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.

Chicken Gravy

You will need the following to prepare this chicken gravy:

Chicken (with bone) - 1/2 kg (1 lb)
salt - to taste / 2 tsp
water - 2 cups
oil - 2 tbsp
Fennel seed (sombu) - 1 tsp

To chop separately:
Red onion - 2
Roma tomato / vine tomato - 100 gms
curry leaves - 1 brig
cilantro - 1 handful
mint leaves - 1 handful

Masala 1:
shredded coconut - 2 tbsp
Shallot onion - 5
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Masala 2:
Ginger - 2 inch
garlic - 4 pearls

curry masala powder:
Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
cardamom - 2
cloves - 2
cinnamon - 1 inch
Black pepper - 1 tsp



Powders :
Red chilli powder - 1 tbsp
coriander powder - 2 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Method:
Wash and clean the chicken pieces in running water.Apply some turmeric powder and keep aside.Dry grind the items given in curry masala powder.
Grind shredded coconut , cumin seeds, onion and keep aside.
Grind ginger garlic paste and keep aside.
Heat 2 tbsp of cooking oil in a deep pan and add 1 tsp fennel seeds (sombu).
After it turns red , add the chopped onion and fry till it becomes golden brown.
(If you are using yellow onion , then fry till it becomes tender ,as it can never get a good color.)
Add the ginger garlic paste and stir it well for 30 seconds.
Then add the chopped tomato, green chilli, cilantro , mint leaves, curry leaves and cook till they becomes mushy.
Now introduce the chicken pieces and stir it for 2 minutes along with the powders and dry masala.
Add some salt and a cup of water and close the lid for 5 minutes.
Then cook the chicken till it becomes tender (simply in a tightly closed vessel).
After it gets cooked , add the coconut masala and cook till the raw smell changes.
Check for salt and the tenderness of chicken and put off fire.
The gravy should not be too thick or too liquid .

Serving suggestions:
Serve hot as side dish with Naan , paratha ,chapathi ,steamed rice or white bread.
Serves 6 people.

French toast

Whenever i feel a bit lazy to prepare my hubby's lunch pack, i prefer doing this toast for him.Even today i remember my school days ,when my mom used to pack this delicious toast for my lunch.We call it as vanishing French toast because the toast will attract every one around you and you may end up with an empty box as soon as you open it.  
Ingredients:
Bread - 8 slices
Milk- 1 cup egg - 1
sugar- 3 tbsp
butter - 1 tbsp  
Method: Beat together egg, milk and sugar to a batter. Heat a pan or dosa tawa and spread a little butter. Dip a slice of bread in the egg+milk mixture. Don't soak the bread more than a second.(otherwise the toast becomes soggy) Fry till golden brown on both sides. Sprinkle some maple sauce and serve hot as breakfast. It can be packed as lunch too.
Approx. calories: (3 slices)
White bread 3 = 70 x 3 = 210
Sugar 3 tsp = 15 x 3 = 45 zero calorie sweetener - 1 pack = 0
egg (brown medium size) 1 = 70
butter 1/2 tsp = 18 (1 tbsp = 3 tsp = 100)
oil 1/2 tsp = 20 (1 tbsp = 120)
2 % milk 50 ml = 37 (1 ml = 0.729)  
TOTAL = 400 cal

Ennai Kathirikkai kulambu (fried eggplant curry)

This kulambu is my mom's favorite dish.


Ingredients:
Small brinjal- 6
Tamarind- 1 gooseberry size
onion (chopped)- 1 cup
chilli powder - 1tsp
coriander powder - 2 tsp
turmeric powder - 1/8 tsp
cumin seeds - 1 tsp
shredded coconut - 2 tbsp
feugreek (methi seed)-1 tsp
mustard seeds- 1tsp
curry leaves - 1 brig
sesame oil - 1 tbsp
sambar powder - 1 tbsp

Brinjal fry:
Remove the stem and bracts of brinjal.Wash it thoroughly in running water.
slit half way the brinjals from the stem portion.Do four cuts like this.
Mix 1 tsp chilli powder, 1 tsp coriander powder and 1 tsp salt with little water.
stuff the brinjals with this curry paste.
Fry them in 4 tbsp sesame oil, till the skin of brinjal turns a bit brown color.
Keep the fried brinjals aside.

curry preparation:
Extract the juice from tamarind.
Add the chilli powder, coriander powder, salt and turmeric powder to the tamarind extract.
use the same oil in the frying pan.Add mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds.
After the mustard gets cracked add curry leaves and half of the chopped onion.
saute them till the onion turns golden brown.
Then add the tamarind extract mixture.
Let it boil for 10 minutes.
Grind the coconut , cumin seeds and remaining onion into a fine paste.
Put this paste into the boiling tamarind extract.
After the raw smell of coconut-onion mixture is gone, add the fried brinjals.
Check for salt and put off fire immediately after the curry starts boiling.

