Vazhakkai (green banana/saba banana) fry

My entire family likes this vegetable, but my sister and I, we're "lattoo" (Hindi slang for "crazy") when it comes to vazhakkai. If we were asked to eat it every day for a year, we would probably beg to have it twice a day! The recipe below is how my mother makes it, and I see no reason to mess with something that I think is perfect. The flavour that the coconut oil gives this vegetable is unbelievable. The two just go together, no question.

That said, if when I get my hands on vazhakkai again, I hope to make a recipe that I've had in my folder for literally years, involving fresh mustard paste. You would think I could hold back at least one vazhakkai for the mustardy recipe... but no. I haven't yet made it because each time I end up making this same one. This dry fry with my mother's thengai kuzhambu (South Indian coconut-and-fenugreek-seed gravy)and steamed rice - I couldn't want for more!

Recipe for: Vazhakkai fry

Ingredients:

3 green (raw) bananas
2 tbsp coconut oil
A few fresh/frozen curry leaves (optional)
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/8 tsp asafoetida powder (optional)
1/2 tsp urad dal
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp black pepper powder
Red chilli powder to taste
Salt to taste
1 tsp tamarind paste

Method:

1. Wear disposable gloves or grease your hands with oil before peeling the bananas as the sap will otherwise stick to your hands. Make sure to get all the thick green skin off the bananas.

2. Slice the bananas into even slices about 1/4cm thick and put them in a saucepan of water. The water should be enough to cover the slices generously. Dissolve the tamarind paste and turmeric powder in the water.

3. Parboil the sliced bananas, then place in a colander to drain off the cooking water. Handle carefully so that the slices don't break up too much.

4. Heat the coconut oil in a wide saucepan, then add the mustard seeds, curry leaves and urad dal. Cover and let the seeds splutter. The urad dal should be golden by now.

5. Now add the chilli powder and black pepper powder, stir it for 20 seconds, then add the parboiled banana slices along with salt to taste. Stir carefully to coat the slices evenly.

6. Cover the pan and let the slices roast for 8-10 minutes on a medium heat, until the slices turn golden and are fully cooked. Turn the slices carefully over and let them roast for about 5 minutes more. Serve hot as a side with rice, rasam or sambar and any South Indian "gravy" like moar kuzhambu, vattha kuzhambu or thengai kuzhambu (recipes for all these are on my blog).

Spinach-onion-cabbage chutney

This gorgeous emerald coloured chutney is many kinds of pretty - pretty beautiful, pretty tasty, pretty versatile, pretty healthy, pretty easy to make...

So go and make it. Pretty please.

Recipe for: Spinach-onion-cabbage chutney

Ingredients:
1 cup spinach leaves
1/2 cup cabbage, sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
A good handful of chives
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 tbsp oil
2 tsp urad dal
1 tsp tamarind paste or a gooseberry sized piece of tamarind
5-6 dried red chillies (or to taste)
1/4 tsp asafoetida powder (optional)
2 tsp mustard seeds
4-5 fresh or frozen curry leaves
Salt to taste

Method:
1. Heat the oil and when it shimmers, add the mustard seeds and cover the pan till they finish popping.
2. Now add the urad dal, red chillies, curry leaves and asafoetida powder. Stir-fry till the urad dal turns a pale golden brown and the red chillies are a shiny darker shade.
3. Add the garlic, chives and onion and stir-fry till the onions start to soften and turn translucent.

4. Add the cabbage and fry it till it wilts,

then the spinach until it wilts too.

Let this mixture cool.

5. Pick out the red chillies and grind them to a smooth paste with the tamarind and a couple of spoonfuls of the vegetable mixture.
6. Now add the rest of the cabbage-onion-spinach mix

and grind it to a fairly smooth consistency - but not to a puree. It should be a little bit coarse.
7. Remove the chutney to a bowl, add salt to taste and mix well. This can be mixed with rice or eaten as a side dish/dip with chapaties, dosas, idlis etc.

