Express Tomato Sambar for idly/dosa & Rava Onion Oothappam

This is not a regular sambar. As the name suggests, it can be made in a jiffy using very few ingredients. It goes great with idly/dosa and I am sure you will like it. I learned it from my neighbor.

Ingredients:
To pressure cook with water until done(5-6 whistles):
Thur dhal-1/2 cup
Chopped Tomatoes-5(medium) or 6(small)
Garlic-4 pods

To tamper in 1 tbsp oil:
Jeera-1 tsp
Red Chillis-5

Other ingredients:
Salt
Coriander leaves to garnish

Method:
Pressure cook the ingredients mentioned above.
Tamper jeera and red chillis in oil. Add it to the cooked dhal+tomato mixture. Add salt.
Mix well. Using a hand blender, blend the mixture to a smooth and creamy paste. The consistency should be like that of a soup. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with dosas/idly.

Note:If you don't have a hand blender, you may dry grind red chillis, then do the tampering in oil and add it to tomato dhal mixture. Smash the mixture well with back side of a ladle.

Some friends emailed me and asked if they have to add sambar powder. No. Do not add sambar powder. It will alter the taste.

Since we are not adding tamarind, we use lots of tomatoes in this recipe.

This goes to Susan and Srivalli's My Legume love affair-seventh helping event. Isn't the logo cute? I love the colors.

Let's move on to the next dish. Bindiya visited my blog recently and posted her comment. As usual, I was curious to check out her kitchen. Her rava masala oothapam caught my eye. I made it today without making any changes to her recipe. It was a hit. Oothappams were crispy on the edges and soft on the inside. Yummy!

Ananda Tandava,The Tao of Physics, and Thiruvadirai Kali

Ananda Tandava,The Tao of Physics, and Thiruvadirai Kali

The month of Margazhi (Tamil Calendar) or the Dhanur masa is dawn in Heaven, and the day breaks for its celestial inmates. Waking up the omnipresent Lord every morning by chanting the Suprabatha (Good morning!) is a very exhilarating experience for a staunch devotee. Since Margazhi is dawn to the Lord, praying and chanting during this month acquires greater religious fervour.

Lord Sri Narayana opens the doors of his abode Vaikunta for his devotees and blesses them on Vaikunta Ekadashi day. Similarly, on the day when the star Adhirai (or Arudhra) falls on the full moon day of the Margazhi Masam, Lord Shiva blesses his devotees with his blissful Cosmic Dance performance - the Dance which creates, sustains and destroys the entire universe. Thiruvadhirai is supposed to be the birth day of the Lord who is beyond births and deaths. Fritjof Capra draws a parallel between Shiva’s Ananda Tandava (Blissful dance) and the dance of the sub atomic particles in his book – The Tao of Physics, which was published in 1975. It explains the very faint line between modern physics and the age old mysticism. Therefore whether you are a scientist or a mystic, whether you are a theist or an atheist, Thiruvadirai is the day to celebrate Lord Shiva’s Cosmic Dance.

On Thiruvadirai day, we wake up early in the morning and offer our prayers to Lord Shiva. A sweet dish – Thiruvadirai Kali – is prepared and offered to the Lord along with Yezhu Kari Koottu, which is prepared with all the vegetables which are harvested during the season.

THIRUVADIRAI KALI
INGREDIENTS:
Rice – 1 cup
Jaggery – 1 cup
Cardamom – 4
Cashew nuts – 10
Raisins – a few
Ghee – 4 tbsps
METHOD:
1. Dry roast rice until it becomes pink in colour.
2. Dry grind the roasted rice till it becomes like fine semolina.
3. Dissolve jaggery in 3 cups of water and add 1 tbsp of ghee.
4. Bring the jaggery water to a boil, and add the roasted and broken rice.
5. Stir well and cook until it becomes a lump.
6. Add 3 tbsps of ghee and blend well.
7. Heat the remaining ghee in a ladle, and fry the cashew nuts to a golden colour.
8. Add the raisins and fry till they bloat, and add to the prepared Kali.
9. Mix in the cardamom powder and offer it to the Lord.

Relish the hot prasadam with a dollop of butter, and Yezhu Kari Koottu on a cold Margazhi morning. The recipe for Yezhu Kari Koottu is given here.

Lima Beans Pulao

I was tempted to try Indosungod's butter beans pulao. I thought butter beans and lima beans were different. I just figured out that they are one and the same. What I like about lima beans is it's buttery texture. It just melts in your mouth. I made some changes to the original recipe to suit my taste. It turned out very very tasty!

Ingredients:
Basmathi rice-1 cup
Frozen Lima beans(I used baby lima beans)-1/2 cup
Onions thinly sliced-1/2 cup
Green chilli(slit)-1
Finely minced garlic-3 pods
Oil-2 tbsp
Coriander leaves-to garnish
Salt

Whole spices:
Cloves-3
Cinnamon-2 inch stick
Bay leaf-1
Cardamom-2
Star Anise-1

Spice powders:
Turmeric powder-1/4 tsp
Coriander powder-1 tsp
Kitchen king masala powder-1/2 tsp

Method:
Rinse the rice and soak it in 2 cups of water for 15 minutes.
Heat oil in a pan. Add whole spices. After a few seconds, add onions, garlic and green chilli. Fry till onions turn brown. Add spice powders, salt, and lima beans. Saute for 15 seconds. Transfer this mixture and rice(along with water) to rice cooker and cook till done. Check for salt.
Garnish with coriander leaves.
Serve hot with yogurt/raitha and chips.