Monday, February 16, 2009

Potato roast

First I should admit that , this potato roast may be a well known recipe for many. Because the simple but elegant potato curry could be the first for any beginner.
Who can deny a hearty serving of roasted potatoes along with the piping hot sambar and rice?
While browsing through my blog , I found that some potato roast is missing and immediately started posting this recipe.
I modified the well known original version with some marination (just like any non-veg roast).
(The original version do not call for any curd or marination. But doing so enhances the flavor)
We can enjoy each step in this cooking process , because of its flavor:)
I prefer to do this roast in a heavy iron wok ('Irumbu chatti' in Tamil). If we cannot find such a robust wok, we can get satisfied with a thick bottomed non stick vessel. Use the Indian store-bought potato for this dish. Because we cannot be sure of the original touch with other potatoes. If you know any other variety of potato that tastes like Indian potato, kindly let me know.



Ingredients:

Potato - 4 (1/4 kg)
onion - 1 (chopped 1 cup)
Turmeric - a pinch
curd - 1/2 cup
Red chilli powder - 1 tbsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Olive oil - 3 tbsp
Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaf - 1 brig
cilantro , mint - a handful
salt - to taste.
Dry roast and grind:
Cinnamom - a bit
cumin - 1/2 tsp
fennel seed (sombu) - 1 tsp
cloves - 2
coriander seeds - 1 tbsp

Method:
Scrub and peel the potato skin. Wash and clean it.
Cut each potato into 4 - 6 big pieces.
Dry roast and grind the items given. This is the masala powder.
Mix curd, salt, Red chilly powder, turmeric , ginger garlic paste, prepared masala powder and marinate it for an hour or more.
Heat oil in a thick bottom vessel.
Fry the fennel seeds to red color.
Add the chopped onion, cilantro, mint leaf, curry leaf and fry for a while.
As the onion turns transparent , add the marinated potato mixture.
Stir well. Reduce the flame, cover it and cook with occasional stirring.
This roast should be cooked in very low flame.. Do not hasten the process, as it may char the dish.
If the curry starts sticking to the bottom, sprinkle little water and then cook it covered.
The masala will be slowly absorbed by the potato while the outer side becoming crispy.
Using a spatula gently check if the potatoes are done. Then check for salt .
Potato roast is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Mostly people serve it as a side dish for sambar & rice or rasam & rice.
Goes fine with roti also.
The consistency should be like a dry curry.
Serves four.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Bottle gourd - curd curry (surai kaai thayir pachadi)

Bottle gourd is a popular Indian vegetable .Village people believe that it has some property to reduce our body fat.
The Tamil meaning of Bottle gourd is surai kaai. Koottu means a watery side dish .

Bottle gourd is a watery vegetable and tastes somewhat similar to white pumpkin or cucumber. Mostly it is used in making sambar , dhal or a watery side dish called koottu . The most common way is to cook it with Thoor dhal or green gram dhal.
Cooking it with Curd belongs to South TamilNadu cuisine.

In Tamil nadu a grand vegetarian feast should be served on a Banana leaf (gently cut with its tip). The rice must be accompanied by a koottu (watery side dish), a poriyal (cooked and tempered vegetables with shredded coconut) , a varuval (deep or shallow fried vegetable ), a curry (a spicy side dish with some dry gravy), sambar (dhal based stew), vatha kulambu (tamarind based stew), more kulambu (curd based stew), rasam (a soup poured on rice.. good for digestion), Payasam (a rice or vermicelli based sweet ) and at last the Buttermilk on rice. The other dishes are a an appalam, vadai , some sweet. Oh , my God ...What an elaborate lunch menu .Isn't it?.Believe me , we people cannot take every day like this . But the very thought makes us nostalgic. Right?

Just because of my love for our native cuisines , I am eagerly collecting as many recipes as possible . And this curd based recipe is my favorite koottu .




Surai kaai Thayir pachadi koottu / bottle gourd - yogurt curry.


Ingredients:

Bottle gourd - 1/2 kg (1 small)
curd - 1/2 cup
onion - 1 (small)
olive oil - 1 tbsp
mustard seeds - 1 tsp
curry leaves - 1 brig
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
salt - to taste.
To grind:
ginger - 1 inch
green chilli - 3
channa dhal - 2 tbsp
shredded coconut - 2 tbsp
cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp

Method:
Soak the channa dhal for 30 minutes.
Peel the skin of the bottle gourd. Chop it into small cubes. Donot discard the seeds. Tender seeds tastes good.
Heat 1 cup of water and add the chopped bottle gourd, salt, turmeric powder and cook it .
Grind together the items given .
Pour the ground masala to the cooked bottle gourd.
Let it come to boil.
Now add the curd and switch off flame. Check for salt.
Heat oil in a separate pan. Add the mustard seeds , after it crackles , add the chopped onion, curry leaves and fry till the onion becomes red.
Add this tempering to the cooked bottle gourd.
Mix well.
Bottle gourd thayir koottu is ready.

Serving suggestions:

Serve as side dish with plain rice or rice and sambar or with chapathi.