Vatanyachi Usal/ Misal- White Peas Curry



Vatanyachi usal is a popular Maharastrian breakfast recipe.The usal is made using different varieties of lentils such as white peas,moth beans and mung beans.
The usal is served as such or can be eaten along with rice and roti.If the usal topped with some farsan(mixture) and chopped onion,tomato and served with pav is Misal.
This was in my to do list since long time.Couple of days back when I was looking my cook book collections to make something for Cookbook Challenge this recipe caught my attention.
In the original recipe the entire cooking process was done using pressure cooker.But I cooked the soaked white peas in the pressure cooker for two whistles and the rest of the cooking in the pan.The usal came out very delicious and had it for our evening snack along with some homemade pav buns.It tasted heavenly after shoveling almost 30 inches of snow.It was bit quite filling snack and we skipped our dinner.Lets move on to the recipe.......




                                                                      
                                                                   Vatanyachi Usal/Misal


                                                                  
   Basic Information

   Preparation time ~ 10-15 minutes
   Soaking time~ 6-8 hours
   Cooking time ~ 25 minutes
   Serves ~ 3-4
    


   Ingredients


  

Ingredient
Quantity
White peas/vatana/vellai pattani
3/4 cup
Onion (finely chopped)
2 (medium size)
Tomato (finely chopped)
1 (medium size)
Ginger&garlic paste
11/2 tsp
Red chilly powder/milagi podi
2 tsp
Coriander powder/dhaniya podi
2  tsp
Turmeric powder/manjal podi
1/4 tsp
1/4 tsp
Grated coconut
2 tbs
Tamarind paste
11/2 tsp
Cumin seeds/jeeragam
1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves (chopped)
1 tbs
Salt
 1-1.25 tsp
Oil
2 tbs 

  To serve
Ingredient
Quantity
Pav buns
6
Onion (finely chopped)
as needed
Tomato (finely chopped)
as needed
Coriander leaves(finely chopped)
as needed
Farsan/Mixture
1/2-3/4 cup
Lemon wedges
few

   
    Method 
  • Soak the white peas for at least 6 hours and pressure cook it for couple of whistles with a pinch of salt and adequate amount of water.The white peas should not get mushy.
  • Heat a pan with 2 tsp ofoil,add in around 2-3 tbs of chopped onion.Saute it till it becomes transparent.Now add the ginger&garlic paste and fry it for a minute.Add in all the spice powders,grated coconut.

  • Mix it well and put off the flame.After cooling grind it to a smooth paste along with water.Now heat the pan with the rest of the oil and crackle the cumin seeds.Add in the remaining chopped onion and saute it till the onion becomes transparent.Now goes in the chopped tomato and cook it until mushy.

  • Now add in the ground paste and stir in,add around 2 cups of water,salt and tamarind paste.Let it simmer for 5-6 minutes.At this stage add in the cooked white peas and let it simmer for another couple of minutes.Sprinkle the chopped coriander leaves and put off the flame.

  • Serve it with roti and rice or pav.






      • Addition of tamarind paste is to get an extra tangy taste.
      • Do not over cook the the white peas it may turn mushy.
      • If you feel the gravy is not thick enough,mash a handful of peas and add it to the curry.

      Enjoy.........................................

      Egg Pepper Fry/Muttai Milagu Varuval


      I wanted to share my mom's signature surul appam recipe for day 3.But the coconut what I got was not good as surul appam needs fresh grated coconut.So decided to share the egg pepper fry. This recipe we makeoften to accompany with comfort rasam or dal rice.Mom used to make when she ran out of veggies.Here I halved the eggs and apply the masala and cook it both sides.It can be add to the masala and cook it.Off to the recipe..........






                                                                            
                                                                    Egg Pepper Fry/Muttai MIlagu Varuval


                                                                        
         Basic Information

         Preparation time ~ 10-15 minutes
         Cooking time ~ 25 minutes
         Serves ~ 3-4
          


         Ingredients


        

      Ingredient
      Quantity
      Egg/muttai (boiled)
      4
      Onion (finely chopped)
      1 (medium size)
      Tomato (finely chopped)
      1 (medium size)
      Ginger&garlic paste
      11/2 tsp
      Red chilly powder/milagi podi
      1/4 tsp
      Coriander powder/dhaniya podi
      1/2  tsp
      Turmeric powder/manjal podi
      1/4 tsp
      1/4 tsp
      Fennel seeds/sombu
      1 tsp
      Black pepper/milagu
      1 tsp
      Curry leaves/karivepillai
      few leaves
      Coriander leaves (chopped)
      1 tbs
      Salt
       1-1.25 tsp
      Oil
      1 tbs +2 tsp

        


         
          Method 
      • Boil the eggs in water and remove the shell and keep it aside.Dry roast the fennel and black pepper for couple of minutes and powder it in a mortar,set it aside.
      • Heat a pan with oil,toast the curry leaves and add in the chopped onion.Saute it till it becomes transparent.Now add the ginger&garlic paste and fry it for a minute.Then goes in the chopped tomatoes.Cook it until mushy.

