MASALA VADAI RECIPE

Description

A South Indian Sanck - very tasty & tempting.

Ingredients

Channa dhal 1 cup

Onions 2 small finely minced

Green chilles 3

Red chilles 3

Ginger finely chopped

Curry leaves a few Perughayam Cilantro a small bunch washed and finely chopped

Salt to taste

Oil for deep frying

Preparation

1.Soak the dhal for 1 hour in water. Grind coarse mixture with red chilles. Add mined onions, green chillies, ginger, cilantro, and curry leaves.

2.Add the Perugaham powder & salt -mix well - take a small ball of the mixture, slightly flatten in the palm of yr. hand then place in the hot oil - deep fry on both sides to a godlen bwon. Remove drain & serve with chutney.

VATHA KULAMBU

To Grind:

Corriander seeds 1 tbsp

Methi seeds – ½ tbsp

Urad dal – 1 tbsp

Channa dal – 1 tbsp

Red chillies – 3/ 4 (depends on the spice level)

Ingredients:

Shallot / Pearl onions – 9 or 10 (You can substitute half of a red onion if shallots are not available.)

Garlic pods – 4 /5 (This is optional)

Tamarind – A small lemon sized ball

Vathal/ Vegetable of your choice(sundakaai vathal)

Sambar powder – 1 tbsp

Turmeric Salt Oil - 2 tbsp

Pepper - 1 tbsp

Asofetida / Hing – 1 pinch

Curry leaves – 1 sprig

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

METHOD:

1. Soak the tamarind in water and extract the tamarind pulp. To make your work easier you can microwave the soaked tamarind for 30 seconds.

2. Dry roast all the ingredients that has to be ground and make them into a smooth dry powder.

3. In a heavy bottomed pan (traditionally a cast iron kadai is used), heat few spoons of oil. Usually sesame oil or gingely oil is used , but any oil would do good. If you are planning to use vathals instead of vegetables, now is the good time to fry those. Once done take it and leave it aside. You can add it at a later time to the kuzhambu.

4. Add the mustard seeds, curry leaves, asafetida, urad dal and channa dal to the oil.

5. Now add garlic, fry till its raw smell goes off add then add onions, fry till they turn to golden brown color. Add the sambar powder, tumeric , salt and sauté for 2 mnutes.

6. If you are planning to add vegetables add it now and sauté for few more minutes.

7. Now add the tamarind pulp and let it simmer for around 10-15 minutes.

8. Then add the dry ground masala powder, stir well. Add the vathals immediately after the masala powder and allow it to boil for 10 more minutes.

9. If vatha kolambu is too watery add 1 tsp of rice flour and allow it to boil to get the required consistency.

10. Enjoy vatha kuzhambu with hot steamed rice and sutta appalam

SAMBAR RECIPE

This Sambar recipe is one of the most loved dishes in South Indian cuisine. It accompanies most every meal.

Ingredients:

1/2 lime sized ball Tamarind

1 cup Toor Dal (or red lentils)

1/2 teaspoon Turmeric Powder

2 teaspoons oil

Salt to taste

5 small dry red chilies (or to taste)

8 Curry Leaves (see note)

1 medium onion (shallots are preferable)

1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

1/4 tsp asafoetida (optional)

1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds

1 large tomato

2 tablespoons sambar powder

1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves (also known as coriander leaves)

1 cup of a vegetable of your choice like green beans, chopped carrot

METHODS:

1.Soak the tamarind in 1 cup water for 20 minutes. Squeeze it out, adding water little by little to prepare 1 cup of juice.

2.Choose a heavy cooking pot. Wash and clean the dal. Boil 2 cups of water and add the dal, turmeric powder and 1 teaspoon of oil. As the dal boils, skim off the foam and discard. Boil until the dal is soft and then mash it coarsely. If needed, add more water as it is boiling but do not let it get too watery. If you use a pressure cooker it will take about 5 minutes.

3.In a separate pan, heat to medium and pour in the remaining oil. Once the oil is hot, add the chilies, mustard seeds, fenugreek and curry leaves and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the onion and brown lightly. Add the tamarind extract and let boil lightly until the onions are cooked. Add this mixture to the dal with asafoetida, tomato, vegetable of choice and sambar powder. Allow this to boil for 5 to 10 minutes and remove from the heat. Garnish with cilantro.

Sambar Powder preparation

High quality Sambar powders can be bought pre-mixed at the store. If you do not have that available you can make it yourself by adding the following ingredients:

1/2 cups coriander seeds

1/2 cups red chilies (or to taste)

1/8 cup Bengal gram

1 Tbsp. cumin seeds

1 Tbsp. pepper corn

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1 pinch of cinnamon

1 pinch ground clove

1/2 tsp. Turmeric powder

PREPARATION:

Traditionally, these ingredients would be broiled separately and ground and stored. Use pre-ground if you desire.

Tamarind

is one of the unique ingredients found in South India. It gives a sour taste to the sambar recipe and it can be found in different forms. The most common way to find it is in packages where the tamarind seeds are compacted together. To use it in a dish like this sambar recipe, take a piece off and soak it in water. The size of the piece will be indicated in the recipe. After it has soaked for 2 hours squeeze it between your fingers to extract the juice and discard the pith and seeds. Tamarind can be found in specialty stores in your area.