Poricha Kuzhambu

I didn't realize until I started to plan recipes this week that I had picked back to back weeks of 'side dish' themes for the blogging marathon event. I had picked gravy curries theme last week and this week, it is going to be three different side dishes prepared using one ingredient. The word 'side dishes' did not register while picking the theme and I had assumed three different dishes using one ingredient. It was curries last week and so, I decided to go with legumes this time and 'pigeon peas / lentils' aka arhar dal or toor dal is going to be my star ingredient for this week's dishes. 

The first one in the series is going to be this gravy from the Tamil Brahmin kitchens called as poricha kuzhambu. The kuzhambu is a delicious gravy made with a combination of vegetables and dal, prepared using a spice and coconut paste. This is a no onion and no garlic recipe and quite a simple one to prepare. Moong dal can also be used to make poricha kuzhambu. Vegetales like brinjals, pumpkin, drumsticks. chayote, broad beans usually go into this kuzhambu recipe but I have used mixed vegetables here.

Ingredients: (Yield 2 to 3 servings)
1/2 cup toor dal / pigeon peas
2 cups mixed vegetables (I used beans, potato, chayote and carrots.)
1/8 tsp. turmeric powder
1 cup water + extra as needed
1 tsp. oil
1 tsp. skinned black gram / urad dal (optional)
1/2 tsp. black peppercorn
1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
2 or 3 dried red chili
A fistful of grated, fresh coconut (Frozen, shredded coconut can be substituted.)
Salt to taste
Minced cilantro to garnish (optional)

Ingredients for tadka / tempering:
1 tsp. oil
1/2 tsp. mustard seeds
1 pinch of asafoetida powder
A sprig of curry leaves

Directions:
1. Wash toor dal in two exchanges of water and drain. Pressure cook toor dal along with vegetables for 3 whistles, adding a cup of water and turmeric, When the valve pressure is gone, mash the dal well with the back of the ladle and keep aside. 
(Soak the dal in water for a couple of hours before using if the dal takes longer than 3 whistles to cook. Or the vegetables can be cooked separately.)
2. Meanwhile, heat a tsp. of oil in a small pan and add black gram, pepper corn, cumin seeds, and red chilies. When the dal starts to turn reddish, add the coconut and turn off the stove. Saute the coconut for few seconds and let the mixture cool. Grind the mixture to a thick, fine paste adding water as needed.
3. Add the ground paste and salt to the cooked dal from step 1. Add about 1/2 cup or more of water as well keeping in mind that the gravy need to be on the thicker side. Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer for a couple of minutes more.
4. Heat oil in a small pan for tempering and add the mustard seeds. when they start to sputter, add curry leaves and asafoetida and turn of the stove. Add this to the cooked gravy and stir well.
5. Garnish with cilantro if needed and serve warm with rice.


This post is an entry for Blogging Marathon #101 under 'Cook 3 Side Dishes with One Ingredient' theme.

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A - Z Indian Biryani / Pulao / Khichdi Series ~ A for Ambur Biryani / Arcot Briyani (Vegetarian Version)

It's April again, time for that month long cooking marathon with recipes that fall under a specific theme. It's going to be Indian style rice dishes - 'Biryani / Khichdi / Pulao' this time and there are going to be an assortment of simple and festive recipes picked from across the region. We have reduced our rice intake and so most of the recipes that I posted this marathon cater mostly two since I made small portions each time. Most of the recipes can be doubled or even quadrupled easily though. I am starting the marathon with a biryani from the Tamilnadu region called Ambur biryani, which supposedly originated in the Arcot royal kitchens. 

Ambur biryani is a testament to the fascinating 'Biryani Trail' tales of Indian sub continent. Ambur, a small town which lies in between Chennai and Bangalore was an important part of the former Arcot region, ruled by the nawabs of Arcot. The Arcot briyani, cooked in those royal kitchens became popular as Ambur biryani (or briyani as it is called locally) in the course of time. Thanks to a cook named Hasin Baig, who worked in those kitchens and later brought the art to his hometown of Ambur where he set up a biryani shop and started dishing out the 'once nawabi food' to the common man. The small establishment has grown into a brand over time and is still run by his family, called 'Star Briyani'. They have branches in Ambur, Bangalore and Chennai. 

