Chilke Wali Moong Dal ke Badeel/छिलके वाली मूंग दाल बड़ील

Moong Dal Badeel

Moong dal is easy to digest, high in proteins and vitamins. In Kumaon badeel are made from different dals. These are taken as side dish or as snacks. Being high in proteins, low on fat and carbs they are very healthy. Since we are using the green dal not yellow split dal (Chilke wali not Dhuli moong dal) thus the coveted vitamins and dietary fibers are also not lost.

Served with green chutney made from Dhaniya-Pudina(Coriander and mint leafs) badeels taste just yummy.

Preparation Time:

Cooking Time:

Servings: Makes 25-30 Pieces

Ingredients Required For Making Badeel:

• 150 gm: Chilke Wali Moong Daal (Split Green Gram)
• 2-3: Green Chilies
• 10 gm: Ginger
• 2-3 Sprigs: Fresh Coriander Leafs
• Salt to taste
• 15-20 ml. Cooking oil (I use Mustard oil)
• 3-4 Teaspoon: Ghee (Clarified Butter) for panfrying the badeel

Nutritional Value (approx) Of Badeel (made from 150 gm of dal) )
Cal 400

Fat 1gm

Sodium 30mg

Carbs50gm

Fibers 4gm

Protein 22 gm

Calcium and Iron Rich

Direction For Making Badeel:

• Wash Dal till cloudy water comes after washing. Soak the washed dal in water for minimum 2-3hr. Dal will become soft. Since dal was washed before soaking thus it does not require washing after soaking.

• In a mixer grinder take
• Soaked Dal
• Green chilies
• Ginger
• Fresh Coriander leafs
• Grind them to smooth thick paste.

Paste of Moong Daal

• In a thick bottom wok take cooking oil and heat.

20 ml. Oil heating 

• When the oil is hot add Cumin seeds and let them splutter. Make sure they do not burn.

Jeera (Cumin) in hot oil

• Once the cumin seeds have spluttered immediately bring the heat to low and add dal paste.

Dall and Spices Paste Added to Oil

• Add salt and mix nicely so that before the paste thickens salt is mixed in it nicely.

Mixed Nicely And being Cooked On Medium Flame

• Bring the heat to high and cook with continuous stirring and mixing till the paste thickens. It will take 2-3 minutes.

Afetr 5 Min. of Cooking On Medium Flame

• Bring the heat to low and sprinkle 4-5 table spoon water. Cover and cook on low heat for 2-3 minutes with in-between scrapping from the edges and mixing.

Cooking on Low Flame Afetr sprikling 20 ml. water

Cooked Daal Paste

• To check if it is cooked perfectly take little cooked dal paste in hand and press with fingers. Perfectly cooked dal paste will not stick to fingers.

 Daal Paste Does Not Stick to fingers

Not Sticking Even When Folded Between Palm and Fingers

• Grease a plate and take out he cooked paste in the greased plate.
• Spread evenly and pat it with a spatula.

Set and Cut Badeel

• Let it cool. Once cooled cut it into desired shape pieces.

Moong Daal Badeel

Enjoy the Badeel with Mint-Coriander chutney.

To make the badeel with crisp crust:

• Grease a thick bottom pan with ghee then heat it.
• Once the pan is hot, place the badeel in it and cook on medium heat till one side becomes crisp.
• Flip and sprinkle 1-2 teaspoon ghee and cook till other side also changes color and becomes crisp.

Enjoy Moong Dal Badeel as snack or side dish.

Tips:

• While pouring oil in the wok if oil is poured through the sides then whole wok will get oiled. This will minimize sticking of dal paste to the edges while cooking.
• Thicker the paste easier will be its cooking, so use as less water while grinding as possible.

Suggested Variations:

• Finely chopped onion can be sautéed and then dal paste added to it and cooked to make badeel with onion flavor in it.

