Vengaya thal Vazhaithandu koottu | a gravy with plantain stem and spring onions

Next in line is a simple koottu recipe with toor dal as the main ingredient. This koottu recipe is similar to the molagoottal that kerala-brahmins make. I used plantain stem / vazhaithandu and spring onions as the main ingredients. I had some spring onions growing in my backyard and wanted to try some traditional recipe with it. This koottu was a super-hit at home. Both plantain stem and spring onions have many health benefits. Spring onions are rich in vitamins including Vitamin C, Vitamin B2 and thiamine. They also contain Vitamin A and Vitamin K. In addition, these are good sources of copper, phosphorous, magnesium, potassium, chromium, manganese and fiber. And the best benefit of plantain stem is that it helps in fighting constipation problems. So do try this at your home.

Ingredients:

Plantain stem / Vazhaithandu / Unni kambu - 250 grams

Spring onions (leaves) - a bunch

Toor dal - 100 grams

Coconut (grated) - 4 tbsp

Jeera / jeeragam - 1 tsp

Dry red chillies - 1

Salt - to taste

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Oil - 1 tbsp

Mustard - 1 tsp

Curry leaves - few

Method:

• Pressure cook the toor dal with salt and turmeric powder and keep it aside.
• Chop the plantain stem and spring onion leaves into very fine pieces.
• Cook the plantain stem with enough water and salt. You can also pressure cook it for one whistle.
• Grind the coconut, jeeragam and dry red chilly into a smooth paste.
• In a kadai, add oil. Once the oil is hot add the mustard and curry leaves.
• Add the chopped spring onions and saute for 2-3 minutes.
• Now add the cooked toor dal, cooked plantain stem and coconut paste.
• Mix well, check for salt.
• Let the gravy boil for about 2-3 minutes.

Serve hot with rice and spicy pickle.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging

Marathoners doing BM# 80

An InLinkz Link-up

Nadan Mutta Curry

Nadan mutta curry is the malayalam name given to the kerala cuisine special egg curry which is served in almost all the restaurants. Nadan mutta curry translates to native egg curry. Kerala cuisisnes ofcourse will have lot of spices and coconut.

Eggs are very high source of protein. Actually I have seen many people avoiding egg yolks thinking it is full of fat. But the point to note is that you require fat to digest protein. Please remember that protein cannot digest on its own in our body. The egg yolks are known to be have almost all the nutrients and fats in it. However, in addition to these nutrients, the yolk also contains up to about half of the protein content of the egg. Eggs are low in calories but they are quite filling. So hard boiled eggs make an ideal breakfast menu.

In this recipe the main ingredient is coconut milk. I rarely make this curry because of my laziness to make coconut milk. I don't like store bought instant coconut milk. I always feel it tastes very artificial. I served this nadan mutta curry alongwith instant rice sevai and we all loved it.

Ingredients:

Eggs - 6

Onion (chopped finely) - 2

Tomato (chopped) - 3

Green chillies (slit opened) - 2

Ginger-garlic paste - 1tbsp 

Turmeric powder - 1/2tsp

Cumin powder - 1/4tsp 

Coriander powder - 2tbsp 

Red chilly powder - 1tsp 

Fennel seeds - 1tsp 

Bay leaf - 1

Thick coconut milk - 1/2cup 

Thin coconut milk - 1cup 

Oil - 2 tbsp

Salt - to taste

Method:

• Hard boil the eggs and keep them aside. Once the eggs are boiled, put the eggs in cold water. I find this easier to remove the crust later.
• Add little warm water to the grated coconut and take out 1st coconut (thick) milk and 2nd coconut (thin) milk.
• Heat the oil, fry the bay leaf and fennel seeds until they turn brown.
• Add the chopped onions and ginger-garlic paste and saute until the onions turns light brown. Add salt while frying onions.
• Add the green chillies, chopped tomatoes, cook until the tomatoes turns mushy.
• Now add turmeric powder, coriander powder, red chilly powder and salt. Saute for few minutes.
• Switch off the stove and allow the mixture to cool.
• Grind this mixture to a smooth paste.
• In the kadai add this smooth paste, 2nd coconut (thin) milk and the hard boiled eggs.
• Cook for few minutes until the gravy boils and thickens.
• Add the thick coconut milk, mix well and switch off the stove when the mixture is about to boil. Don't boil the thick coconut milk since it will curdle.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging

Marathoners doing BM# 80

An InLinkz Link-up

Mughalai Paneer

Mughalai Paneer Korma recipe was in my to-do list for long time.So I tried it last week for dineer along with plain parathas. Actually I was looking for a easy paneer recipe to make a quick dinner. I found this recipe with curd,cashews & coconut masala in Mughlai style and with a long list of ingredients. I found it interesting and prepared it by making small changes in the actual recipe to suit our taste buds. It came out really well with a restaurant touch.This gravy also goes well for Pulao & ghee rice.

