Orzo, Cauliflower Salad with sprouted Moong beans. [Orzo cooked with sauteed onions, garlic and Turmeric.]

I am sharing one more salad recipe that was  prepared for lunch box,   Orzo-Cauliflower  salad with sprouted moong beans. I cooked orzo after long time. I have previous blogged  this mint infused orzo salad recipe. This time I cooked orzo in the flavor base of sauteed onions, garlic and  turmeric powder. Cooked orzo was very flavorful, tasty to eat by itself. I added cauliflower, overnight sprouted Moong beans,Cranberries. Salad was seasoned with  sesame oil, rice vinegar, little agave nectar, chopped green chilies,  and sesame seeds. Final garnish was done with lots of fresh  flat leaf parsley. This spontaneously cooked nutritious and tasty salad combination  was worth repeating so  I quickly took two images  to share here.

Ingredients for Orzo-Gobi Salad : (serves two)

• 3/4 Cup - Orzo (Rinse in water before adding to onion base.)
• 200 gm - Cauliflower piece - broken into 1/2 - inch florets.
• 1 Cup - sprouted Moong Beans
• 1 small size onion - lengthwise sliced into 2  inch long pieces (1 Cup yield.)
• Turmeric powder - heaping 1/4 tsp.
• 4 garlic cloves - sliced lengthwise
• 1 Tb.spoon - Rice bran oil to saute onions, use any oil of your preference.
• 1 Tb.spoon - Sesame oil or any other oil of your choice. (I used separated oil from  Iraqi Tahini paste.)
• 1 tiny green chili - finely chopped, chop more for extra heat.
• 1 Tb.spoon - lightly toasted sesame seeds
• 5 Tb.spoon - dried cranberries rinsed in water and drained.
• 1 T.spoon - rice vinegar
• 1 T.spoon - Agave nectar or Honey
• 1.5 Cups - chopped flat leaf parsley

Cooking Orzo

Heat 1 tbsp rice bran oil or any other cooking oil in a minimum 2 quart pot. Add sliced onions, sliced garlic cloves, chopped green chili, saute for 6-7 minutes over medium heat, stirring often.  Add 3/4 cup rinsed orzo,1/4 heaping tsp turmeric powder  to the sauteed onions. Add 1.5 cups of water, little less than 1/2 tsp fine sea salt, continue to cook over medium high heat until water is almost absorbed by orzo, about 7-8 minutes. Stir often to avoid sticking at  the bottom. Reduce heat to medium add around 3/4 cup more water, cauliflower florets, continue to cook for another 4-5 minutes over medium heat. Put off the heat and drain orzo pasta and cauliflower, save the liquid to use in other recipes. (I use drained liquid to make chapati dough.) Pour half cup more water over pasta to drain off excess starch.

Final Salad assembly

Transfer  drained orzo and cauliflower into a medium size bowl. Drizzle 1 tbsp sesame oil or any other salad friendly oil of your choice, toss and gently stir to coat pasta with oil. I used separated oil from  Iraqi Tahini paste.

Next add 1 cup sprouted moong**, 5 tbsp rinsed cranberries, 1 tbsp lightly toasted sesame seeds, 1.5 cup chopped parsley, 1 tsp agave nectar or honey, 1 tsp rice vinegar or any vinegar of your choice. Mix and toss to combine, check taste to adjust sweet-sour seasoning. Sprinkle little salt to taste. If you need more heat, add small finely chopped green chili. Lastly you may add your choice of cheese, little creamy salad dressing before serving.I packed this salad in lunch box without adding cheese or salad dressing.

Note : **If you don't prefer to add raw sprouted beans, add to orzo pot  along with cauliflower to  get little tender.

Salad packed for lunch.

Sattvik Quinoa Khichadi with vegetables for Makar Sankranti. [First recipe post for year 2015]

This was supposed to be my  first recipe post for year 2015, I am publishing it quite late but happy that I got back to blogging. On Makar Sankranti day I started my morning preparing Quinoa dish to pack in lunch box, since it was an auspicious day of Sankranti I cooked Quinoa in a sattvik manner, enriching it with peanuts and sesame seeds. I  made Quinoa khichdi  with vegetables, it turned out to be a  good festive savory treat. I   packed  khichadi in husband's lunch box and also savored it for my breakfast.
Post published on 30th Dec-2015.

Ingredients : 
(2 servings)

• 3/4 Cup - Quinoa (rinsed well in water.)
• 3 Tb.spoon - split Chana Dal (rinsed and drained.)
• 1/2 T.spoon - Mustard seeds
• 2 whole dry red chillies - I used Arbol chilies.
• 2 sprigs - Curry leaves
• 1/4 T.spoon - whole methi seeds (fenugreek seeds)
• 1/4 T.spoon - Turmeric powder (heaping 1/4  tsp)
• 1 pinch - Hing (asafoetida)
• 1 Tb.spoon - oil + 1 T.spoon extra to saute veggies.
• 1 Tb.spoon - melted ghee or extra virgin olive oil to drizzle over Khichadi
• 1/4 cup roasted peanuts - ground to coarse powder + 2 Tb.spoon roughly chopped.
• 1 Tb.spoon - Sesame seeds - ground to coarse powder + 1 T.spoon - whole sesame seeds.
• 1 Small size - Red Capsicum, cut into half inch pieces. ( yield - 1 heaping cup)
• 10-12 - Green beans sliced into diagonal shape.
• 7-8 inch long 1 Celery stalk - sliced into 1/2 cm thick in half moon shape.

