Vendakkai poriyal / okra (or) lady’s finger stir fry is a tasty south Indian side dish and I make often at home. Also this is worldwide used versatile vegetable. I use this vegetable to make sambhar, puli kulambhu , subzi and stir fries. Lady’s finger is very good for our health and My mom used to tell that eating raw lady’s finger helps us to solve maths problems quickly. But I don’t know the scientific reason behind that and here it comes the delicious okra stir fry without coconut,onion and garlic, that goes well with sambhar and rice.



    Ingredients

            15 Lady’s Finger / Okra, Medium Size
            2 Tsp of Oil
            1/2 Tsp of Mustard Seeds
            1/2 Tsp of Urad Dal
            Few Curry Leaves
            1 Tsp of Sambhar Powder
            Salt to Taste


    Method

• Wash the okra / lady’s finger in a cold running tap water. Wipe it dry with a paper towel. Cut the head and tail part and then cut into thin pieces.

• Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves, after it splutters, add the lady’s finger, fry well for a min.
• Add sambhar powder and salt, fry well for 2 mins, sprinkle little water, cover the pan with a lid and cook for 3-5 mins until it turns soft and reduces in volume. Give a quick stir and turn off the flame.
• Vendakkai poriyal is ready to serve with rice and sambhar.

    Tips

• If you don’t have sambhar powder, add 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder and 1 tsp of red chilly powder.
• You can add 2 tbsp of chopped red onion while tempering.
• Add grated coconut at the end if you like coconut flavor.
• Always use tender okra for frying, 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.

                Lentil Powder are also called Paruppu Podi in tamil. Paruppu podi is a blend of spices and lentils, with full of fresh flavors and aroma. I always prefer homemade podi than store bought podi, as they are preservative free and less spicy and no adulterants added. They are very simple to make instant mix powder and can be done in less than 15 mins.This is my mom’s recipe. My mom always prepares them in large quantities, but I always prepare them in small quantities as just for me and my husband. This is my husband’s fav podi too and he always starts his lunch with this podi, rice and ghee. Try this healthy, protein rich powder with rice and let me know your feedback.


     Ingredients

          1 Cup of Toor Dal / Tuvaram Paruppu
          1/4 Cup of Roasted Bengal Gram / Pottukadalai
          6 Red Chillies
          1 Tsp of Black Pepper
          1 Tsp of Cumin
          10 Curry Leaves
          1/4 Tsp of Asafoetida
          1/4 Tsp of Gingelly Oil(Indian Sesame Oil)
          Salt to Taste

    Method

• Heat oil in a pan, roast all the ingredients except roasted bengal gram and salt, till they turn golden brown color and aroma arises. Once it done, turn off the flame.
• Let it cool down for 5-10 mins.
• In a blender (Mixie), grind all the roasted ingredients, roasted bengal gram and salt to a fine powder. Store it in an airtight container.
• Serve it with hot white rice and ghee or gingelly oil and sutta appalam on side. Also it tastes great with any kootu.

    Tips

• Roast the ingredients in medium low flame and stir constantly , to avoid burning.
• Always store it in an airtight container, otherwise it loses all the flavors and aroma.
• Adjust the amount of red chillies according to your taste.
• If you are not sure about salt measurement, just add a tsp of salt and grind it, if you think it is less, then add it to the rice while mixing.

     Health Benefits of Lentil Powder / Paruppu Podi

• Lentils are high in fiber and protein, and low in fat. Eating lentils that are rich in soluble dietary fiber can help decrease high cholesterol 
• A dish of  rice with toor dal powder gives carbohydrates, protein, fiber and fats to get a healthy, balanced meal. The rice provides carbohydrates for quick-release energy and toor dal gives protein.
• Toor dal is useful in the treatment of internal organ swelling.
• Toor dal contains folic acid, good for women health.

    Tags : paruppu podi, podi recipe, south Indian podi recipes, how to make paruppu podi, podi, lentil powder, instant mix podi, bachelor recipe, instant mix, toor dal powder

             Mooli means radish and paratha means flat bread, an Indian flatbread stuffed with radish. It is very popular in northern part of India. I always use radish to make sambar, for a change I made this paratha and the taste was so good. The one thing I liked about stuffed paratha is that, it does not need any separate side dish . But making stuffed paratha without the filling oozing out is an art but I am stilling learning to master it. Serve this delicious, filling paratha with plain yogurt or pickle.

     Ingredients

           1 and 1/4 Cup of White Radish, Grated
           2 Tsp of Coriander Powder
           Pinch of Turmeric Powder
           1 Tsp of Red Chilly Powder
           1/4 Tsp of Cumin Powder
           1/2 Tsp of Garam Masala
           1/2 Tsp of Ginger , Grated
           1/4 Tsp of Ajwain / Omam
           2 Tsp of Oil

     To Make a Dough

           1.5 Cups of Wheat Flour/ Multigrains Flour
           2 Tsp of Oil
           Salt and water as needed

   Method       

• Peel the skin of radish and finely grate it . Add little salt to it and sit for 10 mins. Squeeze out all excess of water.
• In a wide bowl, add wheat flour, salt, oil and warm water. Mix well. Knead the dough like you do for chapathi. Keep aside for 15 mins.
• Take a pan with oil, add ajwain, after sizzles, add grated ginger and fry for a min.
• Add grated radish, fry for 1-2mins. To that add turmeric, coriander powder, red chilly powder, cumin powder and garam masala. Fry for 1-2 mins till all the water evaporates and it turns dry. Once it done, switch off the flame.
• Stuffing is ready. Keep this aside.
• Heat a tawa or chapathi pan. Meanwhile make a equally sized balls out of the dough , dust the counter top with some flour and roll it into a circular shape, keep the stuffing inside, fold the paratha and roll it into square shape. Carefully place the paratha in a pan.
• Now cook the paratha in medium heat. When bubbles starts appearing, apply oil and flip it to the other side.Let the other side also get cooked.  
• Serve it with onion raita or pickleor plain yogurt.

     
    Tips

• If you find difficult to roll out the paratha, add little stuffing and then roll it. Otherwise still feel difficult, add the stuffing, directly to flour and then knead it with oil, salt and water.
• Don’t add water while sauting the radish because it makes our rolling part difficult.
• Addition of ajwain is for easy digestion.

    Health Benefits of Radish

• Naturally cooling food.
• Good for weight loss.
• Sooth sore throats.
• Aids in digestion.
• Prevents cancer – Induces apotopsis, which means kills the cancer cells.
• Good for heart and lungs health.
• Prevents viral  infections and urinary tract infections.
• Eliminates toxins, they are good detoxifier.