Potato Kurma Recipe – Potato Kurma For Poori, Chapathi

Potato kurma @ Aloo kurma is a delicious South Indian style side dish for chapathi and poori, dosa too. Many readers who had tried my Saravana bhavan style veg kurma requested me to share potato kurma recipe. Usually in Tamil nadu, Potato masala is the most common side dish for poori. Its our family favorite too. So most of the time, I make urulaikizhangu masala. But sometimes I make this potato gravy for chapathi. Last weekend I made puri along with this kurma for our breakfast just for posting this recipe in my space.Its a very simple South Indian style potato kurma that can be made easily in a pressure cooker. We all love this a lot. I personally like to have potato kurma with dosa as well. Friends, do try this easy yet yummy side dish for poori and share your feedback with me. If you are looking for a no grind potato kurma without coconut, do check out this recipe. Its a very old post.So pictures are not that good. Soon I will try to update that post with a video. Now lets see how to make this South Indian Potato kurma for poori and chapathi with step by step pictures and video !

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Sprouted Green Gram Curry – Pachai Payaru Kuruma For Chapathi, Rice, Dosa, Idli

My MIL had told me to include pulses in our regular diet at least once in a week as they are a good source of protein for vegetarians with lots of health benefits. Usually I make sundal with green gram, chana, black urad dal. 

In my family, we love to eat sundal recipes but not often. So when my MIL told me to include legumes, I found making some curry, gravy for roti or kuzhambu recipes for rice by adding pulses is the best way to make my family eat it. So I started preparing varieties of curries and gravies for rice, roti and even for idli, dosa. This South Indian style green gram curry is our recent favorite. Green gram also known as Mung bean in English, Pachai payaru in Tamil, moong sabut/mung sabut in Hindi, Cheru Payru in Malayalam, Hesaru kaalu in Kannada, Pacha Pesalu pappu in Telugu is a very healthy pulse with high fiber and nutrient values. 

Recent days I have been eating mung sprouts salad for weight loss.So I tried this pacha payaru curry recipe from a Kerala YouTube channel “Garam masala” with the leftover sprouts mainly for Sendhil and Raksha. I made it with slight modifications to suit our taste buds. It came out really well with a mild sweet taste of sprouted green gram. We all loved it very much. It was a good side dish for roti/ chapathi , idli, dosa and rice. 

As the yield of this gravy is more, we had this gravy for dinner and the next day’s breakfast & lunch as well. For variations, this curry can be made with mixed sprouts or with soaked green gram dal, chana or cowpeas. I am happy that I have got a healthy, yummy green gram dal curry recipe to include in our regular diet. Ok Friends, lets see how to make this healthy mulai kattiya pachai payaru curry/ sprouted green gram dal gravy with step by step photos and a video !

Check out my Green gram dosa, green gram rice upma and green gram sundal recipes !

Sprouted Green Gram Curry Recipe - Pachai payaru kuruma

Sprouted green gram curry recipe - Mulai kattiya Pachai payaru kuruma for roti, rice, idli and dosa

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Side dish For Roti

Serves: Serves 4

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 20 Minutes

Total time: 30 Minutes

Chitra Ganapathy

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 250ml Green gram or sprouted green gram - 1 cup Water - 2 cups ( to pressure cook) Big onion - 1 no Ripe tomato -  2 nos Red chilli powder - 1.5 tsp ( use 2 tsp for spicy taste) Garam masala powder - 1 tsp Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp Salt & water - as needed Crushed kasoori methi – 1 tsp Cooking oil - 2 tbsp Cumin seeds - 1 tsp To grind Grated coconut - 1/4 cup ( I used dessicated coconut) Cashew nuts - 3 nos Fennel seeds - 1 tsp Garlic cloves - 4 nos Big onion - 1/2 no Water - to grind ( I used 1/4 cup) Coriander leaves – to garnish ( optional)