Procedure to cook Sattvik Quinoa Khichadi with vegetables.

1. Rinse Quinoa in water thoroughly, rub grain in water using fingers or use spoon and  whisk in speed for one minute. Quinoa is very delicate to handle so I use tea strainer to drain water. Keep drained Quinoa aside.
2. Prepping the veggies - Cut red capsicum into half an inch chunks, any color pepper can be used. Cut celery stalk into half moon shape with 1/2 cm thickness. Slice green beans  diagonally  into one inch long pieces.
3. In a pressure cooker heat 1 tbsp oil, drop 3-4 mustard seeds, if they sizzle, quickly add 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, increase heat to medium high, cover with lid, wait for 15-20 seconds until most of the mustard seeds crack in hot oil. Reduce heat to medium. Next add 2 dry red chilies, stir with spoon to sizzle until chilies turn slight darker in shade and smokey. Next add methi seeds along with one sprigs of curry leaves and 1 tsp whole sesame seeds, stir-saute for 15 seconds.
4.  Now add  3 tbsp rinsed split chana dal with 1 tbsp water, 1 pinch of hing, 1/4 heaping tsp turmeric powder, saute over medium  heat for one and half minute, stirring continuously. Now add rinsed 3/4 cup quinoa, little less than half tsp salt, mix and stir over high heat for one minute. Add two cups water, continue to cook until it starts to boil. Cover the pressure cooker lid, cook until it blows two whistles. This small 2 liter pressure cooker releases multiple short whistles at the interval of 10-15 seconds lasting for 5 seconds. After 7-8 whistles  I reduced the heat to low and cooked further for 7-8 minutes. Do the same with other types of pressure cooker, after two whistles,  allow to rest for few minutes over low heat setting. Shut off the heat and wait until steam pressure subsides.
5. Once quinoa  is set to cook in pressure cooker you can start preparing khichadi veggies. In a medium size skillet heat 1 tsp oil, add sliced  half moon shaped celery, saute over medium high heat for two minutes, stirring often. Next add sliced green beans and red capsicum along with remaining curry leaves, sprinkle about 1/4 tsp salt. Cook over medium heat for 7-8 minutes until veggies are cooked. Add 2-3 tbsp water to speed up cooking or slow roast veggies over low heat giving more time, while slow roasting keep pan moist by spraying some water. Once veggies are tender sprinkle ground sesame and peanut powder, mix well,  let all veggies get dusted with sesame and peanut powder. Check salt level, add some more salt if needed, cook over medium high heat for one minute, stirring. Put off the heat.
6. Open the cooled pressure cooker lid, throw in 2 tbsp roughly chopped peanuts, sauteed vegetables, mix all well, garnish with cilantro. Serve by drizzling melted ghee or extra virgin olive oil. If you need little more loose consistency,  add 1/4 cup water and cook few more minutes or add 1/4 cup very hot water, mix and let it set for few minutes before serving.

Note :- If you don't prefer whole sesame seed crunch in soft textured khichari, skip adding 1 tsp sesame seeds in cooking step.No -3. Instead of Chana dal you can use split skinless masoor or moong dal or buck wheat goats.

Image for - cooking step-6

Makar Sankranti special - Quinoa Khichdi.

Veggie packed Quinoa Khichdi

Samo and Amaranth flour aromatic Christmas Cake. [Black and White Christmas Edition # 153.]

Last year I had submitted image of spices for Christmas cake. It was last black and white event for the year 2013, I don't wanted to miss my participation so I had quickly gathered few spices and sent my image to Cindy. At that point I just knew that I will bake one cake for Christmas using the spices I spread in the submitted image. I could not bake the cake on Christmas but baked it on the last day of the year. It was wonderful wholesome aromatic cake with lots of good ingredients. I have not yet published the cake recipe, I will soon complete the draft and publish it. I owe my inspirations to bake this cake to Black and White Wednesday event and would like to thank Susan, founder of the event and Cinzia, organizer of the event and all the participants  who keep this event going.

Today I am submitting this last years cake image for the Christmas Edition of Black and White event #153 which is hosted by Lynne. Next BWW event will resume back on 7th January 2015, check here for host lineup.

Aromatic Christmas Cake with Samo and Amaranth flour.

Black and White Wednesday Event #153

Sprouted Masoor stir fry with Broccoli, Celery, Red Radish - [Indian vegetable-lentil Sattvik Stir-Fry.]

Mix and match of three veggies with sprouted Masoor Dal created this wholesome sattvik  vegetable and lentil stir fry. I seasoned it with ginger, cumin, hing, turmeric, spiced it up with green chillies, cooked in extra virgin organic coconut oil and garnished with fresh grated coconut. This is what I packed for today's lunch box with two organic whole wheat mini rotis. I have used one week grown  Masoor sprouts  in this stir fry.

