Kadalai kulambu

Kadalai kulambu generally means a curry made with channa. This is also a typical sounth Indian curry made with tamarind and hot spices.
The interesting fact is people call this lentil as 'Vegetarians' chicken' because of the high protein content.

Other names: chickpea, Cicer arietinum, garbanzo bean, Indian pea, ceci bean, bengal gram, Kabuli chana, konda kadalai, kadale kaalu, sanaga pappu, shimbra, Kadala



Ingredients:
Black channa - 1 cup.
(We can use white channa also, but the black / red one has more flavor and fiber.)
Tamarind- 1 gooseberry size
chilli powder - 1tsp
coriander powder - 2 tsp
turmeric powder - 1/8 tsp
salt - to taste
feugreek (methi seed)-1/4 tsp
mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
curry leaves - 1 sprig
sesame oil - 1 tbsp

To grind:
cumin seeds - 1 tsp
shredded coconut - 2 tbsp
onion (chopped)- 1 cup


Method:
Soak the channa overnight and pressure cook to get a whistle.
After the whistle , simmer the stove and switch off the stove after 10 minutes.
(20 minutes for white channa).

Extract the juice from tamarind. Keep aside.
Add the chilli powder, coriander powder, salt and turmeric powder to the tamarind extract.

In a pan add the oil , put mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds.
After the mustard gets cracked , add curry leaves.

Then add the tamarind extract mixture.
Let it boil for 10 minutes.
Now add the cooked channa along with the remaining water , if any.

Grind the coconut , cumin seeds and onion into a fine paste.
Put this paste into the boiling tamarind extract.
Check for salt and put off fire immediately after the raw smell vanishes.

Serving suggestions:
Serves for 4 to 5 people.
Serve with cooked rice, appalam and aviyal.

Pudalangai Varuval

Pudalangai is the Tamil translation for Long gourd / snake gourd. Varuval means fry.

Snake gourd is an exotic Asian vegetable.
Other Names are Snake Gourd, potlakaaya (in Telugu), pathola (in Sinhalese), pudalankaai (in Tamil), dhunduli(in Assamese), paduvalakaayi (in Kannada) and padavalanga (in Malayalam).

Normally frying requires lot of oil, but not for this varuval. So here is a fry that goes fine with any dhal / sambar rice.

Fresh tender pudalangai:



Fried pudalangai:



Ingredients:
Tender pudalangai - 1/2 kg
Red onion - 1
fennel seed (sombu)- 1 tsp
oil - 1 tbsp
red chilly powder - 1 tsp
garam masal powder - 1/2 tsp (optional)
salt - to taste

Direction:
Gently rub the pudalangai with a knife and remove the very fine outer skin.
Wash and clean it.
Now halve it and remove all the seeds and stuffs inside.
Chop it into small pieces.

Chop the onion finely.

Heat oil in a wok. Add fennel seeds. When the fennel turns red, add the onion and saute for a minute.
Then add the chopped pudalangai and stir well.

Sprinkle some water. Add a little salt and cook covered till the vegetable is done.

Then add the red chilly powder, garam masal powder and stir till all the moisture is gone.

Pudalangai varuval is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serve as side dish with roti , chapathi , sambar rice or curd rice.
The above said quantity can be served for 4 people.

Onion Rava Dosa.

There are so many methods to make a rava dosa. Hope most of us depend on the store bought ready made mix, as it is a quick to fix menu.
Here I am explaining two more ways to do it from scratch.

I prefer sour batter here. Sour batter will produce very thin crepes. But if you are ok with the less sour taste , then use water instead of the sour buttermilk / sour dosa batter. But the fermented batter will give us the color and crispiness of that of the restaurant made onion rava dosa.




Mixture 1:
Sooji / rava - 1 cup
Left over dosa batter (sour) - 1 cup
water - to get thin consistency

(OR)

Mixture 2:
Sooji / rava - 1 1/2 cup
All purpose flour - 1/4 cup
Buttermilk (Sour) - 1 cup
water - to get thin consistency

Ingredients:
Sesame Oil - 1 tsp + 3 tbsp
Cumin seed - 1/2 tsp
mustard seed - 1/4 tsp
channa dhal - 1 tbsp
onion (chopped finely) - 4 tbsp
green chilly (chopped finely) - 1 tsp
curry leaf - 1 sprig
cilantro / coriander leaf - a handful
salt - to taste

Directions:

Mix the rava with dosa batter (or) sour buttermilk + AP flour and add enough salt.
Let it set for 2-3 hours. We can use it immediately also.

