Carrot & Cabbage Stir fry / Carrot & Muttaikose Poriyal

Category: Lunch / Poriyal
Preparation Time: 10 mins  
Cooking Time: 15 mins
Servings:3 to 4 servings

Carrot- Cabbage Poriyal

Carrot & cabbage Poriyal is a simple Poriyal  / stir fry with simple ingredients. But the combination of these veggies is great and suits well with any South Indian meal. This goes well with any spicy Kuzhambu varieties, Sambar, Rasam or we can just mix it with rice and have it.

  Ingredients:

• Carrots - 3 nos
• Cabbage - 1/2 a head
• Coconut Oil - 2 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Channa dhal - 1 tsp
• Urad dhal - 2 tsp
• Curry leaves - few
• Red / Green chilly, slitted - 1-2 nos (adjust as per spice level)
• Salt- to taste
• Fresh coconut, grated - 3-4 Tbsp (Or Frozen coconut thawed at room temperature)

Bottle gourd Paratha / Suraikkai Chapathi / Lauki Paratha

Category: Chapathi / Paratha   
Preparation Time: 20 mins           
Cooking Time: 20 mins      
Servings: 3 to 4 servings

Bottlegourd Paratha

Bottlegourd / Lauki / Suraikkai is one of the lowest calorie vegetables and has a lot of healthy benefits. We usually make poriyal (stir-fry), kootu, kuzhambu, rice, paratha or even raita. 

For the picky eaters / toddlers, we can make this Paratha and for sure they wont even realize there are veggies inside 😉. 

Ingredients:

• Wheat flour / Atta - 2 to 3 cups (Use as needed)
• Bottlegourd - 1 no (Small / Medium sized)
• Carrot - 1 no (Optional)
• Ginger, grated - 1/2 Tbsp
• Turmeric powder - a pinch
• Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp 
• Green chilly paste / Red Chilli powder - to taste 
• Oil - 1 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Ghee- to taste 
• Wheat flour - for dusting

Vegetable Mini Dosa for kids (Colourful Coin Dosa)

Category: Breakfast / Tiffin /Kids Recipes
Cooking Time: 1-2 mins / dosa

Veggie Mini Dosa!!!!

These vegetable mini dosas are not actually a recipe but its a great way to make kids eat their meal:)  We can add any preferred vegetables to get those vibrant colours. 

In the same way, we can make mini Idlis too and serve it using skewers :) Also we can make delicious podi idlis as a snack.

With the dosa, the one advantage is that we can even make these into any fun shapes our kids like.

I'm sure it puts a smile on your kids face :)

Here I used my Sponge dosa batter so I didn't flip and cook the other side. You can find the recipe for the batter here: Sponge Dosa

So Colourful & Healthy!!

Ingredients:

• Sponge Dosa batter - 2 cups
• Baby Spinach - 1 cup, loosely packed
• Carrot - 1 small, grated
• Beet root - 2 small wedges, grated
• Salt - if needed
• Sesame oil - for cooking dosa

Variations:

Carrot-Zucchini Dhal Fry

Category: Dhal Recipes
Preparation Time: 10-15 mins
Cooking Time: 20 mins
Servings: 3-4 servings

Carrot-Zucchini Dhal Fry

Ingredients:

For Pressure Cooking:

• Toor Dhal - 2 tbsp
• Channa Dhal - 2 tbsp (soaked for atleast 30 mins)
• Masoor Dhal - 2 tbsp
• Green Split Moong Dhal - 2 tbsp
• Castor Oil - few drops
• Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Water - around 2 cups

Veggies:

• Carrot -1 small sized, grated
• Zucchini - 1 small sized, grated (or 1/2 of a big sized one)
• Small Onion - 4-5 nos, finely chopped
• Tomato - 1 no, finely chopped
• Ginger - 1/2 inch piece, grated
• Garlic - 2 cloves, grated
• Green chilly - 1 no, chopped (Optional)

