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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