bonellilou

          Pongal ( both sweet and spicy ) is a favorite at home. As much as we like ven pongal with sambar and chutney, I like it much better when I serve it with this Onion and Tomato Gothsu. Since there is no dal/lentils in this Gothsu, you don't end up feeling heavy after eating pongal with it. It's very light and the slight sourness from the tomatoes goes very well with Ven Pongal, do try this Gothsu, the next time you make Ven Pongal, of course this goes very well with idlis and dosas too..

Need To Have

• Onion - 3 medium, chopped
• Tomatoes - 3 medium
• Urad Dal/Husked Black Gram - 2 teaspoons
• Mustard Seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
• Fenugreek Seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Green Chilly - 1, slit
• Ginger - 1" piece, chopped finely
• Curry Leaves - 10 - 15
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Sambar Powder - 3 teaspoons
• Coriander Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Cumin Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Chopped Coriander Leaves - 1/4 cup

Method


          Chop and grind 2 tomatoes and keep.


          Heat some oil, add the urad dal, mustard seeds, when it starts sputtering, add the fenugreek seeds and asafoetida followed by the chopped onions, curry leaves, green chilly and ginger. Saute it well till the onions turn pink, then add the remaining one tomato ( chopped ) and saute till it turns mushy.


          Then add the ground tomatoes, turmeric powder, sambar powder, coriander powder and cumin powder. Mix for a minute, then add 2 cups of water, salt, cover and cook on medium heat for about 7 to 10 minutes. Then garnish with the chopped coriander and serve.


Note
Use good ripe tomatoes.
I use homemade fresh coriander powder, this has a nice flavor than the store bought one.

          Wishing all of you a Very Happy New Year, back to blogging after almost a month. It's been a long time, since I had made anything special, in fact, this past month, I haven't even cooked that much. Today's post, Chettinad Poondu Kuzhambu, is something that I had made couple of months back. I had tasted this Poondu Kuzhambu in a restaurant as a side for soft dosas, it tastes spicy, tangy and sweet at the same time and goes very well with both rice and idlis and dosas too. I already have a recipe for Garlic Gravy on my blog, but this one is a little different from that one. I followed the recipe from here, made a few changes and left out the coconut. This would go well with Paniyarams too, in fact we had it with rice in the afternoon and I served it as a side dish for Paniyarams in the evening for dinner, do give it a try, you'll love it..

Need To Have

• Garlic - 2 whole bulbs, peeled
• Onion - 1 medium, chopped
• Curry Leaves - 20
• Tamarind - lime sized ball
• Turmeric Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Coriander Powder - 2 teaspoons
• Jaggery Powder - 2 tablespoons
• Urad Dal/Husked Black Gram - 1 teaspoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

To Grind

• Garlic - 8 cloves, peeled
• Onion - 1 medium, chopped
• Tomatoes - 2 small, tangy ones
• Curry Leaves - 25
• Fenugreek Seeds - 10
• Cumin Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Black Pepper - 1 tablespoon
• Sambar Powder - 2 tablespoons

Method


          First let us prepare the paste using the ingredients given under ' to grind '. Heat a tablespoon of sesame oil, add the cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds and black pepper, saute for half a minute, then add the garlic cloves, chopped onion and curry leaves and saute till the garlic cloves turn golden.


          Now add the tomatoes and sambar powder and keep mixing till the tomatoes turn soft, sprinkle some water if the mixture sticks to the pan.


          Remove, cool and grind it into a smooth paste, adding a little water if needed. In the meantime, soak the tamarind in about a cup of hot water for about 15 minutes, then extract the juice, strain and keep.


          Now heat about 2 1/2 tablespoons of sesame oil, add the urad dal and mustard seeds, when the mustard seeds starts spluttering add the 2 bulbs of peeled garlic, onion and curry leaves and saute till the garlic turns golden. Now add the tamarind extract, turmeric powder and coriander powder.


