I'm Back with peerkangai kootu

Hi Friends,

Hope all of you are doing very well. Things have been going fine at my end too. Sorry for my uninformed disappearance in blogsphere. I had been allorting my leisure hours for gym and cleaning. Guess what.... I have lost 30 pounds so far. But I still have 20 more to go. I feel good now. But the bad thing is I have still not overcome my love for chocolates. It makes me cheat on my diet often. If not for this I would have lost more. Anyway, I'm a lot better now. Atleast I have developed a conscious to warn me every now and then.

The other things that had kept me busy was planning the birthday party for my son and doing some extra cleaning around the house as I'm expecting my in-laws from India next week. Anyway, I hope to resume blogging regularly from this post onwards. I'm sorry that I have not been able to reply to your comments . But I wanted to let you know that I truly appreciate each and everyone of your words. Thanks guys.

Meanwhile I did one more thing. I created another blog "ensamayalpakkam.blogspot.com" and copied all the contents there. I did it as I wanted another template. I tried changing the existing one but the alignment was going crazy that I decided to go to a new address. When I was almost done I realized that I would lose my site statistics if I give-up my old one , so I decided to stay with this itself. Anyway if anybody have some suggestions for my problem I'd really appreciate it.

Coming to the food part... I'll start with Peerkangai Kootu. Usually I use channa dal for kootu but this time I did it like my MIL . I mean I used boiled moongdal. This kootu is great as a side-dish for chappathi or it tastes great with rice. Try this simple dish sometime, you will surely love it.

Peerkangai Kootu:

Ingredients:
Ridgegourd/Peerkangai - 1
onion- 1/2 (chopped fine)
tomato- 1 big
green chillies- 4 or 5
boiled moong dal - 1 cup
coconut- 1/4 to 1/2 cup
jeera seeds - 1 and 1/2 tsp
salt - as reqd

Procedure:
Wash and cook moong dal with enough water and turmeric. You can either steam cook it or boil it. Next grind coconut and jeera with some water to a fine paste. Meanwhile scrap out the skin off the ridgegourd. You can either discard it or use it to make a thuvayal. Cut the gourd into small pieces and boil it with very little water with some turmeric and salt. The gourd cooks very fast so don't boil for long and make it mushy.

Next heat oil in the kadai and splutter mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves. Then add onions and chillies and saute for 5 mins. After that add tomatoes and cook till it's pulpy. Now add the cooked vegatable and dal. Add salt and mix well. Finally add the ground coconut and bring it to a boil. Serve it with rice or roti. It tastes just great.

Paneer Mattar Masala & more Awards

If you would have seen my comments in other blogs you will surely know that I'm a paneer lover. I love it fresh, deep-fried or incorporated in any dish. I'm always in search for the ideal paneer recipes that have that special restaurant taste. My favorite is paneer butter masala and my hubby's favorite is paneer matar masala. So here is the recipe for his favorite dish.

Ingredients:
Paneer- 300 gms
Green peas- 3/4 th cup (dried ones)
Onion- 2 1/2
Ginger garlic paste- 2 tbsp
tomatoes- 4 or 5
green chilli- 5
garam masala- 1 tsp
yogurt- 1 cup
red chilli powder- 1 tsp
corriander powder- 1 tbsp
heavy cream- 50 ml
saffron- a pinch
cashew paste- 1 tbsp
corriander leaves- handful
oil- 3 tbsp
salt- as required
sugar- a pinch
kassori methi - 1 tsp

Procedure:
Soak dried peas in water overnight. Next day boil it with some salt until almost cooked. You can skip this step if you use frozen peas. Next bring water to a boil and put the tomatoes in it. Boil for 5 mins . Take out the tomatoes and wash it in cold water. Peel off the skin and make a puree. You can skip this step also if you have use readymade tomato puree, but I'm sorry I do not have the measure for that. Boil onions in water for 8 mins. Strain and puree.

Heat oil in a pan and fry the onion paste for 5 mins. Then add ginger-garlic paste and fry for 5 more mins. Next add chilli powder, garam masala and corriander powder. Stir well. Now add tomato puree, cashew paste ,salt and sugar. Cook till the oil seperates. Next add yogurt (beaten smooth). cook for 10 -12 mins till oil floats on top. Add little water, boiled peas and saffron.

Cut paneer into cubes and shallow fry in a non-stick pan with a spoon of oil. Put the fried paneer in hot salted water for sometime. When it's time to add it to the gravy just strain the water and use it in the curry.

Add paneer and boil for another 3 mins. Finally add cream, crushed kassori methi (soak in water for sometime to make it soft), corriander leaves and fried green chilli. Cook till you get the desired consistency. Increase the water level according to the your preference of texture.
Enjoy it with hot buttered naan or fried rice. It tastes just awesome.

Now to the awards.... As you all know that it's raining awards in the blogsphere. I have been one of the fortunate ones to get those great awards.

