Sambar

Sambar is an most integral part of South Indian food, without this no meal will be complete and you cant even imagine Dosa/Idly without sambar. Its an multi purpose dish which can be served for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. So many times I'll first prepare Sambar and later I'll decide what should go along with it. Here I have used mixed vegetables, you can use any vegetable of your choice.

Ingredients: 1cup Pressure cooked Toor Dal
                    1cup chopped mixed vegetables(Brinjal/Drumstick/Potato)
                    2 Tomatoes finely chopped
                    1 Small Onion finely chopped
                    1tbsp Garlic paste
                    1/4cup Tamarind paste
                    1tsp Sambar Powder
                    1tsp Red chili powder
                    1tsp Dhania powder(coriander seeds powder)
                    1/4tsp Turmeric powder
                    2tsp oil
                    1tsp Mustard seeds
                    1tbsp curry leaves
                    a pinch of asafoetida
                    Salt to taste

Method: 1)In a vessel add cooked toor dal, mixed vegetables, tomatoes, tamarind paste, sambar powder                   red chili powder, dhania powder, turmeric powder, salt and cook till the vegetables are soft.
              2)Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and when they splutter add curry leaves, asafoetida and
                 fry for 30secs, now add onions, garlic and fry till the onions turn pink. Add this to the above
                 mixture and cook for 5mins.
              3)Serve hot with Rice/Idly/Dosa/Pongal.

See Also: Mallige Idly
                Masala Dosa
                Open Dosa
                Ven Pongal

Pulissery

Kalan/Moru Curry/Butter Milk Curry/Mor Kolambu/Majjige Huli/Kadi

Pulissery is an very prominent dish in Onam Sadya. Traditional spices are cooked along with curd to give a tangy-spicy gravy. This is served along with the hot rice. Here i have used Ash gourd to Pulissery you can also use vegetables like Bottle Gourd, Cucumber, Bhendi, Ridge Gourd or even Black Channa. If you'll add fried pakodas to this it will become Kadi-Pakora.

Ingredients: 1cup beaten curd/butter Milk

                   3/4cup chopped ash gourd

                   1tbsp grated coconut

                   1tbsp soaked channa dal

                   1tbsp soaked rice

                   3 green chilies

                   1tsp cumin seeds

                   1' chopped ginger

                   2tsp oil

                   1tsp mustard seeds

                   1tbsp curry leaves

                   3 red chilies

                   1/4tsp turmeric powder

                   a pinch of asafoetida

                   salt to taste

Method: 1)Keep little water for boiling in a vessel, add ash gourd and cook till its half cooked.

              2)Grind together coconut, channa dal, green chilies, rice, ginger, and turmeric powder to a 

                  smooth paste. Add this mixture to the ash gourd water and continue cooking till the ash 

                  gourd is cooked completely. 

              3)For tempering heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and when they splutter add curry leaves, 

                 asafoetida, red chilies and after 30secs put off the flame.

              4)Add beaten curd, salt and tempering to the ash gourd mixture and  cook for 2mins.

See Also: Small Onion Kulambu

Cabbage Thoran

Cabbage Thoran is one of the side dishes served in Onam Sadya along with the rice. It is also called as Cabbage Poriyal in Tamil Nadu. This is very simple and preparation time is also very less. As this is very less in calories you can have it guilt free. Don't forget to soak the chopped cabbage in salt water for 15mins before cooking because pesticides will be sprayed to the cabbage.

Ingredients: 1cup chopped cabbage
                   2 green chilies finely chopped
                   1tbsp curry leaves
                   2tbsp grated coconut
                   2tbsp chopped coriander
                   2tsp oil
                   1/2tsp mustard seeds
                   1/2tsp cumin seeds
                   a pinch of asafoetida
                   salt to taste

Method: 1)Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and when they splutter add asafoetida,
                  curry leaves, green chilies and fry for a minute.
               2)Add cabbage, salt and cook uncovered in a low flame till the cabbage gets cooked.
               3)Add coriander, coconut and mix well.

Note: If you will overcook, cabbage will change its color.
       
