Karuppati Pongal / Palm jaggery Pongal
Karuppati pongal is made during virudunagar panguni pongal festival. It is similar to chakkarai pongal, but uses karuppati / panai vellam instead of vellam. Palm jaggery is healthier than jaggery and has a unique taste. For health benefits of palm jaggery refer to my earlier post karuppati kaapi.
Karuppati Pongal
Ingredients :
1 cup raw rice
1 1/2 to 2 cups karuppati ( adjust acc. to taste)
3-4 cardamom pods
2 tbsp ghee
Cashews and raisins (optional)
Method:
Pressure cook the rice with 3 cups of water for 3-4 whistles. The rice should be softly cooked.
Add 1/3 to 1/2 cup of water to karuppati in a separate pan and make a thick syrup. Filter it as it may contain impurities.
Mash the cooked rice with a back of a spoon. Heat the vessel and add karuppati syrup slowly and keep stirring till you get a homogenous mass. Add cardamom powder.Add ghee and mix well.
Optionally you can add ghee fried cashews and raisins, which adds to the taste.
Mor Dosai/Buttermilk Dosai
This dosa batter needs very less preparation time. The basic ingredients are rice and buttermilk and this recipe doesnot need fermentation also. Due to the cooling effect of buttermilk,we make this dosa during summer season to beat the heat.
Mor Dosai/Buttermilk Dosai
Ingredients:
4 cups idli rice
2 cups buttermilk/curd
salt as required
Method:
- Soak rice for 3 hours. Grind it to a smooth batter with buttermilk. If required add some water.The final consistency should be of thin consistency. You can see droplets of butter floating in the batter.
- Heat the iron dosa griddle. Pour the batter into thin lacy dosas. This dosa tastes best with milagai poondu thuvaiyal or pachai milagai thuvaiyal, but tastes good with idli podi also.
Theeyal – Chetti veetu murai / Theeyal – Chetti style
Theeyal is an exotic dish. Theeyal is of many types, the other ones being ulli theeyal and kondaikadalai theeyal of nagerkoil district. Chetti people of Madurai and surroundings make a different theeyal, using drumstick, raw banana and brinjal, which has lots of medicinal ingredients like pepper , cumin and garlic. Another version of theeyal is the thuvatta kuzhambu which is made during local pongal festivals using bitter gourd, brinjal, drumstick and raw banana and has dry ginger as one of the ingredients. Thuvatta Kuzhambu is mixed with rice and arai keerai and murungai keerai, with liberal doses of oil and ghee along with roasted sesame powder to make a flavourful dish called keerai choru. This thuvatta kuzhambu and keerai choru are made in chetti house holds in virudhunagar on panguni pongal (festival for local rain goddess).Sometimes you can taste these recipes only during these festivals. They are not prepared on regular days. I assume that these recipes take a lot of preparation time and it is easy to prepare these on festival days when you have more helping hands in the kitchen. Other recipes of panguni pongal include karuppati pongal and karuppati kozhukkattai. Will post more on these recipes later. Now over to theeyal chetti style…
We basically need 3 powders for this recipe, which can be prepared a day in advance to make the recipe easier.
Theeyal – Chetti veetu murai / Theeyal – Chetti style
Ingredients:
Powder 1: Mel podi (means powder sprinkled on top)
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp jeera
1 tsp fenugreek
Like the panchporan of bengalis, I find that chetti house holds use the combination of the above three ingredients for seasoning.
Powder 2: Pori arisi posi (roasted rice powder)
½ cup boiled rice
Powder 3: Uluntham podi (urad dhal powder )
½ cup white urad dhal
For paste:
20 flakes of garlic
1 tsp raw mustard
2 tsp jeera
½ tsp pepper
3-4 sprigs of curry leaves
15-20 no. dry roasted red chillies (Adjust according to taste)
Other ingredients:
1 big lemon size of tamarind
1 raw banana
1 drumstick
3-4 brinjals
10-15 no. ulundhu vadagams (optional)
¼ tsp turmeric powder
1 small lemon size of jaggery
Salt as required
For tempering:
2 tbsp ghee
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp jeera
1 sprig of curry leaves
Method:
- Soak tamarind in 3 cups of water and extract the juice.
