Mixed Vegetables Bhaji (Dry Curry) with Dal

Ingredients
• 1 green pepper or capsicum or bell pepper or Simala mirch
• 2 large or 2 small carrots, peeled and sliced into circles
• 1/4 cup shelled ot frozen peas
• 1/2 cup cauliflower florets
• 1 potato, peeled and chopped into bite size pieces
• 2 drum sticks or Sejan ki phali (long, bean like fruit of a tree),if available
• 1/2 a cup split moong dal, with or without skin
• 1/4 tsp. turmeric powder
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 cup grated or desiccated coconut
• 2 red chillies
• 2 tsp. cumin seeds
• For tempering or tarka:
• 1 tbs. ghee or clarified butter
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds or rai
• 1 tsp. skinless urad/urd/urid dal
• A pinch of asafoetida or hing powder (optional)
• 5-6 curry leaves (not bay leaves)
• A handful of coriander leaves, chopped

Instructions
1. Cut the vegetables into medium sized pieces to fill three tea-cups.
2. Boil vegetables in water with salt and turmeric powder, drain and set aside.
3. Boil moong dal in 1 1/2 cup of water, until soft. When ready, it should be of pouring consistency.
4. Add the boiled vegetables to the dal. Mix gently.
5. Grind coconut, cumin seeds and the chillies together into a paste.
6. Add it to the vegetable/dal mixture. Stir well, turn heat on and let it boil for a few minutes, until it all comes together.
7. Tempering:
8. Heat ghee in a ladle and add mustard seeds. When seeds splutter, add urad dal and asafoetida.
9. Add curry leaves and dhania. Stir and add to dal
10. Serve hot with Chapatties or as part of a meal.

Yallu Kolukattai

This type of kolukattai is commonly prepared in South India for Ganesha Chaturthi festivals.

Ingredients and Utensils

1 cup sesame seeds

1 cup jaggery or brown sugar

4 cups rice flour

1 tsp. salt

oil or ghee

8 cups water

a steamer with flat rack

a skillet for toasting flour

a small piece of cheesecloth

a mortar and pestle, rolling pin or blender

banana leaf or tray

Directions

Fry the sesame seeds, without oil, until light brown, then mix with the jaggery. Then, using a pestle and mortar, rolling pin or blender, powder this mixture and set it aside. Heat the rice flour until lightly toasted, and spread it out on a tray or table top to cool. While it cools, add the salt to 8 cups of water in a pan and bring to a strong boil. Gather the cooled, toasted rice flour in a bowl and make a well in the middle. Slowly pour a small amount of the hot water into the well in the rice flour and begin working it into the rice flour with your hands. Keep adding small amounts of the hot water, working it together into a ball of dough. It should be moist but not wet when you put it out on the table or breadboard. Knead the dough thoroughly so it is even in moisture and texture. When it can be handled, squeeze the dough into lime-sized balls and set them aside.

Smear a bit of oil or ghee on a banana leaf, tray or table top and roll or knead one of the dough balls out on it to a patty about 3 inches in diameter. Place a full tablespoon of the sesame and sugar mixture in the middle and fold the patty over in a crescent shape, pinching it closed where the edges meet. Repeat the process for the rest of the balls.

Bring the water in your vegetable or iddli steamer to a boil and insert the steaming rack or a plate with small holes in it. The rack should be fairly flat and be covered over with a layer of cheesecloth or cotton weave. Arrange the kolukattai on the flat rack, as many as will fit without touching. Cover and steam for 15 to 20 minutes, or until done, depending on the size of your steamer. When finished, transfer them to a plate or banana leaf and allow to cool. Serve to Ganesha as His fondest sweet. With any remaining sesame-sugar mixture you may make small Ganesha figures. Keep them along with the cooked ones for puja. Betel leaves, nuts and fruits may be offered with these.

Pudi Kolukattai

Sweet Rice Flour Roll

Ingredients and Utensils

2 cups rice flour

1 cup jaggery or brown sugar

1 shredded coconut

1 tsp. salt

an iddli or vegetable steamer

a pan for toasting the flour

banana leaf or tray

Directions

Heat the rice flour in a dry skillet until lightly toasted, then spread it out on a tray or table top to cool. Sprinkle a little water on it and add the salt, jaggery and coconut. Mix together, adding water only as needed. When it is well kneaded and firm, pinch the dough off into as many lime-sized balls as it will make. Roll into balls, or squeeze in the right hand to create a fist-shaped kolukattai. Bring water in the steamer to a boil and arrange the kolukattais in it, wrapped in banana leaves as in recipe #1. Steam until the balls are a light brown in color. Arrange on a banana leaf or tray and serve to Lord Ganesha.