Karamani / Lobia Sundal | Black eyed beans Stir fry - Vegan recipe

Karamani / Lobia sundal is very simple to prepare like any other sundal . Compared to other beans cowpeas or lobia requires less soaking time and not 8 to 10 hrs like kabuli chana or dried yellow peas .

If you have soaked karamani ready on hand then all it takes it 15 mins to put this sundal together. 

Normally, any sundal has very simple seasoning of either sundal/curry podi and coconut gratings. Today's sundal  is my mom's recipe and the seasoning used is rasam powder + fresh coconut gratings . Do try this sundal during this navaratri and offer it all those who come home .

During Sharda Navratri a different variety of sundal is made on all the 9 days as an offering and then shared with all the ladies who come home for thamboolam . 

Kondakadalai Sundal (Chickpeas/Safed Channa ) 

Karuppu Kondakadalai Sundal (Brown Chickpeas / Kala channa) 

Verkadalai Sundal (Peanut / Moongfali)

Pachapayar Sundal (Green gram / Akha Moong ) 

Kadhamba Sundal (Mixed Beans)

Kadalai Paruppu Sundal ( Bengal gram / Channa dhall)

Preparation Time : 5-6 hrs
Cooking Time : 25-30mins
Complexity : Simple
Serves : 3-4 

Ingredients

150 gms karamani/lobia/black eyed beans
1/4 cup fresh grated coconut
2-3 green chillies slit
few curry leaves
1/2 tsp rasam powder
pinch of asafoetida
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp cooking oil.
salt to taste.

Method

• Wash and soak the lobia for about 4-5 hrs and pressure cook in 2 cups of water  with salt for 1-2 whistles on medium flame.
• Let the pressure release naturally.Drain the water and keep the lobia aside.
• In a kadai,temper the mustard seeds,green chillies,curry leaves,asafoetida and add the boiled karamani/lobia/beans and saute well.
• Spread the rasam powder on the beans and toss it well.Adjust salt if needed.
• Keep it closed for about 2-3 mins for the flavours of tempering to get infused.
• Add the grated coconut ,mix well and garnish with chopped corriander.

write up and pics updated on 22 April 2023 as a part of our Foodies_Redoingoldposts group activity.  A very nice initiative by our coblogger Renu which allows us to rework on our old posts . This is the 99th week and we are super excited to reach the milestone 100th week next fortnight.

Donot forget to pin me !!! 

Verkadalai Sundal | Peanut Stir Fry

Sundal / Chundal is a south indian stir fry made from various lentils like Channa Dhall,Kabuli Channa,Peanut,Lobia/Karamani etc. A protein packed recipe sufficing for the day's protein intake.

Today's sundal is my personal favorite as I love peanuts in any form and I try to include it in my daily cooking as well. 

Verkadalai sundal , Nelakadalai sundal are the other names for this delicious peanut stir fry.

It is vegan and also Jain friendly if we skip the use of ginger . 

Sundal and Navratri are synonymous for the reason being during the Navratri festival ,on all the 9 days Sundal made out of these lentils are offered as Prasad/Neivediyam for the Goddess Durga, Laxmi and Saraswathi who symbolise the  NARI SHAKTI (WOMEN POWER) .

During Navaratri I definitely try to make this delicious sundal as prasad on one of the 9 days . My mom would generally make Verkadalai sundal on the day when my friends would come over for visiting Kolu /Golu as it is really kid friendly and a crowd pleaser too.

Most of the kids love it as it is mildly spiced and tempered with fresh grated coconut. This can be given as evening snack or even packed for school lunch box for kids as well as adults.  Snacking on sundal is a healthy option as compared to other fried snacks or chips .

Even otherwise Sundal can be offered as prasad for any Satsangs ,Pooja at home since its purely Satvik (No onion No Garlic) .

Donot forget to click on the image below for a collection of Sundal recipes offered to Devi during Navaratri. 

Today,22/10/2023 I prepared Verkadalai sundal as prasad on the eve of Durgashtami and took this opportunity to update the post with new photos and additional information.   

Preparation Time : 2 hrs
Cooking Time : 20 mins
Complexity : Simple
Serves : 3-4

Ingredients

150 gms peanut
1/2 cup fresh grated coconut
2-3 green chillies slit
few curry leaves
small piece of ginger finely chopped/grated
pinch of asafoetida
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp cooking oil.

1/4 tsp turmeric 

2 tsp sundal podi (optional)
salt to taste.

