Express Meals - Kohlrabi Dal
As if all the events in blogosphere weren't tempting enough, my friend Mallugirl has gone a step further and thrown a challenge in the face of us exhausted bloggers - express meals. She wants to know if we can whip up a decent meal in 10-30 minutes.
10 minute meals in my kitchen are heated leftovers, but 30 minutes is right about the time I spend on a weekday meal. For Mallugirl's challenge, I stuck with good ol' rice and dal, letting the pressure cooker do most of the work. If you have the standard 3-4 burner stove and a good knife to make prepping easy, express cooking can be a breeze. Some tips I follow -
- keeping most of the ingredients at hand before I actually begin cooking (mise en place)
- preparing vegetables (ie. peeled, chopped and stored in ziploc bags in the refrigerator) whenever I can
- planning menus in advance
- multitasking!
(serves 2-3)
2 small kohlrabi
4-5 pieces of drumsticks
1 cup red gram (tur dal)
1/2 tomato, chopped*
salt to taste
Masala -
1/4 cup coconut, grated
1/4 onion, sliced
2 tsp sambar masala*
Seasoning -
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
curry leaves
pinch of asafetida
oil
Express Cooking -
Rinse rice and dal in 1-2 changes of water. Set aside for 7-10 minutes. Meanwhile remove drumsticks from freezer and place in a bowl to thaw. Wash, peel and chop kohlrabi into cubes. Slice onion and chop tomatoes.
Place pressure cooker on fire. Combine kohlrabi and 2 cups of water in a sauce pan. Cover and let cook on moderate heat.
Lightly roast onion on a pan. Grind along with coconut and sambar masala into a fine paste. Keep aside. Add chopped tomato and drumsticks to kohlrabi. When soft add coconut masala and cooked dal. Add enough water to reach desired consistency. Season to taste and bring to a boil.
On another burner, prepare a tadka of mustard seeds, curry leaves and asafetida. Pour over dal and cover. Serve hot with rice.
Make a quick raita, roast a few papads, add a dollop of pickle and you have a complete, satisfying (2-3 vegetables + protein from dal) meal.
* Traditionally Konkani ambats use tamarind pulp but I prefer tomato to tamarind in this curry
* Sambar masala is not the South Indian sambar but the Konkani version. Use any mild, red masala instead
* Use radish, mangalore cucumber, ash gourd etc in place of kohlrabi
10 minute meals in my kitchen are heated leftovers, but 30 minutes is right about the time I spend on a weekday meal. For Mallugirl's challenge, I stuck with good ol' rice and dal, letting the pressure cooker do most of the work. If you have the standard 3-4 burner stove and a good knife to make prepping easy, express cooking can be a breeze. Some tips I follow -
- keeping most of the ingredients at hand before I actually begin cooking (mise en place)
- preparing vegetables (ie. peeled, chopped and stored in ziploc bags in the refrigerator) whenever I can
- planning menus in advance
- multitasking!
(serves 2-3)
2 small kohlrabi
4-5 pieces of drumsticks
1 cup red gram (tur dal)
1/2 tomato, chopped*
salt to taste
Masala -
1/4 cup coconut, grated
1/4 onion, sliced
2 tsp sambar masala*
Seasoning -
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
curry leaves
pinch of asafetida
oil
Express Cooking -
Rinse rice and dal in 1-2 changes of water. Set aside for 7-10 minutes. Meanwhile remove drumsticks from freezer and place in a bowl to thaw. Wash, peel and chop kohlrabi into cubes. Slice onion and chop tomatoes.
Place pressure cooker on fire. Combine kohlrabi and 2 cups of water in a sauce pan. Cover and let cook on moderate heat.
Lightly roast onion on a pan. Grind along with coconut and sambar masala into a fine paste. Keep aside. Add chopped tomato and drumsticks to kohlrabi. When soft add coconut masala and cooked dal. Add enough water to reach desired consistency. Season to taste and bring to a boil.
On another burner, prepare a tadka of mustard seeds, curry leaves and asafetida. Pour over dal and cover. Serve hot with rice.
Make a quick raita, roast a few papads, add a dollop of pickle and you have a complete, satisfying (2-3 vegetables + protein from dal) meal.
* Traditionally Konkani ambats use tamarind pulp but I prefer tomato to tamarind in this curry
* Sambar masala is not the South Indian sambar but the Konkani version. Use any mild, red masala instead
* Use radish, mangalore cucumber, ash gourd etc in place of kohlrabi
Labels: knol kol naval kol amti ambat ghasshi drumsticks shevgachya shenga
Posted By Ashwini | Permalink |
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