Mushroom Celery Soup

Super healthy, simple, and delicious mushroom soup flavoured with celery and garlic. This is perfect for winter and monsoon!

Ingredients :

• Button Mushrooms, finely sliced- 1 cup 
• Celery, finely chopped- ¼ cup
• Butter or oil- 1 to 2 tbsp
• Onion, finely chopped- 1 medium sized
• Garlic cloves, chopped- 5
• Cream- 2-3 tbsp (optional)
• Vegetable stock- 3 cups (or 2 Maggi veg stock cubes + 3¼ cups of water)
• Pepper- 1 tsp  or to taste 
• Salt to taste

Method:

• Heat oil/butter in a pan.
• Add onion, celery and garlic and sauté for 2-3 minutes.
• Add mushrooms and sauté for another 2-3 minutes. Reserve 1-2 sauteed mushroom slices for garnishing.
• Add half the stock and cook for 2-3 minutes.
• Blend this mixture. You can keep this slightly rough or blend until smooth.
• Put the blended mixture in the pan and add the remaining stock.
• Bring to a boil and season the soup with salt and black pepper.
• Pour cream and give a nice stir. Switch off the gas. 
• Meanwhile, cut the bread slices into long strips. Apply garlic butter or plain butter on them and toast them. 
• Pour soup in the bowl, garnish with sauteed mushroom slices.  
• Serve hot with toasted bread strips. This is a complete meal for dinner.

Easy and Quick Vegetable Soup

Try this quick and easy soup recipe for a tasty and nutritious meal-in-a-bowl for your lazy dinner. Serve with accompaniments like Breadsticks or Garlic bread. This soup makes it easy to eat your veggies.

Ingredients:

• Onion, sliced- 1 medium
• Carrot, sliced- 1 medium
• Potato, sliced- 1 small
• Cabbage, chopped- ½ cup or 4 leaves
• Tomato- 2 medium
• Corn kernels- 2 tbsp to ¼ cup
• Pumpkin- a small piece (optional)
• Celery, chopped- 1 stalk or Coriander stems- ½ cup
• Garlic, crushed- 2 to 3 cloves
• Bay leaf- 2
• Black peppercorns- 4
• Cinnamon stick- ½ inch
• Butter or olive oil- 1 to 2 tbsp
• Chilli flakes or mild chilli powder- ½ to 1 tsp or to taste
• Ground pepper- to taste
• Salt- to taste
• Parsley or fresh coriander-  for garnishing 

Method:

• Wash and chop all veggies. 
• Heat the butter in a small pressure cooker, add bay leaf, black peppercorns, cinnamon stick and saute a while.
• Add the onions and garlic. Saute for a minute.
• Add all remaining vegetables and sauté on for 2 minutes.
• Add 2 cups of water, mix well and pressure cook for 3 whistles.
• Allow the steam to escape before opening the lid. 
  
• Cool and remove bay leaf and cinnamon stick.
• Blend in a mixer or with a hand blender till smooth. 
  
• Add the salt and chili flakes. 
• Add some water if required and mix well and cook for 2 minutes, stir occasionally. Bring to boil.
• Transfer this hot soup in a bowl, garnish with freshly grounded black pepper and parsley or fresh coriander

Tip: You can use any other vegetables as your likes. 

Suran/Jimikand Kebab ~ Yam/Elephant Foot Cutlets

Yam or Elephant Foot is known as Suran or Jimikand in India. This Tuber is a tasty and nutritious vegetable. We can use in many things like curry, stirfry and kebab.
During the Shravan, a holy month,  we do not eat non-vegetarian food. Suran is good  substitute to non-veg food. It's taste is satisfied our taste buds !
Chef Jategaonkar had shown a Chicken Kebab recipe in one TV show. So I decided to make this recipe with suran.
So here is recipe....

Imp Notes: 

• Sometimes Yam/Suran may be itchy. Rub oil on your palms while handling suran. 
• Use any souring agent while cooking to remove the itchiness of suran.

