Bisibele Bath

Radhika of Tickling Palates has announced a fun way to link up with bloggers with an event called the "Blog hop Wednesday". The aim is to make a lot friends who come with a recipe in tow. Sounds like fun right. I have been paired up this week with Sangeetha from Typical Indian cooking. She has a lot of recipes on the blog and a friendly person too. I chose to make bisibele bath from her blog. This is my husbands favorite recipe. I have made my version of the classic Karnataka special. So do check out the recipe.

 

Bisibele Bath

Ingredients

Rice-1 cup

Toor Dal-1/2 cup

Mixed vegetables- I used 1 carrot,2 brinjals,4-5 strings of beans)

Lemon sized tamarind-Soaked

Turmeric-1/4 tsp

Salt to taste

Baby onions-10 nos

Sambar powder-1tsp

oil-for frying onions

Ghee-1 spoon

Coriander leaves for garnish

For the powder to be fried  and powdered

1-cardamom

1-clove

1-cinnamon stick

Coriander seeds-1tbsp

Bengal gram dal-1 tbsp

Red chillies-2

1-Star anise-optional

This method of mine is very simple. I pressure cook the vegetables,rice and dal with salt and turmeric powder. I use six glasses of water to be put in the cooker's container. Once this is done. I take a vessel,extract the tamarind juice,put the spice  powder and sambar powder,add the rice and other ingredients to this and let this mixture cook well. Once well done add the pearl onions(which is fried in oil) to this mixture. Garnish with coriander leaves. Add a dollop of ghee while serving. I have not used coconut, if you wish to you can use 1/2 cup grated coconut. Serve this with a raita of your choice.

Mysore Rasam-Comfort Food for the Soul.

Rasam is a staple at home.This best part about this tasty tangy broth is that it goes well with any side dish and even a papad.So rasam essentially is an all rounder and a part and parcel of the South Indian Psyche!Best remedy for the sniffles and a comfort food for me.This rasam has the lovely taste and aroma of coriander seeds wafting around in the house once made.Now for the recipe

Cooked toor dal-1/2 a cup

Tamarind-a lemon size

Curry leaves-a sprig

Tomatoes-2

Coriander leaves-a bunch

Asafoetida-a pinch

Jaggery-a small lump

Pepper-4 0r 5

Salt to taste

To grind

Coriander seeds-1 1/2 tablespoon

Bengalgram dal-2 teaspoons

Red Chillies-2

Oil-2 tsp for frying

Add the raw pepper without frying to be ground

To temper

Ghee-1 tsp

mustard-1 tsp

Method-Pressure cook toor dal with a pinch of turmeric and cool.Soak tamarind in water and mash well to extract tamarind water.Take a vessel,add the tamarind water,salt,cut tomatoes,curry leaves and a pinch of asafoetida.Let this mixture boil well.Add the cooked dhal mashed up well.Do not throw away the water,add this to the broth as well.Mix this well and add the magic potion which has been ground and kept aside.Let it bubble well till done.Add the jaggery to this mixture to enhance the flavour.Temper the mustard seeds with ghee.This step will make the rasam aromatic.So do not forget this step.While using tomatoes for this recipe,make sure  to use less tamarind.Finally garnish the rasam with coriander leaves.I have adapted this rasam recipe from the book Cook and See by Meenakshi Ammal.Go ahead make it your own.

Jack fruit seed Vathal Kozhambu

This combination of Pongal and tangy tamarind side dish is a staple at home.At the drop of hat I prepare pongal,the rice and lentil combination because it is healthier than plain rice.Now for the recipe.

Jackfruit Seed Vethal Kozhambu

Ingredients

Jackfruit seeds-I used 6-7

Tamarind - a lemon sized ball

onion-1

oil

mustard seeds

Bengal gram dal-1 tsp

curry leaves -a sprig

Ginger-optional

Jaggery-a piece

Rice flour for thickening

Salt to taste

Asafoetida powder-a pinch

Sambar powder-1 or 2 tsp depending on the spice factor

Method:

Soak the jack fruit seeds for a while in water.Pressure cook them and de-skin it and keep aside.Soak the lemon sized tamarind ball in water.Extract the pulp.Take a pan splutter mustard seeds,add the bengal gram dal,let it become a little brown.Add the curry leaves and saute well,now add the onion and let it turn transparent.Now the basic mixture for the tangy sauce is ready.Add in the tamarind,pour some water.Add the jack fruit seeds.Add in the asafoetida,salt and sambar powder.I also added a little bit of coriander powder for a nice aroma.Let this broth simmer and cook well.Add in a small piece of jaggery for the dish to be enhanced further.Take some rice flour in a cup add water and mix without lumps.Add this to the bubbling cauldron!!!.Wait for kozhambu to thicken.Add in coriander leaves as a garnish.The tasty side kick to a south Indian main course is ready to go.  