          Add the ground paste, salt and about 2 cups of water, bring it to a boil and then simmer it for about 30 to 40 minutes. Then add the jaggery and simmer for another 5 minutes. Remove, drizzle about 1/2 tablespoon of oil and serve.


Note
Use naatu thakkali ( country tomatoes ).
The final consistency of this gravy is thick and the garlic cloves should be soft.
Sesame oil is a must for this gravy/kuzhambu, it gives a unique flavor.

          We love Kerala food at home, both the husband and I love the Sadya served during Onam, in fact I want to cook a complete sadya, at least once. I don't know when that's going to happen, might be by next Onam, but I do make Kerala dishes once in a while, especially the moru kuzhambu. Olan had been on my do list for a long time, and finally I made it, a couple of weeks back. I don't know why it took me so long to try it, this being such an easy dish, the only major task, might be extracting the coconut milk, even that I wouldn't say is a big task. Anyway, this is a mild stew with pusinikkai or ash gourd/ winter melon and black eyed peas and the seasoning is done with coconut oil which gives a wonderful flavor to the dish. It goes very well with plain rice, but I think it might also taste good with dosas and adais too..

Need To Have

• Ash Gourd/Pusinikkai Pieces - 2 cups
• Black Eyed Peas - 1/4 cup
• Green chillies - 4
• Grated Coconut - 1 cup
• Curry Leaves - 15 to 20
• Coconut Oil - 1 to 2 teaspoons

Method


          Wash, pressure cook the black eyed peas and keep. Cook the ash gourd pieces ( about 1" long and 1/2" thick pieces ) with half the curry leaves, slit green chillies and salt. In the meantime, blend the coconut with 1/2 cup of warm water and extract the first coconut milk, then again blend it with 1 cup of water and squeeze out the second milk and keep. Once the ash gourd pieces are cooked, add the cooked black eyed peas and the second coconut milk and cook for 5 to 7 minutes. Then add the first milk, warm it through and remove.


          Heat the coconut oil, add the remaining curry leaves to it and saute for half a minute, then add it to the cooked olan. Serve it warm with some cooked plain rice and any spicy curry like a potato or colocasia fry.


Note
You can also add some yellow pumpkin/ parangikkai pieces in this dish.

          Kongu Nadu Keerai, this is a recipe that I had jotted down many years back and I had tried it once then. After that, when I wanted to do it, I thought I had lost the piece of paper, then finally after so many years, I found it back, all neatly jotted down in a notebook. I had taken it from a TV show, and I think it's a kind of spinach preparation done in Kongu Nadu region ( Coimbatore, Erode,Salem, Tiruppur and some more places in Tamilnadu, India belong to this region ). The recipe is very simple and different, it's like a Pachadi kind of dish and it goes very well with plain rice, give it a try next time when you make spinach..

Need To Have

• Chopped Spinach - 5 cups
• Tamarind - small marble size
• Chopped Small Onions - 1/2 cup
• Tomatoes - 2 medium, chopped
• Green Chillies - 2, slit
• Garlic - 3 cloves, smashed and chopped
• Coconut Oil - 1 teaspoon
• Salt to taste

To Powder

• White Sesame Seeds - 2 teaspoons
• Black Peppercorns - 1 teaspoon
• Jeera/Cumin Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Urad Dal/Husked Black Gram - 2 teaspoons

Method


          Cook the chopped spinach with about 1/2 cup water and salt. Soak the tamarind in 1/4 cup hot water, extract the juice, strain and keep.


          Dry roast all the ingredients given under ' To Powder ', cool and grind it and keep. Chop the onions, garlic, tomatoes, slice the green chillies and keep.


          Once the spinach is cooked, cool it a little, add the tamarind extract, chopped onion, garlic, chillies and tomatoes.


          Add the ground spice powder, mix and using your hands, coarsely mash the spinach, finally add the coconut oil, mix and serve it with hot plain white rice.


Note
When you mash and chop the garlic, it gives more flavor and also use small onions only in this recipe.
Cook the spinach uncovered, so that the green color is retained.

