Simple Meal of Rice, Dal Fry and Jeera Aloo

Comfort food  is usually one which is a very simple meal without many masalas or which doesn’t involve long time in cooking it. This is a comfort food which i like to binge on when i have had too many eat outs. It is a simple meal which is best enjoyed when steaming hot with a dollop of Ghee.

Rice Dal Fry and Jeera Aloo

Ingredients

Rice

1 Cup Rice

2 cups water

salt

Dal Fry

Masoor dal 1/2 cup

1/4 cup Moong Dal

1 G.chilli

1″ Ginger

2 Garlic Cloves

Ghee 1 tbsp

Rai 1 tsp

Hing a big pinch

Haldi 1/4 tsp

salt to taste

Coriander leaves.

Jeera Aloo

Potatoes 2 medium ones

Oil 1 tbsp

Jeera 2 tbsp

Salt to taste

Method

Wash both the dals nicely, add ginger garlic and g.chilli with 1 cup water and place it in the pressure cooker.

Wash rice nicely add water and salt and keep that bowl on top of the dal bowl in the cooker

Wash potaoes nicley and place it in the cooker.

I have a big cooker so i can pressure cook all 3 together. It is so much time saving as well.

Pressure cook the above for 3 whistles.

If u dont have a cooker you would have to cook all of them separately.

When cooker is cooled proceed further.

Transfer the cooked rice in a Hotcase so that the rice will remain hot.

Dal Fry

Heat ghee in a vessel add rai,and hing.

Add haldi and the cooked dals along with salt.

Add water if the consistency is too thick.

Simmer for 5 mins and garnish with coriander leaves.

Jeera Aloo

Peel and cut the potatoes into thick strips

Heat oil in a pan,  add jeera and when it splutters add potatoes and salt and give a nice mix.

Cook them on a medium flame for another 5 mins by stirring between intervals for the potatoes to be roasted nicely.

Serve hot rice along with dal fry andd jeera aloo.

Dont forget to add a small dollop of ghee on rice.

A perfect meal 🙂

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Dal Kaanda

Dal kaanda is a spicy maharastrain dal which makes use of goda masala and is a great accompaniment to rice or roti.I had it for the 1st time when i was visiting my inlaws and loved this dal. In their house majority of the cooking was done on wood fire and it surely does impart a different flavor to the dish as well.

Dal Kaanda

Ingredients

Tur Dal 1/2 cup

Onion 2 large ones chopped

Garlic 3 cloves crushed

Oil 1 tbsp

Rai 1/2 tsp

Jeera 1 tsp

Kala/Goda masala 2 tbsp

Roasted peanut powder 2 tbsp

haldi 1/2 tsp

salt to taste

water as required

Corinader leaves.

Method

Wash and dal nicely and drain the water.

Heat oil in a kadai,  add rai ,jeera and then add onions and garlic

Saute then for 2 mins on a low flame.

Add dal and saute on a slow flame till u get a nutty aroma of the dal.

Add water and haldi and cook the dal on a medium flame for 15 mins.

The dal will be half cooked at this stage , then add salt, kala masala , peanut powder and mix nicely.

Cook again for the 10-15 mins till the dal is completely cooked but has its shape.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with roti and rice.

Belekadubina Unde – A dish From Mysore For Indian Cuisine Series

Wikipedia’s search of Mysore got me this “Mysore  in English, Kannada: ಮೈಸೂರು Maisūru) is the second largest city in the state of Karnataka, India. It is the headquarters of the Mysore district and the Mysore division and lies about 146 km (91 mi) southwest of Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka. The name Mysore is an anglicised version of Mahishūru, which means the abode of Mahisha. Mahisha stands for Mahishasura, a demon from Hindu mythology. The city is spread across an area of 128.42 km² (50 sq mi) and is situated at the base of theChamundi Hills.

Mysore is famous for the festivities that take place during the Dasara festival when the city receives a large number of tourists. Mysore also lends its name to the Mysore mallige, theMysore style of painting, the sweet dish Mysore Pak, the Mysore Peta (a traditional silk turban) and the garment called the Mysore silk saree. In an exercise carried out by the Urban Development Ministry under the national urban sanitation policy, Mysore was rated the second cleanest city in India in 2010 and the cleanest in Karnataka.^[3]  

I Love Mysore and have lived here all my life here, can’t think of settling in any other place than Mysore.When I started the Indian Cuisine Series, i wanted to prepare something which is not well-known and i have not prepared it anytime. So when speaking to one my friend about this, she happily shared this recipe with me, it is a regular breakfast fare at her home. So happy to have tried it out coz it came out very well and my daughter loved having these.My friend minnu and me go way back to our college days, but lost touch after college and now thanx to Facebook we are in touch with each other.

