Pongal & Vadai- Go hand in hand!

This is one combo which is a big favorite for a lot of people in South India, especially in Tamilnadu. Most of us make just the vadai or pongal but the combo of these two, served with some sambar & chutney will give you a feeling as though you are eating in one of the restaurants in India. And once in a while when nostalgic of home, it definitely would be nice to make these things as weekend brunch and enjoy them.
I have always wanted to know how to make pongal that is close to temple style pongal. And the best pongal I have had so far is my sis Karthika's pongal. So, I got the recipe from her and made pongal which tasted very much like temple pongal. So here goes the recipe for Pongal & Vadai.
Pongal:
Ingredients:
1.Rice- 1 cup
2.Moong dhal- 3/4 cup
3.Water- 5 cups (for rice ratio is 1:3.5, for dhal 1:2)
4.Turmeric powder- 1 tsp
5.Asafoetida- a pinch
6.cumin seeds- 1 tsp
7.Black Pepper-1 tsp
8.Ginger- small piece- chopped
9. pepper powder- 1/2 tsp
10. Salt to taste
For tempering:
Ghee- 2 tbsp
Cashewsnuts- 10
Curry leaves- few
Black pepper- 1tsp
Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
Method:
Wash rice and moong dhal nicely. Pressure cook ingredients 1 thro 10 for 4-5 whistels. When pressure is released, open the pressure cooker and mash the pongal slightly with the back of a ladle. (Note: If the pongal is too thick, add some (boiled) hot water to adjust the consistency. especially when the pongal cools down, it can get thick). Temper the ingredients listed above in ghee and add to the pongal and mix well.
Vadai:
Ingredients:
Urad dhal(whole)- 1 cup
Green chilly-4
Salt to taste
Onion- chopped - 1 (optional)
curry leaves - few
Asafoetida- a pinch
oil for deep frying
Method:
Soak the dhal for about an hour and then grind it with green chilly, very little water & salt. (Sprinkle water as needed, if more water is added you wont be able to get the vadai shape). If u have a grinder, use that instead of mixie but mixie can be used too. And remember to add the salt at the end while grinding the batter for vadai. In the meantime heat some oil in a deep frying pan. To the batter, add curry leaves, hing and onion(optional) & mix it well. When oil is hot, take some batter and place it on a banana leaf or ziploc plastic sheet, flatten it with slightly wet hands, make a hole in the centre and take it from the sheet & slowly drop it in the oil. cook on both sides in medium flame until crisp & light brown. drain in a paper towel and serve hot.

This is my entry for Asvadha's Made for Each Other event.

Weekend Brunch 3

I was busy posting all other kinds of recipes that I almost forgot about the weekend brunches......So here I go with another weekend brunch recipe........Rice with Keerai (spinach) milagootal, maangai(raw mango) curry and vazhaikai(raw banana) curry. Keerai milagootal (also called poricha kootu in tamil) and mangai curry are famous dishes in Kerala which is also made in Tamilnadu under different names....Not sure why it is called milagootal(milagu means pepper) when the recipe doesn't really call for pepper in it........But driven by the name I do add 1/2 tsp of pepper bcos its anyways good for health.....my hubby loves keerai milagootal and I try to cook spinach every weekend......about vazhaikai (raw banana) even though it is has a lot of potassium, Vitamin B6, etc and is good for health, it takes time to digest and can sometimes lead to gastric issues.....so I would always recommend you use some ginger, hing or garlic(if u like it)......this definitely aids in digestion......and mango curry goes well even with plain curd rice, upma or chapathi and this can be stored in the refrigerator for upto a week like other home made pickles.
Keerai milagootal:
Spinach- 1 bunch
Tur dhal- 1/4 cup
moong dhal-1/2 cup
coconut- 2 tbsp
urad dhal- 1 tbsp
pepper- 1/2 tsp
red chilly- 3
Cumin seeds -1 tbsp
Rice flour- 1/2 tsp
turmeric powder- 1 tsp
Hing- a pinch
salt
oil
Method:
Pressure cook the dhal with little turmeric powder, hing and mash it nicely & keep it aside. Cook the chopped spinach with little water, salt & a pinch of turmeric powder. Once the spinach is cooked well, slightly mash it with the back of the laddle and then add the mashed dhal to it. In the meantime in a drop of oil slightly roast the urad dhal(until golden brown), red chilly & pepper and grind it with coconut, cumin seeds and 1/2 tsp of rice flour. Add this paste to the spinach + dhal and add water if it is too thick & let this cook nicely for 5 mins. Then in a tsp of oil splutter mustard seeds & hing and finally add it to the spinach and serve with rice with a tbsp of ghee.
Vazhaikai (raw banana) curry:
Ingredients:
Raw banana- 1 big
Onion- 1/2 of big onion
Tomato- 1/2
sambar powder- 1 tbsp
turmeric powder- 1 tsp
Red chilly powder- 1 /2tsp
salt
Hing- 1 tsp

