Hotel-style vathakozhambu

Ever had vathakozhambu at a Tamil restaurant, like Sangeetha in Chennai? It's absolutely divine and nothing they make at home comes close to that. There's something different. Introducing, hotel-style vathakozhambu - the thicker, tangier and infinitely more delectable dish than it's pale counterpart, the home-style vathakozhambu. Today for some reason when I was day dreaming food, I got reminded of this vathakozhambu that we got when we had the Meals at Sangeetha. And I had to make it for dinner. Usually, I make the normal one that our moms teach us to make... the one that all you chefs have attempted at least once. But here's how to do it hotel-style. It's almost like a kootu consistency. And with no real recipe online, I pride myself as the first one that I know of attempting this novel approach, and having success with it whilst sharing it. Yo!

Ingredients -(If you are familiar with normal vathakozhambu, skip this)

1. Something vathhal (this is the dried veggie bit that you fry to add taste to the whole concoction like sundakka, manathakali keerai, etc.) - I didn't have any, so I skipped this.

2. Onions (if you have the small bulb ones, they are the best) - 4 if they are medium sized, finely chopped.

3. Tomatoes - 1 large, finely chopped

4. Tamarind - small lemon-sized

5. For seasoning and cooking - oil (preferably sesame oil (yellu yennai/til ka tel), mustard seeds curry leaves, 2 dried red chilis, 2 tablespoons of channa dal a pinch of asfoetida and vathakozhambu powder/sambar powder.

6. Salt to taste

How

1. On a saucepan, add 1 spoon of sesame oil and fry half the onions whilst adding salt so that the onions release their juices.

2. Once the onions become translucent, add the chopped tomatoes and about 1/4th the raw tamarind to it and fry for sometime more till you are sure that the raw flavour of the onions/tomatoes is gone. This usually takes 4-5 minutes on medium-high flame and you can see that the tomatoes have lost all firmness and have released their juices into the mixture as well.

3. Add 1 spoon of vathakozhambu/sambar powder and fry for 1 more minute. Set aside.

4. Meanwhile, on a separate saucepan (or the same one, once you empty it), add another spoon of sesame oil. Allow mustard seeds to crackle, add the asfoetida, the red chilis whilst crushing them with your fingers, the channa dal and the curry leaves.

5. Once the chilis turn semi-dark and the curry leaves lose their sprightly green, add the remaining onions to be cooked thoroughly. Add salt and give it a stir or two.

6. Meanwhile, make pulp off the remaining tamarind upto about 1 cup and add this tamarind pulp to the onions and allow to boil.

7. The mixture that you had set aside should've cooled considerably. Give it a quick run in the mixer to make a coarse paste.

8. Add this paste to the boiling stuff in the saucepan and set to boil having ensured that the entire paste is mixed in.

9. Taste to see if the salt/tanginess and the spice are as per taste. Add condiments as desired.

10. Season with washed curry leaves. And voila!

While it may not look as thick as it is, I assure you that it is kootu consistency and absolutely yummy. So, what does that go with? My trademark paruppu usili, of course! If you want the recipe to that, check the comments of this post.

Give them a try n report back! Bon appetit!

Xmas Paruppu Usili

Well I made another of my favorite dishes today, the paruppu usili. But this time I had two red capsicum sitting beside one green one and so they all went into making the dish. And ofcourse, red n green is sort of the Christmas theme and hence the name. Of course, thanks to the lighting (yellow) and the paruppu (again yellow), the dish looks nothing as colorful as it does in front of my eyes. But here, take a look -


Well, the recipe is in the comments section of this post in case you are interested. And I am having it with my trademark dhideer rasam. Here's another mouth-watering shot of today's attempt. Enjoy!

Bar bar baingan - with recipes now!!

For the unfamilar few, the post title is in Hindi and it means -brinjal (eggplant) again n again.

