Kovakkai Poriyal Recipe / Tindora Poriyal Recipe

     I have a vague memory of this vegetable making a foray at our home. That too i remember tasting it only around my high school days. Instantly, I was hooked to its taste. With any tasty and fanciful side-dish (one that is fried with more oil and is crispy or browned intentionally), I have the habit of mixing it with a small portion of plain cooked rice and adding a drop of gingelly oil or ghee before starting with the real lunch or dinner. For such a starter, this vegetable is a bliss !!

Prep Time: 10 mins || Cook Time: 30 mins || Serves: 3 || Category: Side-dish for rice

Ingredients:
1. Tindora (Kovakkai) - 200 gms
2. Turmeric powder - 2 tsp
3. Red chili powder (or Sambar powder) - 1 tbsp
4. Pepper powder - 1 tsp
5. Hing - 2 tsp
6. Bengal Gram (Kadalai paruppu) - 2 tsp
7. Cumin seeds - 2 tsp
8. Oil - 2 tbsp
9. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
10. Salt - as required

Method:

1. Wash the tindora and remove the edges from it. Cut it into desired shape. I cut it lengthwise. It can also be slices into thin circular disks. Take the chopped tindora in a bowl and add turmeric, salt, hing, pepper powder, chili powder and toss it well. Keep aside for 15-20 mins for the flavours to get absorbed well.

2. Heat a pan with oil and add mustard seeds, bengal gram, cumin seeds and fry them till golden brown. Add the tindora and give a stir. Keep covered and cook for 5-7 mins in medium flame.

3. Open the lid and stir the vegetable, adding required amount of salt. Add a tbsp of oil if required and cook uncovered for 5-10 mins until the vegetable starts to become slightly crisp and brown.

Suggestions:

• The spice powders can be added at the time of cooking too, instead of sprinkling on raw tindora and keeping it aside for a while.
• Gingelly oil can be used for giving a good flavor.

Pairs up well as a side dish for rice and also with Chappathi/roti etc.

Avaraikkai Paruppu Usili Recipe / Broad Beans Paruppu Usili

     Paruppu usili is one of the tastiest variations that can be tried with broad beans/ normal string beans etc. This traditional recipe from Tamil Nadu, finds its place on a banana leaf in almost every TamBrahm wedding or function.
I have made this only a couple of times, as it involves a little extra work with respect to the dal part, when compared with the preparation of a usual side-dish. Though it pairs up well with any sambar or rasam, it tastes so perfect with morkootan/morekuzhambu.

Prep Time: 10 mins || Cook Time: 25 mins + cooking time for dal || Serves: 2 || Category: Side-dish / paruppu usili

Ingredients:
1. Avaraikkai (Broad beans) - 150gms
2. Toor dal - 50 gms
3. Red Chilli - 1 (As the red chillies are too hot here)
4. Hing - 3 tsp
5. Curry leaves - 1 sprig
6. Salt - as required
7. Oil - 2 tbsp
8. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Method:
1. Wash and cut broad beans retaining its seeds too. Wash the toor dal and chilli.

2. Grind the toor dal and chilli coarsely in a blender sprinkling very little water.

3. Spread the crumbled dal in a container and pressure cook for 5-6 whistles. Once cooked, separate the dal or crumble them again using a laddle or spoon or with hand.

4. In a kadai, heat a tbsp of oil and add the cooked toor dal , hing curry leaves and saute them for 2 mins and transfer to a plate. To the same kadai, add a tbsp of oil and let the mustard seeds splutter. Add the cut broad beans and give a stir.

5. Cook covered for 8-10 mins or until the broad beans gets cooked well and changes from fresh green to a dull green colour. Now add the cooked & sauteed dal and mix well with enough salt. Saute for 2-3 mins and switch off the flame.

Suggestions:

• Toor dal can also be pressure cooked first and then coarsely ground in the blender.
• Channa dal can also be used in the place of toor dal. Or a mix of toor dal and channa dal can be used too.
• Coconut oil can be used instead of normal cooking oil, to give a nice aroma.

A splendid combination for morkootan/morkuzhambu !!!

