Kollu Rasam | Horsegram Rasam Recipe

I learnt this Kollu rasam recipe from my neighbour. I wanted to try horse gram recipes for long time. When I told this to my neighbour, she suggested me kollu idly & rasam. I tried both and we loved it. I’ll soon post kollu idli. I always thank “Horse gram “ because it helped me a lot in reducing weight. For delayed pregnancy , this would help for sure. Do refer the end of post "Note" for how to prepare kollu thanni (Horse gram soup). Coming to this recipe.

INGREDIENTS
 1 cup - 200ml

Horse gram – 1/4 cup Tamarind – Medium gooseberry size Turmeric powder – 1/8 tsp Jaggery – A pinch Curry leaves  - few Salt & water – as needed To roast & grind Cooking oil – 1 tsp Dhania / coriander seeds – 3/4 tsp Black pepper – 1 tsp Jeera / cumin – 1 tsp Red chillies -  2 nos Methi seeds – 1/4 tsp To temper Ghee – 2 tsp Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp Jeera – 1/2 tsp Crushed garlic cloves – 5 nos

METHOD

Soak tamarind in warm water for 10 mins & take the extract. In a cooker base , add a tsp of oil and roast the horse gram till u get nice aroma. Add the required water & pressure cook for 2-3 whistles. In the meanwhile , roast all the ingredients given under “to roast & grind” …Grind to make a powder & set aside. Now remove the pressure cooker lid and  reserve 2 tsbp of horse gram.Take the remaining horse gram  & grind it to a smooth paste adding the cooked water.. Mix the horse gram paste & tamarind extract along with salt , turmeric powder & a pinch of jaggery. In a kadai , take the tamarind extract mixture , reserved kollu  with required water. Allow it to boil adding raw curry leaves.. After it boils for sometime , add the roasted & ground rasam powder . Mix well and boil for few minutes.Switch off the flame & remove. Now temper the above said ingredients and add to the rasam.  This is the most important step. Use ghee for tempering & crush the garlic slightly before adding.. Close it with a lid to retain the flavour. Mix with plain rice adding little ghee & Enjoy !!

NOTE

For variations , u can grind all the cooked horse gram instead of reserving a tbsp.. U can also grind all the ingredients & make rasam powder without roasting it. I have tried both the ways. It tastes good. We dont add tomato & coriander leaves as we wanted horse gram smell to be dominant. If you want to add tomato , saute tomato pieces in the beginning and add the tamarind extract. To make “KOLLU THANNI” , soak  a handful of horse gram overnight and pressure cook the next morning adding a cup of water. Strain the water , add little salt or sugar as per ur taste & drink in empty stomach during periods for 5 days.  It helps to remove the fat deposited from the Ovarian tubes and helps to concieve. I have tried this personally. It works ! The cooked horse gram can be used in poriyal, kootu & sambar along with toor dal.. Tempering with ghee & adding slightly crushed garlic is the high light of this recipe. Please don’t skip this step..

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Paruppu Rasam - Tamilnadu Style Dal Rasam Recipe

I make this Tamilnadu style paruppu rasam when I feel lazy to cook. It is different from the usual rasam in taste as well as texture. We add sambar powder instead of rasam powder and it would be thick in consistency. I add more crushed garlic which gives an excellent flavour. .I learnt this from my MIL. I make this in weekends along with a poriyal and thogayal. It makes a complete meal with a stir fry (poriyal) and appalam /papad as accompaniments..

INGREDIENTS
1 cup - 250ml

Toor dal – 1/4 cup Sambar powder – 1 tsp Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp Tomato – 1 no (big) Tamarind – Small gooseberry size Garlic flakes – 10-15 nos Sugar – a pinch Salt & water- as needed To temper Oil / ghee – 1 tsp Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp Methi seeds – 1/4 tsp Jeera – 1 /2 tsp Red chillies – 2 nos Curry leaves – few Coriander leaves – to garnish

HOW TO MAKE PARUPPU RASAM - METHOD

Pressure cook toor dal with a pinch of turmeric powder and a drop of oil. Mash it well .. Remove and set aside. In a kadai , add the tempering items in the same order. Then add the finely chopped tomato pieces and saute for a minute. Add the tamarind extract , sambar powder, turmeric powder , salt and a pinch of sugar. Peel the garlic and just crush it slightly with the rolling pin or with a mortar and pestle. Add the garlic pieces to the above mixture and allow it to boil for a minute. Then add the cooked and mashed toor dal. mix well and boil for few seconds. When it starts to roll boil , switch off the flame and remove. Garnish with coriander leaves and close it with a lid.. Serve hot by mixing with plain rice and ghee !!