Sol-kadi/सोल-कड़ी [Coconut-Kokum(Garcinia Indica) Summer drink]

Sol-Kadi Coconut-Kokum summer drimk)

Kokum is used to impart sour taste to food in western and southern states of India. Dry mango powder is used not very often. Main reason of kokum being used primarily is because it is local fruit of these states. Kokum apart from being sour in taste is rich in nutrients, is great antioxidant and has a cooling effect. This cooling prowess makes it very useful in preparing the sour and sweet drink, which is very useful during intense heat of summers. Apart from the above said use, Kokum and coconut pair up very well and an amazing cooling drink is made by the combination of the two. This drink is called Sol-Kadi. Indeed it does justification to it’s name, it’s taste and cooling effect satiates not only the taste buds, stomach but Soul also.

Some people do not have much fancy for coconut they may disagree with me. But I am a great fan of freshly squeezed coconut milk thus a big fan of Sol-Kadi.

I had Sol-Kadi first in 2009 in Kerela. Since then I always wanted to make it. In restaurant we usually get slightly watered down version, (for obvious reasons). I like slightly thicker. Also I change the original recipe according to my own taste. Hope it is well received.

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 2 minutes

Servings: 1 lt. (Approximately)

Nutritional Values of 1 lt. Sol- Kadi (Approximate Values)

Calories: 350

Fat: 36.0 gm

Cholesterol: 0

Sodium: .2gm

Potassium: 3.9gm

Carbs: 0

Sugar: 4.0-5.0gm

Protein: 3.0gm

Micro nutrients Iron, Selenium, Magnesium, Phosphorous

Vitamins: C, B­_1, B₅, B₆, E

Lactose free

Kokum is an antioxidant and thus has many health benefits.

Ingredients for Making Sol-Kadi:

• 1 Coconut
• 750 ml. Water (For taking out milk and diluting the sol-Kadi)
• 150 ml. Kokum concentrate (Unsweetened)

Kokum Concentrate

• 1-2 Whole Red dry Chili
• 1/2 Teaspoon Mustard seeds
• 2 Sprigs Curry Leafs
• 1/2 Inch cinnamon
• 2-3 Sprigs Fresh Coriander leafs
• 1 Teaspoon Cumin Powder
• 1 -2 Teaspoon Sugar

Directions To Make Solo-Kadi:

• Remove the Kernel (Meat) from Coconut.
• Either grate the kernel or cut it to small pieces. (I cut them up. Find it easier than grating).
• Grind the coconut kernel with 50 water, add 50 ml water and grind till it turns to paste. If more water is required to be added, add water in small portions as and when required.
• Take out the paste of coconut in a fine cloth or sieve and squeeze as much milk as possible. (I used sieve and press the paste with fingers). This is called first milk of coconut and is thick.
• Return the left over residue to grinder/mixer and add 100 ml water and grind again. When it turn to a homogenous mass (which will be paste like) squeeze it to take out thin second milk.
• The rough fibrous mass will not have any milk left and can be discarded. If you feel the need the above process can be repeated third time to ensure all milk has been squeezed out of coconut kernel.
• Mix all of the coconut milk and give a stir.

Coconut Milk

• Add 100 ml. of Kokum concentrate and stir. Taste it and if you want it a little more sour like I do then add another 100 ml. in two batches tasting in between.
• Take the mixture of coconut milk and Kokum concentrate in a thick bottom pan. Cook on medium heat for 2-3 minutes with continuous stirring. Do not boil it.

Coconut milk and Kokum concentrate after cooking 

• The moment foam to start appearing, switch off the heat and keep stirring for 2-3 minutes more.
• Add 200 ml. cold water in two batches, all the while stirring continuously.
• Add sugar and Cumin powder, stir till it dissolves.  
• Taste it and then salt according to taste. Stir to dissolve.
• Heat oil in a skillet and add
• Mustard seeds
• Cinnamon stick
• Curry leafs
• Red chili
• Let the seeds splutter. Do not let the chili become black.
• Pour the tempering on to the above prepared coconut Kokum mixture. Cover and keep in fridge to chill. (Though the container is on stove the kadi is not heated . It was kept to gain height for picture.)

