Korada- A side dish for paniyaram or dosa

Hi friends,

Everyone might have got bored with chutney and sambar as side dishes for dosa,idli or paniyaram. Here is one side dish which goes best with paniyaram or uppappam(as we call it) which is very quick to be made.

Ingredients needed:

1 bunch coriander leaves
1 bunch pudina leaves
8 to 9 curry leaves 
3 Green chillies
A small ball of tamarind cherry size
Asafoetida-1 spoon
Salt


Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan.  Fry the green chillies well and switch off the flame.With this heat, add coriander leaves, mint leaves,curry leaves,asafetida , tamarind and salt and fry for some time. Once it cools down, grind it to a chutney like consistency.
Now season the dish in oil with mustard and urad dal. 

Korada is ready to be served.

Manathakkali vathakozhambu/Gravy with "Black NIghtshade"

Vathakozhambu is an authentic dish of Tamilnadu, which when had with rice, is the most delicious dish.This can be made with various kinds of 'vathals' (fryums).Vegetables may also be substituted in this process.

Here is one of the types of vathakozhambu.This is using a berry like fruit called 'manathakkali' in Tamil.After a little googling, I found that it is called Black Nightshade in English.It has a lot of health benefits.Below are the pictures of manathakkali , the first one being the fresh fruits from the plant,green ones are unripe and black-ish ones are ripe.The second pic is a completely dried version of the same.We are gonna use the dried version in our recipe today.

Heat oil(2 or 3 tbspns) in a kadai and add mustard seeds.Once they splutter, add a pinch of hing or asafoetida,1 tspn cumin seeds,1 tspn chana dal,little bit of fenugreek seeds ,one red chilly and curry leaves and fry for a while.Once the ingredients start giving the aroma, add quarter cup of dried manathakkali to this and fry well till the color changes.Now add tamarind extract (2 cups) and add a pinch of turmeric powder,2 and a half tspns sambar powder and salt(as needed).Allow the mixture to boil well. Check for consistency.If it is too watery, add 1 tspn of rice flour or wheat flour to allow it to thicken.

Yummy and healthy manathakkali vathakozhambu is ready to be served with plain rice or even curd rice.

Keerai masiyal/mashed greens

Keerai masiyal/spinach is a rich source of iron.It is good to add spinach in our diet at least 3 times a week.

Here is one of the ways of preparing this healthy dish.


Wash a bunch of spinach leaves and finely chop them.
Add very little water to it (as spinach itself leaves out water while being cooked).
Cook this in a pressure cooker for less than 10 mins without placing the whistle.
Meanwhile cook half a cup of moong dal with a pinch of turmeric  powder till it is soft and mushy.
Mix both dal and spinach and mash them well.
Heat oil in a kadai.Add mustard seeds, 2 or 3 red chillies, a pinch of hing or asafoetida.
Switch off the flame and add this to the prepared spinach.Add salt and the dish is recipe.


Remember that spinach has inbuilt salt, so add little at a time.
The better the greens are mashed the tastier the dish.

Serve this as a side dish with vathakozhambu or you may even mix it with rice.