100 gm moong dal

30 gm  flour

2 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)

50 gm sugar

3-4 crushed cardamom

1tbsp raisin (optional)

A few cashew nuts (optional)

250 ml milk

1. Wash and cook the moong dal till soft.
2. Allow it to cool.
3. Grind it in grinder with little milk to a fine paste.

4. Take the flour in a bowl and mix it with the remaining milk, taking little at a time. 

5. Strain it and remove any lumps.

6. Add the dal mixture to the flour mixture and mix it well.

7. Heat the ghee over low heat and fry the cashew nuts until lightly browned. 

8. Fry the raisins slightly and keep them aside.

9. Crush the cardamoms and fry it in the same ghee for few seconds. 

10, Add sugar to the moong mixture. 

11. Pour the same into the ghee.

12. Stir and fry over medium heat until the mixture leaves the sides of the pan and forms dough and excess ghee oozes out.

13. Remove the skins of the cardamom during cooking.

14. Butter a dish and pour the hot mixture into it. 

15. Smooth the top.

16. Sprinkle the fried cashew nuts and raisins over it and press it lightly.

17. When it cools, cut into cubes and serve warm.

120 gm urad dal

1 tbsp finely chopped onion

1 tsp finely chopped green chilli

 ½ tbs finely chopped ginger

½ tbsp finely chopped curry leaves

Salt to taste

Refined oil for frying

1. Wash and soak the urad dal for about 4 hours. 
2. Grind it in the grinder with little water at a time. 
3. The mixture should form peaks as shown in the picture. 
4. Keep it in the fridge for an hour.

5. Take out the urad mixture from the fridge and beat till fluffy. 

6. If you drop a small piece in water, it should float as in the picture.

7. Add onion, ginger, chilli, curry leaves and salt to taste. 

8. Mix well.

9. Turn a mug upside down – with flat and round bottom and cover it twice with cling film.  Secure the cling film firmly to the mug.

10. Heat a pan with oil. 

11. The oil should not be very hot. Oil the base of the mug and place 1 tbsp of the urad mixture on it. 

12. Dip your finger in water and with that finger make a hole at the centre of the mixture. 

13. Now slowly slide the dough of the hot oil.

14. Fry the dough over medium heat on both sides till golden brown. 

15. Do the same with the remaining urad mixture. 

16. Serve hot with a sauce.  Normally it is eaten with samber/rasam or coconut chutney.

45 gm moong dal flour

45 gm sooji (semolina)

1 tbsp ghee( clarified butter)

250 ml milk

Refined oil to fry

150 gm sugar

200 ml water

2-3 cardamons

1. Mix moong flour and sooji together and fry over low heat till the raw taste disappears. 
2. Add the ghee and mix well.

3. Add milk to the fried mixture and cook over low heat till milk evaporates as seen in the picture. 

4. Let it cool.

5. In the meantime, in a pan add the water and sugar.  

6. Crush the cardamoms and add to the sugar mixture.  

7. Heat the mixture over medium heat till sugar syrup is slightly thick and has flowing consistency. 

8. Remove it from the heat and pour it into a bowl.                                                     

9. When the moong mixture is still warm, knead it lightly.

10. Make about 16 small and smooth balls.

11. Heat the oil over medium heat and fry the balls till golden brown. 

12. Remove them from the oil and place them in the sugar syrup to soak.

13. Repeat the above steps for the remaining balls. 

14. Soak the  gulabjamuns for an hour. 

15. Microwave the gulabjamuns for about 10 seconds before serving.  

16. Decorate as you desire.

Channa dal filling

1 medium size green capsicum

2 tbsp Besan ( channa dal powder)

¼ tsp turmeric powder

¼ tsp chilli powder

¼ tsp baking powder

Salt to taste

Refined oil to fry

50 gm channa dal

1 green chilli finely chopped

1 tbsp of onion finely chopped

1 tbsp of coriander/parsley finely chopped

1 tsp of paprika/ Kashmiri chilli powder

1 tsp of mango powder(amsur)

1 tbsp fresh bread crumbs

Salt to taste

1. Wash and cook the channa dal with ¼ tsp of salt. 
2. When it is soft, strain it.

3. Mash it with a fork and add onion, coriander, paprika powder, amsur and mix them well. 

4. Add 1 tbsp of fresh bread crumbs to bind the mixture well.

5. Adjust the salt and keep it aside.

6. Wash and wipe the capsicum.

7. Cut about 1 cm thickness ring as shown in the picture. 

8. Remove the inner core only. 

9. Fill up the slices with the channa dal filling and keep it aside.

For the coat:

10. Take the besan in a bowl.

11. Add turmeric, chilli, baking powder and salt and mix well. 

12. Add enough water to make a thick coat.

13. Dip both the sides of the capsicum slice as shown in the picture.

14. Fry it over medium heat till golden brown. 

15. Repeat the same process for the remaining slices.  16. Serve hot with chutney or sauce.

For the filling:

50 gm channa dal

1 green chilli finely chopped

1 tbsp of onion finely chopped

1 tbsp of coriander/parsley finely chopped

1 tsp of paprika/ Kashmiri chilli powder

1 tsp of mango powder(amsur)

1 tbsp fresh bread crumbs

Salt to taste

For the casing:

4 slices bread

1 tbsp corn flour

½ cup of fresh bread crumbs

Salt to taste

Refined oil to fry

1. Wash and cook the channa dal with ¼ tsp of salt and as minimum water as possible. 
2. When it is soft, strain it.

3. Mash it with a fork and add onion, coriander, paprika powder, mango powder and mix well. 

4. Add 1 tbsp of fresh bread crumbs to bind the mixture well.

5. Adjust the salt.

6. Form dough with the mixture and roll it out to about ½ cm thickness.

7. With a 4 ½ cm round biscuit cutter cut out 8 round pieces.  As shown in the picture.

8. Cut off 4 round pieces from each slices of bread.

9. Keep the sides of the bread slices which can be used for bread crumbs.

10. Take 2 round pieces of bread and 1 round dal piece and sandwich them as shown the picture.

11. Do the same with the remaining bread and dal rounds. 

12. Grind the left over bread sides in the grinder for the fresh bread crumbs.  

13, Mix the corn flour, a pinch of salt and water to make a thin coat.

14. Dip a round sandwich in the corn flour liquid and then roll it over the bread crumbs.  See that the dal layer is properly coated.

15. Do the same with the other round sandwiches. 

16. Keep it in the fridge for about 5 minutes.

17. Heat a pan over medium heat with oil.

18. When the oil is hot enough fry the coated sandwich on both the sides, until golden brown. 

19. Do the same with the remaining pieces.   

20. Serve hot with chutney for sauce.

100 gm moong flour**

20 gm corn flour

2 tbsp refined oil

1 tbsp sugar

300 ml water

250 ml fined oil to fry

For the syrup:

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup water

1 small stick of cinnamon

1 tsp of lemon juice

For the sugar syrup: 

1. In a pan add water, sugar, cinnamon stick and cook over medium heat until sugar dissolves.
2. Now bring it to boil and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes. 
3. Add lemon juice and remove it from the heat. 
4. Pour into another vessel and let it cool.

For the dough:

5. Mix moong flour and corn flour and sieve. 

6. In a pan add water, sugar and oil. 

7. Boil this over medium heat. 

8. When the water boils, add the flour mixture and mix well. 

9. Keep stirring until water evaporates.

10. Take out the flour mixture on a surface, knead till smooth. 

11. The dough should be soft.  Add little water if needed

12. Put the mixture in a piping bag with the biggest star nozzle and press. 

13. Pipe out 2 inches long of the mixture and cut it with a pair of scissors.  As shown in the picture.

14. Heat a pan with oil over medium heat and fry the shapes till golden brown. 

15. Remove them from the oil and put in the cool sugar syrup for 1 or 2 minutes. 

16. Take them out from the syrup and place them on a plate.

17. Tulumba is much bigger in shape and size.   So I decided to roll out the remaining dough to ½ cm thickness and cut out different shapes with a biscuit cutters. 

18. Fried them over medium heat in the oil till golden brown and then dip them in the sugar syrup for to 2 minutes.  The taste was delicious.

Moong flour:

You need:

200 gm moong dal

Few cardamoms

1. Wash and strain the dal. 
2. First dry it over the kitchen towel, then on a dish or a tray until completely dry.

3. On a heavy pan over low heat, roast the dal for about 7 minutes until slightly brown. 

4. Remove it from the heat and cool it down completely. 

5. In a grinder grind the roasted moong dal with few cardamoms until fine.

6. Sieve it and store it in an air tight container.

75 gm moong flour

75 gm flour/maida

1 tbsp refine oil

¼ tsp salt

Warm water to make the dough

1. In a bowl add moong flour, maida and salt and mix well.

2. Add oil and rub in well. 

3. Slowly add hot water to make stiff dough.

4. Cover the dough with a damp kitchen cloth and leave it for about 15 minutes.

5. Knead well and make seven equal size balls.

6. Roll out the ball to 12 cm diameter circle.

  7. Prick it with a fork in few places. 

8. Hang it on the oven rack – over to rodes, falling equally on both sides. 

9. Do the same with the other balls.

10. Preheat oven tot 200 degree C. 

11. Place the rack in middle and bake for 10 minutes until slightly brown. 

12. Carefully remove from the rack and let it cool. 

13. Fill them up with your favourite fillings.

100 gm masoor dal

75 gm sugar

4-5 cardamoms

50 ml clarified butter (ghee)

1 tbsp crushed chewnuts

1 tsp of finely crushed pistachios

1. Wash the dal and drain the water on a sieve. 
2. Spread it out on a kitchen cloth and allow it to dry. 
3. When it is partially dried, remove the cloth and let it dry completely.

