Simple Dhal (Ketti paruppu)

This simple dhal is an excellent partner for rice or chapathi. The very less spice content in this dhal makes it a child friendly dish if paired with ghee and rice.
It is the habit of the Indians to serve this dhal as the starter curry in any full meals.

In my home we call it as ketti paruppu , which means the dhal in thicker consistency. I can remember my mom saving some dhal for me before making sambar, as it is my all time favorite to have with ghee and rice. Hope I have kindled many of your childhood memories:)

Simple dhal / ketti paruppu / lentil curry:



Ingredients:
Toor dhal (thuvaram paruppu) - 1/2 cup
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
hing - a pinch
garlic - 2 pearls
Cumin - 1/2 tsp

To temper:
mustard seed - 1/2 tsp
dry red chilly - 3
curry leaf - 1 sprig
urad dhal - 1 tsp
Onion (chopped) - 2 tbsp
oil - 1 tsp

Method:
Wash and clean the dhal.
(Soak it for 1 hour to reduce cooking time, if done in stove top).
Pressure cook the dhal with 2 cups of water, turmeric, hing and garlic to 5 whistles.
(or after a whistle reduce flame and keep in low heat for 10 minutes).
Open the pressure cooker after the steam is gone.
Drain the excess clear water above dhal and reserve it to make rasam.
Add the cumin seeds and mash well using a laddle.

Heat oil in a wok.
Splutter the mustard seeds and add the urad dhal, curry leaf, onion, red chillies and fry till the onion turns red.
Pour the seasoning over the mashed dhal and add salt.
If desired , stir more to get a thicker form.

Ketti paruppu is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serve with hot rice and a dollop of Indian ghee along with pappad.
Goes well with roti too.

Arachi vitta sambar

'Arachi vitta sambar' means a sambar made by adding fresh masala in liquid form prepared at home by a mortar.

This is the traditional sambar of India. No need to buy a sambar powder. So the taste won't vary by the brand of powder we purchase.
Mom used to have a hand mortar called 'ammi' to make the masala paste and for me those sambars have tasted heavenly. Here is my attempt to bring back that aroma:)

Homely sambar / arachi vitta sambar / sambar without sambar powder:



Ingredients:
Toor dhal - 1/2 cup
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Tamarind - strawberry size
asafoetida - 2 pinches
Tomato - 1
carrot / radish /unripe mango/ beans / brinjal or any mixed vegetable- 1 cup

Roast and grind:
coriander seed - 2 tbsp
dry red chilly - 6
channa dhal - 1 tbsp
Toor dhal - 1 tsp
fenugreek - 1/4 tsp
Shredded coconut - 3 tbsp

To temper:
Mustard seed - 1 tsp
cumin - a few
shallot onion - 5 to 10
curry leaves - 1 sprig
oil / ghee - 1 tbsp

Method:
Soak the tamarind in 1 cup water for 20 minutes. Squeeze it and get the extract.

Wash and clean the Toor dal .Pressure cook it along with turmeric powder ,asafoetida and a cup of water for a whistle , reduce flame and cook for 10 minutes.
(If you do not have pressure cooker then boil 2 cups of water and add the dal, water,turmeric powder ,asafoetida and oil.Close it and cook till the dhal becomes soft.)
Then mash it coarsely. Keep aside.

Cook the vegetables in tamarind extract with salt.

Heat a tsp of oil and fry all the items given (except coconut) to roast and grind to a fine paste.
Add this paste to the cooked vegetables and let it boil.
Immediately add the mashed dhal and check for salt.

Heat oil / ghee in a wok and let the mustard splutter. Then add the shallot (skinned but whole), curry leaf ,cumin . Saute till the onion becomes golden brown.

Pour it over the kulambu and let it come to a boil.

Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve hot.

Serving suggestions:
Serve with rice or idly /dosa.

Brussel Sprout fry.

