Cauliflower (Black)Pepper Fry

I tried this recipe for the first time today and it came out very well. Actually, I was talking to one of my undergrad friends, Hamsika, about two weeks back and she told me about this dish. Since I had not heard of such a simple dish with cauliflower before, I got curious and took the recipe from her to try it out. I would encourage people who like cauliflower to try this and see if you like it.

Ingredients (about 2 - 3 servings):

Cauliflower - 1 small cut into small florets
Butter (if you are not a calorie freak) - 1 tablespoon (or more if you like it buttery)
(You can use the same amount of cooking oil as well)
Cumin seeds - 2 teaspoons
Black pepper powder - 3 teaspoons (vary this to suit your taste)
Salt to taste

Procedure:

1. Cook the cauliflower florets with water and some salt in a vessel until they get a LITTLE soft. You should be able to break them with a spoon, like, it should be tender but not mashed. This should roughly take about 7 - 10 minutes on the stove top on medium heat. Drain the water and set the half cooked florets aside.
2. In a pan, heat some butter (or cooking oil), add cumin seeds and the florets from step 1. Mix the contents well and fry for a minute or so.
3. To step 2, add some black pepper powder and salt, fry until the cauliflower turns light golden brown in color and turn off the stove. This should roughly take about 10 minutes on medium heat. There you go!

You can use freshly ground black pepper instead of the powdered version. I tried this as a side for rice and it was yum. Haven't tried this with chappathis yet, but I have a feeling that it will be good :-). Thanks to Hamsi!!!!

Aval Usili

Aval, called poha in Hindi and flattened rice in English, is very easy to cook and aval usili is even more easier to make. If you like aval and if you have it at home, then you can make this dish in 5 minutes. No great masalas are used here, but the flavor is great (and so is the taste :-)).

Ingredients (2 servings):

Aval (thick) - 2 cups (using a measuring cup)
Black pepper powder - 1.5 teaspoons
Cumin powder - 1.5 teaspoons
Cooking oil - 1 tablespoon
Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
Urad dhal - 1 teaspoon
Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
Dried red chilli - 1 cut into half
Curry leaves - a few
Salt to taste

Procedure:

1. In a bowl, wash and soak the aval with just enough HOT water to cover it and set it aside for about 5 - 7 minutes, after which the aval would have become soft (but not mashed... if you add more water while soaking, it gets mashed).
2. Take a small pan, heat some cooking oil, add mustard seeds and wait for them to splutter. After the mustard splutters, add asafoetida, urad dhal, dried red chilli and curry leaves and fry until the urad dhal turns light golden brown in color.
3. To the contents of the pan, add the softened aval, black pepper powder, cumin powder and salt, mix everything well and turn off the stove after 2 minutes. Aval usili is ready in 5 minutes.

Note:
1. If you have whole black pepper and cumin seeds, you can make a freshly ground powder out of it and use that in the usili. Anything fresh is always better, ain't it????
2. I use thick aval as opposed to thin aval as the latter gets mashed very easily.

This makes for a really quick snack (like I said before, only if you have aval at hand ;-)). Often, I make this for breakfast because, by the time I get up, soak the aval and get ready to go to work, it would have become soft and I can make the usili in 5 minutes and have a tasty, hot breakfast :-). I like it with plain yogurt, but it is good as is.

Cabbage Fry With Onions

For a long time, my Mom used to make cabbage curry with coconut, which was mostly sweet and went well as a side dish with rice. Although that style of cooking cabbage tasted good, it was sort of boring. That was the only method that she knew to make a dry cabbage curry and it was always either that or the cabbage koottu. One fine day, she amazed us with this really yummy cabbage fry with onions, which she had learned from a colleague at work. She didn't ask us like she normally does, if we would like to try a new dish with cabbage since she knew we would be reluctant to try any dish with cabbage ;-). Whenever I cook cabbage, my first option would be the fry with onions and only very rarely do I make the other varieties.

Ingredients (about 2 - 3 servings):

Cabbage (any variety) - 1 small cut very finely (it should look like it has been grated into thin pieces)
Onion - 1 small or medium sized sliced into thin pieces
Green chillies - 2 slit into half (vary this to suit your taste)
Cooking oil - 2 tablespoons
Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
Urad dhal - 1 teaspoon
Curry leaves - a few
Red chilli powder - 1 full teaspoon (vary this to suit your taste)
Salt to taste

Procedure:

1. In a wide pan, heat some cooking oil, add mustard seeds and wait for them to splutter. After they splutter, add urad dhal, asafoetida, slit green chillies and curry leaves and fry until the urad dhal turns light golden brown in color.
2. Immediately after step 1, add onions and fry until they turn golden brown in color.
3. To step 2, add the cut cabbage, mix everything well, put a lid on and cook the contents on low heat until the cabbage get cooked half way through.
4. When the cabbage is half cooked, take the lid off, add red chilli powder and salt and keep frying the contents until the cabbage cooks well. This roughly takes about 15 minutes and the cabbage will turn light golden brown during the process. Turn off the stove and you have the yummy cabbage fry!

