Bisibelabath

Ingredients:

• Rice - 1 1/2 cup (soak in water for about 1 ½ hrs)
• Toor dal - 3/4th cup
• Vegetables (potatoes, beans, carrots, peas, capcisum (1))
• Curry leaves
• For sambar: small onions*, drumsticks (optional), tamarind juice, sambar podi
• Mustard, Fenugreek seeds, asafoetida
• Salt to taste
• For bisibelabath powder: ¾ cup coriander seeds, ½ cup channa dal, 6-7 red chillies**, 5-6 cloves, few cardamoms, 1 cinnamon stick, ½ cup coconut
• Ghee, Oil

Method:
For powder:

1. In a small dry pan, add all the for powder ingredients (without the coconut)  and saute till the raw smell is gone and the dal turns a little brown.
2. Let this cool for a bit and grind it along with coconut till powder.

Bisibelabath method:

1. Cut all the vegetables (a little big) and pressure cook it with toor dal a 1 spoon of ghee for 3-4 whistles.
2. Meanwhile in a kadai, add little oil.
3. When the oil is hot, add mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, asafoetida and let the mustard splutter.
4. Now add curry leaves,onions and drumsticks (if using) and very little salt (for the onions and drumsticks).
5. Saute till the onions turn light brown.
6. Add 2 spoons sambar powder and about 2 cups of tamarind juice.
7. Let the sambar come to boil.
8. Add the boiling sambar to the cooked vegetables.
9. Add salt (for all the vegetables and dal) and the bisibelabath powder.
10. Add the rice and some water if necessary and boil till the rice is cooked.
11. Keep stirring till the rice to avoid sticking to the pan.
12. Keep adding water if necessary while cooking the rice.
13. Serve hot, with raita (cucumber or onion) and with paapads!

* If you do not have small onions, substitute it with 1/2 a regular onion cut into 1/2 inch cubes.

** Adjust the number of red chillies according to your spice tolerance.

Red Bell Pepper Chutney

Ingredients:

• Red bell peppers - 2
• Red Chillies - 3-4 (depends on desired spice level)
• Tamarind  - small lemon sized ball
• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp 
• Urad dal, Chana dal - 1tsp each
• Asafoetida
• Curry Leaves
• Oil
• Salt to taste

Method:

1. In a pan, heat oil, add mustard seeds.
2. After it crackles, add urad dal, red chillies, hing, curry leaves.
3. Add the red bell peppers.
4. Saute for a couple of minutes till  raw smell is gone from the bell peppers.
5. Add tamarind and saute for 2 minutes. Add salt to taste.
6. Cool and grind.
7. Make tadka with mustard seeds and urad dal (optional)
8. Goes well with idlies and dosas!!

Shimla Mirchi sabzi

Ingredients:

1. Shimla Mirchis (Green Bell Peppers/Capsicum) - 4
2. Besan (chickpea flour) - 1 cup
3. Onions - 1 medium
4. Red chilli powder - 1/2 spoon
5. Jeera (cumin seed) - 1 tea spoon
6. Salt - to taste
7. Oil
8. Garam masala - a pinch

Method:

1. Cut onions and green bell peppers into small pieces and put it together in a bowl.
2. Add salt, besan, chili powder and little oil to the bowl and mix well. Add very  little garam masala and mix again.
3. Heat oil in a pan. Once the oil heats up add the cumin seed.
4. When the cumin seeds starts to splutter, add the shimla mirchis and mix well.
5. Cook on medium flame.
6. Keep adding oil and stir the vegetable whenever they start to stick to the bottom of the pan.
7. Remove from the flame when the mirchis become soft.
8. Serve hot with chapattis.

Carrot Payasam (Kheer) - Dessert

Ingredients:
1. Carrots - about 10-12
2. Sweet condensed milk (Milkmaid) - 1 can
3. Unsweet condensed milk - 2 cans
4. Cashew nuts - about 15 pieces

Method:
1. Peal the skin of the carrots and grate them.
2. Steam the carrots with little water for 10 mins.
3. Allow the steamed carrots to cool and beat it in a mixer (without the water) to make a semi solid paste.
4. Put the carrot paste in a pan, and add the unsweet condensed milk to this paste and heat it in medium flame.
5. Also add the sweet condensed milk (about 3/4th of the can) and keep stirring the mixture.
6. When the mixture starts to boil, remove the pan from the flame.
7. In another pan, add 2 spoons of ghee. When it heats up add cashews and fry it till it becomes brown and add it to the mixture.
8. Serve the payasam hot.

This is the first time I had carrot payasam in my life and it came out really well. Thanks to my friend SriVidya for giving me the recipe and helping me to try it out!

Baadam Milk -Dessert

Here is what you need:

1. Milk
2. Badams (Almonds)
3. Sugar
4. Elachi (Cardamom)
5. Saffron(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saffron)

Method:
For 4 people:
1. Soak about 30 baadams in hot water for 3 hours.Cover the vessel while you let the badams soak.
2. After 3 hours, peel the skin from the baadams.
3. Grind it with about 3-4 elachis and a little water.
4. You should grind it till you get a semi-solid smooth paste.
5. For every cup of the paste, add about 1.5-2 cups sugar depending on your tolerance to sweet. (You can always add sugar later if you think you need more sweet to your baadam milk)
6. Add hot milk to this and stir till the paste becomes liquid and all the ingredients are mixed together.
7. Take about a cup of hot milk, and add little saffron to it.
8. When you see the milk starting to turn yellow, pour this into the baadam milk and stir well.
9.Allow it to cool for sometime and then refrigerate it.
10. Drink the badam milk cold.

Note: When you remove the baadam milk from the refrigerator, it will be a little solid. Add milk to it before drinking!