500th Post: Paruppu Urundai Kuzhambu/Spiced Lentil Dumpling Curry

Paruppu Urundai Kuzhambu / Lentil dumplings curry is a very traditional Tamilnadu Brahmin dish. This is one of the popular south Indian recipe; very healthy and tasty food; Though the preparation takes a bit longer than the usual daily eats, it is totally worth the effort. It goes very well with rice, dosa, idli ...

My Sis Jayanthi and My Cousin Sis Asha , both love this Kuzhambhu . I dedicated this recipe to them.

Preparation Time - 20 minutes

Cooking Time -     20minutes  

Recipe Cuisine  :   South Indian

Recipe Category  :  Kuzhambhu 

Serves                   4

Ingredients:

For Paruppu Urundai

Toor Dal	1 cup
Chenna dal	½ Cup
Green chilies	3 Nos
Ginger  Paste	1 Tablespoon
Curry leaves	2 Strands
Asafetida powder	½ Teaspoon
Salt	As Per Taste.

For Kuzhambhu

Tomatoes	3 nos
Green Chillies	2 nos
Hing Powder	1 Teaspoon
Turmeric Powder	½ Teaspoon
Red Chilli Powder	1 Teaspoon
Kuzhambhu Powder	2 Tablespoon
Tarmarind Water	1 ½ Cup
Curry Leaves	few
Salt	To Taste

     

For Seasoning:

Coconut Oil	1 Tablespoon
Mustard Seeds	T Teaspoon
Curry Leaves	few

Chopped Coriander Leaves for Decoration

How To Make Paruppu Urundai Kuzhambhu Here You Go

Making Paruppu Urundai

• Wash and Soak Chenna Dhal and Toor dhal and chili in water for 1 hour.

• Drain the water and put them in a mixie container.

• Add salt, green chillies, asafetida powder ,a pinch of salt and  Curry Leaves grind them coarsely
• Keep this ready for preparing ball.
• Make small koftas by rolling the dhal in between your hands gently.
• Now take 1 teaspoon of rice flour in a plate. Take small ball of ground dal and dust it with rice flour.
• Steam in the idli cooker for 10-15 mins or till it cooks soft.
• Insert a tooth pick to check whether it is cooked perfectly. Keep aside.

Making Kuzhambhu:

• Soak the tamarind in water and extract the juice. Add 1 cup of water  and dilute the tamarind water , Keep aside.
• Heat Coconut oil in a pan, and splutter mustard seeds follow by curry leaves, Tomatoes and Ginger paste. Sauté for 2 to 3 minutes.

• Simmer the stove heat, add Turmeric powder, Kuzhambhu Powder, Hing and Red chili powder.

• Sauté till it turns gooey.
• Add the diluted tamarind water and salt. Stir well and boil it.

• Allow the tamarind juice to boil till the raw smell goes off.
• Then slowly add the Urundai one-by-one.

• After you add the balls, don’t stir the Kuzhambu. Once the balls are cooked, they will float on the Kuzhambu.

• Garnish with coriander leaves and remove from flame. Keep covered until serving. Tastes best after a couple of hours.

• Serve hot with Rice.

Note:

•  Here I prepare my Urundai and gravy in parallel. If you prepare them separately it will take more time.
•  

495:Nadan Chembu Astram/ Traditional Kerala style Taro Root Curry

Nadan Chembu Astram is a traditional dish of Kerala. Astram is a thick preparation with Curd, Chembu and coconut. It goes well with Kanji (Rice Porridge). Let's see how we can prepare this delicious recipe

Preparation Time:      10 Minutes

Cooking Time            25 Minutes

Recipe Category :      Vegetable Gravies, Kuzhambhu

Recipe Cuisine   :      Kerala, South Indian

Serves             :        3-4 People

Ingredients:

Diced Chembu / Taro root      2 cups  

Turmeric Powder                   ½ Teaspoon

Thick beaten   Curd               1 cup

Red Chili Powder                   1 Teaspoon

Curry Leaves                        few

Salt                                    To Taste.

To Grind:

Grated Coconut:                 ¾ cup – 1 cup

Turmeric Powder:               1/2 Teaspoon

Cumin Seeds                      1 Teaspoon

Water:                              2 Tablespoon

  

To Season:

Coconut Oil                        2 Tablespoon

Mustard Seeds:                  1 Teaspoon.