This biryani is mildly spiced unlike it's counterparts from other regions and an unique addition of red chili paste during the preparation imparts usually an orangish hue to the biryani. It is of course a non-veg preparation, like most of those authentic versions that were cooked in Indian royal kitchens, in the by gone era. Being a vegetarian, I had to rely mostly on online articles and videos to figure out the dish and substituted the meat part with soy chunks here. One can easily substitute it with mixed vegetables like potato, carrot, beans, cauliflower, and peas. Or even paneer , tofu or mushroom would be great vegetarian options. Originally the choice of rice used to prepare this biryani was a thin and short rice variety called 'surdas' which was replaced later by seeraga samba. In absence of that, Basmati variety rice should do. In this biryani preparation, the rice and meat are cooked individually and then brought together in a covered pot to cook in 'dum' style.

Ingredients: (Yield 2 servings)

1/2 cup seeraga samba rice *
2 cup soy chunks (or mixed vegetables)
2 tbsp. oil
2 cloves
2 cardamom
1 inch cinnamon piece
1 bay leaf
1 big onion or 2 small onions, thinly sliced
1 tsp. ginger- garlic paste
4 to 6 (not very spicy) dried red chili
1 tbsp. each - mint and coriander leaves
1 tomato, diced
2 tbsp. yogurt
1 tsp. lemon juice
Salt to taste
1 tbsp. ghee
* Basmati rice can be substituted.

Prep work:
* Wash and soak rice in enough water for about 15 minutes and drain. Keep aside.
* Soak soy chunks in water to hydrate them. Squeeze out the water when they soften and keep aside. If using mixed vegetables, chop them and keep ready.
* Wash and soak red chillies in hot water for about 15 minutes. Drain the water and grind finely adding a few tsp. of water.

Part 1: Cooking the soy chunks / vegetables
* Heat oil in a medium sized deep pan, lower the flame and add 1 tbsp. yogurt. Carefully stir and then add cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, and bay leaf. Saute them for about 30 seconds and add the onion slices and saute them until golden brown.
* Add ginger - garlic paste and saute for few seconds. Next add mint and cilantro and saute until they wilt. Add the red chili paste and saute.
* Add the tomatoes and lemon juice continue cooking until they turn mushy.
* Next add the remaining curd, salt, and soy chunks and mix. Add one or two tbsp. of water if needed and saute for few seconds. 

Part 2: Cooking the rice
* After the rice is soaked, bring about 2 to 2 and 1/2 cups of water to a rolling boil in a pot and add the drained rice and a little salt. 
* Continue to cook the rice on medium to high flame without covering, until the rice is about 70% cooked. The rice still should have a bite at center when eaten. 
* Switch off the flame and drain the rice in a colander. The rice can be rinsed in cold water as well to stop it from further getting cooked. Keep it aside.

Part 3: Assembling the gravy and rice for 'dum' cooking
* Heat a tawa / griddle on low flame for about 5 minutes 
* Transfer the cooked soy chunks gravy from the pan to another dish. Use the same pan which was used to cook the gravy earlier and arrange the gravy and the cooked rice in layers (2 or 4 layers depending upon the quantity). Spoon ghee in between layers. (I had fried sliced onions and sprinkled them as well.)
* Seal the pan with aluminium foil and cover it with a lid. Or cover the pan with a lid and seal it with a dough ring to cook in 'dum' style.
* Place the pan on the hot tawa and cook biryani for about 10 to 15 minutes on low flame. Check and see whether all the moisture has been absorbed and rice is cooked. If the rice appears not cooked and the mixture appears dry, sprinkle some more water and cook for few minutes more.
* Let it sit for few minutes before fluffing and serving.
* Serve it with a spicy accompaniment. Ours was served with brinjal dalcha and yogurt.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#99.

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A Tamilnadu Thaali

Today's thaali comes from the south Indian state of Tamil nadu which involves around rice. The side dishes, curries and lentil based dishes are eaten along with rice and a dollop of ghee. 


Here's what on this vegetarian menu is:
Mango pickle 
Beans paruppu usili
Cabbage poriyal
Peerkangai kootu
Mor kuzhambu
Rasam
Steamed rice
Thengai sadam
Paal Payasam
Chakli
Thattai
Microwaved Appalam / Papad
Thayir / Yogurt 


Beans paruppu usili (Beans - Chanadal curry) - Soaked Chanadal / Split chickpeas is ground, steamed or sauteed until dry and is added to cooked beans. It can be eaten with rice or as an accompaniment to sambhar rice or rasam rice.  Recipe can be found here.

