Indian Vegetarian recipes

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Path: nuchat!taronga!arielle
From: sridhar@asuvax.eas.asu.edu (Sridhar Venkataraman)
Subject: COLLECTION: Indian Vegetarian Recipes - Usenet Cookbook fmt.
Message-ID: <sridhar.09Dec93.125931@enuxsa.eas.asu.edu>
Followup-To: rec.food.veg
Keywords: vada chutney burfi dosai potato_masala rasam sambar
Sender: arielle@taronga.com (Stephanie da Silva)
Reply-To: sridhar@asuvax.eas.asu.edu (Sridhar Venkataraman)
Organization: Arizona State University, Tempe AZ
Date: Thu, 9 Dec 1993 20:06:38 GMT
Approved: arielle@taronga.com



A collection of Indian Vegetarian recipes in postprocessed Usenet Cookbook
format. For the nroff files, please mail me (sridhar@asuvax.eas.asu.edu).


ULLUNDHU_VADAI(V) USENET Cookbook ULLUNDHU_VADAI(V)



ULLUNDHU_VADAI

ULLUNDHU_VADAI - A South Indian snack

INGREDIENTS ()
1 cup     uLLundhu (Urad daal)
4 to 6    Green chillies(chopped)
1/2 inch  Ginger (grated/chopped)
1 cup     Water
1 tsp.    Salt
1 1/2 cups.
Oil (for frying)
1 medium  Onion (chopped)(optional)
1/2 head  Cabbage(small) (chopped) (optional)

PROCEDURE
(1)  Soak uLLundhu for about 3 to 5 hours.

(2)  Drain the water completely  and grind till  the
uLLundhu is  just  about  broken  in small pieces
(maAvu should NOT be too fine) the uLLundhu in the
blender or  food processor with very little water
as possible, to do this grind 1/2 cup of uLLundhu
at time ]or else the blender will be on fire ;-)].

(3)  Mix    chillies,   ginger,    salt    and     the
vegetables(optional)  to the  uLLundhu.  You can
just onion or both onion and cabbage.

(4)  Add the oil to heated wok (vaANali) and heat  the
oil on medium-high heat for about 3 to 5 minutes.

(5)  Wet the palm of one of your hands.  Put the  maAvu
on  the wet  palm  and shape it like doughnut and
drop it slowly into the oil and fry  till  golden
brown. If  the shape dosen't matter to you, then
take the maAvu and  drop into  the  oil using a
table-spoon  (slightly oil the spoon before taking
the maAvu so it won't stick to th spoon).  You can
add 2 or 3 at a time depending on how much oil you
have in the vaANali.

(6)  Variations: To the same maAvu, add  about  1  tsp.
whole  black  pepper (crushed), 1/2 cup of chopped
fresh coconut, 1/2" ginger grated and  salt  (omit
chillies,onion  and cabbage).  Drop the maAvu into
the oil in round shapes, to make Madras Bonda  and
fry till golden brown.

CONTRIBUTOR
Geetha Anandraj
anandraj@tis.enet.dec.com



Last change: 18 May 93 1


COCONUT_BURFI(V) USENET Cookbook COCONUT_BURFI(V)



COCONUT_BURFI

COCONUT_BURFI - A South Indian sweet

INGREDIENTS ()
700 gms   Sugar
2       Coconuts
35 gms    Cashewnuts
7-8       Cardamom
70 gms    Ghee

PROCEDURE
(1)  Shred the coconut. Break the cashewnuts into small
pieces and fry them in ghee. Powder the cardamom.

(2)  Heat water in a vessel containing  1/4 ltr.  of
water  and  add the sugar to it. After the sugary
liquid is no longer thin, add the  coconut  shreds
and heat it until it turns thick.

(3)  After sufficient stirring, add the fried cashewnut
pieces and ghee and stir the mixture well. Add the
powdered cardamom and mix it thoroughly and  stop
heating.

(4)  Pour the mixture onto a plate which could  accomo-
date  sufficient thickness.  Cut into rectangular
pieces while hot.