Sol-Kadi After Tempering

• Serve chilled Sol-Kadi after garnishing it with Fresh coriander leafs.

Sol Kadi

• This drink can be had like any other cooling summer drink or it can be had with food like Chas.

Sol-Kadi Coconut-Kokum summer drimk)

Tips:

•  Since Kokum concentrate has salt in it so salt should be added only after adding the kokum concentrate. I learnt it hard ways.
• Heating is done to warm up enough to remove raw taste from coconut, so make sure the mixture is not cooked too long. Also continuous stirring is very important, else the milk may split.
• Salt should be added after cooking is done to avoid splitiing and over salting.
• Thick bottom container is must for cooking else quick heating will take place and may result in splitting.

Suggested Variations:

• I like slight sweet note in Sol-Kadi so I add sugar. Sugar can be replaced with jaggery. If you do not sweet taste you can avoid adding it.
• As I told earlier I like slightly thicker so water amount is accordingly. It can be increased oe decreased according to liking.
• Kokum concentrate amount can be changed according to taste.

Red-Spicy-Coconut Chutney

Red Spicy Coconut Chutney

Chutney is integral part to Indian food. Depending upon the local produce it is made from different ingredients like tamarind, green mango/dried mango/mango powder/ Lemon to name few. In coastal part coconut grow plentiful so coconut is the main ingredient along with tamarind which gives the tangy taste where as in other areas coriander/ mint is used along with any of the above said sour ingredients.

When I went to my daughter’s house, her helper made this awesome chutney to be had with dosa. Since then I have become big fan of this tangy-spicy red chutney.

Preparation Time: 10 – 15 minutes

Making Time: 10 minutes

Servings: 10 medium servings

Ingredients Required For Making Chutney:

Ingredients for Chutney

• 1/2 Fresh Coconut
• 4-5 Garlic pods (Medium sized)
• 4-5 Red dry Kashmiri Chilies
• 3-4 Red dry chilies or to taste
• Salt to taste
• 2 Teaspoon tamarind pulp

For tempering:

• 1/2 Teaspoon Sugar
• 2 Teaspoon Urd Dal
• 1/2 Teaspoon Mustard seeds (Rai)
• 1/4teaspoon Fenugreek seeds (Methi)
• 2-3 Dry Red Chilies
• 8-10 Curry leafs

Ingredients for Tempering

• 1 Teaspoon cooking oil (except mustard oil any cooking oil of your choice)

Direction For making Red Coconut Chutney:

• Soak both Kashmiri chilies and regular red chilies in half cup of water for 30 minutes.
• Remove the outer brown color hard peel of coconut and discard the peels.
• Cut the peeled white coconut to small pieces.
• In a mixer-blender take
• Coconut pieces
• Garlic
• Soaked chilies along with water
• Tamarind pulp
• Salt
• Grind them to fine paste. Keep adding water in small amounts while grinding. The consistency of paste should be like cake batter.
• Heat oil in a thick bottom pan. When the oil becomes hot, reduce the heat to low and Urd dal and cook till it just starts changing the color.

Urd dal first in oil

• Add mustard seeds and increase the heat to medium. Mustard seeds will start spluttering.
• Add Curry leafs and Red chilies, in 30 sec or so the chilies will turn darker in color. Immediately add the coconut paste and lower the heat.

Spices cooking in Oil

• Cook for 2-3 minutes with constant stirring , this will allow the flavor of spices to mix with chutney and give it that special flavor. Add sugar and stir. Remove from heat and cover the pan.

Red-spicy-Coconut Chutney

Red Spicy Coconut Chutney

• Allow it to cool before serving.
• This chutney can be stored in fridge for 5-6 day.

