The promised recipes

Ok so there were 2 recipes that were pledged to appear on MindBlogging. True to my word, here they are.

“Pudhu Vidha kozhambu”

Amma’s nomenclature. It literally means kozhambu made a new way. Don’t ask me why or how or where from. All I know is that she discovered this some place and once I tasted it, she shared the knowledge with me and now I share it with you. Here’s a shot though, in case you need some motivation.

PS: The shot doesn’t do justice to the actual flavour/taste of the kozhambu.

“Pudhu vidha kozhambu”.

Ingredients

For the grinding
1. Onion	1 large, coarsely chopped
2. Tomato	1 Medium-sized, coarsely chopped
3. Fresh grated coconut	1/2 cup – 2/3 cup
4. Dried red chillies	2 medium sized
5. Jeera	1 tsp
6. Oil (preferably gingelly oil)	1 tsp
For the rest of the kozhambu
1. Chinna vengayam (if available)	1/4kg or 2 medium-sized onions, finely chopped
2. Tamarind	1 small piece, squeezed out to 1 large cup of juice
3. Oil (preferably gingelly oil)	1 tbsp
For seasoning
1. Curry leaves	10-15 well washed
2. Sambar powder	1 tbsp
3. Salt	To taste
For tempering
1. Mustard seeds / Kadugu	1 tsp
2. Cumin/ Jeera	1/2 tsp
3. Asfoetida	a pinch

How

1. Lightly roast/fry all the ingredients under the “For the grinding” heading in the teaspoon of oil on a pan and set aside to be ground. (Grind when the ingredients cool down a bit)

2. Meanwhile in a heavy-bottomed vessel allow the 1 tablespoon of oil to heat up.

3. Temper with the kadugu/jeera and asfoetida when the oil is hot.

4. Once the mustard seeds sputter, add the chinna vengayam to the oil and allow it to cook well whilst releasing it’s juices.

5. Add in the sambar powder and allow it to cook well in the oil as well.

6. Add the tamarind juice and bring to a boil.

7. When the mixture is boiling, add the ground mixture from Step 1 and bring to a boil again.

8. Season with fresh curry leaves and serve hot with steamed rice and any side dish of your choice.

Recipe 2- Kadai Subji

So here’s another look at what we’re recreating..

Steaming hot “Kadai subji” ready to be served.

Ingredients

For the gravy
Tomatoes	2 – medium sized, finely chopped
Tomato purée	1 tbsp
Onion	1 large, finely chopped (I didn’t add onions because it was Vijayadasami yesterday)
Garlic	2 cloves, finely minced (again I didn’t add any because of Vijayadasami)
Dhaniya-Jeera powder	2 tbsp
Garam masala	1/2 tsp
Turmeric	a pinch
Salt	to taste
Oil	1 tbsp
Everything else
Veggies	1 large carrot, 1 large potato and 1 large capsicum, all cut to mid-sized pieces
Cream/concentrated milk	1 tbsp
Tempering
Kadugu	1/2 tsp
Jeera	1/2 tsp
Garnishing
Fresh coriander	1 sprig, finely chopped and washed

How

1. Fry all the ingredients listed under the “For the gravy” part in this order – Heated Oil, Garlic, Onions, Tomatoes, tomato purée, turmeric, dhaniya-jeera powder, garam masala, salt, etc and make a fine gravy, adding water as required to get the desired consistency.

2. I pressure cooked the veggies in a cooker for 2 whistles so that I wouldn’t have to “fry” them. Hint: If you’re adding a dal to the meal, cook the dal in the same go.

3. Add the pressure-cooked veggies to the gravy and toss them well, coating them with the gravy well.

4. Once the gravy starts bubbling a bit, blend in the cream. This is what gives it the colour and richness of taste.

5. Check for salt, spice, etc and add whatever as required.

6. Temper with mustard seeds and jeera.

7. Garnish with fresh coriander and serve steaming hot with steamed white rice or chapathis or any other Indian bread variety.

Bon Appetit! Enjoy :)

Hotel-style vathakozhambu

Ever had vathakozhambu at a Tamil restaurant, like Sangeetha in Chennai? It's absolutely divine and nothing they make at home comes close to that. There's something different. Introducing, hotel-style vathakozhambu - the thicker, tangier and infinitely more delectable dish than it's pale counterpart, the home-style vathakozhambu. Today for some reason when I was day dreaming food, I got reminded of this vathakozhambu that we got when we had the Meals at Sangeetha. And I had to make it for dinner. Usually, I make the normal one that our moms teach us to make... the one that all you chefs have attempted at least once. But here's how to do it hotel-style. It's almost like a kootu consistency. And with no real recipe online, I pride myself as the first one that I know of attempting this novel approach, and having success with it whilst sharing it. Yo!

Ingredients -(If you are familiar with normal vathakozhambu, skip this)

1. Something vathhal (this is the dried veggie bit that you fry to add taste to the whole concoction like sundakka, manathakali keerai, etc.) - I didn't have any, so I skipped this.

2. Onions (if you have the small bulb ones, they are the best) - 4 if they are medium sized, finely chopped.

3. Tomatoes - 1 large, finely chopped

4. Tamarind - small lemon-sized

5. For seasoning and cooking - oil (preferably sesame oil (yellu yennai/til ka tel), mustard seeds curry leaves, 2 dried red chilis, 2 tablespoons of channa dal a pinch of asfoetida and vathakozhambu powder/sambar powder.

6. Salt to taste

How

1. On a saucepan, add 1 spoon of sesame oil and fry half the onions whilst adding salt so that the onions release their juices.

2. Once the onions become translucent, add the chopped tomatoes and about 1/4th the raw tamarind to it and fry for sometime more till you are sure that the raw flavour of the onions/tomatoes is gone. This usually takes 4-5 minutes on medium-high flame and you can see that the tomatoes have lost all firmness and have released their juices into the mixture as well.

3. Add 1 spoon of vathakozhambu/sambar powder and fry for 1 more minute. Set aside.

4. Meanwhile, on a separate saucepan (or the same one, once you empty it), add another spoon of sesame oil. Allow mustard seeds to crackle, add the asfoetida, the red chilis whilst crushing them with your fingers, the channa dal and the curry leaves.

5. Once the chilis turn semi-dark and the curry leaves lose their sprightly green, add the remaining onions to be cooked thoroughly. Add salt and give it a stir or two.

6. Meanwhile, make pulp off the remaining tamarind upto about 1 cup and add this tamarind pulp to the onions and allow to boil.

7. The mixture that you had set aside should've cooled considerably. Give it a quick run in the mixer to make a coarse paste.

8. Add this paste to the boiling stuff in the saucepan and set to boil having ensured that the entire paste is mixed in.

9. Taste to see if the salt/tanginess and the spice are as per taste. Add condiments as desired.

10. Season with washed curry leaves. And voila!

While it may not look as thick as it is, I assure you that it is kootu consistency and absolutely yummy. So, what does that go with? My trademark paruppu usili, of course! If you want the recipe to that, check the comments of this post.

Give them a try n report back! Bon appetit!