Araichu vitta sambhar

Running out of sambhar powder?  Or often wondering the secret-ingredient for restaurant-styled thick sambhar??   Don't worry.... this, araichu vitta sambhar comes to your rescue :D  'Araichu vitta' in tamil means freshly grounded, accordingly this sambhar utlizes an medley of spices from your kitchen, that are freshly dry-roasted and powdered.  This powder, not only comes in handy when your sambhar powder goes out of stock, but also acts as an, 'thickening agent', thus making the latter more fragrant, more tasty and restaurant-styled.

And, one other difference from sambhar is that, in araichu vitta sambhar, tempering is done by the end.  Since, we add no spices other than dry-roasted ones, we may not be sure about the spice- content of sambhar.  Hence, tempering accordingly with number of red chillies might yield you an perfect, balanced output.  This is really, an blessing in disguise, isn't it? 

Sambhar

    Hi all.... back from my short vacation.  And since my daughter leaves to her summer camp, my routine life is almost back... Filling up my refrigerator with freshly brought veggies and fruits, cleaning up my partially-messed home, ... list goes on.  Going on vacation sounds much easier, but when it comes to post-vacation work, I always save an huge 'sigh' :/   Yesterday, day went quite interesting watching over election results.  Victory was predicted, as usual, but winning by 1:6 ratio (Congress: BJP) was quite an 'whooping result'.  Similarly goes with Tamilnadu where ADMK gained 37 out of 39 available seats.  Fabulous, isn't it?  Let us see if this decision solves our stagnating economy and deals with the price rise as well....

   Yes and coming back to our post, born and brought up at Chennai, I could'nt miss this special SAMBHAR prepared by my mom.  Infact, this is my favourite and same with my husband too.  Sambhar is south-indian dal preparation, mostly tuvar dal (yellow pigeon peas), with sambhar powder (an aromatic powder made out of chana dal, dried red chillies, curry leaves, whole cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, coriander seeds, asafoetida, few peppercorn etc), tamarind, assorted set of vegetables (like brinjal, drumstick, snakegourd, pumpkin etc), finished with an sweet touch of jaggery.

The trick in preparing an perfect sambhar lies in perfect balance of spice-sour and an sweet taste.  As an first-try, I have messed up by adding more sourness (more amount of imly/tamarind) into my sambhar.  So, I strongly recommend you to add only half of prescribed tamarind during cooking, other half you can wait till you complete the cooking, check the sambhar and add accordingly.  Also, kindly note that this 'sour' factor depends on tomatos you are adding.  Since, I have added hybrid tomatos, I have included tamarind.  In case, I am going with country tomatos ,(which has an higher sour content) I would prefer not to add tamarind as the former itself gives out required 'sour' effect.

Kollu rasam

   One of my aunty at chennai used to prepare this kollu rasam, in fact she used to prepare or inculcate a lot of herbal spices in her daily routine cooking which I admire.  That is why I couldn't resist myself buying horse gram when found in a super-market shelf (though it was an kilo pack!)  I asked her for the recipe, and prepared it my way.  The rasam came out super-delecious and I could still smell the flavours of it.  

Kollu/Horse gram was generally regarded as an cattle feed, but here in South India kollu has found extensive culinery use.  Kollu rasam, chutney, idly/dosa, poriyal are common form of its existence.  This horse gram is proven beneficial in numerous ways.  Since they form a major source of fibre, they can also aid in weight-reducing.  They are also found as an preventive for winter chill , as they have tendency to heat up the body.  Researchers have also found that unprocessed horse gram seed coats produce excellant antioxidants for diabetic patients.  So, why wait guys?  Do grab your pack in nearby markets.....

kozhi kolambu

    Generally preparing traditional chicken curries require lot of time becoz of complex marination and unavailable unique garam masalas or other spices.  But, this south-Indian kozhambu styled chicken calls for easy peasy ingredients with lesser time leading to more flavourful and tasty product.  So, just try it guys....

Ingredients required

• Chicken (with bones) - 1/2 kg

For marination

• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
• Garlic - 6 pods
• Poppy seeds/khus khus - 2 tsp
• Peppercorn - 2 tsp
• Saunf/sombu - 1 tsp
• Whole jeera/cumin - 1 tsp

To temper

• 5 tsp oil
• 1 tsp saunf/sombu
• A bunch of curry leaves
• Fresh slit red chilly - 2

Dal aur lehsun ki chutney

Ingredients required

• Handful of urad dal
• 4 tsp oil
• 2 tsp of chana dal
• 4-5 whole red chillies
• one cup of finely chopped onions
• one cup of finely chopped tomatos
• 8-10 garlic pieces
• half cup of chopped coriander leaves
• 1/4 cup of chopped mint leaves
• 1/2 tsp hing/perungayam
• 1 tsp thick tamarind extract
• 1/2 tsp salt

Method

In a kadaai, add oil and saute whole red chillies.  Add urad dal and chana dal, saute till golden brown, keep mixture aside to cool.  In same pan add onion, tomato, garlic, coriander and mint leaves and saute till tomatos are soft and mushy.  Blend both redchilli-dal combo and onion-garlic combo together with tamarind extract, hing, salt.  Serve with idly/dosa.