Vadai thatti potta Mor Kuzhambu / Vada in South Indian Kadhi / Channa Dhal fritters in Buttermilk curry # SNC Challenge

As part of the South vs North challenge, this month Laxmi Priya of Samayal Diary challenged the members of the northern team to cook Vadai thatti potta Mor Kuzhambu aka Vada in South Indian Kadhi. Now I have cooked a Mor Kuzhmbhu, that is a buttermilk curry before (remember Venthayakeerai Paruppu Urundai Mor Kuzhambu !) and was pretty confident about doing it right. But in reality it took me three trials to cook the curry without curdling the curd. I just wasn't paying enough attention to the nuances of the recipe...

Venthayakeerai Paruppu Urundai Mor Kuzhambu # South Vs North July Challenge

This month Sowmya of Nivedhanam challenged the Northern Group of SNC to cook Venthayakeerai Paruppu Urundai Mor Kuzhambu(VPUMZ). Since I do not know Tamil, before plunging into the recipe, I googled to find out what VPUMZ meant. And this is what i gathered. Venthayakeerai translates to fenugreek leaves, Paruppu to lentil or dal,  Urundai to balls, Mor to  buttermilk and Kuzhambu to curry, in English. So the dish we were challenged to make was in fact Fenugreek leaf-lentil balls in Buttermilk Curry.

It was a fairly simple dish to cook. in spirit, it felt like a south Indian version of Palak Kofta Kadhi. while besan is used to add flavors and thicken the gravy in Kadhi, a coconut-lentil paste is used to thicken the gravy in Mor Kuzhambu. the other point where VPUMK differed from Palak Kofta Kadhi was that unlike the Palak koftas which are deep-fried,  the Venthaya keerai Paruppu Urandai's are steam cooked thereby making them a healthier and easier-to-cook alternative.  

so over all, i have only praises to sing for this south Indian version of Kadhi and i thank Sowmya immensely for having introduced it to me.

now the recipe....

Venthaya keerai Paruppu Urundai Mor Kuzhambu (Serves 4)    Recipe Source : Nivedhanam

ingredients             for Mor Kuzhambu 2 tbsp toor dal 2 tbsp chana dal 4 green chillies 1/2 cup grated coconut 1/2 tsp cumin seeds 2 cups curd, well beaten 1 tsp salt for Venthaya keerai Paruppu Urandai 1/2 cup toor dal  5 red chillies 1 tbsp semolina* 1/4 cup fenugreek leaves 1/4 tsp asafetida 1/4 turmeric 1/2 salt 1 tbsp oil  for tempering 1 tsp oil 1/4 tsp asafetida 1/2 tsp mustard seeds 2 red chillies 6 curry leaves   what i did for Mor Kuzhambu i soaked the toor dal and chana dal in warm water for 1 hour.  then along with the green chillies, grated coconut and cumin seeds i ground the dals to smooth paste and added the paste to the beaten curd, seasoned it with salt and kept it aside. for Venthaya keerai Paruppu Urandai       i soaked the toor dal in warm water for 1 hour. then along with the red chillies i ground the dal without adding any water.  the idea was to make a coarse paste. however since the ground paste did not look coarse enough i added some semolina to the paste*; then added the fenugreek leaves, asafetida, turmeric and salt to the paste and made 1 inch diameter-ed balls out of the paste. with the quantity of paste I had, i ended up making 15 small balls.  next i glazed the balls with some oil and then steamed them for 5-6 minutes. (I used a Stainless Steel Vegetable Steamer to steam cook the Paruppu Urandai and therefore glazed the balls prior to cooking and cooked them in batches of 5. In case you have a idli plate, you can grease it and then steam cook the fenugreek-lentil balls in it.) once done, i removed the balls from the steamer and kept them aside. after the Mor Kuzhambu had rested for about 15 minutes, i heated it and brought it to a simmer.  i then added the fenugreek-lentil balls or Urandai to the Kuzhambu, added some water to the saucepan and cooked the balls in the kuzhambu until the balls floated up on top. finally i heated the oil for tempering, added asafetida and mustard seeds to it. once the mustard seeds started spluttering, i added the red chillies and curry leaves to it and soon after added the tempered oil to the Paruppu Urandai Mor Kuzhambu.     and thats it. the curry was ready !    * this was not part of the original recipe. skip the semolina if you can make a coarse dal paste.

