Ajmeri dahi curry

Saw this on a TV show, as a part of a Chaat dish, tried it out to sip as a curry. Don't remember the name of the dish :(

Take 2 tbsp of curd and 3 tbsp of besan, mix well, add 5 cups of water and keep aside.

In a vessel, heat 3 tbsp of oil, and add to it mustard seeds. When they splutter, add 2-3 peppercorns, 1 clove, 1 broken bay leaf, 1 piece of cinnamon, some red chilli powder, some garam masala powder, asafoatida (pinch), some turmeric, few curry leaves and raw mango powder.

To this add the curd mix and bring to a boil. Add to it some ginger-chilli paste. After 10 mins, when it thickens, add salt to taste and serve.

Quite tangy and chatpata.

Black Dal

Saw this recipe on Discovery Channels Rhodes across India.. An amazing show! Here's the link. Will try it out after a couple of months, as I'm not supposed to have these kind of heavy dals while my baby is so small!

The recipe in short:
Take 1 cup washed black dal, add 4 cups water, some chopped onion, chopped ginger, garlic, some mustard oil and boil
Later, add some curd mixed with salt and red chilli powder
Add a tempering of only hing in ghee
Later, add some dried plums
Then add another tempering in ghee of onion, ginger and red chilli powder

Also, want to try this recipe of potatoes

Lets hope I come around to trying these soon!
-Naina

Dim Dal Fry

This one's one of my favourites, and my mil likes it a lot too..

Pressure cook 1 cup of whole moong dal, with a pinch of turmeric.
In a vessel, heat some ghee. For tempering add garlic, ginger, jeera, hing, red chillies, chopped onions, chopped tomatoes and coriander powder. Add the dal, enough water and bring to boil. Finally add salt, lemon juice / amchur to taste (optional), and chopped coriander leaves.
Enjoy
-Naina

Quick Moong dal Rasam

I saw this lovely Dal Sandwich recipe on Sindhi Rasoi yesterday, and surprisingly, I just wished to have the dal.. like a thin soup or rasam..
So, took 1/4 cup of moong dal, and boiled it in water with a pinch of turmeric and salt. Boiled till it was done..
Then heated some ghee for tempering, added to it 1/3 tsp of our home made mixture of red chilli and garam masala. When it gave a nice aroma, added a nice tsp full of coriander powder. Poured this into the dal, added water (as I wanted it thin and watery) and Amchur / dry mango powder to the dal as per taste and simmered it.
Didn't look great, since I didn't garnish it, so didn't take a pic! But tastes yummm
Very quick and simple too..
-Naina

Sol Kadhi

This is a very nice cooling beverage, that goes particularly well with fish
Ingredients:
4-5 kokam pieces soaked in water (for an hr) OR Kokam syrup (unsweetened)
Coconut Milk (2 glasses)
3-4 cloves of garlic
1 green chilli
Salt to taste

To make the coconut milk, grind fresh (not tender) coconut. The add a glass of water to it. Grind and strain it. To the remaining coconut residue, add another glass water, grind and strain. This will give you a good consistency of coconut milk.
As an alternative, you get coconut milk powder.. and you could use that! The instructions are usually on the packet.

If you are making your own coconut milk, add the garlic and chilli to the coconut itself. Else grind them separately, and add to the coconut milk.

Squish the kokam pieces using a tea strainer lightly (or use the unsweetened kokam syrup), and add it to the spicy coconut milk.

Chill the drink and serve! Its a nice pink coloured drink, and you can garnish with coriander leaves

-Naina

Sev di kadhi

This is a very traditional dish from my parent's family.. My mom makes it occasionally, and I tried it once at home to have some variety.. Now, its quite a fav at my home too..
Ingredients:
1/4 cup wheat flour
1/4 tsp Red chilli powder
1/4 tsp tumeric powder
1 tsp Coriander seeds powder
1/4 tsp Amchoor OR juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
6-8 curry leaves
1/2 cup sev

Heat some oil in a vessel, and add mustard seeds and curry leaves for the tempering. Add the flour and roast it till its light brown and gives a pleasant aroma. Add all the masalas except the amchoor / lemon juice. Add water slowly as per desired consistency of the kadhi, while stirring continuously to avoid lumps. Let it boil. Then add the amchoor / lemon juice. Simmer for 2 mins. While serving, add some sev to it!
Its an Indianised version of noodle soup :)
- Naina

Rasam

My mom landed up at this after asking a dozen friends.. and lots of experiments I guess..

Ingredients:
For the rasam Powder:
8-10 Kashmiri red chillies
2-3 tbsp jeera
2-3 tbsp dhaniya seeds
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp roasted channa dal
1 tbsp roasted urad dal
1/4 tsp methi seeds
For the dal and tempering:
1 cup tur dal
Lots of water
Tamarind paste (as per taste)
Jaggery (as per taste)
Salt to taste
Mustard seeds
Curry Leaves
Hing powder

Method:
For the rasam Powder: Roast and powder all the ingredients. Use 2-3 tbsp for the rasam, store the rest for later. (Can also use this powder for making your vegetables taste different, instead of using your normal garam masala)

Pressure cook the dal. Add lots of water to it, and beat it to form a very watery liquid. Let it boil. While it is boiling, add tamarind, jaggery, salt and rasam powder.
In a seperate vessel for the tempering, add all the remaining ingredients in hot oil, and pour it on the dal. Let it boil for 15-20 mins. A very refreshing appetizer.
-Naina