- For powder 1 – dry roast all the ingredients and make it into a fine powder.
- For powder 2 – Dry roast boiled rice till crisp and make it into a not so fine powder (rava/sooji like consistency).
- For powder 3 – Dry roast urad dhal till you get a nice aroma and make it into a powder of rava or sooji like consistency.
- For paste –Roast the red chillies with a drop of oil. All the other ingredients are added raw. Wet grind all the ingredients into a smooth paste.
- Cut the raw banana and brinjals into ½ inch thick round pieces. Cut the drumstick as you would do for any other curry.
- Deep fry the ulundhu vadagams in oil and keep aside.
- Now mix the ground paste to the tamarind juice along with salt and turmeric and allow it to boil.
- Add the vegetables. Keep the flame in medium mode.
- After the vegetables get cooked, add the ulundhu vadgams. Add the jaggery too.
- Now add the powders one by one to the gravy, constantly stirring so that you don’t get any lumps. An alternate way is to mix the powders separately in water without any lumps and then add it to the gravy.
- After adding the powders you may find that the gravy is getting thicker. Add water if necessary, so that the final consistency is a little bit thicker than sambhar.
- Do the tempering with mustard , jeera and curry leaves in 2 tbsp ghee and 1 tbsp of oil. The ghee adds a special flavour to the theeyal.
- Theeyal can be had with rice, ghee and dhal as an accompamiment, with rice alone or as a side dish to curd rice. It even tastes good with idli and dosa. It stays well for the next day even without refrigeration.
Puli Aval
Aval/beaten rice/pressed rice/rice flakes as it is known is a very easy to cook stuff. It can be eaten raw, or soaked in water or milk to make tasty dishes. It is considered to be an important food component in naturopathy and ayurveda. When soaked optimally in water it resembles cooked rice in form and taste and can be used to make upma, lemon aval, puli aval, mor aval etc. I remember that during my school days my mom used to give aval soaked in milk with sugar/jaggery as an quick evening snack.
Puli aval can be made in 2 different ways. In one method aval soaked in water is mixed with pulikachal, just like we make puli saadham. In the second method aval is cooked in tamarind water seasoned with minimal spices. This recipe describes the second method which I learnt from my MIL. After tasting this recipe I use to wonder that how a recipe with such minimal ingredients could taste so wonderful. Now over to the recipe…
Puli Aval
Ingredients:
4 cups aval (thick variety)
8 cups water
A small lemon sized ball of tamarind
1/4 tsp turmeric
For tempering:
2-3 redchillies
2 tsp gingelly oil
1/2 tsp mustard
1/2 tsp urad dhal
For serving/Garnishing:
1/2 cup shredded coconut
Handful of sunda vathal
Handful of midhukka vathal
6-8 mormilagai
Method:
- Clean the aval for any impurities.
- Extract the juice from tamarind and mix it with water so that we have 8 cups of tamarind water.
- Now in a pan heat the gingelly oil. Add mustard, urad dhal and red chillies broken to small pieces. After they sizzzle add the tamarind water with required salt.
- After the water boils add the aval and keep the flame in simmer mode. Mix well and cover the pan.
- Allow the aval to cook for 10-12 minutes or till it absorbs all the water. Serve with shredded coconut, fried mormilagai ,sunda vathal and midhukka vathal on side. This recipe tastes better as it gets cold. When made in morning and tasted in noon or night it tastes better because the flavours are better infused.
Agathi Keerai Saaru
This is a simple yet delicious preparation. Agathi keerai has lot of medicinal properties. In this recipe keerai is cooked in rice water along with cumin seeds and shallots. Finally poppy seed and coconut paste are added.
This recipe is good for people with ulcers and acidity problems. Poppy seeds, coconut and agathi keerai all cure these ailments.Cooking agathi keerai with small onions improves the intestinal functions. Agathi keerai has lots of calcium and is good for the elderly with joint problems.In older days rice water was never wasted. This contains water soluble B-vitamins from the outer surface of rice.It is milky in colour and gives thickness to saaru.
The final recipe is a watery preparation like rasam. It is typically had with hot rice and ghee with puli kuzhambu as the accompaniment.