We had it with rice and zucchini-posto for dinner tonight and we enjoyed the combination a lot.
Thanks to Sowmya for the challenge and a big thanks to Divya for starting the South Vs North Challenge. 

Linking this to Nivedhanam & Divya's space...

and a few other food events on the web...

Chettinad Pakoda Kuzhambu # South Vs North June Challenge

As part of Divya's South Vs North Challenge, this month Priya (akka) from Priya's Versatile Recipes challenged us to cook Chettinad Pakoda Kuzhambu.  It was the first time i heard the name. but once i cooked it, i realized i had eaten it several times in our Chennai mess. they used to cook it really well and  i always ended up over-eating whenever it was served. I however didn't know the curry by this name. we used to call it the south Indian pakoda curry which (i learnt from wiki) is what Pakoda Kuzhambu translates to in English. 

While it is a fairly straight-forward recipe to cook through, it took me two long kitchen sessions to get this curry right. while the gravy tasted wonderful, i wasn't very happy with the way the pakodas had turned out when i cooked it the the first time. they were dense and hard. so i asked Priya akka if she had any tips to share. almost instantly she asked me if i had fried it too long.. yes i had. well, while frying vadas/pakodas(which i almost never do)  i always have this phobia that the interiors will remain uncooked and so i tend to over-fry them (as a consequence make them rock-hard)... anyway the second time i was more careful with the pakodas and they worked out fine.. weren't perfectly porous... atleast not the slightly bigger ones but so hard either. the smaller ones were better in every way and i think the  Pakoda Kuzhambu would have been perfect had i stuck to the smaller pakoda size and not rushed through the recipe by dropping larger chunks of the lentil mixture  in the oil. anyway those are just notes for me for next time... 

now the recipe....

Chettinad Pakoda Kuzhambu Recipe Source : Priya's Versatile Recipes

ingredients for the pakodas 1/2 cup Chanadal (split gram dal) 3 dry red chillies salt oil for frying 1 tsp fennel seeds for the gravy  oil spices for seasoning 1 inch cinnamon stick 2 cloves (the spice) 2 green cardamoms 2 bay leaves 1 tsp fennel seeds* few curry leaves 2 medium sized onions, finely chopped 2 small tomatoes, finely chopped 4 garlic pods, grated 2 green chilles, split lengthwise 1 tbsp coriander powder 1 tsp red chilly powder 1/2 tsp turmeric powder to be ground together  1 tsp poppy seeds 4 tbsp grated coconut ( I used coconut powder) 6 cashew nuts (second time I used almonds) 1 tbsp roasted channa dal 1-2 tsp tamarind paste salt  for garnish finely chopped coriander leaves   * i did not add this.  what i did for the pakodas i soaked the channa dal overnight (it is however enough to soak it for 2 hours). next day, i ground the soaked channa dal along with the dry red chillies, fennel seeds, salt and very little water. the ground mixture was slightly coarse in texture. i believe, keeping it that way is important for the porosity of the fried pakodas. i then heated the oil for frying. once the oil was hot enough i dropped golf sized balls of the ground mixture in the oil. on take two i was careful enough to follow the instructions and pinch the mixture balls so that they form shapeless pakodas. once the pakodas looked golden brown, i removed them from the oil and drained off the excess oil with a paper towel. i then kept the pakodas aside and went ahead to prepare the gravy. for the gravy,  i first dry ground the the poppy seeds along with the coconut powder, almonds and roasted channa dal in the coffee grinder and then adding enough water to the mixture to form a fine paste, i kept it aside. next heating enough oil in a medium sized saucepan, i added the spices for seasoning and fried them till they browned.  i then added the onions, tomatoes, garlic and chillies and cooked them until the onions and tomatoes were well done. once a lovely fragrance came across, i added the ground paste to the veggies and simmered for a couple of minutes.  i then added 3 cups of water, chilly powder, turmeric powder and salt to the saucepan, gave it a good stir then covered the saucepan and cooked over medium heat for about 5 minutes. at this point i tasted the gravy, adjusted the salt and to suit to our taste, added 1/2 cup water and the tamarind paste and cooked the gravy for a few more minutes. once the oil started separating from the gravy, i added the pakodas to the gravy and over medium-low heat brought the to a boil. then switching off the heat i transferred to a serving bowl and garnished the curry with the chopped coriander.

