Tomato Rasam

Rasam is an integral part of South Indian meals. Tomato Rasam is one of those comfort foods that doubles up as a hot soup on a cold day. There are hundreds of recipes to make rasam but this one is my family’s favorite. It is not only tasty but also soothing when suffering from cold or fever. If you intend to use this as a hot soup for a cold day you could add a pinch of pepper powder. Its light on the stomach, aids in digestion and hydrates the tummy as well.

Tomatoes are an excellent source vitamin C and vitamin K. They are also a very good source of copper, potassium, manganese, dietary fiber, vitamin A (in the form of beta-carotene), vitamin B6, folate, niacin, vitamin E, and phosphorus.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Serves: 3-4 people

Ingredients	Quantity
Tomatoes	2-3 medium
Cooked Toovar Dal	2 tbsps
Red Chili Powder	1 tsp or to taste
MTR Rasam Powder	2 tsps
Coriander leaves	few sprigs to garnish
Tamarind paste	1 tsp or to taste
Salt	to taste
Jaggery	1 tsp (optional)
For Seasoning
Ghee/Oil	1 tsp
Mustard seeds	½ tsp
Dry Red Chilies	1 or 2
Curry Leaves	5-8 leaves
Asafoetida	a pinch
Water	to adjust consistency

Method

Wash and wipe the tomatoes. Roughly chop them and drop in a pot with one cup water. Boil for 5-8 minutes; add the cooked dal, red chili powder, rasam powder, jaggery and tamarind paste. Bring to a boil. Close lid and keep for 5 minutes or till it’s cool to touch.

Grind tomatoes and dal in a mixer. Strain and boil in the same pot for 5 minutes. Turn off heat and add finely chopped coriander leaves.

In a small skillet, heat ghee, add the mustard seeds when they begin to splutter break the red chilies into 2-3 pieces and tear curry leaves into half. Add them to the hot ghee. Once the popping of mustard seeds stop, add a pinch of asafoetida and turn off heat let stand for 30 seconds. Add it to the rasam and close the lid to trap the flavour inside the pot.

Serve hot with Rice or as a hot soup in a glass on a cold day.

 Points to remember:

• Adding tamarind paste is totally optional and depends on the tanginess of the tomatoes.
• Adding toovar dal not only gives some thickness to the rasam, but also adds taste and nutritional value to the rasam.
• Since it is difficult to cook little dal for the rasam, I usually cook half a cup of dal with enough water. Pour in ice cube tray, freeze them, demold and transfer it to a zip lock bag and store them in the freezer. Add cubes to the rasam, sambhar and other dishes that need very little dal.

Bhindi Fry

Bhindi Fry is stir fried ladies’ finger (okra) that is slit and stuffed with spice mix such as garam masala or other locally available ground spices. Not to be confused with batter-fried okra which involves deep frying, this dish is just stir fried or sautéed lightly. It can be served as a side dish in accompaniment with steamed rice and dal or with chapati as a form of sabzi.

Okra is one of the most popular and nutritious vegetables in India.  It’s known in many English-speaking countries as ladies' fingers, bhendi, bhindi. Okra is a non-leafy, green vegetable that is widely consumed in India and abroad. It’s popularly called “Bhindi” in Indian households. This vegetable is tender, slightly sticky and dense in nutritional content. 

Whether you eat them raw or you cook them as you like, you’ll surely benefit in more than one ways. Ladies finger helps control diabetes, prevents heart disease, helps you lose weight, improves your immunity, and prevents cancer.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Serves: 2-3 people

Recipe Courtesy – Preetha Pai (My Aunt)

Ingredients	Quantity
Bhindi (Ladies Finger)	20-25
Coriander Powder	1 ½ tsp
Cumin Powder	1 ½ tsp
Chili Powder	1 ½ tsp or to taste
Turmeric Powder	½ tsp
Aamchur Powder/Chaat Masala	½ tsp(optional)
Salt	to taste
Lemon Juice	few drops(optional)
Oil	1 tbsp

Method

Wash Okra thoroughly, spread on a kitchen towel to dry for few minutes. Wipe them with a cloth till they are completely dry. Chop of the stalk and tips. Slit in the center using a knife without splitting them into two.

In a bowl mix together coriander powder, cumin powder, chili powder, salt, turmeric powder and chaat masala/aamchur powder. Stuff in the slit bhindi.

Heat oil on high heat, in a flat pan which has lid. Once hot, add masala stuffed okra into the pan and keep stirring continuously for 30 seconds. Lower the flame and cook, stir once in a while to avoid burning. Keep cooking for 2-3 minutes. close lid and cook for another minute or so. It’s done cooking when the okra is soft to touch and dark green in color. 

Taste one and adjust salt and spices. Cook more if needed. Serve immediately. Add lemon juice if you like just before serving.

Aloo Paratha

Potato (Aloo) is everyone's favorite. Aloo paratha is filling and tastes best when eaten with pickle and curds. A must try!! This recipe does not include onions, hence it falls under the category of saathvik food!

Paratha is a type of Indian flatbread, sometimes stuffed with different fillings. Aloo paratha is the most popular paratha in India.