I've been presented the "Nice Matters" award again. This time it's by Sagari of Indian cooking and Pragyan of cooking at Pragyan's have been so sweet and gracious to pass it on to me . Thankyou so much Sagari and Pragyan. You both made me feel so special and happy.

Then, Pravs of Simply Spicy and Shanti Banu of My kitchen hobbies have been so kind enough to pass me on the "E" for Excellent Blog award. Thankyou so much girls. Your awards have inspired me so much and I'm very proud to wear it on my blog.



Last time itself I should have passed on the "Nice matters" award but I somehow forgot to include it. So , I'm passing it now to some of my friends. For some of you it might be a repetition still I hope you would enjoy it.

So the Nice matter's award is being passed to:
Asha
Richa
Bharathi
Shella,
Jeena
and SuperChef

And the "E" for excellent blog award is being passed to
Indo Sun God
Vcuisine
Bee
Cynthia
Happy Cook
and Mansi
I hope you girls enjoy the award too as much as I did.

One more thing before I end the post. My hubby's workplace has changed. I mean he is working from home now. It's not a temporay thing as it's a permanant job. The bad thing about this is he always keep a watch on me on how much time I spend on blogging. That's why I'm unable to be in your blogs recently and also unable to update mine either. Bear with me gals. I'll organize myself soon and come back to routine.

Parrupu Thuvayal

Thuvayals / Thugayals are like a thicker version of chutneys. Today I'm presenting a toor dal parrupu thuvayal. Usually they add coconut to this, but on the day I did it 'B' was sick. So, I skipped the coconut. So, when you try it don't forget to add coconut.

Ingredients:

Toor dal- 1/2 cup
coconut- 2 tbsps
red chilli- 1
peppercorns- 3
garlic pods- 2
curry leaves- 3 or 4
salt- according to taste

Procedure:
Heat a tsp of oil in a pan and roast the dal, coconut, red chilli, pepper, curry leaves and garlic. Do this until the dal turns golden brown. Don't burn the dal. Switch off the gas and transfer to a plate and allow it to cool. When it has cooled down grind it with salt to a coarse- smooth paste using very little water. Serve it with steaming hot rice, sesame oil and papad.

Sepankizhangu Poriyal

Sepankizhangu is nothing but taro root. I have already posted a deep-fry version of this dish which you can find here. But this one is much healthier, it is kadai roasted. It tastes somewhat like a potato fry but it has a little sweetness from the taro itself. This is one of the dishes that vanishes in half the quantity by the time I serve it. Tastes so yum.

Ingredients:

mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp
urad dal- 1/2 tsp
channa dal- 1/2 tsp
jeera seeds- 1/4 tsp
Sepankizhangu -8
onion- 1(medium, sliced)
garlic- 4 pods (finely chopped)
sambar powder- 1 1/2 tsp
curry leaves
salt- as required
curry leaves
corriander leaves

Procedure:
Boil sepankizhangu with some salt and turmeric until 3/4 th done. peel and cut into pieces. Heat oil in kadai and season with mustard seeds, urad dal and channa dal. Add onions , garlic and turmeric powder. When onions are half done add sambar powder & salt. saute until raw smell goes. Then add sepankizhangu and keep roasting until it gets a roasted brown color. Add corriander leaves & curry leaves. This is an excellent accompaniant for sambar rice, rasam rice or curd rice. Enjoy!

Aloo Methi

Methi is nothing but fenugreek leaves. These are bitter but has a lot of health benefits. Usually , methi leaves are cooked in combination with other foods that have the ability to mask it's bitter flavor to some extent. Aloo methi, methi dal and methi paratha are some examples. Today I have my aloo methi to share with all of you. It is not a regular item in our home as I don't like the bitter taste of methi although it's very healthy. But 'B' loves it ,so I do it occasionally. Now to the recipe...

Ingredients:

mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
urad dal- 1/2 tsp
channa dal- 1/2 tsp
potato- 2 (big)
onion- 1 (medium, sliced)
garlic- 3 pods (minced)
methi leaves- a medium size bunch
tomato- 1
chilli powder- 3/4 tsp
corriander powder- 1 tsp
cumin powder- 1 tsp
garam masala- 1/2 tsp
salt- according to taste
sugar- 1/4 tsp (optional)

Procedure:

Cut and boil the potatoes with some salt and turmeric. When 3/4 th done, drain and cube it. Prep the methi leaves by seperating it from the stalk. wash them and boil them for 5 minutes with very little water.

Heat oil in a pan and splutter the mustard seeds, urad dal and channa dal. Next add the onions and garlic. After 5 minutes add tomato and salt. Cook till the tomatoes turn into a pulp. Now it's time to add the masala powders. If you don't have the powders individually you can very well use sambar powder (1 1/2 tsp). Saute until the raw smell goes. After that add the potatoes and fry for a few minutes.