NOTES
This recipe is a translation from 'samaithu paar', a  cook-
book in Tamil.

CONTRIBUTOR
Sridhar.
sridhar@asuvax.eas.asu.edu


Last change: 19 May 93 1





CHUTNEY(V) USENET Cookbook       CHUTNEY(V)



CHUTNEY

CHUTNEY - An accompaniment to lots of South Indian dishes &
Snacks

INGREDIENTS ()
1.5 cups  coconut (shredded)
1.0       channa dhal (roast until golden brown)
2-3       green chillies
1 inch    ginger
2-3 tsps  jeera
0.5 tsp   tamarind concentrate (or lemon juice)
salt to taste

PROCEDURE
(1)  grind above in a blender. season with hing,mustard
seeds and curry leaves.

(2)  Chutney variant #1..  grind  2  bunches coriander
leaves for lip-smacking 'coriander chutney'

NOTES
Experiment with the proportions. Me thinks that's the  best
way to learn. corrections welcome...

CONTRIBUTOR
Prabhu Balaraman
balarama@cae.wisc.edu

Last change: 17 May 93 1






DOSAI(V) USENET Cookbook DOSAI(V)



DOSAI

DOSAI - South Indian, Pancake-like

Verbose, designed to guide the novice through the steps.

INGREDIENTS ()
3 cups    Texas long grain rice
1 cup     Urad dal (polished)
2 tsp     Salt

PROCEDURE
(1)  Grinding: Soak the rice and  the dal  separately,
for  about  5  hours (soaking longer won't hurt, I
usually soak it in the morning, go  off to  work,
and grind in the evening.)

(2)  Grind the rice with sufficient water until it is a
smooth  paste. (I use my osterizer and run it in 3
batches, the amount of  water  used  to grind  is
somewhat crucial,  using  too  much will make the
result too watery, while using too  little  will
make it hard to grind and too thick. I usually put
in the rice and add water until it  just  reaches
the  brim  of  the  rice,  this will seem like too
much, but it will work out fine once the rice  is
ground.

(3)  I then run the osterizer on MIX until the rice  is
broken and then run it on LIQUIDIZE until the rice
starts to become a paste.  If required, add just a
little  more  water,  perhaps  a few tablespoons.
Touch the paste between your fingers to feel  the
texture. It should be smooth).


(4)  Now grind the dal in two batches. (The  amount  of
water  here  is not as tricky. Traditionally this
would be ground in a stone grinder by  hand.   The
dal  needs  to  be ground while slowly adding more
water from the top of the osterizer. When  ground,
the  dal has  the tendency to fluff up, this ten-
dency must be encouraged by adding only a  little
water  at  a time while stirring and continuing to
grind. The dal should  double  in  quantity  after
grinding,  while the  quantity of rice would have
remained unchanged.)

(5)  Now mix both the pastes with the salt  in  a  dish
that  is at least a third bigger in size, allowing
space for the dough to rise.  (Quite commonly, the
dough  runs  over  for me, so I put it in a larger



Last change: 13 Dec 91 1






DOSAI USENET Cookbook    DOSAI



dish  than  worry  all  night  about   overflowing
dough).

(6)  Leave for about 8 hours in a dark  warm place. I
usually leave  it in the oven overnight and occa-
sionally turn the oven on for a minute or two,  to
keep  the  air  inside the oven at a warm tempera-
ture.


(7)  Cooking: The next morning, if you  have done  all
this,  the  dough  is ready to be transformed into
dosas. Use a heavy cast-iron griddle (a flat  non-
stick  pan will do, but sadly lacks the taste that
comes from the iron pan).

(8)  Heat the pan until a few drops of water dropped on

the pan sizzles away

(9)  Take a deep ladle full of dough and drop the dough
in  the middle of  the pan, then with a deftness
that comes with practice, quickly swirl the  dough
away  from the middle until it is spread evenly in
a circle around the pan. You must do this  quickly
because once the dough cooks, you cannot spread it
and the result will be lumpy.

