Rajma Sundal - South Indian Rajma Sundal Recipe for Navaratri

I made this Rajma sundal almost a year back and then decided to wait until Navaratri 2013 to share the recipe. How fast time flies! I am not a fan of rajma and barely cook it except for an occasional rajma masala. It's tough to cook, tough to imbibe flavours into, and generally tasteless. I know I am being harsh (sorry rajma!), but that's really how I feel. Now, a rajma sundal is something I find passable because I generally love sundals and it has that bite from freshly grated coconut which is delicious.

Rajma is one of those things you have to soak before cooking, there's no two ways about that (I do hope someone proves me wrong on this though). Soaking and pressure cooking is the way to start most sundal recipes and htis is no exception. However, I find that I prefer a generous dose of dry red chillies in my rajma sundal than green chillies which are sometimes preferred in sundal recipes.

Also check out - chana dal sundal, kadalai sundal,  green peas sundal, and pattani mangai sundal or beach sundal recipe.

RAJMA SUNDAL RECIPE

Preparation time: 8 hours
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup of rajma or red kidney beans, soaked overnight
2 tsp of oil
1 tsp of split urad dal (ulutham paruppu)
3-4 of dry red chillies, torn into pieces
1/4 tsp of hing powder
1/4 cup of grated coconut
A few curry leaves or a small bunch coriander leaves
1/2 tsp of black mustard seeds

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Drain and wash the soaked rajma and pressure cook for 3-4 whistles. It's tough to cook rajma into a mush so make sure that it's cooked by pressing one between your fingertips. It should disintegrate when you put enough pressure.

2. Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds and urad dal.

3. When the mustard pops and the dal turns golden brown, add the red chillies and curry leaves (I didn't have any so used chopped coriander leaves in the end). Saute the chillies for a few seconds.

4. Add the cooked, drained, rajma and mix well. Add salt.

5. FInally add the grated coconut and chopped coriander (if using).

Serve rajma sundal warm as a snack, with rice and curry as a side dish, and of course, as a neivedyam for the navratri festival.

Green Peas Sundal - South Indian Navaratri Recipes

Sundal and Navaratri festival are almost synonymous but I don't limit something as nutritious and easy to prepare as a sundal to festival season alone. Pretty much all sundals have a similar recipe and the green peas sundal is no different. The only thing that you would need to remember to do ahead is the soaking. I used dried green peas for making this green peas sundal and soaked it for about 4 hours in warm water.

Generally, fresh peas is not used for sundal since it has too much moisture and the consistency won't work well. My mom makes a thoran with fresh peas though, which is delicious and follows a slightly different recipe. So for this recipe, use dried peas - either green or white - soak it and pressure cook it before turning it into this easy and lovely sunday for your navratri cooking and preparations.

Also check out - kadalai paruppu sundal, chana sundal, mochai sundal, and green peas sundal with raw mango.

GREEN PEAS SUNDAL RECIPE

Preparation time: 4 hours
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup of dry green peas
2 tsp of oil
1/2 tsp of black mustard seeds
2 dry red chillies, halved
A few curry leaves
1/4 tsp of hing
1/3 cup of grated coconut

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Soak the peas for about 4 hours in warm water. Pressure cook with enough water to cover them for about 15 mins or 1 whistle. We just want to cook the peas, not turn them to a mush.

2. Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. When they pop, add the rest of the ingredients except coconut and cooked peas. Saute until the red chillies turn a darker shade - about 20 seconds.

3. Add the cooked peas and some salt to this. Mix well.

5. Top off with the coconut and turn off flame. Mix well again and let the flavours mingle for about an hour before serving.

Done! Easy green peas sundal is now ready.

While sundal is a popular navratri dish, you can serve it as a snack or even with rice and curry for lunch or dinner. Pretty much any legume can be made into sundal - it's light and healthy.

Kanchipuram Idli - Kanchipuram Idli Recipe - Easy South Indian Breakfasts

I tasted Kanchipuram idli once about 6 or 7 years ago and didn't like it. It was harder than regular idli, for one, and the flavour of the spices, especially the cumin, was overpowering the delicate idli flavour that should have shone through. So yeah, Kandhipuram idli and I had a pretty rough start and I soon forgot about this popular idli variety. The striking thing that stayed with me, however, is that the Kanchipuram idli is not made in traditional, round, idli moulds but rather in a pan or plate, to be cut later into squares or wedges before serving.