See Also: Pumpkin Thoran
                Channa Sundal

Ganesha Chaturthi

Ganesha Chaturthi is the Hindu festival celebrated to mark the birthday of Lord Ganesha, son of Shiva and Parvathi. It is usually celebrated for 1,3,5,7 or 11days. Its celebrated elaborately all over India. Different regions have their native traditions in celebrating this festival. There are lots of stories associated with Ganesha Festival which are narrated to the kids. Special food, mostly the favorites of Lord Ganesha is prepared on this day and offered to the God. Here I have tried to list few traditional recipes that are prepared during this festival. Wish you all a very happy 'Ganesha Chaturthi'.

Ganesha Chaturthi Recipes:  Channa Sundal
                                              Modak
                                              Rava Laddu
                                              Sweet Kadubu
                                              Karjikai
                                              Medu Vada/Urad Dal Vada
                                              Sweet Pongal/Sakkarai pongal
                                              Gojju Avalakki 

Channa Sundal

Vinayaka Chaturthi is just two days away and you can prepare this channa sundal as prasad for Lord Ganesha. There are two varieties of channa black/brown channa and white/kabuli channa. This is usually prepared on festivals like Ganesha Chaturthi/ Navaratri/ Saraswati Pooja/ Lakshmi Pooja and so on. This can be even had as an evening snack, as it is less in calories and high in protiens. This tastes good as an side dish also along with rice.

Ingredients: 1cup channa
                    1/4cup grated raw mango
                    1/4cup grated coconut
                    2 green chilies finely chopped
                    1tbsp curry leaves
                    2tbsp chopped coriander leaves
                    1/2tsp mustard seeds
                    a pinch of asafoetida
                    2tsp oil
                    salt to taste

Method:

1)Soak channa overnight and pressure cook it along with salt and water for 2 whistles.
2)Heat oil in a pan add mustard seeds, asafoetida and when the mustard seeds splutter add curry leaves,
   green chilies and fry for a minute.
3)Add cooked channa, little sallt(if required) and cook for 2mins till it gets mixed properly.
4)Put off the flame, add coconut, raw mango, coriander leaves and mix well.

Note: you can use lemon juice instead of raw mango.

See Also: pumpkin Thoran
                Matki Ki Usal

Modak

Modhaka/Kozhakkattai/Kudumu

Modaks have been an integral part of Vinayak Chatuthi as these are Lord Ganesha's favorite. Modak looks like momo's and are stuffed with a mixture of coconut and jaggery. There are two types: Fried modak and Steamed modak, but still the stuffing will be the same for both of them. Here I have shared the recipe of Fried modak. The procedure of preparing this is very simple, you just need to master the method of sealing the modaks.

Ingredients: 1cup maida(all purpose flour)
                    1tbsp chiroti rava
                    a pinch of cooking soda
                    1cup grated coconut
                    1cup grated jaggery
                    2tbsp poppy seeds(khus-khus)
                    1tsp cardamom powder
                    1/4cup chopped dry fruits(cashew/raisins/almonds)
                    1tbsp ghee
                    oil for deep frying

Method:
1)In a bowl add maida, chiroti rava, cooking soda and knead into smooth dough like poori's by adding      required water. Allow it to rest for 15mins.
2)In a pan heat ghee and roast all the dry fruits until they turn golden brown and keep aside.
3)In that same pan cook together coconut, jaggery and poppy seeds till the jaggery melts completely  
   and the mixture comes together. Add cardamom powder, fried dry fruits and mix well.
4)Make small lemon sized balls out of the dough and roll them into small poori's. Now place a
   spoonful of coconut mixture in the centre of the poori and fold together the edges to form the shape
   of the modak, repeat the same for all the modak's.
5)Deep fry all the modak's one by one till they turn golden brown and crisp. You can store this in an air    tight container for a week.

See Also:Sweet Kadubu
                Karjikai
                Rava laddu
               

Rava Laddu

Rava Laddu/Semolina Laddu/Sooji Laddu

Rava Laddu is an delicious and an quick sweet which can be prepared by beginners also. My mother-in-law usually prepares this along with besan laddu and sweet kadubu for Vinyaka Chaturthi. This is an mouth watering combination of semolina-coconut-milk-cashew nuts. Its perfect to make when time is short but you still want an special desert, especially when you are making last minute preparations.