The most important thing in this curry is that curd should be fresh & not sour at all else it will spoil the taste of this gravy. So friends,if you have fresh curd & paneer in hand,go ahead with this recipe.It tastes yum. This is one of the best mughalai curries that I have prepared. I will definitely be repeating this.

Ingredients:

Paneer - 1 cup ( 100gms cut into small cubes)

Cooking oil - 2 tbsp

Bayleaf - 1 no

Cinnamon – 1 inch

Cloves – 2 no

Cardamom - 1 no

Pepper corns - 1/8 tsp

Big onion - 1 no

Red chilli powder - 1/2 - 1 tsp ( add 1 tsp for spicy taste)

Dhania powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder 1/8 tsp

Garam masala powder – 1/2 tsp

Salt and water - as needed

Sugar - 1/2 to 1 tsp

To grind:

Grated coconut -1/4 cup

Fresh curd - 1/3 cup ( Should use fresh curd)

Cashew nuts - 8 nos

Ginger - 1 inch piece

Poppy seeds/Khus khus -1 tsp

Green chilli – 1 no

Method:

• Cut the paneer into small cubes or strips and keep them immersed in hot water till use. 
• Grind all the ingredients given under “ To grind” to a smooth paste. Add water to grind if needed. Set aside.
• Heat oil in a pan and saute Cinnamon, cloves, bayleaf, cardamom and pepper corns.Add big onions and saute until transparent.
• Add red chilli powder, turmeric powder, dhania powder, sugar and salt.Mix for few seconds without burning the masala.
• Now add the ground coconut paste and saute well. Lastly add garam masala powder and mix well.
• Add 1 cup of water and boil for few minutes.
• Check for taste. Add more spice powders if needed. 
• Lastly add the paneer cubes. Switch off the flame and garnish with coriander leaves if  you wish. Enjoy with roti and pulao !

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging

Marathoners doing BM# 80

An InLinkz Link-up

Paruppu Rasam | with garlic

Paruppu Rasam (South Indian Dal Rasam) is a variant of most widely prepared rasams in South India. Rasam is an integral part of the South Indian Cuisine.  It is also considered as a good digestive to be included in any South Indian meal. Infact, every South Indian household has their own special recipe for Rasam. This rasam is prepared using Toor dal and has a perfect mix of spice and tang. Since toor dal and tomato is the main ingredient here, this is also called as tomato rasam.

Rasam is prepared almost everyday in our house. We prepare many types of rasam like pepper rasam, jeera rasam, mysore rasam etc. Recently I got to know that Rasam is prepared using various vegetables / fruits to give it a very distinctive flavour. For me, rasam should include garlic and coriander leaves, at least one of the above should be there... Otherwise I find it difficult to take it. H loves to have rasam like soup rather than having it with rice. 

Ingredients:

Thuvaram paruppu,Cooked (toor dal) - 1/2 cup

Rasam powder - 1 tsp

Tamarind - 1 small goose berry sized

Tomato - 1

garlic - 10 flakes(I used big variety)

turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

salt - As needed

Coriander leaves - few

To temper:

Mustard- 1 tsp

cumin seeds/Jeera - 1 tsp

red chilies - 2 

curry leaves - 1 sprig

Ghee - 1 tsp

Method:

• Pressure cook dal,mash it.Add lots of water and keep it aside.
• Soak tamarind in hot water and extract tamarind juice.
• Heat a heavy bottomed pan and temper with the tempering items given followed by crushed garlic
• Fry for 30 seconds and then add the tomatoes cut into big cubes.
• Fry for a minute or two and add the tamarind juice, turmeric powder, rasam powder and salt.
• Once the tomatoes are cooked add the water from cooked mashed dal. mix well
• When it just starts to boil and becomes frothy, transfer the rasam to the serving bowl 
• Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and close immediately.
• Stir before serving , so that the dal mixes well. This rasam is meant not to be clear. So mix well before you serve each time!