After that soaking time, heat 1 tsp oil in a wok. Splutter the mustard seeds, add channa dhal, chopped onion and fry till the onion gets cooked (not red).
Pour the mixture over the prepared batter.
Add cumin seed, chopped cilantro, curry leaf, green chilly and salt.
Mix thoroughly.

The batter should be thinner than that of the dosa batter, just like a thick buttermilk in consistency.

Heat a Dosa pan to maximum. Coat a layer of sesame oil all over the pan using a cloth / spoon.

If we have left the batter for soaking / fermentation then add a handful of sooji / rava to get the restaurant texture, otherwise use as it is.
Mix the batter well.
Now using one laddle, pour the dosa batter starting from outermost circumference and fill the circle with that laddle of batter alone. Just smudge the uncovered portions or leave as it is.

Make a very thin crepe.

Drizzle some oil over the dosa. Flip once it get red on the bottom.

Take out as soon as the other side is also cooked .

Onion rava dosa is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serve hot with coconut chutney or sugar.
Serve before it gets cold, as it may loose the crispiness after some time.
Makes 8-10 large onion rava dosa.

Goat liver masala.

In my hometown serving non vegetarian curries along with Idly for breakfast (especially on holidays) is a very common culture. The most preferred combination are Idly with meen kuzhambu (Fish curry), Soft dosa with kothu curry (minced goat curry), Idiyappam with paya (goat leg stew), Aappam with Duck curry:) etc. One among them is the goat liver masala / Eeral masala , which won't require pressure cooking or longer cooking methods. So it is preferred by those who can spare lesser cooking time.

Health benefits:
Any liver especially the Goat's is always considered a good source of Vitamin A and a good remedy for nightblindness. Those who have cholesterol complaints should reduce the liver consumption. Click to see the nutrient fact.

Goat liver curry / Aattu eeral masala:



Ingredients:
Goat liver - 1/2 lb (1/4 kg)
sesame oil - 2 tbsp
Red onion / shallot (chopped) - 1 cup
fennel seeds (sombu)- 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
coriander powder - 2 tsp
red chilli powder - 1 tsp
turmeric powder - a pinch
tomato - 1 (chopped)
salt - to taste
ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp

To grind:
Shallot onion - 6
(or) Small size Red onion - 1/2
Black pepper - 1 tbsp
Shredded coconut - 1/2 cup
cumin seeds - 1 tsp

How to choose a good liver?
Buy dark brown colored liver. Don't buy the ones with white spot or holes in the outer layer. While chopping look carefully for affected portion inside and remove.

Procedure:
Wash and clean the liver.
Cut it into 1 inch size cubes.

Grind the shallot or red onion , coconut , pepper and cumin seeds together to a coarse paste.
Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan. Add the fennel seeds and let it become red. Then goes the curry leaves. Put the chopped onion and fry till it becomes transparent.
Now goes the ginger garlic paste followed by chopped tomato.
Fry till the oil oozes.

Add the cubed liver and cook covered with a cup of water.

After 10 minutes add the ground masala, coriander powder, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt.

Cover and cook till the raw smell vanishes. keep stirring occasionally, till the koottu / curry becomes a gravy.

Eeral (liver) curry is ready.

Serving suggestions:
Serve hot with Idly , dosa or hot rice.

Thakkali kulambu

Thakkali kulambu is a very common curry prepared in Tirunelveli / Kovilpatti of South India. Garam masala or cinnamon are not added like a kuruma in this recipe. So it is liked by people who like lesser spices.

I came to know of this recipe from my colleagues, who rush home to prepare dinner for the family after a long tiring day.

It is a very simple recipe and can be prepared in 20 minutes.



Ingredients:
Tomato - 2 (100 gms)
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
Sambar powder - 1/2 tsp (optional)
Shredded coconut - 1/2 cup
cumin seed - 1/2 tsp
Shallot onion - 4
mustard seed - 1/2 tsp
oil - 1 tsp
curry leaf - 1 sprig
salt - to taste

Directions:

Pressure cook tomatoes with turmeric powder, sambar powder, red chilly powder along with 1 cup of water to one whistle.

Remove the skin and mash the tomato with hand. The coarse texture of tomato adds a grade to the kulambu.

