Chana dal (Bengal gram) barfi

This is an easy and fast to make barfi with low calory. A colleague’s wife served this when she called us for dinner in Manipal in 1981. I got the recipe from her and it is one of my favourite sweet dishes.

Ingredients:

1 cup chana dal soaked for 5 hours

¾ cup water

1 tbsp raisins

1 cup sugar

½ cup grated coconut

½ tsp cardamom powder

Instruction:

-        Pressure cook the soaked chana dal with ¾ cup water for 4 minutes. Cool and open

          Add sugar and raisins to the cooked chana dal and keep on slow fire. It will become more liquid  now; keep stirring to prevent sticking to the bottom.

-         When it becomes thick and starts separating from the sides, add the grated coconut and remove from fire.

-        Add cardamom powder, mix well and set it into a plate or flat vessel smeared with ghee.

-        Cut into squares when cool. If it is too soft, refrigerate for some time and then cut into cubes.

Tambuli

I came across this soothing dish when it was served in a friend’s house in Aloor (in Kundapura, Udupi). 

I would say it is South Indian version of the North Indian raita. Tambli or tambuli is derived from the word thampada + huli. Thampada translates to "cold" and huli is a general name for gravy recipes in Kannada language. It is a healing, nourishing cold yoghurt curry which can be prepared from a wide variety of leaves (coriander leaves, ajwain leaves, spinach, spring onion, brahmi etc.,), hibiscus flowers, ginger and shallots. Here I have used punarnava leaves.

Ingredients

A small bunch of washed and cleaned punarnava leaves

2 tbsps grated coconut

2 cups yoghurt

Salt to taste

1tbsp oil

¼ tsp mustard seeds

Instruction

-          Grind the leaves with the grated coconut into a fine paste

-          Beat the yoghurt and add the ground leaves and salt. Mix well

-          Season with the mustard seeds and serve with steamed rice.