For tempering:
Channa dhal - 1 tbsp
Urad dhal- 1 tbsp
Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
Curry leaves
Ginger/garlic grated- 1 tbsp
Method:
Slice the raw banana into circle or semi-circle pieces and put it in a bowl filled with water.
Add all the tempering items one by one to hot oil, then add the chopped onions, tomatoes & saute till the onion gets cooked. Now add the sliced raw banana pieces.
Add salt, sambar powder,turmeric powder, red chilly powder & hing. Sprinkle some water to help the raw banana get cooked and close the lid of the pan. After 2-3 mins, open the lid and see if the banana pieces are cooked. Then saute them for another 2-3 mins and then serve hot with rice.

Maangai(mango) curry:
Raw mango- 1
Red chilly powder- 2 tbsp( add to taste)
Salt- to taste
Asafoetida (Hing)- 2 tsp
Mustard seeds- 1 tbsp
Oil- 2tbsp Method:
Chop the mango into small teeth like pieces and put it in a bowl along with required chilly powder and salt. In the meantime, temper the mustard seeds in hot oil, when the mustard seeds splutter add the hing also to the hot oil to get a nice aroma and pour this over the mango pieces in the bowl and mix nicely. give it 20-30 mins and then serve with rice. According to me, hing is a must in this recipe and is what gives the pickle a nice flavor.

Weekend Brunch 2

This weekend brunch was a simple rasam combo. I made tomato rasam, eriseri with vazhakai & Senai(Yam), cabbage curry(poriyal), appalam & curd.
Since the recipe for rasam & cabbage curry is known to most people, I'm just going to mention
the things that I do specially to make it tastier...
Rasam:
Along with the rasam powder, I also add some freshly ground spices such as pepper, cumin seeds & garlic ground in my mortar & pestle to get that nice aroma of spices.
Also when tempering make sure to add the hing in the oil or ghee + curry leaves used for tempering to get nice aroma.
Finely chopped stems of cilantro leaves could be added to the rasam. most people throw the stem of coriander away but it has a really good aroma.
Cabbage curry:
Since I had made eriseri with lots of coconut in it. I was a little bit guilty to add coconut again to my cabbage curry. So I decided to skip the coconut and instead add soaked moong dhal to the curry. All you got to do is soak 1 or 2 tbsp moong dhal for 5-10 mins and add it to the tempering items when the mustard seeds splutter. once u add the moong dhal, then add the cabbage and cook it. This gives a very good taste to the curry and is also good for health.
Eriseri:
I usually make mathan eriseri at home but wanted to try vazhaikai and Yam eriseri after seeing this recipe here on Menutoday's blog. Thanks MT for the recipe. I make mathan eriseri in the same way but just add few cumin seeds while grinding the coconut.

