Aamb Vade/Aam Vada/Aam Vadai

Ingredients

Channa dhal/split chick peas	2 cups
Thoor dhal	¼ cup
Red chillies	6 -8
Green chillies	1-2
Freshly grated coconut	½ cup
Curry leaves	A few
Oil	2 cups
Asafoetida	¼ tspn
Salt	To taste

Method

1. Wash and soak the dhals for at least 5 hours. Drain the water completely. 
2. Grind the dhals coarsely in a mixie jar and keep it aside. It is very important not to make it into a smooth paste.
3. Grind coconut, salt, chillies and hing, without adding water, into a fine powder and mix it along with the dhals. Add chopped curry leaves.
4. Heat oil in a wok. Deep fry the mixture on a medium heat.
5. Make small balls of the ground mixture, roughly about the size of a lime. Put the ball in the middle of your palm and press it gently to form a patty.
6. Gently put the patty in oil and let it fry until it is golden brown.
7. Drain on a paper towel.

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Vegetable Sambar/Huli

Ingredients

Carrots	1 or 2
Beans	A handful
Potatoes	1 or 2
Chokoes	½
Peas  Fresh/frozen	a handful
Thoordhal	1 cup
Channadhal	2 tbs
Coriander seeds	½ tbs
Methi seeds/fenugreek	½ tsp
Red chillies	5/6
Dry coconut (grated)	6 tbs
Tamarind	Lemon size
Mustard seeds	½ tsp
Curry leaves	1 sprig
Oil	1 tsp
Asafoetida/hing	¼ tsp

Method

1. Wash and cut all the vegetables.
2. Pressure cook thoordhal and vegetables.
3. Meanwhile, fry all the dry ingredients except coconut with 1 tsp of oil until light brown in colour. When it is cool, wet grind with coconut and hing.
4. Mix cooked dhal and Vegetables along with tamarind juice and the ground mixture. Add salt and boil it.
5. Heat a tsp of oil and add mustard seeds, curry leaves and hing and when it splutters, mix it with the sambar.
6. Serve hot with rice.

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Idli, Vada & Sambar

Idli

Ingredients                                        

Par boiled rice	3 cups
Raw rice	1 cup
Urid dhal	1 ¼ cup
Salt	As per taste

Method to make the batter:

1. Soak the rice and urid dhal separately overnight.
2. Grind the urid dhal in a wet grinder or any Indian blender into a smooth batter.
3. Grind the rice into a paste. It doesn’t have to be smooth; it can be a little coarser than the urid dhal batter.
4. Add all the batter into a container and mix it well. Leave it to ferment overnight.

Method to make idlis:

1. Firstly, an idli mould and an idli cooker are needed to make idlis.
2. Prepare the batter by adding salt and check the consistency of the batter, ensuring it is neither too thick nor too watery.
3. Apply oil to the idli plates so that the idlis won’t stick to the plate after it is steam cooked.
4. With a big spoon, take the batter and fill the idli plates.
5. Meanwhile fill the idli cooker with water (about 1 ½ inch height) and keep it on the stove and let it boil.
6. Carefully place the idle plate stand in the idli cooker and close the lid.
7. Cook for about 10-11 minutes and then turn off the stove.
8. Remove the idli plate stand and let it cool for about 5 minutes. Carefully remove the idlis from the plate and serve it with green chutney or sambar.

Vada

Ingredients

Urid dhal	1 cup
Pepper (black)	1 tsp
Ginger	1 tsp
Green chillies	2
Curry leaves	A few
Coconut pieces	2 tbspn
Oil	2 cups
Salt	To taste

Method

1. Soak the urid dal in 2 cups of water for about 3 hours.
2. Powder the black pepper coarsely and keep it aside.
3. Chop the ginger into very tiny pieces and keep it aside.
4. Drain the water from the soaked urid dhal. Grind the urid dhal with a small amount of water so that the consistency is thick.
5. Add pepper, ginger and salt to this mixture. If you want it to be spicier, chopped chillies can be added.
6. Heat oil, pat the batter on a foiled plastic sheet and make a donut-like shape. This can also be achieved by using a vada maker.
7. Slip the vadas into hot oil and fry until they are golden brown.
8. Serve hot with chutney or sambar.

 For Thair Vada:

1. Follow the above steps up to step 7.  
2. Prepare yogurt with a little bit of water. Add salt and season it by heating 1 tbspn of oil.
3. Add mustard seeds, urid dhal and curry leaves. When it turns light brown in colour pour it into the yogurt.
4. Add the fried vadas and let it soak for 10 minutes and then garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves and serve.

