Manju's Paruppu Payasam

For 1/2 alaku dal I put 1/4 alaku rice and jaggery maybe 250gms.. but I generally don’t measure jaggery. It’s my eye measurement 👀.

Moong dal fry little in ghee .. add water and cook( no whistle ) then add the rice ( coarsely grind) to it and cook again till the rice is done. Then add the melted jaggery water and keep it to a boil. Add grated coconut .. fried cashews and Cardamon pwd. I also add little milk before coconut. So it’s little thick and taste good.

Manju's Walnut cake

Ingredients:

250 grams Butter
250 grams sugar
250 grams All purpose flour
1 tsp honey 

5 eggs 

1 tsp vanilla essence 

pinch of salt 

2 tsp baking powder

Method:

First powder the sugar and Melt butter and keep aside.
Then mix the All purpose flour, baking powder and salt together and keep. 

Beat the eggs nicely then add butter and beat again ... then add the powdered sugar.. the essence 1 tsp and honey 1 tbsp and keep beating. 

Then add the All purpose flour mixture little by little with milk -1 cup little by little and beat nicely. 

At the end add walnuts. And mix. 

Bake at 375* for about 45 mins

Manju's Tomato Rice

Tomato Rice

Oil and ghee - cinnamon , clove , bay leaf , then onions , pudina and tomatoes more .. green chill , g&g paste, RCP , tumeric and nicely fry till all tomatoes cook nicely. Then add water .. let water boil and add rice and salt and close cooker ( pressure cooker ) can do in Instant pot too.

I generally put 2 cups rice - 1 big onion and 3 tomatoes and 2 green Chilli and 1 tsp RCP. And water 1:2 basamati.

Masala Vada Curry

Ingredients

To make the base for the curry

1/2 cup Chana dal (Bengal Gram Dal)
1 Dry Red Chilli
5 Curry leaves
1/2 teaspoon Fennel seeds (Saunf)


To make the curry

2 teaspoons Sunflower Oil
1 inch Cinnamon stick
2 Cloves (Laung)
3 Cardamom (Elaichi) Pods/Seeds
2 Whole Black Pepper Corns
1 Bay leaf (tej patta)
1 Green Chilli , slit
1 sprig Curry leaves
1 Onion , finely chopped
1 inch Ginger , finely chopped
4 cloves Garlic , finely chopped
1/2 cup Homemade tomato puree , chopped
1/4 teaspoon Turmeric powder (Haldi)
1/2 teaspoon Red Chilli powder
1 teaspoon Coriander Powder (Dhania)
Salt , to taste
4 sprig Mint Leaves (Pudina) , or coriander leaves as required

Method

To begin making the Masala Vada Curry Recipe/ Chana Dal Vada Curry recipe, thoroughly wash and soak chana dal for 2 hours.

Once the dal is soaked, coarse grind chana dal with the ingredients for making the base -dry red chili, curry leaves, fennel seeds and salt. Just sprinkle water while grinding, the masala vada batter should be thick.

Spoon the masala vada batter on a Idli plates and steam it exactly like how we steam Idli. Or you can pan fry the Vada batter in a paniyaram pan with a little oil until it browned and crisp. The later gives a delicious taste to the Masala Vada Curry.

Ensure you drizzle oil while pan frying the vada in the paniyaram pan.

Meantime, we can start making the curry. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan on medium flame, add whole black pepper, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaf, slit green chili, curry leaves, ginger, garlic and onions. Make sure to remove few seeds from green chili if you want to make it less spicy.

Once the onion turns golden, add the tomato puree and all the masala powders - turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, chili powder and salt. Let it cook for 2 to 3 minutes until the masala curry comes to a brisk boil.

Add required water and let the curry masala cook for a few minutes. Once the masala is cooked, drop in the masala vada into the curry mixture.

Cover it with a lid and cook the Masala Vada Curry on a medium flame. The masala vada curry will absorb all the water and become thick. This will take around 5 to 7 minutes.

Finally add chopped mint leaves and give the Masala Vada Curry a stir and serve.

Brinda’s Palak Paneer

Ingredients:

Spinach - 1 whole Costco Box (About 4 bunches)

1/4 bunch coriander leaves

Mint/Pudina leaves (10-15)

Paneer cubes - about a cup and half

1 big onion chopped

Ginger & Garlic Paste 1-2 teaspoon

15 whole cashews

2 green chillies-slit

2 medium tomatoes chopped

For Seasoning:

Oil

Butter - 1 tbsp

Jeera - 1/2 tsp

Bay Leaves - 1-2

Spice Powders

Turmeric Pd - 1/4 tsp

Jeera powder -1tsp

Dhaniya powder-1tbsp

Red Chilli powder-per taste

Garam Masala 1/2 tsp

1tbsp Kasoori Methi

Optional-1-2tbsp heavy cream

Method:

Blanch spinach -no need to remove stem, 1/4 bunch coriander  and few pudina leaves (10-15). Pudina is optional -don’t have to put it if you don’t have. Don’t put too much, it’ll overpower taste of spinach. You can blanch it all together. Boil on open pot. Cool and grind into fine paste.

Cut paneer into cubes. Shallow fry so that it’s a bit golden brown on all sides. Keep it aside.

In the same oil, add one big chopped onion, chopped garlic and ginger (1-2 tsp), 15 whole cashews, 2 green chillies-slit, 2 medium tomatoes chopped,. Fry them all one after another till done. Cool it. Grind into fine paste.

In a deep kadai add 3 -4 tbsp oil and a tsp butter if you like. It’ll enhance the taste. Add 1-1.5 tsp whole jeera,1-2 bay leaves. 

Add the onion tomato paste. 

Once oil oozes from the sides, add turmeric powder, jeera powder -1tsp, dhaniya powder-1tbsp, red chilli powder-per taste. 

Mix it all and after a min or so add spinach purée. You can add water to adjust the consistency. 

Add salt. Add the paneer. 

After it starts boiling reduce the flame and add 1/2 tsp of garam Masala. 

Crush 1tbsp kasoori methi. Add coriander leaves to garnish.

Optional-1-2tbsp heavy cream. Since I already added cashew I sometimes add cream or not. If u add cream u might need to increase spice a bit. Based on your palate. Enjoy!

Tip: Cook spinach and the dish in open pot. Spinach will lose its color if u cook in closed pot.