Serving suggestions:
Serves for 4 to 5 people.
Serve hot with rice after dhal rice and before Rasam rice.

Lemon Rasam

Ingredients:
Lemon - 1
water- 4 cups
salt- 1 tsp
turmeric powder - a pinch
asafoetida- 1 pinch
Black pepper- 1 tsp
cumin seed- 1 tsp
garlic - 4 pearls
coriander seeds- 1 tsp
oil- 1/2 tsp
mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp
methi seeds- 1/4 tsp
curry leaves- 1 brig
cilantro- a handful
red chilli- 2


Method:
First dry roast the pepper,cumin seeds, coriander seeds till we get a nice aroma.
Then grind them with garlic to a coarse mixture.
Extract juice from lemon .Add salt and water and keep aside.
Heat oil in a kadai.Crackle the mustard seeds and add fenugreek seeds.
Then goes the red chillies and curry leaves.
Immdiately add the pepper garlic mixture and saute a little.
Sprinkle some asafoetida and turmeric powder.
Then add the finely chopped tomatoes and saute them till the tomatoes are half cooked.
Now switch off the stove and add the lemon juice.
Do not heat the rasam after adding lemon juice, because heating gives a bitter taste to rasam.

Picnic Tomato chutney:

To grind:
Tomato - 1 lb
red chilli powder - 1 tbsp
tamarind - 1 small gooseberry size
dry ginger powder - 1/2 tsp
turmeric - 1 pinch
asafoetida - 1 pinch
salt - 1 tsp
coriander powder - 1 tbsp

To Temper:
Garlic - 10 pearls
mustard seed - 1/2 tsp
fenugreek - 1/4 tsp
asafoetida - 1 pinch
curry leaves- 2 brigs
Red chilli(small bulky-Andhra chilli)- 3
sesame oil / cooking oil - 3 tbsp

Method:
Grind all the given items and make puree.
Heat oil in a deep frying pan.
Crackle the mustard , add fenugreek, asafoetida, red chillies.
Then goes the garlic and curry leaves.
After sauting the garlic for a while , carefully add the tomato puree.
Reduce flame after 5 minutes and let the puree becomes a thick gravy in low fire.
Put off flame after oil oozes out of the chutney.
cool it and store in refrigerator for a month.

Serving suggestions:
Great combo for chapathi, dosa, curd rice, dhal rice, Idly, Adai .
It can be made for a picnic lunch pack and lasts for atleast 3 days without cooler.

Horse gram chutney / Kollu thovaiyal

Horse gram is always used in Indian cooking to increase the fibre content in the food.
It is believed that horse gram acts as a vital element in reducing body fat.

cabbage rice with kollu chutney and sweet potato chips  (updated in 2017Aug)

Ingredients:
Horse gram/ Kollu - 1/4 cup
red chillies - 2
shredded coconut- 1 tbsp
tamarind - 1 inch piece
salt - 1/4 tsp (to taste)
curry leaves - 1 sprig
cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp
garlic - 1 pearl.

Method:
Spread the kollu in a large plate and carefully look through (sort out) to remove any impurities like stone or husk. (I prefer doing this in free time in day light and will save it in a bottle).
Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan and fry Kollu (in low heat) to golden brown color. It may pop, so be careful.
Then in the same pan roast the red chillies and coconut separately to almost crispy state.
After they get cool, grind every thing in Indian mixer or any blender without water for 20 seconds.
Then add very little water and grind coarsely to get a thick chutney.

serving suggestions:
Goes fine with Rasam saadham (Rice mixed with Rasam),tamarind rice, lemon rice, urid dhal rice and coconut rice.
Tastes good for 24 hours at room temperature (travel food) without refrigerator.

Maida Burfi

Ingredients:
2 cup maida (all purpose flour)
3 cups sugar
3 tbsp ghee
2 drops of rose essence
5 drops of red food color

Method:
Heat a pan and dry roast maida till it looses all the moisture and smells good.Do not make it brown.
Make a sugar syrup with 1 cup water to one thread consistency.
Put off fire .Add maida, essence, ghee and food color.Heat and stir well continuously till it starts leaving the sides of the vessel.
Transfer to a greased tray and cut into required size.

