Mor Kuzhambu

1 cup of slightly sour curds, beaten smoothly

Grind to a paste:
1/4 cup of grated coconut
1 clove of garlic peeled
1/4 inch of ginger, peeled
1 green chilli
1tsp of cumin seeds

Add the paste to the beaten curd along with 1 tsp of turmeric and 2 tsp of salt. Keep aside.

Cook a few pieces of vegetables in water, adding a pinch of turmeric and 1/2 tsp of salt, if you want to add them to the morkuzhambu. Keep aside.

1.Heat 1 tsp of oil in a kadai.

2. Add 1/2 tsp of mustard. When they pop, add a red chilli broken in half and a few curry leaves, along with a pinch of heeng (perungayam). Add cooked vegetables like poosanikai or ladies' finger at this stage, if you have prepared it by cooking in turmeric and salt mixed water.

3. Lower the heat and add the curd mixture. Let it come to near boiling point with the kuzhambu foaming at the sides. Don't let it boil but take it off the heat before it does. (If it boils curd breaks into water and particles, instead of being a smooth sauce.)

4. You can add masal vadai at this stage instead of vegetables.

5. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with rice.

Prawns Masala

1/4 kg prawns, shelled and deveined

2 onions, chopped fine

10 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped(about 1/2 pod)

1/2 inch piece ginger, finely chopped

1 big tomato, finely chopped

1/4 cup coconut, ground to a fine paste with 1 tsp of saunf (aniseeds)

1/4 cup tamarind juice, made from marble sized ball of tamarind


1. Wash the prawns well three times in running water. Add 1/4 tsp turmeric and 1 tsp butter milk in 2 cups of water and let the prawns soak in it for a few minutes. Drain. (This step helps get rid of the unwanted smell from the prawns.) Add 2 tsp of chilli powder, 2 tsp of coriander powder, 1 tsp of turmeric powder and 1 tsp of salt and mix well. Keep aside.

2. Heat 2 tsp of sesame oil (or any other veg oil) in a thick-bottomed pan. Add 1tsp of mustard and 1/2 tsp of fenugreek seeds. When they pop, add a few curry leaves. Add the chopped garlic, ginger and onion. Saute till golden on a low flame.

3.Add the chopped tomato and saute further adding a tsp of salt and sprinkling a little water to help mash it o low heat. Add the washed prawns and stir well. Cover it and let it cook on medium heat. Stir every few minutes and check if it sticks to the pan. Prawns get cooked very quickly. Check for soft-cooked prawns. Add 1/4 cup of tamarind water after a few (made from marble sized ball of tamarind-more if you like a tangier taste).

4. When it comes to boil add the ground coconut paste and stir well. Add the water used to wash the mixer clean, to bring the gravy to a thick sauce-like consistency. Simmer for a few minutes and take it off the heat.

Prawns should not be cooked for a long time as they turn hard and rubbery if overcooked. So, be on your toes and cook this gravy at one go, keeping all the ingredients ready by your side!

Moong dal Sprouts Masala

To make greengram sprouts:


Wash and soak 1 cup of whole greengram early in the morning (7 am). After 12 hours or so,(7pm) drain and place it in a wet cloth. Fold it loosely and put it in a casserole hotpack dish (which we use to keep dishes hot). Cover it with the heatproof lid. Let it stand overnight. It would have sprouted in the morning in the damp container. (You could use the commercial sprouter dish if you have one but this method uses what is available already in your home.)

You can use the sprouted greengram in salads. Or you can make a curry for rotis or dosa.

Sprouts masala:

Wash the sprouts and cover it enough water to immerse it in a deep pan. Boil the sprouted greengram with a pinch of turmeric and 1 tsp of salt till soft, (around 10 minutes on high heat, no need to pressurecook). Keep aside.

Grind 1/2 cup coconut, 1 tbsp fried gram, 1/2 cup coriander leaves, 1 green chilli, 1 clove of garlic and a small piece of ginger using as little water as possible. Keep aside. (In place of coconut you could use dessicated coconut too.)

In a deep thick pan, heat 2 tsp of oil. Put in a 1"piece of cinnamon and 2 cloves. When they splutter, add a few curry leaves. Add 1 big onion (chopped finely). Saute the onion till transparent. Add the ground masala paste and stir well till it gets cooked lightly and the colour changes. Add 1 tsp of garam masala and 2 tsp of coriander powder. Saute lightly for one minute.

