Varutharacha Sambar

Varutharacha Sambar

A tasty sambar in Kerala cuisine, made of lightly dry roasted coconut paste, cooked dal, selected vegetables, sambr powder and seasoning. Best with idli / dosa / rice varieties as a main dish !!!

Homemade Sambar Powder

Makes: 105 g

Ingredients

20 dried red chillies

1 cup (100 g) coriander seeds (dhania)

¼ cup (25 g) chana dal (Bengal gram)

¼ cup (25 g) urad dal

¼ cup (25 g) methi seeds (fenugreek seeds)

1 teaspoon hing (asafoetida)

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

Method

In an iron kadai, dry roast separately dried red chillies, coriander seeds, chana dal, urad dal and methi seeds on a low to medium heat. Do not dry roast on high heat. Approximate dry roasting time 20 - 22 minutes until fragrant, slight color change and crisp. Switch off the heat. Finally mix all the dry roasted ingredients together. Add turmeric powder and hing. Stir continuously for 5 minutes. Keep aside to cool for 15 minutes. Transfer these ingredients in a mixer bowl and make a fine powder. If using small mixer bowl, make powder in batches. Store in an airtight container.

The exact quantity of this powder to be added to the sambar depends on ones taste (2 teaspoons sambar powder required for 3 servings (1 medium bowl) . Make in smaller quantity - ie for use for a few times. The fragrance / freshness may be lost if one makes in large quantity and store for longer duration.

Serves: 4

Ingredients

For coconut paste:

4 tablespoons grated coconut (60 g)

Heat an iron kadai on a medium heat. Lightly dry roast grated coconut until light golden color. Maintain medium to low heat (approximate dry roasting time 10 – 12 minutes). Keep aside to cool for 15 minutes and make a smooth in a small mixer bowl with 2 tablespoon water.

For dal :

1/2 cup ( 100 g ) tur dal

2 1/2 cups (300 ml) water

1 teaspoon oil

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

Method

For Dal:

Wash and clean tur dal and soak for half an hour.

Pressure cook tur dal along with water, turmeric powder and oil for 20 minutes ( reduce heat after 2nd whistle and cook on a low heat for 15 minutes) until done / soft and smooth dal. Allow the pressure cooker to cool naturally. Gently mash the cooked dal with the base of a ladle.

Other ingredients for sambar:

Tip: You can add any vegetables of your choice

2 teaspoon oil

15 sambar onions (small onion / shallots / chuvannulli in Malayalam / Piyyavu in Konkani / sambar venkayam in Tamil )

1 tomato, cut into cubes (1 big size tomato or 2 small size)

2 drumsticks, gently peel off the outer skin and cut into 4 cm pieces

¼ cup tamarind juice or 1 teaspoon thick tamarind paste

3/4 teaspoon salt ( or to taste)

Extra ¼ cup (50 ml) warm water

3 teaspoon 777 brand Madras Sambar Powder/ Eastern / Melam / MTR Sambar powder / Everest or homemade sambar powder

Method

For sambar :

Dilute sambar powder with 6 teaspoons water and keep aside.

Heat oil in a deep pan. Add sambar onions (shallots) and fry for 3 – 4 minutes until light pink color. Add cubed tomatoes and fry gently for 1 – 2 minutes.

Add boiled dal, tamarind paste / juice, salt to taste and adjust the consistency of the sambar with extra ¼ cup (50 ml) water if required. Cover with a tight lid and cook on a medium to low heat for 10 minutes until the drumsticks half cooked .

Add diluted sambar powder and mix well. Cook for another 5 – 7 minutes until drumsticks (or any other vegetables) well cooked. Add extra 2 pinches hing (asafoetida) if required. You can find a slight reduction in the quantity of the sambar and nice aroma of sambar powder / sambar thickens.

Finally, add dry roasted coconut paste and cook again for another 7 minutes on a low heat.

For seasoning :

2 teaspoon cooking oil

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

1 spring curry leaves (6 nos)

1 red chilli, broken

Method

Heat oil in a pan . Add mustard seeds. When they start crackle, add curry leaves and broken red chilli. Saute for 2 - 3 minutes and pour this seasoning over sambar. Serve with Idli / Dosa / Rice ..

