Chunky Tomato Onion Gojju
Wednesday, June 08, 2022
A simple side dish to go with chapthi, roti, dosa and even rice. May be used as savory bread spread as well. Since it does not go bad easily, it is good to take in lunch-box. This is a south Indian style dish, lets say a distance cousin of Tomato Chutney. Gojju is somewhere in between chutney and a curry :))
Ingredients:
- 3 - tomato medium size
- 1 - onion small size
- ¼ cup - fresh coriander - chopped
- 3 tbsp - sambar powder
- 1 tsp - chana dal | split chickpeas
- 1 tsp - urad dal | black gram
- ½ tsp - cumin seeds
- 1 tsp - mustard seeds
- pinch - hing / asafoetida
- 1 stem - curry leaves
- ½ tsp - turmeric powder
- 1 tsp - jaggery or sugar
- 1 tbsp - tamarind pulp
- 2 tbsp - oil
- salt - as per taste
Preparation:
- In a small bowl, soak chana dal and urad dal. Just for about 10 minutes, not too long
- If not using store brought tamarind pulp, soak small-lemon size tamarind in water
- Chop tomatoes and keep aside.
- Finely cut onion and coriander leaves, keep aside.
Method:
- In a pan heat oil, once oil is hot, add mustard seeds. once the mustard seeds starts to sputter, add cumin seeds, curry leaves, asafoetida, and drained chana dal and urad dal, Stir for few seconds.
- Add cut onion and jaggery. Stir and cook until onion is translucent.
- Now add cut tomatoes and sauté for a minutes.
- To the mixture, now add turmeric powder, tamarind extract and salt.
- Stir the mixture, cover and let it cook for about 10 minutes or until the tomatoes looks cooked
- Now add sambar powder and mix. This is a good time to taste to check if salt and spice are right. If needed add salt and/or red chill powder or sambar powder if you prefer the gojju to be more spicy.
- Cover and continue to cook for 3 more minutes or until you will notice the oil separates and starts to collect at the edge of the pan.
- Once done, transfer to serving bowl, garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with chapati/roti/dosa or rice..
Labels: Side-Dish, South-Indian Dish, Vegetarian
Bisi Bele Bath
Tuesday, June 07, 2022
Bisi Bele Bath - literally translates to 'hot lentil rice'. It is an authentic dish from the state of Karnataka, India. Bisi Bele Bath is a complete meal, with lentils and vegetables and rice. Onion/tomato raita, kara (spicey) boondi and potato chips are usually served on the side with Bisi Bele Bath. I have included recipe for onion & tomato raita at the end of this post. Try this traditional recipe and enjoy it with your family and friends.
Ingredients for Masala:
- 1 tsp - urad dal | black gram
- 1 tsp - chana dal | split chickpeas
- 1 tsp - dhania seeds | coriander seeds
- 1 tsp - jeera | cumin seeds
- 1 tsp - khus khus | white poppy seeds
- 1/2 tsp - methi seeds | fenugreek seeds
- 1/4 tsp - mustards seeds
- 2 to 3 - lavanga | cloves
- 1 small piece - cinnamon
- 4 to 5 - Red chilli ( I use Byadagi red chilli )
- 1 Tbsp or as per taste - tamarind paste
- 2 Tbsp - grated fresh coconut
Ingredients
- 1 cup - Rice ( I use Sona Masoori Rice)
- 3/4 cup - Toor dal | pigeon peas lentil
- 1 - Kohlrabi ( 'navilu kosu'[ನವಿಲು ಕೋಸು] )
- 1 - potato
- 1 - carrot
- 1 - medium sized onion
- 1/2 cup - green peas
- 1/2 cup - peanuts
- 5 to 7 - green beans
- 7 tp 10 - curry leaves
- 1/4 tsp - mustards seeds
- 1 pinch - hing | asafoetida
- 1/2 tsp - haldi | turmeric powder
- 1 tsp - jaggery
- 1 Tbsp - oil
- Salt as per taste
- For garnish:
- 1 Tbsp - ghee
- 1/4 cup - cashew nuts
Preparations:
- Wash rice with water and let it soak for about 15 mins. Cook the rice and keep aside
- Wash toor dal ( pigeon peas ) and keep aside for soaking.
- Wash and cut potato, carrot, kohlrabi into cubes
- Wash and cut green beans
- Cut onion into big pieces
- In a pressure cooker, add soaked toor dal, half of peanuts, cut onion, cut vegetables, turmeric powder and salt. Cook it with water for two to three cooker whistle. Turn off the flame and keep aside for the pressure to release on its own.