Ingredients:

• Suran /Yam- 500 gm (I got approx 2 cups mash from this.)
• Beresta (crispy fried onions used for biryani)- ½ cup
• Bengal gram flour (besan)- 2 tbsp (I roast besan slightly.)
• Garam masala powder- ½ tsp
• Chilli powder- ½ tsp
• Turmeric powder- ½ tsp
• Asafoetida (Hing)- ¼ tsp 
• Salt- to taste
• Oil- as required

Green Paste:- Grind coarsaly without water. 

• Green chili- 4
• Ginger- ½ inch piece
• Garlic- 3 to 4 cloves
• Cumin seeds- ½ tsp
• Coriander leaves, chopped- 2 tbsp

Method:

• Peel, wash suran and cut in cube.
• Boil in water with pinch of salt and 2-3 kokum or 1 inch tamarind piece. Use any souring agent to remove the itchiness of suran.
• Make sure that suran is properly cooked. Let it cool.
• Mash or grate suran cubes. You can use food-processor. 
• Combine mashed suran, besan, ried onion, green paste, garam masala, chilli powder, turmeric powder, hing and salt to taste in a bowl and mix well. 
• Divide into lemon sized balls. Shape them into flat patties. 
• Heat a pan, sprinkle little oil. Shallow fry on low heat till crisp and golden brown. (You can deep fry also, but they absorb too much oil.) 
• Serve hot with mint chutney. 

Tip:
Beresta means....slice the onion and deep fry till they become crisp and golden brown.

Pangi / Pange

Pangi or Pange means rice flat bread which is wrapped and cooked in banana leaf. This is one more our Konkan special recipe. The banana leaves give a wonderful flavor to this bread.
This is made by different ways....
1. Sweet Pangi - is made with ripe banana or cucumber. (I have given this recipe here.)
2. Savory Pangi- which is made with green chili, cumin seeds, coriander leaves etc.
3. Plain Pangi- which is served with curry or chutney as a roti.

As our family tradition, we are made this in ganesh festival especially on the day when Gauri Mata arrives.

Ingredients:

• Rice flour- ½ cup
• Fine semolina/ barik rava- 1 tbsp
• Jaggery- ¼  cup or as your likes
• Nutmeg powder- a pinch
• Ripe bananas- 2 
• Pure ghee- 1 tbsp
• Salt- a small pinch
• Banana leaves- for wrapping 

Method:

• Grate jaggery and dissolve in very little water.
• Mash the bananas well.
• Combine banana mash, nutmeg powder, salt, rava and rice flour. Mix well.
• Add jaggery water and knead well. Use water if needed. The dough should not be too thick or too loose.  
  
• Add ghee and knead again. Rest this dough for 30 minutes.
• Knead dough again and divide into 3 parts.
• Heat a griddle/tawa or pan.
• Take one banana leaf. Using wet hand, spread the dough into a circle using your fingers. The disc should be even and not too thick. You can make more thin. 
  
• Fold the leaf and make a parcel.  
  
• Shift the parcel on the preheated tawa. Cover with a lid. 
  
• Let it cook on medium flame for about 2-3 minutes or till the banana leaf underneath appears roasted/burnt.
• Flip the banana leaves parcel using a tong and cook on the other side. Then carefully put out the pangi from the banana leaf.
  
• Serve hot with pure ghee and milk.

