Brinjal Rasavangi

This dish is dedicated to my Mom who is a wonderful cook. Every dish of hers is finger licking lip-smackingly tasty.

This dish tastes yummy with hot steamed rice with a dollop of ghee and vendakkai (Bindi) deep fried.
Even people who may not like brinjal will love this dish.

Ingredients:

1/4 kg tender brinjals cut into small pieces.
(Keep them soaked in water or else they will become black)
Toor dal 1/2 cup
1/2 lemon size Tamarind
Salt to taste
2 tbsn kabuli chana


For paste:
2 tbspn Dhaniya seeds
1.5 tbspn Channa dal(kadalaparuppu)
5 Red chillies.
1/4 cup Coconut , desiccated

For garnish:
1/2 tbsp Oil
1tsp Mustard
1 sprig curry leaves
A pinch of hing

Method

Cook toor dal in pressure cooker, mash and keep aside.

Soak 2 tbspn Kabuli channa overnight and pressure cook until tender.

Soak the Tamarind with salt and extract the juice.

Roast the dhaniya, channa dal, red chillies and grind into paste.

Roast the coconut in a drop of ghee and keep aside.

Cut brinjal and cook halfway with soaked Kabuli channa.

Add Tamarind juice and cook till soft.

Add the mashed toordal the paste and let it cook for five minutes.

Season with roasted coconut, mustard seeds, hing and Curry leaves.

Kathrikkai rasavangi is ready to serve.

Milagu kuzhambu

Ingredients:
Tamarind , one big  gooseberry size.
Salt 1 tsp

To roast and grind to paste:
2 tsp urad dal
1.5 tsp pepper corns.

To garnish
1Tbsp Gingelly oil
1/2 tsp mustard
A pinch of hing/Asafoetida.
1 sprig curry leaves or karuveppilai.

Clean and soak the tamarind for 1/2 an hour. Extract the juice and keep aside.

Roast the urad dal and pepper corn in a pan and let it cool

Grind them  to a smooth paste.

Mix into  the tamarind juice without any lumps.

Add half a pinch of raw hing/asafoetida and let it boil till the raw smell goes.

In a heated pan add gingelly oil and as soon as the oil is hot add mustard seeds, half a pinch of hing and curry leaves and pour it on the milagu kuzhambu.

Mix with hot steamed rice with gingelly oil .Tastes yummy with paruppu thuvayal and sutta urad dal appalam.

Paruppu Thuvayal:

This is a very tasty and simple thuvayal and goes best with Milagu kuzhambu.


Ingredients:

3 tablespoons Toor dal
2tsp Pepper corns
A pinch of hing
Salt to taste


Roast the toor dal and peppercorns in a drop of oil in low flame till the dal turns golden brown.
Let it cool.

Grind with a pinch of hing/asafoetida and salt  adding water little by little.

Serve with hot steamed rice, a dollop of  milagu kuzhambu ,1 tsp gingelly oil and sutta appalam.

Tastes really yum.

Lemon rasam

Lemon rasam:-

This is again a very huge favorite in our house.
It is a compulsory dish in each Iyengar's house on Dwadasi.

Ingredients:
 1/2 cup Toor dal
 Juice from 1/2 a lemon.
 1 tsp Rasam powder.( see my earlier blog)
1/2 inch ginger.
1 green chilli
1 medium sized tomato
a sprinkle of hing powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder

To garnish
1 tsp ghee
1/2 tsp mustard
1 sprig curry leaves
a handful of fresh coriander leaves
a pinch of Hing powder.

Wash the dal and add  the turmeric and water .
Place in pressure cooker  and let it cook for 4,5 whistles so that the dal is well cooked.
 Once cool, take it out and mash the dal nicely .
Slit the green chilli. Dice the tomato. skin and scrape the ginger.
In a vessel, add the mashed dal, chilli, tomato, ginger and Rasam powder, 4,5 curry leaves and a sprinkle of hing powder along with salt.
Let it simmer till the tomato pieces become soft.
Take it off the fire and  let it cool a little.
 Meanwhile heat a pan, add ghee and add the mustard seeds. once the splutter, switch off and add hing and curry leaves and pour it on the rasam.

