Besan sambar/ Kadalai maavu sambar is a very simple and tasty sambar recipe for idli & dosa. Ideal for bachelors and working women to prepare in busy mornings and lazy nights.We call this as Kadala maavu sambar in Tamil. Its a quick and no dal, no vegetable sambar for idli. You would have heard about Bombay chutney. This recipe is similar to that. It tastes good with chapathi too with slight variations.Check notes section for variations.
Besan sambar recipe/ Kadalai maavu sambar
Easy side dish for Idli dosa with besan flour
Cuisine:Indian
Category:Side dish for idli dosa
Serves:Serves 2
Prep time:10 Minutes
Cook time:20 Minutes
Total time:30 Minutes
INGREDIENTS
1 cup = 250ml
Besan – 1/4 cup
Tamarind – Small gooseberry size or ripe tomato - 2 nos
Green chilly – 4-5 nos ( slit ) or sambar powder - 1.5 tsp
Big onion – 2 nos(finely chopped)
To temper
Cooking Oil – 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
Urad dal – 1 tsp
Asafetida/Hing – 1/4 tsp ( 1/8 + 1/8 tsp)
Curry leaves –1 sprig
Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
Coriander leaves /Cilantro– 1/4 cup (finely chopped)
HOW TO MAKE BESAN SAMBAR - METHOD
Soak tamarind in water and extract pulp from it.Dilute the besan without lumps adding required water.Set aside.
Heat oil in a kadai and add mustard seeds.Once it starts spluttering add urad dal, a pinch of hing and curry leaves.Add finely chopped onions, slit green chillies ( Or add sambar powder along with tamarind extract) and saute till onions become transparent. Add some water and cover the kadai with a lid. Onions will get cooked nicely.
Now add the besan water, tamarind extract, ( Sambar powder if using) with salt and 1/2 cup of water. Add 1/4 tsp of hing and turmeric powder.
Bring it to boil.Gravy may become thick. So add some water in between. It should boil till the raw smell of besan leaves off completely. Check for taste and add more salt if needed. Finally, add the coriander leaves and serve hot!!
Note
This sambar should be watery.So add water whenever gravy becomes thick .
We should add asafetida/hing, 1/8tsp while seasoning and 1/8 tsp during boiling!!This gives the flavor for the dish!! So I mentioned twice to add hing.
If you use sambar powder instead of green chillies, color and flavor of this sambar will vary.
Note: For chapathi, we follow the same procedure but instead of tamarind extract ,we use lemon juice or tomato pieces.Gravy should be thicker than this.We add lemon juice at the end i.e. after removing from the flame.
Delicious sambar is ready to serve hot with idli & dosa adding sesame oil !
Diwali is fast approaching. To begin with celebration, I prepared besan ke ladoo/Gram flour ladoo( Kadalai maavu urundai in Tamil) using 2 methods. Besan ladoo is a very easy recipe but bit tricky.Generally North Indians prepare this laddu for Ganesh chaturthi but we south Indians make ladoo for Diwali and other special occasions. Roasting the gram flour properly gives you the best ,flavourful laddu.I referred tarla dalal,Sanjeev kapoor’s recipes and even vahchef’s video.The ingredients and the quantity mentioned everywhere was more or less similar. So I followed them and slightly adjusted the sugar & ghee as per my family’s liking.When I browsed for besan ladoo, I found shiny ladoos as well as the semi dry ones like we get in Haldirams and other sweet boxes.I tried both the versions using 1/2 cup of besan and shared the same here.There is no much difference in both the methods except the place of adding ghee.In first version, I used all the ghee for roasting the flour and it yielded shiny ladoos.For the second version,i followed my mom’s moong dal ladoo method and made it dry adding less ghee comparitively.I loved both but Sendhil’s vote is for the shiny ones.Whatever method u follow,roasting in very low flame for longer time is needed to make it perfect.Lets see how to prepare this yummy,easy besan ladoo/Gram flour laddu recipe using 2 methods.Enjoy making it for this Diwali and other festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi,Holi and of course for this Navratri too.Do read the do’s & don’ts before proceeding to the recipe.
