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Adai

Adai is a type of dal dosa and a popular Tamilian breakfast. It’s very nutritious and protein packed since it uses so many dals (lentils). It’s healthy, tasty as well as filling and the best part is, you don’t have to ferment the adai batter. To make it tastier, you can also add finely chopped onion or cabbage or both to the adai batter.

Recipe of adai (dal dosa)

1/2 cup rice

1/4 cup toor dal (arhar dal/ red gram)

1/4 cup dhuli urad dal (split, skinless black gram)

1/4 cup chana dal (Bengal gram)

1/4 cup dhuli moong dal (split, skinless green gram)

2 green chillies

Salt to taste

A pinch of hing (asafoetida)

Few curry leaves

Oil to shallow fry

1. Wash and soak rice and dals for 2-3 hours. Drain.

2. Grind dals and rice in a blender adding little water into a coarse paste. Remember not to add too much water as the batter for adai is usually thick.

3. Add salt, hing and curry leaves to the batter. Beat the batter well.

4. Heat a non-stick tava (griddle). Grease it and wipe off the excess oil. Pour a ladleful of batter in the center of the tava.

5. Spread it in the circular motion to make a round. Drizzle some oil around the edges and on top of the adai.

6. When the underside is cooked, turn over and cook from other side also till brownish. Similarly make other adai from rest of the batter. Serve adai hot with chutney or chutney powder.

Sabz arhar dal

Sabz arhar dal or sabzi wali arhar dal is super nutritious as well as tasty. It’s a combination of taste and health. This recipe of arhar dal contains proteins from dal and goodness of vegetables. I find it so delicious that I just can’t stop at 1 bowl. I have to reach for second helping. You can add any number of vegetables you have in your fridge and as per your taste.

Recipe of Sabz arhar dal

1 cup arhar dal (split pigeon pea, toor dal, toovar dal)

2 cups mixed chopped vegetables like onion, tomato, cauliflower, french beans, carrot, spinach, radish

3-4 cloves garlic- chopped (optional)

Salt to taste

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

1 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)

1/2 tsp rai (small mustard seeds)

A pinch of hing (asafoetida)

1. Wash and soak arhar dal for 20 minutes, drain.

2. In a pressure cooker, place toor dal, vegetables, garlic, salt, turmeric and red chilli powder. Add enough water and let 1 whistle come. Turn the heat to medium and pressure cook to 4 more whistles.

3. Let the pressure drop down naturally before opening the lid.

4. In a small pan, heat ghee. Add rai and when it splutters, add hing. Let it fry for 1 second. Turn off the heat. Pour this tadka or tempering over the boiled dal and mix. Serve hot sabz arhar dal with boiled rice or roti.

sambhar

Sambhar is a must in any South Indian family and interestingly every family has its own recipe of sambhar. It’s such a versatile dish that it goes well with idli, dosa, vada or plain boiled rice. Sambhar is not just tasty, it is also nutritious since it contains both lentil and vegetables.

Recipe of sambhar

1 cup toor dal (split pigeon peas/ arhar dal)

1 medium onion- chopped

1 medium tomato- chopped

4-5 French beans- chopped

A small chunk of bottle gourd (lauki/ ghiya/ doodhi) - chopped

2-3 florets of gobhi (cauliflower) - chopped

2 tsp sambhar powder

1/4 cup juice of tamarind (imli)

Small piece of gur (jaggery)

Salt to taste

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

Seasoning (tadka)

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

A pinch of hing (asafoetida)

3-4 dry red chillies

5-6 curry leaves

1 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)

Coriander leaves- chopped

1. Place dal and vegetables in a pressure cooker with enough water and turmeric powder. Cook till 3 whistles. When pressure drops, open the lid and mash dal with the back of a ladle (karchhi).