Add the lemon juice, mix well and  sprinkle coriander leaves and serve  with hot steamed rice and ghee.
Note: This Rasam should not reheated as the lemon juice  will turn bitter.

This Rasam  Rice tastes great with Pudalangai kootu and roasted appalam.

Daal for Lemon Rasam on the boil

Lemon rasam

Pudalangai poricha kootu

Pudalangai Poricha kootu:-

Ingredients:

1 medium sized snake gourd, washed and cut into pieces
1/2 cup yellow moong dal
1 tbsn scraped coconut
1/2 tspn pepper corns
1/2 tspn jeera
salt to taste

to garnish:
1 tsp ghee
1/2 tsp channa dal
1/2 tsp urad dal
1/2 tsp jeera
1 sprig curry leaves(karuveppilai)

Wash the dal and snake gourd, add a 1/4 tsp turmaeric powder and keep in the cooker with  water just enough to  cover the dal and  vegetable.
Switch off after two whistles.

Grind the coconut, peppercorns and jeera to a smooth paste.

 Open the cooker and take out the veg and dal.

Add the coconut paste, salt and  let it simmer  for 5 minutes.
Heat the ghee in a pan and  fry the channa dal and urad dal one by one.
Switch off and add the jeera and  curry leaves.
Add it to the kootu and switch off and serve hot
This makes a great side dish with rasam and steamed rice and ghee.
I love to eat this with hot rice and ghee  with avakkai or lemon pickle  and appalam.

Pudalangai poricha kootu

Mango Bhaji

Manga Bhaji (mango morkozhambu)
This is a  typical Iyengar dish and seriously, it is an acquired taste.


What goes in:
1 Raw Mango, cut into pieces.

Raw mango

2cups curd, whisked nicely.
2 green chillies, slit
2 Mor Milaga ( Green chillies soaked in salted buttermilk and sundried)
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
1/2 Fenugreek seeds
A pinch of Hing(Asafoetida)
Salt to taste.

Wash and cut the Mango into big pieces.
Pressure cook with very little water and let it cool.
 Whisk the curds in a vessel and add salt.
 Heat a pan and add a little oil and add the mustard seeds and Fenugreek seeds. As soon as they splutter, add green chillies and Asafoetida and switch off.
Fry the mor milagas  in a little oil and add it to the pan.
Add the curd to the mixture.
 Once the Mango is cold, add it to the curd. Check and adjust for salt.
This dish can be  had with hot steamed rice and ghee, and is great as a side dish for Dosa, Poori, etc.  and tastes like  Khadi.

Steamed mango

Mango bhaji

Rasam powder

The secret behind a delicious rasam is a good home made rasam powder.

Ingredients
1/2 cup Dhaniya
1/4 cup Toor dal
1Tbsp channa dal
25 grams black pepper
25 grams jeera
1  dry haldi(virali manjal)
1/2 cup Red chillies
A handful of curry leaves(kadi patha).

Dry these in the sun for a two days.
Or else dry roast each ingredient separately till you get a  nice fried  aroma .
Kadi patha should crumble when touched.
Cool and grind  coarsely in mixie.
Store in an air tight bottle.

PS:  I have given these measures for 15 days use so that the powder remains fresh.

Tomato and paruppu rasam

Rasam is an integral  part of  the south Indian cuisine. No lunch is complete without the flavorful rasam. There are various types of rasam, and each has a unique flavor and taste of it's own.

I give below the recipe for a typical Tam Brahm Rasam. We Iyengars call it Sattamudhu.

