Methi Rava Idly and Sambhar

Idly for breakfast makes work easier, since the breakfast for the entire family is made in a single batch. That's the only factor which pushes me to make idly for breakfast. Two years back, I first tried making rava idly with the MTR instant pack . Followed the instructions on the pack, rava idly turned out well was given a thumbs up by the family. I noted the ingredients on the packet. After 3 attempts, I got the right texture of the idly by making it from scratch. Since then, this recipe is a savior when in need of a quick fix for breakfast. I usually do the seasonings and roasting part the previous day and refrierate the mix. The next day all I have to do is mix in the wet ingredients and proceed with idly making. It saves lot of time.

Methi Rava Idly
(Yields - 16 nos )

Rava/Sooji - 2 cups
Buttermilk - 1 cup
Water - 1 cup
Salt
Cooking soda- 1/4 tspn
Methi leaves - handful
(Grates carrot or fresh corn etc can also be used)



Seasoning

Ghee/oil - 2 tblspn
Mustard seeds - 1 tspn
Chana dal - 1 tblspn
Cashews - 10 nos
Green chilly - 2 nos, finely chopped
Curry leaves - few






Heat oil/ghee in a kadai. Add the seasoning ingredients. Add the methi leaves. When the leaves wilt, add the rava and roast till you can smell the aroma of roasted rava. Cool and add salt,buttermilk and water. I have used buttermilk since it is always available in my home. Beaten curd can also be used instead. The proportion of rava and liquid is 1:1. Whisk to break the lumps. Keep it aside for 10 minutes. Mix in the cooking soda and mix gently. Scoop into greased idly moulds and steam for 7-10 minutes. Serve hot with chutney or sambhar or molagapodi. Adding methi leaves did not impart any bitter taste to the idlis.


Sambhar

Sambhar in Palakkad Iyer lingo is not the instant, quick fix kind. To qualify for sambhar it must have coconut and fresh roasted and ground spices. Sambhar without coconut is looked down upon and is rarely made too. Things have changed now. People have go used to making with instant sambhar powders sans coconut. And coconut if used, is very moderate quanitity. I rarely make sambhar using the sambhar powder. When ever I make coconut less version (podi potta sambhar) , I prefer fresh powder. And i do have the store bought sambhar powder in stock,ironically never used for sambhar making. the veggies used in sambhar is very versatile. Drumstick/ladies finger/ pumpkin/brinjal/raddish/pearl onion are some of the common veggies used. Each veggie on its own gives a distinct flavor and a combination of veggies also works good. Sambhar is a very forgiving recipe and has scope for many variations. I usually follow the age-old method of eye ball measurement while making sambhar. I believe that gives a distinct taste each time its made. Take the following measurement as a guideline and little more or less will not alter the taste much.

Now coming to the recipe I follow,

Radish/Mullangi - 2 nos,sliced into circles

Tuvar dal - 1/2 cup

Tamarind - lemon sized

Turmeric

salt

Coconut - generous 1/2 cup

To roast and grind

Oil - 1 tblspn

Coriander seeds/Malli - 2 tblspn

Red chilly - 4 nos

Chana dal/Kadala paruppu - 1 tspn

Methi seeds/Venthayam/Uluva - 1/2 tspn

Curry leaves - 5 leaves (optional)

Hing powder - few shakes

Seasoning

Oil - 1 tspn

mustard seeds - 1 tspn

Curry leaves for garnish

Pressure cook tuvar dal till soft and mash able. Soak tamarind in warm water for 5 minutes or so. This will help easier extraction of the juice. Keep the vegetable sliced.

Take the tamarind extract in a vessel and a cup of water, salt and turmeric. When the tamarind water starts boiling, add the veggies. Cook till it is fork tender.

In the meantime, roast the the ingredients to be roasted till the dal turns light brown. Remember to add the methi seeds during the last stages of roasting. When cool grind to a smooth paste along with coconut. Add water as required.

Mash the cooked dal and stir into the cooked veggies. Add the ground paste. Check the salt. Adjust the consistency by adding water. Bring to rolling boil stage. Do the seasoning with mustard seeds and add few curry leaves for garnish.

The plate of idly and sambhar is my contribution to EC's WYF -Breakfast event

Dos Sequias, Abundant Harvest and Cherry Tomato Paruppu (Lentil)

ABUNDANT HARVEST AND CHERRY TOMATO PARUPPU

They are an industrious, friendly and pleasant couple.They are the visionaries of the four year old dream come true project named Abundant Harvest, which has started to bloom and bear fruits on their leased out farm land. The cute farm house is named after the two towering red wood trees that stand in the background giving DOS SEQUOIS a fairy tale house look.

