Massor Dhal with Methi Sprouts

I am suddenly becoming a big fan of sprouting. It is such a easy and simple thing to do and in all my research it seems to be one of the best ways to consume these grains. Typically I soak the grain overnight. I drain and wash the soaked grain few times. I then keep these soaked grains in a strainer covered with a moist paper towel, with a vessel beneath to catch any excess water. I keep this in a dark place and the grains start to sprout overnight. Now once they sprout I store them in a airtight container in my fridge. Now I have sprouted grains to use throughout the week for my cooking.

So recently I sprouted a bunch of Methi seeds. They sprout very well and once you sprout them they tend to loose their bitter taste. I made a simple dhal using these methi sprouts

Ingredients:
- 1 cup massor dhal
- 1/2 cup toor dhal
- 2 tomatoes chopped finely
- 2 tbsp sprouted Methi. If the Methi is not sprouted then you might want to use 1/4 tsp
- 1 tsp jeera
- 1 green chili slited
- salt to taste
- 1 tsp oil

Method:
1. Soak your dhal for atleast an hour. Microwave it for 10 minutes removing it frequently in between and giving it a stir.
2. In a seperate tawa add oil and jeera. Once it starts to splutter add the chopped chili and tomatoes. Cook until this turns to a mushy consistency. Add salt.
3. Add the sprouted Methi seeds and cook for a minute. Add this to your cooked dhal and microwave it again for 4 minutes. If you feel it is a little dry add 1/4th cup of water.

Serve it hot with roti or rice. With the addition of Methi seeds this becomes one healthy dish.

This one finds its way to Think -Spice - Think Fenugreek hosted by Priya Mitharwal and originally started by Sunitha.
I am also sending this to Priya's Easy N Tasty - Let's sprout event.

Our First Award

We are so thrilled to recieve this first award from Priya(Yallapantula) Mitharwal of Mharo Rajasthan's Recipes. Thank you so much for the award and all the wonderful comments. We are grateful and honored to receive this award.

Now seven things about us -
1. We both never in our wildest dream thought about starting any kind of blog.  But now we are so lucky to have it grow in its own steady pace.
2. We love travelling to exotic places like (Alaska :-) although we never seem to get time to do this.
3. We have very different likes and dislikes in food but blogging has made us try various cuisine.
4. We chat for hours when we call each other.
5.  We love baking.
6.  We used to fight a lot for clothes when we were young. :-)
7. We both have kids about the same age so it is always fun to visit each other and cook and enjoy together.

I would like to pass on the award to 10 fellow bloggers

1. Satya
2. Usha
3. Srivalli
4. Madhuram
5. Sangeejeeta
6. Mahima
7. Srividhya
8. Kitchen Queen
9. Jagruti
10. Sanyukta

Milagu Kulambu

We make different type of kulambu as a side dish for rice. We make Vetha kulambu atleast once a week. This weekend in our local Tamil Channel I saw a program called Aaha Enna Rusi,a cookery show . In that they showed how to make a spicy milagu kulambu.  It is a very simple recipe. This recipe needs lots of oil, so don't skimp on the oil. The original recipe had some onions and garlic. I skipped those and made it plain. Try this out if you really love spicy dish. The milagu kulambu with hot rice and parrupu thogayal is a perfect combination.

Ingredients

- 10 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp Mustard
- 1 tbsp Channa dhal
- 1/2 tbsp Uradh dhal
- 1/4 tsp Fenugreek seeds
- 1 tbsp Pepper
- 10 curry leaves
-  2-3 Red chillie
- 1 tbsp Red chillie powder
- 1 tbsp Pepper powder
- 1/4 tsp Turmeric
- 1 Big Lemon Size Tamarind (Soak in hot water)

 Method

1. Heat oil in a frying pan. Once its hot add mustard seeds, chana dhal, uradh dhal, fenugreek seeds, pepper and red chillie
2 Once it splutters add the curry leaves.
3. Take the tamarind extract. Add it to the frying pan. Now add in red chillie powder, turmeric, pepper powder
3. Let this mixture boil for 15- 20 min or until the kulambu becomes thick. Turn off heat

Serve it with hot rice

This one finds its way to Think -Spice - Think Fenugreek hosted by Priya Mitharwal and originally started by Sunitha.

