Vatral kulambu

Vathal kulambu, vaTral kulambu, vathakkulambu, vatha kuzhambu
Vathak kulambu or vatral kulambu is a spicy curry prepared in South India. Vatral means a some sun dried veggie or evaporated stew. In hotels they serve this curry over steamed rice , after the sambar rice. Though it is very common, only a few people do it in a graceful manner. From my childhood the chef inside me was searching for those wonderful people and luckily i found her in Missouri,USA.Yes , she is my friend Archana's mom 'Nalini aunty' and she taught me to do this vatral Kulambu.She is a great dietician and excellent home maker.I admire her a lot.I came across her vathak kulambu while we went to the lake of Ozark and I became addicted to it.She came to my house and taught me how to do this mouth watering vathak kulambu.I tried my best to present it in her way.She taught me with eggplant and drumstick.But here I am replacing the vegetables with Manathakkali vatral. Vathal/ vatral means a sundried vegetable.
The Botanical name of this berry is 'Solanum nigrum. Manathakkali is called 'Black NightShade' in English. In Hindi its called 'Makoy' or 'Manathakkali'. In Telugu its called 'Kamanchi Chettu'.

Ingredients
Manathakkali vatral - 2 tbsp
sesame oil- 2 tbsp
Tamarind - 1 small lemon size
chilli powder- 1 tsp
coriander powder- 2 tsp
sambar powder- 1 tsp
turmeric powder - a pinch
asafoetida- a pinch
cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
fenugreek seed- 1/4 tsp
curry leaves - 1 brig
chopped Red onion or shallot - 3 tbsp.
Garlic - 5 pearls
salt - to taste
jaggery - 1 tsp

Method:
Extract juice from tamarind.
Heat oil in a pan , crackle mustard seeds and add cumin seeds , fenugreek / methi seeds, curry leaves and kulambu vathal .Take care not to char the items.
Immediately add asafoetida powder ,chopped red onion, curry leaves , garlic pearls and fry till the onion becomes golden brown.
Add chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder , sambar powder and saute for 10 seconds.
Now introduce the tamarind extract and salt.
Let it boil and becomes a thick gravy.
Add a small piece of jaggery (10 gms) and switch off flame.

Serving suggestions:
Makes 250 ml of Vatha kulambu.
It can be served as a side dish for rice, chapathi and curd rice.
Goes fine with hot rice and pappad.
Manathakkali vathal is capable of curing ulcers.
So if used as a medicinal food , add freshly ground black pepper instead of chilli powder.
This can be preserved even outside refrigerator for 3 - 4 days(If oil is used liberally and handled with hygiene).
So this can be used for picnics and tour food packages.
This kulambu can be prepared and saved in fridge for a month.

Ribbon Pakoda

Basically I love home made snacks instead of buying them. Now it is rainy and cold outside. My Indian taste buds started craving for a spicy and crispy snack . The end result is Ribbon Pakoda or Oolai pakoda (in Tamil).
This is the first time i have ever prepared it and it became a wonderful snack for this weekend. I have given the original recipe here but I replaced butter by adding 2 tsp of ordinary cooking oil.
Try this recipe and tell me how it came out.



Ingredients:
Rice flour - 2 cups
Besan flour - 1 cup
asafoetida - 1 pinch
Red chilli powder - 2 tsp
salt - 2 tsp
oil - 500 ml
curry masala powder - 1/2 tsp
Butter - 1 tbsp

Method:
Mix salt with one cup water.
Add chilli powder, asafoetida, curry/ garam masal powder , rice flour and besan flour thoroughly.
Then add salt water little by little and make a dough like chapathi dough.
Now coat it with softened butter and mix well.
Heat a pan with oil.
Fit the ribbon pakoda maker in the "Murukku maker" and squeeze long strands of dough into hot oil.
After all the bubbles get settled, turn it using a spatula .Take out the golden brown ribbon / oolaai pakoda and drain oil using a tissue paper.
Generally it will not consume oil.

Serving suggestions:
Makes nearly 8 big rounds of ribbon pakoda.
Serve hot as evening snack along with tea / coffee.
After cooling they can be stored in air tight containers and will last for 2 weeks.(But will vanish soon as no one control themselves on seeing them ..ha .ha)

Murungakkai Puli kulambu

I think this is a kind of 'kara-kulambu' or spicy curry prepared in Tirunelveli, Tamilnadu, India.
I learnt this recipe from my mom .we had a very large drumstick tree in our backyard and my mom used to present cartloads of drumsticks to whoever asked her.Moreover she used to make delicious curries with the drumstick and its leaves.During those days we mock at our mom for making Murungakkai curry frequently.But after coming to USA, I realize the true value of those veggies on seeing their prices in Indian stores.

