RECIPES OF TAMILNADU: December 2014

INDIAN DISHES TO TRY AT YOUR HOME

With all its exotic ingredients, unfamiliar dishes, and tongue-tingling flavors, Indian cuisine can be both exciting and intimidating. “It’s such a complete world of taste. You combine all the techniques from other cuisines and add magical spices to get a titillating food experience,” says Madhur Jaffrey, an actress and the author of At Home With Madhur Jaffrey .

“Indian cuisine uses the whole palette of flavors—spicy, sour, sweet, and hot all at the same time—making it something that wants to jump off the plate,” says Floyd Cardoz, the executive chef and a partner of North End Grill in New York City and the author of One Spice, Two Spice

Don’t be afraid to start playing around with cooking Indian food at home. First, it’s important to understand the various dishes and flavors that make up Indian cuisine. “There’s as much varied cuisine in India as you would find in Europe. It’s all totally different, and the only thing that connects it is a judicious knowledge of the use of spices,” says Jaffrey.

There are a basic 20 to 30 spices that are used in many dishes—cumin, coriander, turmeric, and ginger, to name a few—and there are an infinite number of ways of using them. “Every spice has a reason for being there. They have health benefits, and they make the food more exciting and flavorful,” says Cardoz.

Contrary to common belief, not all Indian dishes are curries. However, “curry” has become a catch-all name for any spice-based meat or vegetable dish with a sauce. Curries can be watery, dry, red, green, hot, or really, really hot—it’s completely up to the chef in charge. In fact, a basic chicken curry is one of the simplest things to start with when first experimenting with Indian cooking.

BRINJAL RASAVANGI SAMBAR

INGREDIENTS:

Brinjal -1/4 kg or 250 grams or 6 medium sized ones
Tamarind - gooseberry sized ball
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Hing - a pinch
Black channa / kothu kadalai -1/4 cup (soaked overnight)
Tur dal - 1/4 cup
Salt needed
Oil - 2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 3/4 tsp
Urad dal -1/2 tsp
Red chilli -1
Curry leaves -few

RASAVANGI MASALA:

Oil -1 tsp
Coriander seeds -1 tbsp
Bengal gram/Kadalai paruppu - 2 tsp
Red chillies - 4-5
Raw rice - 1 tsp (used for thickening)
Grated coconut - 1/4 cup

PRELIMINARY PROCESS:

Let us divide this recipe into 4 steps to make it easier- Preparation of podi, cooking dal, cooking brinjals and mixing all the 3 together.

Heat a tsp of oil in a kadai, add coriander seeds, channa dal, red chilli, raw rice and saute until dal turns light brown, then add coconut and fry until it changes color. Dry grind it and keep it aside.

Wash and cut brinjal lengthwise.

Pressure cook dal and black channa for 3 whistles. Mash dal alone well and keep it ready.(soaking dal for 10-15 minutes in hot water before cooking reduces cooking time and saves fuel)

Soak tamarind in warm water for 15 minutes, extract the juice, discard the pulp and keep it ready. (around 1 cup of tamarind extract)

Now the brinjals, cooked dal, rasavangi powder and tamarind extract are all ready. Let us start preparing the main dish.

PREPARATION METHOD:

Cook brinjal in very less water adding turmeric powder, needed salt and hing. Once slightly cooked, add tamarind water and cook the brinjals until soft.

Once the brinjals are cooked, add cooked black channa and tur dal.

Then add rasavangi powder/podi and cook until everything get blended well.

Heat a tsp of oil in another pan, add mustard seeds, when it splutters, add urad dal, red chilli and curry leaves and pour it over the rasavangi. Mix well and serve with rice.

OTHER SAMBAR VARIETIES:

PUMPKIN SAMBAR

METHI SAMBAR

MIXED VEGETABLE SAMBAR

MANGO SAMBAR

ARACHIVITTA SAMBAR

SAMBAR FOR IDLY/DOSA

DRUMSTICK(MURUNGAI) SAMBAR

DRUMSTICK (MURUNGAIKAI) SAMBAR

INGREDIENTS:

Drumstick/Murungakkai -3
Tur dal -1/3 cup
Tamarind - small gooseberry sized ball
Sambar Powder - 2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Oil -2 1/2 tsp
Pearl Onion- full of 1 hand(chopped)
Tomato-3(Medium size)
Mustard seeds -1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds -1/2 tsp
Asafoetida/hing - 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves - few
Garlic-few
Coriander leaves-for garnishing.
Salt needed

PRELIMINARY PROCESS:

Cut drumstick into 2 or 3 inch piece removing the outer strings. You need around 10 -12 such pieces.

