Search This Blog

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Bisibela oats/Hot lentil oats

The three day celebrations of pongal with lots of callorie intake comes to an end. Hope everyone enjoyed the delicious sweet "Sakkarai Pongal". It is time to once again switch back to our regular diet. So why not try this oats recipe. I posted the traditional Karnataka dish using brown rice earlier in this space.  The daily task of making breakfast became easy with the use of Oats.I tried instant oats idli, oats oothappam, oats upma and  oats dosa. Oats help in keeping hunger pangs at bay by lowering "bad" LDL cholestrol levels and providing much needed fiber and protein content. With the growing awareness among young and old for healthy eating recipes with oats, adding lentils and vegetables will make this Bisibela oats a-one- meal dish.
I tried this sambar oats dish for breakfast. I made sambar and pressure cooked oats. Then mixed cooked oats and sambar which tasted like bisibelabhath. The texture of oats gave a slightly-runny-kichidi-like consistency and looked like bisibelabhath.  I wish every healthy eating enthusiast must experiment with oats for this nutritiousand tasty oats recipe.
I prepared sambar as usual but added more varieties of vegetables. I used more tuwar dal and less of tamarind extract. And the flavour of Aashirvaad sambar powder made the dish very unique. I used 1 1/2 times water for 1 measure of oats and pressure cooked for10 minutes.
I would like to suggest a few things while making this dish. Do not over cook the vegetables. If you like to use drumstick boil them separately for a while and add.The  vegetables like capsicum, carot can be had if they are crunchy. Do not allow the sambar to boil for long. Make sambar fresh and mix with cooked oats immediately. A cup of oats when cooked easily serves two persons. Take a portion of the cooked oats and mix with sambar in a bowl. The quantity of sambar should be liberally used while mixing with cooked oats. Mix separately the remaining cooked oats and serve hot with a dollop of ghee. Here is the recipe.

INGREDIENTS FOR SAMBAR

Thuwar dal/pigeon peas1 cup
Small onion/shallots10to15
Capsicum/bell pepper1 (medium size)
Carrot1 no
Drumstick1no
Tomato2no
Tamarind or
tamarind paste
½ lime size or
½ tsp
Saltto taste
Haldi½ tsp
Sambar powder 2 tblsp


Tadka/Seasoning

Oil2 tsp
Mustard seeds1 tsp
Methi seeds/fenugreek½ tsp
Red chilli2 no
Asafoetida¼ tsp
Curry leavesfew
Coriander leaves for garnish


Oats1 cup




METHOD

Pressure cook thuwar dal and keep.

Pressure cook oats and keep.
Cut vegetables and soak tamarind in 1/2 cup water.
Heat oil and add mustard seeds, methi seeds, red chilli,curry leaves and asafoetida.
Add vegetables and saute.
Add haldi, little salt and sambar powder. Mix well and add 1/2 cup water.
Add cooked dal and bring to boil. Add tamarind extract and add little more salt.
Garnish with coriander leaves and remove.
In a bowl take required portion of the cooked oats and mix with a cup of  hot sambar.
Enjoy hot bisibela oats.










Thursday, January 10, 2013

Instant carom seeds rasam/quick oma-rasam

This is a simple and easy to make rasam. The rasam will be mild in taste and can be had as a soup during winter. It is like Kashayam/medicine for those suffering from cold. I tried this after viewing a local TV channel.
The ingredients are added directly in water without any prior preparation.The seasoning done with Omam/ajwain/carom seeds is the main ingredient which gives the flavour and taste.


INGREDIENTS

Tamarindlime size
Coriander seeds/dania2 tsp
Pepper1 tsp
Methi seeds/fenugreek½ tsp
Curry leavesfew
Coriander leaveslittle
Turmeric powder/haldi½ tsp
Saltto taste
Water2 cups
Jagreelittle


SEASONING/TADKA
oil2 tsp
Mustard seeds½ tsp
Cumin seeds/jeera½ tsp
Ajwain/omam2 tsp
Methi seeds/fenugreek½ tsp
Red chilli2 no
Haldi/turmeric powder½ tsp
Curry leavesfew
Coriander leaveslittle
Asafoetida¼ tsp


METHOD

Take 2 cups water in a vessel and add all the ingredients except jagree and
bring to boil.
Simmer  for 10 minutes till the essence of the ingredients get infused in water.
Heat oil and do seasoning with the items given under "seasoning".
Stir well and pour into the boiling rasam. Add jagree.
Remove after 2 minutes. Serve hot.
The ingredients will settle down and the clear liquid can be had.It will taste good if the rasam is left with the ingredients for longer time.It can also be strained and had with added seasoning of salt and pepper.Since the tamarind is added without pulp being extracted the rasam will not only be clear it will also be mild.You can increase the  quantity of the ingredients while boiling in water if you want the rasam to be strong in taste.
Adjust the consistency  by adding water. 

Friday, January 4, 2013

Bell pepper and green peas koottu/bell pepper and peas gravy

  I wish my readers a very Healthy and Happy New year. Hope you had a great start of the year. The year 2012 was a memorable year for us with the arrival of the new member in our family -our cute little grand daughter. Now waiting for a lovely year ahead to try  new recipes and post some nice recipes.
I thought of sharing this new dish as a beginning in this  year 2013.
My day passes viewing all the food channels in all the languages and browsing the blogspot. Finally when it comes to making daily menu I end up following a new recipe and see that I don't repeat a recipe. This makes daily cooking interesting. When the dish comes out good I feel like sharing it immediately. I am posting this side dish which is too good with Rotis. 


INGREDIENTS

Bell pepper/capsicum2 no
Onion1 no
Tomato1 no
Cooked moong dal and chena dal (together)1 cup
Cooked green peas1 cup
Saltto taste
Make paste of:


Roasted gram/pottu kadalai2 tsp
Cumin seeds/jeera1 tsp
Green chilli3 no
Milk2 tblsp


Tadka/Seasoning

Oil2 tsp
Mustard seeds1 tsp
Red chilli2 no
Garlic6 pearls
Curry leaveslittle

Step by step cookling pictures

Method

Cook moong dal and chena dal/chick peas together and keep.
Make paste of roasted gram, cumin, green chilli using milk and keep.
Cut vegetable and keep.
Cook green peas and keep.
Heat oil in a sauce pan/kadai and add mustard seeds, dry red chilli and fry.
Add crushed garlic and fry.
Add chopped onion and tomato and saute.
Add capsicum pieces and mix.
Add ground paste and little water and cook till the vegetables are done.
Now add cooked dal and mix well.
Add cooked peas and mix well.
Add water to adjust consistency and add salt finally.
Cook for a while and remove.


Variation: Bittergourd/karela can be used in place of bellpepper and peas.
Make paste of onion and  use tomato puree instead of chopped onion and tomato.
Add pepper powder and asafoetida in the end.

Courtesy: Captian TVchannel- show by S. Anbu kumar.