Next add the boiled methi leaves. You can squeeze out the water from the methi leaves before adding it to the aloo. This might take out some of the bitterness. But if you don't want to lose the nutrients don't squeeze out the water. Just take them out with a spoon and add it to the potatoes. Mix everything well and fry to desired consistency. If you want a gravy add 3/4 th cup of water or if you want a fry like mine skip the water. Serve it hot with some hot rice or rotis, curd and some pickle.

Brinjal Potato Subzi

This is another simple dish that goes well with idllis and dosas. The dish may not be photogenic but I can assure you for the taste. My MIL usually fire roasts the eggplant until it is 3/4th done and then chop it into pieces and then use it in the gravy. The gravy prepared this way has a smoky flavor in it. But my mom on the otherhand does not roast them. She steams both the brinjal and potato together and mashes it.

So, my version is to cube both the brinjal and potato into small pieces, Cook it really well and finally mash it with a potato masher. Easy... huh? It does not taste exactly the same as the fire roasted version or the steamed version. All I can say is it tastes good. Hope you give it a try too. Here's what you need...

Ingredients:

Eggplant- 1 (I'm talking about the big purple ones not the tiny ones) potato- 2 (medium size, cubed) mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp
urad dal- 1/2 tsp channa dal- 1/2 tsp
cumin- 1/2 tsp
onion- 1 (finely chopped)
tomato- 1 (finely chopped)
green chillies- 3 (chopped)
tamarind- 1/2 tsp
chilli powder- 1/2 tsp
turmeric- 1/2 tsp
water- 1 1/2 cups
curry leaves- few
corriander leaves- few
hing - a pinch

Procedure:

Heat oil in a kadai and splutter mustard seeds, urad dal, channa dal and cumin. Then add onions, green chillies and turmeric powder. After 5 minutes add the potato and brinjal cubes. Saute in medium flame until 3/4th done. Now add the hing, chilli powder, salt and tamarind. Mix well. Then add 1 cup water and boil until the vegetables are completely cooked. Then open the lid of the pan and mash the vegetables just leaving a few chunks here and there. You can skip this step if you want. Add more water if the gravy is too thick. Finally add corriander and curry leaves. Serve it hot with dosas or idllies.

Simple Channa masala

Just like sambhar, Channa masala is also a dish that tastes different from one kitchen to the other. While there are so many ways to make it, here is the simple version. I call as the simple one as it involves only sauteing onions, tomatoes and masala powders. No grinding involved. So let's move to the recipe.

Ingredients:

Boiled channa- 2 1/2 cups

cinnamon stick- 1"

cloves- 2

red onion- 1 (medium size, finely chopped)

ginger garlic paste- 1 tsp

green chillies- 1 (slit)

tomatoes- 1 (big, finely chopped)

tamarind paste- 1/2 tsp (optional)

chilli powder- 1/2 tsp

corrianderpowder- 1 tsp

cumin powder- 1/2 tsp

Any channa masala powder- 1/2 tsp (optional, I did not use in mine)

Jaggary- 1/4 tsp (can add more. But my hubby dosen't like it , so I added less)

corrianderleaves- 1/2 cup

water- 2 cups

salt- as required

Procedure:

Soak channa in water overnight. Next day pressure cook for 2 whistles (depends upon your cooker) with some salt and turmeric. One of my Rajasthani friend adds a tea bag while pressure cooking channas. It does impart some color and flavor to the dish. Don't over do the tea bags. When I first tried it , I think I added 5 bags and you can imagine the color that my channa finally had. But I did not use tea bags here.

Heat oil in Kadai and fry cinnamon stick and cloves. Then fry onions with some turmeric until golden brown. Then add ginger garlic paste. After a few minutes add tomatoes and cook until it is all pulpy. Now it's time to add all the masala powders and saute for atleast 5 minutes in a medium flame taking care that the masala powder dosen't get burned. Then add tamarind paste and saute for a minute. Next add water and bring to a nice boil and the gravy becomes a little thick. Test for seasonings. Add more if needed. Then add boiled channa, jaggary and bring to a nice boil one more time. Finally add the corriander leaves and mix well.

You can serve this with puri, chappathi and dosas. To make a chat out of this, you can pour this channa masala in a plate and top it off with some finely chopped red onions, diced tomatoes, beaten curd, sweet & spicy tamarind sauce, sev, some corriander chutney and lemon juice. You can eat it as it is or serve it with some buttered toast or cutlet. The possibilities are countless. Just use your imagination...

Black Eye Peas Kurma

Well, I'm including a lots of legumes in my diet now. Most of the time I just boil them and eat it without doing any extra work. But I still have to cook for 'B'. So, the other day I made a simple kurma with the Black eye peas. It turned out pretty good. I was tired to make chappathis , so I made cumin rice instead. The next day, I served it for breakfast with dosas. It was a perfect accompaniant for both. So, here is the recipe. Nothing fancy. Just the regular kurma but it has black eye peas instead of the vegetables. But each dish looks and taste different because of the variation in the ingredients we use. Don't you agree?

