Uppuchar - Sesame seeds Sambhar

Uppuchar is undoubtedly my most favourite kuzhambu as I am big fan of any dish made with sesame seeds flavour. This gravy is usually served in all shrarthams (death anniversary of elders) but we make in home on normal days too. Since we add lot of veggies to this flavourful gravy we don't even need a separate side dish. A simple keerai masiyal along with steamed would make a perfect combo with this kuzhambu. This gravy tastes even better the next day! Lets see how to make uppuchar today :). 

Uppuchar

Cuisine: Indian Category: Main Course Difficulty level: Medium Prep Time: 15 mins Cook time: 20 mins Servings: 4

Ingredients Tamarind Gooseberry sized ball Mixed veggies* 1/2 cup Salt 1 Tsp Turmeric 1/4 Tsp To roast and grind Oil 1 Tsp Urad dal 1 Tsp Channa dal 1 Tsp Methi seeds 1/2 Tsp Dry red chilies* 10-12 Curry leaves few Sesame seeds* 2 Tsp Raw rice 1 Tsp To Temper Gingelly oil 1 Tbsp Curry leaves 1 spring Mustard 1/2 Tsp Preparation     1.     Soak tamarind in hot water and extract juice. Chop the veggies to medium sized chunks.           2.     Add oil to pan and roast the dals, methi seeds, curry leaves along with red chili till they are roasted well. Roast sesame seeds and rice separately till the sesame seeds starts spluttering.     3.     Cool down the roasted ingredients separately. Grind the dals and chili first. Finally add sesame seeds and rice and blend for another minute to get a fine powder.

Method             1.     Boil the vegetables by adding water. Cook till they become soft and tender.      2.     Add the tamarind juice along with turmeric and salt. Boil till the raw smell of tamarind goes off. Add the ground powder and mix without any lumps and boil for few more minutes.     3.     Finally temper with ingredients mentioned and serve!!

Notes      ·         Usually brinjal, bitter guard, broad beans and plantain are added for this gravy. You can mix and match the veggies according to their availability.      ·         Number of red chili vary according to nature of the chili and our spice level. Usually I prefer round chilies and 12 works best for us.     ·         You can add either black sesame seeds or reddish ones. white sesame is not used much in "Tam Brahm" cuisine.       ·         Color of the gravy depends on nature of the tamarind also.      ·         Rice is used for thickening. This is a thick, rich and spicy gravy in general with the strong flavor of gingelly oil and sesame.

Tastes best with curd rice :)!!! 

Milagu Jeeraga Pongal

Milagu Jeeraga Pongal is very common dish in our family as we make it regularly on "ekadesi". this is a slight variation from normal ven pongal the main difference being this has turmeric and we do not require tempering for this pongal. This is a sooper easy , healthy and filling dish. Being a simple one pot meal this can be made for brunch/lunch or dinner too!! Hot pongal tastes divine on rainy days especially when paired with masiyal/ coconut thogayal. Guess this post is useful for beginners :).

Pepper Jeera Pongal

Cuisine: Indian Category: Main course Difficulty level: Easy Prep Time: -- Cook time: 30 mins Servings: 4

Ingredients Raw rice 2 cup Moong dal 1/4 cup Pepper 1 Tsp Jeera 1 Tsp Salt 2 tsp flat Turmeric A small pinch Asafetida 1 Tsp Ghee 4 Tbsp

Method             1.     Wash the rice and dal together. Boil 5.5 cup water. Add this water along with salt and turmeric to the rice+dal mixture. Mix everything well and pressure cook the rice for 4-5 whistles.      2.     In the mean time grind pepper and jeera to a coarse powder. Take a wide bowl and mix the cooked rice, pepper jeera powder, hing and ghee. Mash the pongal well.      3.     Serve hot with masiyal or coconut thogayal.                                           Notes

·         We don't like this pongal too much mushy like ven pongal.If you want that way keep 6 cup water.       ·         Rock salt works best for this pongal.

Paruppu urundai Kuzhambu

Paruppu urundai kuzhambu is one of my all time favourite. Obviously I have only seen both my mom and MIL making the kuzhambu that too not very keenly. Concentrated more on enjoying the gravy :P till we moved alone. When I tried intially i failed few times because I will either make the balls too hard or they would break. But I can assure you after few tries you will surely get the grip and can make this kuzhambu in jiffy :). Also this is such an yummy kuzhambu that even if you pair with with some simple poriyal or keerai the menu will become rich. Tastes great even with roasted papad!! I have tried to explain as easily I could. Feel free to ask if you get any doubt/ tips in trouble shooting :).   

Paruppu Urundai Kuzhambu

Cuisine: Indian Category: Main course Difficulty level: Hard Prep Time: 25 mins Cook time: 20 mins Servings: 4

Ingredients Toor dal 3/4 cup Channa dal 1/4 cup Tamarind A small gooseberry size Dry red chilies 10 Salt 1 Tsp +1/2 Tsp Turmeric 1/4 Tsp Sambhar Powder 2 Tsp heaped Rice Flour 1 Tbsp Curry leaves 3 springs Gingelly oil 1 Tbsp Mustard 1/2 Tsp Asafetida 1/4 tsp +A generous pinch Preparation     1.     Soak tamarind in hot water and extract thin juice. Similarly soak both dals together in 1 cup hot water for 20 mins. Coarsely grind 2 springs curry leaves with red chili.      2.     Drain excess water and add soaked the soaked dals along with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 asafetida to the mixer. Grind to a thick paste and make small dumplings out of it.

Method             1.     Add gingelly oil to a wide bottomed pan and temper with mustard, curry leaves and asafetida. Add tamarind juice along with turmeric and salt and bring it to boil. Dust the dumplings with rice flour.        2.     Once raw smell of tamarind goes off, add sambhar powder and mix well. Simmer the flame and add the dumplings slowly and boil them without stirring for few mins. Gently flip the balls ,cover the pan and cook for few more mins.       3.     Serve with steamed rice topped with little ghee !!

Notes       ·         Soak dal with just 1 cup water. If you use more water the excess water will be wasted as we need to grind a very thick paste. You can however add it to kuzhambu or rasam.       ·         Just sprinkle little water while grinding if you feel the paste is too dry.      ·         Tamarind juice should be thin for this kuzhambu (like we make for rasam). Because after we add the urundais the gravy will surely thicken a lot.       ·         Do not stir the urundai immediately as it will break. Also we should use wide pan as we don't want the urundai touch each other.       ·         If you feel the kuzhambu is thin even after adding urundai you can add some rice flour or the soaked dal water. But do remember that this kuzhambu will thicken after sometime.

Yuumy Paruppu urundai kuzhambu ready :)!!!