Quinoa upma

I have been seeing many quinoa recipes in the blogs and many restaurants. We were surprised to see quinoa served instead of rice with the regular curries at a local Indian restaurant nearby our place.  In my family, there are no takers for this grain yet :( Krithikha tries to at least have a few bites with me but Aryaa doesn't even want to do anything with this just like his appa :)  My huuby liked this upma though, I made sure I made it a little bit spicier. Usually when I making upma with different grains other than the regular rava, I add tomatoes and also chili powder. This gives a different taste to these kinds of chewy grains. I am planning to make a less spicier version with vegetables for my little girl this weekend.


Ingredients:
1. Quinoa, 1 cup.
2. Onion, medium size, 1 diced finely.
3. Tomato, small, 1, chopped.
4. Green chilies, 2, slit into two.
5. Finely chopped ginger, 1/2 tablespoon.
6. Fresh or frozen green peas, 1/4 cup (optional).
7. Turmeric powder, a pinch.
8. Chili powder, 1/4 teaspoon.
9. Salt as per taste.
10. Curry leaves and chopped cilantro for garnishing.
11. Mustard seeds, 1/2 teaspoon.
12. Urad dhal, 1/2 teaspoon.
13. Channa dhal, 1/2 teaspoon.
14. Broken dried red chilies, 2.

Preparation:
Wash the quinoa well and keep aside. Heat a pan with a tablespoon of oil. Once the oil is hot enough, add the mustard seeds and let it splutter. Then add the urad dhal, channa dhal, and broken chilies and fry for a few seconds. Add the diced onions and sauté for a few minutes until they are translucent. Then add the chopped tomatoes, green chilies, chopped ginger, along with salt, turmeric powder, and chili powder and keep sautéing until everything is blended. Add 2 cups of water and once the water comes to a boil, add the quinoa. Cook under low-to-medium flame for 10-12 minutes until the quinoa is cooked and the dish turns dry. Garnish with curry leaves and cilantro and serve hot with coconut chutney.

Whole moong dhal masala/ curry

This recipe is an adaptation of my friend's. She had served this curry for dinner a couple of years back and being a newbie at cooking, I was instantly attracted by the simplicity and the taste of this curry at the same time. I noted the recipe from her that night and have been making this ever since. During the years, I tweaked it to suit our taste but it is a hit every time. The ingredients and preparation is also a very easy one, it just takes a couple of minutes to cook this. You can also make this like a one-pot dish by adding everything in a pressure cooker (omit the sautéing in this cake) and cooking for the usual time.  I usually make this curry for lunch with rice and any spicy fried side dish for lunch and for dinner we have the same curry for rotis or dosas.  These days, I prepare these kinds of dishes, so all the cooking for the day is done at one time, and I can spend the rest of the evening taking my kids to the park or just spending time with them and not worry about dinner.

Ingredients:
1. Whole moong dhal, 1 cup.
2. Small onions, peeled and diced, 1 cup.
3. Tomatoes, 2, diced finely.
4. Ginger-garlic paste, 1 teaspoon.
5. Turmeric powder, a pinch.
6. Chili powder  or sambar powder, 1 teaspoon.
7. Garam masala powder, 1/2 teaspoon.
8. Mustard seeds, 1/2 teaspoon.
9. Cumin seeds, 1/2 teaspoon.
10. Salt as per taste.
11. Curry leaves and chopped cilantro for garnishing.

Preparation:
Wash the moong dhal and cook them with the turmeric powder until they are soft. I used a pressure cooker to cook the dhal (with enough water to cover them for up to 10 minutes for 3 whistles). Heat a pan with a tablespoon of oil. When the oil turns hot, add the mustard seeds and let it splutter. Then add the cumin seeds and fry for a few seconds. Add the diced onions and sauté for a few minutes until the onions are translucent.  Now add the chopped tomatoes, ginger-garlic paste, chili powder, garam masala powder, and salt and keep sautéing under low flame until everything is well blended. Add the cooked moong dhal now along with a cup of water, mix everything well, and cook for 5 minutes under low flame and the curry thickens up a little. Serve with rice, chapathis, idlis or dosas.