Ingredients:
Blackeye peas- 2 cups (soaked and pressure cooked for 1 whistle)
cloves- 2
elachi- 1
Onion- 1/2
tomato- 1
ginger garlic paste- 1 tsp
corriander leaves- 2 tbsp
green chillies- 4
saunf- 1 tsp
corriander seeds- 1 tsp
cinnamon- 1/2 "
grated coconut- 1/4 cup
cashews- 4 (optional. I did not add in mine)
Poppy seeds- 1 tbsp (soak for 15 mins in water before grinding)
water- 1 1/2 cups

Procedure:
Soak black eye peas overnight and pressure cook it with some salt and turmeric for 1 whistle. If your cooker needs more whistle time cook accordingly. Grind everything from green chillies to poppy seeds. Then heat oil in a kadai and fry the cloves and elachi. Can use bay leaf also. Then add onions and saute until golden brown. Next add ginger garlic paste and turmeric. After that add tomatoes and cook until soft. Now add the ground paste and saute until the raw smell goes. Maybe 5 mins. Then add water, salt and bring to a nice boil. Taste the gravy and add more salt or chilli powder if needed. Finally add the boiled peas and corriander leaves. Bring to one more boil and serve hot with rotis, rice or Dosa. It can be had like a soup too. It's so wholesome and fulfilling.

Note: If you don't have time to grate coconut and grind it, just use canned coconut milk. Also you can omit coconut if you don't want that fat. In that case you can add some rice flour or some corn flour to thicken the gravy. Either way it tastes good.

Kovakkai Kadalai Curry

I got this recipe from SUN TV"s Unnavum Aarogiyamum program. It was prepared by Chef Jacob in his "oil less cooking series". But readers beware. This is not a fat free curry as it has 3 tbsps of cashewnut paste in it. The reason I tried this was to see how the kovakkai-kadalai combination worked out and also that the recipe had no tomatoes and oil in it.

The final result was ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC. It had such an outburst of flavor ,really very different from the other curries I normally prepare. Now it has become my new favorite and I'll be trying this more often. So, I wanted to pass on the recipe to you also so that you can give it a try. Good luck and Happy Eating!

Ingredients:
Kovakkai/Tindora- 20 (cut lengthwise) (half steamed)
Kadalaikkai/Boiled peanuts- 1 cup
Onion- 1 (finely chopped)
cashewnut paste- 3 tbsp
elachi-2
cloves- 2
cinnamon- 1" piece
chilli powder- 1 tsp (original recipe called for 2 tsp. But 1 was ok for me) turmeric- 1/4 tsp
curry leaves- 1 twig (finely chopped) salt- as required
Garam masala- 1/2 tsp

Procedure:
Heat pan until it's very hot. Then add the spices and saute them .Remember .....NO OIL. The cardamom will plump up a bit due to heat. Now add onions and some salt. Saute until it is light brown in color. You have to keep on sauteing every now and then as it does not have any oil and it might stick to the pan after a while.Now add curry leaves,ginger garlic paste and turmeric. Saute for a min. Then add chilli powder and saute for 2 more mins. Now add 1/2 a cup of water and mix well. Close and cook for 5 mins. After that the gravy will be a little thick. Now add kovakkai , peanuts and salt. Add nother cup of water and boil for 5 more minutes. Finally add garam masala and cashew paste. Mix well and boil to desired consistency.

This gravy goes very good with white rice, dosa and rotis.

Oyster Mushroom Curry and Kurma

This time I'm not going to write my excuses for not blogging, b'coz I know you all have become tired of it. Really, things are going so crazy around me. Also, this weather has something to do with it. I feel so lazy that all I want to do is sleep all the time. I get backlogged in my work b'coz of this and end up doing things in the last minute. Can you believe that I've been so lazy that I did not even mail my entries for 3 blog events although I posted them in my blog? Anyhow, I hope I send this one atleast.

When I saw the "Grindless Gravies" event going around in the blogsphere, I thought...Hey, That's not difficult. The regular sambar and puli kuzhambu does not involve grinding! But once I visited Sra's blog "When my soup came alive " I understood her hard rules. For the past one week, I did not plan anything specific for the event. Just watched what I cooked and was trying not to use my grinding tools at all. But you know what, it was very hard. For some, I had to grind spices, others involved coconut milk or lentils. Finally I succeded in coming up with the Oyster Mushroom Curry. So, let's go to the recipe.

