Arachuvitta vengayam / Onion Sambar

This sambar can be served with hot rice,idli or dosai.This sambar is prepared using  fresh ground paste,instead of sambar powder.
Ingredients:
Dhaniya / coriander seeds- 2 tsp
Kadalai paruppu/ gram dhal - 1 tsp
Red chilly - 3 nos
Asafoetida / perungayam - 1/4 tsp
Grated coconut- 3 tsp
Raw rice - 1 tsp
Vengayam / Onion - 1 (finely chopped)
Toor dhal - 2 cup
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Tamarind - lemon size
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Vendhayam- a pinch
Salt - to taste
Coriander / cilantro,Curry leaves - for garnishing
Method:
            Pressure cook toor dhal.Soak and extract the tamarind juice.Heat a little oil and fry Kadalai paruppu,asafoetida,dhaniya,vendhayam,raw rice,red chillies till they turn golden brown.Now grind this mixture along with grated coconut to a fine paste. Heat 1tbsp of oil in a heavy bottom pan,add mustard seeds,split red chilly,curry leaves.When the mustard seeds starts to splutter, add turmeric powder and chopped onions.Saute for 5 minutes.When the onions turn golden brown add the tamarind extract,salt and let it boil till the raw smell leaves.Now add cooked toor dhal and the ground  paste to it.Boil for some 5 to 10 minutes for the sambar to thicken.Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with hot rice.

Note: If the sambar is not thick,you can  mix 1 tbsp of rice flour or gram flour  with water and add this paste to it.But care should be taken not to over cook it (because adding the flour paste makes the sambar thick in less time and it may cause lumps or make the dhals stick to the bottom of the vessel,if not stirred frequently.So turn off the stove within 2 to 3 minutes after adding the flour paste).

Aloo matter

 While making chapathi for dinner,i thought to make some different side dish other than the usual dhal or  potato subzi.Then i remembered  this mouth watering  punjabi dish.It tastes yummy along with chappathi or puri.It can be prepared easily in no time as there`s no grinding work.Here`s a easy punjabi side-dish :
Ingredients: (For 2)
Potato - 4 nos
Tomato - 1 no
Onion - 1 (finely chopped)
Green peas - 1 cup
Green chilly - 1 (finely chopped)
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Coriander (Dhaniya) powder - 1/4 tsp
Chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste
Method: 

                
Wash the potatoes and  peel its cover.Chop the potatoes  into small cubes and cook it in the microwave safe bowl  for 2 minutes (Don`t  overcook the potatoes as we are going to add water later).Heat a tbsp of oil and add chopped onions & green chillies. Saute for a while till the onions are well cooked.Now add the potatoes,chopped tomatoes, chilli powder,coriander powder,turmeric powder and a glass of  water.Cook till it comes to a boil and the vegetables are well cooked.Add masala powder and salt as per taste.Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve hot.

chow chow karamathu

One day i had no other veggies to make karamathu except chow chow.I have never made karamathu or poriyal with bangalore kathirikkai / chow chow before.So i wanted to give it a try but it turned out very well.

Ingredients:

Bangalore kathirikkai / chow chow - 2 nos (medium)

Mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp

Red chilly - 1 no (split)

Urad dhal - 1/4 tsp

Chilly powder - 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Salt - to taste 

Method:

Wash and peel the kathirikkai`s cover or tholi.Keep this tholi aside as we can prepare delicious thogaiyal with it.Chop them finely and remove the seed part.Heat a little oil in a kadai.Add mustard seeds,urad dhal and split red chilly.When the mustard seeds starts to splutter,add chopped kathirikkai,turmeric powder and chilly powder.Saute for a while and add little water till all the kathirikkai get soaked.Cook on medium flame. Turn off the stove,when the kathirikkai are well cooked and all the water gets dried up.It goes well with paruppu kuzhambu,onion sambar and mor kuzhambu.

karachamavu dosai

This dosai can be prepared instantly without soaking, grinding,etc
Ingredients:
Arisimavu / Rice flour - 1 cup
Maida / All purpose flour - 1 cup
Atta / Wheat - 1 cup
Milagu-Jeera (powder) -1 tbsp
Perungayam / Asafoetida - a pinch
Green chilly - 1 (finely  chopped)
Salt - to taste

Method:
Mix all the flours, salt, asafoetida, chopped green chillies and milagu-jeera powder.Add little water and bring it to a batter consistency.Now grease  the dosai tava or griddle with oil.When the tava is hot,pour a laddle of the batter starting from the outer circle and ending in the middle.(Don`t spread hard with the laddle,as the dosai may tear.)You can even add chopped onions in your dosai like onion uthappam.

Adai

  I would call it as a different version of dosai.It tastes yummy when served along with aviyal.

 Ingredients:
Pachaiarisi / raw rice        -         4 cups
Ulutham paruppu / Urad dhal       -    1/2 cup
Thuvaram paruppu / Thuvar dhal  - 1 cup
Kadalai paruppu / Gram dhal        - 1 cup
Red chilly - 4 nos
Grated coconut  - 2 tbsp
Perungayam / hing - a pinch
Salt - to taste
Method :
Soak the rice,dhals and red chilly together for 2 hours.Drain the water and grind the rice-dhal mixture along with hing,salt into a coarse paste.Add grated coconut to this batter.Now grease  the dosai tava or griddle with oil.When the tava is hot,pour a laddle of the batter in the middle and spread it out evenly with the base of the laddle to form a circle (it should be thick than dosai ). When it comes to golden colour,flip it to the other side and add a tsp of oil around it.Instead of coconut or plain adai,you can make adai with keerai / vazhaipoo / onion.

 

Bajji

It can be served as appetizers or can be had as main snack with tea or coffee.It can be prepared at home in no time.It`s nice to have these bajji when its raining or cold outside.Bhajji can be made with different vegetables like Onion,Potato,Raw plantain (vazhakkai),Big green chilli (bhaji milagai),cauliflower.
Ingredients:
Vazhakkai / Raw plantain - 2 nos
Gram flour - 5 tbsp
Rice flour- 1 tbsp
Water - 1 or 2 glasses
Salt - 1 tsp
Chilli powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - a pinch
Method:

 

 Mix  well the rice flour,gram flour,salt,chilli powder and turmeric powder.Make this into a thick batter by adding water slowly while whisking it at the same time.Peel the cover of vazhakkai ( or potato) and cut it into long thin pieces.Heat a heavy bottom pan and add sufficient oil for frying.Dip the vazhakkai in the gram flour batter and drop them slowly into the oil.Fry till it comes to golden colour on both the sides.Serve with coconut chutney.