HOW TO MAKE GREEN GRAM GRAVY - METHOD

For making sprouts : Take green gram in a bowl and wash it. Add enough water to immerse it well. Let it soak for 12 hours or overnight. The next day morning, drain the excess water and wrap the soaked green gram in a cloth or keep it in a closed bowl. Leave it for a day. The next day, you can see small sprouts. If you leave it for more than a day, the size of  sprouts will become bigger. For this gravy, you can use just soaked green gram instead of sprouted ones. Grind grated coconut, cashews, garlic cloves, fennel seeds and chopped big onion to a smooth paste adding enough water. Set aside. In a cooker base, take 1 cup of sprouted green gram and add 2 cups of water. Pressure cook in very low flame for 2 whistles. Remove the lid after steam is released and mix well. Set aside. Heat oil in kadai and splutter cumin seeds. Add onion and saute till transparent. Add chopped tomato and saute till mushy. Add the required salt, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and garam masala powder. Saute quickly for a minute without burning. Now add the ground coconut paste, saute for a minute and add 1/2 cup of water. Let it boil for few minutes till raw smell goes off.  Now add the cooked green gram dal and mix well. Check for taste and add more salt, chilli powder or garam masala powder if needed. Let the gravy boil for 5 minutes. Lastly add the crushed kasoori methi and mix well. Switch off the flame and serve hot with roti or rice ! Enjoy !

Note

For variations, you can replace green gram with cooked chana/chickpeas. Adjust the quantity of chilli powder as per the taste. You can garnish with coriander leaves at the end which is optional If you want to omit coconut, just skip it and grind the remaining ingredients alone. In that case, add less water while boiling to get thick gravy.

Do try this healthy, flavorful green gram curry for roti and rice. Enjoy !

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Brinjal Kurma Recipe / Kathirikai Kurma For Idli, Dosa,Chapathi

Many of you would have heard about and tasted brinjal kurma for biryani and rice. Even I have posted the same in my blog. But when I came across this brinjal kurma (Kathirikai kuruma in Tamil) recipe for idli,dosa and chapathi in a cookbook, it was new and interesting to me. 

As I am a big fan of brinjal recipes, I tried it immediately as a side dish for thatte idli for our weekend breakfast. It was very nice with mild flavor of masala/spices. I just loved it with idli and dosa. I hope it tastes good with chapathi/roti as well. 

Sendhil is not a big fan of brinjal, still he tasted this kurma without any complaints. So I thought of sharing this yummy, interesting brinjal kurma recipe especially for all the ardent fans of brinjal like me. I have used long green brinjal in this recipe. I guess you can try with purple variety brinjal too. Friends, do try this different kurma recipe at home and share your feedback with me. Ok, Lets see how to make Brinjal kurma with step by step pictures !

Check out my Brinjal kurma for biryani too !

Brinjal Kurma Recipe

Brinjal kurma/ Kathirikai kuruma for idli, dosa and chapathi

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Kurma varieties

Serves: Serves 2-3

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 20 Minutes

Total time: 30 Minutes

Chitra Ganapathy

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 250ml Long Green Brinjal – 2 nos Small onion Or Big onion – 20 nos / 1 no ( big)  Tomato – 1 no Curry leaves - Few Red chilli powder – 1/2 - 1 tsp Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp To grind Grated Coconut – 1/4 cup Pottukadalai / Fried Gram Dal – 1.5 tsp Soambu/Fennel seeds – 3/4 tsp Pattai /Cinnamon – 1 piece Garlic cloves – 3 nos Green chilli – 1 no ( use 2 for spicy kurma) To Temper Cooking oil – 2 tbsp Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp Urad dal – 1 tsp Cumin seeds – 1/2 tsp Coriander leaves – to garnish

METHOD

Wash and chop brinjal into small pieces. Keep immersed in water till use. Chop onion & tomato. Keep aside. In a mixie jar, take all the ingredients given under “ To grind” and grind them to a smooth paste adding enough water. Keep it aside. In a cooker base, heat oil and temper mustard seeds, urad dal, curry leaves and cumin seeds. Add the chopped onions and saute until transparent. Add the chopped tomato pieces and saute till mushy. Then add the chopped brinjal pieces and saute till they shrink in size and reduce in quantity. It takes 2-3 minutes. Now add the turmeric powder, red chilli powder, salt and ground coconut paste.Mix well. Saute the mixture for a minute. Add 1 to 1.5 cups of water and pressure cook in very low flame for one whistle. Open the lid after the steam is released. If the kurma is too thick, add 1/4 cup of water, mix well and check for taste. Add more salt or chilli powder if needed. Garnish with coriander leaves. Give a boil and serve hot with idli, dosa or chapathi.

Enjoy !

