Category: Dal / Gravy

Kamote leaves are the sweet potato leaves commonly used in Filipino and other asian cooking. I was unaware of these leave until one day we wanted to experiment and the leaves has such great amounts of goodness. You could make it with any asian flavoured curry paste and it will taste good. I added whatever was available in hand and served it with lentil rice.

Need-

• Kamote Tops – 1 bunch
• Ginger – 2 inch
• garlic – 1 pod
• Soy sauce – 1 tsp
• Coconut cream – 4 tbsp dissolved in water
• Salt
• Sugar= 1/2 tsp
• Pepper powder- 1 tsp
• Lemon rind – 1 tsp
• Leeks – chopped 1 tbsp
• Peanuts – roasted handful

Process –

• Clean the leaves and keep aside.
• Saute finely chopped garlic and ginger. Add the washed leaves and sauté. Now add soy sauce , pepper , sugar and leeks. When mixed add the coconut cream and lemon rind. bring to a boil and turn off the heat.
• Top with roasted peanuts and serve with rice

Koftas as a concept is from Middle East which is meat balls . This travelled to Asia through the trader and everyone now has their own adapted versions of Kofta. Zucchini Koftas are similar to auks Kofta or Malai Koftas. Koftas are deep fried balls made of meat or vegetables and served with a spicy curry. This version here is also my own adapted version. Since I hate frying , I have baked these Koftas.

Need –

• Zucchini – 1 – large -grated
• Carrot – grated – handful (optional)
• Green Chillies – 1
• Red chilli powder – 1/2 tsp
• Besan – 1/2 cup or more
• Rice flour – 2 tbsp
• Salt
• Garam masala – 1 tsp
• Coconut – grated – 1 cup
• Cream – 1 tsp or Coconut Milk
• Peanuts – 1 tbsp
• Coriander – handful
• Green chilli – 2
• Jeera – 1 tsp
• Tamarind – 1 tsp ot 1 tomato
• Oil

Process –

• In a bowl take grated Zucchini and carrot , add salt and let it release water. You could choose to add boiled potatoes or paneer as well to this mixture to make it extra tasty and soft.
• Squeeze the extra water out and reserve to use in the gravy. Now add besan, rice flour , chopped chilli , red chilli powder and garam masala. Mix and shape into ball.
• Brush with oil and place in a greased pan and bake at 180 degrees c for 25 minutes or till nice and brown and a knife comes clean when pierced through.
• Grind together the coconut , peanuts , half the coriander , green chilli , jeera and tamarind (or tomato) into a paste.
• In a pan cook the paste till raw smell goes and thin down with coconut milk or plain milk or water if using cream. Add salt and simmer.
• Add the koftas and remaining coriander.
• You could serve with naan or roti.
• Feel free to add sesame seeds or Khus Khus while making the coconut paste to make to more rich.

I don’t even know if anything of this name or kind exists but it was born because R wanted a curry and I wanted dal to go with Veg Pongal. Extremely strange combination to eat with pongal as the standard combination is chutney and gothsu BUT this did prove to be a hit !!! There are two parts to this : making dal and then curry seperately. If you aren’t like me then try with plain rice or some Quinoa.

Need –

• Toor Dal or Moong Dal – 1/2 cup
• Water- 1 cup
• Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
• Tamarind paste – 1 tsp
• Kasoori methi – 1 tbsp
• Tofu – 1/2 block – cubed
• Carrot – 1/2 – julienned
• Capsicum – Red & Green – julienned
• Ginger – 2 inch – julienned
• Onion – 1 – sliced
• Cambodian curry powder – 2 tsp
• Pepper – 1 tsp
• Salt
• Coconut cream – 1 tbsp
• Oil – 1 tbsp
• Ghee – 1 tsp
• Jeera- 1 tsp
• Kalonji – 1 tsp

Process –

• In a pressure cooker take Ghee and temper jeera and then cook dal with water , turmeric & tamarind paste for 3 whistles or till dal is soft to be mashed
• In a pan take oil , temper kalonji then add ginger and Onion and sauté till it wilts. Add carrot and the capsicum and sauté till cooked. Now add the curry powder , pepper and coconut cream ,little water , tofu and salt. Cook till raw smell goes. You could serve this as a separate curry at this stage.
• Add the cooked mashed dal into the curry , adjust consistency and add crushed kasoori methi and switch off. You could squeeze some lemon juice as well.

This is my little take on Palak paneer. Palak panner or saag paneer is a gravy made of spinach or other green leafy vegetable and adding palak or any vegetable to it. The famous of all the palak paneer. Paneer is hung cheese that is obtained from curdling milk and tying in muslin cloth to remove all water and left with set milk solids.But this day I had no paneer , no mood to make paneer but frozen halloumi and I wanted to experiment. You could add some watercress or purple spinach or even kale as well along with spinach.

