Free Imagine Things

Hi everybody,  First of all I would like to apologise to Lakshmi for announcing this event so late, I did not really do it on purpose, as I had no access to net connection I was not able to post this  announcement, Lakshmi please do forgive me.
After a long interval I am back, actually not really back, I might start blogging regularly may be after 2 weeks , I am in India, and very busy with family and friends and a small function and most importantly no net connection, I had almost forgotten how a comp looks like!, I was lucky today I am in my sis's house and luckily BIL is at home :), making use of this opportunity I am posting this event, which was already typed and ready to go, I was just waiting for the logo and April 20th, which is long bygone with no net connection, My sincere apologies to lakshmi and next host of this event, for the delay in posting this wonderful event!.
I know I will be  missing T and T of Chef and her Kitchen announced by Sushma of Savi-ruchi, I love her blog, as she cooks more like me and had Book marked somethings I wanted to try which I have to wait until I am back :(, no net, no new recipes, I feel so bad!.
Coming back I am so delighted to Host this event, which is one of my favourite events, this event was started by zlamushka and is now taken care of by Lakshmi of Kitchen Chronicles, I don't have to introduce you to Deeba's Passionate about Baking blog, she is so creative, beautiful photos, drool worthy recipes, lot of original creations, lot of recipes you can find from scratch and of course if you love baking here is a wonderful space you can just love to try with no regrets,  I love her blog and hope that you all love her blog too...,

So let's start trying out some recipe (s) from her blog....

Deeba's - PASSIONATE ABOUT BAKING - May 2nd - May 31st

As always little rules to follow:
nothing much...
Please remember this is a vegetarian blog and eggs are allowed
Do link the Tried and Tested event to zlamushka's blog, and then to Kitchen Chronicles as they both needed to be acknowledged for this beautiful event.
If you have already tried any recipes from her blog, no need to re-post just link this event page to that post, and mail me.
Please stick as much as possible to the original recipe.
Non- bloggers are welcome too, they can send me a mail and a picture of what you have made.
Please send me your entries to cookingisdivine@gmail.com with T and T- May 2011 as subject.
Send me your name, URL link of your recipe and a photo of your dish
Please send in your entries from May 2nd - May 31st ( I will posting the round-up by first week of June.
Oops I had almost forgotten :),
My lovely Non-bloggers can also participate in this event, Just write to me with your recipe and a click of the dish and I will be glad to share it with all my other entries.....

A very special thanks to Ksenia, who has been kind enough to make this logo for this lovely event
Please do include the logo in your creations from Deeba's blogging world if possible :)). Many thanks.













A small change in the logo it is May '11, Looking forward to seeing your creations from her's to mine.
If you have any doubts, please mail me, and if I have missed out anything do please write to me, I might me be a little late in responding to you as again because of net connections.

Hi everybody sorry for posting this round-up so late..
As you all know Nagalakshmi of cooking and me or Edible Garden has a wonderful blog, with interesting recipes and of course her writing and photos are so Glamorous, makes you feel picking it up from the screen or drool over the delicious delightful  presentation with classic clicks.
Thanks to all of you who sent me the entries from hers to yours and to my kitchen. I haven't posted some of the recipes I tried from her Blog still, I just decided at least I will post my photographs.
So I can do the round-up and announce my next blogger friend for the marathon.

Here are entries I received.

I would like to thank Bharthy which was so nice of her, I felt so touched and emotional reading her post, how sisters are, A true beautiful ode to her lovely sis.
I have two sisters whom I love so much with all my heart, just go to her blog and read about it, if you have sisters, you will truly enjoy it just like me.
Living far away from my sisters I feel so depressed, when I read her post I cried and smiled and laughed thinking of my sisters too....
Enjoy the entries..

Butterscotch Blondies, Aethapazham/Nenthranpazham Vazhattiyathu (Ghee Roasted Bananas, that was quite a mouthful couldn't pronounce just copied it !!), Thella Pulusu and this must read Ode to my Angel











A wonderful and truly a lovely blogger is priya, I just love her attitude and I think she is great and tries to participate every one of the events announced in blogosphere I think. A very big thank you lovely girl.