Misal

I first tasted Misal when I went to dinner to my cousin's house.  I have never tasted Misal before and I really loved this dish. I wanted to try it out for a long time but never got to cook it. After making my sprouts pulav, I had some sprouted moth beans left. I was tempted to make this dish with that. So I researched the internet and found lot of good recipes. Finally I came up with my own simple recipe. This is not the traditional way of doing Misal but we all still loved the dish. It was a wholesome and delicious food. This is also a very healthy dish.

Kolhapuri Masala Ingredients

- 11/2 tbsp Coriander seeds
- 1 tbsp Jeera
- 1 tsp Sesame seeds
- 1/2 tsp Pepper
-  4-5 Cloves
- 1/2 inch Cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp Fennel seeds

1. Dry fry the above spices in a pan. Once the spices turn brown remove from heat
2. Cool it down and grind the spices to a fine powder


Misal Ingredients

- 2 onions
- 1/2 cup coriander
- 1/4 cup frozen coconut
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 handful peanut
- 3 cup sprouts
- 5-6 potato
- 1 -2 tbps Jaggery/ Brown sugar
- 1 tsp tamarind paste

For Tempering

- 1 tsp mustard
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/4 tsp hing
-  2 tsp oil

1. Pressure cook the sprouts moth beans and potato.
2. In a pan add a tsp of oil. Add onion, garlic cloves and fry until the onions turns  brown.
3. Add coconut and coriander and fry for few minutes
4. Once it cools down grind this mixture in the blender to a smooth paste.
5. Add oil to the pan and once its hot add mustard,cumin,hing. Once it splutters add peanuts and fry until the peanuts becomes brown. 
6. Add the paste to the pan and fry it for few minutes until the oil separates from the paste. Add the Kolhapuri masala, red chillie powder and salt.
7. Now add the cooked sprouts and potato mixture. You can add water if the gravy is thick. Let it simmer in heat for 10 -15 min
8. Mix in tamarind paste and jaggery and simmer for few more minutes. 

To Serve

Take a bowl and add misal. Drizzle yogurt on top of it. Add chopped onion,tomato and farsan/sev/bhel mix/crushed potato chips and serve it with pav or white bread.

I am sending this to Priya's Easy N Tasty - Let's sprout event.

Watermelon and cherry juice

The last few days have been HOT. So I am trying to come up with juices and cold salads to make the heat bearable. We had quite a lot of cherries and a huge watermelon sitting in our counter top. I ended up creating this for our mid day snack. It was simple to put together and was quite refreshing.

Ingredients:
- 5 cups of watermelon
- 30 cherries pitted (Keep a few aside for garnish)
- 1 inch ginger
- juice of 1 lemon (adjust to taste)
- 1 tbsp mint leaves chopped (Optional)


Method:
Add all the ingredients to a blender and blend them until they become smooth. Strain it if you want it like a juice but if you like it pulpy you can skip that step. As my watermelon was very sweet I did not have to add additional sugar.

Serve it chilled.

Sago Vadam (Javarisi Vadam)

Texas gets very hot during summer and the heat reminds me of the days when my mom used to make vadam. Me and my sister used sit upstairs and chase the crows from eating the vadam. Once its a little dry we will be eating the vadam as it is. This year my in-laws are here and my MIL was tempted to try out vadams. She started with the easy one Javarisi (Sago in English) vadam. It was a very easy recipe.

Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Javarisi/sabudana
- 2 Green chili
- 1 tbsp Lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp Asafoetida powder
- Salt – as per taste

Method

1.Soak javarisi overnight in 2 cups of water. In a pan boil two cups of water and add javarisi and boil it in low flame. Grind the green chili,asafoetida, salt.
2. Add it to the boiling javarisi. Cook till the javarisi turns transparent or glassy.
3. The mixture will be semi-liquid. Once it cools down it will become a little thick
4. Take a tablespoon of the mixture and put it in a plastic sheet or ziploc
5. Keep it in direct sunlight for two days. After the first day turn the side and let it dry.
6.Once its dry you will be able to remove it easily from the sheet
7. Now the vadams are ready to be deep-fried.
8. Deep fry in oil and enjoy it as a snack.