We enjoyed the Pakoda Kuzhambu that night with rice, yogurt and papad.  It was such a treat !!
Many thanks to Priya (akka) for the challenge and the tips and a big thanks to Divya for starting the South Vs North Challenge. 

Linking this to Priya's Versatile Recipe & Divya's space...

and a few other food events on the web...

Jaggery Appam : South vs North April Challenge

This month I joined yet another cooking event. Divya Pramil's  South Vs North Challenge. I had been following some of its members for a while and this month i decided to join in. to say the truth this cooking  group had been luring me for quite sometime. because. well. i am from Bengal and my husband though originally from Orissa, grew up in Pondicherry and therefore loves everything south has to offer. if he would have his way, we would probably be having idlis for breakfast, adai's for lunch and dosas for dinner. but that is not the case since my dosas are far from respectable. and idlis. oh...h don't even get me started on them. after trying several combinations of rice and dal for the batter i have finally come to the conclusion that instant idlis mixes yield the softest ones. however they are not as soft as the ones that our Tamil friends serve.  so to say the least, ever since we go married, cooking south indian food has been a real adventure for me. but since i am sworn not to give up, i joined the challenge hoping to learn a little about the culinary secrets of the South Indians and hopefully surprise my husband with a perfect homemade south Indian meal someday...

Sorry i digressed....  so i joined the Northern group... and as this month's challenge we had to tackle Karupatti Appam...

With very clear step-by-step instruction, Shama from Easy 2 Cook Recipes challenged the northern team to make these Appams. though i have tasted the salted appams before, Jaggery Appam was new to me. so I am not sure if i got them right. but what i managed to roll off my kadai was nice and crispy. we enjoyed it for breakfast with honey. even my little one liked his bit and asked for some more. 

now a shot of my appams and the recipe...

Recipe adapted from Easy2Cook Recipes

ingredients

1/2 cup raw rice

1/2 cup parboiled rice

1 1/2 tablespoon urad dal

125 gms south indian jaggery (this is what i got at the local indian store)

what i did

i made a thick jaggery syrup, strained off the impurities and kept it aside.

next i soaked the rice and the dals for 2 hours, then ground it to a smooth batter.

i mixed the jaggery syrup to the rice batter, taking care that no lumps were there. 

the first day i had no success with the appams. 

next day, i tried them again. now that the batter had thickened, i added some water until the batter consistency was slightly thinner than pancake batter and then tried making the appam. to do so, i heated the kadai, poured a ladle of the batter in it. then holding the handles i tilted the kadai around and spread the batter in it. 

i then put a spoon of oil on the  spread batter, covered the kadai with its lid and cooked the appam over medium low heat for 8 minutes, until it got done.

next i rolled it off the kadai and served with honey.

Thanks Shama for the recipe and the challenge and thanks to Divya for starting such an interesting event. 

Hoping to get your tips and feedback on my Appams.

Linking this to SHAMA'S EASY2COOK RECIPES & Divya's Space.

p.s : the Black and White photograph was meant for Black and White Wednesday # 80, a Culinary Photography Event started by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook, now organized by Cinzia of Cindystar. I however mismanaged my time terribly so could send my entry this week. however hop over to Anusha's space Tomato Blues to check out the other nice entries.

and here are few things that you might find useful if you want to try your hands at South Indian cooking...