PARUPPU URUNDAIKKUZHAMBU

பருப்பு உருண்டைக்குழம்பு

This is a very famous dish in Tamilnadu. With hot rice, the paruppu urundai kuzhambu makes the meals very delicious. I have combined my mother’s and my mother in law’s recipes with a few innovative tips of mine to get a mouth watering paruppu urundai kuzhambu! This suits well with idli, curd rice and dosas also. Drumstick pieces are added to enhance the flavour of the kuzhambu. Some people fear to drop the fresh balls straightly in boiling kuzhambu. For that, one can go to a safer method. The balls can be steamed for 10 minutes before adding in the kuzhambu. But the taste of the balls will be little hard.

Ingredients:
For urundai:
Tuar dal- 1 cup
Bengal gram- half cup
Fennel seeds- 1 tsp
Chilli powder- half tsp
Turmeric powder- half sp
Salt to taste
Curry leaves- a handful
Chopped coriander- 2 tbsp
Finely chopped garlic flakes- 2 tbsp
Finely sliced onion-2
For kuzhambu:
Tamarind- a small orange size
Chilli powder- 2 tbsp
Coriander powder- 3 tbsp
Turmeric powder- half sp
Salt to taste
Drumstick-2
Finely chopped small onions-1 cup
Finely crushed tomato- 1 cup
Fenugreek powder-1 tsp
Curry leaves- 1 arc
Gingelly oil- 1/4 cup
Turmeric powder- half sp
Procedure:
For urundai:
Soak the dals in enough water for 1 hour, then drain the water and grind them to a coarse thick paste with the fennel seeds and salt.
Add onion, garlic, powders and the greens and mix well.
Make lemon sized balls and keep them away in a fridge.
For kuzhambu:
Soak the tamarind in enough water for an hour and then extract its juice.
Heat a pan and pour the oil. Add the onions and fry them to golden brown.
Then add the tomatoes with the turmeric powder and fry them until the tomatoes are mashed finely and the oil floats on top.
Add the fenugreek powder and fry it for a few seconds.
Add the powders with the tamarind juice and salt.
The kuzhambu must be watery.
Add the drumstick pieces and let it boil for some minutes.
When the drumstick pieces are half-cooked, drop the balls 5 at a time.
After 5 minutes of interval, again drop 5 balls in different places so that the balls will not stick with each other.
Thus finish all the balls and allow the kuzhambu to boil on medium fire for some minutes until the kuzhambu and the balls are cooked well.
pour 2 tsp of gingelly oil around the corners.
Keep the kuzhambu on very slow fire a few minutes and put off the fire.
Options:
Along with the balls, paruppu vadais and pieces of paruppu adai can also be added.
Paruppu vadai:

Flatten the balls in to a vadai shap and deep fry them in moderate oil to golden brown.
This can be eaten as a side dish also.
 For paruppu urundai kuzhambu, this vadai, appalam, and papads are suitable side dishes.
Paruppu adai:
Flatten thinly the balls on hot tawa and cook them as adai. Pour gingelly oil around the corners.
When cooled to golden brown, cut each adai in to 2 inches cubes and drop them when the kuzhambu is boiling.

MIXED VEGETABLE SALAD

Ingredients:
Procedure:
Onion-1[thinly sliced]
Tomato [finely chopped]-1 cup
Finely sliced cucumber-1 cup
Finely chopped green chilli-1
Finely chopped coriander-half cup
Finely chopped mint leaves-2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Lime juice-1 tsp
Curd- 2 cups
procedure:
Mix in all the vegetables in a bowl.
Add enough salt and the lime juice.
Add the curd and mix well.
More curd can be added according to the requirement.

CHICKEN PULAO

This delicious pulao is rich in taste due to the coconut milk. It is easy to prepare also.
கோழி புலவு

Ingredients:
Chicken pieces- 1 kilo
Onion-5 [thinly sliced]
Green chillies-10
Ghee- 1 cup
Chopped coriander- 2 cups
Chopped mint leaves- 1 cup
Briyani rice- 5 cups
Shredded coconut-2 cups
Chilli powder- 1 tsp
Turmeric powder- half sp
Soda bi carbonate- ¼ tsp
Small garlic pearls-1/4 cup
Ginger paste- 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
Powder coarsely the following ingredients:
Cardamom-2
Cinnamon-2 pieces
Cloves-2
Fennel seeds-1 tsp
Procedure:
Soak the rice in water.
Extract thick milk from the coconut adding enough warm water.
Boil the chicken pieces in enough water with the chilli powder, turmeric powder, soda bi carbonate and enough salt.
Fry the green chillies in 2 tbsp of ghee softly.
When cooled, grind them to a fine paste.
Add half of this paste to the boiling chicken.
When the chicken pieces are cooked, drain the water and keep it away.
Heat a vessel and pour the ghee.
Add the sliced onion and fry them well to golden brown.
Add the garlic pearls, ginger and the remaining green chilli paste with the coarse powder.
Fry them well on slow fire for some minutes.
Add the chicken with the greens and fry for a few minutes.
Add the chicken stock, coconut milk and enough water to the measurement of 10 cups exactly.
For extra cups of water, the water in which the rice is soaked can be taken.
Add the rice and cook on medium fire.
When the rice is 3/4th cooked, add enough salt and mix well.
When all the water is evaporated, take the vessel away and keep it in ‘dhum’ in a gas oven for 20 minutes.
When it is on ‘dhum’, mix well once after 10 minutes, pour some ghee around the corners and again keep it in ‘dhum’.
The delicious chicken pulao is ready now!!

