Pachmel Dal | Panchratna Dal

Pachmel Dal/Panchratna Dal-a unique north Indian style dal made with  five lentils.'Panch' in Hindi means five 'ratna' mean diamond/jewel.This dal is versatile in its name,lentils and method of preparation.

Ragi Idli|Ragi Flour Recipe

There is a lot to talk about this ragi idli.

1. Its very healthy one .I hear you!!! you are saying,"i know ".But its more than what do you think .This ragi idli is made with ragi flour and urad dal ,there is no rice.
2. No need to clean,soak and grind ragi.You can simply use ragi flour.
3. You can grind the urad dal with a Indian mixer.Even blender works.

       You can make 14 ragi idlies with the mentioned quantity.This is not a instant idli ,you have to ferment the batter .If you want a instant one you can follow the same procedure like making  rava idli.Add curd and rava to ragi and make idlies out of it.But what ever method you do.Don't forget to eat them hot.

Aloo Bonda (Urad Dal)

Usually aloo bonda is made with besan (gram dal flour), in this recipe besan is replaced by urad dal flour.

During weekends and holidays my little one and my hubby demand an evening snack. I always have a lot of questions on what to make, whether its healthy  and what is available in the pantry. This past weekend these questions and I came up with this Aloo Bonda recipe.

Aloo Bonda is popular snack in South India made with potatoes as filling inside besan flour. Its deep fried which makes it yummy. I had some Urad dal batter left over from the previous day and I used this instead of besan and made allo bonda.

Check other urad dal recipes Urad dal fritters,Urad dal vada

Preparation time:2 hour (soaking urad dal)+10 min

Cooking time:30 min

Serves:3

Lentils- Adai dosa

Adai dosa is a very nutritious dish. This used be a weekend special when I grew up. I never liked Adai when I was a kid, but my mom forced me to eat it because it had lots of lentils. Once I grew up and went to college I started liking this dish more and more and now its one of my favorites.

Adai Aviyal is a very famous dish in Tamil restaurants. When you want  a little change from the same old Dosa recipes you can prepare Adai. Actually the making Adai batter is much easier than making Idly or Dosa Batter. Here is the recipe.

Preparation time:15 min

Cooking time:5 min (each dosa)

Serves:3-4 

Urad Dal Fritters -Seeyam Chettinad Style

This is a Chettinad Special usually served in marriages and functions. Even though deep fried its very nutritious. The batter for this dish is similar to Vada batter. Its cooked like a fritter which makes it light. When I make Vada I usually keep Seeyam as Plan B. If the Vada batter gets too thin I use it to make Seeyam.
You can grind the batter in a regular blender or an Indian Mixer. You can make sweet Seeyam by stuffing with coconut and jaggery.

Preparation time:20 min

Cooking time:30 min

Serves:3-4

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Urad dal (Ulundam Paruppu) - Soaked for 2 hrs
• 1 tbsp Toor dal (Thuvaram Paruppu) - Soaked for 2 hrs
• Water needed for grinding.
• Salt as needed.
• Oil for frying.

To Temper:

• 1/2 tbsp Mustard seeds.
• 1/2 tbsp Urad dal.
• 1 small onion (very thinly sliced)

Method:

• Wash and soak the Urad Dal and Toor Dal for 2 -3 hrs .
• Grind in Wet grinder /Blender with less water. (Splash little bit of water when the grinder/blender not able to grind).

• Temper the oil with mustard seeds and urad dal .

• Add onions and saute them until translucent.
• Add this to the ground Urad dal  batter.
• Add required salt to the mixture.
• Make small balls or whatever shapes you like and deep fry them in oil until it changes color.
• Serve them as a snack or as an appetizer.

Note:

• Dont make the batter too runny(the fritter will absorb more oil)
• Wait until it changes color otherwise you feel it is still raw 
• Serve them hot to enjoy the crispness.

You Might be Intrested in Rice fritters,BananaFlower Vada,Vada sambar

       

Vada and Sambar recipe-Chettinad Style

      Vada is a famous South Indian appetizer. In Chettinad Marriages and festivals Vada is usually served during breakfast and also as an evening snack along with Idly. Idly is steamed and it's usually soft and fluffy, Vada is deep fried and it is crunchy. The crunch of the Vada goes really well with the softness of the Idly.

       This Vada Recipe is an authentic Chettinad recipe. It uses Urad dal and its very nutritious even though its deep fried. It can be served as a snack or as an appetizer.
       The traditional accompaniment for Vada is Sambar. You can find a dish called Sambar Vada in almost all South Indian restaurants. Its Vada soaked in Sambar.
      I have included a traditional breakfast Sambar recipe in this post. It uses green chilis for the spice instead of sambar powder. It tastes quite different from the other styles of Sambar.

 VADA
Preparation time:20 min
Cooking time:20-30 min
Serves:2-3

Idly Milagai Podi

This is my first post ever. I thought I would keep it simple and start off with a classic tamil condiment- Idly podi. Pretty much in every tamil kitchen you will find a variant of Idly Podi. This is especially true in our Chettinad kitchens. 

My 3 year old is crazy about podi. She loves podi with Dosa & Idly .Especially when she throws a tantrum about eating Idly I will lure her with podi and bingo she will finish the entire thing. My hubby always has to have podi with dosa. It doesn't matter even if there are other sides. It's my favourite too, podi is all you need if you have Idly or Dosa batter.

Preparation time:20 min

Yields:around 100 grams