Add washed toor dal to a pressure cooker. Add in the turmeric powder and the little oil. Cover the pan and cook the dal for 10-12 minutes / approximately 4 whistles. Remove from heat and wait for the pressure to settle on its own. Open the cooker and mash the dal well. Set aside.

Heat oil in a pan and add in the fenugreek seeds. Add in the garlic, green chillies and the shallots. Saute till the shallots are soft. Once the shallots are soft, add in the tomatoes and the peeled, cut ridge gourd. Add in the salt. Add in a teaspoon of kuzhambu milagai powder and the coriander powder. Add in a small piece of tamarind. Saute for a couple of minutes.

Cover the pan with a lid and cook for 5-7 minutes until the tomatoes are mushy. Gently mash the mixture with a potato masher. Add in 3/4 cup of water. Add in the jaggery. Add in the coriander leaves at this stage and mix well to combine. Add in the cooked dal and let the dal simmer for 2-3 minutes.

Tempering the peerkangai paruppu masiyal

Heat oil in a pan and add in the garlic. Cook on a low flame. Let the garlic get roasted to lite brown in colour. Add in the mustard seeds, cumin seeds and asafoetida. Let the mustard seeds crackle. Add in the red chillies. Let the chillies fluff up. Add the tempering to the dal. Mix well. Serve the dal with rice or roti. I usually add a little ghee to the rice as pappu always needs a little ghee love treatment.

Cooking The Cowpea
We will be using brown cowpea for this recipe. The white ones doesnt work well for this recipe. Wash and soak the cowpea for one hour. After soaking the cowpea for the said time, drain the water and add it to a pressure cooker. Add 1/2 teaspoon of rock salt and 1.5 cups of water to the cooker. Cover the cooker and cook for 4-5 whistles. It will take about 10-12 minutes. Let the pressure settle before opening.

Prepping Bottlegourd
Wash and peel the bottle gourd. Cut the gourd into quarter and remove the soft seedy part in the middle. Discard the soft part. Dice the bottlegourd and set aside.

Prepping Tamarind
Soak the tamarind in hot water for 20 minutes. Squeeze the tamarind to extract the pulp. Discard the seeds and the pith. Set aside.

Masala Paste
Add sesame oil to a pan. Add in the cumin seeds and the fennel seeds. Add in the country garlic and the Indian shallots. If you cannot source country garlic (small garlic), you can use regular garlic. Add in the curry leaves. Saute for a couple of minutes till the onions are soft and starting to brown.
Add in the chopped tomatoes and the rock salt. Mix well to combine. Cover the pan with a lid and cook till the tomatoes are mushy. Once the tomatoes are mushy, add in the coconut and the cooked cowpea. The cooked cowpea when ground will make for a velvety curry.

Grind the mixture to a fine paste. You can add little water while grinding. Make sure that the masala is ground to a fine paste.

Making The Curry
Heat 2 tablespoon of Indian sesame oil in a clay pot. Add in the fenugreek seeds, vadagam, and dried red chillies. Add in the curry leaves. Add in the Indian shallots and sauté everything for couple of minutes. If you cannot source vadagam, just add half a teaspoon of mustard seeds and proceed with the recipe. But vadagam gives a fantastic aroma and taste to the kuzhambu. You can source them easily online and I have provided the links for the same above.

Add in the turmeric powder, Kuzhambu milagai powder, coriander powder and asafoetida. Roast the dry masalas for a few seconds. Do not roast for long as the masalas will burn.

Add in the tamarind pulp to the pot. Add in the bottle gourd and mix well. Cover the pan with a lid and simmer for 15 minutes till the bottle gourd is cooked tender. Feel free to add little water mid way while the bottle gourd is cooking. Add upto a cup of water for cooking the bottle gourd.

Add in the ground masala. Wash the mixie with a cup of water and add it back to the pot. Add jaggery. Cover the pan with a lid and let the curry simmer for five minutes.

Finally finish the curry by adding a tablespoon of Indian sesame oil. Serve hot with rice.

Wash and soak the rice and dal for about 20-30 minutes.
Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add in the finely chopped ginger and garlic. Saute for a minute. Add in the finely chopped onions. Saute for a couple of minutes till the onions are soft. No need to brown the onions.

Add in the green chillies, tomatoes, salt, red chilli powder and turmeric powder. Saute till the tomatoes are mushy.