Ingredients :- (serves four portions as side dish. )

• 2/3 heaping Cup - sprouted Masoor Dal/ Red lentils
• 2 tender stalks of Celery - sliced in half moon shape (1 Cup yield.)
• 1 small broccoli crown - stems chopped and florets broken into tiny pieces. (1 heaping cup yield.)
• 5-6 - Red radishes - sliced into thin rounds.
• 2 T.spoon - extra virgin organic coconut oil
• 1 Green chilli - finely sliced
• 1.5 inch - square piece of ginger - grated over microplane.
• 1/4 T.spoon - cumin / Jeera + 1 more generous pinch.
• 1 pinch -  hing (asafoetida)
• 1/4 T.spoon - Turmeric powder
• 1/4 T.spoon - fine sea salt
• 1/4 Cup - lightly packed fresh grated coconut.
• 1/4 Cup - fresh chopped cilantro for garnish.

How to cook Sattvic vegetable & sprouted Red Lentil Stir fry.

1. Prepping the Vegetables : Clean thoroughly  two small celery stalks, make sure all sand residue is cleared, slice them into 1/2 cm thick half moon shape pieces. If celery stalks are not tender, peel out thin layer using potato peeler. Separate stems and florets from  handful size crown of broccoli. Chop tender stems finely, cut florets into half inch size pieces. Rub and clean 5-6 red radishes well, slightly chop off both the ends, slice into thin round slices. Put spouted red lentils into small bowl filled with water for about 5-6 minutes, gently rinse under running water, drain and keep it aside.
2. In a medium size pot heat 1.5 tsp coconut oil,  Add 1/4 tsp cumin and half portion of grated ginger, let sizzle for 15-20 seconds, stir for 10 more seconds then add sliced celery. Saute over high heat for 3-4 minutes by adding 2-3 tbsp water. Cook until  the water has nearly evaporated.
3. Now add chopped green chili, a pinch of hing and 1/4 tsp turmeric powder. Stir and mix well then add chopped broccoli stems and florets. Cook on medium high heat by adding 1/4 cup water, stir at regular intervals, about 3 minutes. Add sliced red radishes, save some slices for last colorful garnish because in cooking process bright pink color of red radishes fades away.  Mix and cook for one minute. Reduce heat to medium.
4. Next add  2/3 heaping cup sprouted masoor Dal, reserved grated ginger, 1/4 tsp fine sea salt,  mix and continue to saute over medium heat. Take one pinch cumin, sprinkle over veggies by crushing between two finger tips. (coarse cumin powder can be used.) If pan dries out add 2-3 tbsp water. After 3 minutes drizzle  1/2 tsp coconut oil,   Saute for 3 more minutes.
5. Check and adjust salt level, check if veggies are tender enough. Add remaining red radish slices, sprinkle fresh grated coconut and cilantro. Shut off the heat, let stay over stove for some time, about 5 minutes before serving with rice or roti or enjoy bowlful of this stir-fry as a meal or use as Taco filling.

Adding Sprouts once Veggies are cooked.

3 veggies and Sprouted Lentil Sattvik stir-fry.

  One week grown Masoor sprouts.

Red Lentil Sprouts.

Recipe published on  3rd April,2016.

Flaxseed meal and Ragi enriched roti with Aashirvaad multi grain Atta [Indian flat bread with reduced gluten - Healthy Roti formula - 2]

Recently I made rotis by adding Ragi flour to Aashirvaad multi grain aata. I tried to reduce wheat gluten by 50%, combined equal portion of Raagi and multi grain atta. I added Ragi flour by adapting  bhakari  dough making  method. I  heated water mixed with flaxseed meal, in that added  ragi flour, made a sticky dough, allowed to cool it for some time then added multi grain wheat flour.  Process of dough making, rolling, frying was easy. I made them few times to pack in lunch box. This formula worked well, roti tasted very good, just like bhakari. I left the dough  in refrigerator over night, next day roti  taste and texture was much better. These ragi enriched rotis are good  option to include healthy Ragi flour into daily diet, to know several health  benefits of Ragi check blogger sm's post.

Ingredients :-

(Makes 6 small size Rotis.)

• 1/2 Cup - Aashirvaad multi grain atta ( any other type of wheat flour can be used.)
• 1/2 Cup - Ragi flour ( also known as Nachani, Maddua, finger millet)
• 1 Tb.spoon - slightly heaped Flax seed meal (coarse powder of flaxseeds.)
• 1 Cup water + extra 4-5 Tb.spoons
• 1/4 T.spoon - fine sea salt
• 1 T.spoon - oil to add in the dough.
• 2-3 Tb.spoon all purpose flour - for dusting dough balls.