This goes very well with chappathis/rotis. The sweetness of the cabbage and onions together with the spiciness of the green chillies and red chilli powder gives it a great taste. I love it with plain curd rice as well.

Jeera Rasam

Another rasam variety made with jeera (cumin seeds). Nothing can beat my grandmother's jeera rasam. Even my Mom's doesn't taste as good. Every time I visit my grandparents, jeera rasam will definitely be on the menu, sort of my grandmom's specialty. I miss her and her rasam!!!! :-( Anyhow, here is the recipe.

Ingredients (about 2 - 3 servings):

Tamarind soaked in water - about the size of a 1/2 inch ball
(If using tamarind paste, about 3/4 teaspoon of it)
Sambar powder - 2 full teaspoons
Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
Salt to taste

To grind to a coarse paste (not very coarse but not fine either):

Toor dhal - 2 tablespoons
Cumin seeds - 1 tablespoon

For seasoning:

Cooking oil - 2 teaspoons
Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
Curry leaves (a must) - a few

Procedure:

1. Soak toor dhal and cumin seeds in little warm water (enough to cover them) for about 15 minutes, grind to a coarse paste and set aside.
2. In a deep vessel, extract about 2 cups (using a measuring cup) of the juice of soaked tamarind or dilute the tamarind paste with 2 cups of water.
3. Add sambar powder, asafoetida and salt to the contents from step 2 and bring the mixture to a boil. Boil for about 15 minutes on medium heat or until the raw smell of sambar powder and tamarind goes off.
4. Now add the paste from step 1 to step 3, 1.5 cups of water, mix everything well and heat the contents until you see a froth like layer forming on the top. That is the indication that you should turn off the stove. Boiling anything with jeera in it will add a slight bitterness to the dish, or so says my Mom.
5. In a pan, heat some cooking oil, add mustard seeds and wait for them to splutter. Transfer the contents of the pan to the rasam in step 4 immediately after the mustard splutters.
6. Garnish with curry leaves. Flavorful jeera rasam is ready!!!!

Jeera rasam and paruppu usili go hand in hand. Whenever there is jeera rasam in the menu in our family, we can be sure that paruppu usili is also in the menu :-).

Gottu Rasam

The title may sound funny to some (or many) of you (in fact, my boyfriend calls it "goat rasam" ;-)) but this is supposed to be a ready-to-make rasam, as most of the time, people in India seem to have all the ingredients handy for this. Hot rasam and rice on a cold, rainy day (or night) is certainly comforting.

Ingredients (about 2 - 3 servings):

Tamarind soaked in water - about the size of a 1/2 inch ball
(If using tamarind paste, about 1/2 teaspoon of it)
Tomato - 1 medium sized cut into big chunks or just crush it by hand
(You can also chop the tomato if you would like it in every mouthful)
Toor dhal - 2 tablespoons
Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
Sambar powder (or rasam powder) - 1.5 teaspoons
Black pepper powder - 1/2 teaspoon (you can add a bit more if you would like the pepper flavor to dominate)
Cumin powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Jaggery (optional, but I strongly recommend it :-)) - 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon
(You can use sugar if you don't have jaggery)
Salt to taste

For seasoning:

Cooking oil ( or ghee) - 2 teaspoons
Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
Cumin seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Cilantro - 3 teaspoons finely chopped
Curry leaves - a few

Procedure:

1. In a deep vessel, extract about 2 cups (using a measuring cup) of the juice of soaked tamarind or dilute the tamarind paste with 2 cups of water.
2. Add raw toor dhal, asafoetida, sambar powder, little salt and tomatoes to step 1 and boil the mixture until the raw smell of tamarind and sambar powder go away and the tomatoes get cooked. This roughly takes about 15 - 20 minutes on medium heat.
3. After step 2, add pepper powder, cumin powder and jaggery and about 1 cup of water to the mixture, heat for about 5 more minutes and turn off the stove. My Mom says that boiling the rasam after adding pepper and jeera will introduce slight bitterness in it. We don't want that, do we??? So, we turn it off before it starts boiling.
4. In a pan, heat some cooking oil or ghee (clarified butter), add mustard seeds and wait for them to splutter. After the mustard splutters, add jeera, mix everything well and pour the contents into the rasam from step 3.
5. Garnish with chopped cilantro and fresh curry leaves.