      •  Now add in the spice powders such as red chilly powder,coriander powder,turmeric powder and garam masala powder along with salt.Mix it well and add around 1/4 cup of water and cook it covered in a medium flame.Now once the mixture becomes thick,add in the ground pepper and fennel.

      • Mix it well and finally add the chopped coriander leaves,put off the flame.Now apply the prepared masala on the eggs.

      • Heat a dosa griddle or any flat griddle,add the 2 tsp of oil and fry it both sides.Remove it once both the sides get cooked.

      • Serve it with rice  and rasam or dhal.




        • Lemon juice can be squeezed after frying to get an extra tangy taste.
        • Do not over cook the eggs,otherwise it turned out rubbery.
        • After adding all the spice powder mix it well and keep the flame low to avoid burning.

        Check out the blogging marathon page for my fellow bloggers participating in Blogging Marathon #60.


        Vatha Kulambhu/Sunda Vathal Kulmabhu/Sun Dried Turkey Berry in Tamarind Sauce


        For the day 2 of Blogging Marathon #60,themed under family recipes is Vatha Kulambhu.Vatha kulambhu can be made in many ways with or with no onion and garlic,freshly ground spice powder or sambar powder.
        Already I have shared my mom's version of no onion garlic vatha kulambhu with manathathakkali vathal.
        Coming to today's version its made with sun dried turkey berry(sunda vathal) and mango(maa vathal).Also it is made with sambar powder.As we prefer our vatha kulambhu to be on the thicker side I made it slightly thicker.Consistency is personal preference and also the addition of maa vathal is optional.
        My mom used a little bit of red chilly powder along with sambar powder to get a nice color.I got my last batch of mom's homemade vathal during my India trip.While making this kulambhu I was so emotional and going to miss her home made goodies.Lets move on to the recipe...





                                                                              
                                                                   Vatha Kulambhu/Sunda Vatha Kulambhu


                                                                          
           Basic Information

            Preparation time ~ 10-15 minutes
           Cooking time ~ 25 minutes
           Serves ~ 3-4
            


           Ingredients


          

        Ingredient
        Quantity
        Shallots/chinna vengayam
        10-12
        Garlic/poondu
        7-8 fat cloves
        Dried turkey berry/sunda vathal
        2 tbs
        Dried Mango/maa vathal
        7-8 pieces
        Red chilly powder/milagi podi
        1/2 tsp
        Coriander powder/dhaniya podi
        1/2  tsp
        Turmeric powder/manjal podi
        1/4 tsp
        1 tbs
        Tamarind/puli
         small lemon size
        Salt
         1-1.25 tsp
        Oil
        2-2.5 tbs

           For the tempering


        Ingredient
        Quantity
        Mustard seeds/kadugu
        1 tsp
        Toor dhal/thuvaram paruppu
        1 tbs
        Fenugreek seeds/vendhayam
        1/8 tsp
        Asafoetida/perungayam
        a pinch
        Curry leaves/karivepillai
        few leaves
        Dried red chilly/varamilagai
        1(broken)



           
            Method 
        • Soak the tamarind and maa vathal in hot water and separately for few minutes.Squeeze the tamarind and extract keep it aside.In a tsp of oil fry the sunda vathal till it becomes crispy and golden.Set it aside.
        •  Heat a pan with oil and do the tempering with the given ingredients,add in the curry leaves and broken red chilly.Saute the shallots for couple of minutes and goes in the garlic.Cook it till the onion becomes transparent.Now add in the spice powder and give it a mix.

        • Add in the tamarind water and let it boil for a minute.Add in the salt and let it simmer for 10-12 minutes.Add in the soaked maa vathal and cook it for a minute.

        • At this stage add in the fried sunda vathal and let it simmer for another couple of minutes.Put off the flame.

        • Serve it with rice  and kottu.



          • As the dried vathal also has salt,so keep an eye on while adding the salt.
          • The consistency is personal choice.
          • After adding all the spice powder mix it well and keep the flame low to avoid burning of powders.
          • Here I cut the onion and garlic into 2 as the size was slightly bigger.If the size is small you can add it as such.


          Enjoy........................................


          Check out the blogging marathon page for my fellow bloggers participating in Blogging Marathon #60.


          Kathirikkai Kondakadalai Kottu Curry/Eggplant and Chickpeas Curry


          We are entering the 3rd week of Blogging marathon#60 and for this week I chose Family recipes.Today I sharing you a kottu curry made with baby eggplant and chickpeas.This is one of my mom's signature recipe and she calls this one as kottu curry.Usually kottu is made with lentil and veggies but here no lentil is used and she made this way.Whenever I make this kootu never able to get the exact taste of her.

          While drafting the post I was emotional and tears were rolling down.I lost my mother couple of months back and its hard to cope up with her loss.She was my friend,philosopher,guide,mentor,still couldn't believe she is no more.The cooking knowledge what I have is inherited from her. She was an amazing cook and tried to do lot of experiments in food.