Note

Adjust the quantity of green chilli if you want more spicy taste. You can use Garam masala powder if you wish. Just use 1/2 tsp. You can replace brinjal with finely chopped potato or parboiled cauliflower florets too.

Try this easy, one pot Brinjal kurma recipe for idli, dosa or chapathi. Enjoy !!

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Paneer Butter Masala Recipe - Restaurant Style

Restaurant style Paneer Butter masala recipe with step by step picture- In this post, you can learn how to make North Indian, restaurant style Paneer butter masala at home. I tried this recipe from Nags Space. I made slight changes in the original recipe by simplifying its cooking procedure & the list of ingredients.It came out excellent in taste .Thanks a lot Nags. Its a quick and easy to make recipe.So I make it very often for Raksha’s lunch box. She loves the combination of soft chapathi with paneer butter masala more than other gravies.The addition of cashew paste, milk and fresh cream makes it so rich. You can make this gravy without onion and garlic too. I am sure it tastes great. I want to treasure this recipe in my blog for future reference.So here comes the yummy restaurant style Paneer Butter Masala recipe. Do try this recipe at home and let me know your feedback ladies .

Paneer Butter masala - Restaurant style

How to make restaurant style paneer butter masala at home

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Side dish for roti

Serves: Serves 2-3

Prep time: 5 Minutes

Cook time: 15 Minutes

Total time: 20 Minutes

Chitra Ganapathy

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 250ml Paneer – 50 gms (cubed ) ( Soak in hot water till use) Big onion – 1 no (chopped roughly) Tomatoes – 2 nos (medium sized) Cooking oil or butter - 1 + 1 tbsp Ginger , Garlic paste – 1 tsp ( Or grind 1 inch ginger & 5 cloves of garlic) Coriander powder/Dhania powder – 1.5 tsp Red chilli powder – 1 tsp Garam masala powder – 1/2 tsp Tomato ketchup - 2 tsp Salt- As required. Boiled Milk – 1/2 cup to 1 cup ( use as required) Fresh cream - 1 tbsp ( I dint have fresh cream .So I removed a tsp of skin from the boiled milk and added it.)(Paalaadai) Cashew – 5 nos ( to grind to a smooth paste) Crushed Kasoori methi - 1 tsp

METHOD

Peel and chop the big onion roughly. Chop the paneer into cubes. Boil 1 cup of water and add 2 tomato. Let it boil till the skin of tomato cracks. Switch off the flame and remove the tomatoes, set aside. ( You can peel the skin of tomatoes if you wish) Add the cubed paneer pieces to the remaining hot water. Let it be in hot water till use. It helps to keep the paneer soft.No need to fry the paneer pieces. ( For variations, you can skip blanching the tomato and grind with onion mixture as shown in the next step) In a kadai, heat oil( use butter for rich taste) and saute the onion till transparent.Add Ginger&garlic paste,saute till its raw smell goes off.Now add the red chilli powder, dhania powder , garam masala powder. Saute in low flame. Make sure you don’t burn them. Let the mixture cool down completely. To the mixture, add the blanched tomato and raw cashews. Grind everything to a smooth paste adding required water. Heat oil ( or butter) in a kadai and saute the ground paste till thick. Add tomato ketchup, sugar and salt. Mix well and boil the gravy till oil starts to float on top. Add the boiled milk. Mix well and check the taste. Let the gravy boil for few minutes. Gravy gets a nice orange shade. Lastly add the crushed kasoori methi, paneer cubes.If the gravy is too thick, add more milk. Mix well. Add  fresh cream at the end and switch off the flame.Check for spice & salt. If its too spicy add some more milk and vice versa. Serve with roti !! Enjoy !

Note

Use butter instead of cooking oil for rich taste & flavor. Instead of grinding cashews along with tomato, onion mixture, you can grind it separately and add it along with milk. You can also use almonds/badam in place of cashews. But cashews are the best ! You can peel the skin of blanched tomato, grind it to a puree and add to the gravy. But I ground it with onion masala. Adjust the quantity of chilli powder and dhania powder as per your taste. Adding kasoori methi gives the perfect restaurant style taste.So please don’t skip it.

Yummy Paneer Butter Masala is ready to be served hot with Chapathi , Naan.

