VENDAKKAI PULI PACHADI | OKRA IN SWEET SOUR SAUCE

Puli means sour and pachadi means sauce. Vendakkai puli pachadi / Okra in a sweet sour sauce is a typical south Indian dish. I really love this dish because it has a perfect balance of all tastes like sweet, sour, spicy and salt. This is very easy to make dish for lunch. Always use tender lady’s finger(okra) to make this pachadi. It goes well with white rice and kootu.

Ingredients

            10 Lady’s Finger(Okra), Small size, Chopped
            1 Large Onion, Finely Chopped
            1 Tomato, Finely Chopped
            1 Green Chilly, Slit
            1 Tsp of Sambhar Powder
            1/2 Tsp of Jaggery
1 Tsp of Rice Flour
            Gooseberry Size of Tamarind
Salt to Taste

To Temper

             1 Tbsp of Gingelly Oil (Indian sesame oil / Nallennai)
             1 Red Chilly
             1 Tsp of Mustard Seeds
             1 Tsp of Urad Dal
             1 Sprig of Curry Leaves
Pinch of Asafoetida


Method

Wash lady’s finger, dry them in a paper towel and chop them pieces. Discard the tails and head part of lady’s finger.
Soak the tamarind in 3/4 cup of hot water and squeeze the juice. Discard the pulp.
Heat a pan with little oil, add chopped lady’s finger, fry for 2-3 mins in a medium flame until it turns soft. Once it done. Keep it aside.
Heat oil in a pan, when it is hot, add red chilly (Break it), mustard seeds, urad dal, asafoetida and curry leaves, after mustard seeds splutters and dal turns light brown. Add chopped onion, salt and green chilly, fry this for few mins until onion turns golden brown. Add tomato, fry this for 2 mins until it turns soft and mushy.
Add lady’s finger, fry this for few mins. Add sambhar powder, fry well for few mins.
Add tamarind water, mix well, let it boil for 5 mins in a medium flame until raw flavor of tamarind vanishes.
Dissolve rice flour in water and add it to the gravy and finally add powdered jaggery, boil it for 2 mins. Turn off the flame.
Serve hot with rice and kootu and Also it tastes great with curd (yogurt) rice.
My gravy is little thick, you can make it thin by adding little more water and cook it for few mins.

Tips

You can use small onion instead of large red onions.
Instead of sambhar powder, you can add 2 tsp of coriander powder, 1 tsp of red chilly powder and 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder.
If you don’t have jaggery, add sugar at the end.
Always use tender okra to make this dish, you can check that by bending the tail part, if it is broken easily, then it is tender in nature.

Health Benefits of Okra/ Lady’s finger

Rich source of vitamin A and Antioxidants.
Fiber in okra helps to maintain the health of GI tract.
Ideal vegetable for weight loss and lot of health benefits provided it is cooked in a medium flame to retain its properties.
Okra has laxative treats irritable bowels and treats ulcers.
Excellent for feeding the good bacteria(probiotics)
Protects you from pimples and helps in maintaining beautiful skin.
Normalizes blood sugar and cholesterol levels.

BUTTER BEANS DRY CURRY WITH COCONUT | BUTTER BEANS PORIYAL

Butter Beans are legume, they are flat and slightly curved in shape. But they are different from lima beans. You can make lot of dishes from butter beans like butter beans soup, rice and gravy for chapathi. They are very good for our body with lots of vitamin A, C and protein. Here I have used frozen beans which comes in handy on a busy cooking days. If you get dry beans, you need to soak it for overnight and pressure cook on next day. I got this recipe from here. This dish is very flavorful and great in taste. It goes well with rasam rice or curd rice.