Weekend Brunch 1

Weekend Brunch: 1

We generally prefer to skip b’fast if we plan on eating a proper heavy meal for lunch or sometime skip lunch if we decide to have heavy bfast…in which case obviously we can’t wait until12.30 or 1 p.m so we tend to make it our brunch at abt 11….After the hectic move last weekend all we wanted to do this weekend was eat traditional lunch, watch TV and stay at home. The first thing that came to my mind when I thought about traditional lunch was my favorite combo of Rice, Vethakuzhambu, Keerai masiyal , Sutta appalam carrot salad & curd. My mom's Vethakuzhambu was a big hit among all our friends and was always their menu request when they visited us.

Vethakuzhambu:

Ingredients:

Veggies- Small(pearl onion or shallots) onion/onions, drumstick, ladies finger

Sambar powder

Tamarind paste- 1 ½ Tbsp

Jaggery small piece(optional)

Rice flour(optional)

Salt to taste

water

Sesame(Gingelly) oil

For Tempering:

Mustard seeds- 1 Tbsp

Urad dhal- 1 Tsp

Channa dhal- 1 Tsp

Fenugreek seeds- 1 tsp

Curry leaves- few

Hing-Little

1. Heat gingelly oil(add more than usual oil for this) in a kadai or wok and add the tempering ingredients. Make sure the fenugreek seeds don’t turn too dark.
2. After the mustard seeds splutter, add curry leaves, hing and then add small onions(I added a cup of peeled small(pearl) onions and also ½ big red onion thinly sliced.
3. Saute the onions nicely in the oil until they become soft and then add 2 ½ tbsp of Sambar powder and fry it slightly in the oil.
4. Then immediately pour the tamarind paste mixed in water and then add salt to taste. Let this boil/cook in medium flame til oil floats on top.
5. Add a piece of jaggery if tamarind is too sour when cooking. Also if the kuzhambu is too thin then mix 1 tbsp of rice flour in water and then add it to the kuzhambu and let it boil well.(This step is optional)
6. Do not forget to add that extra hing at last for that great aroma

Healthy note: Two finely chopped garlic could be added while tempering to get some more nutritional value

Keerai Masiyal:

This is the simplest and healthiest form to have Keerai(Spinach).

Ingredients:

Spinach(Keerai)- 1 bunch

¼ cup Moong dhal

Salt

For Tempering:

Urad dhal- 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds- 1 Tbsp

Channa dhal- 1 tbsp

Jeera seeds -1 Tbsp

Red chillies- 2 or 3

Coconut oil- few drops

Oil- 1 tbsp

Hing

Add the washed moong dhal to a vessel and cook it with some water. Moong dhal gets cooked fast so I didn’t pressure cook it. In the meantime,

Wash the spinach thoroughly twice or thrice and then cut into small pieces

Add the cut spinach to the cooked moong dhal, add salt, hing and cook it

Cook until spinach is really soft, cool it and then mash it with the back of a ladle.

In a pan, temper all the above mentioned tempering ingredients and add it to the mashed spinach.

As always, add a pinch of hing at the end.

Carrot Salad:

This is a simple salad my mom used to make and we called it Carrot Thuruvina(grated) curry.

Ingredients:

Carrots- 2 or 3

Coconut- 1 tbsp

Salt

For Tempering:

Urad dhal- 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds- 1 Tbsp

Channa dhal- 1 tbsp

Jeera seeds -1 Tbsp

Green chillies- 2 or 3 finely chopped

Ginger- small piece finely chopped

Oil

Hing

For garnishing:

Cilantro leaves

Lemon juice

Wash and grate the carrot. Add salt to taste and then pour the tempered ingredients to this and mix well. Add finely cut cilantro leaves and some lemon juice to this.

Sutta appalam:

This is the healthier version of the usual deep fried appalams. All you need for this the regular appalam and roast it on both sides in a gas stove without burning it. I used the Iddiki to hold the appalam and roast it in the flame.

It will be tasty to have a little ghee in the middle of this roasted appalam (of course for kids)