Aloo Saag/ Potato Spinach Curry

Tags

Aloo curry, Aloo Saag, aloo sabzi, easy Indian Curry, Healthy Spinach, Healthy Spinach Curry, Potato, Potato curry, Potato Spinach curry, Saag Curry, spinach leaves

Aloo Saag a very simple and delicious dish. I just love this combination. We usually skip potato in the grocery list, but this time I had got few of them. This curry is such a comfort dish that I can have it with rice as well as roti 😛 Instead of adding the chopped spinach leaves, I add the puree of spinach which gives it more taste. Hope you like it friends 🙂

Ingredients:

Potato : 2 medium(skin peeled and chopped to large pieces)

Spinach : 1 1/2 cups roughly chopped

Onion : 1/2 of one large

Green Chili : 2

Turmeric Powder : 1/4 teaspoon

Garam Masala : 1 teaspoon

Salt : 1 teaspoon

Ginger Garlic paste : 1 teaspoon

Oil: 1 teaspoon

Cumin Seeds : 1/2 teaspoon

Mustard Seeds : 1/2 teaspoon

Urad dal : 1/2 teaspoon

Asafoetida : 1/4 teaspoon

Method:

• Boil water in a pan, add potatoes and par boil in high for 5 mins. After 5 mins, drain water and keep it aside.
• Make spinach puree with little water in a blender.
• Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, urad dal, cumin seeds, asafoetida. When they crackle, add onions, green chili, ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder.
• Let it turn translucent.
• Next add the par boiled potatoes and mix well. When it is 75% done in cooking potato, add the spinach puree, salt, garam masala and mix well.
• Let it boil with the spinach puree. It would get thicker. When the spinach is mixed well with potato , stop and serve with roti or rice 🙂

 

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Eggplant, Plantain gravy/Kathirikai Vazhakkai Puli Kuzhambu

Tags

Chettinad Kathirikai vazhakkai kuzhambu, easy puli kuzhambu, Eggplant plantain gravy, Eggplant recipe, Indian style eggplant dish, Indian style eggplant gravy, Kathirikai Kuzhambu, Kathirikai Vazhakkai Kuzhambu, plantain gravy, puli kuzhambu recipe

This is a very special dish at my home. My grandma prepares it for any pooja that we do at home, even during Pongal. When some one leaves to a pilgrim trip from home( for those who know patha yathrai to Palani) this is a must in my home. And we all love it when my grandma prepares it 🙂 This is a simple kuzhambu, but need a little extra oil and we use only gingely oil for this. Gingely oil is very good for health and has a cooling effect to the body. It gives a great taste to the dish.

Ingredients:

Eggplant/Kathirikai : 3 to 4 small

Plantain/ Vazhakkai : 1 medium

Red Pearl Onion: 10 to 12

Tamarind juice : 1 cup

Kuzhambu milagai thool : 2 tablespoon

or

Red Chili Powder : 1/2 teaspoon and Corriander Powder : 2 teaspoon

Turmeric Powder : 1/2 teaspoon

Salt : 1 teaspoon

Gingely Oil : 2 1/2 tablespoon

Cilantro Leaves to garnish

To temper:

Fenugreek seeds : 1/2 teaspoon

Fennel Seeds : 1/2 teaspoon

Asafoetida : 1/8 teaspoon

Curry Leaves : few

Method:

Peal the skin of plantain and cut them in to pieces. Cut the Eggplants as well.

If the red pearl onions are very small, you can use them directly. If big then we can chop them to 2 pieces.

In the tamarind juice mix the kuzhambu milagai thool or (red chili powder and coriander powder), turmeric powder, salt and mix well. Check for the taste and adjust.

Next in a large pan heat oil. Add the items in to temper, when they change color add the onions and saute for 2 mins.

Now add the Eggplant and plantain and saute for 5 mins.

Add the tamaring juice where spice powders are added and let the gravy get heated. Close lid.

This will take around half an hour, when the oil would start floating in the top layer.

Now stop and garnish with cilantro leaves.

Serve with hot rice.

