Raw Tomato dry Subji / Thakali Kai podi karameedu

I love raw tomatoes a lot and try out various dishes or curries with it. You will have to patiently pick out raw tomatoes from the load of tomatoes as it may not be sold as a vegetable in itself. I'm lucky because my father-in-law does the vegetable shopping at home!!!
This tangy and spicy dish is great with plain rice or curd rice. You can try this same procedure with brinjal, ladies finger and capsicum too.

Ingredients
Raw tomatoes - 1/2 kg
Oil - 2 tablespoons
Homemade Curry Powder - 4-5 tablespoons
Coconut - 4-5 tablespoons
Salt- to taste
Curry leaves- a few
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Asafoetida/Hing - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
For Curry powder
Channa Dhal - 1/2 cup
Urad dhal - 1/2 cup
Corriander seeds - 1 cup
Red chillies - 10
Dry roast all the ingredients and grind it into a coarse powder. It stays fresh for nearly 3 months if stored in an air tight container.

Procedure
1. Cut the raw tomatoes into quarters and keep it aside.
2. Heat oil in a kadai and add mustard seeds, hing, turmeric and curry leaves.
3.Add the raw tomatoes and salt and saute' for a few mins till the tomatoes become soft. Please ensure that the tomotoes don't get mashed.
4. Add the homemade curry powder lavishly along with grated coconut and remove from the stove.
5. Serve hot with plain rice or curd rice.

Raw Banana Curry / Vazhakai Curry

One day, I thought of doing something different with raw banana and came up with this recipe. Every one at home loves this recipe and we make this quite frequently. We eat this mainly with rice. It also tastes good with chapatis.

Ingredients
Raw Banana - 2
Green Chillies - slit - 3
Grated Coconut - 3 tablespoons
Onions - 2 medium sized
Tomatoes - 3 medium sized
Ginger - one small piece
Coconut oil - 2 tsp
Mustard seeds
Curry leaves
Hing /Asafoetida
Turmeric powder
Salt

Procedure
1. Grind coconut with a little water and keep it aside.
2. Cut the raw banana into cubes and cook them in the microwave for about 5 mins.
3. Heat oil in a kadai and add the mustard seeds, hing, green chillies, ginger, turmeric powder and curry leaves.
4. Add the onions and fry well and then mix in the tomatoes and fry till they are tender.
5. Add the cooked raw banana along with half cup of water so that all the ingredients mix well.
6. Now add the ground paste and add 1 more spoon of coconut oil for extra flavour.
7. Mix well and once it boils, remove from the stove and serve hot with rice.

Mini Meals

Its been more than 2 weeks that I've worked on my blog. We had a grand celebration in our apartment for Independence day and I was busy with its preparation for the last 2 weeks.
I thought that I should compensate for this silence and came up with the idea of Mini meals. Most of the South Indian restaurants offer 2 types of meals - Mini meals and normal South Indian meals. The normal meals is quite elaborate and requires you to have enough time to eat!!
For the rest, who don't have enough time and still don't want to settle with a sandwich, Mini meals is a good option. I thought of doing something like that for lunch today.

Mini Meals Menu
Chapathi
Channa Masala
Tomato Rice
Beetroot rasam
Kovakkai /Tindoora Fry
I'm not sharing the recipe of chapathi because its so simple and known to all. I shall probably add it another day. Moving on to the rest of the list...

Channa Masala
Ingredients
White Channa - 1 cup
Tomatoes - 4
Onions - 3
Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tablespoon
Channa Masala - 1 tablespoon
Green Chillies - 2
Corriander leaves - a small bunch
Tea powder - 1 tsp
Bay leaves - 2
Oil - 2 tablespoon
Ghee - 1 tablespoon
Lime Juice - 1 tsp
Dry mango powder/amchur- a pinch(optional)
Salt - to taste
Procedure
1. Boil 1 cup of water and add the tea powder and filter the black tea.
2. Pressure Cook the channa with water, 2 bay leaves, 2 cloves and the black tea. This gives a dark tint for the curry along with good aroma.
3. Heat ghee and oil in a kadai and add Jeera, ginger garlic paste and onions and fry for 5-6 mins till it turns brown.
4. Add the tomatoes and cook till it becomes thick.
5. Mash a few pieces of cooked channa and add it to the kadai. Mix in the channa masala, amchur and the remaining channa.
6. Add 1 cup of water, salt and close it for 5 mins.
7. Once all the ingredients are mixed well, remove from the stove and add lime juice.
8. Garnish with corriander leaves.
9. Serve hot with Rotis /chapathis.



Tomato Rice
Ingredients
Rice - 1 cup
Tomatoes - 6
Onions - 3
Oil - 3 -4 tablespoon
Jeera - 1tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tablespoon
Garam Masala - 1 tablespoon
Cardamom powder 1 tsp
Curry leaves - a few
Corriander leaves - a few
Salt - to taste
Turmeric powder - 1tsp



Procedure
1. Cook the rice separately with a few bay leaves and cloves and transfer into a plate and allow it to cool.
2. In a kadai, heat oil and add the cardamom powder, jeera, ginger garlic paste, curry leaves and onions. Fry till golden brown.
2. Add the tomatoes and cook till it becomes thick.
3. Mix in turmeric powder, garam masala powder, salt and make it into a thick paste.
4.Add the corriander leaves and remove from heat.
5. Slowly add a few spoons of the paste to the cooled rice until the entire paste is mixed with the rice.
6. Heat this in the microwave before serving.


