Tag Archives: South Indian

Recipe: Puli Inji aka Sweet Sour Ginger Chilli Sauce/Pickle

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img_6105An essential part of a Tamil brahmin wedding feast, Puli Inji is one of my favourite parts of the fest. Sweet, Sour and also slightly spicy, I love this dish, and always want more, though the servers would only put a small tsp in each banana leaf.

The other day, with a whole bunch of ginger at home, I was wondering what to make which will use the ginger up and then decided to make some puli inji. I make a slight change to the traditional recipe. In the traditional recipe, the chilli and ginger are chopped into tiny pieces, while I blended it up so the end result was more chutney-like than a gravy-like which is how it is usually made. This recipe can be stored for a couple of weeks when refrigerated.

img_6107Puli Inji aka Sweet Sour Ginger Sauce

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup ginger, peeled, chopped and ground into a rough paste
  • 1 cup green chillies, peeled, chopped into a paste
  • 1 lemon sized ball of tamarind
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
  • 2-3 tbsps of grated jaggery (more or less depending on the spice intensity of the chilli plus your spice tolerance)
  • Salt to taste

To be ground into a powder

  • 1 tbsp Urad dal (split black gram)
  • 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
  • 5-6 curry leaves

For the seasoning

  • 1-2 tbsps Gingelly oil
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1/4 tsp asafoetida

 

Method:

  • Soak the tamarind in hot water and keep aside for 30-45 mins. When it cools, smash it well and extract all the juice. Throw the pulp and reserve the tamarind water. You can also use store-bought tamarind paste and use a couple of tsps for this recipe.
  • In a dry pan, dry-roast the urad dal, fenugreek seeds and curry leaves till they become brown and crisp. Keep aside to cool completely and then grind this into a fine powder.
  • In another pan, add the oil and when it warms up, add the mustard seeds and let them pop. Now add the asafoetida and stir for a couple of seconds. Next, add the ginger and let it brown. Now add the chilli and let that cook for a couple of minutes.
  • When the ginger and the chilli are brown, add the tamarind juice, turmeric powder, salt and let it come to a rolling boil.
  • Once the mixture is boiling, add the jaggery and the ground powder and let it come to the consistency that you want and switch off the flame.
  • The mixture will thicken as it cools, so do switch off the flame before it reaches the final consistency you want.

img_6106Yummy Puli Inji is ready. This is great as a side to any south Indian dish as well as a chutney for bread. You can also use this as a dip.

If you want a more textured dish, chop the ginger and chillies and then make it as per the recipe.

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Recipe: Avial

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One of the eponymous dishes which are common across South India, Avial is one of my favourite dishes. I remember when my mum used to make this dish, I would eat it the whole day, so much that what was supposed to be enough for both meals, would finish by the time we had lunch!

Both GG & BB love it as much as I do, S is quite indifferent to it. When S started working with us, she also started to love it and if we go a couple of months without making it, she will remind me to make it soon.

This dish is quite ancient and is said to be invented by Bhima, the second Pandava brother during their year in exile. Most vegetables used to make Avial are what we call local (Indian) vegetables. Some ‘English’ vegetables like potato, carrots, beans and peas are also used. Other vegetables like Yellow/Orange pumpkin, white pumpkin, drumstick, snake gourd, yam, raw banana are also used. You can use all of these or some, depending on what you have at home. The dish can also be made thick or thin – thick if you are not planning to eat it mixed with rice (like a gravy) or thin if this will be mixed with rice. In my home, if we make Avial, we don’t usually make anything else since it has all vegetables in it, we eat it with rice and some crisps.

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Avial

Ingredients:

  • 2 carrots, chopped lengthwise in 2 inch sticks
  • 2 potatoes, chopped lengthwise in 2 inch sticks
  • 2 raw bananas, chopped lengthwise in 2 inch sticks
  • 1/4 piece of yellow pumpkin, chopped lengthwise in 2 inch sticks
  • 7-8 beans, chopped 2 inch
  • 2 drumsticks, chopped in 2 inch sticks
  • 1 snake gourd, chopped lengthwise in 2 inch sticks
  • 1 cup yoghurt, beaten
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
  • salt to taste
  • 3-4 curry leaves (optional)
  • 1 tsp coconut oil (optional)

To be ground into a paste

  • 2 tsps cumin seeds
  • 6-8 green chillies
  • 1 cup grated coconut
  • 1/2 cup yoghurt

Method:

  • In a deep bottomed pan, add all the chopped vegetables and cook them with very little water and the turmeric powder and 1 tsp salt. Cook till the vegetables are al-dente, they should be still firm to touch.
  • While the vegetables are cooking, grind the coconut, chillies and cumin seeds, using the yoghurt as moisture. Grind the coconut till it is very fine.
  • Once the vegetables are cooked, add the coconut mixture to the vegetables. Stir well and add salt to taste.
  • From the remaining yoghurt, add as much yoghurt as you need to make it as thick as you need. If you need to make the avial thick, add very little yoghurt and more if you want to make the gravy watery.
  • When the avial comes to a nice rolling boil, add the coconut oil and curry leaves (if using) and switch off the gas. Cover the dish with a plate or cover to keep the fragrance of the curry leaves and oil.
  • Serve hot with rice and some crisps or papad.

Enjoy…..

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Recipe: Mor Kozambu aka Buttermilk Gravy

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IMG_6069A very traditional south Indian dish, this is our version of Kadhi, a yoghurt based gravy, which is found almost all over India, in various avatars – the kadhis which you have in Gujarat and Punjab and the pitla from Maharashtra.

This is a very easy dish to make with minimal ingredients, which you can make with not much effort.

