Nataraja Iyer Rasam

 

This rasam recipe was invented by Nataraja Iyer. Long time ago he wrote a cookery column in a tamil magazine. At that time he gave this recipe to his readers. My mom used to prepare it often. It was a big hit in our household. Everyone liked it. I forgot this recipe for a long time and one fine day I  remembered about this rasam. I asked my mom for the recipe even she could not remember it. So I searched in internet and found a single post about this rasam.

This rasam preparation is very unique. We never boil tamarind juice when making rasam but this recipe calls for boiling the tamarind extract. Nataraja Iyer asked the readers to prepare this rasam in a brass vessel (pithalai sombu) for a better taste. I do not have any brass vessel. So I prepared it in a heavy-bottomed aluminium cooker. This is the most flavourful rasam I ever had. Anybody will get hooked to it,  because of  its nice aroma and excellent taste. Try this, you will love it.

 

Ingredients :

Cooked and mashed toor dhal- 1 cup

Tamarind- size of a lemon

Dried red chillies- 5 nos

Green chillies- 4 nos

Curry leaves- 20 leaflets

Jeera seeds- 2 tspns

Black whole pepper- 1 tspn

Turmeric powder- 1/4 tspn

Asafoetida powder- 1/4 tspn

Mustard, fenugreek and jeera seeds- 1/2 tspn

Jaggery (vellam)- a small piece

Garlic- 3 pods (crushed)

Salt to taste

Oil or ghee for tempering- 1 tbspn

Method :

Cook and mash toor dhal. Mix 2 cups of water to it and keep aside. Take tamarind and soak it in 3/4 cup of  warm water for 10 minutes. Extract the tamarind juice by squeezing it . Now add 3/4 cup of water again to the extracted tamarind juice. Once again add 3/4 cup of water. Take the tamarind juice in a brass or any heavy-bottomed vessel. To this add broken red chillies, crushed green chillies, curry leaves,  a small jaggery piece, salt, turmeric and asafoetida powder. Boil this mixture well until it becomes half of its original volume. Now add the cooked dhal and coarsely ground jeera and balck pepper seeds to the boiled tamarind mixture. Boil this mixture again until a froathy layer forms on the top. Remove from fire. Take a pan. Heat oil or ghee. When the oil gets heated add mustard, methi seeds (fenugreek) and jeera seeds. When they splutter add curry leaves and crushed garlic. Switch off the stove and transfer the tempered ingredients to the rasam. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves. A very aromatic rasam will be ready to be served.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : Use brass vessel if possible or any heavy-bottomed vessel. Do not miss any ingredients. Ghee adds a lot of flavour. Use tamarind which is sour enough. Happy cooking !!!

Mochakottai pulikuzhambu/ Endu anapa ginjalu pulusu

 

I love this beans. We call it as mochakai. I have no idea how it is called in english. After some search I came to know that they are addressed as field beans but I am not quite sure about it. May be this beans is localized only to certain regions so that we do not have an english name. I haven't seen these beans in my husband's place (telangana region). In Madurai we get fresh ones in the month of december and  it will last until march or so. My mom said now it is available all year through. You can just boil  the fresh pods with salt and have them as a snack. You can prpare kootu and kuzhambu with fresh ones too. The fresh smell of the beans will be really mesmerizing. To have a look at the fresh bean pods please visit Kamala Boopathy's http://www.cookatease.com/fresh-mochai-field-beans-stir-fry. She really have some beautiful pictures in her blog.  After coming here I searched, searched and searched for these beans and atlast found these dry beans in a chinese shop. No need to say how happy I would have been and how irritated my hubby was :). This dish is a very native, village dish perhaps unique to tamilnadu or perhaps to south India. Andhraites do you use these beans? This dish tastes the best when prepared with dried anchovies. Here I have used brinjals. The brinjals too taste great in this gravy.