Method

• Wash and soak the peanuts for about 2 hrs and pressure cook in 2 cups of water  with salt for 3-4 whistles on medium flame.(Soaking the peanuts helps in achieving softness and it prevents flatulence or gastric problems ) . 
• Incase you are in a hurry or have forgotten to soak,pressure cook with 3-4 cups of water for 4-5 whistles on medium flame.
• Let the pressure release naturally.Drain the water and keep the peanuts aside.
• In a kadai,temper the mustard seeds,green chillies,ginger,curry leaves,asafoetida and add the boiled peanuts,sundal podi (if using) and saute well.
• Keep it closed for about 2-3 mins for the flavours of tempering to get infused.
• Add the grated coconut ,mix well and garnish with chopped corriander.

Notes:
Alternatively instead of pressure cooking the peanuts you can boil the peanuts in a normal vessel until all the water is absorbed into the peanuts and the peanuts have cooked well .

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Gajar Kheer | Carrot Payasam | Carrot Pudding

Kheer / Payasam needs no special introduction .Almost every Indian meal, be it South Indian or North Indian has a kheer or payasam in the menu . The list is endless when we consider the varities of Kheer or Payasams that are dished out in our country . We are experts in making kheer/pudding with all possible ingredients that blend with regular milk or coconut milk and sugar or jaggery.

Carrot payasam,is a very healthy variant of payasam/kheer/pudding made using fresh carrots. This payasam uses very little sugar as the carrots are naturally sweet and just a teaspoon of ghee for garnish which is also optional .

I generally make this gajar kheer when the spread is very heavy and this balances the dessert segment without much added sweetener or ghee.
This paysam can be made for any get togethers,,festivals or even as Prasad during Navratri,Gokulashtami etc

You can either use the orange ooty carrots or the Delhi Laal Gajar for making this payasam . Just before you cook the  carrots ensure that the carrots are washed well and peeled thoroughly. 

Classic Recipes using Carrot on my blog 

Carrot Pumpkin Soup
Carrot Rice 
Carrot Sambol (Srilankan recipe)
Carrot Kosambri 
Carrot Halwa

Preparation Time : 5-10 mins
Cooking Time : 20-25 mins
Serves : 3-4
Complexity : Simple

Ingredients
3-4 medium sized carrots - peeled and cut into halves
4-5 cashews/kaju/mindhiri paruppu (optional)
2 cups of milk ( 350-400 ml approx)
2-3 tablespoon sugar (adjust depending upon sweetness of carrot)
pistachios finely chopped
1 tsp elaichi powder
2-3 tsp fresh grated coconut.
1 tsp ghee

Method

Pressure cook the carrots and cashews in 1/2 cup milk  and cool for a while.

In a blender ,add the cooked carrots with milk,sugar,grated coconut and blend finely until its smooth and creamy.

You may add a little milk incase you find it difficult to blend.

Transfer the carrot mixture into a big vessel,add the remaining milk and mix well and simmer it on low flame until the mild raw flavor of the carrots are lost totally and you get a nice aroma.

Add the cardamom powder at this stage ,mix well and turn off.

Roast the pistachios in ghee and add it to  the payasam. 

You may serve this warm or chilled. I personally like it chilled as its very flavourful.

Note : You may substitute jaggery for sugar . Adjust the quantity of jaggery depending on  jaggery 's sweetness. 

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This post was originally published in March 2017 with some really amateur clicks when I did not know much about food styling and photography.  Today (1/10/2022) as part of the Foodies_Redoingoldposts  group activity, I got the opportunity to click some decent photos of the recipe and also update the write up . Hope you all enjoy reading and viewing the modified content. 

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#74

Healthy Methi Dal - One shot cooker recipe - No Onion No garlic

A very simple but healthy dal made using fresh methi leaves and moong dhall. You just have to put all the ingredients in the pressure cooker with enough water and pressure cook for 3-4 whistles and you are done with a flavourful healthy dal. This is perfect for those days when we are not in the mood for an elaborate cooking and just want to wind up for the day.
Serve this dal with rotis or plain steamed rice with some roasted papads ,achaar and curd .
You may also like to try other dal/sambar variants like

• Palak Dal
• Tadka Dal
• Palak Sambar

Preparation Time : 10 mins
Cooking Time : 15-20 mins
Serves : 2-3
Complexity : simple

Sooji Halwa | Prasad ka Sheera | Sajjige | Semolina Pudding - Video Post

Sooji Halwa / Sajjige / Sheera is the most  important Prasad for SathyaNarayan Pooja,Kanya Pooja during Navratri also known as Kanjak pooja . 

In North India Halwa Poori and Channa are offered as Bhog to Devi Maa on Durgashtami .Little girls who haven't attained puberty are invited and offered this Prasad .These little girls are called Kanjaks or Kanya and are seen as Devi roopam.(form of Devi).

