Varutharacha Sambar/ Sambar with roasted coconut

                       Sadya without Sambar is unimaginable for a south Indian. It is the Queen of dishes in a vegetarian feast. It is the most popular vegetable curry to go with plain rice. Hence it would be one of the rarest occurrences, if people from a house hold in Kerala didn't know how to make Sambar, at least in the most simplest form. But I must confess here that it was one of the dishes I mastered very late. Infact, only recently.. (Now don't roll your eyes!! ) YES! It's true! My sambar was no where near to the yummy version. So I had felt always uneasy whenever I had to present my sambar in front of others, let alone guests... ;)

                        So I had taken pains to find out a perfect recipe which I could always rely on.. Talking about sambar, there are lot of variations for it... adding coconut,without coconut, using only one vegetable, with lots of different vegetables and so on.. It varies from place to place..  This version of sambar with roasted ground coconut which I am sharing here today involves little bit lengthy process compared to the no coconut version. But it is worth spending a little more time as it has a very vibrant and distinct taste..This version is more popular in Kerala than in other states of south India. I got the recipe from my MIL who makes it quite differently from my mom. It goes well with rice as well as dosa..

Here is the recipe...

Vellarikka Pachadi

Good food is wise medicine. 

~Alison Levitt

 

                         This is an uncooked vegetarian side dish  eaten with rice, which my family is quite fond of..As it doesn't require cooking and can be made in a few minutes, it is one of the frequently found side dishes at our dining table. I was introduced to this simple  dish by my sister in law and later it became one of my favourites. Try this out and you would be hooked to the distinct flavour of ground mustard and yogurt...

Here is the recipe...

Olan - A Kerala vegeterian sadya delicacy

               So... Where to start?

            After leaving blogging behind for almost five months, I seriously don't know how to start again..

          My fingers feel numb from laziness... and my brain refuses to exude anything intelligible..

      Guess what! I seriously believe, these organs would become vestigial if you don't use it for a long time.. ;)

So, let's stop poking the past... and begin again...

      After a long vacation in India, precisely Kerala, what comes to my mind is one of the simple vegetarian sadya dishes which hails from God's Own Country, Olan.

I have had the picture in my draft for some time.. and thought to post it so as to start blogging again. Actually I have no time to take pictures after I cook the food ... upload it.. brighten it.. caption it... blah blah! Right now, my life is running at sixty miles an hour.. or at a higher pace... and I need to sit tight to stop myself from falling off.

      So, what was I talking about? Oh yes! Olan !

A simple dish with very few ingredients and very less spices (or not at all), it is a treat for the taste buds with its mild, yet outstanding flavour. Me and Mr.KB are Olan nuts, if you may call so, because we are simply fond of this vegetarian delicacy . As far as I know, pure coconut milk and pure coconut oil is what imparts that supple sweet flavour which even a hard core non-vegetarian decline to unnotice.

      After having fish and meet for a long week, my family craves for something 'all vegetarian'.A few days of all vegetarian meal, keeps them in demand for non-vegetarian. So, once or twice in a week,  I make all vegetarian meal for lunch, which my family enjoys with much ardor  One of the dishes which frequents these meals is Olan, which became a family favorite ever since I started making it at home.

Olan Recipe

Black eyed beans / van payar, soaked overnight and cooked- 1 cup

Ash gourd,skinned & cut to small square pieces                    - 2 cups

String beans, cut into pieces of 1&1/2 inch length                   - 1/2 cup                                              

Butter pumpkin, cut to square pieces(optional)                       - 1&1/2 cup  

Green chillies, ground                                                            - 2

Thick coconut milk                                                                - 1 cup

Dried red chillies,split into two                                                - 3

Curry leaves                                                                           - 2 sprigs

Coconut oil                                                                             - 2 tsp

Salt to taste

Method:

•  Cook ash gourd, pumpkin, string beans and dried red chillies together with 1/2 cup water and adequate salt.
• When the vegetables are well cooked (almost mushy),add ground green chillies and cooked beans to it and cook further for 5 minutes.
• When the gravy starts drying up, add the coconut milk and stir well.Switch off the heat and pour coconut oil over the Olan. Add curry leaves and stir to combine.
• Serve hot with rice.