NOTE

Garlic pieces will be half cooked. Crush it and add to give a nice flavour. This rasam wont be watery or clear. It would be little thick. So mix with a ladle every time before serving.. Tempering can be also be done at the end. Adding coriander leaves for garnishing is purely optional. Use it if you have. Curry leaves is sufficient.

Technorati Tags: Rasam,paruppu rasam,toor dal rasam,dal rasam,Dal,paruppu,Rasam for lunch

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ANDHRA THALI | ANDHRA LUNCH MENU | ANDHRA VEG MEALS

Its been my long time wish to try other state foods. I really got bored of making my usual sambar, vathakulambu etc.. So with my hubby’s acceptance and guidance, I tried Andhra meals / Andhra lunch menu as a first step. He had tasted andhra food in some restaurants like Nandini, Nagarjuna. So he told me the names of dishes they serve in the platter. I googled and found good recipes from some of the blogs. They came out very well. 

My hubby thoroughly enjoyed all the dishes I made. I too loved it. My daughter who is a fussy eater loved the food. I was very happy that my first attempt in andhra food was a big success at home. While cooking I found some ingredients, they use commonly in almost all the recipes. They use Red chillies , Ginger & Garlic paste , Hing and ajwain. I think these ingredients gives the aroma and spiciness in their food. My house was filled with nice aroma when I prepare all these dishes. People who love spicy foods must try Andhra food. Ok, coming to the platter.

In the above picture you can see Andhra Sambar , Tomato Rasam , Mamdikaya cauliflower pachadi , Ivygourd poriyal  ( Tindora curry) , Palakura pappu . I tried Andhra style paruppu podi /Kandi podi too but I forgot to mention in the thali. I will make a seperate post for it. 

PALAKURA PAPPU / DAL PALAK

My hubby told this recipe tasted exactly like the one he had in restaurants. Thanks a lot sailu’s food .

INGREDIENTS
1 cup - 200ml

Toor dal/red gram dal/kandi pappu – 2 handfuls or 1/4 cup Palakura/palak/spinach leaves –2 small bunches ( washed and finely chopped) Big onion – 1 no ( chopped) Turmeric powder -  a pinch Green chillies – 2-3 nos ( slit lengthwise) Ginger – 1/2 inch piece ( chopped) Thick Tamarind extract – a tsp ( soak berry sized tamarind and add the extract) Salt & water – as needed For seasoning (Use a tsp of ghee) Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds/jeera – 1/2 tsp Urad dal- 1/2 tsp Garlic cloves, crushed – 3-4 Red chillies – 2 nos (pinched ) Curry leaves – few

METHOD

In a pressure cooker, place dal, washed and finely chopped palak leaves, onions, green chillies, ginger and turmeric powder. Add 1 to 2 cups of water and pressure cook upto 2 whistles. Heat ghee in a kadai, add mustards seeds and after they start to dance , add cumin seeds, urad dal,  crushed garlic, pinched red chillies and curry leaves and fry for half a minute. Add this to the pressure cooked dal along with salt and combine. Add the tamarind extract and cook on slow to medium flame for 5-7 mts without lid or till you get the consistency of your choice.Add water if necessary Enjoy mixing with plain white rice and ghee !!

NOTE

1. For variations u can try sauting the onions , green chilles , palak leaves in little oil before pressure cooking with dal.
2. Always do the seasoning in the end.
3. If you want, you can do the seasoning using oil and add little ghee on top of the dal.
4. Give a standing time of at least half an hour before serving for all the tastes to blend.

  ANDHRA SAMBAR

I got the following recipes from here. If you want to try varieties of Andhra thali, you must visit this blog to get a good idea. She has given a nice collection of recipes. Thanks Srinithya.

INGREDIENTS

Carrot,potato – 1 no each Drumstick- 1 no Tomato  - 1 no (chopped) Big onion –1 no ( chopped) Toordal- 1/2 cup Gooseberry sized tamarind – soak in warm water. Red chilli powder – 1/2 tsp Madras sambar masala / any sambhar powder – 1 tsp Poppy seeds/gasalu-1 tsp Coconut dry / kobbari –2tsp Ginger garlic paste- 3/4 tsp Oil-2 tbsp To temper Mustard seeds -1 tsp Jeera / cumin seeds –1 tsp Hing -2 pinches Red chillies – 1 no ( pinched to two)

coriander leaves – to garnish.