Agathi Keerai Saaru
Ingredients:
1 bunch agathi keerai
5-6 cups rice water ( water in which rice is washed, esp. boiled rice) puzhungal arisi kazhani
10-15 no shallots
1 tsp cumin seeds
salt as required
1/2 cup shredded coconut
2 tsp poppy seeds
1/2 cup cow’s milk(optional)
Method:
- Clean agathi leaves, wash and keep separately.
- Wash boiled rice in water(2-3 times) to get rice water. Strain it to remove impurities.
- In a big pan boil rice water.
- Add agathi leaves, shallots and cumin seeds. Let the leaves cook till soft. You can add some more plain water if necessary, so that the final consistency is thin.
- Add the required salt.
- Grind coconut and poppy seeds to a fine paste and add. Let it boil for two more minutes. Finally 1/2 cup cow’s milk can be added. This step is optional.(MIL’s mom used to do). No tempering is done. Not even a drop of oil is added.Enjoy agathi keerai saaru with rice.
Thattu Vadagam/Elai Vadagam
This is a very tasty vadagam, but the procedure takes more time. The specialty of this vadagam is that this is stemed on banana leaves before driying, which gives it a unique flavour. Some people also call it elai vadagam.
Thattu Vadagam
Ingredients:
1 cup boiled rice
1 tsp raw rice
salt as required
1 tsp black sesame seeds
few banana leaves
Method:
- Soak the rice for 30 -45 minutes.
- Grind into a smooth and watery batter along with required salt.
- On the banana leaf pour a small ladle full of batter and spread it thinly into a round shape. On half a banana leaf you can pour and spread 4 such vadagams.
- Steam them in a idly steamer for 5 -7 minutes.
- After steaming these vadagams can be peeled from the banana leaf.
- They are then dried in the sun. They are so thin that dry in a single day.
- Store in a clean airtight container.
- When fried these vadagam enlarge to double their size. They are so melt in the mouth that they can be given even to 1 year babies and toothless elders. They taste just as good after steaming and can be eaten as such or with idli milagai podi or milagai-poondu chutney.
Ulundhu Vadagam
When you miss vathal/vadagam making in summer season, sun god gives you a second chance during the tamil month of Purattasi (sep-oct). We decided to make hay sorry! make vadagam while the sun shines during this season…
This ulundhu vadagam is a very simple recipe and does not take much preparation time . I learnt this from my MIL and this is again a specialty of chetti households. This is kind of a sun dried version of urad dhal vada.
Ulundhu Vadagam
Ingredients:
1 cup urad dhal
1 tsp jeera
5-6 flakes of garlic
Salt to taste
Method:
- Soak the urad dhal for 20-30 minutes.
- Grind into a smooth batter with jeera, garlic and salt. (consistency similar to vada batter)
- On a clean white cloth spread on a plate, drop the batter with your hand into small vadagams.
- Dry well in the sun. 3-4 days is sufficient.
- Store in a clean airtight container and use when required.
- This is deep fried and added in kuzhambu like puli illa kuzhambu and uppu saaru at our home. When added to the kuzhambu it absorbs water and tastes more or less similar to urad dhal vada.
Keerai Saaru/Uppu Saaru
This dish belongs to the pathiya kuzhambu category. It is very light on your tummy.It is a watery kuzhambu made with sambar onions, vegetables like ladies finger, brinjal, ridge gourd etc and any type of greens/keerai. When it is made with vegetables only it is called uppu saaru. If keerai is the main ingredient then it is called keerai saaru. We don’t make any vegetable poriyal for this kuzhambu. Serve it hot with white rice and ghee, accompanied by paruppu thuvaiyal ( porikadalai thuvaiyal ) and papad.
Keerai Saaru/Uppu Saaru
- Peel the onions and chop the vegetables. Clean and chop the keerai.
- Extract 2-3 cups of juice from tamarind and keep aside.
- Heat oil in a pan. Add asafoetida and fenugreek, followed by mustard and cumin seeds. After you get the aroma of spices, add green and red chillies and sauté. Now add sambar onions and vegetables and sauté for few minutes.
- Then add the tamarind juice, turmeric powder and salt. Allow to boil. Now add the chopped keerai. Close the pan and allow to boil till the raw smell disappears and the vegetables are cooked. Add jaggery and allow to simmer for some time. The final consistency is a bit watery ( but thicker than rasam )and not thick as other kuzhambu.