Tips:

• Check the hotness of chilies before using. Sometimes they are too hot some times less. So adjust the amount accordingly.
• Soaking red chilies and then grinding enhances the red color.
• Tamarind paste can be made by soaking tamarind in water for few minutes, then mashing it up.
• Removing the brown peel from coconut is must to get proper texture and color.
• Make sure Urd dal in tempering does not turn black, it should be of brown color in final stage so care has to be taken while preparing tempering. If any of the ingredients get over cooked then the taste and flavor of chutney gets spoiled.
• Water should be added while grinding in small amounts for the ease of grinding as well as maintain the required consistency.
• Continuos stirring is must once coconut paste is added to tempering.

Suggested Variations:

• Sugar can be replaced by jaggery.

Basil Pesto sauce

Basil Pesto Sauce

Topping up Pesto before Storing

Fresh homemade pesto from freshly plucked Basil leafs has great flavor and color. I had grown a Basil plant in a pot in my balcony, and the seeds were transported to other pots by wind thus it was like basil basil every where filling my balcony with fragrance. I used it in salad, mushroom baked sandwiches, pasta etc. They would start making appearance in abundance so I decided to make Pesto. After using bottled pesto from market I realized the difference between homemade pesto from garden fresh Basil and the bottled one from market. The addition of few walnuts gives a wonderful earthy taste. I just love this Pesto.

Preparation Time: 5-10 minutes

Making Time: 10 minutes

Makes 400-450 gm of Pesto

Ingredients Required for Making Pesto:

• 100-120 Fresh basil leafs.

Fresh Basil Leafs

• 8-10 pods of Garlic.

Garlic

• 10-15 Almonds.

Almonds and 

• 4-5 Walnuts.
• 1 Teaspoon Salt (or to taste).
• 100 ml. Extra Virgin Olive oil for Pesto sauce.
• 10-15 ml. Extra Virgin Olive oil for topping up.

Directions For Making Basil Pesto:

• Remove the stalk from leafs.
• Roast Almonds and soak them in water.
• Once almonds are soaked remove the peel (Brown covering) from roasted, soaked almonds.
• In a mixer-grinder take Basil leafs and grind them thoroughly.
• Add
• Garlic
• Almonds
• Walnuts
• Salt
• Grind. If required very little amount of water can be added to make a fine paste.
• Add half the amount (50ml) of olive oil slowly to the paste along with pulsing the paste in mixer. Do not run the mixer at high speed. Otherwise the color of Pesto will become foamy and whitish.

Thick Pesto Paste

• Remove the paste in a big bowl and add the remaining 50 ml of olive oil along with mixing with the help of a spoon.

Pesto After Adding Olive oil

• Fill the container in which you wish to store the Pesto with your freshly made Pesto sauce and top it up with 10-15 ml of olive oil.

Topping up Pesto before Storing

• It lasts for months in freezer and in fridge at least for 6 months, but I bet you it will finish before that long. For experimenting I kept some amount in a little bottle but after 6 months my patients gave way to polising it off.

Tips:

• Make sure the smallest stalk is removed for best texture.
• Garlic can be adjusted according to taste and the size of pods.
• More Almonds can be added if one wishes but do not add more walnuts, they may leave a little bitter taste if added in excess.
• Do not add excess of water, else the Pesto sauce will become runny and no one wants runny Pesto. One or two teaspoon will be enough.
• Suggested Variations: None.

Beetroot Cutlets / चुकन्दर की टिकिया

Beetroot Cutlets Without Sesame Seeds Coating

Cutlets served with Tomato Ketchup

Beetroot is not only nutritious alongwith being tasty, but it is also a very good root vegetable helpful for controlling weight. It is rich dietary fibers, Vitamins, minerals and low on calories. This red tuber can be made to savory, salads, sliced and put in sandwiches, burgers. I love cutlets of beetroot. They can be had as snacks with tomato ketchup or green chutney; they can be placed between slices of bread with chutney, ketchup or humus to make a delicious, healthy nutritious sandwich.

Preparation Time: 10-15 minutes

Cooking Time: 5 minutes

Servings: makes 6-8 Medium size cutlets

Nutritional Value: (Approx.)

