Xref: nuchat rec.food.recipes:6915 rec.food.veg:37524 Newsgroups: rec.food.recipes,rec.food.veg Path: nuchat!taronga!arielle From: sridhar@asuvax.eas.asu.edu (Sridhar Venkataraman) Subject: COLLECTION: Indian Vegetarian Recipes - Usenet Cookbook fmt. Message-ID: Followup-To: rec.food.veg Keywords: vada chutney burfi dosai potato_masala rasam sambar Sender: arielle@taronga.com (Stephanie da Silva) Reply-To: sridhar@asuvax.eas.asu.edu (Sridhar Venkataraman) Organization: Arizona State University, Tempe AZ Date: Thu, 9 Dec 1993 20:06:38 GMT Approved: arielle@taronga.com A collection of Indian Vegetarian recipes in postprocessed Usenet Cookbook format. For the nroff files, please mail me (sridhar@asuvax.eas.asu.edu). ULLUNDHU_VADAI(V) USENET Cookbook ULLUNDHU_VADAI(V) ULLUNDHU_VADAI ULLUNDHU_VADAI - A South Indian snack INGREDIENTS () 1 cup uLLundhu (Urad daal) 4 to 6 Green chillies(chopped) 1/2 inch Ginger (grated/chopped) 1 cup Water 1 tsp. Salt 1 1/2 cups. Oil (for frying) 1 medium Onion (chopped)(optional) 1/2 head Cabbage(small) (chopped) (optional) PROCEDURE (1) Soak uLLundhu for about 3 to 5 hours. (2) Drain the water completely and grind till the uLLundhu is just about broken in small pieces (maAvu should NOT be too fine) the uLLundhu in the blender or food processor with very little water as possible, to do this grind 1/2 cup of uLLundhu at time ]or else the blender will be on fire ;-)]. (3) Mix chillies, ginger, salt and the vegetables(optional) to the uLLundhu. You can just onion or both onion and cabbage. (4) Add the oil to heated wok (vaANali) and heat the oil on medium-high heat for about 3 to 5 minutes. (5) Wet the palm of one of your hands. Put the maAvu on the wet palm and shape it like doughnut and drop it slowly into the oil and fry till golden brown. If the shape dosen't matter to you, then take the maAvu and drop into the oil using a table-spoon (slightly oil the spoon before taking the maAvu so it won't stick to th spoon). You can add 2 or 3 at a time depending on how much oil you have in the vaANali. (6) Variations: To the same maAvu, add about 1 tsp. whole black pepper (crushed), 1/2 cup of chopped fresh coconut, 1/2" ginger grated and salt (omit chillies,onion and cabbage). Drop the maAvu into the oil in round shapes, to make Madras Bonda and fry till golden brown. CONTRIBUTOR Geetha Anandraj anandraj@tis.enet.dec.com Last change: 18 May 93 1 COCONUT_BURFI(V) USENET Cookbook COCONUT_BURFI(V) COCONUT_BURFI COCONUT_BURFI - A South Indian sweet INGREDIENTS () 700 gms Sugar 2 Coconuts 35 gms Cashewnuts 7-8 Cardamom 70 gms Ghee PROCEDURE (1) Shred the coconut. Break the cashewnuts into small pieces and fry them in ghee. Powder the cardamom. (2) Heat water in a vessel containing 1/4 ltr. of water and add the sugar to it. After the sugary liquid is no longer thin, add the coconut shreds and heat it until it turns thick. (3) After sufficient stirring, add the fried cashewnut pieces and ghee and stir the mixture well. Add the powdered cardamom and mix it thoroughly and stop heating. (4) Pour the mixture onto a plate which could accomo- date sufficient thickness. Cut into rectangular pieces while hot. NOTES This recipe is a translation from 'samaithu paar', a cook- book in Tamil. CONTRIBUTOR Sridhar. sridhar@asuvax.eas.asu.edu Last change: 19 May 93 1 CHUTNEY(V) USENET Cookbook CHUTNEY(V) CHUTNEY CHUTNEY - An accompaniment to lots of South Indian dishes & Snacks INGREDIENTS () 1.5 cups coconut (shredded) 1.0 channa dhal (roast until golden brown) 2-3 green chillies 1 inch ginger 2-3 tsps jeera 0.5 tsp tamarind concentrate (or lemon juice) salt to taste PROCEDURE (1) grind above in a blender. season with hing,mustard seeds and curry leaves. (2) Chutney variant #1.. grind 2 bunches coriander leaves for lip-smacking 'coriander chutney' NOTES Experiment with the proportions. Me thinks that's the best way to learn. corrections welcome... CONTRIBUTOR Prabhu Balaraman balarama@cae.wisc.edu Last change: 17 May 93 1 DOSAI(V) USENET Cookbook DOSAI(V) DOSAI DOSAI - South Indian, Pancake-like Verbose, designed to guide the novice through the steps. INGREDIENTS () 3 cups Texas long grain rice 1 cup Urad dal (polished) 2 tsp Salt PROCEDURE (1) Grinding: Soak the rice and the dal