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Vegetable Paya Recipe - Side dish For Appam, Idiyappam

Appam paya – Many of you would have heard this combo or tasted in restaurants. Paya – Popularly known as “Attukal Paya” is one of the most popular side dish for appam & idiyappam in Tamil nadu. It is basically a South Asian food that is served in festivals and occasions. Paaya means “Feet” in Urdu and Hindi. This dish is prepared by cooking goat legs (Trotters in English) in a spicy masala curry. This dish is adapted in local cuisines and this paya recipe vary regionally. The cooked leg pieces is served as soup for patients as it is considered to be healthy. I have heard about this dish from my Chennai friends. I thought it would taste more like Parota Salna. 

Recently my friend Shalini told she tasted appam with vegetable paya in Saravana bhavan Grand style hotel in Salem. It tempted me to try this recipe at home. I browsed few mutton paya recipes and got this particular version from Mullai’s blog. I tweaked the recipe slightly as per my convenience and used potato instead of mutton. I made it for our Sunday breakfast as a side dish for South Indian appam recipe. It came out finger licking delicious. 

Sendhil and myself loved it a lot. I am sure, I will make this vegetable paya recipe often in my kitchen. Friends, do try this side dish for appam and idiyappam for a change. You will love it like us. You can prepare this gravy with mixed vegetables too. Ok, Lets see how to prepare paya recipe with potato ( Vegetarian version) with step by step photo !

From tomorrow I will start posting Ganesh chaturthi recipes.

Paya recipe - Vegetarian version with potato

Paya recipe - Side dish for appam with potato

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Side dish

Serves: Serves 2-3

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 20 Minutes

Total time: 30 Minutes

Chitra Ganapathy

INGREDIENTS

1 cup – 250ml 

Potato - 2 nos Big onion - 1 no Tomato - 2 nos. Cooking oil - 2 tbsp Cinnamon - 1 inch Cloves - 2 no G&G paste - 1 tsp Cardamom - 1 no Bayleaf - 1 no Black stone flower - 1 no Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder - 1/8 tsp Red chilli powder - 1 tsp ( I used kashmiri chilli pwd) Garam masala powder or chicken masala powder – 1/2 tsp Salt & water - as needed To saute & grind : Paste 1 Cooking oil - 1 tbsp Medium sized Big onion - 1 no or small onion - 6 nos Coriander seeds / Dhania - 1.5 tsp Green chillies - 2-3 nos ( use 4 for more spicy taste) For paste-2 Grated coconut - 1/4 cup Pottukadalai/Fried gram - 2 tsp Water – to grind Mint + coriander leaves – to garnish

HOW TO MAKE VEGETABLE PAYA - METHOD

Wash and peel the skin of potato. Cut into strips of 2 inches and set aside. I chopped it lengthwise to resemble goat legs ; )) Chop onion, tomato and keep apart. In a kadai, heat oil and saute one chopped big onion, dhania seeds and green chillies. Switch off the flame and let it cool. Grind it along with coconut + Fried gram dal as I did. OR As per the original recipe,  you should grind Dhania+green chilli+ onion to a smooth paste (Paste 1). Grind coconut + fried gram dal to a smooth paste separately ( Paste 2). But I ground everything together. In a cooker base, heat oil and saute cinnamon, cloves, bayleaf, black stone flower, cardamom and fennel seeds. Add the chopped onions, g&g paste ( If you grind dhania+ chillies+onion paste separately, add it at this stage. Saute until its raw smell goes off.) Now add tomato, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt and saute until mushy. To this, add the sliced potato strips. Mix well for sometime. (Add coconut paste.i.e paste 2 if you have ground it seperately) Now add the ground coconut paste and saute for a minute. Add 1.5 cups of water and garam masala powder. Mix well and pressure cook for one whistle in low flame or till the potato cooks soft but retain its shape. Open the cooker after the steam is released. Mix well and check for taste and consistency. Add more salt, water and chilli powder if needed. Give a boil and finally garnish with mint+coriander leaves. This gravy thickens over time. So add more water accordingly. Enjoy !

Note

Adjust the quantity of chilli powder and green chillies as per your taste. You can skip adding coconut paste and make a watery gravy too. Instead of potato, you can use mixed vegetables like carrot, cauliflower, peas and beans.

Delicious Vegetable paya with appam is a delectable combo. Do try it and enjoy !