पानगे/पानगी

कोकणात पानगे/पानगी आणि पातोळे हे दोन पदार्थ केले जातात. हे दोन्ही पदार्थ पूर्णपणे वेगळे आहेत. पानगे सुद्धा वेगवेगळ्या प्रकारे केले जातात.
एक प्रकार म्हणजे केळ किंवा काकडी वापरून बनवलेले गोड पानगे, दुसरा प्रकार म्हणजे  जिरे, मिरची, आलं चे वाटण लावून बनवलेले तिखट पानगे आणि तिसरा प्रकार म्हणजे भाकरीप्रमाणे  ना गोड ना तिखट, चटणी किंव्हा कुठल्याही रश्यासोबत खायचे.
आज मी त्यातला गोड प्रकार दाखवणार आहे. गौरीचे आगमन झाल्यावर त्या संध्याकाळी नैवेद्यात हे पानगे आमच्याकडे बनवतात.  
केळीच्या पानात भाजल्याने पानग्यांना एक छान सुवास येतो.

साहित्य:

• तांदूळ पीठ- १/२  कप
• रवा- १ टेबलस्पून
• गुळ- १/४  कप किंवा आवडीप्रमाणे कमीजास्त
• जायफळ पूड- चिमूटभर
• पिकलेली केळी- २
• मीठ- एक छोटी चिमूटभर
• साजूक तूप- १ टेबलस्पून
• केळीची पाने- गुंडाळण्यासाठी

कृती:

• गुळ हाताने मोडून किंवा किसून घ्या.  आणि अगदी थोड्याश्या पाण्यात विरघळून घ्या.
• केळ कुस्करून घ्या.
• त्यात रवा, तांदुळाचे पीठ , मीठ घालून व्यवस्थित कालवून घ्या.  
• नंतर त्यात गुळाचे पाणी टाकून मळून घ्या. तूप टाकून पुन्हा मळून घ्या. कणिक फार घट्टही नको आणि सैलही.
• अर्धा तास हे कणिक झाकून ठेवा.
• अर्ध्या तासानंतर पुन्हा मळून त्याचे ३ ते ४ गोळे करा.
• पाण्याचा हात लावून केळीच्या पानावर भाकरीप्रमाणे थापून घ्या. खुप जाड थापू नका. (माझ्या सासूबाई फार पातळ थापत नाहीत पण तुम्ही आमच्या पानगीपेक्षा पातळ थापले तरी चालेल.)
• पानगा थापून झाला कि पण दुमडून त्याचे पाकीट बनवावे.
• हे पाकीट गरम तव्यावर झाकण ठेवून २-३ मिनिटे भाजून घ्यावे.
• नंतर दुसऱ्या बाजूने २-३ मिनिटे भाजून घ्यावे. केल्याचा 
• भाजून झाल्यावर पानातून हलकेच सोडवावे.
• गरम गरम पानगे साजूक तूप आणि दुधाबरोबर खायला द्यावेत.  

टीप: आम्ही एकदा तांदुळाच्या पीठाऐवजी गव्हाचे पीठ आणि चिमूटभर बेकिंग पावडर वापरून पानगे केले होते. छान झाले होते.  

Honeydew Melon and Celery Juice

Honeydew Melon and Celery Juice is very refreshing and nutritious juice for summer. Melons are so fresh and juicy in summers. This vibrant melon-celery-ginger juice is very useful in the reduction of cholesterol. 

Servings: 2 glasses

Ingredients:

• Honeydew melon, chilled chunks- 2 cups
• Celery stalk, chopped- 2 tbsp to  ¼ cup
• Ginger, peeled and chopped- ½ inch piece
• Lime juice- 1 tsp or to taste (optional)
• Sugar or honey- 1 tsp or to taste
• Pepper- ½ tsp
• Black salt- a half pinch

Method:

• Cut the melon. Cut out the skin. Discard the seeds and chop.
• Keep chopped melon in airtight box, keep the box in the freezer for 30 min
• Combine all ingredients and blend until smooth.
• Serve as it is or strain and serve cool. 

Wood Apple Chutney ~ Kavathachi Chutney

Wood Apple or Bael Fruit is Indian fruit which is used for chutney, sauce, jam and juice. This fruit is sweet and sour. This is known as Kavath in Marathi.
This fruit is available in Feb to May in India. This can be eaten on fasting day. This chutney is made especially for Mahashivratri fast.