Quick and Easy Ghee Rice and Moong dal tadka Cherupayar from Priya of Priya's easy n tasty recipes



















Jeyashri of Jeyashri's Kitchen sent me this but wrote that she was sending it to Only Breads event of pari's, I did not check but sent it to pari thinking she had made a mistake, the funny thing was I noticed later on that she had made this for my event :)), just had a good laugh, thanks love anyways.
Actually I had planned to make these too.., had no paneer so left it out, My kids are not a big fan of paneer or Tofu so I thought this was a good one, but certainly I will try this out soon.

Bread Paneer Rolls from Jeyashri's Kitchen with great recipes and drool worthy clicks too....









The V Kitchen who has a lovely blog and sent me these lovely Chocolate Walnut Brownies with lovely photos










Raji of Raks Kitchen was the first one to send me her entry which she had double tested :)), as it was done by Nags sis Bharthy too.. :)) read her blog about this and go to the comments section to enjoy the sisters commenting about this, A nice warm smile will seep through your mouth..  hahaha......
Baby Corn Manchurian 












Radhika of Tickling Palates who has wonderful blog with eye-catching clicks has sent me this lovely Garlic Bread Rolls 










Sharmi of Sharmi's passion which has some wonderful passionate cooking and baking going on in her blog, needless to say has a classic recipes with beautiful clicks, I was introduced to her by Raji's event, what a beautiful blog..... sent these Corn in Onion sauce












Premalatha of Prema's Thaligai who has a step-wise pictures pick-me-up clicks, beautiful blog with lovely recipes sent me this Coriander Rice and okra Curd Pachadi..









These are my entries to her event....
Eggless Chocolate melting moments (which was a big hit with my kids they are demanding me to make me more), Most fabulous Banana cake, Baby Potatoes in Red coriander sauce











I made 2 more I think which i will try to post soon or I will post it for other events thanks Nags for the lovely recipes, Oops I forgot I made her Tobleron bars I have all the step-wise photos but not the final product I had it in my fridge thinking I will take the click later on, I don't know that I would make such a grave mistake, when I looked for it, it was all gone!, now I have to make them again :), just to take the last click. I will just post the step-wise pics and the day I make them I will post the final product I guess howz that ?
will bring our next blogger to run our marathon with.. on sunday...., Hope this time I will run with my schedule as planned...., so I can cover lot more bloggers soon...

I again like to thank you all for sending me these entries, love you all thank you once again.........
C u soon take care bye....

Hi everybody, I know you think I am the most laziest women and wouldn't do anything to perfection of what I start, I think it's only with my blog, you see nobody grades me for this, not to worry about anything, as this is such a fantastic place where bloggers more than good friends and just encourage you than telling you off. Anyways, I always moan about these things again and again, I just decided I wanted to thank everybody who participated in my Blogger's Marathon event and wanted to showcase all their hard work in doing so, I thank each one of you for doing this and love to see more often again in all my other events too..
Here is all the bloggers who prepared the original recipes from RAKS KITCHEN

Lakshmi of tasteofmysore made Badhusha












Padmaja of plantainleaf made Cheese Cauliflower Kofta curry










Priti of indiankhanna made Eggplant curry










Priya of priyaeasyntastyrecipes Potato Murukku curry










Priya of priyaeasyntastyrecipes made Tomato Kothusu










Priya of priyaeasyntastyrecipes made Brinjal semi dry curry










Priti of indiankhanna made Tamarind Rice Puliyogare












Gayatri of gayathriscookspot.blogspot made Badusha










Sharmi of neivedyam.com made Imarati - Jangiri










Sharmi of neivedyam made Rasmalai /Rasgulla


















She also made Suttu Katharika Thuvayal 
My contributions to this Events are:
Cauliflower-peas Kurma, Tamarind Rice and Pulikaachal, Jeera-Banana curry, Potato curry












Hi friends, If I left anybody's posts here can you please leave a word on the comment form I will pick it from your blog, no need to send it to me.  As the linky tool closed and did not know how to retrieve it :(, I have to do this
thanks dear friends to all of you for participating, A big thank you from Raji and me for this lovely entries thanks you once again.

