A day late....

Wanted to get this one in yesterday but better late than never I guess! Now, before you jump to any conclusions, I DID cook yesterday. Just could not get in the entry for it..
I just love the winters. I am one of those people who do not miss the sun at all. Cold, Windy, Gloomy , doesn't matter; bring it on! And my memories of my childhood winters are of good piping hot comfort food. So I decided to start the cooking season with a simple yet much loved mooli parantha (radish stuffed rotis) and a panchratni dal (a lentil dish comprising of five different kinds of pulses) as its accompaniment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For people who are interested in the recipe, here goes:

Mooli Parantha

2 moolis peeled and grated

1 onion finely cubed

1 green chilli finely chopped

 A pinch of cumin seeds and carom (ajwain) seeds 

Salt, coriander and chilli pd according to taste

In a hot pan add a tsp of cooking oil and add the cumin seeds and wait for them to splutter, then add the carom seeds and chopped onions and fry till the onions turn pink. Now add the grated radish, green chillies and fry till the radish is cooked. Then add the spice powders and salt and cook for a minute more. Remove and cool. Use this paste as a stuffing inside your rotis.

Since I was using my 'help' to make the rotis, and she lacks the expertise to actually roll out a roti with the stuffing in side it, I had her roll out two separate rotis - apply the stuffing on one and then place the second one on top and seal the edges. She was able to do that without any difficulty :-)

Panchratni Dal 

3 tblspns each of any five easy cooking pulses (not the kind that require overnight soaking) that you have - washed and cooked. I used chana (split chickpea), tuvar (pigeon pea), masoor, moong and urad (skinless split black beluga) daal.

1 onion chopped

1 tomato chopped

1 dry red chilli

1 tsp ginger garlic paste

Pinch of mustard and cumin seeds and hing (asafoetida) pd

Salt, turmeric and chilli pd to taste 

In a hot pan add a tsp pf oil and add the mustard seeds. After they have crackled, add the cumin seeds and the asafoetida pd. Now add the onions and fry them till they turn golden brown. Now add the ginger garlic paste and a pinch of salt to keep the ginger garlic paste from getting burnt and fry for a minute. Add the tomatoes and the spice powders and a little water just to prevent the spice powders from getting burnt. Cover and cook till the tomatoes have turned mush. At this stage add the cooked and mushed up lentils and salt and cover and cook till you get a boil. Remove from heat and garnish with coriander leaves (optional).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It turned out pretty well. I say this because there were no leftovers in the fridge (hubby dearest made sure everything was cleaned up!!)
So all in all I would say a good start to a great beginning!!