Medhu Vadai

Medhu vadai is made of urad dal and it is my all time favourite
Sunday evening it was raining "cats n dogs " and we felt like having somethin piping hot
after few mins of thinking we zeroed in on having medhu vadai.

Ingredients

Urad dal- 1 cup (200 gms)
Green chillies - 4 to 5
Onions - 2
Curry leaves - a bunch
Ginger grated - 1 tspn
Asafoetida- 1/2 tspn
Coriander leaves - a bunch
salt - acc to taste
Oil - for frying

Method

• wash n soak the dal and refrigerate for min 1 hr
• in the mean time chop the onions finely
• cut the green chillies and grate the ginger and finely chop the coriander leaves and curry leaves
  
• now grind the urad dal smoothly . care shud be taken not to add too much water as it might absorb excessive oil.
• when done add the onions , chillies, curry leaves , ginger, coriander leaves, needed sal and asafoetida. mix it thoroughly
• heat oil in a pan
  
• now comes the trickier part.
• usually the vada's have a hole in the centre to allow even frying
• the mixture must be in th right propotion to get this
• for begginers it is ok if u just fry it without the hole in the centre.
• wet ur hands and take the misture to the size of the lemon ball and a make a hole with ur thumb and gently drop it in the oil
• allow it to get fried , the color changes to golden brown and then turn it and fry evenly
• when done serve with coconut chutney .
• alternatively u can cool the vada and drop in curd and enjoy as thayir vadai(curd vada)

Rava upuma

This is one of the most easiest tiffin items.
i have submitted a recipe of upma without vegetables but u can add ur choice of vegetables to this.

Ingredients

Rava/Sooji - 1 1/2 cups
Onion - 1 big
Green chillies - 4 to 5
Curry leaves - a bunch
Mustard - 1 tspn
Urad dal- 1/2 tspn
Channa dal - 1/2 tspn
Ginger grated - 1/2 tspn
Water- 2 cups
Salt - acc to taste
Oil - 1 tbspn

Method

• Heat oil in a pan and then add mustard seeds n urad dal n allow it to splutter
• then add the channa dal n curry leaves n saute it for few secs. when the curry leaves begin to become crisp add the grated ginger n green chillies slit lenghtwise
  
• saute for few secs and add the onions which are cut lenghtwise and keep frying till they become golden brown.
• at this stage add water n salt and close the pan with a tight lid
• allow the water to boil and when it has almost reduced to half add the rava n keep stirring
• care shud be taken while doing this or it might get clustered
• i prefer to have my upma dry for those of u who dont want it dry can increase the amount of water.
  
• now reduce the flame and keep it closed for 5- 7 mins
• remove from flame n relish it with pickle / chutney/sugar
  

Aloo Paratha

Paratha is a piece of flat unleavened bread fried on a griddle.
The dough is made from wheat flour.
Well this is my favourite north indian dish !
But it is fattening as in addition to the potato we use butter to brush the parathas.
so guys who are on diet be aware!

Ingredients

Aloo(Potato) - 2 medium size
Green chillies - 4 nos
Onion - 1 medium size( finely chopped)
Mustard - 1 tspn
Garlic - 4 pods ( finely chopped)
Coriander leaves- a bunch ( finely chopped)
Cumin - 1/4 tspn
Ajwain - 1 tspn
salt- acc to taste
chilli powder- 1/4 tspn
coriander powder- 1/4 tspn
garam masala - 1/4 tspn
butter- 2 to 3 tbspn
oil- 1 tbspn

alternatively this recipe can be prepared without using chilli powder, coriander powder and garam masala.

Method

• Pressure cook the potatoes until soft and when done cool it and mash the potaoes and add 1/2 tspn of ajwain and set it aside
• heat about 1 tbspn of oil and then add the mustard seeds and allow it to splutter and when done add the cumin seeds and saute for few secs and then add finely chopped garlic
  
• when it begins to brown add the finely chopped green chillies and then add the finely chopped onions and keep sauting till the onions begin to turn brown
• now add the mashed potato mixed with ajwain to this
• add salt , chilli powder, coriander powder and garam masala and keep sauting
• when the mixture is almost dry add the chopped coriander leaves and switch off the flame and allow it to cool

Preparing the dough

• take about 1 1/2 cups of atta (Chappathi flour/wheat flour)
• add about 1/2 tspn of salt and 1/2 tspn of ajwain and add needed water sufficient enough to make a soft pliable dough. when ur making this for the first time it will be quite tricky as one tends to add more water there by making it either too soft or too hard but i assure you it is not that difficult.
• now take sufficient dough to the size of a big lemon and flatten it on the edges using your fingers and then take the potato dumplings to the size of a small lemon and place in on the dough
• flatten the potato dumplings but not too much to the edges
• now pull the edges of the dough to a heap using your fingers so that the potato dumplings are not seen on the outside( refer to the pics below)
• now spread some dry atta on the surface where u r going to roll
• and roll the dough using a rolling pin to a round shape.(well was able to obtain this shape after several attempts)
• heat tawa and place this on it when hot
• after few secs turn over n wait for it to get cooked
• then brush with butter and turn it
• again brush with butter on the other side and wait for 2 secs and then take it from the tawa.
• serve with pickle or any chutney of your choice.

Source

From a friend.