Arachi vitta sambar is an another excellent dish from Tamil Brahmin cuisine. In Tamil, “arachi vitta” means “to grind” or “grinded”. This sambar is made with roasted spices, which are then ground with fresh coconut. Hence this recipe got this name. It tastes heavenly with plain rice, idly, dosai, vadai or pongal.

This is the first time i tried this sambar and probably it is the best sambar i have ever tasted. Do try this aromatic recipe in your home and enjoy!!

INGREDIENTS:

1/3 cup toor dhal

Extract from small gooseberry sized tamarind

10 to 15 pearl onion (shallots)

1 tomato (medium sized)

2 green chilies

1½ cup diced veggies of your choice (i added radish & ladies finger)

Few curry leaves

Salt to taste

Fry and Grind:

¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds

1 tablespoon coriander seeds

1½ tablespoon channa dhal

½ teaspoon raw rice

5 to 6 dry red chilies (or upto your taste)

4 tablespoons grated coconut

For seasoning:

1 tablespoon oil

¼ teaspoon mustard seeds

¼ teaspoon cumin seeds

A pinch of hing

Few curry leaves

INSTRUCTIONS:

Rinse the toor dhal and pressure cook it for 5 whistles by adding turmeric powder and drops of oil.

In a kadai , add a drop of oil and roast all the ingredients given under “ fry and grind” in the same order. Make sure nothing gets burnt..Roast under medium flame till nice aroma rises.

Switch off the flame and add coconut. It will get roasted in that heat itself. Grind them to a coarse paste.

In the same pan, heat oil and onions, curry leaves, green chilies & chopped tomato and saute till the onion turns translucent.Then add in the veggies and saute for a min.

Add tamarind extract and cook it in medium flame. When it comes to single boil, add ground paste and let it boil for dew min.

Add the pressure cooked dhal and stir well.

Simmer the stove and stir often, let sambar cook for 5-6 minutes. Check for salt and add if required. If the sambar is thick, add water and bring to a boil for a minute. Switch off the flame.

In another small pan, heat a tablespoon oil and add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add cumin seeds, curry leaves and hing. Pour this tempering to prepared sambar and mix well.

Garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve hot with plain rice and enjoy !!

Thokku is an authentic Taminadu recipe, which literally means thick gravy almost of pickle consistency. This recipe is really delicious, spicy and mouth-watering, which goes excellent with plain rice and rasam. You can make this bulk and store it in fridge and enjoy for a week.

INGREDIENTS:

250 gms nethili fish (anchovies)

¾ cup sliced pearl onion (shallots)

¾ teaspoon fenugreek seeds

¾ teaspoon cumin seeds

Few curry leaves

½ teaspoon garam masala

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

2 tablespoon red chilly powder

1 tablespoon coriander powder

1 cup extract from 1 lemon sized tamarind

½ lemon sized palm sugar

Salt to taste

6 tablespoons gingelly oil

To grind:

1 big tomato

4 to 5 garlic cloves

INSTRUCTIONS:

Grind the tomato and garlic to a fine paste in a blender. Extract tamarind water and keep it ready.

Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a pan and add fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds and curry leaves. Once it is browned, add tomato-garlic puree and cook for a min.

Then add in onion and continue cooking till the onion mashes well and oil oozes out.

Add red chilly powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder & garam masala and continue sauteing till the raw smell goes off.

Pour the tamarind extract & salt and continue cooking till it boils and oil begins to float on top. Then add in the fish, close the pan and continue cooking for 3 min in low flame. Don’t mix the curry using spoon or spatula. Just swirl your pan gently to mix. Otherwise the fish will break easily.

When the gravy reduces in consistency, add 3 more tablespoons of gingelly oil and curry leaves.

Turn off the flame and transfer to serving plate.

Radish greens dhal recipe is simple and easy curry made with the combination of moong dhal and toor dhal. Radish greens are slight bitter taste. So cooking with lentils just reduces the bitterness.

This is the first time i cooked this radish greens. Even though i have heard the health benefits of radish greens many times, i never got the chance to buy this greens anytime. For the first time i saw this greens in Kuala Belait Tamu, I immediately bought this and decided to cook on the same day. Radish greens are rich source of Vit C, Vit A and Calcium.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup chopped radish green (tightly packed)

3 tablespoons toor dhal

3 tablespoons moong dhal

5 to 6 garlic cloves

1 tomato (medium sized)

1 onion chopped (medium sized)

3 green chilies

¼ teaspoon cumin seeds

¼ teaspoon turmeric powder

½ teaspoon cumin powder

½ teaspoon coriander powder

Salt to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

In a pressure cooker, add toor dhal, moong dhal, garlic, tomato, salt and turmeric powder. Add 1 cup water and pressure cook it for 4 whistles. When the pressure releases, mash it using a laddle and keep it aside.

Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds, onion and saute it till the onion turns translucent. Add radish greens and saute for a while.

Then add in the mashed dhal mixture, cumin powder, coriander powder. Add water if needed and cook for 4 to 5 min.

Serve hot with plain rice and ghee.

Notes:

Radish greens remain fresh only for one or two days. So, it is better to cook on the same day you get it.

Radish greens mashes very quickly. So, watch carefully when sauteing.

I have already published a post about how to prepare Idiyappam. If you have not read that post yet, kindly see the post, as it is the continuation of that post. Whenever i make Idiyappam, I usually make some extra,to try out different varieties of Idiyappam. This Coconut Idiyappam is very tasty and easy to prepare, as it is just like the coconut rice.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups Idiyappam (measured after loosen the strings into small pieces)

3 tablespoons grated coconut

1 tablespoon oil

¼ teaspoon mustard seeds

1½ teaspoon urad dhal

1½ teaspoon channa dhal

4 to 5 pearl onion sliced (shallots)

2 green chilies

3 dry red chilies

4 to 5 cashew nuts (broken into small pieces)

Few curry leaves

A pinch of hing

Salt to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

Heat oil, add mustard seeds, when they splutter, add hing, urad dal , channa dhal, sliced onion, red chilly, green chilly, cashew nuts and curry leaves.

After dhal turns golden brown, add grated coconut and fry well till the raw flavor goes.

Add salt needed and the plain idiyappam. Mix well in low flame for a min.

Turn off the flame and serve warm.

Notes:

You can replace the cashew nuts with peanuts.

Koottu is a South Indian side dish made with vegetables and lentils. Usually koottu is made with vegetables which has rich water content like bottle gourd or ridge gourd. This koottu tastes excellent with simple plain rice and fried pappads(appalam).

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups cubed bottle gourd

2 tablespoons moong dhal

1 small sliced onion or 3 pearl onions

1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder

3/4 teaspoon sambar powder

3/4 teaspoon rice flour

Salt to taste

To grind:

3 tablespoons grated coconut

3 to 4 dry red chilly

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

To temper:

1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

Few curry leaves

INSTRUCTIONS:

In a pan, add cubed bottle gourd, sambar powder, turmeric powder, moong dhal, onion, salt. Add enough water and boil it for few minutes in medium flame until dhal and bottle gourd are cooked well.

Then add the ground paste and simmer it for few minutes. Now add the rice flour dissolved in 2 tablespoons of water. When gravy thickens, remove from heat.

In another small pan, add oil. When heated enough add mustard seeds, hing and curry leaves. When mustard stops popping, add this tempering to the prepared koottu.

Serve hot with rice and appalam.

Notes:

Rice flour is added to make the gravy thick. If your gravy is thick already, don’t add rice flour.

You can also add fried gram powder (pottu kadalai) instead of rice flour.

Thandu keerai or red amaranth greens are very attractive because of its catchy colour. It is available in two colours: full red in colour and red & green mix. Unlike other greens, you can also cook stems(stalks) too. As like any other greens, it has also very high nutrients and fully loaded with dietry fibers.

This masiyal recipe is easy to prepare and also easy for digestion, as it is grind to paste. Use the leaves and tender stalks for this recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups thandu keerai (tightly packed)

2 to 3 tablespoons moong dhal

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

4 garlic cloves

4 to 5 pearl onion

1 small tomato

Salt to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

Wash all the ingredients. In a pan, add all the ingredients (except keerai), add enough water and boil it until everything softens.

Now add in the greens (keerai), salt and boil it for another couple of minutes.

Switch off and let it cool for few minutes.

Transfer the mixture to a blender and pulse it until it is pureed.

Heat oil in a small pan and add mustard seeds & dry red chilly. When mustard seeds stops popping, add this tempering to pureed greens.

Tasty and Healthy keerai masiyal is ready to be served.

Notes:

It is a best toddler recipe. Without adding chilies, you can give this masiyal to toddlers and kids.

Traditionally, this cooked greens were mashed by using “Matthu”, a special wooden laddle. It gives authentic taste and texture. Since i don’t have matthu, here i have managed with the blender.

You can replace this red amaranthus greens with Amaranthus blitum ( mulai keerai) or Amaranthus dubius (arai keerai).

