Karuveppilai Kuzambu

Ingredients:

• Toor dal - 1 handful
• Urad dal - 1 handful
• Pepper - 2 tabl . sp
• Methi seeds - 1/2 sp
• Red dry chili - 10
• Tamarind paste - 3 tabl . sp
• Salt - as required
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 sp
• Red chili powder - 1 tsp [ it's gives colour ]
• Asafoetida - little
• Jaggery - as required
• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• Til oil - 3 tabl . sp
• Tender fresh curry leaves - 1 cup
• Sunflower oil - 1 tabl . sp
•  Fresh curry leaves - 1/2 cup

Method:
Heat 1  table spoon sunflower oil in a frying pan, add toor dal, urad dal, methi seeds, pepper, red chillies and fry in lower flame till it turns into golden colour. When it cools, add tamarind paste, jaggery, and fresh curry leaves and grind in a mixer into a coarse (near nice) paste adding little water to it. Then keep one deep mouth kadai on the gas, pour 3 table spn of til oil to that, when it becomes hot, add mustard seeds, asafoetida. When the mustard seeds splutters, add  grinded masala, salt, turmeric, and chili powder and salt over a lower flame till the gravy is well thickened and comes to sauce consistency. Remove from the gas and allow to cool. Keep in a dry vessel inside the fridge. Karuveppilai Kulambu is ready. You can preserve this for 15 to 20 days. This is very tasty. Mix with rice and have it with keerai.

PineApple Pulav [It is not sweet pulav]

Ingredients:

• Basmati rice - 2 cups [ boiled ]
• Pineapple finely cut pieces - 1 cup
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 cup
• Salt - as required
• Red chili powder - 1/2 sp
• Sugar - 1/2 sp
• Bay leaf - 2
• cinnamon - 2 pieces
• cloves - 2
• Cardamom - 2
• Cumin seeds - 1 sp
• Cashewnuts - 10
• Raisins - 7 to 8
• Ghee - 2 tbl sp
• Oil - 1 tbl sp
• Finely chopped coriander leaves - little

Method:
Soak the rice for 20 mins. Then pressure cook the rice and keep aside. Take one pressure cooker, keep on the gas, pour ghee and oil together, add cumin seeds, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, and bay leaves. Fry for 2 mins, and add the finely cut pineapples and mix well. Meantime mix salt, turmeric, red chillie powder in 1/2 cup of water. Add the masala water to the pineapple. When the oil leaves the side add the boiled rice and mix well in lower flame. Finally add fried cashews, raisins in 1 tsp of ghee and mix into the pulav. Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot with onion raitha.

Raw banana Roasted Dry Curry

Ingredients:

• Raw banana - 3 to 4 [ peel the outer skin and cut into thin round pieces ]
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 sp
• Salt - as required
• Tamarind paste - 1/4 sp
• Red chili powder - 2 sp
• Asafoetida - a pinch
• Sambhar powder - 1/2 sp
• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp [ for seasoning ]
• Urad dal - 1 sp [ for seasoning ]
• Curry leaves - little [ for garnising ]
• Oil - as required
  

Method:
Take one deep fry pan, place it on the gas and pour oil, add mustard seeds, urad dal, and curry leaves. When the mustard seeds splutters, add urad dal. When the dal turns to golden brown in colour, add the cut bananas, put salt, turmeric, red chili powder, sambhar powder, asafoetida, tamarind paste and mix well. Cook over moderate heat for 10 mins and close it with a lid. In between open the lid, add 1 table spoon oil and fry till the banana becomes dry. Add more oil and saute to give a fried look. Garnish with curry leaves. Serve with hot rice and sambhar etc.

