Green Gram and Fenugreek Dosa

Dosas are a staple of south Indian cuisine. As much as paneer butter masala and chicken tikka are synonymous with Indian food for the western world, India has as many types of cuinines as we have states.

India is a sort of Europe, if you will. We are made of several states, each with their own cuisine, language, culture and clothing. Just like Europe is made of several countries, each with their own language, and culture. India is an amalgamation of all these states. Some cuisines and languages are just more well-known than others.

South India is made of four states and the one I live in is Tamil Nadu. The food here consists of fermented rice flours and mostly curries that have very mild spices. Of course even in Tamil Nadu, there are several kinds of food. We have many, almost a dozen sub-cultures, and they each have their own cuisines! Its quite wonderful, in a way. For example, food from different cities might be different, within the same state!

Dosas are pretty predominant across Tamil Nadu. Different people make it differently. There are so many many variations of this. I have made several variations myself in this blog. Well, you can imagine my delight when I came across this book: Dosai by Chandra Padmanabhan. She is one of my favorite south Indian cookbook authors. Every recipe of hers is a keeper! This book is so amazing. Here's a lovely recipe from the book.

 

Paithum Paruppu and Vendayam Dosai 
(Green Gram and Fenugreek Dosa)
(recipe from Dosai by Chandra Padmanabhan)

Makes 10-12 dosais

1/4 cup husked green gram (mung dal)
2 tsp Fenugreek Seeds
1 cup Parboiled Rice
1 1/4 tsp Salt
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
3-4 Green Chillies, seeded and finely chopped
2 tbsp Coriander Leaves, finely chopped
1 Onion, finely chopped
5-6 Curry Leaves
Oil, as needed

Combine the dal and the fenugreek seeds. Wash well and soak in water for a couple of hours. Separately, wash the rice and soak for a couple of hours.

Drain and grind the dal, till light and fluffy, adding 1/2-3/4 cup water.

Drain the rice and grind to a smooth batter with 1-1 3/4 cups water.

Combine both the batters and add the salt and mix well. Set aside and allow to ferment for 4 hours.

When ready to make the dosas, add the cumin seeds, green chillies, coriander leaves, onion and curry leaves. Adjust the consistency by adding some water to make the batter of pouring consistency.

Prepare a tawa or flat top pan. To Prepare: Smear a thin layer of oil evenly on a tawa or griddle pan using a halved potato, or onion dipped in oil. Heat the tawa. When you sprinkle a few drops of water on it, it should sizzle.
With a clean wet cloth, wipe the tawa to remove excess oil. Lower heat and the tawa is now ready for cooking the dosai.

How to cook the dosai:
Pour a ladle of batter into the center of the tawa or griddle pan. Spread quickly using a circular motion with the back of the ladle to form a 6" round dosai.
Drizzle 1 tsp oil around the edges.
Raise heat and cook for 1-2 minutes, till the base is golden brown.
Turn over carefully and fry the other side, till crisp and golden. Remove from heat.
Wipe the tawa with a wet cloth after making each dosai so that it does not get over-heated.
Oil the tawa again if it becomes too dry.

Repeat for the remaining batter.

Serve hot with a chutney, podi and/or sambar.

Other dosais in this blog: Dosai, Peas Dosai,  Neer Dosai, Tomato Dosai, Pesarat, Adai, Vegetable Adai, Akki Roti and Ilai Vadam.

Carrots with Fenugreek Leaves

This is a recipe from a cookbook I use almost like a bible, Pure and Simple by Vidhu Mittal. I simply love this book! Definitely add this to your cookbook collection. She has interesting and simple vegetarian dishes even for the novice cook. All the steps are clearly listed and complicated steps are explained in lovely pictures.


Carrots with Fenugreek Leaves
(adapted from here)

1 pound Baby Carrots, or Carrots cut into strips, peeled
2 cups Fenugreek Leaves, chopped, washed and dried
1/2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
a pinch of Asafoetida
1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds
Salt, to taste
1/4 tsp Sugar
1/2 tsp Red Chilli Powder
1 tsp Coriander Powder

Heat the oil in a pan and add the asafoetida, cumin and carrots. Saute for about a minute. Add 1/2 cup water, salt and sugar. Cover the pan and let cook on low heat until carrots are tender.

Add chilli powder and coriander powder and cook for a minute. Add the fenugreek leaves and toss with carrots on high heat until wilted, about a minute.

Fenugreek Leaves Rice

This is really a crowd-pleaser! A delicate and subtle flavor from the Fenugreek leaves and so healthy too!



Fenugreek Leaves Rice

3 bunches fenugreek leaves, chopped, with stems, no roots
a pinch Mustard Seeds
a pinch of Urad dal
1/2 tsp of Bengal Gram
4 Red Chillies
Salt, to taste
1/4 tsp Chilli Powder
1/2 tsp Turmeric
100 grams Roasted Gram (Pottu Kadalai), powdered
Juice of one lemon
2 cups Basmati Rice, cooked

Heat some oil in a pan. Add the mustard seeds, urad dal, bengal gram and fenugreek leaves. Stir fry for a couple of minutes. Add the salt, red chillies and mix well. Add the turmeric and roasted gram powder. Stir fry for 2 minutes and take off the heat.

Add the lemon juice. Mix well with the cooked basmati rice.

Dal with Fenugreek Leaves

The first time I had perfect dal was when I met my husband. The two dishes in his repertoire are dal and chicken curry. Since I'm vegetarian, I can only believe that the chicken curry is good. The dal, though, is sheer genius. Filled with protein, lentils are a sure delight for vegetarians.

I found this dal in a cookbook I bought recently, Pure and Simple: Homemade Indian Vegetarian Cuisine by Vidhu Mittal. The book is amazing. Every single recipe is simple and uses ingredients that are usually available in most Indian homes.


Dal with Fenugreek Leaves
(Recipe adapted from Pure & Simple by Vidhu Mittal)

1/4 cup split Green Gram, washed and soaked for 1/2 hour
1/2 cup Bengal Gram, washed and soaked for 1/2 hour
1/2 cup Red Gram (Masoor Dal), washed and drained
2 Tomatoes, cut into cubes
A pinch of Turmeric Powder
1-2 Green Chillies, chopped
1/4 tsp Dry Mango Powder (Amchur)
1/4 tsp Garam Masala Powder
1 cup Fenugreen Leaves, chopped and cooked
2 tbsp Cilantro Leaves, chopped
Salt, to taste

Tempering
1 tbsp Ghee (clarified butter) or Vegetable Oil
1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds
Red Chilli Powder, to taste
A pinch of Asafoetida

In a pressure cooker or large saucepan, cook all the soaked lentils with the water, salt and turmeric powder. Once cooked and lentils are soft, let simmer for a few minutes.

Add the chopped tomatoes, green chillies, mango powder and garam masala and bring to a boil. Drop in the cooked fenugreek and cook for a minute. Remove from the stove.

Heat the ghee or oil for the tempering. Add all the ingredients and let cook for a minute. Pour the contents onto the cooked dal. Stir. Serve hot with rice or rotis.