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging

Marathoners doing BM# 80

An InLinkz Link-up

Chicken Masala

This chicken masala recipe is my MIL's staple recipe. We all love to have this along with chapathi or parottas. There are many many ways of making a chicken masala across India. Each region has their own way of making it with locally available taste enhancers like coconut, cashewnut, poppy seeds etc. Restaurants also serve many chicken masala recipes and most of them uses yogurt or cream to make a rich gravy. In this recipe the gravy is made just with onions.

Ingredients:

Chicken - 500 grams

Onions - 250 grams

Tomato - 1 small

Oil - 2 tbsp

Salt - to taste

Chilly powder - 1 tsp

Coriander powder - 1 tsp

Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves - few

To Marinate:

Garlic - 10 grams

Ginger - 10 grams

Green chillies - 10 grams

Salt - to taste

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Lemon juice - 1 tbsp

Method:

• Clean the chicken pieces. Cut them into small pieces.
• Mix the chicken pieces with the ingredients given under "to marinate". Refrigerate and marinate for about 4-6 hours.
• Pressure cooker these chicken pieces for one whistle so that the chicken pieces are 90% cooked.
• Chop the onions and tomatoes into very fine pieces.
• In a kadai, add oil. Once oil is hot add the chopped onions.
• Fry for about 15 minutes until the onions turn light brown. Add a pinch of salt so that the onions turn brown faster.
• Add all the powders and mix well.
• Add the chopped tomatoes and curry leaves. Fry for another minute.
• Now add the cooked chicken pieces along with the water. Simmer the stove and cook for another 10-15 minutes or until the gravy thickens.

Delicious chicken masala is ready!! Enjoy with chapathis.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 80

An InLinkz Link-up

Mamidikaya pappu | Raw mango dal

Mamidikaya pappu is a famous dish of Andhra Pradesh. I came across this dish for the first time in one of my fellow marathoners blog. But then after, I found this recipe repeating itself in many of the food blogs and I felt compelled to prepare this mango dal. I had prepared this recipe over the summer when mangoes were available in abundance but somehow did not get a chance to post it. So i reserved this recipe for this mega marathon when I decided on one of the ingredients as raw mango. 

It is a very easy recipe and it turned out very well. The dal is cooked with raw mangoes and mild spices. Try out this mango dal in the following summer season and i am sure you will love this mamidikaya pappu . Though this dish is generally paired with rice, it also goes well with rotis also.

Ingredients:

Raw mango - 1/2 cup      

Toor dal  - 3/4 cup 

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp      

Red chili  - 2     

Green chili -  2 - 3     

Garlic  - 2 pods     

Ginger - a small piece    

 Asafoetida - 2 pinches     

Onion   - 1     

Curry leaves -  few     

Ghee  - 1 tblsp     

Oil - 2 tsp     

Mustard seeds  - 1/2 tsp     

Cumin | jeera  - 1/4 tsp     

Salt - to taste    

Coriander leaves  - few 

Method:

• Peel and cut  the mango into cubes and cook it in little water.   
• Wash and and cook the dal with enough water, salt and turmeric powder. 
• Chop the onions finely, slit the green chili and finely chop the garlic and ginger. 
• In a pan add ghee and add mustard seeds, cumin, slit green chilies and red chilies. 
• Once the mustard splutters, Add the finely chopped garlic and ginger and the asafoetida 
• Cook for 2 minutes and add the finely chopped onions. Fry till the onions are translucent.
• Now add the dal and the cooked mango pieces. Add water as per the required consistency. Generally mango dal is made thick. I too made it thick. So I did not add any water.
• Allow this to boil for 5 minutes.
• Garnish with coriander leaves.

Mango dal is ready!!  Enjoy with rice or rotis.

Notes:

• You can also cook the dal along with the spices and mango pieces in cooker. Since I Tried it for the first time I tried everything on stove top.
• Add green chili according to the sourness of the mango. 
• I garnished the dal with fried onions along with coriander leaves to enhance the taste.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 68

An InLinkz Link-up

Rasakaalan

Today in JTTC - we are publishing recipes with R and I have chosen an authentic - palakkad iyer recipe - Rasakaalan.