Tomato and Onion sambar

Ingredients

Thoor dhal	1 cup
Tomato	2 large
Onion	2 large
Channa dhal	2 tbspn
Coriander seeds	2 tspn
Methi /Fenugreek seeds	1  tspn
Mustard seeds	1  tspn
Curry leaves	1 sprig
Oil	2 tsp
Salt	As per taste

Method

1. Cut tomato and onions into long, thin slices.
2. Pressure cook thoor dhal, tomato and onions.
3. Meanwhile, fry all the dry ingredients except coconut and mustard seeds with 1 tsp. of oil until light brown in colour. When it is cool, grind with coconut into a smooth paste.
4. Mix cooked dhal, tomato and onion along with tamarind juice and the ground mixture. Add salt and boil it.
5. Heat oil and add mustards. When it splutters, add curry leaves and pour it over the sambar.

Coconut chutney

Ingredients

Roasted gram	½ cup
Green chillies	3-4
Fresh coconut	½ cup
Coriander leaves	5 tbspn
Ginger	½ inch piece

In a mixer grind roasted gram, green chillies, coriander leaves, ginger, salt and freshly grated coconut with little water and grind it into a paste.

Avarekai Uppittu/Anapakai Upma

Ingredients

Semolina/Rava coarse	1 cup
Urid dhal	1 tsp
Channa dhal	1 tsp
Mustard seeds	½ tsp
Cumin seeds/jeera	1 tbspn
Avarekai/Anapakai Fresh/ frozen	150 gms
Green chillies/curry leaves	5-6
Fresh coconut	¼ cup
Asafoetida	¼ tsp
Salt	As per taste
Oil	3 tbspn

Method

1. Roast rava with 1 spoon of oil in a kadai until it turns golden brown and the raw smell disappears. Keep aside.
2. Heat oil in the kadai. Add mustard seeds, urid dhal, channa dhal ,curry leaves and green chillies and fry until they are light brown.
3. Now add 2 cups of water to the this and when the water is boiling add anapakai/averekai.
4. When anapakai is almost cooked, it should be soft when you mash it with your finger. Add salt, jeera and hing and allow it boil for 2 minutes.
5. Now add rava little by little. Stir continuously so that lumps are not formed.
6. Cook covered for about 2 mins. Add grated coconut and mix well.
7. Remove from the stove and add lemon juice and serve hot.

Vegetable Upma

Ingredients

Rava or semolina (coarse)	1 cup
Carrots, peas, beans and potatoes OR frozen mixed vegetables	1 cup
Tomatoes fresh or tin	3 or 1 tin
Green chillies	3 - 4
Curry leaves	1 sprig
Coriander leaves	2 tsp
Oil	5 tbsp
Fresh coconut	3 tbsp
Cashew nuts	A few

Method

1. Boil mixed vegetables in a vessel and keep aside.
2. Fry rava with 1 tsp of oil until the raw smell goes and the colour changes to a light brown.
3. Cut green chillies and coriander leaves.
4. Heat oil in a kadai or a round vessel. Add mustard seeds, turmeric, channa dhal, urid dhal and cashews and fry until it is golden in colour.
5. Add green chillies, curry leaves and coriander leaves and fry. Add tomatoes and fry until the tomatoes become soft.
6. Now add mixed vegetables with water and let it boil for 5 minutes.
7. Add salt, cumin seeds and ingu and boil for 1 minute.
8. Add rava and mix it so that it doesn’t t get lumps.
9. Lastly, add fresh coconut and mix it.

Potato Curry

Potatoes	250 gms
Green Chillies	3-4
Urid dhal	1 tsp
Channa dhal	1 tsp
Mustard seeds	½ tsp
Turmeric powder	¼ tspn
Coriander leaves	2 tbspn
Curry Leaves	1-2 sprigs
Salt	As per taste
Oil	1 tbpsn
Lemom juice	2 tspn

Method:

1. Wash and cut potatoes into halves and boil until they are soft.
2. When cool, remove the skin of the potatoes and mash them. Keep them aside.
3. In a pan, heat oil and add mustard seeds, turmeric, urid dhal, channa dhal, green chillies, coriander leaves and curry leaves.
4. Fry for a minute or two until the dhals turn red.
5. Next, add potatoes and fry for one minute. Add salt and lemon juice and mix well.
6. Serve with rice or dosa.