Prarthana's Vegetarian Delight

I prepare spinach at least twice in a week. Palak dal is a quick side dish recipe for roti or rice. It is very easy to make when I have less time to prepare dinner. My husband and brother are a great fan of this palak dal. My brother can eat this palak dal even daily. This palak dal and ladies finger fry goes well together. INGREDIENTS: 1. Palak leaves - 2 cups 2. Moong dal/ Pasi paruppu- 1/2cup. 3. Onion-1 4. Tomato- 1 5. Ginger- 1 small piece. 6. Garlic- 3-4 pods. 7. Green chilly- 1 8. Mustard seeds- 1tsp 9. Cumin seeds- 1tsp 10. Turmeric powder- 1tsp 11. Salt- To taste 12. Chilly powder- To taste. 13. Coriander powder- 1tsp. 14. Garam masala- 1tsp. 15. Oil- As needed. 16. Coriander leaves- For garnishing. METHOD: 1. Pressure cook moong dal/ pasi paruppu with enough water into mashing consistency. Chop finely onion, tomato, ginger and garlic. Slit the green chilly. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard and cumin seeds. Don't let it burn. Add the finely chop...

Spinach is a healthy leafy vegetable. But many don't like to eat spinach and any leafy vegetable. So i try to make it in a tasty way. I make this keerai kootu weekly once or even twice. My husband loves this. I use all kind of spinach like palak, mola keerai or even Chinese spinach for making this recipe. Ingredients: 1. Spinach- 1 bunch. 2. Green chilly- 3. 3. Coconut- 1/2 cup. 4. Cumin seeds- 1tsp. 5. Asafoetida- 1tsp. 6. Salt- To taste. 7. Sugar- 1 tsp. 8. Coconut oil- 1tsp. 9. Mustard seeds- 1tsp. 10. Urad dal- 1tsp. 11. Mor milagai or dried red chilly- 1 (optional). 12. Moong dal- 1/2 cup cooked(Optional) Method: 1. Remove the spinach leaves from its stem. Wash and clean the leaves. In a pan, add the spinach leaves, cumin seeds and sugar. Cumin seeds and sugar helps to retain the greenish color. Sprinkle some water and bring it to boil. Little water is enough since spinach already has water content. 2. Switch off the flame once the spinach gets cooked...

Snake gourd is called as podalangai in tamil. We make this poricha kozhambu almost every weekend for lunch. This poricha kozhambu with coconut thogayal ia a wonderful combo. I used moong dal/pasi parrupu. It can be made with thoor dal/thuvaram paruppu also. A very simple dish for a quick lunch.   INGREDIENTS: Snake gourd-2 small Turmeric powder- 1 tsp. Salt- As needed. Coconut- 1 cup scrapped. Pepper- 2 tsp. Cumin seeds- 2 tsp. Moong dal/Pasi paruppu- 3 tblspoon. Coconut oil- 2 tsp. Mustard- 1 tsp. Urad dal- 1 tsp. Curry leaves- Few. METHOD: 1. Wash the snake gourd and cut the sides. Cut it vertically and remove the center soft white part. Then cut it into thin pieces. Boil the chopped snake gourd with 1 cup water. Add salt and turmeric powder to this. Boil this until the snake gourd becomes soft. Pressure cook moong dal separately with little water. 2. Ground the coconut, pepper and cumin seeds with little water into a fine paste. Add this ground paste to th...