Cabbage poriyal or Cabbage curry - Cabbage is seasoned and sauteed and rounded off with addition of shredded fresh coconut.
It can also be eaten with rice or as an accompaniment to sambhar rice or rasam rice. Recipe idea can be found here.

Peerkangai kootu - A lightly spiced ridgegourd - bean preparation. It can be prepared using moongdal, lentils or split chickpeas alone or with a combination of them. The recipe idea is here.

Mor kuzhambu - A yogurt based spicy gravy that can be eaten with rice. the recipe can be found here.

Thengai saadam / Coconut rice - A quick and spicy rice preparation with coconut as the star ingredient. The recipe can be found here.

Chakli and Thattai - These spicy crunchy snacks would be great accompaniment to the meal. Chakli recipe can be found here and thattai recipe can be found here.

Paal Payasam - A rich rice and milk pudding or kheer eaten as a dessert.

The meal is rounded off with a serving of thayir saadam / yogurt rice with a pinch of salt added to it.
 
This goes to Blogging marathon #74, under the theme 'Thaalis/Spreads'. Check out the page to read what other marathoners are cooking.

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Rice Dishes ~ D for Dindigul Thalapakatti Veg Biryani

Hyderabadi Dum Biryani or Maharashtrian Dalimbi Bhaat were my original choices for today's alphabet. After having a tussle with myself over the choice of 'D' dish, I finally settled with neither of those but with a veg version of Dindigul biryani. I remembered seeing Kalyani's post during one of the previous mega marathons and decided to try it. And am glad that I did since this has become a favorite of mine.

A little googling told me that the dish is associated with the  'Dindigul Thalappakatti Resturant', a restaurant chain that operates in the south Indian state of Tamilnadu, focusing on biryani. The first outlet was started in 1957 by a paan seller named Nagasamy Naidu under the name 'Anandha Vilas Biriyani Hotel' in Dindigul town. The customers ended up calling the restaurant 'Thalapakatti' instead of it's name from the beginning. A reference to the hotel owner who sat at the cash counter always wearing a 'Thalapa' (A white traditional, head turban). 

Naidu's wife used to prepare a unique biryani which was quite popular and he realized that the recipe had the potential to go places. The particular recipe used a local short grain rice, special blend of spices and meat that came from tender grass fed goats from a neighboring town named Kannivadi. The short grain rice, seeraga samba rice used is called parakkum sittu with no particular taste of it's own and hence absorbs the spice flavors.

The original hotel was a hole in the wall kinda place with hardly seating for four but however the mutton bityani sold there became so popular that it started to attract customers even from the neighboring cities and now they operate over 21 restaurants in the state. 

The vegetarian versions I found online for the recipe mostly used mushrooms and soya chunks. I was the only one who was home to eat the biryani the day I prepared it and so I stuck with my preferences and used only soya chunks. I did not make any changes to Kalyani's recipe and I totally fell in love with the spicy biryani. I made it a point to save some for my husband who was traveling and he too enjoyed the flavorsome biryani as excepted.

Ingredients for spice powder:
2 inch piece cinnamon
1 tsp. coriander seeds
1 black stone flower / Dagad phool (optional but recommended)
1/2 tbsp. fennel seeds / saunf
2 cardamom pods
3 cloves
Ingredients for Biryani:
1 & 1/4 cup Seeraga Samba rice / Basmati rice
1/4 cup soya chunks (I used mini sized ones.)
1 big sized onion
1 medium sized tomato
2 to 3 green chillies 
3 tbsp. oil
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. ginger - garlic paste
Salt to taste
1 tsp. coriander powder
1/2 tsp. red chili powder (optional)
2 tbsp. curd
1/4 cup chopped mint & coriander leaves

