Vengaya sambar/Shallot sambar-Brahmin Style

Vengaya sambar, made of shallots(small onions) are the favorite of many in the South.This is not the conventional method of making sambar. This particular version,known as arachu vitta sambar is commonly found in all the Brahmin families.

In a kadai, heat 1 tspn of oil.Add half tspn coriander seeds,1/4 tspn fenugreek seeds(methi),3 red chillies,1 tspn Bengal gram(chana dal),curry leaves and fry for some time.Now add half a cup of grated coconut and fry till it changes to golden brown color.(You may add 2 shallots(small onions) while frying if needed.Turn off the stove and allow this mixture to be cooled.

Soak tamarind in warm water for a while and extract the tamarind juice out of it.Boil this extract in a vessel.Add a pinch of turmeric,1/4 tspn asafoetida(hing) and salt.Add 1 cup of shallots(small onions with the skin ripped off) to this and allow them to be cooked well.

Boil toor dal(split red gram) in a pressure cooker.Once it is cooked, mash it down really well till the dal is not seen at all.

Grind the fried mixture adding little water so that it gets a thick chutney-kind consistency.

Add the mashed dal as well as the ground mixture to the tamarind extract.Let this boil till a nice aroma spreads out.
Finally in a pan, heat oil .Add mustard .Once it splutters,Add 1 tspn urad dal and some curry leaves.
Add this on top of the sambar prepared above.

Vengaya sambar is ready to be served with rice and ghee. Make potato fry as a side dish for this and wow.......Yummy!!!!!

Paruppu Podi/Pappu Podi(Andhra style)

My husband and I are ardent fans of Andhra mess food. I am sure there are a whole lot of you who love to visit Andhra mess atleast to have multiple rounds of Pappu podi with rice and oil.I even know a couple of friends who finish off the complete bottle of pappu podi in front of them without even tasting the other dishes in the menu. I have tasted and made different types of Paruppu podi, but nothing had matched the Andhra mess taste. But today, thanks to a friend, I got the perfect taste.

No more waiting, here you go!!!

Grind 1 cup of roasted gram(buna channa/pottu kadalai) in a mixer or blender to make a fine powder. Add 1 tspn red chilli powder, salt as needed and grind so that the mixture blends together.Finally add 3 garlic flakes to this and grind again.

Thats it, Andhra mess pappu podi is ready.No frying, no baking only grinding and mixing....:)
Enjoy mixing with rice and oil.

Carrot halwa

Here is an easy-to make sweet recipe. You suddenly feel like having something sweet and dont have the mood to go out to a sweet stall, this one will come in handy.

Grate 3 long carrots. This would yield 2 cups of grated carrot.
Heat 1 tspn of ghee in a pan. Add cashewnuts,almonds, raisins and fry till golden brown.Now add the grated carrot and stir.To this add 2 cups of milk. Stir the mixture and allow it to be cooked on medium flame for about 20 minutes till all the milk evaporates. Dont forget to keep stirring it so that it does not get burnt.

Now add 1/2 cup sugar and mix well.You may add more sugar if you like to have it more sweeter.Mix it well and allow the carrots to cook well.You will see the ghee oozing out after some time.
Now switch off the flame and sprinkle cardamom powder on top of it if you wish to.

Yummy carrot halwa is now ready.

Venn Pongal

Everyone might be knowing of the festival "Pongal" celebrated in Tamil Nadu..It falls on the same day as Makar Sankranti......On this day, two types of Pongal are prepared...Sakkara Pongal(sweet version) and Venn Pongal(salted version)

Here I give you the recipe of Venn Pongal which can be included as your breakfast.

Take raw rice(2 cups) and wash it well to remove excess starch. Take moong dal(paasi paruppu-1cup) and wash this too.
Mix the rice and dal and add more than twice the amount of water, (In this case, 7 cups), add salt and pressure cook it. Allow upto 6 or 7 whistles.

Turn off the stove and allow the pressure to be  released. Now in a pan, heat oil.Add mustard seeds and allow them to splutter. Then add 2 tspns of whole pepper and fry with curry leaves. Add this to the cooked rice and dal mixture.

Pongal is now ready to be served.

This part is optional as many people may want to avoid ghee.
Heat a little ghee in a pan and add a few cashewnuts and fry then till golden.

Mix this well with the Pongal prepared.

Serve this hot always with Samabr or chutney or Gotsu.It loses the real taste when it cools down.
My husband and I like Pongal with Gotsu.

For Gotsu recipe, click here

Gotsu(Kumbakonam Gotsu)

I am quite amused about my title for this post rather than the post itself. Haha...Its like saying, Billa...David Billa....

Jokes apart, here is the recipe of a traditional South Indian side dish for Pongal or dosa.

This can be made with any vegetable, but the version with brinjal(egg plant) is the tastiest of all.

Boil 1/2 a cup of moong dal with a pinch of turmeric powder in a pressure cooker.

Take a small ball sized tamarind and soak it in warm water for a while. Then extract the juice out of it and keep it aside.

Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds. When it splutters, add 1/2 tspn cummin seeds(jeeragam),1/4 tspn fenugreek seeds(vendhayam,green chillies(3 or 4),1/2 tspn hing(asafoetida), curry leaves and fry.

Now add one onion(finely chopped) and saute till it changes color.Add 2 brinjals(eggplants-finely chopped)(Note: Remember to soak the brinjals in water when you chop them else they turn dark)

Cut one tomato finely and add it to the pan.

Allow the brinjals and tomatoes to be fried for 2 minutes. Then add the tamarind extract.Allow the whole mixture to be cooked well and the raw smell of tamarind disappears. Add salt ,a pinch of turmeric powder,1/2 tspn chilly powder and close the lid of the pan. Once the brinjals are cooked well,you may add the cooked moong dal with this mixture. Mash the whole mixture while stirring and allow it to boil.

Garnish with coriander leaves.

Gotsu -Kumbakonam Gotsu is ready to be served . :)