Appalam Vathal Kozhambu



Appalam Vethal Kozhambu

Ingredients:
Ullundu Appalam(urad pappad)-3 nos
Oil-4 spoons
Tamarind-Lemon Size
Salt to taste
Molagapodi or sambar podi-1 tbsp 
Rice flour- 1 tsp
Jaggery- a small piece
Mustard-1/2 tsp
Toor dal-1 tbsp
Asafoetida-1/2 tsp
Curry leaves- a sprig
Fenugreek seeds-1/2 tsp

This kozhambu can be made using different types of sun dried vathals  like sundaka,pavaka,manathakalli,kothavaranga and vendakka.Take a pan,add the oil.Splutter the mustard seeds add toor dal,fenugreek seeds,asafoetida powder and curry leaves.Fry till done.Add the appalam bits and fry well.Take tamarind water and add to the fried appalams.Now add molagapodi and salt.Let this mixture simmer well,till the raw smell of the sambar podi goes away.You can add a small piece of jaggery for the sweet sour taste. Once this is cooked well,take raw rice flour add water to make a watery paste and add this to the kozhambu for thickening.Switch off till done.This dish tastes great with mola keerai masiyal and vengaya vadaam.You can add a dollop of ghee to rice if its hot and then add this kozhambu.If the rice is cold you can add nal ennai(sesame oil) and then the kozhambu.According to my MIL,she says this kozhambu tastes like "then"(honey) to her!

Narthangai(Citron) Saadham(Rice)

I made Narthangai Saadham last night,Citron is rarely available these days so I did want to make good use of the fruit.The recipe is just like lemon rice.I tempered mustard seeds and urad dal, once this spluttered I added curry leaves and red chillies and let it cook.To this mixture I added turmeric powder and salt and switched off the flame.I added cooked rice to this mixture and finally squeezed the wonderful juice of the citron.The juice tasted amazing,to my surprise it was not all that tangy as I expected but sweet.The rice tasted great and I had also cooked kootu made of carrots and chow chow.This made a perfect side dish to the citron rice.Check out the pictures.

Mango Rice

Last night I made mango rice. I got the recipe from Menu Today. * Measure and Method Must Always be Right * . I must tell you, this is the best way of eating raw mango.I liked this better than lemon rice and tamarind rice.

Ingredients: I used are the same as Menu Today but I left out the cashew :

Mango - 1, Cooked Rice - 1 1/2 cups,Fenugreek Powder - 1 1/2 tsps,Turmeric Powder,Asafoetida,Salt to taste.

For spluttering: Oil - 2 tablespoons, Mustard seeds,Cummin Seeds,Dry Red Chilli-1,Green Chilli slit-1,Curry Leaves and ground Nut

Method:I used the pressure cooker first to cook 11/2 cups of rice. Since Menu Today advised that the grains should stand out, I used two cups of water for one cup rice.Then I went on to grate the mango.Next, I dry roasted fenugreek seeds and powdered it in a blender.I never knew that powdered fenugreek could smell so good. I proceeded to splutter mustard and cumin seeds followed by other ingredients.Now I added the raw mango and stirred it for a minute. I finally added the cooked rice and methi powder and mixed it thoroughly.The fragrant mango rice was ready to be served.Thank you Menu Today for this great recipe.This was simply yummy.You can use left over rice to make breakfast.This is my submission for the MBP :Easy Breezy Breakfast event. I'm also linking this post to Coffee's MBP page.

Khichdi

Last night I made khichdi, a mish mash of rice, lentils,veggies and spices. Its so easy to make if you have a pressure cooker and is considered a comfort food.

Ingredients:

Rice-1 cup
Yellow moong dal-1/2 a cup
Green chilli-1
pepper corns-10
ginger-a small piece crushed
cumin seeds-1 tbsp
coriander leaf
turmeric-a pinch
Salt-according to taste
Asafoetida-a pinch
Garam masala-a pinch
Vegetable of choice-handfull-I used cabbage and potato
Ghee-1 tbsp

Method: Wash one cup of rice and half cup of lentils. For one cup of rice use 3 cups of water. For 1/2 cup of lentils use 1 cup water. Take a container to be put inside the cooker. To the washed rice and lentils add water. To this mixture add all the spices and vegetables and salt according to taste. Close this container and put it in the cooker to cook. You can put the cooker off after 5 whistles, the idea is to make the mixture mushy. After the pressure is released remove the container from the cooker. Add ghee and coriander leaves and mash the mixture with a spatula.The yummy khichidi is ready. Serve it yogurt,pickle and pappad.This is actually a balanced meal. You get the carbs from the rice,protein from lentils,minerals and fiber from veggies and fat from ghee. Cumin, pepper,asafoetida,ginger aids in digestion. Turmeric is an anti bacterial and anti cancer agent. Green chilli boosts metabolism.Coriander leaf is aromatic and is considered to be carminative.Khichdi is one power packed meal.