After so many visitors and lots of eating out, I was craving for some simple yet tasty south indian vegetarian food. So our weekend meal was white rice with Moolangi (Radish) Sambar; Chena (Yam) Fry and homemade Green Mango pickle. Here are all three recipes:
Note: These quantities are for two people.
Moolangi (Radish) Sambar
Ingredients:
1/2 cup toor dal, washed
1 medium sized onion, quartered
1 large tomato, chopped finely
1/2 a white radish, scraped, washed and chopped into medium sized rounds
2 1/2 tsp Sambar powder (any good store bought brand works well for this recipe)
1/4 tsp hing (asafoetida)
2 cups water
Salt
1 lime sized ball tamarind soaked in water and squeezed – retain the liquid. Alternatively you can use 1/2 tsp of tamarind paste.
Seasoning:
1 tbsp ghee
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
2-3 dried red chillies
6-8 curry leaves
Method:
Wash and put the toor dal in the pressure cooker.
Add 2 cups water.
Add the quartered onion, chopped tomato, chopped radish, sambar powder, hing and salt. Mix well to combine.
Close and pressure cook for approximately 8-10 minutes (about 4-5 whistles).
Once done, let it cool and then open the cooker.
Now add the tamarind water or paste to the cooked dal. Give it a boil till it becomes slightly thick.
For the seasoning:
Heat the ghee in a kadai or saucepan. Add the mustard seeds; let it splutter. Then add the curry leaves and dried red chillies.
Add this seasoning to the cooked dal.
Mix well and serve hot.
(You can add vegetables of your choice while making Sambar – potatoes, carrots, radish, okra and drumstick are some that go really well)
Chena (Yam) Fry
Yam is otherwise known as ‘Chena’ in Malyalam or ‘Karnakazhangu’ in Tamil. As it is a root vegetable, it has a very muddy, dark brown, itchy skin so take care while cutting it as it can give your hands a bad rash where you will be itching non-stop for a few hours!
Please use gloves or oil your hands well before handling/chopping this vegetable.
Ingredients:
400 gms yam
3 tsp coriander powder
2 tsp chilli powder
6 tbsp vegetable oil
3 heaped tsp turmeric/haldi powder
Method:
Peel the yam, wash the outside of any skin or dirt.
Cut into half and then cut 1/4 inch thick slices.
Top up a largish deep bottomed vessel with water. Add the 3 tsp of turmeric powder and mix well.
Then add the sliced yam pieces to the turmeric water. This ensures that the vegetable loses all its ‘itchy’ juices. Let the pieces soak in the tamarind water for at least 30 minutes.
Once done, drain out the water and give the yam pieces a quick wash.
Now, add the chilli powder, coriander powder and salt. Mix well.
Heat the oil.
Add the yam. Then cover and cook for about 10 minutes. Once the vegetable is soft, open and keep adding oil little by little till its a deep, golden brown.
This has to be one of my most favorite vegetable side dishes. Its just yum and well worth all that effort!
Green Mango Pickle
I just cannot resist a green, raw mango. I can eat it immediately with a little salt and chilli powder or just chop it up and make a really simple, yet delicious pickle which is what I did this time. (I also did eat quite a few of the raw pieces while chopping it – that aroma is just heavenly.)
Ingredients:
1 large raw green mango; washed and chopped into pieces
1/2 cup gingelly/sesame oil
1/4 cup chilly powder (adjust according to the desired level of spice)
1/2 tsp turmeric/haldi powder
1/4 tsp hing/asafoetida
1/2 tbsp fenugreek seeds (roasted and powdered)
Salt
Method:
Wash the mango, cut into pieces.
Heat the oil in a kadai. Fry the chopped mango pieces. Add the chilli powder, turmeric powder, fenugreek powder, hing and salt.
Mix well and keep stirring till the oil leaves the side of the kadai.
Remove from heat, cool and store in an airtight container.
Refrigerate.