Sending this one to CWS-Sago Seeds hosted by Kitchen Samraj originally started by Priya.

Gazpacho

 

This months AWED is featuring Spain. I personally love this event. It gives us bloggers an opportunity to try something that is different and not in our comfort zone. When Spain was announced I decided on Gazpacho which is a cold tomato soup. It originates from Andalucía in southern Spain. There are so many different recipe for Gazpacho and I kind of mixed a bunch to make my own. I was not too particular on using vinegar so I substituted that with lemon juice and I did not add garlic (if adding use around 3 cloves). The soup was fabulous and a perfect dish on a hot day.

Ingredients:
- 1 cucumber, seeded, but not peeled
- 1 green and 1 red bell peppers, cored and seeded
- 4 tomatoes
- 1 red onion
- 3 tomatoes to make a juice or you can buy store bought juice.
- juice from 1 lemon (adjust to taste)
- 2 tbsp good olive oil
- salt to taste
- 1 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup cilantro
- avocado for garnish (optional)

Method:
1. Chop cucumber, bell pepper, onion and tomatoes. Add them to the food processor separately and pulse them. Make sure you don't over process them.
2. In a blender add the tomatoes, salt and black pepper. Grind them well to make your tomato juice.
3. Now mix the vegetables and the tomato juice. Add lemon juice, salt and pepper to suit your taste. Add the chopped cilantro and chill this for at least an hour. The more you chill this the better it tastes.
4. Serve this chilled with avocado and more cilantro as your garnish.

Perfect for a hot day.

Submitting this to AWED - Spain announced by DK

Sprouts puluv

After checking out chef in you site I was also inspired to sprout some beans. I tried mung and moth beans. So now I add it in my toddler's rice when I boil other vegetables. Then when I checked out the recipe for moth sprouts rice recipe in chef in you, I wanted to try it out. I made some changes and tried it out for this weekend. To go with it I made kofta curry. We enjoyed a healthy and tasty meal. Check out the original recipe here.

Ingredients

-2 cloves garlic
-4 green chillie
-1 small piece ginger
-6-7 mini sweet bell pepper
-1 cup sprouts (I used a combination of moth and mung sprouts)
-3-4 cloves
-2-3 bay leaves
-1 small stick cinnamon
-5-6 pepper
-1 tsp panch poran
-1.5 cup rice
-2.5 cup water
-3 tbsp oil
-3 spring onions
-1.5 tsp kitchen king masala
-Salt to taste

Method

1.Soak rice in water for 1/2 hour.
2.Add oil to a hot frying pan. Once the oil is hot add panch poran,clove,bay leaves, cinnamon,pepper.
3.Once the panch poran splutters add garlic,ginger and green chillie. Fry it for 1-2 min.
3.Add spring onions and fry for few min. Then add the bell pepper and the sprouts. Fry this for 3-4 min.
4.Drain the water from the rice and add it to the pan. Add 2.5 cups water. Adjust water according to your rice. Add salt and garam masala and mix it well.
5.Close the pan and keep the stove in medium heat.
6.Check after 15 min to see if the rice has cooked. You can add water if the rice is not cooked yet.
7.Garnish with coriander

Serve it with raita or any spicy side dish.

This dish is going to the wonderful event My Legume Love Affair hosted by Siri and started by Susan
I am also sending this to Priya's Easy N Tasty - Let's sprout event.
Also sending this to one of my favorite event Tried and Tested hosted by Priya and started by Delights of Cooking

Slow Cooker Chole

Do you own a slow cooker/croak pot? If you live in US you need to buy one of these. They are so convenient and you can cook delicious dishes. I make most of my dhals, kootu using the slow cooker. The other day I made chole and I thought I will blog about it. I started the whole process at around 2.00 in the afternoon and we had awesome chole for dinner at around 7.00 that night. It is just the method that I am giving here. Customize the recipe to your taste.