Wood apple has many medicinal values. This fruit is rich in Vitamin A, C, B6, B12, antioxidants and minerals. It flushes out all the toxins thus keeping your body system free from ailments. This erases excess heat from the body so this is very good in summer. Unripe or ripe fruit is the best option to cure cholesterol problem.

Ingredients:

• Wood Apple/Kavath- 1
• Jaggery, grated or crumbled- 2 to 3 tbsp or to taste
• Salt- to taste
• Green chilli- 2 or to taste (or 1 tsp Red chilli powder)
• Cumin powder- a pinch (optional)

Method:

• Break shell of Wood apple. This is how it looks like after breaking the shell. 

• Take out all soft pulp. 
• Mash is with hands. Discard the seeds as possible as. But seeds are edible, so no problem if remain any. (Today only I get idea from my neighbour. She suggested me that rub the pulp on large S.S.strainer. You will get fine pulp.)
• Crush or grind chilli without water or with salt.
• Mix all above ingredients. Mix well with hands. Chutney is ready.

Drumstick Flower Dry Curry ~ Shevagyachya Fulanchi Bhaji

Drumstick flowers are edible and small, round, yellowish-white flowers. They fulfil with energy, moisture, protein, fat, carbohydrates, fibre, calcium, Iron and Phosphorus. Here is simple stirfry from my Aai/Mother's kitchen.

Ingredients:

• Drumstick Flowers- 2 cups
• Onion, chopped- 1 cup
• Mustard Seeds- 1 tsp
• Garlic, crushed- 4 cloves
• Turmeric powder- ½ tsp
• Asafetida (Hing)- ¼ tsp
• Homemade mix masala/Malwani masala- 2 to 3 tsp or (1½ tsp Red chilli powder+ 1 tsp Goda masala)
• Oil- 2 to 3 tbsp
• Jaggery- a pinch or to taste 
• Salt- to taste
• Fresh coconut, scrapped- 2 tbsp
• Fresh coriander, finely chopped- ¼ cup

Drumstick Flowers:

Method:

• Wash flowers and chop roughly.
• Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds. When they crackled, add garlic and onion.
• Saute onion till it turned pink.
• Add hing, turmeric powder and mix masala or chilli powder. Saute a while.
• Add chopped drumstick flowers. Sprinkle little water and mix well. 
• Cover and cook on low heat for 10 to 15 minutes or till cooked. Saute in between. Sprinkle little water if needed.
• When flowers are cooked add salt and jaggery. Add goda masala if you are using. Sprinkle very little water and cook for a minute.
• Switch off the gas. Garnish with chopped coriander and scraped coconut.
• Serve hot with roti or rice and dal.

Drumstick Tree (Shevaga/Shekat):

Drumstick Flowers Cutlets ~ Shevagyachya Fulanche Vade

Drumstick Flowers Cutlets is a unique but authentic recipe from Konkan. They are edible and taste like mushrooms or meaty. These are also used to make curry, chutney, dal and dosa.

My aaji/granny used to make these vade. Because we children didn't eat drumstick flower curry and she was very insistent that we had to eat all kind of seasonal vegetables. Drumstick flowers prevent frequent infections of the throat, chest and skin.

Drumstick Flowers:

Ingredients:

• Drumstick flowers, roughly chopped- 1 cup
• Scraped coconut- 2 tbsp
• Onion, finely chopped- ½ cup
• Bengal gram flour (besan)- 2 to 2½ tbsp (I roast besan slightly.)
• Rice flour- 1 tsp
• Tamarind thick pulp- ¼ tsp (optional)
• Roasted cumin powder- ½ tsp
• Coriander powder- ¼ tsp
• Turmeric powder- ½ tsp
• Asafoetida (Hing)- ¼ tsp 
• Green chili-coriander leaves paste- 2 tsp
• Salt- to taste
• Oil- as required

Method:

• Wash the flowers and drain.
• Combine drumstick flowers, onion, coconut, chili-coriander paste, tamarind paste, cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, hing and salt to taste in a bowl and mix well. 
  
