Tag Archives: Thosai

Kundu Thosai with Coconut Tamarind Sambal

A friend of my mother dropped by this morning with some breakfast treats that she had made so I decided to post the recipes for those two dishes. The first is kundu thosai with a coconut-tamarind sambal.

Kundu thosai with sambal

(a) Kundu thosai

Cooking time: 15 mins + preparation time: nearly 8 hours

Makes 24

Gundu thosai

Ingredients:

  • Black gram/ Urad dal/ Ulunthu – ½ cup
  • Raw rice – 1 cup
  • Fenugreek seeds – ¼ tsp
  • Pepper – ¼ tsp
  • Cumin seeds – ¼ tsp
  • Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
  • Wheat flour – 2 tbsp
  • Oil, as required

Method:

  1. Soak ulunthu and rice for about 3 to 4 hours.
  2. Grind the soaked ulunthu and rice together with the fenugreek seeds, pepper, cumin seeds and turmeric powder.
  3. Mix the wheat flour in the blended mixture. The batter should be thick.
  4. Let the batter rest for about 3 to 4 hours.
  5. Place the special ‘kundu thosai’ pan on the stove on low heat.
  6. Pour a little oil in each of the 8 holes of the pan. Then, pour a tablespoon of batter in each.
  7. Cook the thosai for about 1 ½ to 2 mins each side. Flip to the other side so that both sides are browned.
  8. Serve hot with the coconut-tamarind sambal.

(b) Coconut-Tamarind Sambal

Time taken: 10 mins

Serves 4

Ingredients:

  • Freshly scraped coconut – ½ cup
  • Dried red chillies – 4 + 1
  • Onion – ¼ + ¼ , chopped
  • Curry leaves – 1 sprig
  • Fennel seeds – ½ tsp
  • Tamarind extract – ¼ cup
  • Salt, to taste
  • Oil, as required

Method:

  1. Soak four of the dried red chillies for a few minutes and then chop them up.
  2. Grind the soaked dried red chillies with the coconut and 1/4 onion and keep aside.
  3. Heat a tbsp or two of oil in a pan and fry the fennel seeds.
  4. When the seeds start spluttering, add the chopped ¼ onion and chopped dried red chilli and curry leaves.
  5. Add ¼ cup of tamarind extract to the pan and let it simmer.
  6. When the tamarind juice starts bubbling, add the ground chilli-onion-coconut mix and salt, to taste.
  7. Mix well and remove from heat.
  8. Serve with ‘Kundu’ thosai.

Recipe source: Ithayarani Jeyabalasingham.

Thosai with Sambhar

Today’s recipe is a meal that my mother often makes at home for dinner – Thosai with sambhar and sambal. This is a meal that can also be eaten at breakfast or lunch.

Thosai with Sambhar

(a) Thosai

Cooking time: 30 mins + soaking and fermenting time: 12 hours

Makes 20

Ingredients:

  • Raw rice – 1 cup
  • Ulunthu/ urad dal – 1 cup
  • Fenugreek – ¼ tsp
  • Curry leaves – 1 sprig
  • Onion – small piece, chopped
  • Cumin – 1 tsp
  • Pepper – 1 tsp
  • Turmeric – ½ tsp

Method:

  1. Soak the rice, dal and fenugreek for 6 hours.
  2. Drain the soaked mixture and wash it lightly.
  3. Put the mix in the blender together with the curry leaves, chopped onion and cumin, pepper and turmeric. Blend until the thosai batter has a consistency similar to that of pancake batter consistency.
  4. Transfer the batter to a bowl. Cover and let it ferment for another 6 hours.
  5. Add salt and mix before heating up the thosai pan or flat pan.
  6. Pour a large spoonful of batter and spread it out. Flip to the other side after a minute or two so that both sides are cooked well and have brownish tinges.
  7. Serve the thosai hot with sambhar and dried red chilli sambal.

(b) Sambhar

Cooking time: 30 mins

Serves 5 or 6

Ingredients:

  • Mysore dal – ½ cup
  • Brinjal – ½ cup, chopped
  • Beans – ½ cup, chopped
  • Carrot – ½ cup, chopped
  • Potato – 1 medium-sized, chopped
  • Pumpkin – ½ cup, chopped
  • Murungai Kai – ½ cup, chopped (optional)
  • Onion – ½, chopped
  • Curry leaves – 1 sprig
  • Tamarind extract – ¼ cup
  • Crushed chillies – 1 tsp
  • Cumin powder – 1 tsp
  • Coriander powder – 1 tsp
  • Pepper – ½ tsp
  • Garlic cloves – 2 or 3, crushed
  • Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
  • Coconut milk – ¼ cup
  • Salt, to taste

Method:

  1. Cook the vegetables, in a pan with 3 cups of water, for about 15 – 20 minutes on medium heat.
  2. Reduce heat and if water had dried up, add another ½ cup water.  Add the tamarind juice, mix well and cook for another 5 minutes.
  3. Add the crushed chillies, cumin, coriander and pepper powder, crushed garlic and turmeric powder to the pan. Mix well and cook for a few more minutes.
  4. Towards the end, add ¼ cup coconut milk. Cook for a few minutes before removing from heat.
  5. Serve sambhar with thosai or idli.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.