Batata Song - Spiced potato curry

Potatoes remind me of a very funny incident which happened when we went veggie shopping.Me,hubby and our friends Satheesh&Deepthi had gone together for the shopping.While at it,I took two packs of potatoes and put in our basket(each packet is 1 kg).They were stunned and told me that those were 1 kg packs and I was like..yeah,so?They just couldn't believe we two consumed about 2 kgs of potatoes in a month(or less!).For them 1 kg was more than enough for a month and sometimes more.We simply love potatoes(we as in,me and hubby and Konkanis in general),otherwise how can one explain the number of curries,side-dishes,upkaris,chips etc etc that is there in our cuisine??;-)

Batata Song is one such song..oops I mean,one such dish;-).When I heard about this dish first,I thought someone was kidding,but no-seriously,this curry is called batata song and what a spicy song it is..!!It is a spicy and tangy curry which could be had with rice,chapathis and even shevai/idiyappams.Hubby says it tastes great with bread too,but I haven't tried it!!So many of my blogger friends have already blogged about this,so I guess you all must be familiar with this dish.This is my version of the song;-)


Batata Song-Spiced Potato Curry
Ingredients

Potatoes - 3,medium sized,chopped into cubes.
Onions - 2,medium sized,chopped finely(keep 2 tbsps aside for seasoning)
Salt to taste

Grind into a smooth paste

Red chillies - 5
Tamarind - a channa size
Coriander seeds - 1 tsp
Grated coconut - 1 tsp

For seasoning

Coconut oil - 1 tbsp
Chopped onions - 2 tbsp
Tomato - 1,medium sized,chopped finely

For garnishing

3-4 tbsps of finely chopped coriander leaves

Method

Pressure cook potatoes and onions together till well cooked(about 4-5 whistles should do).
In a thick bottomed kadai,add oil and chopped onions and chopped tomato,stir well.
Add the ground masala and salt to taste.
Add the cooked potatoes-onions,mix well.
Let it boil,simmer for 5-10 minutes or till the curry becomes semi-solid.
Garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves and a dash of coconut oil.
Serve hot with rice!!

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Moong dal Usli

Dals/Pulses always remind me of Navrathri-Dussehra,coz that was the only time amma prepared variety of pulses in the form of sundals.On the contrary,ma-in-law prepares dishes out of pulses almost every week,fridays-brown/white channa,saturdays-kuleeth-horse gram,mondays-thingalavro(white bean),so on and so forth.I too follow the friday channa routine,but otherwise my dals/pulses consumption is very less.For vegetarians,dal is a good source of protein,so I better include it in my daily menu sooner or later.;-).

Moong dal usli or Mooga dali usli is a yummy moong dal preparation,similar to upkari/stir fry.Amma used to make it as a side dish to chapathi and I loved having it just like that.A bowl full of usli garnished with freshly grated coconut..hmmm.When I made this once for dinner..hubby was surprised,coz they had this dish for breakfast!!Along with Phov/Poha or just like that sprinkled with sugar!!Any which way you try it,it tastes superb.And its so simple to make-no soaking or cooking in a pressure cooker etc etc.You feel like eating it-make it in a jiffy and eat it.As simple as that!!

Moong dal/Mooga dali usli

Ingredients

Moong dal(Yellow Moong,Split Moong) - 1 cup
Green chilly - 1,slit into 2
Red chilly - 1,broken into pieces
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Haldi/Turmeric - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 tbsp
Freshly grated coconut - 3 tbsp

Method

In a thick botomed kadai,add oil and splutter mustard and jeera.
Add the chillies and curry leaves,stir well.Mix in haldi.
Add the moong dal at this stage and mix well.
Add salt to taste and 2 tbsp grated coconut(reserve 1 tbsp for garnish).
Add about 2 cups of water,stir well and let it boil.
Close the lid,keep on sim and let the moong dal cook completely.
Add more water if required,the moong dal should be cooked enough but not mushy.
Just before serving,garnish with grated coconut.
Serve hot!!


This entry is off to Sangeeth for her Protein rich event.

Moong dal usli is also going to Healthy Cooking at Mansi's blog.

Some facts about Moong dal

An Asian plant (Vigna radiata) in the pea family, widely cultivated for its edible seeds and pods. It is the chief source of bean sprouts.

Whole or split seed of Vigna radiata (Phaseolus aureus, P. radiatus), green gram.
A 150-g portion is a rich source of folate, copper, and selenium;
a good source of vitamin B₆, iron, and zinc;
a source of protein and vitamin B₁;
provides 3 g of dietary fibre;
supplies 90 kcal (380 kJ). (Source-answers.com)

An announcement

Have you guys checked out the entries for OS2?If you liked my Apple Cake,please vote for it!!You have to be a member of Dining hall to vote.Please mail Siri or DK if you have any problems in registering.

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Malai Cookies & An Award

Before buying the MW,I asked many of my friends for opinion on what to buy-a MW or an OTG.Majority of them said MW because of the convenience in reheating,maintaining nutrition etc etc.Went with the majority and got a MW,but when it comes to baking cakes-the yellow cakes with brown crust,well browned cookies etc,I really wished I had purchased an OTG instead.What to do,now I have no choice but to utilize my MW to the maximum,right?Luckily,I got an all features included MW,which has convection,grill etc,I guess these days every MW comes with that na?So I could still make all those yummies using the convection mode on my MW-yes,thats what I did yesterday.

Had thought of making cookies the moment I purchased a Cake&Cookies recipe book by Nita Mehta.I had some home-made malai in the fridge and this recipe sounded so so simple!! I thought of starting my experimental sojourn with this one.It required very less amount of ingredients-perfect for me in case it becomes a flop!!But guess what?It was a success,yeah it was-my happiness knew no bounds when the cookies turned out exactly like the pictures in the cook book!!I am very happy!!YAY!!!



Malai Cookies

Ingredients

Malai(Milk topping) - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Flour/Maida - 3/4 - 1 cup
Powdered Cardamom - 1/2 tsp
Almonds(halved) - 5-7

Method

Mix malai and sugar lightly with a fork.
Sift maida,add the maida to the malai mixture.
Add cardamom powder.
Knead lightly to form a soft dough.
Form round balls,flatten slightly.
Lightly grease an oven tray and place the balls on it,1" apart.
Press halved almond on top on each cookies.
Bake in a preheated oven at 200 D/400 F for 10-12 minutes,until edges of the cookies are golden and top still whitish.
Remove tray from oven and quickly and carefully lift cookies off with a knife and put them on a surface to cool and become crisp.


An Award

Skribles of Food with a pinch of love has passed me this award-Blogging with a purpose.Thank you so much Skribles!!!

I would like to pass this award to -

Raaga of The Singing Chef
Seema of My Randap
Maya of Konkan World
Uma of Essence of Andhra &
Priyanka of Asankhana

Congrats!!Enjoy your award girls!!!;-)

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