Ingredients:
Oyster Mushrooms- 1 pack
Cinnamon- 1 " stick
cloves- 2
Onion- 1 (big)
Tomato- 2 (big)
Ginger garlic paste- 1tsp
chilli powder- 3/4 th tsp
corriander powder- 1 tsp
cumin powder- 1/2 tsp
Curry masala powder- 1/2 tsp
pepper- 1/4 tsp
Turmeric- pinch
Curry leaves and corriander leaves-few
cornflour-1tsp(optional)

Procedure:
To clean the oyster mushrooms, just cut off the ends first. Then seperate the upper portion and the stalk. Cut the stalk and the top portion into small pieces. While adding it to the gravy, first add the stalks as it takes a few minutes extra to cook than the feathery top.
Heat oil in a kadai and fry cinnamon and cloves. Then add onion and ginger garlic paste.Saute until golden brown and soft. Then add the masala powders for fry for a minute. Now add tomatoes and cook until it becomes soft and pulpy. Make sure that it forms a paste like consistency.
Then add chopped mushrooms. First the stalks. Saute for 3 mins. Then add the top part of the mushrooms. Add 1 cup water and cook for 5 to 10 mins until you get a thick gravy. Cook till you get the desired consistency. You can also add a tsp of cornflour (just dissolve it in very little water) to make the gravy thick. I did not use it here for the sake of the event. But you can certainly do it to get a nice thick gravy.

The next is Oyster Mushroom Kurma. This is another flavorful dish that goes very well with dosa, rotis and ghee rice. This was the first time I was making this kurma, so I was a little unsure to use just the mushrooms alone. That's why I went ahead and put poataoes, as kurma always tastes good with potatoes. Once done, when I tasted the dish, I really felt that the mushrooms alone did a very good job in making the gravy tasty. We enjoyed the kurma so much that nothing was leftover although it was done to be packed for the next day's lunch. So, here is my recipe. I hope you enjoy it too!

Ingredients:
Oyster mushroom- 1 pack
cinnamon- 1" piece
cloves- 2
curry leaves- 1 twig
Onion- 1 (finely chopped)
ginger-garlic paste- 1tsp
green chillies- 5
Tomatoes- 2 (finely chopped)
red chilli- 1
jeera- 1tsp
saunf- 1 tsp
turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
sambar powder- 1 1/2 tsp
garam masala- 1/4 tsp
coconut- 1/4 cup
corrinader leaves- small fistfull
water- 1 cup
salt- as required

Procedure:
Grind coconut to a smooth paste. Grind red chillies, jeera and saunf to a fine powder. Clean mushrooms by wiping off with a towel and seperate the stalks and the petals. Heat oil in a pan and fry the cinnamon and cloves. Then add onions, curry leaves, ginger garlic paste, green chillies and turmeric. Saute until golden brown. Then add tomatoes and cook till soft and mushy. Now add all the masala powders and mix well Saute for 5 mins or until the raw smell goes. Then add coconut paste and saute for 2 to3 mins. Now pour a cup of water and add required salt. Bring it to a boil. Now add the stalk portion of the mushrooms first. After 3 to 4 mins add the petals and cook it is soft and done. Garnish with corriander leaves. Goes really well with dosas.

Poriyals

Poriyals are dry curries or vegatables served as an accompanient to plain rice and subjis. He are some poriyals for you to try. If you already do this at home, that's ok. Check out my version too.

Vazhakkai Poriyal:
Ingredients:
Vazhakkai(green plantain)- 1 (medium size)
onion- 1 (chopped)
garlic- 5 (sliced, I love garlic. If you don't want so much reduce the quantity)
curry leaves- few
salt
sambar powder- 1 1/2 tsp
turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
besan powder- 1 tbsp

Procedure:
Peel off the outer skin from the plantain. Cut it into any shape you like. Usually I do the rounds. This time I did it different. Keep the cut plaintains in water as it might turn dark when exposed to air. Heat oil in a kadai, fry mustard seeds, urad dal and channa dal (1/2 tsp each). Then fry onions, garlic and curry leaves. When onion turns transparent add the cut plaintains and turmeric and sambar powder. Fry for 2 mins. Then add reqd salt and 1/4 cup water. Close and cook until 3/4 th done. Then remove the lid and allow all the water to dry. Check for seasonings. Add more salt or chilli if you want. When it is dry and almost done add besan powder and mix well. Keep it in medium low flame and roast till done. This curry goes well with sambar rice, rasam rice or curd rice.

Next is podalangai or snake gourd poriyal. I do not add turmeric in this.I prefer to maintain it's nice green color. This is such an easy poriyal that even first timers can do it. I've not add enough coconut in my poriyal as my hubby is watching what he is eating. As for me, I cannot make compromises with food. So, you can scroll down and see what I made for me on the same day I made this snake gourd poriyal. Now to the recipe.

Ingredients:
snake gourd-1 (big and firm)
onion- 1/2 (chopped)
curry leaves- few
red chillies- 2 (broken)
coconut- 3 tsp(add more if you want)

Procedure:
Trim the edjes and cut it into 3 pieces. Scrap off the outer skin and cut into thin long strips. Heat oil and fry mustard seeds, urad dal and channa dal(1/2 tsp each). Then fry onions, red chillies and curry leaves. When the onions are transparent add the vegetable, required salt and 1/4 cup water. Close and cook till 3/4 th done. Add more water if you want to cook the vegetable further. I like mine cooked but still with a crunch in it. Then remove lid and allow to dry completely. Finally add coconut and mix well. Your curry is ready.
See, I told you that it's easy. Serve this with puli kuzhambu or vathal kuzhambu.

