Tag Archives: Side dish

Fried Snake Gourd

I have always been quite fond of pudalangai/ snake gourd (scientific name: trichosanthes cucumerina). While it is cooked in different ways, my favourite is pudalangai kulambu – the recipe of which I will share when my mother cooks it. In the meantime, here is my mother’s recipe for fried snake gourd.

Pudalangai Varai/ Fried Snake gourd

Time taken: 20 mins

Serves 3

Fried snake gourd

Ingredients:

  • Pudalangai/ Snake gourd – ½ cup, chopped
  • Red chillies – 1 or 2
  • Onion – ½
  • Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
  • Curry leaves – 1 sprig
  • Crushed garlic – 1 tsp
  • Coconut – 2 tbsp, freshly scraped
  • Turmeric – ¼ tsp
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • Low fat oil – 1 tbsp

Method:

  1. Clean the snake gourd and chop it up finely. Mix some salt and keep aside.
  2. Heat a tbsp oil in a pan and fry the chopped red chillies, onion, fennel seeds and curry leaves for 2 mins.
  3. Add the finely chopped and salted snake gourd to the pan and continue stir-frying for 5 mins.
  4. Add 1 cup of water and season with salt to the pan. Cover and let the snake gourd cook till the water dries up.
  5. Remove the cover and add the crushed garlic, freshly scraped coconut and turmeric powder. Season with salt and pepper, as per your taste. Mix well and let it cook for 2 mins.
  6. Serve hot with rice.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Carrot Varai

Carrot Varai

Time taken: 15 – 20 mins

Serves 3

Carrot VaraiIngredients:

  • Carrot – ½ cup, grated
  • Onion – ½, sliced
  • Malu miris/ capsicum – 1
  • Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
  • Curry leaves – 1 sprig
  • Pepper – 1 tsp
  • Salt – ¼ tsp
  • Low fat oil – 1 tbsp

Method:

  1. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and fry the sliced malu miris and onion. Add the fennel seeds and curry leaves.
  2. After a min or two, add the grated carrots to the pan and stir fry for about 5 mins.
  3. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well and cook for another 5 to 10 mins.
  4. Serve with rice.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Butternut squash and Dhal curry

Today’s recipe is that of one of my mother’s curries.

Butternut squash and Dhal Curry

Time taken: 40 mins

Serves 4 to 5

Butternut squash and dhal curryIngredients:

  • Butternut squash – ½ cup
  • Mysore dhal – ¼ cup
  • Tomato – 1
  • Onion – ½
  • Capsicum – 1
  • Cumin powder – 1 tsp
  • Pepper powder – ½ tsp
  • Chilli powder – 1 tsp
  • Curry leaves – 1 sprig
  • Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
  • Low fat oil – 2 tbsp

Method:

  1. Boil the mysore dhal and chopped butternut squash, adding one cup of water to a saucepan, over medium heat. Cook till the water dries up.
  2. Heat oil in a pan and fry the chopped onion and capsicum, adding the cumin powder, pepper, chilli powder and curry leaves.
  3. After a couple of mins, add the chopped tomato to the pan and ¼ cup of water.
  4. Transfer the cooked dhal and butternut squash to the pan and season with salt and turmeric powder. Cook for about 5 to 10 mins.
  5. Serve the butternut squash and dhal curry with rice or roti.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Thuvaram Paruppu Koottu

Re-posting recipe: Today’s recipe is from my great-grandmother, as remembered and occasionally replicated by my mother.

Thuvaram Paruppu Koottu

Time taken: 1 hour, plus soaking time of dal about 3 – 4 hours

Serves 4

Thuvaram Paruppu Koottu

Ingredients:

  • Toor dal/ Thuvaram paruppu – ½ cup
  • Onion – ¼ + ½
  • Garlic – 2 + 2
  • Cumin powder – ½ tsp + ½ tbsp
  • Fennel powder – ½ tsp
  • Asafoetida – pinch + pinch
  • Salt – ½ tsp + more, to taste
  • Oil – 1 tsp + for deep-fry+ 1 ½ tbsp
  • Fenugreek – 1 tsp
  • Tomato – 1 big or 2 small
  • Dried red chillies – 3
  • Coriander powder – 1 tbsp
  • Grated coconut – 3 tbsp
  • Turmeric powder – ½  tsp
  • Pepper – 1 tsp
  • Tamarind extract – ½ cup (thin)
  • Water – ½ cup + ½ cup (optional)