Whole Kashmiri Chili           3 Nos, broken

Curry leaves                       1 string

Method:

• Wash the Chembu in running water.      Peel the skin and cut into round shape.
• Put the Chembu into the big pan. Add water, Red chili powder, turmeric powder and salt. Boil and cook till done.

• In the meantime, grind the ingredients listed to a smooth paste with little water.

• When the Chembu is nicely cooked, put the ground mixture into it. Mix well. stir well and simmer the fire.       
• Adjust water and let it simmer for 2 - 3 minutes or till everything is nicely combined.

• Add the beaten curd. Mix well.  Take off from heat and keep aside.
• Heat oil in a seasoning pan , splutter mustard seeds, curry leaves and red chillies.
• Add this to the cooked Chembu curry.
• Serve hot with Kanji and Rice.

• 
  

493:Vazhakkai Varuval / Raw Banana Roast

Today I am sharing a very easy to make this colorful and delicious Vazhakkai Roast. I am big fan of this recipe because we need only less oil to make this dish and it still tastes like the one which we deep fry in the oil. Vazhakkai Roasts goes well with any South Indian lunch dish like sambhar, Rasam, etc. Try this easy yummy dish and enjoy.

Preparation Time:       10  Minutes

Cooking Time              20 Minutes

Recipe Category:         Vegetable Dry Subjis

Recipe Cuisine   :         South Indian

Serves             :              3-4 People

Ingredients

Raw Banana               4 No

Water                         For boiling

Salt                           To Taste

Masala Powders:

Chili Powder               1 Teaspoon

Turmeric Powder        ¼ Teaspoon

Asafetida Powder        ¼ Teaspoon

Snafu Powder             ¼ Teaspoon

For Tadka:

Coconut Oil                 2 Tablespoon

Cumin Seeds              ½ Teaspoon

Mustard seeds            ½ Teaspoon

Curry Leaves               Few

 Method:

• Wash and Peel the  Raw Bananas. 

• Cut raw banana to 1/4-inch thickness. 

• Boil the water and add the chopped banana slices. Just cook for 3 minutes. 

• Drain water completely transfer to a wide bowl. 
• Add the chili powder, Turmeric powder, Asafetida powder ,Fennel powder and salt. 

• Mix and coat it gently onto all the slices. Keep aside  for 5 minutes. 

• Heat oil in a flat pan, add all Tadka items and let them crackle. 
• Now, place the mixed  masala plantain slices in the oil and let it cook for a few minutes. Stir gently to let the oil coat on both the sides of the plantain slices. 

• Gently flip over each slice and let it cook on the other side for few more minutes. 
• Keep doing this until the plantains are cooked and becomes crispy from outside. 
• This may take at least 15 minutes to become crispy. 
• Now the yummy spicy Vazhakkai Fry is Ready. 

• Serve Vazhakkai Varuval with Steamed Rice and Sambhar.

See other recipes mentioned in this post

Sambhar

Cheers!!!

492:Ethakka appam/ banana fritters

Ethakka appam / Ripe banana fritters is an easy and traditional Kerala style snack made with ripe plantains.

Ethan pazham

Ingredients:

Ripe Bananas                         4 Nos.                 Coconut oil (Or) Cooking oil     For Deep Frying

For Batter

Water                                    ½ cup

All Purpose Flour (Maida)         1 cup

Rice flour                                2 Tablespoon

Sugar                                     2 Tablespoon

Bicarbonate of soda                 a pinch

Turmeric powder                     1/8 Teaspoon

Salt                                       To Taste

Method:

• Peel the bananas and slice them into 3 pieces, lengthwise.
• Add above batter items  into the mixing bowl, blend it thoroughly to form a semi thick batter with a dropping consistency and do make sure there no lumps in the batter.
• Now dip the slices in batter and evenly coat them.
• Heat the oil in a kadai.
• Deep fry them until they become golden brown. Flip them in between.
• Remove from oil and drain the excess oil with paper towel.
• Serve hot with Masala Chai.

x

491:Killu Vadam/ Left over Rice Fryums – Step By Step

Summer is the ideal time to make Vathals and vadams.  Vathal is the most attracting snack with rice for children and elders too. Any type of main course will go with the Vathal and vadagam .

Killu vadam is made using leftover rice. The name comes after the dough is pinched (Killu) small portion to make this vadagam, then dried.  Do try this I am sure you love it.