Add the cooked sprouts along with the water, stirring continuously so as no lumps are formed. Add one finely chopped tomato. Bring to boil and simmer for 5 minutes.

Take it off the stove and serve hot with rotis and green salad. Goes well with dosas too.

Sweet Pongal

Raw rice 1 cup

Channa dal 1/4 cup

Wash both together, add 4 cups of water and pressure cook for 10 minutes.

Heat 1/2 cup of water and dissolve 1 cup of jaggery in it. Strain and heat again.

Mash the cooked rice in a deep non-stick pan with a ladle and add the heated jaggery liquid. Stir well and heat on the stove on low heat, stirring all the time.

Powder 3 cardamoms with 2 tsp of sugar in the mixie, after removing the peel. Keep aside.

Heat 1 tbsp of ghee on low heat. Fry 8-10 cashewnuts and 1/2 tbsp of raisins. Pour it over the pongal and add the powdered cardamoms. Mix well and serve hot or warm.

Venn Pongal

1 cup raw rice, washed

1/2 cup split moong dal, washed and lightly fried in 2 tsp of ghee.

Put both together and add 4 cups of water and a tsp of salt.

Pressurecook for 10 minutes till it is very welldone.

Mash the rice mix with a long spoon and temper it with the following:

In a small kadai, heat (Low heat) 3 tsp of ghee (or more), for a minute. Fry 4-5 cashew nuts till golden, on very low heat. Keep aside.

Bring the ghee to higher heat (medium) now. Put in 1 tsp of coarsely ground pepper, 1 tsp jeera, 1 tsp grated ginger and 1 tbsp of grated coconut (optional) and a few curry leaves. Stir for a 30 seconds and when they splutter, pour it on to the pongal rice and mix well.

Garnish with the cashew nuts fried in ghee.

Serve hot with medhu vadai, coconut chutney and idli sambar.

Easy Idli Sambar

Wash 1/2 cup of moong dal twice in water. Add 3 cups of water, 1 tsp of turmeric powder and 1/2 tsp of til or any veg oil (to prevent the moong Dal from boiling over from the pot while cooking.)

Add:

Whole sambar onions, 1/2 cup peeled
1 Potato and 1 carrot, peeled and cubed into medium-sized pieces
Any other vegtable (like brinjal or chow chow) available, cubed

Cook in a pan or pressure cooker (5 minutes pressure time) till soft.

Heat 2 tsp oil in a pan. Add 1/2 tsp mustard and a small pinch of hing. When it starts spluttering add 1/2 tsp urad dal and 2 dry red chillis. Keep stirring and add a few curry leaves and 1green chilli split lengthwise. Stir and lower heat. Add 1/2 tsp of chilli powder and 3 tsp of dhania powder. Saute quickly and add the boiled dal-vegetable mixture with salt to taste (about 2 tsp). Add 1 cup hot water if it is too thick. Bring it to boil and simmer for 5-10 minutes stirring now and then.

Garnish with chopped coriander leaves (cilantro).

Special Idli Podi

Ingredients:
2 tbsp channa dal

2 tbsp Urad Dal

1/2 tbsp white til

1/4 tbsp whole coriander seeds

4 red chillis (or to taste)

1/2 tsp of asofaetida (or use the thick gum variety, the flavour is better)

1 tbsp dried curry leaves

salt to taste (1/2 tsp)

Method:

Dry roast channa dal on a hot kadai, keep aside on a flat plate to cool.Similarly, dry roast the urad dal, keep aside on top of the channa dal. Put in half a tsp of til oil and fry the red chillis on low flame (not very hot) and halfway through(1/2 minute later) add the coriander seeds and continue frying. After 1 minute, add the white til when the coriander seeds are about to start browning. In a minute, when it starts to splutter, add the curry leaves, asofaetida and salt in quick succession and turn off the heat. Empty the contents on to the channa-urad dal dish. Let it cool to room temperature.

Use the mixie jar to grind the podi to a coarse consistency. Check for salt and chillis halfway through. (You can dry roast another chilli or two and add after grinding it in a small jar or add salt, if needed.) Mix again and store in an airtight jar for use. Keeps well upto a month.