Ingredients :

Mochakottai ( dry mochhai)- 1 cup

Brinjal- 4 nos

Onion- 1 no

Tomato-1 no

Garlic- 6 pods

Green chillies- 3 nos

Curry leaves- 25 leaflets

Coriander powder- 3 tbspns

Chilli powder- 2 tspn (adjust according to your taste)

Turmeric powder and asafoetida powder- a pinch

Tamarind- size of a small lemon (soak and extract tamarind juice)

Coconut milk- 1/2 cup ( or use 2 tbspn of dried coconut powder)

Fenugreek, mustard and jeera seeds- 1/2 tspn (for tempering)

Oil- 4 tbspns

Salt to taste

Method : 

Soak the mochakottai in enough water for 8 h. This step is imporatnt to inactivate some natural protein inhibitors present in the beans which hinders with digestion. Now boil the soaked mochakottai in a cooker until they turn soft. The time taken for cooking differs depending on the beans. Mostly a single whistle is enough. Cut onions, tomato and green chillies into small pieces. Cut each brinjal into four pieces. Soak and extract tamarind juice. Extract coconut milk if you use fresh coconut meat. Heat oil in a pan. When the oil is hot enough add the fenugreek seeds. When they turn brown add mustard and jeera seeds. Let them splutter. Now add onions, garlic pods, curry leaves, green chillies, turmeric powder and asafoetida powder and saute well until the onions turn translucent. Add the tomato pieces and saute until they become soft. Now add coriander and chilli powder. Saute for a few seconds and add boiled mochai and brinjal pieces. Mix everything together and then add tamarind juice, coconut milk or coconut powder and enough water. Boil everything well. Add salt after the brinjals are cooked. Simmer until the oil seperates on the top. A very tasty kuzhambu will be ready and it tastes yummy with hot rice, idly, dosai and chappathi. 

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : Use brinjals with this kuzhambu. It tastes yummy. Add longitudinally slit green chillies too. They also taste wonderful in this gravy. Use this kuzhambu the next day of preparation. This helps the masala and salt to seep well into the beans making it very tasty. Happy cooking !!!

I would love to submit this recipe to Suma's 'Delicios Dals' From India  event. She needed a traditional dhal recipe for her event and I am sure this dish fits in very well :)

Thanks to Indira of Mahanandi for her kind info about the telugu name of this beans and its usage in Andhra.

Vendakkai pulikuzhambu/ ladies finger or okra in tamarind based gravy

 

This is one of the best way to cook ladies finger. Tastes very yummy and this kind of preparation totally removes the gooiness from this vegetable. In united states and here in Germany they call this veggie as okra. In India we call it as ladies finger (ofcourse a very beautiful name !!!). Its scientific name is Abelmoschus esculentus. I am very surprised to know that in some part of the world even the leaves of ladies finger are routinely used for making certain dishes or eaten in the form of salad. Do we use it? Any information is appreciated. This veggie is a very good source of dietary fiber. It is also a good source of protein, riboflavin, niacin, phosphorous, pottasium, zinc and copper. It is very low in saturated fat and cholesterol. A popular conception (mis!!!?) in my native place is, if you eat ladies finger you can get the ability to perform mathematics very well :). Unfortunately, for a 'mandu' like me nothing worked out in front of mathematics. For me mathematics is always a book of unnecessary 'problems' :). So, how did I make this dish?

Ingredients :

Ladies finger (Vendakkai, okra)- 250 gms

Onion- 1 no (preferably red one)

Tomato- 1 small

Green chillies- 4 nos

Curry leaves- 20 leaflets

Coriander powder- 3 tbspns

Chilli powder- 2 tspns

Tamarind- size of a small lemon (soaked and juice extracted)

Fenugreek, jeera and mustard seeds- 1 tspn each

Asafoetoda- few pinches

Turmeric- a pinch

Oil- 4 tbspns

Salt to taste

Method :

Cut vendakkai as shown in picture. Cut onions and tomatoes into small pieces. Slit green chillies and cut them into half. Heat oil in a pan. When it gets heated add fenugreek seeds. When they turn brown add mustard and jeera seeds. When they splutter add onions, curry leaves and green chillies. Add also a pinch of turmeric, few pinches of asafoetida and salt to taste. Saute well until the onions turn translucent. Now add the tomatoes and saute them until they turn soft. Now add the cut vendakkai pieces. Saute well until they obtain brown spots on its skin. Now add coriander and chilli powder. Saute for a minute and then add the extracted tamarind juice. Allow the mixture to boil well. Check once again for salt and adjust accordingly. Simmer the puli kuzhambu until oil seperates on the top. Flavourful and tasty vendakkai puli kuzhambu will be ready to serve.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : Saute vendakkai well in oil so that their slimy nature is removed. Tamrind removes the remaining sliminess. Adjust the salt and spiciness according to the sourness. Hope you too will enjoy it.....Happy cooking!!!