For a slight variation in flavor, you can throw a couple of crushed garlic cloves in step 2 or even add the garlic in step 4, after the mustard has spluttered.

This tastes somewhat similar to the rasams that they serve at Brahmin weddings back home. The jaggery introduces a very light sweetness in the rasam, which tastes great. Cooked, nicely mashed rice mixed with ghee (clarified butter) and this rasam taste yum!!!! :-)

Lemon Rasam

Rasam comes under the category of comfort food according to me. It is something that is light and can be made in a jiffy. Most Indians (or at least South Indians) think that rasam is something that people eat when someone is down with cold/fever and that it doesn't have any nutritional value, since most varieties of rasam are made with tamarind extract. But, rasam can me made with dhal, which is rich in protein. Lemon rasam does not have any tamarind and it does contain dhal. So, there you go.

Ingredients (about 2 - 3 servings):

Fresh lime/lemon - 1 big one
Toor dhal - 1/4 cup (using a measuring cup)
Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
Tomato - 1 small one cut into cubes or you just squeeze it with hand
(You can even chop the tomato if you would like it in every mouthful :-))

To grind with water:

Green chillies - 2 to 3 small ones (depending on how spicy you would like it)
Salt - about a teaspoon

For seasoning:

Cooking oil - 2 teaspoons
Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
Cilantro - 2 teaspoons finely chopped

Procedure:

1. Pressure cook toor dhal with turmeric powder, mash the cooked dhal and set aside. I take dhal and water in the ratio 1:3 and cook for 3 whistles.
2. Grind green chillies with salt and set aside.
3. In a vessel, add the ground green chillies, about 2 cups of water, asafoetida and tomatoes and bring it to a boil. Boil on medium heat until the raw chilli smell goes away and the tomatoes have cooked. This takes about 15 minutes.
4. To the mixture from step 3, add the mashed dhal from step 1, about 1 cup of water and bring it to a boil. Boil for 5 more minutes and turn off the stove.
5. In a small pan, heat some cooking oil, add mustard seeds and wait for them to splutter. After the mustard splutters, transfer the contents of the pan to the mixture from step 4.
6. Garnish with chopped cilantro. Squeeze the juice of a fresh lime/lemon and lemon rasam is done! You can add more salt at the end if needed and also more lime/lemon juice if you want it to be tangy.

Note:
1. My Mom says grinding green chillies with salt will grind them properly and that is true, because I once tried to grind them alone and they wouldn't grind well.
2. Please avoid reheating in the microwave as the rasam tends to get bitter because of the lemon juice in it. I usually keep it out about 30 - 45 minutes before eating. Mixing it with hot rice also works. Heat transfer baby!!!!

You can also add about 1/2 teaspoon of sambar powder in step 3 along with the other ingredients. If you do so, please be sure to reduce the green chillies to 1 as sambar powder itself is spicy. That gives it a slightly different flavor :-). This rasam goes very well with rice and ghee (clarified butter). It can also be had like soup.

Mahi's Dum Aloo

I first tried dum aloo after Mahimaa (my undergrad friend) posted the recipe on her blog. I've tried quite a few of her dishes and they were great. Dum aloo was no exception. Today was the second time I tried it and it came out very well once again. I will jot down the recipe from Mahi's blog for my own reference, but for a prettier version, please click here to see Mahi's entry (she is an excellent photographer as well).

Ingredients (about 2 servings):

Potatoes - 3 medium sized ones
Cooking oil - 2 tablespoons
Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Red chilli powder - 1 teaspoon (vary this to suit your taste)
Coriander powder - 1.5 teaspoons
Garam masala powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Kasuri methi (optional) - 1 teaspoon crushed
(Kasuri methi is dried fenugreek leaves)
Cilantro - 2 teaspoons finely chopped
Plain yogurt - 1 teaspoon
Lemon juice (optional) - 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste

To grind to a paste without adding water:

Onion - 1/2 of a medium sized one
Ginger - about an inch
Garlic - about 2 big cloves
Green chilli - 1 or 2

To grind separately to a paste without adding water:

Tomatoes - 2 small

Procedure:

1. Boil, peel and cut potatoes into bite-sized pieces and set aside.
2. Grind onion, ginger, garlic and green chilli to a fine paste without adding water and set aside.
3. Grind tomatoes to a fine paste and set aside.
4. In a pan, heat some cooking oil and add the paste from step 2. Fry the paste for about 5 minutes and then add the paste from step 3. Mix the contents well.
5. To step 4, add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder and salt, mix everything well once again, simmer and cook until the raw smell of the onions and tomatoes vanish. This takes about 25 - 30 minutes.
6. To the contents in step 5, add the potatoes, yogurt, kasuri methi, chopped cilantro and lemon juice, cook for 5 more minutes and turn off the stove.

