Pachai payaru Sambar

Green gram sambar became my favorite after tasting it in a friend's house . It was yummy to the core with those soft thick dosas and from then I longed to test run it in my kitchen. However did not get a chance to make a sambar with whole green gram and end up with just a chutney. Finally one day I tried this and it came out very well. Actually I made it with venn pongal.
Pardon me for my poor picture:( My camera didn't do any justice.
Hope everyone loves a sambar loaded with tons of fiber!



Ingredients:
Whole green gram (with skin) - 3/4 cup
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Tamarind- an amla size
Red chilly powder - 1 tsp
coriander powder - 2 tsp
asafoetida - a pinch
salt - to taste
Brinjal - 2
Tomato - 1
curry leaf - 1 brig
oil - 1 tsp
mustard seed - 1 tsp
cumin seed - 1/2 tsp

Method:
Soak the green gram for whole night or let it germinate.
Pressure cook it along with 2 cups of water , asafoetida , Turmeric powder, chopped onion for 5 whistles or till the green gram becomes tender.
Once the pressure gets released, mash the cooked dhal with cumin seeds gently using a ladle .keep aside.

Heat oil in a wok. Splutter the mustard seeds.
Add few curry leaves and fry the chopped vegetables for some time.
Then add the tamarind extract, chilli powder, coriander powder and bring it to a boil.Add salt to taste. Let the vegetables get cooked.
Add 2 cups of water.

Then add the mashed green gram and switch off once the sambar comes to a boil.

Green gram sambar is ready!

Serving suggestion:
Serve as side dish with Venn pongal , Idly , dosai.

Butter bisuit

I don't know the exact name of this biscuit. But in my home town (Tirunelveli, TN,India) they call it as soosbery biscuit / butter biscuit and in other places as suji biscuit that means a biscuit made of ghee / clarified butter.
In some bakeries they make it with dalda / vanaspathi .
I have been searching for this recipe for a long time, as we cannot get it here. Luckily I came across Subhie Arun's excellent recipe for it.
I am recording the recipe again for my own use. Thanks dear for sharing this rare recipe. only thing I modified is flattened it a bit, just to get my home town biscuit:)
The biscuits came out just exactly like the Tirunelveli bakery's butter biscuit ...just try it and enjoy the weekend.



Ingredients:
Ghee - 1/2 cup
Icing Sugar - 1/2 cup
Baking powder- 1/4 tsp
All purpose flour - 1 1/4 cup
Salt a pinch

Method

Preheat the oven to 350 degree C.
1. Mix ghee and sugar in mixing bowl with a fork to get a creamy texture.
2. Mix well the salt,baking powder and flour.
3. Add everything together , knead and make a dough like chapathi dough.
Make a soft dough.The dough should be slightly sticky on your finger.
(adjust flour and sugar to get the dough consistency).
4. Place an aluminium foil on a baking tray. Make small balls , slightly flatten it and place it on the baking tray and bake for just 8 - 10 minutes depending upon your oven.
5.Remove the biscuit once it starts leaving the tray. Don't worry about it being soft now, after cooling it becomes hard.
Let it cool and then store in air tight container.
Butter biscuit is ready!

Note:
Makes 20 biscuits approximately.

Award:
Surprisingly while publishing this "Subhie's version of butter biscuit, I got an award from her. Great coincidence ...right:)

Thank you dear. I feel honored.