Semolina Upma with Buttermilk- "Sanja" ....A different recipe than regular Upma

"Sanja" is a Marathi word and probably this recipe belongs to Maharashtra. My mother - in law makes this dish. This one is like Upma but the main difference lies in adding buttermilk. Butter milk actually adds the sour taste to Sanja. This recipe is pretty fast once you make butter milk and great for people with upset stomach :)), kids, oldies ...But yes, a different taste can be enjoyed by anyone.

Ingredients: Serves: 2-3

1 cup Semolina (Rava)
3 cups Water
2 tbsp Curd
Green chili paste to taste
1 tbsp Roasted Peanut Crush
Salt to taste
1 tsp Turmeric powder
For tempering -
Oil, Mustard seeds, Asafetida,
Cumin seeds, 3-4 Curry leaves (optional)
Fresh Chopped Cilantro for garnishing

Method:

1. Add curd to the water, whisk it and make buttermilk.

2. Heat oil in a shallow pan and add the ingredients for tempering. When they sizzle add chopped green chili, turmeric powder. Stir and immediately add peanut crush and semolina.

3. Now keep on roasting semolina for a while till you smell a nice flavor or till the semolina becomes little lighter.

4. Now add buttermilk and make sure you stir in continually while adding buttermilk to semolina. This is actually to avoid any lumps of semolina getting formed.

5. Now add salt, adjust the chili paste and turmeric powder as per taste and color. Let it cook for sometime, till it thickens or reaches the consistency you want. Stir in between. Garnish with coriander and serve hot.

Tips:

One can also add few lime juice drops to this.

Split Moong Daal (Split Green Gram daal recipe)

I am great fan of Moong daal. Actually fan of all the forms of it; simple Moongs, split moong daal with skin and split moong daal without skin. There is such a range of delicious recipes of moong and moong daal. The thing I love about Moong daal is it takes very little time to cook and is nutritious. It's always good for an upset stomach or for anyone who is sick because its very light to digest.

For preparing this daal we first cook it in pressure cooker. You can also cook it outside. But make sure you don't overcook it or it will turn to thick paste. The daal grains should be visible.
This daal blends very well with rotis, parathas, puris and rice as well.

Ingredients: Serves: 4 - 5

1/2 cup split dehusked split Green Gram (Moong Yellow Daal)
2 tbsp finely chopped Onion
Chopped Green Chili to taste
2 tsp chopped Garlic
2 Clove
Coriander for garnishing
Fried onion slices for garnishing (optional)
For seasoning: Oil, Mustard Seeds, Cumin seeds,
Asafetida (hing), 4-5 Curry leaves Salt as per taste

Method:

1. Take daal and wash it properly. Pressure-cook daal until it is done.

2. Take oil in a frying pan. Add mustard seeds and when they splutter add hing, cumin seeds, curry leaves and stir.

3. Now add clove, chopped onion and cook on a medium flame.

4. Then add chopped green chili and garlic and stir well.

5. Now add cooked moong daal to the pan, add salt and mix everything.

6. Daal is ready. Garnish with coriander and fried onion slices.

Tips:

Serve with garma garam roti or paratha.

Cabbage - Green Peas - Rasin Trio

Nutritionists say that don't include too much of cabbage (patta gobi) if you are on a weight gain program but do include it if you want to sustain an optimum health or loose weight. Yes, cabbage is very popular for being low in saturated fats and cholesterol. It is also high in fibre and various vitamins. Including cabbage as salads is very common everywhere. In India we also make sabzi as a main course dish and this one with peas and raisins is my variation to it. This is good for people who don't like to eat it raw or less cooked (salad). I like cabbage in all forms and i am always excited to know more and more recipes of cabbage.

Ingredients:

4 cups thin Julienned Cabbage
1/2 cup Green Peas (parboiled or frozen)
1/2 Medium sized Tomato cut into small pieces
1 tbsp Raisins
4-5 Curry leaves
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1 tsp Mustard seeds
1tsp Asafetida
4 tsp Oil




Method:

1. Heat oil into a skillet and add some mustard seeds into it. When they splutter add hing , Cumin Seeds, Curry leaves to it.

2. Add tomato pieces, green peas, red chili and saute for 1-2 minutes. Now add green peas and red chili powder and saute again.

3. Add Cabbage and turmeric powder and mix well so that turmeric powder gets applied evenly.

4. Add salt and raisins; mix again. Raisins add amazing flavour to cabbage.
Lid the skillet and cook for 7-8 minutes till Cabbage softens.

Tips:

Serve with wheat rotis/phulkas. Green peas are optional. Don't add if you don't like or don't have them in your fridge.
If this sabzi lefts over, you can make toast sandwiches using it as a filling.

Whole Brown Lentils Curry ( Kale Masoor )

Masoor (brown lentils) are rarely used in Indian cooking. I never never thought they would taste this good before making this recipe. This recipe has some preparation time but its worth spending when you find the results at the end :).

Ingredients:  Serves: 4-6

1 cup of Whole Brown Lentil (kale masoor)
1 medium size very finely chopped Onion
2 tsp finely chopped Coriander
1 tbsp fresh grated Coconut
2-3 Garlic cloves minced
2-3 tsp Red Chili Powder
1 tsp Pav Bhaji Masala (optional)
1 tsp Saltless butter (optional)
1/2 Tomato diced
1 tsp Sugar
For seasoning: Oil, Mustard seeds, Cumin Seeds, Asafetida, Curry leaves

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan and put mustard seeds in it. When they splutter add asafetida and cumin seeds.

2. Immediately add chopped onion and coriander together. Add sugar. Saute till onion shrinks/becomes transparent.

3. Then add garlic and coconut and saute again. Add red chili powder, Onion-garlic powder. Cook till the oil separate outs.

4. Then add the boiled masoor and tomato pieces into it and mix well. Add 1tsp pavbhaji masala and butter to get a nice flavour and let masoor cook for 5-8 minutes.

Tips:

You can also use garam masala powder instead of Pav Bhaji Masala.
But you can find any of these masala in any Indian Grocery store or here.

Yellow Rice

Yellow rice is the best way to use any leftover rice. It requires very less time to prepare and needs no curries, no daal to enjoy.

Ingredients: Serves: 2

1 cup cooked fresh or leftover Rice

2 tsp Chopped Green Chili

1/2 cup Chopped Cilantro

1 tsp Turmeric Powder

1/2 cup chopped Onion

1/2 cup roasted peanut crush

6 - 7 Curry Leaves

Salt to taste

1 tsp Sugar

Lemon Juice

For seasoning: 4 tsp Oil, 1 tsp Mustard Seeds, 1 tsp Cumin Seeds, Pinch of Asafoetida (hing)

Method:

1. Break the rice lumps if any by hand.

2. Heat oil in a non-stick pan. Add mustard seeds and when they splutter add Cumin seeds and asafoetida. Immediately add curry leaves and green chili, chopped onion and saute till onion turns transparent.

4. Now add turmeric powder and rice and mix it well so that the yellow color of turmeric spreads evenly.

5. Now add salt, sugar, peanut crush, 3-4 drops of lemon juice, chopped coriander and mix again. Lid and let it cook for 2-3 minutes and serve hot.