Broccoli Stir Fry Recipe

     Broccoli Stir Fry is the simplest recipe that I had tried with Broccoli to start with. Though not so much tasty as the Broccoli Bharta, this is a dish loaded with nutrients and can be made easily and quickly, to accompany a roti/phulka or for normal rice and sambar combo.
Without much to talk about the dish, let us head to the recipe directly :P

Prep Time: 10 mins || Cook Time: 25 mins || Serves: 2 || Category: Side-dish for rice/roti

Ingredients:
1. Broccoli - 1 small crown
2. Olive oil - 1 tbsp
3. Onion - 1 small
4. Cumin seeds - 2 tsp
5. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
6. Urad dal - 2 tsp
7. Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
8. Hing - 2 tsp
9. Salt - as required
10. Pepper powder - 1 tsp
11. Chilli powder - 1 tsp

Method:
1. Cut broccoli into small florets, wash them and then cook them in water, adding a tsp of salt. Cook covered for about 5-7 mins or until the broccoli pieces turn soft. 

2. Once the broccoli is cooked, drain the water completely.

3.  In a pan/kadai, heat some olive oil and splutter the mustard seeds, cumin seeds and fry urad dal. Add roughly chopped onions, turmeric powder, hing and saute for 2 mins until the onions turn translucent. Add pepper powder and chilli powder and saute for 2 more mins.

4. Then add the steamed/cooked broccoli and give a quick stir. Cook covered for 3-5 mins and then switch off the flame.

I had it with the usual rice-sambar combo for lunch..

Bittergourd stir fry (Karela stir fry)

      I have never said NO to a bitter gourd stir-fry. The reason is not that I like bitterness, but it is for the way my mom cooks it by masking its bitterness and stir frying :) The nutritional benefits of bittergourd (Karela/bittermelon) on diabetes, intestinal disorders, weight loss, skin problems, grey hair and dandruff are widely known. It contains a good amount of Vitamin C and folate. Despite the bitter taste, due to its nutritional value, it is worth including in the diet atleast once in two weeks.

Prep Time: 10 mins || Cook Time: 25 mins || Serves: 2 || Category: Side-dish/Stir fry

Ingredients:
1. Bittergourd - 3 (medium sized)
2. Oil - 2 tbsp
3. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
4. Cumin seeds - 2 tsp
5. Urad dal - 2 tsp
6. Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
7. Hing - 2 tsp
8. Chilly powder - 1/4 tbsp
9. Pepper powder - 1 tsp
10. Salt - as required

Method:
1. Wash the bitterguard and cut off the edges. Slice them into rings, after scooping out the seeds with a knife to a reachable length. Immerse the cut rings into a bowl of salted buttermilk for 5-10 mins. In a pan, add oil and temper with mustard seeds, jeera, urad dal & add a pinch of turmeric powder and hing.

 2. Squeeze the bittergourd rings from buttermilk and add to the tempering. Add chilli powder and pepper powder. Saute for about 2 mins. Then add salt and stir well. Cook covered for about 5 mins.

 3. Drizzle some oil and keep cooking in the pan uncovered, until it has got fried well and attained slightly crispy brown edges.

Suggestions:

• Adding the cut bittergourd to buttermilk reduces its bitterness. This step can be skipped if you want to enjoy the bitterness without masking it :P
• I used gingelly oil as it gives a good flavour.
• For a change, I tried cutting the bittergourd as rings. It can be cut lengthwise into half and further cut into small pieces, which would be easier in removing the seeds.

Tastes great especially with just raw rice and gingelly oil or with curd rice.

Vaazhaikai Podi & Rice

     Vaazhaikai Podi is one of the recipes that I had bookmarked to try from Venkatesh Bhat's program in Vijay TV on Plantain special recipes. Though I used two bananas instead of just one banana which was shown in the program & also with the reduced amount of spices, I felt this end product a little hot and spicy. So, I have documented the ingredients with slightly lesser quantity of chillies and coriander seeds to have it less spicy and to suit my taste buds.
     The recipe when watched in the show, looked so very different and yummy. But only after trying it out I realized that it tasted somewhat familiar..  :D Yes.. it had a taste close to the araichu vitta sambar, as the key ingredients for the podi were almost the same :D
     Overall, it tasted good when mixed with rice & coconut oil & also as a side-dish for curd rice :P