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes
Makes: 10 parathas

Ingredients	Quantity
For filling
Potatoes	3-4
Cumin powder	1tsp
Red chili powder	1 ½ tsp
Coriander leaves (finely chopped)	1 tbsp
Aamchur powder(dry mango powder)	a pinch
Turmeric powder	¼ tsp
Salt	to taste
Other Ingredients
Chapati dough	10 balls

Method

Boil potatoes for at least 10 minutes in a pressure cooker. Once they are warm to touch peel and mash.

Take mashed potato in a bowl and add cumin powder, salt, chili powder, turmeric powder, aamchur powder and coriander leaves. Mix well and knead.

Divide into 10 balls. Take chapathi dough, flatten with hand, and keep potato ball in the middle and cover from all sides remove extra dough if needed. Roll out into a paratha and fry on tava till it becomes crispy on the outside.

Serve with green chutney and curds.

Mooli Paratha

Mooli Paratha is an Indian whole wheat bread-stuffed with grated mooli/radish and some spices. They are usually served as breakfast in Punjabi homes. It’s slightly tricky to make in comparison with other parathas.

Radishes are also known as Diakons. With a very low calorie count, less than 20 calories in an entire cup, radishes are a great way to add nutrients, fiber and tons of flavors to your meals without compromising your health.

Because of their high vitamin C content and natural cleansing effects, regular consumption of radishes can help prevent viral infections. They help in relieving indigestion and naturally cool the body. Radishes are said to have effective toxin-purging effects, helping break down and eliminate toxins and cancer-causing free radicals in the body.

Ingredients	Quantity
White Radish (Muli/Daikon)	4-5 peeled and shredded
Coriander leaves	5 sprigs, finely chopped
Carom Seeds (Ajwain)	¼ tsp (coarsely powdered)
Chat Masala	¼ tsp
Ghee	1 tbsp
Salt	to Taste
For the dough
Chapati Flour	1 ½ cups
Salt	¼ tsp
Oil	¼ tsp (coarsely powdered)
Warm Water	½ cup +2 tbsp
Extra Flour	for dusting
Ghee	for frying

Method

Mix salt, oil with flour, add warm water. Knead to form a soft dough. Coat dough with few drops of oil. Cover and set aside for 15 minutes.

Sprinkle salt over shredded radish, mix well and set aside for 5-10 minutes. The salt will pull out the water from the radish. Squeeze out and discard all of the water from the radish.

Add coriander, green chilies, carom seeds and chat masala to the radish. Mix well. 

Divide dough into approx. 8 balls. Divide radish mixture into 8 portions.

Roll out one dough ball into a small disc using dry flour to prevent sticking. Place one portion of radish mixture in the center of the disc. Wrap the dough around the radish mixture to form a ball. Dip the ball into dry flour once again and roll out the paratha. Shake off any excess flour and place the paratha on a hot tawa.

When bubbles appear, flip the paratha over. Wait approx. 30 – 40 secs and spread a little ghee on the top. Flip the paratha back to the other side and gently press to cook. Spread a little ghee onto this side. Continue to flip and press until the appearance of raw dough has gone.

Store paratha in a covered or insulated container until ready to serve. Repeat with remaining dough.

Serve paratha hot with pickle, curd or butter.

Points to remember

• Make paratha as quickly as possible otherwise the radish will let out lot of water.
• If find it difficult to roll out the stuffed paratha you can also fry the grated radish (after the water is squeezed) in a pan with or without ghee but do not add salt.
• I prefer using red radish in this dish.

Bisibele Baath

This one- pot dish has its origins from Karnataka. The name Bisibele Baath is a Kannada phrase, which literally means ‘hot lentil rice’. This dish is prepared with lot of variations in Karnataka itself. This is my recipe for this healthy dish. You can call this South Indian Khichdi.

Rice and lentils are cooked till soft and tempered with mustard seeds, red chilies and curry leaves. Served with a dollop of ghee.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Serves: 2-3 people

Ingredients	Quantity
Rice	1 cup
Toor dal	¾ cup
Mixed vegetables(of your choice)	½ cup
Tamarind juice	2-3 tsps
MTR Bisibele Baath powder	1 tbsp
Ghee	2 tbsp
Salt	to taste
Curry leaves	6-8
Cashewnuts	1 tbsp
Mustard seeds	1 tsp
Dry Red chillies	2
Water	5-6 cups

Method

Rinse together rice and toor dal in cold water twice and soak using 5 ½-6 cups of water for 20 mins.

Chop the vegetables to the same size so that they cook evenly. I have used carrots, beans, potatoes, green peas, double beans.

In a pressure cooker add ghee and heat for 30 seconds. Add mustard, once they start to splutter, add cashewnuts. Wait till they become slightly brown, break the red chillies and curry leaves into small pieces and add to ghee.Once they become slightly crisp, add bisibele baath powder. Then pour the rice dal and vegetable along with the water used for soaking. Bring it to a boil then add the tamarind paste. Close cooker lid and cook for 3 whistles. 

Once the pressure releases open the cooker, taste and adjust the salt and flavors. Serve hot with ghee.