Quick and easy masala chana/chick peas

One of the recurring themes in my blog is quick and easy recipes. I had soaked black chana in the morning with the intention of making my usual kadala curry to go with aapam. However, as I was looking through my cookbooks, wondering what else I could make for the blogging marathon, I chanced upon this recipe in Mallika Badrinath's 100 Vegetarian Gravies. As the name suggests, it is easy to make - and is cooked entirely in one pot, which makes cleaning that much easier.

What you need:
Black chana/chick peas - 1 cup, soaked in plenty of water for 10 hours. (The original recipe uses white chick peas, but since I had already soaked these, I used them)
Cardamom - 3
Cloves - 5
Cinnamon - a small piece
Oil/ghee - 2 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Grind together:
Onion - 1
Tomato -2
Garlic - 5 or 6 cloves
Ginger - a 2 inch piece
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Corriander - 1 small bunch
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Black peppercorns - 1/4 tsp

Heat oil in the pressure cooker. Add cardamom, cinnamon and clove. Add the ground mixture and fry on a low flame until oil separates. Add chick peas, sufficient water and salt and cook until one whistle. Then lower the heat and cook for another 10 minutes.
Serve hot.
Check out the blogging marathon page to see what my fellow marathoners are cooking.

More urundai kuzhambu(Steamed lentil balls in yogurt gravy)

A gravy made of buttermilk is standard fare in any South Indian home. It goes by the name of more kuzhambu in Tamil Nadu, moru kari in Kerala and majjige huli in Karnataka. The usual version that I make with ripe plantain or colocasia or ash gourd is posted here.
This version is made using steamed balls of tuar dal. I first tasted this at a restaurant in Chennai and quite liked the aroma and the taste of it. Today, with the help of Mallika Badrinath's recipe from her book Classic Lunch Recipes, I have been able to recreate a remembered taste.

What you need:
For the urundai/koftas
Tuar dal - 1/2 cup(scant)
Whole white urad - 1 tbsp
Green chillies - 2 or 3(adjust to taste)
Onion - 1 small, chopped very fine
Chopped corriander leaves - a few
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste (use a little less than you normally would as the gravy too has salt)

For the kuzhambu/gravy
Sour thick curd - 2 cups (beaten lightly to break up lumps)
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt
Grind together:
Fresh grated coconut - 1/4 cup
Green chillies - 2 or 3
Coriander seeds - 1.5 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Tuar dal - 1 tbsp
For tempering:
Oil - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Red chillie - 1, broken
Methi seeds - 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves - a few

To make koftas/urundai:
Soak the dals together for an hour. Drain all the water. Add in all the other ingredients except onion and corrinder. Grind to a coarse paste without adding any water. Mix in the chopped onions and corrainder. Shape into lemon sized balls. Grease an idli plate and stem for 8-10 minutes. Set aside the balls to cool.

To make kuzhambu:
Soak all the ingredients listed under Grind together, except coconut in just enough water to cover for at least 30 minutes. Add coconut and grind to a smooth paste.
Transfer this to a pan. Add 1/2 cup of water, salt, turmeric powder and let it boil for a few minutes. Add the whipped curd and boil some more. Just before removing from fire, add the steamed koftas and boil for a minute or two.
Heat the tempering ingredients until the mustard seeds pop. Pour this over the kuzhambu.
Enjoy with rice/idli/dosa.
This tastes even better the next day after the flavours have blended together well.
Today is Day 3 or Blogging Marathon #7, and this is my post under the theme Cooking from cookbooks. Check out the blogging marathon page to see what my fellow marathoners are cooking.

Tomato kurma

In my journey from culinary zero to culinary something, it is Mallika Badrinath's books that have helped me along. It is her simple and do-able recipes that helped me learn the A-B-Cs of cooking. One of the first books of hers that I got is 100 Vegetarian Gravies. A look at this post of mine will tell you how much I've used this book. Today, I tried out the tomato kurma recipe in this book. I am amazed by the simplicity of the recipe and by how good it tastes.
To make tomato kurma, you need:
Onion - 2, medium sized, chopped fine
Tomato - 3 large, chopped fine
Salt - to taste
Sugar - a little
Oil - 1 tbsp
Grind to a smooth paste:
Coconut - 1/4 cup
Cashewnut - 7 or 8
Dhania - 2 tsp
Green chilli - 2 (adjust to taste)
Red chilli -2 (adjust to taste)
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp

Heat oil in a kadai. Add the onions and fry until they start turning pink. Add chopped tomatoes and let it cook on a low flame till mushy and soft. Add salt and sugar. Stir in the ground masala. Add water if needed. Let it boil until the raw smell goes and the gravy thickens.

Serve hot with idli/dosa. I paired this with idiyappam.

By the book

Let's start this new year by showing off our book(s). Which book have you thumbed through so often that it is worn down, but still prized???
No, this is not another event. Aren't there enough of those already in blogosphere? But if you will, please take this up as a tag. If you are a food blogger, I'd appreciate it if you show me your most-loved cookbook. If you are a non-food blogger, tell me which is your favourite book and why. If possible, please upload a picture of the book or a write-up telling me why you like this book so much. Link back to this post of mine and leave me a comment so I can drop by and read your post.
I'll start off by showing you my most-used cookbook. It is......(drumroll please)....

.....Mallika Badrinath's 100 Vegetarian Gravies.
I know it looks really worn down, but it is the very first cookbook that I acquired.
It was passed on to me by my aunt when I was in school and has been my trusted guide ever since. The first time I used it was only after marriage, though I used to thumb through it quite often even before that. The first dish that I cooked using this book as a guide is Rajma masala and since then, I have always thought of Mallika Badrinath as my cooking guru.
I now ask my blogger buddies Sra, Valli, Lavi, Bharathy and Jayasree to show me the book that's closest to their heart - it could be a collection that you've put together from your favourite magazine or a collection of recipes your grandma/ma wrote out for you....in short, something that you treasure. Put it up on your blog and keep this tag going.