I just couldn't resist these little beauties I had to and I did try one, and stopped myself :)).   I was just writing in Parita's comment box, if only any of blogger friends were around my place, I would have asked them to bake me a cake, can't believe myself, that I have really stopped eating cakes which I adore so much, Or is it me, the turning 40+ syndrome, My parents would be very surprised, but maybe I think when I go to Bangalore I certainly will get tempted to visit the bakeries, sweet chariot and Nilgiris. Sounds sooo tempting, Oh! I am feeling so happy, will I Indulge ? have to wait and see and definitely I will  write about it .
I have never liked chocolates, when I came here I was surprised to see how people love eating chocolates here, and I too started eating them for a few days but I couldn't eat more than half , and I always chose chocolates with nuts in it, that's what could get me through, but these days I have started liking bitter chocolates, they seem to be interesting to me and I munch on them sometimes. I do it and recognize my craving for sweets syndrome may be something to do with 40+ and when my Harmones play up with me, I tell myself then must be my Oestrogen level is been fluctuating.
When I saw this, I had Book Marked it, as I knew my kids will definitely for for it, they have been asking me to make more from couple of weeks, I have to make them again, she writes about saying that she had it for 4 days, mine lasted for may be 2 days,  I did tweak this recipe a little bit, sorry for that, I just couldn't resist doing it, as this bar of Snickers Bar was lying on my fridge, I grated this into the mixture and it was awesome... so here goes the recipe, delicious dessert.

EGGLESS CHOCOLATE MELTING MOMENTS:

INGREDIENTS:
125gms Butter
60 gms Icing sugar
100 gms plain flour
25gms corn flour
20 gms cocoa powder
1 Snickers Bar (this is my tweak to this recipe)
METHOD:
It is a very simple and quick recipe, easy to make and bake.


Bring the butter to room temperature, add Icing sugar, corn flour, plain flour, cocoa powder mix all of them well together, I grated some Snickers Bar into this (may be next time, I might try out lot of other chocolates grated into it :) ). It was not forming into a ball very nicely so I used 2 to 3 tbsp of water and lo! you can see the ball formed, I made this into small balls as you can see, flattened it a little bit, and baked them for 20 to 25 minutes, Gas Mark 4/180 degrees.
They form into a lovely cookie soft but not breakable to the touch, beautifully baked and done, ready to eat.
I just did as told, dusted some Icing sugar on top of it, as Nags says these were well behaved, they came off my baking sheet very easily as hers :).
Take an other look at these beauties, the clicks haven't come out as hers please do not compare.
My mobile and the night could only get this much out of my camera.
As she says, hey vegetarians go ahead and bake some for yourselves.
















My verdict: Next time I thought I will add a bit more sugar, as per the demands of my kids!
c u soon with an other recipe...........

Ooo that sounds nice, I bake lot of Banana cakes in different varities and all of them are mostly eggless, as it has already got banana in it I don't need to add an Egg most of the time.
This is the second time I baked this cake, the minute I saw this cake here, I wanted to try it out and the first time I made it I just omitted the egg, My eldest loves these Banana loafs, cakes, muffins etc., as I make it rich, which she can nibble on!, (secret - nothing big!), I will post them soon, but this one was very good and she loved it, thanks to both Nags and Belinda Jeffery.
You want to know what happened, I baked it on a weekend, went out and came back to see a very little piece left, you know who ate it, my twins!, My eldest was with me, she had a bit before we went out, as she was so upset :(, told her I will make it again.
If you want it Eggless just forget to add the Egg :))
You must read the write up by Nags to read about the lovely book and this lovely recipe...