Ingredients:
Drumstick - 1
Small eggplant - 1
Tamarind extract - 2 tsp
shredded coconut - 1 tbsp
red onion - 1/2
cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
mustard - 1/2 tsp
fenugreek seeds- 1/2 tsp
curry leaves - 1 brig
oil - 1 tbsp
asafoetida - 1 pinch
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
coriander powder - 2 tsp
turmeric powder - 1 pinch
water - 2 cups
salt - 2 tsp

Method:
Cut drumstick into 2 inch pieces and slit each piece into two.
Cut the eggplant into small pieces.
Grind coconut, onion and cumin seeds with little water.
Heat oil in a pan.
Crackle mustard seeds , add fenugreek seeds , curry leaves and asafoetida.
Add the cut vegetables, tamarind paste , 2 cups water , chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, salt and close tightly with a lid.
After the vegetables are cooked add the coconut - onion paste and switch off after it starts boiling.

Serving suggestions:
Makes 500 ml of Puli kulambu.
It can be served for 5 people.
Serve hot with steamed rice and and any vegetable side dish or with egg omlete.

Onion - Tomato Chutney

The figure shows Adai served with onion-tomato chutney.

Ingredients:
Red / yellow onion - 1 medium size
Roma tomato -2
urid dhal (black gram) - 1 tbsp
Dried Red chilli - 4
tamarind - 2 inch

mustard seeds - 1 tsp
curry leaves - 1 brig
oil - 2 tsp
Salt - tsp

Method:
Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan.
Fry the urid dhal to red color.Keep aside.
In the same oil fry the red chillies and keep aside.
Add 1 tsp oil , fry the chopped onion to golden brown , keep aside.
In the remaining oil, crackle the mustard seeds and fry the curry leaves with chopped tomatoes.
cook the tomato with very little water. Switch of flame. Add the tamarind and mix everything. Let them cool.
Grind them in an Indian mixer or blender with 1 tsp salt.
Spicy , red oinion-Tomato chutney is ready.

Serving suggestions:
Serve as side dish with Idly , dosa or Adai.
Best side dish for adai.

Sesame Mothagam

After posting my recipe for mothagam (sweet rice mass) , I got an excellent recipe from my friend Mrs.Kalpana Murugesan. She is very good at cooking and hosting parties and I adore her recipes a lot.
Here is her yummy recipe.

Ingredients for pooranam (sweet filling):
jaggery- 1 cup
ground nut - 1/2 cup
sesame seeds- 1/2 cup
shredded coconut - 1/2 cup
Dahlia splits - 2 tbsp
cardamom- 4
raisins- 10
cashews-10

Ingredients for rice covering:
rice flour - 2 cups
Salt - a pinch
ghee/oil- 2 tbsp
Hot water - 1 cup

Pooranam preparation:
Dry roast the sesame seeds and ground nuts separately and coarsely crush them in a blender along with jaggery.
Now add the shredded coconut and crushed cardamom.
Fry the cashews and raisins in ghee and add it to the mixture.
Mix well and make lemon size balls out of it and keep aside.

Mothagam preparation:
Heat a frying pan and dry roast the rice flour until it looses all the moisture and becomes loose.
Add water,ghee/oil , salt to the flour and mix well to get a chapthi dough (bread / pizza dough).
Now take a small ball of rice dough, flatten it in your palm.
Put one sweet pooranam ball over the rice disc and start covering it inside the rice dough.
The rice coating should be thin.Make the shape of a coconut with kudumi.
Now arrange the mothagams/ kozhukattai on a idly baking tray and steam it like idly for 10 minutes.

Serving suggestions:
Serve hot / cold as dessert or snack.