DO’s & DON’Ts
Sieving gram flour before roasting is very important to avoid lumps.
Roasting the gram flour in low to medium flame with constant stirring is most important to make perfect laddu.The color of gram flour should be golden brown and not dark brown.Keep smelling every now and then to find out whether the gram flour is roasted properly.(Ask your family members for the same).Roasting takes minimum 5-10 minutes in very low flame based on the quantity of gram flour you use.Stay nearby and roast it patiently.
If u add all the ghee for roasting,roast till the besan starts to turn into a glossy paste leaving ghee in the kadai.Good non-stick kadai is necessary to find the besan leaving ghee.
Also do not add the powdered sugar when the roasted gram flour is too hot.It will make the mixture goey and u won’t get properly shaped ladoo.So its better to add powdered sugar only after the gram flour cools completely or warm.
There are two types of gram flour available in market.One is coarse besan and the other one is fine besan.Generally besan ladoos are made using coarse flour.But if u have fine flour,u can add a tsp of sooji/semolina while roasting the flour to get crunchy taste.Similarly Boora sugar/tegra is used instead of normal powdered sugar.But both works fine.
Some people add a pinch of nutmeg powder along with cardamom powder.U can do if u like.
Some recipes also suggest to use atta/wheat flour along with gram flour but i am not sure about the quantity.
You can double this recipe for making in large quantities but just adjust sugar based on your need.
Besan ladoo recipe
Easy besan ladoo recipe for Diwali and other festivals- two versions
Cuisine:Indian
Category:Sweet
Yields:3-4 nos
Prep time:5 Minutes
Cook time:20 Minutes
Total time:25 Minutes
INGREDIENTS 1 cup - 200ml
Method - 1 for shiny version
Besan/Gram flour - 1/2 cup
Powdered sugar - 1/3 cup(use 1/2 cup for more sweetness)
Melted ghee - 2.5 tbsp
Cardamom seeds - 2 nos
Method -2 for dry version
Gram flour/besan - 1/2 cup
Powdered sugar - 1/2 cup
Melted ghee - 2-3 tbsp
Cardamom seeds - 2 nos
METHOD
Sieve the mentioned gram flour well by breaking the lumps.Powder the sugar nicely.Set aside.This step is common for both the method.
METHOD – 1 Heat all the ghee in a non-stick kadai and roast the cashews in low flame. Remove roasted cashews in a plate. I used badam here.
Add the sieved flour to the ghee and roast it well by keeping the flame very low to medium whenever required.Take care not to burn.Its better to keep the flame low and keep stirring constantly.It will turn to a paste & starts to leave the ghee.Keep roasting till u get it like a shiny whole mass as you see in the picture .The entire house smells with roasted flour n ghee.Switch off the flame and let it cool in the kadai itself.Mix once or twice in the middle.
After the besan is cooled completely,add the powdered sugar & crushed cardamom powder. Mix well.Your hands would do a good job here.So don’t hesitate.Mix well.Mixture will become crumbly now. Let it rest for 5 minutes. Then make tight balls and arrange. Initially balls may be goey, and improper in shape & sticking to the plate. So arrange in a polythene sheet or butter paper. When it cools down completely,u can make the balls tight n perfectly round.
METHOD-2,Roast the cashews in a tsp of ghee and in the same kadai,add the sieved gram flour.Roast in low flame till it changes its color to golden brown.Switch off the flame and let it become warm.Add the powdered sugar and cardamom powder.Mix well.Add hot melted ghee and mix the flour well with the ladle.When the mixture is warm,make tight balls and arrange in a plate.
Try any based on your liking. Both tastes yummy !
Note
Make sure the besan is roasted well .Otherwise it would smell raw.
