Chena curry / Tangy curry with yam

This Chena curry is an excellent side dish for molagootal, a mild dal and coconut gravy.It is avery quick recipe.

This recipe serves two.

Ingredients:
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Yam / Chena             - 250 grams
Ginger                      -  one inch piece( grated)
Green chillies            - 4 ( finely chopped)
curry leaves              - just 5
Coriander leaves       - 2 tsp ( chopped)
salt                           - to taste
Lemon juice             - extracted from half a lemon ( you can add more if you prefer more tangy taste)
Oil                           - 1 tsp
mustard seeds          - 1 tsp
asafoetida powder   - a pinch ( perungayam)
turmeric powder      - a pinch

Method:
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• Wash and get rid of the mud in yam.
• Peel off its skin and chop into cubes .
• With a pinch of turmeric powder, pressure cook the yam with water just enough to immerse it.
• Slightly mash the cooked yam .
• Add salt,grated ginger to it and mix well.
• In a kadai, add oil and mustard seeds.
• When it splutters,add curry leaves, green chiilies and mashed yam.
• Mix well and switch off when it boils.
• Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves.
• Squeeze lemon juice when it is warm. Mix well and serve with molagootal.

Kannimanga Arachu kalaki

Ingredients:


Kanimanga(Tender green mango soaked in salt water) - 5-6 small mangoes  
coconut - 4 tbsp
green chillies - 4 - 5
curds - 1/4 cup
Oil- 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp
urad dhal -1/4 tsp
curry leaves - few



Method: 
      1. Cut the mangoes and take out the seed.
      2. Add the shredded coconut and green chillies to it.

      3. Grind the above together into a smooth paste with 1/8th cup of curd.
      4. Season it with mustard seeds,urad dhal and curry leaves.
      5. Add the remaining curd at the time of serving.
      6. Add salt if needed.(You will not require salt as the tender mangoes itself are preserved in salt water)

Enjoy with hot rice, molagootal and ghee with papadam...

Chakkai puli pachadi (Jackfruit pachadi)

This is the jack fruit season.And you can try out a lot of recipes with ripe jack fruit. Here is one such recipe which is a traditional one .This is an excellent side dish for rice and molagootal.

Cleaning the jack fruit is a tedious process.Apply oil in your fingers to ease the process.But nowadays you get the jack fruit pieces in ready made packets .You can use that too.

This recipe serves two.

Ingredients:

==========

• Jack fruit slices - 7 to 8 whole pieces.
• turmeric powder - a pinch
• jaggery - as per the sweetness of jack fruit.(if the fruit is so sweet,this can be skipped)
• salt - to taste
• red chilli powder - 1 tsp
• oil - 1 tsp
• mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• curry leaves - a sprig
• split urad dal - 1/2 tsp
• hing - a pinch
• tamarind extract - extracted from a lemon sized tamarind

To be ground into a coarse paste with little water:

===================================

• shredded coconut - 1 tbsp
• green chillies - 3
• mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

method:

======

• Remove the seeds of jack fruit and cut the outer part into slices.(Do not throw away the seeds.You can replace veggies in molagootal with the jack fruit seeds)
• Add the chopped slices in tamarind extract along with turmeric powder and red chilli powder.
• If the jack fruit is not so sweet,add jaggery too along with the slices.
• Cook covered till the slices become tender.
• Add salt and the ground paste into it.
• Mix well and cook for 2 min.
• Temper with mustard seeds,hing,urad dal and curry leaves.

Serve with molagootal and rice.

Olan

Ingredients:

=========

• Pumpkin(Raw or half-ripe) - 1/2 kg
• Ash gourd - 1/2 kg
• Karamani/Cow peas - 1 handful(red ones)
• Curry leaves - a sprig
• Green chillies ,slit open - 2 to 3
• Salt - 1 tsp
• Sugar - 1 tsp
• Coconut Oil - 2 tsp
• Coconut milk - 1 glass (Optional.But use it for rich authentic taste)

If the coconut milk is too thick,add only half a glass.

Method:

======

• Peel off the skin of pumpkin and ashgourd. Slice into thin rectangular pieces.
• Add little water and ash gourd in a vessel such that ash gourd is just immersed and cook covered.
• When ash gourd is half cooked, add pumpkin slices and little water .Cook till the veggies are 95 % cooked.
• Add salt,sugar,green chillies,curry leaves and cook for 2 to 3 min.Take care not to mash the veggies.
• Add coconut milk and cook for a min.Do not allow to boil.

Switch off the flame and add coconut oil on top.

Serve with Sambar/Poricha kozhambu and rice.

Menthya Puli

I got this recipe from my sister's mother in law and it was too good with molagootal and also with plain rice and papad.