Dum aloo goes very well with any kind of roti. I tried it with rice as well and it was pretty good I would say. The first time around when I made this dish, I didn't have any kasuri methi at hand and hence didn't know to what extent it would enhance the flavor, but believe me, when I added kasuri methi the second time, it was simply out of the world :-).

Seppankizhangu (Colacasia) Fry

Seppankizhangu, called Colacasia scientifically (I remember the scientific name of it from my VIII standard botany class when we used to collect samples for tubers :-) Also, the way my botany teacher used to say Colacasia would sound really funny since she had a strong Telugu accent), is very tasty when fried. I don't know the Hindi or the common name for this, but I think it is also called taro root (not sure though). Here is a link to its image (Google is great!). It was a long lost dish for me until last summer when my Mom identified seppankizhangu in a local, Asian grocery store. I had been to that store many many times since I came to New Hamsphire but didn't have the faintest idea that that store carried seppankizhangu. So, now that my Mom found seppankizhangu, my happiness knew no bounds. It had been nearly 5 years since I had eaten my Mom's seppankizhangu fry. Ever since, this dish has entered my very own cuisine :-).

Ingredients (about 2 - 3 servings):

Seppankizhangu - 4 - 5 medium sized ones
Coconut oil (a must) - about 1/2 teaspoon
Cooking oil - 2 tablespoons
Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
Red chilli powder - 1.5 teaspoons (vary to suit your taste, but you have to be sure to add enough to balance the tamarind)
Tamarind soaked in very little water - about the size of a 1/2 inch ball
(If using tamarind paste, about 1/2 teaspoon of it)
Salt to taste

Procedure:

1. Pressure cook seppankizhangu (I normally cook for 3 whistles), peel, cut into small pieces and set aside.
2. Extract a very thick essence of the soaked tamarind and set aside. You need not worry about this step if using tamarind paste. Sometimes, seppankizhangu has a tendency to cause an itchy sensation on your tongue. Adding tamarind takes that off completely and you can enjoy your fry.
3. In a pan, heat some cooking oil, add mustard seeds and wait for them to splutter. After the mustard splutters, immediately add the asafoetida, cut seppankizhangu, tamarind extract or paste, red chilli powder and salt and mix everything well. Fry for about 15 minutes on medium heat until the seppankizhangu turns crispy. Turn off the stove.
4. Add the coconut oil, mix everything well once again and you are ready to eat!!!!

Recently, I figured that seppankizhangu fry goes well with chappathis, but once again, curd rice and seppankizhangu fry are an unbeatable combo (Btw, I know the picture doesn't look like this is a fry type side, but with the seppankizhangu that I get near my place, I HAVE to pressure cook them for a long time and they get mashed. Anyway, the taste is all that matters, at least to me ;-)). Try it and you will also love it :-).

Paagarkkaai (Bitter Gourd) Fry

Paagarkkaai a.k.a karella a.k.a bitter gourd, is very good for health. Most people don't like it because, like its English name says, it IS bitter. My Mom makes paagarkkaai in such a way that the bitterness doesn't show. She deep fries paagarkkaai and also makes something called "pitlai" with it, which is somewhat similar to sambar (but paagarkkaai pitlai is a whole new post by itself). It is very easy to make paagarkkaai fry and here is the recipe :-).

Ingredients (about 2 - 3 servings):

Paagarkkaai - 4 medium sized ones cut into small pieces
(You can take the seeds out if they are too hard. Tender paagarkkaai seeds can be retained though)
Tamarind soaked in very little water - about the size of a small lemon
(If using tamarind paste, about 1/2 teaspoon of it)
Red chilli powder - 2 teaspoons (vary this to suit your taste, but be sure to add enough to balance the tamarind)
Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
Cooking oil - 2 tablespoons
Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste

Procedure:

1. Take a bowl, add the cut paagarkkaai, asafoetida, red chilli powder, salt, the thick extract of the tamarind soaked in water (Yes, this time, the tamarind extract from the soaked tamarind should be very thick) or the tamarind paste, mix everything well and marinate the paagarkkaai in the mixture for about 30 minutes. You can finish the rest of the cooking during this time ;-). Marinating the mixture in tamarind extract/paste and salt is to take the bitterness from the paagarkkaai.
2. Heat some oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and wait for them to splutter. After the mustard splutters, add the marinated paagarkkaai and cook on low heat for about 10 minutes. You can throw the lid on during this time.
3. After the paagarkkaai has softened, deep fry it on medium heat and turn off the stove. It rougly takes about 20 more minutes.

