Kathirikkai Kadalai Koottu / The Lentil based curry with Peanuts and Brinjals

A curry with groundnuts as the main ingredient was something totally new to me as a newly wedded girl in my husband's home.
Soon I realised that this side dish gained a unanimous support in the 10 member family! When the general lunch menu of the house called for dal, sambhar, rasam, poriyal and curd to finish off, this curry was a rescue for the lazy days. Kadalai Kathirikkai Koottu served as a sumptuous meal with hot steamed rice, rasam and curd!

This is a 'Koottu' ( lentil based curry) I make at least once a month for years since then.


  Get ready with:

  Pacha Kadalai / de-shelled peanuts or groundnuts - 1 cup
  Kathirikkai / brinjal - diced 1 cup
  Moong dal, lightly roasted - 1/2 cup
  Finely minced shallots - a tbsp
  Jeera powder-1/2 tsp
  Turmeric powder- a fat pinch
  Sambhar powder - 1/2 tsp
  Fresh coconut gratings - 2 tsps

 To Season,

 Oil- a tbsp
 Mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp
 Urad dal- 1/4 tsp
 Finely minced shallots - a tsp (optional.. I don't add this.. but it enhances the flavour of the curry)
 Red chillies- 1 or 2, broken to three pcs each
 Curry leaves- a sprig

Method:

Soak groundnuts overnight. Rinse and pressure cook ( I use a 3 ltr pressure cooker body) till soft with enough water and salt. Remove to another vessel along with the cooked water.
Give a quick rinse to the roasted moong dal. Add 1 cup of water and bring to a boil. Reduce and while it simmers, stir in shallots and the powders (jeera, turmeric and sambhar). Add salt. Stir along the brinjal pieces and coconut gratings lastly. Pressure cook for 1-2 whistles (not more than that).

Open the lid after the steam vents off and season the curry. You know how to do it, right?
Heat the oil in a separate kadai, crackle the mustard seeds, brown the urad dal, followed by the minced shallots. Caramelize them, throw in the red chilly bits and the curry leaves. Pour this over the curry and you are done.
Check the final consistency of the curry. It shouldn't be too thick nor watery. It does thicken while cooling down.

The softly cooked groundnuts combine well with the brinjal chunks soaked in the moong dal base, seasoned to perfection! The 'Koottu' is healthy, mild and flavourful. Goes well with steamed rice, rotis and phulkas.

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Kutti Kathrikkai Podi Curry / Stuffed & Stir-fried Baby Brinjals

I learnt this recipe from my ma in law. This had been a special dish reserved for special lunches as the process was considered elaborate in a joint family. We used to stuff  more than 50 brinjals, yet we enjoyed doing this as we always did this together and never felt tiring as we would have thought about it before we started.
The dish turns out perfect every time we make it and unlike the other dishes, this one is relished from the youngest till the oldest in the family! Even the brinjal haters enjoy this!

Preparation of the dish is never an elaborate one, if you start with a dozen or even two of those baby brinjals. The powder can be made prior and can be stored until you make the stir-fry and hence this becomes as easy as any vegetable side dish you make any day!

 You Need: 
(to serve a family of four)


Baby brinjals /kutty kathrikkai -25 numbers (weighs330 gms / about 3/4 lbs)

For the powder for stuffing, (yields 1/2 cup)

Oil- a tsp
Coriander seeds / kothamalli -  1/4 cup scant
Bengal gram dal / kadalai paruppu - 1/4 cup scant
Red chillies/ kayntha milagai 4-5 numbers
Curry leaves / karuveppilai - 2 sprigs
Cumin seeds-1/4 tsp (optional) I didn't add

To Season,

1-2 tbsps of oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
3/4 tsp urad dal
2-3 tbsps of thinly sliced small onions
2 sprigs of curry leaves

Now, for the step by step method...



Drizzle a tsp of oil in your thick bottomed wok and fry the coriander seeds, dal, chillies and curry leaves all added together  in medium heat ...




until done.




Pulse into a coarse powder adding salt.
Ah!well, I used my Ammikkallu to powder as I had a power shut down while making lunch!
I can't tell you how much I hate doing this but had no other go even while I accept the perfectness of hand pounded powders!




So now, you need to slit the baby brinjals as you see here. Check for worms while you do this and slice away the portions if you come across any!




Stuff the slits with the powder, as much as you can.




and arrange them carefully on your steamer plate with the brinjals placed horizontally or the stuffed sides slightly up. I used my rice cooker and idly steamer plate combo for steam cooking.




 Close with an appropriate lid to lock the steam while cooking.




Check after 10 minutes. The brinjals should have turned soft




and the purple ones would have turned ash green as well. Scroll up to that picture where I've arranged them before steaming and you can notice the difference in colour!



For seasoning, heat oil in the previous wok, crackle the mustard seeds, brown the urad dal, sauté onions and curry leaves and stir in the brinjals sautéing for a minute . The caramelized onions and the curry leaves coat the brinjals and the flavour is irresistible!




