Vendai Mor Kuzhambu

I have a funny way of eating my vegetables. I make the regular sabji/poriyal/upperi first, and then I dump yogurt into it, mix, taste and hog away. It makes me feel oh so sanctimonious, :D like I’m doing my tummy a good deed after all the burgers, junk food and unholy crap I feed it ritually.

This one here is different though. It’s meant to be yogurt based. In Kerala they make it without veggies but I like it the ‘Tamil way’ – with cooked Vedakkai (Okra) and onions.

The best part about this dish is that it can be stored for a 3-4 days. It only gets better each day. I’ve decided to re-christen it my Assignment-week curry ;)

You Will Need:

Okra – 150g (or half a packet of frozen okra) cut into one inch pieces
Onions – 1 large, sliced finely
Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds – 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds – ½ tsp
Dry red chillies – 5, broken into two
Curry leaves - 10
Red chilly powder – 1tsp (or adjust according to your preferred spice level)
Asafoetida powder – ½ tsp
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Yogurt – 2 cups
Oil – 2 tsp

Method Of Preparation:

- Heat oil in a pan (yeah right! Like you didn’t know it already. lol!)
- Add the mustard seeds
- When they begin to pop, add the fenugreek, cumin, red chillies and curry leaves
- Sauté for a few seconds
- Add the onions and fry till the onions turn golden brown
- Add the chilly powder, turmeric powder and asafoetida
- Saute for 2 minutes
- Now, add the cut okra
- Mix well
- Cover and cook till done
- Add the yogurt and mix well (if its too ‘thick’ for your taste you can dilute it by adding a little water)
- Heat on low flame for 3 minutes, stirring continuously
- Switch off and transfer to a serving dish

Potato Masala

When we were kids we used to call this the Yellow Kootan (curry). Now we’re older, and yet none the wiser. So I’ll name this Potato Masala, just so that there are no doubts about its (debated) virtue ;) It's got its place in the Hall Of Fam-ish because it's extremely easy and fast to cook.

Anyways, I don’t have the patience to wax eloquent about food (why waste time when I can hog instead. Lol), so here goes nothing…

You Will Need:
2 large potatoes
1 onion sliced
5 green chillies slit lengthwise
1tsp mustard
1/2tsp Bengal gram
½ tsp urad dal
10 curry leaves
A pinch of asafoetida
½ tsp turmeric powder
2tsp oil
2 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves
Salt to taste

Method Of Preparation:
- Pressure cook the potatoes till done
- Cool, peel, mash and keep aside
- Meanwhile, heat oil in a pan
- Add the mustard seeds
- When they begin to pop add the Bengal gram and urad dal
- Stir for 10 seconds or until they turn golden brown
- Add the onions, curry leaves, green chillies and turmeric powder
- Fry till the onions become translucent
- Add the turmeric powder and stir for 10 seconds
- Now add the mashed potatoes and salt
- Mix well
- Add 1 cup water and bring to a boil
- Switch off and garnish with the coriander leaves
- Cover for 5 minutes before serving

This goes very well with Roti. And if you thicken the masala a little more you can spread it on your dosas as well… instant masala dosa ;)

Meen Curry

My idea of comfort food is Potato Chips as appetizer, followed by Meen (fish) Curry and Rice for main course and mangosteen for dessert. Weird, no? But if I have a never-ending supply of these (and unlimited books of course), I can survive on any deserted island till I die.

Err… while you’re at it, throw in those 5 people in my life as well :D

I love the way my Wallima (aunty) makes Meen Curry!
*drool*

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve called her up for the recipe. Each time, she painstaking drawls out the recipe over the phone, interrupted, of course, by my queries and dumb-ass doubts. I then make the dish and promptly misplace the piece of paper. Something I’m wont to do quite often. And the next time I want to make it, well, there’s yet another harried phone call. :D

Anyway, here’s her recipe… with some subtle changes by me to suit my palette.

You Will Need:
Salmon/ Shark (or any fish of your choice) – 1 pound
Onion – 1 big (thinly sliced)
Garlic – 4 pods (chopped fine)
Tomato – 2 (chopped)
Green chilly – 2 (slit)
Dry red chilly – 2 (broken in half)
Mustard – 1 tsp
Fenugreek – ½ tsp
Curry leaves – 2 sprigs
Tamarind – 1 gooseberry sized ball
Oil – 1 1/2 tablespoons
Salt as required

Powders:
Turmeric powder – 1tsp
Chilly powder – 2 tsp (or as per your taste)
Coriander powder – 2 tablespoons
Asafoetida – ½ tsp

Seasoning:
Oil – 1 tsp
Shallots – 8 chopped
Curry leaves – 6

Method Of Preparation:
- Soak the tamarind in ½ cup hot water
- Combine the powders and salt in a separate bowl with water to make a thick paste
- Heat the oil
- Add mustard seeds
- When they begin to pop, add the fenugreek and red chillies
- Stir for a few seconds
- Add the onions, garlic, curry leaves and green chillies
- Fry on medium flame till the onion turns golden brown
- Add the tomatoes and stir for 5 minutes
- Next, add the paste made with the powders
- Stir for 7 minutes or till the raw smell leaves
- Extract the juice from the tamarind and add
- Add 3 cups of water and bring to boil on a high flame
- Lower the flame to ‘medium’ and simmer for 15 minutes
- Add the fish and cook for another 15 minutes or till done
- Don’t stir once you’ve added the fish
- Once the fish is cooked take it off the flame
- Heat the oil for seasoning in another pan
- Fry the shallots and curry leaves till the onions are caramelized (make sure you don’t burn it)
- Switch off and pour it over the Meen Curry
- Cover for 5 minutes and then stir and serve

P.S. This tastes better on the second day. Just fyi.