This is yet another dish made with curd/yogurt and coconut. I have taken the basic recipe from palakkad chamayal - a blog which has many authentic palakkad iyer recipes. I have heard malayalees talking about kaalan, which is also served in sadhyas. I honestly don't know the difference between kaalan and rasakaalan or if there is a difference. Rasakaalan is ideally had with rice and a nice mezhukkupuratti as side dish. I have seen that this is a good combination with dosas too. This would be ideal for this summer season since curd cools the body.

I have listed many vegetables that I used to make this rasakaalan. But my mom says only chenai (yam) is mandatory. The rest is our choice

Ingredients:

Pumpkin (Mathan) – 100 gms

Ash Gourd (Vellari) – 100 gms

Raw Banana (Vaazhakka) – 1

Yam (Chena) – 100 gms

Sour curds (Thair) – 1 cup

Grated Coconut – 1 cup

Methi Seeds (uluva) – ½ tsp

Red Chilies (Unakka mulagu) – 3

Turmeric Powder – a pinch

Jaggery (sarkkara) – 5 gm

Mustard Seeds (kadugu) – ½ tsp

Coconut Oil – 2 tsps

Curry leaves – a few

Method:

• Wash and cut all the vegetables into cubes. Cook the vegetables with a pinch of turmeric, and salt in a wide-bottomed vessel.
• Heat a small pan, fry the methi seeds and 2 red chilies in about ½ tsp of coconut oil. Grind the fried methi seeds and red chilies with coconut adding little sour curds into a smooth paste.
• Once the vegetables are cooked, add the ground paste and let the mixture boil for 2 mins. Then add the beaten sour curds. Mix well. Check for salt. Simmer for 2 mins. Do not let the rasakaalan boil after adding the curds.
• Heat a tsp of oil in a pan, add mustard seeds. Once they splutter add one red chilly and the curry leaves - fry for 30 seconds -  add it to the rasakaalan.

Delicious Rasakaalan is ready to be served with hot white rice.!!! Serve with papads!!

Notes:

• Highly sour curd is used to make the rasakaalan.
• The vegetables can also be pressure cooked.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 63

An InLinkz Link-up

Cheera Morucurry

After breaking my heads this is the third recipe I got for the "no-tomato gravy" theme. This gravy is rarely made at home because with spinach we prefer thoran (side dish) or a gravy with dal and coconut. I have made Cheera morcurry very rarely.

I try to include some form of spinach twice a week in my menu. Cheera morucurry is another fabulous accompaniment for rice. Though I loved it with rotis to. This curry can be made with any type of spinach, I made with red spinach (chuvanna cheera) that is available in plenty especially in the summer season. 

Red spinach (Amaranthus dubius) has a lot of health benefits. Its known to aid digestion, its used for treating anemia and some kidney problems, its used for good vision and strong hair and so on. So if you come across this species of spinach immediately grab a bunch and make this curry at home.

Ingredients:

Red Spinach - 1 bunch

Thick yogurt - 1/2 cup

Coconut (grated) - 1/2 cup

green chillies - 2 nos

cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

garlic cloves - 2

Salt - to taste

turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

To temper:

Oil - 2 tbsp

mustard - 1 tsp

Red chilly - 1 no

shallots - 2 nos

Method:

• Wash the spinach and finely chop them. You can include the stem also.
• In a kadai add enough water and cook the spinach with salt and turmeric powder.
• Grind the coconut, green chillies, garlic cloves and cumin seeds.
• Once the spinach is cooked, mash it a little with a laddle. This is done so that the spinach blends well with the coconut.
• Add the ground coconut mixture to the cooked spinach. Mix well.
• Cook until the gravy boils.
• Switch off stove and add the yogurt gradually, stirring constantly. Yogurt is added after switching off stove so that the yogurt doesn't curdle.
• Check for salt.
• In a kadai, pour oil and add mustard seeds. Once mustard splutters, add the red chilly and very finely chopped shallots. Fry until the shallots start changing color to light brown.
• Pour this on top of the gravy.

Serve hot with some fried potatoes and papads!!