Serving suggestions:
Can be served as a dessert.
Makes 2 lb burfi .(nearly 40 pieces).

Mothagam / Kolukkatai

This is the sweet prepared specially for vinayagar chathurthi.

Ingredients:
channa dhal- 2 cup
jaggery- 2 cup
shredded coconut - 1/2 cup
cardamom- 4
raisins- 10
cashews-10
rice flour - 2 cups
Salt - a pinch
ghee/oil- 2 tbsp

Pooranam preparation:
cook the channa dhal (kadalai paruppu) to 3/4 boiled stage.
After letting the dhal cool, mash it in blender/ mixie .
Add 1/4 cup water to the crushed jaggery and heat it, so that the jaggery dissolves completely.
Using a strainer, filter the jaggery solution leaving behind the sediments.
Add the jaggery solution to the crushed dhal and start heating it with frequent stirring.
Now add the shredded coconut and crushed cardamom.
Fry the cashews and raisins in ghee and add it to the mixture.
Stir the sweet mixture till it becomes manageable.
Now make lemon size balls out of it and keep aside.

Mothagam preparation:
Take the rice flour in a pan.
Roast it in a dry pan to loose all the moisture.
Add water,ghee/oil , salt to the flour so that it becomes like a thick dosa batter.
Now heat the mixture in very low flame and stir continuously, till we get a thick transparent rice dough.
Take off heat and let it cool.
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.

Makes 25 mothagams.

Note:
The softness of the kolukkattai depends on the consistency of the rice flour after cooking it.It should be a bit thicker than urid dhal vadai mavu and looser than chapathi dough.Adjust the water to get the consistency. Afterwards coat a little water on the palm and spread the dough .Then fill it with sweet core.
After steaming the kolukkattai, protect them inside a vessel and cover it tightly with a lid while they are hot.Don't place them outside. I am sure you will get a soft kolukkattai.

* If you can't cook the rice flour in a pan, try microwaving it till the flour turns to a dough.

*always apply little oil on your palm and make the outer rice flour cover for mothagam. Then only the kolukkattai won't get bursts / split after cooking.

Number:
For 11 mothakam, we may need 3/4 cup flour and equal amount of pooranam (1/2 cup kadalai paruppu + little jaggery+ coconut).

Mutton Kulambu

Ingredients:
Goat meat (with bones)- 1 lb
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
water - 2 cups

Masala 1:
ginger- 2 inch
garlic-5 pearls
cloves-4
cardamom- 2
cinnamon- 1 inch
fennel seeds - 1 tsp
cumin seeds - 1 tsp
pepper - 1 tsp

Grind ginger,garlic,cinnamon, cloves, cardamom,fennel seeds, cumin seeds and black pepper to a fine paste.

Masala 2:
tomato -2 (100 gms)
shredded coconut - 1 tbsp
cashews - 5
poppy seeds- 1 tbsp
coriander seeds - 1 tbsp

In a pan dry roast poppy seeds ,coriander seeds, cashews and keep aside.
Add 1 tsp oil and fry chopped tomatoes.Then grind poppy seeds, shredded coconut, cashews, tomato to a fine paste

other items:
brinji leaves -2
Red onion- 2
curry leaves- 1 brig
cilantro- 1 handful
mint leaves - 1 handful
cooking oil- 3 tsp
chilli powder - 1 tbsp
green chilli- 3
coconut milk - 1 tbsp
potato - 3 (1/2 lb)

Method:
choose goat meat from breast with ribs to make soupy kulambu.
Wash the meat and cut it in to big pieces.Add water , turmeric, 1 spoon of Masala 1 and 1 chopped onion to the meat.
Pressure cook them for 1 whistle and then reduce the flame to minimum. Let it remain in less flame for 10 minutes.Open the pressure cooker after it becomes cool.
In a kadai , heat 2 tsp cooking oil.Add 1/2 tsp fennel seeds and after it turns red add brinji leaves,curry leaves, chopped onion, green chillies, cilantro and mint leaves one by one .
Add the remaining ginger garlic paste and saute for a while.
Peel and cut the potatoes in to big chunks.Saute the potato , add the Masala 2 and stir it for 5 minutes.
Add chilli powder,turmeric powder and saute again. Add a cup of water.close the lid and cook till the potatoes get soften.
Add the cooked mutton, salt and coconut milk.
Check for salt and take off heat as soon as the curry starts boiling.
Serve hot with rice or Biryani or fried rice or chapathi or any bread.
Chicken 65 and onion raitha can be a best side dish.