Cabbage Dhal

I usually have cabbage stocked in my fridge. It lasts long, and each time I buy one, cannot finish it all at once. Having a lot of friends from the states south to mine (Maharashtra), I increasingly find my cooking influenced by their cooking techniques and even recipes. I love that many recipes in Marathi food / cuisine is very similar to Andhra food....so I have most of the ingredients handy, and I can find easy twists to my usual recipes :)

Try this Cabbage Dhal, it is a quick way to incorporate Vegetable and Dhal in one recipe....serve hot with Rice / Roti....

Recipe:

1/2 cup toor daal
1/2 cup masoor daal
3 cups finely chopped cabbage
hing - 2 pinches
kadipatta leaves 10
1/8 tsp mustard
1/4 tsp urad daal
2-3 pinches turmeric
2 tsp oil
1tsp salt
1 tsp sambar masala

Pressure cook both daals together until fully cooked. Mash and keep aside.
Heat oil, add mustard seeds, whenthey crackle, add urad daal. When the Urad Daal browns, add hing, kadipatta. Wash chopped cabbage and put it in seasoning. Cook with a lid, until cabbage is fully cooked. When cabbage is fully cooked, add turmeric, sambar masala, stir. Add salt. Then add mashed daal and let this come to a boil. The daal should not be very liquidy...

Serve hot with Rice / Rotis...For kids, top with some ghee.... Enjoy!

Chicken Patties - a good snack...

Chicken.... I love it! I use the Blogs and various internet sites to try out a new chicken recipe each and every time... We are offering it to our child as it is a good source of protein...a little goes a long way. I have created this recipe to make a snack or a finger food for my little one... I hope you enjoy it and as always ,send me any feedback / ideas.

Chicken Patties
1-2 Chicken Breasts / thighs
1 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp salt
1.5 cup water
Garam Masala to Taste
Picnch of turmeric
2-3 tsp chopped cilantro
bread crumbs
Oil to fry

Thaw the chicken breasts / thighs. Put in pressure cooker with water, ginger, garlic, salt. Give 2 - whistles. Take it out and shred the chiken. Mix with cilantro, garam masala, a pinch of turmeric. Taste...add salt if necessary. Coat with breadcrumbs...fry and enjoy!! serve with ranch dressing / ketchup.

For the adult version, add chopped / grated onion, capsicum....its yummy! serve with ketchup

Green Moong Dosa

This recipe is quite popular with my friends in Andhra. I found it apt to feed children and would like to share it with you all.

Recipe:
1 cup split moong (with the green skin)
1/4 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp salt
chopped white onion, cilantro (optional)

Soak moong for couple hours and then to a smooth paste with ginger and salt. Then make dosas sprinking onion and cilantro....serve with ghee / yoghurt.

This recipe makes for a healthy snack, that is packed in protein and can be enjoyed by elders too. The elders would love some chutney with it.....

Squash Roti

I am not very fond of red squash dishes. I have found however that it is used in a couple ways which enhances its flavors. One of them is to make a dough with it and make a roti out of it...Turn out very good. Red Squash/ pumpkin is a very healthy vegetable and this preperation will make it easy for all to eat.

Ingredients:
2 cups wheat flour
3/4 cup rice flour
1/4 cup besan (optional if you child cannot digest it)
1/4 tsp hing
1 tsp jeera
1 tsp sesame seeds
1 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp chilli powder (vary to your level of spice)
1/4 tsp coriander
1 cup beaten yoghurt
1.5 tsp salt
1 cup red pumpkin puree. ( You can buy frozen puree in a grocery store. else cook and grind)

Make a dough with all the ingerdients. Roll out like a chappati and cook well with ghee...IT is ver yummy...
Enjoy with dahi / raita / pickle.

Veggie Pasta Kids Love.....

Its a challenge to get kids to eat all veggies. This recipe incorporates a lot of vegetables that are cooked in the oven, giving them that yummy taste and then mixed with a pasta of your choice....
I use red / yellow Bell Peppers to add color variation, which kids love...

Colorful Pasta.
Cut 1 carrot, 1 zucchini, 1 floret of brocolli, 1 red / orange / yellow Bell Pepper, 1 onion in sizable vertical pieces. Mix them with olive oil, salt and oregano. Set them in 1 layer on a baking tray and bake for 30-40 minutes, tossing them around as needed.\

Boil a Pasta of your choice on the side. When the veggies are cooked ot your level of consistency, toss them with the Pasta.
You can also serve with a White PAsta Sauce...if you feel this preperation is dry...

My family and I love it, hope you will too...