Add in the vegetables and mix well to combine. Add in the 3 cups of water. Add in the soaked and drained dal and rice.

Cover the pressure cooker and cook for 5 whistles. Allow the pressure from the cooker to settle before opening.

Mix the khichdi well. If the khichdi is thick, dilute it with a little hot water to the consistency you like.

Tempering: Heat ghee in a small kadai. Add in the cumin seeds, sliced garlic and sliced shallots. Add in the curry leaves. Saute on a low flame till the shallots are nice and golden.

Top the khichdi with the tempering.

Serve hot with chips, appalam or omelette.

For cooking the lentil

Wash and soak the green moong for about 15 minutes. Add it to a pressure cooker along with the turmeric powder, the oil and the water. Cook for 15 minutes on low flame. Ignore the number of whistles. After the said time, allow the pressure from the cooker to release naturally. Open the cooker and mash the dal with a potato masher. Set aside.

For the Green moong dal masala

Heat a couple of teaspoons of oil in a pan and add in the cumin, coriander, black pepper, green chilli, curry leaves and the garlic. Saute for a minute. Add in the chopped Indian small onions and saute for a couple of minutes more. Add in the tomatoes and the salt. Mix well. Cover the pan with a lid and cook on a low flame for five minutes until the tomatoes are mushy. Remove the pan from heat. Let it cool a bit. Grind this mixture to a smooth paste. Set aside.

For tempering the dal

Heat a teaspoon of oil in a pan and add in the cumin seeds, curry leaves and green chillies. Saute on a low flame for a minute. Add in the ground masala to the pan. Wash the mixie with a cup of water and add it back to the pan. Mix well. Add in the cooked and mashed green moong dal. Mix well to combine. If the dal is very thick, use a potato masher to mash. Also add little hot water if the dal looks very thick.

Taste and add more salt if necessary. Add in a teaspoon of butter and the coriander leaves. Let the dal simmer for a minute.
Green moong mash / pachai payaru kadayal is ready. Serve with hot rice and a dollop of ghee (the ghee is mandatory )

Heat oil in a pan. I have used sesame oil for making this recipe today. But, any vegetable oil will work just fine. Add in little mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves and some chopped green chillies. Saute the herbs and spices for a few seconds in oil so they turn aromatic and the mustard seeds start to crackle. Add in the finely chopped onions to the pan. Saute the onions for about 3-4 minutes till the onions turn soft and slowly start to brown.
Once the onions are starting to change color, add in the ginger garlic paste, finely chopped tomatoes and some chopped coriander leaves. Mix everything well to combine. Add salt to season the curry. Add about a teaspoon in the beginning and we can always adjust the seasoning later if need be. Mix again so the salt coats the tomatoes. Cover the pan with a lid and cook for about 4 to 5 minutes till the tomatoes are slightly mushy. Our tomatoes should be well cooked by this time.
Take a potato masher and mash the tomato mixture. This is a cool trick to get a nice creamy gravy. The big bits of onion and tomato will become mushy and the mixture will become thick.
At this stage, add in the turmeric powder, red chilli powder and coriander powder. Adjust the red chilli powder according to your taste. Remember that we also added green chillies for spice. Saute the spices for a minute.
Add in half a cup of washed masoor dal to the pan. We also colloquially call this as mysore dal or mysore paruppu in Tamilnadu. Mix well to combine. Add about 2 cups of water at this stage. Cover the pan with a lid and cook on a low flame for about 15 minutes. After 15 minutes the lentils should be cooked well.
Take a small piece of the cooked lentil and try to press them between your fingers. The lentil should hold its shape but is soft and cooked well. Add little water at this stage if the curry is thick. Mix well.
Let it come to a boil. Once the curry is boiling, add in the eggs. I like to break the eggs in a small cup and then add it to the pan. Breaking the eggs directly in the pan somehow changes the shape and texture of the poached eggs. Also you don’t want to be searching for any accidental shell that might fall into the gravy while breaking the eggs directly onto the pan. This method is easy and works every time.
Cover the pan and cook on a low flame for about 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, the eggs should be poached and our curry is ready. Gently try moving the eggs in the pan to make sure that it’s not stuck to the bottom. Be gentle on the eggs so they do not break. Finally sprinkle with coriander leaves.