 

Radish/ Mulangi/ Mooli Sambar

Tags

easy sambar recipe, Mooli Sambar, Mulangi Sambar, Radish Sambar, Sambar

This is not my recipe 🙂 its my husband’s. I have heard from his friends that he cooks really well. But after marriage he would never get into kitchen 😛 In what ever condition I am, he wouldn’t bother to help. If I complain about it he would say that he has to get that mood to cook, otherwise he wouldn’t 🙂 . Not sure how he got the mood to cook on Sunday. He said its been long time since I cooked , so I am going to prepare lunch today. I was shocked and said don’t joke, I will start preparing. He said I am serious and he didn’t let me in the kitchen. If I go in , he would send me out and said you are not supposed to watch what I am doing 😛

He had prepared sambar and egg scramble. Everything was perfect 😀 and loved his cooking 🙂 I know he will not do it often ,so I have to cherish this. Here is his recipe 🙂

Ingredients:

Radish/Mulangi : 1 large cut in to round pieces

Onion : 1 large

Tomato : 1 large

Green chili : 5

Garlic : 5 pods

Toor Dal/ Yellow Lentil : 1 cup

Ginger : 1 small piece

Tamarind pulp : 1 tablespoon

Turmeric Powder : generous pinch

Sambar Powder /Curry Powder: 1 tablespoon

Water : 5 cups

Salt : 1 teaspoon

To temper:

oil : 1 teaspoon

Mustard Seeds : 1 teaspoon

Urad dal : 1 teaspoon

Channa dal : 1 teaspoon

Red Chilies : 3 to 4

Curry Leaves: Few

Asafoetida/Hing : generous pinch

Cilantro : to garnish

Method:

In a pressure cooker, boil the lentil/toor dal with turmeric powder in 2 cups water and cook it for 6 whistles.

In a large pan add radish, onion, tomato, green chili, garlic, ginger with 3 cups of water and boil. Add turmeric powder to this. Boil for 10 mins. Then add sambar powder and cooked dal to this and cook for 15 mins. Next add the tamarind pulp and salt to this and heat for 5 more minutes.

In a separate pan, heat oil and add items in to temper. Add this to the sambar and stop from cooking. Add the cilantro leaves and garnish.

Serve with hot rice 🙂 Yum I enjoyed it 😀

Pudalangai Poricha Kuzhambu/Snake Gourd Lentil Curry

Tags

Poricha Kuzhambu, Pudalagai, Pudalangai Kuzhambu, Pudalangai Poricha Kuzhambu, Snake Gourd, Snake Gourd curry, Snake Gourd Lentil curry, Snake Gourd recipe

Snake Gourd / Pudalangai is a common summer vegetable which has more  water content in it. I love the taste of snake gourd. Some health benefits of it is

• High in water content, low in fat.
• It contains a lot of fiber.
• Snake Gourd juice is used to reduce heart pain and heart disorders.
• It is a good source of minerals and vitamins.

I have no idea why this name for this dish, but I absolutely love this curry. I made it a little spicy, you can reduce the spice levels according to your taste 🙂

Ingredients:

Snake Gourd/ Pudalangai : one medium sized
Moong dal : 1/4 cup
Toor dal : 1/4 cup
Turmeric powder : generous pinch
Salt : 1 teaspoon

For grinding:

Coriander seeds : 1 teaspoon
Channa dal : 1 teaspoon
Urad dal : 1 teaspoon
Black Pepper whole : 1/2 teaspoon ( I used 1 teaspoon )
Red chili : 2 to 3
Grated coconut/Frozen unsweetened coconut : 2 teaspoons
Oil : 1 teaspoon

To temper:

Oil : 1 teaspoon
Asafoetida : 1/4 teaspoon
Mustard seeds : 1/2 teaspoon
Urad dal : 1/2 teaspoon
Curry leaves : Few
Cilantro leaves : to garnish

Method:

• Heat oil 1 teaspoon in a pan. Add the items in to grind except coconut and when they change color, stop cooking and add coconut now. Cool down for few mins.
• Next in a pressure cooker, add moong dal, toor dal and the chopped snake gourd. Add water just to cover it and cook for 3 whistles.
• Now grind the above which has cooled down.
• Add the paste to the cooked snake gourd and lentils along with salt and boil for some time.
• Next heat 1 teaspoon oil in a pan and add items in to temper. Once it is ready mix it in the boiling curry. Stop and garnish with cilantro leaves.

Serve with hot rice/ Roti.

This method can be used with any veggies or mixed vegetables as well.

Bitter Melon Curry/Pagarkai Masala

Tags

Bitter gourd, Bitter Gourd Curry, Bitter gourd health benefits, Bitter gourd side dish for roti, Bitter melon, Bitter Melon Curry, Pagarkai, Pagarkai masala, pagarkai poriyal, Pavakkai masala, Pavakkai poriyal

This is my second recipe with Bitter melon. These are low calorie vegetable. Its an excellent source of iron and vitamins, minerals. Its a great medicine for those with diabetes, kidney stone, psoriasis, piles(haemorrhoids). They help in increasing the longevity.