Sundakkai pulikuzhambu / pea aubergines in tamarind sauce

 

Rajender likes this kuzhambu very much. Whenever he sees sundakkai in Indian items selling shop he immediately asks me whether we can take this small peas :). I have told him numerous times that it is called sundakkai in tamil but he could never catch that word. But today when I am searching for english names for sundakkai I came to know that these small wonders are also called as pea aubergines :). Another name for it is turkey berry and its scientific nomenclature is Solanum torvum. If you want to know more about sundakkai please follow this link. Definitely wikipeida has lots of interesting information about  this vegetable.  I think there are sub-varieties within them because my mom used to say that one variety of sundakkai tastes very bitter and the other one was totally bitterless and they call that bitterless variety as 'kari sundakkai'. My dad loved the vathal made out of this sundakkai. For making vathal they soak these sunadakkai  in salted buttermilk and  dry them under sun and then store them. The dried ones can be deep fried and they make wonderful combination for rasam sadham, but they do have a very bitter taste. I introduced this vegetable to Rajender only after marriage He immediately became fond of it. You can find this vegetable in chinese stores too and the variety we get here is totally bitterless.

Ingredients :

Sundakkai- 150gms

Onions- 1 no

Tomato- 1 no

Garlic- 6 pods

Green chillies- 3 nos

Curry leaves- some 20 leaflets

Coconut scrappings- 1 tbspn (optional, fresh or even dried one will do)

Fenugreek, jeera and mustard seeds- 1 tspn (for tempering)

Coriander powder- 2 tbspns

Red chilli powder- 2 tspns (adjust according to your taste)

Asafoetida- a pinch

Turmeric- a pinch

Tamarind- size of a small lemon (soak it and extract the juice)

Oil- 4 tbspns

Salt to taste

Method :

Cut the pea aubergines into two. Soak them in water until use beause when exposed to air they acquire a brown colour very fast. If you are using the bitter variety crush the individual berries and wash them well in water to remove their small seeds. This greatly reduces the bitterness. Heat oil in a pan. When the oil gets heated, add fenugreek seeds. When they turn brown and emit a nice aroma add mustard and jeera seeds. When they splutter add the halved sundakkai, cut onions, curry leaves, garlic pods, longitudinally slit green chillies, turmeric and asafoetida. Add salt to taste and saute until the onions turn translucent. Now add the cut tomatoes and saute until they become soft. Now add the coriander and chilli powder. Mix well all the ingredients and add the diluted tamarind juice. Boil the mixture well. Taste it and adjust salt and spiciness. Now add a tbspn of coconut scrappings and simmer for 5-10 min more until the oil seperates and floats on the top.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : Take care to adjust the salt and hotness (spiciness) according to the sourness of the tamarind. Take care not to burn any items when frying. The gravy should be closer to thick consistency. Do not make it watery. Try it, you will love it. Happy cooking!!!

Rasam

Rasam is an integral part of tamilian cuisine. In my home rasam is almost prepared everyday. It is a comfort food for many people. My dad loved to drink rasam like a soup. Ofourse its a kind of soup and it tastes excellent with hot rice and papadam. My way of rasam preparation is very simple. Takes just a few minutes to prepare and I have received compliments for my rasam many a time. Please do not add rasam powder of any brand to your rasam. Definitely that is the first step to spoil your rasam. Rasam is a concoction of several spices which is very good for your general health and digestive system. That is why we tamilians used to finish of any 'virundhu saapadu' ( feast) with rasam. When people suffer from cold and fever rasam is an extremely comforting food. Pepper, turmeric, garlic and jeera added in the rasam, in its raw form definitely have many healing properties. Now comes the most sought rasam recipe :

Ingredients :

Tamarind- small  lemon sized ball

Red chilly- 4 nos

Green chilly- 3 nos

Black pepper corn- 1 tspn

Jeera- 1 tbspn

Ripe tomato- 1 no (big sized)