Ingredients:
1 cup of tamarind water squeezed out of a marble sized ball.
1 tsp rock salt.
(I steep  the tamarind and salt  in water and microwave it  for 2 minutes so that  I get the full extract. The salt also helps.)
1/2 cup Toor dal, cooked and mashed nicely.
1 medium sized tomato, washed and diced to small pieces
3 tsps of Rasam powder.
1/2 inch ginger, skin scraped and grated.
1 pinch hing
A handful of fresh kadi patha (kauveppilai)

For Garnishing
 2 tsp ghee
1/2tsp mustard seeds(kadugu)
A sprinkle of hing powder.
A sprig of kadi patha
A handful of fresh coriander leaves, cut into small pieces.


1) In a vessel add the tamarind extract, tomato pieces (keep aside 1/4th of the pieces),ginger,  hing, rasam powder and kadi patha and let it boil till the tomatoes are soft and can be mashed.
2) Once the raw smell of the tamarind goes, add the mashed toor dal, and the balance tomato pieces.
3) At this stage, the Rasam should not boil too much. Swith off as soon as it starts to foam.
4) Heat the ghee, add the mustard, as soon as it starts spluttering , switch off, add the hing powder and kadi patha.
5) Add this to the rasam. Garnish with the fresh coriander and serve with hot rice and ghee.

KEERAI KOOTU

This is a favourite  dish in our house.
 It goes well with hot rice mixed with ghee, and roasted pappad.
This can be served as a  side dish for rasam rice  and also goes well with rotis/phulkas.

What goes into this dish:
For the Kootu
1 bunch Mulai keerai(known as Amaranth, Chaulai in Hindi,  and thottakura in Telugu)

Wash to remove sand particles and cut  the greens .

3 Tbsp moong dal
2 Tbsp Coconut grated
3 Red chillies
1/2 tspn jeera

To garnish
2 tsp ghee
1/2 tsp channa dal
1/2 tsp urad dal
1/4 tsp jeera


1) Wash the moong dal and add the washed and cut greens in a vessel.
2) Add 1/4 cup water. (place the dal first and top with the greens).
3) Place in cooker cover and cook. Switch off after 3 whistles.
4) Meanwhile grind the coconut, red chillies and jeera to a smooth paste.
5) Open the cooker, and mix the dal and greens well.
6) Add the ground coconut paste and salt and cook for 5 minutes.
7) If the kootu is too thick, add a little water.
8) Check for salt and adjust.

Garnish
Heat the ghee  and add channa dal, urad dal and switch off as soon as the dals are light brown in color. Add jeera while the ghee is still hot.

Serve with hot  rice , ghee and pappad.

Jeera Rice with Paneer Butter Masala

Jeera Rice


This is a simple and flavorful rice, and can be made very easily  and quickly.
 Good lunch box choice. Goes very well with simple dal fry, or Dal Makhni. Today I made this with Paneer Butter Masala as side dish.

Ingredients.
1 cup  Basmati or long grained rice, washed and soaked for 30 minutes and drained
1 Tej patta
2 Tbsp butter
2 tsp jeera
2 green chillies,

Heat a pan, and add the butter, add the Tej patta and jeera seeds. once the seeds splutter, add the drained rice and fry till the rice is fried .
Add 2 cups water and salt to taste.
close the lid and leave for two whistles and switch off. once the pressure is down open and fluff the rice and serve hot with Paneer Butter Masala.

Paneer Butter Masala:-

Ingredients:
250 gms  fresh Paneer cut into cubes
2 medium size onions
3 Garlic pods
2 inches ginger
2 large or3 medium sized tomatoes
10 cashews
1/2 tsp khuskhus
2 green chillies
1 Tej patta
1 tsp chilli powder
2 tsp garam masala powder
2tsp coriander powder
2 tsp kasuri methi
100 gms Butter
1/2 cup fresh milk
Salt to taste.

Grind  separately into a smooth paste.
1)Onion, garlic and ginger
2)cashews and khus khus
3)tomatoes.