• Divide into lemon sized balls. Shape them into flat patties. 
• Heat a pan, sprinkle oil. Roast on low heat till crisp and golden brown. (You can deep fry also, but they absorb too much oil.) 
• Serve hot with tamarind chutney and coriander chutney. 

Notes:

• Select fresh and unwilted flowers. They should be whole and not broken.
• You can store drumstick flowers in refrigerator. Wrap in damp cloth or air-tight container  for upto 3-4 days.
• You can use red chilli powder and chopped coriander instead of green chili-coriander paste.

Drumstick Tree (Shevaga/Shekat):

Palak Raita ~ Spinach Salad

Palak Raita is very healthy. It’s full of iron, calcium, proteins and fiber. Bowl of this salad/raita fulfills your appetite.

Ingredients:

• Fresh and tender spinach leaves, shredded or finely chopped- ½ cup
• Green chilies, chopped- 1 tsp or Red chilli powder- ½ tsp
• Dates, chopped- 3 to 4
• Roasted almonds, finely chopped- 2 tbsp
• Curd (plain yogert)- ¾ cup
• Chat masala- ½ tsp
• Salt or black salt- to taste

Method:

• Wash spinach leaves. (Don’t use big, thick, rough leaves. Don't use steams.) 
• Remove the seeds of dates and cut them into small pieces.
• Chop or crush coarsely almonds. 
• Combine curd, chili powder, chat masala and salt in a bowl. Bit well.
• Add almonds, dates and chopped spinach. Mix well. 
• Eat it as raita in a meal or in a snack.

Tips:

• If you don't like raw spinach, use blanched spinach.
• You can use green chilli instead of chili powder. (Cut chilies into enough small pieces that you can remove later. If you like to eat spicy, use chili crush.)
• You can use roasted cumin powder instead of chat masala.
• You can add tadaka in this raita
• You can add black pepper.

Honey Banana Fig Milkshake

This is a nutripacked milkshake which includes the goodness of a banana and a fig.

Servings- 2 glasses

Ingredients:

• Bananas, peeled and cut into small pieces- 4
• Honey- 2 tsp
• Dried figs (anjeer), finely chopped- 4 and extra 2 for garnishing.
• Cold Milk- 2 cups

Method:

• Combine milk, honey and half of chopped figs.
• Blend in a mixer till smooth.
• Pour into tall glasses and put remaining chopped figs into glasses.
• Garnish the glass with whole fig on the rim.
• Enjoy this milkshake chilled on breakfast or as a snack.

Rushichi Bhaji ~ Rishi Panchami Subji

Rushichi Bhaji, a dry curry with mix vegetables is made on Rushi Panchami. But this is not a regular mix vegetable curry. The uniqueness of this vegetable curry is used only vegetables which grow without ox's labour. This curry contains fruit vegetables, root vegetables and leafy vegetables too. This vegetable is made without oil and spices. Only green chillies are used in this curry. This curry is extremely healthy, low-cal and tasty too. Because of use of organic, seasonal and fresh veggies and absence of any fat/oil.
Next day after Ganesh Chaturthi is Rushi Panchami. This day is devoted to 'Saptarshi' means seven rishis. This day is of special relevance to signify the purity of body and soul. This meal is a glimpse of rishis food and their lifestyle.

हि पाककृती मराठीतून वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा.  

This curry prepares various ways in a different part of Konkan. I am giving here our recipe. In my childhood, my grandmother used to cook this curry in an earthen pot on wood fire stove. That taste of curry was awesome, I never forget that taste. 

