Tomato Rice

During my school days, when guests used to come visiting us in erstwhile Madras during the summer holidays, one day used to be reserved as picnic day to vandaloor zoo and mahabalipuram. Amma used to make variety Rice (Chitranna) like Lime rice, Tamarind rice (puliyogarai), Brinjal rice, Coconut rice and for sure Curd rice parcel it in huge vats and take along water, pickle and poppadom / vadam. They tasted delicious! 

Tomato rice made a late entry into the list.

Ingredients:

Basmati rice - 1 cup, washed and soaked in water for 15 minutes

Tomato - 3 large

Onion - 1 medium (optional)

Green chilly - 1, chopped fine

Oil - 2 tbsp

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Dry Red chilli - 2, broken 

Curry leaf - 1 sprig

Salt to taste

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Chilly powder - 1 tbsp or more

Pepper powder - 1 tbsp

Cloves - 3

Cinnamon stick - 1 inch piece, broken into two

Coriander leaf for garnish

Method:

Boil the rice in ample water and drain when nearly done.

If you have the patience, blanch the tomato, remove skin, then puree. Otherwise just chop it, put into the blender and puree. 

Heat oil in a kadai with lid and splutter the mustard. Then add the red chilly and curry leaf.

Now add the cloves and cinnamon stick.

Into this add the onion and fry till translucent.

Now add the Tomato puree, salt, green chilly, turmeric powder, chilly powder and pepper powder. Mix well and cook covered till all the water gets nearly evaporated, but does not dry.

Mix in the rice and taste.

Keep covered for 15 minutes.

If your rice is not tangy, add some lime juice.

Garnish with coriander leaf and serve with something crunchy.

Pineapple Pachadi / Kerala style sweet Pineapple curry with banana and dry fruits

The usual style of Pineapple pachadi is different in both look and taste and is quite easy to cook. This is a sadya style of pachadi and involves a bit of cooking. While both recipes have mustard powder and coconut, this recipe is made not with just pineapple, but also the famous kerala banana - nenthiran / ethakaya / cooking plantain and cashewnuts and raisins.

(usual Pineapple pachadi)

Recipe Courtesy : Pazhayidom Mohanan Namboodiri

Ingredients:
Pineapple - 1/2 a small
Ripe Plantain / nentirapazham / ethakaya (pazhuthathu) - 1/2 a banana
Sugar - 1 tbsp, heaped
Coconut - 3 tbsp, fried till deep brown
Mustard powder - 1 tsp
Raisins - 1 tbsp , washed and dried
Cashewnuts - 6
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Chilly Powder - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
Coconut oil - 2tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaf - 1 sprig
Red chilly - 1 broken

Method:
Skin the pineapple and chop finely.
Chop the banana also thinly.

Heat 1 cup water in a thick bottomed vessel and add the chopped pineapple, banana, salt, turmeric powder and chilly powder.
Mix well and cook until the pineapple is softened and water evaporates.
Now add the sugar and wait for it to caramelize. Keep stirring.
Add the cashewnuts and keep stirring.
Cook further till it thickens and does not fall off easily from the spatula.
Now add the mustard powder, fried coconut, raisins. Mix well.
Splutter the mustard and red chilly in coconut oil and at last add the curry leaves.
Add this to the pachadi.

Sambar

Sambar is sooo famous, does it need an explanation?
Wikipedia calls it - also spelt sambhar, it is a lentil-based vegetable stew or chowder based on a broth made with tamarind. It is popular in South Indian and Sri Lankan Tamil cuisines. In malayalam, this dish's name is written as സാമ്പാർ.

Based on the vegetable which is the 'hero', we can make vengaya / chinna ulli sambar, radish sambar, vendakka / ladies finger sambar and Drumstick / murungakka sambar. The basic premises is the same. Boil and cook the vegetables in tamarind pulp with salt, turmeric powder, asafoetida. Then add boiled tur-dal with sambar powder.
a)You can grind the sambar spices fresh with either fried coconut or with fresh coconut or with no coconut at all. But I usually stock up on sambar powder which makes making sambar so very easy.
b) Adding Jaggery to the sambar is a bone of contention. Mysore sambar has a copious amounts of Jaggery in it. My mother-in-law would never add any, but I do add a small teaspoon to balance the taste. So that is your choice.