separately, for about 5 hours (soaking longer won't hurt, I usually soak it in the morning, go off to work, and grind in the evening.) (2) Grind the rice with sufficient water until it is a smooth paste. (I use my osterizer and run it in 3 batches, the amount of water used to grind is somewhat crucial, using too much will make the result too watery, while using too little will make it hard to grind and too thick. I usually put in the rice and add water until it just reaches the brim of the rice, this will seem like too much, but it will work out fine once the rice is ground. (3) I then run the osterizer on MIX until the rice is broken and then run it on LIQUIDIZE until the rice starts to become a paste. If required, add just a little more water, perhaps a few tablespoons. Touch the paste between your fingers to feel the texture. It should be smooth). (4) Now grind the dal in two batches. (The amount of water here is not as tricky. Traditionally this would be ground in a stone grinder by hand. The dal needs to be ground while slowly adding more water from the top of the osterizer. When ground, the dal has the tendency to fluff up, this ten- dency must be encouraged by adding only a little water at a time while stirring and continuing to grind. The dal should double in quantity after grinding, while the quantity of rice would have remained unchanged.) (5) Now mix both the pastes with the salt in a dish that is at least a third bigger in size, allowing space for the dough to rise. (Quite commonly, the dough runs over for me, so I put it in a larger Last change: 13 Dec 91 1 DOSAI USENET Cookbook DOSAI dish than worry all night about overflowing dough). (6) Leave for about 8 hours in a dark warm place. I usually leave it in the oven overnight and occa- sionally turn the oven on for a minute or two, to keep the air inside the oven at a warm tempera- ture. (7) Cooking: The next morning, if you have done all this, the dough is ready to be transformed into dosas. Use a heavy cast-iron griddle (a flat non- stick pan will do, but sadly lacks the taste that comes from the iron pan). (8) Heat the pan until a few drops of water dropped on the pan sizzles away (9) Take a deep ladle full of dough and drop the dough in the middle of the pan, then with a deftness that comes with practice, quickly swirl the dough away from the middle until it is spread evenly in a circle around the pan. You must do this quickly because once the dough cooks, you cannot spread it and the result will be lumpy. (10) Take a teaspoon full of oil and spread it around the edge of the dosai. Wait a minute or so, until you see the edges browning and insert a flat ladle that has sharp edges under and all around the dosai, until it is released completely (Bewarned that, using a well-scrubbed pan won't let you release the dosai easily. To prevent this, you might want to rub a little oil onto the surface of the pan before spreading the dough.) (11) After releasing the dosai, flip it around on the other side and put another teaspoon of oil around the edges. Wait a minute or two until it is cooked and remove from the pan. Before making the next one, use a small piece of paper kitchen towel and rub any excess oil off the pan. (12) (This whole procedure sounds tedious, but its not too hard after you've done it a few times. Incidentally I make dosa every week. The dough will keep in the refrigerator for a week or more. If the dough starts to get sour, cut small pieces some green chilis and onion and add to the dough Last change: 13 Dec 91 2 DOSAI USENET Cookbook DOSAI before cooking it. This can be done even other- wise, for a different flavor and variety.) (13) Eating: Break a piece of the dosa and dip it into the dosa-molaga-podi or the samber (recipes to follow) and pop it into youir mouth. Enjoy. If you do try to make this, send me email if you have any further questions. CONTRIBUTOR radhika radhika@cs.washington.edu Last change: 13 Dec 91 3 MASAL_VADAI(V) USENET Cookbook MASAL_VADAI(V) MASAL_VADAI MASAL_VADAI - A South Indian snack INGREDIENTS () 1/2 ltr. Yellow split peas 2 tsp. Salt 8-12 Green Chilies 1 inch Ginger 175 gms Onion Curry leaves bunch coriander leaves 20 gms Cashewnuts (optional) 2 Cardamom (optional) 1/2 tsp Masala