Pagarkkai roast/ Bitter gourd roast / Karela roast

Pagarkkai/ Bitter gourd/ Karela was one of the vegetables that I won't touch when I was young. My parents used to make my life hell trying to get it in and so I got into the kitchen one day to innovate my own version of paagarkkai kari when my mom said that I will make it today. I wanted to include sourness and heat to beat the bitterness and ended up with this recipe. It turns out that my brainwave has hit many others before me and I found this recipe to be a common thing in other families too :)

Ingredients:


Pagarkkai / Bittergourd                                                         500 gms
Tamarind                                                                                1 big lemon sized ball
Salt                                                                                         As needed
Red chilli powder                                                                   1.25 tsps

To temper

Canola oil/ Refined sunflower oil                                          2  - 3 tblspns
Mustard seeds                                                                         1/2 tsp


Method

1.) Soak tamarind in hot water to extract tamarind syrup out of it.
2.) Cut and remove seeds in pagarkkai/bittergourd and dice it as small as you can, Take it in a stir fry pan.
3.) Extract tamarind  syrup just enough to immerse and have a whole layer of syrup above the whole of diced pagarkkai/ Bitter-gourd.
4.) Let it simmer in medium heat for around 15 mins until pagarkkai/ bitter-gourd is completely cooked. Now add salt, mix well and let it simmer for 5 more mins.
5.) Remove from heat and drain the tamarind syrup and retain cooked pagarkkai/bitter-gourd.
6.) Wash the stir-fry pan and heat it on the stove. When it is completely dry and hot, add 2 tblspns of oil and mustard seeds to splutter.
7.) Reduce the heat to low and add the cooked drained pagarkkai/bitter gourd. Mix well and add red chilli powder, mix well again.
8.) Bring the heat to medium and let it cook for 10-15 more mins, giving it a good mix every 2 mins. If you think you will be needing any more oil. add the other tblspn . It entirely is your judgement call. Turn off the stove

Pagarkkai roast/ Bitter gourd roast is ready to be served with paruppu saadham, sambhar sadham/ sambhar rice, rasam rice and curd rice. This is the most palatable version of pagarkkai that I have ever had.

Poondu kozhambu/ Garlic kozhambu

This recipe is from my grand-mom/ paati's kitchen. She used to make awesome poondu kozhambu on the days we used to have elaborate oil baths. Coming from a tam-bram household, garlic is not the daily ingredient in cooking. I used to hate the smell that comes from garlic and it becomes unpalatable when I think about body odor. I still have that problem. But if and when I  have to consume garlic, I can consume it only in two of the recipes. One of  the two is this. The other recipe is poondu rasam. I will be posting that in a few days and will link it here. People who do not like garlic for the same reasons as me, can try these two recipes and see if it is palatable (for you).  It smells really bad when peeling and starting to cook. But when finished, it is a lot more okay. It is a lot more comforting to think that I can still have garlic , but not sneaking it in every other thing .


Ingredients

Poondu/ Garlic                                             1 head
Tamarind                                                      1 lemon sized ball
Sambhar powder                                          1.25 tsp
Salt                                                               As needed
Asafoetida                                                    1 pinch


To temper

Sesame oil/ Canola oil/ Refined sunflower oil                   1 tblspn
Mustard seeds                                                                      1/2 tsp
Curry leaves                                                                         1 sprig


Method

1. Soak tamarind in hot water for 15 mins to extract tamarind syrup out of it.
2. Peel and cut garlic to smaller pieces if they r too big.
3. Extract about 2 cup fulls of tamarind syrup from the tamarind by adding necessary water to it.
4. Heat a saucepan on stove, add oil. Add mustard seeds to splutter and here comes the smelliest minute of the preparation. Add garlic and mix well. for a full minute or 2 to get it half cooked and get the raw smell out a bit. 
5. Add tamarind syrup, sambhar powder and asafoetida and mix well. The smelliest phase is over now. 
6. Let it simmer on medium heat for 10 minutes. Check if garlic is cooked and add salt. Mix well
7. Let it simmer for 5 more minutes and switch off the stove.