Meet STEVE AND MISHELLE RADTKE. Their Abundant Harvest is a Community Supported Agriculture (C S A) subscription farm and they offer shares in Portland metro area.
The subscription made early in the season goes towards purchase of seeds and other initial costs. The months beginning from May to October are peak season when mother earth yields a bountiful harvest, which is shared and enjoyed by all the shareholders.

Every Wednesday we drive past the city of Hillsboro, past the wheat fields and past a few other farms and arrive at a gate, where we encounter a board that says, “The Abundant Harvest Family welcomes you”. We enter the gate and drive along the mud path lined by short and lush trees thronging with peaches, apples and plums, and park in front of the dream house, not missing to take a look at the healthy corn fields on our far right. Mish beams and nods as she cuts her equally beaming bright fresh flowers from the wild, informal garden. Steve emerges out of the herbs and the vegetable patch and waves out to us with a big smile. We enjoy the warm welcome as we reciprocate, and walk into a shed where the abundant harvest of the week awaits us.

We sign in and look at the board, which notifies us about the variety of vegetables, harvested on that day and the amount of the produce that each shareholder is entitled to take. There are an assortment of lettuce, spinach, chard, zucchinis, summer squashes, cucumbers, carrots, beets, Walla Walla onions, garlic and herbs like Italian parsley, Genovese and lemon basils, kohlrabies, cabbages, sweet corn and tomatillas - all of them fresh from the womb of mother earth, washed and wiped, looking bright as new born babies in their baskets. We count or weigh and pick up our share while the flavour of the fresh herbs fills our nostrils.

We walk out with the heavy bags to the gazebo where Mishelle has laid out the fresh cherry tomatoes, plums, wild plums, cherries and blue berries in pint measures and basketsful of big salad tomatoes on long wooden tables. A variety of cut flowers greet us with their myriad colours as they stand tall in a bucket of water. Mishelle’s flowers are “Food for the soul”. That is what the flier says. It also includes the latest farm news, farm requirements if any and two or three recipes.

We eagerly look forward for Wednesdays and a visit to Abundant Harvest to enjoy the scenic beauty and also to pick up the most fresh vegetables grown most naturally without ravaging mother earth with pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers.

Wish you all the best Mishelle and Steve. You provide food for the body, soul and for the thought as well. Thank you for that, and also for tugging us down close to mother earth at least once a week in the middle of all our other ‘hi- tech’ activities.


CHERRY TOMATO PARUPPU
I love the cherry tomatoes in all their hues – red, orange, yellow, purple! I am really carried away by their colours and taste and hence, every day they sneak into my sambars or float on rasams and peek-a-boo in my salads. A plain paruppu looks and tastes great when the cherry tomatoes lend their charm to it.

INGREDIENTS:
Tur Dal – 1 cup
Turmeric powder – 1 pinch
Cherry tomatoes – 8
Cooking oil – I tsp
Mustard seeds – ¼ tsp
Green chillies – 2
Asafoetida – 1 pinch
Coriander leaves – a few
Salt – 1 tsp

METHOD:
1.Cook dal in 2 .5 cups of water and turmeric powder in a pressure cooker.
2. Mash dal well to a gravy consistency and add salt.
3. Heat oil in a small seasoning ladle and add the mustard seeds.
4. When it splutters add asafetida and chopped green chillies.
5. Add the seasoning to the dal.
6. Slide the cherry tomatoes whole (Cut the big ones into halves) into the dal.
7. Stir covered with a lid and simmers it for two minutes.
8. Add chopped coriander leaves.
9. Enjoy with chapaties or rice with a blob of butter and a squeeze of lime for the tang.

Footnotes by Tara:
If you are unfamiliar with tur dal, substitute with yellow split peas. Also, if you do not have a pressure cooker you can soak and boil the yellow split peas until they are soft and mashable.

Some delicious Soup and Pasta prepared by my daughter-in-law Tara, with the produce from Abundant Harvest ...

Pasta with Zucchini, Squash, Cherry Tomatoes and Herbs
Soup Au Pisto

Murukku

Murukku is a Popular south Indian snack.There are different kinds of murukku.
Here is a simple Method to prepare Crispy Murukku.



Ingredients:

Rice flour-3 cups
Urad Dal flour-1/4 cup
Til/Sesame-3 tsp
Butter/Hot oil-3 tsp
Hing-1/4 tsp
Salt-To taste

Preparation method:

1. Mix all ingredients by adding enough Water.(Not too loose or so tight)
2. Stuff the Dough in Murukku Achu(press),press it into spirals directly on hot oil.
3. If your not able to do,press it on Back side of spatula,put into oil.
4. If it starts to boil,remove the spatula from oil.
5. Deep fry both sides until it will become crispy.