Urid dal & Saame /Little Millet Guli Appa

Preparing food for the family is really a big task. I think most of us do agree with it. In such time I just think some thing which is going to be healthy, quick, easy and delicious. Here is such one dish that you can prepare it easily without much hassle and healthy of course. Just try this Urid & Same Guli Appa/ Paddu/Gunthponglu or mini bondas.( It taste similar to Bondas.

I have used Urid dal as main and little Saame/Little Millet, pepper pods, jeera, green chilly and handful of coriander leaves. 

Let us see some benefits of using " Black Pepper Pods " in our diet. 

Black pepper is widely traded in the world since ancient times. It is known as pepper corn and it contain antibacterial properties. It is used for preserving food and it does contain anti-inflammatory agent. Black pepper is known as king of spices and it has loads of health benefits. It adds flavour to the dish we prepare. It helps to reduce weight, improve digestion and relieve cold and cough, boost energy and metabolism. It is used for treating skin problems. Black pepper is rich source of minerals like manganese, copper, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, iron, potassium and vitamins like Vitamin C, Vitamin K, and Vitamin B 6. It has high content of dietary fiber and good amount of protein and carbohydrates.
Let us see the recipe Now :

Ingredients :

Urid dal : 1 Cup
Little Millet/Same Millet : 1/4 Cup
Green Chilly : 1
Black Pepper Pods : 6 to 8
Cumin Seeds / Jeera : 1/2 Teaspoon
Coriander leaves :  1/2 Bundle /5 to 6 Tablespoons
Ginger : 1 Inch/ 1 Tablespoon (Grated)
Salt : As required
Ingh/Asafoetida : A little
Gulp Appa Pan and oil or ghee to cook Guli Appa.

Method :

1. Wash and soak urid dal for 1 to 2 hours. Wash and soak little millet separately for 2 hours.
2. Wash green chilly, coriander leaves and handful of curry leaves.
3. Now grind urid dal with jeera and black pepper pods with required water. Add curry leaves, green chilly, grated ginger and coriander leaves. Grind it for a few minutes. Remove the fine batter to a big bowl.

4. Add little millet/Saame and grind it. It should be rava/ semolina consistency.
5. Remove from the mixi jar and add it to urid dal batter. Add sal and ingh. Mix it well.

6. Keep guli appa pan on the fire . Add little oil to each mould and let it get heated.
7. Put the ready batter to each guli/deeper place in a pan.
8. Sprinkle some oil to each guli. Cover and cook for 2 minutes on low and medium flame.
9. Turn the other side and cook for a minute.

10. Guli appa is ready to serve. Add little ghee on guli appa just before serving.
11. Repeat the same with remaining batter.

12. We had this Urid dal and Saame Guli Appa with sambar and jaggery.

Note :

No need to soak for a longer time. No need of fermentation of the batter. Do not grind  the dough very watery. It might spoil the taste and it will not be removed easily from the pan. Adding ghee or butter while cooking Guli Appa is optional. I did added the coriander leaves while grinding and it turned as fine paste along with urid dal batter.Use of oil/ghee is optional while cooking Guli
Appa. Do not add more saame/little millet. Guli appa will be very hard.
Time : Urid dal soaking 2 Hours + Grinding 5 to 10 minutes + preparing Guli Appa 10 Minutes.
Serves : 3 to 4.

Quick Sambar Rice

Sambar Rice is a quick Rice dish with full of veggies. It is one of the Tamil Nadu people's favourite food that can be cooked quickly and easily.

Sambar Rice is filled with proteins, vitamins and carbohydrates. Veggies are full of fiber and vitamins. It is like a full meal and it surely fills our stomach.
Sambar rice can be cooked for one pot meal, lunch or even dinner. You can take this full meal for travelling or even to office. ( For lunch)
Let us see the recipe Now :

Ingredients :

