Kovakkai chutney/ coccinia chutney

     Thinking this as an wierd recipe???  Dont worry even i thought to myself so in first place when i came across this recipe in Kumudham tamil magazine, lateron i just gave a try and beleive me i liked it very much!! Even my husband who used to be tooo choosy n his plate, liked it quite well.  So, guys, honestly give a try. Talking about medicinal properties, in traditional medicine, this   has been used to treat leprosy, fever, asthma, bronchitis and jaundice. This can be had along with morning dosa to powerstart the day as they have been also identified to purify the blood..

Ingredients  

 



so as you can see, there are a cup of chopped kovakkai, 1/4 cup of chopped onions, 1-2 small bits of tamarind, 4-5 curry leaves, 2 green chilli, 4-5 garlic cloves, and half a tsp of rai and urad dal(for tempering)

Method

Saute onions, kovakkai, green chilli and garlic cloves in kadai for some ten to fifteen minutes

Lateron when cooled, blend them in a mixie together with tamarind pieces, lastly temper with rai, urad dal and curry leaves.  Add salt to taste

This is what i call the healthy breakfast combo

Kandheche pathi chakala/ spring onions cooked in spicy chana dal gravy

This is gravy composed of spring onions, chana dal and spices, the spring onions can also be replaced by normal onions (in that case the gravy is called as kandhe khaskhas, kandhe meaning onion) This gravy is an excellant combo for roti and is spicy too!!  So, why are you waiting, just see and cook too!! and it is a easy peesy to make!!

Ingredients required

So, it is one cup of spring onions, half a cup of chana dal, one tsp of ginger garlic paste and spice mix. 
Spice mix has 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp garam masala, a pinch of turmeric powder, half tsp chilli powder, 1 tsp dhanya powder.

   Method

At first, pressure cook chana dal with a bit of haldi for two whistles.

Then in a vessel, add one tsp of oil and saute spring onions for fifteen minutes

Add one tsp of ginger-garlic paste and saute for 2-3 minute

Add our prepared spice mix to pressure cooked dal

Then add sauted spring onions too

 Pressure cook for one more whistle
And now you can serve in three ways
   1. Temper with rai and curry leaves
   2. Just add one tsp of oil for glazing and serve
   3. Add coriander leaves and one tsp of lime juice and serve
   
     I choosed last one :)

And our springonion curry is ready

I just served today's dinner plate with cabbage gravy and kandheche pathi chakala

HMMM.....yummy!! quite delicious

Amla/Nellikai paranthas (Rotis with nellikai and other spice filling)

 

Amla(Aonla)  is a indian gooseberry native to India. Amla has a high medicinal and Ayuervedic properties. The fruits have the great source of vitamin C. A small fruit of amla is equal to 2 oranges in terms of vitamin C content.. It is also a very important ingredient in the famous Chyavanaprash, and a constituent of Triphala (three fruits) powder. It helps the digestion, prevent the dysentery, cleanses the liver. Even there is a pooja in Karthigai month done to this gooseberry tree called 'Dhatri Havana'

     So, why is this topic to discuss?? yes, i tried making few recipes using this amla.  At first i made soup using 2 large amla and spinach, but i failed since the soup was too sour to land in garbage.  Later i called my aunty who used to be an expert in cooking herbal stuff.  She told that the quantity of amla to be added should be low and mixed with other flavouring or spicy stuff to stabilize its sourness nature.

   So here are quite a few tips for using amla in our day-to-day cooking:

  

   It can be grated and one tsp of grated amla can be used in sambhar preparation.

   It can be made to prepare buttermilk along with mint leaves

   It can be dried, coated with sugar syrup and had as an candy (especially in empty stomach)

   Can be added half a tsp in curries and also in roti dough.

   They have already exiting in pickle forms also

      Alright so coming to today's recipe, i added to roti dough, and guess what the roti was tasty, and didnt establish sourness nature, because i combined amla with  other highly flavouring stuffs, totally it tasted like an masala parantha.. So let us go to our recipe

    Amla parantha:

 

Ingredients required:

So One big amla, two cups wheat flour, 1 tsp ginger garlic paste, 2-3 green chilli, one handful of mint leaves(pudhina), one tsp of methi leaves(optional) and 2tsp of chopped onions(oopssss i forgot to pic onion, sorry!)

Method:

First take the flour( I used Aashirvaad aata) and add 1tsp salt to it

Add one tsp of ginger-garlic paste and chopped green chillies

Now add thinly chopped mint leaves and methi leaves

Finally grate the amla into the bowl and 2 tsp of chopped onions.

Add considerable water and knead it to a firm dough, dont make it watery

Cover with the lid and let it rest for some ten to fifteen minutes, then take two medium balls and dust with aata

Knead one of the ball into roti and toss in tawa.

Add two tsp of oil, repeat the same with another ball.

Now, our wonderful amla paranthas are ready.... serve with a gravy of your choice.