Method of preparing Ragi enriched roti :-

1. In a medium size  microwave safe bowl mix 1 tbsp flax seed meal with  1/2 cup water. Heat over high heat for 70-75 seconds.(make sure mixture don't overflows from bowl.)
2. Quickly add  1/2 cup Ragi flour to the bowl, mix with spoon. Allow to cool for five minutes. Add wheat flour, salt, remaining 1/2 cup room temperature water, mix with spoon until rough dough ball is formed. Add  4 tbsp water, knead the dough, you may add little more water to make soft dough based on your desired softness in handling dough. Once soft dough is formed smear some oil  around and knead for 2-3 minutes. ( For better results keep dough covered with plastic wrap for half an hour.)
3. Make 6 equal size balls. Slightly dust each ball with flour. Roll out each ball into 5-6 inch diameter circle. While rolling turn roti clock wise, flip two three times, if needed gently dust with flour. Roll with gentle pressure, maintain uniform thickness all over roti.
4. Fry each roti  for about 2-3  minutes by flipping two or three times. Maintain medium to medium high heat. Well rolled roti will puff  like balloon, also getting multiple puffs through out roti yields soft texture. Use roti press or ball of paper towel to gently press roti while frying. Place fried roti over paper towel lined plate, cover with metal or glass dome lid. Do wipe excess formed steam from inside the dome lid.
5. Serve these rotis warm with  vegetarian curries, subzis ,Chicken or Goat meat curries. Addition of raw onions, green chilies and different herbs adds lot of goodness to the meal. I like to make roti roll  wrapped with finely sliced raw onions, fresh herbs, sliced raw veggies, sour cream or  cream cheese.

Finger Millet (Nachani) & Wheat flour Indian Flat bread.

Chicken curry made with soy chunks.

Chicken and Nutrela Soy chunks curry, Ragi enriched roti.

 Chives tucked in sliced onions.

Post published on 11/22/2013
Previously blogged recipe of healthy roti formula.

Sprouting Moong Beans inside warm oven. {Black and White Wednesday #91}

This week for Black and White Wednesday event I am submitting image of  sprouted Moong Beans. Few days back  for the first time I sprouted moong beans inside the oven by maintaining warm temperatures, it worked very well. I was to keep  dosa batter in the oven  for fermentation, also kept soaked moong dal alongside batter without knowing if it would bring any better results. I soaked Moong beans in water on Sunday morning and  by Monday noon fully sprouted moong beans were ready to cook, that is around 30 hours of total time to sprout moong beans. I  had covered soaked moong  beans inside wet thick paper towel and placed  it inside vented plastic basket.  I will be doing similar experiments with other beans and lentils.

This week Susan from The Well Seasoned cook  is hosting Black and White Wednesday Event #91, who is also a founder of this event. Now Cinzia of  Cindystarblog is a new admin for Susan's Black and White Wednesday Event. For all guidelines  and an index of  all future event hosting blogs please check Cinzia's  post here. Participants can join Flickr group created for B&W event. Next event (BWW #92, 17th July-2013) will be hosted by Simona of  briciole. 

Black and White Wednesday
 Event #91, 10th July-2013

Spinach Pinto beans Stir fry with Ginger, Garlic & cumin Tempering and an additional enrichement with Extra Virgin Olive Oil. {Cooking with Greens & Beans}

Greens and Beans is a good combination to cook for every day meals. During Memorial Day weekend I had brought  huge baby spinach bag from Indian store. I used it for making spinach parathas, spinach stir fry with moong beans and this stir fry by adding Pinto beans. This is regular stir fry  with some difference, at end I did tempering with ginger, garlic, cumin, hing (asafoetida) turmeric, added extra tsp of cold extra virgin oil olive. This added additional layer of taste, texture and enrichment. I had no plan to blog this recipe but tempering made good difference, so I  decided to take an  image, it was 8 past and light was very low. In just 5 minutes managed to get 6-7  images placing dish on the patio, got 3 clear enough images to share. Any  type of greens and beans combination can be used to cook this stir fry.

Ingredients :

• 10-12 - generous handful fresh spinach leaves. (I used baby spinach) or 1lbs frozen chopped spinach.
• 1 Medium size onion - chopped finely
• 2-3 small Green chilies - finely chopped
• 1 Pinto beans Can - 15 oz size, drained and rinsed.
• 1 Tb.spoon oil + 1 T.spoon oil for tempering + 1 T.spoon - extra virgin olive oil
• 6-7 large size Garlic cloves - sliced lengthwise
• 1.5 inch cube of ginger - cut extremely fine into slices.
• 1 T.spoon - Cumin / Jeera
• 4 pinches - Hing
• 1 T.spoon Turmeric

How to make Spinach and Pinto beans stir fry :

1. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a big size open saute pan, add chopped onions, saute for 7-8 minutes over medium heat, stirring often. Add chopped green chilies, saute for 30 seconds then start adding  chopped spinach in batches, 2-3 handful at a time, stir and turn  few times until spinach slightly wilts. Repeat same process for next batches. Allow to  Cook over high heat for 8-10 minutes, stirring often.
2. Next by using immersion blender roughly blend spinach and onion saute, Do not make fine puree. Add rinsed and drained Pinto beans, salt. cook for 5-6 minutes over medium heat.
3. Lower heat to lowest setting  while you prepare Tadka.
4. Heat  1 tsp oil in a very small pan or Tadka Pan over medium heat. First add julienned ginger - saute for one minute, then add sliced garlic - saute for one minute. Next add 1 tsp cumin, 4 pinches of hing, 1 tsp turmeric. saute for one minute, stirring continuously.Shut off the heat, add 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil. Transfer Tadka over spinach and pinto bean saute. Mix well. shut off the heat, let  it stand some time before serving with  roti or rice. You can use this saute as wrap and sandwich filling.