Ingredients:

=========

• Tamarind juice - extracted from a ball of dia,3.5cm
• Salt - to taste
• Turmeric powder - a pinch
• Jaggery, - 1 lemon sized ball
• Red chilli - 5
• Vendhayam - 1.5 tablespoon
• Rice - 2 tablespoon
• Gingelly oil - 1 tablespoon
• Urad dal - 1 tsp
• Chana dal - 1 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
• asafoetida - 1/2 tsp
• green chillies,slit open - 2 to 3

Method:

======

• Dry roast rice,fenugreek seeds and red chillies to dark brown.Set aside to cool and grind to a less coarse powder.
• Heat oil in a thick bottom kadai,add mustard seeds and asafoetida.
• When mustard splutters,add chana dal and Urad dal and saute till they turn brown.
• Add tamarind juice,turmeric powder,jaggery,salt and allow to boil.
• When it starts to boil,add green chillies and ground powder.
• Stir till you get a thick gravy.

Serve hot with molagootal and rice/Idly or dosa.

Spring onion puli pachadi/gotsu

I did not know what to do with so much of spring onions at home.Moreover was not interested to make chinese dishes too.So I tried this recipe which was a great combination with molagootal and pongal.Try it out and let me know about it!!!Happy cooking...:-)

This recipe serves two.

Ingredients:

=========

• Spring onions - 2 bunches( 15 )
• Tomato - 2 medium
• capsicum - 1 small
• tamarind juice extract - 6 tablespoon
• jaggery - 1 tablespoon
• sambar powder - 1 tablespoon
• turmeric powder - a pinch
• salt to taste
• coconut,shredded - 3 to 4 tablespoon
• coriander leaves chopped- 1 tablespoon
• oil - 1 tablespoon
• mustard seeds .- 1 teaspoon
• urad dal - 1 teaspoon
• asafoetida - a pinch

Method:

======

• Chop spring onions,tomatoes and capsicum finely.
• Heat a kadai,add oil and mustard seeds.
• When it splutters,add urad dal,asafoetida and saute till they turn brown.
• Add spring onions(bulb as well the greens) and capsicum and saute for 10 sec.They get cooked in no time.
• Add tomatoes and saute for a min.
• Add sambar powder,jaggery,tamarind juice,salt and saute till it gets slightly thick consistency.
• Adjust the spices if you feel like,after tasting.
• Switch off.Garnish with shredded coconut,greens of spring onion and coriander leaves.

Serve hot with molagootal or ven pongal.

Vendaikai/Lady's finger Puli pachadi

This recipe serves two.

Ingredients:

=========

• Lady's finger - 200 grams
• Tamarind juice - 1 cup
• Jaggery - 3 to 4 tsp (if powdered)
• Salt - to taste
• Turmeric powder - a pinch

To grind

======

• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Cumin seeeds - 1 tsp
• Red chillies - 3
• Green chillies - 1 or 2
• Coconut(shredded) - 4 tsp

For Tempering:

============

• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Oil - 1 tsp
• Curry leaves - few

Method:

======

• Chop ladiesfinger into small pieces and saute it for 3 to 5 min with 1 tsp of oil in a tava.
• Add tamarind juice, salt,turmeric powder and jaggery to it.
• Allow it to boil till it gets cooked.(Close with a lid to cook faster)
• Grind the ingredients coarsely with little water and add it to the pachadi.
• When the raw smell goes off,temper with mustard seeds and curry leaves.

Puli pachadi is ready to be served with molagootal.

Beetroot Puli pachadi

This recipe serves two.

Ingredients:

=========

• Beetroot - 1 large
• Tamarind juice - 1 cup (Soak lemon sized tamarind in 1/2 cup of warm water and extract the juice out of it)
• Salt - to taste
• sambar powder - 1 1/2 tsp
• Jaggery - a small piece
• Hing - a pinch
• Turmeric powder - a pinch
• water - 1 cup

For Tempering

===========

• Curry leaves - few
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Method:

======

• Chop Beetroot into small pieces.
• Add it to the tamarind juice along with salt,turmeric powder,hing, jaggery and boil it well (close with a lid so that it cooks faster).
• When its half cooked add sambar powder and cook it well.(Add water little by little to maintain the consistency).
• When beetroot is cooked fully,temper it with mustard seeds and curry leaves.

It has a sour and sweet taste.Serve with molagootal.

Cucumber thayir pachadi

Ingredients:

=========

Cucumber - 1 large

coconut - 2 tsp

Green chillies - 2

salt - to taste

Sugar - 1/4 tsp

Curd - 2 cups

For Tempering:

===========

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves - few

Urad Dal - 1/4 tsp

Method:

======

• Grate the cucumber or chop it finely.
• Grind coconut,mustard seeds(1/4 tsp) and green chillies together coarsely.(Just a turn in a mixie would do)
• Add all the ingredients together and temper it with mustard,curry leaves and urad dhal.
• Just before serving add curd and mix well.

The same pachadi can be prepared with ladies finger,vazhaithandu(Plaintain stem),tomato,ash gourd(Elavan).

For ladies finger pachadi,chop the vegetable finely.Roast it well in a tsp of oil and then use it.

For vazhaithandu and elavan pachadi,chop it finely and cook covered with water.Then use it for pachadi.