Vazhaipoo-Beetroot-Poriyal

#VazhaipooBeetrootPoriyal : In our daily meal we should try to include six tastes of food.
They are sweet, sour, salty, pungent, astringent, and bitter. Everyone likes to take the first four tastes daily but avoids taking bitter and astringent tasting foods. Vazhaipoo is the best example for astringent taste.
When vazhaipoo poriyal is done just like any other vegetable its astringent taste used to be predominant. So in order to camouflage its taste vazhaipoo paruppu usili is prepared traditionally. Paruppu usili is done using a masala paste of coconut and soaked gram dhal. But paruppu usili requires lots of time to prepare and laborious too. Moreover it needs lots of oil also.
So I have started preparing vazhaipoo poriyal in combination with carrot, capsicum, beetroot and radish. It tastes good and particularly its taste slightly toned down in the presence of other vegetables.

Ingredients :
1/2 cup	Vazhaipoo chopped
3/4 cup	Beetroot grated
3 Tsp	Capsicum chopped
3 Tsp	Coconut scraping
1/4 cup	Onion chopped
2 pinches	Turmeric powder
6 or 7	Curry leaves [ optional ]
1 Tsp	Sambar powder
1/2 Tsp	Mustard Seeds
1/2 Tsp	Deskinned split Black gram
1/2 Tsp	Salt [ adjust ]
1 Tsp	Oil

Coriander leaves to garnish

Method :

Remove the center unpalatable stem of each floret of vazhaipoo.

Chop nicely and keep them immersed in thin butter milk or water.

Heat a kadai on a stove with oil over medium flame.

Crackle mustard seeds and then add black gram split.

Roast until black gram turns golden color.

Then add turmeric powder, curry leaves and chopped onion.

Saute until onions become translucent.
Add chopped capsicum and Sambar powder, then saute for half a minute.

Add grated beetroot and chopped vazhaippo after draining the thin buttermilk.

Now add enough salt and mix well.

Close and cook until vazhaippo and beetroot are cooked soft.

Then add coconut scraping and toss well.

Transfer into a serving bowl and garnish with coriander leaves.

An excellent poriyal to relish along with sambar or rasam mixed with white rice for lunch.

Note :
I have used Sambar powder instead of either red chilly or green chilly. Because when red chilly or green chilly is used in the preparation its color changes to that of beetroot and there is a danger of biting chilly pieces mistakenly while eating.

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Katharikkai Chutney

#KatharikkaiChutney : The preparation of this chutney is just like the preparation of sambar without dhal. That's why it is called chutney, not as sambar. The consistency of chutney is thicker than sambar. This type of chutney is commonly prepared using ridge gourd [ peerkangai ], #brinjal and karunai kizhangu [ கருணை கிழங்கு ].

Ingredients :
2 big size	Katharikkai [ brinjal ]
Amla size	Tamarind
1	Big Onion. chop nicely
10 - 12	small Onion, chop nicely
2 - 3	Green chilly
10 - 12	Curry leaves
1/2 Tsp	Mustard seeds
1/4 Tsp	Asafoetida
1 Tsp	Groundnut Oil
1 1/2 Tsp	Salt [ adjust ]
2 pinches	Turmeric powder
2 Tsp	sambar powder
1 Tsp	Araithuvitta kuzhambu powder
1 Tsp	Coriander powder [ dhaniya powder ]

Method :
Soak tamarind in lukewarm water half an hour before starting the preparations.
Dice onion and slit green chilly lengthwise.
Wash and then cut brinjal into equal sized pieces.
Cook katharikkai [ brinjal ] adding a pinch of turmeric powder and 3/4 cup of water in a pressure cooker for a whistle.
Immediately release the steam and open the cooker.

Mash the cooked vegetable with a potato masher or a ladle.

Add sambar powder , turmeric powder, Araithuvitta kuzhambu powder  and coriander powder to the mashed katharikkai.
Mix well adding 3/4 cup of water.
Heat on a stove over medium flame.

On another burner of the stove keep a kadai on slow flame with oil.
When the oil becomes hot add mustard seeds and wait till it splutters.
Then add asafoetida, curry leaves, green chillly.
Then add onion and saute for 1 minute.
Turn off the stove.