Soak dal in a cup of hot water for 15 minutes. Pressure cook dal adding turmeric powder,2 pearl onions,1 chopped tomato,2 garlic pieces for 3 whistles. Once the pressure subsides, mash it well and keep it aside.

Soak tamarind in 1 cup of hot water, extract the juice and discard the pulp.If using tamarind paste, just dissolve 1 tsp tamarind paste in 1 cup of water.

PREPARATION METHOD:

Heat oil, add mustard seeds, when mustard splutters, add fenugreek seeds, hing and curry leaves,onions,2 chopped tomatoes.

Then add drumstick pieces and saute for 2 seconds.

Add sambar powder, salt needed, turmeric powder and saute for 2-3 seconds. Add water (around 3/4 cup) and cook the drumstick.

Once the drumsticks are half cooked, add 1 cup of tamarind water. Cook until the raw smell of the tamarind goes. By that time the drumsticks will also become tender.

Add cooked and mashed dal, 1/2 cup of water and simmer for 5-6 minutes. The consistency of the sambar should neither be thick nor runny, so add water accordingly.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with hot steamed rice and any vegetable curry.

OTHER SAMBAR VARIETIES:

PUMPKIN SAMBAR

METHI SAMBAR

MIXED VEGETABLE SAMBAR

MANGO SAMBAR

ARACHIVITTA SAMBAR

SAMBAR FOR IDLY/DOSA

BRINJAL RASAVANGI

SAMBAR FOR IDLY/ DOSA

INGREDIENTS:

Onion -2 finely chopped
Tomato -3 finely chopped ( big and juicy ones)
Moong dal /split yellow green gram -1/4 cup
Green chillies - 2 finely chopped
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Sambar powder -1 tsp( optional )
Salt to taste
Vegetables -1/3 cup (optional)
(mix of carrot, potato, chow chow/chayote)
Mustard -1/2 tsp
Urad dal -1/2 tsp
Hing - a generous pinch
Curry leaves -little
Oil -3 tsp

PREPARATION METHOD:

Heat the oil(1 tsp) in cooker,add mustard seeds,urad dal,hing,curry leaves,saute it for a while.
Fry onions well, add 2 green chillies, tomatoes and cook for a few minutes. Add veggies at this stage if you are using it. (Add 3 chillies if you are not using sambar powder).

Add dal, salt, turmeric powder, sambar powder,1 cup of water and pressure cook till soft .

When the pressure is released, boil for a few seconds and garnish with coriander leaves .This sambar should be watery, so adjust consistency accordingly.

I will soon share with you another instant sambar for idly which can be done in just 5 minutes.

OTHER SAMBAR VARIETIES:

PUMPKIN SAMBAR

METHI SAMBAR

MIXED VEGETABLE SAMBAR

MANGO SAMBAR

ARACHIVITTA SAMBAR

DRUMSTICK(MURUNGAI) SAMBAR

BRINJAL RASAVANGI

PUMPKIN SAMBAR

INGREDIENTS:

White Pumpkin/ash gourd-3/4 cup (cubed pieces)
Onion -1 (optional)
Tomato-1
Toor Dal -1/3 cup (Soak it in warm water for 15 minutes)
Sambar powder- 2 tsp
Tamarind- small lemon sized ball

Turmeric Powder -1/4 tsp

Oil - 2 tsp

Salt -1 tbsp (flat) rock salt or as required.

(If using table salt use less.)

Mustard -1 tsp

Hing- a generous pinch

Red Chilli -1

Fenugreek seeds-1 tsp

Curry leaves -little

PRELIMINARY PROCESS:

Soak tamarind in 1 1/2 tumbler of hot water and extract the juice. Discard the pulp.

PREPARATION METHOD:

Pressure cook toor dal by adding turmeric powder for 3 whistles. Mash it well and keep it ready.

Heat oil in a pan/kadai and add the ingredients for seasoning .

Saute onion until it turns transparent, then add tomatoes, pumpkin pieces and saute for a few seconds. (Alternatively, you can cook pumpkin in a little water with salt separately)

Add tamarind extract, sambar powder and salt.

Keep it in medium flame and boil until the raw flavor of the tamarind goes. By this time the pumpkin will also get cooked well.

Add cooked toor dal along with needed water and boil for 5-6 minutes. The consistency of this sambar should neither be thick nor thin, so adjust water accordingly.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with rice or idli, dosa.

Hot delicious pumpkin sambar is ready to be served with hot steaming rice. It can be had with idly and dosa also.

