Drumstick and Brinjal Puli Kulambu(Spicy Vegetable curry)

Last saturday I was little bored so I went to the redbox and took the Julie and Julia movie,guess what I just loved that movie.Its an Inspirational and true story.Its all about the girl and her passion about the cooking.Julie who used to live in top of the pizzeria store in Queens,NY.She also had a full time job in Goverment Agency.Being tired of her daily routine,she wants to do something different,other than cooking she doesnt have anything to do,She wants to write a book,but she thought its not that easy,so her husband gave an Idea why dont you start a blog,so she started a blog about Julia child(an american cook famous for her French cooking)recepies,she started cooking all her recepies and started blogging about it.In the beginning she didnt even got a single comments,when the time runs her blog became very famous.She too became very famous after an editorial interview.She is no longer living in the top of pizzeria,she is a famous writer now.I even saw her blog its wonderful. There is also another true story about Julia Child(an american cook famous for her French cooking),running behind the movie.Totally it was an awesome movie,I wish everyone of my blogging friends should watch this movie atleast once,I bet you will love it.I enjoyed each and every scene of the movie.If you have already seen this movie please do comment about it.This is the url of Julie blog,http://blogs.salon.com/0001399/.

Puli Kulambu,is nothing but a kind of stew made with vegetables and Tamrind juice.Its one of the very tasty dish in Tamil nadu,India.It is little spicy dish,but you can adjust spiceness according to your level.Actual recepie dont need any milk,but adding the milk will definetly enhances the taste.

You need
Onion-1 (medium Finely chopped)
tomato-2(small finely chopped)
brinjal-2(small slited lengthwise into four)
drumstick-4-5 pieces
shallots-4-5(crushed into pieces)
garlic-4-5(crushed into pieces)
dry chillies-2(crush it into 2-3 pieces)
sambar powder/kulambu milagai thool-2-3 tsp
tamrind-a lemon size(squeeze the juice out of it with 1 cup of water)
boiled milk-1/2 cup

For Tempering

sesame oil-2 tbsp
mustard seeds-1 tsp
zeera seeds-1 tsp
methi seeds-1/2 tsp
hing- a pinch
curry leaves



Method

In a kadai add the oil and all the items for tempering,when it starts splutter add the dry chillies,garlic and shallots.fry it for few mnts

Now add the onion and fry it until it is translucent.Add the tomatoes fry it until it becomes like a complete paste.Add the sambhar powder and salt.Also add the drumstick and brinjal,fry until the oil seperates from it.

Add the tamrind and some water to it and allow it to boil for 5-7 mnts/until the vegetables cooked completely.

Now add the milk and allow it to boil for 2-3 mnts.

Alu Mutter

Wish you a very happy pongal by dear friends!Especially during these festival times I usually felt like that I am missing India.In my hubby hometown they usually celebrate it in a grand manner.My father in law will be the chief chef of that day.He will make very delicious pongal ,Whenever My hubby describes me about this pongal it makes me drool a lot.I also made the pongal this time in my own recepie,it was good.My hubby said it was excellent,but I dont want to ask him to compare with my father in law pongal.I definetly know that his pongal will be the best.Between there is no relationship between the pongal and this alu mutter.
This alu mutter is made with very simple ingridients and its very easy to make too.Chappathi and this simple alu mutter your dinner is rescued.


You Need

potato-1 lb(boiled and cut into cubes)
onion-1 big(finely chopped)
tomato-2 medium(finely chopped)
chili powder-1-1+1/2 teaspoon
coriander powder-1+1/2 teaspoon
turmeric powder-1/2 teaspoon
garam masala powder-1/2 teaspoon
oil-1+1/2 tbsp
cashews-5
cooked peas-1 cup
salt
kasthoori methi-1 teaspoon(optional)
coriander leaves


Recepie

In a kadai add the oil and add onion fry until it is translucent,then add the tomatoes and cook it until it is completely mashed out.

Add all the spice powders,salt and fry it until the oil seperated from it.Grind this along with the cashews.

Bring boil to this mixture add the potatoes and peas,simmer it for few seconds.

Finally dress it up with some kasthoori methi and coriander leaves.


viola Enjoy!!

Okra(Vendaikai) Mandhi

Its a Chettinad speciality dish.Most of us think the chettinad dishes are famous for non vegetarian dishes,but there are whole lot of awesome veggie dishes in chettinad cuisine.This is one among them.Being a big fan of spice and sour foods.when I first tasted this dish at one of my friends place I became a fan of it.you can use any veggies to it even some dhals.I love this dish made with fresh okra.My mom used to say If you eat okra then you will be good at your math.I hate to eat okra when I was a kid,because of some kind of slaminess in that veggie.But now I started loving it lets hope I will be a math geneius in one day ha..ha..

This goes well with the simple dhal and plain rice with appalam on the side.

You need

okra-1 lb(cut it into medium round pieces)
small onion/shallots-3-5(cut into medium pieces)
green chillies-5(slitted lengthwise)
tamrind-big lemon size(take juice of it)
turmeric-1/2 tsp
rice flour-1 tsp
sesame oil-1+1/2 tbsp
mustard seeds-1/2 tsp
zeera-1/2 tsp
curry leaves
salt

Method

In a kadai add the oil and add Mustard,zeera and curry leaves.when it starts spluttering add the onions and green chillies.

When the onion turned brown add the okra and fry it for 5-7 mnts.

Now add the tamrind juice,salt and turmeric.Add some water Let it boil for 4-5 mnts

Mix the rice flour with water and add it to the gravy.Simmer it for 2-3 mnts.

Now its ready to serve!