I simply love this paagarkkaai fry with curd rice. That is an unbeatable combo :-).

Annapoorna Sambar

Disclaimer: Annapoorna sambar powder, which is available only in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, is a MUST for this sambar.

There were this really cute couple, Sridevi and Thangavelu, who were from Coimbatore and who lived in my apartment complex. One day, I happened to stop by their house and they offered me some medhu vadas and sambar to go with it. The vadas were awesome and the sambar was just out of the world. I had tasted such sambar only in the hotels of Tamil Nadu. I got really curious to know how Sridevi made that sambar and guess what, the secret ingredient to making that sambar is Annapoorna sambar powder. Since they were from Coimbatore, they had a lot of that sambar powder at home and Sridevi was kind enough to offer a small pack of it for me to try, along with the recipe :-). Now, many of you might think what this hype about "Annapoorna" is and here I am to offer an explanation for the same. Annapoorna restaurant is one of the high-class, vegetarian restaurants that was first started in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. The food there was heavenly and soon the restaurant became a popular chain in Coimbatore, popular to such an extent that on one of our family visits to Coimbatore, my Dad insisted that we eat at Annapoorna. We didn't know about the specialty of that place until that day. So, this sambar that Sridevi made tasted exactly like the sambar that they serve at Annapoorna. After I got that small pack of sambar powder from Sridevi, I was eager to know if it was available in the Indian grocery stores in the US so that I can get more after I had used it all and hence did my own research only to find that they don't have any distributors in Chennai, let alone the US. Since I went on and on about this sambar powder when I talked to my Mom, she had one of her friends from Coimbatore mail her about 1 lb of it and sent it to me :-). And, when my Mom visited me last summer, I made that sambar for her and she took back a sample of that sambar powder with her to India since it is not available in Chennai, where my parents live. Ain't that funny???????????? Anyway, getting back to business, it may not make much sense to listen to me blabber about that sambar but you will definitely understand what I'm talking about once you taste it.

Ingredients (about 2 - 3 servings):

Annapoorna sambar powder - 3 full teaspoons
Tamarind soaked in water - about the size of a 1/2 inch ball
(If using tamarind paste, about 1/4 teaspoon of it)
Toor dhal - 1/4 cup (using a measuring cup)
Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Onion - 1 big finely chopped
Tomato - 1 medium sized finely chopped
Cooking oil - about 2 tablespoons
Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
Urad dhal - 1 teaspoon
Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
Green chillies - 2 cut into pieces
Dried red chilli - 1 cut into half
Curry leaves - a few
Cilantro (a must) - 3 teaspoons finely chopped

Procedure:

1. Pressure cook toor dhal with turmeric powder and set aside. I normally take dhal and water in the ratio 1:3.
2. Extract about 1.5 cups of tamarind water from the soaked tamarind or dilute the tamarind paste to yield the same amount of water and set aside.
3. In a small, deep vessel, heat some cooking oil, add mustard seeds and wait for the to splutter. After the mustard splutters, add urad dhal, asafoetida, green chillies, dried red chillies and curry leaves and fry until the urad dhal turns light golden brown in color.
4. To step 3, add the onions and fry till they turn golden brown and then add the chopped tomatoes and wait for them to cook well.
5. After the tomatoes get cooked, add the tamarind water, cooked toor dhal and salt and bring the mixture to a boil. Once it starts boiling, add Annapoorna sambar powder and boil for about 10 minutes and turn off the stove.
6. Garnish with chopped cilantro. Yummy Annapoorna sambar is ready to dig in!!!!

It tastes like heaven with Idlis, Dosas, Vadas, Bondas, Upmas and any such tiffin items. I even like it with rice and ghee (clarified butter). Thanks a ton to Sridevi!!!!!

Kaara Kuzhambu

I simply love the kaara kuzhambu that is served in most of the restaurants in the state of Tamil Nadu. It just takes you out of the world. My Mom never likes it much and hence did not take the effort to learn it (fair enough I think :-)). A few months back, I was craving for kaara kuzhambu and went online to look for recipes. I came across a ton of them and did not know which one would yield the taste I was looking for. So, I asked one of my undergrad friends, Mahimaa, an amazing cook, if she has a specific recipe that she can pass along (coming from Chennai herself, I knew Mahi would understand if I tell her what taste I'm expecting in my kaara kuzhambu). She did send me a link and after carefully thinking about the ingredients involved in that recipe, I decided to give it a shot. Thanks to Mahi for steering me in the right direction, for it turned out very well and carried the exact taste and flavor that I had in my mind :-). Below is the procedure from the link that Mahi had forwarded.