2. Add tamarind juice, sambar powder, salt and gur. Bring to boil on a low heat. Simmer for 5 minutes.

3. For seasoning, heat ghee in a small pan and add cumin seeds, mustard seeds and dry red chillies. When they splutter, add hing and curry leaves. Add this seasoning to the dal and cover the lid so that the flavors are trapped. Garnish sambhar with coriander leaves. Enjoy hot with idli, dosa or vada.

Note- to extract the juice of tamarind, take a lemon sized ball of tamarind and soak it in water. Then boil this water. Extract juice of imli by mashing it well and straining it.

dal palak

Dal palak is a very healthy and nutritious food. It contains the benefits of both pulses and green leafy vegetable. My family enjoys dal palak as everyone finds it very delicious. Instead of using both moong dal and toor dal, you can also use any one of these dals alone with palak but what I find is that addition of both these dals enhances the flavor of this earthy dal palak.

Recipe of Dal palak

¼ cup moong dal (split green gram)
¼ cup arhar/ toor dal (split pigeon peas)
½ kg palak (spinach)
1 onion- chopped
2 tomatoes- chopped
2 green chillies- chopped
3-4 cloves garlic- chopped (optional)
1 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
½ inch piece ginger- chopped
1 tsp coriander powder
¼ tsp garam masala powder
½ tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
A pinch of asafetida (hing)
Salt to taste

1. Remove stems of spinach and wash thoroughly in running water. Chop finely. Wash dals in several changes of water. Drain.

2. In a pressure cooker, place dals, palak, salt, green chillies and water. Let 2 whistles come. Then cook on low heat for 5-7 minutes.

3. Turn off heat and after pressure drops, mash the dal lightly.

4. Heat ghee in a pan and add cumin seeds. When they change color, add hing. After few seconds, add onion and sauté till they are light brown.

5. Add garlic and ginger and cook for ½ a minute. Add coriander powder and garam masala. After 2-3 seconds, add tomatoes and cook till they are soft and pulpy.

6. Add this tempering (tadka) to the dal and cover. Simmer for 5 minutes on low heat. Enjoy dal palak with roti, paratha or rice.

Healthy bytes- As far as health benefits of spinach go, you must have already heard a lot about it. Let me add a few more words. Spinach contains large quantities of Magnesium which is anti-ageing. Adequate Magnesium through diet keeps you young.

Arhar dal curry

I always enjoy a plate of dal- chawal i.e. a bowl of piping hot arhar dal accompanied by boiled rice. I also find it emotionally satisfying as it reminds me of my childhood days when my mom used to serve it. Toor dal is one of my favorite among all pulses and lentils.

Recipe of arhar dal

½ cup arhar dal (toovar dal/ toor dal/ split pigeon peas)
2 big tomatoes- chopped
1 big onion- chopped
3-4 garlic cloves- chopped
½ inch ginger- chopped finely
½ tsp rai (small mustard seeds)
A pinch of asafetida (hing)
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon ghee (clarified butter)
½ tsp red chili powder (cayenne pepper)
½ tsp turmeric powder

1. After washing the arhar dal, soak for 1 hour. Drain.

2. Cook the dal with 1 1/2 cups of water, turmeric powder and salt in a pressure cooker. Let 3 whistles come. Lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat.

3. When pressure drops, open the lid of cooker and mash the dal with a ladle (karcchi). I use a beater to mash the dal.

4. Heat ghee in a pan and add rai. When they pop, add asafetida. Fry for 2 seconds.

5. Add onion and stir- fry till they become brown. Add garlic and ginger. Sauté for 1 minute. Add red chili powder. Sauté for 2-3 seconds.

6. Add tomatoes and cook till tomatoes are soft and pulpy. I usually cover the pan with a lid to soften the tomatoes quickly, stirring ocassionally.

7. Add this tadka (tempering) to the arhar dal and mix well. Simmer the dal on low heat for 5 minutes, covered. Add chopped coriander leaves to garnish the arhar dal curry. 

Toor dal