Methi Dal | fresh fenugreek leaves cooked with pigeon peas

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Methi Dal

Dec is always the season of celebration. It starts a bit early for me as its also my bday in Dec:) As you can imagine I ate out a lot of times, ate in excess and a lot of sugary stuff. Now its time to work it off with some healthy and comfort food. After all homemade food is the best, here is the recipe for a very tasty and healthy dish - methi dal. Fresh fenugreek leaves are cooked along with split yellow pigeon peas. It tastes heavenly when served with  steaming rice and a spoonful of ghee.

Ingredients:

Yellow pigeon peas/ Toor dal : 1 cup
Fresh fenugreek leaves: 2 cups
Sliced Onion: 1/2 cup
Green chilies:6-7
Chopped Garlic : 1 tbsp
Chopped ginger: 1 tbsp
Clarified butter/ghee :1 tbsp
Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida: 1 big pinch

Coriander powder: 1 tbsp
Cumin powder: 1/2 tbsp
Turmeric Powder : 1/4 tsp
Garam Masala powder : 1/4 tsp (Optional)
Lemon juice : 2 tbsp
Salt to taste

Method:

1. Wash and soak toor dal in enough water for 15 mins and pressure cook with a pinch of turmeric powder and a drop of oil.

2. Clean and wash the methi leaves, roughly chop and sprinkle a little salt and keep for 10 mins. Squeeze and remove the excess water from leaves.

3. Heat ghee in a pan and add cumin seeds, when it splutters add asafoetida/hing and stir. Add in chopped ginger and garlic and sauté until the raw smell disappears

4. Mix in sliced onion and green chilies and cook until the onions are translucent.

5. Quickly mix the spices - turmeric powder, coriander and cumin powder and stir it.

6. Add the methi leaves and cook until the leaves wilt - about 2-3 mins.

7. Add cooked dal and salt and bring to boil. Continue to boil for 5-7 minutes .

8. Add garam a Masala powder if using and mix well. Finally add the freshly squeezed lemon juice and turn off the flame.

9. Keep covered for 5-10 mins so that all the flavors blend well. Serve it hot with steaming rice and a dollop of ghee.

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Tomato Bath | One pot Spicy, Tangy Tomato Rice

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When I was working in Bengaluru, I had a colleague, her mom used to cook super delicious food. During lunch hour we all used to wait for her to open her lunch box and before she knew it would be empty. One of the dishes that I liked the most was tomato bath. Those days I was all for simple cooking as I hardly knew anything and I had a simple way of making this one pot quick tomato rice but it never tasted as good as the one she got. I pestered her to get the recipe from her mom for many days and finally got the recipe via a phone call :) Sometimes we do crazy things for food ;) It was worth the effort as the taste is beyond delicious!! The main difference was she cooked it in coconut milk along with methi (fresh fenugreek leaves) and Mint leaves. The flavor and the taste is unbeatable and the best thing is it gets done in 30 mins without much mess around.

I have saved this recipe from many years and it's still my favorite. You must try this to believe me:) Let's get cooking!

Ingredients:
Ripe tomato : 4
Rice: 2 cups (preferably long grained Basmati)
Onion: 3
Ginger garlic paste: 1 tbsp
Coriander powder: 2 tbsp
Cumin powder: 1 tbsp
Red Chilli powder:  1 tbsp
Coriander leaves: 1 cup
Fresh Methi (Fenugreek leaves): 1 cup
Mint leaves: 1/2 cup
Coconut Milk:  2 cups
Oil/Ghee: 2 tbsp
Cinnamon stick: 1
Cardamom: 3-4
Cloves: 3-4
Salt to taste
Lemon juice: 1 tbsp

Method:

1. Wash and soak rice in enough water for 30 mins. In the meantime slice onions, chop tomoatoes and roughly chop coriander, mint and fenugreek leaves.

2. Heat oil in the pressure cooker and add whole spices - cardamom, cinnamon and cloves. Saute until the oil is fragrant.

3. Add sliced onions and saute until the onions turn golden brown, add ginger garlic paste and saute until the raw smell disappears.

4. Add chopped tomatoes, all greens and spice powders - coriander -cumin powder and red chilli powder and salt .Mix and let it cook for 2 mins.

5. Add soaked rice and fry for 2 mins, add 2 cups coconut milk and 1.5 cup water and bring to boil. Adjust the seasoning and close the lid and pressure cook for 3 whistles.

6. When the pressure has released open the lid and add freshly squeezed lemon juice.

7. Mix gently and serve with chilled curd/raita.

Notes:
1. You can replace fresh fenugreek leaves with 1 tbsp kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
2. I used store bought coconut cream, you can also grind the fresh coconut at home and squeeze the coconut milk which will even taste better:)

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Methi Thepla | Gujarati Flat Bread recipe

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Time is really flying. My little bunny is going to turn two soon. A lot of things have changed over these 2 years. A lot of experiments have gone in from 1st baby food to the food that she is eating now. As all the moms complain its very difficult to understand the kid's plan, the food they love today can straightaway get rejected tomorrow. When she refuses to eat greens and vegetables I try to feed the same thing in a different form. Theplas or parathas come in handy when I want to include more greens and veggies in my kid's diet

Here is the recipe for easy, delicious Methi Thepla from Gujarat, India. It's a flat bread made with fresh fenugreek leaves and all or combination of whole wheat flour, Gram flour and Corn flour with other Indian spices. This filling dish makes a full meal in itself. You can either serve with pickle/yogurt or just Theplas. It's ideal for packing for picnics and long journeys. I usually make it with only wheat flour to get more softer theplas. Also adding mashed over ripe bananas makes it very soft and delicious for kids.

Ingredients:

Fresh Fenugreek Leaves: 1.5 cups
Whole wheat Flour:  1.5 cups
Cumin Seeds: 1 tbsp
Sesame seeds: 1 tbsp
Curd/Yogurt: 2 tbsp
Ginger paste: 1 tsp
Chilli paste: 1 tsp
Turmeric: 1 tsp
Red Chilli Powder: 1 tsp
Sugar: 1/2 tsp (Optional)
Salt to taste

Method:

1. Wash and roughly chop the fresh fenugreek leaves, add all the ingredients leaving flour and yogurt and mix well.

2. Next add in flour and yogurt and knead into a stiff dough. Cover and keep for 30 minutes.

3. Knead again and divide the dough into equal portions. Dust with dry flour and roll into thin discs.

4. Heat a griddle and shallow fry on both sides until golden basting with ghee.

5. Serve hot with pickle and chilled yogurt.

Notes:
1. If you are making it for kids you can add a mashed overripe banana. It gives the theplas a mild sweet flavor and it tastes delicious.

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