Well, I did promise the baingan bharta to anyone who followed what I was saying last week. Addicted to my own cooking, I did make it again... and managed to recreate the magic (what my dad says is the mark of a good chef)... alright alright, enough peethal (tamil for uncalled-for praise). Here's a pic of the subji... The light was gone outside and I had to resort to the good old yellow ceiling lighting and hence the bad photo. But I assure you it tasted way more delicious than it looks. Also, I was out of cilantro and didn't want to stock some so close to leaving, hence the boring garnishing.


And what did I have it with? My indian bread speciality - theplas :D. Made enough for the whole week. Take a look -

Leave me a comment if you're interested in either recipe. I'll be happy to share. Happy tucking in!

RECIPES -
Well, there was atleast one request for the recipe... so here goes.
Hint - Read blue-coded words for the order in which to add ingredients.

Baingan Bharta -
Ingredients
1. 1 medium-sized eggplant
2. 1 large onion
3. 1 can of tomatoes/2-3 medium sized tomatoes
4. 2 cloves of garlic
5. For seasoning - mustard seeds, jeera seeds, 1 tsp each of dhaniya (mustard) power & jeera powder, 2 dry red chilis, 1/2 tsp of red chili powder, a pinch of turmeric and salt to taste.
6. For garnishing - a fresh sprig of coriander leaves
7. For cooking - 1 tbsp of oil

How to make it
1. Heat the oil in medium-high for 2-3 minutes. Meanwhile, cut the onion up into medium-sized pieces.
2. Once the oil is hot, add the garlic, finely chopped and the dry red chilis.
3. As the garlic starts turning brown, add the cut onions and some salt, so that the onion releases it's juices and cooks in them.
4. Once the onions get done, add a pinch of turmeric and dump the can of tomatoes into it. Add the dhaniya, jeera and red chili powders to it and stir well. Cover the saucepan and allow to cook for about 5 minutes to allow all the masalas to seep into the onion-tomato mix. Set aside.
5. Prepare the eggplant to be roasted/smoked on the gas/hotplate. Put 2-3 drops of oil on your hand and rub it through the entire eggplant to coat it everywhere will a thin film of oil. This prevents the eggplant from burning and aids even cooking on the inside.
6. Turn the gas to medium-high and once it's hot, hold the eggplant by the stem or using a pair of tongs and place directly on the gas. After a minute of two of steaming, once you turn the eggplant a bit, you can see that the skin starts peeling slowly. Do this on all sides, including the bottom so that the eggplant is cooked throughly on the inside. It should look something like this -

Set asideto cool off.
7. By now, your onion-tomato mix would've cooled reasonably. Grind it into a coarse mixture in the mixi, not too fine, to make sure that you have some chunks remaining. This is your gravy.
8. Once the eggplant has cooled down, run it under water and peel away all of the skin. The eggplant should've lost all its firmness and can now be cut into small pieces or mashed into a mixture to be added to the gravy.
9. Heat 1tsp of oil in the saucepan and allow mustard-jeera seeds to sputter. Add the chopped/mashed eggplant and cook for a minute before adding the gravy and mixing everything evenly.
10. Garnish with coriander and serve with parathas/phulkas/theplas or steamed rice.
Note: Smoking the eggplant is what distinguishes the baingan bharta from any ordinary baingan subji. Do not skip this step.

Theplas
Ingredients (for about 20 mid-sized theplas)
1. 4-5 cups of whole wheat flour
2. Condiments: 1 tsp of salt, 1/2 tsp of red chili powder, 1tsp of sugar, pinch of turmeric
3. 2 cups of water, more or less
4. 2 tsp of oil

How to make it
1. Add the condiments to the dry flour and mix well.
2. Add the water in small portions while kneading the dough with your fingers to a smooth consistency. Stop adding water when the dough has reached the right consistency. (Hint: If the dough is too dry, it will flake while rolling out the theplas. Make sure it is a little sticky).
3. Rub the oil in your fingers and knead into the dough.
4. Set aside for 1-2 hours (Hint: Make your subji in the meantime to save time overall!)
5. Roll out like chapathis, except you don't need extra flour to roll them out. They should be easier to roll than chapathis.
6. Cook on a tava like chapathis, using the flame itself to have them 'ball-up' like phulkas as well. (It tastes just as good even if you don't do it that way).