Note:

• This gravy has a semi solid consistency. It is not thin like sambar.
• The spinach can also be cooked in pressure cooker.
• After cooking the spinach, it can also be ground in a mixie instead of mashing. I generally don't prefer this.
• Garlic and shallots can be avoided in this recipe.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#62

Vendakkai Pulikozhambu

Pulikozhambus are Tamil Nadus favourite recipes. As the name suggests these curries have lot of puli (sour) taste in them and the major contribution to this sourness is from tamarind.

This kozhambu i recently made and i got a serious addiction to it. It turned out so yummy, i love it to the core. The smell of shallots, garlic and fresh ground masala just lifts you... Hope you will give this a try and let me know how it turns out for you..

This is best suited for rice although I guess we can try it with dosas too.

Some side dish accompaniments as suggested below

Baby potato fry

Papaya thoran

Cabbage Carrot Thoran

Beetroot poriyal

Ingredients

Ladies finger – 12 young, tender

Tamarind – 1 lemon sized ball

Sambar powder – 2 tsp

Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp

Sesame oil / Oil – 2 tbslp

Salt – As needed

Garlic – 3 flakes

To saute in oil and grind

Shallots (Small onion) – 12 

Coconut – 1/2 cup

To temper

Oil  - 2 tblsp 

Mustard – 1 tsp

Fenugreek seeds / Vendhayam / Methi – 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves – 1 sprig

Method

• Cut ladies finger into one inch pieces. Peel small onion, roughly cube tomato, slice garlic into thin circles. 
• Soak tamarind in 1/2 cup hot water for 30 mins, extract the juice with another 1/2 cup of water. Keep aside. 
• In a kadai, add a tblsp of sesame oil and fry the ladies finger in medium flame stirring every now and then until the slime goes away and black spots appear here and there. Keep aside. 
• In the same kadai, fry peeled small onion. Add oil if needed. 
• Once onion turns transparent,  add coconut and fry for a minute. Transfer to a plate.Let it cool down
• Mean while, Heat oil for tempering, temper with the items given under ‘To temper’, add sliced garlic. When garlic is fragrant, add the sauteed ladies finger
• Add extracted tamarind juice, and adjust water so that totally its 2 & 1/2 cups of water. Add turmeric, sambar powder and mix well. Simmer for 8 mins 
• Meanwhile grind the sauteed onion, tomato, coconut with little water to a paste. Add it to the boiling gravy along with little water
• Boil for 3 more minutes and until the gravy is thick. It thickens a bit after cooling down, so switch off accordingly 

Enjoy with rice and a side dish of your choice.


Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#62

Mambazha Pulissery

Am back with the Blogging Marathon!!! For this week I have chosen "no tomato gravies". Well when I selected this category I thought this should be fairly simple, we do make gravies every day for rice and rotis and I Should be able to pick up easily 3 among them. But when I sat down to select recipes I was in for a surprise - almost all the recipes used tomatoes. And then when I finally made a list of recipes I realized I have posted most of them.

It took me almost 3 days to finalize the 3rd recipe!!! Phew!!! I used to think I cannot live without onions but seems like I also cannot live without tomatoes!!

Mambazha Pulissery is a very famous summer gravy recipe all over kerala. Mangoes are cooked in thick coconut  + yogurt gravy and it tastes heavenly with rice and a slightly spicy thoran. The world famous combination (or kerala famous combination) for this curry is idi-chakka thoran. Most of the keralites would prepare this combination atleast once during the summer.




Check out good side-dish accompaniments
Idi chakka thoran
Chakka kuru upperi
Papaya thoran
Cabbage carrot thoran
Beetroot poriyal

Ingredients:

Ripe Mangoes - 3 nos (small)
Coconut (grated) - 100 grams
Yogurt (curd) - 1/2 cup
Green chillies - 2 nos
Oil - 2 tbsp
Mustard - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp
Chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - few
Salt - to taste



Method:

• Cut the mango into pieces and boil in water along with turmeric, chilly powder and salt. Let the mangoes cook until soft. The seed of the mango is also usually added to this.
• Grind the coconut with the cumin seeds and green chillies to a fine paste and add this to the boiling mango.
• Bring this to a boil.Blend the yogurt to make it smooth and add this to the mixture and immediately switch off flame. See to it that the yogurt does not split.
• Heat oil in a pan.  Add mustard seeds and when they crackle, add red chillies and curry leaves and at the end add fenugreek seeds and switch off flame.
• Add the above seasoning to the mango curry and mix well.
• Serve hot with rice and a side dish of your choice.

