Dry chutney for idli

I must thank my colleague Mrs Kumar for teaching me South Indian recipes. She used to bring yummy soft idlis coated with dry chutney in tiffin and we all used to love them. Infact all of us waited for her to get these idlis. Here is the recipe of Dry Chutney.
I keep it all the time on dining table, and it adds taste to our snacks like sewai upma, upma, poha and other snacks with this chutney. I am a big time chutney, pickle fan so have many type of pickles and chutneys in my kitchen.

Things you need: 
Dhuli Urad dal: 1 cup
Chana dal(gram pulse): 1 cup
Peanuts: 1/2 cup
Til (sesame) seeds: 2 tb spn
Dry red chilies: 10-12 (can take more for making it more spicy)
salt: as per taste

Preparation:
Roast urad dal, chana dal and peanuts on slow flame in a thick bottom pan till light brown. Add til seeds and red chillies and roast further, till til seeds swell and urad/chana dals turn medium brown. Allow it to cool.
After cooling grind it in mixer. Add salt to taste. You can store this chutney for a month.

Serving:
Heat 3 tbspn ghee/oil  in a pan, add a pinch of asofoetida and 3 tbspn chutney. Wrap fresh hot idlis in this chutney and keep it for 5-10 mins for soaking. Serve them.
This is very good for carrying in tiffins/picnic/travel and works just like sandwiches.

Low Cal Dal Makhni

Hi,
I am resuming activity on my blog after  a long gap.. was preoccupied mostly with travel and work.. else wise I was busy trying new designs in crochet...today I am posting recipe of Dal Makhni, which comes from North India and Punjab, in particular. Though like any other Punjabi delicacy, Dal Makhni is also very rich in butter and spices, I am putting down an adaptation for low cal lovers..I made it in the evening today and my family enjoyed it..

Things required: (serves five)
Black Urad dal: 1 cup
Rajma (red kidney beans): 1/4 cup
Onion: 1 cup chopped
Ginger: 1 " piece
Garlic: 7-8 flakes
tomato (mid sized): 2 nos (puree)
dal makhni masala: 1 1/2 tspn
amchoor (raw mango powder): 1/2 tspn
red chili powder: 1/2 tspn
tomato sauce: 2 tbspn
malai/ creme (optional): 2 tbspn
milk: 3/4 cup
salt as per taste
butter: 25 gms (can take more for garnishing)


What next:
Soak Dal and Rajma for 6-8 hours.
Pressure cook dal and rajma with onion, garlic and ginger in 4 cup water. Take 5 whistles on high flame and cook it in low flame for about 20 mins to cook the dal and rajma properly. Let it cool for 10 mins before opening.
Open the cooker and put in on low flame. Add tomato puree, and cook for 10 mins.  Add garam masala, amchoor, red chili powder, salt and cook further for 5 mins. Add milk and creme and cook further for 5-10 mins till desired consistency of dal.
Tempering:
Heat 25 gms of low cholestrol butter in a pan and add cumin seeds and cook till brown. Put the tempering on dal, mix well and serve hot. You may like to top it up with chopped coriander, creme and butter for garnishing.
Serve it with naan/chapati and rice.

Baked Spinach Mushroom

Another spinach mushroom recipe.. two in sequence.. but I couln't resist posting it.. I tried it last evening and it worked wonders..

what you need:(serves 2)
Button mushrooms: 7-8 washed and cut in four pieces
spinach: 200gms chopped
tomatoes: 2 small sized or one medium (finely chopped)
milk: 1 cup
ginger: 1/2 " piece grated
garlic: two flakes finely chopped (optional)
white floor (maida): 2 tspn
butter: 60 gms.
salt to tase
pepper: 1/2 tspn
sugar: 1/2 tspn
grated cheese: 25 grams approx.
what to do with these:
Take mushrooms with one cup water in a bowl and microwave for 2 minutes. Heat 20 gms (1/3 of total)butter in a pan till it melts, saute mushrooms till no water is left.
Heat 20 gms butter till it melts, add ginger and garlic, cook for one minute on slow flame add tomatoes and cook for 3-4 minutes till they are soft, add spinach and cook covered for 5 minutes.
Heat remaining butter in a pan, add white floor and roast it on slow flame till it turns brown, add milk and mix well till it thickens. Add sugar, pepper and salt. Add spinach and mushroom. Transfer it in  a bowl and top it with grated cheese. Grill it for 5 minutes in microwave or in a pre heated oven. Serve hot.
(The filling also tastes well in sandwiches)

Spaghetti with Spinach and Mushroom

Hey I tried this last evening and it came out really well. So thought of sharing this recipe.

