Friday, May 18, 2007

Kathirikkai Vellai Mochai Puli Kozhambu & Tindora curry

This is a typical south-indian dish cooked mostly in Tamilnadu. Kathirikkai means brinjal and Vellai mochai means field beans. This dish is traditionally made with some karuvadu (dried anchovies) in it. I'm not a big fan of karuvadu ,so I always omit that. It tastes great with white rice. Once you try it I'm sure you will fall in love with this.
For those of you who do not know field beans, Please click on the following link to see the picture:
http://www.foodsubs.com/Photos/lablabbeans.jpg

Ingredients:
Brinjal- 4 or 5 (slit it into 4,but do not remove the top)
vellai mochai- 1 cup cooked
small onions- 10 (peeled & sliced)
garlic- 4 pods
tomato - 1
tamarind paste- 1 1/2 tsp(or more if you need)
turmeric- 1/4 tsp
sambar powder- 1 1/2 tsp
coconut milk- 1/2 cup
curry leaves
vadagam- 2 tsp

Procedure:
Pressure cook field beans with some turmeric and salt for 2 whistles.Heat oil in kadai and fry onions , garlic and curry leaves . Then add brinjal and cook till half done. Now add tomato,turmeric and salt. After sometime add sambar powder and tamarind paste. Add 1 cup water and boil for 10 minutes. Then add mochai and coconut milk. Blend well and boil again for 5 more minutes. Cook till the right consistency (not too thick,not too thin). Finally add fried vadagam and add to curry. Serve with hot rice.


Tindora curry with Rotis:


This is a simple curry which I think many people do. Still, I'm posting this for friends who are new to this vegetable. As for me, I have never had this vegetable when I was in India as my mom never cooked it. After having this curry in my friend's place this has become a regular in my menu. Here is a plate for you also.

Ingredients:

Tindora- 2 cups(sliced)

onion- 1/2

tomato- 1

sambar powder- 1 tsp

cumin powder- 1/2 tsp

coconut milk- 1/4 cup

curry leaves

Procedure:

Heat oil in kadai and fry mustard seeds, urad dal and channa dal. Then fry onions,curry leaves and some turmeric. Now add sliced tindora and fry till half cooked. Then add tomatoes, salt and curry powders. Blend well. Add 1/2 cup water and coconut milk. Close and cook till done. Serve with rice or rotis.

Enjoy your weekend and see you next week!!!

23 comments:

Revathi said...

classic one kathirikai and mochakottai - If keeraithandu & karuvaadu is added makes an excellent combo for koozhu yummmmmm

Aruna said...

Oh My!! the puli kulumbu looks lipsmacking will have to try it, but I havent heard of field beans? where do u get those, ae they fesh or dried ones???
http://themistressofspices.wordpress.com/

Viji said...

A nice blog, Kribha, good to know you and see you ofcourse. Very homely you are. Lovely child. This Kuzumbu looks nice. Will keep visiting. Tks for dropping by. Viji

FH said...

Absolutely delicious K! I am drooling here:))

Suganya said...

O O Kozhambu is looking mouth watering....YUM!....I love it. Nice feast...

Sia said...

now this is drool worthy pic and recipe kribha. girl, i had very very light lunch and i did a big mistake of checking ur blog at time:(
i am not sure if i can get vellai mochai here. can i substitute it with any other, say peas?

Kribha said...

Dear Revathi,
Actually, I'm not a big fan of karuvadu. That's why I did not use it. But keerai thandu sounds good. I will add it next time. In your place do you have this dish with koozhu? I never had had a chance to try that combo b'coz my mom made only plain rice to go with it.

Dear Aruna,
I have added a link in my post that shows the picture of field beans. Please check it out. Also, the one I used was dry. I soaked the beans overnight and pressure cooked it.

Hi Viji,
Nice to have you here again. Thank for your kind comments. please come back for more.