RECIPE: SPINACH-ONION-CABBAGE CHUTNEY
 Ingredients:
1 cup spinach leaves
1/2 cup cabbage, sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
A good handful of chives
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 tbsp oil
2 tsp urad dal
1 tsp tamarind paste or a gooseberry sized piece of tamarind
5-6 dried red chillies (or to taste)
1/4 tsp asafoetida powder (optional)
2 tsp mustard seeds
4-5 fresh or frozen curry leaves
Salt to taste

Method:
1. Heat the oil and when it shimmers, add the mustard seeds and cover the pan till they finish popping.
2. Now add the urad dal, red chillies, curry leaves and asafoetida powder. Stir-fry till the urad dal turns a pale golden brown and the red chillies are a shiny darker shade.
3. Add the garlic, chive and onion and stir-fry till the onions start to soften and turn translucent.
4. Add the cabbage and fry it till it wilts, then the spinach until it wilts too. Let this mixture cool.
5. Pick out the red chillies and grind them to a smooth paste with the tamarind and a couple of spoonfuls of the vegetable mixture..
6. Now add the rest of the cabbage-onion-spinach mix and grind it to a fairly smooth consistency - but not to a puree. It should be a little bit coarse.
7. Remove the chutney to a bowl, add salt to taste and mix well. This can be mixed with rice or eaten as a side dish/dip with chapaties, dosas, idlis etc.

Courgette/zucchini handvoh

Well, here I am after an unscheduled break from my food blog. It’s not that I haven’t wanted to, bla bla bla, it’s just that I’ve not had much free time, hey nonny no, and what little free time I’ve had in the evenings I’ve spent reading, yada yada yada. So, in short – same ol’ same ol’.

I’ve made handvoh before, years and years and YEARS back when I was living in Madras. It was probably one of the first “exotic” recipes that I tried from a recipe printed in *ugh* Women’s Era *cringe*. However, as much as I hate the thought of that awful magazine now, I remember the recipe worked beautifully - the batter behaved itself faultlessly, fermenting in the heat as stated in the recipe, and then steam-cooking in the ilupachatti (kadai/wok) that I used. It was all the more thrilling because the handvoh tasted great and it was not something that had ever been made by my mother, to my recollection. It wasn’t a family staple, let’s say. Just think - I'd actually made something entirely new to me from a magazine recipe - and it turned out well!

That said, this recipe, that I cobbled together after reading a few others on the Internet did not seem at all familiar or bring to mind my original handvoh experience. The only common factor was that this tasted great, too. Can’t complain about that, can you?

Recipe for: Courgette/zucchini handvoh
Ingredients:
1 cup long grain rice

1/4 cup chana dal
1/4 cup tur/toor/tuvar dal
1/4 cup urad dal

1 cup yogurt
2 tbsp ginger-garlic-green chilli paste - (1.5" piece ginger + 4-5 garlic cloves + 6-8 green chillies (reduce chillies as per taste))
1.5 packed cups grated courgette/zucchini
salt to taste
1/2 tsp ajwain/omam
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp sesame seeds

3 tbsp oil
2 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp asafoetida powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
a few curry leaves

Method:
1. Wash the rice and dals and soak them in water for 6 hours.

Then drain and grind along with the yogurt to a paste - it should be fairly coarse, not smooth.

Try to add as little water as possible while grinding.

2. Put the batter in a medium bowl and add the ginger-garlic-green chilli, grated courgette/zucchini

salt, sugar, ajwain/omam and turmeric.

Mix well.
4. Heat 1 tbsp oil and fry the curry leaves for 15-20 seconds, then add the red chilli powder and turn the heat off. Pour this mixture into the batter and mix again.

Let the batter rest covered at room temperature overnight, or for 7-8 hours.
5. Cover and let this batter rest for 6-7 hours or overnight (no need to refrigerate).

6. In the morning (or after 6-7 hours), add the baking powder and baking soda and mix thoroughly.

7. Line an 8" cake pan (round or square, doesnt matter) with non-stick paper/foil and spoon the batter into the pan.

8. Sprinkle the sesame seeds evenly on top of the batter.
9. Heat the remaining oil in a small skillet and add the mustard seeds. Cover and let the seeds pop (about 30 seconds), then add the asafoetida powder and turn the heat off.
10. Drizzle this seasoning over the sesame seeds on top of the batter.

