Vendakkai Kaarakuzhambu

I am not a pro when it comes to authentic south Indian gravies like vathakuzhambu, kaarakuzhambu and many others. I can never get the consistency right and it never tastes good. I would rate it average and so I never attempt the same. The reason why I dont get these curries right is that I never add the said amount of oil. If a recipe calls for 4 tbsp oil, I always stick to 1 tbsp. Well, the rest is history. Last week I had this sudden urge to try kaarakuzhambu and I tipped in the oil closing my eyes. The result was this tangy and yummy dish. Now I know why oil goes a long way in making these authentic dishes.

~*What U Need*~ Lady fingers - 10-12 Tamarind - marble sized ball Small onions - 6-8 Tomato - 1 Garlic - 10 cloves Sambar powder - 1/2 tbsp Garlic 8-10 flakes Pepper powder - 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp Jaggery/brown sugar - 1/4 tsp Salt - to taste To temper: Gingely oil - 3 tbsp Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Urad dhal - 1 tsp Toor dhal - 1 tsp Jeera - 1 tsp Curry leaves - 1 sprig To grind Coconut grated - 1/4 cup Onion - 4-6 How I Made it: Grind the coconut and onion to a smooth paste. Extract the tamarind juice. Slice the garlic. Clean the ladys finger and cut into finger sized pieces. Saute with very little oil till toasted on every sides. Heat kadai with oil and temper with the ingrediends given under ‘to temper’. Add garlic and chopped onion and fry till borwn. Add tomatoes and fry till soft. Add the tamarind extract and enough water,salt, turmeric, and sambar powder. Let it boil for 4 minutes. Then add lady fingers and bring to boil. Add the ground paste to the kuzhambu. Let it boil until the lady finger gets cooked and the kuzhambu comes to the desired consistency. Add jaggery and remove from flame.

Serve with rice!!!

So thats it Folks...
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Kale Sambar

As a home maker, not only me but everyone of us are on the look out for healthy wholesome foods for our family. Two such healthy foods that I have included in our daily diet are broccoli and kale. I generally make kale chips sprinkled with chilli powder and we enjoy it with our tea. And at times I saute them with some garlic powder and salt to have them in my salads but other than that I don't know other ways to cook kale. I know that they make excellent detox smoothies but I have never ventured in that area yet. The thought of using kale to make Indian sambar was not something that I had planned. It all happened when I had only kale in my pantry to cook that night's dinner. Piping hot kale sambar with dosas made for a very healthy and satisfying dinner.

~*What U Need*~ Kale - 1/2 bunch Small onions - 1/2 cup, sliced Tomatoes - 1/2 cup, chopped Green chilli - 1 Tamarind - lemon sized ball soaked in water Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp Sambar powder - 1 tsp To temper: Ghee - 2 tsp Oil - 1 tsp Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Curry leaves - 1 sprig Small onions - 2 tbsp, sliced To pressure cook: Toor dhal - 1/2 cup Water - 1 cup Garlic cloves - 2 Hing powder - a pinch Salt How I Made it: Pressure cook the toor dhal with all the other ingredients under "pressure cook" for 5-6 whistles. Allow to cool and release the pressure. Mash with the back of a spoon. In a kadai, add the chopped kale, small onions, tomatoes and green chilli. Add water to immerse it and set it on medium flame. Allow to boil and cook till tender. Add the tamarind water and cook for 2-3 mins. Add the cooked dhal mixture to this and mix well. Add the sambar powder and mix well. Bring it to a boil and season with salt. Heat oil and ghee in a saucepan and temper with mustard seeds and curry leaves. Add the fenugreek seeds and fry till brown. Add in the sliced onions and saute till brown. Add the tempering to the sambar and mix well.

Serve with ghee soaked rice!!!

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Thakkali Thokku / Tomato Thokku / Spicy Tomato Preserve

Spicy but tangy at the same time, Thakkali thokku has become a favorite among the family. Every other week, I make it a point to buy about 1 kg tomato, and prepare thokku out of the whole lot. And yes, the pickle gets over within two weeks. Thanks to 'A', he prefers this thokku to the regular chutneys these days. Now that is good with me as I donot need to take the pain of making a chutney for dosas or idlis. Also days when I am late from office and by late I mean after 10, I need not panic over what needs to be served for dinner.

Rather I can come home to hot dosas and tangy accompaniments and finally a satisfied tummy. Its such a versatile spread, I have even tried it with breads and the tanginess pairs beautifully leaving you salivate for more. This is for you if you are lazy like me, a handy preserve in days of chaos over what needs to be done for dinner.

~*What U Need*~ Tomatoes(Bangalore variety) - 5, large Red chilli powder - 1 tsp Sambhar Powder - 1 tsp Turmeric powder - a big pinch Salt - to taste Jaggery - a small piece Fenugreek powder - 1/2 tsp To temper: Gingelly oil - 3 tbsp Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Curry leaves - 2 sprigs Hing powder - a pinch Garlic cloves - 5

How I made it:
If not having fenugreek powder, dry roast fenugreek seeds till golden brown and powder it. Wash the tomatoes and chop finely. Heat a heavy bottomed pan with oil and add mustard, curry leaves, asafoetida and crushed garlic cloves and fry. Add the chopped tomatoes.

Add the spice powders and salt. Stir well and cook in medium low for 5-8 minutes , till the tomatoes start leaving water. Add the jaggery and fenugreek seeds powder and mix well. Cook till the oil starts oozing out and the mixture is reduced. Cool down. Store in airtight container and refrigerate.