powder 3/8 ltr Oil PROCEDURE (1) Soak yellow split peas in water for 2-3 hrs. (2) Grind the soaked mixture with salt coarsely, without adding much water. (3) Cut the onions into small pieces along with ginger, green chilies and add them to the mixture along with coriader leaves and curry leaves. Now add the masala powder and add all other optional ingredients. Mix thoroughly. (4) Fry small spoonfuls of the mixture in hot oil. Traditionally, a banana leaf is used and the mix- ture is taken in lumps of the size of a small lemon and lightly pressed on the banana leaf and the resulting flat thingie is dropped into the oil and fried until it turns brown. The intensity of the color needed is dependent on your taste! NOTES This recipe is translated literally from 'samaithuppaar', a cookbook in Tamil. CONTRIBUTOR Sridhar sridhar@asuvax.eas.asu.edu Last change: 17 May 93 1 MYSORE_PAGU(V) USENET Cookbook MYSORE_PAGU(V) MYSORE_PAGU MYSORE_PAGU - A South Indian sweet INGREDIENTS () 700 gms Sugar 1/4 ltr Kadala Mavu (Chick peas flour) 1 Coconut 70 gms Cashewnuts Kesari powder 7-8 Cardamom 175 gms Ghee PROCEDURE (1) Shred the coconut. Break the cashewnuts into small pieces and fry them in ghee. Powder the cardamom. (2) Heat water in a vessel containing 1/4 ltr. of water and add the sugar to it. After the sugary liquid is no longer thin, add the coconut shreds and heat it until it turns thick. (3) Then add the kadala mavu gradually and keep stir- ring to ensure uniformity in the mixture. After all the kadala mavu is added and after sufficient stirring, add the fried cashewnut pieces and kesari powder and ghee and stir the mixture well. After you are sufficiently satisfied that you get a 'mysore_pagu' odour :-) add the powdered car- damom and mix it thoroughly and stop heating. (4) Pour the mixture onto a plate which could accomo- date sufficient thickness. Cut into rectangular pieces while hot. NOTES This recipe is a translation from 'samaithu paar', a cook- book in Tamil. CONTRIBUTOR Sridhar. sridhar@asuvax.eas.asu.edu Last change: 19 May 93 1 POTATO_MASALA(V) USENET Cookbook POTATO_MASALA(V) POTATO_MASALA POTATO_MASALA - An accompaniment to DOSAI, CHAPATI etc. INGREDIENTS () 4 large potatoes (boiled) 2 large onions (chopped medium size) 4-5 green chilies (slit long stips..) 2 tsps channa dhal 1 inch ginger (finely chopped) salt to taste.. PROCEDURE (1) Heat oil, fry channa dhal until golden brown. add dash of hing and crackle mustard. (2) Saute onions and green chillies until golden brown. (3) Throw in a few (~4) cups of water; add ginger, salt, let cook for a while. (4) Mash potatoes and dump into above..and viola! Masala! CONTRIBUTOR Prabhu Balaraman balarama@cae.wisc.edu Last change: 17 May 93 1 RASAM(V) USENET Cookbook RASAM(V) RASAM RASAM - A South Indian item INGREDIENTS () 1/2 cup toovar dal (also called toor dal) 2 quarter-size slices ginger 1/2 tsp. turmeric 1 pound tomatoes chopped (roma tomatoes are best) 4 tps. tamarind paste 2.5 tsp. salt 7 cloves garlic 1 red pepper 1.5 tbs. curry leaves 10-15 fresh Chinese parsley (aka coriander) generous pinch asafetida 3/4 tsp. ground cumin 3/4 tsp. ground coriander seed 2 tsp. oil 3/4 tsp. whole black mustard 3/4 tsp. whole cumin 1/2 tsp. urad dal 2 tsp. fresh Chinese parsley, chopped PROCEDURE (1) Put toor dal, 4 cups water, ginger, and 1/4 tsp. turmeric in to boil; simmer for 1.5 hours. Mash. let sit for 10 minutes. (Can do this fast in a pressure cooker if you like.) (2) Combine tomatoes, tamarind paste, 1/4 tsp. tur- meric, salt, 5 garlic cloves, red pepper, 1 tbs. curry leaves, chinese parsley, asafetida, ground cumin and coriander, and 4 cups water in a new pot. Bring to a boil. cover, turn heat to low and simmer for 1.5 hours. (We never let it simmer for more than 15 minutes.) (3) Take a cup of the dal water and add to the tomato pot. Then take 1/4 cup of thick dal, mash it, add to tomato pot. Strain this mixture through a sieve, extracting as much liquid as you can. (We don't do this at all. We just combine the dal water with the tomatoes and spices). (4) Put strained liquid in a pot and bring to boil. Cover, and turn off heat. (5) Put the oil in a small skillet and heat over a medium flame. When hot, put in the remaining 2 cloves