Dear Asha and Sukanya,
Thanks dears for your kind words. I'm so glad you liked it.

Hi Sia,
Thanks girl for your comment. You know, many times you have done the same to me that too when I have not cooked anything and I'm hungry like a lion.
Anyway, I don't think peas can be substituted for vellai mochai. I'm sorry da. Will look for other substitutions.

Pravs said...

Good to see a brinjal recipe...maybe i will try with dried anchovies..nice combination :D. So do i add dried anchovies with rest of the ingredients.. ? what is vadagam ?

Kribha said...

Yes Pravs, It's indeed a nice combination. Regarding the addition of anchovies...You can soak fish in water for 1o to 15 minutes until soft. Then snip off the heads and clean it with more water. After that mix some turmeric and chilli powder with the fish. Coat well and allow to rest it for 1/2 an hour. Then shallow fry the fish with some oil and set aside. You can add it along with mochai and coconut milk. Boil to the right consistency.
Vadagam is a combination of dried small onions,garlic,mustard seeds,methi seeds, curry leaves etc. I usually get mine from my MIL. It is like a flavoring agent for any curries. will try to post the picture sometime.

Prema Sundar said...

Hi Kribha,
Mochai kuzhambu looks sooooooo nice. I used to love this kuzhambu very much but my husband doesn't like it . so I do not cook it at all. Its long time since I had this and after seeing ur pic Iam thinkingof buying mochai.

Pravs said...

Thanks a lot kribha. You are a sweet heart :D. I have to get all the ingredients to make this...will try this recipe.

Richa said...

hey kribha, kuzhambu looks so yummy, would like to try it, can i use double beans instead of vellai mochai? gravy looks so thick and nice.
also tindora coco milk combo is new to me, looks tasty.

Kribha said...

Dear Prema,
Before my marriage I had never tasted this dish although my mom made it all the time. After that when I started cooking for my hubby I learnt to appreciate it and it has become a regular in my kitchen.
It's true, when the husband's do not like something, we stop making them just for us. Still, I hope you try it some day.:)

Dear Pravs,
You are most welcome dear. You can get vadagam from any tamil speaking friend you have. vellai mochai is not that hard to find. Try it when you find time. I'm sure you will really like it.

Dear Richa,
Thanks for your kind words. Actually , I'm afraid we cannot substitute double beans for mochai. It's like matar paneer, you cannot substitute matar with anything else. I'm sorry dear. Will try to find to find the best substitution and post it soon.

Revathi said...

Hi Kriba

Index the kuzhambu
Cehck it out

Revathi

Kribha said...

Hi Revathi,
I'm sorry ,I could not understand your comment. Could you clarify please.

Kribha said...

Hi Revathi,
I'm sorry ,I could not understand your comment. Could you clarify please.

Aruna said...

Kribha, I saw the pic of "field beans" it seems to me like dried avarekai(Kannada) is it that? Avarekai is also called "surti papdi lilva" in hindi. Let me know if both are same. Sorry to bother u.

Thx
Aruna

Kribha said...

Oh no Aruna. You are not bothering me at all. I just feel bad that I'm unable to give the correct answer. Still, I feel dried avarekai is field beans. Mochai is also known as broken beans. will ask my mom tonight and tell you again.

Sharmi said...

lovely looking puli kulambu. kathirikai always goes well in puli kulambu. loved the look of your rotis too.

Kribha said...

Thanks Sharmi for your kind comment. I'm so glad you liked it.

Kavitha said...

Hi Kriba
very nice looking recipe. i am going to try this today. I know many have asked you for a substitute for the beans. i am going to try with black eye peas since that is the closest beans that I have. I will let u know how it turns out.

Kribha said...

Thanks for your generous words spicelover. A warm welcome to you dear. Do try out the curry and let me know how it turned out. I'm so eager to hear back from you.

CriMeWatCh said...

Hi.. I like to be come a veg am from Sri lanka. hmm wondering where to start