Kerala Style Wholewheat Porotta

Kerala Style Wholewheat Porotta

Makes: 6 porottas

Ingredients

1 ½ cup –( Indian standard measuring cup of 200ml / 8 oz capacity) whole wheat flour ( gehun ka atta )

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon oil

1 egg, beat well

85 - 100 ml water

1 tablespoon curd

8 teaspoon ghee / oil

Method

In a wide bowl, combine the wholewheat, beaten egg, curd, oil and salt and knead into soft and smooth dough with 85 - 100 ml water.

Cover and keep in an air tight container (or cover the dough with wet towel) for 1 hour.

Divide the dough into 6 equal parts.

Use a little flour to roll each portion into circles of approximately ( 6 - 7 - inch ) diameter .

Dust off any excess dry flour. Apply little oil / ghee on top of the rolled roti.

Gathered the roti into concertina folds, as you would in the making of a paper fan (or like saree pleats). See the photo above.

Roll the gathered roti into a circle to resemble a scroll ( like Swiss roll ). See the photo above.

Apply little oil on top and keep in an airtight container (or cover with a wet towel) for half an hour.

Use a little flour to roll each portion into circle of 4 - 5 - inch.

Heat a flat frying pan or griddle. Reduce heat to medium and cook porottas till golden brown on both the sides / you can see the layers clearly ( approximate cooking time 5 - 6 minutes for each porotta ). Apply oil / ghee during frying.

Once cooked, stack all the porottas together and bang the stack slightly with both hands on either side. The flakiness will be more pronounced. Serve with Chicken curry / Vegetable Korma or any North Indian gravy dishes…

Egg Tomato Masala

Egg Tomato Masala

A tasty side dish with rotis / rice / pulao. Easy preparation with minimum ingredients!!

Serves: 2

Ingredients

1 tablespoon oil

1 onion (big size 1 or 2 small size), finely sliced

3/4 teaspoon red chilli powder

¼ teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon coriander powder

2 well ripe tomatoes, finely chopped

4 curry leaves

¾ teaspoon salt (or to taste)

2 boiled eggs

Method

Dilute red chilli powder, turmeric powder and coriander powder in 1 tablespoon of water and keep aside (spice mix).

Heat oil in a pan. Add finely sliced onions and fry till golden color on a medium to low heat.

Add diluted spice mix and stir well on a low heat for 2 minutes until well combined with onions.

Add finely chopped tomatoes, curry leaves and salt to taste. Stir continuously for 2 – 3 minutes. Cover with a tight lid and cook on a low heat for 5 – 7 minutes until tomato thickens and well blended with onions and other spices.

Add boiled egg and mix well. Serve as a side dish with rotis / rice / pulao / string hoppers / brown bread …

Shahi Tukra

Shahi Tukra

A very popular Indian dessert, made of shallow fried bread slices, thick sweetened milk and sugar syrup.

Makes: 6 tukras

Serves: 3 – 6

Ingredients

For sugar syrup:

1/2 cup (100 ml / 4 oz) sugar (Indian standard measuring cup)

1/2 cup (100 ml / 4oz) water

Method

In a bowl, boil sugar and water for 10 – 12 minutes until slightly thickens. Transfer sugar syrup into flat dish (then you can soak bread slices very easily) and keep aside to cool for half an hour (until normal room temperature).

For rabdi (thick sweetened milk):

1 cup (200 ml / 8 oz) boiled milk

3 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon milkmaid sweetened condensed milk

1 tablespoon sugar

¼ teaspoon cardamom powder

Method

In a non stick sauce pan, mix boiled milk, milkmaid sweetened condensed milk and sugar. Boil for 12 – 15 minutes (stir continuously) until thickens / leaves from the sides of the pan. Switch off the heat. Sprinkle cardamom powder and mix well. Keep aside to cool.

For bread slices (tukra):

3 bread slices

3 teaspoon oil / ghee

Method

Cut bread slices into triangles. 6 triangles from 3 bread slices. Heat a flat frying pan (dosa tawa / roti tawa) on a medium heat. Sprinkle 2 – 3 teaspoons oil / ghee and shallow fry bread triangles until golden color on both the sides ( Do not fry on high heat. It will get dark brown color immediately). Keep aside to cool for 10 minutes.

Final presentation:

Soak shallow fried bread triangles in sugar syrup (do not soak it for too long, just for 30 seconds) and arrange in a flat serving dish. Pour thick sweetened milk (rabdi) over it. Decorate with dry fruits / saffron ….