Hubby not in town = salads, pasta and easy cooking!
Well....thats what I have been doing for more than 2 weeks now, decided to do some real cooking today....
Vetha Kozhambu, Keera Masiyal and Tomato Rasam!
Vetha Kozhambu
Ingredients
Tamarind water - 2 cups (soak 1 ball of tamarind in 2 cups of hot water, squeeze out the juice from the tamarind, if using ready paste - use 11/2 - 2 tbsp of paste).
Jaggery - 1tsp
Salt to taste
Vegetable - 1 small cup (sweet potato, small onion, red pumpkin, drumstick, garlic are most commonly used for this kozhambu)
For Tadka
Gingerly oil - 1tbsp
Channa dhal - 1/2tsp
Methi dhana - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida - little
Curry leaves - few
Rice flour - 11/2 tsp
Sambhar powder - 2 tsp
Method
My first tip for vetha kozhambu is to keep all the tadka ingredients and tamarind water ready because the oil can get hot really fast.
In a deep dish, heat oil and fry the small onions and or garlic for 3 mins. Keep the onions/ garlic aside.
If not using small oinons, heat oil and add the channa dhal and methi dhana first. When channa dhal turns slightly gold, add the mustard seeds and curry leaves. When they splutter add the asafoetida, sambhar powder and rice flour all at the same time. Fry them for 1 mins....dont let the powder turn black!
Then add the tamarind water, salt, jaggery and the desired vegetable.
Let boil for atleast 20 minutes and vegetable is cooked. Add more water if required and simmer till reduced.
Since you add rice flour, note the kozhambhu will thicken fast.
Well....thats what I have been doing for more than 2 weeks now, decided to do some real cooking today....
Vetha Kozhambu, Keera Masiyal and Tomato Rasam!
Vetha Kozhambu
Ingredients
Tamarind water - 2 cups (soak 1 ball of tamarind in 2 cups of hot water, squeeze out the juice from the tamarind, if using ready paste - use 11/2 - 2 tbsp of paste).
Jaggery - 1tsp
Salt to taste
Vegetable - 1 small cup (sweet potato, small onion, red pumpkin, drumstick, garlic are most commonly used for this kozhambu)
For Tadka
Gingerly oil - 1tbsp
Channa dhal - 1/2tsp
Methi dhana - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida - little
Curry leaves - few
Rice flour - 11/2 tsp
Sambhar powder - 2 tsp
Method
My first tip for vetha kozhambu is to keep all the tadka ingredients and tamarind water ready because the oil can get hot really fast.
In a deep dish, heat oil and fry the small onions and or garlic for 3 mins. Keep the onions/ garlic aside.
If not using small oinons, heat oil and add the channa dhal and methi dhana first. When channa dhal turns slightly gold, add the mustard seeds and curry leaves. When they splutter add the asafoetida, sambhar powder and rice flour all at the same time. Fry them for 1 mins....dont let the powder turn black!
Then add the tamarind water, salt, jaggery and the desired vegetable.
Let boil for atleast 20 minutes and vegetable is cooked. Add more water if required and simmer till reduced.
Since you add rice flour, note the kozhambhu will thicken fast.
Great start, Deepa. I'm very much a youtube and blog cook, so i'm sure i'll visit your blog often to check out recipes. What I like best about food videos, over blogs, is that I can see exactly what people mean when they say "oru thuli". Your blog has exact proportions and that makes it easy for me :-) Only suggestion I would have is if you could take a picture of all the ingredients that go into a dish and add that in as well. Sometimes "2 medium tomatoes" mean different things, depending on whether one is talking about tomatoes in India or the US. I'm sure to bookmark your blog. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteThanks Priya....will def remember what you have suggested.
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