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Methi Chaman Recipe – How To Make Paneer Methi Chaman

Last week my friend Shalini was telling me about methi chaman gravy (Methi = Fenugreek leaves in English, Vendhaya keerai in Tamil, methi in Hindi, Menthe soppu in Kannada) she had in a restaurant. She told her family loved the gravy a lot and suggested me to give a try. She also shared me a link with a recipe close to the restaurant style methi chaman. Actually speaking, I have no idea about this recipe and its origin. So I browsed few more recipes to know its birth and came to know methi chaman is from Kashmir and it is very popular in Mumbai too. It is a mildly spicy curry/ gravy made using palak, fenugreek leaves/Methi leaves. It is popularly known as Hariyali Methi Chaman.Today I have shared Paneer methi chaman recipe. I am not sure this is the authentic recipe because I found many variations in this basic methi chaman recipe by adding paneer, Palak,  sweet corn etc. In fact my friend Shalini tasted makai methi chaman in which sweet corn and methi leaves were the major ingredients. It is without paneer and palak. But its my first attempt for this recipe. So I blindly followed the recipe shared in the link. It came out finger licking good.Its a good side dish for roti, naan, kulcha, ghee rice and mild pulao varieties. I loved it like anything and found “Kitchen King Masala” is the star ingredient for this particular recipe. Friends, do buy a pack of kitchen king masala if you don’t have in your hand.It gives restaurant style taste and flavor to North Indian gravies. If you don’t have fenugreek leaves, you can use crushed kasuri methi ( Dried frenugreek leaves) too.Ok, lets see how to make methi chaman gravy with paneer.
Don't forget to check out my other paneer recipes in THIS LINK

Paneer methi chaman gravy recipe

Paneer methi chaman gravy recipe - Mildly spiced gravy with Indian cottage cheese & Fenugreek leaves- Side dish for roti,naan, kulcha and mild pulao varieties

Cuisine: North Indian

Category: Side dish

Serves: Serves 2

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 20 Minutes

Total time: 30 Minutes

Chitra Ganapathy

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 200ml Fenugreek leaves/Methi - 1 cup Paneer/Indian cottage cheese - 1/2 cup Cooking oil - 1+1 tbsp Big onion - 2 nos Tomato - 2 nos (big) Ginger – 1 inch piece Cumin seeds/Jeera – 1/2 tsp Cashews or melon seeds - few ( I used 3 cashews) Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp Red chilli powder - 1 tsp ( Add more for spicy gravy) Dhania powder - 2 tsp Cumin powder/Jeera powder – 1/2 tsp Kitchen king masala powder - 1 tsp ( I used Kwality brand) Boiled Milk - 1/4 cup Salt & water - as needed

METHOD

Cut paneer into cubes.Chop tomato, slice onions. Boil 2 cups of water till water starts to roll boil.Add the paneer cubes. Take fenugreek leaves ( methi leaves) & wash it thrice to remove the dust. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a kadai. Crackle cumin seeds. Saute onion till transparent. Add ginger pieces,cashews. Then saute tomato till mushy adding some salt. Let the mixture cool down. Grind to a smooth paste adding required water.  Heat 1 cup of water & add 1/2 tsp sugar and the washed leaves. Boil for few minutes till the leaves cook well. Cook till all the water drains out. For variation, you can saute the leaves in oil instead of blanching to reduce the bitterness.Also you can grind the cooked leaves to a paste and add to the gravy. This gives green colored base to the gravy. Heat 1 tbsp oil in the kadai. Saute the tomato-onion paste, 1/4 cup of water, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, dhania powder, kitchen king masala powder, required salt. Mix well till oil starts to ooze out. To this add the blanched methi leaves and some water, mix well and let it boil.Check for taste and add more salt, spice powders if needed. Add the paneer cubes, boiled milk and let the gravy boil for a minute. Check the consistency and switch off the flame. Add fresh cream if you like. Mix well and serve hot with roti/Pulao/Naan. Enjoy ! Don't forget to check out my other paneer recipes in THIS LINK

Enjoy restaurant style Paneer methi chaman recipe with roti/naan !!

