“Catch them Young”

Children of today are the future generation of tomorrow. As they say “Catch them Young”, so should we.

Children need to be made aware of dal and pulses. To enjoy food one has to acquire the taste for it. So let us cook for them their favourites with a difference.

Dal and pulses are cheap and yet nourishing. It is very rich in protein and therefore a good substitute for meat.

And here we go …….

Masoor/ Pink lentil Burgers

Burgers are fancy fast food and everybody’s favourite. A burger is a full meal by itself.

It is a bun sliced and sandwiched with a patty. Normally the patty is made with ground meat. We will replace the meat with masoor dal.

Ingredients:

3 Buns

3 Patties: the meat is replaced by masoor dal

Salad vegetables: such as tomatoes, cucumber, cabbage, lettuce, capsicum, onion and so on.

Condiments: salt, ketchup, mustard, butter whatever is available at home to flavour your burger.

Ingredients for the patties:

120 gm masoor, coarsely ground paste

1 Tbsp of finely chopped onion

1 Tbsp of finely chopped capsicum/parsley/ coriander leaves

2 Tbsp of fresh bread crumbs

Oil for deep frying

Salt to taste

Method:

Wash and soak masoor dal for about 6 hours.
Drain water completely from the dal and grind coarsely.

Mix all the ingredients except the bread crumbs. Use the bread crumbs little at a time if too moist. It is mainly for binding the patties.
Make loosely the patties to the size of the buns to be used for burger.
Refrigerate them for about 5 minutes.

Heat oil in a pan and fry the patties over low heat on both sides until golden brown.

Split the bun open and butter the inner sides of the bun.
Place the buttered sides of the bun on a hot pan for extra crispness and flavour.
Assemble the burgers with the patties, vegetables and the condiments in layers as you wish.

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Pulse Pizza

Pizza is an Italian dish with a round flat bread base. It is spread with tomato sauce, topped with meat, fish or vegetables and sprinkled with grated cheese on top.

Here we are replacing meat, fish and vegetable with pulses.

Ingredients:

1 pizza base

1 small bowl Grated cheese

1 small bowl Tomato sauce

1 small bowl pulse topping

Prepare the tomato sauce:

Wash and chop 1 or 2 ripe tomatoes.
Finely chop 1 Tbsp full of onion.
Heat a pan with 2 tsp of refine oil.
Sauté the onion and then add the chopped onion. Add salt to taste.
Lower the heat and simmer with a cover, until the tomato is cooked thoroughly. If water dries off add 1 or 2 tsp water to make a spreadable sauce.

Prepare the topping:

Take one small bowl of mixed pulses. Wash and soak for about 6 hours or overnight.
Cook it with cup of water and ½ tsp of salt in a pressure cooker for 2 minutes. It should be cooked.
Drain out the water completely.
Chop finely 1 Tbsp of capsicum and 1 Tbsp of onion.
Heat 2 tsp of refine oil in a pan, saute the onion and then add the capsicum.
Add the cooked pulses and mix well.