Serve as sides for dosas or curd rice.

Serve as sides for dosas or curd rice.

** My Notes:
** Use Bangalore variety tomatoes, the country are so tart and using them will result in a very tangy-tart preserve.
** Always use gingelly oil as it gives the needed flavor.
** Add more oil as that helps in keeping it good for days.
** Always use a clean dry spoon to scoop the thokku.

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Broken wheat Khichidi with the goodness of Sambar

Broken wheat has always been my easy breezy dinner idea when it comes to lack of time. Its healthy, easy to make and you can incorporate as much veggies as you can. Rather than less time, it is tiredness that is coming over me these days and hence most of the dinners has some form of upma. He was bored, I was bored. So finally overcame my laziness, dragged myself to the kitchen and was standing by the counter, pondering on wat to make for dinner, gradually eying all the ingredients in the pantry, when the Sambar powder jar stood out of the whole lot.

Suddenly I wanted something sambar-y, but definitely not rice. So finally it was broken wheat that came to the rescue again. I made sambar saadam only that the saadam was replaced by broken wheat. The flavor of sambar stood out well and it was a healthy and satisfying dinner.

~*What U Need*~
Broken wheat - 1 cup
Toor dhal - 1/2 cup

Pearl Onions - 7-8
Tomato(small) - 1
Carrot, beans, green peas - 1 cup
Tamarind extract - 3 tbsp
Sambar Powder - 2 1/2 tsp

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dhal - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Green chilli - 1

Water - as needed (approx 4 cups)
Salt - to taste
Oil - 2 tsp

How I Made it:
Pressure cook the toor dhal with enough water(approx 2 cups) for 3-4 whistles. Heat oil in a non stick pan, add mustard seeds, urad dhal, curry leaves and allow to splutter. Add slit green chilli and fry. Add sliced pearl onions and saute till brown. Once done, add the cubed tomatoes, and fry till done. Now add in the cut veggies and fry for 3 mins.

Add water till the veggies are immersed and cook till half done. Now add the tamarind extract followed by the sambar powder and mix well.

Next goes in the toor dhal. Allow to boil well. Then add the broken wheat and mix well. Adjust water as needed. Close with lid till cooked well giving a stir occasionally. Remove from flame once the wheat has cooked properly adjusting salt to taste.

My Notes:
> Since I had cooked peas, I threw it in at the end, but when using fresh or frozen peas, add it along with other veggies.
> Add water as per required consistency. If you want it to be more runny, then add another cup of water.

Serve hot as such or with some coconut chutney!!!

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Easy Sambar Saadam / Bisibelebath

Sambar saadam is u, me and everyone’s comfort food. A yummy one pot meal which combines the unique flavor of sambar and the goodness of veggies. I just love the way the rice melts in the mouth and when combined with ghee it is just awesome. I prefer making this semi-runny, semi-solid delicacy rather than the rice + sambar combination these days. Try adding some ghee to the rice when having it and you will totally love the texture and taste. Penning down more words will only lead me to brag about the yumminess of this heavenly one pot meal and so I am off to the recipe...

Serves - 2
Cooking time - 10 mins
Preparation Time - 15 mins

What U Need:
Raw Rice - 1 cups
Toor dal / Sambar Paruppu - 3/4 cup
Tamarind - Marble-sized ball
Chopped vegetables - 1 to 1.5 cups
Shallots - 6
Tomato - 1(medium)
Green chillies - 1
Sambar powder - 3 tsp
Hing powder - a generous pinch
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Chopped coriander leaves - 2 tbsp

To Temper:
Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Shallots - 4
Dried Red Chilly - 1(large)
Fenugreek seeds - few

My Cup of veggies
French beans - 4
Carrot - 1
Radish - 1 Potato - 1(medium)
Peas - a handful
Drumstick - 1
Capsicum - half of medium sized
Cucumber - 1/4 of medium sized
Brinjal -1(medium)
Snake gourd - 1/4 of medium sized

Pre-preparation:
Slice the shallots from the tempering section thinly. Clean and chop the vegetables into chunks. You can use the vegetables you have in hand. Clean the toor dhal and rice.
Add 1 cup of warm water to the tamarind and extract juice by discarding the pulp.
How I Made it:
Heat oil for tempering in the pressure cooker and add the mustard seeds and allow to splutter.
Add the curry leaves and fry.
Split the red chilly into two and then add this to the tempered oil. When black add the fenugreek seeds and sliced shallots and fry till the onions brown.
To this add the hing, green chilly, turmeric and sambar powder and tamarind water and mix well for 10 seconds.
Add the chopped veggies and fry for 2 mins.
Then add in the toor dhal and rice and sufficient water. For 1 cup of rice, I use 2 cups of water (1:2 ratio) and for dhal, I use 1 cup of water. So in total I need 3 cups of water. Already 1 cup has gone in the tamarind juice so I added an extra 2 1/2 cups of water. Extra 1/2 cup as I wanted my rice to be more moist.
Cook for 3 whistles. Wait till pressure leaves and then remove the whistle and stir it well.

Drizzle ghee over and serve hot with vadagam / chips / any fried side dish. We had it with Crispy fried Cauliflower and we loved the combo.

Though the process looks long and has more ingredients, making this is really easy.. Its just chop!!fry!!cook!! And a yummy one pot meal is ready!!!

Note:
I use the regular rice but you can also try with ponni or basmati

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

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