There are many ways to prepare greens. I remember my great grand mom cooking different types of kootu with keerai. I tried making mulai keerai poriyal along with its stem and added moong dal for a variation. we liked it a lot. It tasted good when mixed with rice and little ghee. The trick is to use only the tender part of the stem rather hard stem. Then you should first saute and cook the stem before adding the greens. this way, we can cook the greens and stem evenly. Do try this nutritious as well as healthy poriyal. You will like it for sure.



Ingredients:

Mulai Keerai - 1 bunch
Moong dal - 2 tsp's
Grated coconut - 2 tsp's
Onion - 1 finely chopped (optional)
Salt to taste

For tempering:

Oil - 1 tsp
Mustard - 1/2 tsp
Split urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Dry red chilly - 2 (broken)

Method:

Soak moong dal in water for about 30 minutes. drain the water from moong dal and set the dal aside.

Clean and seperate the mulai keerai from its stem. discard the bottom part of the stem, which will be hard.
just select the tender stem, wash it thoroughly and chop them finely and set aside.

Wash the mulai keerai leaves seperately twice or thrice and chop it finely and set aside.

Heat a pan, add 1 tsp oil, add mustard. let it splutter. then add split urad dal and broken dry red chilly. saute and add finely chopped onion and saute it till it turns translucent.

Next add the finely chopped stem and mix well with the onions. let the stem get cooked for about 2-3 minutes. Then add the finely chopped greens and mix well. soon the greens get cooked in a minute or two.

Finally add the drained moong dal and the grated coconut. Mix well.

Remove from the flame and transfer the poriyal to a serving bowl.

Serve along with Rice and Sambhar.


Notes:

Adding onion and moong dal is optional.

Never cook the greens for more than 5 minutes. it may loose all the nutrition. so just let 2-3 minutes and remove from flame.

I always cook vazhakkai roast and vazhakkai kuzhambu. For a change i wanted to try podimas recipe. i have already made potato podimas and we like it lot. As i pack lunch for my hubby and to my son, cooking a proper meal with sambhar, rasam and poriyal are shifted to weekends as pulao,chapathi and sabzi took over on weekdays.

This is the recent poriyal craze going on at home. just love this kathirikai podi curry, as it goes well with rasam or sambhar or any variety rice. its simple and easy to prepare.

                                    Kathirikai podi varuval with arisi paruppu sadham


You can prepare it in three different ways. yes i have tried three different ways just in the past one week! i will share two ways here, one is with less oil and the other is sinful varuval kind. though it can be prepared in three ways, basic podi is same, and it differs in either sauting or frying or steaming the brinjal's.

Ingredients for podi: 

                            got this moram after seeing it on raks kitchen. now i love to use it!

4 or 5 dry red chilli
1 tbsp chana dal
1 tsp dhania
1 tbsp peanuts
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp grated fresh coconut or kopparai(dry coconut)

Dry roast the above ingredients one by one in medium flame till they turn into golden color. once roasted, cool them down and grind into a coarse powder.


If you have added dry coconut, you can store the podi in fridge and use it up later. you can also prepare vazhakkai podi varuval. so prepare the podi  in excess and store in an air tight container, which could be good for at least a week.

Kathrikai podi poriyal: ( with just 1 tsp oil )


Purple brinjal - 10
Oil - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Tamarind - a small lemon size
Podi - 3 tbsp
Turmeric - 1 tsp
salt to taste

Method:

Trim the tails of brinjal and cut them lengthwise. soak the tamarind in 1/2 a cup of water and squeeze out the pulp. heat a pan, add the tamarind water and brinjal's. let the brinjal get fully cooked in it and the water should be absorbed by the brinjals. at this stage, add salt to taste, turmeric powder and the podi. mix up all together. add a tsp of oil and mix them all. leave the brinjal's  in slow flame for about 2-3 mins. add curry leaves & remove from flame. serve with hot rice. Tastes best when served with mor kuzhambu or rasam.

Kathrikai podi varuval: (with 4 tbsp's of oil)



Purple brinjal - 10
Oil - 3 - 4 tbsp
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Podi - 3  tbsp
Turmeric - 1 tsp
Chilly powder - 1 tsp
salt to taste


Method:

Trim the tails of brinjal and cut them lengthwise. Heat oil in a pan, add the brinjal's and fry them till they are almost cooked(3 - 4 minutes). add salt to taste, turmeric, podi and chilly powder. mix up well. let the brinjal's get wrapped up well with the podi. Let the brinjal fully cooked in low flame for about 2 or 3 minutes. add the curry leaves and remove from flame. serve hot.

