Idli/dosai + Chutney

So, as part of thingies for ze uzzer blog, I posted this. And it's totally worthy of crossposting, and proof that I HAVE TOO BEEN COOKING!

I have been cooking a LOT. I have invented recipes and adapted recipes, found a new favourite chocolate cake and, my biggest achievement in the kitchen, become a good maker of south Indian food. In fact, with the copious demands from the Poo and Kutti, I am toying with calling myself the Idlimaker of Alaknanda. Hee. So without further ado, I present to you the idli/dosai and chutney.

For the idli/dosai maavu:
1 cup white urad
1 cup boiled rice/idli rava (if you don't have, use normal rice)
little less than 1 cup raw rice
1/4 cup/handful yellow moong
1 tbsp methi seeds

Soak for 6-8 hours at least the urad in lots of water in one bowl, and the rest in lots of water in another one. Now grind them in a mixie that has steel jars, as follows. Use as little water as possible at the beginning. The urad happens in one shot, and the rice in two. You will have to stick figners in there and feel the texture. The urad is done when it's super smooth and gooey. In fact if you can keep the water to a minimum you will find it won't stick to the sides of the micie or to a spoon, and that you can use for vadai. It is even more important that the rice be ground dry as much as possible first, because once there's water in it, it won't become a paste very easily. This part of the maavu can be s little grainy--no problem. Mix the two up in a large bowl--the mixture shouldn't come to much more than half the bowl. Cover and leave in a warm place overnight to ferment. This can be tricky in the summer cos it'll get really sour, and in the winter, cos it won't rise. For the former, try and keep an eye on it and for the latter, if you have an oven, turn it on for 5 minutes at lowest setting, turn it off and bung the maavu in. Another thing that works for me is to keep it in the sun, but that involves being there to keep an eye on it. Salt to taste after fermentation.

To make idlis, keep it thick--just about pourable. For dosais, you need more water, definitely pouring consistency. This is sadly one place where you have to experiment and find your mojo.

For the green chutney of death:
Half a medium coconut, grated or chopped small
About the same amount of pottu kadalai (This is basically roasted chana dal, so you can actually just roast some chana dal with a little oil at home as a substitute)
One bunch of coriander leaves
2-3 green chillies, de-seeded (this is actually up to you, make it as hot as you like, or not)
A small piece of tamarind, say the area of the top segment of your index finger (see what I mean about quantifying?)
Half a small onion
2 tsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp urad dal
2-3 dried red chillies
10-12 Curry leaves
a pinch of asafoetida (hing/peringayam) (well a shake, cos it comes in those little bottles here)
Salt to taste

If the coconut is chopped not grated, whizz it in the mixie till it looks grated. Add the kadalai and whizz till they are nicely ground up. No water just yet! Toss in everything up to the onion and whizz some more. Now you can add water in small amounts till the chutney is as chutneyfied as you like it. (I like it smooth, Amma likes it chunky.) Now heat the oil in a really small pan, or, if you have it, a tadka pan. When it's hot, toss in mustard. When the seeds start to pop, toss in urad. Once it starts to brown, toss in chillies and hing. Once chillies are looking cooked, and before anything burns, toss in the curry leaves and add the tadka to the chutney. Voila!

Lentil soup

Or, I'm sick of dal, and I can't be bothered to make veggies.

For pre-cooking and background, see this.

• 1/2 cup uncooked brown lentils (masoor dal), pre-cooked
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp oil
• 1 tsp garlic paste

You can also add any herbs you like, paprika and tomato would be nice, also rosemary or thyme if you like them.

Cook the garlic paste in the oil, add the cooked lentils and the spices, and salt to taste. bring to a boil.

To make this recipe more filling, you can poach an egg into the soup. Simply crack the egg into the boiling lentils, cover the pot and cook as long as you want.

Any dal (this one is awesome with arhar)

For pre-cooking and background, see this.

• 1/2 cup uncooked dal, pre-cooked.
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds (big black ones)
• 1/2 tsp jeera powder
• 1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 small tomato finely chopped
• 5-6 curry leaves (fresh if pos, dried also work)

Heat the oil and put the mustard seeds in. When they start to pop, add the rest of the spices, curry leaves (they will leap about if fresh) and the ginger garlic and fry for a bit. Add the onions till pearly, then tomato till juice runs, and then dal and salt. Bring to a boil.

Masoor dal

For pre-cooking and other background, see this.

This works with any dal actually.

• 1/2 cup uncooked dal, pre-cooked 
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp dhania powder
• 1/2 tsp jeera powder
• 1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 small tomato finely chopped
• fresh coriander (optional)

Fry the spices in the oil for a couple of minutes. Add the ginger garlic and cook for a minute. Add the onion and saute till pearly. Add the tomato and cook till juices flow. Add the dal, salt to taste and bring to a boil. Garnish with fresh coriander.

Simplest moong dal

For pre-cooking and background, see this.

• 1/2 cup uncooked moong dal, pre-cooked
• 1 tsp oil 
• 1 tsp jeera powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder (optional)

Fry the jeera, and the turmeric if you're using it, in the oil nicely, so it smells all cooked. Like 2 min or so. Add the dal, and salt to taste, bring to a boil. And ta-DAAAAA(L)!

Chilka dal (masoor and moong)

For precooking and background, see this.

• 1 cup uncooked dal, pre-cooked
• 1 tsp oil
• 2 tsp dhania powder
• 1 tsp jeera powder
• 1 tsp kasoori methi (optional but totally worth it)
• 1 tsp ginger garlic paste

Heat oil in pan. Add ginger garlic and spices and cook for about a minute. Pour dal in, add salt and bring to a boil. Ta-DAAAA(L)!

Lentils

Pre-cooking Lentils
I have established a habit of pressure cooking dals on a regular basis. Now, I grew up in a house where we used a cooker whose entire top came off, and you put tiered vessels inside it with carious things in the vessels. This way we would cook rice, dal to go in the sambar, and the potatoes to make into curry all in one go. Many people in India I have learnt do not follow this system. They use what I refer to as the Hawkins system (ours is the Prestige one), where the lid fits into a hole in the top of the cooker and you can only cook one thing at a time. The other major difference is that the whistle of the Prestige cooker comes off while that of the Hawkins doesn't. More on that another time. Having grown up like that it really feels like a waste to run th cooker and not cook more than one thing in it at a time, so I usually make two batches of lentils at a time, or chana and rajma together, etc. Which means I end up with a lot of cooked-and-awaiting-seasoning dal in the fridge and boy do I get sick of it sometimes, though I am glad that often I need only five minutes to make it.

Ok, I'm rambling. The point is, here you go easy dal recipes! The oil is based on a minimum of half a cup of raw dal, which should do 2 people at one meal. I don't eat chillies, but you can always add chilli powder/green chillies to taste. You can dilute the recipes to any thinness you want - generally yellow dals tend to be thinner than the other ones.

Chilka dal (dal with the skins on)
Take your dal, green moong or brown masoor.
Dal: water = 1:3
2 bay leaves
A medium onion in chunks
15 minutes on the Prestige; 3 whistles on the Hawkins

Yellow dal (moong or masoor)
These guys cook much faster, even in an hour or less on the stovetop without a cooker. Do not confuse them with yellow tuar or arhar dal, which needs 15-20 min in the cooker. Masoor is in fact orange but once cooked turns yellow.
Dal:water = 1:3
10 minutes in Prestige, 2 whistles in Hawkins

Yellow dal (tuar/arhar)
Dal:water = 1:3
15 minutes on the Prestige; 3 whistles on the Hawkins