Advantages: They are spicier and tastier than normal chapathis and make for a good change. They also last longer and are a great snack with chai.
Enjoy!

Dhideer Rasam

This post is dedicated to Priya. Get well soon.

Well I am sure most of us have come home some day feeling all tired and too bored to cook, or sometimes just too late to whip up anything interesting. Times like this though we probably end up binging on some junk there's always the hope that there was some comfort food. This one is mine. It's saved me a lot of trouble many a time and what's more its positively delicious and it's actually on the menu atleast 2-3 times a week among other dishes.

So for all those people who want a 10-minute yummy desi recipe or for those bachelors who wanna cook or just for a lazy evening here's my dhideer (instant) rasam recipe.

Hint - for the impatient, just read the blue-coded words for the order in which to add ingredients to get this done with!

Ingredients

1. A can of tomatoes (if you have fresh ones great... but the can saves time)

2. Butter - 1 dollop

3. One lemon or juice from 1 lemon

4. The usual rasam ingredients - rasam powder (3-4 tbsp), asfoetida ( a pinch), mustard seeds (1 tsp) and salt to taste

5. The extras (if you want) - a few curry leaves and a sprig of coriander for garnish, ginger if you prefer.

How to make it

1. Take a saucepan and melt your dollop of butter (you can use oil but the taste and flavour from the butter are totally worth whatever calories that it may add!)

2. Allow the mustard seeds to crackle and add the curry leaves, ginger and asfoetida and fry for about 30 seconds.

3. Dump the can of tomatoes into this crackling mixture and add salt to the tomatoes for all their water to seep out while cooking.

4. As the tomatoes boil, add water equivalent to the can of tomatoes to them.

5. When you see the whole thing froth from all the boiling (in about 2-3 min), add rasam powder to it. Let it boil for about a minute and turn it off.

6. Now add the lemon juice to it and stir it in and finally garnish with coriander and voila... you are done!

Serve with steamed rice or have it just as a soup. It's quick, light, flavourful and tasty. Try it out and let me know how you feel about it.

Notes:
1. You can always add cooked toor dal just before adding the rasam powder to give it more volume. Take care not to add too much or it'll end up tasting like sambar.
2. You can also add garlic at the stage you add ginger for a different kind of flavour. As it is a strong ingredient, avoid adding too much of it.

Tasty Tidbits III

I did it again!! I made Pav Bhaji on the husband's request and here's how it looked...

It tasted fantastic... had the perfect color, the perfect flavour n what not... The difference is my recipe... Its Pav Bhaji with a twist, with a few more additional steps than what conventional recipes tell you. But the extra effort is totally worth it. Its mouthwatering and beats any hotel Pav Bhaji you've ever had... If you want the recipe, all you need to do is ask!

Ooh by the way, the recipe to the paruppu usili is posted as a comment on its post. Check it out.. try it out and lemme know how you churned it out.

Tasty tidbits II

Ah... So I was making paruppu usili to go with the mor kozhambu that I made for dinner today. Usually, paruppu usili is made with beans or kovakkai (tindora), but I made it today with capsicum, the way my mom makes it. And it tastes as great as it looks... Wanna see?

If you like what you see and wanna know the recipe, leave me a comment.

Tasty tidbits

No no... I am not into food blogging.. But somethings I can't help. I usually fix this up when I am hungry and have to make do with leftovers. I just take a slice of bread, put it on the pan, sprinkle cheese on it and top it with anything I can find in my fridge - spread, chutney or subzi and it makes for a quick hunger fix. But yesterday at Franprix I found mini-canapes.. And they were sooo cute I just bought them. And so today I put that together today and here it is...