11. Cover the pan with aluminium foil and bake at 180C/350F for 40 minutes or so, or till a cake tester comes out clean. (Remember that the size of the pan you use will determine the amount of time that the handvoh takes to cook.)
12. Uncover the pan and broil the handvoh until the top turns golden brown.

Let it rest in the pan for 10 minutes before cutting.

Serve warm with any chutney or even tomato ketchup.

RECIPE: COURGETTE/ZUCCHINI HANDVOH
Ingredients:
1 cup long grain rice
1/4 cup chana dal
1/4 cup tur/toor/tuvar dal
1/4 cup urad dal
1 cup yogurt
2 tbsp ginger-garlic-green chilli paste - (1.5" piece ginger + 4-5 garlic cloves + 6-8 green chillies (reduce chillies as per taste))
1.5 packed cups grated courgette/zucchini
salt to taste
1/2 tsp ajwain/omam
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp sesame seeds
3 tbsp oil
2 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp asafoetida powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
a few curry leaves

Method:
1. Wash the rice and dals and soak them in water for 6 hours. Then drain and grind along with the yogurt to a paste - it should be fairly coarse, not smooth.Try to add as little water as possible while grinding.
2. Put the batter in a medium bowl and add the ginger-garlic-green chilli, grated courgette/zucchini, salt, sugar, ajwani/omam and turmeric. Mix well.
4. Heat 1 tbsp oil and fry the curry leaves for 15-20 seconds, then add the red chilli powder and turn the heat off. Pour this mixture into the batter and mix again. Let the batter rest covered at room temperature overnight, or for 7-8 hours.
5. Cover and let this batter rest for 6-7 hours or overnight (no need to refrigerate).
6. In the morning (or after 6-7 hours), add the baking powder and baking soda and mix thoroughly.
7. Line an 8" cake pan (round or square, doesnt matter) with non-stick paper/foil and spoon the batter into the pan.
8. Sprinkle the sesame seeds evenly on top of the batter.
9. Heat the remaining oil in a small skillet and add the mustard seeds. Cover and let the seeds pop (about 30 seconds), then add the asafoetida powder and turn the heat off.
10. Drizzle this seasoning over the sesame seeds on top of the batter.
11. Cover the pan with aluminium foil and bake at 180C/350F for 40 minutes or so, or till a cake tester comes out clean. (Remember that the size of the pan you use will determine the amount of time that the handvoh takes to cook.)
12. Uncover the pan and broil the handvoh until the top turns golden brown. Let it rest in the pan for 10 minutes before cutting. Serve warm with any chutney or even tomato ketchup.

Brussels sprouts and cabbage with sesame masala

Cabbage and brussels sprouts are not most people's favourite vegetables, but I love them. I made this recently for the first time when a friend came to dinner. It went down very well with rice and sambar, but it would also be just as good with rotis. Cabbage love is such a heartwarming thing when it happens naturally... Please don't ask me what that means, because I don't know. The sentence/sentiment just popped into my head and out through my fingers. Anyway, I'm sure you'll enjoy this dish, readers mine, so do try it.
Recipe for: Brussels sprouts and cabbage with sesame masala

Ingredients:

2 cups cabbage, shredded

1/2 cup brussels sprouts, shredded
2 tsp oil
1/8 tsp asafoetida powder
1 tsp mustard seeds

3 dry red chillies, broken into 1" pieces (or to taste)

2 tbsp sesame seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

1/2 tsp cumin seeds
3-4 fenugreek seeds
10 curry leaves (optional)
Salt to taste
Method:
1. Dry roast the chillies, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds and curry leaves in a small pan on medium heat, stirring constantly, until the seeds and chillies turn aromatic and a little darker in colour (about a minute).

Remove from the heat and set aside.
2. Now dry roast the sesame seeds separately until they turn a shade darker and start to sputter a little. Let it cool down, then grind the sesame seeds along with the rest of the roasted seeds into a fine powder.
3. Heat the oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds and asafoetida powder. When the seeds stop spluttering, add the shredded cabbage and sprouts. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage is cooked but not mushy.