SNAKE GOURD PORIYAL

புடலங்காய் பொரியல்

Ingredients:
Finely sliced snake gourd- 3 cups
Turmeric powder- half sp
Salt to taste
Finely chopped onion- half cup
Finely chopped green chlli-1
Oil-2 tbsps
Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
Black gram- 1 tsp
Green gram- 2 tbsp
Curry leaves- 1 arc
Chopped coriander- half cup
Shredded coconut- 3 tbsps
Asafotida- half sp
Procedure:
Heat a pan and pour the oil.
When the oil becomes hot add the mustard seeds.
When they splutter, add the black grams and the green grams with the asafetida powder and fry them to slightly brown.
Add the onion with the green chillies, curry leaves and the coriander leaves and fry them slightly with a pinch of salt.
Add the snake gourd pieces with salt.
Cook the vegetable sprinkling water in intervals.
When the vegetable is done and all the water is evaporated, sprinkle the coconut and mix well.

MUTTON KUZHAMBU:

கறிக்குழம்பு

This is one of my mother in law's recipes. In this dish, the fried powder gives a delicious taste.
Ingredients:
Finely sliced onion-2
Finely chopped tomato-3
Ginger paste- 1 tbsp
Garlic paste- 1 tbsp
Chilli powder- 1 ½ tbsp
Coriander powder- 1 ½ tbsp
Turmeric powder- half sp
Mutton pieces- 1 kilo
Cinnamon-2 pieces
Cloves-2
Finely chopped sambar onions-1 cup
Curry leaves- a handful
Chopped coriander leaves-half cup
Salt to taste
Oil- 4 tbsps
Grind the following ingredients in to a paste:
Shredded coconut-2 cups
Peppercorn- 1 tsp
Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
Fennel seeds- 1tsp
Roast the following ingredients in a dry pan to slightly brown and powder them finely.
Raw rice- quarter cup
Fennel seeds- 1 tsp
Procedure:
Heat a pan and pour the oil.
Add the cleaned and washed mutton pieces with the turmeric powder, salt, the ginger garlic paste and 3 cups of water.
When the mutton is almost cooked, add the ground paste with the powders and let it cook for some minutes.
Heat a small pan and add the oil.
Add the cinnamon and the cloves.
When they splutter, add the sambar onions along with the greens and tomato pieces.
Fry them finely until the tomatoes are amshed and the oil floats on top.
Add them to the boiling kuzhambu.
Let the kuzhambu boil for a few minutes.
Lastly sprinkle the powder and mix well.
Cook the kuzhambu on slow fire for 5 minutes.

DRUMSTICK PULI KUZHAMBU

முருங்கைக்காய் புளிக்குழம்பு

Ingredients:

Drumstick-3
Sambar onions-1 cup
Finely crushed tomato-half cup
Tamarind- a big lime size
Kashmir Chilli powder- 1 ½ tbsp
Coriander powder-1 ½ tbsp
Turmeric powder- half sp
Fenugreek powder- half sp
Gingelly oil-4 tbsp
Curry leaves-2 arc
Salt to taste

Procedure:

Soak the tamarind in 2 cups of warm water for half an hour and then extract its juice.
Heat a pan and pour the oil.
Add the sambar onions and fry them to golden brown.
Then add the crushed tomato with the turmeric powder and the curry leaves.
Cook them until the tomatoes are mashed and the oil floats on top.
Add the fenugreek powder and cook for a few seconds on slow fire.
Add the tamarind extract with the powders and salt.
When the kuzhambu starts boiling add the drumstick pieces.
Boil the kuzhambu on medium fire until the gravy is thickened and the drumstick pieces are cooked well.
Finally pour 1 tsp of gingelly oil around the pan and cook for a few seconds on very slow fire.

TAPIOCA CUTLET:

மரவள்ளிக்கிழங்கு கட்லட்

Tapioca always takes a special place in our kitchen. In my mother in law’s house, she used to cook the tapioca pieces in lots of water with turmeric powder, slices of garlic and salt. The garlic takes away the gas produced by the tapioca and also enhances the flavour. We still eat this as breakfast without any accompaniment. Usually we will drain all the water after the tapioca pieces are cooked. As it is rich in carbohydrate, it can be eaten in small quantities. This cutlet had been prepared with cooked tapioca.

Ingredients:
Mashed tapioca cooked without salt- 3 cups
Mashed paneer- ¾ cup
Cooked and mashed palak-half cup
Chopped coriander- 3 tbsp
Sliced onion-3
Chopped tomato-half cup
Fennel seeds-1 tsp
Curry leaves- 2 arc
Ginger garlic sauce- 1 tbsp
Shredded ginger- 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Breadcrumbs-1 cup
Oil to deep fry

For the batter:

Plain flour-2 cups
Corn flour-1 tbsp
Chilli sauce-1 tsp
Ginger garlic paste- quarter sp
Salt to taste

Procedure:

Heat a pan and pour 3 tbsp of oil.
Add the fennel seeds and when it splutters, add the sliced onion and fry them to golden brown.
Add the tomato with the greens and turmeric powder and fry them until they tomatoes are well mashed.
Add the chilli garlic sauce and ginger and fry for a few seconds.
Add the mashed paneer and fry it to a few seconds.
Add the mashed tapioca with the palak and enough salt.
Mix well on slow fire until all the ingredients are combined.
Take the mixture and allow it to cool a little.
Make small balls, flatten them slightly, dip in the batter, coat with the breadcrumbs evenly and fry them in hot oil to golden brown colour.