New Year Day always calls for celebration at my place. Two reasons, one being my mother's birthday and two it is a time that the whole family comes together and spends the whole day. What is more better than kickoff the new year with your loved ones. Paati always says only if you spend less time in the kitchen can you spend time talking with our family and relatives, hence lunch during such days are always simple and tasty ones.
This year was no different. We had the whole family gathered for New Year and the lunch was as follows.
Vendakkai Sambhar
Pudhina Thogaiyal
Tomato Rasam
Kerala Adai Payasam
Appalam
My cooking has a heavy influence from the neighboring state of Kerala. Paati was born and brought up in Nagercoil, which is mini Kerala in TamilNadu. Hence the influence.
Kerala Adai Payasam is a regular at home , so is the Avial as well. It is not a festival food alone, we make it atleast thrice a month, when the fridge needs to be cleared of the excess vegetables that I have stocked up.
Here in this post, we are gonna see two recipes. Vendakai Sambhar
and Pudhina Thogaiyal
Vendakai Sambhar ( Lady's Finger dunked in spicy and tangy lentil
soup )
Ingredients
Toor Dal - 1 cup
Red Chilli powder - 3 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Lady s Finger (chopped into 1 inch pieces) - 1 cup
Tamarind Pulp - 1/2 cup
Salt to taste
Curry leaves and Coriander leaves
Onion - 1/2 cut into thin slices
Oil and mustard seeds for tempering
Hing - a pinch
Method
Pressure
cook the Toor Dal with Curry leaves, Coriander leaves and a pinch of Turmeric
Powder
Slice the Lady s finger into 1 inch pieces and saute it in a little
oil separately
Soak tamarind in half cup of water
In a heavy bottomed kadai, take some oil and heat it
When it is hot enough add the mustard seeds followed by curry leaves
After mustard seeds have sputtered add the sliced onions and saute well
Add the tamarind pulp, sauteed Lady's Finger, red chili
powder, turmeric powder and salt
Mix well and let this mixture boil well till the raw flavor of red
chili powder is gone
After about 15 minutes, add the boiled Toor Dal and adjust salt
At this stage add hing for flavoring. Be careful not to add more
Let the sambhar boil well, you will now be able to get the flavor of sambhar.
Went it is done, garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rice.
Pudhina Thogaiyal
Let me throw some light on the difference between thogaiyal and
chutney. A little dry consistency of a chutney is thogaiyal. When we make a
chutney, you need not worry about the amount of water that goes into it. As
chutney is supposed to be in a runny consistency. But thogaiyal is to be a like
a paste, It should be wet but not runny.
My mom would instruct me umpteen times, when I make a thogaiyal to
make sure that I add very little water while grinding it in the blender.
This pudhina thogaiyal is a good combination to rasam sadham and
thayir sadham.
Ingredients
Pudhina - 1 cup
Cilantro - 1 cup
Green chillies - 4 to 5 nos
Coconut - 1/2 cup
Salt - as per taste
For tempering - Mustard seeds, Urad Dal and little
oil
Method:
Wash thoroughly Cilantro and pudhina, let the water drip off. In a blender add
all the ingredients except the ones for tempering and blend well.