The stove top brinjals could not be photographed well while seasoning because of poor lighting. So here's a quick view of the finished dish placed on the counter edge.

Stuffed brinjals are served best with steamed rice and Indian breads!

But did I tell you I love to have them as a starter drenched in hot and sweet tomato chilly ketchup??

I could hardly wait to devour this one as soon the shot got over! ;)

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Thellapulusu ~ The Mildly Spiced Traditional Coconut based Curry!

T hellapulusu meaning 'a white gravy', is a much common, homely coconut based curry we have for lunch, back in Kottayam ever since we can remember!

As kids, both sis and me loved this mildly spiced traditional curry which had varied vegetables cooked in it to perfection; a fine medley of spices, tanginess and sweetness, we never got fed up of!

Sis had already blogged about the thellapulusu with tomatoes and drumsticks cooked in it and all I had to do was download the pictures from the camera, copy and paste the recipe from her place, do a bit of variations and click the publish button ;)

To Serve 4, you need:

Brinjal - 2-3, each cut across into 2 large halves
1 drumstick, cut into 4" pieces
Thick tamarind water extracted from a small lime-sized ball of tamarind
Salt to taste

Grind to a paste:

1/2 cup grated coconut
4-5 shallots / ulli
1/2 tsp jeera
2 dry red chillies
A pinch of turmeric
A clove of garlic

For tempering:

A tbsp oil
A few fenugreek seeds / uluva / venthayam
1/4 tsp mustard seeds

4-5 shallots, minced
A few curry leaves


Method:

1. Boil 1- 1 1/2 cups of water in a sauce pan or a kadai with turmeric powder and salt.Transfer brinjal and drumstick pieces to it and cook till half done.

2. Mix tamarind extract with the ground masala paste, pour to this and continue to boil on sim until the vegetable pieces are soft. Add water as necessary to keep the consistency right (same consistency as sambar). Remove and set aside.

3. Heat oil and add all the ingredients for tempering. Once the mustard seeds have popped and the fenugreek seeds are roasted (take care not to burn them!), dunk them into the gravy. Mix well, adjust salt.

A little spicier version of the same pulusu made on another day, served hot with rice, vazhakka mezhukkupuratti and vendakka thoran.

Thellapulusu is also served as an accompaniment to Pal pongal in Southern parts of Tamil Nadu mainly in the village of Samooharangapuram of Tirunelveli district!

Here's Wishing you all a Very Happy Pongal before I pack off to our ancestral home for the festival!

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JFI-Sweet ‘n’ spicy Brinjals

Indian Brinjals;after all they too are "egg" plants...placed on a real bird's forbidden nest in my garden,the birds are off but I replaced this real nest back on the tree,hoping for their next visit!.

Brinjals, rightly named as the King of veggies in South India ,belong to the category of easy to prepare,tasty and that can be mixed up into a real wide variety of dishes.Boiled,smoked,grilled,mashed,stuffed,curried and the list goes on and on…

Believed to help in lowering the cholesterol levels of the blood,the cooked vegetable does hold the complaints of its sliminess,having not much of nutritive value and fibre content etc,but it’s definitely popular due to its availability, lightness and delicacy in dishes.

I simply ventured preparing the dish using the Indian Brinjals, seeing the wide Hindustani varieties.As Indiraji,the brain behind this monthly event, votes more for Indian..:),I chose the pale green local varietied ones ultimately entering JFI-eggplants hosted by Sangeetha of Ghar Ka Ghana!.

How does this soft veg turn when boiled lightly,sauted and left soaked in saucy,spicy,sweetish ingredients?Thatz where this “easy to make” recipe leads you..

Get ready with:

250gms-Brinjals

½ cup sliced onions
1 tsp of finely chopped garlic
½ tsp of turmeric powder
A tsp of curry powder
A tbsp of tomato ketchup
Salt-to taste
Cilantro-to garnish

To temper,
1 tbsp refined oil
½ tsps each of mustards and urad dal
A stalk of curry leaves

How to make:

1.Cut Brinjals lengthwise into 6 parts each,after discarding the green calyx and stalk.Cook half done in salted water with turmeric powder and the pieces 'just' immersed..(turn off the flame when the water starts boiling).Avoid over cooking.

2.Drain the pieces,discarding the water,in a perforated bowl. (If the easy-to-be-cooked long brinjals are used, avoid this precooking part completely.Check the quality of the veg.A little precooking was necessary for my Indian ones).

3.Heat oil in a shallow and wide kadai, splutter mustards and brown the urad dal.Add the chopped garlic and the onions and sauté till they turn golden.Add the curry leaves.

4.Lower the flame.Sauté the curry powder lightly, immediately adding the tomato ketchup next and then the brinjal pieces.

5.Keeping the flame medium, toss or turn the pieces lightly, allowing the gravy to coat all over.

6.Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with rice, chappathi, nan or with anything you please.

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