Method:

  1. Soak the toor dal for 3 – 4 hours.
  2. Chop up ¼ onion and 2 garlic cloves and fry them in 1 tsp oil in a pan.
  3. Add ½ tsp cumin powder, ½ tsp fennel powder and a pinch of asafoetida to the pan. When the spices combine and their aroma starts coming out, add ½ tsp salt.
  4. Add the toor dal to the pan and mix well and quickly remove from heat.
  5. Grind the toor dal mixture, without water or just a little so that it can be made into a slab.
  6. Steam the slab of spiced toor dal.
  7. Cut the steamed block of toor dal into pieces and deep fry.
  8. Make a spice paste by grinding the scraped coconut and chopped chillies with 1 tbsp coriander powder, ½ tbsp cumin powder, ½ tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp pepper powder and a pinch of asafoetida.
  9. Heat 1 to 1 ½ tbsp oil in a pan and fry the chopped onion (½ onion), 2 garlic cloves and the fenugreek seeds.
  10. When you get the aroma of the fried onion and garlic, add the spice paste, mix well and fry.
  11. Add the chopped tomatoes and ½ cup of water and let the tomatoes cook.
  12. Once the tomatoes are cooked, add the fried pieces of toor dal chunks and ½ cup of thin tamarind extract.
  13. Cook for about 10 – 15 minutes on low heat. If you prefer more gravy in your curry, add ½ cup of water.
  14. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Murungaikai Curry

Re-posting recipe: This is my grandmother’s recipe, as remembered and replicated by my mother. For my mother’s recipe, check out this post.

Drumstick curry

Cooking time – 25 minutes

Serves 3

DSC09686

Ingredients:

  • Drumstick/ Murungai – 1
  • Potato – 1 large
  • Onion – ½ medium sized
  • ¼ fresh Coconut ~ ½ cup of scraped fresh coconut
  • Curry powder – 1 tbsp, can add another 1/2 tbsp for more spiciness
  • Salt to taste

 Method:

  1. Cut the drumstick into 2’’ pieces and chop up the potato and onion.
  2. To the scraped fresh coconut, add some water and squeeze out the first coconut milk and keep aside. Reuse the coconut flakes and squeeze out the second milk by adding some water. If you don’t like to squeeze out the coconut milk by hand, simply use a blender and strain out the first and second milk. An alternative is to use ready-made coconut milk but the different consistencies expected in this dish will not be there. The first milk is richer in consistency and fats while the second milk is thinner in consistency.
  3. In a sauce pan, add four cups of water to coconut milk obtained the second time – the second coconut milk.
  4. Add the cut vegetables (drumstick, potato and onion) to the pan as well as the chilli powder and cook the vegetables.
  5. Once the potato and drumstick pieces are cooked, add the reserved first coconut milk and salt and let it simmer for five minutes before taking off the heat.
  6. Serve hot with rice or pittu or stringhoppers.

A slight variation in my great grandmother’s drumstick curry recipe is that she did not add potatoes  to the drumsticks. Just before taking the curry off the heat, she lightly fried some chopped onion, dried red chillies and fennel seeds in a separate pan and added the tempered seasonings to the curry. This gives a nice aroma and flavour to the dish.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Ash plantain peel salad

Re-posting this salad recipe today. It is a recipe of my great-grandmother, as remembered and quite often replicated by my mother at home.

Ash plantain peel salad

Preparation time: 10 mins

Serves 2

Ash plantain peel salad

Ingredients:

  • Skin of ash plantains – 2, boiled
  • Grated coconut – 1 tbsp
  • Onion – 1, small and chopped
  • Chilli or red capsicum -1, chopped
  • Pepper and Salt, to taste
  • Lime juice – 1 tbsp

Method:

  1. Finely chop the boiled ash plantain skin. Mix with salt.
  2. Add the grated coconut, chopped onion and chilli to the ash plantain skin and mix well.
  3. Season with pepper and lime juice and salt, to taste.
  4. Serve with rice.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Beans with Carrot Sauce

Today’s recipe is one of my mother’s sauce recipes. For another of my mother’s similarly interesting sauce recipes, check out ash plantain and carrot with beetroot sauce.