Garlic- 4 pods (with skin intact)

Coriander leaves- a handful

Curry leaves- some 10 leaflets

Urid dhal,fenugreek, mustard, and jeera seeds for tempering- 1/2 tspn each

Turmeric- 1/4 tspn ( a few pinches)

Asafoetida- 2 or 3 pinches

Oil- 4 tspn

Salt to taste

Method :

Soak the tamarind in water and extract juice. Dilute the tamarind juice with water and adjust its sourness according to your taste. Now powder the black pepper corn and jeera seeds into a  rough powder. Crush the garlic along with the skin. Do not remove the skin. Now to the diluted tamarind juice add asafoetida, turmeric powder, powdered pepper and jeera seeds, whole tomato, coriander leaves, curry leaves, red and green chillies. With your hand crush all the ingredients thrown into the tamarind juice nicely . The tomato should be torn into pieces, coriander leaves and curry leaves should be crushed nicely so that their aroma seeps into the tamarind water, crushed garlic must be crushed with your hand much more , the green and red chillies must be crushed and broken down into pieces. Continue this crushing process with your hands for atleast three minutes. Then wash your hand immediately with soap bcause many a time I end up keeping my fingers in my eyes or face. If it happens the burning will be horrible. Be careful. Now after all this step you have to make the tempering or talimpu. Heat a pan. Add 4 tspns of oil. When the oil gets heated add urid dhal and fenugreek seeds. When they turn brown add jeera and mustard seeds. When they splutter transfer the tamarind juice mixture into the pan. Now the most important thing, do not allow the tamarind juice mixture to boil. It should be about to boil but it should not boil. You can see white foam like formations on the top of rasam ( nuraithu varum). When such white foam occupy the entire surface area of rasam  switch off the stove. Add few more coriander leaves and salt to taste at the end. Very tasty and flavourful rasam will be ready to serve.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : Do not add any rasam powder. Do not miss any ingredient mentioned. Do not grind all the needed ingredients using a mixer grinder. Use your hand as mentioned above. I love to see garlic skin in rasam. I am used to it. Never allow the rasam to boil. Rasam acquires a hard, unpleasant taste (kaduthu pogum) and the total effort will be spoiled. Another important thing is add salt only at the end. This also helps to prevent rasam acquiring a hard taste. Try it you will love it .  Happy cooking !!!

Kathirika(i), urulai kizhangu puli kuzhambu / vankaya, bangaaladumpa pulusu ( Brinjal and potato in tamarind gravy)

Puli kuzhambu is Rajender's favourite. I too like it but not that much.. I love potato in pulikuzhambu. It gives a nice aroma and the potato soaked in sour, tamarind gravy also tastes great. The next best vegetable in pulikuzhambu is kathirikai (brinjal), especially the smaller varieties. See those lovely, small, white brinjals, I got them from a chinese shop. In India they call them as mutta(i) (egg) katirikai,since they are white in colour and resemble an egg. In olden days  mutta(i) kathirikai pulikuzhambu was made and served to the groom before the nuptial night. Might be in olden days people beleived that it has an aphrodisiac property . Whatever it is these small, white brinjals taste very good. They are very firm and takes time to get cooked when compared to other brinjal varieties. All tamarind based gravies taste very good on the next day of preparation.

Ingredients:

Potato- 4 nos

Brinjal- 6 nos

Onion-2 nos (smaller variety onions or shallots are the best for this gravy)

Tomato- 1 no (big, ripe one)

Green chilli- 3 nos

Garlic- 6 pods

Curry leaves- handful ( more the better)

Tamarind- size of a small lemon

Mustard, fenugreek and jeera seeds- 1 tspn

Chilli powder- 2 tspn

Coriander powder- 2 tbspn

Oil- 5 tbspns

Asafoetida- a pinch, turmeric- a pinch

Salt- to taste

Method :

