Carrot-Beans dry curry

           I was visiting my friend in NJ a few weeks ago. She made this delicious curry with a nice combination of vegetables. I thought I will make this curry with my own touch of creativity to the spices.

Serves up to 4 people
Preparation time:30 minutes


Ingredients:

1 1/2  cup of chopped carrots
1 cup of chopped beans
1 small cup of finely chopped cabbage
2 green chillies
1 tbsp of grated ginger
1 tbsp of grated coconut 
1/2 tsp of turmeric
2-3 tsp of sambhar powder (as per spice level)
2 tbsp of cooked yellow moong dhal
1 tbsp of oil
salt as required

For seasoning:
1 tsp of mustard
1 tsp of bengal gram dhal
6 curry leaves
pinch of asafoetida

Preparation:

1.Heat oil in the saucepan and add the seasoning. Once the mustard sputters, add the green chillies and ginger. Saute for 2 minutes.
2.Cook the yellow moong dhal separately with water.
3.Add the vegetables (carrots, beans and cabbage) to the pan and saute well for 5 minutes.
4.Add the turmeric, sambhar powder  and 1/4 cup of water. Close the lid for 10 minutes and cook in medium flame.
5.Add the salt and cook for 5 more minutes. Add the cooked moong dhal and coconut towards the end. Mix well and serve with rice.

Onion-tomato chutney

              Onion-tomato chutney is one of the popular side dishes served with Idly/ dosai.

Serves up to 3 people
Preparation time: 15 minutes


Ingredients:

1 large onion
1 large tomato
2 cloves of garlic
3-4 red chillies
1/4 cup of urad dhal
cherry-sized tamarind
1 tbsp of sesame oil
pinch of asafoetida
salt as required


For seasoning:
1 tsp of mustard
5 curry leaves


Preparation:

1. Heat 1 tsp of oil in the pan and add urad dhal to the pan. Roast the dhal till it turns golden brown. Transfer to a plate.
2.Add the chopped onion and garlic to the pan saute for 3 minutes and then add chopped tomatoes, red chillies to the pan. Saute well for 5 minutes. 
3.Allow them to cool and then grind  the sauteed onion, tomato,  red chillies, urad dhal, asafoetida, garlic, tamarind and salt together to a smooth paste.
4.Onion-tomato chutney is ready. Heat 1 tsp of oil and add the seasoning. Transfer the seasoning to the chutney.

kale dry curry/ keerai porial

    Kale is considered to be a highly nutritious greens with powerful antioxidants. To the people whoever misses the taste of drumstick leaves (murangai keerai) will definitely love it as kale  gives the similar taste and texture. As it has a thick texture, it has to be finely chopped to be cooked properly.

Serves up to 3 people
Preparation time:20 minutes


Ingredients:

1 bunch of kale greens
1/4 cup of peanuts
4 red chillies
3 cloves of garlic
1 tsp of Bengal gram dhal
1 tsp of mustard
pinch of asafoetida
1 tbsp of oil
salt as required

Preparation:

1. Heat oil in the saucepan, add the seasoning( mustard and Bengal gram dhal). As the mustard sputters, add crushed garlic, 2 red chillies and pinch of asafoetida. Saute for 2 minutes.
2. Add finely chopped kale to the pan, saute well and close the lid. Allow the greens to cook for 15 minutes. 
3. Dry roast peanuts with the remaining 2 red chillies separately in a pan  and grind to coarse powder.
4. Add 3-4 tbsp of powdered peanuts to the kale and mix well. Close the lid for 5 more minutes. Keerai porial is ready. Serve with rice and 1 tsp of ghee.