VENDAIKKAI MORE KUZAMBU

This is one of the side dishes served in south indian special family occasions. It is made with leftover buttermilk as the main ingredient. It pairs excellently with steamed rice.

We are going to make vendaikkai more kuzhambu in this page.

Ingredients:

Leftover buttermilk three cups

Green gram one spoon

Dry ginger small piece

Pepper powder half spoon

Coriander seeds one spoon

Cumin seeds one spoon

Asafoetida a generous pinch

Red chilly two

Garlic one pod

Coconut grates one tablespoon

Curry leaves one sprig

Shallots peeled off and chopped half cup

Green chilly two

Cilantro leaves finely chopped half cup

Okra/lady's finger/vendaikkai six nos cut into long pieces.

Sesame oil one tablespoon

Mustard seeds one spoon

Turmeric one spoon

Procedure:

Wash, wipe and cut the lady's finger veggie into long pieces.

Blend the above ingredients i.e., coriander seeds, cumin seeds, pepper powder, red chillies, dry ginger, green gram, garlic and coconut grates together into a fine paste using required water.

Mix the paste into the butter milk.

Add required salt to the buttermilk mixture.

Heat the wok with sesame oil and add mustard seeds to splutter.

Add shallots, green chillies, curry leaves.

Add turmeeic.

Saute for a while.

Add lady's finger pieces and allow to fry for sometime until the veggie become shrinken.

Transfer the butter milk and mix well.

Allow to boil for five minutes.

Now you will notice the cooked okra in the buttermilk in gravy consistency.

Hot and yummy okra buttermilk kuzhambu is ready.

URULAIKIZHANGU PODIMAS/POTATO PODIMAS

The presentation of the dish today is potato podimass. Very easy to make.

Quick fix recipe.

Ingredients:

Potatoes six

Green chillies three

Shallots peeled off and chopped one cup

Curry leaves finely chopped one cup

Coriander leaves finely chopped one cup

Fennel seeds one tablespoon

Sesame oil one tablespoon

Mustard seeds one spoon

Mint leaves one cup

Procedure:

Wash the potatoes and cut the potatoes into halves.

Pressure cook them with three whistles.

Set aside to cool down.

Heat the wok with sesame oil over a medium flame.

Add mustard seeds to crackle.

Add fennel seeds.

Then followed by shallots, ginger grates, Green chillies, curry leaves, mint leaves and coriander laves.

Saute for a while till the shallots turn translucenr.

Mash the potatoes and transfer them.

Add required salt and incorporate them together into a mass.

Potato podimass is ready to have with poori, chapathies, masal dosais.

It can be a best accompaniment to the hot rice with curd.

SIRUKEERAI PARUPPU KOOTU

Sirukeerai is known by the scientic name Amaranthus Poligonoides by the scientists. Greens are playing an important role in the kongu traditional side dishes to the main dish such as hot rice, Ragi kali, kambu satham and any small millets from the ancient times. It is considered as healthy and easily digestible and medicinal food for all the ages of the people.

Sirukeerai is wonderful greens enriched with rich iron component. It increases memory power. It has abundant calcium. It cures skin diseases like scabies, eczema and treats with kidney related properties.
Kongu folks have an immense knowledge about the uses of the greens. They know how to prepare the side dishes using the greens and lentils and enhance the taste. They consume and benefit from the greens in any form of cooking such as kuzhambu, kootu, porial, gravy or thuvayal etc.

When you make this Sirukeerai with toor dal or mysore dal, it will give you an excellent taste with hot rice and a spoon of ghee. Children will like to have more.

Now we move to the procedure of sirukeerai dal kootu..

Ingredients:

Sirukeerai one bundle
Toor dal or Mysore dal 100 gms
Cumin seeds one spoon
Salt required
Tomato medium size one
Green chillies three
Sesame oil One tablespoon
Mustard seeds one spoon
Shallots peeled and chopped half cup
Curry leaves one sprig

Procedure:

Pressure cook the dal with three whistles.
Clean the greens and wash it to remove the dust and soils.
Pluck the leaves and tender leaves with the top.
Chop them with scissor.
Heat the wok with sesame oil over a medium flame.
Add the mustard seeds to splutter.
Then add shallots, green chillies, and curry leaves and saute them until the shallots turn translucent.
Add turmeric with them.
Transfer the tomato dices and saute again.
Transfer the greens chops into the wok and saute over the medium flame until the green leaves shrink and half cooked.
Add cooked dal, salt and. Cumin seeds.
Adjust the consistency with required water.
Allow to boil for few minutes.
Check the salt.
Switch off the flame.
Maah the greens and dal using a spatula.

Sirukeerai Dal Kootu is now ready to have with hot steamed rice and a. Spoon of ghee.

SUNDAKKAI VATHAL KUZHAMBU/TURKEY BERRY TAMARIND GRAVY

Sundakkai is known as Turkey berry in English. It has a lot of medicinal facts. The Advantages are wonderful to know when we google about the nutritional and medicinal values of the Turkey berry.

* The consumption of turkey berry in any form kills the germ in our body. 

* It controls diabetes.

* It strengthens the bones and nerves and also helps in the physical development of our body when it 

   is consumed regularly.

* It prevents gastritis

 .

* If the people who are affected with paralysis consume turkey berries, the disease will be cured.

* It prevents teeth related diseases.

* Turkey berry is consisting of the following essential nutrients and minerals which are very 

   beneficial to our health.