Cut potato into big pieces. Cut the brinjals as shown in the picture. Cut tomato and onion into small pieces. Now heat a pan and add enough oil. Then do the tempering by adding fenugreek seeds initially followed by mustard and jeera seeds. When they splutter add onions, garlic pods, curry leaves, a pinch of turmeric and a pinch of asafoetida. Saute well until the onions become translucent and soft. Then add the tomatoes. Saute well until they become soft and completely mashed. Now  add the cut potatoes and brinjal. Let the vegetables cook for sometime in oil till the skin of brinjal turn slightly brown. Soak and extract tamarind juice. Now add the tamarind juice to the sauteed vegetable mixture and allow it to boil. Then simmer it untill the vegetables get cooked. When the vegetables are cooked add salt according to your taste. Remove from fire when the oil seperates out. These brinjals need lots of time for cooking. If you add salt before they get cooked, it takes much more time. So add salt at the end. Very tasty pulikuzhambu will be ready to be served with hot rice.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe: If possible use gingelly oil for this preparation. Make sure brinjals are tender. Add enough tamarind juice. This recipe tastes good if they are sour enough. You have to balance the sour taste of tamarind with enough chilli powder and salt. Addition of enough curry leaves increases the flavour of this gravy. The onions and totmatoes should become soft enough before you add the vegetable and the tamarind juice. Please do not use a teaspoon of oil for the entire preparation. Definitely it will not taste good. Instead make it tastier with enough oil and reduce your intake, if your are calorie conscious. Adding garlic to any pulikuzhambu enhances the flavour and taste. Enjoy and happy cooking!!! 

Puliyodharai/ chinthapandu pulihora (Tamarind rice)

Puliyodharai reminds me of my school day picnics and temples. When I go for picnics I used to take  puliyotharai with me. I would be eager to visit new places as well as to sit with friends and eat this tasty dish. My mom used to pack  puliyodharai in a banana leaf. The smell of banana leaf and puliyodharai will be mesmerising. Puliyodharai remains for a day or so without getting spoiled, even in that hot climate. That is the reason why these kind of  'kattu sadhams' are invented. The way I prepare puliyotharai will be very different from andhraites preparation. Puliyodharai given in temples has a very unique taste. I do enter the tample with puliyodharai in my mind . For me this dish  is very close to my heart and taste buds. Anytime I would be happy to eat it. Potato fry or coconut thuvayal (a dry version of cocnut chutney)  goes very well with this dish.  The preparation is also very easy.  So here comes the preparation in detail :

Ingredients :

Cooked rice- 4 cups

Tamarind- a big lime-sized ball

Channa dhal- 1 tbspn

Groundnut- a handful

Red chillies- 8 nos (broken into 2 pieces)

Gralic- 8 pods

Curry leaves- a handful of leaflets

Chilli powder- 1 tspn

Coriander powder- 1 tspn

Coriander seeds- 1 tbspn

Seasame seeds (black variety is preferable)- 1 tbspn

Oil-  approx. 50 ml ( gingelly oil is prefered)

A pich of turmeic, asafoetida

Mustard, fenugreek, urid dhal and jeera seeds- 1 tspn each

Method :

Soak tamarind for 10 minutes and extract its juice. Heat a heavy bottomed pan. Add oil. When it gets heated add fenugreek seeds, wait till it gets brown and emits a nice aroma. Then add mustard, fenugreek, urid dhal and jeera seeds. When the seeds splutter add the channa dhal and groundnuts. Saute for a minute until the nuts are fried enough. Now add the red chillies, curry leaves and garlic. Fry for a minute or so untill the garlic turns golden colour and the red chillies gives out a nice aroma. Please take care not to burn any item. Then add the tamarind juice, red chilli powder, coriander powder and enough salt. Let this mixture boil. When it starts to boil simmer it for 15 minutes or so with occassional stirring. You must simmer it until all the water evaporates and the oil seperates out. Now the most important part. Cook rice with enough water. Rice should be as seperate grains when cooked. Cool the rice until it becomes cold to touch. Then mix the prepared pulikaichal (tamarind mix) with the rice with your hands until all the rice is coated with the tamarind mix. My friend Raji once gave me an useful tip. She asked me to fry and dry grind coriander seeds, sesame seeds and two red chillies and mix it with the rice at the end. Doing this makes your puliyodharai taste like kovil (temple) puliyodharai. This pulikaichal can be stored in refrigerator for a week or so. Try it, you will become a fan of this humble dish.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : The main important point to remember is to cook the rice in a way such that the individual grains do not stick together. This task can be accomplished by adding proper amount of water when cooking rice. Immediately after cooking  take a big tray or thambalam and spread the rice on it and allow it to cool. This step is very important. This helps the rice to cool dowm without becoming softer and stickier. Another important point is mix the pulikaichal only when the rice cools down. Never mix it with hot or warm rice. Fry coriander seeds, seasame seeds and two red chillies, make a powder of it and add to the puliyodharai. It greatly enhances the taste and flavour of puliyodharai. If you love crispier groundnut and channa dhal in the puliyodharai fry them seperately and mix with the dish at the end. Please adjust the spiciness of this dish according to your tolerance level. But remember you have to balance the sourness of the tamarind with enough chillies and salt. Happy cooking friends!!!