 

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Kadala Curry Recipe – Kerala Kadala Curry For Puttu, Appam

Kadala curry is the most popular, traditional side dish for puttu and appam/palappam in Kerala. Its a very healthy side dish recipe which is ideal for breakfast. In Tamil, we call this as Kondakadalai Kurma, Chana gravy in English, Kala chana kurma in Hindi. Last week I shared Kerala Puttu Recipe in my space. As I promised in that post, here is the Nadan kadala curry recipe with coconut.I watched this You tube video to try the authentic recipe as its my first attempt. It came out very well and tasted yummy with Puttu. I am sure it tastes well for appam and dosa too. Though the procedure seems little bit lengthy, its worthy to try. Even though Black chana is widely used for this recipe, I think even white chana would do. After trying this authentic version, I am looking for a simple kadala curry recipe without coconut. Friends, please mail me the recipe in my inbox if you have any. Ok, now lets see how to make Kerala style Kadala curry recipe for Puttu, Appam.

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Ridge Gourd Curry – Beerakaya Curry–Turai Ki Sabji

I started to explore varieties of ridge gourd recipes (Ridge gourd in English, Turai/Luffa/Torai in Hindi, Peerkangai in Tamil, Beerakaya in Telugu, Hirekai in Kannada, Peechinga in Malayalam, Ghiya Tori in Urdu ) in my kitchen. Recently I shared Andhra style Ridge gourd dal / Beerakaya pappu recipe for rice.Today I have posted a North Indian style Ridge gourd curry. I followed this recipe from Mullai’s blog. It is known as Turai Ki Sabji/Sabzi in Hindi. It tastes good with rice and roti as well. Yesterday I prepared this sabzi and dal for my lunch. It was simple yet comforting. I ate this curry with plain rice adding ghee. You can make this as a side dish for roti. I am sure it tastes better with roti. Lets see how to make this easy, yummy and healthy Ridge gourd sabji recipe.
Check out my South Indian Peerkangai chutney( gravy )for rice.

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Veg Dalcha Recipe, Ghee Rice – Brinjal Gravy For Biryani

When I shared Muslim wedding biryani & Kuska recipes in my Biryani series, few readers asked me to share Muslim home style Brinjal gravy ( Kathirikai Kuzhambu) for biryani. I did share an Ennai Kathirikai Gravy for biryani. But later I realized it was not the one my readers asked for. Again I got a mail and a comment in my biryani recipes to share Muslim Veg Dalcha recipe which is served as a side dish for ghee pilaf/Nei choru and they call it as Bahara Khana. Its very special among Nagore,Tamilnadu and Hyderabad Muslims. I started searching for the authentic recipe and found it in Jaleela Kamal mam’s blog. Recently when I was telling about Thalcha kuzhambu to my dad, he told he had tasted it in his friend Mr.Ibrahim uncle’s house & called him immediately.I talked with his wife Sharmila Banu aunty and got the recipe for Dalcha along with ghee rice. She told they make dalcha with mutton & vegetables. But she suggested me to use brinjal and bottle gourd as I asked for a vegetarian version.It was very similar to Jaleela mam’s recipe.It is so easy and quick to make. So I was double happy and satisfied of trying the authentic, original, traditional Muslim style Dalcha gravy recipe.You can prepare Dalcha and ghee rice simultaneously if you have 2 pressure cookers in hand. Sharmila aunty told me to use DUM method for making ghee rice just like Hyderabadi biryani . But I did it in my cooker directly as I started cooking very late. Soon I will try to make a detailed and perfect ghee rice post. Aunty was sooo sweet and patient. She spent nearly half an hour over phone and shared many of their specialty recipes for Iftaar and Ramadan. I must try to post them one by one soon. Thanks a bunch Aunty and Jaleela Mam for sharing this wonderful Dalcha recipe.Now lets see how to make South Indian Veg Dalcha gravy with step by step pictures.
Check out my 40 Veg Biryani Recipes too !

