Avaraikkai is a very tasty seasonal country vegetable. It is a fibre with lots of nutrition and easily digestible.This vegetable is cooked and made as Poriyal or added to the Kuzhambu ( gravy ) as Pathia Sappadu ( Comfort Food ) to the mothers after child birth.
Dry grinding the grated coconut with Zeera, green chillies and a few small onions and mixing with the Poriyals, is a characteristic feature of the Tirunelveli region. In many of the North Indian dishes also, Zeera Powder is used invariable in almost all the dishes for its nutritive valley.
So East or West, North or South, the basic ingredients are the same.
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| Avaraikkai Poriyal |
Ingredients :
Avaraikkai 250 gms.
Grated coconut 2 to 3 tbsp.
Green chillies / Red chillies 1 or 2
Zeera 3/4 tsp.
Small onions 3
Mustard, Urad Dhal, Oil, Salt
Method :
1. Cook the sliced Avaraikkai till they become soft with little water.
2. Heat oil, add Mustard, Urad Dhal and Curry leaves.Then add the crushed garlic pods,
if preferred and saute for a minute.
3. Then add the cooked veg. and salt. Dry grind the coconut with the chillies, Zeera and
small onions.Mix them well with the Avaraikkai and saute on a medium flame for 3 to 4
mins. till the raw smell leaves.
4. Those who do not like the taste of blended coconut with Zeera can add broken red
chillies with Mustard, add the cooked Avaraikkai, salt, grated coconut and saute well.
Note :
Partly cooked Toor Dhal can be added with this Poriyal to give Protein to the growing children.
The elderly people who like to avoid coconut, can also mix the partly cooked toor Dhal.
Many may exclaim, " Sweet Potato Poriyal ! "
True, We prepare this Poriyal during the season of Sweet Potatoes and it is one of my favourite dishes.
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Sweet Potato Poriyal |
Ingredients :
Medium size Sweet Potatoes 5
Green / Red Chillies 2
Grated coconut 2 tbsp.
Mustard, Oil, Salt, Curry leaves
Method :
1. Cook the Potatoes as you do normally, peel and slice them.
2. Heat oil in a Kadai, add Mustard, Curry Leaves and later the chillies.Saute well.
3. Then add the Potatoes and coconut.Saute on a low fire for 2 to 3 mins.
Note :
For almost all Poriyals, I dry grind the grated coconut with 1/2 tsp. of zeera, green chillies and 3 or 4 small onions or an equivalent of sliced Big Onions.This gives a special taste and aroma. Those who like this taste can do so.
Tomato kichadi like Brinjal kichadi and Peerkankkai Kichadi is a gravy for Idli and Dosai,different from the evergreen Sambar.
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Tomato Kichadi |
Ingredients :
Medium size ripe Tomatoes 5
Pasiparuupu ( Moong Dhal ) 2 tbsp.
Green chillies 3 to 4
Grated coconut ( optional ) 2 tbsp.
For garnishing :
Onion 1
Red chilly 1
Mustard, Urad Dhal, Hing, Salt, Oil
Method :
1.Soak the Pasiparuppu for 15 mins and cook the sliced Tomatoes, chillies and the soaked
Dhal in a pressure cooker for 2 or 3 whistles.
2. Mash it when hot, with the coconut using a wooden laddle ( Keerai Mathu ) . If using a
hand blender or a mixer, let it cool and see that it is not over mashed like a pulp.
3. Heat oil, add mustard, urad dhal, broken red chilly, Hing and the curry leaves.Then add
the sliced onion, saute well. Mix with the mashed Tomatoes. Add salt and let it simmer
for 3 mins.The yummy Thakkali Kichadi is ready for Idly and Doasai.
Note :
1. Coconuts are optional but they give a balanced taste.
2. If there is left over cooked Toor Dhal in the fridge, that can be used instead of the
Moong dhal.Those who are particular about Tamarind, can add carefully an extract of
thin Tamarind water. We never add Tamarind as the Tomatoes are sour.
Curd Semia is a very delicious dish.Any dinner in our city, Coimbatore will not be complete without this Thayir Semia.
As Curd Rice is the last part of the Variety Rice, this Curd Semia goes very well after a course of tiffin items.This can also be taken as a single item at home and the best combination is Coriander / Mint Chutney or any pickle.
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Curd Semia |
To serve 2
Ingredients :
Vermicelli / Semia 2 cups
Curd 2 cups
Green chillies 2
Ginger 1 small piece
Oil, Mustard, Curry Leaves, Hing
Salt, Coriander Leaves.
For Garnishing :
Dateless green grapes, Raisins, Cashew, Pomegranate seeds.
Method :
1. For preparing this Curd Semia, It is not necessary to go for expensive branded Semia.
The local brands are more than enough and as they are pre roasted, no need of roasting
again. It is not going to give any extra flavour.
2. Boil 4 cups of water with 1 tsp.of oil. Add the Semia and stir well. Take care that it
does not froth and flow out, which means extra cleaning.The oil helps in keeping the
shreds separate without sticking to each other.
3. With in 3 mins. the Semia gets cooked. Switch off and pour it in a perforated vessel and
drain the water.Then hold it under the tap.The flow of water must be thin and the
Semia must not spill out.This is also an important step in keeping the Semia from being
sticky.