4. Roast it over low heat in a heavy pan for about 10 minutes until slightly golden brown. 

5. Allow it to cool. 

6. Grind it finely.

7. Grind the sugar and the cardamom in a grinder.

8. Place the powdered dal, sugar and crushed cashew nuts and mix well.

9. Heat the ghee.  It should be quite hot.

10. Add it slowly to the dal mixture.  The ghee should be just enough to hold the mixture’s shape when you take a fist full of the mixture and squeeze.

11. Take 1 tbsp of the mixture and make a ball with the palms of your hands.    You should get about 7 balls.

12. Dip a ball in the crushed pistachio and smooth it out. 

13. Do the same with the remaining balls.

14. Serve with tea or coffee.

For the filling:

80 gm Kashmiri rajma

1 tbsp finely chopped capsicum

1tbsp finely chopped onion

1 tbsp refined oil

2 flakes of garlic

2 tsp tomato sauce

Salt to taste

For the base:

120 gm flour

25 gm butter

1 tsp sugar

¼ cup milk

1 tsp yeast

¼ tsp salt

1. Wash and soak rajma for about 4 hours. 
2. Cook it with ½ tsp salt, garlic and enough water to until the rajma soft.

3. On a plate crush the cooked rajma coarsely. 

4. Reserve the water.

5. Heat the oil over medium heat. 

6.Add onion and sauté for few seconds and then add the capsicum. 

7. Stir fry for a while and then add the tomato sauce.  Fry for few seconds

8. Add the crushed rajma and mix well with the fried mixture.

9. Add the reserved rajma water and cook for few minutes. 

10. The rajma mixture should be a thick mixture and not dry. Keep it aside.

For the dough:

11. Melt the butter in a hot pan. 

12. Remove it from the heat. 

13. Add sugar and milk to it. 

14. Stir until sugar dissolves. 

15. Sprinkle the yeast over the mixture. And set it aside for few minutes till the top becomes frothy.

16. Sieve the flour with ¼ tsp salt and add it to the frothy yeast mixture. 

17. Knead it to a soft dough. 

18. Cover it with a damp kitchen towel until it doubles in size.

19. When it doubles in size, turn over the dough onto a floured surface and knead well. 

20. Make four balls.

21. Take a ball on a floured surface and roll it out into a rectangular shape.  The length of the rectangle should be about 18 cm and the width in the middle 9 cm.  

22. Make slits with a sharp knife using lightly, more than half the length of the rectangle.  As shown in the picture.

23. Place the ¼ of the prepared rajma mixture and shown in the picture. 

24. Bring the slit portion giving a twist and covering the rajma mixture. 

25. Place it on a baking tray.

How to do the twist:

Roll out the ball into a rectangular shape 18 cm long and width in the middle is about 9 cm.

Make the slits as shown in the picture. The two ends are marked with red and green colours.  On the other end the colours are interchanged.  When you twist the slit part of the dough, green should fall on green and red on red.  The dough will automatically fall in places.   Press the ends to close the pie.  As shown the picture above.

26. Do the same with the other 3 balls.

27. Cover it with a damp kitchen cloth and allow 1 hour for proofing. 

28. Brush the top with milk and sugar solution. (1 tsp milk and 1 tsp sugar)

29. Bake in a hot oven 200 degree C for 25 minutes.  30. Serve hot.

For the filling:

100 gm channa dal

1 tbsp finely chopped curry /coriander leaves

1 tbsp finely chopped onion

1green chilli finely chopped

1 tsp lemon juice

Salt to taste

For the dough:

185 gm flour

½ tsp ajwain (caraway)

1 tbsp refined oil

¼ tsp salt

½ cup of hot water

1 tbsp refined oil for frying (optional)

For the dough:

1. Sieve the flour with the salt into a bowl. 
2. Add ajwain and 1 tbsp oil to the flour and mix well. 
3. Pour hot water over the flour mixture and mix it with a spoon.
4. Cover it and set it aside for about 10 minutes.

5. After 10 minutes gather the flour to form a dough.  

6. If it is dry, add little more more hot water.  If it is too sticky add little flour and make into a soft dough.

7. Knead it lightly on a floured surface.  

8.Make make 7 balls. 

9. Cover the balls with a kitchen towel and set aside.

For the filling:

10. Wash and soak the dal for about 10 -15 minutes. 

11. Cook with ¼ tsp of salt and as minimum water as possible until soft. 

12. Strain out the water.

13, Mash the dal with a fork or potato masher.

14. Add onion, curry leaves, chilli and lemon juice.  

15. Mix well. Adjust the salt. 

16. Make 7 balls.

17. Take one flour ball on a greased surface.  18. Roll it out to a 4 cm a diameter circle. 

19. Place one dal ball at the centre of the circle as shown in the picture.

20. Bring the edge of the circle together and twist and press to shield the filling. 

21. Make it into a smooth ball with the palm of both your hands.

22. Take the ball on a greased surface and pat it out gently with your fingers to spread it a little. 

23. Now roll it out carefully roll it out with a rolling pin to a saucer size. (about 14 cm diameter)

24. Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat. 25. Place the roti and fry both the sides.

26. You may just brush the sides with very little oil during frying. 

27. Fry the remaining roti the same way. 

28. Serve hot with curd or raita.