Ingredients:

• Colocasia/Taro leaves with steams  (Aluchi pane),peeled & chopped- 1 cup
• Pumpkin (Lal bhopala), peeled & chopped- ½ cup
• Amaranth leaves (Math), chopped- ½ cup
• Kurdus (wild local leafy vegetable), chopped- ½ cup (optional)
• Yam (suran), peeled & chopped- ¼ cup
• Ladyfingers/Okara (Bhendi), chopped-  ¼ cup
• Green beans (Shravan ghevda), chopped- ¼ cup
• Cluster beans (Gavar), chopped- ¼ cup
• Snake gourd (Padwal), chopped- ¼ cup
• Ridge gourd (Shirali), peeled & chopped- ¼ cup
• Sponge gourd (Ghosali), chopped- ¼ cup
• Green chillies, chopped- 3 to 5 or as per your personal choice 
• Tamarind pulp - 2 tsp or to taste
• Fresh scraped coconut-  ¼ to ½ cup
• Sea salt- to taste

Method:

• Wash and chop all veggies as desired size. Chop yum into small pieces, it takes more time to cook. 
• Combine all veggies in a big heavy bottomed vessel. 
• Add chopped green chilies and salt. Mix well.
• Cover with S.S plate. Pour some water on a plate. Do not add water, the veggies release water and enough to cook these veggies. 
• Cook on low heat till all veggies cooked well. Stir occasionally with soft hand. Check in between by pressing hard veggies with fingers. 
• Add tamarind pulp and scraped coconut. Mix well and cook for 1-2 minutes.
• Serve warm with bhakari/rice roti.

Tips and Variations:

• These vegetables which grow without ox's labor are available in market on the day of Rushi Panchami.
• My aai/mom uses all veggies which she grow in her backyard. She uses home-grown tomato also for this curry.
• I have given here quantity of veggies, thus you will get idea. But actually you can add the veggies as your personal like and availability. 
• Depends on availability of veggies, one or more vegetables mentioned can be skipped.
• My MIL adds some homemade white butter in this curry. 
• Pumpkin and scraped coconut give sweetness to this curry.
• You can add other monsoon/seasonal veggies like sweet potato, white corns, cucumber, raw banana, bottle gourd etc. 
• Pressure cook whole corn cobs with little salt before using in curry. Cut into small pieces.
• Rice which used for cooked rice and roti is also grow without ox's labor. This rice is called "Paynu tandul" in Marathi. This is also available in market on the day of Rushi Panchami. This rice is grind on stone grinder/Jate for roti/bhakari. This rice is also organic and unpolished. (I used here for photo regular rice.)
• This chutney contains only salt, fresh coconut and chilies. You can add raw mango if available. 

Gopalkala

Happy Jnmashtami ........!!!

Actually Gopalkala has two meanings. One is our very famous festival, this known as 'Govinda' or 'Dahihandi' in Maharashtra sp. in Kokan. And other is prasad (the food which offers to God) of Janmashtami. Janmashtami (birthday of Lord Krishna) is celebrated all over India.
Gopalkala is very easy and quick to prepare. This is also very nutritious and scrumptious dish. This is not necessary to make this for prasad only, You may serve this as a healthy low-cal snack.

हि पाककृती मराठीतून वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा. 

Ingredients:

• Yogurt/Curd- 1 cup
• Beaten rice (Poha)- 1 cup
• Popped rice (Lahya/Lahiya)- a handful 
• Fresh coconut, scrapped- 2 tbsp
• Cucumber, chopped- 1 cup
• Pomegranate seeds (anar dana)- ¼ cup
• Green Chilies, chopped or crushed- 1~2
• Ginger, grated- ½ tsp
• Peanuts, roasted & peeled- ¼ cup
• Fried masala chana dal or roasted chana dal/Pandharpuri dal- ¼ cup 
• Salt- to taste
• Sugar- 1 tsp
• Fresh coriander, finely chopped- ¼ cup
• Pure ghee- 1 tsp
• Cumin seeds- 1 tsp

Method:

• Wash and drain poha by starainer.
• Beat curd and add sugar & some salt. 
• Combine curd, poha and lahya in the bowl. Allow to soak for 5 minutes.
• Heat ghee in a small tadaka pan. Add cumin seeds, green chilies and saute for few seconds.
• Pour over the beaten rice-curd mixture and mix well.
• Add coconut, cucumber, anar dana, ginger, peanuts, masala chana dal, coriander leaves and some salt. Mix well.
• Serve immediately. 