Ingredients
- 2 cups of dry channa/ Garbanzo beans/ chick peas
- 1 onion chopped
- 3 tomatoes chopped
- 1 tbsp chole masala
- 1 tbsp garam masala
- 2 green chili
- 1 inch ginger
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp oil
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- salt to taste

Method:
1. Add the chick peas in the slow cooker and add water so the beans are all immersed. So it would be roughly 4 cups of water. Add salt. Set the slow cooker at high.
2. Cook for at least 3 hours. The chick peas should be soft by now.
3. Meanwhile in a separate pan add oil and cumin seeds. Once they splutter add the chopped onion and cook it turns slightly brown. Now add the tomatoes and cook till it becomes slightly mushy.
4. Add the chole masala, garam masala, turmeric and salt. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Let it cool.
5. Now grind this with some of the cooked chick peas. Add this mixture to the slow cooker and let it cook for another 30-45 min. Make sure that there is enough water in the slow cooker.
6. After about 45 minutes reduce it to a low setting and let it cook slowly until you are ready to serve dinner.

You now have a hot and delicious chole. You can do this for all kinds of legumes. The only thing is to adjust your timing. Server this easy chole with roti or rice

This easy chole is going to the wonderful event My Legume Love Affair hosted by Siri and started by Susan

Microwave Kara Kulumbu

The Microwave event hosted by Srivalli of Cooking4AllSeasons inpsired me to try my Microwave for different dishes other then just heating up leftovers. The one thing I typically do is cook my rice in the microwave oven. It cooks in 30 minutes. I like this method to make rice as it is fool proof and I really need not do much. This time around I decided to try out a kulumbu recipe. The inspiration came from Malika Badrinath book. There are a few steps involved but it comes together easily.
Ingredients A:
- 1 small onion chopped
- 2 small brinjal chopped
- 2 tomatoes chopped
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- salt to taste.
Method:
1. Add the above ingredients in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave them at high for 6-7 minutes. Remove it every two minutes and mix them well. If you feel it does not have enough water then keep it aside.
Ingredients B:
- 1 tomatoes chopped
- 1 tbsp sambar powder
- 2 cups tamrind water
- salt to taste
Method:
1. Grid the tomatoes, sambar powder. Mix them well with tamarind water and salt. Now boil this at medium microwave setting for at least 8 minutes. Remove it and mix it every two minutes.
2. Now add the cooked vegetables to this and cook it at medium heat for 6 minutes. Remove and mix every minute.

Seasoning:
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp methi seeds
- sprig of curry leaves
- 2 tsp oil
Method:
1. In another microwave safe bowl add the oil and add the seasoning ingredients and cook for 2 minutes. You will hear the mustard start to pop. Remove and add it to the kulumbu.

This was a few steps but then it all happened in the microwave and so I did not attend to it constantly which was a nice relif. This kulumbu tastes great with rice.

Sending this to 365 days of microwave cooking hosted by Srivali of Cooking4AllSeasons and also to MEC-Favorite hosted by Seduce your taste buds and started by Cooking4AllSeasons.

Healthy Fruit and Vegetable Salad

I am trying to eat more salads these days. I add both vegetables and fruits in the salad to make it healthy and filling. There is no one way to make this salad. You can be creative and add any vegetable or fruit to this combination

Ingredients

-1 cup chopped Lettuce
-1/2 chopped apple
-1/4 cup chopped mango
-3-4 chopped Mini Bell Pepper
-2 chopped carrot
-Salt to taste
-Pepper to taste
-Lemon juice to taste

Method

Toss all the ingredients in a salad bowl. Add salt, pepper and lemon juice. Toss the salad well. The salad tastes beter if you let it rest for 1/2 hour - 1 hour before eating.

Enjoy a healthy and tasty salad.

Gheeya Kofta

This is another kofta I tried using my pancake puff pan. I am absolutely loving this pan which lets me enjoy koftas with almost no oil.

