Paruppu rasam/ Dhal rasam

               Paruppu rasam used to be one of my favorites when I was a kid. My friend's mom used to make this rasam and we used to eat the food with vathal(papadum).

Serves up to 2-3 people
Preparation time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1/4 cup of cooked toor dhal
1 tomato 
pinch of turmeric
1 cup of tamarind water

1 tsp of cumin powder
1 tbsp of rasam powder
1/2 tsp of freshly ground pepper
1 broken red chilly
1 tsp of cumin seeds
1 tsp of mustard
2 crushed garlic cloves
pinch of asafoetida
8 curry leaves
coriander leaves for garnish

1 tsp of ghee
1 tsp of oil 
salt as required

Preparation:

1.Pressure cook toor dhal along with tomato and turmeric.
2.Heat oil and ghee in the saucepan, add mustard  and cumin seeds. As the cumin sputters, add red chilly, curry leaves and pinch of asafoetida. Add the crushed garlic and saute for 2 minutes.
3.Mash the tomato and add to the pan. Saute well and add  toor dhal and spices (rasam powder and cumin powder). 
4.Now add the tamarind water and bring it to boil. Simmer the flame and add the salt, coriander leaves and ground pepper. Dhal rasam is ready.

Vegetable Uthappam

   My cousin was visiting me for Christmas and we were talking about uthappam. She suggested that we can try with carrot and cabbage. When we made it, the uthappam turned out really tasty and even my kids loved it! Usually if the Idly batter is readily available, then the rest of the process is easy.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups of Idly rice
1/2 cup of raw rice
3/4 cup of urad dhal
1/2 tsp of fenugreek
1 small cup of grated carrot
1 small cup of chopped cabbage
1 small onion (finely chopped)
finely chopped coriander for garnish
2 green chillies
oil
salt as required

Preparation:

1.Soak the rice and urad dhal with fenugreek separately for 6 hours. Grind them separately. Mix the batter together and add salt to the batter. Ferment for 24 hours.
2.Heat 1 tsp of oil in the pan and add onion, green chillies, carrot and cabbage to the pan. Saute well for 5 minutes and add salt. Transfer to a plate.
3.In the tawa (skillet), add 1/2 tsp of oil. Once the tawa is hot, pour 1 ladle of batter on the pan. Use the bottom of the ladle to make a circle on the pan. Add 1 tbsp of oil around the edges of the batter.
4.Spread 1 tbsp of  sauteed vegetables on the batter and add fresh coriander. Close the lid.
5.Cook in medium flame. The steam allows it to cook evenly. Check if the batter had turned golden brown. Serve uthappam with Idly milagai podi/ chutney.

Dahi puri

            Dahi puri is one of the popular chaat items. When I was in India, my husband took  me to Juhu beach. I still remember eating chaat from the stalls enjoying the beach view.

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Serves up to 2 people

10 small puris (available at Indian store)
3 tbsp of sprouted moong dhal*
1 finely chopped onion
2 tbsp of finely chopped coriander
1 tbsp of tamarind-date chutney
1 potato
2 tbsp of thin sev
1 small cup of yogurt
1 tsp of chilli powder
1/2 tsp of chaat powder

salt as required


Preparation:

1.Pressure cook the potato and mash them. Add 1/2 tsp of chilli powder and salt required for the potato.
2.Make holes in the center of the puri and stuff each puri with potato, tamarind-date chutney, onion. Add salt to the yogurt and add to the puri.
3.Sprinkle thin sev, chilli powder and chaat powder. Garnish with coriander.
*Sprouted moong dhal can be substituted with pressure cooked chickpeas.