   Ingredients

              2/3 Cup of Butter Beans, Frozen
              1 Red Onion, Finely Chopped
              1/4 Tsp of Turmeric Powder
              Salt to Taste

To Grind

               2 Tbsp of Coconut
               1/2 Tbsp of Coriander Seeds
               3 Dried Red Chillies, Big
               1 Tsp of Whole Black Pepper
               1 Garlic Clove
               1/2 Tsp of Jeera / Whole Cumin


To Temper

                2 Tsp of Oil
                1 Tsp of Mustard Seeds
                1 Tsp of Urad Dal
                Few Curry Leaves

Method

In a pan, add butter beans, water and salt, cook for 10 mins in a medium high flame.
Grind the ingredients listed under “To Grind List” to a fine powder.
Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves, when they pops up, add chopped onion, fry for 2 mins until they turn golden brown.
Add the cooked butter beans, salt and turmeric, fry for another 2 mins.
Add the ground powder, mix well, sprinkle some water, cover it, simmer it and cook it for 5 mins. Open it, stir well, once it done, turn off the flame.
Hot butter beans curry is ready. It goes well with rasam rice or curd rice.

Tips

Here I used frozen butter beans, if you have dry one, then you need to soak it for overnight, next day, pressure cook it for 10 whistles and then follow the recipe.
Adjust the number of red chillies according to your taste.

Health Benefits of Butter Beans

Good source of protein and has all essential amino acids.
Rich in antioxidants called anthocyanin.
Good source of fiber.
Iron present in the beans helps in the regulation of respiration at the cellular level.
Rich in folic acids, trace mineral like copper, which helps in reducing the inflammatory conditions like RA(Rheumatoid Arthritis) and molybdenum helps in the detoxification of sulfites from the blood.

Alleppey Mixed Vegetable Curry / Vegetable Curry cooked in Coconut Milk

A simple alleppey mixed vegetable curry is very easy to make with lots of colorful veggies cooked in a rich and creamy coconut milk. I love coconut milk based dishes because of its rich and delicious in taste. I got this recipe from my neighbour uncle, he is a chef at star hotel in Chennai. He gave me one book which has a lot of vegetarian dishes. This is one of the dish which I tried from that book. This coconut milk based vegetable curry is supposed to be little watery but I made it thick with little sauce. I cooked the veggies in a coconut milk by the time I open the pan, vegetables has absorbed all the coconut milk. When I tasted the vegetable it was so soft and yummy because of addition of coconut milk which adds a nice flavor to the curry and makes it more appetizing. Try this alleppey vegetable curry cooked in a coconut milk and serve it with chapathi or roti or phulka or rice. Just roll it with chapathi and eat it for lunch or dinner.

Ingredients

2 Medium Size Carrots, Finely Chopped
1/4 Cup of Peas
10 Green Beans, Chopped
1 Medium Size Potato, Chopped
3 Big Mango Pieces
1/2 Cup of Red Onion, Chopped
10 Curry Leaves
1 Inch of Ginger, Minced
2 Green Chillies, Slit
1/2 Tsp of Turmeric Powder
1 Tsp of Red Chilly Powder
Salt to Taste
1 Cup of Water
3/4 Cup of Thick Coconut Milk
1 Tbsp of Coconut Oil

Method

Heat coconut oil in a pan, add curry leaves, chopped onions, ginger and green chillies. Saute this for 2-3 mins until onion turns golden brown.
Add raw mango slices and saute this for 2 mins.
Add all the vegetables (carrot, beans, peas and potato), saute this for 2 mins in a medium high flame. Add turmeric powder and red chilly powder and saute for a min.
Add the coconut milk and a cup of water, give a quick stir, cover the pan and cook for 7-10 mins until the vegetables turns soft. Turn off the heat.
Serve hot with chapathi or rice.

Tips

Adjust the amount of red chilly powder and chilly according to your spicy level.
You can make this curry thin by adding little more water and coconut milk and cook for few mins.
Addition of mango pieces gives a tangy taste to the curry.

Health Benefits of Mixed Vegetable

The nutrients in vegetables are vital for health and maintenance of your body.
Eating a diet rich in vegetables may reduce risk for stroke, other cardiovascular diseases and type-2 diabetes.
Eating a diet rich in vegetables as part of an overall healthy diet may also protect against certain cancers.
The high levels of potassium in vegetables may reduce the risk of developing kidney stones and help to decrease bone loss.