Yellow Dhal 

Ingredients

Serves 4

1. Moong Dhal / Toor Dhal - 1 cup
2. Water - 2 cups
3. Onion - 1 ( finely chopped)
4. Tomato - 1(finely chopped)
5. Ginger - a small piece
6. Green Chillies - 2
7. Curry leaves - few
8. Coriander - for garnishing
9. Jeera - 1 tea spoon
10. Mustard - 1 tea spoon
11. Salt - to taste
12. Cooking Oil - 1 table spoon


Preparation

1. Add the Dhal into a pressure cooker with water and cook for 10 mins.
2. Add the cooking oil to a pan and add mustard, jeera, curry leaves,finely chopped ginger and green chillies.
3. Saute for 2 mins. Add the chopped onion and tomatoes and fry for 5 mins. Add salt to taste.
4. Smash the boiled dhal and mix with the tomato, onion gravy in the pan. Heat for 10 mins.
5. Garnish with coriander and serve hot.

Can be eaten with chappatis and rice.

Mixed Vegatable kootu

Ingredients

1. Carrot - 100 gm

2. Beans - 100 gm

3. Potato - 1

4. green peas - 100 gm.

5. Toor dhal - 4 table spoons.

6. Turmeric - 1 pinch

7. Masala powder - 2 table spoons

8. salt - to taste

9. coriander - 1 table spook

10. mustard seeds - 1 tea spoon

11. Oil - 1/2 tea spoon

Masala Powder - Ingredients

1. Jeera - 1 table spoon

2. Pepper - 1/ table spoon

3. grated cocunut - 1 table spoon

4. Curry leaves - 10

Preparation:

1. Add oil to kadai and allow it heat. Add pepper, curry leaves, and cocunut and fry for 5 mins.

2. Allow it to cool and grind it. Add Jeera without frying to the mixuture and grind again.

Kootu:

1. Pressure Cook toor dhall with a pinch of turmeric and 250 ml of water for 10 mins.

2. Make a paste out of it and add salt and the masal powder to it.

3. Wash the vegetables and chop them into small square pieces.

4. Add the vegetables and finely chopped coriander to  the dhall mix.

5. Season with mustard seeds and pressure cook for 10 mins.

Hot mixed vegatable kootu is ready!

Goes well with Rice, chappatis.

Vathakuzhambu

Ingredients:

1. Gingely oil - 2 table spoons

2. Mustard seeds - 1 tea spoon

3. Fenugreek - 1 tea spoon

4. Curry leaves  - 10

5. sambar powder - 1 table spoon

6. Tamarind paste - 2 table spoons

Preparation:

1. Add Gingely oil to the kadai and allow it to be heated for 5 mins.

2. Add the mustard seeds, fenugreek and curry leaves to the heated oil and allow it to fry for 2 mins.

3. Add the sambar poweder and salt.

4. Add the tamarind paste and add 250 ml of water.

5. Allow the gravy to boil for 15 to 20 mins till it becomes and cosiderably thick paste.

Hot and Tangy vathakuzhambu is ready!

Vegetables like yellow pumpkin, onion, brinjal can also be added to make it taste better.

It can be eaten with hot rice , idly, dosas, pongal, idiyappam and morkali

Carrot Masiyal 

Ingredients:

1. Carrot - 1/4 kg

2. Toor Dhal - 4 table spoons

3. Tamarind paste - 1 table spoon

4. Salt - to taste

5. Oil - 1 tea spoon

6. Green chillies - 2

7. Cut ginger - 1 tea spoon.

8. Curry leaves - 10 ( finely chopped)

9. Coriander - 1 table spoon( finely choppeD)

10. Grated cocunut - 1 table spoon

11. Mustard seeds - 1 tea spoon( for seasoning)

Preparation

1. Peel the skin for the carrots and wash them. Cut them into pieces and pressure cook them for 10 mins.

2. Mash the cooked carrots.

3. Cook the toor dhal with 200 ml of water and a pinch of turmeric powder for 10 mins. make into a semi solid paste.

4. Add the tamarind paste, salt and mashed carrots to the dhal.

5. Fry the mustard seeds, finely chopped chillies, ginger and curry leaves in oil and add to the dhal.

6. Add the grated cocunut and coriander

7. pressure cook for 10 mins.

Healthy and tasty carrot masiyal is ready!

This can be eaten with rice and chappathis.

Vengaya Sambhar 

Ingredients

1. Small Onion - 1/2 kg

2. Toor Dhal - 6 table spoons.

3. Tamarind paste - 1 table spoon / tamarind lemon size

4. Sambar powder - 1 Table spoon

5. Salt to taste

6. Oil - 1 tea spoon

7. Masala powder - 2 table spoons

8.  For seasoning , Mustard - 1 tea spoon , Fenugreek (or) venthayam - 1/2 tea spoon

9. Coriander - for garnishing

10. Turmeric powder - 1 pinch.

Masala Powder - Ingredients

1. Thaniya/Kothamalli vethai - 2 table spoons

2. pepper - 1/2 tea spoon

3. cocunut grated - 1 tea spoon

4. kadalai paruppu - 1/2 tea spoon

5. curry leaves - 10

Preparation:

Fry all the ingrdients for the Masala powder in a kadai with 1/2 tea spoon of oil.

Allow it to cool for 5 mins and grind into a coarse powder.

Masala powder is ready to use.

Small Onion Sambhar:

1. Add a pinch of turmeric powder to dhal and cook in a pressure cooker for 10 mins( 6 table spoons of dhal needs 250 ml of water for cooking). Make into a semi solid paste

2. Add the tamarind paste , salt and sambar powder into the dhall.

3. Peel the small onions and fry them for 5 mins in oil.

4. Add the onions into the sambhar

5. Add 2 table spoons of the masala powder.

6. Fry fenugreek and mustard seeds in 1/2 teaspoon of oil and add to sambhar.

7. Add corainder leaves to the sambhar.

8. pressure cook for 5 to 7 mins.

Hot and tasty vengaya sambhar is ready!

This is a south indian favourite and goes well with Rice, idly , Dosa.