Ingredients:

• Beetroot – 2 cups (diced finely)
• Red Chillies – 2 (roughly broken)
• Onion? – 1 small diced
• Mustard Seeds – 1/2 tsp
• Split urad dal – 1/2 tsp
• Oil – 1 tbsp
• Salt – to taste
• Grated coconut – 2 tsp (optional)

Method:

In a pan, heat the oil, splutter mustard seeds and add the urad dal, red chillies and fry for a few seconds. To this, add the onions and saute. Then, add the beetroots along with a little water and required amount of salt and allow to cook until the veggies are soft and all the water has drained out. Finally add in the grated coconut and mix well. Remove from heat.

Ingredients:

• Whole urad dal – 1 cup
• Ginger – 1/2 inch chopped roughly
• Onions – 1 medium (Diced)
• Green chillies – 2 diced finely
• Salt to taste
• Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
• Curry leaves – a few
• Coriander leaves – 2 tsp (finely diced)
• Curd (yoghurt) – 1 cup
• Oil – for deep frying

Method:

Soak the urad dal for 2 hours. Grind it into a coarse paste along with ginger and required salt. Add the onions and green chillies to this and mix well.

Heat oil in a kadai. Wet the palm of your hand with a little water. Take about a small-lime sized amount of dough and flatten in the palm to a disc. Make a hole in the center of the disc. Carefully remove from hand and drop in the hot oil. Fry until cooked on all sides and strain and keep aside. Repeat for the rest of the dough. Allow the vadas to cool down a bit.

In a wide and shallow bowl, add the curd and blend well with a spoon adding a little salt.
Take a small pan, heat a little oil (1 tsp), splutter mustard seeds, add the curry leaves and fry for a few seconds. Add this to the curd mix and mix well. Add in the coriander leaves to this and mix well.

Add the vadas to this curd mix one by one so they are almost immersed in the curd. Allow to remain for an hour before serving. Note: Can thicken the more kozhambu and immerse the vadas in this as well as an alternative.

Ingredients:

• Potatoes – 3
• Onions – 2 small (sliced lengthwise)
• Green chillies – 3 slit lengthwise
• Tomatoes – 1 small (diced) (Optional)
• Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
• Split urad dal – 1/2 tsp
• Garlic flakes – 3 (optional)
• Gram dal – 1/2 tsp (optional)
• Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
• Chilli-coriander powder – 1/2 tsp (optional)
• Curry leaves – a few (optional)
• Coriander leaves – 2 tsp (optional)
• Oil – 2 tbsp
• Salt – to taste

Method:

Boil the potatoes, peel the skin and cut into medium sized pieces.

In a pan, heat the oil, splutter mustard seeds, add the urad dal and gram dal and fry for a few seconds. Then, add the onions, garlic and green chillies and saute for a few minutes. Then, add the tomatoes, curry leaves, and cooked potatoes. Add the turmeric and chilli powder (if preferred) and about 3/4 cup of water and mix well. Allow the mixture to come to a boil. Add in the coriander leaves and mix. Remove from heat.

Goes well with puris, chappathis (when in a gravy consistency). Can slightly allow the mixture to thicken and use as side dish for rice and serve as the masala in between dosas (for Masala Dosas)

Ingredients:

• Plaintain flower – 1 small size
• Onions – 1 medium (diced finely)
• Green chillies – 2 diced finely
• Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
• Gram flour (or Pottu kadalai flour) – 1/4 cup
• Salt – to taste
• Oil – for deep frying

Method:

Remove the outer cover of the plaintain flower, and pull a bunch of the florets out. Pull out of each of them the stamens and a little transparent covering at the bottom. Repeat these for all the florets in the flower. Then group a bunch of the florets and dice them finely. Rinse the diced florets in water and set aside. Pressure cook the diced flower along with a litte salt and turmeric.

Drain the water if any of the cooked florets, and grind them to a coarse paste along with the green chillies. In a bowl, mix the ground flower, diced onions, salt and flour to form a soft dough. Make marble-sized balls and flatten them into discs.

Deep fry these in hot oil so they are cooked well on all sides.? Excellent side dish/appetizer.