Puli Illa Kuzhambu – Poruthanni
Chetti households make a lot of ‘pathiya samaiyal’.There are varieties of curries made without tamarind or dhal, which are ideal for convalescing people.When you are just out of some illness your appetite is lost and you donot have the urge to eat well. This type of ‘pathiya samaiyal’ rejuvenates your taste buds and brings back the appetite.Poruthanni is a type of ‘puli illa kuzhambu’ which does not have tamarind and contains lot of jeera,pepper and garlic.It is supposed to be very good for women after their delivery time.You can use drumstick,broadbeans and any other fresh beans in this kuzhambu.We donot make any poriyal/vegetable sidedish when we make this kuzhambu.Since the kuzhambu lacks tamarind the ideal sidedish is some thuvaiyal with tamarind such as varuthu araitha thengai thuvaiyal, pachai kothumalli thuvaiyal, inji thuvaiyal etc.
Reposting this recipe for ‘Herbs and flowers – garlic’ event started by PJ of Seduce your taste buds and hosted by Vardhini of Zesty Palette.
Puli Illa Kuzhambu – Poruthanni
Ingredients:
1 cup cut broadbeans
1 drumstick cut into pieces
1 cup mochai payiru/broken beans
20-25 garlic flakes
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
salt as required
To grind:
5-6 red chillies (dry roasted)
3-4 sprigs curry leaves
2 tsp jeera
10-12 black peppercorns
2 tsp mustard
10-12 garlic flakes
2 tsp oil
For tempering:
2 tsp oil
1 tsp jeera
1 tsp mustard
Method:
- Boil broad beans, drumstick and broken beans in water with salt.
- Grind all the ingredients for grinding into a smooth paste.(Only the redchilies should be dryroasted.Other ingredients should be used raw only.)
- Mix the ground paste in 2 cups of water.Add the boiled vegetables.Add turmeric powder and salt as required.
- Heat 2 tsp oil in a pan.Saute the garlic flakes well and add to the kuzhambu.
- Allow the kuzhambu to boil till the raw smell disappears.Allow to simmer for 5 more minutes.
- Do the tempering with jeera and mustard.Serve hot with white rice and thuvaiyal.
Mixed Vegetable Pirattal
This is a chetti veetu recipe I learnt from my MIL.She says that it is usually made on weekends, when you have small quantities of many vegetables remaining (kind of similar to aviyal).You can say that it is a spicy version of aviyal.This goes very well with rasam.You can also serve it as curry along with white rice,idly or dosa.
I am sending this recipe as an entry to ‘Show me your curry‘ event hosted by Divya of divya-dilse.blogspot.com
Mixed Vegetable Pirattal:
Ingredients:
3-4 cups mixed vegetables cut into cubes
(carrot,beans,pumpkin,beans,plantain,potato,cluster beans,brinjal,drumstick)
1 cup fresh butter beans ( you can use other type of beans also)
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
A small lemon sized ball tamarind
For powder:
1 tbsp urad dhal
For grinding:
3-4 red chillies
1+1 tsp mustard
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp pepper
For tempering:
1/2 tsp mustard
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
2-3 sprigs curry leaves
1 tsp oil
Method:
- Boil the chopped vegetables with turmeric and required salt. Do not overcook.The vegetables must be firm.Alternatively you can pressure cook them for 2 whistles.Incase you are using ladies finger in the recipe, sauté it in oil and keep aside.
- Extract 1 cup of juice from the tamarind.
- Dry roast the urad dhal and grind it into powder.
- Dry roast fenugreek,cumin,1 tsp mustard together.Next roast the red chillies with little bit of oil. Grind the redchillies,roasted spices along with 1 tsp mustard and 1/2 tsp pepper to a smooth paste.
- In a pan add all the boiled vegetables,sauteed ladies finger ,tamarind extract and the ground paste. Add 1/2 a cup of water and required salt and allow it to boil.Reduce the flame and let it simmer for 5-10 minutes.
- Finally add the urad dhal powder and mix well.The consistency should be like that of a thick gravy.
- Do the tempering with mustard,urad dhal and curry leaves.
- Serve hot with white rice and rasam.