Vandikaran pachadi / Pachi pulusu (Raw rasam)

Simple dishes always taste great!!! Vandikaran pachadi or pachi pulusu is no exception for this rule. I knew pachi pulusu only after my marriage. I didn't also know until very recently such a dish exist in tamil . The credit of introducing vandikaran pachadi goes to Mani anna. He said that people  prepare this dish (perhaps as a quickie!!!) when they travel by bullock cart from one place to another during olden days (golden days!!!). Hence the name vandikaran (bullock cart owner!!!) pachadi (?). This dish also shows  how our ancestors were able to make quick, tastier dish with minimum ingredients available locally.

There are many varieties of rasam but this rasam is very unique and any other rasam which needs extensive preparation can't even come near it in taste. Bachelors can easily prepare this dish within a matter of few minutes. When you have a simple lunch or dinner with this dish your stomach will definitely be happy

Ingredients :

Red chillies

Mustard seeds

Garlic- 1 pod (optional)

Onion- 1 no (cut into bite sized pieces)

Tamarind- small lemon sized ball

Oil- 1-2 tspns

Method :

Soak the tamarind in water and extract it's juice. Add enough water and adjust the sourness according to your taste. Now heat a pan, add 1 tspn of oil. When the oil gets heated add the mustard seeds. Let it splutter. Then add the red chillies. Saute untill the red chillies get fried a bit (perhaps a minute or so). Then add this tempered material into the diluted tamarind juice. Now add enough salt,cut onions and crushed garlic piece inside the tamarind juice and with your hands crush everything together untill the red chillies are broken into small pieces. Taste the rasam once again and adjust salt according to your taste. The smell of raw onions, fried red chillies and mustard in tamarind water, hmmm.... simply heavenly!!! and it tastes heavenly too!!!!!  On the next day of preparation this dish tastes even better. When you eat rice along with this rasam you get a crispy onion with every bite of rice and I just enjoy it. Try it for a quick, tasty meal. Serve with hot rice and with any fried dish from chicken to papadam.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : The main imporatant thing you have to check is the sourness of tamarind and the salt. It should match your taste buds and let it be a little hot (add enough red chillies). Definitely you will be conquered by it's taste. Happy cooking!!!

Peerkangai sambhar/ Beerakaya sambhar (Ridge gourd sambhar)

Peerkangai  is one of my favourite vegetable but only when the skin is removed (not scraped out!!! note the difference) totally. In my home my mom used to remove the skin completely before making dishes out of it's smooth flesh. I know very well that cooking this vegetable with skin intact satisfies part of your daily fibre requirements.  But sometimes you love the taste you grew up with . This vegetable too has a mild sweet tinge to it. One important thing about this vegetable is, please taste it before using it for cooking. Some peerkangai has a bitter taste to it. You can't use it for cooking. My mom used to say that, snake has crawled over the peerkangai, that is why it has a bitter taste to it . So coming back to the point,  I have seen people using it for making poriyal, kootu and chutney but using this vegetable for making sambhar is not that usual, atleast in our household. When I ate peerkangai sambhar for the first time I immediately liked it. Here goes the recipe for it :

Ingredients

Peerkangai- 2 nos

Toor dhal- 1 cup

Onion- 1 no

Garlic- 2 cloves (crushed)

Green chillies- 3 nos

Curry leaves

Coconut scrappins- 2 tbspns

Coriander powder- 2 tbspns

Chilli powder- 2 tspns

Tamarind size of a very small lemon ( soak it and extract juice from it)