Soaking Time:                     4 Hours

Preparation Time:                20 mins

Drying Time:                       3 days

Ingredients:

Leftover  cooked Rice           3 cups

Water                                 For soaking the rice

Cumin Seeds/ Jeera             1 Teaspoon

To Grind

Green Chilies                      8 Nos.

Asafetida                            1 Teaspoon

Salt                                    To Taste

Method

• Soak the left over  rice for  enough water for 4 hours.

• Grind green chilies along with a pinch of salt ,Teaspoon of water into smooth paste. Keep aside.

• Strain the rice well and add it to the blender. Grind it to a coarse paste. Transfer this to a mixing bowl.
• Add the  chilli paste , salt and to the rice paste. Mix all the ingredients well. Adjust the salt per your taste.

• Take plastic sheet / Big Plate/ white cloth. Start dividing the mixture and place the vadam in equal interval. Do this till the entire dough is over.

Day 1: Dry it in sun till there is no moisture.  In the evening bring the vadam inside and let it dry under a fan.

Day 2: Then next day morning again dry it in the sun. Now the vadam would have dried 50%. Again, in the evening, bring the vadam inside and dry it under the fan.

Day 3:   Repeat this process till its crispy & slightly browned.

• Once dried completely, store in a clean container & it will stay fresh for years. Use it as & when needed.

• Heat oil in a kadai & Fry the vadams in medium hot oil. Don’t fry them in very hot oil. Because, the vadams may not cook completely. Strain the vadams and Serve it with any variety rice of your choice.

Note:

• Check the weather forecast a day before itself. Make sure you do this on a sunny day. The drying time may differ, according to the outside temperature.
• While grinding add curry leaves for green color.
• If you want, you can add Javvarisi.  the vadam will be more crispy
• You can add finely chopped, coriander, grated carrot in the dough and make veg vadams.

489:Vegetable Idli

This is one of the healthiest breakfast delights,  which is commonly served in all Southindian states.Last night, I made this dinner platter-vegetable idly, tomato chutney and milagai podi (gun powder). Vegetable idli is quite filling; calorie rich food which is good for growing kids and also keeps us full for long time. Here is the recipe for Vegetable Idli

Ingredients:

Idli Batter                                        2 cups

Grated Carrot                                  ¼ Cup

Finely chopped green chilies             1 tsp.

Finely chopped Curry leaves             1 Tbsp.

Ground Black Pepper                        ½ Tsp.

Salt                                                   a pinch.

Ghee                                                  ½ Tsp.

Oil                                                      1 Tsp.

Method:

• In a bowl, add  all above ingredients expect oil, and whisk it  and make a thick batter and keep it aside for 10 minutes.
• Grease the idli mould with oil and pour idli batter into each mould.
• Repeat these processes till all the idli mould are filled.
• Meanwhile , add about 2 cups of water to the idli cooker and heat it.
• Now place the idli stand with moulds inside the cooker.
• Cover and let it steam for 10 minutes till the idlis are cooked.
• Take out the idli stand and leave for 5 minutes
• .After it cools down, take the idlis out with the help of a knife.
• Serve hot with sambhar and chutney.

If you found this post useful, I would really love it if you pin it or share it with your Facebook fans or Twitter followers or Google+ circles today. All it takes is a simple click on the “pin it” “like,” “share,” “tweet,” or Google+ buttons below the post. It will keep me motivated. 

488: Manga Inji Pickle 2/ Mango Ginger Pickle

Mango ginger belongs to the ginger family. It looks like ginger but smells like raw mango. This pickle is very famous in South India.  This pickle will compliment to the plain Thayir Sadam. This pickle is one of the easy pickles that you can make it in a hurry.

Ingredients:

Chopped Manga Inji                 1 cup

Pickle Powder(see the link)   2 Tbsp.

Salt                                            1 Tsp.

Lemon juice                              1 Tbsp.

For Seasoning

Oil                                              1 Tsp.

Mustard seeds                         ½ Tsp.

Asafetida powder                     1/8 Tsp.

Curry leaves                               Few

Method:

• Clean the mango inji completely. Cut mango ginger into thin round slices.
• Combine the manga inji  with other ingredients. Mix well
• Temper seasonings in oil and pour it in to the pickle and mix well. 
• Store it in a glass jar and use after a day.
• Store it in the refrigerator.
• Serve with curd rice and chapattis.

See other Manga Inji Pickle:

Manga Inji Pickle 1