Sambar Rice

A traditional way of making Sambar rice in pressure cooker in these modern times.

Ingredients:
Rice (ponni) - 1 cup
Tuvar/arhar dal - 1/2 cup
Mixed vegetables:
Drumstick - 1
Brinjals (small) - 2
Beans - 5 to 6
Capsicum (small) - 1
Potato - 1
Carrot - 1
Sambar powder - 2 tbsp. (or as per taste)
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp.
Salt (to taste)
Coriander leaves - few (chopped)
Onion - 1 (sliced)
Tomato - 1 (chopped)
Tamarind - a small piece
Oil

To temper:
Mustard seeds, whole black gram (husked), cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, asafoetida powder and curry leaves, oil.

Method:

This cup (aazhaakku) is used for measuring rice, dal and water.

Soak the tuvar dal in 1 cup of water for an hour. Cover and keep aside.

Soak the tamarind in little water and soak for an hour. Cover and keep aside.

Tuvar dal soaked after 1 hour.

Chop the vegetables and keep them ready.

Heat the oil in a pressure cooker. Add the onions and saute till they become translucent.

Add the vegetables and saute till they become soft.

Add the tomatoes and saute for 2 to 3 minutes.

Add sambar powder and turmeric powder.

Mix the powders with vegetables.

Wash the rice and add.

Add the soaked dal along with its water.

Crush the tamarind soaked in water. Discard the pulp.

Pour this tamarind water to the vegetable rice dal mixture.

Mix well.

Pour 3 cups of water.

Cover and cook in medium low flame.

I pressure cooked up to 4-5 whistles. Set it aside. When the pressure is released, remove the weight (should be easy to remove and no steam should appear while removing).

For the tempering, heat oil in a small pan and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, black gram and fenugreek seeds.

When the mustard seeds start to crackle, add curry leaves and sprinkle asafoetida powder.

Saute the curry leaves and remove from flame.

Add the tempering to the cooked sambar rice.

Add the coriander leaves.

Add salt.

Mix gently.

We consumed the rice with appalams, coriander-mint thuvaiyal, and yam roast (which I made it later)

Serve hot with appalam or with any of your favourite side dish.

 

Note:

 

Add water according to the quality of rice and dal and the desired 'mushiness'.

It is recommended to add salt after cooking the rice to get the desired 'mushiness'. Because salt makes it tough to cook the rice when added in the initial stages of cooking.

For those who want to be done with it quickly, add masoor dal instead of tuvar dal. But if you still want to stick to using tuvar dal, soak it in hot water for 20-30 minutes.

 

Tamarind paste can also be used instead of tamarind.

 

While serving, you can add a spoon of ghee.

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Bitter gourd/Pagarkai chips

When I lived in Neyveli, my mom used to buy vegetables from the vegetable market (sandhai/sabzi mandi) on Tuesdays or Thursdays (unlike now, there weren't any daily markets in the 80's). The market held on Thursdays was somewhat close to our house and my mother used to walk 1.5 km just to buy those vegetables. She would return back from the market with two bags-one containing greens and tomatoes and the other bag containing onions and vegetables. Among them, bitter gourd is the regular visitor of my mother's cooking.

Whenever my mother prepared food during my school days, I would sit and do some chit-chat with her. While watching the food being prepared, the smell would make me *click* automatically record it instinctively in my mind. Unlike a typical boring teacher, she didn't teach me, "you have do this and do that" and blah blah, whatever.

She also prepared pickles out of  unripe fruits picked from those trees in our own garden like lemons, mangoes and gooseberries, etc.

After marriage, I actually came to know and see the existence of some different and exotic vegetables, fruits and spices such as squashes, broccoli, persimmons, etc. in Michigan and Texas which were not available in the town we lived in. I still continue my quest to discover some amazing hybrids of the veggies, fruits, spices and all.

Coming back to the story of bitter gourd, mother always prepared varuval (fry) or puli kuzhambu (tamarind sauce). Knowing the nutritional value of the gourd, she never squeezed out the juice just to remove the bitterness (I follow the same technique now as well). However, my tongue would repel the taste of bitterness and I only consumed the gourds in a minuscule amount.

In March 2012, I prepared these chips. My parents, who were visiting me, enjoyed it to their hearts' contents. I learnt this recipe from a magazine and made a few changes to our tastes.

Now on to the recipe.

Ingredients:
Bitter gourds - 5
Kashmiri red chilli powder - 2 tsp. (or as per taste)
Gram flour besan - 3 tbsp.
Rice flour - 1 tbsp.
Corn flour/starch - 1 tbsp.
Black pepper powder - 1 tsp. (or as per taste)
Salt (to taste)
Fennel seeds - 1.5 tsp. (coarsely powdered)
Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp.
Oil (to deep fry)

Method:

Wash the bitter gourd.

Slice the bitter gourd into thin pieces. Remove the hard seeds.

Add the sliced bitter gourd pieces into a big bowl. Add pepper powder.

Add coarsely powdered fennel seeds.

Add the red chilli powder, turmeric powder, besan, rice flour, corn flour and salt. Mix well.

Sprinkle little water and continue mixing.

Heat the oil. When the oil becomes medium hot, add the bitter gourd to the oil. Every slice should be separate.

Fry till they become crisp and golden brown in colour. Remove and place them on absorbent paper. Continue with the remaining bitter gourd slices.

Serve with sambar rice or rasam rice.

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Almond/Badam Kheer and HAPPY NEW YEAR 2013!!!

I prepared this yummy kheer for my children today. Both were waiting eagerly during the photography session. Watching them rush and gulp  it down made me happy. Only one ladle of kheer is left for my hubby :)

Oh, and wish you lovely readers a very happy and prosperous new year.

Ingredients:
Almonds/Badam - 1/2 cup
Milk - 500 ml (Amul full cream)
Sugar - 1/2 cup (or as per taste)
Saffron strands - a pinch
Cardamom powder - a pinch (optional)
Warm milk - 1/2 cup (for grinding almonds)
Warm milk - 2 tbsp. (for soaking saffron strands)

For garnishing:
Saffron strands - few
Almonds (slivered) - few


Method:

Cover and soak almonds in hot water for 20 to 30 minutes.

Soak saffron in warm milk. Keep aside.

Pour the milk in a pan and bring it to boil.

Once the milk continues to boil, stir the milk. This is to avoid burning of the milk.

Meanwhile peel the skin of the almonds by pressing at the tip of the almonds.

Add the blanched almonds in the blending jar.

Grind them into a coarse or soft paste by adding half a cup of warm milk little by little.

When the milk becomes thick,....

..........Add the sugar and mix well.

Now pour the ground almond paste and mix well. Cook them for 5 to 6 minutes by stirring continuously.

Now add the saffron milk and cardamom powder. Mix well (Those black spots are cardamom seeds)

Pour the kheer in a serving bowl and garnish with saffron strands and slivered almonds. Serve hot in the cold weather and cold in the hot weather.

P.S. The photos during cooking were taken under different lighting conditions in some step-by-step photos.

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