Todays recipe Belekadubina Unde means steamed lentils dumplings but i have prepared them in the shape of Idlis.

Belekadubina Unde

(Steamed Lentils Dumplings)

 Ingredients

 Moong Dal ¾ cup

Tur Dal ¼ Cup

Urad Dal 3tbsp

Rice 1 Tbsp

2. Chopped Onions

1 small bunch coriander leaves

2 Small bunch dill leaves

Salt

¼ cup grated coconut

Grind to a paste

3 G.chillies

1 tsp jeera

A pinch hing

1’’ ginger

¼ tsp haldi

5-6 leaves pudina

Method

 Wash the dals nicely and soak overnight.

Grind to a coarse paste

Wash coriander and dill leaves and chop finely

Mix the dal paste, salt, greens, chopped onion, grated coconut and the g.chillies paste and mix nicely.

This batter is thick more like a the batter you prepare for dal pakoras

Grease your idli plates and add around 2 tbsp of batter into it and just lightly press with the spoon evenly.

Steam for 20 mins and serve hot with Ghee and Coconut Chutney.

Coconut Chutney

½ cup grated coconut

3 g.chillies

1” Ginger

Coriander Leaves

Phutana\Daria\Fried Gram 2 tbsp

Grind all these to a smooth paste and add salt and mix nicely

You can temper the chutney with Mustard seeds and curry leaves.

Note.

The Idlis turned out to be nice and soft in spite of not much water in it.

These idlis tasted a bit like the masala dal wadas we get here.

I had some more batter left and prepared Appe’s with them, even they turned out to be good.

Thanx Minnu for sharing the recipe.

Chawla\ Black Eyed Beans Gravy

A Simple Curry to kick-start this month…….I had planned to prepare something for the Indian Cuisine Series I have started but things have been a bit busy here so maybe the next post will be linked to that. The Last some days i have thought a lot about the reason for me to start blogging, I have been following many food blogs from quiet some time, and always wanted to have a food blog of mine and finally do have one but after posting some recipes I was struck,I had to stop myself and think about it, like I wanted my blog to reflect me and it does in a sense but i wanted more from it. Sometimes I am a very lazy cook and hate the thought of entering the kitchen and cooking something……so the blog was a challenge for me to enter the kitchen to stir up new recipes and share it with you all. The Idea behind the Indian Cuisine Series was that, I wanted to push myself to try up new recipes which I have never heard of or have prepared it in my kitchen. Hope that I do succeed in that.

Lets go to the recipe i am sharing with u all 2day, at home we call it as chawla ki subzi, it is also called as black-eyed beams or Lobia.

Chawla\ Black Eyed Peas Gravy

Ingredients

Chawla\Black Eyed Beans 1cup

Oil 2 tbsp

Jeera 1tsp

Hing a pinch

Onion 1 finely Chopped

Haldi 1/4 tsp

R.Chilli Powder 1 Tbsp

Dhaniya Jeera Powder 1tsp

Salt To taste

To make a paste

Tomatoes 2 Big ones

2 Cloves Garlic

Fresh Grated Coconut 2tbsp( Even 2 Tbsp of malai will do)

Kitchen King Masala 1 tsp

A fer sprigs of Coriander leaves

Method

1.Soak Chawla overnight or if  in a hurry soak it in hot water for an hour.(I Usually forget to soak them at night so hot water is my trick)

2. Heat Oil In a pressure cooker, add Jeera, hing and then add chopped onions,  saute them till they turn a bit light brown in color.

3.Now add Haldi, R.chilli and dhaniya Jeera powder, add saute for some seconds on a low flame.

4. Add the Tomato Paste and cook nicely till the oil separates.

5. Add the soaked Chawla, salt and mix it nicely.

6. Add about 2 cups of water and pressure cook for 4 whistles.

7. When the cooker has cooled down check the consistency of the gravy,It should be semi thick and garnish with coriander leaves and kasuri methi.

Serve Hot with Roti\Rice\Bread(My personal choice)

Note.

Add the masalas depending upon the spice level u prefer.

Instead of coconut u can also add 2 tbsp of malai for the creaminess.

I do it in the cooker as it is quick way of doing it and I also feel when done like this the Chawla absorbs all the flavor of the masalas.

Happy Cooking to u all!!