Vazhaithandu Koottu ~ A no-grind banana stem curry made with moong dal

Back from a 2 week holiday, V and me were craving for some light comfort food. Some fibre-rich dish which has some body again and mildly spiced. The very same day, ma in law sent me along fresh chunks of stem chopped out from her garden! I was excited.

Many of you already are aware of the goodness of  banana stem. If not, here we go:
Banana stem adds bulk to the food and is very useful for all those who wish to lose weight.The fibre in the stem helps to cure constipation and detoxify the body. Banana stem also acts like a diuretic helping to eliminate waste fluids from the body and helps in eliminating kidney stones. Being a body cooler, it is highly recommended in tropical countries.

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Pasiparuppu Urundai / Moong dal Ladoos

Diwali is round the corner. Busy streets, people carrying heavy shopping bags, buzzing happily, children laughing, crowded sweet shops and there is merriment everywhere.
I decided to start with the easiest sweet to welcome the festival. Moong dal ladoos or Pasi paruppu urundai is one among the easiest to make in the list. This healthy sweet has a good shelf life and I am reserving for my children who are turning up soon for the holiday!

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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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Akkaravadisal ~ Food of the Gods!

         Tamil Nadu! The land of ancient culture and temple amuses anyone with the variety of divine sweets, being offered to God on auspicious occasions. Akkaravadisal is a preparation made almost like pal pongal or sakkarai pongal or to be precise it falls right in between the two, belonging to the Pongal family!
Akkaravadisal is offered to God ( Maha Vishnu?) for Koodaravalli.

This is a tried and tested recipe of the sweet, primarily cooked in a pressure cooker and then in a non stick kadai, a practical substitution to the traditional  bronze pot method.

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Melon rind Koottu / Melon rind & Moong dal Curry

Blame the scorching heat, the green large round water melons are still abundant here in TN. Well, it's a fact that a few weeks ago I was so carried away by this creative girl who made this pretty looking cake with the fruit and soon some stuff with its rind, the innovative  melon rind dosa ! Seriously, I couldnt wait even for a moment to try this. Rather for than the sweet red watery flesh enclosed, I was impatiently reaching for the 'glamourless' thick green cover.Undoubtedly the dosa proved to be a huge hit!
The rind tastes almost like ashgourd but bit harder and with a container full of it, I tried Koottu or Parippu curry the following week which was again a hit! The recipe is a bit more inclined towards the Kerala way :)

 Get ready with:

 Moong dal/pasi paruppu/cherupayar parippu, lightly roasted- 1/2 cup
*Melon rind pieces- 1 1/2 cup
 Green chillies slit lengthwise- 4
 Grated coconut- 1/2 cup (1/4 cup if you dont prefer mildly coconutty)
 Small onions-4 nos
 Garlic- 1 large clove
 Turmeric and Jeera Powders- 1/4 tsp each
 Salt - to taste

To Season:

Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Small onions- 6 nos, minced fine
Red chilly- 1 broken into 3 pcs
Curry leaves- 1-2 sprigs

A 3ltr pressure cooker- to make the job easier

* Yup, you have to be much patient with this part. Cut the melon into halves and cut across again to make quarters. After you scoop out the red flesh of the fruit, Peel off the thick green outermost skin and you are holding the half inched sturdy chunks of rind.Cut them into pieces of equal size as you see in the pictures.And before you keep them away, hold for a moment and enjoy the pretty looking pieces on your chopping board :)

The remaining part is not that difficult..
Grind coconut, small onions and  garlic to a smooth paste adding enough water.Keep aside
Give a quick rinse to the roasted moong dal and transfer to the pressure cooker. Add 1 1/2 cups, more or less, water, melon rind pieces, slit chillies, both the powders, stirring in the coconut paste. Wait until 2-3 whistles. Put off fire, vent out steam, open, and season.

Seasoning- Heat oil in a small pan / kadai, splutter the mustard seeds and brown the minced onion until the aroma spreads.Put off fire, throw in curry leaves and pour over the curry.

Serve warm with Rice or any Indian bread and enjoy the mild, simple, comforting curry as we did :)

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Kumbalanga Cherupayar parippu Curry / Ash gourd & Moong dal Curry

Here's another signature dish from God's own country!

As the name says this is a curry made with Kumbalanga/ash gourd and cherupayar parippu / moong dal in Kerala, a mildly spiced comfort dish I make often with phulkas or plain rice that serves fine at any time of the day!

The simple intro part is over ;)

errr..

...and can I proceed to the recipe directly? ;)

(whew !! it relieves me quite a lot when I do this coz I get much hooked with words and nothing flows in lately)

Get ready with:

Ash gourd- diced- 1 large cup

Moong dal - dry roasted - 1/4 cup

Small onions- finely chopped- 1 tsp

To Grind:

Freshly grated coconut- 1 1/2 tbsps

Garlic- 1 clove

Jeera powder-1/4 tsp

Turmeric powder-1/4 tsp scant

To season:

Coconut oil- 2 tsps

Mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp

Small onions- minced- 2 tsps

Green chilly-1- sliced lengthwise

Red chilly-1- broken into 3 pcs(optional)

Curry leaves- a sprig

A 3 ltr pressure cooker- ;)

How to make :

Transfer the lightly dry roasted moong dal to the cooker, give it a quick rinse, add 1/2 cup of water and bring to a boil. Lower the flame to simmer and cook in open without the lid on) for 2-3 minutes keeping an eye not to let it boil over.

In the meanwhile grind coconut, garlic, jeera and turmeric powders to a smooth paste adding a little water.Stir in to the cooking dal along with the ash gourd pieces and the sliced green chilly and 1 tsp of finely cut onions. Add salt and mix well. The liquid part should NOT be more than 1/2- 3/4 cup at this stage as ash gourd lets out water while cooking. Close the lid and cook till 2-3 whistles.

Open, after the steam vents off. If the curry seems to be a little watery, add a tsp of rice powder or corn starch and bring to a gentle boil. Even otherwise the curry tends to thicken after cooling down a bit!

For the seasoning, heat oil in a kadai, splutter the mustard seeds and next the minced onions. Let the onions get fried to a brown hue and impart the aroma. Throw in the red chilly bits followed by the curry leaves. Pour the seasoning over the curry.

Serve warm with phulkas or steamed rice.

If you find it difficult to get the ash gourd, substitute it with lemon cucumber or vellarikka (malayalam) for a closest taste.This recipe is off to The Kerala Kitchen.

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