Potato Assaadu/Potato Kurma - Pondicherry Special

Today's visit is to Pondicherry,union territory in Southern part of India.Pondicherry is affectionately known as Pondy and its heavily influenced by French.Pondicherry  is famous for its beach and Aravind Ashram.
Coming the food culture,sea foods are popular and its a mixed of French,Tamilnadu,Andhra and Kerela cuisine.
Assaadu is nothing its a kurma named as such in Pondicherry and it tastes best with roti,rice and other tiffin items like idly and dosa.Mostly assaadu is made with sea foods and meat,for vegetarian version its made with potatoes.Lets move on to the recipe......................

Basic Information

Recipe Source  Priya's Versatile Recipes
Preparation Time 10 minutes
Cooking Time 25 minutes
Serves 2-3

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Potato/urulaikilangu	1 (cubed)
Onion/ vengayam(finely chopped)	1 (medium size)
Tomato(chopped)	2 (medium size)
Ginger&Garlic paste	2 tsp
Red chilly powder/milagai podi	1 tsp
Turmeric powder/manjal podi	1/2 tsp
Green chilly/pachamilagai	3-4
Coriander leaves/kothamalli	1 tsp(chopped)
Salt	11/2 tsp
Oil	1 tbs

For the tempering

Ingredient	Quantity
Cloves/lavangam	3
Cinnamon/pattai	1 inch
Bay leaf	1

Grind it to a fine paste

Ingredient	Quantity
Coconut(grated)	1/4 cup
Poppy seeds/kasakasa	1/2tsp
Cashews/mundiri	4

Grind to a fine powder

Ingredient	Quantity
Fennel seeds/sombhu	1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds/jeergam	1/2 tsp

Method

Grind the fennel and cumin seeds to a fine powder in a mortar and pestle,grind the coconut and cashews to a fine paste,keep it aside.
Heat the oil in a pan and do the tempering,saute the onion and green chilly till transparent.Then add the ginger&garlic paste fry it for a minute,then add the chopped tomato and cook it till mushy.

Add the cubed potato, ground powder,red chilly powder give it a mix.Cook it covered till the potato gets cooked.Finally add the ground paste,turmeric powder and salt.Allow it to boil for 5 minutes or till the raw smell goes off.Sprinkle the chopped coriander leaves.

Serve it with rice or roti,idly,dosa.

Enjoy............................................................

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Phula Gobi Tarakaare -Orissa/Odisha Special

After a visit to Nagaland today we are in Odisha formerly known as Orissa,an Indian state located on the sub-continent east coast by Bay of Bengal.Odisha is the 9th largest state by area and 11th by population.
Oriya cuisine is rich and it varies from region as it rely on the local ingredients and the flavor are subtle and delicately spiced.
Fish and other sea foods such as crab and shrimp are consumed a lot,whereas chicken and mutton are occasionally.Mustard oil and Panch poran spices are used for tempering.
Oriyas are fond of sweets and desserts,no meal is completed without dessert at the end.
Coming to the recipe this is one such rich simple preparation with cauliflower along with potatoes and green peas.Lets move onto the recipe...................................

Basic Information

Recipe Source  Odiyakitchen
Preparation Time 15 minutes
Cooking Time 25 minutes
Serves 3

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Cauliflower florets	11/2 cups
Potato/urulaikilangu	1 (cubed)
Green peas	1/4 cup
Onion/ vengayam(finely chopped)	1 (medium size)
Tomato(chopped)	1 (medium size)
Garlic/poondu	3 cloves
Ginger/inji	1 inch
Red chilly powder/milagai podi	1 tsp
Turmeric powder/manjal podi	1/2 tsp
Coriander powder/dhaniya podi	11/2 tsp
Cumin powder/jeerga podi	1/4 tsp
Coriander leaves/kothamalli	1 tbs(chopped)
Salt	11/2 tsp
Oil	3-4 tbs

Method

Grind together onion,ginger and garlic to a coarse paste,put the cauliflower florets in boiling water and drain the water and keep it aside.
Heat around a tbs of oil and fry the cauliflower in a medium flame till it becomes golden.Remove it.
In the same pan add another tbs of oil and fry the cubed potato and remove it.

Now add the remaining oil and add in the ground paste,saute it till for couple of minutes,then add in the spice powders and mix it well.Add the finely chopped tomato and cook it till mushy.

Then goes in the fried cauliflower and potato,green peas.Add around a cup of water and salt.Cook it covered till everything blends well.Sprinkle the chopped coriander leaves and put off the fire.

Serve it hot with roti or rice.

Enjoy................................................................

• Do not over cook the cauliflower in the boiling water.
• Here I used the fresh green peas so I didn't cook it and add it as such.