Poondu kozhambu / Garlic kozhambu is ready to be had with potato fry or anything that you have your mind set to. 

Senaikkezhangu kootu / Suran curry

This dish is from my m-i-l's kitchen. She used to make this awesome kootu/ curry and we would devour it and will fight for our portions like kids. It is a bit time consuming to prepare and cut senaikkezhangu/suran , but is well worth the effort!

Ingredients

Senaikezhangu/ Suran                                             200gms
Tamarind                                                                  1 lemon sized ball
Toor dal/ Thuvaram paruppu                                   1/4 cup
Turmeric powder                                                     1/4 tsp
Salt                                                                            To taste
Sambhar powder                                                       1.5 tsp


To powder

Kadalai paruppu/ Channa dal                                    1 tsp
Dhaniya/ Coriander seeds                                         1 tsp
Red chillies                                                                1 nos
Coconut shreds/ Dessicated coconut powder            1 tbsp/ 1 tsp

To temper

Canola Oil/ Refined sunflower oil                            1 tsp
Mustard seeds                                                            1/2 tsp
Asafoetida                                                                 1 pinch

Methi seeds / Vendhayam                                         1/2 tsp

Method:

1.) Pressure cook thuvaram paruppu/ toor dal by adding turmeric powder and water.
2.) Simultaneously, soak tamarind in hot water for 15 minutes.
3.) Dice Senaikkezhangu/ suran as small as you can.
4.) Extract 2 cups of tamarind syrup from soaked tamarind by adding enough water.
5.) Heat a saucepan on stove and add  oil. Add mustard seeds to splutter.  Bring the heat to low. Add  vendhayam/methi seeds and mix till golden brown. Add asafoetida.
6.) Add diced senaikkezhangu/ suran and mix well. Bring the heat to medium.  Leave it on for 2 mins.
7.) Add the extracted tamarind syrup, sambhar powder mix well and bring it to a boil. Let the mixture simmer for 10 mins until senaikkezhangu/suran gets completely cooked.
8.) Simultaneously, take a flat plan and dry roast the ingredients given in the 'to powder' section until channa dal turns golden brown. Pls note that coconut should be added in the last minute of dry roasting. It should have a stove time of not more than a minute. Bring it to room temperature and grind them to a powder.
9.) Add salt to the senaikkezhangu/ suran mixture and let it boil for 5 more minutes. If it needs a little water at this time, add excess water from the pressure cooked toor dal.
10.) Mash pressure cooked toor dal well and add it to the mixture, mix well and let it simmer for 3 more mins.
11.) Now add the ground powder to it, bring the heat to low,  mix it thoroughly and let it come to a boil in low heat.
12.) Switch off the stove and senaikkezhangu kootu/ suran curry is ready.

It can be had with hot rice and appalam as side dish. This can be had as a side to rasam rice. It is a very fulfilling, excellent tasting dish and will definitely leave you satiated.

Milagu rasam/ Black pepper rasam

This is my mother-in-law's version of milagu rasam/ Pepper rasam. It is great for cold/cough fever days and a very easy one to make in very less time.

Ingredients

Tamarind                                                          A lemon sized ball
Salt                                                                   To taste
Milagu jeeraga podi/ Pepper cumin powder    1.5 tsps
Asafoetida                                                        1 pinch

To temper

Ghee                                                               1 tsp
Mustard seeds                                                 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves/ karuvepillai                               1 sprig


Method

1. Soak tamarind in warm water for 15 mins and extract 2 cups of syrup out of it.
2. Add salt, asafoetida to the extracted tamarind syrup and boil it for 10 minutes in a saucepan.
3. Add 1.5 tsps of milagu jeeraga podi/ pepper cumin powder to it and let it boil for 5 more mins.
4. Add a cup of water, mix well and reduce the heat to low to let it froth.
5. Simultaneously, heat a small stir fry pan and add ghee to it.
6. Add mustard seeds to splutter and curry leaves to splutter too.
7. Pour this on top of rasam and leave it on the stove in low heat for 5 more mins to froth.

Milagu rasam is ready to be had with hot rice and any vegetable or just appalam as a side.