IMG_6071Mor Kuzambu or Buttermilk Gravy

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups yoghurt, thinned to a pouring consistency
  • 5-6 ladies fingers or Okra, cut into long pieces
  • 3-4 tbsps grated coconut
  • 5-6 green chillies (more or less depending on the spice intensity or your ability to take the heat)
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 2 tbsps oil (any vegetable cooking oil)
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • ¼ tsp turmeric powder
  • Salt to taste

Method:

  • In a pan, warm the oil and add the mustards. When the mustard seeds pop, add the chopped ladies finger and turmeric powder and let it cook till it is crisp. You can also add a tsp of salt to lightly salt the okra.
  • When the ladies finger becomes crisp, switch off the gas and keep aside.
  • In a blender, add the coconut, chillies and the cumin seeds and blend until smooth. Use the yoghurt to add moisture to blend.
  • When smoothly blended, add it to the fried okra and let it cook.
  • Add some more of the thinned yoghurt to bring it to the consistency you like (think or thick) and once the whole gravy comes to a rolling boil, switch off the gas and remove from the flame.
  • Serve with rice and a vegetable of your choice.
  • Enjoy yummy Mor Kozambu

Notes: Instead of Okra, you can also use orange pumpkin, white pumpkin or even potatoes to make this gravy.

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Recipe: Vendakkai Puli Kozambu aka Okra Tamarind Stew

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A typical recipe from the Tamil heartlands, this is a hearty, though slightly spicy and sour stew which goes very well with rice. This is not a typical tambram recipe. It’s quite funny that while I love garlic and love it in most north Indian sabzis, for some reason, probably due to my tambram genes, I can’t stand it in typical south Indian food. While the original recipe calls for whole garlic pods in the kozambu or stew, I ground it along with the other spices. I served it with brown rice and a stir fried vegetable and loved it. Here’s the recipe which I tweaked!

Vendakkai Puli Kozambu aka Okra Tamarind Stew

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Ingredients:

  • 1 lime-sized ball of tamarind, soaked in warm water for 15-20 minutes, then squeezed to get the water, which will be used. Alternatively, use 1-2 tsp of tamarind paste which can be brought in any Indian store.
  • 1 cup ladies finger or okra, cut into 1 inch circles
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 tbsps gingelly oil
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • Salt to taste

To be ground into a paste:

  • 8-10 garlic cloves
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 tomato, chopped
  • 2 tsp coriander seeds
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds
  • 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
  • 5-6 dried red chillies
  • 1/4 cup coconut
  • 2 tsps oil

Method:

  • In a pan, take the oil (not the gingelly oil) and fry in the following order the spices: coriander seeds, fennel seeds, fenugreek seeds and dried chilli. Stir each spice for a few seconds before adding the next spice.
  • Next add the garlic and let it become slightly golden, then the onions and let it become translucent and last the tomatoes.
  • Add a tsp of salt to help the tomatoes to lose water and become slight mushy. In the end, add the coconut and let it cook a while. Once it has cooked around five minutes, switch off the gas and let it cool completely. Once cool, blend it to a fine paste.
  • In another pan, add the gingelly oil and fry the ladies finger/okra until it cooks and becomes crisp. Remove from the gas and keep aside.
  • In the same pan, with the balance oil, add the mustard seeds and then chopped onions.
  • When the onions become translucent, put in the blended paste and stir for a few seconds. Now add the tamarind juice and let it come to a boil.
  • Add the crisp ladies finger/okra and salt to taste and let the stew boil  for 10 minutes.
  • The stew is done when the oil floats to the top.
  • Enjoy with rice and a vegetable of your choice!

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Recipe: Brown Rice Savory Pongal aka Ven Pongal

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IMG_5277Last week, I blogged about the sweet Pongal recipe which I made as a neividhyam or offering to the Lord on the occasion of the festival of Pongal. That evening, I made the salted version for dinner. The method for both is quite similar and you can make both at the same time with little extra effort.

This is often eaten as a breakfast dish, especially in the southern parts of India. This combination of rice and dal will really fill you up and if you, like me, plan on having this for dinner, then go a bit easy as you tend to feel really full sometime after your meal!

Brown Rice Ven Pongal

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Ingredients:

  • 2 cups brown rice (traditionally made with white rice)
  • 1 cup yellow moong dal
  • 2 cups water
  • 2 cups milk
  • 2 tsps cumin seeds
  • 2-3 tbsps ghee
  • 2 tsps whole black pepper
  • 1 tsp pepper powder
  • 1 tsp grated ginger
  • 4-5 leaves of curry leaves
  • A handful of broken cashew nuts
  • Salt to taste

Method:

  • Wash the rice well, drain and keep aside. In a pressure cooker, lightly pan fry the dal till a nice aroma comes.
  • Add the rice, water, milk, salt, peppercorns and cook under pressure for 4-5 whistles.
  • In another pan, heat 1 tbsp ghee and fry the cashewnuts until they brown nicely. Remove and keep aside and in the same pan, fry the cumin seeds, and when it begins to splutter, add the curry leaves, grated ginger and pepper powder and fry for a few seconds. Remove from the flame and keep aside.
  • When the pressure reduces, open the cover of the pressure cooker and check if the rice and dal mixture has become mushy (it should look like a risotto at this point). If no, add more water and/or milk and cook it further till it becomes mushy.
  • Add the remaining ghee here and stir well. When it has achieved the right consistency, add the fried cashewnuts and the seasoning (cumin seeds, ginger, curry leaves and pepper powder) and mix well checking for salt.
  • Serve with sambar or coconut chutney

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