Serve with hot idlis. You can add 1 tsp sesame oil or extra virgin olive oil or flax seed oil, as per your taste, with a tsp of idli podi and use as an accompaniment to the usual chutneys. Even without chutneys this podi is a winner on its own! Sprinkle on top of dosa, just before you flip it on the pan, to make podi dosai.

Coconut Chutney Varieties

Chutney accompanies idlis, dosas or curd rice.

How to make chutney:

Grind to a paste all the ingredients listed in each recipe in a small mixer jar. Start grinding only the dry items at first. Add just enough water to immerse the blades. Grind again till you get a paste -not too coarse nor too smooth. Put it in a bowl. Wash the chutney jar with a few teaspoons of water and add to the bowl, if served with dosa or idlis. Keep it in a semi solid state if you serve the chutney with rice (Thuvaiyal form). Season it with mustard seeds and curry leaves tempered in 1 tsp hot oil in a small pan.

Basic coconut chutney

1 cup of grated coconut

1 or 2 green chillis (the more the hotter, if you like)

1/4 inch piece of peeled ginger

Salt to taste (1/2 tsp)

Coconut pottukadalai chutney

1/2 cup of grated coconut

1/2 cup fried gram (pottukadalai)

1 or 2 green chillis (the more the hotter, if you like)

1/2 inch piece of peeled ginger

Salt to taste (about 1/2 tsp)

coconut coriander leaves chutney

1 cup of grated coconut

1 green chilli

2 garlic cloves

1 cup of cleaned and washed coriander leaves (cilantro)

1/4 tsp cumminseeds (optional)

1 tsp of salt

1 tsp of lemon juice

coconut garlic chutney (hot)

1 cup of grated coconut

1 or 2 red chillis

6 cloves of garlic

1/2 tsp salt

coconut onion chutney

1 cup of grated coconut

1 or 2 green chillis

1 cup sambar onions

Marble size of tamarind

1 tsp of salt

A variety is made by sauteing the onions before grinding

coconut red chilli chutney

1 cup of grated coconut

2 or 3 red chillis

a pea sized-piece of asofetida fried in a drop of oil

1 tsp salt

Make this a bit watery. Goes well with dosas.

Coconut Thuvaiyal

1 cup of grated coconut

1 or 2 red chillis

Marble sized Tamarind

Salt to taste (1/2 tsp)

Grind to a coarse paste with as little water as possible. Goes well with curd rice.

Ginger Chutney, Inji Thuvaiyal

3 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled washed and sliced.

2 tbsp of urad dal

1/2 red chilli

1/2 marble size ball of tamarind

1 tbsp of grated coconut

salt to taste ( 1/2 to 1 tsp)

Shallow fry the red chilli, urad dal in 1/2 tsp of oil. Add the hing powder and the ginger pieces and saute it till dry (2 minutes). Add the tamarind and coconut. Saute for 1 more minute. When cool, grind it with salt to taste with very little water. Good for digestion at the end of a heavy meal, as an accompaniment to curd rice.

Salad without oil

Chop finely:

1 onion

1 tomato

1 cucumber

1 carrot

1 apple

Mix with a pinch of salt and 1/2 tsp of pepper. Add a handful of dry fruits and nuts and toss well. You can add a dash of lemon juice for extra tang.

Kariveppilai Kuzhambu, Curry Leaves Sauce

Grind a handful of washed curry leaves (kariveppilai) into a paste. Soak a lemon size ball of tamarind and squeeze out the juice. Mix the curry leaves paste in this. Add a tsp of turemric powder and salt to taste (2-3 tsp).

Heat 1 tbsp of til oil (or any vegetable oil) in a thick pan. Put in a tsp of mustard seeds and 1/2 tsp of fenugreek seeds. When they splutter, add a pinch of asofetida powder and a few curry leaves. Add 10 pearl onions or sambar onions (whole and peeled) and 10 cloves of peeled garlic (Keep them whole without chopping). Saute them till transparent. Lower heat and add 2 tsp of chilli powder and 3 tsp of coriander powder. Pour in the tamarind water and curry leaves-paste mixture. Let it come to boil and simmer for 10 minutes till the raw smell goes off.

Dry roast 2 tsp of tur dal and 2 tsp of raw rice. Powder it in the small mixie jar. When the kuzhabmu is ready, add this powder, stir well and bring it to boil on low heat. When the whole mixture starts boiling, take it off the heat. Serve hot with rice.