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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Pineapple Masala Noodles

 

Hub wasnt coming home for lunch, and I was wondering what to cook for myself. Left to myself, Im quite lazy to cook, so I wanted to make something simple. So I put together some spaghetti, mushrooms, and frozen veggies, added some Indian Masala and had some Noodles for lunch.

Later in the day, I was biting through some juicy pineapple and wondered how it would be to marry the spaghetti with pineapple. I tried, and they clicked! Happy happy!

Here is the recipe.

Ingredients

1 cup Boiled Noodles (I used Spaghetti)

1/2 cup Pineapple juice

1 tbsp Oil for cooking

1/2 Onion - sliced thin and long

1 tomato - sliced long

1 cup Mixed Veggies (I used frozen veggies, but if you have fresh veggies, please please use them!)

1 cup Mushrooms (You can omit them if you don't like them)

1 tbsp Coriander Powder (Dhaniya)

1 tbsp Cumin Powder (Jeera)

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Dry Mango powder (amchur)

Method

1. Soak the boiled noodles in pineapple juice for 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a saucepan, and add onions.
3. After the onions have browned a bit, add tomatoes and salt.
4. After the tomatoes turn mushy, add the mushrooms and mixed vegetables.
5. Stir a bit and add the coriander, cumin, and amchur powders.
6. Let the mixture cook for a while, about 3 mins.
7. After the vegetables and mushrooms have cooked, add the pineapple juice-soaked noodles.
8. Stir well and let it cook for 6-7 mins stirring occasionally.
9. Serve hot.

Pictorial

Heat oil in a kadhai (saucepan), and add onions.

After the onions have browned a bit, add tomatoes.

After the tomatoes have turned mushy, add the mushrooms and vegetables.

Add the coriander, cumin, and amchur powders and stir well.

Add the boiled noodles soaked in pineapple juice

Stir well and let it cook for some time

Enjoy hot!

Hope you try out this recipe and give me feedback about this.

Tips

1. If you want to spice up this dish, add a teaspoon of chilli powder.
2. Its best to avoid veggies such a Cauliflower, Broccoli etc that have their own distinct flavour.
3. Let the noodles sit for a minute on high heat and the noodles below crisp up a bit. Try It !

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Date Cake with Toffee Sauce

Okay! New Blog and First Post. I'm excited! :)

I thought it would be good to start of with a dessert post. Its my hub's birthday and I'm starting my blog and .. and.. oh well! Lets have a sweet beginning!

I adapted this recipe from Nags of Edible Garden who has adapted hers from Marcy Goldman's 'A Passion for Cooking'

Without further ado, here is the recipe.

Ingredients for the cake

1 cups dates (pits removed)
1 and 1/2 cups of water
3 tsp vanilla essence
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup unsalted soft butter @ room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup All purpose flour or Maida
3/4 tsp baking powder
A pinch of salt
Milk (if necessary)


Ingredients for the Toffee Sauce

1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp unsalted soft butter
2 tsp vanilla essence

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 350 deg F or 180 deg C.
2. Add dates, water, and vanilla essence to a saucepan and simmer it on medium flame. 
3. When the dates ate cooked and mushy, without being watery, turn off the gas.
4. Add the baking soda to the cooked dates. It will froth a bit, but thats okay.
5. Take a mixing bowl, add the butter and whisk it.
6. Add the brown and white sugars and whisk it well till its all blended and smooth.
7. Drop in the eggs into the butter- sugar mixture and beat them well.
8. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk well till it all comes together.
9. Next, add in the cooked dates, and fold it into the cake batter and mix well. 
10. If the cake batter is a little thick, you can add some milk to loosen it up a bit. 
11. Pour the batter into a greased baking tin (springform is best).
12. Bake for 45-50 mins. A skewer inserted into the cake should come out clean.
13. Lift the cake out of the oven after its done.
14. In another saucepan, boil butter, sugar, cream, and vanilla essence together until it becomes thickish. 
15. Poke holes in the cake and pour the warm sauce over it.

Pictorial

Pour in the cake batter into the prepared pan

Bake to all its scrumptious goodness

Prepare the toffee sauce

Pour over the cake and serve warm

Tips

1. This is a sticky cake. So, you might not be able to overturn it onto a serving plate.So its best to use a springform pan to bake this cake, then remove the rim to serve it.
2. If you want to serve it onto another plate, use a wet washcloth on the bottom of the cake pan (on the outside, to be specific). I havent tried so myself, so let me know if this works.

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