Soya Drumstick Kadhi

Hmm. Soya - A much used meat substitute in the North India, and Drumstick/Murungakkai - a much used Sambar vegetable in the South. Well, I married the two and the result is a lip-smacking kadhi or yogurt curry.

Well, my intention wasnt to get the two together, but I wanted to have kadhi, eat soya chunks, and also use up the lone drumstick that was slowly fading away into old age. So, I decided to make a kadhi with these two, and the result surprised me. Really!


Recipe serves 2 people.

Ingredients

1 cup Soya Chunks, boiled for about 5 minutes in water with salt
1 Drumstick/Murungakkai, chopped
2 cups Sour Yogurt
1 tbsp Bengal Gram Flour/Besan/Kadalai Maavu
2 Onions, sliced thin
1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds/Jeera/Jeeagam
2 tbsp Coriander Seed Powder/Dhania powder/Malli podi
Chilli Powder - per taste
Salt - per taste
A Pinch of Turmeric powder
2 tsp of Cooking Oil


Method

1. Mix the gram flour with yogurt and beat well until they blend well. The resulting mixture should resemble a thin dosa batter.
2. In a saucepan, heat oil, add cumin seeds, and let them splutter.
3. Add the onions and saute well till they turn translucent.
4. Add chopped drumstick and soya chunks.
5. Add salt, coriander seeds powder, and turmeric powder, and saute well for about 2 minutes on medium flame.
6. Add the yogurt mixture and mix well.
7. Cook on high for 5 minutes and switch off flame.
8. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Pictorial

Whisk yogurt well until smooth and creamy

Add the gram flour

Whisk well into the yogurt until smooth and lump free

Keep your ingredients ready

In a kadhai, heat oil, and add cumin seeds

Add sliced onions and saute well

Add chopped drumsticks and boiled and squeezed soya chunks

Add salt

Add coriander powder, turmeric powder and chilly powder

Pour in the prepared yogurt mixture. Mix well, and boil for 2-3 minutes.

Add chopped coriander leaves for garnish and yummy kadhi is ready!

Enjoy!

Soya Chunks Curry / Biriyani

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I love Soya. What's not to love about it? It absorbs the flavours of the dish and is super easy to cook. This Soya Chunks Biriyani is my comfort food  when I'm in the mood for a wholesome meal, yet don't have the time to cook up one or just plain lazy :-D.

Whatever. I love this dish and its amazing flavours. Go on. Check this out!

Recipe serves 2 people.

Ingredients

1 big Onion, sliced
1 and 1/2 Tomatoes ( I used the less tangy ones locally known as Bangalore Tomatoes)
1 Green Chilly, slit lengthwise
Curry Leaves, a few
1 tbsp Ginger-Garlic paste
1 tsp Fennel Seeds/Sombu/Saunf
2 cups of Mixed Vegetables (I used 3 Flat Beans, and 1 Long Carrot)
1 cup of Soya Chunks
Chilly Powder - as per taste
Salt - as per taste
Turmeric Powder - a pinch
1 tbsp Cooking Oil
1 glass Rice (washed)


Method

1. In a pressure cooker, heat oil, and add the fennel seeds.
2. After the fennel seeds sizzle, add onions, green chillies, and curry leaves and saute well.
3. When the onions begin to brown, add tomatoes and ginger-garlic paste.
4. Let the mixture cook for a while until the tomatoes turn mushy.
5. Add the turmeric and chilly powders with salt as per taste.
6. Add the veggies and soya chunks and mix well.
7. Add the washed rice, and 2 and 1/2 glasses of water.
8. Close and let the pressure cooker run for 4 whistles, and switch it off.

Tips: 

1. If you just want a curry, stop after Step 6 and cook till veggies are done.
2. This curry/biryani tastes best when hot and spicy.
3. Adding a bit of ghee enhances the taste of this dish.

Pictorial

Take your ingredients

In a pressure cooker, heat oil, and add fennel seeds

Add onions, green chillies, and curry leaves and saute well

Add tomatoes and ginger-garlic paste

Add the spice powders and salt

Add veggies and soya chunks

Add the washed rice

Add water and pressure cook for 4 whistles

Delicious Biriyani is now ready.

Mint Chutney / Pudina Chutney

Finally, its up - the recipe of my favourite chutney which I love for its simplicity and its versatility.

