Coconut onion chutney

'Shallot should be included in our daily menu in some form or other'... this is one of the basis of Tamilnadu cuisine. Here goes a chutney with raw shallot and I am sure every Indian food lover will like this.

Vengaya thengaai chutney with idli....the perfect pair always

To grind:
Fresh grated coconut - 1/2 cup
shallot - 3 or 4
Puffed channa dhal (pori kadalai / pottu kadalai)- 1/4 cup
dry red chillies - 4.
tamarind - 2 inch bit.
salt- 1/2 tsp.

To garnish:
Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp,
Urid dhal - 1 tsp.
curry leaves - 1 sprig.
dry red chilli -1 or 2
shallot onion (small onion)- 1 .(chopped)
oil- 1 tbsp.

Method:
Put all the items given 'for grind' in a small jar of the mixer.Close the lid. First run the mixer without adding water. Then after a second add 1/2 cup water and grind the chutney in to a fine thick paste. Add some more water (1/2 cup).
Heat a frying pan. Add urid dhal and mustard seeds. wait to hear the cracking sound of mustard. Add chopped onions , red chilli and curry leaves. Put off the flame. Then add the chutney (while pan is hot, but switched OFF). Mix well.
Then transfer it to the serving bowl.

Serving suggestions:
Serve as side dish for Dosa, Idly, Vada, Pongal etc.

Note:
Instead of pori kadalai, we can use roasted groundnut too.

Bottlegourd spinach dal

Bottlegourd - lauki / surakkai / sorakkai (Tamil) , spinach - pasali keerai , dal - a curry or koottu made of lentils.

Lauki dal with spinach.

This is the spinach I grew this year. Most common variety in USA.

Spinach.

Ingredients:
Toor dal (lentil) - 1/2 cup
bottle gourd - 1 (very small)
spinach -  20 leaves
curry leaf - 1 sprig
mustard seed - 1/2 tsp
urad dal - 1 tsp
coconut oil - 1 tbsp
tomato - 1 (optional)
salt - to taste

To grind:
shallot - 3
coconut - 2 tbsp
dry red chilly - 3
garlic - 3
cumin - 1 tsp

Method:
Rinse the dal (lentils) . Pressure cook the  dal with 1 1/2 cup water, 1/4 tsp turmeric powder, 1/8 tsp of asafoetida (hing), garlic - 5 cloves. Bring to one whistle, reduce heat and let it get cooked in medium heat for 10 minutes, then switch off. After the pressure is released , mash the dal and keep aside. (This is how I cook the dal always, but we can do it in stove-top too).

Grind the items mentioned to a fine paste and keep aside.

Chop the bottle-gourd to small cubes. Also rinse and chop the spinach.
Heat  oil in a vessel, add mustard , urad dal and let the mustard crackle. Then add the curry leaves, finely chopped tomato and cook till tomato gets mushy. Now add the bottlegourd and cook covered with a handful of water. After it is almost done, add the spinach, salt and saute. Then add the cooked dal, prepared masala. Keep in rolling boil for 1 minute. Switch off.

Lauki spinach dal is ready !

Serving suggestions:
Serve as side dish with chapati.
Sometimes I mix this curry with rice for lunch pack.
Serve as curry over rice along with appalam (pappad) and malli thogayal (cilantro chutney)