Sprout salad

Recently, I am in a mood to discover new salads. Perhaps owing to my weight gain that i acquired in my pregnancy. Thanks to my little one, he started running, meaning, I will run too! hopefully i can get back to normalcy.

In the meanwhile, its tempting to eat delicious food in my maternity break. So i keep discovering some salads. Here is one delicious and colourful looking salad.

Green gram sprout salad with a Mediterranean touch.

• Soak full green gram for about 6 to 7 hrs, drain water and let it sprout, normally it takes about a overnight without water for it to sprout. My mom used to tie them in a muslin cloth. But these days its hard to maintain all this, so just leave it in the vessel where it was soaked,but remember to drain the water. I normally make sprouts from which i can make salad for about 4 meals for two of us.
• To the sprout add finely chopped cucumber (after peeling)
• You may also want to add grated carrots.
• For onion lovers add some finely chopped onion. I prefer ti without onions
• Add finely chopped tomatoes and few olives. 
• Finely dress it with olive oil dressing. I make my own dressing which contains, olive oil+lemon+salt+crushed pepper+chaat masala. You can buy chaat masala from the shop. What i like about the chaat masala is the rock salt and black salt. So if you have black salt you may just add it.
• Cut and drizzle some coriander and decorate it with slit chillies.

Yes, colourful lovely salad is ready.

P.S: I personally like some finely chopped radish. Although my husband doesnt like it in salad! 

Enjoy the great salad.

Kosambari

This salad, Kosambari, reminds me of Rama Navami. During Rama Navami my mom makes kosambari, Panagam (jaggery elaichi water) and neer mooru (butter milk seasoned). I love this kosambari as it is not only tasty but also healthy.

Moong Dal 1/4 cup
Cucumber,grated or finely chopped 1/4 cup
Carrot, grated 1/4 cup
Mango grated 1/4 cupGreen Chillies 1-2 , slit in length
Coriander leaves for garnish
Salt
Seasoning-Oil 1 tsp, Mustard Seeds 1/2 tsp, Jeera, Hing)
Olive oil (to make it more healthy and traditionally it is not used!)

Method Of Preparation -

Wash and soak the Moong dal in enough water for two hours.

Drain and transfer into a salad bowl. Add the grated, chopped carrots, cucumber, mango,  and add chillies and salt and top it with olive oil (just to make it healthier). To stick on to traditional recipes do not add olive oil.

Mix well and season it.

To season, heat oil and add mustard seeds and after it splatters add jeera and hing and remove from fire.  Add it to salad and enjoy as a side dish.

Paavakkai pittlai (Bitter gourd pittlai)

This is one of my favorite recipes. I learnt it from my mom. It is a specialty which my grand mother used to prepare.

All what is needed!!

Bitter gourd-250 gms diced nicely

Fenugreek seeds-1/2 tea spoon

Mustard-1/2 tea spoon

Turmeric-pinch

Curry leaves-10 leaves

Tamarind juice-1 table spoon

Toor dal

For grinding

Coconut-5 table spoons

Coriander seeds-1 table spoon

Pepper-1 tea spoon

Procedure

Roast the coriander seeds and grind the coconut, coriander seeds and pepper. 

Boil Toor dal in cooker.

Parallely take oil in pan add Jeera and let it splatter and then add urid dal and then let it become golden brown, now addcurry leaves. Remove this and keep aside for later use.

Take the same pan and add 1 table spoon oil, splatter mustard seeds and add fenugreek seeds, red chillies and curry leaves.

Add the cut bitter gourd and mix well and add turmeric.

Add tamarind extract and let it cook well and add boiled toor dal.

To this add the ground mix and let it boil.

When bubble arrives, remove it from flame and garnish it with the jeera, urid dal and curry leaves.

Enjoy it with hot chappathi or rice.