Simple Lunches - 10 Beetroot leaves Paruppu (dal)

We had our health checkups a couple of weeks ago at the office which usually means a flurry of diet and exercise consciousness brought on by the news of high cholesterol. Some blame it on the shrimp they ate a couple of days and take the news in stride, a few others try to make changes to their diet. One was going on a meatless diet and being fond of Indian food asked me the recipe for lentils - Ameri speak for dal. I gave him the standard onion, garlic, green chilies with seasoning of mustard and cumin but he informed me yesterday that he liked the dal a whole lot better with ginger in it. I rarely ever add ginger to dal or sambhar.

I am consumed with guilt if I buy beets and end up throwing away the green parts because they don't look too good after sitting in the fridge for quiet some time. These days I plan(!) the purchase of beets much better. The greens acutally are quiet versatile and fit into a lot of dishes. The quickest surest way to use them ofcourse is in dal. The dal serves as a perfect partner for my favorite sunday meal,
chapatis with aloo gobi. This menu make its appearance once in two weeks or so.

Ingredients
1. Bunch of beet greens washed and chopped fine, the soft stem part can be used also
2. 1/4 Cup of Toor Dal washed
3. 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
4. 1 tsp of sambhar powder
5. seasonings: cumin, mustard, curry leaves, asfoetida, few pepper corns
6. Salt

Method
1. Pressure cook the greens and dal with about 1 cup of water, turmeric powder and few drops of sesame oil, cool, mix and mash slightly
2. In a another pan heat a little bit of oil, add the seasonings and when they start to turn color and the mustard pops
3. Pour over the dal and cook for a minute or two, add a bit of ghee on top.

Perfect side for chapatis alongside Aloo Gobi.

Puttu Maker
A new easy to use puttu maker caught my eyes in the stores during the India visit. Looked similar to a idli pan and could be used in the pressure cooker. The tumblers had holes on the bottom for easy steaming :)