For Tadka / Tempering:

• Oil - 1 tsp
• Ghee - 1 1/2 tsp
• Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
• Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves - few
• Red Chillies - 1-2 nos, broken
• Asafoetida - a pinch

Spice Powders:

• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
• Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
• Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
• Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp

Other Ingredients:

• Kasoori Methi - 1 tsp, crushed
• Lemon juice - around 1 tsp
• Salt - as needed
• Water - as needed

Method:

1. Here I used mix of dhals, we can use either all the dhals or any one or two of them. If using Channa dhal, its advisable to soak it alone for atleast 30 mins to 1 hour for easy cooking. Wash the dhals and pressure cook it with turmeric powder, few drops of castor oil and required water. Once its done, mash it well and keep it ready
   
   
   
   
2. Chop and grate all the veggies and keep them ready. No need to peel off the skin from Zucchini
   
3. Heat Oil+Ghee in a pan, once it becomes hot add mustard seeds, followed by Cumin seeds, curry leaves, red chillies and asafoetida
   
4. Add grated ginger and garlic and saute for 2 mins till the raw smell goes off. If using green chilly, we can add now 
   
5. Add onions and saute for 2 mins
   
6. Add chopped tomato pieces and saute well until it becomes soft and mushy
   
7. Now add the grated carrot and zucchini, saute for 3-4 mins in medium flame
   
8. Add the spice powders and fry for a while in low flame
   
9. Now add the mashed dhal and mix well
   
10. Add required salt and adjust water consistency; allow to boil in medium low flame for few mins (Dhal will get thicken once it cool down, adjust accordingly)
11. Once it reaches the desired consistency, add crushed kasoori methi and mix well
    
12. Switch off and finally add the lemon juice before serving
    
13. Serve hot with Rotis / rice (For Kids I prefer slightly thicker dhal)
    

Carrot Dhal

Category: Dhal Recipes
Preparation Time: 10-15 mins
Cooking Time: 20 mins
Servings: 3-4 servings

Carrot Dhal

 Ingredients:

• Carrots - 2-3 nos, grated
• Tur Dhal - 1/4 cup
• Masoor Dhal - 1/4 cup
• Moong Dhal - 2 tbsp
• Onion - 1 no, finely chopped
• Garlic - 4-5 cloves, finely chopped
• Ripe Tomato - 1 no, roughly chopped
• Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Water - as needed
• Salt - as needed
• Oil - 1 tsp

To Roast & Powder:

• Coriander seeds - 1 tsp
• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
• Pepper - 1/2 tsp
• Red chilly - 1-2 nos

For Tadka / Tempering:

• Ghee - 1/2 tbsp
• Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves - few
• Green chillies - 1-2 nos (Optional)

Method:

1. In a small pan, dry roast the coriander seeds, cumin seeds, pepper and red chilly in low flame till we get nice roasted aroma; then keep it aside and allow to cool
   
2. Once it gets cooled down, ground it into a coarse powder
   
3. Grate the carrots and chop the onion, tomato and garlic. I have used 3 small carrots here which comes around 1 cup tightly packed  after grating
   
4. Wash and soak the dhals for atleast 10-15 mins for easy cooking. Mix of dhals give nice taste so I used all three and we can adjust and use as per the availability
   
5. In a pressure cooker, heat 1 tsp of oil and add onions with a pinch of salt and saute for 2-3 mins till it gets transparent and add the garlic pieces; saute for a min
   
6. Then add the chopped tomato and grated carrots, saute for 4-5 mins till the raw smell goes off
   
7. Add the soaked dhals, turmeric powder and around 1-1.5 cups of water and pressure cook in medium flame for 3-4 whistles
   
8. After the pressure releases, open up the lid and mash the cooked dhal using masher / Mathu
   
   
   
   
9. If it becomes thick, add enough water and bring to boil
10. Now add the ground masala powder and required salt, boil in low flame for 5-6 mins
    