I served with arisi paruppu sadham, which was a delicious combo!

I liked the version with less oil, as its guilt free. but you all know, which one will taste good. i was talking about the third version of steaming isn't it?. you can refer bharathy's spicy chilly.

Ingredients:

Potatoes - 4
Grated Coconut - 2 tsp's
Lemon Juice - 1/4 tsp

For Tempering:

2 tbsp of Oil
1/2 tsp of mustard
1/4 tsp of cumin
1/2 tsp of split urad dal
1/4 tsp of asafoetida
1 sprig curry leaves
a pinch of turmeric powder
2 tsp's of sambhar powder
1 tsp of corriander powder


Method:

Peel the skin of the Potatoes and chop them into small pieces.

Heat 2tbsp of oil in a Pan, add mustard and let it splutter, add split urad dal, cumin, asafoetida powder, and curry leaves. roast them all. Next add Sambhar powder, a pinch of turmeric powder, Corriander Powder & Salt to taste and saute them in the oil for a minute.

Add the chopped Potatoes to the Pan and mix well with the masala's. simmer the flame and let it rest for a minute, for the potatoes to absorb the flavours of masala's.

Add 1/4 cup of water to the pan , mix well and close the pan with its lid and let the flame be in sim for about 5 mins, till the potatoes are nicely cooked.

After the Potatoes are cooked, remove them from flame,  while removing the poriyal from the pan, also scrap the masala's sticked to the pan. add the grated coconut and lemon juice and mix well.

Serve Hot with Sambhar Rice or Vathakuzhambu Rice.

How to Prepare Sambhar Quick?



Chop 1 carrot, 1 radish, 1 onion, 1 tomato into pieces. add them all to the 1/4 cup of toor dal with 1 cup of water, a pinch of turmeric powder, a pich of asafoetida and a drop of oil. Pressure Cook all for upto 4 whistles.

You can add other vegetables like Drumstick, brinjal and beans.

Heat a tsp of oil in a pan, add 1/2 tsp mustard, 1/4 tsp fenugreek, a pinch of asafoetida, 1 sprig of curry leaves, 3 dry red chillis's and roast them all.

Now add cooked toor dal and 2 cups of water. add 2 tsp of sambhar powder and a tsp of tamarind paste and mix well. add salt to taste.

Garnish the Sambhar with chopped corriander leaves.

When i spotted brussels sprouts at vegetable shop-Pazhamudhir cholai, i grabbed a pack without thinking what to cook with it. I have seen it on Indira's blog, but forgot its name, finally i got its name from the bill given by the shop. The next day i prepared brussels sprouts fry, just as i prepare cabbage stir fry. it tasted good. I also added flax seed powder towards the end, and it gave a nice taste. I add flax seed powder, which has Omega-3 fatty acids, to all my poriyal / stir fry.

We Love Jack fruits..Whenever we have it, i used to save the seed and prepare curry along with eggplant and drumstick. the combination of all the three in the curry is the best combo not to miss. When i got a pack of Jack fruit seeds, my domestic helper suggested me to try Poriyal/Roast with it. I readily went ahead and we loved it a lot. Here is how i made..

Get Ready with 20 Jack fruit Seeds / Palakottai, wash them thoroughly and pressure cook them with little water and salt for up to 5 whistles. On pressure Cooking, cool them and remove the outer white skin( this is a time consuming process, but you got to do it.) them cut the seeds into into half and set aside.

Heat a tbsp of oil in a pan, add 1/4 tsp mustard,1/4 tsp urad dal, a stalk of curry leaves, 2 dry red chilli and fry them. Now add jackfruit and let it coat with the oil, add a pinch of turmeric powder, 1/2 tsp sambhar powder, and mix well, so that seeds get coated with masala. Keep stirring in slow flame for about 5 minutes till the raw smell of masala powder goes off.

Serve it with Sambhar Rice or with Rasam Rice. iam sure you will enjoy the combination.

Masala Stuffed Bhindi's - Do u think that it is a tough and long job.. No, its so easy and you can make it in less than 10 minutes, if you have scrapped coconut on hand. I got the recipe from Tarla Dalal's Microwave Cooking Book. Cooking this in Microwave is so easy, and it just takes less oil into it. You can also prepare this in your Pan or Iron Skillet, by just placing the stuffed Bhindi's on the Skillet and leaving 2 tbsp of oil, to the sides of the okra, and letting to get fried for about 3 minutes in slow flame. again flip the bhindi's to the other side and fry them again for 2 minute's.

