Surti Val Papdi Bhaji

My Mom used to make Val Papdi Bhaji in a simple way with few ingredients. This is the first time I gave it a try here in my US kitchen. This stir fry does require little more oil, as no water is added for cooking. Dal Rice tastes great with this sauteed Papdi.
I tried this Bhaji once with frozen Surti Papdi and I was not happy with the result. I prefer fresh Papdi for this recipe, which I can only find in the local Indian store. I am not sure if Val Papdi is called as Navy Bean or Fava Bean in English.

Ingredients:
Val Papdi/Surti Papdi - about 5 cups
Onion - 1 medium
Garlic - 4 cloves

Black Pepper Powder - 1/4 tsp
Garam Masala or any spice mix - 1/4 tsp
Spanish Paprika/Kashmiri Lal Mirch - 1/4 tsp

Cayenne Pepper/Red Chilli Powder - 1/4 tsp

Salt

Oil

How to prepare Val Papdichi Bhaji:

Remove the strings of val papdi from the sides. Open it and cut it into medium sized pieces. Finely chop onions.
Heat a pan and add about 2 tbsp oil. Add crushed garlic and saute for a minute. Add onions, little salt, black pepper powder and saute till onions turn soft.
Now add val papdi. Saute to mix all the ingredients well. Cook it covered for about 5 minutes at low flame. Keep checking to avoid burning.
When val papdi gets about half cooked, add garam masala, Spanish paprika, cayenne pepper and little salt. Cook it covered till val papdi is completely cooked and water evaporates.
Garnish with cilantro and serve Val Papdichi Bhaji with chapati and/or rice. You can add grated coconut or roasted peanut powder to this veggie as well.

Naval Kol Bhaji / Kohlrabi Stir-fry

Green Kohlrabi called as Navalkol in Marathi and Navilkosu in Kannada, belongs to the cabbage family. My Mom used to make this stir fry very often. Just like cabbage, this vegetable in available in two colors - green and purple. I was quite hesitant about the purple one, as I haven't seen that back in India. Anyway, I picked the green bulbs and Navalkohl Bhaji with Chana Dal was part of our healthy vegetarian meal today.

Indian Dal / Lentils

Lentils, known as Dal are a staple in an Indian diet, especially vegetarian. For me, dal is comfort food. 5 different dal varieties - Toor, Moong, Chana, Masoor and Urad are commonly used in Indian sweet and savory delicacies. You can cook dal with just one kind or a mix of two or more. I generally cook dal with 1:1 Toor and Moong dals. But then, we like Panchmel or Panchratna Dal too, which is made of all five. Most dal recipes have Toor dal as the primary ingredient. It is also known as Toovar or Arhar dal or Split Pigeon Peas . Some of our family favorite dal recipes are Dalitoy (Konkani Dal) Tadka Dal Among all lentils, moong dal and masoor dal take lesser time to cook. Moong dal is also known as Split Green Gram or Split Mung Bean . Moong dal is also used in making sweet dishes like Mung Dal Kheer Mung Dal Puranpoli Chana dal is also known as Split Bengal Gram or Split Chickpeas . Chana Dal takes a little more time to cook as compared to toor dal....

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Samosa, the most loved Indian appetizer with a crisp crust and savory potato stuffing. When you make such fried fast food at home, you get to make some changes to make it healthy. Here are some Whole Wheat Aloo Matar Samosas for you to try at home and savor them as much as we did. Ingredients: Whole Wheat Flour/Atta - 1 cup Carom Seeds/Ajwain/Owa - 1 tsp Ghee/Clarified Butter - 1/2 tbsp (optional) Olive Oil or any other Oil - 1/2 tbsp Potatoes (Russet) - 2 medium Green Peas/Matar - 1/2 cup Coriander/Dhania Powder - 1/2 tsp Cumin/Jeera Powder - 1/2 tsp Black Pepper Powder - 1/4 tsp Ginger (grated) - 1/4 tsp Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp Turmeric/Haldi - 1/4 tsp Green Chilli - 1 Coriander/Cilantro Leaves - few sprigs Salt Oil for frying How to make Indian Samosa: Making Samosa Crust: In a mixing bowl, add whole wheat flour, carom seeds and little salt. Heat ghee and olive oil in a small pan. Add this hot (not warm) ghee and oil to the wheat flour and mix...

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