A WELL BALANCED MEAL WITH ULAVA CHARU(HORSE GRAM SOUP)

A nutritionally balanced meal is one that contains all the macronutrients like protein, carbhohydrates, vitamins, minerals, water and a little bit fat too. A well balanced Indian meal contains six tastes like sweet, sour, spicy, bitter, and astringent. Traditional Indian food is also a healthy choice with a balanced diet of starch( rice and roti) with lots of vegetables, lentils, dal, yogurt and yaa there are some rich and high calorie food that means every Indian recipe is not a high calorie one, there are many recipes in Indian cuisine which are low in calorie and very healthy too. That's depend on you what are you choosing in Indian cuisine . Yes there are many recipes contains ghee (clarified butter) or butter, in that recipe if you don't like you can change that in to 1 tab sp of low fat sunflower oil or rice bran oil that depend on you what you are eating and how you are eating. Eat healthy food and eat on time and eat properly.Today here I am with a typical Indian meal for well balanced 3 course meal 

In this plater we have here
1. Ulava charu -- Horse gram soup as a starter which is totely low fat and very good for health.
2. steamed rice -- which contains starch and carbohydrates,protein.
3. Sora kaya palu posi kura -- bottle gourd curry with milk this contains lots of water and vitamins
4. spiced butter milk -- masala majjiga -- this is rich in calcuim and vitamin B 12
5. If you like you can add a piece of MIXED NUT AND COCONUT BRITTLE as a dessert

Ulavacharu – Horse gram soup is a traditional recipe from Andhra Pradesh. Ulava charu is a best choice to have when you are having cold and cough or flue and also it prevents the formation of kidney stones. It helps to reduce swelling of body by water and it is a best choice for obese persons to reduce there body weight. Horse gram is a legumes most people don’t like them means it is not a popular legume, but in South India we use a lot in many ways in our cuisine like in Andhra Pradesh we make Ulava charu- horse gram soup, Ulava guggilu – stir fried Horse gram and also kurma – Hoese gram gravy. Horse gram is rich in
Iron, it is a good choice for people suffering with iron deficiencies. And to day here I am with this healthy recipe of ULAVA CHARU – HORSE GRAM SOUP…… INGREDIENTS FOR ULAVA CHARU - HORSE GRAM SOUP:---
Horse gram – 1 cup
Oil – 1 tea sp
Onion – 1 small
Green chilies – 4
Curry leaves – 10 no.
Salt to taste
Mustard seeds – 1/2 tea sp
Cumin seeds – 1/4 tea sp
Dry red chilies – 2 broken
1. Soak horse gram in water for over night, next day morning add 4 cups of water and cook in a pressure cooker for 5 whistles.
2. Remove from fire and let it cool and remove the cooker lid and strain water in to a bowl, with this water we are going to make charu. So reserve this water and with remaining horse gram we can make salad or curry.
FOR PASTE:---
Onion – chopped 1 tab sp
Garlic – 4 cloves
Coriander seeds – 1/2 tea sp
Cumin seeds – 1 tea sp
Tamarind paste – 1 tab sp (if you are using tamarind pieces then take 1 inch pieces 2 and soak them in warm water for 10 min. and then add to grind)
Soaked and cooked horse gram – 1 tab sp
METHOD:--
1. Grind all above ingredients with little water in to a fine paste and leave a side.
2. Now cut onion and green chilies in to long slices.
3. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds let them pop up then add cumin seeds, broken dry red chilies, curry leaves and let them fry for a while.
4. Now add sliced onion and green chilies and let them fry till onion become light brown then add ground paste and fry for 5 min. in a low flame.
5. Now add the past to strained horse gram water mix well and add salt to taste and cook in a very low flame for at least 15 min.
6. Serve hot as a soup or with hot steamed rice and butter
7. Traditionally in Andhra we serve this Ulava charu with steamed rice and butter with a side dish like sorakaya palu posi kura(bottle gourd curry with milk) or beerakaya palu posi kura(ridge gourd curry with milk)