If u r not able to make balls , add 1 tbsp of more ghee and make balls.. Adding less ghee than the mentioned quantity gives dry balls.Adding too much of ghee makes the balls shapeless.It wont be firm.U can also try adding little milk to make balls but shelf life gets reduced..
Adjust the sugar according to your taste buds. Before shaping the balls , just taste it and add more if u need..
Which one are you going to try,Shiny laddo OR Dry ones ??
Puli sundal is an easy one pot meal which we make for dinner usually. Many of you call this as puli upma but my MIL named this as puli sundal. It is an authentic dish that is made in Kumbakonam, Mayavaram areas of Tamil nadu. I learnt this recipe from my MIL. It tastes the best with chopped pearl onions/Sambar onions as side dish :) Also you should top it with gingely oil before eating. Tastes great.
Bachelors & working women can try this recipe to make an easy dinner after coming home late from the office OR make this for lunch box during busy morning hours. You can finish the entire process within 15 minutes in a pressure cooker. Do try it and let me know how you liked it.
Puli sundal recipe
Puli sundal-Easy one pot dinner/breakfast/lunch box recipe
Cuisine:Indian
Category:Dinner
Serves:Serves 2
Prep time:5 Minutes
Cook time:15 Minutes
Total time:20 Minutes
INGREDIENTS
1 cup - 250ml
Steamed Rice / Saapaatu arisi (Puzhungal rice used for lunch) – 1 cup ( I used puzhungal arisi)
Toor dal – 1.5 tbsp
Water – 3 cups or less ( depending on your rice )
Tamarind - Small lemon size
To temper
Oil – 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
Urad dal – 1 tsp
Asafetida /Hing – 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves – a sprig
Red chillies – 3 to 4 nos
Salt – to taste
Gingely oil & Finely chopped sambar onions – to serve
METHOD
Soak tamarind in warm water for 10 minutes. In the mean time, heat a kadai and dry roast toor dal till it turns light golden brown with a nice smell. Remove and keep in a plate. In the same hot kadai, dry roast the rice till it turns white and puffs up slightly. Remove and keep it with toor dal. Now wash the roasted rice and toor dal and keep it ready.
Extract tamarind juice using 3 cups of water as mentioned above. Its not necessary that you should use all the 3 cups for extracting the juice. You can use how much ever you want. Remaining water you can add as it is. Total water should be 3 cups.
In a pressure cooker base, heat oil and splutter mustard seeds, urad dal, pinched red chillies, curry leaves & half of the hing. ( ie 1/4 tsp). Add the tamarind extract,turmeric powder, salt, curry leaves & remaining hing. Pressure cook in low flame for one whistle. It takes 12-15 minutes based on the size of cooker.
Remove and serve by adding a tsp of gingely oil. Tastes the best with chopped small onions.
Enjoy !
Note
Adjust the quantity of water as per the rice you use. U can also try with raw rice but water quantity varies.
Adjust the number of chillies based on spice level. The quantity I have given here gives medium spiciness.
Hing/Asafetida is the star ingredient here. So don’t avoid it.
Hot , Yummy Puli Sundal is ready. U can eat this as it is!! If needed u can have this with coconut chutney!! But chopped pearl onions is the best side dish for this rice. Pickle will also do !
I learnt this hot and spicy red chilli chutney from my MIL. It is a very easy to make chutney recipe. Red chilli, lemon and onion are the major ingredients of this chutney. Tamarind is not used in this recipe. We call it as milagai chutney. Its a good side dish for idli,dosa ! It tastes very spicy. Ok, lets see how to make South Indian style red chilli chutney recipe.