(10) Take a teaspoon full of oil and spread  it  around
the edge of the dosai.  Wait a minute or so, until
you see the edges browning and insert a flat ladle
that  has  sharp edges under  and all around the
dosai, until it is released  completely (Bewarned
that,  using  a well-scrubbed  pan  won't let you
release the dosai easily.  To  prevent  this,  you
might want to rub a little oil onto the surface of
the pan before spreading the dough.)


(11) After releasing the dosai, flip it around  on  the
other  side and put another teaspoon of oil around
the edges. Wait a minute or two until it is cooked
and  remove  from the pan.  Before making the next
one, use a small piece of paper kitchen towel  and
rub any excess oil off the pan.


(12) (This whole procedure sounds tedious, but its  not
too  hard  after you've done  it  a  few  times.
Incidentally I make dosa every week.  The  dough
will  keep in the refrigerator for a week or more.
If the dough starts to get sour, cut small  pieces
some  green  chilis and onion and add to the dough



Last change: 13 Dec 91 2






DOSAI USENET Cookbook    DOSAI



before cooking it. This can be  done  even  other-
wise, for a different flavor and variety.)


(13) Eating: Break a piece of the dosa and dip it  into
the  dosa-molaga-podi  or  the  samber (recipes to
follow) and pop it into youir mouth.

Enjoy. If you do try to make this, send me  email
if you have any further questions.

CONTRIBUTOR
radhika
radhika@cs.washington.edu

Last change: 13 Dec 91 3



MASAL_VADAI(V) USENET Cookbook   MASAL_VADAI(V)


MASAL_VADAI

MASAL_VADAI - A South Indian snack

INGREDIENTS ()
1/2 ltr.  Yellow split peas
2 tsp.    Salt
8-12      Green Chilies
1 inch    Ginger
175 gms   Onion
Curry leaves
bunch     coriander leaves
20 gms    Cashewnuts (optional)
2       Cardamom (optional)
1/2 tsp   Masala powder
3/8 ltr   Oil

PROCEDURE
(1)  Soak yellow split peas in water for 2-3 hrs.

(2)  Grind  the  soaked  mixture  with  salt coarsely,
without adding much water.

(3)  Cut  the onions into  small  pieces  along  with
ginger, green chilies and add them to the mixture
along with coriader leaves and curry  leaves.  Now
add  the masala powder and add all other optional
ingredients. Mix thoroughly.

(4)  Fry small spoonfuls of the  mixture  in hot  oil.
Traditionally,  a banana leaf is used and the mix-
ture is taken in lumps of  the  size  of a  small
lemon  and  lightly pressed on the banana leaf and
the resulting flat thingie is dropped into the oil
and  fried  until it turns brown. The intensity of
the color needed is dependent on your taste!

NOTES
This recipe is translated literally from 'samaithuppaar', a
cookbook in Tamil.

CONTRIBUTOR
Sridhar
sridhar@asuvax.eas.asu.edu


Last change: 17 May 93 1






MYSORE_PAGU(V) USENET Cookbook   MYSORE_PAGU(V)



MYSORE_PAGU

MYSORE_PAGU - A South Indian sweet

INGREDIENTS ()
700 gms   Sugar
1/4 ltr   Kadala Mavu (Chick peas flour)
1       Coconut
70 gms    Cashewnuts
Kesari powder
7-8       Cardamom
175 gms   Ghee

PROCEDURE
(1)  Shred the coconut. Break the cashewnuts into small
pieces and fry them in ghee. Powder the cardamom.

(2)  Heat water in a vessel containing  1/4 ltr.  of
water  and  add the sugar to it. After the sugary
liquid is no longer thin, add the  coconut  shreds
and heat it until it turns thick.

(3)  Then add the kadala mavu gradually and keep  stir-
ring  to ensure uniformity in the mixture.  After
all the kadala mavu is added and after  sufficient
stirring,  add  the  fried  cashewnut  pieces  and
kesari powder and ghee and stir the mixture  well.
After  you are sufficiently satisfied that you get
a 'mysore_pagu' odour :-) add  the  powdered  car-
damom and mix it thoroughly and stop heating.