Prep Time: 5 mins || Cook Time: 25 mins (pressure cook) + 20 mins || Yields: 3 cups || Category: Ready mix for rice / side-dish

Ingredients:
1. Raw Banana - 2
2. Turmeric Powder - 2tsp
3. Salt - as required
4. Dry red chillies - 6
5. Bengal gram - 3 tbsp
6. Toor dal - 1 & 1/2 tbsp
7. Coriander seeds - 3/4 tbsp
8. Pepper - 1 tsp
9. Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
10. Coconut oil - 3 tbsp
11. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
12. Urad dal - 3 tsp
13. Curry leaves - a sprig
14. Hing - 2 tsp

Method:
1. Wash the bananas and cut each of them into two or three pieces. Immerse them in water in a pressure pan. Add some turmeric powder and salt to it. Pressure cook for 5-6 whistles. Meanwhile, in a pan add 1 spoon of coconut oil and roast the red chillies and transfer them to a plate.

2. To the same pan, add bengal gram, toor dal & coriander seeds and roast them. Before they are done, add pepper and cumin seeds and roast all the ingredients till golden brown & transfer to a plate to cool down.

3. Once the banana is cooked, drain the hot water and run in some cold water and rinse the bananas. The outer skin can now be easily peeled off from the bananas. Mash all the peeled bananas. Transfer the roasted ingredients to a mixie jar and powder them smoothly.

4. In a pan, add some coconut oil and then temper with mustard seeds, urad dal, curry leaves & hing. Transfer this tempering to the mashed bananas. Add the ground powder & required amount of salt and mix well. Vaazhaikai Podi is done !!

Suggestions:

• Can adjust the quantity of red chillies, coriander seeds based on one's desired spice level.
• Coconut oil gives a nice aroma. But, any other oil can be used.

Mix with hot cooked rice & hot gingely oil / coconut oil / ghee & enjoy with fryums or any side-dish... Tastes yummyyy even without side-dish !!!

Vaazhaithandu Poduthool (Banana stem poriyal)

     Banana stem is one of the edible parts of a banana plant, having rich nutritional value. Rich in fiber, potassium & helps prevent kidney stones. Has cooling properties and is beneficial to overall health. Back home, banana stem finds its place in our kitchen atleast once in a week, especially on the weekends, whenever I get back to Pondicherry, my hometown after a week long hectic work & stay at PG in Chennai.

     Weekends were usually a luxury for me, with my favourite dishes, long hours of sleep and boundless pampering & love :P Which obviously makes Monday mornings, very unwelcome :D to leave home back to work.

     During childhood, I used to watch with much surprise and fondness, how efficiently my grandma slices the banana stem and removes the excessive fibre after each slice. Lovely days !!! And she chops them down into unimaginably fine pieces !!!

Prep Time: 10 mins || Cook Time: 25 mins || Serves: 2 ||  Category: Side-dish

Ingredients:
1. Banana Stem (Vaazhaithandu) - 1 medium sized
2. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
3. Split urad dal - 2 tsp
4. Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
5. Grated coconut - 2 tbsp
6. Green Chilly - 1 small
7. Salt - as required
8. Hing (asafoetida) - 2tsp
9. Coconut oil - 2 tbsp
10. Curry Leaves - 1 sprig

Method:
1. Wash the banana stem and cut it into thin slices, immersing the slices in buttermilk mixed water, to avoid browing of the vegetable. Cut the slices into thin strips and chop them finely and keep the chops immersed in the buttermilk water.

2. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. Once they splutter, add urad dal and reduce the flame. Add turmeric powder followed by a pinch of asafoetida. Drain the chopped banana stem from buttermilk and add it to the pan. Cook covered for about 10 mins with intermediate stirring.

3. Blend the coconut gratings with a green chilly and add this to banana stem and cook for 3-4 mins. (The blending step can be skipped and the coconut grating and chopped green chillies can be added separately to the vegetable). Add required amount of salt and cook for 5 mins. Lastly add some coarsely chopped curry leaves. Cook for a min and switch off the flame.

Suggestions:

• Dry red chillies can also be added instead of green chillies.
• If you want the curry to be dry, in order to remove the moisture from banana stem, powder 2 tsp of roasted parboiled rice (idly rice) with 1 red chilly and add it after adding coconut. If following this step, accordingly reduce/avoid the quantity of green chillies to balance the hotness.