Finally, it's my fav okra fry. This dish can be done in a jiffy and gives a lift to any ordinary meal. I chose this for me when my hubby is eating healthy. Hey, don't stare at me. No compromises in food and it's ok to enjoy these once in awhile.So, here is the recipe.

Ingredients:
Okra -15 (medium) (cut into 1 1/2" pieces)
onion- 1 (medium, sliced long)
curry leaves- few
salt as reqd
sambar powder- 2 tsp
besan powder- 2 or 3 tbsp(i didn't measure mine, just eyeballed it)

Procedure:
Mix everything without adding water. The stickiness of the vegetabele is enough to hold all the dry ingredients together. Set aside for 15 mins. Mix again. Add little more besan if the okra is not covered well. Heat oil in kadai and fry them in batches until they are golden brown. Drain them on a napkin and serve with sambar rice. Here is a plate for you too. Enjoy!!!

Kothavarangai parrupu usili

This is my fav side dish. I usually like to take a cup of this curry , add 2 tbsp of yogurt. Mix well and eat it just like that. Try it , you might like it too. My hubby dosen't like to eat this combination. He likes to eat with plain rice, mor kuzhambu or puli kuzhambu. I have already blogged about green beans usili here. Gawar beans has a mild bitter taste, so adding a few pinches of sugar will mask that taste. You can skip adding sugar. I don't do it all the time. So, here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

Gawar beans- 2 cups

onion- 1/2 (finely chopped)

channa dal -3/4 th cup

green chillies- 8

red chillies- 2 (broken)

ginger- 1 " piece

turmeric- 1/2 tsp

curry leaves- few

salt- as reqd

sugar- 2 pinches

Procedure:

Trim the ends of gawar beans and cut it into little pieces. Usually, I cut mine 1/2 " pieces. But this time (as seen in pic) I cut it a little big. But I felt it small cut ones are much better. Steam cook this in rice cooker with some salt and sugar.

Soak channa dal in 2 cups water for one or two hours. Drain and grind into coarse paste with salt, green chillies and ginger.

Heat oil in pan. Fry mustard seeds, urad dal and jeera seeds. Then add onions, red chillies, turmeric and curry leaves. After a few mins add the ground channa dal mixture and saute for 15 mins. Now add the steamed vegetable and mix well. check for salt. Serve with plain rice and puli kuzhambu. It tastes great with rasam saadham or curd rice too.Enjoy!!!

Pan fried BitterGourd

To be frank, I hate this vegetable. But my hubby loves it. So I had no other go than learning how to cook it. In my mom's place they do a different recipe in which the bitterness is so subtle. But my MIL does not do anything to remove the bitterness and my hubby likes this veggie that way. Poor me, I always have to make another veggie for me on the days I cook this (extra work). This time when I went to India I saw small bittergourds . They are called "merry pavakkai". Here is a pic of the same and also the pic of my MIL's preparation. She uses tomato in hers.

Now that you have seen one version, here is mine. This is less bitter and it can be enjoyed with sambar rice. It gets a nice roasted texture and taste as it is cooked on low flame towards the end. Adding a hint of jaggery also helps in masking the bitterness. (ooh..that's a lot of bitterness in this post). Now to the recipe.

Ingredients:

bittergourd/pavakkai- 2 medium sized

onion- 1/2 (sliced)

curry leaves-few

sambar powder- 2 tsp

salt- as reqd

jaggery- 1/4 tsp

tamarind paste- 1/4 tsp

Procedure:

Cut the pavakkai's into medium-thin rounds. You can keep the seeds if you like it. If not , just push the center part with your thumb and it comes right off. In a bowl add 1 tbsp of yogurt,some water and salt. Mix well and get it to buttermilk consistency. If you have ready buttermilk that is perfectly fine too. Add the pavakkai rounds to it and soak it for 15 mins. Then wash it 2 or 3 times. This helps in removing the bitterness to a little extent.

Now heat the pan and put a tbsp of oil. Fry mustard seeds, urad dal, channa dal and some cumin. Then add onions, curry leaves and some turmeric. Fry it for 5 mins. Then add pavakkai and reqd salt. Saute for a few mins. Now add little water and close the pan. Cook for another 5 to 10 mins. When the color of the veggie changes, add the sambar powder, tamarind and jaggery. Mix well. Take off the lid and fry in medium low flame. The key to this roast is , don't use a spatula and keep on mixing it. This might break the veggie. So, you just toss the veggie every 5 mins. You will get a nice roasted texture this way. Enjoy!!!

Gutti Vankaya/ Stuffed Brinjal Curry

There are so many versions of this dish. I was tempted to try this after I had this in our local restaurant and seeing it in so many blogs. This is my first trial and I must say that I was perfectly satisfied the way it turned out. So, check out this recipe and give it a try.