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Thattapayir (Cow peas) Kulambhu

For today's Tamizhar Samayal Tuesday I am sharing you all a authentic kulambhu made in our households.This is a simple yet finger licking kulambhu made in no time and no need of prior soaking.It can be with veggies like brinjal and drumstick.All you need is dry roast the cowpeas/thattapayir and cook it.This kulambhu goes very well with rice as well as idly and dosa,tastes even better on the next day.Now off to the recipe........................................

Basic Information

Preparation Time 15 minutes
Cooking Time 25 minutes
Serves 3-4

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Thattapayir/cowpeas	1/2 cup
Onion(chopped)	1(medium size)
Tomato	1(medium size)
Garlic/poondu(chopped)	7-8cloves
Turmeric powder	1/4 tsp
Sambar Powder	1 tbs
Tamarind /puli	small lemon size
Curry leaves/karivepillai	1 sprig
Salt	1 tsp
Oil	2 tbs

Grind to a fine paste

Ingredient	Quantity
Dried red chilly/varamilagai	2
Coconut(grated)	3-4 tbs
Cumin seeds/jeeragam	1/4 tsp

For the tempering

Ingredient	Quantity
Mustard seeds/kadugu	1/2tsp
Fenugreek seeds/vendhayam	1/8tsp
Asafoetida/perungayam	a pinch

Method

Dry roast the cow peas in a pan in a slow flame,till a nice aroma comes out .To this add around 2 cups of water and cook it till it becomes soft (not mushy).Extract the tamarind and grind the given ingredients to grind to a fine paste with little water, keep it aside.

Heat a pan with oil and do the tempering,now add in the chopped onion and garlic.Saute it till transparent.
Add the tomato,salt and cook it soft and mushy.

Now add in the sambar powder and give it a mix.Now add the tamarind water and allow to cook till the raw smell goes away.

Add in the salt and cook it till it becomes thick,add the coconut paste and cook it for 3-4 minutes. 

Finally add the cooked cow peas and cook it for 3-4 minutes.

Serve it with rice and poriyal,pappad.

Enjoy........................................

• The roasted cowpes can be cooked in a pressure cooker for a whistle
• Here I used the fat clove of garlic,if it is a smaller one 10-12 cloves can be used.

This recipe is off to This recipe is off to Tamizhar Samayal Tuesday event.

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Naga Tomato Chutney - Nagaland Cuisine

In our Indian food Odyssey we are in Nagaland today,another North eastern state of India.The state is mostly mountainous and Mount Saramath is the highest peak situated in Nagaland.
When coming to the cuisine part mostly its non-veg,finding out a vegetarian recipe is very difficult.
A typical naga meal consists of rice,meat,boiled veggies and chutney.The Naga chutney varieties  tend to be very spicy as they use lot of chillies to accompany a bland dish.
Today's recipe is one such simple chutney which is used as an accompaniment and this chuney doesn't need any oil or seasoning.Its simply made by boiling the tomatoes along with chilly and garlic,ginger and mash it.Off to the recipe.....................................

Basic Information

Preparation Time 5 minutes
Cooking Time 10 -12 minutes
Serves 2
Recipe Source  House of Spice

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Tomatoes	2 (medium size)
Red chilly/pachamilagai	3-4
Garlic/poondu	3 cloves
Ginger/inji	1/2 inch piece
Salt	3/4 tsp
Coriander leaves/kothamalli	fistful
Mint leaves/Pudina	10-15 leaves

Method

• Roughly mash the tomatoes and put everything in a pan and boil it along with 1/2-3/4 cup of water.

• Once it is cooked and becomes thick mash it with a potato masher or in a mortar and pestle to a coarse paste.

• Naga Tomato chutney is ready.

Serve it with rice.

Enjoy..................................................

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Koat Pitha -Mizoram Special

Today we are in Mizoram,one of the Seven Sister State in North East India,sharing borders of Tiripura,Assam,Manipur and with neighboring countries Burma and Bangladesh.
Mizoram became India's 23rd state on 1987 and its capital is Aizawl.
Coming to the food culture,rice is the staple food served along with veg and non veg dishes.Bamboo shoots and other local herbs are also included in their diet.Panch poran spices are used for the seasoning and Panch poran tarkari is one such popular among them.
Koat pitha is deep fried fritters with rice flour and banana which resembles the Kerala Unniappam.It is very flavorful with a crispy outer and soft inner.When it is hot I felt it was not cooked but after cooling it was perfect.So serve it when its warm or till it reaches room temperature.Here I used the roasted rice flour which I got it from India.If you are using store bough flour slightly roast and use it.Off to the recipe...................

Basic Information

Preparation Time 10 minutes
Cooking Time 10 minutes
Serves 2
Recipe Source  Khaana Khajana

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Rice Flour/arisi maavu	1 cup
Banana/vazhaipazham	2 (well ripen)
Powdered jaggery/vellam	1/3 cup
Water	1/4 cup
Salt	a pinch
Oil	for frying

Method

Melt the jaggery with water to thick syrup (no need of string consistency) and pass it through a fine filter to remove the scum.
Mash the banana and keep it in a bowl.To this add the jaggery syrup and rice flour,a pinch of salt.Mix it well without adding any water to a dropping consistency.