garlic, mustard seeds, whole cumin seeds, urid dal, 1/2 tbs. curry leaves, and after a few Last change: 28 Mar 91 1 RASAM USENET Cookbook RASAM seconds pour these contents into the hot soup (strained liquid), and cover immediately. Let sit for 5 minutes, strain and serve with chopped chinese parsley. NOTES Additional comments (Mine): The way we make it at home is much faster, easier, but may not be as delicious. It certainly is at least as authentic, since Rasam is a South Indian preparation, and Madhur Jaf- frey is a North Indian. You can use the same ingredients as she suggests, but don't bother to strain the tomatoes, dal paste, etc. The impor- tant thing is to use good tomatoes, very firm fleshed roma tomatoes for example. Also, use enough tamarind paste to make the rasam somewhat sour. The coriander leaves (aka cilantro or chinese parsley) add a lot of flavor at the end. She describes at the end of her recipe a way to "season" the rasam. This means adding fried spices. We do this but only use the mustard seeds, and sometimes a few curry leaves. The way to do this well is to use a metal spoon -- a bit stainless steel one which you can put directly over the heat, and hold the handle of without getting burnt. In this spoon we put a tablespoon of oil or less, and let it get quite hot, almost but not quite smoking. Only when it is very hot do you add the spices, since the mustard seeds will only pop (or "burst") if added when the oil is very hot. As soon as they start popping (5-10 seconds) take the spoon off the heat, and add the contents of your spoon to the rasam. This is eaten mixed with rice and whatever vegetables you've cooked. It can be eaten separately, but that's very rare. Probably only for invalids. This recipe is taken from Madhur Jaffrey's "Vegetarian Cook- ing". CONTRIBUTOR Tandy Warnow tandy@ucbarpa.Berkeley.EDU Last change: 28 Mar 91 2 SAMBAR(V) USENET Cookbook SAMBAR(V) SAMBAR SAMBAR - A South Indian recipe A liquid substance traditionally eaten with dosai, idli, vadai and rice, among other things. INGREDIENTS () 1 large Onion, chopped into big pieces Vegetables, like carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, Some curry leaves (if available) Coriander leaves chopped 1T (cilantro) Juice of tamarind size of perhaps 1/2-3/4 cup Thur dal (cooked) Salt to taste 3/4 tsp Turmeric powder 3/4 tsp Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp Fenugreek seeds (optional) 1 tsp Oil 2 tsp Coriander seeds 1/8 tsp Asafoetida (hing) 2 tsp Chana dal 10-15 whole red chilis, to taste 3-6 tsp Coconut (shredded) PROCEDURE (1) Fry coriander seeds, asafoetida, chana and chilis and grind with coconut, use shredded dried if too lazy to deal with fresh. The quantity of coconut varies according to taste. (2) Fry the onion for about 5 minutes in a little oil with the turmeric powder. Add the vegetables and some water and cook. I would add hard to cook veg- gies like carrot and chatyote first and cook for a while before adding sweet potatoes and pumpkin. (Can make this also with a single vegetable, no need to use all of them.) Don't overcook veggies, but when just cooked, add the tamarind juice, curry leaves and salt to taste, (3) Soon after adding the tamarind juice, take a separate frying pan and heat up the 1T oil. When hot enough so that the mustard seeds will crackle when thrown in, put the mustard seeds in, once the crackling has stopped add the fenugreek seeds and stir until they turn a dark brown color (don't burn). Then add this the boiling mixture. (4) Boil all together for another 5 minutes until the raw tamarind smell has left the solution. Now add Last change: 13 Dec 91 1 SAMBAR USENET Cookbook SAMBAR the paste of masala and coconut and add the dal. Bring to a boil and switch off. Add chopped cori- ander leaves. (5) Takes 2-3 hours for the flavour to settle down, but can be eaten right away also. NOTES Vegetables that must NOT be used are those that belong to the cabbage and caulflower families. While frying ingradients for the paste, throw in the cori- ander seeds first and fry awhile before putting in the oth- ers, otherwise the coriander seeds won't fry properly and will taste pretty awful. CONTRIBUTOR radhika radhika@cs.washington.edu Last change: 13 Dec 91 2