Saturday, February 23

Mullangi Mor Kuzhambu




I made mullangi mor kuzhambu or radish yoghurt curry or mooli kadi (okay enough of my translations)... I prepared it with a quite elaborate recipe derived from several blogs and from mom’s kitchen. I’ve used radish in this recipe which is also a first time experience but it really was awesome. I know it sounds like self-praising, but if you had tasted the mor kuzhambu that I had attempted twice earlier you’ll completely agree with me (they had turned disasters). Except for tur dal (pigeon peas) I’ve used every possible ingredient that possibly can go into the mor kuzhambu making; however people generally choose only a subset of this in their recipe.


Serves: 2
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
1.      Curd – 2 cups
2.    Turmeric powder – 2 pinches
3.    Asafoetida – 1 pinch
4.    Radish – 1 large
5.     Curry leaves – 1 sprig
6.    Coriander chopped – 2 tbsp
7.     Green chili – 1
8.    Coconut grated – 2 tbsp
9.    Ginger – 1” piece
10.  Fenugreek seeds – ¼ tsp
11.  Coriander seeds – 1 tbsp
12.Cumin seeds – ½ + ¼ tsp
13. Pepper corns – ½ tsp
14. Dry chili – 2
15.   Bengal gram or Tur dal – 2 tbsp
16. Raw rice – 2 tbsp
17.  Salt to taste
18. Oil – ½ tbsp
19. Mustard seeds – ¼ tsp
20.  Mor milagai/ yoghurt chilies – 2

Method:
Step 1: Soak the rice & Bengal gram together for 15 minutes. Dry roast dry chilies, pepper corns, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, coriander seeds separately.
Step 2: Grind together into a fine paste: the soaked rice & dal, dry roasted ingredients, coconut, green chili and ginger. Dilute it with a cup of water and keep aside.


Step 3: Beat sour curds with turmeric and asafoetida to a smooth consistency.
Step 4: Peel and cut the radish into thick half circles and sauté them in few drops of oil with some salt until it is done. Keep it aside.


Step 5: Now in a kadai prepare tempering by heating some oil, spluttering mustards seeds & cumin seeds, adding curry leaves & yoghurt chilies and then add the masala mix in simmer while stirring.


Step 6: When it starts to boil pour the beaten curds and add the radish and keep stirring until you see it bubbling. Now add salt, mix and transfer to a different container immediately. Garnish with coriander.
Step 7: Serve with hot steamed rice along with appalams (Kundan & I prefer different types of deep fried vathals to go with this)


TIPS:
*Stopping to stir, high heat, unbeaten curds and salted curds might curdle the curry. It doesn’t happen always but I would be careful.
*You can avoid dry chilies & pepper corns and add more green chilies to give brighter color.
*You can avoid rice and add rice flour to the ground masala mix or even skip it completely; it is for thickening the curry and dal would do that job to some extent.




Friday, February 22

Bottle Gourd Sabji




Yuvaraj (my brother) is fond of this sabji that I had made when he visited us once; he was surprised because probably he had not eaten anything from me that good before my marriage. My mom used to tell it is so gratifying to serve my brother as he tastes well and appreciates dishes unlike anyone else in our home. I realized this truly when I started cooking; hearing about the food (be it appreciation or criticism) from the one who tastes it is an honor for the one who cooked it. I adapted this recipe from madhurasrecipe.com; however the original recipe includes potato.



Serves: 2 -3
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1.      Bottled gourd or lauki – 1 medium
2.    Tomato – 2
3.    Green chili – 1
4.    Curry leaves – 1 sprig
5.     Coriander leaves for garnishing
6.    Oil – ½ tbsp
7.     Mustard seeds – ¼ tsp
8.    Cumin seeds – ¼ tsp
9.    Asafoetida – 1 pinch
10.            Turmeric powder – 1 pinch
11.   Ginger garlic paste – 1 tsp
12. Chili powder – 1 tsp
13. Coriander powder – 1 tsp
14. Cumin powder – ¼ tsp
15.  Garam masala – 1 tsp
16. Salt to taste

Method:
Step 1: Peel and cube the bottle gourd, chop the tomatoes and green chili.


Step 2: Heat oil in a pan splutter mustard & cumin seeds, sprinkle asafoetida & turmeric, add green chili & curry leaves, add ginger garlic paste and sauté tomato in it.


Step 3: Add chili powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and sauté for a minutes and then add cubed bottle gourd.


Step 4: Pour a ladle of water & add enough salt; mix and close to cook in simmer for 10 minutes.


Step 5: Open the lid, check if the vegetable is cooked, and add garam masala and mix well.


Step 6: Garnish with coriander leaves and serve it with phulkas.