Heat a pan with oil in a medium flame,and drop a small round batter with a help of spoon or hand into the oil. Fry it till it becomes golden and drain it on a paper towel.

Serve it warm.

Enjoy.................................................................

• Frying it in the medium flame is very important otherwise it may turn dark without cooking.
• As my jaggery has lot of impurities I melted and strained,otherwise you can use it directly.

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Pukhlein -Mehalaya Special

Today also we are in another North Eastern state Mehalaya, land of clouds and a heavy rainfall state during monsoons.The capital of Mehalaya is Shillong and its known as'Scotland of East'.
About one third of the state is forested and its home for 3 types of tribes Khasi,Garos and Janitas.
Red rice is commonly eaten and consume lots of pork and meat.They use lot of sesame seeds in their food for seasoning.
Coming to the recipe part,this one state is difficult to find a vegetarian recipe and finally ended up in making the sweet Pukhlein made with rice flour.
The recipe sounds very similar to Adirasam,but it came out perfect after 3 trials.In my first trial didn't rest the prepared batter.In my second trial the batter was slightly loose and as soon as I put it in the oil it separated.Third trial also failed and final try was with only 1/2 cup of rice flour.
So last and final try I slightly roasted the flour and rest it for 15 minutes.So resting the batter is very important.Now off to the recipe.........................................

Basic Information

Preparation Time 10 minutes
Resting Time 15 minutes
Cooking Time 10 minutes
Makes 7-8

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Rice Flour/arisi maavu	1/2 cup
Powdered jaggery/vellam	1/4 cup
Water	1/2 cup
Salt	a pinch
Oil	for frying

Method

• Slightly roast the rice flour in a medium flame without changing the color.

• Melt the jaggery with water to thick syrup (no need of string consistency) and pass it through a fine filter to remove the scum.

• To this jaggery syrup add the rice flour and mix it well.

• Let it rest for at least 15 minutes.

• Heat a pan with oil in a medium flame.

• Now take a big gooseberry sized batter and flatten it,drop it in the oil.

• Fry it till golden and remove it from the oil and drain it on a paper towel.

Enjoy................................................................

• Frying it in the medium flame is very important otherwise it may turn dark without cooking.
• Resting the batter is also important otherwise it may separate in the oil.

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Ooti and Aloo Kangmet - Manipuri Special

Today we are in one of the North Eastern state Manipur,the land of jewels.Due to its natural beauty the state is known as 'Switzerland of India'.
Manipur has a rich culture featuring martial arts and dance.Its an attractive tourist spot.
Manipur cuisines are simple and organic,healthy and uses chilly peppers for spiciness.The staple food consists of rice,vegetables and fish.
Today's recipe is a simple curry ooti made with yellow peas and dry potato curry called aloo kangmet.Both the recipes can be served along with rice.Adapted the recipe from here and here.Lets move on to the recipes.........................

Ooti

Basic Information

Preparation Time 10 minutes
Cooking Time 20 minutes
Serves 2

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Yellow peas/pattani(soaked)	1 cup
Onion(finely chopped)	1(medium size)
Red chilly/varamilagai	2-3
Green chilly/pachamilagai	2(slit lengthy)
Salt	1 tsp
Oil	1 tbs
Ginger/inji (finely chopped)	1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves/kothamalli	for garnishing
Cumin seeds/jeeragam	1/2 tsp
Bay leaf	1

Method

Pressure cook the yellow peas for 2 whistles and keep it aside.Heat a pan with oil and crackle the cumin seeds,add in the bay leaf,green chilly,red chilly.Now add in the chopped onion and saute it till transparent.Now add the chopped ginger and mix it well.

Add this sauteed mixture to the cooked yellow  peas along with 1/2 cup of water. Bring to a boil and finally add the chopped
coriander leaves.

Serve it with white rice.

Aloo Kangmet

Basic Information

Preparation Time 10 minutes
Cooking Time 15 minutes
Serves 2

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Potato/urulaikilangu	2 (medium size)
Onion(finely chopped)	1(medium size)
Red chilly/varamilagai	2-3(broken)
Salt	1 tsp
Oil	1 tbs
Coriander leaves/kothamalli	for garnishing

Method

Boil the potatoes in a pressure cooker and peel the skin,mash it roughly and keep it aside.Heat 1/2 tsp of oil in a pan and fry the red chilly till it becomes crisp.Crush it in a mortar.Now heat the pan with oil and saute the onion till transparent.

Now goes in the mashed potatoes and add the crushed red chilly,salt,mix it well.Keep it in a medium flame for couple of minutes,finally sprinkle the chopped coriander.

Serve it with rice.

Enjoy.............................................................

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