Velaiappam with Whole Moong dhal/ Pachai Payir Curry

Did I ever mention about the sundays over here? Sundays are the do-nothing day, except eat and sleep. I mean literally.. As none of the shops are open on sunday, or for that matter not after 6.00pm on weeknights, we are pretty  much done with our shopping and running around doing all the required errands by saturday evening. It seriousl requires a lot of planning.During our initial days here I used to compare all our activities with the US lifestyle, where we mostly end up doing last minute sunday evening shopping, and was not happy about the situation here. But after a few weeks of planning and setting up a routine, I started enjoying the life here and actually realised how spoiled we were in US.
Nowadays we never miss the car and enjoy walking few blocks to the store, or happily take the help of the public transport. The Public Transport system over here is amazing (trains, metros, Buses) and they are well connected.
So sundays are just to relax, get yourself ready for the week ahead or take some leisurely walks (if the weather permits) in a nearby trail.

Past sunday I made this Appam bookmarked from Aparna of  'The Diverse Kitchen' . I love all her Palakhad recipes as well as the Baking ones. What made me bookmark this one was that  the recipe used yeast for fermenting.This process was totally new to me, as I am used to Appams with the rice flour - uraddhal combo, which undergoes normal overnight fermentation.
I was very curious about the result and I was not disappointed, as the name indicates it sure was bright white in colour.

I served the Appams with the whle moong dhal , which was also inspired by her post here, but the way I made was very different as I was too lazy to make the spice mixture and I just had coconut milk and not the fresh ones.
But I will definitly make her version with the puttu some other day.

So here goes the recipe for the Velai Appam
Ingredients
1 cup raw rice
1 tsp dry yeast
2 tsp sugar
one handful of cooked rice
2 tblsp of coconut milk (optional)

Method:
Soak the Raw rice for atleast 6 hours.
Mix in the yeast along with the sugar in 1/2 cup of warm water.Keep aside for 10 mins.
Grind the rice along with yeast for some time.Then add the cooked rice and grind till its smooth.
Place the mixture in a large bowl and allow it to ferment overnight.

In the morning, mix the coconut milk ( I used store bought) to the batter and mix well.
Heat up a Pan or Appa kadai and pour a laddle full of batter in the center and twist the pan so the batter spreads evenly on all sides.
Sprinkle a tsp of oil over the edges and cover with a lid. Remove after 2 mins.(do not turn over)

For the Pachai Payir/Whole moong dhal curry.

Ingredients:

1 cup Whole Moong dhal .
1 onion finely choped
1 small  Tomato finely chopped
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 tsp chopped ginger
1 tsp red chilli powder
2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 inch cinnamon piece
2 cloves

1 cup coconut milk.(store bought)

Method:
Pressure cook the moong dhal upto three whistles.
Take 2 tsp of oil in a pot, add cinnamon and cloves to it.
When the cloves pop, add the onions, garlic and ginger.Saute well.
NOw add the chopped tomatoes and saute till mushy.
To this add all the dry powders, salt and saute till the oil leaves the sides.
Now add the cooked beans along with the liquid and let it boil for 10 mins.
Finally add the cocnut milk and switch off the stove just when it starts to boil again.
Garnish with Curry leaves.

Iam sending this Appam combo to  the following events.
This months Jhiva - Breakfast , an event started by Indira hosted this month at   VeggiePlatter,
Priya's Pancake party and also to
My Legume love affair started by Susan of the Well seasonedCook , hosted this month at Mirch Masala

Zucchini/Courgettes Dhal

Here is a recipe for a very simple dhal with Zucchini or Courgettes (as they say in Europe). I make this quite often as my son seemed to like it a lot and I dont have to make a seperate dish for him. It goes well with any breakfast items like dosai, Idli's , pongal, poori and also with chapati's and paratha's.

But serve it with a plate of hot rice with a dash of ghee and spicy potato fry on the side ....hmmm...now thats what I call "Comfort food".

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Moong dhal

1 medium Zucchini

1 medium Onion

1 tomato
3 cloves Garlic
2 green chillies
1/2 tsp turmeric

For tempering:
1 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp urad dhal
1 tsp jeera/cumin seeds
 a pinch of asfoetida/hing powder
few curry leaves
1 dry red chilli(optional)

Method:

Peel and chop the Zucchini into cubes.
Chop the onions and tomatoes
In a pressure cooker add the chopped Zucchini, onion, tomato, green chillies(slit), garlic, moong dhal, turmeric and salt. Pressure cook for 2 whistles.

Take 2 tsp of oil in a pan, to this add the mustard.When it splutters add the rest of the ingredients and stir for a minute. Add this to the cooked dhal mixture, give it a stir and boil for couple of minutes.
The consistency of the dhal should not be mushy. So take care not to over cook it.
Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
Serve with a spicy side dish, in my case it was a potato fry.(will post the recipe in my next post)

Note : Adjust the amount of green chillies as per your taste. I sometimes make it without green chillies and just use a red chilli while tempering, it tastes equally good.