Ingredients (about 3 - 4 servings):

Tamarind soaked in water - about the size of a small lemon
(If using tamarind paste, about 3/4 teaspoon)
Onions - 2 medium sized finely chopped
Tomatoes - 1.5 medium sized finely chopped
Cooking oil - 4 to 5 tablespoons
Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
Garlic - 4 to 5 cloves peeled and crushed
Fenugreek seeds or powder - 1 teaspoon
Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
Curry leaves - a few
Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Red chilli powder - 2 to 3 teaspoons (vary this to suit your taste)
Coriander powder - about 3 teaspoons

To grind to a fine paste:

Poppy seeds (kasakasa) - 1.5 teaspoons
Grated/dry coconut - 3 to 4 tablespoons
Cashews - 4 to 5
(Note: Adding cashews while grinding gives the kuzhambu a rich, creamy texture but if you choose not to use cashews, you can use about 2 teaspoons of rice flour)

Procedure:

1. Grind poppy seeds, coconut and cashews to a fine paste and set aside.
2. Extract about 3 cups of tamarind water from the soaked tamarind or dilute the paste to yield about 3 cups of water and set aside.
3. Take a deep vessel, heat some cooking oil, add mustard seeds and wait for them to splutter. After the mustard splutters, add the fenugreek seeds (or powder), asafoetida, crushed garlic, turmeric powder, curry leaves and chopped onions and fry until the onions turn golden brown in color.
4. To the onions in step 3, add chopped tomatoes and fry until they get cooked.
5. To the mixture in step 4, add red chilli powder, coriander powder and salt, fry for about a minute, then add tamarind water and bring the mixture to a boil. Boil for about 10 - 15 minutes. If you want to add raw vegetables to the kaara kuzhambu, you can add it now. If adding something half cooked, add it after 10 - 15 minutes.
6. Finally, add the ground paste from step 1, boil for 5 - 10 more minutes and turn off the stove. Mouth-watering kaara kuzhambu is done!!!!

I've made kaara kuzhambu with okra, potatoes, blackeyed peas and boiled eggs so far and have liked them all. It goes very well with rice and potato chips or papad :-). Yum!!!!!

Potato Fry With Onions - My Maami's Style

Who would not like potatoes??? Potato is one vegetable that people of all ages like. And, almost all the time, any dish with potatoes tastes good and also comes out well the very first time it is made. During my childhood days, our family used to go to Rukku Maami's (my Maami's name is Rukmani) place for lunch parties and the highlight of the lunch would be her potato fry with onions. I just love it. Even when my Mom tries to make it my Maami's way, we used to feel that it doesn't taste as good ;-).

Ingredients (about 3 servings):

Potatoes - 3 to 4 medium sized ones
Onion - 1 medium sized or 1/2 big one thinly sliced
Green chillies - 2 slit
Curry leaves - a few
Cooking oil - 2 table spoons
Coconut oil - 1.5 teaspoons
Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
Urad dhal - 1 teaspoon
Red chilli powder - 1 teaspoon (vary this to suit your taste)
Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
Salt to taste

Procedure:

1. Boil, peel and cut potatoes into small cubes and set aside.
2. In a pan, heat some cooking coil, add mustard seeds and wait for them to splutter. After the mustard seeds splutter, add urad dhal, green chillies, curry leaves and asafoetida and fry until the urad dhal turns light golden brown in color.
3. To step 2, add the onions and fry until they turn light golden brown in color. To the fried onions, add some red chilli powder and salt and fry for 2 more minutes.
4. Add the boiled potato cubes to the onions and shallow fry the mixture from step 3 on medium heat. This takes about 5 - 10 minutes.
5. Just about 30 seconds before turning off the stove, add the coconut oil and mix everything well. Coconut oil gives it all the flavor and it is my Maami's potato only then.

I personally feel that potato fry of any kind goes very well with any rice variety and also roti variety. It is one universal dish that can pair up with anything ;-).

Vendhaya Keerai Pappu

Vendhaya keerai a.k.a fresh methi a.k.a tender fenugreek stem with leaves, is very good for health, or so says my Mom ;-). She says it is a very good cooling agent and helps reduce body heat. My sisters and I never liked any dish where vendhaya keerai was the primary ingredient as we thought it would taste bitter, just like the fenugreek seeds. Although vendhaya keerai is slightly bitter, believe it or not, vendhaya keerai pappu does not even have a tinge of bitterness in it. Ever since I tasted this pappu, I have liked it and lately, have been making it at least once a month.