Ingredients for kofta's:
- 1 gheeya shredded (Mine was pretty big)
- 2 bread (A day or two old bread is perfect)
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp roasted jeera powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 chili chopped finely
- 1/3 cup coriander leaves chopped
- 2-3 tbsp besan (use as needed)
- salt to taste

Method to make kofta's:
1. Gheeya tends to realease a lot of liquid. You want to salt it and squeeze as much liquid as possible. Keep the water from the gheeya aside.
2. Tear the bread to small pieces and add all the other ingredients and mix them well. You should be able to make small balls with the mixture. As you are not deep frying these it can be slightly wet. If it is hard to make the balls then add more besan or another slice of bread.
3. Spray your Pancake Puff Aebleskiver Pan with some oil and drop these balls. Set the heat below medium and let it cook. It takes some time but you want the insides to be cooked well so be patient. Keep rolling them in the pan to cook them evenly. Spray oil as needed. Once cooked remove and let them cool.

Ingredients for the subji:
- 1 onion chopped
- 2 tomatoes chopped
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 2 tbsp garam masala powder
- 1 tsp roasted jeera and coriander powder
- 1 tsp chili powder (adjust to taste)
- salt to taste
- sugar to taste
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp jeera

Method to make the subji:
1. In a pan add the oil and jeera. Once it splutters add the onion and fry till it turns slightly brown. Now add the tomatoes and cook until it becomes mushy. Add all the masala and chili powder. Also add the water you had kept from the gheya.
2. Let it all cool. Now grind it in a food processor to a coarse paste. Pour it again in the pan and add salt and sugar according to your taste. Cook in a low flame for atleast 10 - 15 minutes. This gives the spices to blend well with the tomatoes.

Putting it together:
About 10- 15 minutes before serving heat your subji. Remove from the heat and drop in the kofta. Garnish it with coriander leaves and they taste really good with roti or biriyani.

Enjoy this healthy version of gheeya kofta.

Beetroot Rice

This is a healthy and yummy rice. Very easy to put together and I absolutely love the color.
Ingredients:
- 2 beetroot peeled and chopped (I included the greens and the stem on the top and chopped them finely and added it.)
- 1 onion chopped
- 2 green chili chopped
- 1 cup peas
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 2 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp roasted jeera powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1/4 cup peanuts
- 1 cup rice washed
- 2 tbsp chopped mint leaves
- 1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
- salt to taste

Seasoning:
- 1 tsp oil
- few cloves
- 1 tsp jeera
few curry leaves

Method:
1. In a pot add oil and the seasoning ingredients. Once they brown add the peanuts and fry it. They should become slightly crisp.
2. Now add the chilies, onions and fry them till they turn slightly brown. Add the chopped beetroot pour 1/4th cup of oil and cook till it is half cooked.
3. Now mix in the greens and the stem. Also add the peas now. Mix in the uncooked rice. Add all the masala (garam masala, coriander powder, cumin powder, chili powder) and salt. Mix it in and cook for a couple of minutes
4. Now add 2 cups of hot water. Bring down the heat cover and cook till the rice becomes soft.
5. Add the chopped methi leaves and coriander leaves and mix them all well.

Serve it hot with raita or pickles.

Chineese Noodles

This is an easy and yummy noodle dish. I use all kinds of vegetables to make this healty. For my noodles I used the Hakka noodles you get in the Indian grocery store.

Ingredients:
- 1 cups chopped cabbage
- 1 carrot cut lengthwise
- 1 cup beans cut diagonally
- 1 red bell pepper cut into strips
- 1 cup bean sprouts
- 1 bunch of spring onions cut it diagonally keeping the white and green separate
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp vinegar (adjust to taste)
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 tbsp Sriracha Hot Chili or similar variety (adjust to taste)
- 1 pack Hakka noodles
- salt to taste

Method:
1. Cook the noodles as per the instructions in the packet. While cooking the noodles add a little bit of oil. Once it is cooked wash the noodles in cold water and set it aside.
2. In a pan at high heat add the oil. Add onions and sauté it for a minute or two. Now add the carrots, bell pepper and beans and cook them for a minute. Add the cabbage and the white of the spring onions and mix them all together for a couple of minutes.
3. Add the seasoning now. Mix in the cooked noodles and sauté them all well. Do a taste test and add additional seasoning if required. Meanwhile keep mixing the noodles well and if you feel it will stick to the bottom then add a tablespoon of oil to it.
4. Turn off the stove and add the green part of the spring onion and the bean sprouts. You need your sprouts to be crisp so add them at the end. Serve it hot.