4. Sprinkle the sesame seed powder over the cooked cabbage and mix it in. Serve hot as a side with rice and sambar, or with chapaties.

RECIPE: BRUSSELS SPROUTS AND CABBAGE WITH SESAME MASALA
Ingredients:

2 cups cabbage, shredded

1/2 cup brussels sprouts, shredded
2 tsp oil
1/8 tsp asafoetida powder
1 tsp mustard seeds

3 dry red chillies, broken into 1" pieces (or to taste)

2 tbsp sesame seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

1/2 tsp cumin seeds
3-4 fenugreek seeds
10 curry leaves (optional)
Salt to taste
Method:
1. Dry roast the chillies, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds and curry leaves in a small pan on medium heat, stirring constantly, until the seeds and chillies turn aromatic and a little darker in colour (about a minute). Remove from the heat and set aside.
2. Now dry roast the sesame seeds separately until they turn a shade darker and start to sputter a little. Let it cool down, then grind the sesame seeds along with the rest of the roasted seeds into a fine powder.
3. Heat the oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds and asafoetida powder. When the seeds stop spluttering, add the shredded cabbage and sprouts. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage is cooked but not mushy.
4. Sprinkle the sesame seed powder over the cooked cabbage and mix it in. Serve hot as a side with rice and sambar, or with chapaties.

Cabbage and peas rice

Cabbage is one of my favourite vegetables, pretty much no matter how it’s cooked – as long as that doesn’t mean cooking it to a stinky sulphur-y mush. I don’t care much for white cabbage, because (in my opinion) it’s stinkier and sulphur-ier than green cabbage. (It might not be any more or less smelly, you understand - I’m just quoting the opinion put forward by my nose). Purple cabbage is kinda like white cabbage except purple… and because it’s a pretty colour for cabbage, I don’t shun it.

But the cabbage I use the most is a pointy, tear-drop shaped green cabbage marketed under the name “sweetheart cabbage” in the supermarkets here. That said, I quite like the round green kind too. But sweetheart by name, sweetheart by taste – no, ok, that simile doesn’t work. There’s a good reason I’m not a world-famous writer, I suppose. 

Anyway, those are the three types of cabbage available - unless you count the round green cabbage as a different variety from the pointy green one… in which case, the cabbage count goes from three to four. I’m sure that, like potatoes, there are hundreds of different varieties of cabbage, all of which have individual names, again like potatoes. I probably just don’t know about them.


So, coming back to what I do know (a much shorter topic, haha), which is that I love cabbage, what I made with a combination of green and purple cabbage was a luvverly rice dish. With added peas. There's hardly anything that doesn't benefit from the addition of peas, unless it's a cake. Although I bet someone somewhere has tried a green peas cake and written about it on their blog... Ok, I'm off to google for green peas cake now, but you please feel free to read my recipe below and try it out, because it's really, really tasty - especially if you're a cabbage enthusiast like me.


Recipe for: Cabbage and peas rice


Ingredients:


2 cups cooked basmati rice
3 cups cabbage, finely shredded

1/2 cup peas (fresh or frozen)
1 tsp oil
2 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp asafoetida powder
a few fresh/frozen curry leaves
Salt to taste
Peanuts and chopped coriander leaves for garnish (optional)


For the masala powder:


1/2 tsp oil
1 htsp urad dal
1 htsp tuvar dal
1 htsp chana dal
1 htsp coriander seeds
4-5 dried red chillies (or to taste)
2 tbsp shredded fresh or dry coconut


Method:


1. Heat 1/2 tsp oil in a large pan.
Fry the masala powder ingredients (bar the coconut) over a low flame till the dals turn a pale golden brown, and the chillies are a shiny dark red. Remove to a plate and let cool.
2. Grind the cooled roasted dals along with the coconut to a fairly smooth powder.
Reserve.

3. Heat the remaining oil in the same pan and add the asafoetida powder, curry leaves and mustard seeds. Cover the pan and let the seeds pop.

4. Now add the shredded cabbage and peas and stir well.
Cover the pan tightly and let the vegetables cook on a very low heat for about 7 minutes, till the cabbage is cooked but still retains some bite.