Ingredients (about 4 servings):

Vendhaya keerai - 2 small bunches cleaned and finely chopped
Tamarind soaked in water - about the size of a small lemon
(If using tamaring paste, about 1 teaspoon of it)
Toor dhal - 1/2 cup (using a measuring cup)
Sambar powder - 2 full teaspoons
Cooking oil - 3 teaspoons
Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
Urad dhal - 1 teaspoon
Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
Green chillies - 2 slit
Dried red chilli - 1 split into half
Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Salt to taste

Procedure:

1. Pressure cook toor dhal with 1.5 cups (using a measuring cup) of water and turmeric and set aside.
2. Extract about 2 cups of the juice of soaked tamarind or dilute the tamarind paste to yeild about 2 cups of juice and set aside.
3. In a deep vessel, heat some cooking oil, add mustard seeds and wait for them to splutter. After they splutter, add urad dhal, asafoetida, slit green chillies and dried red chilli and fry until the urad dhal turns light golden brown in color.
4. Add the finely chopped vendhaya keerai after step 2 and fry for about 10 minutes on medium heat with CONSTANT strirring.
5. To the mixture in step 4, add the tamarind water, sambar powder and salt and bring it to a boil. Boil for about 10 more minutes on medium heat.
6. Add the pressure cooked toor dhal from step 1 to the boiling mixture from step 5 and boil for 5 more minutes with constant stirring lest the dhal may settle down and stick to the container.
7. Garnish with curry leaves. Vendhaya keerai pappu is ready to be served with hot rice and ghee :-).

The number of green chillies and dried red chillies that go into this dish can be varied to suit your taste.

After coming to the US, vendhaya keerai pappu has become a rarity, as the keerai itslef is available only in the Indian grocery stores. Hence, I sow fenugreek seeds in a small pot inside my apartment and harvest the tender stem with leaves after about 4 weeks :-).

Egg Puli Kuzhambu

In my opinion, this is a very tasty dish which is spicy, tangy and full of flavor. I first had this dish when my boyfriend's sister made it on one of her visits to see her beloved brother :-), back in our school days. It was simply amazing but extremely spicy. I was surprised that she could handle that much spice in her food :-). I have been making this dish since then.

Ingredients (about 3 - 4 servings):

Boiled, peeled eggs - 6
Onions - 1.5 finely chopped
Tomatos - 2 medium sized finely chopped
Tamarind soaked in water - about the size of a small lime
(If using tamarind paste, 1 full teaspoon)
Red chilli powder - 2 to 3 teaspoons (vary this to suit your taste)
Coriander powder - 6 teaspoons
Cooking oil - 4 to 5 tablespoons
Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste

Procedure:

1. Boil, peel and make light slits on the eggs and set them aside.
2. Extract about 2 cups of tamarind water from the soaked tamarind or dilute the paste with 2 cups of water and set aside.
3. In a deep vessel, heat cooking oil, add mustard seeds and wait for them to splutter. After the mustard splutters, add onions and fry until they turn golden brown in color. Then add tomatoes and fry until they get cooked nicely.
4. To the mixture in step 2, add red chilli powder, coriander powder, tamarind water and salt. Mix the contents well and bring them to a boil. The coriander powder acts as a thickening agent here and hence the 6 teaspoons of it :-).
5. After boiling the contents from step 4 for about 15 minutes on medium flame/heat, add the boiled eggs, put a lid on and boil for another 5 minutes.
6. Egg puli kuzhambu is all done.

I think, Nisha, my boyfriend's sister, used a small can of diced tomatoes with jalapenos when she made this dish (but with okra though) as we did not have tomatoes handy that day. May be, the jalapenos from the can added more heat, but it was way too tasty.

For a variation, this dish can also be made with cut okra (for the given proportions, about 1 pack of frozen cut okra would do), in which case, the okra needs to be added during step 4, after the contents start boiling. You can put the lid on while it boils so that the okra gets cooked. This goes very well with rice :-).

"My" Style Channa

Oh yeah, that's right. It is Anu's style channa time now :-). May be, this is how a lot of people make channa, but I first made it without the help of any recipe. I was basically longing for a South Indian style channa gravy when I was in school and since I was new to cooking then, couldn't explain to the more experienced ones (ahem ahem) as to exactly what I was looking for in that dish. Hence, yours truly decided to make channa her own way and just threw in the spices that she felt would give her the flavor that she was craving for. I still make South Indian style channa this way just because I don't know any other method. So, here I go...