You need:

Spaghetti: 150 grams

Spring Onion: 1 Cup chopped with some green leaves also

Ginger: 1 tspn grated

Tomato pasta sauce: 4 tbspn (you can use tomato puree also, use 1/2 tspn more pepper and oregano in this case)

Tomato sauce: 1 tbspn

Mushrooms: 7-8 medium sized cut in four pieces vertically

Spinach: 250 grams. (remove stalks and chop finely)

Cheddar cheese: 40grams

Butter 40 grams

Oregano: 1 tspn

Black pepper: 1 tspn

salt to taste

Preparation:

Boil spaghetti in hot boiling water with 1 tbspn oil and salt till cooked. Drain, wash with cold water.

Heat 1 tspn butter in thick bottomed pan and saute mushrooms till there is no water and they are soft.

Heat rest of the butter and add ginger, saute for a minute. Add spring onions and cook for 3 minutes . Add spinach and cook till spinach is cooked. Add pasta sauce (tomato puree),tomato sauce, salt, pepper, oregano and cook for two mins. Add one cup water and wait till it boils, add spaghetti and grated cheese. Cook for 3 minutes and serve hot.

Bread Poha

Things required:

Sandwich bread:14-16

onion: 1 cup chopped

green chilly: 2

curry leaves: 6-8green

coriander to garnish

lemon: 1

mustard (rai): 1/2 tspn

groundnut: 1 tb spn (optional)

haldi (turmeric): 1/2 tspn

sugar: 1 tspn

Oil: 4-5 tbspn

salt : to taste

garam masala: 1 tspn

Preparation: Crush bread slices with both the hands. You can use grinder to crush but take care to keep it coarse. Heat Oil , add rai till it splutters, green chilly and curry leaves. Add groundnuts, cook for 1/2 minute, add haldi, onion and little salt just enough for onion . Cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring in between till onion are golden brown. Add bread crums and salt. Cook covered for 4-5 minutes, stirring in between. Remove from fire, add garam masala, sugar. Tranfer in serving dish, garnish with chopped coriander. Serve hot with lemon slices. Add lemon as per indivudial taste.

Gatte ka pulao

This is a tasty pulao, that can be made using gatte.

Things required:
Rice: 1 cup
thick curd: 1/2 cup
Gatte (1" pieces): 1 cup
pulao masala : 1/2 tspn
(to make fresh pulao masala slightly roast 2 cloves, 4 black pepper corns, small piece of cinnamon, 4-5 seeds of cardamom, Mix all the ingredients, roast for a minute on pan and then grind coarsely)
green chilly : 1 chopped
mustard seeds: 1/2 tspn
coriander powder: 1 tspn
saunf powder (aniseed powder): 1/2 tspn
turmeric powder: 1/2 tspn
salt to taste
coriander to garnish

Preparation:
Prepare gatte. (The recipe proportions are five times more than that required for pulao).
Cook rice in microwave, or cooker so that each grain is long and separate.
For tempering heat oil, add mustard seeds to splutter, add green chilly, corainder powder, saunf powder, turmeric powder. Add gatte and mix well. Add curd and cook till curd thickens a little and then add rice. Mix well, add pulao masala, cook covered for 2  minutes. Garnish with coriander and serve hot.

Methi Matar Malai

This is a sweet tasting rich recipe of peas in fenugreek leaves.

Things required:

Fresh green fenugreek leaves (Methi): 500 gms.
Peas (boiled): 1/2 cup
cream (can use malai ): 1/2 cup
khoya (can use 1/4 cup milk powder): 25 gms
sugar: 1 tspn
ginger paste: 1/2 tspn
green chilly chopped: 1 medium sized
coriander powder: 1 tspn
saunf powder: (aniseed powder): 1 tspn
garam masala : 1/2 tspn
(to make fresh garam masala slightly roast 2 cloves, 4 black pepper corns, small piece of cinnamon, 4-5 seeds of cardamom, Mix all the ingredients, roast for a minute on pan and then grind coarsely)
mustard: 1 tspn
salt to taste
oil: 2 tbpn

Preparation:
Boil peas in cooker for one whiste or in microwave for 2 mins in water with 1/2 tspn sugar and 1/2 tspn salt.
Heat oil, add mustard seeds to splutter, add green chilly and ginger and fry for few seconds. Add coriander powder, saunf powder and then add fenugreek leaves (methi). Add salt and cook covered stirring in between till methi is cooked. If some water remains, dry it by cooking it uncovered.
Add peas, cream, khoya and sugar. Cook for 2 -3minutes, add garam masala and serve hot.