I know its been really long since I posted a recipe but I was a little busy watching my 10 month old grow up. Time flies.. Sigh!! :-)

Anyways, coming back to the recipe. I got introduced to this chutney during my pregnancy when I craved for quick yet non fattening snacks and my mom whipped up this super delish chutney as a spread for bread sandwiches. Quick? Yes. Non-Fattening? Yes. Yes. Win! :)

This chutney is so versatile that I use it as a sandwich spread, kathi roll/frankie spread, side for idli/dosa, and even as a base for subzis.

( Recipe adapted from my mother )

Ingredients

1 bunch of Pudina/ Mint leaves
1 tbsp of Cooking Oil
2 tbsp of Ulutham Parippu/ Urad Dal
2 tbsp of Coconut (grated)
2 Green Chillies
1 marble sized ball of Tamarind
Salt to taste


Method

1. Wash the mint leaves well and let it dry in shade.
2. In a kadhai/saucepan, heat oil.
3. Add the ulutham parippu/ urad dal, green chillies, and tamarind.
4. Saute well until the parippu/dal turns slightly red.
5. Add the grated coconut and saute well.
6. Switch off the flame and remove the sauteed ingredients to a plate to let them cool.
7. Grind the ingredients in a mixie or blender.
8. In the same hot kadhai, add the mint leaves and saute well. Note that you do not have to really 'cook' the leaves. Just add them to the hot pan and they will get cooked in the heat of the pan. If you cook them on high, they will just wilt and reduce to nothing.
9. Add the sauteed mint leaves to the ground ingredients, add salt to taste, and blend it fine. 
10. You can add water while grinding as per your desired consistency. I wanted my chutney thick, so I did not add much water.

Tip - This chutney stays good when refrigerated for upto a month.

Pictorial

Take your ingredients

Add oil to a kadhai

Saute green chillies, tamarind, and ulutham parippu

Add grated coconut and saute well

Remove to a blender, cool, and grind

Add mint leaves to the hot pan

Saute until they wilt slightly

Add to the ground ingredients with salt and blend well.

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Poricha Kozhambu / Mixed Vegetables and Lentils

 This recipe has been in Hubs' family for a while and is his favourite. Throw in some vegetables, some lentils, and a bit of coconut paste, and a lovely, aromatic kozhambu is ready. This gravy dish will go well with both rice and chappatis (rotis).

This is a common recipe in a typical Tam-Brahm household.


Ingredients

4 cups of Mixed vegetables ( I used carrots, chow-chow (chayote squash), beans, and broad beans)
1/3 cup of Tuvaram parippu (Tuvar Dal)
2 cups of water to boil vegetables
Salt to taste
1 tbsp rice flour, if necessary

For Grinding to a Paste
1/2 tbsp of Ulutham Parippu (Split Black Gram Dal)
1 tsp Milagu (Black Peppercorns)
3 dry Red Chillies
A handful of Karuvepillai (Curry Leaves)
2 tsp Oil
2 tsp Jeera (cumin seeds)
2 tbsp Coconut

For Tempering
1 tsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds


Method

1. Wash vegetables and chop them into bite sized pieces.
2. Wash the dal and add to vegetables.
3. Add 2 cups of water and pressure cook until the vegetables and dal are cooked, but not mushy. Keep aside.
4. In a pan, add 2 tsp oil and add ulutham parippu, milagu ,karuveppillai, and red chillies and roast until the parippu turns red. Turn off the flame. Dont let it burn!
5. Add jeera, coconut and the roasted mixture and grind to a smooth paste. 
6. Simmer the cooked vegetables and dal on medium flame.
7. Add salt and the prepared paste and let it all cook together.
8. If the mixture looks a bit watery, add some rice flour to water to make a paste, and add the paste to the simmering mixture.
9. Temper some mustard seeds in hot oil and add to the simmering mixture.
10. Serve hot.

Pictorial

Take your veggies

Chop them into small pieces

Wash tuvar dal and pressure cook along with the chopped veggies

Roast ulutham parippu, karuveppilai, red chillies, and milagu in a little oil

Add coconut and jeera to the roasted mixture and.....

....... grind to a smooth paste

Add to the cooked veggies-dal mixture, add some salt, and simmer for a while. Temper some mustard seeds in hot oil and add to the gravy.