Palak and Pinto beans sabji.

cooked on 27th May, published on 19th June2013.

Barley and ChanaDal Payasam / Kheer, sweetened with jaggery, cooked in slow cooker. {Sweet dish for Vishu celebrations.)

This year for Vishu festival I made Chana dal and Barley Payasam in slow cooker, this is my first attempt to cook Kheer/Payasam in slow cooker. It takes around 5-6 hours to cook and result is very delicious. Each grain cooks perfectly tender and retains its shape. You need to do few time supervision other wise it gets quietly cooked in the corner of the kitchen without feeling any stress. Earlier I have blogged similar jaggery payasam recipes with different combinations one is  Barley and cracked wheat payasam and another one is Wheat,Chanadal,Brown rice payasam. Scroll down to check few slow cooker images captured while preparing payasam.

Ingredients :

• 2 - Cups Chana Dal / Kadla Parippu
• 3/4 - Cups Barley (I used pearled barley.)
• 10-12 - cardamoms - finely powder seeds
• 3 - heaped cups jaggery tiny chunks or powdered jaggery
• 5-6 Tb.spoon - Ghee
• 6-7 Tb.spoon sugar or brown sugar (use if needed more sweetness)
• 3/4 Cup - cashew nuts ( few whole cashews and few chopped cashews.)
• 1/2 Cup - golden raisins
• 3/4 Cup - grated fresh coconut
• 1/2 Cup - thinly sliced small coconut pieces.(Check garnish over kheer bowl)
• 7-8 Cup - water

Method of cooking  Payasam in slow cooker :

1. Combine chana dal and barley together in a bowl, rinse well until water runs clear. Soak in water for around 3 hours. Pre-soaking is not must but it will help to reduce some cooking time. (I soaked only for one hour)
2. Break jaggery blocks into small chunks or make coarse powder. I put my jaggery blocks inside  thick freezer zip lock bag and pounded with hammer to make small jaggery chunks.
3. Remove cardamom seeds from the pod, grind to fine powder. I used mortar and pestle to make powder. Another method is add cardamom seeds in a small ziploc bag, cover it with one more bag, place on the flour and pound with hammer until seeds are crushed to powder texture.
4. Heat 2 tbsp ghee in a tiny saute pan, just hot not smoking hot. Add golden raisins in two batches, stir fry in ghee stirring with  small slotted spoon until raisins puff and turn golden brown. Quickly drain over paper towel.
5. Now add 3/4 cup grated coconut in the same saute pan, slow roast coconut until it turns aromatic and golden brown, about 3-4 minutes, transfer to bowl and keep it aside.
6. Wipe the pan with paper towel, heat 1 tbsp ghee, add sliced small coconut pieces, roast until they turn golden brown. Take it out in a small bowl.
7. In the same saute pan add some more ghee, add cashew nuts in two batches, stir fry over medium low heat until they get light brown color. Drain over paper towel.
8. In a slow cooker add 1 tsp ghee, drained chana dal and barley, 4 cups water. Set on high heat and let cook for 3 hours. Check after half an hour, stir, if it gets too foamy in the cooking process, remove foam. After three hours Dal and Barley will get perfectly tender. If it absorbs all water, do add some water while cooking and stir at some interval.
9. In the mean time heat 3 cups water in a  small pot, add 3 cups jaggery chunks and powder. Stir to melt jaggery. Strain jaggery water by using fine tea filter/strainer  or clean cotton cloth.
10. Once Chana dal and barley gets tender, add cardamom powder and 3 cups of strained jaggery water, roasted coconut pieces, roasted grated coconut. Mix well, continue cooking in slow cooker over high heat for one more hour.
11. Check consistency, if needed add one cup or more water. Check sweet level, if needed add 6-7 tbsp sugar or brown sugar. Reduce heat setting to low and let it simmer for another one hour. If you need thick creamy texture, swirl around with immersion  blender for 20-30 seconds, this will partially break tender cooked chana dal, barley and bring  thick pulpy texture.
12. Lastly add fried golden raisins, cashew nuts, 1 tbsp ghee. Mix well, let it rest in slow cooker until you are ready to serve. You can serve this payasam warm by drizzling melted ghee or add some milk to enjoy delicious tasting Jaggery sweetened Chanadal-Barley Payasam.