MOST FABULOUS BANANA CAKE


INGREDIENTS:
3/4th Cup Plain Flour
1.5 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Salt 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1 very ripe Banana (3/4th Cup Mashed)
3/4th Cup sugar
1 Egg
1/4 Cup Butter room temperature
50  ml sour cream or Buttermilk (I used Buttermilk)
1 tsp Vanilla extract
METHOD:


Preheat oven to 180 degree, Gas Mark 4
I made it by hand she used her food processor, Check out how she has done it.
How I made it..
I pureed my bananas in my mixie to a puree (I used 2 small Bananas I had 1 cup so, I used it completely, didn't know what to do with it!)
In a large bowl, I put my Banana Puree, Buttermilk, butter, Sugar and Egg and whisked it well enough that they all got throughly combined and to this I added Baking powder,Baking soda, salt and vanilla extract, mixed well together again.
I had sifted the flour before I started off, I added the flour into it in parts and incorporated it completely into my liquidy mixture, Poured it into a tin lined with Baking sheet and baked it for 35 to 40 minutes, until the skewer came out clean, I had baked it in a smaller tin, It doesn't look anything like hers, but tasted great.
That's it, said and done, did you like it, go make it then and enjoy.
Thanks very much, try more recipes and post it, we will enjoy the visual treat from yours and enjoy making it in our kitchens :)).































c u soon with an other recipe from hers to mine :))

Hi everybody, you must be wondering what have been going on where is event for a fortninght gone, and who is our next blogger to run with, sadly I will not be doing it until next sunday, I have got back log with my recipes not posting on time for my own event :), I am postponing this event from EDIBLE GARDEN - NAGS KITCHEN for next 5 more days.
I have been going through lately with some problems with my neck and arm and I have come to know from my scan that I am suffering from Cervical Spondylosis :), so that is why I was having all those problems, My painful Headaches and pain in my arm etc., etc., I think it is important for all of you to check it out,  Getting old only causes these problems is not true, I have come to know something that after you turn 40 Women seem to get into lot of problems, So young women out their should be more careful in their day to day activities and not strain themselves, I mean to say never try to extend yourself  and over do by hurting your body. It is better not to give too much strain to body by carrying heavy things, Our posture when doing things like lifting, picking up things etc., well, I should say better read about it :)), I am no doctor, but sometimes as they say Long time patient is better than a doctor, he/she knows the pains, pressure points, symptoms, causes and medicines (to take, not to take their aftermaths etc., )!!!. I am good doctor that way :)) hahaha.. Let's stop about this and come back about this recipe when I saw it on her blog, I had Bookmarked it as it was made with  Aloo, It was really Gorgeous, and every one at home loved it.
If you like Coriander (seeds or leaves ) you will love this dish.
Nags has adopted this recipe from a book by Name Complete Indian cooking my Mridula Baljekar. I haven't tweaked this recipe in any way, I have used all the Ingredients she has used, Only thing I  have done it I have cooked this for 6 Adults! (and some people who have an extra space in their tummies when it comes to Potatoes!!).
My Verdict: As I had to increase the quantity I used more tomatoes  and one onion to make it into a nice gravy and used more potatoes. I had made a bit spicy, but it gorgeously blended well with the tanginess of Tomatoes and Tamarind.

BABY POTATOES IN RED CORIANDER SAUCE

















INGREDIENTS:
1 Kg of Baby Potatoes
3 tbsp of Tamarind extract
400 gms Tomatoes (I used tinned)
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
2 sprigs of Curry leaves
Salt as per taste ( I used 1 and 1/2 tsp)
1/2 tsp Sugar
3 tbsp Oil
6 to 7 sprigs of Coriander leaves

GRIND TO PASTE:
1 tbsp Coriander seeds
1 tbsp of Cumin seeds
4 Garlic Cloves
1 Medium sized Onion
3 - 4 (Guntur and Byadagi chillies fried with little oil)/
Or Substitute with 1/2 tbsp of Red Chilli powder.




















