Delicious Sambar Rice

We can call it the Chennai Version of Bisi bela huli anna , the famous rice-dish of Karnataka.

1.Cooked rice – (Cooked with 1 cup rice)
2.Cooked tur dal – 1 cup
3.Tamarind pulp – 1 cup (extracted with a lemon-sized tamarind ball and water)
4.Sambar powder – 3 tspns
5.Sambar onions – peeled – 15 to 20
6.Carrot, potato, beans, peas, cauliflower – chopped – 1 cup (Any vegetables suitable for sambar like radish, potatoes and drumsticks can also be added)
7.Tomato – 2
8.Mustards – 1 tspn
9.Oil – 1\2 cp
10. Salt

To roast and grind: (Roast 1 to 4 separately and 5 to 14 separately and mix it to a paste)
1.Krambu or cloves – 4 to 5
2.Elaichi – 2
3.Khus khus – 2tspns
4.Lavang or cinnamon sticks – 3 small pieces
5.Mehthi or vendayam – 1 tspn
6.Urad dhal – 1tspn
7.Dhaniya – 3 tspns
8.Channa dhal – 11\2 tspns
9.Black Pepper – 1 tspn
10.Jeera – 1 tspn
11.Mehthi or vendayam – 1 tspn
12.Urad dal – 2 tspns
13. Red Chillies – 3 to 4
14. Coconut scrapings – 1\2 cup

1. Splutter mustard, add urad dhal in a tspn of oil, and roast it to golden brown.
2. Fry the onions and tomatoes. Add the chopped vegetables.
3. Pour the tamarind pulp.
4. Add sambar powder. Add salt as required.
5. When the vegetables are well cooked, add the cooked tur dhal and make it to sambar consistency.
6. Add the roasted and ground paste to the sambar.
7. As the sambar keeps boiling, add the cooked tur dhal.
8. Stir well and then mix the cooked rice and stir again. Add oil.
9. Switch it off when it has the gravy consistency.
10. Garnish with curry leaves and chopped coriander leaves.

Options:
Add 2 to 3 tspns of gingely oil and mix and add melted ghee when serving.

Garnish with roasted cashew nuts.

Pepper- Jeera rasam

This is a special rasam made in South Indian houses, which has medicinal properties too. A cup of this hot rasam is a soothing tonic for people who have cold and cough.

For 3 cups of rasam:

Tamarind pulp – 1 cup (pulp extracted from soaking a lemon sized ball of tamarind in water)
Milagu or Black pepper – 2 spoons
Jeera or cumin seeds – 1 spoon
Tur dhal - half cup
Curry leaves – half cup
Mustard – 1 tspn
Oil – 1 tspn
Salt – as required.
Chilly powder – 1\2 tspn.

1. Grind Tur dhal, milagu, jeera and curry leaves to a paste.
2..Add salt and chilly powder to the tamarind pulp and allow it to boil. Allow the fame to simmer for sometime till the raw smell of tamarind and chilly powder goes off.
3. Add a cup of water to the paste and add it to the boiling mixture.
4. Add one more cup of water and allow it to come to a boil till froth forms on the top.
5. Splutter mustards in oil and add to the rasam.
6. This can be taken hot and plain, or mixed with plain rice and eaten with appalams.

Penang Sauce

There is no specific reason for calling this one as Penang Sauce.

Cooked Tur dhal - 1 cup
Coconut milk- 1 cup
Brinjal - 4 (cut into big pieces)
Drumsticks - 2 (cut into 1" pieces)
Potatoes- 2 (Diced)
Small onions - (sambar onions) - 1 cup
Garlic - Half cup (Full ones)
Green Chillies - 5 to 6 or more depending on taste
Oil - 4 tspns
Mustard - 1 tspn
Salt to taste

1.Extract milk out of coconut twice and keep them separately.
2.Heat the oil; splutter the mustards in a pressure pan.
3. Add green chillies and fry. Add the garlic. Then add onion and fry till golden brown. Add brinjal, drumsticks, and potatoes. Mix them and add the second extract of coconut milk. Add salt.
4. Close the pan and pressure-cook the vegetables without getting them overcooked.
5. Open the pan and allow it to be cooked in simmering flame.
6. Add the cooked Tur dhal and mix it well till it blends with the vegetables.
7. Mix the first extract of coconut milk When it starts boiling, switch off since it might curdle.
8. To make the gravy thick, you may add a paste of 2 tspns of channa dhal flour and water and then add coconut milk.
9.Garnish with roasted cashew nuts, coriander and curry leaves.

Wedding Favourite - Paruppusili

Paruppusili is a tasty side-dish which is included and is a must in all South Indian weddings. It can be made at home considering the proteins in dhals and the vegetable fibres.

Can be had with idlis, or mixture of rice and vathakuzhambu or more kuzhambu , or puliotharai.

String Beans 1 cup or

Plantain flower 1 cup or

Cabbage 1 cup

Toor dal 1 cup Gram dal 1\2 cup

Coriander leaves - 10 to 15 leaves

Asafoetida a pinch

Mustard seeds 1 tsp

Red Chillies - 4 long ones (or according to taste)

Oil - 3 to 4 Tbsn

Salt

1. Cut any of the vegetables into small pieces. Steam it in a pressure cooker or microwave oven and keep it aside.

2 Soak Tur dal and gram dal for about an hour in water. Then drain off the water and grind it into coarse paste along with coriander leaves, red chillies and a pinch of Asafoetida and salt.The paste should be solid enough and not watery.

3. Stean cook the paste in idli plates in the form of idlis. Take out these idlis, and with oily hands, mix them and make them into granules. Can be microwaved and made into granules.

4. Heat the oil in a tawa, splutter mustard and add the mixture. Stir it in simmering heat, till it gets roasted. Add more oil for more brown roast . Then add the boiled vegetables and mix well and allow to simmer for 2 to 3 minutes.

Cool it off for summer!

Mangoes are in great demand during sunner seasons and lot of sumptuous dishes can be doled out using mangoes. Try this one :

Ingredients:
1. Carrot - big - 1
2. Mango - big - 1 (preferebly the "kilimooku manga"- dont know what to call it in English)
3. Channa dhal (kadala parupu) - 2 tspns
4. Groundnuts - according to taste
5. Oil - 2 tablespoons
6. Mustard - 1 tsp
7. Green Chillies - 3 or Red chillies - 3 to 4 ( For more spice, add more chillies)
8. Coriander leaves and curry leaves to garnish.
9. 3 to 4 cups cooked rice
10. Salt as required.
11.Turmeric powder - 1\2 tspn


Method.
1. Grate the carrot and mango and keep it separately.
2. Heat the oil and splutter the mustards.
3. Add channa dal and fry it till golden brown.
4. Add groundnuts.
5. Then cut the green chillies into fine pieces and drop the green or red chillies. Add turmeric powder.
6. Add the grated carrot and cook for 2 mins in simmering heat.
7. Add the grated mango and mix it with the carrot and cook for a minute.
8. Switch off the stove and leave it for 5 mts.
9. then add the cooked rice and mix well.
10. Add required salt.
11. For garnishing, add chopped coriander leaves nd curry leaves.

It depends on the taste of individuals on how to make the dish more spicy or more sweet or sour.
For more of mango dishes , check mango mirattals