A vegetarian food blog with unique and interesting recipes from all over the world mainly focused on South Indian Cuisine.
This is the recipe round-up of the Journey through Tamil Cuisine | A-Z recipes. You can read about this blogging marathon and about Tamil Nadu cuisine here. I really enjoyed this blogging marathon and also enjoyed reading about other cuisines and recipes from the other participants. I created a separate Pinterest board for this A-Z cuisine and you can follow the board and get all these recipes directly from there too.
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For the last alphabet ‘Z’, I am presenting these Zucchini Pakoras, one of kiddo’s favorite. Zucchini Pakoras are perfect tea time snacks or party/potluck appetizers and it is prepared with Zucchini(obviously), Onions and Chick Pea flour combined with other spices. It’s a quick fried snack that can be prepared under 30 minutes.
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Yam Roast or Elephant foot yam roast or as we say in Tami Senai / Chenai varuval is a mild roasted dry curry which is a great side for any sambar varieties (I love it especially with Vathal Kuzhambu) and also for rasam varieties. It’s hard to find this veggie here in US, so I always keep a frozen packet of chopped yam in my freezer. Chopping this vegetable takes time. But with diced frozen pack, this curry can be prepared under 30 minutes. During weekdays, at times I opt for semi-homemade preparations and this is one among them. I prepare this at least once a week. We all love this simple and mild roast.
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For the 23rd day and for the 23rd alphabet W, I am sharing the Watermelon (Darboosani) Rasam recipe. We all know about pine apple rasam and this rasam is pretty much similar to the pine apple rasam and I am replacing it with watermelon. The key thing in this rasam is to adjust the quantity of rasam powder based on the sweetness of the watermelon.
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Vepampoo or Dried neem flowers are known for their health benefits. This is a very mild rasam and prepared similar to goddu rasam and tempered with dried neem leaves in the end. It is a mix between paruppu rasam and goddu rasam; this rasam uses cooked toor dal water instead of mashed toor dal itself. This is a mild soup and great a rice accompaniment too.
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Ulunda Vadai or Medu Vadai or Urad dal Vada is a deep fried savory recipe prepared with Urad dal / black lentils, spiced up with green chillies. These vadas are very common in the evening snack menu of many restaurants and also it is a popular combo tiffin item especially Pongal – Vada and Idly – Vada. Along with Masala vadai you can find these delicacies too, pretty much in all the tea stalls in TN. Also these vadas are prepared on festival days too. I usually skip onions, if I am preparing it during festival days.
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Thenkuzhal or Thenguzhal is one of the varieties of murukku. Murukku is a Tamil word which means twisted. Murukku got this name of because it’s twisted shape. There are different varieties of murukku like mullu murukku, kai murukku, coconut milk murukku, manapaarai murukku etc. Thenkuzhal is a light and crispy murukku prepared with rice flour and urad dal flour and the main thing is, this murukku is white it color when compared to the other ones which are brown and golden brown. No chilly powder is required for this murukku.
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Sevai or Santhakai or Santhavai is one of the popular rice vermicelli recipes from Tamil Nadu. According to wiki, it is popular in Kongunadu region of Tamil Nadu. In Kannada it is called shyavige or shavige. Sevai is prepared from home made rice flour but I am preparing it with store bought rice flour using the traditional Sevai presser or Nazhi.
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Rasavangi is one of the traditional and authentic kootu recipes prepared with tender brinjals and channa dal. Like pitlai we add other legumes also but for this recipe I went only with channa dal. The masala reminds me of the ennai katharikai masala and this curry/kootu is like a gravy version of the same.
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This is a traditional Tamil Nadu Style Vegetable Dum Biryani. The interesting twist here is that rice is replaced with quinoa. So here is a fiber rich, protein filled and nutritious quinoa biryani making it perfect for everyone. The quinoa and the vegetables are cooked separately and layered together and steamed again on low flame / Dum to enhance the aromatic flavors.
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Pitlai is an authentic and traditional sambar variety prepared with veggies like Brinjal or Bitter Gourd or Cluster Beans and with legumes. Traditionally black/brown chick peas are used but you can also use any legumes that you have in hand. Also for pitlai instead of sambar powder we use fresh ground coconut masala. Today’s I am presenting pitlai, prepared with bitter gourd and black eyed peas.