Easy chilli chutney recipe
Easy Chilli chutney recipe
Cuisine:Indian
Category:Chutneys
Serves:Serves 2
Prep time:10 Minutes
Cook time:10 Minutes
Total time:20 Minutes
INGREDIENTS
Red Chillies – 7 nos
Big size Lemon – Half
Salt – to taste
To Temper:
Sesame /Gingely Oil – 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
Urad dal- 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves – a sprig
Asafetida/Hing – a pinch
METHOD
Grind the red chillies with salt to a powder & then add little water to make a paste & grind it. Remove
Season with mustard,urad dal,onions,curry leaves and hing.
Finally squeeze half of the lemon into it. Mix it well.check for salt.
Delicious and spicy chutney is ready!!
Can be served with idly & dosa by adding sesame/gingely oil.
Enjoy !
Note
This chutney can also be made by adding small gooseberry size tamarind instead of lemon juice.U have to saute & add finely chopped small onions.Try this for variation.
I learnt this easy one pot moong dal sambar recipe for idli dosa from my mom. We call it as pasi paruppu sambar/ Payatham paruppu sambar in Tamil. It’s a great side dish for idli, dosa. I usually make this for breakfast during busy morning hours. This recipe is apt for bachelors and working women as it has no grinding jobs.Just mixing and pressure cooking is needed :).
As Moong dal is good for stomach and mouth ulcers, I make this sambar very often. Its an easy way of including moong dal/Paasi paruppu in our daily food. Sometimes I add vegetables like potato and carrot to make it more healthy. Ok, lets see how to make this easy payatham paruppu sambar for idli, dosa.
Moong dal sambar/Paasi Paruppu Sambar for idli
Easy one pot moong dal/Pasi paruppu sambar for idli, dosa
Cuisine:South Indian
Category:Side dish
Serves:4
Prep time:10 Minutes
Cook time:10 Minutes
Total time:20 Minutes
INGREDIENTS
1 cup - 250ml
Moong dal – 1/4 cup
Tomato – 2 nos ( Finely chopped)
Green chilli – 2 nos (Increase if you want more spicy, use 1 for less spice)
Small onions or Big onion – 15nos /1 no (Finely chopped)
Kadalai maavu/Besan flour - 2 tsp ( dilute it with 1/4 cup of water )
Salt & water - as needed
To temper
Cooking oil or ghee - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
Urad dal- 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds/Jeera – 1/4 tsp
Asafetida /Hing– 1/4 tsp
Curry Leaves – A sprig
Salt – to taste
Coriander leaves – To garnish
HOW TO MAKE MOONG DAL SAMBAR FOR IDLI - METHOD
Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Splutter mustard seeds, urad dal, jeera and saute well. Now add the chopped onions, slit green chilli and curry leaves. Mix until onion turns transparent.
Add the finely chopped tomato and saute until mushy. Add moong dal and quickly mix them. Add water, sambar powder, salt, hing and turmeric powder. Mix well.
Dilute besan flour in water without lumps and add it to the boiling sambar. Add coriander powder and mix well. Pressure cook everything in low flame for one whistle.
After the steam is released, open the cooker and mash the dal well. Add some water to adjust the consistency of sambar. Boil for few seconds if needed. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with idli, dosa. Add a tsp of sesame oil/Gingely oil while serving. Enjoy !
Note:Asafetida and coriander leaves are most important for this sambar. Only these 2 ingredients gives the flavour.
Try this easy protein rich Moong dal sambar for idli, dosa and enjoy adding a tsp of gingely oil!
THIRUVATHIRAI KALI / ADAI / KOOTU (Ezhu kai kootu)
In this post, lets see how to make Thiruvathirai kali, kootu and adai recipes with step by step pictures and video for making thiruvathirai kali. Before that, lets see the significance of Thiruvathirai.
Significance of Arudra darshan
Soure:wiki and google
Arudhra Darshan or Arudara Darshan is observed in the Tamil month of Margazhi (December – January). In our house, we celebrate this festival by offereing Thiruvathirai kali, adai and 7 kai kootu with mixed vegetables to Lord Shiva. It is essentially a Shaivite festival and celebrates the cosmic dance of Lord Shiva, which is represented by the Nataraja form. Arudra festival is celebrated with fervor in Lord Shiva temples in Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa, Australia and in other parts of the world by Tamil speaking population. Arudhra signifies the golden red flame and Shiva performs in the form of this red-flamed light.