• Calories: 550
• Fat: 11gm
• Carb: 100gm
• Sugars: 25gm
• Protein: 10gm
• Calcium: 100gm
• Dietary fibers: 19gm
• Sodium: 1200mg
• Potassium: 2010mg
• Cholesterol: 0mg
• Rich in Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Iron, and calcium

Ingredients Required For Making Beetroot Cutlets:

• Beetroot: 2 medium size or 250 gm
• Potatoes: 2 Medium size or 100 gm
• Ginger: 1inch piece (Optional)
• Garlic: 4-5 cloves (Optional)
• Ginger Powder: 1 Teaspoon
• Green chilies: 1 or according to taste
• Green coriander leafs: 3-4 sprigs
• White Sesame seeds: 2-3 table spoon

Ingredients For Cutlets

• Olive oil/cooking oil: 1 Teaspoon is using nonstick pan else more
• Salt to taste

Directions for Making Beetroot cutlets:

• Peel and grate beetroots. Keep aside.
• Peel potatoes and grate them, Keep aside.
• Heat a pan (no oil required) and put grated beetroot in it. Cook on medium heat with stirring till most of the moisture evaporated and the grated beetroot become soft. Do not cover while dry cooking. It will be done in 8-10 minutes.

Raw grated Beetroot being cooked to rteduce the juice

Ready to make cutlets mixture

• Roast sesame seeds on low flame till they gain light brown color.
• Chop coriander leaves finely.
• Chop green chilies finely.
• Grate or chop ginger as per your liking.
• Take the grated potatoes and beetroot in a bowl and mix 
• Salt
• Ginger 
• Chopped ginger
• Green chilies
• Dry ginger powder
• Garlic (Optional)
• Corianders leaf and mix well.

• 

  Mixture of cutlets

• Make 6-8 balls from the mixture.
• Flatten the balls between your palms to give the shape.
• Coat each raw cutlets with roasted sesame seeds. (Optional)

Ready to be cooked (Without Seesame seeds)

Rounds of cutlets coated with White Sesame seeds

• Take a non-stick pan and heat on high flame.
• Sprinkle few drops of olive oil on the pan once it is hot.
• Bring the heat to medium and place the raw cutlets on the hot pan with oil.
• Cook on medium flame for two minutes and then flip them carefully. Making sure they do not break.

Cutlets Being Cooked in Spoonfull of Oil

Cooked on one side

Cutlets ready for serving

Cutlets Ready To be Served

• Cook the other side also for two minutes. By now both side of cutlets should be brownish.
• The cutlets will be on soft. Do not cover them once they are done.
• Take then on a plate serve them hot with chutney/ketchup or if you want to store let them cool without covering before storing.

Beetroot Cutlets (Without sesame seeds) With Raw Mango Chutney

Cutlets With Coriander-Mint Chutney

http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2011/10/green-coriander-and-mint-chutney.html

MY favorite breakfast is grilled sandwich (Call it a taco) made by palcing these cutlets between two folds of chapati, grilling it and pairing it with homemade humus or coriander-mint chutney.

Tips:

• Do not overcook beetroot and potatoes else the cutlets mixture will become too wet and gooey, resulting not so firm cutlets.
• Dry ginger gives good flavor and absorbs moisture thus is essential to be added.
• Red chilies powder spoils the flavor so avoid it.
• All chopped ingredients should be chopped finely , big pieces of chilies, garlic are very unsavory in soft cutlets.
• Adjust the flame according to your cooking equipment, that is pan and gas stove/hot plate.

Suggested Variations:

• I am a big fan of garlic and ginger thus I have added chopped ginger also, if you wish you can avoid chopped ginger.
• The cutlets after being coated with roasted sesame seeds can be coated in egg white, then with all purpose flour and deep fried.
• To a cup of all-purpose flour add salt and make batter using soda. The batter should be thick but of flowing consistency. Dip each sesame coated raw cutlets and deep fry them. I prefer my cutlets pan fried with as little oil as possible, this is simply to keep them on healthier side.
• Butter can replace olive oil. It certainly adds a wonderful flavor to the cutlets.