Payatham Paruppu Payasam / Moong Dal Kheer

I learnt the basics of cooking from my mother-in-law. Sambar, different types of kuzhambu, the different poriyals . Hers is a rustic style of cooking - truly comfort food at its best. One of her best recipes is the payatham paruppu payasam - a regular in most of our festival menus.  The care she shows in following each step while making this dish results in a delectable dessert that truly represents food for the gods.

MOONG DAL/PAYATHAM PARUPPU PAYASAM

Ingredients:

Split Moong dal / Payatham paruppu - 1 cup (dry roasted until it gives a nice aroma)

Grated Jaggery - 1.25 cups

Cardomom powder - 1/2 tsp

Roast and Grind to a smooth paste

Cashews 5 to 6

Channa Dal 1 Tblsp 

Coconut 1 Tblsp

Milk 2 Tblsp 

Method:

1. Pressure cook / boil the dal until well done. Mash and keep aside. 

2. As the dal.cooks, heat a pan with jagged and water.

3. When the jagged melts and starts thickening remove from heat and strain the scum that collects on top. Return the liquid back to the pan and continue heating it.

4. Add the mashed dal and mix well.

5. As the mixture thickens add the ground paste and cardomom powder. 

6. Garnish with fried nuts and raisins. 

7. Serve warm. 

Notes:

* If the payasam is thick at the time of serving add some warm milk to it.

Keerai Kuzhambu - South Indian Spinach Gravy with Lentils

One of my  cooking handicaps is the inability to identify different types of spinach. In Chennai markets I used to be awestruck by the way some ladies used to ask for siru keerai, mulai keerai or vendhaya keerai by name, then proceed to check if they were good (Whatever they check for I wouldn't know. I only check for holes. And that is also to make sure that the vendor doesn't think I am naive) and buy accordingly. I wouldn't be able to identify regular spinach from hibiscus leaves. Yeah. I am that bad. I used to stand next to some of these experienced ladies and carefully pick up whatever they had picked up. Sometimes I ask them directly what they would do with it - poriyal or kootu and if all else fails I will ask the lady who sells it who would give me strange looks.

Coming to Penang I saw the innate love for greens with both the local and the Chinese population. And of course the rows and rows of different types of greens in every market. Most of the times the shopkeeper would give me only the Chinese or local name and I would come home and google it to see if it is in anyway related to the ones I have cooked in Chennai. So by trial and error I have shortlisted couple of varieties here and luckily the supermarkets have their names on them. So it is not difficult to select the right ones. 

But sometimes I am overcome with the eagerness to try new variety of spinach and just last week the market lady showed me something which I thought looked like palak. She also said it is good with stir-fry. So brought it home and promptly made it into a keerai poriyal with onion and garlic. After a couple of minutes of stir frying, I realized something was not right. Yeah. the darn thing was generating some gel-like substance that coated the entire stuff in a gelatinous glob. Of course it did not make it to the lunch table. So now I have vowed to abstain from trying anything new. It may last for a week until I see some other new vegetable.

But not to worry, today's recipe is a basic South Indian comfort food especially in Tamil Nadu. It is very close cousin of the North Indian Dal Palak. It is made regularly in most households almost on a daily basis. Traditionally, this is made in a "mannu chatti" or terracota pots. The heat and the porous nature of the vessel along with the labor-intensive hand blending with a "mathu" brings out the best in the dish. I have seen my mom do it the traditional way. Cook in the chatti, then take it off the heat and using a kitchen towel, sit on the floor deftly holding the pot and churning it with the mathu.  Any type of spinach would work for this but apparently it tastes best with "paruppu keerai". If you know what that is and can identify it - go ahead and use it. But if you are "spinach challenged" like me, then you can use any edible spinach. (stress on the word edible after my last experience).

Keerai Kozhambu - A Spinach and Lentil based Gravy

Ingredients:

Spinach - 1 bunch

Tuar Dal - 1/2 cup, pressure cooked till soft and mashed

Onion - 1, chopped

Tomato - 1, chopped

Green Chilly - 1, slit

Garlic - 1 clove, smashed

Tamarind paste - 1t

Sambar Powder - 1T

Turmeric - 1t

Salt to taste

For Seasoning

Mustard seeds - 1/2t

Broken Urad dal - 1/2t

Asafoetida (Hing) - a pinch

Curry Leaves - 1T

Vadagam - 1t (Refer Notes)

Ghee - 1t

Method:

1. Pressure cook and mash the tuar dal with a pinch of turmeric.

2. Rinse and chop the spinach.

3. Heat oil in a kadai/ pan. Add the green chilly, garlic and onions and fry well.

4. Add the tomatoes and fry well.

5. Add the spinach, sambar powder and fry well.

6. Add the tamarind paste along with 1/4 cup of water and mix well.

7. Add the dal and add some more water and allow it to come to a boil.

8. Traditionally a "mathu" is used at this stage to blend the spinach and dal. But if you find that time-consuming, then go ahead and use a mixie/blender. I have used the stick-type hand blender. If using a hand-blender, then mash the dal and spinach-onion-tomato mix directly on the stove. Do not make into a smooth blend but leave a few bits of spinach/ onions etc. If using a blender, then switch off the stove,allow the mixture to cool and blend.

9. Add salt and bring the blended mixture to a boil.

10. In a small pan, heat some ghee. Season with the seasoning ingredients mentioned above.

11. Add the seasoning to the boiling kuzhambu

12. Serve hot with rice.

Notes

1. For best results use mann chatti and a mathu. But that is extremely labor intensive. So if you are like me - then use a pressure pan and hand blender for fast results.