Restaurants just tip in the vegetables with all the ingredients at one go in a cooker and after the vegetables + dal get cooked, they add the tadka of spluttered mustard, red chilly and curry leaf. It is very easy to make but you must be really careful or by the time the dal gets cooked, the vegetables might get mashed beyond recognition! The chefs come with years of experience.
So at home, boil the dal till half done and then add the vegetables and rest of the ingredients. Give 2 whistles and then add the 'tadka'. That will do the trick.

My advice to you is to stock up on the sambar powder. It is a huge blessing.

Ingredients:
Vegetables - 3 cups
(Typical Tamil Brahmin ingredients include ash gourd, drumstick, brinjal, ladiesfinger. We add carrot at home and when available radish too. Capsicum can also be added. Some people (esp) restaurants add pumpkin and potato. If you are keen on adding onion, slice them long and thick.)

Tur dal / tuvara parippu / pigeon pea - 1/2 cup, pressure cooked (in 1 1/4 cup water) till soft and mashed
Tamarind - gooseberry size, soaked in warm water
Salt to taste
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida powder - 1/2 tbsp or Asafoetida gum - 1 pea sized ball
Sambar powder - 2 tbsp
Jaggery / sharkara - 1 tsp
Oil - 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Red chilly - 2, broken
Curry leaf - 1 sprig
Chopped coriander (optional) for garnish

Method:
Cook covered the cubed hard vegetables like ash gourd, carrot, potato and drumstick in 2 cups water for 5 minutes.

Then add the tamarind pulp (1-1/2 to 2 cups), salt, turmeric powder, asafoetida, sambar powder with the soft vegetables like brinjal and ladies finger.

Once the vegetables get soft, add the cooked tur dal.

Mix well and allow to boil. Add more water, if necessary to get a thinner gravy.
Add jaggery now, if you plan to.
Once boiled, reduce flame and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Turn of flame and add the spluttered mustard, red chilly and curry leaf.
Garnish with fresh coriander.
Serve with rice, idly, dosa or pongal.

Puli Inji / Inji curry

During Ona Sadya or for that matter ANY sadya, this dish is served on the left top corner of the banana leaf. It is tangy, sweet and spicy. Made with ginger and green chilly, this dish provides 'zing' to 'paavam' / mild curries like parippu. Or you can simply lick it after having an overdose of payasam!!

Make this dish a day in advance and store in airtight container and all the flavours have to infuse.

Recipe Source - My mother, Mrs. Rajalakshmi (Radha) Parameswaran and Pazhayidom Mohanan Namboodiri

While both my mom's and the namboodiri's recipe are similar, I have incorporated what my mother does. That is add the methi powder and asafoetida powder at the very end.

Ingredients :
Ginger - 150 gms
Green Chilly - 75 gms
Curry leaf - 5 sprigs
Tamarind - gooseberry size
Salt
Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp heaped
Chilly powder  - 1 tbsp
Asafoetida / kayam gum - 1 small ball (or) Asafoetida powder - 1 tbsp
Uluva / Methi / Fenugreek seed - 1 heaped tsp
Jaggery / Gud - 50 gms
Coconut oil - 5 tbsp
Mustard - 1 1/2 tsp
Red Chilly - 5

Prep work:

Dry fry the Methi seeds till they pop and keep aside. Powder when cool.

Heat 1 tsp coconut oil and fry the asafoetida gum on a low flame till it gets crispy on all sides. Allow to cool. Powder once cool.

Chop the Ginger and green chilly into small pieces

Soak the tamarind ball in hot water.

Method:

Heat the rest of the coconut oil in a thick bottoed vessel and splutter the mustard and add the red chillies.

Into this add the chopped ginger, green chilly and curry leaf.

