Lemon and coriander soup

Lemons are a great source vitamins and minerals. They are a must for daily use and storage. During the season or if you happen to have a tree in the kitchen garden, one can plan to make pickle out of them and it stays for months with out any problem. Fresh lime juice is a popular drink these days even with an array of colourful ariated drinks. Also health conscious/ weight conscious people believe in that glass of lemon and honey in the warm water first thing in the morning.

Coriander is also an important ingredient of indian cooking. When we go for shopping for vegetables, as a routine we pick up lemon,fresh and green coriander, green chillis and ginger. All are great appetizers. So this soup is definetly going to enhance our taste buds and also help in the digestion.

Ingredients:

1 carrot, 1 onion, 1 tbsp butter, 1 green chilli, 1 inch piece of ginger, ½ of lime, 2 spoons of chopped green coriander/hara dhania, 4 medium cups of water and salt to taste.

Preparation:

1. Wash and grate the carrot, finely chop the onion, chilli, ginger and fresh coriander.
2. Heat butter in a small pressure cooker, add chopped onion, chilli, ginger and salt.
3. After frying a little add water and let it simmer till the carrot softens.
4. Finally, add coriander and juice of half lime and put off the flame.

Serve hot on a rainy day or a cold winter night. 

Moong Dal with Tadka

There are times when u don't like to indulge in heavy cuisine and tummy demands some thing light to digest. This tadka dal comes very handy which is very simple to make. For this kind dal you can choose moong dal or chana dal or arhar/toor dal. Ghee ka tadka enhances the taste of the dal and also assissts in digestion.

Ingredients:

100g moong dal and 1 onion

For tempering:

1 tsp ghee, ½ tsp jeera, ¼ tsp haldi, 2 green chillis and salt to taste.

Preparation:

1. Wash and keep the dal ready for use. 
2. Chop the onion finely. 
3. Heat ghee in a pressure pan or pressure cooker, put jeera,onion, green chillis, haldi, salt and the dal, fry a little and add 500ml of water. 
4. Leave the dal for 3 whistles and simmer it for another 5 to 7 minutes before putting off the flame.

Serve hot with rice or roti.

Spinach/palak Dal

This can also be made using arhar/toor dal or masoor dal or chana dal, as per the availability. Palak has to be fresh and with out holes. Only the leaves have to be chosen and the hard twigs can be discarded. It is generally safe to avoid greens during the rainy season unless one grows it in the kitchen garden, where hygiene is taken care of. I put more greens and less dal to gain more on vitamins and minerals.

Ingredients:

100g arhar/toor dal, 300g palak, 3 tomatoes, 1 onion.

For tempering:

1 tsp ghee, ½ tsp jeera, ½ tsp mustard seeds, ¼ tsp haldi/turmeric, ½ tsp red chilli powder and salt to taste.

Preparation:

1. Wash and finely chop the palak and set aside. 
2. Chop onion and tomatoes also finely. 
3. Wash the dal and keep it ready for use. 
4. Heat ghee in a pressure pan or small pressure cooker, put all the tempering ingredients except salt and fry a little. 
5. To this add onions, tomatoes and palak, stir a little and then add the dal and salt. 
6. Finally put 500ml of water and give minimum of 3 whistles, simmer it for another 5 to 7 minutes and put off the flame.

Serve hot  with rice or roti.

Tomato Dal

For a vegetarian, dal is very important because it is the main source of protein. But we cannot just consume plain dal always. So we need to add some taste to it to make it interesting and also sumptuous. We have a variety of dals/pulses/legumes which can be made in various forms to beat the monotony. For example, adding of green leafy vegetables and various seasonal vegetables will only enhance the taste and also the nutritive value.

India is the largest producer and consumer of pulses in the world. Tomato dal can be made with arhar/toor dal or masoor dal. Both taste equally good. Tomato is one vegetable we can get round the year and is used in many dishes. There is one desi variety which comes during summer months. This one is ideal for dal and chutney we generally make, the reason being they are little sour than the usual tomatoes we get round the year, we can put any tomatoes as per the availability.

Ingredients:

100g arhar dal and 5/6 medium size tomatoes

For tempering:

1 tsp ghee, ½ tsp mustard seeds, ½ tsp jeera, ¼ tsp turmeric/haldi powder, 4 green chillis, pinch of asafoetida/hing,1 twig curry leaves and salt to taste.

Preparation:

1. Wash and cut each of the tomatoes into four pieces and wash the dal and set aside. 
2. In a pressure pan or small  pressure cooker heat ghee, put all the ingredients except salt. 
3. Fry a little and to this add tomatoes, dal and salt, stir well and add 500ml water and close the lid. 
4. Give minimum of three whistles and simmer it for another 5 to 7 minutes. 
5. So inall dal should be done in 20 to 25 minutes maximum.

Serve hot with rice or roti.

Kundru with grated coconut

The main advantage of vegetarian cooking is that we have a variety of vegetables and in that again we have variety of spices to make it interesting. So here is another variety of making kundru.

Ingredients:

500g kundru and 1 small fresh coconut.

For seasoning:

1tsp of oil, ½ tsp jeera, ½ tsp mustard seeds, 2 red chillis, 1 twig curry leaves and salt to taste.

Preparation:

1. Wash and slice the vegetable either lengthwise or breadth wise but as finely as possible, without hurting your fingers. 
2. Break the coconut, grate it and keep it aside. 
3. Heat oil in a pan, put mustard seeds, jeera, chillis, curry leaves and once the mustard starts spluttering, add the vegetable and salt, place a lid and let it simmer till soft and done. 
4. Finally  fold in the grated coconut and put off the flame.

Serve hot with rice or roti.