I am using rakthashali, a variety of unpolished red rice, for making the khichdi today. Any unpolished red rice or brown rice variety will work for this recipe.
Add in about a quarter cup each of moong dal, toor dal and masoor dal. Wash the rice and lentils well a couple of times. If you cannot source red rice, brown rice works perfectly too. Wash and soak the rice and lentil mixture in water for atleast an hour. Soaking the rice is important as unpolished rice needs to be soaked, so they cook to a soft texture.
Heat coconut oil in a pressure cooker. Add in little cumin seeds, finely chopped garlic, finely chopped ginger, chopped curry leaves and some asafoetida. Saute for a few seconds so the spices and herbs get toasted in oil.
Add the chopped onions to the pan. Add in the chopped green chillies. Saute for a few minutes till the onions are soft. Once the onions are soft, add in the turmeric powder and the red chilli powder. Saute for a few seconds for the spice powders to get roasted in oil.
Add in the chopped tomatoes. Add in the salt. Salt will help the tomatoes to cook faster. Saute for a few minutes till the tomatoes are soft and mushy.
We will be using about 3 cups of vegetables today. Use whatever you have in your refrigerator. I have used a combination of roughly chopped spinach, chopped carrots, chopped green beans, some potatoes – potatoes add a nice texture and flavour to your khichdi. So definitely, use some potatoes, and finally some chopped radish. The kind of vegetables you use is completely up to you.
Add the veggies to the pan and mix well so the masalas coat the veggies evenly.
Add in about five cups of water and mix well to combine. After mixing well, wait for the water to come to a slow boil.
Once the water comes to a boil, add in the soaked and drained rice and lentil mixture. Mix once.
Cover the pressure cooker and add in the weight. Cook for 20 minutes. After the first whistle, reduce the flame to low and cook for the remaining time. Ignore the number of whistles. Cooking on a low flame is important so the khichdi does not scorch at the bottom.
After the said time, wait for the pressure to settle naturally.
Once the pressure settles, open the cooker and mix well to combine. The rice and lentil mixture should be cooked to a soft and creamy consistency. The khichdi will slightly thicken up as it cools.
Now let’s do a quick tempering for the khichdi.
Heat ghee in a small kadai and add in the chopped garlic, sliced shallots and curry leaves. Saute till the shallots are golden and crisp.
At this stage, switch off the flame and add in the kashmiri red chilli powder. Let the chilli powder bloom in hot oil.
Add in the hot tempering to the khichdi. Our super healthy vegetable khichdi is ready.
Serve hot!

Roasting the ladies finger – Heat oil in a pan and add the diced ladies finger. Roast on a medium flame until golden. It will take about 5-6 minutes. Once roasted and the ladies finger is slightly brown all over, remove from the pan and set aside to cool.

In the same pan add a teaspoon of oil. Add the fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, dried red chilli, and green chilli. Add a sprig of fresh curry leaves and saute for a few seconds. Let the mustard seeds crackle.
Add the diced onions, tomatoes, and salt. Mix well to combine. Cover the pan with a lid and cook on a low flame till the tomatoes are mushy. It should take about 3-4 minutes. Once the tomatoes are mushy, add the coriander powder, sambar powder, jaggery, and asafoetida. Saute for a few seconds.
Add the tamarind pulp and little water. (Soak the tamarind in hot water for 20 minutes. Squeeze the tamarind to extract the pulp. Discard the seeds and the pith.) Cook for five minutes.
Add the roasted ladies’ finger and the cooked dal
( Here is how to cook the dal – Add the washed dal along with turmeric powder, oil, and water to a pressure cooker. Cook for 10 minutes or 5 whistles in a pressure cooker. Remove from heat and wait for the pressure to settle. Open and gently mash the dal.)
Add the remaining water to adjust the consistency of the sambar. Simmer for 5 minutes. Garnish with coriander leaves.
Our sambar is ready.

Take a pressure cooker and add the washed toor dal to the cooker. Add the chopped onions, tomatoes, green chillies, turmeric powder, little oil and water. Cook for 12 minutes / 4-5 whistles. Let the pressure settle in the cooker before opening it. Once the pressure settles, open the cooker and mash the dal mixture with a potato masher. Set aside.

