Chettinadu Thakali Pachadi | Tomato Dal

This is what I make when I am lazy or get tired of the usual sambar/rasam/kuzhambu/kootu to go along with rice. This is extremely simple, easy and quick to make, not to mention finger licking good. Just pair this Tomato Pachadi with Rice + ghee and some appalams and you have a delicious lunch ready in less than 30 min.

Ingredients

Serves - 4
Spice Level - Moderate
Prep Time - 10 min
Cook time - 20 min

Onion - 1 medium sized, chopped finely
Tomato - 3 large ripe, chopped into small pieces
Curry Leaves - 1 sprig
Green chilli - 3-4, slit lengthwise and cut in half
Salt - as per need
Hing - a generous pinch
Jeera seeds/Cumin - 1/2 Tsp
Mustard - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric - a pinch
Cooked Toor Dal/Tuvaram Paruppu - 1 cup
Tamarind paste - 2 Tsp
Oil - 2 Tbsp


How do you do it

1. Heat oil in a pan. Add hing, mustard, jeera seeds to pop and roast. Add onions and curry leaves, saute until onions start to turn a shade of brown.

2. Add the green chillies now and saute for a minute.

3. Add the chopped tomatoes, turmeric, salt and mix well. Cook covered until the tomatoes are mashed completely and ooze out juice. Should take about 10 min.

4. Now add the cooked toor dal, 1 cup water, more salt if needed and tamarind paste and mix well. Bring it to a boil and simmer on medium flame for about 5 minutes.

5. Add more water if you would like a more loose pachadi.

6. Once the right consistency has reached, remove from flame.

Serve with rice and pappads.

Continue Reading >>

Bottle Gourd Chutney/Sorakkai Thogayal/Lauki Chutney

I always try to have a collection of different types of chutneys because they can be used as a side for almost anything - idli, dosai, rice or as a spread for toast etc. My favorite is always rice + ghee + thuvyal = YUM! :). South Indies Restaurant in Bangalore makes this awesome bottle gourd chutney as a part of their lunch buffet and though I tasted it only once, I remember how much I loved the thogayal. So tried recreating the chutney and it turned out super delicious and flavorful.

Ingredients

Serves - 4
Spice Level - Moderate
Prep Time - 15 min
Cook time - 20 min

Bottle Gourd/Lauki/Sorrakai - 1 small sized, cut into medium sized pieces and washed well.
Onion - 1 Medium sized, chopped roughly
Dry Red chilli - 3
Green chilli - 1
Garlic cloves - 3
Coriander leaves - 1 small handful
Curry Leaves - 1 small handful
Tamarind - small lemon sized,1 piece
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Channa Dal / Bengal Gram dal - 1/2 Tbsp
Hing - a generous pinch
Turmeric - a pinch
Salt - as per need
Oil - 4 tsp

To Temper

Oil - 1 Tsp
Mustard - 1/2 Tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - few

How do you do it

1. Heat oil in a kadai. Add hing, cumin seeds, channa dal, dry red chilli and let them roast for a few seconds.

2. Add the onion, garlic, green chilli, curry and coriander leaves and saute till onions are done.

3. Add the bottle gourd pieces, salt, turmeric and tamarind now and cook covered for 10-15 minutes until all the water evaporates and the rawness of the veggies go away.

4. Cool and grind the mixture and transfer to a bowl.

5. Heat oil again in a pan, add mustard seeds to pop and roast urad dal and curry leaves. Pour this tempering over the chutney.

Absolutely delicious with ghee rice, dosai, idli etc.

Continue Reading >>

Paneer Bhurji | Spicy scrambled cottage cheese

Easily the most delicious and simple sandwich/toast filling that I would get excited about. Pretty quick to make and it can be used as a side for so many meals, pair it up with roti and dal or jeera rice and dal to make a wholesome lunch. This paneer bhurji filling can be used in samosas, puffs, spring rolls, bread rolls and it would taste awesome. I wanted to use this paneer bhurji to make Parathas but ended up making bread rolls after a friend of mine suggested this easy option :). S and me loved those Paneer Bread rolls and ended up making more the next day with the remaining filling and it all vanished in minutes.

Ingredients

Serves - 4
Spice Level - Medium
Prep time - 10 min
Cook time - 15 min

Paneer block/Cottage cheese - 300 gm
Onion - 1 Large, finely chopped
Green chilli - 3 finely chopped
Tomato - 1 large, finely chopped
Ginger Garlic paste - 1.5 Tsp
Turmeric - a pinch
Red chilli powder - 1 Tsp
Garam Masala - 1 Tsp
Cumin powder - 1 Tsp
Coriander Leaves - 1 Tbsp, chopped finely
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Sal - as per need
Oil - 1 Tbsp

How do you do it

1. First crumble the paneer pieces well in your food processor. It should resemble bread crumbs texture - keep aside

2. Heat oil in a pan. Add jeera seeds to roast, add onions, GG paste and saute well until lightly browned. Add the green chillies and saute for a minute.

3. Add the tomatoes now and cook for a few minutes until they mash up well.

4. Add all the spice powders - turmeric, red chilli, garam masala, cumin powder, required salt and mix well. Saute for a couple of minutes.

5. Now switch of flame and add the paneer crumbs, coriander leaves and mix well until the paneer crumbs are well blended with the spice mixture. Remove the filling from the hot pan and transfer to bowl.

Note: Do not add paneer and keep mixing on high/medium heat, the paneer will harden and clump together.

Use this yummy filling to make sandwiches, puffs or samosas. Also makes a great side dish for rice or roti.

Continue Reading >>