The cosmic dance of Lord Shiva represents five activities – Creation, Protection, Destruction, Embodiment and Release. In essence, it represents the continuous cycle of creation and destruction.Arudra Darshan celebrates this ecstatic dance of Lord Shiva.
It takes place on the full moon night in the month of Margazhi and this is also the longest night in a year. The festival is mainly observed in the Tamil speaking world.The most important Arudhra Darshan festival takes place at the Chidambaram Shiva Temple in Tamil Nadu. Most of the temples around the world with Lord Nataraja as deity perform the Arudhra Darshan.
As per the Puranaas, on this day Lord Shiva has shown this blissful dance that energizes this world to two of his devotees - Vyagrapadha and Adisesha (on whom Lord Vishnu Reside). Hence this day is celebrated, in appreciation of the cosmic dance of Lord Shiva, by offering Prayers to the Nataraja aspect of the Lord.
Special prayers are held on the day at all Shiva temples. Milk, honey, water, sandal paste and other cooling liquids are offered to Lord Shiva on this day. This is to cool a burning and turbulent Shiva who is performing the Tandava – the cosmic dance of Nataraja. Special abhishekam, rituals and celebrations are held on the night of Thiruvathirai.
In our house, we celebrate this festival by offering kali , 7 kai kootu and adai to Lord Nataraja. We tie a yellow rope in our hands.We also draw maakolam all over our house. My MIL draws a procession car(Thaer)with shivalingam in the center and keep it in Pooja room as idol. I’ve attached the photo of our Pooja room with all the offerings in the end of this page! Do have a look.
Please watch the video for better understanding :)
INGREDIENTS Please check THIS LINK for latest kali recipe with video.
1 cup - 250ml
Raw rice – 1/2 cup
Moong Dal – 1.5 tbsp
Cardamom – 3 nos (crushed)
Water – 1.5 to 2 cups
Cashew nuts – 4-5 nos
Ghee – 1 tbsp.
Grated Coconut – 1/4 cup
For jaggery syrup/Paagu:
Grated jaggery - 3/4 cup ( ratio of rice and jaggery should be 1:1.5)
Water - 1/4 cup
HOW TO MAKE THIRUVATHIRAI KALI - METHOD Please watch the video link given above for clear understanding !
Dry roast the moong dhal in a hot kadai till light golden brown(nice aroma comes). Set aside. Dry roast the rice in the same hot kadai till it puffs up slightly.
Now grind the rice & dal in the mixie (Run once or twice.It should be just broken like rava/semolina).
Pressure cook rice and moong dal with the nentioned quantity of water & a drop of oil. Cook it for 1-2 whistles (rice should be separate). It shouldn’t be overcooked. Rice should be fluffy and separate. Set aside. No problem if the rice is slightly mushy. When it cools down, it will be separate..
Break the jaggery into pieces. Run the grated coconut in the mixie once or twice. Now take a bowl with the jaggery and put in very little water (should immerse).
Melt and make a syrup by keeping in medium flame. This is done to remove mud and stones in jaggery. After we make the syrup, strain it in a metal strainer.
Now add the cooked rice to the syrup and a tsp of ghee. Mix well by keeping on the medium flame. Take care to stir continuously, so as not to charr/ burn. It gets thicken and rice will absorb all the syrup. Lastly add the grated coconut and fried cashews along with ghee. Switch off the flame.
Note : Instead of making jaggery syrup, you can directly add the jaggery & grated coconut to the rice mixture if your jaggery is pure.
Shelf life : fresh or for 1 day.