Ingredients:

• Bitter Melon : 3 medium sized
• Onion: 1/2 of large
• Tomato :1
• Tamarind pulp : 1/2 cup
• Garlic : 8 to 10 pods
• Turmeric Powder : 1/4 teaspoon
• Red Chili Powder : 1/2 teaspoon
• Coriander Powder : 1 teaspoon
• Salt : 1 teaspoon

To temper:

• Oil : 1 teaspoon
• Mustard Seeds : 1/2 teaspoon
• Urad dal : 1/2 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves : Few

Method:

• Heat oil in a pan. Chop all the vegetables. When oil is hot add items in to temper.
• Next add Onions and garlic.
• When they turn translucent add the bitter melons. Saute for 5 to 6 mins
• Next add chopped tomato.
• When the tomato is cooked well add chili powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder and mix well.
• After 3 to 4 mins, add the tamarind pulp and salt. The bitter melons must cook with the tamarind pulp.
• When it dries out add some more water and cook till soft.
• Garnish with cilantro leaves.

This can be served with Rice or Roti/Chapathi.

Chettinad Kosamalli /Eggplant gravy

Tags

Chettinad Kosamalli, Eggplant, Eggplant gravy, Idli, Kosamalli, Tamarind juice

I am back today with a Chettinad gravy called kosamalli which goes well with Idli, Dosa, Idiyappam, sevai. This is a gravy which will make you like eggplant more 🙂 And this is not very spicy like other chettinad food. My grandma prepares it often during weekends. No one can beat her Idli’s softness and with this kosamalli its so yummy 🙂 My friend’s mom used to ask me, how do you chettiar people make such soft idli, what ever I do I am not getting it like you 🙂 I am yet to find that secret 😛 my grandma had already given a lot of suggestions, so nowadays I am getting really soft Idli, but yet if I store it for sometime, it goes a little harder and I have to microwave it 🙂 Still finding out a way to make it soft. This Kosamalli preparation is quite simple and tastes very good.

Ingredients:

Eggplant : 6 small

Potato : 2 small ( I used red potatoes)

Red Onion: 1/2 of 1 large

Thai green chili : 6 slit into 2 pieces (don’t worry, its won’t be too spicy 😛 )

Tamarind juice: 1 teaspoon

Cilantro leaves : few strand finely chopped

Oil : 1 teaspoon

salt : 1 teaspoon

To season:

Mustard Seeds : 1/2 teaspoon

Urad dal : 1/2 teaspoon

Curry Leaves : few

Asafoetida/Hing : 1/8 teaspoon

Method:

First chop eggplant and potato. You can either pressure cook or cook directly. I prefer pressure cooking as it is fast. Pour water just to cover the eggplant , potato and cook. I pressure cooked it for 3 whistles. Let it cool down, then mash it well using potato masher. Add salt now and mix well.

Next heat oil in a pan, add items in to season, when they crackle, add chopped onions and slit green chili. After 2 mins, add the mashed eggplant and potato. Add some water because that would be thick. Add the tamarind juice. Check for the taste. If needed you can add more salt or tamarind juice.

Just heat it for 3 to 4 mins as the vegetables are already cooked. Add cilantro leaves and serve it with Idli/Dosa/Idiyappam.

The tamarind juice must be very less, the quantity of juice used must be less than what we use for sambar. Otherwise it would become very tangy and the taste would be spoiled.

 

Red Sorrel Pickle/Gongura Pachadi

Tags

Andhra style pickle, Gongura Pachadi, Gongura pickle, pickle, Red Sorrel Leaves, Red Sorrel Leaves pickle

This is a very famous Andhra pickle made of Red Sorrel leaves/Gongura leaves/Pulicha Keerai. This recipe is from my friend’s mom.

Lets see the health benefits of Sorrel leaves

• They are highly rich in Iron, vitamins
• They are good source of antioxidants.
• Sorrel has powerful detoxifying properties and anti bacterial properties
• They help in natural cure of kidney stones.
• They help in treating constipation.

This is a pickled version and yeah this requires quite good amount of oil, though not as much as other Indian pickles.

I have reduced the Red chili quantity , because Andhra version would be really spicy.