Urad Dal Chutney

      At the time when I was so much craving for a chutney for Dosa, I realized that there were no onions; was running out of tomatoes & also green chilly :D Actually speaking, there were no proper ingredients for any conventional coconut chutney / coriander/onion/ tomato chutneys.  Unable to get off my Chutney mania, as the dosas were so good, I was thinking of a possibility with the available ingredients..
     So, I had to yield to this simple Chutney with roasted Urad dal. Though I have tasted only a tangy version of this as Urad dal thogayal, I decided to test it out as a chutney, with no other option left out :P

Prep Time: 10 mins || Cook Time: 5 mins || Serves: 3 ||  Category: Chutney/Side-dish  

Ingredients:
1. Urad dal - 2 tbsp
2. Dry red chillies - 3 or 4
3. Grated coconut - 4 tbsp
4. Oil - 2tbsp
5. Tamarind - as required
6. Asafoetida - a pinch
7. Salt - as required
8. Mustard seeds - 1tsp
9. Curry leaves -  a sprig

Method:
1. Heat a pan with a tbsp of oil and roast the urad dal & red chillies till golden brown & cool down for 2-3 mins.

2. Transfer the roasted ingredients to a mixie jar and grind along with salt, asafoetida & tamarind (I used a little readymade tamarind pulp instead of the normal tamarind). Temper with mustard and curry leaves in hot oil.

      A simple mild chutney apt for dosa/idli is ready. 

Vendaikkai Poduthool (Lady's finger poriyal)

     This time it is a simple side-dish with a vegetable which many of us love. It is lady's finger poduthool. And that is how my paati and everyone at home calls a lady's finger poriyal :) Everytime I cook this dish, it reminds me of my good old days, where i used to happily take away those pieces of hard-to-cut lady's fingers and run around the house, sticking them on the walls as the eyes and nose of an imaginary face. When I am found to be more troublesome with this activity, my grandma cuts open the most ripe lady's fingers and collects its pearls and gives me to eat.

     
     As a kid, when i refuse to eat this vegetable (as by default most kids do :P ), many voices will come from different corners of the house telling "Vendaikkai saapdu.. Maths la 100 marks edukkalam.." meaning "Eat lady's finger... You will score a 100 in Maths.." :D :D :D

If it is during the time of exams, undoubtedly I oblige to it and be a good kid :P

     Playing with this vegetable had been a very great fun as a kid or until the time came for me to start cooking on my own. Only then i realized how messy its gum is :D

But after a couple of trials and errors, now I cook it to a non sticky form :)

Prep Time: 5 mins || Cook Time: 30 mins || Category: Side-dish

Ingredients:

1. Lady's finger - 250 gms

2. Bengal Gram (Kadalai Paruppu) - 1 tbsp

3. Cumin Seed (Jeera) - 1/2 tbsp

4. Mustard - 1 tsp

5. Oil - 1 tbsp

6. Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

7. Chilli Powder - 2 tsp

8. Salt - as needed

9. Grated Coconut (Optional) - 2 tbsp

10. Asafoetida (Hing) - 1 tsp

Method: 

1. Heat a pan with oil and add mustard.When it splutters, add bengal gram followed by cumin seeds. After they turn brown, add the cut lady's finger, turmeric powder, chilli powder and give a stir.

2. Cook covered for 5 minutes. Add salt and asafoetida followed by a round of stirring. Keep covered for 3-5 mins.

3. Now the colour would have turned from its raw green to a glossy green. Add the grated coconut; stir and cook opened for about 5-7 mins and then switch off the flame.

There we go !!! Non-sticky lady's finger poriyal is ready.

Suggestions:

• Wash the Lady's finger and leave them in a colander for 5 mins to drain the water. Cut them uniformly into thin pieces. This is to ensure even and faster cooking.
• Initially cook with closed lid. Once it is cooked, take off the lid and cook open.
• Give occasional stirs when cooking open. Add little oil, if required and stir. This will help in getting the lady's finger non-sticky.
• Adding coconut is optional.
• Can also add sambar powder instead of plain chilli powder to get more spiciness.

I had it for lunch with araichu vita sambar & hot rice.. And also for dinner along with rotis !!