Method:
* Dry roast and fine grind the ingredients under the 'spice powder' list.
* Wash and soak rice for 10 - 15 minutes in water, if using Basmati rice.  Drain and keep it aside. Seeraga samba rice do not need to soak. 
* Soak the soy chunks in hot water for about 10 minutes. Squeeze out the water and cut into desired size if using bigger sized chunks. There is no need to chop if using smaller sized chunks. 
* Chop onion and tomato fine. Slice green chilies lengthwise.
* Heat oil in a pan or a small pressure cook directly and add bay leaves, onion, ginger-garlic paste and green chillies. Saute until done.
* Next add tomatoes and the ground spice powder to the pan and cook until tomatoes turn mushy.
* Add salt, coriander powder, chili powder, mint and coriander leaves to the pan and mix well.
* Then add soy chunks and curd to the pan and saute for few minutes until the spices are well coated. Add the drained rice next and saute for a minute.
* Transfer the contents to a pressure cooker and add enough water to it. Close the lid and pressure cook for 3 whistles. (I used Basmati rice and 1 & 3/4 cups water.) 
Cook covered on low flame, if using a pan instead of a cooker. The water quantity will increase if using a pan.
* Serve it with raita and papad. (I used chili powder along with chillies and the biryani was spicy. And so, I served it with plain yogurt instead of raita.)

Recipes so far in A - Z Rice Dishes,
A for Achaari Chole Pulao
B for Bhuna Khichuri
C for Chintapandu Pulihora

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 68.

An InLinkz Link-up

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Pal Pongal / Vellai Pongal / Milk Pongal

 Happy Sankranti / Pongal / Lohri to those who are celebrating.

And keeping my Sankranti themed dishes this week, here is one more. Paal pongal is one of the pongal versions cooked in Tamil nadu during Sankranti / Pongal festival. It is a pretty much stripped to the basics version where newly harvested rice is cooked in milk until a soft, mushy consistency is reached. A ven pongal without all the spicy and yummy embellishments, if you can call it so. And that is if you are used to cooking ven pongal in milk in the first place. This is cooked on the festival day to substitute the regular rice and can be served with any spicy gravy like the 7 kari kootu, sambhar or even chutney. It is supposedly served along with banana slices, jaggery / ghee when offered as neivedyam to God.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup rice
1/4 cup water
1& 1/4 to 1&1/2 cups milk
A dash of salt

Method:
* Wash rice in two exchanges of water and drain. Add rice, water and 1/4 cup milk to a pressure cook and cook for 5 to 6 whistles.
If using a sauce pan instead of a cooker, cook rice until soft and mushy, adding extra milk if needed and stirring intermittently to avoid scorching.
* When the valve pressure is gone, remove the cooker lid. Mash the rice with the back of the ladle and add the remaining milk and cook until the milk is absorbed well and the rice appears soft. Turn off the stove. Add salt and mix well.

This goes to Blogging marathon #60 under the theme 'Festival of the Month'. Check the link to see what other marathoners are cooking.

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Kal Dosai ~ Breakfast from Tamil Nadu

Event: Blogging Marathon #56
Theme : Indian States
My choice: Tamil Nadu
We are into second week of BM#56 and theme of this week is going to be "Indian States". Owing to my India trip this summer, I had before hand decided that I would neither do elaborate dishes  nor I would go with festive ones for this BM. I chose to go with  dishes that are simple and doable on any given day and I am starting the series with the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu. 

The first thing that pops up in my mind when I think of the restaurants there, is the delicious array of south Indian style breakfast dishes. Yummy dosas, melt in mouth kind idlis, the creamy pongal and the crispy vadas served with delicious sambhar and chutney on the side. A piece of heaven for people like my husband when it comes to food. :)  I obviously wanted to try a dosa recipe that is unique for this region and the one that I hadn't tried before. I zeroed in on this kal dosai that turned out to be spongy, and super flavorful dosas. I paired it with Chettinad chutney which turned out to be a terrific combo.

Recipe source: Veena
Ingredients:
1 cup rice (I used extra long grain.)
1 cup parboiled rice (I used idli rice instead.)
1/2 cup / skinned black gram / urad dal
1 tsp fenugreek seeds / methi seeds
1 tbsp. salt
Oil to make dosas (I use canola oil.)

Preparing the dosa batter:
* Rinse both varieties of rice and urad dal thoroughly twice and drain. Soak washed rice and urad dal in water for at least 3 to 4 hours.
* Rinse the fenugreek seeds with water and soak them in little water separately. 
* Drain the water used to soak rice and dal before grinding.
* Add the rice mixture, the fenugreek seeds along with the water it is soaked in and salt to a grinder / blender. Grind the mixture to a thick batter adding water as needed.
* Transfer the ground batter to a big vessel / bowl. Cover and place it in warm place to ferment overnight or for about 8 - 10 hours.