2. Vadagam - It is a kind of dried seasoning made up of onion and garlic and other spices that are made into a ball and stored for the rest of the year. Adds great flavor to south indian gravies. Check out the recipe here. I have not attempted to make these at home but get mine from India. Please note that it is quite pungent even in its dried form - so you can imagine the nasal assault it will have during the making! Do not try this at home unless you have an independent well-ventilated house. On hindsight - maybe I will make it at home to take revenge on my durian-loving neighbors ;-)

Whole Moong Dal Subzi

I call this my back-up recipe. Its for those days when you are tired and forgot to plan on what to make for dinner or when you have guests and you want to add another dish to the menu but don't want to slog for it or if you only have onions and tomatoes in your vegetable tray and don't want to make chutney. 

I was a bit apprehensive when I saw this recipe on Manisha's Indian Food Rocks. What? No soaking the moong beans overnight?? Doesn't this go against the law of the beans?? But that's the beauty of the dish. Simple, quick and yes - no soaking time.  The only thing you will need is a pressure cooker to reduce the cooking time. This recipe is a faithful representation of the original. The only difference is I used ginger-garlic paste instead of grated ginger and garlic and sometimes increase the red chilly powder or  add marathi moggu while seasoning. 

Whole Moong Dal Subzi

Recipe Source: Indian Food Rocks Blog

Serving Size - Serves 2

Ingredients:

Whole Moong Dal (Pacha Payaru) - 1 cup

Onion - 1, chopped

Tomatoes - 2, chopped

Ginger Garlic Paste - 1t

Green Chillies - 2

Dried Red Chilly - 1, broken

Cinnamon - 1/2 stick

Cloves - 3

Bay Leaf (Briyani leaf)  - 1

Asafoetida - 1 pinch

Cumin Seeds - 1t

Marathi Moggu (Dried Capers) - 1, optional

Red Chilly Powder - 1t

Turmeric Powder - 1/4 t

Ghee - 2 T

Coriander leaves - for garnish

Salt to taste

Method:

1. Heat ghee in a pressure cooker. Add bay leaf, cinnamon, cloves, marathi moggu, broken red chilly,cumin and asafoetida.

2. Add chopped onions and fry well.

3. Add ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw smell goes.

4. Add tomatoes, green chillies and turmeric and fry well.

5. Add the washed and drained moong dal and mix well.

6. Add 4 cups of water and the red chilly powder and salt and mix well.

7. Close the lid and pressure cook for 4 whistles.

8. Switch off the stove and wait for the pressure cooker to use up all the pressure and the pressure valve indicates that its safe to open.

9. Open the cooker and check for salt and spice. Adjust salt or red chilly powder and heat the gravy till the raw smell (if you have added red chilly powder) goes.

10.Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with rotis.

Notes:

• Using ghee instead of oil adds a lovely flavor to this dish. 
• You can use soaked moong dal as well. But you dont have to pressure cook in that case.

P.S - As this dish was not planned ahead, I clicked the pics when I made it for dinner last night. Hence the poor lighting!

Broccoli Usili

For all its fame of being a powerhouse of nutrients, the Broccoli is definitely an acquired taste. Whether you have acquired it or not will be evident from the presence or absence of various bits of the vegetable pushed around your plate.

Glamorous as it sounds "Oh I'm making broccoli soup today!, I make sure that I have broccoli on my plate everyday", I am yet to acquire the taste. To me, eating broccoli makes me feel like a cow chewing its cuds.  Dont get me wrong. A lot of people love broccoli. It is a healthy vegetable and I am plagued by guilt everytime I walk past the broccoli basket in the market - mocking at me for not feeding healthy vegetables to my family. So invariably it finds its way into my fridge and looks at me every day as it moves through its lifecycle hoping that my sleepy face would take it out that day.

Well today is a lucky day for that broccoli in my fridge. (or it would have been its last day). At our house, we make usili with everything that is in a terminal stage. The addition of the lentils adds protein (and masks the flavor and texture - remember the cow!), brings the dish alive (pun intended)  and makes me happy that not only did I save the vegetable from the dustbin, but I actually made it even more healthier. Wow.

Combined with a simple rasam, this makes for a complete meal. And makes me acquire the taste for broccoli.

Broccoli Usili
Recipe Souce: Own

Ingredients:

Broccoli - 1, cut into small florets
Chilli Powder - 1T (I use Sambar Powder)
Oil - 1/2 t
Salt to taste

For the Usili

Tuar Dal - 1/4 cup
Channa Dal - 1/4 cup
Dried Red Chillies - 4-5
Asafoetida - 1 pinch
Turmeric - 1/2t
Mustard seeds - 1 t
Urad dal - 1t
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Oil to grease the plate

Method

Usili

Soak the dals for 2 - 3 hours and grind it coarsley along with the chillies, asafoetida and turmeric.
Using an idli plate (or any steamer plate or a microwave steamer), place the ground usili like idlies (dumplings) and steam them for 15 minutes.
Remove and crumble the required quanitiy of the usili idli on a plate. The rest of the usili idlies can be removed and stored in ziploc bags/containers in the freezer for later use.
Heat one teaspoon of oil in a pan. Splutter mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves. Add the crumbled usili and fry well. Remove onto a plate.
In the same pan, add 1/2 teaspoon of oil and fry the broccoli florets. The color will turn dark green. Do not allow it to wilt. Add chilli powder and salt and fry until they are cooked but still crunchy. Add the usili and fry until the broccoli is mixed well. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve with rice and rasam.

NOTES:

•  The same recipe can be used for various vegetables like beans, karamani and even spinach.
• While using the frozen usilis, defrost them by leaving it in room temperature for about an hour or in the microwave by sprinkling a bit of water and reheating it in a closed container for 2-3 minutes.
• The dals and spice levels can be adjusted to each one's preferences. It is a very forgiving recipe.
• Any excess usili can also be made into pakoras by adding chopped onion and chillies.