Tempering the dal – Take a pan/kadhai and add in the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, dried red chilli, curry leaves and garlic. Saute for a minute. Let the mustard seeds crackle and the garlic roast a bit. Add the washed and chopped greens to the pan. Saute for five minutes for the greens to wilt. Once the greens are wilted, add the salt and asafoetida. Cook for a couple of minutes more. Add the cooked dal mixture and simmer for a couple of more minutes.

Our thotakura pappu is ready. Serve with hot rice and ghee.

Pasi Payaru Kadayal

Wash and soak whole green moong for 30 minutes. Drain the soaking water and add the moong to the pressure cooker. To the moong, add tomatoes, shallots, garlic, green chillies, cumin seeds, turmeric powder, salt, little oil and water. Cover the pressure cooker and wait for the first whistle. Once the whistle comes, reduce the flame of the stove to low and continue to cook for 15 minutes. Set a timer for 15 minutes and once the timer goes off, switch off the flame. Wait for the pressure to settle before opening.
After opening the cooker, remove 3 tomatoes from the cooked moong mixture and carefully remove most of the broth with a ladle and set aside separately. We will be using tomatoes and broth for making rasam.
Mash the remaining lentil mixture in the cooker using a potato masher. Do not use a mixie to mash the lentils as this lentil preparation needs to be rustic and not very smooth. Set aside.
Take a small kadai and add some ghee. Add cumin seeds, curry leaves and dried red chillies. Let the cumin seeds crackle. It will just take a few seconds. Add the tempering to the lentil mash. Our Pasi Payaru Kadayal is now ready.

Pasi Payaru Rasam

Now let’s move on to the rasam.
Take a small mixie jar and add the shallots, garlic (skin-on), cumin seeds, black pepper, coriander seeds, and tamarind. I soaked the tamarind in little water for 20 minutes so it is easy to grind. Grind this to a coarse paste. Add the cooked tomatoes that were set aside previously for making rasam. Pulse a few times in the mixie to a coarse paste. Set aside.
Heat a kadai and add little ghee. Add cumin seeds, curry leaves, and the dried red chilli. Saute for a few seconds for the spices to roast and crackle. Add the moong broth, the ground paste and little water. Add the salt. Mix everything once and allow the mixture to come to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, add the green chillies and coriander leaves. Switch off the flame. Our Pasi Payaru Rasam is ready.

Serve the Pasi Payaru kadayal and Pasi Payaru rasam with hot rice and enjoy!!

In a small bowl, place the tamarind and hot water. Allow it to soak for 15 minutes. Squeeze the tamarind to extract the pulp, discarding any seeds or pith. Set aside.

In a small pressure cooker, add the water, toor dal, turmeric powder, and castor oil. Castor oil aids in cooking the dal to a soft consistency and is traditionally used in the Kongu region for lentil preparation. If castor oil is unavailable, you can omit it or use a small amount of vegetable oil instead.

Cook the dal for 5 minutes, allowing 4 whistles in the pressure cooker. After the specified time, remove the cooker from heat and allow the pressure to release naturally. Set aside.

Heat oil in a pan. Add crushed cumin seeds and garlic, coarsely textured, to the hot oil. Then, add curry leaves and broken chillies. Include sliced shallots and salt. Sauté for 3-4 minutes.

Incorporate the tamarind pulp and allow it to cook for a couple of minutes. Finally, add the cooked dal and let everything come to a boil. Lastly, add the ghee and turn off the flame.

Serve the dal with hot rice.

Cooking Horsegram

When cooking horsegram, it’s important to be aware that sometimes small stones can be found in the beans. To begin, spread the horsegram on a plate and remove any dirt that may be present. Then, wash the horsegram thoroughly and soak it for at least 30 minutes. If you have the time, you can choose to soak it for an hour.

Once the soaking is complete, drain the water from the horsegram and transfer it to a pressure cooker. Add a couple of tomatoes, 2 cups water to cook the horsegram, and a small amount of oil. Castor oil is recommended for achieving a soft and tender consistency, but if you don’t have it, you can omit it or use any vegetable oil of your preference. Cover the pressure cooker and cook for 12 minutes, disregarding the number of whistles. Afterward, remove the cooker from the heat and allow the pressure to settle naturally. Open the cooker and remove the tomatoes, discard the tomato skins, and set them aside. Drain the broth and also set it aside.

Note

The broth, tomatoes, and a small portion of the cooked horsegram will be used for making saaru/rasam, while the remaining cooked horsegram will be used for making sundal.