Need –

• Spinach – 2 bunch
• Onion – 1
• Tomato – 2
• Green chilli – 2
• Ginger – 1 inch
• Garlic – 1 pod
• Coriander – 1/4 cup
• Garam masala – 1 tsp
• Turmeric – a dash
• Salt
• Amchur – 1.2 tsp
• Lemon juice – 1 tsp
• Jeera – 1 tsp
• Bay leaf – 1
• Halloumi – 1 block
• Oil

Process –

• Remove water from halloumi and blot it. you could wash it to remove excess salt if you like and blot it. Cut into blocks and shallow fry in 2 tbsp oil.
• Blanch the spinach for 2 minutes and wash under cold water. Grind it along half an onion, chilli, tomato, coriander , ginger and garlic into a paste.
• In a pan take little oil or ghee , temper jeera and bay leaf. Sautee remaining half sliced onion and add the paste along with turmeric and garam masala. Cook till raw smell goes.
• Thin down with some water or little milk and bring to boil. Now add amchur , lime juice , salt and mix and toss the halloumi in it.
• Serve with rice or roti
• Be mindful of the salt as the cheese contains salt.

Vegetable Hariyali is a extended version of Hariyali Kebabs or hara Bharati kebab. Instead of mashed up vegetable baked or fried with spices, you chop them and make a gravy out of it. Hariyali means ‘green’ so theses a good combination of all green vegetables.

Need –

• Spinach – a bunch
• Mint leaves – a handful
• Coriander leaves – handful
• Green garlic -2 pods(if available ) else use normal
• Ginger -1 inch
• Cinnamon – 1 inch
• Bayleaf – 1
• Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
• Jeera – 2 tsp
• Onion – 1 – optional
• Tomato – 1 – optional
• Green chilli – 2 – thin
• Green beans, broccoli , peas , Zucchini , carrot , babycorn chopped kale- 1 1/2 cup
• Kasuri methi – 1 tbsp
• Garam masala – 1 tsp
• Amchur – 1 tsp
• Salt
• Oil
• Water

Process –

• Wash Spinach , coriander and mint leaves to remove sand and dirt.
• Dry roast the garlic , ginger , cinnamon , bayleaf , fennel seeds , chilli , onion and tomato. Grind it with spinach, coriander and mint.
• In a pan take oil, temper jeera , add the ground mix and cook till oil separates. Meanwhile steam the vegetables. Add the spices to the mix and the vegetables .Add water to get a gravy consistency.
• You could dry roast the lotus seeds and add it while serving for a crunchy addition.

Methi Matar Malai translates to “Fenugreek leaves -Peas – cream” gravy. During the onset of summer comes in abundance. It has a slight bitter taste but so good and healthy. Unfortunately in this part of the world it is not easy to find this, hence I have substituted it with Kasuri mere – dried fenugreek leaves. These definitely has a lovely aroma and flavour and can turn any gravy into a hit when added.

Need –

• Frozen or fresh peas – 1 cup
• Fresh methi leaves – 1 bunch or Kasuri methi – handful
• Malai or Cream – 3 tbsp or substitute with curd
• Cashewnuts – 10 – soaked
• Khus Khus or poppy seeds – 2 tsp (replace with sesame seeds)
• Onion – 1
• White pepper – 4 tsp
• Ginger – 1 inch
• Garlic – 2 pods
• Cardamon – 1 pod
• Oil
• Garam masala – 1 tsp
• Milk – 1/4 cup
• Salt
• Kalonji – 1 tsp

Process –

• In a pan take little oil and sauce cashews , onion , ginger garlic , cardamon, and sesame seeds till it become translucent and aromatic. Cool and grind
• Take oil and temper kalonji. Add the cleaned and chopped methi leaves if using and the peas. Cook till soft. Add half of the kauri methi if using that. Crush them between the palms. Now add the ground mix and cook till oil separates.
• Now add the milk , salt , white pepper powder and garam masala. Add the cream and switch off when a boil occurs.
• Serve with roti and Thecha – a mix of sautéed green chilli + garlic + peanuts + salt + coriander leaves.

R has new found love in kurma and has been requesting me to make it more often. So this time I decided to use chayote and make one instead of my usual dishes made using it. Chayote is loved by south Indians and we also use the skin to make a chutney to go with Idli dosai. Kurma is made with coconut but I decided to skip it and make my own masala .

