Cold Cold go away... Never show your face again!!!!

If only it was that easy! When I get a cold (which is every month!) it takes almost a fortnight to go away... which means that I am sniffling through out the year :-(

Today made a south Indian meal for dinner comprising of sambar, potato masala and beans stir fry.

Sambar, rice with greens stir fry, potato masala and beans stir fry

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Sambar

1 cup tuvar dal washed and cooked till soft

Lemon sized ball of tamarind - soaked in hot water and pulped (you could extract the juice by hand or just remove the seeds if any and grind it in the mixer to get the pulp)

2 dry red chillies

10-15 sambar onions (these are the small onions also called shallots) - skinned (the easiest way to skin these is to soak them in water for about 1/2 hr. The skin comes off much easier after that)

1 tomato chopped

Few sprigs of curry leaves

1 tsp cumin and mustard seeds

A pinch of asafoetida pd

1 tsp turmeric pd

Salt to taste

1 tbsps cumin seeds, coriander seeds, chana dal, white urad dal, 4-5 methi seeds, 2 dry red chillies, 3-4 whole pepper corns, 2 tbsps grated coconut - roast these and grind to a coarse powder.

Heat a pan and add oil. Add the mustard seeds and after they splutter add the cumin seeds. Wait for them to crackle then add the curry leaves, asafoetida pd and dry red chillies. Then add the sambar onions and saute till they start turning color. Now add the tamarind paste and 1 cup of water and tomatoes and let it boil till it reduces by half. Now add another half a cup of water, turmeric, salt and the ground masala pd and cook for a minute. Add the cooked dal and a little water if required to make the consistency right and cover and cook for 2-3 minutes. Garnish with coriander leaves (optional). Sambar is ready!

Potato Masala

4 potatoes boiled and skinned and chopped into big chunks

2 tbsps ginger garlic paste

2 tsps garam masala pd

2 tsps chilli pd

1 tsp cumin seeds

Salt to taste

Heat a pan and add 2 tbsps of oil. Add the cumin seeds and wait for them to splutter. Now add the ginger garlic paste and the salt and garam masala and the chilli pd and cook on slow flame (keep stirring it so that the spice powders do not burn) till the ginger garlic paste is cooked. Now add the potato pieces and turn them around till they are well coated with the mixture. Saute them a little longer till the potatoes turn a little crisp. Serve hot with sambar rice.

Beans Fry

2 cups of beans cut into small pieces

1 tsp chilli pd, turmeric pd, coriander pd

1 tsp cumin seeds

A pinch of asafoetida pd

Salt to taste

Heat oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds. When they splutter add the asafoetida pd and the chopped beans and let them saute for a minute. Now cover and cook on low flame till the bean are well cooked. (You could sprinkle a little water to help them cook if desired). After the beans are cooked, add the salt, turmeric, coriander and the chilli pd and cook till they lose their raw smell. Serve hot.

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