(4)  Pour the mixture onto a plate which could  accomo-
date  sufficient thickness.  Cut into rectangular
pieces while hot.

NOTES
This recipe is a translation from 'samaithu paar', a  cook-
book in Tamil.

CONTRIBUTOR
Sridhar.
sridhar@asuvax.eas.asu.edu

Last change: 19 May 93 1






POTATO_MASALA(V) USENET Cookbook POTATO_MASALA(V)



POTATO_MASALA

POTATO_MASALA - An accompaniment to DOSAI, CHAPATI etc.

INGREDIENTS ()
4       large potatoes (boiled)
2       large onions (chopped medium size)
4-5       green chilies (slit long stips..)
2 tsps    channa dhal
1 inch    ginger (finely chopped)
salt to taste..

PROCEDURE
(1)  Heat oil, fry channa dhal until golden brown.  add
dash of hing and crackle mustard.

(2)  Saute  onions  and  green  chillies  until  golden
brown.

(3)  Throw in a few (~4) cups of  water;  add  ginger,
salt, let cook for a while.

(4)  Mash potatoes  and  dump into  above..and  viola!
Masala!

CONTRIBUTOR
Prabhu Balaraman
balarama@cae.wisc.edu

Last change: 17 May 93 1






RASAM(V) USENET Cookbook RASAM(V)



RASAM

RASAM - A South Indian item

INGREDIENTS ()
1/2 cup   toovar dal (also called toor dal)
2       quarter-size slices ginger
1/2 tsp.  turmeric
1 pound   tomatoes chopped (roma tomatoes are best)
4 tps.    tamarind paste
2.5 tsp.  salt
7 cloves  garlic
1       red pepper
1.5 tbs.  curry leaves
10-15     fresh Chinese parsley (aka coriander)
generous pinch asafetida
3/4 tsp.  ground cumin
3/4 tsp.  ground coriander seed
2 tsp.    oil
3/4 tsp.  whole black mustard
3/4 tsp.  whole cumin
1/2 tsp.  urad dal
2 tsp.    fresh Chinese parsley, chopped

PROCEDURE
(1)  Put toor dal, 4 cups water, ginger, and 1/4  tsp.
turmeric in  to boil; simmer for 1.5 hours. Mash.
let sit for 10 minutes. (Can do this  fast  in a
pressure cooker if you like.)

(2)  Combine tomatoes, tamarind paste,  1/4  tsp.  tur-
meric,  salt,  5 garlic cloves, red pepper, 1 tbs.
curry leaves, chinese parsley,  asafetida,  ground
cumin  and  coriander,  and  4 cups water in a new
pot. Bring to a boil. cover, turn heat to low  and
simmer  for 1.5 hours. (We never let it simmer for
more than 15 minutes.)

(3)  Take a cup of the dal water and add to the  tomato
pot.  Then take 1/4 cup of thick dal, mash it, add
to tomato pot. Strain this  mixture  through a
sieve,  extracting as much liquid as you can.  (We
don't do this at all.  We  just combine the  dal
water with the tomatoes and spices).

(4)  Put strained liquid in a pot and bring to  boil.
Cover, and turn off heat.

(5)  Put the oil in a small skillet  and  heat  over a

medium  flame. When  hot, put in the remaining 2
cloves garlic, mustard seeds, whole  cumin  seeds,
urid  dal,  1/2 tbs. curry leaves, and after a few



Last change: 28 Mar 91 1


RASAM USENET Cookbook    RASAM



seconds pour these  contents  into  the hot  soup
(strained liquid), and cover immediately.  Let sit
for 5  minutes, strain and  serve  with  chopped
chinese parsley.

NOTES
Additional comments (Mine):

The way we make it at home is much faster, easier, but  may
not be as delicious.  It certainly is at least as authentic,
since Rasam is a South Indian preparation, and  Madhur  Jaf-
frey is a North Indian.