11. Once it gets done, switch it off and transfer to serving bowl
12. Prepare tadka / tempering in a small pan and pour it over the dhal
    
13. Serve hot with Chapathis / Rotis; even goes well with Rice
    

Carrot Kootu

Category: Kootu / Lunch
Preparation Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 20 mins
Servings: 3 servings

Carrot Kootu

Ingredients:

• Carrots - 2-3 nos, chopped
• Tur Dhal - 1/4 cup
• Moong Dhal - 2 tbsp
• Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Water - as needed

For Grinding:

• Fresh Coconut - 1/2 cup, packed
• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
• Green chilly - 1 no (Can be avoided if making for kids)

For Tempering:

• Coconut Oil - 1 tsp
• Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
• Urad dhal, split - 1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves - few
• Red Chilly, broken - 1 no 
• Asafoetida - a generous pinch

Method:

1. Dry roast the moong dhal for few mins till we gets nice aroma and dhal turns golden brown (we can roast in cooker also). If having time, we can soak Tur Dhal for few mins for easy cooking
   
2. Wash and chop the carrots 
   
3. In a pressure cooker, add the roasted moong dhal, Tur Dhal, finely chopped carrot, turmeric powder and required water; cook in medium flame for 2-3 whistles
   
4. Meanwhile grind the coconut, cumin seeds and green chilly into a fine paste. If making for kids, we can avoid the green chilly for grinding and use only for tadka
   
   
   
   
5. Once the dhal and veggie gets cooked, open up the lid and mash them well
   
6. Add the ground coconut paste to the cooked dhal and allow to boil for few mins in low to medium flame
   
7. Add required salt and once it reaches kootu consistency (little thick), switch it off
8. In a small pan, heat coconut oil and once it becomes hot add the mustard seeds followed by urad dhal, curry leaves, red chilly and asafoetida
   
9. Pour the tadka into the kootu
   
10. Serve hot with Rice!
    

Sprouted Green Gram - Carrot Parupusili

Category:  Lunch
Preparation Time: 15 mins  
Cooking Time: 20 mins 
Servings: 3-4 servings

Sprouted Green Gram - Carrot Parupusili

Ingredients:

• Green Gram Sprouts - 2 cups
• Carrot - 2-3 nos, grated
• Green chilly - 1-2 nos (Adjust as per spice level and can be avoided while making for kids)
• Salt - to taste
• Oil - 1 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Split Urad Dhal - 1/2 tsp
• Red Chillies - 1-2 nos
• Curry leaves - few
• Small Onions - 5-6 nos, chopped
• Garlic - 1-2 cloves, minced
• Freshly grated coconut - 2-3 tbsp

Method:

1. Making Sprouts: Wash and soak around 1 cup of Whole Green gram overnight; then drain water and wrap it in a clean cotton cloth and place in a closed vessel / hot box for 12-16 hrs. Check for the sprouting after 12 hrs and if not done keep it for some more time till it get sprouted
   
2. Grate the carrot and keep it ready; we can also finely chop them
   
3. Grind the sprouted green gram along with green chilly and enough salt (without any water) into coarse mixture
   
4. Steam cook the coarsely ground dhal for 8-10 mins and allow to cool; Once it becomes warm, crumble it
   
5. Heat oil in a pan, once it is hot add the mustard seeds followed by Urad dhal,  Red chillies and curry leaves
   
6. Add the small onions and minced garlic, saute for 2 mins
   
7. Add the grated carrots and saute in medium flame for few mins till it gets cooked (No need to add water)
   
8. Once the carrots get cooked (Bust should still have the crunchiness), add the crumbled sprouted green gram; saute well for 2-3 mins till they gets combined well
   
9. Check for salt and switch off
   
10. Garnish with fresh coconut gratings
    
11. Serve hot with rice, Rasam or any Kuzhambu:)