Vendakka Pachadi / Okra (Ladies finger) Pachadi

        There are certain vegetarian delicacies which outplays non-vegetarian dishes with their unique flavour and ambiance. Hence they come handy whenever you run out of chicken and fish. There are times when you forget about the bowl of fried fish sitting infront of you and go on eating those vegetarian dishes; totally hooked. There are many Kerala Sadhya preparations made with vegetables and yogurt which are deliciously flavoursome that you hardly notice, you are eating veg. which is otherwise considered to be bland.( Vegetarians, don't take offense! I was only quoting the general assumptions of a non-vegetarian :))

            Pachadi is a dish prepared with vegetables or fruits tempered with yogurt and spices and is an inevitable dish in the Kerala Sadhya. Wide varieties of vegetables like squash, okra, bitter guard and brinjal and fruits like pineapple too are used in pachadi preparations. This is a very easy, quick and delicious pachadi which my mom in law used to make, which I was totally fond of. So when I took over cooking in 'my kitchen empire', I started preparing it whenever I got a handful of fresh okras every now and then, which my son and better half loves to the last bit.



Vendakkaa Pachadi

Okra/ ladies finger  -  1/2 kg

Fresh yogurt           -  1 cup

Turmeric powder    - 1/4 tsp

Red chilli powder    -  1/2 tsp

Vegetable oil           -  2 tbsp

Salt to taste

Coconut oil             - 1 tsp

mustard seeds         - 1/4 tsp

Dried red chilli         - 2

A sprig of curry leaves

Method:

     Wash, drain and cut the okras into thin slices. Mix the spice powders and salt with it and keep aside. Heat a non-stick frying pan and shallow fry the sliced okras in vegetable oil. Transfer it to a bowl and add yogurt. Mix it well.

      In the same frying pan, add coconut oil and splutter mustard seeds in it. Add the dry red chilli and curry leaves and saute for a few seconds. Pour this seasoning over the okra-yogurt mixture and stir to combine. Serve immediately with steaming rice and curry.

Mampazha Pulisseri

         Some things never seize to charm you even if you have gone a long way from it. Even while living in very different situations or in an entirely different world they tempt you and churns you in a pool of utter longing. When talking about traditions, homeland, cultures and cuisines to which you were born into, the condition is no different. Being a Keralite I often get such pangs in my heart and longings to get near to my motherland, while living far away from it.

         Those longings to feel the breeze around your ancestral home, to smell the fragrance of those jasmines which grew in your mother's courtyard, to walk in utmost tranquility listening to the chirping of the local birds, to feel the coolness of monsoon as it hits your eyebrows and drips down your face, to inhale the smell of the soil as monsoon hits it for the first time... and of course biting into those exquisite tastes of home, as if there is no tomorrow...

         I know I am not alone in this guttural craving for mother land. I have seen lot of Keralites in the air port with baggages as big as a warehouse stock on their pursuit to 'take their home land' to where they live. I have often seen officers smiling at seeing the most unusual things in baggages like large earthen pots to huge jack fruits and yes, coconuts too. It some times end up in making the poor man or woman, untie and display the strange belongings of those baggages in front of everybody concerned, due to suspicion of bombs. It has often reminded me of the ants with a block of sugar (more than double their size) on their back struggling to reach their far away nests.

             So, it is mango season again. The time of the year when every mango tree in Kerala is abloom with a thousand mangoes and every urchin is busy climbing mango trees and eating as many mangoes their little tummies can have. If only I could go back to my carefree childhood of climbing mango trees and jump from them screaming when the 'puliyurumbu'(wild ants) start to crawl over you... Sigh!  This is the season when the homes smell of all the varieties  of mango dishes under the sun. But we seldom made Mampazha pilissery (made with ripe mangoes) at home. I was introduced to this lip smacking dish by one of my friends' mom. Later I used to have it from our hostel on every Wednesdays. It was the only day of tthe week, I ate rice with great relish and hunger.

         We get Kerala mangoes here from a local Indian supermarket. Last week we got  some ripe 'moovandan manga' (local Kerala mango) and I made mampazha pulisseri with it. My family enjoyed it so much that I thought I would share the recipe of this incredibly yummy, sweet and tangy curry.

Mampazha Pulisseri / Ripe mangoes cooked in coconut and yogurt gravy

Things you need:

3 ripe mangoes ( preferably local Kerala mangoes), skin removed
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
1and 1/2 cups thick yogurt
For grinding:
3/4 cup grated coconut
2 to 3 shallots
1/4 tsp cumin seeds/jeera
1/4 cup water
For tempering:
1 tbsp coconut oil
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds/ uluva
1 or 2 dry red chillies
a sprig of curry leaves

Method:
 
1) Cook the mangoes in adequate  water with salt, turmeric powder and red chilli powder until soft.