Making dosas:
* Heat a tawa / griddle when ready to make dosas. Sprinkle a few drops of water on the griddle to test whether it is hot enough to make dosas. The water would sizzle, form beads and evaporate when it is ready.
* Pour a ladleful of batter (about 1/4 cup) on the griddle and spread gently with the back of the ladle only to shape. Don't try to spread thinly since we are trying to get soft and spongy dosas. Take ½ tsp of oil and spread around the edges of the dosa. 
* Cover the dosa with a lid and cook on low - medium flame until it is cooked and you start noticing holes on the top. 
* There is no need to flip the dosa. Remove the dosa with a spatula and repeat the process with the remaining batter. (Traditionally, kal dosas are not flipped and roasted on the other side. However if you think you need to roast the dosa on the other side too, it can be done.)
* Serve the dosas warm with a spicy side dish of your choice - chutney/sambhar/milagai podi.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 56

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Mor Kali

A few years ago when my SIL visited us, we both tried a dish that she had eaten in someone's home at Chennai. She mentioned that it was rice flour upma cooked in buttermilk instead of water. The idea of using rice flour for a upma sounded intriguing at that time and I wanted to see what texture we end up with. I had used a traditional style kadai and by the time the dish was done, I will admit I was fed up with the tedious stirring. And to top that, my husband commented that why did we guys take such pain to create 'vadiyala pindi'. (Vadiyalu is Telugu word for sun dried papads / vadagam / sandige. Vadiyala pindi is papad batter when loosely translated.) I guess there is no need to mention that I had dropped the idea of posting it on the blog.

I got to see the versions of mor kali on Tamilian blogs later many times and realized that it's what my SIL and I tried to cook on that day. Mor kali is a traditional recipe from Tamilian kitchens that is prepared using rice flour and buttermilk. It can be slightly gooey when done or can be cooked until crumbly. Using sun dried, salted chillies add a flavorful kick to this slightly tangy dish. This can be eaten as a light snack or as a meal.
Most of the recipes I had gone through online mention to stop cooking once the mixture leaves the sides of the pan or the mixture is not sticky to wet hands. This tip didn't help me as I was using a non stick pan and it started to leave the sides of the pan in less than ten minutes and it was no where close to the final stage of cooking. Going by my first experience, I did not care whether my mor kali was going to look snow white or soft textured. This time my criteria was to cook it enough that it didn't stick to my mouth and taste good. I cooked until it passed my taste testing and was satisfied with this second attempt.

Ingredients:
1 cup rice flour
3 cups thick butter milk (slightly sour one is preferred.)
(or use 1.5 cup butter milk + 1 cup water)
Salt to taste
2 tbsp oil (I used sesame oil.)
1 tsp chana dal / split chick peas
1 tsp urad dal / split, skinned black gram
1 tsp mustard seeds

A pinch of asafoetida 
Few curry leaves
3 - 4 sun-dried salted chillies / 5 - 6 red chillies

Method:
* Combine rice flour, butter milk, water and salt in a mixing bowl. Whisk it to form a lump-free batter.
 
* Heat oil in a pan, preferably a non stick one. Add chana dal, urad dal, and mustard seeds. When the dals start to turn reddish, add the chillies, curry leaves and asafoetida. Saute them until the chillies are toasted and turn brownish. Next add the rice flour batter to the pan.
 
* Cook the mixture on medium flame until it is done. Stir continuously through out the process to avoid the mixture from forming lumps.
* This was after 10 minutes of cooking. I cooked for about 25 minutes on medium flame.

* You can serve as it is. Or grease a plate with some oil / ghee and transfer the cooked mixture to it. Flatten it with the back of a spatula and cut into desired shapes and serve.

This 'Mor Kali - Mor Milagai' combo goes to BM #46. Check what other marathoners are cooking during this marathon.

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Manapparai Murukku

For this month's Indian Cooking Challenge, we are traveling towards Tamilnadu. To be specific, towards a town called Manapparai in Tiruchi district. The town's name has somewhat become synonymous with their signature snack - The Manapparai Murukku. A man named Mani Iyer who used to run a vegetarian refreshment stall at the railway station had introduced these murukkus to the train passengers during 1920's. His murukku were so famous that passengers were drawn out of their compartments to buy them. Later these were sold in brown paper bags that were easily identified. Nowadays, murukku making has become a cottage industry in that town and they are available everywhere and are even exported to other countries.

