Adai muffins (lentil)

Adai is a healthy protein rich vegan pancake in South India. To make it kid friendly we tried a fancy twist to it. It serves as a good healthy breakfast or snack.

 Ingredients 

Channa dal               - 1/4 cup

Urad dal                    -  1/4 cup

Whole moong dal     - 1/4 cup

Toor dal                    - 1/4 cup

whole grain wheat    - 1/2 cup

red chillies                - 5 (optional)

salt                            - as per taste

asoefatida                 - a small pinch

Soak the dals and wheat grain for 3-4 hours. Grind to a smooth paste in the blender adding salt and the red chillies.

Leave it overnight in a warm place. Pour the batter in greased muffin cups and microwave for 2-3 minutes. Enjoy the muffins as such or with sweet/spicy chutney.

Tips:

1. You can mix and match dals/lentils of your choice. 

2. You can replace whole grain wheat with other grains like millet/quinoa/oats/rice/grits

3. Do not microwave for too long as these may dehydrate the muffins and they will become too hard in texture.

4. You can skip the red chillies and add black pepper/cayenne pepper or green chillies instead.

 

Tomato lentil coconut milk soup (Thakkali pachadi)

This is a modified version of a recipe my mother used to make when we were kids. This goes well with salted cracked wheat porridge. The cracked wheat porridge is made by cooking cracked wheat in water with salt. A bowl of porridge was then served with a teaspoon of clarified butter and this gravy.
I added cooked lentils to the gravy to pack more nutrition into it.

Ingredients :

Red ripe tomatoes - 3-5
Green chillies        - 2-3 (chopped according to spice level)
Garlic                    - 3-4 cloves ( chopped)
salt                        - as per taste
Coconut milk        - 1/2 cup(thick)
Fresh dill              -  1 tsp (chopped fine)
Lentils                  - 1 cup (pressure cooked)
Water                    - as required

To season:
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Oil                   - 1-2 tsps
cumin seeds    - 1 tsp


 Chop the tomatoes into small cubes. Heat a pan and add a tsp of oil. Once the oil is hot add the chopped garlic and green chillies. Saute for a couple of minutes and add the tomatoes. Let them cook for 5-10 minutes until they become a little thick in consistency. Now add the cooked lentils, salt and water and cook covered for another 5- 10 minutes. Now lower the heat and add the thick coconut milk. Switch off stove once the liquid form small bubbles and before it boils. Once it cools down a little add the chopped dill leaves.
Heat a small pan and add 1 tsp of oil. Add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds to the hot oil. Once the mustard seeds splutter add this to the soup.

The soup can be had as such or with rice/chapathi/bread/Porridge.

Tips:

1.To cook the lentils , add 2 cups of water to 1 cup of lentils and pressure
   cook for 2 whistles.
2. To cook lentils on stove top, soak them for a couple of hours and cook on
    stove top for about 45-60 minutes.
3. You could use green tomatoes or tomatillos instead of red tomatoes.

Masala buns

Ingredients:

For the covering :
Maida(All purpose flour) - 1 cup
Atta (whole Wheat flour) - 1 cup
Agave                              - 1 tbsp
Active dry yeast              - 1 tbsp
Oil of choice                   - 2- 3 tbsp
Salt                                 - 1/2 tsp
Spices of choice             - 1 tsp
(I used jeera and chia seeds)
Lukewarm water           - 1/2 to 3/4 cup
Lukewarm milk            - 1/4 cup

For the filling:
I used leftover vegetables and lentils for the filling, you can use a stuffing of your choice.
Saute the vegetables you use so that the stuffing is not too wet.
Spinach                         - 1/2 cup ( spiced with salt and black pepper)
Cooked lentils                - 1/2 cup ( spiced with lemon, fresh ginger, salt and chopped cilantro leaves)

Method:
Mix the flour with the salt and dry spices in a bowl and set aside.
Dissolve the agave in the lukewarm milk and add the yeast and wait for it to froth which should be under a minute. Add the oil and the frothy yeast to the flour, mix well.
Start adding the lukewarm water and start rolling into a dough. Keep adding water until it becomes a soft dough, add flour if too sticky. Place the dough on a floured surface and knead for about 5- 10 minutes.
Transfer the dough to the bowl after greasing it with some oil and brush it with some oil on the top.
Cover it with a damp cloth and keep in a warm place for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Stuffing:
Prepare the stuffing of your choice while the dough is rising.
I mixed the cooked spinach and lentils and sauteed them to make it a little dry.

Punch down the dough once risen and knead for about 5 minutes. Divide the dough into 12 balls. Roll them out into 1/2 inch thickness circles and place the stuffing in the center. Then close it at all ends to cover the stuffing with dough all around. Brush them with a little oil on the top.
Place the balls on a greased baking dish for about 15 minutes. While the buns are rising pre-heat oven to 375 F.
Bake the risen balls for about 20-25 minutes or until done.In between after 15 minutes of baking brush the tops with butter or oil and turn the baking dish 360 degrees.
Recipe source:
http://sinfullyspicy.com/2011/08/27/masala-buns/

Masala buns served with Sriracha/ranch sauce

Happy New Year 2014

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014

Lunch menu with Mediterranean style lentils, Gravy with collard greens ( mix of Ethiopian "Gomen" and Indian "Palak Paneer" recipe with rice.