METHOD:
Cook the Baby potatoes in a pressure cooker with enough water for just 2 whistles (do not over cook it, so check out with your pressure cooker and reduce it to one or two whistles), drain the water, pour some cold water on top of it and allow it cool it in a colander so it cools quicker.
Next Grind everything under Grind to paste and keep it aside.
Peel the skin of the Baby potatoes prick them with a fork lightly on two or three sides
Take a large pan, heat oil when it is hot add the ground paste, Pureed Tomatoes, curry leaves, turmeric powder, Tamarind extract and allow it cook until oil starts separating out.
Now add required quantity of salt and sugar, mix well then add the potatoes mix well, add a 1/4 cup of water, cover it with a lid and allow it cook for few more minutes in a very low to medium flame.
Just keep an eye that they didn't get stuck to the bottom of the pan (that too like mine which has lost its Teflon coating in one place!).
Once it is well cooked and the potatoes have absorbed the masala well, Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve it with pulkas, chapatis or may be with rice.
Or how ever you want to eat it!, absolutely gorgeous with the coriander flavour in both the forms.
A big thanks to Nags and Mridula for this lovely recipe
Am I going to make this recipe definitely a YES.
Take an one more look at this gorgeous gravy....

















C U Soon with few more recipes from Nags kitchen and my own creations....
take care.....
Hey just a minute I just now saw there is an Event - AWED Indian Cuisine- from taste of the pearl city started by DK. I am sending this to her event hope she likes it.

Hi everybody thanks for participating in my Bloggers Marathon,  with Raks Kitchen. I received some mails saying that they have not been able to post the recipes for various reasons, If you send me the mail or link for the recipe I will certainly include it in my round-up. As the linky would have closed by now.
I had planned to post this yesterday but I have been very sick, My neck has become too worst, need to go and see the doctor today, hoping everything will be alright, I am suffering from Migraine too. Sorry for posting this so late.
My next person is from Nags - Edible Garden - cooking and me she has a lovely blog with lovely dishes, try out something from her blog as I have said earlier they must be her own recipe (ORIGINAL RECIPE) NOT from any bloggers.
Check out this Event page for the rules and details of the event 
Non-bloggers can send me a mail at cookingisdivine@gmail.com with the details and possible a photograph, I will include it in my round-up.
Hoping to see you all in her kitchen to yours and to mine.

BLOGGERS MARATHON - EDIBLE GARDEN - COOKINGANDME

I had some Raw Bananas, I did not want to make the same old dishes, started looking around Raks Kitchen and
found this lovely recipe, so that's it made my mind to try it out.
It turned out very well and enjoyed it with again plain rasam!

JEERA BANANA CURRY
















INGREDIENTS:
3 Small Raw Bananas
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
5 tsp of Oil
Salt as required

TO TEMPER
1 tsp Mustard seeds
1 tbsp Urad dal
curry leaves

TO GRIND 
2 tbsp Fresh Coconut
3/4 th tsp Jeera
3 to 4 Red chillies
1 large Onions 94 pearl onions)

METHOD:
















Peel the skin of the Bananas and cut them into cubes and keep them immersed in water with 2 to 3 tbsp of Yogurt which makes the Bananas don't change colour
Now Grind the Red chillies and jeera into a fine powder, now add onions and coconut and grind into a smooth paste
Take a wok heat oil and add the tempering when it is done, add the chopped Bananas and fry for few minutes after that add the ground masala paste bring the stove to a low flame, mix well and close it with a lid and leave it for few more minutes, stirring now and then allowing the banana to cook very well, add required quantity of salt, and allow it dry out.
Now the dry curry is ready to eat with Rasam, sambhar and nice warm rice.
posting this recipe to my own event Bloggers Marathon

who doesn't love potatoes, and I love cooking them with different recipes.
If there is one new recipe I certainly want to try it out as my kids and H love potatoes too much, and I found one here in Raks Kitchen, we all loved it I just made this with plain rasam, we also mixed it with rice and ate it. Thanks again Raji for this recipe.