Methi Paratha [ tepla ]

Ingredients:

• Wheat flour - 2 cups
• Methi leaves - 1 cup [ chop leaves alone ]
• fenu greek leaves
• Salt - as required
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 sp
• Dhania jeera powder - 1 sp
• Red chili powder - 1 1/2 sp
• White seasame seeds - 1/2 sp
• Thymol seeds [ omam ] - 1 sp
• Curd - 2 tbl sp
• Oil - as required [ for kneading, roasting ]
• Green chili and garlic paste - 1 sp

Method:
Mix all the ingredients in a mixing bowl. Sprinkle enough water, oil and knead to a smooth dough. Make lemon size balls from the dough. Then spread it into chapatis of medium thickness. Roast on a hot tawa using half a tsp of oil for both sides of chapati. Serve hot with chunda, and thick curd. This type of tepla can be kept for 4 to 5 days. Perfect dish to take along with you while traveling.

Chunda [ sweet mango pickle ]

Ingredients:

• Grated sour mangoes - 5 cups
• Sugar - 4 cups
• Salt - 1/4 cup
• Red chili powder - 1 tbl sp
• Methi seeds - 1 tsp [ soaked in little water ]
• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
• Cinnamon - 2 pieces [ 1 inch piece length ]
• Cardamom - 8
• Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
  

Method:
Select good sour mangoes and grate it and keep aside. Measure the grated mangoes.  Wash and soak methi seeds in little water. Powder coarsely cuminseeds, cardamom, cinnamon. Mix this with the chili powder, salt, sugar and drain the water from the methi seeds and add together with the grated mangoes. Mix well and keep the grated mangoes in a wide mouthed vessel. Close the neck of the vessel with a thin cloth and keep it in the hot sun for 10 to 15 days. After 15 days when it comes to the colour of honey, take it out and store in a glass jar or bottle. Serve with puries, chapatis.

Masal Vadai [ Parupu Vadai ]

Ingredients:

• Bengal gram dhal - 1 cup
• Finely chopped onions - 1 / 4 cup
• Green chillies - 5 to 6
• Crushed ginger - 1 tsp. [ optional ]
• Chopped coriander leaves and curry leaves - 2 tabl . sp
• Salt - as per taste
• Oil - enough to deep fry.

Method:
Soak dal in water for 2 hours. Then drain water completely and grind with  4 green  chili  to coarse paste. Add salt, chopped onion, green chili [ finely chopped ], coriander leaves, curry leaves and mix well. Then make lemon sized balls, flatten and deep fry in oil [ 7 to 8 vadais can be deep fried at a time or till oil holds.] When the both sides becomes golden brown and crisp, remove from the oil. serve hot with coconut chutney.

Variations:
Grind red chili, cumin seeds, asafoetida and few small onions together. Mix with ground dal paste. Add drumstick leaves and aniseed. Make vadai as mentioned previously. Finely chopped mint leaves or any other greens can be added.

Methi Mutter Malai [ sabji ]

Ingredients:

• Methi leaves - 1 cup [ chopped ]
• Green peas [ mutter ] - 1/2 cup [ boiled ]
• Salt - as per paste
• Cashewnuts - 10 to 15
• Ghee - 3 tabl . sp
• Oil - 2 tabl .sp
• Garlic - 2 flakes
• Green chili - 2 to 3
• Onion - 1 [ big diced ]
• Ginger - 1 tiny piece
• Sugar - 1 tsp
• Fresh cream - 1 / 2 cup

Grind together:
Grind onion, ginger, garlic, green chillie, & cashews together in mixcer to form a fine paste & keep aside.

Method:
First take one bowl & put methi, mutter along with enough water & boil for 5 mints. Then drain the water & soak them in cold water for about 5 mins [it helps maintaining the green colour]. Then drain the water & grind  [do not grind fine grind coarse ] in the mixer. Then take one small cooker, keep on the gas & put some butter and oil together and fry the grind masala for 5 mins in lower flame. If the oil leaves the sides, add the grind methi mutter mixture to that along with salt, sugar. Add little water, fresh cream & mix well. When it starts boiling, close the cooker & wait for 2 whistles to come. Then remove from the gas, after the pressure goes open the  cooker. Serve with naan, parata & roti.