This past week has been hectic and really enjoyable. I had a surprise party (for my birthday) at my friends place complete with a cake and my favorite food that she makes. It was also Thanksgiving weekend. So we did tons of shopping for Arlo stocking up on his clothes for the next few months (they aren’t lying when they tell you babies grow up fast). I have been putting Arlo in his 6 months clothes which are so tight for him that it’s like a body suit and his pants are like capris. So I dragged myself out for shopping and got him some clothes. Every one of us was so tired that we just wanted to sleep. So food hasn’t been a priority. But now from tomorrow, it’s back to normal until Christmas, so I decided to make something simple.

My comfort food is – Annam (rice), Aloogadda vepudu (Potato Fry), Aavakaya (Mango Pickle), Chaaru (Rasam) and Perugu (Yogurt). I love this, but I didn’t have the patience to make so many items and also we are out of aavakaya since my mom was here for the summer and she couldn’t make the pickle. Sev Bhaji is a dish I ate at my friend Shilpa’s home. You can find her recipe here. I have never eaten this before or even heard about it. But it’s so light on the tummy and so easy to make. So I decided to make it for dinner. Shilpa usually serves it as an appetizer and combines it with a rice item. But we usually just eat that for dinner or lunch and sleep. Today I combined it with yogurt rice since I wanted VJ to have some carbs. So here’s my modified recipe. If you need the authentic Sev Bhaji recipe, it’s here.

 

Ingredients 

Moong Dal – 1 cup

Onion – 1 large (chopped anyway you want)

Potato – 2 medium (chopped into bite-sized pieces)

Turmeric – 1/2 teaspoon

Salt – As needed

Water – At least 7 cups

Lemon – 1 whole cut into 4 pieces

Sev (plain or spicy) – As you wish

For the Masala: 

Fenugreek seeds – 1/2 teaspoon

Black peppercorns – 1 teaspoon

Coriander – 1/4 teaspoon

Cloves – 4

Dried Red Chillies – 5

How to Make

Step 1: In a pressure cooker, wash the moong dal, add 5 cups of water, the chopped potato pieces, onion pieces, and turmeric and cook it for 4 whistles.

Step 2: Dry roast the ingredients under for the masala each separately and make it into a powder (Shilpa usually makes it fresh, but I’m not as patient as her. So I made a huge batch and saved it, so do not have pictures of me making the masala).

Step 3: Once the cooker cools down, remove the lid, add salt, water and 1 spoon of the masala.

Step 4: Squeeze lemon and immerse the entire bhaji in Sev and enjoy it hot.

 

Tips:

1. I use Aloo Bhujiya instead of Plain Sev for more taste.
2. You can skip the dried red chilies and instead add red chili powder.

Po