Grated Coconut - 1/2 cup (half coconut grated)

Bhindi /Okra / Ladies Finger - 20 - 25 no. (roughly 250 gms)

Cumin Powder - 1 tsp

Corriander Powder - 1 tsp

Chilli Powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric Powder - a pinch

Asafoetida /Hing - a pinch

Chopped Corriander Leaves - 2 tbsp

Sesame - 1 tbsp

Oil - 2 tbsp + 2 tsp

Wash the Okra's /Bhindi and Dry them on Clean Towel. Make sure Okra's are not wet, before you proceed.

In a Cup, add the finely chopped Corriander Leaves, Grated Coconut, chilli powder, corriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder, asafoetida, little bit of salt and mix well. add 1 tsp of oil to the Masala and Mix well.

Now Slit the Bhindi's Vertically little deep, so that you have enough space to put in the masala inside the Bhindi's. After Slitting the Bhindi's, Take a Big Pinch of the Masala and stuff it inside the Bhindi, all along the vertical slit. Neatly stuff all the Bhindi's.

If you are using a Microwave, Place the stuffed Bhindi's in a Microwave Safe Plate, Do not place Bhindi's one over the other. sprinkle few drops of oil over the Bhindi and Microwave it on High for about 4 minutes 30 seconds.

(or)

Preparing in your Pan or Iron Skillet: Just place the stuffed Bhindi's on the Wide- Skillet and add 2 tbsp of oil, to the sides of the okra, and let it to get fried for about 3 minutes in slow flame. again flip the bhindi's to the other side and fry them again for 2 minute's.

In a small Tadka Skillet, heat a tsp of oil and add sesame seeds and let it pop and add to the stuffed Bhindi's.

Okra's turn so tender on cooking. Iam sure Okra lovers will love this. and this was best with Sambhar Rice.

Masala Stuffed Bhindi and Drumstick Sambhar [Yesterday's Lunch]

Have a Great Weekend!!

Ingredients:

• Beetroot-1
• Onion-1
• Dry Red chilli-2
• Green chilli-1
• Oil-1 tsp
• Mustard-1/4 tsp
• Chana Dal-1/4 cup(soaked for 2 hours)
• Curry Leaf-8/10
• Garlic-3 cloves

Method:

First Soak the Chana Dal in hot water for 2hrs, or atleast 30 mins. then pressure cook the chana dal, with the chopped Beetroot, salt and garlic with some water. let the whistle count be 4 whistles.

Cut the Onion's finely. In a Pan, Heat the oil and add mustard, when it makes some sound add curry leaf, red and green chilli's. saute them well. now add the onion's and saute them.

When onions are cooked, add the beetroot and chana dal, say the pressure cooked one's to the pan and mix well.

Add salt and let it boil. add water to get a desired consistency.



 UPDATE:

** If you wish to have Pepper spice, just avoid the red chilli and green chilli in the recipe and add pepper powder (1/2 tbsp) and stir well, before you remove the kootu from the flame. [I have prepared and tasted this way, we loved it a lot.]

** If you are not calorie conscious, add a tbsp of ghee, before serving. it enhances the taste.
Now serve it with Hot Rice or with soft chapathi's.

It tasted so good with chana dal. Since i prepare lunch, only for me, this single dish was like a whole meal for me. If you prefer, you can also add coconut, when it is prepared dry, without any water added.

I do not want to blog simple recipe's.. This recipe may be simple, but i felt it is worth of sharing. During these rainy day' s, i want my lunch to be hot, light and satisfying. This Rasam fits all these criteria. Serving some pappad's or some potato chips along with, will be a real filled meal. This is best for digestion and best charger-when you have cold, as the recipe calls for pepper corns.

Method:

Ground the spices-Garlic(5 cloves), cumin(1 tbsp), Corriander leaves(leaves of 6 stems) and Pepper(8-10). You can use the Pulse button on your mixer grinder to ground the spices. Dont Forget to smell at this stage..a refreshing aroma it is..

In a cup of water, sqeeze the tomato well and set them aside.

In a pan, heat the oil, when heated, add some cumin seeds and asafoetida powder. if you want some extra spice, add red chilli's. Now add the ground mixture and saute it for half a minute.

Add the tomato water and a pinch of turmeric powder and salt required as per your taste. Dont Let it boil. just heating is enough. it just takes another half a minute.

Serve it Hot, Only when it is Hot, it is Divine...