5. Once the cabbage is done, add the ground coconut masala powder and salt to taste, and mix well.




6. Then add the rice and mix it in carefully until it is distributed evenly.
Add the chopped coriander (if using) and scatter the roasted peanuts over. Serve hot with cucumber raita and papad or crisps on the side.


RECIPE: CABBAGE AND PEAS RICE


Ingredients:
2 cups cooked basmati rice
3 cups cabbage, finely shredded
1/2 cup peas (fresh or frozen)
1 tsp oil
2 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp asafoetida powder
a few fresh/frozen curry
Salt to taste
Peanuts and chopped coriander leaves for garnish (optional)


For the masala powder:
1/2 tsp oil
1 htsp urad dal
1 htsp tuvar dal
1 htsp chana dal
1 htsp coriander seeds
4-5 dried red chillies (or to taste)
2 tbsp shredded fresh or dry coconut


Method:
1. Heat 1/2 tsp oil in a large pan and fry the masala powder ingredients (bar the coconut) over a low flame till the dals turn a pale golden brown, and the chillies are a shiny dark red. Remove to a plate and let cool.
2. Grind the cooled roasted dals along with the coconut to a fairly smooth powder. Reserve.
3. Heat the remaining oil in the same pan and add the asafoetida powder, curry leaves and mustard seeds. Cover the pan and let the seeds pop.
4. Now add the shredded cabbage and peas and stir well. Cover the pan tightly and let the vegetables cook on a very low heat for about 7 minutes, till the cabbage is cooked but still retains some bite.
5. Once the cabbage is done, add the ground coconut masala powder and salt to taste, and mix well.
6. Then add the rice and mix it in carefully until it is distributed evenly. Add the chopped coriander (if using) and scatter the roasted peanuts over. Serve hot with cucumber raita.

Bittergourd pitla

Over the last few years, I’ve been testing my limits with that most unattractive of vegetables, the bittergourd (or karela, bitter melon, pavakkai or whatever name you call it – my husband terms them “rats”), to see just HOW much I love it.

I used to hate it completely, in any form, as a kid. In my late teens or thereabouts, I would as a concession eat them deep fried (yes, I know, very broad-minded of me) mainly because the ones from Hot Chips in Abhiramapuram were sensational.

Eventually, after a couple of decades, I got around to eating them pan-fried crisp, as a dry curry. After that things moved a lot more rapidly in the experimentation department, and I moved on to karela-without-frying-too-much, karela as a semi-dry curry cooked with onions and tomatoes, karela with mustard paste (a double-whammy in the strong flavour department).

While karela pitla (South Indian style) is probably not as scary as it used to be, or even as full-on as karela-with-mustard-paste, I still had to see if I'd like it - just to drive away the last of the childhood fear and hatred of the karela's bitter flavour. And, of course, I passed the test with flying colours, practically inhaling the pitla which my mother made a day or two before she left Shrewsbury.

The only karela-based item that I know I won't like is karela juice. Where that is concerned, I think I'm as blinkered as I ever was, with just one standard reaction: "No way Felipe." (Jose wasn't available.) 

Recipe for: Bittergourd/karela/pavakkai pitla


Ingredients:

2 medium karela/bittergourd/pavakkai, sliced into rounds
1 cup masoor dal, cooked
1 tbsp tamarind paste
3 tsp gingelly oil (or any neutral cooking oil)
1 tsp mustard seeds
2 tbsp sambar powder
2 tbsp finely grated coconut
1/2 tsp asafoetida powder
1 tbsp rice flour
Salt to taste
a few fresh curry leaves, torn up
3-4 cups water

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a small pan and add the asafoetida powder, mustard seeds and curry leaves.

Cover and let the seeds pop, then add the grated coconut.
Fry on medium heat till the coconut is light brown and aromatic.
Remove from heat and set aside till required.
2. Put about a cupful of water in a pan along with the karela/bittergourd/pavakkai and turmeric powder.
Let it cook till it becomes soft.
3. Dissolve the tamarind paste in 2 cup water and add it to the cooked karela/bittergourd/pavakkai.
 