When you blog about food, you realise that you go to great lengths to cook as many unique and varied dishes as possible, mostly because that's your thing, you are the food blogger, and partly because you want new content for the blog. I am always looking for new things to cook, especially when I have people over. This Kanchipuram idli seemed like the perfect starter for a brunch I hosted a couple months before leaving Singapore.

So what did I do differently in my version of Kanchipuram idli versus the one I tried all those years ago? I spiced my idli batter before fermenting, and I toned down the amount of pepper and cumin, making sure the idli batter flavour can shine through easily. I also had to come to terms with the fact that Kanchipuram idli is a bit on the denser side than a regular idli, that's all. Paired with an easy tomato thokku, it really set a good tone for the rest of the meal I'd prepared.

I used homemade idli batter for these idlis but they can definitely be adapted for use with readymade batter too. I have added some tips at the end of this post if that's the way you want to take it. Remember to adjust all spices and extras to your personal taste and preference.

Also check - idli batter recipe, rava idli, and idli with idli rava.

KANCHIPURAM IDLI RECIPE

Preparation time: 8 hours
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Serves 4-6 as a starter

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup of whole urad dal (ulutham paruppu)
3 cups of idli rice
1/2 tsp of coarse black pepper powder
1/2 tsp of crushed cumin seeds
1 tsp of grated ginger
1/4 tsp of hing (asafoetida)
1 tbsp of gingelly oil or ghee or a mix of both
A few curry leaves

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Grind the idli batter first. You can follow instructions in this post on how to make idli batter. Soak the rice for about 4 hours and the urad dal for 1 hour. Grind them both separately (urad dal first) into smooth batters with sufficient water and mix together.

2. To this, add the pepper powder, cumin, ginger, hing, and some salt.

3. Mix thoroughly. Remove spoon, close the bowl lightly with and let it ferment in a warm spot for about 8 hours.

4. Here's how the batter looks after fermentation.

Give it a gentle stir with a spoon so as not to break into the air too much.

5. Heat the oil (or ghee or a mix) and add the curry leaves.

As the sizzle comes to an end, add to the batter and mix well.

6. Grease whatever mould you are using (even a plate with sides will do) lightly and pour the batter in. Make sure the idli is about 1" to 1.5" tall. Lower into a steamer or pressure cooker with water in it.

7. Steam for about 10 mins or until the sides start to leave the pan.

Cool, cut, and serve with a spicy thokku or South Indian coconut chutney. It's delicious as a snack, breakfast, or a starter for a South Indian brunch.

Note: If you are using store-bought idli batter, just add the spices and the tempering of curry leaves before making the idli, mix well, and proceed to cook. You can save a lot of time in preparing Kanchipuram idlis by skipping the fermentation step. 

For Kanchipuram Idli recipe in Tamil, please use the Google translate drop down on the right hand sidebar.

Cumin Rasam Recipe - Jeera Rasam Recipe with Pepper

Cumin Rasam or jeera rasam is a South Indian Iyer style rasam recipe that I got from my MIL long back. Then I duly forgot the recipe and made up my own. It's quite similar to her pepper rasam recipe but is more heavy on the cumin which gives it a wonderful aroma and taste and doesn't use tomatoes or garlic. This is also a rasam with no dal so that means less time spent on making it but we do use fresh rasam powder so there's a bit of roasting and grinding involved. I love preparing this cumin rasam in bulk which means I can easily use it for 3-4 meals, mostly weeknights for dinner.

In a way, it truly amazes me how many different varieties of rasam I know to cook now. When growing up, rasam was served in our home only if someone was sick or amma was feeling too lazy to make a 'nicer' thakkali kuzhambu or ullipaya pulusu. And, I have mentioned this before, we only make one version of rasam which has lots of crushed pepper and garlic, and no dal.

