Ingredients for Verkadalai kuzhambu Recipe

Preparation Time : 10 mins  Cooking Time:  30 mins  Serves: 3

• 3/4 Cup of Raw Peanuts
• 1 Big Red Onion, Finely Chopped
• 10 Garlic Cloves
• Small Gooseberry Size of Tamarind
• 3 Tsp of Sambhar Powder / Kuzhambu Powder
• 1 Tsp of Coriander Powder
• 1 Tsp of Soy Sauce
• Salt to taste
• Pinch of Asafoetida
• Pinch of Jaggery
• 1 Tsp of Rice Flour

To Temper

• 1 Tbsp of Gingelly Oil
• 1 Red Chilly
• 1/8 Tsp of Fenugreek Seeds
• 1 Tsp of Mustard Seeds
• 1 Tsp of Urad Dal
• Few Curry Leaves

Method for Verkadalai Kuzhambu Recipe

Preparation:

• Soak the raw peanuts in water for overnight. Drain the water, wash them in a running tap water.
• In a bowl, add rice flour and water, make it into a paste. Keep it aside.
• In a pressure cooker, add peanuts, a tsp of oil, a tsp of soy sauce and water, cook it for 5-7 whistles.

Cooking:

• Heat a pan with oil when it is hot, add red chilly, after it turns into black colour. Add fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves, after mustard seeds pops up, add onion and garlic, fry well until it turns golden brown and soft.
• In a medium flame, add sambhar powder and coriander powder, fry well for a min.
• Now add cooked peanuts, tamarind water and salt, bring it to boil, reduce the flame to a low flame and cook it for 10 mins, finally add jaggery, asafoetida and rice flour paste. Again cook it for 5 mins and turn off the flame.
• Serve with hot steamed rice.

Tips

• Adding soy sauce gives umami taste. If don’t like it, just skip it.
• Use less salt, as soy sauce is salty in nature.
• Adding rice flour makes the kuzhambu thick in consistency.
• If you have jaggery, add little sugar instead.
• Adding asafoetida in the end of cooking, makes the kuzhambu more flavorful.
• If you want tomato, you can add it and reduce the amount of tamarind.
• Additionally, you can add any veggies like drumstick or brinjal or bittergourd.

Ingredients for Samai Idli Recipe

• 1 Cup of Samai (Little Millet)
• 1 Cup of Idly Rice
• 1/2 Cup of Urad Dal
• 1/2 Tsp of Fenugreek
• Salt to taste

Method for Samai Idli Recipe

• Soak the samai, idly rice together and soak urad dal and fenugreek separately for overnight.
• Next day, wash the urad dal and fenugreek and grind it in a grinder with required water until the batter turns fluffy and soft.
• Wash the samai and idly rice, grind it in a grinder with required water until the batter turns little coarse not too smooth.
• Transfer both the batter to the bowl, add salt,mix the batter well with hand. Ferment it for overnight.
• Next day, mix the batter with laddle, then grease the idly plate with oil,pour the idly batter and steam it for 12 mins. Remove it from idly plate.
• Serve the samai idly with your favourite chutney. I had it with carrot chutney.

Tips

• Millets may contain stones. so clean the stones before you use.
• You can use same batter to make dosa.
• You can grind it in mixie too.
• If you don’t want to add idly rice, add 2 cups of samai and 1/2 cup of urad dal and 1/2 tsp of fenugreek.
• Don’t add too much of water while grinding the idly batter. If your batter is thin, your idly will turn flat. If your batter is thick, then your idly will turn hard.
• Don’t cook idly for more than 12 mins, then your idly will be hard.
• Take out the batter from fridge 30 mins before  you cook idly.

Ingredients for Vendhaya Kali Recipe

Preparation Time : 10 mins + overnight  Cooking Time : 20 mins  Serves : 3

• 1 Cup of Fenugreek (Vendhayam)
• 1/4 Cup of Rice ( Boiled or Raw)
• 1/2 Cup of Karupatti (Palm Jaggery) or to taste
• 1/4 Cup of Gingelly Oil
• Water as needed
• Salt to taste

Method for Vendhaya Kali Recipe

• Soak both the fenugreek and rice together in a bowl for 6 hrs or overnight.
• Heat a pan, add palm jaggery and 1/2 cup of water, bring it to boil until it dissolves completely. Turn off the stove and filter it to remove impurities.
• In a mixie, add soaked fenugreek, rice and water, grind it to a smooth paste. Keep it aside.
• Heat the same pan, add ground rice – fenugreek mixture and palm jaggery syrup, stir well in a medium flame, add salt and keep on stirring until it turns thick and soft.
• Add oil and keep on stirring so that it should not stick to the bottom of the pan.
• To check if it is done, transfer a spoonful of kali to a plate, dip your hands in water and touch the kali, it should not stick to your hand. If it sticks, it is not done.
• Serve hot and enjoy.

Tips

• Use thick bottomed pan and wooden laddle while making kali.
• Use gingelly oil for nice taste. You can also use ghee if you want.
• Replace palm jaggery with regular jaggery.
• You can also serve kali by pouring palm jaggery syrup on top. To do that, do not mix jaggery syrup with ground rice fenugreek mixture while stirring. Do it separately, then pour syrup while serving.