2) Grind the coconut, cumin and shallots with water and add this to the cooked mangoes and mix gently.Allow to cook for a couple of minutes in low flame.

3) Blend yogurt with 1/4 cup of water and add this to the curry in low heat. Add adequate salt and remove from heat.

4) Heat oil in a pan. Splutter mustard seeds. Saute the fenugreek seeds, dry red chillies and curry leaves in it. Pour this seasoning over the curry and mix gently.

5) Serve hot with plain rice.

Padavalam Parippu Thoran

           
              You must have noticed by now that I have posted a variety of Thorans in KB till date. Being a Keralite, I cannot help making thorans as they are the most commonly eaten side dishes at home ( with rice) and with out one the lunch seems bland and uninspiring. Coconut being an important ingredient of Thoran, I am sure that people beyond Kerala (where coconut is not abundant) doesn't make thorans at home, as obsessively as a Keralite. I usually temper the thorans and upperis (mezhukku puratti) with coconut oil to impart that real authentic taste.

             This is a Thoran made with Snake gourd or Padavalam and lentils, which I frequently make at home and my family enjoys. Just thought of sharing it with you..

Padavalam Parippu Thoran

Things you need:

Snake gourd/padavalam - 250g

Red lentil or yellow lentil (parippu) -1/4 cup

Grated coconut         -  1/4 cup

Green chilli                -  2 to 3

Shallots/pearl onion (cheriyulli) -3

Garlic                                      - 2 cloves

Turmeric powder                     - 1/4 tsp

Salt                                          - to taste

For tempering:

Mustard seeds     - 1/4 tsp

Cumin seeds/ cheriya jeera  - 1/4 tsp

Shallots, sliced                     - 2

Dry red chilli /vattal mulaku  - 1 or 2

Curry leaves                        - a sprig

Coconut oil                          - 1 tbsp

Method:

1. Skin and seed the snake gourd and slice it to small thin slices. Pulse the coconut along with the green chillies, shallots, garlic and turmeric powder.Cook the lentils in a little water and keep aside.
2. Heat oil in a pan and slutter mustard seeds and cumin. Add sliced shallots and red chillies and saute for a few minutes. Now add curry leaves and add the pulsed coconut mixture. Add the sliced snake guard to this and stir well until combined. Add 1/4 cup of water and salt and cook covered until done.
3. Add the cooked lentils to this and serve hot with rice.

Beetroot Thoran

                  
                 
                      When I was small and school going, we seldom made beet dishes at home and so it was never send to school with my tiffin of lunch. Some of my classmates used to bring it with rice and I used to look in awe as the colour of their rice changed to pink when the beets were mixed in it. I always envied them and had tried to befriend them. In my eyes, the beet eaters were superior to non-beet eaters simply because they could change the colour of their rice to pink and I had felt myself inferior.

                       When this inferiority complex took hold of me hard, I said to my mom one day, "Well, today onwards, I want beets for lunch. If not, I'm not gonna go to school anymore". My mom wouldn't have understood a bit about my beet love, but nevertheless she included it in my lunch the next day onwards because she couldn't risk the halting of her daughter's schooling. So I was lifted up into the hierarchy of beet eaters in my class and never ever felt inferior again. 

                    This recipe of beetroot thoran is the most common form cooked in northern kerala and is quite delicious on its own.

Beetroot Thoran Recipe:

Things you need:

4 beetroots, skinned and cut into small square pieces
1 cup of grated coconut
2 green chillies
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 sprig of curry leaves
1 tbsp coconut oil
Salt to taste

Method:

Cook the beets in a covered vessel with little water and adequate salt. Pulse the coconut and green chillies in a mixer and keep aside. Heat a frying pan and add coconut oil. Splutter mustard seeds and curry leaves, Now add the pulsed coconut and saute for a minute. Finally add the cooked beets, mix everything well and remove from heat. Serve hot with rice.