Notes:

• You can use any mango type for making this curry. We usually make it with nadan mangoes or country mangoes which normally grown in every household in Kerala.
• I didn't add red chilly in the tadka since when I tasted the curry I felt it already spicy.
• This curry is a good combination for dosas too.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#62

Chakka kuru manga curry

Yesterday when I posted chakka kuru upperi, most of them commented saying they are used to chakka kuru curry. Yes of course this is a very famous curry in the summer season since chakka (jackfruit) and manga (raw mangoes) are available in plenty!!!

I added drumsticks to the curry to make the curry more interesting. This is a very fabulous curry - just serve it with rice and a thoran of your choice. We also love to have this curry with dosa since it has a nice tangy flavor.

Ingredients:

Chakka Kuru (jackfruit seeds) - 1 cup

Drumsticks - 2 nos

Ram mango - 1/2 

Coconut (grated) - 1/2 cup

Garlic - 4 pods

Green chillies - 2 nos

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt - to taste

To temper:

Oil - 1 tsp

mustard - 1/2 tsp

Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp

Curry leaves - few

Method:

• Chop the drumsticks, chakka kuru and raw mango.
• Pressure cook the chakka kuru and raw mango together with salt and turmeric powder for one whistle (add 1 cup water). You can alternatively cook it in stove top also in a closed container with enough water.
• Microwave the drumstick pieces for about 4 minutes so that they are 75% cooked. I find that when drumsticks are pressure cooked, they become very mushy and break. So I microwave them so that they don't lose the shape.
• Meanwhile grind the grated coconut, garlic pods and green chillies into a fine paste by adding little water.

• Once the pressure is released, open the pressure cooker, add the ground paste, cooked drumstick pieces and 1/2 cup water and mix well. Check for salt and boil the gravy. When the gravy starts bubbling up from the sides switch off the stove.
• The gravy will thicken after some time so make it a little diluted.
• In a kadai pour oil, add mustard seeds. Once mustard splutters add the fenugreek seeds and curry leaves. Pour this on the gravy and mix well.

Chakka kuru manga curry is ready!!! Enjoy with rice and a thoran of your choice. Pappadam will be a good accompaniment.

Note:

You can avoid the garlic in this curry.

This curry can also be made without raw mango. In that case for sourness add sour curd with the coconut and grind.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#52

Poricha Kuzhambu

Poricha Kuzhambu is a very flavourful kuzhambu. I love the black pepper that goes into the ground masala. It adds a wonderful flavour to the kuzhambu. I have already posted one version of this kuzhambu. The already posted version is with Tuar dal

The speciality of poricha kuzhambu is using Karamani or red chori beans. So here I have used Chenai (yam) with red chori beans and have also added roasted groundnut. It is a delicious combination. Pair it up with some Paruppu Thogayal or with any thoran and you have a wholesome filling lunch ready

Ingredients:

Chenai/Yam – 350 grams

Karamani/Vella Payaru – 100 grams

Tamarind – gooseberry sized ball

Turmeric Powder – ¼ tsp

Salt to taste

To roast and grind

Channa Dal/Kadala Paruppu – 10 grams

Whole Black Pepper – 5 grams

Dried Red Chilly – 2 to 3

Asafoetida – a small piece

Scraped Coconut – 50 grams

For Tempering

Coconut Oil – 2 tsp

Mustard Seeds – 5 grams

Grated coconut - 10 grams

Curry leaves - few

Method:

• Soak the karamani in hot water for about half an hour. Soaking will help in better cooking.
• Pressure cook the karamani.
• Peel and chop the yam into small cubes. Pressure cook the yam pieces with just enough water and salt.
• Soak the tamarind in hot water for 10 minutes. Squeeze and take out the 1.5 cup of extract.
• Transfer the tamarind extract into a vessel, add turmeric powder and salt. Add salt carefully, as we have added salt to the yam pieces as well.
• Let this boil for 5 to 6 minutes. Then add the yam pieces and the karamani and let everything boil for another 5 to 6 minutes.
• In the meanwhile, in a small frying pan, heat ½ tsp of oil, add the piece of asafoetida, when it puffs up add the kadala paruppu and fry till it starts changing color, now add the black pepper and red chillies and fry till the dal turn golden brown, add the coconut and fry for another minute. Cool and grind to a smooth paste using little water.
• Add this ground paste to the boiling tamarind veggie mixture, mix well. Add about ½ cup of water if required to adjust consistency and boil for another 2 to 3 minutes.
• Remove from heat.
• Heat a small frying pan with oil, add mustard seeds once they splutter add the curry leaves and grated coconut. Fry until coconut turns brown and remove from heat. Pour onto the kuzhambu.