Kovakkai Fry /Tindoora Masala
Ingredients
Kovakkai /Tindoora - 1/2 kg cut into thin long pieces
Onions - 2 cut into thin long slices
Sambar powder - 1 tablespoon
Turmeric powder- 1 tsp
Jeera - 1tsp
Curry leaves - a few
Oil - 3-4 tablespoons
While cooking some vegetables we may have to reduce our health consciousness as these vegetables require a little bit more oil than others. Kovakkai is one such vegetable!! So, be a little lavish if you really want kovakkai fry...


Procedure
1. Heat oil in a kadai and add jeera, curry leaves and the onions and fry till golden brown.
2. Cook the kokkai with very little water in a microwave for 5-7 mins and drain the water. (You may use this water for the rasam instead of throwing it.)
3. Add the cooked kovakkai and add turmeric powder and salt and saute for 5-6 mins.
4. Now mix in the sambar powder and fry for 5 more mins in sim so that it turns light brown colour.
5. Tasty kovakkai fry is ready.

Beetroot rasam
I had earlier promised to share other tasty beetroot recipes like beetroot rasam....here it goes..
Ingredients
Beetroot -1
Ginger paste - 1 tsp
Tamarind - 1 lime size(Squeeze the juice)
Rasam powder -2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1tsp
Pepper powder -1 tsp
Asafoetida/Hing - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - a few
Corriander leaves- a few chopped
Jeera - 1tsp
Green chillies - 2
Ghee - 1 tsp
Procedure
1. Cut the beetroot into big pieces and cook it in the microwave for 5 mins.
2. Allow it to cool and grind it into a smooth paste.
3. In a thick bottom vessel, boil the tamarind pulp(approx. in 2 cups of water).
4. Add the beetroot paste, turmeric powder, hing, salt and allow it to boil for 3-4 mins.
5. Add 1 cup of water and simmer for 2 mins till a frothy layer is formed on top. Remove from the stove.

6. Heat the ghee and add Jeera, ginger paste, curry leaves and green chillies. Pour this to the tasty and health rasam.
7. Garnish with corriander leaves and have it as a soup or with white rice. Either ways, its too good.

Spicy Tomato Rasam snd Cucumber Kootu/Curry

Its been raining continuously in Bangalore and during these rainy days, I just love to have spicy rasam and a kootu with hot pipping rice....You can even have this rasam as a soup.




Spicy Tomato Rasam

Tomatoes - 3-4 cut into quarters
Tamarind- size of a small lemon
Rasam Powder - 3 spoons
Pepper powder - 1 tsp
Jeera Powder - 1 tsp
Ginger chopped - 1 tsp
Green Chillies - 2
Coconut grated - 1 tablespoon (optional)
Salt - to taste
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Asafoetida / Hing - 1 tsp
Water - 3 cups
Cooked Toor Dhal - 2 tablespoon (Optional)
For seasoning
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Ghee - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - a few
Procedure

1. Soak the tamarind in 2 cups of water and take the extract. I normally put it in the microwave for 30 secs and its much easier to squeeze the juice.
2. Heat the tamarind water in a thick bottom vessel and add the tomatoes, turmeric powder, green chillies, ginger and hing.
3. Once it boils for 5 -7 mins and the tomatoes become tender, add the rasam powder and stir well so that there are no lumps.
4. Add the cooked toor dhal with 1 cup of water and simmer it for 3 mins till a frothy layer forms on the top.
5. Add the jeera powder, pepper powder and coconut and take it off the stove.
6. Heat the ghee in a kadai and allow the mustard seeds to splutter. Then add the curry leaves and mix this with the rasam.
7. The spicy rasam is ready..

Don't start off your lunch straight away....check out this Cucumber Kootu / Curry...Its a great combination.

Cucumber Kootu / Curry
Cucumber (cut into cubes) - 1 1/2 cups
Cooked Toor dhal - 1 cup
Grated Coconut - 4 tablespoons
Jeera / cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Green Chillies - 1
Pepper - 1 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
For Seasoning
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - a few
Oil - 1 tablespoon

Procedure
1. Cook the cucumber with very little water in the microwave till it becomes soft.
2. Grind coconut, cumin seeds, green chillies and pepper to a smooth paste.
3. Heat oil in a kadai and allow the mustard seeds to splutter. Then add the curry leaves.
4. Mix the ground paste and add a little water and fry it for 2 mins.
5. Stir in the cooked dhal and the cooked cucumber and mix well.
6. Add salt and turmeric powder and allow it to boil for 4 -5 mins.
7. The tasty curry is ready. You could use the same recipe for other vegetables like carrot and cabbage combination or using white pumpkin.

Enjoy this combination on a rainy day with hot rice and don't complain that you ate a little too much...!

Menthiya Moru Kuzhambu / Simple curd curry

We have the habit of planning the menu for the next day in advance so that no time wasted during the busy morning hours!!! One day my mother- in- law suggested that we could make "MMK" for the next day and I was wondering what "MMK" was ..... I then learnt that it was Menthiya Moru Kuzhambu. Its a simple curd curry which does not involve any grinding of spices but tastes really good!

Ingredients:
Buttermilk – 3 cups
Tomatoes – 5 medium sized
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Urad Dhal – 1 tsp
Toor Dhal – 1 tsp
Channa Dhal – 1 tsp
Fenugreek/ Methi - 2 tsp
Green chillies – 3
Red chillies – 2
Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
Curry leaves – a few
Asafoetida – 1 tsp
Sesame Oil – 2 tablespoon
Salt – to taste

Procedure
1. Heat oil in a kadai and add channa dhal, mustard seeds, urad dhal, toor dhal, methi seeds, curry leaves, chillies and Asafoetida.
2. Add the chopped tomatoes and fry till they become tender.
3. Add turmeric, salt and buttermilk and simmer for 3- 5 mins and remove from the stove. Do not put on high flame after adding buttermilk as it will curdle.
4. Serve hot with rice, papad and some dry vegetable subji.