Dalcha recipe&Ghee rice

Veg dalcha rcipe with ghee rice - Muslim style

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Lunch recipes

Serves: Serves 2

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 20 Minutes

Total time: 20 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 cup – 240ml To Pressure cook for Dalcha Toor dal - 1/4 cup Chana dal - 2 tbsp Big onion - 1 no or small onion - 5 nos ( sliced) Tomato - 1 no Green chilli - 1no Garlic cloves - 4 no Red chilli powder - 1 tsp Dhania powder - 1 tsp Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp Ginger garlic paste – 1/2 tsp Tamarind – medium gooseberry size  Brinjal - 2 nos ( cut into 4 or 5 pieces) Salt & water - as needed Raw mango – 2 pieces ( optional, I din’t use) Mint+coriander leaves - a handful To temper: Ghee – 2 tsp Big onion – 1/2 no ( sliced) Cinnamon – 1 no Cloves -  1 no For ghee rice Basmati rice - 1 cup Water - 1.5 cups or 1 cup water + 1/2 cup coconut milk Cooking oil + Ghee – 2 tbsp  Ghee – 1 tbsp ( for garnishing) Whole garam masala – 1 each ( Cinnamon, cloves, Cardamom, Kalpasi, biryani leaf, marati moggu) Big onion – 1 no Ginger garlic paste – 1/2 tsp Mint + coriander leaves – a fistful Green chilli – 1-2 no ( slitted) Tomato – 1/2 no (optional) Lemon juice – few drops ( optional)

METHOD

In a pressure cooker base, take the toor dal + Chana dal and soak it adding 2 cups of water. Soak tamarind in 1/2 cup of warm water separately in a bowl. Chop onion, peel garlic and slit green chilli. Chop the brinjal into pieces vertically and immerse in water till use.Add the chopped onion, green chilli, one whole tomato, Mint + coriander leaves, turmeric powder,garlic cloves, few drops of oil, G&G paste to the pressure cooker. Mix well and pressure cook the dal mixture very low flame for one whistle.( You can  add chopped tomatoes if your dal cooks well. My dal doesn’t cook mushy if I add chopped tomatoes.So I added as a whole tomato) Open the cooker after the steam is released. Mash the dal well with a whisk or mathu. To this, add chopped brinjal & bottle gourd ( and Mutton pieces if using), salt, red chilli powder and dhania powder. Again pressure cook in high flame for 1 whistle just for the brinjal to cook. Brinjal should retain its shape. ( ** Refer NOTES for an easy method). Open the cooker after the steam is released and add the tamarind extract + Mango pieces ( If adding). Mix everything and check for taste.Add more salt , chilli powder based on your taste. Let the mixture roll boil well. Heat ghee in a small pan and saute cinnamon, clove, sliced big onion. Saute till onion turns golden brown.Remove and add it to the boiling dal mixture. Switch off the flame and remove it. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with Ghee rice or biryani. Enjoy !  For ghee rice : Wash and soak basmati rice in 2 cups of  hot water for 20 minutes. In the mean time, chop the onion, tomato, slit green chilli. Heat a pressure cooker with Oil +ghee and splutter the whole garam masala items.  Add the chopped onion, green chilli, g&g paste and tomato pieces ( skip tomato if u want white pulao). Saute until tomato turns mushy.Now add 1 cup of water and 1/2 cup of coconut milk and soaked basmati rice ( U can use water or coconut milk completely) . Add the required salt and add chopped mint+coriander leaves, few drops of  lemon jucie.Mix well and pressure cook in low flame for 1 whistle. Remove after the steam is released.  Fluff the rice with a fork and serve it. Keep dalcha as the side dish ! This combo tasted simply great : )) Enjoy !! NOTE **While making dalcha, you can keep the brinjal pieces in a small bowl inside the cooker and cook all the other ingredients together.After opening the cooker, mash the dal well, add the cooker brinjal pieces and then you can add tamarind extract, give a boil & temper it. By doing this way, you can avoid pressure cooking for 2 times. I just followed what Aunty told me. So I have cooked twice here. Next time, I am planning to try this method. If you want to follow DUM method for making ghee rice, Just add the rice, water, coconut milk and mix well till all the liquid is absorbed by the rice and becomes thick. Now switch off the cooker. Heat a dosa pan well ( Use a very old, unused dosa pan) and Place the cooker over it. Cover the cooker with a cotton cloth and then place a plate or lid. No need to use the cooker lid. Above this, place a bowl full of hot water. Let the flame be high and dosa pan be very hot. This heat will spread to the cooker and rice cooks soft n fluffy. Remove the cooker after 10 minutes and check the rice. This was the method suggested by aunty. Soon I will try to make a detailed post for this. By doing this way, color of rice can be maintained white.

Try and enjoy this most popular Muslim style Ghee rice + dalcha combo at home. I am sure you will love it. I made this and some curd rice for our Sunday lunch. It was comforting !

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