Sundal

To cook the sundal, heat oil in a pan and add urad dal, cumin seeds, and mustard seeds. Let the mustard seeds crackle. Add dry red chillies, green chillies, chopped ginger, and curry leaves. Stir for a moment, and then add the chopped onions. Sauté for a few minutes until the onions are soft. Next, add the cooked horsegram, salt, and freshly shredded coconut. Mix everything together well and cook for a minute. Finally, sprinkle a generous amount of coriander leaves over the sundal to finish.

Saaru

For the saaru, heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds and chopped garlic. Add the curry leaves, dry red chillies, black pepper, and a small piece of tamarind. Roast briefly and then add a couple of tablespoons of the cooked horsegram to thicken the saaru. Add the cooked tomatoes (skin removed), a little coconut, turmeric powder, and some coriander leaves. Cook for a minute, then remove from heat and set it aside to cool. Grind this mixture with a little water to create a coarse paste, which will serve as our saaru masala.

Now, let’s temper the rasam. Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds, mustard seeds, curry leaves, and dried red chillies. Allow the mustard seeds to crackle. Add the horsegram broth and the ground masala paste. Rinse the mixie with 1.5 cups of water and add it to the pan. Season with salt, and taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Bring the saaru to a boil, and finish by sprinkling a generous amount of coriander leaves over it.

To serve, enjoy the sundal and saaru with ragi kali or white rice.

Clean and Wash the greens. Use a variety of greens for a nice flavour. You can use whatever greens you have on hand. We need roughly about 4 cups. Chop them and set aside. Take a pressure cooker and add in the washed toor dal. Add the dal first so it cooks to a tender consistency. Add in the chopped greens, garlic, tomatoes, onions, curry leaves, green chillies, tamarind and two cups of water. I also add a few coriander stems. The stems of the coriander is more flavorful than the leaves. Pressure cook for about 10-12 minutes on medium flame. Ignore the number of whistles. Let the pressure settle before opening.

After opening, strain the stock a little so its easy to mash. We will add the stock back later. I use a potato masher to mash the lentils. Traditionally a wooden “mathu” is used to mash. You can use whatever you are comfortable with. If you are hard pressed for time, you can even pulse it in the mixie once. But make sure that the mixture is very slightly grainy and not very smooth. Set aside.

Tempering the soppu saaru
Heat oil in a pan and add in the crushed garlic along with the peel. Roast the garlic till its crisp and light brown in colour. Add in the mustard, cumin, curry leaves and red chillies. Saute for a few seconds. Let the mustard seeds crackle. Add in the spice powders namely hing, turmeric powder and red chilli powder. Saute for a few seconds. Add in the strained stock and the mashed green-lentil mixture. Add in the salt. Adjust the consistency of the saaru by adding little more water if necessary. Simmer for a few minutes.

Delicious Soppu Saaru is ready.

Add washed toor dal to a pressure cooker. Add in the turmeric powder and the little oil. Cover the pan and cook the dal for 10-12 minutes / approximately 4 whistles. Remove from heat and wait for the pressure to settle on its own. Open the cooker and mash the dal well. Set aside.

Heat oil in a pan and add in the fenugreek seeds. Add in the garlic, green chillies and the shallots. Saute till the shallots are soft. Once the shallots are soft, add in the tomatoes and the peeled, cut ridge gourd. Add in the salt. Add in a teaspoon of kuzhambu milagai powder and the coriander powder. Add in a small piece of tamarind. Saute for a couple of minutes.

Cover the pan with a lid and cook for 5-7 minutes until the tomatoes are mushy. Gently mash the mixture with a potato masher. Add in 3/4 cup of water. Add in the jaggery. Add in the coriander leaves at this stage and mix well to combine. Add in the cooked dal and let the dal simmer for 2-3 minutes.

Tempering the peerkangai paruppu masiyal

Heat oil in a pan and add in the garlic. Cook on a low flame. Let the garlic get roasted to lite brown in colour. Add in the mustard seeds, cumin seeds and asafoetida. Let the mustard seeds crackle. Add in the red chillies. Let the chillies fluff up. Add the tempering to the dal. Mix well. Serve the dal with rice or roti. I usually add a little ghee to the rice as pappu always needs a little ghee love treatment.