Thiruvathirai adai recipe
Thiruvathirai adai recipe using rice flour and jaggery
Water – 1 to 1.25 cups ( Water quantity may vary based on the rice flour you use)
Powdered Jaggery – 3/4 cup
Grated coconut – 2 tbsp
Cardamom – 3 nos
Ghee – 1 tbsp
HOW TO MAKE THIRUVATHIRAI ADAI - METHOD
Wash and Soak rice in water for 2 hrs. Drain the water and Spread the rice in a paper or cloth for 5-10 mins .Water content gets absorbed and rice will become dry with little moisture. Now grind it in the mixie till it becomes a nice powder. Add cardamom with the rice so that it will be grinded nicely.
Now sieve the rice flour and remove the coarse ones. Fry it in the dry kadai till vapour comes slightly. Set aside. Dry grind the coconut and keep apart.
For ready made rice flour, dry roast till vapour comes slightly. Do it for 1-2 minutes in medium flame. Please don’t roast too much as the adai may break. Remove as soon as vapour comes out. Now take the jaggery in a bowl & add 1 cup of water. Melt & strain the jaggery. Let it boil for sometime. Now simmer the flame and add the rice flour, cardamom powder and the grated coconut. Mix it well.
Make sure there are no lumps . The mixture will become thick and all the water gets absorbed into the rice flour. Remove from the flame and let it warm. Grease your hands with oil and knead well to make it soft.. Make balls of even size.
Take a small polythene sheet or Plantain leaf. Spread the ball with hands and make it like Poori. We usually keep 7 nos for neivedyam.
Heat a dosa tawa .Sprinkle some oil/ghee and put the adai into it. Cook till it becomes light golden brown. Cook it in med flame. Adai should not break. So cook carefully.
Flip it once. Cook for sometime and enjoy eating hot!!
Note: On this day the most important thing is that this Adai shouldn’t break or crack. Its a kind of sentiment for us :)
Shelf life: 1 week. ( U can refrigerate the cooked dough and make adai at ur will)
Note
I always use home made processed rice flour to make soft adai.
Adai will break if you over roast the rice flour. It will crack an break if you roast in the dosa pan for longer time in low flame. So always do in medium flame
Sufficient quantity of water should be added while making the syrup.
Do not flip the adai very often as it may break.
If the dough is sticky, grease your hands with oil and pat the dough. Use oil generously whenever needed.
Pressure cook the vegetables ,tomato by adding dal, required salt and water .(Vegetables shouldn’t be mashed or overcooked). Keep it in high flame for 2 whistles. It will be perfectly cooked.
Grind the coconut with green chilly and a tsp of rice flour to make a paste by adding water. Add jeera at the end and run once.
Add the ground mixture to the cooked veggies by keeping on the flame. Boil well for few minutes till it thickens. Adjust the consistency by adding water if required..
Heat a kadai with a tbsp of coconut oil and temper with mustard, urad dal and curry leaves and add to the above mixture.
Delicious, healthy veg. kootu is ready!! Enjoy with kali or plain rice !
Note
For the above recipe, I used 1/2 raw banana, 2 small colocasia, 1/4 piece of yam, 10 broad beans, 1/2 cup of cubed ash gourd and 1/2 sweet potato small sized, handful of mochai kottai.
U can also use other country vegetables like cluster beans, bittergourd, ladies finger, pumpkin etc to replace the above said vegetables.
Last but not the least here is our pooja room picture..
Hope you all enjoyed reading our thiruvathirai celebration. May the Lord bless us with all happiness and fortune!!
Easy side dish for Idli dosa with besan flour 
.Whatever method u follow,roasting in very low flame for longer time is needed to make it perfect.Lets see how to prepare this yummy,easy besan ladoo/Gram flour laddu recipe using 2 methods.Enjoy making it for this Diwali and other festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi,Holi and of course for this Navratri too
.Do read the do’s & don’ts before proceeding to the recipe.