Cooking Chana Dal and Barley Kheer in a Slow cooker.[Image-1]

  chanadal and barley set  in water to start cooking.[Image-2]

While cooking in slow cooker it gets foamy.[Image-3]

Perfectly tender cooked Chana Dal and Barley.[Image-4]

[Image-5]

Adding jaggery water and cardamom.[Image-6]

Kheer is  ready after 5 hours of slow cooking.[Image-7]

Kadala Parippu Payasam

Four Whole spices tempered Dal made with split skin on Urad dal, Quinoa, split skinless masoor Dal and Barley. {Grain & Legume Mix Dal - Year round Indian comfort food}

I cooked  mix lentil Dal on the first day of the new year with mixture of black urad dal, Masoor dal, Quinoa and Barley. This Mix Dal is  prepared in pressure pan. Distinct  feature of this dal preparation is, use of four whole Indian spices (khada Masala) for  tempering. I skipped using ground masala powder. This versatile Dal recipe serves multiple meals like Dal, Khichdi and Soup.

Ingredients :

• 3/4 Cup - Skin-on split Urad Dal (Black gram Dal)
• 5 Tb.spoon- skinless split Masoor Dal (Orange lentil)
• 5 Tb.spoon- Quinoa
• 5 Tb.spoon- Barley (quick cooking type or pearl barley)
• 1 small size onion - finely chopped (1 cup yield)
• 7-8 big size garlic cloves - slice lengthwise each clove in 4-5 pieces.
• 1 Tb.spoon Kasoori Methi (dried fenugreek leaves) 
• 1/2 T.spoon - Turmeric powder
• 2 Roma tomatoes - diced
• 2 inch - piece of ginger, finely grated
• 2 Green chilies - finely chopped
• 1 cup - chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 Tb.spoon oil + 1 Tb.spoon oil

Whole spices for Tadka/Tempering

• 4 cloves
• 1/2 T.spoon - shahijeera
• 1 T.spoon - whole black peppers
• 1 Bay leaf - 3 inch long

Method of Preparing Dal/ Mix Grain-Lentil Curry

1. Combine Urad dal, masoor Dal, quinoa, quick cooking barley in a big size bowl, fill with water and thoroughly massage mixture between palms, drain all murky water. Repeat until water gets clear,  drain keep it aside. (In absence of quick cooking barley use pearl barley but you will need to soak in the water for at least one  hour.)
2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in pressure pan / pressure cooker, (3 quart or bigger size) don't let oil temperature to reach smoking point. First add bay leaf, followed by 4 cloves and 1 tsp whole black peppers, stir and sizzle for 20-30 seconds. Now add shahijeera, sizzle for 15 seconds. Quickly add chopped onions, saute over medium heat for 7-8 minutes or until they turn soft and transparent. Add sliced garlic, chopped green chilies, 1 tbsp Kasuri methi, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, saute for 1 minute. (Refer image-A cooking step below)
3. Now add rinsed Urad dal-Masoor Dal-Quinoa-Barley, saute for 2-3 minutes over high heat, stirring often. Add salt and 4 cups water, when it starts to boil, (refer image-C) close pressure pan lid, allow to cook over medium high heat for 6-7 minutes. Once steam is built up inside pressure pan, reduce the heat to medium. Allow to blow quick 2-3 whistles. Quickly reduce heat to low and continue cooking for another 6-7 minutes. (Some pressure pans give short 5 second whistles, in such cases  you may continue cooking over medium heat for 7-8 minutes, wait until it blows short 5 seconds whistles at least 10-12 times, then reduce flames to medium low and further  cook for 6-7 minutes. Shut off the heat and let pressure pan cool.
4. Once you open the lid, you will find all water has evaporated and Mixture of legumes  is well cooked. (Check images-D below) If you want to enjoy some wholesome Khichdi, take out some portion at this stage, enjoy by adding warm creamy milk and melted ghee.
5. My pressure pan was small so I have to take another pot to cook Dal. If you are using 4 quart and bigger size pressure cooker you can do this step in a small pan and pour tomato ginger mixture  in pressure cooker. Heat 1 tbsp oil in minimum 4 quart heavy gauge pot. Add grated ginger, saute for 1 minute, quickly add diced Roma tomatoes. Saute over medium heat for about 3-4 minutes.
6. Now add cooked Dal mixture, 2 cups water. Mix all well. Check and adjust salt level. You may increase or decrease water quantity as per your desired  consistency. Add fresh chopped cilantro, simmer over medium low heat for 12-15 minutes, stirring at intervals. Serve with hot  rice, roti or enjoy as soup by drizzling spoonful of  melted ghee or extra virgin olive oil.

Few Images captured while preparing Dal in pressure pan.

[Image-A] Sauteing 4 whole spices, onions, garlic in pressure pan.

[Image-B] Mixing rinsed Dals to sauteed Spice and onion base.

[Image-C] Dal starts boiling, time to close pressure pan lid.

[Image-D] Perfectly pressure pan cooked legumes and grains.

Aashirvaad MultiGrain Aata Chapati - additionally enriched with Flax seed meal and Soy flour. {How to pack and freeze rotis?} --- (Recipe for Healthy Roti / chapati / Poli -- Formula -1)

Now we get variety of  multi grain aata bags from India. I have tried all the brands  but none of them have good ratio of multi grain flours, still  that  mild addition of different grains brings good taste in  rotis. I always keep one bag  of multigrain aata for preparing variety of parathas. Today I  made rotis with Aashirvad multigrain aata  by adding  flax seed meal and soy flour for extra enrichment. I am sharing the formula and few images of Roti. I experienced more ease while rolling and rotis were very soft and tasty.