Ingredients: 1cup rava/semolina/sooji
                    3/4cup grated coconut
                    3/4cup powdered sugar
                    1/4cup milk
                    1/4cup chopped cashew
                    2tbsp ghee
                    1tsp cardamom powder

Method: 1)Heat a tbsp of ghee and roast the rava in medium flame till it turns golden brown. Allow it to                   cool.
              2)Heat a tbsp of ghee and roast the chopped cashew until it turns golden brown, now add
                 coconut and fry for a minute.
              3)Add powdered sugar, rava and mix well. Put off the flame and add milk till it reaches the
                 consistency of preparing laddus.
              4)Allow it to cool little and when you can bear the heat, divide the mixture into equal portions                   and make laddus out of them. You can store this in an air tight container for 2-3days.
                 
See Also: Sweet Kadubu
                Karjikai
                Sweet Pongal
                Gulab Jamun

Sweet Kadubu

Hoornada Kadubu/Karida Kadubu/Kari Kudumulu

Vinayak Chaturthi is just an week away and I'm sure in most of the houses the preparations might have already started. I'm going to post few recipes that are prepared to offer as prasad on this day. One such traditional recipe is of Kadubu which is prepared in all the houses of Karnataka during Gowri-Ganesha festival. This is said to be the favorite of Lord Ganesha and usually we offer 11 or 21 of them.

Ingredients:

For Dough: 1cup maida flour
                    1/4cup chiroti rava
                    1/4tsp turmeric powder
                    a pinch of cooking soda

For Hoorna(stuffing): 1cup toordal
                                   1cup crushed jaggery
                                   1tsp cardamom powder
oil for deep frying

Method: 1)In a bowl mix all the ingredients mentioned under dough, add water as required and knead
                 the mixture into a smooth dough. It should be as soft as poori dough. Keep it covered for
                 15mins.
              2)Take a big vessel in that cook toordal by adding 4cups water for 15-20mins i.e, till it gets
                  half cooked. You should be able to smash it with your fingers.
              3)Now drain off all the water completely(dont discard the water as it can be used to prepare
                  rasam or the very famous obattu saru). Add grated jaggery to the dal. Slowly the jaggery
                  will start melting and we will get a thick mixture of dal and jaggery. Add cardamom powder
                  at this point and mix well. Let this mixture get cooled.
              4)Grind the above mixture into a smooth hoorna(poornam) using an wet grinder(you
                  can also use blender/mixer). Divide this hoorna into small lemon sized oval balls, flatten
                  them a little and keep aside.
              5)Now divide the dough into small lemon sized balls and roll them into small pooris. Wet the                     edges of the poori slightly with little water, place the flattened hoorna in the centre and fold
                  it to form half moon shape. Repeat the same for all the pooris and deep fry them in the hot
                  oil until it becomes golden brown and crisp.

See Also: Karjikai
                Sweet pongal/Sakkarai pongal
                Gulab jamun
             
                 

Sabudana Vada

Sabudana Vada or Sago Vada is a very famous Maharashtrian snack. These are specially made during Dussera/Navratri while fasting as this does not contain onion/garlic. Sabudana(pearl tapioca) gives a very soft and chewy texture to the vada, the combination of sabudana along with potato is extremely unique. The vada is so soft that it just melts in the mouth and you'll be left craving for it. Here I have shallow fried the vadas to make it healthier but typically it is deep fried in oil.

Ingredients: 2cups boiled and smashed potatoes
                    1cup sabudana/sago/pearl tapioca
                    1/2cup roasted, peeled and crushed groundnuts
                    2 green chilies finely chopped
                    1tbsp ginger paste
                    3tbsp chopped coriander leaves
                    1tbsp lime juice
                    5-6tsp oil
                    salt to taste(use black salt if you are fasting)

Method:1)soak sabudana for 3-4hrs till they become soft. Drain the water completely and transfer it
                 into a bowl. smash it roughly.
              2)To sabudana add all the ingredients except oil and mix well.
              3)Divide the above mixture into small lemon sized balls. Press them lightly to form patties.
              4)Now shallow fry them on a hot tava by sprinkling little oil on both the sides. Cook till they
                 turn golden brown. If you are deep frying, then add patties to the hot oil and fry till they
                 become golden brown and crisp.        
              5)Serve hot with green chutney and curd.
           
See Also: Medu Vada
                Dahi Vada
                Mixed Dal Vada
                Potato Rolls
                Vada Pav
                Avarekalu Cutlet