Soft dosai

This is a softer version of dosa with very little oil.The other version is a crispy dosa called murugal dosa or paper roast dosa. Normally all the families in South India prefer to make this dosa for breakfast and dinner.This dosa can be prepared some time before we occupy the dinning table and stored in hot boxes. In Madras many restaurants call this dosa as kal dosai or set dosai and serve them as a pair along with "ketti chutney" (thick coconut chutney).
Ingredients: Idly rice - 3 cups black gram dhal - 1 cup fenugreek seeds - 1 tbsp salt - 3 1/2 tsp (1 tsp for a cup of rice and 1/2 tsp for a cup of black gram) baking soda - 1/2 tsp (optional if you want a very soft dosai) Sesame oil - 50 ml (This measurement is for those who use Indian Mixer . If you use an Indian grinder take 3 1/2 cup Idly rice and 1 cup urad dhal, 1 tbsp fenugreek / methi seeds)
Batter preparation: Soak rice separately for 5 hours. Dhal and fenugreek seeds need to be soaked together for about 3 hours. After that grind dhal till it becomes smooth. Add ice cold water while grinding to get soft idly. Rice should be ground separately.Do not add lot of water. The batter should be thick like softened butter. Add salt and the mix dhal with the rice mixture . Store this in a large vessel so that there is enough space for batter to rise. Grinding and storing of batter should be done the previous day, preferably in the night so that the batter would be ready the next day. The batter should be allowed to ferment for about 15 – 18 hours. I usually keep it inside the oven to get warmth.The next day, mix the batter well and it can be used to make idly or dosa. Generally people prepare Idly with the first day batter and the remaining batter can be used to make dosa. Moreover dosa comes out very well if the batter is more fermented. we can add a dash of yeast to the freshly ground batter to enhance fermentation of the batter.The remaining batter can be preserved in tight containers in refrigerator.
Dosa preparation
Heat a dosa tawa (non stick or iron).Drizzle 2 drops of sesame oil over the pan.
Using a clean cloth or wooden spatula rub the oil uniformly over the tawa.
Add baking soda and mix the batter well.Take a ladle (A ladle is a type of spoon used to serve soup or other liquids) of batter and pour it gently over the tawa and do not spread it or press it.Reduce the flame to medium heat.
After a minute turn over the dosa. After 30 seconds take out the dosa .
Again increase the flame, apply oil and repeat the above process to make a set of dosas.  
updated photos: (May 2013) 
Xav presented me this beautiful and handy electric griddle. I was eying on this during Thanks giving sale by walmart. He know my passion for kitchen gadgets and vessels:) Surprisingly there was no rush in the walmart we went and got this one for $5. Love this superb gift!

Flip and cook both sides of dosa, don't press it. Let it be soft and spongy.

soft dosai with bubbles allover .

I am happy to make dosai in the new electric griddle we bought on Thanksgiving day from walmart.

Serving suggestions:
Serve hot with Coconut chutney , sambar or any spicy kuruma.I have shown tomato kuruma along with set dosai.
Makes 25 - 30 dosa.

Approximate calories:
1 small home made dosa (8-9 inch dia) = 100 kcal

Chettinad chicken curry

This is a kind of chicken fry with some thick gravy .It has an unbeatable flavour and taste.
The chettinadu chicken varies from other kind of chicken curries by its spicy taste and some of the masalas used fo grinding.
Here is the perfect chettinadu chicken.

Ingredients:

chicken - 2 lb(a whole chicken cut into big pieces)

To chop
Small onions - 20 (100 gm)
Tomato -2
green chilli - 4 split lengthwise
coriander leaves- 1 handful
curry leaf - 2 sprig
curd - 1/2 cup

To grind # 1
ginger - 2 inch
garlic- 1 full

To grind # 2
Poppy seeds- 1 tbsp
coriander seeds - 3 tbsp
Red chilli - 3
Black pepper - 2 tbsp
cumin seeds- 1 tbsp
fennel seeds- 1 tbsp
cinnamon - 1 inch
cardamom -5
cloves -4
grated coconut - 2 tbsp

To temper:
Fennel seeds / sombu - 1 tbsp
star aniseed - 1
cinnamon- 1 inch
curry leaves - 3 sprig
sesame oil - 1/2 cup

Powders required:
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Red Chilli powder- 2 tbsp


salt - 3 tsp (to taste)

To Garnish:
Whole lemon - 1 (sliced to decorate)


Method:
Remove the skin and Wash the chicken in running water and cut it in to big pieces.
Wash again with 1 tsp turmeric powder.
Drain water.
Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, lemon juice, coriander powder, salt , curd and marignate for 1 hour in room temperature or overnight inside fridge.

grind the ginger garlic paste and keep aside.

Chop the items given.


In a deep pan, heat the oil and add the items given for temper.
When they stop spluttering, add the sliced onions and fry till they are light brown.
Add the ginger garlic paste and fry for another 2-3 minutes.
Now add the tomatoes, green chillies, mint leaves and cilantro. stir well to mix all the ingredients. Cook till oil separates.

If needed add some more sesame oil or ghee.

Add the chicken, cover and cook in very low flame for 5 minutes.

Dry roast (To grind # 2)the poppy, coriander, cumin and fennel seeds, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and coconut for 3-4 minutes. Remove from flame and allow to cool. Grind the mixture into a coarse paste.

Add it to chicken and cook till it is tender.

Garnish with minced coriander leaves and serve along with sliced lemon.

Serving suggestions:
This can be comfortably served for 8 people.
Time taken: 30 minutes for preparation and 1 hour for cooking.
Can be served with white bread,chapathi, naan, patotta, Biryani, coconut milk rice.