Ingredients:

Brinjals- 15

onion- 1/4 (finely chopped)

curry leaves-few

tomato-1(small,finely chopped)

tamarind paste-1 tsp

jaggery-1/2 tsp

salt- 1 tsp

roast and grind:

urad dal- 1 tbsp

chana dal-1 tbsp

shredded coconut-2 tbsp

cumin-1 tbsp

corriander seeds- 3/4 tbsp

peanuts- 11/2tbsp
sesame seeds- 1tbsp

cloves- 3

cinnamon- 1" piece

peppercorns- 1/4 tsp

methi seeds- 1/4 tsp

red chillies- 12

Procedure:

Dry roast all the ingredients from urad dal to red chillies until golden brown. Cool and grind it to fine paste adding very little water, tamarind paste, jaggery and some salt.

Make slits in the brinjal like a plus sign. Do not remove the top off. This will keep the brinjal intact. Stuff the ground paste into the brinjals. Set them aside.

Heat 2 tbsps of oil in a kadai and fry some mustard seeds. Then fry onions,curry leaves with some turmeric. Now add the stuffed brinjals and the remaining ground masala. Fry for about 5 mins. Then add tomatoes and fry for another 3 mins. Add 2 1/2 cups of water and some salt. Cover and cook on medium heat for 3o mins stirring in-between. Careful not to break the brinjals. If the gravy is too thick, you can add water to make it thinner. When done, serve it with hot plain rice and appalam.

Note: Not all the stuffed masala will stay inside the brinjal during the cooking process. Don't worry about it. The gravy will turn perfectly fine. Another look at the dish....

Karunai Kizhangu fry/ Elephant Yam fry

This post has been overdue for a long time. That's b'coz I've tried to get some info about the vegetable I've used here. It is called ' Karunai kizhangu' in tamil language. It's a type of yam but I don't know any other details. So, please...if anybody can tell me the english name I would really appreciate it.
This yam can be used in puli kuzhambu as well as used to make dry curries. The dry versions are a excellent combination for sambar rice, rasam rice or curd rice.

Note: "Thankyou" foodies for letting me know that this vegetable is Elephant Yam. Here is a picture for people who do not know what it is.

Pan fried method:
Ingredients:
karunai kizhangu- medium size
turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
chilli powder- 1/2 tsp
sambar powder- 1 tsp
salt- as reqd
besan powder- 2 tsp
Procedure:
Wash the vegetable and remove the outer skin. Cut it into any shape but it should be a little thick. Heat water in a pan. Add some turmeric and salt. cook till the vegatable is 1/2 done. Decan all the water and allow it to cool. After that add all the masala powders and mix until the vegatable is coated well. You can add a splash of water only if needed. Check for salt.
Heat dosa pan or iron skillet. Pour a little oil and season the pan. Then put the vegetable on it and pan fry it until you get a nice golden color and a crunch on the outside. Add a squeeze of lemon on top and mix some corriander leaves or fried curry leaves.

Kadai fry method:
Ingredients:
karunai kizhangu- medium size
garlic- 8 pods
ginger- 1"
red chillies- 4 (as needed)
curry leaves- 10 leaves
corriander leaves- small fistful
sombu - 1 1/2 tsp
salt- as reqd

Procedure:
Dry grind everything except the vegetable. Cook the vegetable with some salt and turmeric until 1/2 done. Heat oil in a kadai and add the cooled vegetable. Then add the spice powder and mix well. Keep it on a medium low flame and fry it until the vegetable gets roasted well. Serve this dish with hot rice and sambar. You can't beat this combo!!!
Enjoy guys and remember to let me know any info (a pic, more notes...anything) about this vegetable. See you soon.

Vendakkai Kuzhambu

This is a sweet, sour, hot and tangy curry. My mommy used to make it during some festival. So I used to call it 'swamy kuzhambu'. This dish is served hot with white rice and appalams are the best combination for this. If anybody does this kuzhambu at home and know it's name please let me know too. So, here is the procedure for this dish.

Ingredients:

Vendakkai/okra - 10 to 15

onion- 1/2 (chopped)

tamarind- 1 1/2 tbsp (can add less or more depending upon one's taste. But the gravy has to be little tangy)

green chillies- 10 (cut into small bits)

coconut- 3 tbsp (shredded)

curry leaves- few

steamed toor dal- 1 cup

turmeric- 1/2 tsp

water- 2 cups

salt- as reqd

jaggery- a little less than 1 /2 tsp

mustard- 1/2 tsp

jeera- 1 tsp

Procedure:

Steam cook toor dal with some turmeric and a tsp of oil. Wash okra and trim of the ends and cut it into two. If the okra is big, cut it into 1 1/2 " size. Chop onions and green chillies. Heat oil in pan. Season with mustard seeds, jeera and channa dal. Then add onions, turmeric and green chillies. Now add okra and some salt. Cook until 3/4 th done. Then add tamarind and water. Combine well and bring to a boil. Now add toor dal and heat it up. Finally add curry leaves and coconut and jaggery. Bring it to a nice boil. check for salt and switch off gas. Serve hot with rice.