Ingredients:

Red Sorrel Leave/Gongura : 1 big bunch

Coriander seeds : 1 1/2 tablespoon

Urad dal : 1 tablespoon

Channa dal : 1 tablespoon

Fenugreek seeds : 1/2 teaspoon

Red Chili : 7 to 8

Garlic : 4 large pods

Sesame Oil : 3 tablespoons

Salt : as per required

To Temper:

Sesame Oil : 2 tablespoons

Mustard seeds : 1 teaspoon

Cumin Seeds : 1 teaspoon

Curry Leaves : 1 strand

Garlic : 2 pods crushed

Method:

Pluck the sorrel leaves, wash in water and dry them in a cloth for 2 days. NO to direct sun dry. Leave it in the cloth for 1 day. Toss around so that the other sides also gets dried. After 2 days this pickle can be done.

Heat 2 tablespoon oil in a large pan. Throw all the dried leaves and mix well. Let it get heated till they turn soft and black. The raw smell would leave of once done. Stop and let it cool.

Heat another tablespoon oil in the same pan. Add channa dal, urad dal, red chili, coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds. They would start color change to slight brown. Now stop and cool down.

Once all these are cool. Add all of them with salt in a food processor and grind it to a coarse paste. Add some water if needed.

Heat the pan with remaining oil. Add mustard seeds when they crackle add cumin seeds. When this also starts crackling add the curry leaves. Once the splutter add the crushed garlic. Once the garlic turns golden brown. Stop. Let it cool. Once it is cool add this oil to the ground paste.

Now the gongura pachadi is ready. You can store for a month. Serve this with hot steamed rice and some ghee or oil, It tastes awesome.

Chickpea Flour Gravy/Kadalai maavu chutney/Besan Chutney

Tags

Bombay Chutney, chickpea flour, Chickpea Flour Gravy, Chutney, Ginger, Indian Chutney, Kadalai Maavu Chutney, Kadalai maavu recipe

This is one gravy which is done quite easily and fast. It goes well with many Indian breakfast like Idli, Dosa, rava dosa, rava idli, Poha. The creaminess of this dish is the most welcome factor. When you don’t have enough veggies this is an apt gravy. I got to know about this from my roommates mom. She used to call this as Bombay chutney. I love ginger and she had used so much of ginger in this dish which made me love it. Recently I prepared it and here is the recipe…

Ingredients:

Chickpea flour : 1/4 cup

Onion: 1/2 of one large

Green Chili : 2

Tomato : 1 small

Ginger : 1/2 inch piece grated

Oil : 1 teaspoon

Mustard seeds : 1/2 teaspoon

Urad dal : 1/2 teaspoon

Curry leaves : few

Cilantro : to garnish few

Salt : 1 teaspoon

Water : as required

Method :

Dry roast the chickpea flour in a pan for 3 to 4 mins, until a nice aroma comes up. Cool it down for few mins. Add water to this and make it a nice watery. You can salt to this and taste it, if needed more salt add and adjust. Chop onions, tomato, green chili.

Heat oil in pan, when it is hot add mustard seeds, urad dal. When it crackles add curry leaves. After a minute add onion, tomato, green chili, ginger. Let it turn translucent.

Now add the chickpea flour water in this. Keep stirring it would start getting thicker. Leave it to boil for 10 mins. Don’t forget to stir. Check if the chickpea flour doesn’t taste raw, if not you can stop. Else boil it for few more minutes. Garnish with Cilantro leaves.

 

Bitter Melon Lentil dish/ Pagarkai sambar

Tags

Bitter gourd, Bitter gourd Sambar, Bitter melon, Bitter Melon lentil dish, Pagarkai, Pagarkai sambar

As a kid like everyone else I used to hate Bitter melon because of the bitterness. When ever this was in the menu , I wouldn’t eat food and will get blasting hehehe…It changed few years back , once I realized what is healthy, what to eat and what not to eat. From then I started getting these atleast once in a week. I had influenced few of my friends also 😀 Seeing me bring this bitter melon/ bitter gourd dish ( I prepare it 2 ways, one recipe is here ) every week for my lunch to office , one of my friend prepared it herself and told me that her husband liked it so much. Yay! its great when you can share some healthy prospect to your circle.

Bitter melons is one more low calorie vegetable. Its an excellent source of iron and vitamins, minerals. Its a great medicine for those with diabetes, kidney stone, psoriasis, piles(haemorrhoids). Also it is told that, secret of Okinawa Islanders longevity is due to this bitter gourd/melon.