Ingredients :

• 4 cup Aashirvad multi grain aata
• 3 tbsp flax seed meal
• 4 tbsp soy flour
• 2.5 cups water
• 1-2 Tb.spoon oil
• 1/2 Tspoon salt

Note :Few times I have added 5-6 tbsp ragi flour to above formula, that brings nice Bhakari like taste.

How to prepare Multigrain Roti dough in food processor :

Mix 3tbsp flax seed meal, 4 tbsp soy flour,  1/2 tsp salt with 4 cup Aashirvad multi grain aata in a food processor. Run on low for one minute, Increase speed to medium and start adding water. Pause for few seconds after adding one cup water. Continue adding second cup. Now increase speed to high and run food processor until dough starts to  form. Add half tbsp oil,  run for 30 seconds. Now  add 1/4 cup water, dough will get more softer, pause and check consistency. Now go on adding tsp water at a time. (I totally added 2.5 cup water.) Finally add little more oil and run food processor for one minute or until proper dough ball is formed. This flour consistency is extra fine so there is chance that dough might stick to the sides of food processor. Pause and try to settle dough with hand and run food processor again, if required pour little oil to enable dough move easily inside the food processor. Remove dough from processor and merge together by applying little oil over your fingers and palm. Make 25 dough balls. If you need smaller rotis then  make upto 30 dough balls, cover them with plastic cling wrap. I rolled each roti  little  over 7 inch diameter in size.

Rolling and Frying rotis :

I rolled rotis on  the wooden kitchen counter, extra space enables me to roll bigger size rotis. I used mix of maida and rice flour to dust roti dough ball. I rolled each roti until it reached size of 7 inch diameter and fried them over hard anodized non-stick square shaped griddle without applying/spraying oil.

How to pack, store,freeze roti / Chapati in a plastic cling wrap.

Extra rotis I stacked in a bundle of 15, covered it tightly with plastic cling wrap. Pull around 20 inch sheet of cling wrap over counter top or plane surface, place rotis in the center leaving  equal size of wrap on four sides. First pull right side wrap - cover it over rotis,  then pull left  side extra sheet of cling wrap in the center, press it tightly removing trapped air. lastly bring  top and bottom cling wrap over rotis. This way it seals all rotis perfectly inside cling wrap. (Check picture below) Place this pack inside one gallon size ziploc bag and refrigerate. This method works storing for one week. For longer storing time freeze it in freezer section. Rotis stay good over one month. When you want to eat, bring roti pack to room temperature, place single roti over paper towel in a  microwave, heat for 10 seconds and enjoy soft roti. If your cling wrap is heat proof then you can place entire packet and heat for  30 seconds, turning packet after 15 seconds.

Roti/Chapati pack wrapped in cling wrap to store in fridge.

Chapati / Poli / Indian unleavened Bread

Below is the image of my lunch plate, after preparing rotis I ate with stove top Egg bake masala and few pieces of raw onion. This is very interesting egg dish my mother used to cook which is similar to Chakchouka  dish from Tunisia and Algeria, also Israel it is known as Shakshouka. Eggs are directly broken over masala base made with onions, tomatoes and fresh ground garam masala and cooked over very low flame until eggs are cooked.

Canned Navy beans Curry with Beetroots and freshTomatoes. Infused with Hara Dhania/Cilantro and tempered with Jeera/cumin.

One weekend in August  I made this quick canned navy beans curry/usal  for lunch. I infused it with cilantro by using finely chopped stems and leaves, also added few pre-boiled beetroot chunks, generous quantity of fresh roma tomatoes. Finally tempered it with cumin Tadka. Few enhancements made this canned navy beans curry colorful, interesting and healthy.

Ingredients :

• 1 Can  of  Navy beans - drain off can liquid and thoroughly rinse beans.
• 1 medium size onion - finely chopped
• 3 small Roma Tomatoes - cut into small dice.
• 3/4 cup diced and pre-boiled beetroot pieces
• 1.5 inch piece of ginger - coarsely crushed
• 2 green chilies - finely chopped
• 3-4 cloves of garlic - coarsely crushed
• 1 Cup tightly packed chopped Hara Dhania / Cilantro leaves
• 2 Tb.spoon - very finely chopped cilantro stems
• 1 Tb.spoon - oil + 1 T.spoon for tempering
• 1 T.spoon Jeera / cumin seeds
• 1/2  T.spoon - your most favorite pre-ground masala powder.
• 2-3 cups water

Method for cooking Navy beans curry / Usal :

