Mushroom Mutter Masala

10-15 Mushrooms sliced
1/2 cup Green peas
1 Onion finely chopped
2 Tomatoes finely chopped
1/4 cup Cashew
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup tomato ketchup
 1" inch cinnamon
3 cloves
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 garlic chopped
1 " inch ginger chopped
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin-coriender powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp red chili powder
salt to taste

In a pestle & motor make a ginger-garlic paste set aside.
Blend the cashews with little water and make a fine paste.

Heat a oil in a heavy sauce pan, add cinnamon, cloves and cumin seeds. when cumin sluptters add chopped onions, saute it until light golden
Add turmeric, and masala powders mix well and let it blend for 2 mins.
Add tomatoes salt to taste  cover it and cook for 2-3 mins ocassionally saute it.
Now add the cashew paste and water( make sure not to add too much as we need to add milk later) cook for 4-5 mins or until thoroughly blend.
Add peas and mushrooms, tomato ketchup, cover it and cook for about 7-10mins on medium-low flame.
Lower the flame and add milk and mix well
Lastly, garnish chopped cilantro 

Serve with any Indian bread.

Shallots Sambar

Well, Lots of changes going around, we moved an hour forward and a major devasting change is shift in the earth axis caused by the quake in Japan it's such a horrified disaster. my prayers for the people of japan.

Back to ma recipes, here is a quick recipe on shallots.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup Red gram dal
1/2 pound shallots
lemon sized tamarind, soaked in water and extract the paste
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp jaggery
salt

Masala Paste
1/4 tsp Fenugreek seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 1/2 tbsp coriender seeds
1 tbsp bengal gram
4 red chilies
1 tbsp poppy seeds
3-4 tbsp coconut shredded
oil

Tempering
1 Mustard seeds
1 black gram dal
1 red chili
and few curry leaves

Pressure cook the red gram dal and set aside
Heat a small pan, add oil add red chilies, fenugreekseeds, cumin seeds, coriender seeds, bengal gram and poppyseeds and saute for 2-3 mins. Blend all to fine paste with coconut and 4 shallots.
Now, In a heavy sauce pan heat a oil add 1tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp black gram, one red chilies and few curry leaves. When mustard seeds sluptters add tamarind paste, salt to taste, jaggery, turmeric and rest of shallots . Close the lid of the pan and cook until the raw smells of tamarind disppears.
Add cooked dal and masala paste and cook until thoroughly combine.
Lastly, garnish with cilantro.

A recipe from Cookbook "Dakshin"

Ginger Rasam

Ingredients:
2 tbsp toor dal/ pigeon peas
2 1/2 inch ginger
2 green chilies
3 tbsp shredded coconut
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp peppercorns
3 tsp jaggery
salt to taste

Tempering
1tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumins seeds
1-2 red chilies
few curry leaves
hing / asafedita powder

Soak the pigeon peas/toor dal for 30 mins and keep aside.
In a blender, add coconut, ginger, green chilies, cumin and peppercorns and coaked dal. make a fine paste.
In a heavy pan, boil 2 cups of water with salt and turmeric powder, add the paste, simmer the flame and boil until the raw flavour goes or until you dont see the foam standing.
Lastly, In a small pan heat 3 tsp oil, add mustard seeds when it sluptters, add cumin, red chilies, curry leaves and hing.
Mix it with rasam.
Serve with white rice.