2011 - The first thing I tasted, a very chocolaty brownie and a TamBhram soul food

Happy new year all! What was the first thing you ate/drank in 2011. I started mine with champagne at 12:00AM and a very well done mocha in the morning. We had an excellent brunch at Hobbee's with my hubby gobbling down a poached egg on english muffin with country hash browns and me devouring the usual scrambled tofu and rye toast. A very satisfactory start to the year indeed.

I also made these yummy chocolate brownies (baked in a muffin pan to get the crisp edge on each one) from this recipe. The only modification I made was to reduce the sugar a little. We had this for dessert with vanilla ice cream and it was a chocolate lover's delight.

Next up is a dish which is tam-bhram soul food. In combination with rasam and rice, this makes a protein rich healthy meal if made the low fat way.

Ingredients:

1. Chana dal - 1 cup
2. Toor dal - 1 cup
3. Dried red chillies - 7/8
4. Hing - 1/4 tsp
5. Haldi - 1/4 tsp
6. Beans - 2 cups, chopped into 1/2 inch size
7. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
8. Oil - 1 tsp
9. Curry leaves - 5/6
10. Salt
11. Lemon juice - 1 tsp

Directions -

1. Soak the chana dal and toor dal for 2-3 hours
2. Grind the chana dal and toor dal with half the red chillies, salt and hing with very little water.
3. Cook the beans and the ground dal mixture for 2 whistles in the cooker. The dal mixture can also be steamed in idly pans or cooked in the microwave for a few minutes.
4. Heat oil and add mustard seeds, haldi, curry leaves. One the mustard seeds break open, add the beans.
5. Break the cooked dal mixture into small pieces and add to the beans.
6. Add salt and saute until the beans and dal come together and are well cooked.
7. Top with lemon juice and enjoy with rasam and rice for an authentic Tamilian meal:)