Fry on a low flame till the ginger turns golden brown.

Now add the tamarind pulp and the salt, turmeric powder and chilly powder with the jaggery.

Allow to boil for 5 minutes until gravy thickens and jaggery melts.
Turn off flame and add the methi powder and asafoetida powder.
Mix well.

Cool and store in an air tight jar.

Cheedai

Cheedai are small crunchy savory balls made with rice flour and spices. I used to have it by the handful when I was young without giving a second thought of how hard it is to make them. While I made them last week, I realised the magnitude of the task involved. 

Each batch needs to be deep fried in oil on a very low flame for 10 minutes. And given the number of small balls....phew! I had decided never to make it again, but the taste is sooo good, that I will make it again and again!

Word of Advice: 

1. Make this snack only when you have LOTS of time and patience.

2. Use the smallest holed siever to shift your rice flour and urad dal powder. The cheedai has a tendency to pop like a bomb in the hot oil. This sieving is the prevention for that.

In this recipe I have not written the induvidual amounts to be used but have given the ratio of measures of various ingredients. I used a particularly large spoon as measure. You can use a glass or spoon or whatever vessel / container you deem fit. 

Preparation of Rice flour:

Wash and soak white rice (pacharisi) for 15 minutes.

Drain water and spread on a clean towel.

Dry under fan for 1 hour, shifting often.

Once dry, powder well.

Dry fry on a low flame till good smell comes but does not brown.

Sieve through the smallest hole of the siever.

(or) Use Idiyappam flour available in the market. Sieve and fry the same in a hot kadai for 3 minutes on a low flame.

Preparation of Urad Dal powder:

Dry fry the urad dal in a hot kadai till it turns golden. Once cool, powder and sieve through the smallest hole of the siever.

Preparation of Coconut:

Run the grated coconut in a dry mixer till it becomes an almost fine powder (without any water).

Heat in a kadai without any oil till it dries out and starts getting golden.

Ingredients:

Rice flour - 11 measures

Urad Dal flour - 1 measure

Salt

Pepper powder - 1/4 measure

Jeera powder - 1/4 measure

Butter - 1 measure

Asafoetida powder - 1/4 measure

Til seeds - 1/4 measure

Coconut - 2 measure

Water to knead dough

Oil for deep frying

Method:

Mix together the rice flour, urad dal powder, salt, pepper powder, jeera powder, til seeds, asafoetida, coconut and the butter till it resembles coarse bread crumbs.

Now add enough water to make a smooth dough.

Take a clean kitchen cloth and wash it. Wring dry and lay on your work surface.

Make small balls of the dough (1 cm diameter) and put in on this cloth. Try to not make the balls too tight as you want the oil to enter inside. 

Let it air dry for 10 minutes before you start frying.

If you want you can prick small holes on the balls using a needle to help in cooking the centre.

Heat oil to smoking point and turn off flame.

After 5 minute, turn on the flame and reduce the flame to the lowest possible setting.

Add 1 cheedai to see if the outside gets brown very fast. If so, then turn off flame again and retry after 2 minutes.

You want the cheedai to cook in the heated oil slowly sao that the insides are crispy and outside golden brown.

Once you are sure of the oil temperature, fry the cheedai in batches.

Each batch takes nearly 10 minutes to cook. The froth reduces considerably and the cheedai looks golden. 

Scoop out using a slotted spoon. Drain on a kitchen paper and cool to room temperature.

After each batch allow the oil to heat for 1 minute before adding the next batch.

Repeat the process.

Store in an air tight container.

Pictorial:

Mix together the rice flour, urad dal powder, salt, pepper powder, jeera powder, til seeds, asafoetida, coconut and the butter.

Add enough water to make a smooth dough

Make small balls (4 gms) and lay on a clean wet cloth. Air dry for 10 minutes.

Make 2 or 3 pricks with a needle to allow the oil easier access inside

Heat the oil and reduce flame. Deep fry in small batches on the lowest possible flame.

After 10 minutes

Now drain on a kitchen towel. 

Munch away!