You can use the same ingredients as she suggests, but  don't
bother  to strain the tomatoes, dal paste, etc.  The impor-
tant thing is to use good tomatoes, very firm  fleshed  roma
tomatoes  for  example.   Also, use enough tamarind paste to
make the rasam somewhat sour.   The  coriander  leaves  (aka
cilantro or chinese parsley) add a lot of flavor at the end.
She describes at the end of her recipe a  way  to "season"
the  rasam.  This means adding fried spices.  We do this but
only use the  mustard  seeds,  and sometimes  a  few  curry
leaves.   The way to do this well is to use a metal spoon --
a bit stainless steel one which you can  put  directly  over
the  heat, and hold the handle of without getting burnt.  In
this spoon we put a tablespoon of oil or less,  and  let  it
get  quite hot, almost but not quite smoking.  Only when it
is very hot do you add the spices, since the  mustard  seeds
will  only pop  (or  "burst") if added when the oil is very
hot.  As soon as they start popping (5-10 seconds) take  the
spoon  off the  heat, and add the contents of your spoon to
the rasam.

This is eaten mixed with rice and whatever vegetables you've
cooked.   It  can be eaten separately, but that's very rare.
Probably only for invalids.

This recipe is taken from Madhur Jaffrey's "Vegetarian Cook-
ing".

CONTRIBUTOR
Tandy Warnow
tandy@ucbarpa.Berkeley.EDU


Last change: 28 Mar 91 2






SAMBAR(V) USENET Cookbook SAMBAR(V)



SAMBAR

SAMBAR - A South Indian recipe

A liquid substance traditionally  eaten  with  dosai,  idli,
vadai and rice, among other things.

INGREDIENTS ()
1 large   Onion, chopped into big pieces
Vegetables, like carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin,
Some curry leaves (if available)
Coriander leaves chopped 1T (cilantro)
Juice of tamarind size of perhaps
1/2-3/4 cup
Thur dal (cooked)
Salt to taste
3/4 tsp   Turmeric powder
3/4 tsp   Mustard seeds
1/2 tsp   Fenugreek seeds (optional)
1 tsp     Oil
2 tsp     Coriander seeds
1/8 tsp   Asafoetida (hing)
2 tsp     Chana dal
10-15     whole red chilis, to taste
3-6 tsp   Coconut (shredded)

PROCEDURE
(1)  Fry coriander seeds, asafoetida, chana and  chilis
and  grind with coconut, use shredded dried if too
lazy to deal with fresh. The quantity of  coconut
varies according to taste.

(2)  Fry the onion for about 5 minutes in a little  oil
with  the  turmeric powder. Add the vegetables and
some water and cook. I would add hard to cook veg-
gies like carrot and chatyote first and cook for a
while before adding sweet  potatoes  and pumpkin.
(Can  make  this also with a single vegetable, no
need to use all of them.)  Don't overcook veggies,
but  when  just cooked, add  the tamarind juice,
curry leaves and salt to taste,

(3)  Soon after  adding  the tamarind  juice,  take a
separate frying pan and heat up the 1T oil. When
hot enough so that the mustard seeds will  crackle
when thrown in, put the mustard seeds in, once the
crackling has stopped add the fenugreek seeds  and
stir  until  they  turn a dark brown color (don't
burn). Then add this the boiling mixture.

(4)  Boil all together for another 5 minutes until  the
raw  tamarind smell has left the solution. Now add



Last change: 13 Dec 91 1






SAMBAR USENET Cookbook   SAMBAR



the paste of masala and coconut and add the  dal.
Bring  to a boil and switch off. Add chopped cori-
ander leaves.

(5)  Takes 2-3 hours for the flavour to  settle  down,
but can be eaten right away also.

NOTES
Vegetables that must NOT be used are those that  belong  to
the cabbage and caulflower families.

While frying ingradients for the paste, throw in  the  cori-
ander  seeds first and fry awhile before putting in the oth-
ers, otherwise the coriander seeds won't  fry  properly  and
will taste pretty awful.

CONTRIBUTOR
radhika
radhika@cs.washington.edu

Last change: 13 Dec 91 2