The Brussels sprout is a Cultivar group of wild cabbage cultivated for its small (typically 2.5–4 cm or 1–1.5 in diameter) leafy green buds, which resemble miniature cabbages. They contain good amounts of vitamin A, vitamin C, folic acid and dietary fibre. Moreover, they are believed to protect against colon cancer, due to their containing sinigrin.
(Source : Wikipedia)

The common method is to just saute it in olive oil, throw some salt and pepper to get a side dish for any soup or bread.
But I tried my own version to make a poriyal or fry out of it. Hope you all like it.




Brussel sprout fry:




Ingredients:
Brussel sprout (choose small ones) - 1/2 lb
Red onion - 1/2
fennel seed (sombu)- 1 tsp
oil - 1 tbsp
red chilly powder - 1 tsp
salt - to taste

Direction:
Wash and clean the brussel sprout in cold water.
Quarter them.

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 brussel sprout and stir well.

Sprinkle some water. Add a little salt and cook covered till the vegetable is done.(5 minutes is enough). Over cooking may release unfavorable smell for some.

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

Brussel sprout fry is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serve as side dish with roti , chapathi , sambar rice or curd rice.
The above said quantity can be served for 2 people.

Rava Upma

I don't think many of us need a recipe to make uppuma which is the very basic tiffin item of Indians. But for me making it without lumps was a great challenge till I learned the technique from Packiam aunty in my dad's house. Ingredients: Rava (semolina) - 1 1/2 cup water - 2 1/4 cup {water = (number of cups of ravai x 2) - (3/4 cup)} salt - 1/4 tsp (1/8 tsp per cup of rava) onion - 1 (small) green chilly - 2 ginger - 1 inch curry leaf - 1 sprig channa dhal - 1 tbsp mustard - 1/2 tsp Shredded coconut - 2 tbsp (optional) sesame oil - 2 to 3 tsp. Method: Heat a wok. Dry roast the rava till it smells good / starts to become coarse like sand. Transfer it to a plate . Chop the onion, curry leaf, ginger, green chilly finely. Heat 2 tbsp oil in the same wok. Add mustard seed. let it splutter. Then add the channa dhal and fry all the chopped ingredients along with it. As the onion starts to become transparent, add the water + Salt and let it come to a boil. Then reduce flame and sprinkle the rava in equal spacing , just like shower. Don't stir. (Stirring will result in lumps) Immediately cover with a lid. Reduce flame to minimum. After 3 minutes in low flame , open the lid and start to stir using a spatula. we can see the uppuma get cooked well and starts leaving the edges. Put off fire. Add shredded coconut , if desired. Now we get a very dry uppuma without any lumps. Serving suggestions: Serve as breakfast or dinner along with coconut chutney or sugar. The above said quantity served two adults.

Sukku malli coffee

Sukku - dry ginger ; malli - dry coriander seed

With the onset of monsoon rain ,the chennai residents can see the local vendors selling this coffee in the streets after 9 Pm.

In my hometown we drink it all through the day with or without caffeine and never say no to it.Any one who has gulped it will always remember the sharp taste and the health benefits. We make it with 'panai vellam' / karuppatti / palm jaggery , which makes the coffee more flavorful. Anyway we can use white sugar too.



Sukku coffee powder:
coriander seed - 100 gm
dry ginger - 100 gm
(I use powdered dry ginger)
black pepper - 20

Dry roast and grind them together. This is called sukku coffee powder.

For daytime or evening:
Heat 2 cups of water along with 2 tsp sukku coffee powder, 1 tsp coffee powder, sugar (3 tsp). Switch off after it starts boiling. Leave till it settles.
Filter the clear liquid leaving the sediments.

If desired add 2 tbsp milk per cup.

For bedtime:
Heat 2 cups of water along with 2 tsp sukku coffee powder, sugar (3 tsp). Switch off after it starts boiling. Leave till it settles.
Filter the clear liquid leaving the sediments.

If desired add 2 tbsp milk per cup.

Makes 2 cups of coffee. Serve as hot beverage.
It is believed to relieve the body aches and stomach troubles.

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.