Dry Peas Curry And A Repost

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   Isn’t blogging fun!  Visiting some of my blogger friends and leaving them notes today I was remembering how my mother would holler to her neighbor and standing in each others yard share a recipe or tip on cooking.  Times have changed and we blog now.  We get ideas and inspirations from each others blogs and keep improving ourselves.  It's wonderful!

  The recipe I am sharing today may not be considered a delicacy but its good when your vegetable tray is empty, a life saver!  As long as you have enough time to soak your dry green peas at least 4 hours then nobody need know you are running short on vegetables.  It makes a great dish with roti and fried rice.  Add some fresh cream at the end to make it richer.

Ingredients:
Dry Green Peas – 1/2 cup (soak overnight)
Onion – ½ cup chopped
Ginger – 1 tspn chopped
Garlic – 1 tspn chopped
Tomato – 1 - 2 chopped or 1 Tbspn puree
Garam Masala – 1/2 tspn
Red chili Powder – 1 tspn
Coriander Powder – 1 tspn
Oil – 2 tspn
Curry Leaves - 1 sprig
Coriander Leaves - for garninshing

Method:
1. Pressure cook the soaked peas and with a heavy spoon mash some peas and some intact
2. Heat oil in a pan and add onions and sauté
3. Add ginger and then garlic in this order sautéing after each addition
4. Add turmeric, chili powder, coriander powder and sauté
5. Add tomato and sauté till oil leaves the pan
6. Add your cooked peas in and add water to adjust consistency.  (I like it thick)
7. Once the curry is heated through add the garam masala and mix in well and switch off the stove
8. Serve and garnish with coriander leaves.


Contributor: Sunitha

Reposting for the event
Paruppu/Pappu Curry- Andhra Style



We would like to send this entry to Shama Ngarajan's "First cooked food event".Have a fun filled event Shama :-)

Idiyappam/Noolappam/Rice noodles

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Idiyappam is a family favorite. After reaching US, for the first few months we couldn't find the rice flour to buy and so had to do without Idiyappam. Also, I didn't have a grinder at the time. The place where we stay have very few Indians, and Malayalis are a rarity. When we got introduced to our first Mallu friends I asked them where I could find the flour for puttu and idiyappam.  I was so excited when I saw these packets from Kerala sitting in the corner isle of the store suggested by our friend.

I don't want to bore you anymore,with the stories about a Mallu's difficulties in living without the classic breakfasts for a while :-). The recipe is very simple yet a bit tricky.You will have to play with the consistency of the prepared dough. I can give you only an approximate measurement. It varies from rice to rice .So good luck for the first timers..here we go



Ingredients

Rice flour for Idiyappam- ~350g
(If you are using a normal rice flour then fry it for a few minutes on medium heat before making the dough )
Salt- to taste
Boiling water- ~250ml
Grated coconut-1/2 cup



Method

1. Boil the water
2. Take the rice flour and salt in a big thick bottom vessel and mix it.
3.Keep this on low heat and start adding the boiling(yes, you read it correct it should be bubbling while you pour and be careful ) water while mixing with a spatula.
4. When you see that water is approximately enough switch off the heat and mix well.
5. Let it cool for a minute and mix it with your hand.
6.Make the idli plates ready with 1/2 spoon coconut on each impression of the idli plate.
7 Fill in the idiyappam maker with dough and press it into the idli plates
8.Steam it till the idiyappam is done.
9.Serve with egg curry, chicken curry or mutton curry. Vegetarians don't worry, you could have it with veg stew :-)



You could avoid coconut and then it will become a very healthy food :-)

Contributor: Namitha

Parippu Vada aka Masala Vada

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  Vada and Indian Railways are synonymous in my mind. You must be thinking WHAT? Well, the first thing that comes to mind when I think of travelling by train is all the food vendors, acres of pastures, the deafening noise when crossing a bridge, water bodies going on for ever, rural life, children half naked waving cheerfully at you and true the list goes on.  However, I am sure you will agree all the vendors screaming names of food which you can never follow, unless you are looking out the window and observing what he is carrying, flashes through our minds when we talk about trains in India.  You will also agree that the dabba walas have made their niche for themselves by producing 6 sigma work.  Today I present to you, vadas made quite popular by the Indian Railway vendors and I dedicate this lovingly to all of them.  Anyways, here is an unadulterated homemade version for you to enjoy and try saying vada vada vadaiiiiiiiiii before serving, taking the third vadaiiiii on a high pitch and dramatically ending the way you have heard on your favorite journeys by Indian Railways.  Have a fun day guys! Kuchu kuchu kuchu!

Ingredients:

1. Tuar Dal - 1/2 cup

2. Chana Dal - 1/2 cup

3. Asafoetida - a little less than 1/4th tspn

4. Onions - chopped 1/2 cup (in case you dont like a lot of onions take off about 1 tbspn)

5. green chilies - 6 small ones

6. ginger - 1 tbspn

7. Curry Leaves - 1 sprig

Method:

1. Soak the dal together for two hours

2. Strain the water and grind the dal to a coarse mixture (add a little 1/4 or 1/2 of the ginger, onions and green chilies when grinding to enhance the flavor)

3. Once the dal is ground add the rest of the ingredients from 3-7

4. Heat oil in a deep frying pan and when the oil is hot (when a drop of the vada mix rises to the top instantly you know the oil is hot enough) make small disk shaped vadas and slide it into the oil

5. Remove them from oil into a bowl or basket lined with tissue paper

This yields about 15 crispy vadas

Note: I have tried making this with only Chana dal and I like that too.  So if you only have either of the dals mentioned go ahead and use 1 cup of any of the dals.

Contributor: Sunitha