Pongal Special

We hope that you all had a very good Pongal/Sankranthi. Every Indian state, except Kerala, has its own way of celebrating this festival and we are sharing with you some specialties from Tamil Nadu. Even though these dishes are made during the Pongal, they can be enjoyed on any day of the year (an excuse for having posted them after Pongal?).

Thani Kootu

Ingredients

Green peas – 1 to 2 cups (frozen or fresh)

Tamarind extract – 1 cup

Sambar powder – 1 tbsp

Salt to taste

Hing – a pinch

Masala

Oil – 1 tsp

Channa dal – 2 tbsps

Dhania seeds – 3 tbsps

Grated coconut – 4 tbsps

Red chillies – 4 or 5

Seasoning

Oil – 2 tsps

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Urad dal – 1 tsp

Curry leaves – 4 or 5

Red chillies – 2

Grated coconut – 2 tbsps

Method

Boil the green peas in tamarind water, with sambar powder, salt, and hing for about 15 - 20 minutes. In the meantime, sauté the masala in oil until channa dal turns slightly brown. Grind to make a powder or paste. Add the ground masala to the boiling peas and allow it to cook for another ten minutes.

For the seasoning, heat oil in a kadai. Add the mustard seeds and allow it to splutter. Then add the urad dal and the red chillies. Add the curry leaves and the grated coconut. Once all the seasoning ingredients are nicely sautéed, add them to the peas and serve hot.

Kali Kootu

Ingredients

Diced winter melon – 1 cup

Diced pumpkin – 1 cup

Peeled and diced raw banana – 2

Peeled and diced sweet potato – 1

Peeled and diced potato – 4

Finely chopped green beans – 1

Diced carrot – 1 cup

Diced brinjal – ½ cup

Green peas – ½ cup

Tamarind extract – ½ cup

Cooked toor dal – ¼ cup

Sambar powder – 2 tbsps

Hing – a pinch

Salt to taste

Masala

Oil – 1 tsp

Channa dal – 2 tbsps

Dhania seeds – 3 tbsps

Grated coconut – 4 tbsps

Red chillies – 4 or 5

Seasoning

Oil – 2 tsps

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Urad dal – 1 tsp

Curry leaves – 4 or 5

Red Chillies - 2

Method

Boil the vegetables in tamarind extract, with sambar powder, and salt. Preferably, pressure-cook the vegetables.

In the meantime, sauté the masala in oil until the channa dal turns slightly brown. Grind to make a powder or paste. In a big pot, add oil. Once the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds and allow it to splutter. Add the urad dal, red chillies, and curry leaves. Now add the boiled vegetables and bring it to a boil. Add the cooked toor dal and the ground masala. Allow the gravy to boil for about 10 minutes and serve hot with rice, dosa or roti.

Oats Chakkara Pongal

You all know that the traditional sweet pongal is made with rice. This year, we decided to give it a healthy twist. Try our oats pongal and we are sure you won't miss the rice.

Ingredients

Cooked oats – 1 ½ cups

Cooked moong dal – ¾ cup

Melted jaggery – 1 cup (approx)

Cardamom powder – ½ tsp

Cashews and Raisins for garnish

Ghee – 1 tbsp

Water – ½ cup (more if required)

Method

Cook the moong dal (in a pressure cooker or on open flame) and keep aside. Toast the oats for about 5 minutes, on low heat. Meanwhile, bring the water to a boil. Once the oats is ready, sprinkle the water over it and keep stirring. Keep adding the water until the oats are nicely cooked. Make sure it does not become mushy. Keep this aside.

In a saucepan, melt the jaggery with 1-2 tablespoons of water. Once the jaggery is completely melted, add the cooked oats and moong dal and mix well. Allow it to simmer for 10-12 minutes or until most of the excess water is absorbed and you are left with a nice ooey-gooey mixture. Take it off the heat and add the cardamom powder and mix well.

Heat the ghee in a small pan. Add the cashews and raisins and sauté for a couple of minutes. Garnish the prepared pongal with the sautéed nuts and raisins and serve hot. Bon Appétit.

Green (Vegetable) Cutlet

You must be wondering why the cutlets are called 'green'. It's simple, green was the color of the day in my ingredient list. You can of course change it to make 'red cutlets' by adding red capsicum, carrots, beets etc. 

This recipe is from master chef Sanjeev Kapoor...need I say more?

Ingredients

Potato (boiled and mashed) ­­– 1

Frozen peas (thawed and mashed) – ¼ cup

Capsicum/bell pepper (finely chopped) – ¼ cup

Onion (finely chopped) – ¼ cup

Cumin seeds – 1 ½ tsp

Ginger (finely chopped) – ½ tsp

Garlic (finely chopped) – ½ tsp

Green chillies (finely chopped) – 1-2

Red chilli powder – ½ tsp (more if you like it spicy)

Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp

Almonds (crushed) – 10

Whole wheat flour/Aatta ­– 1 tbsp

Fresh coriander leaves (finely chopped) – 1 tbsp

Lemon juice – 1 – 2 tsps

Bread crumbs – from 1 slice

Salt to taste

Oil 

Method

Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds. As they start sizzling, add the chopped ginger, garlic and onion and sauté for 2 minutes. Add green chillies, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and sauté for a minute more. Add the vegetables and salt and continue sautéing. Add crushed almonds and whole wheat flour and sauté for two minutes more. Keep aside.

Add the sautéed mixture, coriander leaves and lemon juice to the mashed potato and mix well. As the oil heats in a pan, shape the cutlets and roll in the bread crumbs till nicely coated. Instead of pouring the oil all at once, I kept adding it at intervals, as the cutlets were cooking. Fry till they turn brown and crispy and serve hot with ketchup/chutney. Bon Appétit. 

I have made a few changes to the original recipe, so for those of you who want to try the original here is the link - http://sanjeevkapoor.com/mixed-vegetable-cutlets.aspx

 

Note   1) Chop the vegetables as finely as possible, else the cutlets will not hold their shape.

           2) Pulse the almonds in the small jar of your mixie to crush them. Make sure they are not completely powdered.

           3) Use the same jar for making bread crumbs too. A few rounds in the mixie and you'll have home made bread crumbs.