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Orange Peel Kuzhambu is yet another sweet and sour and mild rice accompaniment prepared with orange peels (of course). I should say it’s the cousin of puli Kuzhambu or Vathal Kuzhambu. I am a big fan of Kadarangai Pachadi or gojju, so I thought of mimicking that with orange peels.
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Narthangai or Citron or Bitter oranges are known for their health benefits and the dried citrons or narthangai are one of the most commonly used ingredient during postpartum. This pickle is prepared from the dried narthangai swirls or uppu narthangai as we say in Tamil.
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Murungai Kai kootu is a rice accompaniment or it can be a meal on its own when served with rice and fryums. Like all the other kootu recipes, this recipe also uses dal and I used the moong dal, and along with fresh ground masala with coconut, I used about a tsp of sambar powder and tomatoes to add that extra kick. I prepared this in slightly thicker consistency according to our preference.
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Leeks sambar is yet another a simple sambar recipe prepared with leeks and homemade sambar powder. Instead of grinding the coconut, I sautéed it along with leeks to enhance the flavor. This is a perfect side for rice and also for tiffin like idly and dosa. I cannot skip sambar when it comes to Tamil Nadu Cuisine so here I am adding one more to my sambar category.
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Keerai kadaiyal is yet another signature recipe of Tamil Nadu cuisine and I wanted to try this in clay pot / Manchatti as we say in Tamil. I went with regular spinach that we get here in US (pasalai keerai) but this can be prepared with any greens that you get. It is a simple steamed spinach which is then mashed with Thayir Mathu / Buttermilk churner (see notes below) and tempered with spices. I am super glad that the Indian stores here started to carry Thandu keerai / Amaranth leaves and also Manathakkali leaves/garden huckleberry.
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Jigarthanda one of the most popular and perfect summer drink and it is the specialty of Madurai. It’s a perfect summer drink because of the ingredients used in it. All the ingredients have the coolant properties and it helps you in the scorching summer heat.
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Hot and Sweet and Sour Inji thokku or ginger pickle is a great rice and tiffin accompaniment prepared with loads of ginger and jaggery and tamarind and red chili powder. It goes well with idly, dosa, upma, and curd rice and of course it can be mixed with rice also. It’s a spicy chutney with longer shelf life.
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Homemade Rasam podi prepared with Horsegram dal or Kollu in Tamil or Kulthi in Hindi. This rasam podi is used for preparing kollu rasam quickly without roasting and pressure cooking the horse gram. This can be prepared in a large quantity and stored as it has a longer shelf life. Kollu or Kaanam is one of the staple lentils used in the rural parts of TN but with its gaining popularity and because of its health benefits its penetrating everywhere.
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Wishing You All a Very Happy Ugadi | Gudi Padwa. :-) (New Year Wishes)
Godumai Ravai or Cracked Wheat Upma is a one pot meal that can be used as a rice alternative too. It’s a perfect diabetic friendly recipe. It’s pretty much similar to the regular rava or sooji upma but here is my version that I learn from my mom with no onion but with bay leaf, cinnamon and coconut.
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Flaxseed Paruppu podi/Powder is simple and healthy rice accompaniment and it is prepared with flaxseed and toor dal (split pigeon peas). All you need to do is dry roast the ingredients and grind it. It has shelf life of about 10 days when refrigerated. Rice and this podi with a dollop of ghee served with papad is a complete meal by itself.
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Here is a simple toddler/kids friendly snack that is perfect for school snacks. When you have snack turns in school, you have to be really careful about the ingredients. Most schools here in US prefer nut free snacks. So here is one such recipe Nut free sesame seed balls or as we say in Tamil, Ellu Urundai. As we use black sesame seeds for pooranum and kozhukattai filling, I go with white sesame seeds. But you can alternate between these two.
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Dindigul Thalappakatti Biryani is a delectable unique variety rice originated in city of Dindigul and it is prepared with the Seeraga samba rice with loads of shallots and garlic. It uses both Nutmeg and Mace flower which adds unique taste to this biryani. Usually this biryani is prepared with meat, but I am replacing the meat protein with vegetable protein. I am using mushroom and soy chunks and here is the vegetarian version of the same.
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Cauliflower Kuruma Kuzhambu or Chettinadu Kuruma Kuzhambu is a gravy curry which uses the sambhar ingredients as well the kuruma ingredients. Yes, we add sambar podi, tamarind and also the masala items. It’s a great side for rice and also chapatti or roti.
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