I have big pressure cooker with 2-tier inserts. I place all the vegetables in bottom tier-pan and cook rice in the top tier at the same time in one go rather than cooking them separately.
- PREPARE MASALA: In a pan, dry roast the masala ingredients - To the hot pan, first add mustard, cumin and fenugreek seeds, once it is slightly roasted and mustard starts to sputter, add the coriander seeds, khus khus, cloves, cinnamon, urad dal, channa dal and red chillies. Roast the mixture stirring continuously. Transfer the content to a blender (mixie). Now in the same pan, add grated coconut and roast on low flame. No need to turn it brown. Turn off the flame and transfer the coconut to the blender. Add tamarind-paste to the mixture, add some water, and grind into smooth paste. Keep aside.
Method:
- In a big thick bottom sauce pan or a cooker pan. Add oil and heat it on medium flame. Once oil is hot, add mustard seeds, asafoetida, curry leaves and rest of the peanuts, roast them.
- Now carefully add the ground masala (mind the oil is hot, if needed reduce the flame). Continue stirring and let the masala cook for 3 minutes.
- Slowly add 2 cup of water, jaggery and salt. Stir, and bring the mixture to boil on medium flame.
- Next, add the cooked lentil and vegetables. Mix, cover and let it cook for about three minutes.
- Finally add the cooked rice. Stir, cover and simmer for 5 minutes. The mixture should look mushy not dry. If needed heat a cup of water and mix it in. This is also a good time to check for salt. Once cooked turn off the flame.
- In a small seasoning pan, heat ghee, add cashew nuts and roast it. Pour the ghee and roasted cashew nuts over the Bisi Bele Bath.
- Serve hot with onion and tomato raita (see below for recipe); kara or masala boondi; and potato chips.
- Cut 1 onion and 1 tomato into small cubes.
- Cut green chilies into big pieces or length-wise. ... so it is easily visible and be able to separate it while eating.
- Add ¼ cup of water to 1 cup of curds and whisk the curds until it is smooth.
- To the curds, add salt, ginger powder and whisk to mix it all well.
- Now add onion, tomato, green chilies and chopped coriander leaves.
- Mix it and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or more before serving. This allows the flavor of the onion to be released.
- Serve chilled along with any spicy mixed rice or chapati.
- - ~ o 0 o ~ - -
Note:
- Do not use tomatoes or bell pepper (capsicum)
- May garnish with fresh coriander leaves.
Labels: Healthy dish, Lentil, Main Course, Meal, Raita, Rice, South-Indian Dish, Tiffin Variety, Vegetarian
Carrot and Tomato Soup
Monday, June 06, 2022
Heart warming, simple carrot and tomato soup. I got the recipe for this soup from my mom. Over the years I have made some small changes to it like adding the spices.
Ingredients:
- 5 - Tomatoes (big ones)
- 4 - Carrots
- 1 - Potato (helps give volume and to thicken the soup)
- 2 - Cinnamon sticks
- 3 - Bay leaves
- 1 tsp - Garlic powder or minced paste
- 1 tsp - Cumin powder
- ¼ tsp - Sugar
- 2 Tbsp - Butter
- Lime juice - as per taste
- Salt - as per taste
Method:
- Peel potato skin, wash and cut into big pieces. Wash and cut tomatoes and carrots.
- Cook all three vegetables adding some water. I cook them in pressure cooker.
- Let it cool down. Puree the cooked vegetables in a blender to a very smooth paste. [NOTE: if the tomatoes skin is thick, the skin needs to be removed by blenching before pureeing it]
- In a sauce pan, heat 1 Tbsp of butter on low flame. Once butter is melted and warm, add cinnamon sticks and bay leaves. Sauté for few seconds.
- Now carefully add the vegetable puree. Add a cup of water and stir.
- Add garlic powder, cumin powder, sugar and little bit of salt (more salt may be added later).
- Mix all together, increase the flame to medium heat, cover and bring to boil.
- Once it starts to boil reduce the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes.
- Turn off the flame. And fish out the cinnamon sticks and bay leaves.
- Do a taste-test, add fresh lime juice and salt as per taste.
- Add rest of the butter and mix.
- Serve hot with black-pepper powder and croutons ( and chess if one prefers)
Labels: Healthy dish, Soup, Vegetarian