OTHER SAMBAR VARIETIES:

METHI SAMBAR

MIXED VEGETABLE SAMBAR

MANGO SAMBAR

ARACHIVITTA SAMBAR

SAMBAR FOR IDLY/DOSA

DRUMSTICK(MURUNGAI) SAMBAR

BRINJAL RASAVANGI

ARACHIVITTA SAMBAR

INGREDIENTS:

Toor dal – 1/3 measuirng cup or 4 ½ tbsp
Tamarind – small gooseberry sized ball
Onion -1 (optional )
Radish - 2-3
Mustard seeds-1/4 tsp
Fenugreek seeds-1/4 tsp
Asafoetida-a pinch
Curry leaves-few

GRIND THE FOLLOWING:

Coriander seeds – 1 tbsp
Channa dal or Bengal gram – 1 ½ tsp
Red chillies - 3-4
Grated coconut -2 tbsp
Raw rice -1/4 tsp

Heat a tsp of oil and fry the above ingredients until dal turns golden brown. Add coconut in the end. After adding coconut, switch off the flame. Fry the coconut in the heat of the pan itself. Leave it to cool and then grind it to a smooth paste.

PRELIMINARY PROCESS:

Soak toor dal in 1 cup of water for 15 minutes.(Soaking help the toor dal to get cooked well and also consumes less time for cooking.) Pressure cook tur dal for 3 whistles or until soft. Mash toor dal well and keep it aside.

Wash radish, peel the skin and cut it into round shapes.Cook radish also along with toor dal keeping it in a small vessel along with dal as shown in the picture above.

Soak tamarind in warm water for 15 minutes and extract its juice. Discard the pulp.

PREPARATION:

Heat 2 tsp of oil in a pan or kadai, add mustard, when it splutters, add fenugreek, hing and curry leaves.

Add chopped onions and sauté for a few minutes. Since I have used radish I pressure cooked along with tur dal. In case if you are using vegetables like ladies finger, brinjal, pumpkin, drumsticks, you have to sauté it in oil along with onions.

Then add 1 1/2 cups (approximately) of tamarind extract, turmeric powder, salt and boil until the raw flavor of the tamarind goes.

Then add the ground paste, cooked dal, cooked radish along with a cup of water and boil for a few minutes. The sambar should neither be too thick nor too watery, so adjust the consistency of the sambar accordingly.

Garnish with coriander leaves

Serve it with idly,dosa,rice,ven pongal.

OTHER SAMBAR VARIETIES:

PUMPKIN SAMBAR

METHI SAMBAR

MIXED VEGETABLE SAMBAR

MANGO SAMBAR

SAMBAR FOR IDLY/DOSA

DRUMSTICK(MURUNGAI) SAMBAR

BRINJAL RASAVANGI

MANGO SAMBAR

INGREDIENTS:

Raw Mango (chopped) -1 cup
Drumstick -1
Brinjal -1
Sambar Powder -2 tsp
Turmeric Powder - a pinch
Tur dal -1/4 cup
Oil - 2 tsp
Mustard seeds -1 tsp
Hing - a pinch
Curry leaves - little

PRELIMINARY PROCESS:

Slightly scrap the skin of mangoes and cut it into medium sized cubes.

Pressure cook tur dal with a pinch of turmeric powder till soft, mash it and keep it aside.

PREPARATION METHOD:

Heat oil,add mustard seeds,when it splutters add hing and curry leafs

Now add brinjal, drumstick, sambar powder, turmeric powder and saute for a few seconds.

Add a cup of water, needed salt and boil till the vegetables get cooked.

Then add cooked tur dal, 1/2 cup of water and mango pieces. Simmer and cook for a few minutes.

Easy mango sambar is ready to be served with rice and curry.

OTHER SAMBAR VARIETIES:

PUMPKIN SAMBAR

METHI SAMBAR

MIXED VEGETABLE SAMBAR

ARACHIVITTA SAMBAR

SAMBAR FOR IDLY/DOSA

DRUMSTICK(MURUNGAI) SAMBAR

BRINJAL RASAVANGI

MIXED VEGETABLE SAMBAR

INGREDIENTS:

Tur dal - 1/3 cup

Tamarind - small lemon or gooseberry sized ball

Mixed Vegetables - 1 cup

Sambar Powder- 2 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Salt as required

Mustard seeds -1 tsp
Hing - a generous pinch
Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp
Red Chilli - 1

Curry leaves - few

Big Onion-1(Finely chopped)

PRELIMINARY PROCESS:

Soak dal in hot water for 20 minutes and pressure cook for 3 whistles.

Soak tamarind in hot water and extract 1 1/2 cups of tamarind juice and discard the pulp.

You can use any vegetables like beans, carrot, cauliflower, potato,brinjal, broad beans (avarakkai), but do not add too many vegetables, then you will end up having more vegetables and very less sambar. So use just 1 cup of mixed vegetables.

I used 1/2 a carrot, 1 small potato, 2 florets cauliflower, 2 broad beans and 3-4 beans.In case, if you are using cauliflower, do not pressure cook but blanch them in hot water and add to the sambar while adding dal or paruppu.

