Channa daal - 1-2 spoons
ginger - 1 inch finely grated
garam masala - 1 level spoon (You can add more if you want more flavor)
Jeera - 1/2 spoon
Saunf - 1/4 spoon (crush it in you palm before adding)

Procedure
1. Heat oil.Add mustard, channa daal, green chillies, ginger and Jeera (Take care not to burn the jeera -add it last )
2. Add onions, saute, then add salt. Salt will help in getting the onions get cooked faster.
3. Add potato (after boiling in a cooker) and some water till potato and onions get well mixed and cooked.
4. Add cilantro till cooked. Add garam masala and saunf.

Ven Pongal

This is one of my favorite dishes. My mom always made pongal on sunday mornings.In fact, it the enticing aroma of saambhar that convinced me to wake up early. This is a very easy and simple dish to make. But to truly enjoy it, you need to make saambhar and chutney as well.

Ingredients
1 cup raw rice
1/2 cup paasiparuppu
1 spoon pepper
1 spoon jeera
1/4 inch ginger - finely grated
green chillies - 2 , finely chopped
8-9 curry leaves
Asafoetida, salt
5.5 cups water


Optional
1 spoon ghee
Few cashew nuts

Procedure
1. Heat spoon of oil.Add pepper,jeera,cashew nuts,ginger, green chillies .Add jeera last since it browns very fast.
2. Add rice and daal (after washing and draining) and saute
3. Add salt and asafoetida
4. Add water
5. 4-5 whistles in cooker will make it really soft.Add ghee after opening the cooker.
Important : Cook pongal just before you plan to serve else it tends to become little lumpy.Else, add half a cup of hot water and mix well before serving.