Poricha kuzhambu is ready!!! Enjoy your lunch with this hot kuzhambu and any interesting thoran.

Avial | Kerala Speciality | Veggies in Coconut and Yoghurt gravy

From the time I have started blogging I have been wanting to post this recipe. I make this dish rarely and the until now the photos were not good. So I had to postpone publishing this recipe. But this time I made this avial with the intention of taking good pictures and I was satisfied with the outcome. So here goes the recipe...

Avial is a yummy blend of different veggies in a spicy coconut and yoghurt gravy flavored with coconut oil. It makes use of vegetables like, Ashgourd, pumpkin, raw banana, yam, drumstick, yard long beans, snake gourd, carrots and French beans. Some people even add eggplants or brinjals. But I don’t add it. My mom says avial should not be made without raw banana and yam. Some people prefer to substitute yoghurt with raw mango or tamarind pulp. During mango seasons I do make avials with raw mangoes otherwise its yoghurt. Avial is made in two ways, one has more gravy and can be mixed with rice, just like Mor Kuzhambu, we call it Avial Kootan and the other is Gatti Avial, which is slightly thicker in consistency and acts more like a side dish for Sambar or Molagootal.

There is an interesting story about how avial came into being which my grandparents (in Kerala) often tell.The king of Travancore, conducted poojas, (there is some specific name - which I don't remember) for a specified period of days, every year, in which a many vedic scholars participated. One year, it so happened that there were no vegetables left for the last day of this pooja. A small quantity of different vegetables left over from the previous days was available. So the head cook, used all these left over vegetables and prepared a dish and he named it avial, which means a combination of this and that. This dish was liked very much by the king and all. The cook was handsomely rewarded and avial became a regular fare in any feast. 

Ingredients:

Ashgourd – 100 gms
Pumpkin – 100gms
Raw banana – 1
Yam – 100gms
Carrot – 1 Medium
Drumstick – 2
Beans – 75 grams
Potato – 1 small
Salt to taste
Yoghurt – 1/4 cup slightly sour
Coconut oil – 1 tbsp
Curry Leaves a few

To Grind:

Scraped Coconut – 1 ½ cups

Green chillies – 5 ( adjust according to taste)

Method:

• Wash peel and cut all vegetables lengthwise into about 2” sized pieces.
• In a heavy bottom Kadai, add the Yam, plantains, beans, potato at the bottom (since these veggies take slightly longer time to cook) and then add the other veggies. Add salt to taste. Add about 1 cup of water and cook covered until the vegetables are just done. They should not get mushy. If after the veggies get cooked there is lot of water remaining, cook uncovered till the moisture has almost dried up.
• I do it differently sometimes - I cook the vegetables (which take longer time to cook) in a pressure cooker just for one whistle and the others in a kadai with little water and then later merge both.
• In the meanwhile, grind fresh scraped coconuts with the green chillies into a fine paste using very little water.
• Add the ground paste and the sour yoghurt. Mix slowly without mashing the vegetables. Add curry leaves and drizzle the coconut oil. Mix carefully until the veggies are coated with the coconut and yogurt. Remove from heat.
• Yummy gatti avial is ready. This can be used as a side dish for Sambar and rice or with Molagootal.
• To make Avial Kootan, i.e avial of pouring consistency, use more of yoghurts and do not let the water evaporate while cooking the vegetables. This is best had with papads.

The famous combination is Adai and avial. Check the recipe for adai here.

Note:
Other vegetables that can be added are
snakeguard
chayotte (chow-chow)
bottleguard
long beans
Tindora (Kovakkai)

Linking this to "Walk through Memory Lane" event happening at Motions and Emotions conducted by Gayathriscookspot

Linking this recipe to the event South-Indian Cooking conducted by anuzhealthykitchen and hosted by nandooskitchen.