Kathrikai Vaazhakai Kootu - Brinjal & Plaintain Gravy

Both brinjal and plaintain are integral part of tamil brahmin cuisine as they make lot of no onion garlic recipes using these vegetables. Both me and my hubby are big fan of any kootu so this kootu. After all the heavy festive menu and sweets I wanted to make some light gravy along with rasam so decided to prepare this dish after very long time. This kootu gives lot of volume and hence ideal if you want to make lunch for large number of guests. Lets see how to prepare this tasty and yummy gravy!

Kathrika Vaazhakai Kootu

Cuisine: Indian Category: Main Course Difficulty level: Medium Prep Time: 20 mins Cook time: 20 mins Servings: 4

Ingredients Brinjal/Eggplant 4 medium sized Plaintain/ Vaazhakkai 1 big sized Karamani/yardlong  bean seeds 2 teaspoon Salt 1 Teaspoon Turmeric Powder A small pinch Coriander leaves 1 spring To roast and grind Dry red chilies 4-5 Methi seeds 1/4 teaspoon Urad dal 1 teaspoon Channa dal 1 teaspoon Asafoetida A generous pinch Curry leaves 1 spring For Tempering Coconut oil 1 teaspoon Mustard 1/2 teaspoon Urad dal 1/2 teaspoon Channa dal 1/2 teaspoon Asafoetida A generous pinch Curry leaves 1 spring Preparation     1.     Soak the karamani for 2-3 hours. You can soak it overnight if you are preparing in early morning but 2-3 hours is sufficient.     2.     Soak tamarind in hot water for 10 minutes and extract the juice. Pressure cook the soaked karamani and chop both brinjal and vaazhakai into medium sized cubes.

Method            1.     Roast the ingredients for the spice powder. Once the dals turn golden brown, switch off the flame. Cool down the mixture and grind it to fine powder.      2.     Add the chopped vegetables in a pan and boil it along with water and salt. The water should immerse the vegetables.      3.     Once the vegetables get cooked add the tamarind juice and turmeric. After the raw smell of tamarind goes off, add the karamani and spice powder.     4.     Mix everything well and boil till the gravy thickens as shown. Temper with the mentioned items and garnish with coriander leaves.      5.     Serve the yummy kootu with rotis or steamed rice topped up with little ghee!!                                         Notes

·         You can add 1 or 2 spoons of grated coconut while roasting the dals.

Basic Rasam with Home made Rasam powder

Rasam is an integral part of south indian lunch. It is very simple and healthy recipe. There are many different types of rasam and each has its unique flavor. During my Korba days mostly we used to return from office around 8 PM. So I used to make rasam very often as it can be prepared in a jiffy. When I told my roommate about my blog her first request was to post rasam recipe. So here goes the recipe Chandhini !

Basic Rasam

Cuisine: Indian Category: Main Course Difficulty level: Easy Prep Time: 10 mins Cook time: 10 mins Servings: 3

Ingredients Tamarind 3 inch piece Tomato 1 medium sized Salt 1/2 Teaspoon Turmeric Powder A small pinch Rasam Powder 1 heaped teaspoon Corriander leaves 1 spring For Tempering Ghee 1 teaspoon Mustard 1/2 teaspoon Jeera 1/2 teaspoon Asafoetida A generous pinch Curry leaves 1 spring Preparation     1.     Soak tamarind in hot water for 10 minutes and extract a thin juice. I made 2 cup juice for this tamarind. Chop tomatoes roughly.

Method             1.     In pan add the tomatoes along with 1/2 cup water and little salt. Boil it.     2.  Once the tomatoes become soft and mushy add the tamarind juice, turmeric powder and salt.    3.  Boil till the raw smell of tamarind goes off. Add the rasam powder and mix well.     4.   In one or two minutes the rasam will become frothy. Switch off the flame and transfer to another vessel.     5.  In pan add ghee and once it becomes hot add mustard, jeera, curry leaves and asafetida. Temper rasam and garnish it with coriander leaves.     6.  Serve with steamed rice and any vegetable stir fry or papad. Tastes yummy as such too!!                                         Notes

·         Rasam does not require more tamarind. You can even skip tamarind and use 3 tomatoes.       ·         We usually don prefer adding thur dhal to rasam. If you like that taste add 1 or 2 spoons of mashed thur dhal at last.

Rasapodi- Rasam powder

Rasam powder is such a simple powder to make at home. Usually I roast and grind fresh powder whenever I make rasam and will forget to grind this powder. However this powder comes really handy on days when we feel lazy or tired. Many of my north Indian friends are fan of rasam so they asked to post this recipe. So I finally made the powder . There can be many variations in preparing this powder I am sharing my version.

Rasam Powder

Cuisine: Indian Category: Main Course Difficulty level: Easy Prep Time: 5 mins Cook time: 5 mins Servings: 1 cup

Ingredients Thur dal 2 Tablespoon Corriander seeds 3 tablespoon Dry red chilies 20 Pepper 1 tablespoon Jeera 1 tablespoon Curry leaves 4-5 springs Preparation     1.     Dry roast the curry leaves in medium flame for few minutes. This is done to remove the moisture in the leaves. Once they shrink switch off the flame.

Method            1.     Assemble all the ingredients.     2.     Grind the mixture to a coarse powder. You can grind it to a smooth powder if you prefer that way.                                        Notes

·           Store in air tight container and always use dry spoon.     ·     You can increase or decrease number of chilies according to your spice level. This proportion works best for me!!