Cooking&more

Mung bean pancake (Peserattu) Mung bean or moong dal pancakes known as cheelas in hindi or pesserattu in telugu are an easy and popular dish in India. Many varieties abound, with whole or split mung beans and with or without filling. For our Saturday dinner, I chose to make them with split mung beans because they take the minimum effort and soaking time, and because I am lazy like that and because I would rather just read a novel or watch a movie with DH on a Saturday evening than spend hours in the kitchen preparing dinner  :) To make the pancakes (makes approximately 6 pancakes of 8 inch diameter each) Take  1/4 cup of rice to 1 cup of split mung dal Soak them in enough water to cover  Along with 3 dried red chillies and a shake/pinch of asafotedia powder (also known as hing this powder is easily available in Indian grocery stores. Its totally optional but I would totally recommend it) Soak for two hours-(this is where using split mung gives me a maj

There are days when we enjoy cooking,  and there are days when it seems such a drag. You know,  the kind of day when you want to just make something super quick and easy, something that you can just put together without even thinking about it. Well a few days ago I  made just such a curry. It needs minimal effort and goes well with Rice,  Roti  or Naan.  You can even wrap it up in a tortilla To start with Take a Ridge gourd and cut into two halves or don't,  whichever way you like it Peel the ridge gourd, peel just the ridges,  and a layer of the skin,  keeping a bit of the skin intact.  Don't peel it all off as you don't want it to get too mushy as it cooks down This how it should look after peeling Slice it into juliennes like this Grab an onion and peel it Cut it into slices.. Not very thick as it won't cook well,  nor so thin that they disappear when cooking.( I  know you are proud of your onion slicing ski

For most people in India, the days between July and August are generally a busy time for most auspicious rituals are conducted during the Hindu month of Shravan ,  which falls sometime between these two months. One ritual associated with Shravan month is the exchanging of tamboolam. Married ladies give each other gift bags typically containing turmeric,  vermillion,  betel leaves and sprouted brown lentils( channa), signifying a wish for marital happiness and prosperity for both the giver and the receiver.  It is a fun ritual because you get to dress up in your best sarees and go and visit your neighbors and get to meet people,  but as the bags keep coming you start to wonder what to do with the endless supply of brown lentils.  Lots of times I  either make a curry out of them or I just boil them and have them with a little salt and tempering. We absolutely love having them both ways. However it gets tiring eating the same thing after  a while.  Last week DH's cousins