Variations:
Two slit green chiles can also be added along with the tomatoes during the sautéing process.

Toor dhal / thuvaram paruppu idli

I made these idlis after my mother-in-law's suggestion. She saw this recipe in a Tamil cooking show. She originally asked me to try it out with thattai paruppu (green lentils) and I had tried them with toor dhal the first time. We like these so much that I was experimenting them with moong dhal and then later with masoor dhal too.  The idlis were very soft and fluffy with all the lentils. These pair up well with coconut chutney or any tomato-based curries or chutneys or a simple idli podi.

Ingredients:
1. Toor dhal or moong dhal, or green lentils 2 cups.
2. Urad dhal, 1 cup.
3. Fenugreek seeds, 1 tablespoon.
4. Salt, a tablespoon.

Preparation:
Wash the dhals together and soak them 3-4 hours along with the fenugreek seeds.  Grind them along with some s water using a blender into a smooth paste until the batter is fluffy. Add salt to the batter and mix everything well. Let it sit overnight or 6-7 hours to allow fermentation to take place. When the batter has risen to 1/3rd of its size, they are ready to be steamed. Pour them into idli moulds and let it steam for 5-7 minutes. Once the idlis are cooked, remove them from the molds and serve with sambar or chutney.

Note: The softness of the idlis depends on the type of the urad dhal used. I have used the ratio of the flour to the dhal to 2:1 since I have used a blender to grind the batter. If using a mixer grinder, less dhal can be used. The same batter can also be used for preparing dosas.

Kothu chapathi / Chapathis and egg scramble

 Last week was a hectic with my hubby away on a 10-day trip to India. It was tough taking care of the kids through the time, weekends were especially tiring since they started missing their dad :( I managed to keep them busy by taking them out to parks and most of the evenings we were hanging around in the nearby shops and some grocery purchase in between. We even went to the nearby weekend Farmer's market but by the time daddy came home, mommy was totally exhausted and couldn't blog for a week!  We had a restful weekend though, mostly staying at home due to the bad weather and watching movies.  Coming on to the recipe, we had this for dinner this Sunday and this one was a sure winner at our house. You can make this on days when you want something else instead of the regular chapathis and curry and healthy too, definitely better than the original kothu parotta.


Ingredients:
1. Chapathis/ rotis, 3.
2. Onion, medium size, 2, diced finely.
3. Tomatoes, 1, chopped finely.
4. Green chilies,2, slit into 2.
5. Ginger-garlic paste, 1/2 teaspoon.
6. Fennel seeds, 1/2 teaspoon.
7. Chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon.
8. Turmeric powder, a pinch.
9. Garam masala powder, 1/2 teaspoon.
10. Eggs, 2.
11. Curry leaves and chopped cilantro for garnishing.
12. Salt as per taste.

Preparation:
Cut or tear the chapathis into small bite-size pieces and keep aside. Heat a pan with a tablespoon of oil. When the oil is hot enough, add the fennel seeds and fry for a few seconds. Add the diced onions now and sauté for a few minutes until the onions turn translucent. Then add the chopped tomatoes, green chilies, and ginger-garlic paste and sauté for a few more minutes until everything is well blended. Now add the chili powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder, and salt and mix everything well. Cook under low flame for 5 minutes until the spices lose their raw flavor. Add the torn chapathi pieces and mix everything well and let it cook for 2 minutes. Break the eggs into the chapathi mixture and scramble them until the dish turns a little dry and the eggs coat the chapathis. Garnish with curry leaves and chopped cilantro and serve hot with tomato ketchup.

Note: Chapathis can be substituted with pita breads, tortillas, or any other breads.