Sprouted Channa Kuzhambu (sprouted dark chickpea in tangy sauce)

Sprouted Channa Kuzhambu

I love sprouting for few reasons. Firstly, it is healthy and secondly, I like watching the seeds germinate and come up with those little lives. Sprouted seeds, legumes are easier on our gut than the unsprouted form. They also tend not to produce as much gas as the unsprouted form. Recently, I was struggling to successfully sprout as they would go bad in the left over moisture and I struggle to keep a cloth for this, wash it etc. I saw a set of plastic plates literally that allows the water to drain in its own time and this has made sprouting more reliable. This is a very simple dish that can be eaten with bread too. If you do not have sambar powder, mix coriander powder and chilly powder and add this instead. We have this with rice noodles (sevai/idiyappam) but it would be great with rice, bread etc.

1 cup sprouted black channa

4-5 pearl onions, chopped

1 large tomato, finely chopped

1 teaspoon ginger paste

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

1 teaspoon sambar powder

Asafoetida

½ teaspoon tamarind paste

2 tablespoon coconut cream or ground coconut or equivalent coconut milk

Heat some oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. Once it crackles, add the onions and fry for a minute

Add tomato and ginger paste and cook until mushy and add some water

Add tamarind paste, sambar powder, turmeric powder and cooked sprouted black channa and required salt

Simmer it for few minutes then add coconut cream and boil briefly. You can also add some coriander leaves

Serve hot

Vegetabe Paratha (Malaysian Paratha!!)

Vegetabe Paratha (Malaysian Paratha!!)

Whether or not it really is Malaysian I don’t know but I love it. It is such a great way to include cabbage in our diet. The method of making the paratha, by folding it into a large rectangle, allows stuffing a good portion of the veggies making it nearer to a complete meal. Am knackered, so no more stories, just duck straight into the recipe...

1 ½ cups wholewheat flour

1 ½ cups finely chopped or grated mixed vegetable like cabbage, beans, carrot

1 green chilly, finely chopped

1 onion finely chopped

1-2 teaspoon ginger garlic paste

1 tablespoon soya sauce

1 tablespoon tomato sauce

Salt to taste

½ teaspoon chilly powder, as desired

Butter/ghee

To make stuffing:

Heat some oil and add onions and ginger garlic paste, cook until just soft and then add veggies and sauté for couple of minutes

Add the sauces, salt and chilly powder and sauté for a further couple of minutes. Finely grated or chopped veggies cook quickly so you do not have to cook this for long.

For paratha

Mix the flour with about ¾ cup warm water to make a soft dough and remember to add salt to dough. Leave to rest for atleast 30 minutes

Divide into about 4/5 balls depending on how big you want the parathas. Dust with some flour and roll into a thick chapatti. Place 2 tablespoons or even more of the stuffing in the centre and spreading it into a small square area. 

Fold up the sides of the chapatti to form a large rectangle and make sure there is bit of overlap between the folds. Roll as flat as you can

Cook both side on a medium flame and add generous drizzles of ghee or butter

Wheat and Barley Roti

Wheat and Barley Roti

I often wonder if I am over indulging in wheat, considering I eat wheat flakes for breakfast and then rotis for dinner, lunch is strictly rice though. Somehow, maybe because of my south Indian origin, it is not easy without rice for atleast one meal. Anyway, point is make conscious effort to diversify ingredients. One of those that I try to include is barley and as I am not a soup or broth person, I need to find other ways of including this grain. Barley is said to provide our gut with fibres that encourage good bacteria to thrive and thus crowd out bad bacteria. The fibre also helps keep blood sugar on check, especially for diabetics. Drinking barley water every day is said to help detox the urinary system. My grandmother would also say that barley water helps lower fever as well. It is also good for lactating mothers as it helps improve milk production. With so much goodness, how would you add this to your diet? Well, for me rotis is a viable option. I must admit that I have tried barley roti in the past but miserably failed as the flour was not the best, atleast in hindsight. It looked too fibrous and coarse. Years later, I tried to grind my own barley flour in the mixie and tried the roti and it came out well. You cannot say it has barley in it unless I tell you. Here is the recipe…

1 ½ cups whole wheat flour

½ cup barley flour

Salt to taste

Oil/ghee/butter

Mix the flours together and add required salt. Add hot water (you may need about a cup) and mix to make a soft dough. Knead as much as you can and add little oil. Rest the dough for atleast an hour and divide into smaller balls

Roll each ball into chapattis and cook both sides on hot tava. Bubbles will begin to appear on bottom side, flip. Again bubbles will begin to appear, let them get bigger, keep pressing down. Then flip again aand press down, roti will puff up. Smear some ghee/butter on top

Serve warm