Gobi 65

This is a simple side dish that makes any meal special. It goes well with fried rice, veg biryani or any other variety rice. There are many different ways to do this. If you have already been doing this, try it this way for a change. Actually, this is my mom's recipe. When she put in the ingredients I did not get a chance to measure it. So I just eye balled it. After that I just followed her instructions.
I do it the same way too, but the difference is in the measure of ingredients. And I also add egg white. But here I have not used egg . It turned out perfectly fine, infact tastier than mine.


Ingredients:
Cauliflower-1 (medium size)
onion- 1
green chillies- 3
garlic- 1
corriander leaves-few

for marinade:
turmeric- 1/4 tsp
chilli powder- 2 tsps
salt-as required
color powder- optional
cornflour- 1 tbsp
maidha- 2 tbsp
curd- 2 tsp
tomato sauce- 2 tsp

Procedure:
Cut cauliflower into bite size florets and put it in hot salted water for 2 to 3 mins. Drain and put all the ingredients under 'marinade'. Mix everything well without adding water. Keep it aside for 5 to 10 minutes. Heat oil and deep-fry the florets.

In a kadai, heat little oil and saute onion, green chillies, garlic and salt. Remove when onions are cooked but still crunchy. Add some pepper and corriander leaves. Keep this aside. After draining the cauliflower florets add it to the onion mixture. Mix well and serve with ketchup.
Here is a bite for you...Enjoy the long weekend. See you guys next week.

Sepankizhangu Fry

I have already posted a poriyal dish using taro root/sepankizhangu . Now it's the deep fry version. It might not be that healthy as it is fried. But, once in a while it is ok to have these. This dish is a great accompanient for sambar rice, rasam rice or curd rice. The preparation work can be done ahead and refrigerated even the previous day. When you are ready to eat, you can just fry 'em up. It is great evening snack too. Try it for yourself. You will like it.


Ingredients:
sepankizhangu- 6
onion- 1 (sliced)
turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
chilli powder- 1 1/2 tsp
Besan powder- 2 1/2 tbsp
Rice flour- 1/2 tbsp
Rava- 2 tsp
curry leaves- few
salt- as required

Procedure:
Pressure cook sepankizhangu for 1 whistle. Cool and peel off the outer skin. Cut into two or bite size pieces. Add the rest of the ingredients. Blend well. Keep adding water little by little until the besan coats the taro root completely. Check for seasonings and deep fry in hot oil. Enjoy with rice.

Black Chick Peas curry & Puli Kuzhambu

Hi Guys, One last posting before I go to India. Black chick peas is the main ingredient here. You must have seen this in many blogs. So, here is my version too. Here I have made two curries using black chick peas. One is coconut based and the other is puli kuzhambu. In the coconut gravy I usually add brinjals, but I did not have any on that day. So , if you are trying it add brinjals to it. Ok, Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

Black Channa- 1 1/2 cups (soaked, pressure cooked with salt and some turmeric)

mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp

urad dal- 1/2 tsp

onion- 1 (chopped)

brinjals- 4 (slit into 4)

turmeric- 1/2 tsp

curry leaves- little

tomato- 1(chopped)

red chillies- 3

corriander seeds- 1 tbsp

cumin- 1 tsp

coconut- 1/2 cup(shredded)

water- 2 cups(as needed)

Procedure:

Heat oil in kadai and fry mustard seeds and urad dal. Then fry onion,brinjal ,turmeric and curry leaves. Now add tomatoes and fry till soft. Grind coconut with chillies, corriander seeds and cumin until smooth. Add this to the tomato and mix well. Now add water and bring to a nice boil. Check for salt and seasonings.Finally add boiled chick peas and bring to another boil. Serve with hot plain rice.

Now comes the other gravy:

Puli kuzhambu which is made with potatoes. This is little hot and sour gravy which is served with plain rice.

Ingredients:

Black Chick Peas- 1 cup(cooked)

onion- 1/2 (sliced)

garlic- 5 pods

potato- 2 (cubed)

tomato- 1 (chopped)

curry leaves- few

tamarind- 2 tsp

sambar powder- 2 tsp

chilli powder- 1/4 tsp

jaggery- small marble size

vadagam- 1 tsp

Procedure:

Heat oil in kadai and fry onions, garlic, curry leaves,potatoes and turmeric powder. Next add tomatoes and cook till soft. Then add tamarind paste, sambar powder and chilli powder. Add 1 1/2 cups water, jaggery and bring to a nice boil. Then add boiled channa and bring to another boil. Finally fry vadagam and add to the gravy.

Bye Guys!!! See you after 2 weeks. I will Miss you all very very much.