Kongu Foods 2 - Pulses

In Kongu Foods I, I covered the Cereals or Grains the mainstay of any meal in a Kongu home. A good act requires a talented supporting cast for its success, in a Kongu meal pulses play that role to perfection and a meal is not considered complete without a preparation of pulses. Pulses alongside the cereals and grains provide the main source of energy for many a Kongu. Pulses contain 20-30% protein, 60% carbohydrates and are a rich source of niacin, thiamine, iron, calcium and phosphorus all required for a healthy living.

For diets that do not include a lot of meat, pulses are essential source of protein and there are as many tasty recipes to incorporate pulses into the regular diet. Kongus are comprised of Vegetarians and Non Vegetarians, like my mom's side who are pure Vegetarian and do not eat even eggs and my father's side who are all Non Vegetarians. Vegetarianism in Kongu Nadu became common about 500 years ago when Jainism was spreading in Tamilnadu. Even among Non Vegetarians eating animal protein is not a every day affair rather a weekend or special occasion preparation so adding pulses into everyday foods becomes a required necessity.


Pulses are used either whole or split. The most common varieties used are
1. Pigeon Peas (Toor Dal)
2. Green Gram (Moong Dal)
3. Horse Gram (Kollu)
4. Lima Bean (Mochai parappu, Val Dal)
5. Black Gram (Urad dal)
6. Cow Peas (Thatta payar)
7. Beans

A preparation of dal with a spicy tangy Puli Kuzhambu (Spicy Tamarind Curry), rasam made with the water saved from cooking the dal, vegetable poriyal and curd makes a complete meal in any Kongu home.

There are several different ways that dals are cooked but the most common being Uppu Paruppu (salted dal) seasoned with some onions, green chilies, garlic, mustard seeds and curry leaves in a bit of ghee and usually eaten with rice and a dash of ghee

Cow Peas, Lima Beans are cooked commonly like this recipe, with the addition of a vegetable like brinjal or bottle gourd with a bit of tamarind. When split they make a tasty addition to arisim paruppu saatham.

Mochai Paruppu is eaten fresh shelled from the pods and made into a delicious stir fry with coconut and onions or cooked into a spicy curry like the recipe in the previous link.

In all this talk of cooking dals the ubiquitous sambhar cannot be forgotten, it makes its appearance at least once every, to be eaten with idli, dosai or rice.

Kootu is another tasty preparation that is made not quiet as often as sambhar or uppu paruppu. A vegetable seasoned with a blend of coconut, green chilies and cumin seeds is cooked with the dal.

Mochai Paruppu, Paasi Paruppu Kootu
1. 1 Cup of Split Mochai Paruppu and Paasi Paruppu (Val Dal, Moong Dal) cooked with a pinch of turmeric and few drops of oil
2. 1/4 onion chopped
3. 10-15 green beans (any vegetable should work) chopped fine
4. seasonings, mustard, cumin and curry leaves
5. 1 tsp ghee

Paste
1. 1 tbsp grated coconut
2. 3 Green Chilies
3. 1 tsp cumin seeds
Lightly toast and make to a paste

Method
1. In a pan heat a bit of ghee, add cumin and mustard seeds
2. Add the onions and fry till translucent
3. Add the green beans and salt and cook till the beans are tender
4. Add the coconut paste and let it cook for a 2-3 minutes
5. Add the mashed dal with a 1/2 cup of water and let it simmer for a 5-6 minutes (the amount of water added depends on the consistency that is required)

Serve with rice or Chapati with a dash of ghee.

Nutella Banana Bread and Blog Action Day

Nupur has a lot to do with this post, read on for details.

Lawns and Water - Blog Action Day

My first awareness of what a simple almost routine activity like taking care of the lawn could do to the environment came when I read about portions of the Chesapeake Bay becoming dead and the bay losing its ability to heal itself. Dangers posed by too much Nitrogen.

Can we do something about it?
During the spring and summers months , entering into suburbia a common sight is numerous water sprinklers sprinkling millions of gallons of water into the ground. This sprinkling method which is by far the most common method makes certain that a few gallons evaporate beore they even touch the ground.

The fertilizer and pesticides applied to the lawn to make them look healthy and ofcourse the envy of the neighborhood gets washed off by too much water and in the process hurting the fragile ecosystem.

How many times have we heard the real estate agent say an attractive lawn adds at least a few thousands to the value of the house and this fact is hard to ignore.

The runoffs from watering and chemicals mixed with it, enters the streams and rivers and thereby polluting everything in sight.

From the unscientific survey done in my neighborhood, the lawns of neighbors who regularly water their lawn and have a lawn maintenance company apply pesticides and fertilizers looks almost the same as my lawn which is not watered and fertilized regularly, most times it depends on nature to do the trick, as for fertilizer, a small amount of lawn clippings is left on the grass itself to nourish. No amount of watering and fertilizing can do what mother nature in the form of rain can do.

This summer it was really easy to see the contrast, due to the lack of rains, most lawns look brown, the lawns which were watered regularly looked no different from the lawns which did not see even a sprinkle of water. Two days of rains in August and the lawns all magically turned green.

We stopped applying fertilizers and pesticides because the kids play in the lawn and I was not too comfortable with them playing in so much chemicals. Yes we do have a few weeds but from my reading having clover keeps the grubs out and when the lawn is mowed the green of the weeds is hard to differentiate from the green of the grass itself :)

Read about the alternatives to taking care in the Washington Post Turf

Easy and Healthy for the wallet too:
In the North East US this year, we have had an unusually dry summer, though mandatory water restrictions is not here yet, taking care while watering the lawns and even controlling the pressure in the faucets we use everyday can save quiet a bit of water. The cost of sewage treatment is much more than the water itself so every bit saved from hitting the drain is money saved.

By the way,
Congratulations! Vice President Gore, Winner Nobel Prize, Global Warming Activism.




I have to thank Nupur twice once for the delicious Banana Bread and the second time for reminding to write for Blog Action Day. Checked out the lovely Peanut Butter Banana Bread on her blog and even for a non baker like me it was simply irresistible. Did a few substitutions, I am not too fond of Peanut Butter and the alternate suggested by Nupur - Nutella seemed perfect and creamy. Sweet.


Here are the ingredients as I made them.
Nutella Banana Bread

Ingredients
1. 1 1/2 cup of Whole Wheat Pasty flour
2. 1 tsp baking soda
3. 1 tbsp Raw Cane Sugar
4. a pinch of salt

5. 2 medium sized bananas (about 3/4 cup of mashed bananas)
6. 1/3 cup Nutella
7. 1 Egg
8. 1 tbsp butter
9. 1/4 cup yogurt
10. 4 tbsp molasses

Method
1. Mix the ingredients 5-10, once mixed add the flour, soda, sugar and salt.
2. Spray a loaf pan
3. Pour the batter and bake at 350F for about 1hr.

Lovely Nutella Banana bread ready, smear a little bit of Nutella on it, tastes . Family is happy and all thanks to Nupur.