Iyer used to mix butter to the rice flour and fry chaklis in coconut oil. The unique feature of these chaklis are that they are fried twice unlike the regular chaklis that are fried only once. I haven't personally seen or tasted these specific murukkus and going by the reference we had, I am sure that Mr.Iyer's recipe is safely locked somewhere in a vault. :))

The recipe we got for trial had a kilogram of rice flour with a dash of urad flour. Any seasoned chakli maker would tell you that the recipe is nothing but a disaster. Going against my instincts, I tried a small portion, following the recipe to the T, hoping to prove myself wrong and the result was hard to bite chaklis. Then I increased the urad dal quantity and got the good variety ones though the chakli dough somewhat is similar to thenkuzhal/thentharlu one. I fried them until they attained a lighter hue though I am not sure whether they should attain a light / dark golden hue.

And coming to the flours. Usually it is a practice to prepare the flours from scratch in India while preparing chaklis. I always use the store bought ones and they work just fine as the freshly prepared flours. Besides they cut down the work.

Ingredients:
2 cups rice flour
1/2 cup urad flour / Black gram flour
1 tbsp butter / hot oil
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp carom seeds / ajwain (I didn't add any.)
Salt to taste
Oil to fry (I used canola oil.)

Method:
1. Combine everything in a mixing bowl. Add water gradually and make a firm dough.

2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a wok / wide frying pan. Drop a bit of dough into the hot oil. When it sizzles and comes to surface, then the oil is hot enough for frying. If the dough doesn't rise to surface, heat oil for a couple of minutes more. However there is no need to bring the oil to a smoking point.
3. Fit a single star disc / 5 holed disc to the chakli press, fill the dough into the nozzle and press the dough circle on the back of a ladle. I did it on the backside of a greased, stainless steel plate. Allow the shaped dough circles to rest for about 5 minutes.

4. Drop the dough circles into the hot oil. Fit as many as the frying pan can hold without overcrowding. Fry them in hot oil for about 3 - 4 minutes, flipping in between. (Chaklis are only partially fried at this point.) Remove them with a slotted spoon and drain on absorbent towels to cool them a bit.
5. Now repeat the steps as above and partially fry another batch of chaklis. Remove them as well and drain on plates covered with absorbent towels.

6. Now drop the partially fried first batch of chaklis (from the step 4) into hot oil again and fry until they turn crisp. I kept them light hued but one can fry until they attain a dark golden hue.
7. Now fry the partially fried second batch chaklis from step 5 until they are completely done.
8. Repeat the steps of double frying the chaklis with the remaining dough.
9. Let cool and store them in an airtight container. 

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Keerai Kootu

Event: Blogging Marathon #42
Theme: South Indian meals 
Choice of state: Tamilnadu

Kootu, a comforting side dish from Tamilian kitchens is lentil and vegetable / greens based. This particular kootu is mild and tasty and needs no prior planning or preparation. It is simple in terms of preparation and is quick to put together. This keerai kootu is based on moong dal and spinach and was inspired from here.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup moong dal
2 cups chopped greens (I used spinach.)
1/8 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp urad dal / skinned, split black gram
2 green chillies, finely chopped
A pinch of asafoetida powder
1 onion, chopped fine
1 tomato, chopped fine
1/4 cup shredded, fresh coconut
1 tsp rice flour
Salt to taste

Clockwise from left to right: Kootu, Eggplant curry, Mixed veggie sambhar, Rasam, Yogurt and Chayote curry

Method:

* Pressure cook moong dal adding spinach, turmeric and about 1/2 cup water. When the valve pressure is gone, remove the dal and mash it well with the backside of a ladle.

* Grind coconut and rice flour adding a little water.

* Meanwhile, heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and black gram. When mustard seeds start to pop, add green chillies and asafoetida. Fry for about 20-30 seconds. 

* Next add onion and fry until translucent. And then add tomatoes and cook until they turn mushy.

* Now add the cooked dal, ground coconut paste and salt to the onion mixture. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil, lower the heat and simmer for a couple of minutes. Turn off the stove and serve warm with rice.