METHOD

Pressure cook toor dal and the vegetables . Set aside. Dry roast poppy seeds, grated coconut and grind it to make a paste along with sambhar powder. keep aside. In a wide mouthed kadai , add oil and temper the mustard seeds , jeera , hing and turmeric. Add the G&G paste and saute well. Add the chopped onion and tomato pieces. Saute till tomato turns mushy. Add the tamarind extract and salt , few curry leaves.Allow it to boil for few mins. Now add the cooked dal and veggies along with ground poppy seeds paste. Boil for 10 mins in medium flame. Remove and add coriander leaves. Serve with hot , plain white rice adding little ghee !!

NOTE

1. The vegetables should not be over cooked.
2. As per the original recipe , madras sambar masala is used . But I used my home made sambar powder.
3. I also used red chillies while tempering and i tempered at the end.

MAMDIKAYA CAULIFLOWER PACHADI | RAW MANGO CAULIFLOWER PACHADI

Thought she has given varieties of pachadi in her blog, I chose this one just becoz of this combination. I wanted to try this combo and as it sounded unique and different. I’ve got an yummy raw mango dish to add in my mango recipes list.

INGREDIENTS

Green Raw mango pieces  - 1 no ( medium sized) Grated cauliflower florets -1/2 cup Garlic cloves – 5-6 nos ( chopped) Red chilli powder –  1 to 2  tsp Roasted cumin fenugreek powder - 1/8 tsp Turmeric powder -1/8 tsp Chopped garlic pods-3 tbsp Salt- to taste Water – As needed. To temper Oil-1 tbsp Mustard seeds-1 tsp Jeera – 1/2 tsp Curry leaves chopped – few Hing-2 pinches

METHOD

Peel the skin of raw mango and chop it finely. (Its better if you grate it ) Remove the cauliflower florets and add in boiling water along with little turmeric powder and salt. Remove and grate it. Set aside. Heat oil in a pan add mustard, jeera , curry leaves and hing Add garlic and fry till brown.Now add veggies and fry for 2 seconds and close lid and cook till soft,stir in middle to avoid burning. Add little water if necessary. Add chilli  powder , turmeric powder and salt. Mix and cook for sometime. Serve with rice as a side dish !!

TINDORA TOMATO CURRY | IVYGOURD TOMATO STIR FRY

I have never used tindora in my cooking. For a change, I tried this curry . My husband who hates tindora loved this a lot. 

INGREDIENTS

Dondakaya/ivy guard chopped length wise-1 cup Chopped tomato –1 no Chopped big onion – 1no G&G paste – 1/2 tsp Red chilli powder- 2 tsp Salt-to taste Curry powder-2 tsp ( i used garam masala powder) Dry coconut powder-1tsp ( i used grated coconut) Turmeric-1/8 tsp Oil-3 tbsp To temper Mustard seeds-1 tsp Jeera  - 1/2 tsp Curry leaves- few Coriander leaves- few to garnish

METHOD

Pressure cook ivy guard pieces till done, drain excess water and set aside. Fry the pieces in 1 tbsp of oil until crisp and set a side Heat oil in a pan and  temper all the above ingredients. Add onion  , ginger garlic paste and fry for 5 minutes till raw smell emanates. Then add tomatoes and cook till soft. Add all the powders, salt and ivy guard pieces. Fry for 5 more minutes. Add coriander leaves and serve. It smells and tastes gr8 with rice as well as roti. !!

NOTE

1. I dint deep fry the tindora pieces instead I shallow fried it for sometime and proceeded the recipe.
2. Make sure the tindora is not overcooked while pressure cooking.

TOMATO DAL  RASAM

I made slight changes in the actual recipe to suit my hubby’s taste. It tasted excellent and flavourful the next day. I reheated the rasam and used the same for two days.

INGREDIENTS

Finely chopped tomatoes-3 nos Berry sized Tamarind Cooked tuvar dal -1/4 cup Ajwain/vamu /carom seeds/omam-1/2 tsp Hing-2 pinches Crushed garlic- 4 cloves salt-to taste Red chillies-2 nos Turmeric powder -2 pinches Black pepper powder – 1 tsp To temper Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp Jeera – 1 tsp Curry leaves – few Coriander leaves – to garnish.

METHOD

Pressure cook toor dal with little turmeric powder till mushy and set aside. In a cooking bowl,  add water, tomatoes and tamarind. Cook till soft and reserve the boiled water.  Grind the tomatoes and tamarind to make a paste. Crush ajwain with hands and set a side. Heat oil in a pan add cumin, mustard, hing, ajwain and dry chillies. Fry well and add garlic pieces.saute till golden brown. Now add mashed dal, tomato paste, water, crushed ajwain, pinched red chillies, salt and pepper powder. Boil for sometime. I added little sugar while boiling. Garnish with coriander leaves.  Serve hot !!

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