Kondai Kadalai Chundal (Chickpeas Salad)

Chundal is a South Indian term for a particular variety of salads made from legumes. These are one of the most healthy festive foods made from either from chickpeas (garbanzo beans), whole moong dal, pattani (dried peas), kidney beans and various dried beans. The beans need to be soaked for a minimum of 4-6 hours to get the best results.

On the nine day festival of Navarathiri, a different chundal is made each day and offered as neivedyam to the Goddess. This can also be made as a snack dish and enjoyed with a cup of coffee in the afternoon.

Chickpeas is a versatile bean and has a place in every cuisine around the world. Kondai kadalai in tamil literally means "top knot beans" like the knot of hair you put on your head, probably because of the knot like shape on the bean. I love chickpeas whether it is done as in punjabi chole or this south indian yummy chundal dish.

Ingredients
Chickpeas (Garbanzo beans) -- 2 cups soaked overnight.
Salt to taste
Grated Coconut - 3 tbsp

For tempering
Cooking Oil - 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds (Kadugu) - 1 tsp
Dried Red Chillis (crushed) - 2 nos or to taste.
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Hing (Perungayam) - 1/4 tsp

Method
1. Soak the chickpeas overnight to soften them.
2. Cook in a pressure cooker by adding just enough water so that it is just done and not mushy. Drain and set aside.
3. In a kadai add the cooking oil, mustard seeds. Once the seeds splutter, add the red chillis, hing, curry leaves and saute for a minute.
4. Add the drained chickpeas, salt and saute until any residual moisture evaporates.
5. Add grated coconut. Saute for a few more minutes until it blends well with the chickpeas.

Remove from heat and serve warm.

Spicy Brussels Sprouts

During my last week's grocery shopping I spotted some fresh brussels sprouts. My first attempt at cooking the brussels sprouts a few months ago did not go well. The dish turned out to be smelly and did not taste good. After a few web searches I understood that the more you cook the sprouts the more unpalatable it becomes. This time around the dish I made was spicy, yummy and crunchy. Try it and add brussels sprouts to your grocery list.

Ingredients
Brussels Sprouts - 1 lb (roughly 1/2 kg)
Onion - 1/2 diced
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Ginger - 1 tsp (grated)
Oil - 1 tbsp
Curry leaves - 4-5 leaves shredded
Water - 2 cups

For Roasting
Oil - 1 tsp
Peanuts - 1 tbsp
Red chillis - 2 nos
Cumin (Jeeragam) - 1/2 tsp

For Tempering
Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp

Method

1. Remove yellowish leaves and quarter the sprouts such that the leaves are still attached to the head.
2. Boil the brussels sprouts in salted water for 3-4 minutes. Drain well and dunk into cold water so that the cooking process stops. Drain well and set aside. This makes the sprouts just tender and they retain the bite.
3. In a kadai/ pan roast peanuts, cumin and red chillis. Transfer into a mortar and pound it until the peanuts breaks down into small pieces. Set aside.
4. In the same pan add oil, crackle mustard seeds, and saute the onions until tender.
5. Add the drained brussels sprouts, pepper, ginger, roasted peanut mix and adjust salt to taste. Saute and mix well until all the ingredients combine. This takes a few minutes. Add curry leaves, mix and remove from heat.

The spicy brussels sprouts is ready to be served and tastes best with ghee rice or rotis.

More (curd/yogurt) Kuzhambu

As a family we are a huge fan of curd/yogurt in its many forms. One of our all time favourite side dishes is the more kuzhambu /pulisseri/ kadi. "More" means curd in tamil and this dish is called pulisseri in Kerala. It used to be prepared in my home back in India when the curds turned very sour over the span of a few days and could not be used for making thayir sadam (curd rice).  It just needs a couple of vegetables and is very easy to prepare. Whenever I make this more kuzhambu my family ends up asking for more with the last drop being slurped up.
Traditionally its made with cucumbers, ash gourd etc but I love the taste of potatoes and carrots in a curd gravy. So this is my version of this recipe.

Ingredients
Potatoes - 1 no: cubed
Cucumber -- 1/4 cubed
Carrots - 1/2 a carrot (if big) diced
Turmeric
Salt to taste
Curry leaves - 5-7
Water - 1 cup

For Tempering
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Red chillis- 1 no broken into 2-3 pieces

For Grinding
Sour Curd (yogurt) - 1/2 cup
Coconut shredded - 1.5 tbsp
Jeeragam (cumin) - 1 tsp
Red chillis - 2-3 nos as per spice level
Water - 1or 2 Tbsp

Method

1. In a vessel boil the vegetables until al dente and add salt, turmeric and curry leaves.
2. Grind the said ingredients into a thick paste and set aside.
3. Pour the ground mixture to the boiled vegetables. Reduce heat and let the mixture froth. Do not let it boil after adding the ground mixture because the Kuzhambu will become watery as the curds separate.
4. Crackle the mustard seeds in a kadai and add the tempering. More Kuzhambu is ready to serve and tastes best with rice or sevai (rice noodles). 

Thattai - Crispy Rice Crackers

This year for Deepavali I made thattai and omapodi (sev) besides the sweets. I used to enjoy these savoury snacks which my mother used to make very often for a cracking accompaniment to the afternoon tea/coffee. Following is the recipe for this tasty snack which I guarantee you will make time and time again once you have tasted it. These hardly last a couple of days at my home.