   

                     Vitamin A

                     Iron 24.5 mg

                     Calcium 0.28 mg

                     Fat 1.7 mg

                     Fiber 56.9 mg

Its scientific name is Solanum Torvum. We can grow this amazing plant in our home garden and get amazing benefits by consumption of this berry. 

I think the above information of this Turkey Berry is sufficient to learn about. We should experience the benefits of this berry either in raw fruit or dried fruit called sundakkai. 

Let us move to make the sundakkai vathal kuzhambu:

This gravy or kuzhambu has been served in almost South Indian hotels and homes during the special occasions as a special dish.

Ingredients:

Sundakakai or dried berry 100 gms

Coconut grates half cup

tamarind one goose berry size

Jaggery one piece

Fenugreek seeds roasted powder one pinch

Asafoetida one pinch

fried gram one spoon

roasted poppy seeds one tablespoon

Red chillies five

Curry leaves two sprigs

coriander leaves chopped one cup

shallots one cup

Turmeric one spoon

Coriander seeds roasted one tablespoon

Cumin seeds one spoon

Pepper one spoon

Garlic pods three

Procedure:

Roast red chillies, poppy seeds, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, pepper, curry leaves one sprig, asafoetida and keep aside to cool down.

Powder them and restore.

Blend the coconut grates tamarind, jaggery, garlic pods and fried gram into a fine paste.

Heat the wok with sesame oil and fry mustard seeds, shallots, curry leaves, red chillies two and turmeric, masal powder we blended. red chilly powder half spoon.

Add tomato dices and allow to cook into gravy texture.

Add the coconut paste and adjust the consistency with water.

Add salt and allow to boil and attain gravy consistency

Heat the tempering pan over a medium flame.

Add one tablespoon of sesame oil and fry the turkey berry in two batches and transfer them into the gravy.

Finally,

mix the chopped coriander leaves.

Super delicious sundakkai vathal puli kuzhambu is ready to have with hot steamed rice,

MILK HALWA

Milk halwa is a traditional dessert made with cow milk using few ingredients. It tastes scrumptiously.

Ingredients:

Cow milk 2 litres

Sugar 250 gms

Cardamom eight pods

Cow ghee 250 gms

Almonds one cup

Cashews chopped one tablespoon

Procedure:

Bring to boil the milk.

Stir continuously in a medium flame.

Adjust the flame then and there.

Care should be taken to boil in a medium flame stirring continuously.

This process to be continued until the milk gets thickened into 1/4 of the wok.

Bring to boil the almonds and let them sit in the boiled water for three minutes.

Blanch them.

Blend the blanched almonds with half  cup of milk into a fine paste.

Add the almond paste into  the thickened milk and stir to get uniform blend with milk.

Add sugar in this stage and stir constantly in a medium flame.

Add cow ghee and stir..stir..stir again.

Add roasted cashew bits, cardamom seed powder.

Stir the mixture in a low flame continuously until the mixture gets halwa consistancy.

Grease the broad tiffin box with a spoon of ghee and transfer the mixture into the tiffin box.

Allow to  cool.

Now the delicious milk halwa is ready..

Do try and let me know how it is turn out.

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MILKY MUSHROOM STIR FRY

Milky mushrooms are the substitute of non-vegan foods.

Nutrition Value of Milky Mushroom

Milky mushrooms are quite a well-known species known for their high nutritional value. Taking a look at the constituents, proteins make up the bulk of the mushroom which is almost 6 times of the carbohydrate content on one hand and fats being too low on the other hand. Hence it is proved out to be an excellent food for people who do not want to risk increase in weight. Mushrooms have the low sodium content which is responsible for high blood pressure but being rich in the potassium content, the blood pressure and the pulse is regulated and smoothened.

Another very important nutritional value to note here is that the milky mushrooms are rich in the anti- oxidant ergothioneine which helps to look after the replenishing of the organs of the body like bone, kidney, liver etc and also being rich source of riboflavin and selenium, milky mushrooms prevent the aging of the body by tackling the free radicals in the body. It is due to selenium that milky mushrooms in particular, have the ability to prevent prostate cancer in males while breast cancer in females by curbing the action of enzymes like aromatase and alpha- 5- reductase which causes uncontrolled cell division resulting in growth of cancer cells. This is scientifically a proved fact.

              ---   from google source

We are going to make the above mentioned milky mushroom curry now:

Ingredients:

milky mushrooms 500 kg

Shakthi chicken masala powder one spoon

Turmeric one spoon

Kashmiri chilly powder one small spoon

Pepper powder half spoon

Cloves four

Cinnamon three pieces

Animase star one

Curryleaves two sprigs

Shallots half cup

Green chillies two halves

Coriander leaves half cup

Tomato one

Sesame oil two tablespoons

Mustard seeds one spoon

Salt required

Procedure:

Wash the milky mushrooms and chop into fine pieces.

Heat the pan with sesame oil.

Add mustard seeds to splutter.

Add cloves, cinnoman and animase star.

Add shallots, green chillies, curry leaves.

Saute for a while.

Simmer the flame.

Followed by red chilly powder, turmeric and shakthi chicken masala.

Add tomato dices and mushrooms.

Saute for two minutes until the mushroom get shrunken.

Sprinkle required salt powder.

Close the pan with lid.

Allow to cook over a medium flame for two minutes.

Finally add coriander chops and mix well.

Mushroom stir fry is ready to have with hot rice or as a scrumptious side dish to any main dish.