Yummy Poricha Kozhambu ready.

Tips

1. You can use any firm vegetables in this recipe like brinjals, raw plantains, yam etc. You can also use watery vegetables like pumpkin, but ensure to adjust the water proportion accordingly.
2. Be careful when you roast the karuveppilai/cuury leaves. They tend to splutter in contact with oil.
   
   
   
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Raw Mango Pickle (Maanga Oorgai)

Last week passed in a whirl ! Hectic packing, rush to catch our flights, and the exhilaration of going home.

Its good to be back in good, old Chennai. Summer is just starting here and summer is the season of mangoes. I love mangoes in all forms and of all varieties.

Here is my mom-in-law's recipe of home made pickle made out of raw mangoes. It is ridiculously easy to make, yummily delicious, and stays fresh for 2 weeks when refrigerated. Serve with curd rice, have it with dosa. Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 Raw Mango
1 spoon table salt
1 spoon red chilli powder
1 tsp mustard seeds for tempering
1/2 tbsp of gingelly oil/ sesame seed oil / nalla ennai
1/2 tsp mustard oil (optional)


Method

1. Cut the mango into small pieces and place in a bowl. 
2. Add 1 spoon of red chilli powder.
3. Add 1 spoon of table salt.
4. Heat the gingelly oil, and add the mustard seeds. Wait for the seeds to splutter.
5. Add the spluttered mustard seeds to the bowl and give a good mix.
6. If you like it, add half a teaspoon of mustard oil to the mixture and mix well.

Pictorial

Chop up the mangoes

Cut them into small pieces. My MIL has this very cool gadget which can be used to chop up things very finely.

All chopped up. Add a spoon of red chilli powder

.

Add a spoon of salt.

Temper some mustard seeds and add to the mixture.

All ingredients added. Mix up.

All mixed up. Enjoy immediately or refrigerate.

I couldnt help sharing this pretty pic that Hubs took. I was trying for a couple of days to get a good pic, but kept getting stuck with something or other. He was sweet enough to take this for me. :-)

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Panch Phoron Dal

Panch Phoron is a Bengali spice mix. 'Panch' means 'five' and 'Phoron' means 'spice'. This is a hearty, flavourful spice mix that is sure to spice up your dish. This dal is sweet and sour and goes well with plain rice and a vegetable curry.

This recipe serves 4 people and has been adapted from Aarthi of YummyTummy.

Ingredients

1/2 cup of Moong Dal

1/2 cup of Tuvar Dal

1/2 an Onion, chopped

2 tsp of Ginger-Garlic paste

2 Green chillies - slit lengthwise

Panch Phoron Spice Mix - 1 tsp each of Fenugreek seeds (methi), Cumin seeds (jeera), Fennel seeds (saunf/sombu), and Kalonji (kala jeera/ karunjeeragam)

1 tbsp of ghee

1 pinch of Tamarind or 1/2 cup of Tamarind water

1 tbsp of Jaggery /Gudh/ Vellam

1 tsp of Turmeric Powder

Salt - to taste

Method

1. Rinse the dals together and soak them in water for 30 - 45 minutes.
2. Add the soaked dals to a pot and cook on medium flame.
3. While the dals are cooking, add salt, turmeric powder, tamarind / tamarind water, and 1 tsp of ginger-garlic paste.
4. When the dals are cooked and mushy, add the jaggery and continue to boil.
5. In a separate pan, heat ghee, and add the panch phoron spice mix.
6. As the spices start crackling, add the chopped onions, green chillies, and the remaining ginger-garlic paste.
7. When the onions turn translucent and the ginger-garlic paste is cooked, turn off the gas, and add this tempering to the cooked dal.
8. Give the dal a good boil for around 5 minutes.
9. Serve hot with rice.

Pictorial

Add the dals, salt, turmeric powder,ginger-garlic paste and tamarind with a little water and start cooking.

When the dals are cooked, they will be soft and mushy. Add jaggery and keep cooking while the tempering is made.

In a separate pan, heat ghee, and add the panch phoron spice mix.

Add the chopped onions and green chillies.

Add the ginger-garlic paste and saute well.

All sauteed and translucent.

Add the prepared tempering to the cooked dal and boil the dal for 5 minutes.

Serve hot.

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