Karavapillai Podi

Our present neighbour has a mature curry leaves tree in their garden. Today they decided to prune it and hence we got a lot of curry leaves. To put it to good use, I decided to make a powder which could be eaten with hot rice and ghee. I zeroed in on this recipe on Rak's Kitchen and later I also stumbled upon the "Tried and Tasted" event by Nivedhanam. Honestly, this is a very nice way to promote a blog while giving due credit to the person behind all the effort. This event is the brain child of Zlamushka, which was taken over by Lakshmi from Kitchen Chronicles.

Since it is my first time making a Podi, I followed the recipe as mentioned in the original.

Ingredients (makes 1 medium sized jar):

1. 1 cup of curry leaves - washed and patted dry on a towel
2. 1/2 cup urad dal
3. 10 whole red chillies
4. 3 tbsp coconut
5. 1/2 tsp hing/asafoetida
6. Salt to taste

How I made it :

1. In the microwave, spread the curry leaves.
2. Microwave on high for 3 minutes. Leave it alone there until ready to grind.
3. In a kadai, dry roast coconut, hing powder and red chillies until the coconut gets a brownish color. This takes lesser time if you use coconut which has been in the frige for some time. Fresh coconut takes a longer time to brown. 
4. Allow that to cool.
5. In another pan, dry roast urad dal.
6. Grind the coconut mix and curry leaves.
7. Add salt and urad dal and grind to a coarse powder.
8. Spread on a newspaper to cool.
9. Once cool, use the newspaper to fill up a airtight jar.
10. Goes well with freshly cooked hot rice and ghee.

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Methi Peas Panneer

The past week has been hectic with a wedding in the family so I hardly got to do much cooking. When my friends asked me what my weekend plans were I said I would relax and probably do some baking. For me, cooking/baking is therapeutic. I need to come home and cook my meal to feel that all is well. So, here is my first post for this weekend with methi peas panneer in a white sauce. This is a really simple recipe and is ready in a jiffy.

Preparation Time : 10 minutes
Cooking Time : 10-15 minutes
Ingredients (serves 2):
1/2 cup packed fresh methi/fenugreek leaves
1/4 cup frozen shelled peas
200g panneer/cottage cheese - chopped into small cubes
1/4 cup fresh cream
1/4 cup milk
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp jeera/cumin seeds
salt to taste
1/2 tsp garam masala (optional)
To grind :
10 cashew soaked in hot water for 10 minutes
1/2 tsp khus khus/poppy seeds soaked along with cashew
1 small onion or 1/2 medium onion
3 cloves garlic
4 green chillies
1/2 inch ginger

How I made it :
1. Grind the ingredients under the "To grind" section and keep aside.
2. Heat oil in a pan. Add the cumin seeds.
3. Add the methi leaves - chop them up if you like.
4. Once your kitchen is filled with the aromas of the fried methi, add the panneer and green peas. Fry till there are tiny bits of brown seen on the panneer.
5. Add the ground paste.
6. Fry for about 8 minutes. Do take care as it can stick to the bottom of the pan because of the cashew and poppy seeds paste.
7. Add salt to taste.
8. Add the whipped cream and milk. You may require more milk based on the consistency that you desire.
9. Finally add the garam masala. Mix well and serve hot with rotis/paratas.

I served it with plain parathas.

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Ash gourd sambar

Sambar is a very versatile dish - made in different ways across homes of south india. The sambar that I most like is one with loads of dal, thick and mushy. That with crumbled fresh idlies is a delicacy in itself. Pras told me one morning that I was not a good wife in that I was not giving him idli samabar, dosa, etcetera for breakfast. Basically he was fed up with the quick IT breakfast of oats, cornflakes, bread butter, sandwiches, etcetera. We all have but one life to live and if I did not cook all the variety of dishes there are out there NOW I would always regret it later on, if one exists. So I decided to make Idli and Sambar with a coconut chutney for breakfast this morning. Here goes the recipe for the ash gourd sambar.

Ingredients :
250 gms ash gourd/white pumpkin - chopped into pieces. I retain the skin. You could remove it too.
1/4 cup toor dal/sambar dal
a tiny handful of skinless masoor dal - optional
4 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon ghee
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 pinches of hing
1 teaspoon of mustard seeds
1 twig of curry leaves
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 1/2 tbsp MTR Sambar powder
1 small-medium sized onion
1 tomato
1 tiny lemon sized tamarind ball dipped in water
1tbsp oil
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves to garnish

How I made it :
1. In a pressure cooker, add the sambar dal, masoor dal, garlic, turmeric powder, hing and ghee. Give one whistle on high and 3 on low.Ensure that you have sufficient water in the cooker. I usually soak the dal for sometime to reduce cooking time and making it more efficient. So I soak the dals for about 15 minutes. I add water such that the dals are covered and are 1 inch above dal level.
2. In a pan, heat oil.
3. Drop in mustard seeds into hot oil. Once they splutter, put in the curry leaves.
4. Then add the onion - chopped into cubes. Once they begin to turn translucent, add the ash gourd pieces. Fry for 2 minutes.
5. Add 1/4 cup water and cover and cook on low for about 5 minutes.
6. Add the red chilli powder and coriander powder. Fry for a minute or so.
7. Add the choppped tomato.
8. Fry till tomato is soft and easily gets smashed.
9. Add the boiled dal.
10. Add sambar powder, tamarind water and adjust salt as per taste. Boil for 15 minutes. You could give it a whistle or two in the cooker instead.
11. Add coriander leaves and serve hot.

Note : You could use any other vegetable of your choice too. Remember that Sambar is a versatile dish :)

I served it with idli. You could serve this with rice or loon-mirch paratha (Salt-Chilli paratha) too.
I follow Nag's Murugan Idli Shop recipe for the idli batter. I make enough to get one batch of idlies for two and two batches of dosas. We've stopped buying readymade batter and this one is always a success. Pras loves his dosas and he loves the way the ones made from this batter turn out. 

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