Mustard, fenugreek seeds and cumin seeds for tempering

A pinch of asafoetida

Salt and oil

Method

Cook toor dhal and keep it aside. For sambhar the dhal should not be cooked into a paste. In madurai they used to say 'paruppu malarthiruchanu paru', it means check whether the dhal has bloomed (very beautiful word ofcourse!!!). The dhal should be cooked but should not be made into a paste. Now remove the skin of peerkangai completely. Then cut them into bit-sized pieces. Keep aside. Cut onions and green chillies. Crush the garlic cloves. Heat oil in a kadai. When it gets heated add the fenugreek. When it is brown add mustard and cumin seeds. Let them splutter.  Then add onions, curry leaves, crushed garlic and a pinch of turmeric powder. Saute them till the onions become translucent. Then add the ridge gourd pieces and saute for a minute. Now add coriander powder, chilli powder and a pinch of asafoetida (perungayam). Saute for few seconds (take care not to burn them). After that add the tamarind juice and enough water. Bring the mixture to boil. Once peerkangai is cooked add salt to the mixture. Now add the cooked toor dhal to it. Boil for a few minutes and simmer it for 5 more minutes. Before simmering you can add coconut scrappings.  Tasty, tasty sambhar is ready to serve.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe :

Making sambhar is itself  an art. I will say what you should not do inorder to get a good sambhar .

1) Please do not cook the dhal and vegetables together in a cooker (might be you can save time but not your sambhar ). The vegetables should always be cooked in tamarind water. If you mix everything and make it into a paste, then it can no more be called as a sambhar.

 

2) For a good sambhar tempering is very important. I have seen people who cannot wait till the oil gets heated. They just throw in the mustard and other tempering ingredients before the oil gets heated. Never do it. First add fenugreek seeds in well-heated oil. When the seeds turn brown and emit nice aroma add the mustard and jeera seeds. Wait till the mustard splutters before you add onions. This kind of tempering brings out the real aroma of sambhar.

3) Never use a store bought sambhar powder. In my experience MTR is OK and the other sambhar powders are no good. Instead of sambhar powder use coriander powder and chilli powder seperately.  

4) Never add too much of tamarind or too little of tamarind. If you add too much of tamarind it becomes a pulikuzhambu and too little of tamarind makes it taste not so good. So be careful when adding tamarind juice. Add little by little and adjust according to the taste.

5) As I have already said do not make dhal into a paste. The dhal must be cooked and the individual lentils should be visible clearly.

6) If you get shallots (small onions) always use it instead of the big ones.

If you follow this I am sure your sambhar will taste good .

Happy cooking!!!

Chembu pulikuzhambu/ Chamma gadda pulusu (Taro root sweet and sour gravy)

Chembu /chamma dumpa/ taro root/ arbi /colocasia is a root vegetable. It's leaves are also widely used in cooking in India and in many parts of the world. I still remember the first time I had it. My mom made a fry out of it and it tasted awesome. It has a mild sweet tinge to it. It's a bit viscous when you cook it and you can feel the viscousness when peeling the skin. So I always thought frying is the only way to use this vegetable. However, one day one of my andhraite friend gave me the pulusu made of this vegetable. I am astonished by the smell and the taste of it. So I learned it from her. Thanks Sushmitha. Whenever I make this I do remember her.

The preparation is very simple. So now the recipe:

Ingredients

Chembu- 6 nos

Onion- 1 no

Green chillies as you wish

Curry leaves

a small piece of palmsugar (vellam)

Tamarind- size of a small lemon ( soak it and extract the juice)

Fenugreek seeds- 1 tspn

Mustard seeds, few dry red chillies and jeera seeds for tempering

Chilli powder- 1 tspn

Oil

Salt

Method

Cut the chembu into two and cook it till it becomes soft (take care not to overcook, it should be cooked but should retain the firmness). Cool the cooked pieces and then remove the skin. After that cut them into bite sized pieces. When you cook them, they emit a very nice aroma. I just love that. Now heat a pan. Heat enough oil for doing the tempering. When the oil gets heated  add fenugreek seeds, when they become brown and emit a nice aroma add mustard, whole red chillies and jeera seeds. When they splutter add onions, curry leaves and a pinch of turmeric. Saute them well till the onions become translucent. Then add a piece of palm sugar ( how much you need to add depends on you, if you like it more sweet add more, but the rule is it should balance the sourness of the tamarind). Then add the cooked chembu and mix well. Now add the chilli powder followed by  tamarind juice. Let this mixture boil well for 5 minutes. Then simmer for another 5 min. Add enough salt at the end and continue simmering for one more minute or till the oil seperates. This gravy/kuzhambu/pulusu is very flavourful and tasty. You will definitely get carried away by it's taste. My hubby doesn't even eat carrot poriyal because of its sweetness but eventhough this pulusu has a sweet tinge he doesn't mind.