4. Bring this to a boil, then add the sambar powder and rice powder and stir till well mixed.
 
5. Stir in the cooked masoor dal
6. Add salt to taste along with the roasted coconut and mix in.
7. Boil the pitla for a few minutes longer till it thickens.
Serve hot with rice.

RECIPE: BITTERGOURD/KARELA/PAVAKKAI PITLA


Ingredients:

2 medium karela/bittergourd/pavakkai, sliced into rounds
1 tbsp tamarind paste
3 tsp gingelly oil (or any neutral cooking oil)
1 tsp mustard seeds
2 tbsp sambar powder
2 tbsp finely grated coconut
1/2 tsp asafoetida powder
1 tbsp rice flour
Salt to taste
a few fresh curry leaves, torn up
3-4 cups water

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a small pan and add the asafoetida powder, mustard seeds and curry leaves. Cover and let the seeds pop, then add the grated coconut. Fry on medium heat till the coconut is light brown and aromatic. Remove from heat and set aside till required.
2. Put about a cupful of water in a pan along with the karela/bittergourd/pavakkai and turmeric powder. Let it cook till it becomes soft.
3. Dissolve the tamarind paste in 2 cup water and add it to the cooked karela/bittergourd/pavakkai.
4. Bring this to a boil, then add the sambar powder and rice powder and stir till well mixed.
5. Stir in the cooked masoor dal.
6. Add salt to taste along with the roasted coconut and mix in.
7. Boil the pitla for a couple of minutes longer. Serve hot with rice.

Arachuvitta vengaya sambar - Version 2 (onion sambar with ground coconut masala)

This variation on the classic arachuvitta vengaya sambar, that I posted way back when, came about thanks indirectly to my cousin Chitra, who is not only a fun person but also a really good cook. She’s in Seattle now on holiday and I deeply regret that I did not get the opportunity to invite myself over for a meal at her daughter’s place while I was there – mainly because I had to leave pretty much as she arrived, and there was no time.

I still vividly remember the chole she had made when we were in Madras – this is going back well over 10 years – which was hands down the best I’ve ever had, EVER. I haven’t had the opportunity of pigging out on her food in years now, and she can only have got better and better.

Anyway, the other day when I was Skyping with my mother, she mentioned Chitra's variation on arachuvitta sambar, so of course I had to try it out rightaway. It came out absolutely spectacular, and I kid you not, I was more than happy to eat it morning noon and night – with plain rice, with curd rice, with dosas, with idlis, with Greek yogurt... it was the star turn every single time. Needless to say, the sambar didn’t even last three days – and I was the only one eating it! If there was anybody else to share it with, I’d have had to make TWO bucketsful!

Note: If you can get the little Indian sambar onions or shallots, use those. I think they’re far more flavourful than regular onions – especially if you’re going to the trouble of making this arachuvitta sambar.

And for my fellow Tamils... this literally IS "arachuvitta vengaya sambar" :-)

Recipe for: Arachuvitta vengaya sambar - Version 2

Ingredients:

1 cup tuvar/toor dal/thuvaram paruppu, to make 2 cups well cooked and mashed dal

2 tsp tamarind paste dissolved in 5-6 cups water OR lime-sized ball of tamarind, pulp extracted to make 5-6 cups tamarind water

1/4 cup green beans sliced
1/4 cup fresh peas
10-12 sambar onions or 1 medium onion sliced
1/4 cup capsicum, cut in 1/2" pieces

Ground masala 1

1 tsp oil
5-6 cloves garlic
10-15 sambar onions (preferably), to make 1/4 cup sliced
2 small tomatoes, cut into pieces

Ground masala 2

1 tsp oil
2 tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp kadala paruppu/chana dal
5-6 dried red chillies (or to taste)
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp black peppercorns
3-4 tbsp fresh coconut (pieces or grated)
For tempering
1 tsp oil
1 htsp mustard seeds
a few fresh or frozen curry leaves
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp asafoetida powder
3-4 tbsp coriander leaves chopped, for garnish

Method:

1.  Heat 1 tsp oil and add the mustard seeds, curry leaves, turmeric powder and asafoetida powder.

Let the mustard seeds pop, then add the green beans, peas, sambar onions and capsicum, sauteing for 3-4 minutes.