4. Heat oil, add the mustard and hing, then sliced green chillies, finely chopped ginger,
curry leaves. Add this and salt to the cooled Semia. Add the curd little by little to the
Semia to the the desired consistency, just 3o mins. before serving.Some milk can be
added, if the curd is sour.The quality of the curd is very important.
5. Garnish with the fried Raisins and cashew. Add the grapes,pomegranates and Coriander
leaves.
Note :
1. The garnishing with Pomegranates, Green Grapes, Cashews and Raisins depends on the
stock and preference.Grated coconut can be sauted with the Chillies and mixed.
It is very important to mix the curd only 15 to 30 mins. before serving. If mixed early,
it becomes hard and even sour. More curd with milk has to be added again.
Coriander rice is often one among the different Variety Rice in the menu of the auspicious Bangle Ceremony ( Valaikappu Function ) in the Coimbatore city.But the credit of this recipe goes to my friend Ms. Suganthi.This rice is mainly good from the health point of view with less fat.The rice goes well with the Potato or Vazhaikkai Fry.
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Kothamalli Rice |
Ingredients :
Rice 1 cup.
Cleaned coriander leaves 1 cup.
Green chillies 3 to 4
Grated coconut 2 tbsp
Tamarind 1 small piece.
Garlic 3 pods.
Onion 1
Hing, Salt, Oil, Mustard.
Method :
1. Cook the rice, raw or boiled with little less water than usual quantity, so that the
grains may be separate but cooked.Chop the onion finely.Soak the tamarind in a tbsp.
of warm water.
2.Heat oil in a kadai, add the chillies. when they splutter, add the coriander leaves and
saute till they shrink. Add the coconut and switch off.After they cool, grind coarsely
in the mixer with salt and the soaked tamarind.
3. Heat 1 tbsp. oil in the same Kadai, add mustard, curry leaves and Hing. Then add the
coriander paste and saute on a low fire for 2 mins.
4. Spread the rice in a broad vessel and let it cool.Then mix the coriander paste and the
salt for the rice. Mix well. A heathy rice free from oil and an alternative for the
routine Pulao, Briyani, Puliodharai or Coconut rice is ready.
This is a very popular and a very tasty delicacy from Kerala. Coconuts are available in plenty there and used invariably in almost all the dishes, giving them a unique flavour.This stew is called as Ishtu by the Keralites.This gravy is a good combination for Idiappam and Appam.
As such the word and the dish, Stew, I believe must be a legacy left by the Britishers as Potatoes form a part of their meal.Their butlers must have tried a gravy with the potatoes and coconut milk.
Sodhi,a special and a favourite gravy of Tirunelveli Saiva Pillai community made from coconut milk is a slightly different version of this Stew.
Ingredients :
Grated coconut 2 cups
Potatoes 4 to 6
Big Onions 3
Green chillies 4
Method :
1. Mix 1 cup of water with 1 cup of the coconut in the mixer and take a thick extract of
cocnut milk.Repeat this with the other 1 cup of coconut.Put all the used coconuts
together again the mixer, add 3/4 cup of water and take the extract.So there will be 2
cups of thick coconut milk and 3/4 cup of thin milk.Slice the onions.
2. Cube the potatoes and slit the chillies. Cook them with little salt and the sliced onions
in the thin milk for or 2 whistles in a small pressure cooker.
3. Later add the thick coconut extract ,salt and simmer till it starts frothing like milk. It is
very important to switch off immediatey. If it is allowed to boil, the coconut milk gets
diluted.The tasty stew is ready.
Note :
1. Carrot and Beans can also be added. Some people like to season with Cinnamon and
Cloves. Ginger and garlic paste is sauted with the onions and added by a few people.
Coriander leaves can also be added in the end. My choice is always the plain coconut
Stew only with the potatoes, Onions and chillies. I feel in this combination, the flavour
of the coconut milk is predominating.
Mixed vegetable Kootu is a gravy to be taken as a side dish with rice.The Tamil word Kootu means mixing.All the side dishes in the form of gravy, for rice are called Kootus as the vegetables are cooked and mixed with the ground paste of grated coconut, green chillies and Zeera. This Kootu is less spicy and so it goes well with the spicy Karakuzhambu and also the less spicy Sambar and Rasams.
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| Mixed Vegeatable Kootu |
Ingredients :
Carrot, Beans, Potatoes 250 gms. ( Fresh Peas, Knool khol can also be added )
Moong Dhal / Pasiparuppu 2 tbsp.
For grinding in the mixer :
Grated coconut 3 tbsp.
Zeera 3/4 tsp.
Green Chillies 1 or 2
Small onions ( optional ) 3
Method :
1. Soak the dhal for 20 mins.Finely chop the vegetables and cook with the soaked dhal in
a small pressure cooker for 1 or 2 whistles. After 1 minute, slowly and carefully release
the pressure and open the lid.This helps in retaining the colour of the vegetables.
2. Add the ground coconut paste, salt to the cooked vegetables and let it boil on medium
flame for 2 mins. with the stirrings in between.Season with mustard and curry leaves.
Note :
There is no fixed proportion of the vegetables to be used.It depends on the availability
and preference.Potatoes become essential to give the white colour, carrot, the beautiful
red colour and Beans and Peas for green. During the season, Avaraikkai can be used for Beans or along with Beans if we like the taste.