Heat half the butter in a kadai.
Add the cubed paneer pieces and fry till they turn golden. remove them.
 Now add  the tej patta and onion garlic paste and fry for 5 minutes till a nice aroma comes. The paste will look  slightly golden brown.
slit the green chillies and add it to the past.
Add the chilly powder, garam masala, coriander powder, and kasuri methi
 and fry for a minute. Add the cashew paste and saute for 2 minutes.
check and add a little more butter if required
Now add the tomato paste and keep frying.
The butter will start to separate from the paste.
Pour the milk and  water if required to the paste for the right consistency.
Now add the paneer cubes and mix thoroughly.
Let it simmer for 12 minutes
Switch off and transfr toa serving dish.
Garnish with the rest of the butter and serve hot with  rotis or  pulao/ jeera Rice.

Podi potta Kovakkai

People generally don't like  kovakkai, aka Tindora, aka Ivy gourd.

 But this is a very fibrous vegetable , good for Diabetes and available all over India.

 I also understand that  it is available in  most Indian stores in the US.

 Since it was not a favourite in our household, one day I decided to make it differently and it was an instant hit .

Ingredients:

Kovakkai ---1/2 kg   washed and cut in round slices or in thin strips vertically

(Please remove those which are red inside as these may upset the stomach)

Oil --- 2 TBSP

Mustard seeds ---1/2 tsp

Channa dal 1/2 tsp

Urad dal 1/2 tsp

Hing powder--- a pinch

Turmeric powder---1/4 tsp.

For Podi:

Channa Dal --- 1 Tbsp

Dhania seeds --1 Tbsp

Red Chillies--- 5-6

Roast all the ingredients for Podi  one by one in a dry  pan, to golden brown color.

Cool and grind into  powder and keep aside. ( Since it is dry roasted, you can  double the portions and store it for future use)

 We at home prefer it to be coarse so that we can taste the channa dal.

In a pan add oil, let the mustards crackle, add channa and urad dal, hing and turmeric powder one by one.

Add the sliced Kovakkais,and  salt , mix well and  cook in low flame.

Stir the vegetable every 10 minutes.

Cooking Kovakkai takes time and you need to be patient.

 Fry till is almost done.

 Now add the roasted powder and  mix well.

Cook for a few minutes till the  powder coats all the slices and  switch off.

 PS. I do not add the powder in the beginning itself as it will burn and  taste bitter .

B for Bhindi.

Bharwa Bhindi

Today I will share the recipe for Bharwa Bhindi.
This is a very tasty  dish  and can be eaten as a  side dish for rotis, naans, and even south Indian vatha kuzhambu sadam.

I am happy to dedicate this dish to my eldest sister, Nirmala who made this for me first.

Ingredients.

One kilo fresh tender bhindi. washed and dried completely

1 tablespoon oil

Mix together for stuffing:-
One tablespoon Aamchur.
2 teaspoons dhaniya powder
3 teaspoons Mirchi powder
3 teaspoons Garam Masala
2 teaspoons Turmeric powder
2 teaspoons Salt

Slit the bhindis at both the ends for easy stuffing

Stuff the powder inside the bhindi

Ready for cooking

Grease a microwave bowl, add the stuffed bhindi, and drizzle oil on top. Microwave on high for 2 minutes, slightly turn over and microwave again for another 2 minutes. Repeat until bhindis are fried.

Serve hot with rotis, naans or steamed rice. 

A for Adai

Navadhanyam Adai

My son came home one evening, hungry enough to eat a whole horse and wanted a tasty tiffin. I thought hard and decided to make something special......  Navadhanyam Adai.

I had a cup of sprouted lobhia, wheat, moong, methi, horse gram, and black urad dal.

Along with this I soaked a quarter cup of toor dal and channa dal, half cup of idli rice and raw rice for half an hour

Once it was ready, I ground it along with 8 chillies, curry leaves and coriander stems and leaves. 

Spread the batter on a heated tawa, add oil and sprinkle a  few coriander leaves on it.

Once the adai is crisp on side, turn it on the other side.

For instant tomato onion chutney:

 Grind one big tomato, one medium size onion, two red chillies to paste. In a heated pan, splutter mustard seeds and curry leaves, add the paste and salt.

Let it cook till the raw smell goes, garnish with coriander leaves and serve with hot adai.

Hot piping adai with instant tomato and onion chutney.