  Sending this to Bon Vivant Moments #2 - Savoury Items at Sumee's Culinary Bites

and to CC event Vegan Diet at Srav's Culinary concepts  
and also to Walking through memory lane event hosted by Roshan of Roshan's Cusina started by Gayathri of Gayathri's Cookspot

Cream of Broccoli Soup

  

      Who wouldn't love a steaming cup of incredibly delicious soup on a cold winter night? Bet, you wouldn't stop at one. And when it comes to creamy soups, the kids it seems have ample space in their stomach to host an air ship crew. I have always wondered how fast my son's stomach gets filled while drinking milk to a point that he cannot sip a single mouth after half the glass is in. But while having soups and soft drinks 1 cup, 2 cups, 3... and I have reasons to doubt  if he has holes in his stomach. Keeping these holes in mind I always make soups in a large pot :) 

     Making him eat vegetables, cooked or raw has proved to be a 'Mission impossible' nowadays. I have found that making vegetable soups is the most inconspicuous way to sneak them in.. and he hardly notice his enemies entering his stomach right under his nose ;) I adopted this plan from my mom who used to feed us veggies this way when we were small and at the end she would be contend that her children had her provision of vegetables and we in turn enjoyed our favourite soups. I usually make this soup with carrots and cabbages along with broccoli or spinach.

Cream of Broccoli Soup

Things you need:

Broccoli florets ,cleaned and washed     -   2 cups
Carrots, diced into small pieces             -    2
Celery, diced                                        -   1stalk
Onion, sliced                                        - 1
Garlic, sliced                                        -   1
Cabbage, sliced                                    -    1/2 cup (optional)
Butter                                                   -   2 tbsp
Corn flour                                             -   2 tbsp
Flour / maida                                       -   1 tbsp
Water                                                  -    4 cups
Ground black pepper                           -    2 tsp
Oyster sauce                                       -    2 tsp
Cream / full fat milk                              - 1 cup
Sugar                                                   - a pinch
Salt                                                      -  to taste

Method:

Heat a sauce pan and add butter to it. Add the sliced onion and garlic and saute until tender. Add the vegetables and saute for a few minutes. Now add the water and let the mixture boil.Cook for a few minutes more until the vegetables are tender.Now add the flours dissolved in 1 cup of cream and add this to the soup. When the soup begin to thicken add sugar,salt and the oyster sauce. Mix well, remove from heat and serve hot with ground black pepper. Enjoy!

                   

Avial

                        Small joys have their own pains.You cannot reach the top of a hill and luxuriate in the picturesque scenery around, without a little bit of sweat perspired on your hike. So when you are expecting your baby with a lot of woven dreams, you cannot help but face a bit of pesky troubles b'fore you receive your bundle of joy in your hands.

                      When the so called morning sickness became more like a whole day sickness, and making daily dishes or even entering the kitchen with out the nagging nausea became impossible, I was quite up the creek. It's needless to say I couldn't satisfy the greedy guts of my son or his father nor could I keep my good humour up.What's more.. the jack fruits and mangoes which grew in India (plucked fresh from the trees and not exported) tempted me like never before. And I longed for the luxury of not having to prepare everything by myself and just eat the yummy dishes mom prepared, when she calls, “grub’s up”. You would have guessed by now the reason for my quite sudden disappearance from the blogosphere as if into thin air. Well, I am happy to be back, though I cannot promise a post in every alternate days.

             So well, I had no other choice but to catch the next plane possible and fly to fulfill my dream, though it cost my hubby a fortune. (May Almighty Allah bless him ) So yes! I am now in India, with almost all those wishes fulfilled (thanks Allah) and feeling quite well perhaps and planning to fly back next month.

             I was also lucky enough to witness the summer showers which came as a cool comfort in the scorching heat. It was jus’ fantastic and I candidly enjoyed it like my excited son who was witnessing his first sight of real rain. Rain always lifts my mood up. I have always found it kinda euphoriogenic. That must be why I got an enthusiasm to post something after the long break.

             I thought of posting something my mom prepares and I have always been the greatest fan of her Avial, the yummy vegetarian Kerala delight. More than often I have ended up licking the earthen pot in which she prepares it with much ardour. I also used to prepare it when ever we come to the end of a purchase and we have a little bit of different vegetables leftover. I usually prepare it adding yogurt.You can also prepare Avial adding tamarind or raw mango for the sourness. Here is the recipe..

Avial

Things you need:

Elephant yam         - 100g
Ash guard              - 150g
Cucumber              - 150g
Snake guard           - 100g
Carrot                    - 1 small
Brinjal                    - 1 medium
Drum stick             - 1
Raw plantain          - 1
Spring beans          - 5
Green chillies         - 6
Turmeric powder   - 3/4 tsp
Chilli powder         - 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds          - 1 1/2 tsp
Grated fresh coconut  -  1
Yogurt , beaten          -   2 cups
Coconut oil                -   50 g
Salt  to taste

Method:

1. Coarsely grind the coconut, green chillies and cumin seeds and keep aside.
2. Wash and cut all the vegetables into equal sized pieces of two inches.
3. Heat an earthen vessel and add a little coconut oil into it. Add the elephant yam  and saute for a few minutes.Pour a little water and cook it in low flame for a few minutes. When it is half done, add the rest of the vegetables, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, salt and adequate water and cook in low flame, covering the vessel.
4. When the vegetables are well cooked , add the ground coconut mixture, flatten it over the cooked vegetables with a spatula and keep the vessel covered until vapour passes through the coconut mixture. Then open the lid and mix the vegetables and coconut mixture evenly and switch off the flame.
5. Add the beaten yogurt and mix well. Garnish with curry leaves and coconut oil and mix well.
6. Serve hot with rice.

