Red Beans Curry is a side dish prepared mainly from dry Red Beans. There are variety of beans available in grocery store like kidney beans, pinto beans, soybeans and so on. Using these beans you can also prepare variety of recipes like a soup, curry and salad. Beans are good source of fiber and protein. This recipe preparation is more like Indian style Rajma recipe. The recipe is very simple to prepare basically soak the beans overnight, boil it and then cook with some spices. The curry goes very well with plain rice, jeera rice and well as poori and paratha. This same recipe I have also used for Beet Greens Rice Roll. 
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Beet Greens Rice Roll
Leafy vegetables like spinach, mustard, kale or beet root are very healthy and everyone should add them as part of their meal plan on daily basis. This recipe is inspired from Japanese Sushi although completely vegetarian and a different texture. The recipe is very easy to prepare basically just saute beet greens with garlic and roll it into brown rice. When served with red beans sauce it tastes amazing. I have used brown rice however you can use any other rice whichever you like. The rolls can also be served with fried yellow daal and it tastes awesome with that too. The green beets can also be just eaten with Rice, Paratha or Roti. Add this recipe as part of you lunch or dinner and enjoy!
Raw Kathal ( Jackfruit) Dum
Kathal (Jackfruit) can be used as vegetable when it’s raw or as fruit when it gets riped. In Northern part of India people mostly use it as vegetable however in South mostly people use it as fruit. Raw Jackfruit can be used to prepare variety of dishes like dry, curry or kofta. Raw Jackfruit dishes are my favorite and I have been always looking to find fresh Jackfruit, however in many of my attempts I failed to find the right one to make proper vegetable dish. Cutting raw Jackfruit requires some skills as it is very sticky, my Mom used oil to grease her palm and knife while cutting the kathal. For this recipe I have used the canned raw Jackfruit which is available in Indian grocery stores which makes it easier as it is already cleaned and cut. I am sharing this recipe from my Mom who used to make it amazingly delicious. Boiled and roasted kathal cooked in onion and tomato gravy flavored with garam masala powder, nutmeg powder and spices. This simple curry is a great compliment with steamed rice or roti.
Masala Bhaat
Masala Bhaat is a Maharashtrian recipe prepared using basmati rice, mix vegetables and spiced with Goda Masala. Goda Masala is a special Maharashtrian spice mix which gives an authentic flavor to the recipe. It seems Maharashtrian wedding is considered incomplete without masala bhaat which indicates that how much people like it. In a way you can say it’s like a veg pulao, however it is more spicy and have it’s own taste. You could add vegetables of your choices in it. I learnt this recipe from one of my family friend’s Mom. She makes it so delicious that once you start eating, you can’t stop. Masala bhaat goes very well with maharastrian kadhi or curd raita.
Rolled Besan Curry
In India there are variety of food which are very local to certain areas. Rolled besan curry is one of them and mainly prepared in northern part of UP and Bihar. My mother used to make this recipe often when she used to run out of vegetables and I loved it every time. You can make this recipe without much preparation when you don’t feel like making vegetable curry. The recipe is prepared by rolling besan batter on tava and simmer into a spicy tomato based gravy. I have earlier shared a different variation of besan curry named as Besan ki Sabji. If you don’t want to make roll based, you can prepare Besan ki sabji instead. The rolled besan curry goes very well with Partha, phulka and rice.
Makki Ki Roti & Sarson Ka Saag
Makki (corn flour) ki roti and Sarson (mustard) ka saag is one of the very famous Punjabi dish which is also very much liked by people in Northern part of India. Makki flour has very less amount of gluten hence it’s little difficult to make the roti (bread) out of it. Adding little bit of wheat flour makes it easier to make the roti. Kneading the flour is one of the important step while making this roti. Traditionally, the roti is made using palm of both hands by thumping both side to expand however that requires some practice, so I have used butter paper to make this roti and spread it using fingers. Generally this roti is much thicker than actual wheat flour roti and cooked in clay oven however I have cooked it on Tava top. Sarson leaves are generally available during winter season hence the dish is mainly prepared during winter. Sarson ka saag is made using mustard leave, spinach and bathua leaves. You can also add chana leaves as it gives a great taste to it. I have added little sweet corn to the saag as it reduces the bitterness of the mustard leave and gives creamy taste. Adding roasted gram flour gives thickness to the saag. The saag can be also served with normal roti or paratha. When I was kid, my Mom used to make it using roasted corn flour at home and serve with saag and ghee. I really miss those days very much. 
Daal Baati
Daal Baati Churam is a very popular traditional Rajasthani dish. The celebrations like marriage, festival, parties and so on in Rajasthan are incomplete without this traditional dish. Daal Baati Churma is basically three items put together as a meal. I have already shared the recipe of Churma in my earlier blog and in this blog I am sharing the recipe for Daal and Baati. Baati is made from wheat flour balls with lots of deshi ghee. Traditionally, the Baati balls are backed in clay or coal based tandoor which gives a very specific smoky flavor to the recipe. However, I have made the Baati in electric oven and it really came out well. The crispy Baati with desi ghee aroma makes the dish tastes amazing. The Daal for this recipe is mixture of five kinds of daal (pulses) also known as panchmel daal. The daal is cooked with salt, water and turmeric powder however the seasoning with ghee, ginger-garlic and some gram masala brings in the real flavorful taste in Daal. Serve this recipe to your guests and I am sure they would love it.
Sambar Polenta (Cornmeal)
Polenta aka cornmeal is granules of corn available in grocery stores all around. The Polenta is cooked in many ways like it can be baked, grilled or fried. This recipe is prepared using boiled Polenta which is typically simmered in water with salt and ghee or butter. Polenta takes a little long time to cook and creamy texture.You could each boiled Polenta as is or It can be served many different ways. For this recipe we would prepare a sambar to serve with Polenta. Sambar is a south Indian soup which is prepared using mix of vegetables of your choice, toor daal and special sambar masala. In this recipe, I have also added green pigeon peas along with toor dal to get twist in sambar taste. There are varieties of sambar recipes available and you can use anyone if you like or you can use your own sambar recipe. Polenta used to be one of common meal item when I was young and my grand mother use to make it and serve with toor dal and spicy curry. In northern India is it referred as “Makki ka bath”. I literally love Polenta and every time I make it, it bring memories from childhood. Polenta with sambar was an awesome combination and very delicious, you could also try it with rasam. 