Sambar Rice (with leftover sambar)

Ingredients:
- 1 cup cooked rice
- 2 cups leftover sambar
- 1 onion chopped
- 1/2 cup peas
- 2 tomatoes
- 2 green chilies slit
- 1 tsp tamarind paste
- sprig of curry leaves
- 1 tspn oil
- Salt to taste

Roast in a tspn of oil
- 1/4 cup peanuts
- 2 tspn shredded coconut
- few curry leaves


Method:
1. In a pan pour oil and fry the chillies and onions till they become soft.
2. Add tomaotes , peas and the tamarind paste and mix it well. Cook for another 3-4 minutes.
3. Add the left over sambar and bring it to a boil.
4. Add the rice and mix it well with the sambar. Do not leave in the heat for more then 5 minutes.
5. Finally add the fried peanuts and coconuts and curry leaves.

Serve it hot with papad and raita.

Cauliflower with Panch Phoran

As I mentioned earlier I am still playing with my latest discovery panch phoran. This time I combined dhal and vegetables to make a wholesome meal. Got my idea from here. I modified the original idea a little bit to suit our tastes.

Ingredients:
- 1 cup massor dhal
- 1 cup cauliflower broken to small pieces
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 1 tomato chopped
- 2 green chilies
- 1 inch ginger piece minced
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp cooking oil
- 1 tsp panch phoran
- Salt to taste

Fry and grind
- 1 tsp panch phoran

Method:

1. I used a slow cooker/croak pot to cook the massor dhal. It took me about 3 hours in high.
2. Once the masoor dhal was three fourth's cooked add the cauliflower
3. Meanwhile in a separate pan add the oil and the panch phoran. Once it starts to splutter add ginger and chopped chillies. Add the onions and fry till they turn a golden brown.
4. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook it till the tomatoes become mushy. Now add the turmeric powder and the ground panch phoran.
5. Add it all to the croak pot and reduce it to low. It should be done in another 15- 20 minutes. Keep an eye on the dish (even though it is a croak pot) as the cauliflower tends to become mushy.

Garnish with cilantro and serve it hot with rice or roti

Sambar

Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup toor dhal cooked (should be soft)
- lemon size tamarind - Make 2 cups tamarind water
- Eggplant, okra, tomatoes, white pumpkin (optional) cut into cubes
- 1.5 tsp sambar powder
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- salt to taste

Seasoning:
- 1/2 tspn oil
- 1/2 tspn methi seeds
- 1/2 tspn mustard seeds
- Curry leaves

Method:
1. Boil the vegetables except tomatoes in a heavy bottom pan with turmeric and salt.
2. Once the vegetables are half cooked add tomatoes the tamarind water and sambar powder.
3. Let it boil until the raw smell leaves (about 5-7 min)
4. Add the cooked dhal and bring the heat down to a simmer. Let it cook for another 5 minutes. Make sure you don't boil the sambar after you add the dhal.
6. In a separate pan add all the seasoning ingredients and fry till mustard seeds starts to crackle. Add it to the sambar before serving.

Serve it hot with rice or idlis

Note: If you want to add onion to the sambar make sure you start by pouring some oil and frying the onion. Then follow the same procedure.

Potato subji with Panch Phoran (My experiment with this unique spice blend)

After reading this blog I really wanted to experiment with panch phoran. I use most of the seeds like (methi, mustard, jeera) a lot in my every day cooking. But I have never cooked with kalonji or fennel seeds. So when I was in my Indian market and saw a pre-mixed bag of panch phoran I grabbed it and cooked with it the same evening. The dish turned out to be fabulous and I will be trying to cook more with this spice blend.

Ingredients:
- 2 potatoes - Pealed, cut into cubes and cooked in the microwave till tender
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 1 tomato chopped
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp cooking oil
- 1 tsp panch phoran
- Salt to taste

Fry and grind
- 1 tsp panch phoran

Method:

1. In a large skillet add the oil and the panch phoran to it. Once the mustard starts spluttering add the onions and fry till it becomes golden brown.
2. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook it till the tomatoes become mushy. Now add the spices - Chili powder and turmeric powder and the ground panch phoran.
3. After a couple of minutes add the potatoes. Depending on how juicy your tomatoes are you might want to add water to it. Cook it for 5 minutes in medium heat.

Garnish with cilantro and serve it hot with rice or roti

Kovai Kai (Ivy Gourd) Curry

Ingredients:
- 2 pounds of Ivy Gourd - Cut length wise
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/2 tsp hing powder
- Salt to taste

Seasoning:
- 1 tsp cooking oil
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 2 tsp split urad dhal
- few curry leaves

Method:
1. Mix the cut ivy gourd with chili powder, turmeric, hing powder and salt. Set it aside for 30 minutes. This gives the ivy gourd a chance to soak all the spices added to it.
2. In a large non stick skillet add the oil and mustard seeds. Once it starts to splutter add the urad dhal and curry leaves and fry till the dhal becomes golden brown.
3. Add to the skillet the ivy gourd that has been soaking. Add 1/4 cup of water and cook it covered for 10 minutes in medium heat. Keep stirring it frequently during the cooking process.
4. Remove it from the heat when the ivy gourd becomes tender.

Note: Ivy gourd can some time take longer to cook. Check it frequently and if you feel that it is too dry then add a few teaspoons of water to it.

Serve it hot with rice and sambar

This recipe goes to the
cooking Basics event hosted by Indian Vegetarian Kitchen

Best of Luck to all the aspiring cooks out there. Hope you enjoy this dish.

Inji Kulumbu

Thank you spicy chilly for this dish. I used her recipe but modified it to suit our taste. Here is the original recipe

Ingredients:
- 2 tspn chopped ginger
- small lemon size tamarind softened
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp jaggary or brown sugar
- 1 tspn cooking oil
- salt to taste

Roast in 1 tspn of oil:
- 3 tblspn corriander seeds
- 1 tblspn toor dhal
- 1 tsp peppercorns
- 5 red chillies
- 1/2 tsp methi seeds
- big piece of ginger pealed and chopped

Seasoning:
- 1 tspn mustard seeds
- 1/2 tspn methi seeds or powder

Method:

1. Grind the roasted spices and tamarind to a smooth paste
2. Pour oil and add mustard and methi seeds. Once the mustard seeds start to splutter add the chopped ginger.
3. Fry until the ginger is soft and add the ground mixture.
4. Add two cups of water, salt and turmeric powder.
3. Let it boil until the kulumbu thickens.
4. Finally add jagary and curry leaves.

Serve it hot with rice.