Tomato Thayir Pacchidi

Recipe courteousy Rajesh Partha

Ingredients: (for two to three people)

-Tomato (2 medium size)
-Mustard seed (1/2 tsp)
-Urad dal (1 tsp)
-Chana dal (1 tsp)
-Green chilli (2-3 small)
-Yogurt
-Salt to taste

Procedure:
-Heat oil in pan
-Add mustard seeds, chana dal, urad dal, cut green chillis and heat until mustard seeds pop
-Add chopped tomatoes to the pan and heat for a few mins
-Cook until the tomatoes become soft and paste like
-Remove from fire and let the paste cool down
-once the prepartion is cool add yogurt and salt to taste (if you add yogurt before it cools down, the yogurt will start separating (tirunjidum))
- Store in refrigrator and serve cool

Rava Dosa

Ingredients
--------------
Rava 1 cup
either maida or rice flour (optional) -3/4 cup
Green chilli -1
ginger - finely chopped(optional)
Onion - 1 finely chopped
Jeera
Yogurt
Salt to taste

Procedure
------------
-Add water and 2 tbspn of yogurt to Rava and rice flour, and make into a batter with consistensy similar to a dosa batter, but slightly thinner
- cut onion, green chilli, ginger into very small pieces and mix well with the batter along with a tsp of jeera
- Heat the tava and pour 1-2 karandi of batter onto the hot tava in a circular fashion starting from the circumference to the center of the circle.
- Add oil around the dosa and in any vent holes that form
- Invert the dosa and cook the other side
- Try to make the dosa cripsy for better cooking and taste

Rava dosa is ready to serve

Sambar

Ingredients
-------------
* Vegetables: (One of )Onion, Potato etc
* Tamarind (Can substitute tomato instead of tamarind)
* Tomato -2 (optional)
* Sambar powder (contains red chilli powder, dhania powder, turmeric)
* Toor dal
* curry leaves
* Salt to taste
* Hing powder (asofoetida)
*Mustard Seed (1/2 tsp)
*Jeera (cumene) seeds (1/2 tsp)


Procedure
-----------
-Pressure cook dal
--Soak small piece of tamarind in water and strain out tamarind and use the water
--Add vegetables to tamarind water and heat with sambar powder, salt, hing (perungaya podi or asofoetida powder), curry leaves and bring to boil
--Add cooked dal to the boling sambar
-- Prepare tadka (talichhu kottu = heat oil and add jeera and mustard seed until they pop and add cut tomatoes -optional). Turn off fire when tomatoes are cooked (if you are not using tomatoes, turn off fire as soon as mustard seed and jeera (cumene) start popping), and add cilantro.
-- Add above tadka  to sambar.

Idly Chutney

The difference between Tuvayal and chutney is that in Chutney you do not use any oil

Ingredients
--------------
Cocunut - 1/4 cup
Pottu kadlai (Roasted chana) - 1/2 cup (twise of cocunut)
Inji (Ginger) - 1 inch piece
Paccha mologa (Green chilli) - 2-3
Puli(Tamarind)- small amount
Uppu (Salt)

Procedure
---------
Blend all the ingredients with water into a paste. Add tadka. Simple!

Togayal (Tuvayal) - South indian style

Ingredients
---------------
Urad dal- 3 tsp
Red chillies - 2-3
Hing powder - pinch
Tamarind
Vegetable to be used: (One of ) Cilantro, Karuvapulla (curry leaves), Cabbage, Onion, Cocunut, Chow chow, Zuccini, Tomato


Procedure
----------
--Fry urad dal, red chillies, hing powder in oil until dal is golden brown
--Remove contents from oil and in remaining oil saute the cut vegetables and heat until cooked**
**In case of tomato, put full tomato, in case of cilantro or curry leaves switch off the fire before putting in pan and just cook for few seconds
--allow to cool and make a paste of veggies and the masala items in a blender with salt and small amount of tamarind

variation: Instead of tamarind, you can substitute with a full tomato

Pattiya Kootu

Pattiya Kootu has therapeutic value and good for health.

Ingredients
------------
Vegetable: Any Gourd variety execpt bitter gourd, (or) chow chow , (or) cauliflower, (or) cabbage
Ghee
Jeera (Cumene seeds)
Pasi paruppu (Moong dal)
Curry leaves
Black pepper powder
Salt to taste

Procedure
-----------
--Cut vegetable into small pieces
--Heat ghee in pan and add jeera and vegetables and saute for 2-3 mins (surula vadakkavum)
--Heat pasiparuppu (moong dal) with water 1:4 ratio (open cooking)
--Add the vegetables to paruppu and water and cook in medium heat (simmer) 15-20 mins with curry leaves
--Add black pepper and salt (salt should be roated for few seconds before adding to the kootu)

Serve with vattal kozhambu or togayal (paruppu togayal or paruppu podi)

Keerai Masiyal (Spinach Preparation)

Ingredients
--------------------
Frozen Spinach
Jeera (Cumene seeds) - 3tsp
Hing powder (Asoefetida) - 2 pinches (sprinkle from container several times)
Mustard seed - 1/2 tsp
Cooked dal - 1 cup
Ghee - 1/2 tsp
Rice Flour - 3 tbl spoon(Optional)

Tadka: Ghee, Mustard seed, Urad dal


Procedure:
--Start heating frozen spinach in a pan after adding jeera, hing powder, salt
--Add a cup of water and close lid on the pan and contine to cook on medium high heat
--After spinach is fully cooked
--Add cooked dal (or dissolve rice flour or wheat flour in water 2 tsp) to the spinach and mix well and heat for few mins
--Prepare tadka (on a separate pan add mustard seeds and urad dal to 2 tsp of olive oil or ghee) and heat till the seeds start popping. Add tadka to the Cooked spinach.