Ethappazham Pulissery

           Raw green plantains have long been used in many vegetarian preparations in Kerala. Pulissery is a dish which uses yogurt or curd and ground coconut in it and which is some what sour in taste. Vegetables and fruits like ash guard, pine apple and plantains are usually used in the curry. Ethappazam pulissery uses raw or ripe plantains in it. Here I have prepared it using raw plantain.

Here is the recipe..

Things you need:

1Green plantain/ Pachakkaya, chopped
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
2 cups curd or yogurt
Salt to taste
For grinding:
1 cup grated coconut
1 green chilli, slit
2 to 3 shallots
1/4 tsp cumin seeds/ jeera
1/4 cup of water
For tempering:
1 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
3 or 4 dry red chillies (optional)
A sprig of curry leaves

Procedure:

1) Cook the plantain in a little water with salt, turmeric powder and red chilli powder until soft.

2) Grind the coconut, green chilli,cumin and shallots with water and add this to the cooked plantain and mix gently.Allow to cook for a couple of minutes in low flame.

3) Blend yogurt with 1/4 cup of water and add this to the curry in low flame. Add adequate salt and remove from flame just before the curry starts to boil.
4) Heat oil in a pan. Splutter mustard seeds. Saute the fenugreek seeds, dry red chillies and curry leaves  in it. Pour this seasoning over the curry and mix gently.

5) Serve hot with plain rice.

      And my friend and class mate, Sreeja- The small town girl has given me a cute award. Thank you Sreej, for the well thought award.Do visit her blog.. She writes really funny. Some times she doesn't make much sense...but anyway they are fun to read..

Mathan Thoran / Pumpkin Thoran and being Tagged

                As far as KB is concerned there had been not much ponderings on what to make for the first post of the year or should I say decade...? Oh yes, it is the starting of a decade, right? But 'nothing complicated', I decided. Simplicity is the best way with which you could begin a new year. I thought of posting the simple yet delicious pumpkin thoran which goes very well with rice. Though it is not the pumpkin season, pumpkins are still available in market at reasonable price and I made it the way my mom used to make it... back home with raw pumpkins. Raw pumpkins in kerala where more of a light greenish colour and tasted fantastic when cooked. Though butter pumpkins are deep yellow in colour, they taste almost similar to the green pumpkins of kerala. So I used butter pumpkin for the dish.

Things u need:

Butter pumpkin, cut into medium sized pieces - 1 cup
Grated fresh coconut                                     -  3 tbsp
Green chilli                                                    -  1
Turmeric powder (optional)                           -  1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds                                                 -  1/2 tsp
pearl onions/ shallots                                     -  2 to 3
Salt to taste
For tempering:
Mustard seeds                                             -  1/2 tsp
Curry leaves                                                -   a sprig
Coconut oil/ veg. oil                                     - 1 tbsp

Method:
    
        Cook the pumpkin slices adding a little water(about 3 tablespoon), adequate salt and turmeric powder until soft. Pulse the coconut,green chilli,shallots and cumin seeds in a blender and keep aside. Now heat oil in a frying pan or kadai and splutter mustard seeds in it. Add curry leaves and then add the pulsed coconut mixture to it and saute for a few seconds. Then add the cooked pumpkin slices to it and mix well. Adjust the salt, if needed. Remove from heat and serve hot with rice.

             

 I was tagged in a questionnaire by two of my blogging pals. Thank you, Mehnaz of 'Nas, the mistress of spices' and Suja of 'Kitchen corner- Try it' for tagging me.. It was fun answering your questions.. Sorry for being a little late.. Here are the questions and my answers to it..

1) Who inspired you to cook or bake?

 Actually it was not one person in particular. Lot of people have inspired me to cook. Starting from my mom, people who made outstanding dishes have always influenced me to make delicious goodies, though I got the chance to spice up those inspirations only after marriage.

2) What is your take on organic food? Is it a big deal for you?

