Go Green!

Green is the color of nature, which happens to be my most favorite color. To my surprise, I found out that I have some green recipes (I mean green colored) with me. As they all are looking nicely green I thought of posting them all at the same time even though they were made on different dates. Believe me, they all tasted so yummy! Read on!

Let me start with a healthy and very easy snack.

Green Apple Snack

This was our snack on one evening. There is no cooking involved in this.

We need: 1 Green Apple (Granny Smith) 1 tsp Red Chili Powder 1 tsp Salt Preparation: Chop the apple into thin slices.  Mix the chili powder and salt together in a separate bowl.  Arrange them on a serving plate.  Dip the apple slices in the mixture and eat.  Trust me it tastes great. That’s it.

Green Sour Dal

This dal is for the sour lovers. It has the combination of green veggies like mango and tomatillo.

Ingredients: 1 cup Toor Dal 1 Green Mango (only ½ mango is needed) 1 Tomatillo Some Coriander Leaves A pinch of Turmeric Salt to taste For Seasoning: 1 tsp Mustard Seeds 1 tsp Cumin Seeds A pinch of Asafetida 1 tsp Oil Preparation: Wash the toor dal well and cook it until it becomes soft. Chop the mango and tomatillo into medium pieces. In a separate bowl add these pieces with some water and cook until they are soft. Then add the cooked toor dal, turmeric and salt to it. Mix well and finally add the coriander leaves. Take it away from the flame. In a small pan heat the oil and add the mustard seeds. When they splutter add the cumin and asafetida. Fry for a while and add this seasoning to the dal. Serve with hot rice.

Spinach-Potato Patties

Spinach-Potato Patties with Peanut Chutney and Ketchup

This is one easy snack and tastes great.

Ingredients: A bunch of Spinach Leaves 3 medium Potatoes ¼ cup All-Purpose Flour Salt to taste Oil to deep fry Method: Boil the potatoes, peel the skin and mash them into a smooth paste.  Cook the spinach leaves until tender, mash into a fine paste with a fork. In a bowl, mix the mashed potato and spinach well, add the flour and salt.  Mix them well and prepare just like chapathi dough. Make small balls out of the dough and flat them with palm into the shape of patties. Heat the oil in a pan. When it is hot, add these patties one by one carefully.  Fry them for some time and take them away from the oil and spread on a paper towel. Repeat this process for all the patties. Transfer them into a serving plate. Serve hot with the ketchup and peanut chutney.

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Moong Dal Pickle

This is very easy to prepare and tastes great. In Telugu we call it “Pacchi Pesala Pacchadi”. There is no frying involved in this recipe except for the seasoning.

Ingredients:

• ½ cup Moong Dal
• 5 dry Red Chilies or as per taste
• ½ tsp Cumin Seeds
• 2 tsp Lemon Juice
• Salt to taste

For Seasoning:

• ½ tsp Mustard Seeds
• ½ tsp Cumin Seeds (optional)
• ½ tsp Bengal Gram (Chana Dal)
• ½ tsp Black Gram (Urad Dal)
• 4 or 5 Curry leaves
• 1 broken dry Red Chili
• 1 tsp Oil

Preparation:
Wash the moon dal well and soak it in water for an hour or until it is soft.

In a blender, grind the soaked moong dal along with the red chilies, cumin seeds and salt into a fine paste by adding little water. The paste should be thick, so add the water only as required.

Transfer the finely ground pickle into a serving bowl, add the lemon juice and mix well.

In a small pan heat the oil and add the mustard seeds. When they splutter, add the cumin seeds, the dals and the curry leaves. Fry them until the dals turn golden brown.

Finally, add the above seasoning to the prepared pickle and mix well.

Serve with hot rice and ghee.

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Picture of the Week

Donner Lake

This picture was taken when we had visited Donner Lake, Truckee CA.

Donner Lake is a wonderful recreation area with an unlimited summer fun like fishing, water skiing and swimming etc. It is a best place for camping too.

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Rava Dosa

Rava Dosa with Peanut Chutney

This is my most favorite kind of dosa and it is pretty easy to prepare.

Ingredients: 1 cup Semolina (Upma Rava) 1 cup All Purpose Flour (or Maida) 1 glass Buttermilk (or as required for mixing) Some Green Chilies (4 or 5) 1 medium Onion A small piece of Ginger 1 tsp Cumin Seeds Some Curry Leaves (optional) Salt to taste Oil Preparation: Mix the semolina and the maida with the buttermilk and the salt.  It is better if the buttermilk is sour. The batter should be relatively thin in consistency.  Let the batter stand for an hour.  Chop the onions, green chilies, curry leaves and the ginger into small pieces and place in a plate along with the cumin seeds. Heat a pan and pour one ladleful of batter in the center.  Spread to make a round flat pancake shape.  Sprinkle some onions, green chilies, cumin seeds, ginger and the curry leaves mixture on top of it. Pour a little oil around the dosa, cover it with a lid and leave it for a while.  After 2 min. take off the lid and fold the dosa in half and take away from the pan.  Repeat the above process with the rest of the batter.  Place the dosas on a plate and serve along with Peanut Chutney.  They taste better when they are hot.

Rava Dosa with Peanut Chutney

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