Amma's Recipes: Chana Dal Wadi ki Kadhi [Lentil Dumplings in Yogurt Gravy]

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Amma's recipes is one such column on this blog, which is very close to my heart. These are the recipes which my mother perfected over many many years and reflects how awesome a cook she is. It is also fun to just photograph once in a while, without thinking about what and how to make a recipe, worrying whether it would turn out well or not. She Cooks, I Photograph. That is the deal. :-) If you guys have any question, do drop in a line or comment. My mom will be more than happy to answer all of them. 

Dad & Mom in the year 1983

Both for me and my little sister, my Mother is the biggest inspiration in our lives. It baffles us how can she be so good at almost everything she does. and my Dad. He is the sweetest and one with most patience in our family.  He can go to any extent to get our wants and wishes fulfilled...and both of them make one helluva couple, I must say!

It is me in green and my sister in pink..

My mom was 42 when she did her MA in Economics. With a fulltime day job and two school-going kids at home, it was quite a task to balance out everything. It was my dad who used to help her in everyday chores, so that my mother could concentrate on her studies. That is the time when he also got promoted as sous chef in our kitchen. ;-).. He used to prepare the dal, vegetables, neatly cut into pieces, for my mom to quickly make a curry & a dal for our lunch & dinner. ..a decade later, they still work together in the kitchen, dishing out amazing family recipes for us and their extended families.

Chana Dal Wadi ki Kadhi, comfort food at its best..

Amma and Nanna are in Bangalore right now with me, for a short trip as Mr.TH is out of town, yet again. It is been a while that I updated this blog with any of her recipes, so we teamed up and made this absolutely decadent, easy-to-make 'Chana Dal Wadi ki Kadhi' for you all. The best part of this recipe is, it works well, even in parts. Make these wadis for a quick, evening snack or to pep any of those gloomy, rainy evenings. (or) Make the kadhi by itself for a comforting meal. Enjoy!

Soaked and ground Chana Dal paste, ready to be made & fried into wadis

these fried wadis taste delicious as-is.

Kadhi at the front and Fried Wadis at the back, ready to be mixed together 

{Recipe} Chana Dal Wadi ki Kadhi

Ingredients

For Kadhi -

thick yogurt/curd, 2 cups
green chillies, 4 medium ones
ginger piece, 1/2 inch
besan (chickpea flour), 2 tbsp
turmeric, 1/4 tsp
salt, to taste
few coriander/cilantro leaves, finely chopped

For Tadka -

red chilli, 1
urad dal (minapappu), 1/2 tsp
mustard seeds (avalu), 1/2 tsp
cumin seeds (jeera), 1/2 tsp
asafoetida (hing), little
curry leaves, optional
oil, 1 tsp

For Chana Dal Wadi -

chana dal, 1 cup soaked for 2 hours
green chillies, 2
ginger, 1/2 inch
salt, to taste
coriander powder (dhania powder), 1/2 tsp
oil, for deep frying

Preparation:

For making Chana Dal Wadis -

* Grind chana dal, green chilli, ginger, dhania powder and salt into a coarse paste without adding water. (as shown in one of the photographs above).

* Heat oil in a kadai, make them into small flat balls and deep fry. Drain the excess oil by placing them on a paper towel (or old news paper works too!). Keep them aside.

For making Kadhi -

* Beat yogurt for 5-10 mins, by adding about 1.5 cups of water, little by little water.

* Grind green chillies and ginger into a fine paste. Add to the buttermilk with salt and turmeric.

* In a small bowl, mix besan with little water (no lumps) and add to buttermilk above.

* Put this buttermilk mixture on low-medium flame. Keep stirring continuously, till the liquid becomes thick and there is no longer the raw taste of besan.

* In a small pan, heat a tsp of oil and add all the tadka ingredients one-by-one. Add the tadka to kadhi.

* Add the chana dal wadis as well and let them soak in the kadhi liquid for some time. Garnish with cilantro/coriander leaves.

* Serve with hot rice.

Soak the wadis in kadhi for some time, so that they absorb all the flavours...

until next time,

Monday Cocktail: Cointreaupolitan

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But I have had to give up certain things in my life. One is shopping. Two is lunch with the girls. Three is cocktail parties, and four is studying my lines. 

~ Joan Collins

Ask me what I would crave for on a hot day, sitting under palm trees with my beach hat on. Or on a wooden bench shaded by a canopy of oak trees, with slight breeze wafting through the hair....

...I would go for a thirst-quenching, subtly spiked cocktail.

Cointreaupolitan

From the classic Mojito (also called as the drink of sailors?) to our Apple Martinis, all of them have their very own flavour profile and story to tell. Stir them, shake them, just neat, on the rocks, straight up, with a kick, or dirty - try them any which way possible, everyone would love a good cocktail....

Today, I made one such surprising and mouth-watering cocktail for you all - "Cointreaupolitan", made with Cointreau, very popular orange liqueur which is made from a perfect balance of bitter and sweet orange peels. it is at the heart of many famous cocktails.

Just 3 ingredients, shake it with ice = One perfect cocktail!!

{Recipe} Cointreaupolitan

Ingredients:

50ml (1.6 fl oz) Cointreau
30ml (1 fl oz) Cranberry juice
20ml (0.6 fl oz) Lemon juice

 
Preparation:

Pour all three ingredients into a shaker with ice. Serve optionally with orange zest.

Now, for some good news which most of you all already know and got me excited today...a mention about my Project 365 in Deccan Herald news paper. You can read the complete article here. Thanks Rohini. I couldn't have asked for more and it sure is a befitting finale to my 2011 P365. Yipeee.. :-) A huge thank you to everybody who encouraged with their lovely comments which in turn inspired me all along the way. Truth be told, posting a picture, every single day of the year, without missing a day - is exhausting but certainly makes me very happy and....

..now I have a very good reason to raise a toast to all you wonderful ppl. <3 <3 <3..

until next time,

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Black and White Wednesday: Custard Apples

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All my childhood I enjoyed savouring on their delightfully sweet flesh. Custard Apples (Telugu: Seetaphal Kayalu) are in season and markets here are flooded with juicy ones....yumm..

 Posted for Susan's Black & White Wednesdays.