Being married to a Tamil Brahmin has opened up this whole world of rasams and boy, am I grateful! But the biggest food discovery for me has been paruppu usili. I love that thing and totally regret the years lost not knowing of its existence.

My top 3 favourite rasams are Milagu Rasam, Tomato Rasam, and Mysore Rasam. Here's the entire list of rasam recipes if you want to browse around a bit.

JEERA RASAM RECIPE

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:
1 lime-sized ball of tamarind
1 pinch of hing or asafoetida
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
To Roast and Grind:
1 tsp of oil
1 tsp of cumin seeds (jeera)
1/2 tsp of black peppercorns
2 dry red chillies
1.5 tsp of toor dal or channa dal
For Tempering:
1 tsp of ghee or oil
A few of curry leaves
1/2 tsp of mustard seeds
1 of dry red chilli, halved
1/4 tsp of methi seeds (menthayam)

INSTRUCTIONS:

0. Add about 1 cup warm water to the tamarind, extract juice, and discard the pulp and seeds, if any.

1. In a pan, heat 1 tsp oil and add the spices to roast.

2. Roast until the dal turns golden brown. Turn off flame, add the hing, mix well, and set aside to cool.

3. Meanwhile, heat the ghee or oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. When they pop, add the halved red chilli, methi seeds, and curry leaves. Fry for 5 seconds, taking care not to burn the methi seeds.

4. Add the tamarind juice along with 2 more cups of water and bring to boil. Simmer for about 12-15 mins until the raw smell of the tamarind goes.

5. Meanwhile, powder the spices as fine or coarse as you want.

6. Add this to the simmering tamarind mixture along with required amount of salt. You can add half the spice mixture, taste as you go and then add more if you need it. I used up the entire thing. Some may find the spice levels too high, in which case, adjust the amount of pepper or

7. After add the spices, don't boil the rasam for too long. When it begins to simmer, remove from flame.

Keep covered until ready to serve. This Jeera Rasam tastes fabulous with banana stem usili and cabbage thoran.

Brinjal Vindaloo Recipe - Vegetarian Vindaloo Recipe with Brinjal

Amma shared the recipe for this Brinjal Vindaloo a few months ago. I had only heard of pork vindaloo until then and hadn't given the dish much thought but when she read out the recipe for a vegetarian vindaloo with brinjal from a magazine, I was intrigued. She strongly recommended it since she had tried the recipe and it came out nice. "Your blog readers would love it", she said. I said I'll definitely try and share the recipe soon. Then in true Nags style, I forgot all about it. My mother, on the other hand, is not sloppy like me. She waited a couple of weeks for me to get back on how the vindaloo came out and seeing nothing from my end, made it again in her kitchen, got my uncle to click the pictures step by detailed step, and had him send it to me with the recipe.

You would think I would have posted it immediately, hanging my head in shame for being such a slacker, right? Nope. I waited another 4 months before actually posting it here. I blame it on the relocation and all, but let's face it, I am not my mother's daughter when it comes to lack of laziness and inertia.

Anyway, less about me and more about the Vindaloo. It's an Indian adaptation from a Portuguese dish originally made with wine. Most popular in Goa, Vindaloo is meant to be a dish with meat, usually pork or lamb. Lots of Indian restaurants outside India serve this dish with an addition of potatoes and marked spicy. Since the Vindaloo has evolved so much and become so Indianised anyway, why not a vegetarian version of Vindaloo, eh?

Other Brinjal Recipes on Edible Garden I love - Bagara Baingan, Iyer-syle Gotsu for Pongal, Brinjal Masala.

VEGETARIAN BRINJAL VINDALOO RECIPE

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves 4
Recipe source: Malayala Manorama Weekly Magazine
PIctures courtesy: Amma and Radhamama

INGREDIENTS:
500 grams of baby brinjal or eggplant
2 cups of thinly sliced onions
1 tbsp of tomato sauce
2 tsp of Kashmiri chilli powder (adjust to taste)
1 tsp of cumin or jeera
1/4 tsp of fenugreek seeds or uluva (menthayam/methi)
1/2 tsp of black mustard seeds
8 cloves of garlic, peeled
1" piece of ginger
1 tbsp of vinegar
1-2 tsp of sugar
1/4 cup of oil (we used coconut oil)
1/2 tsp of turmeric powder

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Make a mix of turmeric powder and required amount of salt in a small bowl. Wash and pat dry the brinjal. Amma used these small green variety of brinjal but use any kind you get. You can even use large eggplant, cubed.