Tips:

• If popped rice (Lahya/Lahiya) are not available, you can omit it.  
• I have given here the quantity of ingredients for your information. But actually, you can add the ingredients as your personal choice. 
• You can add some extra fruits also.

Bolo Gopal Krishna Maharaj ki jai.......

|| Jai Shri Krishna ||

Mugachi Usal ~ Maharashtrian Sprouted Green Gram/ Moong Beans Curry

Usal is a traditional Maharashtrian dry curry recipe using sprouted pulses. Sprouting increases the protein content and makes the pulses easier to digest.
We usually make this 'mugachi usal' on Monday in Shravan. So I do not use onion-garlic in this usal, but you can use.

Ingredients:

• Moong- 1 cup
• Tomato, chopped- 1 cup or 1 large sized 
• Curry leaves- 1 string
• Green chilli, finely chopped or coarsely crushed- 2
• Ginger, grated or coarsely crushed- 2 tbsp 
• Oil- 3 to 4 tbsp
• Mustard seeds- 2 tsp
• Cumin powder- 2 tsp
• Asafoetida (hing)-  ¼ tsp
• Turmeric powder- ½ tsp
• Red chili powder- 2 tsp
• Goda masala- 2 tsp
• Fresh coconut, scrapped- 2 tbsp
• Coriander, finely chopped- a handful
• Water- approx ¼ cup
• Salt to taste

Method:

• Wash and soak moong for 6 to 8 hours or over night in water. Next morning drain all the water. Remove any hard bean or small stone. 
• Wash these moong again and drain all the water.
• Place the moong on clean cotton cloth. Gather all the edges and tie them. 
• Put this bundle in the vessel and cover with lid. Keep this vessel in warm place atleast 8 to 10 hours to sprout. (In winter this time period may increased.) You will get sprouted moong.
• Heat oil in the pressure pan or kadhai. Add mustard seeds, let them crackle.
• Add curry leaves, cumin seeds, crushed ginger and chilli. (You may add at this stage 4-5 cloves of crushed garlic and ½ cup of chopped onion. Saute till onion becomes translucent.) Saute for few seconds.
• Add hing, turmeric powder, red chili powder, chopped tomato. 
• Add salt and cook until tomato becomes soft.
• Add chopped coriander and scrapped coconut. Mix well and saute this masala mixture for a minute.
• Add sprouted moong, goda masala and water. Mix well. Close the lid of pressure pan and cook until 2 whistles come out. (or cover and cook over medium-low heat. Cover kadhai with s.s. plate. Keep some water on this plate. Do not add too much water at once. Stir occasionally, sprinkle little water if needed. It will take around 15 to 20 minutes to cook the moong. 
• Garnish with some chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot with chapati.
• You can eat this usal as snack. Add chopped onion, tomato, sev and enjoy. 

Tips:

• Do not make gravy in usal when you are making without  onion-garlic.
• You can use 2 kokum for this usal with tomato or instead of tomato.
• You can use malawani masala instead of chili powder. 
• You can make Matki/Moth beans or Red lentil/Masoor usal this way.

Adai Dosa

Adai dosa is one of the most popular and healthy, protein rich South Indian breakfast recipe. Adai contains mix dals but this is different from 'Mix dal dosa'. In adai, mix dals use with rice. It comes out soft as well as crispy. 

हि  पाककृती मराठीतून वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा.  