Ingredients:

• Carrot – 4 (Grated)
• Onions – 1 medium (diced finely)
• Green chillies – 2 diced finely
• Gram flour (or Pottu kadalai flour) – 1/4 cup
• Salt – to taste
• Oil – for deep frying

Method:

In a small pan, add 1 tsp of oil and saute the onions and green chillies and set aside. In a bowl, mix the grated carrots, along with the sauted onions, green chillies, salt and flour to make a thick dough. Make marble sized balls out of this dough and flatten them to discs.

Heat oil in a kadai (for deep frying) and fry these so that they are cooked well on all sides. Carrot vadas are ready. Goes well as a side dish/appetizer

Ingredients:

• Cluster beans (Kothavarangai) – 2 cups (diced)
• Gram Dal – 1/2 cup
• Red Chillies – 3
• Onions – 1 small diced
• Mustard Seeds – 1/2 tsp
• Oil – 2 tbsp
• Salt to taste

Method:
Soak gram dal for a couple of hours. Grind it to a coarse paste/dough along with a little salt and red chillies.

Make them into marble sized balls/flat discs or pat them onto idli plates and steam them in a pressure cooker. Allow to cool and break them roughly.

In a pan, heat oil,splutter mustard seeds. Add the onions and saute. To that, add the cluster beans and a little salt and allow to cook until almost done. To this, add the steamed broken dal cakes and mix well. Fry for a few minutes and remove from heat.

Ingredients:

• Carrots – 3 (grated)
• Onions – 1 small (diced)
• Green chillies – 1 diced
• Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
• Gram flour (or Pottu Kadalai flour) – 2 tbsp
• Salt to taste
• Oil – 1 tbsp

Method:

In a pan, heat oil, splutter mustard seeds. Add the onions and green chillies and saute for a few minutes. To this, add the grated carrots along with salt and water and allow to cook until the raw smell of carrot disappears. Sprinkle the flour to this and mix well. The flour will absorb the rest of the water. Remove from heat.

Ingredients:

• Drumsticks – 2 (cut into 2 inch long pieces)
• Brinjals – 4 (sliced lengthwise)
• Onions – 1 small (sliced lengthwise)
• Tomatoes – 1 medium (diced)
• Mustard Seeds – 1/2 tsp
• Split urad dal – 1/2 tsp
• Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
• Chilli coriander powder – 1.5 tsp
• Garlic flakes – 3 roughly chopped
• Tamarind paste – 1/4 tsp
• Oil – 2 tbsp
• Salt – to taste
• Curry leaves – a few (optional)

Method:

In a pan, heat oil, splutter mustard seeds and add urad dal and fry for a few seconds. Then, add the onions, garlic and curry leaves and saute for a few minutes. Then, add the veggies, turmeric and chilli powders and salt along with some water and allow the veggies to cook. When they are almost done, add the tamarind paste and allow to cook until all the water has completely drained out.

Ingredients:

• Ridged gourd (Peerkanghaai) – 2 cups diced
• Onions – 1 small (diced)
• Mustard Seeds – 1/4 tsp
• Split urad dal – 1/4 tsp
• Oil – 1 tbsp
• Red Chillies – 2
• Salt – to taste

Method:

In a pan, heat the oil, splutter mustard seeds, add the urad dal. Saute for a few seconds. Then break the red chillies roughly and add them to this. Then add the onions and saute. To this, add the peerkanghaai along with a little water and salt. Allow to cook until all the water is drained out. Please be careful adding the salt – since this vegetable reduces in volume hugely – About 2 cups fresh veggie yields only about 1/2 cup of cooked poriyal. Also, this veggie gives out a lot of water, so do not add too much water as it will prolong the cooking time.

Ingredients:

• Cluster Beans (Kothavarangai) – 2 cups (diced finely)
• Chilli-coriander powder – 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
• Onion? – 1 small diced
• Mustard Seeds – 1/2 tsp
• Oil – 1 tbsp
• Salt – to taste

Method:

In a pan, heat the oil, splutter mustard seeds. To this, add the onions and saute. Then, add the chilli-coriander and turmeric powder, and kothavarangaai along with a little water and required amount of salt and allow to cook until the veggies are soft and all the water has drained out.