Edemami Rice

Healthy rice recipe - goes with any soup or curry. Edemami can be substituted with lima beans as per taste.

Ingredients 

• 2 cups Basmati rice
• 1 cup frozen edemami beans
• 1 tspn ghee, or butter
• water for washing, soaking and cooking 
• salt, to taste

For the tempering

• 1 tspn vegetable oil 
• 1 tspn cumin seeds
• 2-3 cloves
• 2-3 peppercorn

Preparation (10 minutes)

1. Soak rice for 10 minutes in lukewarm water and wash clean.
2. Add 1 cup of water to the edemami beans in a bowl, and microwave on High for 3 minutes.

Instructions (15 minutes)

1. For tempering, heat the oil in a pan, and add cumin seeds, cloves and peppercorn.
2. When the cumin seeds pop, add the edemami beans and stir for a minute.
3. Add the rice, ghee and salt, and stir for 2 minutes. 
4. Add 6 cups of water and cook in the open pan for 10 minutes.
5. Take off the heat, and cover.

Garnishing (optional)

1. Sprinkle fried finely sliced onions on top. 

Serving

1. Serve hot. 

Sukhadi

A favorite with the Vaishnavs, sukhadi is easy to make.


Ingredients

• 2 cups of coarsely ground whole wheat flour
• 1 cup ghee (or unsalted butter)
• 1/2 cup cardamoms, crushed
• 1 cup gud (jaggery), soft or grated
• 1/2 cup almonds and pistachios, sliced and chopped - optional
• 1 tbspn ghee for greasing the steel plate (or unsalted butter) 

Preparation

1. Slice and chop the almond pistachios.
2. Crush the cardamom.
3. Keep a steel plate greased with ghee aside.

Instructions

1. Heat the ghee in a non-stick pan for a minute.
2. Turn the heat to medium-high and stir in the whole wheat flour.
3. Keep stirring for 10 minutes till the mixture becomes homogenous, darkens in color, and is fragrant.
4. Take the pan off the heat.
5. Stir in the jaggery and the cardamom till the jaggery is dissoved in the mixture.
6. Pour into the greased plate.  
7. Sprinkle finely chopped pistachio and almonds on the plate.
8. Cut diamonds.
9. Serve when cool.

Dal Dhokli

One of my favorite spicy, sour, sweet, salty, spicy - did I say spicy twice? - thing to eat is Dal Dhokli. It is one of those things that you don't really serve guests for dinner because it is not glamorous enough. Unless it is a family dinner and you are all raised in Gujarat on the yumminess of Dal Dhokli. Easy to make, great to eat, it is basically diamonds of paratha dough swimming in spicy dal.

I did not think I could get it right, but living in Dallas, there was no choice but to make it myself. And I have slurped it gratefully to be able to say I do get it right.

This is a traditionally arhar (tuver) dal curry.

Makes 6 bowls of dal dhokli

Ingredients 

For the curry

• 3 cups arhar dal (yellow lentil)
• 1 tbspn coriander powder 
• 1 tbspn cumin powder
• 1 tbspn turmeric powder 
• 1 tbspn ginger, grated
• a pinch of asfoetida
• 2 medium tomatoes, chopped into chunks
• 1 lemon, sliced
• 1 cup gud (jaggery or cane sugar) 
• salt, to taste

For the dough

• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tbspn oil
• 1 tbspn ajwain 
• 1 tspn salt
• 2 medium Thai peppers, finely chopped
• water, as needed

For the tempering

• 2 tbspn vegetable oil 
• 4 medium Thai peppers, finely chopped
• 2 inches of ginger, finely chopped
• 1 cup peanuts 
• 1 tspn mustard seeds
• 6-8 curry leaves

For the garnishing

• 1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped
• 1 cup red onions, finely chopped
• 2 tbspn lemon juice

Preparation (10 minutes)

1. Set aside the peppers, ginger, cilantro, red onions - finely chopped.
2. Chop tomatoes into chunks.
3. Steam the dal for 20 minutes in the pressure cooker with turmeric and salt.  
4. Make the dough, as for parathas.

Instructions  (20 minutes)

For the dough

1. Mix flour, oil, salt, ajwain, finely chopped ginger and peppers well.
2. Add water, as needed to make a firm dough, as for parathas.
3. Cover with a wet napkin and set aside for 10 minutes.

For the curry

1. Heat the oil in a pan, and add curry leaves and mustard seeds and allow them to pop.
2. After a minute, add chopped peppers, ginger and finally peanuts.
3. Add tamarind paste and stir it in till it is cooked.
4. Add the coriander powder and the cumin powder.
5. Add chopped tomatoes and stir for a minute.
6. Add the steamed dal and stir till it is a homogenous paste.
7. Add water, three times the volume.
8. Allow the dal to boil.
9. Add salt to taste.
10. Add jaggery and stir till the pieces of jaggery melt.
11. Add asfoetida and stir for two minutes.
12. Roll the dough into a thickness slightly less than 1/4 inch (like a paratha) and cut diamond shapes.
13. As the dal starts boiling, drop the diamond shapes into the dal.  
14. Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes, and take off the heat. 

Garnishing

1. Sprinkle finely chopped cilantro on top. 
2. Sprinkle fine sev - optional. 
3. Sprinkle finely chopped

Serving

1. Serve hot as an entrée, in soup bowls.