Need –

• Chayote – 1- chopped
• Chana Dal – 2 tbsp
• Coriander seeds – 1 tsp
• Jeera – 1 tsp
• Curry leaves – 10
• Ginger – 1 inch
• Dry chilli – 2
• Asafoetida – 1 tsp
• Urad dal – 1 tsp substitute with peanuts
• Garam masla – 1 tsp
• Turmeric – 1 tsp
• Curd – 2 tbsp
• Salt

Process –

• Clean , peel and chop the chayote. Microwave it for 4 minutes till soft. In a pan take water and cook it in medium heat.
• Meanwhile , dry roast all spices except garam masala till you see it turn brown. Cool and grind into a powder.
• Now add the powder to the chayote , salt and garam masala and turmeric. Cook till it integrates. Now add the curd and bring to a boil.
• Switch off and serve with rotis.

Palak chole is something we usually make . Since I was running out of soaked cholesterols (white chickpea) I used kala chana literally translating to black chickpea. I tend to make palak(spinach) every week- best way to include iron.

Need –

• Soaked Kala chana – 4 cups
• Palak – 1 bunch
• Onion – 1 – small
• Tomato – 1 – small
• Ginger – 1 inch
• Jeera – 1 tsp
• Kalonji (onion seeds) – 1 tsp
• Green chilli – 2
• Garam masala – 2 tsp
• Amchur – 1 tsp
• Ghee – 2 tsp
• Bay leaf – 1
• Salt

Process –

• Soak the chana overnight. Clean and blanch the spinach
• Grind the palak ,tomato , half onion, half the ginger, green chilli.
• In a pressure cook take ghee and temper jeera , kalonji, chopped ginger and bayleaf
• Add the chopped onions and when cooked add the puree and cook till oil seperates.
• Add 1 tsp garam masala, chole and water. Pressure cook for 4 whistles
• When pressure subsides open , adjust water , add garam masala , amchur and salt.

Beetroot chole is not a regular chore dish. While it may be common for everyone to try , I made this purely because I did not want to waste the beetroot water and add a good colour by missing the tea water. Adding beetroot pieces instead of potatoes is also interesting. While the west is now catching up on chickpea under “vegan” category apart from hummus, Indians adopted this well.

Need –

• Chickpea – 5 cups – washed and soaked overnight
• Onion – 1 – big
• Tomatoes – 3
• Ginger – 2 inch
• Garlic – 2 cloves
• Bay leaf – 2
• Jeera – 2 tsp
• Green chilli – 1
• Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
• Turmeric – 1 tsp
• Hing – 1 tsp
• Garam masala – 1 tsp
• Chole masala – 2 tsp
• Amchur – 1 tsp
• Tamarind paste – 1 tsp
• Anardhana (dry pomegranate powder)- 1/2 tsp
• Water + beetroot water (from steamed beetroot)
• Salt
• Coriander – handful

Process –

• Soak the chickpea overnight. You can pressure cook it separately with water, salt , hing and keep or do it one pot style like I do.
• Coarsely crush the onion , garlic and 1 inch ginger else grate all 3.
• In a pan take oil , add bay leaf , jeera and split the green chilli. Add the onions , ginger garlic. When the raw smell goes, add the chopped tomatoes. When it becomes mushy and integrated with the onions add turmeric, red chilli powder , hing, garam masala , anardhana, 1 tsp chole powder , tamarind paste , salt. You can skip anardhana if using beetroot or its water
• When oil starts leaving the sides add the chole and the water reserved from steaming the beetroot. Add beetroot pieces now if you like. (add water carefully if you are adding already cooked chickpea) . Here the chole is not yet cooked.
• Pressure cook for 5 whistles till chickpea can be mashed by hand.
• Open and add the remaining chole powder , amchur ,coriander and julienned ginger .

Dal is a staple food of India. It varies in taste and method of preparation through the country but lentils form a basic item. Lauki also known as Ghia or dhoodi is a vegtable full of water. It does not have a unique taste go is good to make halwa as well. I usually make dhoodi kootu (kootu is a South Indian dish make with lentils and coconut and buttermilk sometimes). Dal , rice and pickle is one heavenly combination.

Need –

• Bottle Gourd – 1/2 – chopped
• Yellow moong – 1 cup
• Kalonji /Nigella seeds – 1 tsp
• Jeera -1 tsp
• Turmeric – 1 tsp
• Garam masala – 1 tsp or substitute with sambar powder
• Red Chilli – 1 tsp
• Salt
• Ghee – 1 tbsp
• Hing
• Coriander – handful
• Lemon juice – 1 tsp
• Water

Process –

• Peel and remove the white flesh from the gourd and chop it.
• Pressure cook yellow moong with turmeric and water for 3 whistles. Also pressure cook the lauki
• In a pan heat ghee. Temper jeera and kalongi. Add hing
• Add the chilli powder and immediately add the laud and the cooked dal.
• Add salt and water to adjust the consistency. When it starts to froth add the garam masala and coriander.
• When done switch off and add the lemon juice.