POTATO CURRY












































INGREDIENTS:
1/2 Kg Potatoes
2 to 3 Onions
2 to 3 tbsp of Coconut Oil
curry leaves
salt as required
water as required

TO TEMPER:
1 tsp Mustard seeds
1 tsp Urad Dal
2 tsp oil

TO ROAST AND GRIND:
1tbsp Coriander seeds
4 tbsp Coconut fresh
6 to 7 Red chillies
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin
1/2 tsp Pepper corns

METHOD:
Chop the potatoes into cubes and chop the onions keep it ready.
With a tsp of oil roast all the Ingredients under roast and grind to a powder and keep it ready.
Heat oil in a wok, add everything under temper, when they change colour add chopped Onions and fry them till transparent, then add the cubed potatoes into it mix well.
Now add the roasted powder and sufficient water, bring the stove to a medium flame, close it with a lid and cook until the potatoes get cooked as required amount of salt.
Keep stirring now and then so the curry don't get burned.
Once they are well cooked, allow all the water to evaporate, Garnish with coriander leaves.
Serve it with nice warm Rice or may be chappati.

Hi one more recipe from Raks kitchen, It was quite different from my Iyengar puloiyogarai I usually make, my kids love puliyogare, so I chose to do this and try how it tastes, Mmm.., It was so nice and we all enjoyed. Thanks for sharing this recipe Raji.

TAMARIND RICE /PULIYOGARE WITH PULIKAACHAL
















INGREDIENTS:
1 big lemon size Tamarind
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp Asafoetida
1 tsp Jaggery
Salt as required
1 and 1/2 cup water
curry leaves
1 fist full of peanuts/ground nuts

TO TEMPER
1 tbsp mustard seeds
7 to 8 Red chillies (she uses 10-15)
4 tbsp Urad dal
3 tbsp Channa dal
1/4 tsp Asafoetida
curry leaves
5 to 6 tbsp Sesame oil

TO ROAST AND GRIND
2tbsp of Channa dal
4 Nos Red chillies
3/4 tsp Fenugreek seeds/Venthyam
1 tbsp Urad dal
1 tsp Pepper

METHOD:

















Take a pan fry all the Ingredients under to roast and Grind with a tsp of oil and roast them until the colour changes and allow it to cool, then grind to a smooth powder.
Meanwhile take the lemon sized ball of Tamarind in a 1 and 1/2 cup of water put it in a microwave safe bowl and microwave it for 1 minute. ( I always do this as it is so fast method when I am in a hurry to make sambhar, Rasam etc.., when I decide what I am going to make first thing I microwave Tamarind in water and allow it cool until I require it,  by that time it would have a cooled for our hand to handle this is the quickest way to make the tamarind soft and easy to handle).
Squeeze the lemon juice and keep it aside filtering the pith.
Take a large pan heat oil and add all the things under the heading to temper when they change colour,  add the Tamarind juice, allow it boil until the raw smell disappears.
Now add the  powder to the boiling tamarind water, now keep a careful eye on it turn the stove into a medium flame and keep stirring it and it starts thickening and becomes like a paste (rather should say like lehyam).
Switch of the stove, now add it to the cooked rice ( with another 2 tbsp of oil).
I grated 100 gms of dry coconut and 4 tbsp of Black Sesame seeds (fry the seeds in a wok till it starts spluttering now take it of the stove) grind both of these into a powder.
Add this to the Rice with the Pulikaachal mix well with Rice.
Do not serve it immediately, leave it at least for 1/2 an hour, this helps the rice to absorb the paste well into it and it tastes gorgeous.

















I am sending this to my own event Blogger Marathon from Raks kitchen....

Hi I am planning to post all my recipes from Raji's kitchen rather RAKS KITCHEN, hope you are also with me dishing out recipes from her kitchen, I know linky keeps giving me trouble, hope so it is rectified now!, one more day to go come on.... Love to see you what you have all done...
I have nothing to say much more about Raji and her lovely blog she is great blogger, with a lovely smile, and a good friend and of course with amazing pictures and lovely recipes...
I have tried so many of her recipes, as I am person who tries to look out for recipes from other bloggers for everyday cooking, when I get the vegetables I start looking for different recipes which I haven't tried out, I will be posting some recipes from her blog..
I did a little change in the recipe.., nothing extra.., just the method.