PREPARATION METHOD:

Heat a tbsp of oil add mustard seeds when it splutters,add hing,red chilly,fenugreek seeds,curry leafs,chopped onion and saute for few minutes.Then add tamarind water,turmeric powder,salt,sambar powder.Let it boil until the raw smell goes.

In mean time keep vegetables and dhal in two different vessels and let it boil in a cooker.after the raw smell of tamarind has gone,add boiled vegetables in that.

Mash dhal using blender or masher and add it along with some water to sambar.let it boil for few minutes and serve it .

OTHER SAMBAR VARIETIES:

PUMPKIN SAMBAR

METHI SAMBAR

MANGO SAMBAR

ARACHIVITTA SAMBAR

SAMBAR FOR IDLY/DOSA

DRUMSTICK(MURUNGAI) SAMBAR

BRINJAL RASAVANGI

METHI SAMBAR

INGREDIENTS:

Fenugreek leaves/methi leaves - 1 cup
Pearl Onions -1/4 cup or 1 big onion
Tomato -1 (remove the seeds and chop it)
Tamarind - small gooseberry sized ball
Tur dal - 1/3 cup
Sambar powder - 1/2 tsp (optional)
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt -needed

Oil - 2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp
Hing - a pinch
Curry leaves - few tender ones

GRIND THE FOLLOWING:

Oil -1 tsp
Coriander seeds - 1 1/2 tbsp
Channa dal or bangal gram - 1 tbsp
Red chillies - 4
Raw Rice - 1/2 tsp
Grated coconut - 2 tbsp

Heat a tsp of oil in a pan, fry coriander seeds, channa dal, red chillies and rice until dal turns golden brown.Turn off the heat, add grated coconut and saute in the heat of the pan itself.

Once it cools, grind it to a fine paste and keep it aside. This is the masala for the sambar.

PRELIMINARY PROCESS:

Clean, wash and chop methi leaves. Keep it aside.

Soak dal in hot water for 15 minutes and pressure cook adding a pinch of turmeric powder for 3 whistles. Mash the dal well and keep it aside.

Soak tamarind in a cup of hot water and extract its juice. Discard the pulp.

Prepare the sambar masala and keep it ready.

PREPARATION METHOD:

Sambar masala is fried and kept ready for grinding.

Heat 2 tsp of oil in a kadai/pan, add mustard seeds, when it splutters, add fenugreek seeds, hing and curry leaves. Saute for a second and then add onions.

When onions turn pink, add chopped methi leaves, chopped tomatoes and saute for a few minutes.

Add turmeric powder, sambar powder (just 1/2 tsp which is optional) salt needed and tamarind water.

Let the tamarind water boil until the raw flavor goes.

Then add the ground masala paste and the cooked dal along with 1/2-3/4 cup of water and boil well.

You can adjust the consistency of the sambar by adding water. It should not be too thick nor too thin, so adjust accordingly. Check for salt.

Serve with rice or even with idly or dosa.

OTHER SAMBAR VARIETIES:

PUMPKIN SAMBAR

MIXED VEGETABLE SAMBAR

MANGO SAMBAR

ARACHIVITTA SAMBAR

SAMBAR FOR IDLY/DOSA

DRUMSTICK(MURUNGAI) SAMBAR

BRINJAL RASAVANGI

AMCHUR POWDER(MANGO POWDER)

INGREDIENTS:

Raw mango-1/2kg

PREPARATION METHOD:

Wash, peel and slice the mangoes into thin slices and place them on a plastic sheet.
Dry the mango slices under the hot sunlight until it becomes crisp and moisture free. One or two days of hot sunlight is enough for drying them.

Crush the dried chips and grind into a fine powder. Store in a clean airtight container.

FISH FRY MASALA

INGREDIENTS:

Cumin seeds / Jeera - 2 grams (1 spoon)
Fennel seeds / Sombu - 2 grams (1 spoon)
Coriander seeds / Dhania seeds - 6 grams (2 spoons)
Peppercorns / Milagu - 2 grams (1 spoon)
Dry red chillies / Kaaindha Sivappu Milagai - 6 to 8
Turmeric powder - 1/4 spoon
Salt - 2 grams (Optional)

PREPARATION METHOD:

Take a pan and place on flame, now add all the above said ingredients (except salt) and dry roast just for 30 seconds.

Remove from pan and set aside until it cools down to room temperature.

Now add all the ingredients to a blender (see that the blender jar is dry) and grind well into powder, add turmeric powder, salt (optional) and grind again.

Sieve the ground spice mixture to get the fine powder. Grind the rest again. Only if the powder is fine it will stick to the fish pieces.

Store or use!!

OTHER MASALA POWDERS:

Chicken /Mutton Masala