Pour in the tamarind water and bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to a gentle simmer till the vegetables are cooked - 10 minutes or so.

2. While the vegetables are cooking, make the tempering. Heat 1 tsp oil in a small pan and add the garlic, sliced onions and tomatoes.

Cook till the onions are soft and the tomatoes are breaking down. Remove from the heat. Once they are cool, grind them to a smooth paste. Reserve.

3. To make Ground Masala 2, heat a tsp of oil and add the ingredients, stir frying till the red chillies turn a darker shade and the dal and coriander seeds are aromatic and turn colour. If you are using pieces of coconut rather than grated, fry them for a little bit longer, but make sure not to burn any of the ingredients.

Remove from the heat and let cool, then grind to a smooth paste using a few tbsp of warm water as required. Reserve.

4. Once the vegetables are cooked, stir the tomato-onion paste into the tamarind water and let it boil for 2 minutes.

5. Now stir in the mashed cooked dal, making sure there are no lumps.

6. After a couple more minutes, add the ground coconut masala

and salt to taste, then bring the sambar back to a gentle simmer. Let it cook for 4-5 minutes longer, till the contents are well homogenised.

7. Garnish with the chopped coriander and serve hot with rice and any dry vegetable curry, or with dosas and idlis for an extra-special meal.


RECIPE: ARACHUVITTA VENGAYA SAMBAR - VERSION 2

Ingredients:

1 cup tuvar/toor dal/thuvaram paruppu, to make 2 cups well cooked and mashed dal
2 tsp tamarind paste dissolved in 5-6 cups water OR lime-sized ball of tamarind, pulp extracted to make 5-6 cups tamarind water
1/4 cup green beans sliced into 1" lengths
1/4 cup fresh peas
10-12 sambar onions or 1 medium onion sliced
1/4 cup capsicum, cut in 1/2" pieces
Ground masala 1
1 tsp oil
5-6 cloves garlic
10-15 sambar onions (preferably), to make 1/4 cup sliced
2 small tomatoes, cut into pieces
Ground masala 2
1 tsp oil
2 tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp kadala paruppu/chana dal
5-6 dried red chillies (or to taste)
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp black peppercorns
3-4 tbsp fresh coconut (pieces or grated)
For tempering
1 tsp oil
1 htsp mustard seeds
a few fresh or frozen curry leaves
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp asafoetida powder
3-4 tbsp coriander leaves chopped, for garnish

Method:

1.  Heat 1 tsp oil and add the mustard seeds, curry leaves, turmeric powder and asafoetida powder. Let the mustard seeds pop, then add the green beans, peas, sambar onions and capsicum, sauteing for 3-4 minutes. Pour in the tamarind water and bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to a gentle simmer till the vegetables are cooked - 10 minutes or so.
2. While the vegetables are cooking, make the tempering. Heat 1 tsp oil in a small pan and add the garlic, sliced onions and tomatoes. Cook till the onions are soft and the tomatoes are breaking down. Remove from the heat. Once they are cool, grind them to a smooth paste. Reserve.
3. To make Ground Masala 2, heat a tsp of oil and add the ingredients, stir frying till the red chillies turn a darker shade and the dal and coriander seeds are aromatic and turn colour. If you are using pieces of coconut rather than grated, fry them for a little bit longer, but make sure not to burn any of the ingredients. Remove from the heat and let cool, then grind to a smooth paste using a few tbsp of warm water as required. Reserve.
4. Once the vegetables are cooked, stir the tomato-onion paste into the tamarind water and let it boil for 2 minutes.
5. Now stir in the mashed cooked dal, making sure there are no lumps.
6. After a couple more minutes, add the ground coconut masala and salt to taste, then bring the sambar back to a gentle simmer. Let it cook for 4-5 minutes longer, till the contents are well homogenised.
7. Garnish with the chopped coriander and serve hot with rice and any dry vegetable curry, or with dosas and idlis for an extra-special meal.