1. Thoroughly rinse the navy beans of their  can juice. Drain and Keep it aside.
2. Cut one small size beetroot into 1 cm size cubes, 3/4 cup yield. Place cubes in a bowl with water, add little salt and boil for 6 minutes in microwave. Drain out liquid. (save it or just drink it up.)
3. Combine ginger, garlic, green chilies - crush to coarse texture without adding water, alternatively you may chop chilies and use microplane grater to grate ginger and garlic.
4. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Fry onions until they turn transparent, about 6-7 minutes. Add crushed mixture of ginger-garlic-green chilies, saute for 1 minute.
5. Then add chopped tomatoes (reserve half cup quantity for later use) and  2 tbsp finely chopped cilantro stems. Continue to saute for 3-4 minutes until tomatoes turn soft.
6. Now add 1/2 tsp masala powder of your choice, saute for one minute then add pre-boiled  beetroot cubes along with drained navy beans. Add 1.5 cup water and allow it to simmer over medium heat for 3-4 minutes.
7. Add reserved chopped tomatoes, add salt, adjust curry consistency by adding little more water. Sprinkle half the quantity of  chopped hara dhania / cilantro. Continue to simmer covered for 6-7 minutes.Reduce heat to low and prepare Tadka.
8. Tempering/Tadka - Heat 1 tsp oil in a tiny pan, don't heat too much. Test heat by adding 4-5 cumin seeds, if they sizzle and don't get quickly too dark means oil is hot enough. Add one tsp jeera/ cumin seeds, sizzle for 15-20 seconds. Once they slightly turn darker; quickly pour tempering over curry. Add  one ladle full of curry in tempering pan, swirl around and pour back to the curry pot. Mix well, continue to simmer over  medium low heat for 2-3 minutes. Shut off the heat. Garnish with remaining chopped cilantro before serving  with rice or roti or enjoy as a soup with dollop of butter, Ghee or extra virgin olive oil.

Navy Beans curry with beetroot and tomatoes.

Curried Navy Beans.

French Green Lentil Curry / Dahl with Fresh Green Peanuts. (Quick Pressure Cooker Lentil Curry / Dal)

Every day Dal cooking needs some variation. I let my instincts decide what combination of lentils and beans to use.  Green peanuts with shell were in season. I got them from local Indian grocery store. Peanuts were extra large, fresh, crunchy and milky.  In Indian cooking peanuts add nice taste and texture to various curries and sabjis. I  paired  shelled green peanuts  with French green lentils, used minimal garam masala spices and made this curry / Dal.  This is simple and quick  "One whistle pressure cooker curry/ Dahl". It tastes absolutely delicious with meals or can be enjoyed as a soup.

Rice and shrimp curry, Snake gourd+beetroot stir fry, French green lentil dahl.

Ingredients :

• 1 cup - French green lentils - picked and thoroughly rinsed.
• 3/4 cup - fresh  shelled raw green peanuts  (during off season soak regular peanuts in water for 8 hours)
• 1 medium size onion - finely chopped
• 4-5 - Fresh garlic cloves
• 1.5 inch piece of ginger
• 2-3 Green chilies
• 1/2 T.spoon - Turmeric powder
• 1 tiny bay leaf - 2 inch long
• 2 cloves (lavang)
• 1 inch piece of cinnamon
• 1 T.spoon - corriander seeds - grind to fine powder
• 1/2 T.spoon - cumin seeds - grind to fine powder
• 1 Tb.spoon - oil
• 1/2 cup - fresh chopped cilantro
• 5-6 cups water

 Method for preparing lentil  and Green peanut curry in Pressure cooker.

1. Check for any stone particles in French green lentil then thoroughly rinse in water. Shell green peanuts, rinse in water. Combine both in a bowl, cover with water - keep it aside. No prior soaking is required.
2. Combine garlic, ginger, green chilies in a small blender jar,  ground to coarse mixture. Alternatively You can chop green chilies and use microplane grater to grate ginger and garlic.
3. Combine 1 tsp corriander + 1/2 tsp cumin - grind to fine powder.
4. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pressure cooker / pressure pan. (minimum 3 quart size). Add two cloves, bay leaf, cinnamon stick - allow to sizzle for 25-30 seconds. Quickly add chopped onions, saute for 7-8 minutes over medium heat until onions turn soft and transparent.
5. Now add coarsely ground ginger-garlic-green chili mixture, turmeric powder - mix and saute for 1 minute.
6. Add corriander-cumin powder, French Green lentils and green peanuts.*Check image below* Mix and stir fry for 2 minutes over medium low heat, then add 4 cups of water. Add salt and let it simmer. Once it starts to boil, place pressure cooker lid. Remove or lift whistle while you close the lid. Once you secure and lock pressure cooker lid put back whistle. Maintain medium heat. After it blows first whistle, reduce heat to low, allow dal to simmer for 7-8 minutes. shut off the heat. Allow it to cool.
7. When the hissing pressure sound calms downs, open the lid. Add  chopped cilantro, one cup or more water to adjust dal consistency. Check and adjust salt seasoning. Start heat on, continue to simmer for about 6-7 minutes over medium heat. Shut off the heat.  Serve with rice / roti or enjoy as a soup by adding  dollop of butter on top or drizzle some Ghee.

Picture taken during cooking step No. 6

Tazaa Moongfali / Kacche Shengdane and French Green Lentils