This rasam is super easy, and requires no cooked dhal (toor dal is added to the spices and ground into a paste).
This is a very flavorful rasam that is highly recommended when you’re suffering from a cold, or have had a few days of heavy food, and need something light. It makes a wonderful soup, especially when the weather outside is chilly and yucky.
Another staple in my kitchen – I have made sambar probably a thousand times or more, and can make it in under 30 minutes if I plan for it – have the dhal cooked and ready, and the vegetables cut or frozen. It’s then just a matter of making the spice blend, and boiling the sambar with the vegetables, spices and the dhal. Perfect for a sunday lunch with the ever popular potato roast (recipe to follow soon)!
“Koottu” is an amazingly simple, nutritious, and wholesome dish and makes a complete meal when eaten with a raita. When my kids were little, they wouldn’t eat it if I said it was kootu. But they loved paruppu saadam with ghee (dhal chawal), and I used to trick them into eating it by mixing it myself, with a generous dollop of ghee on top, and calling it paruppu saadam. They loved it. Now it’s one of their most favorite comfort foods, and I have to make it whenever they come home.
This version is my daughter’s favorite. The other kootu with the toasted and blended spices is my son’s favorite.
What do you do with leftover idlis? The people who came up with idlis of course thought about this, and came up with Idli Upma! Nothing wasted. Repurpose everything, in the most delicious way! One day old idlis work wonderfully for this dish. My family loves this dish so much that sometimes my mom (and me, now) make idlis just to make idli upma the next day for breakfast!
This is a Karnataka recipe that I found online, and there are many many sites with this recipe. It’s easy, and quick. Neer means water in Kannada, as well as Tamil. This is a very light dosa, with no lentils, and no fermentation needed.
