Pesarattu (Moong dal lentil pancake)

Pesarattu is a lentil pancake made with moong dal, usually served as breakfast. It can also be served as a meal with rice and ghee (clarified butter). I love pesarattu and rice combination! Moong dal can be in two variations- whole bean and split. I like to use whole bean with its green skin which gives pesarattu its signature green color. You can also use split dal if you like. You can look for the name moong dal in any Asian/Indian store. Images of the lentils is given below.

Ingredients:

Moong dal (pesarapappu)                                           2 cups

Thai chillis                                                                   2

Cumin seeds                                                              2 tsps

Onion (any type)                                                         1

Curry leaves                                                                5-6 leaves

Oil (any type)                                                              3 tsp

Salt to taste

Method: 

1.       Soak Moong dal in adequate water overnight.   

2.       Blend moong dal in a wet grinder/blender into a fine paste. Add thai  chillis while blending. 

3. Once the batter is done, add cumin seeds and salt and take it in a bowl.

4.       Chop onion into very small, square pieces. 

5.       Take a flat griddle and grease with oil or ghee. (Pam is convenient for greasing) and heat the skillet over medium-high heat.  

6.       Using a ladle pour batter onto the center of the skillet and gently spread the batter in a circular motion. Sprinkle chopped onions and press onions into the batter using spatula. 

7.       Grease the edges of the batter with oil using spoon (Pam again, is a convenient option)   

8.        After few minutes, batter edges turn crispy. Flip over to the other side and cook for few minutes more. Transfer to the plate and serve hot. 

9.       Serve either with tomato chutney or rice and ghee.

Home-made Pizza with Asparagus

Finally I got the motivation and time to try and make home-made pizza! For whatever reason, I felt making pizza at home is a tedious job but to my pleasant surprise, I was wrong! :-)  Pizza making is quite easy and I can almost compare the preparation time with rotis. For roti preparation, it is always advised to prepare the dough at least 1 hour before, for soft and fluffy rotis. For pizza too, we need to prepare the dough at least 1 hour before baking. I found dough recipe @ The Wednesday Chef

Ingredients:

For Dough:
All purpose flour (Maida)                3 1/2 cups
Active dry yeast                            1 Packet
Salt                                              1 1/2 Tsp
Sugar                                           1 Tsp
Olive oil                                         2 Tsp
Luke warm water                            1 1/4 cups
Pizza sauce                                   8-9 tsp

Veggies I added (you can add any of your choice): Asparagus, Yellow bell pepper, Tomatoes, Onions and Jalapenos

Cheese: Grated mozzarella cheese (I like to go easy on cheese and relish veggies and hence, I added only about 1/4 cup of cheese but you can add it to your taste)

Method:

Preparing Dough:

1. Mix yeast, sugar, olive oil with luke warm water in a mixing bowl and leave until the mix turns frothy. 

2. Add the yeast mixture to the flour and knead it into dough (no need to add additional water for preparing dough. Water in the yeast mixture will be sufficient)

3. Coat the dough with olive oil, cover with damp cloth and leave it for at least an hour. Dough will be now, almost double the size.

4.  Deflate the dough with hands until it comes back to regular size (I learned, this process is called deflating the dough) 

5.  Divide the dough into medium size balls and roll it using rolling pin. I love extra thin pizza so I rolled it to less than 1/4 inch thickness. (Rolling pizza dough is as easy as rolling roti dough.) Dust the surface with flour for easy rolling.
6. Preheat oven and spread pizza sauce on the dough and sprinkle grated mozzarella cheese and top with your favorite veggies. I added the veggies I mentioned above and bake with 15-20 minutes and serve hot!

* Serves 4 people

                    

Mango-tomato salsa for tortilla chips

 

Who wouldn’t love chips with salsa? We got fresh, homemade tortilla chips from our Saturday market and Sailu, my best friend shared her delicious mango-tomato salsa recipe with me. There are lots of variations for  salsa. This salsa includes mango, tomatoes, yellow bell pepper, onions and cilantro. Mango adds a delicious tangy flavor to the salsa.

Ingredients:

Tomatoes                                                            3

Mango (raw)                                                       ¼                                            

Chillis     (thai chillis)                                            2

Onion                                                                  1

Yellow bell pepper                                                1

Cilantro                                                               1 bunch

Lime juice                                                           1 tsp

Salt and pepper to taste 

Method:

1.   Chop mango, tomatoes, yellow bell pepper, onion and chillis into small cubes. Chop cilantro leaves.

2.   Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and serve with tacos

*Serves 4 people

Asparagus and Papdi Lilva Bean Pesto tart

Asparagus is one of my favorite vegetables. It is a good source of  calcium, fiber, protein, vitamin A, C, E, K, folic acid and what not! It has no fat, no cholesterol and is low in sodium. On top of it, it is utterly delicious! I love its delicate flavor and tender texture. I was googling for some easy-to-make asparagus recipes and I stumbled upon www.veganyumm.com. Original recipe was made with white beans. Since I love papdi lilva beans (chikkudu gingalu) and I always try to add them in my diet, I changed recipe to my taste. Original recipe was vegan. I added whole milk instead of soy milk. Also, original recipe had dijon mustard, I skipped it since I didn’t have it ready ;-)

Even with my customized version, this tart turned out just yummy! 

Ingredients:

Papdi lilva beans(chikkudu ginjalu)         6 oz or 150 grams

Cashew nuts                                        ¼ cup

Pesto paste                                         1 tsp

Whole milk                                          ¼ cup

Fresh lime juice                                    2 tsp

Fresh Asparagus                                  12

Puff pastry sheet                                   1

Sall, pepper, pam stray/olive oil

Method:

1.   Thaw puff pastry sheet for 40 minutes and meanwhile, pre heat oven at 400˚F.

2.   In a food processor blend beans, cashew nuts, pesto paste, lime juice and salt. While blending, add milk to make it into fine paste.

3.   Carefully place thawed pastry sheet on a parchment paper or greased aluminum foil (grease with pam spray/olive oil) and roll it out into rectangle.

4.   Add bean-pesto mixture leaving 1 inch border on all sides.

5.  Trim Asparagus to tart width wise and place one by one next to each other alternating their direction over bean-pesto paste.  

6.   Spray Pam or brush spears with olive oil and sprinkle salt and pepper.

7.      Slide parchment paper/ aluminum foil on baking tray and bake for 25 minutes until sheet is puffed and turned golden brown. By this time spears should also be tender.

8.      Cut tart into 4 pieces and serve hot.

*Serves 2 people