Grind coconut, onion and cumin to a fine paste.

Mix the coconut paste with tomato mixture in a vessel.
Bring it to a boil. Cook for 3 minutes with boiling.

Add salt to taste.

Heat oil in a wok. Splutter the mustard and fry the curry leaves.
Pour over the boiling curry.

Tomato kulambu is ready.

Serving suggestions:
Serves two.
It is mostly served as curry over hot rice.
Serve with any vegetable poriyal or omelet.
Good for people who should avoid tamarind.
The left over can be safely refrigerated and used for the next day , as it will not get spoiled.

Vaazhai Pazha paniyaram

Vaazhai pazham means ripe banana.

Paniyaram is a traditional snack of South India. Paniyaaram can be prepared using a paniyarakkal (similar to our cup cake pan). People make spicy as well as sweet paniyarams.

But this banana paniyaram can be prepared without a paniyaram pan.

This is a sweet made during Navarathiri in my home town. It is also called wheat paniyaram. On Sundays in Navarathiri function, people prepare sweets using wheat, as Wheat is the favorite food of Sun God and Sunday is His day.

we can use rice flour also instead of wheat flour, but won't get a softer one like this wheat version. Even now we use coconut oil in regular cooking and it will definitely enhance the taste. Slowly people are accepting the benefits of coconut:)



Ingredients:
Wheat flour / all purpose flour - 1 1/2 cup
ripe banana - 1 (big)
cardamom powder - a pinch
coconut oil / any oil - to deep fry
Sugar - 1/2 cup
water - 1/4 cup
baking powder - 1/4 tsp (optional - but makes the sweet fluffy)

Directions:
Measure and put the flour, sugar, cardamom powder in a mixing bowl.
Mash the banana gently with hands to a coarse texture and and mix it with the flour.
Dissolve baking soda in water. Now slowly add water to get a thick batter.
The batter should be thinner than chapathi dough but thicker than dosa batter.

Heat coconut oil in a wok to maximum heat.Don't allow the oil to fume.

Now using a bigger spoon (small kuli karandi), slowly pour the batter as small balls in to the hot oil.

Reduce the flame and cook the paniyaram in medium heat, so that the center portion will also get cooked.

Flip them once and cook both sides.

Take out and drain excess oil using a paper towel.

Vaazhai pazha paniyaram is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Makes a great tea time snack.
The above said quantity is enough to make 15 paniyaram (depending upon the size).

Note:
If not for pooja, some people add an egg while preparing the batter. But I suggest you to do as it is even without baking soda.

Puli Rasam

Puli (tamarind) rasam is the simplest of all the rasams. No need to go for a tomato or rasam powder or dhal to do this puli rasam. So we can make it in just 10 minutes.

Hope many knows the way to serve / take rasam in a full course Indian meal. It is considered to be a healthy kind of soup that heals our digestive tract. I have seen many preferring only this rasam and rice along with thovaiyal or appalam for dinner. For me, it means a heavenly food that too on a rainy season :)


Simple rasam / Homely rasam / Puli rasam



Ingredients:
Tamarind - small lemon size
Turmeric powder - a pinch
water - 3 cups
sesame oil - 2 tsp
red chilly - 2 (torn into pieces)
curry leaf - 1 sprig
mustard - 1/2 tsp
fenugreek (venthayam) - 1/4 tsp
asafoetida (hing) - a pinch
garlic - 3 pearls
cumin - 3/4 tsp
whole black pepper - 1 tsp
salt - to taste

Directions:
Grind the garlic, pepper and cumin coarsely.

Extract juice from tamarind by soaking it in hot water. Like wise extract all the juice by rinsing it twice in cold water. Keep aside.

Heat oil in a wok.
Add the fenugreek and mustard . After the mustard gets splutter , put the curry leaves , asafoetida and red chillies.
Immediately add the ground mixture before the chillies get burnt.
Stir for 30 seconds.

Now pour the tamarind extract along with Turmeric powder and let it boil till the raw smell vanishes.
Then switch off the flame and add salt to taste (3/4 tsp).

Don't add the salt before switching off the flame as it will change the fresh smell of the rasam.

Serving suggestions:
Makes 300 ml of clear rasam.
Let the rasam settle down first and just serve the top layer of rasam.
Serve over hot rice along with appalam or thogaiyal .
If preferred serve as a soup , but after meals.