Ingredients (about 4 - 5 servings):

Cooking oil - 4 to 5 tablespoons
Cooked chick peas - 4 cups (using a measuring cup)
(You can use canned chick peas if you don't have raw chick peas)
Onions - 1.5 medium sized finely chopped
Tomatoes - 2 medium sized finely chopped
Green chillies - 3 to 4 cut into small pieces
Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
Urad dhal - 2 teaspoons
Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
Red chilli powder - 1.5 teaspoons (vary this to suit your taste)
Channa masala - 3 to 4 full teaspoons
Garam masala (optional) - 1/4 teaspoon
Besan (chick pea flour) - 1 teaspoon
Curry leaves - a few
Cilantro - 4 teaspoons finely chopped
Salt to taste

Procedure:

1. Soak raw chick peas overnight if you want to make this dish the next day.
2. Pressure cook the soaked chick peas with just enough water for it to cook, drain excess water and set aside.
3. In a deep vessel, heat some cooking oil and add mustard seeds. After the mustard seeds splutter, add urad dhal, asafoetida, green chillies and curry leaves and fry until the urad dhal turns light golden brown in color.
4. After step 3, add onions and fry till they turn golden brown in color. Then add the tomatoes and fry until they get cooked.
5. Once the tomatoes get cooked, add some salt, red chilli powder, garam masala, channa masala and the cooked chick peas. Mix the spices well and add little water (not too much though) to bring it to a gravy consistency.
6. Bring the mixture from step 5 to a boil and let it boil for 5 minutes. Then add the chick pea flour mixed with water (just enough to wet the flour) to the mixture, boil for 3 more minutes and turn off the stove.
7. Garnish with chopped cilantro. Anu's style channa is ready to be paired with rice or chappathi :-).

It may not be the best channa dish in the world, but it is a very special dish to me at least. I have made it so many times when I was in school that I even got bored of it at one point and adopted my Mom's style of making channa, but that is another post by itself ;-).

Smita's Punjabi Style Dhal

Smita, one of my many dear and trust-worthy friends, makes amazing Punjabi style dhal. A few months back, I had gotten really bored of the sambar and dhal that I usually make that I wanted to make some different kind of dhal (You see, being a vegetarian, I didn't want to compromise on the protein content in my diet :-). Ain't I a good girl????). That is when I remembered the dhal that Smita makes and asked her to email me the recipe. It came out very well and I'm making it on a regular cycle these days. Here is the recipe for the same. Thanks a lot Smits :-).

Ingredients (about 3 - 4 servings):

Whole moong dhal (with skin) - 1/2 cup (using a measuring cup)
Whole urad dhal (with skin) - 1/2 cup (using a measuring cup)
Channa dhal (split) - 0.3 cups (using a measuring cup)
Pepper powder - 3/4 teaspoon
Red chilli powder - 1 teaspoon (can add more later, if needed)
Coriander powder - 1.5 teaspoons
Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Garam masala powder - 3/4 teaspoon
Cumin powder (optional) - 1/4 teaspoon
Salt to taste

To fry in about 6-7 teaspoons of oil:

Cooking oil - 6 to 7 teaspoons
Onion - 1 medium sized finely chopped
Tomatoes - 1.5 medium sized finely chopped
Green chillies - 2 to 3 finely chopped
Ginger - 1 inch finely choppped
Garlic - about the same quantity or more as ginger and finely chopped
Whole cumin seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
Curry leaves - a few
Cilanto - 4 to 5 teaspoons finely chopped

Procedure:

1. Pressure cook the 3 dhals (I generally use dhal and water in the ratio 1:3) and spice powders and set aside.
2. In a pan, heat some oil and add cumin seeds and asafoetida. After about 30 seconds, add chopped green chillies, ginger and garlic and fry for some time. Then, add the onions and fry until they turn golden brown in color.
3. To the onions in step 2, add chopped tomatoes and salt and fry until the tomatoes cook. In this step, you can add more red chilli powder if you feel the heat is not enough ;-).
4. Add the mixture from step 3 to the pressure cooked dhals, bring it to a boil and turn off the stove thereafter.
5. Garnish with curry leaves and chopped cilantro. Tasty Punjabi style dhal is ready to dig in :-).

To give it a South Indian touch, you can add about 1 teaspoon of mustard seeds and 1 teaspoon of urad dhal in the oil and then fry the other ingredients.

Smita said she liked whole dhals in this recipe to split dhals because whole dhals do not get mashed easily when pressure cooked. Having made this dhal so many times since I took the recipe, I totally agree with her. It does look, feel and taste good when the dhals are not mashed. Using a mixture of dhals makes this very nutritious. You can try this with different kinds of dhals as well. Enjoy it with rice and ghee or even chappathi!!!!