Coriander mint chutney - Green chutney / Kothamalli pudhina chutney

This is the green chutney that we have it with idli, dosas, pongal and vadas. Please do not confuse it with the chutney that we make for chats. The below recipe yields an awesome green chutney, that will become a staple.

Ingredients

Channa dhal / Kadalai paruppu                                   2 tsp
Urad dhal/ Ulutham paruppu                                      2 tsp
Canola oil                                                                   1tsp
Mint leaves                                                                  20 nos
Cilantro                                                                        1/4 bunch
Fresh shredded coconut ( i used frozen -thawed and brought to room temp from deep brand)   1 cup
Salt                                                                              as needed
Green chillies                                                              4-5 nos depending on ur spice level

Method

1. In a small pan, heat oil and roast channa and urad dal until golden brown.

2. Add mint leaves and cilantro to it and mix well for a minute. Switch off the stove and cool this to room temp

3. Grind the roasted ingredients, 1 cup shredded coconut, green chillies and salt to a coarse chutney by adding little water.

Green chutney is ready!

Appalam vendhaya kozhambhu

This is my mom's favorite recipe.  We used to make it when we have a lazy day and/or when we do not have the necessary veggie to make a vendhaya kozhambu and have a hearty meal. But this reminds me more of the lazy afternoons. :)

Appalam vendhaya kozhambu

Ingredients

Tamarind                                                                                       1 lemon sized ball

Sambhar powder                                                                             1.5 tsps

Asafoetida                                                                                      1 pinch

Salt                                                                                                To taste

Ulundhu appalam/ urad dhal papad (with just cumin seeds only)           1 nos

To temper

Canola/ Sunflower oil                                                                       3 tblspns

Mustard seeds                                                                                 1/2 tsp

Vendhayam/ Methi seeds                                                                    1/2 tsp

Method

1. Heat a stir fry pan and add oil. Break the papad to small pieces and keep aside.

2.  Add mustard seeds to splutter, vendhayam/ methi seeds to turn golden brown and add the broken papad to deep fry.

3.) Simultaneously soak tamarind in hot water for 15 mins and extract syrup from it. 

4.) Add asafoetida to the oil and add the extracted tamarind syrup. Add sambhar powder to it and mix well. Let it come to a boil.

5.) Simmer it for 5 mins in medium heat, add salt and mix well. Let it simmer for 5  more mins. It will reach the consistency as shown below.

Appalam vendhaya kozhambhu is done and had be had with hot rice and any vegetable kari/poriyal.

Kathirikkai thayir pachadi/ Eggplant raitha/ Aubergine yoghurt dip/ Aubergine raitha

This thayir pachadi is usually done and had with both sambhar saadham (sambhar rice) and rasam saadham (rasam rice).  It can also be had with plain tortilla chips as a dip or can be made into a fantastic taco along with some bean rice or cilantro rice to give it an Indo-mexican twist. It is a very simple pachadi/raitha/dip to make and takes very little time. Now to ingredients

Ingredients:

Kathirikkai or Eggplant / Aubergine                                 1-2 nos/ quarter aubergine
Salt                                                                                To taste
Red chilli powder                                                            To taste
Curd/ Natural yoghurt                                                      1 cup whisked

To temper

Canola/ Sunflower Oil                                                     2 tsps
Mustard seeds                                                                 1/2 tsp


Method

1. Dice kathirikkai or eggplant/aubergine as small as you can
2. Heat a flat pan on stove and add oil. Add mustard seeds to splutter
3. Add diced eggplant or kathirikkai/ aubergine to it  and mix well.
4. Add salt and red chilli powder and keep mixing. Leave it on the stove for 4-5mins or so to get roasted and cooked , mixing it occasionally in-between.
5. Add this to the whisked curd or dahi/ natural yoghurt and mix well. Add additional salt if needed after tasting. 

Kathirikkai thayir pachadi/ Eggplant raitha/ Aubergine yoghurt dip is ready to be had with sambhar saadham, rasam saadham or with tortilla chips or as tacos with bean rice or cilantro rice.