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Sundakkai Vathal Kuzhambu

Event: Blogging Marathon #42
Theme: South Indian meals 
Choice of state: Tamilnadu

Sun-drying vegetables has been one of the inexpensive and smart ways to preserve the surplus bounty in all cultures over the world, when agriculture was the primary occupation. Even now, it is a common practice in Indian homes to sundry vegetables / fruits. They come handy on a rainy day or offer variety from the humdrum of everyday meals. The word "Vathal" in Tamil refers to basically any sun dried vegetable and vatha kuzhambu refers to the stew made with any of such sun dried vegetables. It is what we call "varugu" in Telugu as referred in this post here.  
Sundakkai or Turkey berry happens to be one of the various vegetables that are sun-dried in Tamilian homes. Sun-dried sundakkai or fresh ones can be used in preparing this kuzhambu / spicy stew. During my last India trip, I bought a pack of the dried berries when I came across them. I had seen them in blogs several times over the years and besides, my SIL who was with me shopping recommended them. This stew is prepared on these lines and so we loved it.

Ingredients: (2 servings)
2 to 2&1/2 cups water
A small lime sized tamarind
2 tsp oil 
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
A pinch of methi seeds /fenugreek seeds
1/4 cup sundried Turkey berries
A few pinches of asafoetida / hing
2 red chillies
Few curry leaves
1 big onion, chopped fine
1 tsp jaggery powder
1 tbsp sambhar powder
Salt to taste

Method:
* Soak tamarind in water for about 30 minutes or zap it in microwave for about 3 minutes. Squeeze the tamarind and extract the thick pulp. Throw away the strands and the pith.
* Heat oil in a pan and add mustard and cumin seeds. When the mustard seeds start to pop, add fenugreek seeds, asafoetida, red chilles, curry leaves and vathal. Fry until vathal turns brown.
* Next add the onion and fry until they turn translucent.
* Add the tamarind extract, sambhar powder, salt and jaggery. (The vathal have salt in them and so add alt accordingly.)
Taste and adjust the seasonings if needed.
* Cook until the mixture thickens and turn off the stove. 
* I served it with okra fry, plantain curry, yogurt and steamed rice.

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Vazhakkai Podimas

Event: Blogging Marathon #42
Theme: South Indian meals 
Choice of state: Tamilnadu

According to the theme of the marathon, the dishes that are going to be showcased this week should belong to one particular south Indian state and a part of lunch menu. This was the least stressful theme considering that I am from the southern region and the dishes I chose were no fuss dishes and were a part of our lunch menu this week. It was so easy that in fact I cooked 2 sets of dishes from 2 states for this theme. I cooked Andhra dishes earlier but changed my mind and cooked Tamilnadu dishes again this week. 
The first one in the series is going to be a tasty and easy plantain stir fry called vazhakkai podimas. At my home, roasted plantain is the most preferred one among the curries I prepare using plantain. I have been noticing over the years that the Tamil kitchens have several other yummy versions and was planning to try them for sometime now. I used this opportunity to try out the podimas recipe. The plantain is parboiled and then grated to prepare the curry and surprisingly, the texture of the plantain and this cooking method makes this version of plantain curry yummy. This simple curry needs no prior planning or preparation and goes well with rice / rotis. Serve along with a dal for a filling meal.

Ingredients: (4 - 5 servings)
2 small / medium sized plantains (I used about 1 & 1/2 large sized plantains.)
2 tsp oil (I used canola oil)
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp urad dal / skinned, split black gram
2 red chillies
2 - 3 green chilies (or adjust as needed)
A couple of pinches of asafoetida / hing
1/8 tsp turmeric powder
A sprig of fresh curry leaves
1/4 cup fresh, shredded coconut 
Salt to taste

Method:
* Wash and pressure cook the whole plantains directly without peeling the skin, for one whistle. (The plantains I used were big in size and so, I cut them in half to fit into the container I used. If you are using a container to go into the pressure cooker like I did to cook the plantains, add water to the container as well.) If you are not using a pressure cooker, cut the plantains into 2 or 3 pieces and cook in a sauce pan adding water just until done. Whatever method you pick to cook, the plantains should not turn mushy but just be done (or parboiled).

* Let the plantains cool for a bit and peel off the skins. Grate the plantains using a grater. I had about 2 cups of grated plantain.

* Heat oil in a pan and add uard dal and mustard seeds. When mustard seeds start to pop, add chillies and fry for few seconds. Then add curry leaves, turmeric and asafoetida.

* Stir and add grated, parboiled plantain, coconut and salt. Mix well with a spatula, cover and cook for 5 - 6 minutes, stirring once or twice in between.
* Turn off the stove and serve warm. I served it with fresh, steamed rice and eggplant sambhar.

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