(Redoing my old posts - 20/10/2020) 

This time for Blogging Marathon we are exploring "Puddings"  and this is my humble attempt to promote the famous  Indian dessert which falls under the Pudding category..read below to know  more about Puddings 

When we hear the name pudding,the first thing that strikes us is some complex International cuisine..doesn't it? and immediately we take a back stand thinking about the unknown ingredients that we will need to use,some new cooking techniques etc etc.

Donot worry my friends,initially when I started cooking ,I also was under the same impression about puddings ,but as I started reading cookbooks,googling for new recipes and surfing the internet to understand the various cooking terms and actual meanings, I realised we Indians have so many mithais that qualify under the pudding category which we call by different names. To name a few the various Payasams/Kheer ,Rabri,Firni,Sheera ,Sheer Korma etc.
You can look up wiki for an exhaustive list that will break your myths about Puddings .
 

Now coming to our recipe , often Sajjige and Kesari are confused to be the same dish with different names,but there definately is a difference in both even if the main ingredient Rava/Semolina is the same. 

Differences in Sheera/Sooji Halwa and Kesari 

• Kesari is made only with Rava,sugar and water as main ingredients . 
• Sheera/Sajjige is made using Rava,sugar and Milk.
• For Kesari a wee bit of food color is used like orange or yellow.
• Sooji ka halwa gets its light cream color from saffron strands.  Adding saffron is purelyyour choice.
• Kesari is very popular in South India and is a special delicacy liked by one and all . 
• Kesari Bhaat is very popular breakfast item in Karnataka and is a part of the popular breakfast combo Chow Chow Bhaath.

 This is a video post ,that has all the detailing about how to roast the rava perfectly and the consistency,amount of ghee to be added etc etc.

Other flavors of Sheera on my blog 

• Banana Sheera  
• Mango Sheera 
• Bansi Rava Sheera

Preparation Time - 5 mins

Cooking Time : 20-25 mins

Serves : 3-4

Ingredients

1/2 cup rava

1 cup milk

1/2 - 3/4 cup sugar

2-3 elaichis powdered

10-15 cashewnuts chopped

2-3 tablespoon ghee

few strands of kesar/saffron/kumkuma poo

Method

• Keep the milk in a sauce pan with the saffron strands for boiling.
• Simultaneously , heat a tablespoon of ghee in a kadai/pan,and roast the rawa nicely until you get a nice aroma of roasted rava and the rava begins to feel light on roasting.
• As the rava is roasted,the milk also begins to boil,slowly pour the milk onto the roasted rava and stir simultaneously to avoid formation of lumps.
• Slowly all the milk gets absorbed into the rava and it feels like a huge mass.
• Now add the sugar and mix well,the mass gets liquified again.Donot worry,it will thicken up as the sugar gets absorbed.
• Keep stirring occasionally and when you see all the sugar is melted and mixed well,add the cardamom powder and a tablespoon of ghee and mix well.
• Slowly the sheera gets done and you can see it leaving the sides of the pan easily and the ghee starts oozing out from the sides. The entire mixture looks glossy and shiny.Turn off the stove at this stage.
• Roast the cashews in ghee and add it to the sheera and mix well.
• Transfer into a dry container and serve it warm.
• You can warm the sheera in the microwave before serving .The sheera stays good for 3-4 days in fridge if kept away from moisture and wet spoon.

Notes:

• Ratio of Rava to Milk is 1: 2 i.e. for 1 measure of rava you will need 2 measures of milk.
• Ratio of Rava to Sugar is 1:1 or if you like a little more sweet you can use 1 measure rava to 1.25 measures sugar.
• Roast the rava very patiently in medium flame taking care not to burn the rava. Do this step very carefully and utmost attention.

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Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#74

Coffee flavored Biscuit Pudding - No Baking No Cooking | Video Post

This name itself excites me for many reasons: Most importantly-its my mom's signature recipe.
As a child I have never liked any other form of sweet apart from ice creams and chocolates ,so Amma would make this pretty much frequently for me so that I stay away from the most addictive chocolates and ice creams.
The moment Valli told me that Only Pudding theme was available for the last week of BM#74 I was left wondering what to present as there is not much inclination to consuming sweets at home.,
 I thank Valli to have given me the oppurtunity to revive my child hood sweet treat and this was also an oppurtunity to let my hubby finally taste this Yummy Creamy Pudding...
There are various versions of this same type of pudding ,but this particular recipe is what I have tasted and enjoyed all through. An absolute recreation of my mom's recipe.
This post is a tribute to my mom for the ever so many times she has whipped this up for me as a surprise for having scored good grades or any sort of accomplishment that I achieved in my school /college.

The other two posts in the coming days are also going to be my childhood favorite sweets but ,Indianised pudding versions. Hope you all enjoy it !!

Preparation Time : 20 mins
Freezing Time : 4-6 hours
Serves : 2-3 people