Wednesday, March 18, 2009

A Healthy Lunch Menu

My refrigerator was getting filled up with left over vegetables; a raw banana here, a beetroot there and lots others in little quantities. As you see, these veggies weren’t suited for a mixed vegetable curry or sambhar. So I decided to make separate dishes of out each for lunch. And I ended up dishing out the following spread.

Dali Thoy
Raw Banana Mashed
Beetroot n Carrot Salad

Dali Thoy
Ingredients:
  • 1 cup Toor dal
  • ½ tsp Turmeric
  • Salt to taste
  • For the tempering: 6-7 Garlic cloves (crushed), 2-3 Dry red chillies (broken into halves) and 2 tsp oil

Method:

  • Wash and clean the toor dal and drain the water.
  • Pour 2 cups of clean water into the dal.
  • Add turmeric powder and stir.
  • Pressure cook it for 2-3 whistles
  • Now mash the pressure cooked dal using a whisker; but remember that the mashed dal should not be not too thick or too watery
  • Add salt to it and heat it on a low flame, stir occasionally
  • While the dal is heating prepare for the tempering.

Tempering

  • Heat oil in a skillet, add garlic cloves and fry them till they turn slightly brown.
  • Now add the red chillies and fry for sometime
  • Take it off the flame and pour it on the dal.
  • Stir well, switch off the flame when the dal comes to a boil. Serve it hot with rice.

Raw Banana Mashed
Ingredients:

  • 1 Raw Banana, peeled, cooked and mashed
  • 1 Onion (medium sized), chopped roughly/finely
  • 1 tsp mustard oil
  • Salt to taste

Method:

Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well using your hand. Proper mixing is essential for the salt and the oil to blend evenly.

Beetroot and Carrot Salad:
Ingredients:

  • 1 Beetroot - cooked, peeled, grated
  • 1 Carrot- peeled, grated
  • 1 cup- Yogurt, whisked
  • ½ cup- grated coconut
  • 1 handful of roasted and crushed peanuts (tip borrowed from Maya of Konkan
    World)
  • Salt to taste
  • For the tempering: 1 tsp Chana dal, 1 tsp Urad dal, 1 Dry red chilli (broken into halves), 1tsp Mustard seeds and 5-6 Curry leaves

Method:

  • In a large bowl, put Grated beetroot, carrot, yogurt, peanuts, salt and set it aside
  • Heat oil in a skillet add chana dal, urad dal fry till it becomes light brown
  • Add mustard, red chilli, curry leaves to it and wait till it sputters.
  • Take it off the flame and pour it over the salad mixture.
  • Put in the grated coconut and mix well and the salad is ready to be served.

19 comments:

Mangala Bhat said...

wow ! looking good right now i am hungry ...plz pass me some :)

Ashwini said...

Wow all look delish..Comfort food

saffronapron.blogspot.com said...

I had the similar menu yesterday. They say -Great minds think alike:)

Anonymous said...

Most of us face a situation like this..left overs..great idea to finish them off..all of them are worth it..lovely

Cham said...

U ended up with a lovely spread! Love the dhal and mashed banana, hum!

Namrata Kini said...

Wow thats such a simple spread. Aamhi Daalithoyantu lasoon ghalnaati. we make dal fry with garlic and tomatoes. Amma used to make mix upkari from leftover vegetables but I am not so fond of mix upkari. I prefer upkari made from a single veggie. U've done a great job here.

Vani said...

Wow! That's putting good use of small leftovers from the fridge!

sathya said...

leftovers always turns out to be great dishes, love the raw banana mashed .

FH said...

Oh my! Look at that yummy thali, so colorful. Good thing you cleaned up the fridge! :)

Varsha Vipins said...

Thats a grt job dear..wish I had this determination..so many veggies would have n will escape from rotting..:D
I loved that Beet salad..:)

Vikis Kitchen said...

This is a unique idea to use little amount of vegetables that won't cling together. The spread and vessels look elegant dear.

Vikis Kitchen said...

This is a unique idea to use little amount of vegetables that won't cling together. The spread and vessels look elegant dear.

Manju said...

thats really a yummy and healthy lunch that you had!

Raks said...

Wow,makes me hungry! Who will say no to all those delicious cooking!

Deepa Hari said...

Lovely spread...looks great...love the color of dali thoy.

sharada said...

my mouth is watering- i just loveee the raw banana mashed.The comfort food spread looks too good.

Suparna said...

Thanks dear friends for ur lovely comments :)

Red Chillies said...

Healthy recipes and differnt version of Daali thoy. We make without the garlic.

Unknown said...

Thxs for visiting my site & ur comment.. THali looks perfect & Nice clicks..