Olan

The most precious memories of my childhood are of the days I spent with my Amamma and Ammacha (Grandma and Grandpa). They never failed to spoil me rotten with goodies and clothes… and a incredible kind of unconditional love.

Amamma was a great cook. In retrospect, I think she had magic fingers, because everything she touched translated into delectable dishes.

My favorite was her Olan.
Olan, rice and a good story would guarantee that mini-me ate in peace without throwing one of her famous tantrums :D

So here it is, a recipe for the Olan I used to (and still) love. It’s super easy, super tasty and super healthy if you avoid adding the oil at the end. Though most people make it with black-eyed peas, I prefer the plain version.


You will need:
Ash gourd – 250g thinly sliced
Green chillies – 6 to 7 slit
Salt - As required
Thick coconut milk(1st extract) - 1 cup
Thin coconut milk(2nd extract) - 1 1/2 cups
(I use tinned coconut milk. If you prefer using it too, then shake the tin well, divide the contents into two. Mix one half with 1 cup water. That will be your ‘second coconut milk’)
Curry leaves – 12 leaves
Oil - 2 tsp

Preparation Method
- Combine the ash gourd, green chillies and salt along with second extract of coconut milk in a pan, and bring to boil on medium flame
- Simmer and cook for 25 minutes
- Lightly mash the mixture with your ladle
- Add the first (thick) extract of coconut milk
- When you see it begin to boil take it off the flame
- Add curry leaves and oil and cover
- Open and stir well before serving

Latha's Rasam

After two disastrous years in a hostel where a breakfast of bread soaked in cold rasam *shudder* was considered avant-garde cuisine, I went COMPLETELY off rasam, concrete (aka Upma) and bread. To this day I can’t look any of these three without a shiver of repulse.

And then, one afternoon, Latha (our maid back home) cheated me into tasting her ‘special’ rasam. And I was hooked. This is probably the only rasam I will ever have. Not that the others taste bad, but just that parts of my taste buds are still hiding under the table in my old hostel refectory… hoping against hope that Mother Superior won’t catch them ;)

Anyway, for this rasam, you will need:
Tomatoes – 4, chopped
A small gooseberry-sized piece of tamarind
Turmeric powder - 1/4th teaspoon
Water - 4 cups
Mustard - 1 teaspoon
Shallots - 4,finely chopped
Red chilly - 1 dry
Chopped coriander leaves – 2 tablespoons
Salt to taste

To Grind:
Peppercorn - 1 tablespoon
Cumin seeds - 1 tablespoon
Red chillies - 4 dry
A few curry leaves
A few sprigs of coriander leaves
Garlic pods - 4
Asafoetida - ½ teaspoon


Method Of Preparation:
- Boil chopped tomatoes, turmeric powder, tamarind and water for 7-8 minutes on a medium flame, or until tomatoes are cooked
- Cool and blend it in a mixer/mixie/blender
- Strain the juice and discard the pulp
- Dry grind all the ingredients (under ‘to grind’) without frying them.
- Heat a pan and add 1 ½ teaspoon oil
- Add mustard seeds
- When they begin to pop add the dry chilly and scallions
- Sauté for a few minutes till the shallots turn golden brown
- Add the ground masala and sauté on low-medium flame for 3 minutes
- Add the tomato juice and salt
- Boil till it start to froth
- Remove from flame and garnish with chopped coriander leaves

Quickie Sambar

My friends and sister have been complaining that A) I don’t post often B) I post crazy time-consuming recipes and C) That I have no common sense

(Hmm!!??!! I’m not quite sure that I like complaint number 3 grr! Lol!)

Anyway, I’m going to post some ultra simple recipes for a while now, till I’m bored I guess.

I’ll start with the humble (but my favorite) sambar.

I’m not a patient person. I normally don’t have the time to make elaborate dishes on a daily basis. This is my easy-to-cook recipe for sambar ( I hate the ones made using ready-made sambar powder. EW!).

This takes just a few minutes to cook and I manage to bathe and dress between the cooking intervals ;) What’s more, this tastes best on the 2nd day. So I don’t have to cook for a few days. Yeah, well I never said I wasn’t a lazy mutt.


The Quickie Sambar

Ingredients

To pressure cook
Toor dal – 3/4th cup
Tomatoes (Roma or the Indian variety) – 2
Turmeric powder – 3/4th tsp
Onion sliced – 1 (medium sized)

To temper
1. Ghee – 1 ½ tsp
2. Mustard – ½ tsp
3. Fenugreek seeds – ½ tsp
4. Dry red chillies – 3 (broken in half)
5. Curry leaves – 10
6. Red chilly powder – 2 level tsp (or adjust according to taste, because the brand I get here is not very hot)
7. Coriander powder – 2 heaped tsp
8. Asafetida powder – ½ tsp
9. Tamarind paste – 3/4th tsp mixed with 2 tsp water (adjust according to your preference)
10. Vegetable(s) of your choice – 1 ½ cup (Note: if you’re using Lady’s Finger, fry it lightly first before adding)
11. Coriander leaves – ½ cup chopped

Method:

- Pressure cook the toor dal, onion, tomatoes and turmeric powder till cooked
(I keep it for 6 whistles as I like it really mashed :D)
- Lightly mash them together with a ladle and keep aside

- Heat the ghee
- Add the mustard seeds
- When they begin to pop add the fenugreek seeds, red chillies, curry leaves and sauté for 20 seconds on medium flame
- Remove from flame and add the chilly powder, coriander powder and asafetida and fry till the raw smell leaves
- Combine this with the mashed dal mixture and cook on medium flame
- Add the vegetables and tamarind paste and cook for 10-15 minutes on medium-low flame
- Garnish with coriander leaves