Vegetable tahari or tehri rice is simple rice recipe which cannot be classified either under biryani or under pulav. It is an aromatic, spiced one pot rice basically from north indian cuisine. It is the best lunch box recipe, which doesn’t require lots of time or work. It can be served with raita, boiled eggs, pappad (appalam) or stills tastes better without any side dish. It is traditionally made with peas, potatoes and cauliflower. But you can go with any veggies of your choice.

INGREDIENTS:

1 teaspoon peppercorns

1 cardamom (elaichi)

1 bay leaf

2 cloves

1 star anise

1 big onion (sliced)

1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste

1 big tomato (cut into cubes)

¼ cup frozen or boiled peas

1 big potato (cut into cubes)

¼ cup cauliflower

3 green or red chilly

Few mint leaves

Few coriander leaves (cilantro)

1 tablespoon curd (yogurt)

½ teaspoon lemon juice

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon red chilly powder

¾ tablespoon coriander powder

¾ tablespoon cumin powder

1 cup basmati rice

2 cups water (or acc. to direction given in basmati packet)

2 tablespoons ghee + 1 tablespoon oil

Salt to taste

INSTRUCTIONS;

Rinse rice and soak it in enough water for 30 min. Drain well and keep it aside.

Add 2 tablespoon ghee and 1 tablespoon oil in a thick bottom pan. Add peppercorns, bay leaf, cardamom, cloves, star anise and saute till the spices splutter.

Add sliced onion and saute till it turns golden brown. Then add a tablespoon of ginger- garlic paste and saute till the raw smell goes off.

Add tomato and cook till it mashes well.

Then peas and potato goes in. Saute for 3 to 4 min in medium flame.

Then add cauliflower, mint leaves, coriander leaves, chilly, lemon juice & curd and saute for a min.

Add masala powders and saute till the raw smell goes off.

Then add rice and mix well till it coats well with masalas. Pour 2½ cups of water and add salt.

Cover the pan and cook it in low flame until all the water is absorbed and grains are fluffy and soft.

Switch of the flame and give 5 min resting time.

Serve hot with raita or pappad.

Watermelon juice tastes excellent when we add any coolant to it than having it simply plain. You can add any coolants like mint, lemon juice, sabja seeds, rooh afza, gulkand or isabgul. Here i have come up with the mix of mint, lemon juice and gulkand version. Mint is good for digestion and gulkand reduces the body heat. Thus the combination of all these is an ideal treat for hot summer.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups watermelon pieces (tightly packed)

6 to 7 mint leaves

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon gulkand (sweet preserve of rose petals)

1 tablespoon sugar

INSTRUCTIONS:

In a blender, add all the ingredients given and blend well. No need to add water.

Garnish watermelon juice with some mint leaves. Add ice cubes if required.

Serve chilled & Enjoy !!

Notes:

You can also mix other fruits to this juice. But make sure that you choose the right combination of fruits.

You can also add chat masala to this juice to get a complex taste.

Nethili crispy fry is one of my favourite recipe, which i learned from my cousin, Aysha. Anchovies is already an addictive dish among seafood lovers. This deep-fried, extra-crunchy, crispy fish fry is easy to make and it goes well with pulav or biryani.

INGREDIENTS:

250 gms nethili (anchovies)

2½ to 3 tablespoons red chilly powder

Juice from half lemon

1 egg (beaten)

½ cup bread crumbs

Oil for deep fry

Salt to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

In a bowl, add nethili fish, red chilly powder, lemon juice & salt and marinate for 30 min.

Keep the beaten egg and bread crumbs ready. Pre heat kadai and add oil.

Coat the fish in egg and then in bread crumbs.

Gently put the coated fish into hot oil and fry for 2 min on each side until medium golden brown in colour.

Drain on paper towels and serve hot with tomato ketchup or mayonnaise.

Paal kanji is a healthy and refreshing breakfast which is very famous in my hometown and around. People usually make this recipe atleast once in a week. Pickle and thuvaiyal along with this kanji tastes heavenly. This recipe is very good for people with digestive and gastric problems.

INGREDIENTS:

¾ cup ponni rice

½ tablespoon fenugreek seeds

6 + 6 garlic cloves

1 cup thick coconut milk (1st extract)

¾ cup 2nd extract coconut milk

Salt to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

In a pressure cooker, add rice, fenugreek seeds and 6 garlic cloves. Add 4 cups of water and pressure cook it for 4 whistles or till the rice mashes well.

Once it cools down, mash the rice with spoon and place the cooker on medium flame and continue cooking.

Then add in 2nd extract milk and remaining garlic cloves and cook for 6 to7 min in low flame.

Add thick coconut milk, salt and continue cooking for a min and switch of the flame.

Delicious paal kanji is ready to be served.

Serve hot with pickle or thuvaiyal.