Karela fry

Karela. The name itself strikes terror in our household, and I've virtually stopped making it. But when the hubby bought two plump karelas and some tiny onions, I had no choice but to dust out my mother in law's recipe. I must have done something right, because it got polished off.

2 karelas

6 small onions (regular onions, but smaller in size than normal)

2 tbsp cooking oil

1 1/2 tsp dhania powder

1 1/2 tsp amchur powder

1 1/2 tsp haldi powder

1 1/2 tsp red chilli powder

Salt

Method:

Wash the karelas, and scrape off the green skin. Make a vertical slit, and hollow out the seeds. 

Rub with salt inside and out, and let it stand for an hour. 

Mix the dry masalas together (do not add the salt). 

Rub out the salt covering the karelas, squeeze slightly, and stuff with the masala. 

Peel the onions, and cut them in a cross. Add salt to the masala mix, and stuff the onions

Heat oil in a kadhai, slide in he vegetables and fry till browned. 

Sambar- with sambar powder

While in most ways, I am a rebel, in some ways I am a purist. Sambar, for me, has to be the traditional aracha vitta sambar. But the other day, while cleaning the freezer, I came across a bottle of really good sambar powder, and decided to use it to make sambar.

1 cup tur dal
250 gms small onions, peeled*
2 cloves garlic - crushed lightly with the peels
1 lime sized ball of tamarind
1.5 tbsp sambar powder
½ tsp red chilli powder
½ tsp haldi powder
A pinch of hing
1 tsp jaggery
Salt to taste

For tempering:
2-3 tbsp oil
2 to 3 dry red chillies
1 tsp mustard seeds/rai
1/2 tsp methi seeds
A pinch of hing
1 sprig curry leaves

Method:
Heat 1/2 cup water, and soak the tamarind for 30 minutes. Squeeze out the pulp and discard the tamarind.
Wash the dal well, and pressure cook with haldi powder till soft. Once the pressure settles, remove lid, mash and keep aside.
Meanwhile, heat the oil, add mustard seeds, and let it splutter. Once it stops spluttering, add the other ingredients listed under tempering and the onions, and garlic and saute till the onions turn transparent.
Dilute the tamarind pulp to 2 cups quantity, add sambar powder and bring to a boil. Add the onions and tempering, reduce the flame, and  let it boil for 2-3 minutes.
Add the mashed dal, dilute if required, bring to a boil, and let it simmer for 5 minutes.
Serve hot.

*- rubbing with oil, and keeping aside for 10 minutes makes it easier to peel

Bisi bele bhaat- revisited

I make bisi bele bhaat quite often, but most of the time, I just use my instincts while cooking. Today, I followed the recipe perfectly, and loved the result.
The only diveation from the original recipe was the fact that I fried the small onions with the peanuts and added them to the dish while cooking.

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Patti's meal

My Patti was an excellent cook, but what made her really great was the fact that she cooked not to satisfy her vanity, but to make people happy. She knew the favourite dishes of all the people she was close to, and she always made it for them whenever she could.

This was "my" lunch- vengaya sambar, podimas, cucumber pachadi, rice and ghee- all cooked with love, and served with joy.

This is the first time I have cooked this combination for myself, and I know I will do so again soon.

Vengaya Sambar

If you ask me to choose one dish that I can never have enough of, I would probably choose Vengaya Sambar. Both my grandmothers were experts at making it, as was my mother, so my expectations from the dish are very, very high. But when you take your mother's recipe, and follow it to the letter, it is hard to go wrong. No, I will not say my vengaya sambar compares to their's, but it definitely comes close. And someday, I guess I will get it just right!





1 measure tur dal (soaked overnight)
1/2 tsp haldi powder

250 gms small onions
1 marble sized ball of tamarind

For ground masala:
6 red chillies (I use 2)
1 1/2 tsp dhania
1 tsp chana dal
2 tbsp grated coconut

For tempering: 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp methi seeds
2 red chillis
1 sprig curry leaves
Hing to taste
Til oil- about 2 tbsp
Salt to taste

Method:
Cook the tur dal with haldi powder and salt till soft. Mash, and keep aside.
Peel the small onions*
Dry roast the ingredients listed under 'ground masala', and grind to a paste with minimal water
Heat the oil, add the ingredients under 'tempering'. Once the mustard seeds stop spluttering, add the small onions and saute till translucent.
Make a paste with the tamarind ball, dilute it. Add tamarind juice along with salt to the fried onions, and bring to a boil.
Add cooked dal, and bring to a boil.
Add ground masala, bring to a boil, and let it cook on a low flame for 3-5 minutes

Though it can be had hot, I prefer to have it the next day, so the flavours seep into the onions.

* rubbing oil on the onions 15 minutes before peeling makes it easier to peel. I prefer to peel the previous night, and keep in an airtight container in the fridge