          She worked as Tamil Teacher for 33 years.Though she was working never compromised on food and cooked an elaborate meal for us everyday.She made varieties when it comes to food.She loved painting,drawing rangoli and got a very nice and beautiful voice so liked to sing.

          Coming to the recipe,its a simple curry made in few minutes,whenever we wanted to have some comfortable lunch she made along with rasam and some fry and pappad.This kottu curry can be served as an accompaniment or can be mixed along with rice.But we prefer to mix it along with rice and made it for last weekend lunch and served it potato fry and pappad.Off to the recipe.............




                                                                                
                                                                   Kathirikkai Kondakadalai Kottu Curry


                                                                            
             Basic Information

             Soaking time ~ 8 hours
             Preparation time ~ 10-15 minutes
             Cooking time ~ 25 minutes
             Serves ~ 3-4
              


             Ingredients


            

          Ingredient
          Quantity
          Black chickpeas/kondakadalai
          1/2 cup
          Small round eggplant/kathirikkai
          5-6 (chopped)
          Onion(roughly chopped)
          1 (medium size)
          Tomato(finely chopped)
          1 (medium size)
          Red chilly powder/milagi podi
          1 tsp
          Coriander powder/dhaniya podi
          1  tsp
          Turmeric powder/manjal podi
          1/4 tsp
          Salt
          1 tsp
          Coconut /thengai
           3-4 tbs (grated)
          Cumin seeds/jeeragam
           1 tbs

           For the tempering

          Ingredient
          Quantity
          Mustard seeds/kadugu
          1 tsp
          Urad dhal/ulutham paruppu
          1 tsp
          Cumin seeds/jeeragam
          1/2 tsp
          Asafoetida/perungayam
          a pinch
          Curry leaves/karivepillai
          few leaves
          Oil
          2 tsp
          Shallots/chinna vengayam
          2(finely chopped)
          Dried red chilly/varamilagai
          1 (broken)


             
              Method 
          • Cook the soaked chickpeas in a pressure cooker with enough water with a pich of salt for 2-3 whistles and keep it aside. 
          • Now in a pan take a cup of water and to this add the chopped onion,tomato and eggplants.Let it cook for one boil.At this stage add in the spice powders and salt.

          •  Cook it covered for few minutes or till the veggies become tender.Add in the cooked chickpeas and let it boil.

          • Meanwhile grind the coconut and cumin seeds to a fine paste.Add the fine paste and let it cook till the raw smell goes off.

          • Do the tempering with the given ingredients and add it to the kottu curry and mix it well.Put off the flame.
          .
          • Serve it with rice .




          • White chickpeas can also used instead of black one.
          • The consistency can be personal choice,if you want it to be in thicker side add little more coconut for the paste.

          Enjoy..................

          Check out the blogging marathon page for my fellow bloggers participating in Blogging Marathon #60.

          Chegodilu / Chekodi / Ring Murukku /Crispy Rice Flour Ring


          For the final day of regional recipes from Andhra cuisine for Blogging Marathon is chegolidu aka chekodi.
          I enjoy these crispy rings whenever my friend and her mom makes.I never made it myself and tried it for the first time with my friend's instruction.
          Its a perfect munching snack along with a cup of tea.As we heve the habit of  accompaning some murukku or mixture with our sambar rice,we had it with our meal.




                                                                                
                                                                                                        Chegodilu/Chekodi


                                                                            
             Basic Information

             Preparation time ~ 35 minutes
             Soaking time ~30 minutes
             Cooking time ~ 20 minutes
             Makes ~ 45-50 (medium size)
              


             Ingredients


            

          Ingredient
          Quantity
          Rice flour/arisi maavu
          1 cup
          Yellow moong Dhal/paasiparuppu
          1 tbs
          Red chilly powder
          1 tsp
          Butter/vennai
          2 tsp
          Cumin seeds/jeeragam
          1 tsp
          Salt
          1 tsp
          Oil
          for frying

           

             
              Method 
          • Soak the dhal in water for 30 minutes.Heat a pan with a cup of water and to this add cumin seeds,soaked moong dhal,salt,red chilly powder and butter.Let it come to a boil.When the water is boiling add the rice flour and mix it well with a ladle or spatula.Once the water is absorbed,put off the flame and cover it.Let it come to a luke warm.
          • Now take the dough on a plate and  gently knead the dough to make it smoother.Keep it covered.Grease the palms with oil if needed and take a pinch of small gooseberry size of dough.Roll it on a rolling board with the palms to make a rope and join the ends to make a ring.
          • Make it similar way for one batch and arrange the rings on a plate.Heat the oil in a pan and once it becomes hot drop in the rings.Fry it in a medium flame till it becomes golden and crispy.Drain it on a paper towel and let it cool down completely.

            • Store it in an air tight container.




            • Cook it in a medium flame to cook it evenly and crispy.
            • Make the rope not too thick or thin.
            • Join the ends and press it gently so that the joined ends won't separate while frying.
            • Make the rings for each batch and fry it,if its dried it may get cracked.
            • If you feel the dough is too thick and crumbly,sprinkle some hot water and knead the dough.


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