Ingredients:

• Thick rice or idly rice - 1½ cup
• Split bengal gram (chana dal)- ½ cup
• Split pigeon gram (toovar dal)- ¼ cup
• Split black gram (urad dal)- ¼ cup
• Split green gram (moong dal)- ¼ cup
• Split red lentil (masur dal)*- ¼ cup (optional)
• Fenugrrek seeds (methi dana)*- ½ tsp (optional) 
• Onion or shallots, chopped- 1 cup
• Coriander leaves, finely chopped- a handful
• Curry leaves, finely chopped- 2 tbsp or 2 sprigs
• Green chilli, finely chopped*- 2 tbsp (optional)
• Ginger, grated- 2 tbsp
• Fresh coconut, scrapped- 2 tbsp
• Asafetida (hing)- ¼ tsp
• Turmeric powder*- ¼ tsp (optional)
• Red chilies (Byadagi chilies)- 10 or Red chili powder- 2 to 3 tsp 
• Soda bi carb/baking soda- a pinch (optional)
• Salt - to taste
• Oil for frying- as required

Method:

• Wash and soak rice and all dal separately for minimum 5 hours or over night. Soak methi dana in dals.
• Grind red chillies with rice. Keep in a big bowl.
• Grind all dals coarsely with minimum required water.
• Mix ground rice and dals well and set aside for 2 to 5 hours. (or make immediately too.) But standing time yields better result.
• Just before making adai, add chopped onion, coriander, curry leaves, chili, ginger and scrapped coconut. 
• Also add turmeric powder, hing, salt and baking soda. Mix well by stirring. The batter should be thicker than idly dosa batter. So adjust water as needed. 
  
• Heat the tawa and spread little oil and spread one ladle full of batter. Make thick dosa than regular dosa. 
  
• Pour little oil around and drizzle over the adai. 
• Turn heat to medium. Close it with a lid and cook for a minute. Then flip the dosa and cook for a minute again.
• Serve hot with tomato chutney or coconut chutney or any type of chutney.  

Notes:

• This is not original recipe. I have added some additional ingredients to give my touch. Ingredients which I marked with *, these are extra ingredients. You may omit them. 
• If you are making dosa immediately after grinding then only use baking soda.
• Grind rice and dal separately. Grind dal coarsely. 
• You can make thin dosa from this batter. Make thin batter by adding some water.
• In case mistakenly batter became thin, add fine semolina (rava/suji). Rest the batter for min 1 hr after that.
• To make wholesome meal add some vegetables in a batter like carrot, cabbage, spring onion, capsicum, spinach, drumstick leaves or dill leaves.

Masala Oats Appe

Appe is the one of the popular dish in whole South India. They are known as different different names. 

I had bought big pack of masala oats. I was bored to eat. So I searched other way to finish it. I made Masala Oats Appe. They were tasty. You may make uttapa/pancake from this same batter.

Ingredients: 

• Masala oats- 2 cups
• Gram flour (besan)- 2 tbsp
• Curd- ½ cup (Curd should be sore.)
• Green chilies, finely chopped- 2 or as per like
• Onion, finely chopped- ½ cup
• Ginger, grated- 1 tsp
• Cumin seeds- ½ tsp
• Fresh coriander, finely chopped- ¼ cup
• Baking soda- a pinch
• Water- approx 1 cup
• Salt to taste (Masala oats contain salt,use thoughtfully.) 
• Oil- as required

Method: 

• Combine oats, besan, cumin seeds in a bowl. 
• Add chopped chili, ginger, onion and coriander.
• Beat curd and add curd in the mixture.
• Add water and mix well. The consistency is like Idali batter. 
• Add salt and baking soda. Mix well.
• Meanwhile heat the non-stick 'Appe' pan. Pour or spray  or brush little oil in the rounds.
• Pour the above mixture in the pan. Cover and fry/cook for 2-3 minutes.
• Flip over the other side and fry for another 1-2 minutes or until it will become golden brown.
• Serve hot with green chutney or tomato ketchup.

Appe patr/pan: