Eggplant poriyal ( side dish)

When I was growing up I hated eggplant just because it looked odd. Now I have come to appreciate its flavor and taste. ‘ poriyal’ is the Tamil word for roasted or sautéed vegetables. The simple poriyal is just vegetables sautéed with a few spices like turmeric and chilli/ sambar powder and salt. This version is a little more complex and is made with a homemade spice mixture that gives it additional flavor 

Ingredients

Eggplant ( indian eggplant with the tops cut off and cut into eighths)- 2 to 3 cups — soak the eggplant in salted water to prevent it from becoming brown 

Onion - 1 medium cut into strips 

To grind: 

Shredded coconut ( frozen or fresh )- 1 cup 

Dried red chillies- 2 or 3

Coriander powder - 1 to 2 tbsp 

Fennel seeds- 1/2 tbsp

Urad dal ( dehusked black gram)- 1 tbsp

Chana dal ( dehusked split bengal gram)- 1 tbsp

Salt to taste 

Topping 

Pottu kadalai flour (roasted dehusked split chickpeas)- 2-3 tbsp

Roasted peanuts - crushed - 2 tbsp 

Vegetable/canola Oil - 4 to 5 tbsp

Instructions: 

1. Dry roast the ingredients under ‘ to grind’ and grind them in a blender into a paste 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Place a sauce pan on medium heat and add 2 tbsp of oil, add the onion and roast it in the oil. Then add the eggplant slices and roast them as well. Do this until they are both tender ( but not mushy) 
   
   
   
3. Now add some salt and the spice mixture to the eggplant and fold it in to make the eggplant is coated at the same time making sure not to crush the eggplant. 
   
4. Let it cool for about 5-7 minutes until the eggplant is roasted well and the spice mixture is drier. Now add the pottukadalai flour and the crushed peanuts and dip them in to coat the eggplant . This gives it a crunch. Let it roast for 2-3 minutes.
   
   
   
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Avial - South Indian vegetable and coconut curry

 This is a South Indian curry that you can eat with rice or can eat as a side dish with Adai.

Ingredients

Vegetables- 3 cups total

I usually use:

Carrot - 1 large cut into small 2 inch strips

Potato- 1 large cut into small 2 inch strips

Green Beans - 15-20 beans cut into 1 inch strips

Other vegetables (optional)- pick 2 or 3 of these

Drumstick- 1 cut into 2 inch pieces ( this is a Indian vegetable - which once cooked you have to open it up to eat the pulp inside and throw out the outer shell)

small Indian eggplant ( black beauty eggplant) - cut into small pieces - 1

Pumpkin - cut in cubes - 1/2 cup

Snake gourd - cut into small pieces- 1/2 cup

Plantain - cut into small pieces - 1/2 cup

Yam - cut into small pieces - 1/2 cup

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Yogurt - 1/2 cup (whisk until smooth)

Salt to taste

To grind:

Coconut ( grated ) - 1/2 cup

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Green chillies - 2 to 3 ( de-seeded if you want it less spicy)

Garnish

Coconut oil - 1 tbsp

Curry leaves - 4 to 5

Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp

Instructions 

1. Take a large saucepan and add the carrot, beans, potato and drumstick to it and add water just until it covers the vegetables . Add turmeric powder and a teaspoon of salt and cook the vegetables until they are soft ( but not mushy). You can use a fork to poke the vegetables to see if it is cooked.
2. Some of the softer vegetables like pumpkin , snake gourd may need to be cooked separately since they get mushy pretty quickly
3. Drain excess water and keep the vegetables in the saucepan
   
   
   
4. While the vegetables are cooking grind the ingredients that are listed ' to grind' together into a smooth paste
5. Add the ground paste to the vegetables and fold in and mix well taking care not to mush the vegetables and cook for 3 to 4 minutes with a lid on the pot 
   
   
   

   

   
   
   
   
6. Finally add the yogurt in and mix it with the vegetables and turn down the temperature to low and allow to cook for a minute or two
7. Turn off the stove
8. Now in a separate little pan add the coconut oil and heat it up and add the curry leaves and cumin seeds to it and sauté it just for a few seconds until the seeds pop slightly.
9. Take this oil and the curry leaves/cumin and pour into the cooked avial and mix. This garnish gives avial its wonderful aroma and taste 
   
   
   
10. Serve with rice as a curry or as a side dish with Adai.

• Tip: Mix the avial with rice and you can eat it with a side of potato poriyal ( spicy potato side dish) or chips or appalam (indian version of chips)

Coconut chutney

Coconut chutney is a great accompaniment to many foods. Chutney is defined a sauce/relish of Indian origin. In the US chutneys are usually associated with sweet/spicy sauces made of fruit and spices like a mango chutney which comes in a bottle like a jelly/jam. South Indian chutneys are usually savory and made from fresh ingredients. It can be served with idli, dosa, pongal, upma, bajji, vada, etc. It really is a versatile side dish and it is very tasty. There are many variations of this chutney and I am going to give you the basic recipe for coconut chutney made with green chillies.

Ingredients:

coconut ( grated)- 1 cup

green chillies ( small indian/thai green chillies) – 2 (de-seeded if you want it less spicy)

Roasted skinned split chickpeas ( pottukadalai/ Channa dal/bengal gram)- 1 to 2 tbsp

Salt – 1/2 tsp (to taste)

Water – as needed

Optional:

Tamarind paste – a pea size glob ( or a pea size of real tamarind fruit)- you can add this to the chutney so it keeps for a few days to prevent it from spoiling

Garlic – 1 to 2 cloves — you can add this to the chutney if you love garlic

Ginger – 1 inch piece – you can add this to the chutney if you want a little zing

In the place of green chillies

dried red chillies- 1 large or 2 small to get a red chutney

Black peppercorns- 1 tsp – to get a peppery chutney

There are numerous other variations to chutney .

To garnish:

Black mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp

Urad dal ( split skinned black gram)- 1/2 tsp

Asafoetida – 1 pinch

Curry leaves – 5 to 10

Oil – 1 tbsp

Instructions:

1. Grind the coconut , roasted split chickpeas, green chillies, salt ( and tamarind) together in a blender. Add a little water to start with and add more water as you go depending on if you want the chutney coarse/thick or thin/ watery.
   

   

   
   
   
   
2. Place this chutney in a bowl and taste it and add additional salt and mix well

 3. Now in a separate small pan add oil and heat it up. Add the mustard seeds, urad dal, asafoetida, and curry leaves to the oil until they sizzle / sputter ( just a few seconds) without burning them and add this mixture to the chutney and mix well.

4. Coconut Chutney is ready to serve as an accompaniment with your dish !

Medhu Vadai (savory fried snack)

Growing up I enjoyed medhu Vadai as a treat during festivals. Later in life we made it whenever we had a hankering for a savory fried snack or when we saved some of the urad dal batter used in making idli batter.

Ingredients:

Whole Urad dal ( skinned black gram)- 1 cup

Salt - 1/2 tsp ( to taste)

Onion - 1 medium cut into small pieces

Ginger - 1 inch cut into small pieces

Green chillies - 2 to 3 de-seeded and cut into small pieces

Curry leaf - 4 to 5 leaves

Cilantro - a few leaves ( without the stem)

Rice flour ( optional) - 1 to 2 tbsp

Baking soda - 1 pinch

Water

Oil - 2 to 3 cups for frying

Ziploc bag, or plastic wrap ( in India we use a banana leaf)- used to form the vadas

Instructions:

1. Wash the urad dal and then soak it in water until completely submerged. Soak for at least 3 to 4 hours
2. Drain the water out
3. Grind the urad dal without adding too much water - add a few tablespoons to begin with and grind ( you can use a blender or a Indian wet grinder).
4. Grind until it is a smooth fluffy paste.
5. Pour into a bowl and mix it with your hands or a spoon for a few minutes to make it airy
6. Add the cut onion, ginger, chillies, curry leaf, cilantro, baking soda to the batter. Optional : You can add a few tablespoons of rice flour, this makes the vada crispy 
7. Heat oil to 375 F ( in fryer) , if using a saucepan heat up oil- and test the temperature - it is at the correct temperature when you add a little glob of batter to the oil and it turns golden brown and rises up slowly. ( note : oil is too hot if the the batter gets black and rises up too fast , too cold if the batter sticks to the bottom). Turn down the heat to medium.
8. Add a little oil to the ziploc bag and spread it around in a thin film. Take the batter and place it on there and flatten it. Make a small hole in the middle to resemble a donut.
   
   
   
9. Slide the vada slowly into oil. Fry until golden brown and turn it over to make sure both sides are cooked until golden brown.
10. Take the vada out with a skimmer ( app on with holes) to drain the oil and place in a plate lines with paper towels to drain the oil.
11. Vada is ready to serve with coconut chutney (coconut chutney)