When making this dish remember to keep the heat high. The vegetables need to be cooked only for a few minutes so they retain a crunch to it.

Buttery vegi puffs

I absolutely love these vegetable puffs. I used the puff pastry sheets to makes these and they are real easy to put together. The stuffing is really up to you. I made a mixed vegetable stuffing for this. Here is how I made mine.

Ingredients:
- 1 potato boiled and mashed
- 1 cup mixed vegetables chopped into fine pieces. (carrots, corn, peas, beans etc) cooked till the become soft. I used my microwave oven
- 1 tsp garam masala powder
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp chili powder (adjust to taste)
- 1 small piece ginger grated
- 1 tsp oil
- 1 tsp jeera
- 1 pack puff pastry sheets thawed

Method
1. Pre-heat oven to 420F. Remove your puff pastry sheets from the freezer an hour before you plan to make these and thaw them in your refrigerator. If you forget it then defrost the sheets in your microwave oven.
2. In a pan heat oil and add the jeera and turmeric. Add ginger, onions and sauté till the onions become golden brown. Add your garam masala and chili powder salt and mix it well.
3. Now add the cooked vegetables and mashed potato. Turn down the heat and cook till they all blend together. You want your vegetables to be a little bit mushy. Set it aside and let the vegetables cool down a bit.
4. The puff pastry sheets comes as two sheets. When you open them up you should be able to see three sheets in them. Take two of the sheets. Lay one sheet down. Spoon the vegetable through out the sheet leaving some space in the edges. Now top it with the second sheet and press the sides.
5. Cut them to the size you like and press the other two sides together.
6. Spray some cooking oil in a glass baking dish and lay these puffs in a row. Spray some oil on the top and bake it for 20 minutes or till it becomes golden brown turning them over at around 10 minutes .

Serve them hot with ketchup of pickles. Perfect to have it with a hot cup of tea.

It is important to use a glass dish as the metal dish turns the puff brown. Glass dish spreads the heat evenly so it cooks the puff to a beautiful golden brown.

Chepankizhangu (Taro root) Leaf usli

This is another recipe from my mother-in-law. When we buy taro root from Indian stores we make the curry after few days. By that time the taro root sprouts a little bit. My mother-in-law took a few of the sprouted taro root and planted them in our garden. After a few weeks the plant grew and we use the taro root leaf to make this usli. It tastes different from the usual usli but it is very yummy. You get this leaf in Indian stores also.

Ingredients

-4-5 taro root leaf
-1 tsp mustard seeds
-1 tsp urad dhal
-2 tbsp oil

To Grind

-1/2 cup chana dhal
-1/2 cup tuvar dhal
-1 tbsp Corainder seeds
-1 small lime size tamarind
-6/7 red chillie
-salt to taste
-pinch of asafoetida


Method

1.Soak the dhal for 2 hours.Soak corainder seeds and tamarind separately.
2.Then grind all the ingredients into a coarse paste. Add little water when grinding.
3.Take the taro root leaves and apply the paste on the back side of the leaf.
4.Apply the paste as a thin layer and then roll the leaf. Apply the paste in the edges for the leaf to stick.
5.Steam the leaf in a idli plate for 10 minutes. You should see the color of the leaf change to light green color.
6.Take the steamed leaf and cut it into 1 inch pieces.
7.In a frying pan add oil and once the oil is hot add mustard seeds and urad dhal.
8.Once mustard seeds splutter add the steamed leaf pieces.
9.Fry for 5-10 min or until it turns a little brown.

You can make this when you make Morkuzhambu and serve it with rice.

Vegetable Manchurian

This recipe is a total inspiration from chef in you. I recently purchased the Pancake Puffs Cast Iron Set and I wanted to try the vegetable manchurian. I try to use very little oil in my cooking and this pan is a dream come true. You can make koftas with little to no oil.