           Couple of weeks back, I had bought some green grapes, but they turned out to be too sour that we couldn't eat them as such. I had to do something with it or it would finally find its way to the garbage bin. I have tasted grapes along with pineapples in pachadis, but I had never tasted anything with just grapes alone. Somehow, even before I started searching the web, the word gojju got stuck in my mind, so I browsed only for grapes gojju, and finally settled down with this recipe here, of course I made a few changes to suit our taste. The gojju tasted sweet, sour and spicy at the same time and went very well with white rice..

Need To Have

• Green Grapes - 1 cup
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Urad Dal/Husked Black Gram - 1 teaspoon
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Fenugreek Seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 5 - 10
• Jaggery - 1 + 1/2 teaspoon

To Grind

• Chana Dal/Bengal Gram - 2 teaspoons
• Urad Dal/Husked Black Gram - 1 teaspoon
• Dried Red Chillies - 6
• Sesame Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Fenugreek Seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Coriander Seeds - 3 teaspoons
• Grated Coconut - 1/4 cup

Method


          Roast the chana dal, urad dal, red chillies, fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds, coriander seeds and when it's almost roasted, add the sesame seeds at the end, roast and remove. Cool and grind them with the grated coconut into a fine paste along with some water and keep.


          Heat some oil, add the urad dal and mustard seeds, when it starts sputtering, add the asafoetida followed by the curry leaves. Mix it for a few seconds, then add the green grapes and saute for a couple of minutes. Then add about a cup of water and salt, cover and cook till the grapes turn tender.


          Add the ground paste, bring it to a boil and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the jaggery, cook for 2 more minutes, garnish with more curry leaves and remove.


Note
The grapes give the sourness ( pulipu instead of tamarind ) to the dish.
The amount of jaggery varies according to the sourness of the grapes.
The final consistency should be like that of a slightly thick gravy, so adjust water according to that.

          I like jackfruit seeds as much as I like the fruit itself, though it's a pain to peel these seeds, they taste delicious. We can make curries with the seeds alone, but I like this sambar made with these seeds and murungakkai/drumsticks more than the curries. The flavor from the murungakkai and also the tamarind added in the sambar adds more taste to the seeds. Serve it with rice and any vegetable curry..

Need To Have

• Tuvar Dal/ Split Pigeon Peas - 1/3 cup
• Jackfruit Seeds - 1 cup
• Drumstick - 2 big, cut into 2" pieces
• Onion - 1 small, chopped
• Tamarind - small lemon sized ball
• Sambar Powder - 3 teaspoons
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Urad Dal/Husked Black Gram - 1 teaspoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Fenugreek Seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 10
• Chopped Coriander Leaves - 1 tablespoon
• Salt to taste

Method


          Pressure cook the tuvar dal with the turmeric powder and keep. Take the soft skin from the seeds while removing it from the fruit, the seeds can be left to dry overnight. Now the outer white skin will be dried up, I usually dice it into two and remove the outer skin, then you'll see the brown skin.


          Next, to remove the brown skin, soak it in water for sometime ( about 30 minutes, then scrape it out ).


          Heat some oil, add the urad dal and mustard seeds and cumin seeds, when it starts spluttering, add the asafoetida followed by the green chilly and onions. Saute it for a minute, then add the jackfruit seeds and drumstick and saute for another minute.


          Add the sambar powder, salt, about 2 cups of water, cover and cook till the drumsticks and seeds are cooked. Soak the tamarind in 1/4 cup of hot water for 15 minutes and extract the juice, then add another 1/4 cup water and squeeze out. Add the tamarind extract to the cooked drumstick and seeds and cook another 10 minutes, then add the cooked dal and cook for 5 more minutes. Finally add the curry leaves and chopped coriander and remove.


Note
The drumsticks that we get in Chennai cooks so fast, but the ones that I get in Bangalore takes a long time to cook, so adding tamarind slows down the cooking even more, that's why I add it after the drumstick is cooked.
You can pressure cook the jackfruit seeds too, but not with the tuvar dal, cook it for only a whistle or two, the seeds should not become mushy.
Some people don't remove the outer brown skin, also the outer white skin is easy to remove ony when the seeds dry out, the seeds are slippery when you remove them from the fruit.