Sambar is not a big deal for any Indian. But I would like to spread this healthy vegetable to everyone around. Lets go with the recipe.

 

Ingredients:

Bitter Melon/Bitter gourd/Pagarkai : 2 large

Onion : 1/2 of large

Green chili : 1

Pigeon pea lentil / toor dal : 1/2 cup

Tomato : 1

Garlic : 5 pods

Turmeric powder : 1/4 teaspoon

Red Chili powder : 1/2 teaspoon

Corriander powder : 1 1/2 teaspoon

Fenugreek seeds : 1/2 teaspoon

Tamarind : lemon size

Cilantro leaves : to garnish

For seasoning :

Cumin Seeds : 1/2 teaspoon

Mustard seeds : 1/2 teaspoon

Urad dal : 1/2 teaspoon

Red pepper : 3 to 4

Asafoetida : 1/2 teaspoon

Oil : 1 teaspoon

Curry Leaves : few

Method:

Cut the bitter melon to round pieces. Chop onion and garlic, cut tomato, green chili to pieces.

Clean the lentil. Add everything together in a pressure cooker. Include red chili powder, corriander powder, turmeric powder, fenugreek seeds. Add 4 cups of water and pressure cook it for 6 whistles or 20 minutes. You can do normal cooking as well without pressure cooker. Just wait until the vegetable is full cooked. Stop and then add salt.

Make pulp out of tamarind. In a pan heat oil. When it is hot enough, add items in to garnish. When it crackles, add the cooked lentil and vegetable mix to this. After 3 mins, add the tamarind pulp to this. Leave it for 3 to 4 minutes until the tamarind pulp mixes with the vegetable. Garnish with cilantro leaves.

With lentil , tamarind pulp the bitter taste reduces, so its not quit difficult to eat.  Because of its health benefit I wouldn’t mind the bitterness 🙂

Yellow Pumpkin Dish/Parangikai Puli Kulambu (Chettinad Style)

Tags

Chettinad Style Parangikai Kuzhambu, curry powder, Fennel seeds, Indian Style Yellow Pumpkin Gravy, Parangikai, Parangikai Kulambu, Parangikai Kuzhambhu, tamarind, Turmeric Powder, Yellow Pumpkin, Yellow Pumpkin Gravy

This is again one of favorite dish prepared by my grandma. This time without calling her, I prepared it myself 😀 Yay! I could make it well 🙂 , Quite a simple dish and goes well with cooked rice. This is another very common dish in chettinad families. The special ingredient in this is the Jagarey/ Gur. It gives a sweet taste and I love that taste with the sour tamarind taste.

Ingredients:

Yellow Pumpkin : 1/4 pieces of a large

Onion/Shallots : 1/2 cup

Garlic : 6 to 8 pods

Tamarind: lemon sized

Red Chili Powder : 1 tablespoon

Corriander Powder : 2 tablespoon (you can substitute corriander powder with curry powder)

Turmeric powder : 1/4 teaspoon

Salt : 1/2 teaspoon

Grated Jaggery : 1 teaspoon

Oil : 3 teaspoons ( I prefer Gingely oil)

Cilantro leaves : to garnish

To season:

Fennel seeds : 1 teaspoon

Fenugreek seeds: 1 teaspoon

Curry Leaves : few

Method:

First Soak the tamarind in water, allow it to soak for 10 mins. Chop the pumpkins to small pieces. Cut the outer hard skin. Chop the shallots/Onions, I prefer shallots for this dish. Chop garlic to small pieces. Grate the Jaggery.

After 10 mins, put the tamarind and water mixture in a microwave safe bowl and heat it for 30 sec in microwave. Then remove the extract from tamarind. Pour two cups of water to this. Add red chili, corriander/curry powder , salt, turmeric powder with the tamarind extract and mix well.

Heat oil in a pan, when it is hot add fenugreek seeds, fennel seeds. Let them crackle. Then add curry leaves, when they splutter, add the chopped onions and garlic.  Let it turn translucent. Then add the chopped Yellow pumpkins. Let it get cooked for 3 to 4 mins.

When it is 30% done cooking the pumpkins, add the tamarind extract water which is mixed with the powders mentioned above. Close the pan with a lid. Let it cook for at least 20 mins. In between keep stirring. Now add the jaggery/gur in this.  Let it cook for another 10 mins.

Now it would start becoming thicker. Add the chopped cilantro leaves and serve with hot cooked rice 🙂