Ingredients for the vegi balls:
- 1 purple cabbage
- 1 carrot
- 1/2 cup peas
- 1 potato boiled and mashed
- 2 tsp corn starch
- 1 tsp all purpose flour
- 1 green chili minced
- 1 green onion chopped finely
- 1 tsp chili paste like Sambal Oelek (optional)
- salt to taste
Method:
1. Mix all the ingredients together. You should be able to make small balls from them. If not add a little bit flour to this.
2. Now in you pancake puff pan spray some cooking oil and place these vegi balls. You need cook them at a low flame. Other wise the outside gets done but the inside will still be raw. Turn it around every few minutes so as to cook both side. Once fully done remove them and keep them aside.

Ingredients:
- 1 bell pepper chopped finely
- 1 small onion diced finely
- 1 green chili minced
- few spring onions chopped
- 1 inch ginger, peeled and grated
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp chili sauce
- 1 tbsp all purpose flour
- 1 tbsp corn flour
- 2 tsp oil
- sugar and salt to taste

Method:
1. In a pan add oil and heat it up. Add the onion, green onion, ginger and the bell pepper. Fry them in high heat. You need these to be slightly crunchy.
2. Meanwhile in 2 cups of water mix the flour, salt, sugar, soy sauce and chili sauce well. Add it to the cooking vegetables.
3. Boil them for a few minutes and they will form to be a thick gravy.

Putting them together:
Just before serving heat up your gravy. Add the vegetable balls to the gravy and serve them at once. If you add the balls earlier they will become mushy and loose their shape. Serve it with either hot rice or noodles.

Bean Burger with poha

Ingredients:
- 1 cup cooked black bean (Canned beans works fine too)
- 1 small onion chopped
- 1 small bell pepper chopped (I used red color)
- 1 long carrot pealed and shredded
- 1 small green chili chopped finely
- 1 cup boiled corn (I used fresh corn)
- 1 tsp cumin and coriander powder
- 1 tsp chili powder (optional)
- 1 cup soaked thick poha
- 1/4 cup chopped coriander
- 2- 3 tsp oil or use cooking spray
- 1 tsp jeera
- salt to taste
Method:
1. In a pan add the oil and the jeera and once it starts to splutter add the onion and bellpeper and green chili. Cook till the become slightly soft. You do not want them to become mushy. Turn off the heat and add the shredded carrots and salt. Mix well and keep it aside to cool down.
2. Keep a handful of black bean aside and mash the rest with a potato masher.If using can drain and wash them well.
3. In a large bowl add the soft poha, black beans, cooked corn, cumin & coriander powder, chili powder and chopped coriander. Mix in the cooked vegetables. Mix them all well. Do a taste test and adjust salt accordingly.
4. Now form them into patties and refrigerate them for at least 30 minutes. If it is hard to form patties then add a piece of bread to it and it will soak all the water.
5. Remove it and in a flat griddle pour some oil. Cook each patties on both sides.
You will know it is done when it starts to turn brown.

Serve it in between buns with all your favorite burger topping. As this was a black bean burger I topped mine with avocado's. This is a healthy alternative to any store brought vegetarian burger.

Simple Brown Lentil

This is a very simple and fast dhal. I used brown lentil and you don't need a pressure cooker for this. This gets tender on your regular stove top which to me makes it an easier alternative to regular toor dhal.

Ingredients:
- 1 cup brown lentils (Soak for couple of hours)
- 1 carrot chopped
- 1 medium sized onion chopped
- 1 tomato chopped
- 1/2 tsp pepper powder
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- salt to taste

Seasoning:
- 1 chili chopped
- 1 tsp jeera
- 1 tsp oil

Method:
1. In a broad vessel add the oil and Jeera. Once the jeera starts to splutter add the chilies and the onion. Add salt and chili powder.
2. Fry till the onion becomes soft. Now add the soaked lentils with 2 cups of water. Let it come to boil. Mix in the carrot and cook till the lentils becomes soft to your touch. Add water as needed.
3. Now sprinkle in some peper and mix them all well.

Serve hot with rice or roti

This easy dish is going to the wonderful event My Legume Love Affair hosted by Siri and started by Susan