Isn't that appetizing? Bite-sized bread is cool and cute. I had topped it with the masala from yesterday's masala dosa and some tomato chutney. Was crazy tasty especially with the bread crusting n the other side. Here's another shot -

Iruvili Kozhambu

This has been my all-time favorite kozhambu of my mom's. And I have never yearned to learn the secret recipe... Until I became a wife and had to think up of new exciting dishes to make everyday. In my defense, I love cooking and experimenting too... And I asked my mom for it and she gave me the recipe. But having the recipe is an entirely different thing than having the final dish made to perfection. I gave it a shot... and it was almost as good as mommy dearest's. So I thought I would be magnanimous and share this simple yet delectable recipe with you all to lend some difference to your taste buds. Its yumm... This pic here doesn't do any justice to the taste of the dish.. but I thought I'd post one anyways...

So here's what you need - (This recipe is for 4 people... adjust accordingly)

For the aracha vizhudhu or the grinding -

1. 1 teaspoon of white rice

2. 2 teaspoons of channa dal (kadalai paruppu)

3. 1/4 teaspoon of methi seeds (vendhiyam)

4. 4-6 dry red chillis

5. 1/2 cup of powdered coconut

6. 1 spoon of oil to fry 1-5 and 1 spoon more to fry 10.

7. 1 cup of buttermilk

For the kozhambu

8. 2 bowls of tamarind juice from squeezed from tamarind roughly the size of a lemon

9. 1/2 cup of chopped tomatoes/ brinjal/ ladies finger/ use your imagination for the thaan (the veggies that go into it)

For the seasoning

10. 1 teaspoon of mustard seeds (kadugu)

11. A pinch of turmeric

12. A pinch of asfoetida

13. 4-5 curry leaves (kadi patha)

and salt to taste.

So how do you go about it?

1. Fry 1-5 using oil and allow it to cool before grinding it in a mixer using sufficient quantity of water for the mixing.

2. Mix the ground paste in the cup of buttermilk and set aside.

3. Meanwhile, start boiling the tamarind juice with the thaan in it.

4. Once it starts boiling, add the turmeric and the asfoetida and let it boil another few seconds.

5. Add in the ground mixture while stirring and let it boil for just a minute before turning the gas off. Additional boiling may result in curdling of the buttermilk.

6. Fry the mustard seeds and the curry leaves separately and add to the kozhambu.

And serve with steamed rice and beans curry....... Delicious! Thanks Amma.

A hearty brunch

How many times has it happened that you're really hungry but you don't want to cook elaborately and don't want to eat junk either. The solution to this is what I call a Spanish omelette (maybe thats what others call it too) and this is something thats filling, tasty and takes under 10 minutes to prepare. (And no, MindBlogging hasn't become a food blog).

Ingredients:
1. 1/8 diced capsicum
2. 1/8 diced onion
3. Few pieces of diced tomato
4. 1 chilli finely chopped
5. 2 large eggs well beaten
6. A smattering of milk
7. Salt and pepper to taste

How:
1. Just mix all of the ingredients in a bowl and pour over a non-stick pan which has been medium heated and cover the top with a lid.
2. While you're doing this, pop in 2 slices of bread in your toaster.
3. After a couple of minutes just as th ebread gets done, lift the cover to see that the omelette has started rising. This is a good cue to turn it over. Many amateurs tend to mess at this part because of the uncooked egg on top and the veggies floating on it. Tip: Use two spatulas if required to turn it over gracefully.
Important: The egg has to cook well or you may fall ill.
Once both sides are done, serve with bread and a tall glass of OJ for a delicious, yet hearty Sunday brunch. :)

The result: (Mine looked better and more colorful! )



Keep handy: A piece of gum to chew once you're done! Enjoy!!