          Curry Leaves/Karuvepillai, I can't imagine South Indian cooking without this, we season most of our dishes with it and use it in chutneys, podis, we just love the flavor of these leaves. This kuzhambu has been on my do list for so long, I have followed Mallika Badrinath's recipe, it's simple and delicious. We can serve this kuzhambu with rice, idlis and dosas, it's spicy tangy and very flavorful..

Need To Have

• Urad Dal/ Husked Black Gram - 2 teaspoons
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Small Onions, Shallots - chopped, 3/4 cup
• Salt to taste

To Grind

• Poppy Seeds - 11/2 tablespoon
• Tamarind - 2 small lemon size
• Grated Coconut - 4 tablespoons
• Curry Leaves - 11/2 cups
• Green Chillies - 3 long, big ones
• Dried Red Chillies - 6
• Garlic - 10 cloves
• Ginger - 11/2 " piece

Method


           Dry roast the poppy seeds and soak the tamarind in a little warm water. Heat some oil, saute the dried red chillies and remove.


          Then add the garlic, green chillies and ginger, saute for 2 minutes, then add the curry leaves and saute for 3 to 5 minutes and remove. Grind all the sauteed items with the poppy seeds, tamarind and coconut into a paste and keep.


          Heat some oil, add the urad dal and mustard seeds, when it starts spluttering add the chopped onions and saute till golden, then add the ground paste.


          Saute the paste for 5 to 7 minutes, then add salt and about a cup of water, bring it to a boil, then reduce and cook it on low heat for about 5 to 7 minutes, till oil floats on the top.


Note
The taste should be spicy and tangy with a nice flavor.
I like to use gingelly oil for making this kuzhambu, it gives a nice flavor.

          Today's dish is Sundakkai Vathal ( Dried Turkey Berries ) Kuzhambu, this is a recipe that I had jotted down so many many years back and it's a favorite till now. We're not using any fresh vegetables in this kuzhambu, just these dried and preserved sundakkai vathals ( the fresh turkey berries are prepared in a special way, so that they can be stored year around ). This is a tangy and spicy curry and I serve it with plain white rice along with some paruppu thogayal ( lentil chutney ), will post that recipe next. It's such a simple and flavorful kuzhambu, but tastes so delicious when mixed with the chutney and rice. Serve it along with some poriyal/stir fried vegetables and pappads for a complete and satisfying meal..

Need To Have

• Sundakkai Vathal - 15
• Tamarind - 1 lemon sized ball
• Jaggery - 1 teaspoon
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Urad Dal/Husked Black Gram - 1 teaspoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 10
• Salt to taste

To Grind

• Dried Red Chillies - 5
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Urad Dal/Husked Black Gram - 1 teaspoon
• Sesame Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Fenugreek Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Coriander Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Grated Coconut - 4 teaspoons

Method


          In a little oil, roast all the ingredients ( except the coconut ) given under ' to grind '.


          Cool  the roasted ingredients a little and then grind it with the coconut into a smooth paste.


          Soak the tamarind in a little warm water and extract the juice, add some more water and extract one more time, the juice should come to about 2 cups. Take the juice, add the ground paste, turmeric powder, jaggery and salt and mix it well.


           Heat a little oil, add the mustard seeds and and urad dal, when it starts spluttering, add the sundakkai vathal and roast it, till it changes color, then add the tamarind water mixture.


          Bring it to a boil, reduce the heat and cook for 7 to 10 minutes, then add the asafoetida and curry leaves and remove.


Note
While roasting the ingredients for making the paste, add the sesame seeds at the end, switch off and cover, the sesame seeds will start spluttering all over.
I have used sesame oil/gingelly oil for cooking, you can use regular cooking oil too.
If you can't find sundakkai vathal or any other vathals ( can use manathakkali vathal too ), then we can do the gravy with potatoes, soaked and boiled chickpeas.