To Cook :
Rice : 1 Cup
Toor Dal : 1/2 Cup or little less
Carrots : 2 ( Medium size)
Knolkol /Kohirabi/Navilu kosu : 2
Cluster beans /Gori kai/Chavali Kodu : 100 to 150 Gr.
To Dry Roast :
Methi seeds : 1/4 Teaspoon
Red chilly : 5 to 6
Urid dal : 1/2 Teaspoon
Channa dal : 1/2 Teaspoon
Coriander seeds : 2 Tablespoons
Jeera /cumin Seeds : 1/2 Teaspoon
Curry Leaves : 5 to 6
Ingh / Asafoetida : A little
To season :
Capsicum : 1
Cashew Nuts : 2 to 3 Tablespoons. ( 6 to 8 nuts)
Oil : 2 Teaspoons
Mustard seeds : 1/2 Teaspoon
Ingh : A pinch
Curry Leaves : 5 to 6 leaves.
To Add : 
Tamarind Pulp : 2 to 3 Tablespoons pulp ( Small marble size tamarind)
Turmeric powder : A little
Salt : As required
Dry ground powder
Seasoning 
Coriander leaves : 2 Tablespoons

Method : 

1. Wash and cut scrape out carrots and cut into small pieces.
2. Wash and peel off the outer layer of knolkol and cut into desired size.
3. Wash and remove the edges of cluster beans and cut into desired size.

4. Put them in a pressure cooker. Add washed toor dal. Add 1/2 Cup of water.
5. Pressure cook all the above ingredients for 2 to 3 minutes. Let it cool.
6. Wash and cook rice and keep it aside.

7. Soak tamarind in hot water for 5 minutes and squeeze out the pulp. Keep it aside.
8. Dry roast all the spices one by one on low flame and dry grind once it is cooled.

9. Keep a big pan on the fire and put cooked rice, vegetables with dal.
10. Add tamarind pulp and haldi/turmeric. Add salt and mix all the ingredients nicely.
11. Add water if required and let it boil for 2 to 3 minutes.
12. Add dry ground fresh spice powder and mix it well. Let it boil for 2 to 3 minutes. Wash capsicum and remove its seeds from inside. Cut it into thin pieces. keep it aside.

13. Keep a pan on the fire and add oil and ghee. Add cashew nuts and fry.
14. Add mustard seeds, ingh and let mustard seeds splutter.
15. Add ingh and curry leaves . Add cut capsicum and fry till the pieces turn golden brown.

16. Shift the ready Sambar Rice to a serving dish. Add fried capsicum and seasoning mixture to Sambar rice.

Mix it well and serve with papad.

Note :

Cooking vegetables separately helps to keep the veggies crunchy. Adding more chilly to Sambar rice is optional. Adding fresh spice is optional. You can use any brand of Sambar powder instead of home prepared sambar powder.
Time : 40 Minutes 
Serves : 3 to 4 .

Serves : 3 to 4 .

Raagi /Finger Millet + Rice Flour Carrot Rotti

Rotti that too with finger millet, I have posted varieties of rotti. 
You might wonder why again rotti?

Because finger millet, though it is good for healthy many do not like finger millet because of its colour. Even our Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, and South Kannadigas have no like for this wonderful grain. It is my way of making them to know, enjoy and get benefit from healthy finger millet grain.
This time I have used finger millet, very little rice flour, little wheat flour, carrots and onions.
I have used butter wrapper to spread the rotti batter, so that it can be as thin as I like and the rotti taste crispy or soft as you like it. No need to burn your hand while spreading the batter either.
Let us see the recipe now :

Ingredients : 

Raagi /Finger Millet : 2 Cups
Rice Flour : 2 Tablespoons
Wheat Flour : 2 Tablespoons
Salt : As required
Curd : 1/2 Cup
Coconut : 1 Cup
Green chilly : 2
Ginger : 1 Tablespoon ( An inch)
Carrots : 2
Onions : 2 (Medium sized)
Coriander leaves : 1 Bundle ( Small)
Curry Leaves : 1 Handful
Jeera/Cumin Seeds : 1/2 Teaspoon
Boiling water : 2 to 3 Cups
Oil : 5 to 6 Tablespoons/1/2 Cup

Method :

1. Take a big bowl, add Raagi/Finger Millet, rice flour, wheat flour, salt and curd.

2. Add boiling water and let it rest for 5 minutes.

3. Wash onions, carrots, coriander leaves, curry leaves.
4. Remove the outer layer of carrots and ginger. Grate it and add it to the flour.
5. Remove the outer layer of onions and wash it. Cut onions, curry leaves, coriander leaves and green chilly.
6. Put all this to the flour mixture.