Beans with Carrot Sauce

Time taken: 30 mins

Serves 4

Beans with Carrot SauceIngredients:

  • Beans – 1 cup, chopped
  • Carrot – 1
  • Onion – ½
  • Ginger – 1 tsp, finely chopped
  • Garlic – 1 tsp, finely chopped
  • Green chilli – 1
  • Low fat oil – 1 tbsp

Method:

  1. Clean and chop the beans and carrots. Boil the beans and carrots in water, adding a little salt, for about 10 mins.
  2. Separate the cooked carrots from the beans. Drain the beans, keeping the water aside for re-use.  Transfer the cooked beans to the serving dish.
  3. Heat a tbsp oil in a pan and fry the chopped onion, ginger, garlic and chilli for a couple of mins before adding the cooked carrots and continuing to stir-fry for an extra minute or two.
  4. After cooling slightly, blend the carrot mixture from the pan.
  5. In a sauce pan, heat the previously cooked water, together with the ground carrot mixture, that was kept aside. Adjust salt, as per taste.
  6. Pour the carrot sauce over the beans and serve warm.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Beetroot Varai

Today’s recipe is that of a quick to prepare and delicious beetroot dish.

Beetroot Varai

Time taken: 15 mins

Serves 3

Beetroot varaiIngredients:

  • Beetroot – 1 cup, grated
  • Onion – 1
  • Green chillies – 2
  • Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
  • Curry leaves – 1 sprig
  • Coconut – 1 tbsp, freshly scraped
  • Pepper – ½ tsp
  • Salt – ½ tsp
  • Sesame/ Gingelly oil – 2 tbsp

Method:

  1. Mix ½ tsp salt with 1 cup of grated beetroot and keep aside.
  2. Heat 2 tbsp sesame oil in a pan and fry the fennel seeds, chopped onion, green chillies and curry leaves for a minute.
  3. Add the grated beetroot to the pan and stir-fry for 5 – 10 mins over low heat.
  4. Add 1 tbsp coconut and ½ tsp pepper to the beetroot mix and cook for another 2 mins.
  5. Serve the beetroot varai with rice.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Vendikkai Varai

Today’s recipe is a simple and tasty okra dish. For a slightly different version, try okra stir fry.

Vendikkai Varai/ Okra fry

Cooking time: 15 mins

Serves 3 – 4

VendikkaiIngredients:

  • Okra/ Vendikkai – 1 cup
  • Onion – 1
  • Malu miris/ banana pepper – 1
  • Curry leaves – 1 sprig
  • Lime juice – 1 tbsp
  • Crushed chillies – 1 tsp
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • Sesame oil – 1 tbsp

Method:

  1. Clean the okra and finely chop them. Add some lime juice and salt to the okra and keep aside.
  2. Finely chop the onion, malu miris and curry leaves and fry them for about 5 mins in a tbsp of sesame oil.
  3. Add the finely chopped and seasoned okra slices to the frying pan and continue frying for about 10 mins over medium heat.
  4. Towards the end, add salt and pepper and optionally crushed chillies.
  5. Serve with rice.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Ash plantain and Onion Fritters

Today’s recipe is a lovely snack – fritters. I like the ash plantain fritters more than the onion ones.

Ash plantain and Onion fritters

Time taken: 40 mins

Serves 4

Ash plantain and onion frittersIngredients:

  • Ash plantain – 1
  • Onion – 1
  • Wheat flour – ½ cup
  • Salt – ½ tsp
  • Chilli powder – ½ tsp
  • Turmeric powder – ½ sp
  • Pepper – ½ tsp
  • Low fat oil, for deep-frying

Method:

  1. Boil the ash plantain and then peel. Slice the cooked plantain lengthwise into 4.
  2. Peel the onion and slice them, such that the rings in each slice do not fall apart.
  3. Make the batter by mixing the wheat flour, chilli powder, turmeric, salt and pepper with ½ cup of water.
  4. Dip the ash plantain and onion slices into the batter, coating them well.
  5. Deep-fry the batter coated ash plantain and onion slices until golden brown on both sides.
  6. Serve warm with tea or as a side-dish at lunch lunch.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.