CAULIFLOWER - PEAS KURMA

















INGREDIENTS:
1 (around 600gms) Cauliflower Florets
2 (around 280 gms) Onions
2 (around 220 gms) Tomatoes
1 and 1/2 Cup Peas
1/2 tsp Turmeric
Salt as required
3 to 4 tbsp of Oil
Few Coriander leaves to Garnish

GRINDING:
1/4 Cup Coconut fresh
10 Nos Cashew nuts
1 Onion chopped
1 tbsp Pottukadalai/Daria/Chutney Dal
2 to 3 pods of Garlic
1 No. Cardamom
1/2 '' Cinnamon
2 cloves
4 to 5 Green Chillies
3 Red chillies
1 tsp Coriander seeds

METHOD:
















Grind Using all the things under Grinding and from the Ingredients heading the Tomatoes and Onions into a smooth paste.
In a large bowl cook cauliflower and Peas with little turmeric and salt until well cooked then drain and keep them aside until required.
Take a large pan, Heat oil then add the Ground paste and turmeric to it, fry until the oil leaves the sides of the pan and the raw smell of the onions and tomatoes disappears.
Now add the cooked Cauliflower and peas into it with required quantity of water and boil for few more minutes with chopped coriander leaves and a closed lid in a medium flame say around 10 minutes, until they are all well combined and the veggies absorb the masala.
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with Chapatis, dosas, Ghee rice etc..

I am sending this to my own event Bloggers Marathon from Raks kitchen
It was so lovely thanks Raji for sharing this recipe...

Hi, I had this lovely dal few days back, My second daughter was the first to have food, and she said it was 'Thumba chennagide' means it's very nice, I think the combination of dates and tamarind was very good!, I have to tell I was thinking twice to try this out, as my kids are not any more kids they are teenagers who don't get pleased very easily.
I thank Srivalli, for this venture of me, cooking dates in a dal recipe, and want to thank Pratibha and Jigyasa for allowing us to use this recipe from your second book 'Sukam Ayu'.
The dal was quite tasty with different flavours, I had to tweak it a little bit, nothing drastically I had no dried dates so used soft dates, cooked them with Dal so they can be mashed up and my children wouldn't even know !!.
I couldn't get hold of yam so I had to omit it, I used lot of other vegetables such as carrots, beans, Lilva beans, Drumsticks and it was really nice.
I could notice the Fenugreek taste in the Dal, sweetness and tangyness of dates and tamarind, I omitted Jaggery as my hubby seems to find out even a little bit of Jaggery I add!, he did ask me if I had added Jaggery but when I told him what I had done, he said Mmmm.., and said it was quite nice.
so here is the recipe...

GUJARATI DAL






















INGREDIENTS:
1 Cup Tuvar Dal
2 Drumsticks
1 Medium sized carrot
1/2 cup Lilva Beans
7 to 8 French Beans
A fist full of Ground nuts (Peanuts)
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
1 Green chillies
5 Nos soft dates
1/2 tsp Cumin powder
1/4 tsp Garam Masala
1 tsp Ginger
1 tsp Coriander powder
few Coriander leaves

FOR SEASONING:
1 tsp Ghee
1/2 tsp Fenugreek seeds
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
4 Nos Red chillies
curry leaves
A pinch of Asafoetida

METHOD
Cook Tuvar dal with turmeric powder and dates ( but in the recipe what valli sent us was you have to use dried dates soak them in warm water and cook them with other vegetables, as I had no dried dates and I did not want my kids to find out what was in it I cooked them together with Tuvar dal and mashed them well) in a pressure cooker for 3 whistles.
chop the Veggies, cook them in a vessel with 2 to 2 and 1/2 cup of water with a ladle in the vessel and close the top with another broader vessel ( say like a besan type of vessel) with a cup of water in it. This helps in cooking the veggies quicker and faster in a medium flame, keep an eye when it is boiling so it doesn't burn underneath with no water :)). Add the masala powder, tamarind and Jaggery and let it also cook when the veggies are half cooked.
Once the veggies are done, add the Dal to them mix together and cook them again for few minutes adjust salt and curry leaves.
Meanwhile in a small wok, heat a tbsp of Ghee and add all the Ingredients under seasoning fry them for 2 minutes, add this to the dal and serve hot with a dollop of ghee and rice or with chapati or pulka.l
Mmm.., very delicious, you too make this healthy recipe and enjoy it.