2. Make deep vertical slits in the brinjal without slicing them. Rub in the salt+turmeric mix and set aside.

3. Heat the oil and add the brinjal. Shallow roast them until they turn soft and semi cooked as seen below. Drain and set aside on paper towels so the extra oil is absorbed.

4. In the same oil, add the sliced onions and fry until golden brown. You can top up more oil if needed.

Drain and set aside.

5. Grind the garlic and ginger together into a coarse paste. Highly recommend using fresh ginger and garlic in this recipe rather than the bottled stuff.

6. Add this paste to the same pan used for the brinjal and onions and saute on low flame until browned and fragrant. Take care not to burn it.

7. Powder the spices - jeera, fenugreek, chilli powder, mustard - and add to the ginger garlic paste. Saute until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Then add the tomato sauce and saute a bit more, you should see the oil clearly separating from the masala.

8. Add a 2 cups of water to this and the cooked brinjal and the fried onions. Bring to boil and add the vinegar and sugar. Let it simmer for about 3-4 mins or until the gravy reaches the consistency you desire. Add salt and garnish with coriander leaves or mint leaves if preferred.

This brinjal vindaloo is a great combination with chapati or roti but you can also serve it with a simple vegetable pulao or jeera rice.

Peanut Mint Chutney Recipe - Peanut Chutney with Mint for Rice, Idli

I like peanut chutney as a change in my normal chutney routine, so adding some mint to it and kicking it up a notch seemed like a no-brainer. Although in Andhra I have seen peanut chutney being served with tiffin like idli and dosa, I love it with rice, especially since it's a no-coconut chutney recipe. I have a version of peanut chutney recipe here already but this is more minty and watery, perfect with rice, rasam, and a poriyal. I also love how the mint in the chutney makes it more flavourful and pretty to look at.

I feel like chutneys are so easy to prepare for lunch and you feel like there are lots of side dishes by adding a simple chutney to your lunch menu. It seems a bit like cheating but if the chutney is delicious and goes fabulous with rice, why not?

As I was cleaning out the fridge to prepare for our relocation, a whole bag of peanuts jumped out at me and I started adding them to everything in excess - like puliyogare, lemon rice, even simple vegetable rice.

Pair it with a tangy rasam like the drumstick rasam, and a mild vegetable curry like keerai poriyal and you have yourself a wonderful South Indian lunch menu to enjoy with little effort. Check out this list of Chutney Recipes to browse through some of my favourites. For rice, I really love paruppu thogayal and chow chow chutney.

PEANUT MINT CHUTNEY RECIPE (NO COCONUT)

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Serves 2
Adpated from: Siri

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup of raw, unsalted peanuts with skins
2 tbsp of white sesame seeds
1/2 cup of mint leaves, packed
2 green chillies
A small piece of tamarind
2 tsp of oil
1/2 tsp of black mustard seeds
1 red chilli, halved
1/2 tsp of split urad dal
A pinch of hing or asafoetida

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Dry roast the peanuts and sesame seeds in a pan until charred or browned. You can add the sesame seeds a bit later since peanuts take longer to roast. Set aside to cool.

2. Heat 1 tsp oil in the same pan and add the green chillies, mint leaves, and some salt. Saute until the leaves wilt and turn soft. Set side to cool.

3. Once cool. transfer the peanut mixture and mint leaves to a grinder and add a small piece of tamarind or 1/2 tsp tamarind pulp (to your taste).

4. Grind this to a smooth paste using water.

5. Heat the remaining 1 tsp oil and add the mustard seeds. When they pop, add the red chilli, urad dal, and hing.

6. When the dal turns a golden brown, add the ground chutney and mix well. Adjust salt as required.

Serve Peanut Mint Chutney with rice and curry. Yum!

For Peanut Chutney recipe in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Marathi, Urdu, please use the Google Translate bar in the top right sidebar of this site.