Sambhar (South Indian Lentil soup)

I love this soup. It is awesome for cold days. In India we don't call it soup. But just to help everyone relate to it ..I will call it soup / sambhar interchangeably.

Good:

It goes with lot of things. So you make one batch and you can use it with whatever you have cooked. Also it is very easy to store and reuse. I believe it tastes better next day anyways.

You can cook with as few ingredients you have to as many you want.

Bad:
Very easy to over eat.

Dal soup base
Ingredients:
Split toor dal (pigeon pea) - 1 cup
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tea spoon
Salt - to taste (you can even add it in the end according to taste)
Water - 5 cups ( more or less depending on how thick or thin you want it)
Tamarind (or kokum) pate - 1 tea spoon

(I generally add a piece of tamarind or few pieces of kokum. But if you don't have it, skip it.)

Add all the ingredients to pressure cooker and cook it.

Seasoning:
Ingredients:
I generally have all of these things so I add them. But feel free to use whatever you have. All of these definitely make it perfect. But most of them are not show stopper.

Butter / ghee - 1 teaspoon ( more or less is your choice)
Fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds, mustard seeds -1 tea spoon (whatever you have)
Asofoetida - A pinch (if you have - they say it takes care of your stomach.)
Tomatoes - 4
Curry leaves - A handful
Cilantro - As much as u like
Ginger - 1/2 inch ( as much as u like more or less)
Green chillies - 6 ( don't dare if you can't take it so go by your taste)
Fenugreek leaves (dry or fresh if you have it)
Red chilli powder - 1/2 teaspoon (adjust according to your taste)
Cumin powder (1 teaspoon if you have it)
Sambhar masala  (A must)  - 1 tea spoon or more if you like.

(Most of the indian grocery store carry it for a dollar) Amazon has it for $10. One pack will last you forever.

Add tomato, ginger, most of the curry leaves (keep 4-5 aside), cilantro (keep few aside to garnish), green chillies to blender or food processor and puree it. Few pieces are ok.

Add Butter / ghee in a pan. Let it heat.
Add Fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds, mustard seeds.
Add the remaining curry leaves. Be careful. It will sputter.
Add Asofoetida
Let it simmer for 30 seconds or so.
Add tomato paste.
Add red chilli powder.
Add sambhar masala.
Let it simmer for few minutes on low heat (5-7 minutes)
Once you think that it is cooked. Add it to lentil base prepared above.
Adjust salt.
Let everything simmer for few minutes.

It is not that difficult. Once you will know what you are doing you can do it quickly.

You can eat it with rice, idli, uthhapam, dosa, daliya, etc etc.

Lot of PROTIEN.

ENJOY !!!!

Dalia (wheat porridge)

I hated it when my mom made me eat this for breakfast while growing up. But now I kind of like it. P.S. no one ever tells mom about that.

The basic dalia is simple. 

Ingredients: 

1) Cracked Wheat - 1/2 cup

2) Split  Moong dal - 1/2 cup (It is a a lentil green in color) 

3) Brown rice - 1/4 cup or less

4) A pinch of turmeric powder (optional)

5) Salt to taste.

6) Water - 4 cups (you might want more or less depending on consistency that you prefer) I generally add more.

Add all the ingredients in pressure cooker and cook according to pressure cookers instructions. 

I use 

http://www.amazon.com/Futura-Hawkins-Anodized-Pressure-Cooker/dp/B000GR7776/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1348459700&sr=8-6&keywords=prestige+pressure+cooker

15 mins and done. It comes out like oat meal.

You can eat it directly like this for breakfast or lunch. 

Me being me .. don't like such bland food. So, I generally eat it with soups (sambhar, a lentil based soup or kadhi, a yoghurt based soup. I will add them to the blog as well). 

If I don't have time for making soups then I just season the porridge well enough. I have listed one of the seasoning here: 

http://healthy-n-quick-food.blogspot.com/2012/03/namkeen-khichadi-brown-rice-lentil.html

There are tonnes of other ways to season it. My mom adds vegetables like tomato, peas etc while preparing the seasoning. 

Namkeen Khichadi (Brown Rice + Lentil Porridge)

I love khichadi but then this food has no fiber and I start feeling hungry in few hours. And I am too lazy to eat again and again. As they say laziness is the mother of all invention. This is not exactly an invention but you get the gist ;)

1 cup brown rice

1/2- 2/3 cup moong dal (green lentil)

1 pinch of turmeric

Salt to taste

Add to rice cooker that can handle brown rice. Those who have experimented with brown rice know the importance of right cooking medium for brown rice. Otherwise be prepared to stay hungry with a mess of half cooked rice in swimming pool of water. 

So, next question is why rice cooker and not pressure cooker? Answer is simple, I want my food ready when I come from office otherwise I eat whatever comes in the range of my eyes. So, before leaving for work I can time it to keep my dinner ready by the time I am back. Got to love micro controllers for that :). 

This khicadi is way too bland so seasoning is required. These days I am in south Indian avataar so:

1 spoon mustard seeds + 1 fist of roasted peanuts + 2-3 spoon of grated coconut + few green chillies ground finely.

1 table spoon of ghee, heat it add jira, few curry leaves, red chilli powder

In a bit add the ground paste. Let it cook for few mins on low heat.

Add the seasoning to khichadi... enjoy the hot Meal with almost no effort! 

Compliment it with papad or buttermilk if you like :)

When I am in mood I complement plain khichadi with  kadhi.. not today though :)

Carbs + Fiber+ Protein in full stock

P.S. I am a firm believer of right tools. Either the utensils should be dishwasher safe or the pot should be such a nice non stick that even porridge shouldn't stick to it. Non efficient tools are waste of time and beats the whole purpose of quick and effortless food during busy hours.