Then transfer sauteed onion & green chilly into cooker and mix well.
Now squeeze tamarind and strain into cooker and add enough salt.
Close the cooker with weight on.
Pressure cook for one whistle.
Wait till the pressure cooker runs out of steam.
Then open and transfer into a serving bowl.

Garnish with coriander leaves.
Can have spicy katharikkai chutney by mixing with hot white rice.
It is also a great accompaniment to Idli.

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Kadalai-Paruppu-Chutney

#KadalaiParuppuChutney : This is a different coconut chutney with fried red chilly and #kadalaiParuppu [ #GramDhal ]. The aroma of fried red chilly and gram dhal gives a sharp flavor to the chutney. Red chilly and kadalai paruppu are fried  in a kadai with little oil and coarsely ground into a #chutney adding coconut & 1 or 2 garlic cloves.

Ingredients :
3 - 4 Tsp	Kadalai paruppu [ gram dhal ]
2 - 3	Red chilly [ adjust ]
2 - 3	Garlic cloves
1/2 cup	Coconut scrapings
1 - 1 1/2 Tsp	Lemon juice [ adjust ]
3/4 Tsp	Salt [ adjust ]
To Temper :
1/2 Tsp	Mustard seeds
8 - 10	Curry leaves
2 Tsp	Gingelly oil [ till / sesame oil ]

Method :

Heat a kadai on a stove over medium flame.

Once it becomes hot add 1 tsp of oil and fry red chilly and kadalai paruppu [ gram dhal ] till they become golden color.

Transfer into a blender jar.

Allow to cool down to room temperature.

Once the fried items cooled down add all the other given ingredients into the jar.

Grind coarsely adding enough water.

Transfer into a serving bowl.

Again heat a kadai with oil and splutter mustard seeds.

Turn off the stove and add curry leaves into the kadai.

Stir for half a minute and then transfer onto the chutney.

Goes well with all tiffin items.

Enjoy spicy spicy kadalai paruppu chutney!!!

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Kothamalli-Pudhina-Sauce

#KothamalliPudhinaSauce [  #CorianderMintSauce ] : When I was in Raipur I had a bed of #Pudhina [ #Mint ] in my garden. I fell in love with its flavour and started garnishing almost all dishes with fresh mint leaves. But now I have to buy from market and store in refrigerator. It loses its sharp zing flavor and color as days passed. So I tried to prepare a sauce by grinding the mint leaves with coriander leaves adding salt, green chilly, vinegar and lemon and stored in a clean and dry bottle for some days in the fridge. I used to add this sauce in almost all dishes.
Not only the #CorianderLeaf but the stems can also be taken to make this sauce.

Ingredients :
1 cup	Mint [ Pudhina ] leaves
1 cup	Coriander leaves [ cilantro ]
10 - 12	Green chilly [ adjust ]
small piece	Ginger [ optional ]
3/4 Tsp	Salt [ adjust ]
1 - 1 1/2 Tsp	Lemon juice [ adjust ]
1/4 cup	Vinegar

Method :

Wash coriander and mint leaves 2 or 3 times in water.

Keep them on a cutting board  or colander to drain the water.

Now take green chilly, salt and coriander leaves and coriander stem.

Grind without adding water.

Then add pudhina [ mint ] leaves and grind for half a minute.

Now add lemon juice and vinegar and grind into a smooth paste.

Adjust salt and lemon juice.

Transfer into a serving bowl.

Store in a clean and dry bottle and save in a refrigerator for a week to 10 days.

This sauce goes well with Idli, Dosai, Pongal, Upma and Sundal.

It can also be mixed with rice adding a dash of gingelly oil [ till / sesame oil ].

It can be added to Lemon rasam to get the flavors of both pudhina and coriander.

Pani for pani puri can be prepared from this sauce.

One or two teaspoon of this sauce can be added while preparing vegetable pulav or Briyani.

It is an excellent spread to prepare a tasty sandwich.

On the whole its a versatile sauce we should have at home to prepare a tasty and flavorful dishes. 

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