7. Add grated coconut and mix all the ingredients with required water. Add normal water if required.
8. Let the rotti batter be bit loose. ( Not liquidy).

9. Keep a pan on the fire and heat. Clean the pan with clean towel or kitchen tissue.
10. Take a butter paper and put a teaspoon of oil. Just spread it with your finger all over the paper.
11. Take a handful of rotti mixture and spread it with your fingers. Wet your hand in between while spreading. (Oil/water as you prefer).

12. Put a teaspoon of oil on the hot tava. Spread it around. Place the butter paper upside down. Let the rotti be on downward.
13. Slowly remove the butter paper from rotti , add oil on the top and cook for 1 to 2 minutes on low and medium flame. (Cover the rotti or the upper portion turns with white patches).

14. Turn the other side and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes. Now it is done.

15. Rotti is ready to serve. Serve with your choice of curry /chutney and ghee or butter.
16. Repeat the same with remaining batter.

Note :

Adding more water turns the batter liquid and you can not spread the batter easily on the butter paper. Add little more flour and make it bit thick. Use of oil or water while spreading rotti batter on butter paper is optional. (Oil gives better taste and I have used oil). Adding any other vegetables is optional. You can add dil /methi/palak leaves. Adding more chilly is optional. Cooking rotti on low flame turns the rotti hard.
Time : 40 Minutes
Serves : 4 to 5.

Little Millet / Saame & Moong Dal Sweet Pongal

                          Little Millete/Saame & Moong Dal Sweet Pongal

Ready to serve Little Millete/Saame & Moong Dal Sweet Pongal

Little Millet/Saame is one of the healthy millet and millets are on the healthy wave these days. Though it is said even in those days may be thousands of years ago in India people used to only millets as their daily food not rice. Millets  are grown easily and they do not need much water either.
I have prepared Little millet Huggi and of course it is one of the easy dish that you can cook when you are expecting some guest. No one can say no to this yummy dish I know.
I have used Moong dal, little millet, jaggery, ghee, cardamom and some dry fruits. The fresh coconut adds to the taste.
Little millet is full of fiber and gluten free. It is easy to digest and keeps you full for a long time. It is good for diabetic patient and helps to maintain the blood sugar level.
Let us see the recipe now :

Things Needed :

Little millet : 1 Cup
Moong dal : 1/2 Cup
Jaggery : 1/2 Cup
Fresh grated coconut : 1/2 Cup
Cardamom : 3 to 4 pods
Salt : A pinch
Ghee : 2 to 3 Tablespoons
Milk : 1/2 cup

Method :

1. Wash and cook little millet and moong dal. Add 1/2 cup of milk while cooking.
( 1 Cup little millet : 2 cups of water + 1/2 cup of moong dal : 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup milk. All together 3 cups ).

2. Now keep jaggery in a pan and put some water. Let it melt completely. Sieve this jaggery water and keep the clean jaggery water aside.

3. Keep  a big bowl on the fire and put cleaned jaggery and cooked little millet with moong dal. Add a tablespoon of ghee, so that it does not get burnt at the bottom.
4. Mix all the ingredients nicely. Add salt. Let it turn bit thick. (Let it be on low flame).
5. Mix it well and let it cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Powder cardamom and add it.

6. Grate coconut and add it.

7. Keep a small pan on the fire and put remaining ghee. Fry dry nuts in it. ( Raisins, cashews).

8. Shift the ready Little Millet/Saame & Moong dal Sweet pongal to a serving dish.
9. Put fried nuts and serve hot Little Millet/Saame & Moong dal Sweet Pongal.

Note :

Adding milk while cooking adds to the taste. Add milk along with water. It is better to cook in pressure cooker because it turns soft and nice. Or you might feel the millet grain bit hard. Adding less or more jaggery is optional. Adding more/less ghee is optional. You can add one or two cloves along with cardamoms. It gives nice aroma and good for digestion.
Time : 30 Minutes.
Serves : 4 to 5 .