Ingredients
Rice flour - 2 cups
Urad Daal flour (lightly fried) - 4 tbsp
Asofeteida (Hing/ Perunkaayam) - 1/4 tsp
Butter (at room temp) -- 1 tbsp
Chilli Powder - 1/4 tsp
Split Dalia (Porikadalai paruppu) - 3 tbsp
Curry Leaves - 1 sprig (about 15 leaves shredded)
Salt to taste
Water as needed
Oil for deep frying.

Method

1. Mix all the ingredients to form a tight dough.
2. Use a plastic sheet for flattening out the daough. Place a ball of dough on the sheet, wet your hand and pat down on the dough to make it flat. Flatten it out as much as possible without breaking it.
3. Heat oil in a wok for deep frying. To test if the oil is hot enough, drop a small piece of the dough into the oil and if it comes up to the surface within a few seconds, then you are good to go.
4. Gently remove the flattened dough by inverting the plastic sheet over the palm of your hand. Deep fry until golden brown.
5. Cool and then its all yours to crack it up.

Drumstick Leaves in Daal Fry

Drumstick leaves or muringai ilai is a commonly available leafy green in South India. So imagine my surprise when I saw it in the local chinese market, I grabbed it up. In my home town we would find these trees in many people's backyards and whenever the tree was pruned the leaves and drumsticks would be distributed to the neighbours.

The leaves are a powerhouse of nutrients and have high vitamin C, phosphorous, calcium and iron content, more so than the commonly known oranges, bananas or milk. It also has high antibacterial properties and is used for cleansing the stomach when eaten at regular intervals. If regularly fed to expectant and new mothers, it increases resistance to infections and increases breast milk supply. So when something is this good how can I pass up on making a tasty dish out of it.

The toughest part in the whole process of cooking the leaves is separating the leaves from the twigs. Once that's out of the way it takes hardly 15 minutes to prepare this delicious dish.

Ingredients

Drumstick Leaves (Murungai ilai) - 2 cups (washed)
Toor daal/ Moong daal (cooked)- 1/2 cup
Asofeteida (hing) - a pinch
Turmeric - a pinch
Grated Coconut - 2 tbsp
Red Chillis - 2 nos (or more depending on spice level)
Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad daal - 1/2 tsp
Water - 1/4 cup
Salt to taste

Method

1. Add oil to a pan and add mustard seeds, urad daal and red chillis.
2. Once the mustard seeds splutter, add the drumstick leaves. Saute for a few minutes. Add salt and turmeric and mix.
3. Add water, cover and let the leaves cook for about 5 minutes.
4. Add the cooked moong or toor daal, mix well and let it cook some more until all the water content evaporates.
5. Add the grated coconut and hing, mix well and saute it for a couple of minutes. Remove and serve with rice for a healthy nutritious meal.

Rava (Sooji) Upma

Upma is one of the ubiquitous breakfast dishes that you will find in south India. It is very easy to make and makes an excellent breakfast or late afternoon tiffin dish. It can be made from broken rice, wheat or rava(sooji/cream of wheat). By adding different vegetables that are available, it can be a very tasty nutritious food for picky eaters.

Ingredients
Rava (cream of wheat) - 2 cups
Water - 4.5 cups
Mixed Vegetables (diced carrots, diced potato, sliced onion) -- 0.5 cups
Salt to taste
Asofeteida (Hing) - a pinch
Red Chillis (dry) - 2 nos
Green Chillis -- 2 nos chopped
Ginger - 1 tsp grated
Oil - 2 tbsp
Chana Dal - 2 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Curry Leaves - 5-6 leaves
Ghee - 2 tsp


Method
1. In a heavy bottomed wide mouthed vessel add 1 tbsp oil, mustard seeds and red chillis. Once the mustard seeds splutter, add the rava and fry until the raw smell of rava disappears and it starts to brown lightly. All this while keep the stove in medium flame. Remove from flame and set aside.
2. In the same vessel, add the rest of the oil, the chana dal and fry lightly. Add the sliced onions and fry until translucent.
3. Pour 0.5 cup of water and add the vegetables, green chillis and cook until al dente.
4. Pour in the rest of the water. Add salt, asofeteida, ginger and bring the water to a boil at high heat. Once the water has started to boil reduce heat or spluttering hot rava a will burn the skin.
5. The trick to making non lumpy upma is to keep stirring the water when adding the rava. The easiest way to do this is to transfer the roasted rava into 2 glasses/cups. Pour the rava by circling the hand over the boiling water and simultaneously mixing it with a ladle using the other hand. Keep mixing until all the water has evaporated.
6. Add ghee and curry leaves and mix well. The ghee gives a nice flavor and aroma to the dish.
This dish tastes well with coconut chutney, pickle or sugar (for kiddies) on the side.

Summer Fruit Drink

When the temperatures climb the best way to chill out is a cool fruit drink. Fresh blueberries, strawberries and raspberries make a perfect blend of a fruit cocktail which my son calls pink juice. Frozen fruits too can be used for this juice but using fresh fruits does taste better.

Ingredients
Blueberries - 1/2 cup
Strawberries - 3 nos med size
Raspberries - 1/2 cup
Orange Juice - 1 cup

Method
Blend all the ingredients together. Serve with a sprig of mint. No sugar is needed as the natural sweetness of the fruits gives the drink a sweet tangy taste. For small children who would want to drink it up with a straw, strain the juice to remove the skin and the strawberry seeds.