Few taste enhancing tips : Add more curry leaves when tempering. This pulusu should be watery. If you need it thick, mash some chembu when they are cooked well. But it tates excellent if it is bit watery. If you like you can add a pinch of asafoetida (perungayam). Hope you enjoy this dish and  happy cooking!!!

Urundai Kuzhambu (Lentil balls in tamarind gravy)

Urundai kuzhambu is one of my favourite. My mom used to make it once in a while. I tried this after a long, long time. Made some changes to the usual method. It came out very well. So here comes the recipe:

Ingredients

Bengal gram dhal- 1 cup

Toor dhal- 1 handful

Moong dhal- 1 handful

Onions- 2 nos

Tomato-1 no

Fennel seeds- 2 tspn

Fenugreek seeds (methi)- 1 tspn

Mustard seeds- 1 tspn

Green chillies- according to your taste

Red chilli powder- 2 tspn

Coriander powder- 1 tbspn

Curry leaves

Dry coconut scrappings- 1 tbspn (If you have fresh coconut grind to paste two big pieces)

Tamarind- size of a small lemon

Oil

Method

First soak all the dhals (lentils) together in water for one hour. Then grind them in a mixer grinder (I have grounded the batter to a smooth consistency). Then cut one onion and 4 green chillies into small pieces. Cut curry leaves too into small pieces. Then mix the onion, green chillies, curryleaves and 1 tspn of fennel seeds to the batter. Add 1 tspn of chilli powder and salt to taste to the ground batter. Mix well. Heat oil in a wok (take enough to fry the lentil dumblings). When the oil is hot enough take small lemon sized batter and drop in oil. Fry till they turn golden brown. In batches fry the remaining batter in oil and keep aside. Now heat oil in a pan ( ~2 tbspn) , when the oil gets heated add 1 tspn of fenugreek seeds and 1 tspn of mustard seeds. When it splutters add the diced onion pieces, tomato pieces and curry leaves. Saute for a few minutes. Add salt according to your taste. Then when the tomato pieces are cooked good enough add 1 tbspn full of coriander powder and 1 tspn of hot chilli powder. Saute for few seconds (take care not to burn). Then add the tamarind extract (extracted from alredy soaked tamarind). Let it boil for 5 min on high flame. Then taste the tamarind garvy and adjust salt and chilli powder according to your taste. If you have ground coconut paste add it at this stage. ( Let the mixture boil for 3 more minutes before you add fried lentil dumblings) If you have dry coconut scrapping add it at the last stage after adding the lentil dumblings. Now add the fried lentil dumblings. Boil it for further 5 minutes and then simmer it until the oil seperates out. Tasty, tasty urundai kuzhambu is ready. Goes very well with rice and chappathi. Tastes good with idly too.

Many people will not fry the lentil balls. They grind the lentils without much water. They do not also grind the batter to a smooth consistency. They make balls out of the batter, keep them on idly stand and steam cook the dumblings. Ofcourse it’s a healthy version without much oil. But when done like that it takes atleast a day for the dumblings to soak fully in tamaring gravy. If you grind the batter smooth with little bit more water and fry them before adding to the tamarind gravy, you will have the advantage of the dumblings getting soaked immediately in the gravy and acquiring a very good tatste. If you steam the lentil dumblings, I personally feel that they still retain the raw smell. But its upto you to decide which method to follow.

Some taste enhancing tips for this recipe is : add lots of curry leaves both in the lentil batter and during tadka, If possible use gingelly oil (nallennai) when making tadka. Never forget to add fennel seeds (saunf) in the batter. Addition of fennel seeds imparts a nice flavour.

Happy cooking!!!