Yes, if it where cheap, I would have always opted for organic food. Back home, my mom had a vegetable garden in which she grew her own organic foods and I loved eating them. But living in a foreign country where buying soil and plants would cost you a fortune, you cannot always follow your dreams...

3) You try a new recipe and it does not turn out good, what will you do?

I will try it again, differently. That is the most natural reflex which comes in my way.. I'l try n try until I get it perfect.

4) Do you have a new year resolution - and would you be sticking to it?

I usually  do not make any new year resolutions... I make resolutions every week and see whether they are fulfilled in the weekends.

5) Do you time your breakfast, lunch and dinner or eat when you are hungry?

I used to.. when I was in India. Nowadays it is more like the latter except on weekends when my husband is home.

6) Name three ingredients you consciously avoid or eliminate even when the recipe call for it?

MSG is one thing I consciously avoid.. and curd or yogurt in foods to be cooked.. And yes! saturated vegetable ghee is another thing I would love to avoid

7) Name three things you have to use in most of the recipes?

Salt, ginger garlic paste and tomatoes.



Vendakka Fry / Okra Fry / Ladies finger fry

              Desperate hours need desperate measures. After all the laundry done followed by the winter cleanings I was too exhausted to try anything harder. The December cold has already started climbing in though not as furious as it used to be. All I wanted was to curl up under a blanket and sleep off into the small hours. Couldn't even think about a long cooking session in the kitchen. It was with much laboured efforts that I managed to make my son sleep at last. I have always wondered why these toddlers are so reluctant to sleep when we adults would jump at the idea. If  only  I was a child.....

              So when the troublemaker was asleep at last I ran into the kitchen planning to throw up a very quick lunch. The side dishes are always the trouble. I leafed through my recipes for vegetarian side dishes. It was already time for the next purchase. All I had was some okras in the fridge. I cannot make curry with it because my hubby hates okra curry. So I searched for a different preparation and came to this recipe which looked quite satisfying.. and too simple. Just the thing..., I thought. At school, back in India Okras were taught as 'Lady's fingers'.. a name which hung in my memory due to its weirdness. May be that was why I always associated it with ladies and not men. And the fact that my husband hated it while I loved it, didn't quite surprise me. But I had to change my theory as I was intrigued when everything went hunky-dory with my better half when I fried it unlike the curry I used to make with it. This may be how tricks evolve... When your husband doesn't love the food you make, disguise it into another form and you would be astounded to find him eating out of your hands..( Now, keep my secret! ladies.. Don't disperse it ;) )

             Coming to the recipe...

Things you need:

Okra, washed and cut into thin slices along its length- 200g
Red chilli powder                 -    1/2 tsp
Gram flour                           -    5 tbsp
Asafoetida powder              -    a pinch
Salt                                     -    3/4 tsp
Vegetable oil

Method:

    Mix all the ingredients except oil and apply evenly over the okra slices. Deep fry it in vegetable oil and drain on a kitchen tissue. Serve hot with rice and curry.
   
Recipe courtesy: Vanitha

Palak Dal Curry

           This is a simple, yet delicious vegetable curry you can prepare with ease.. It is made using the nutritious palak leaves which are rich in vitamins and the yummy red lentils which are highly protienatious.This is a curry which goes well with plain rice and can be made often to let your little ones have their share of green leafy veg  with out much faces made nor too much  of coaxing...





  
Ingredients:


         Palak leaves( a kind of spinach abundant in India)- a big bunch/250g
         Red lentils   - 1/4 cup
         Garlic         -  2 cloves,diced thinly
         Cumin seeds -1/2 tsp
         Tomato        -  1 small, cut into 4 pieces
         Green chilli   -  1 or 2, slit
         Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
         Thick coconut milk - 1 cup
         Water -1 cup
         Salt to taste
         Vegetable oil - 2 tbsp


Preparation:
              Wash the palak leaves properly and drain. Cut it into small pieces and keep aside. Wash the lentils and cook it in a pot or cooker adding 1/2 cup of water and turmeric powder, until done.(almost 15 min in pot). Heat a sauce pan or wok and add oil to it. Now add the cumin seeds and garlic and saute in low heat. Add the cooked lentils to this and add the rest of water. Increase the heat and when it starts to boil add salt, slit green chillies, tomato and the diced palak leaves. Cook it in medium heat keeping the saucepan covered until the palak leaves get cooked properly. Now add the coconut milk and remove from heat before it starts to boil. The curry should be thick and not watery. Serve hot with basmathi or motta rice.