Sundal is a simple south indian snack often made with Lentils like chick peas, peanuts, kidney beans and even sweet peas ..peanut sundal / verkadalai sundal strength lies in its simplicity and is very subtley spiced and in being ordinary it becomes extraordinary….peanut sundal also is made during festival occasions and also is made  for “prasad” in temples ..

Ingredients

1 Cup of Boiled Peanuts
2 Tbsp of Grated Coconut / Dry desiccated Coconut
Salt to taste

    To Temper

2 Tsp of Oil
1 Tsp of Mustard Seeds
1 Tsp of Urad dal
2 Red Chilies
Pinch of Hing (Asafoetida)
6 Curry Leaves

    Method

• Soak and pressure cook the peanuts. For more details click on the link How to boil peanuts in pressure cooker.
• Heat oil in a pan, when it is hot, add mustard seeds, urad dal, red chillies(Break it), asafoetida and curry leaves, after mustard seeds splutters, add the boiled peanuts and salt, give a quick stir, about a min.
• Add grated coconut, mix well with peanuts. Check the salt and turn off the stove.
• Hot, flavorful peanut sundal is ready..

   Tips

• You can add chopped onion after you do the tempering with mustard seeds.
• Be careful in adding salt, because we already added salt while boiling peanuts in cooker.
• You can also add chopped green chilies in addition to red chilies for more spicy taste.

   Health Benefits of Peanuts           

• Rich in energy.
• Good source of monounsaturated fat, niacin, folate, vitamin E and anti-oxidants.
• Prevent gall stones  and good for heart.
• Good source of resveratrol which reduces the risk of stroke.

 

         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.

• 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.

        Kootu is a south Indian dish often served with rice, nothing but a fusion of dal, vegetable and aromatic spices. Poricha kootu are made with urad dal and pepper is called poricha (means Fried in Tamil). Here spices, coconut and dal are fried and ground to a powder. Dal and vegetables are cooked in a pressure cooker seperately. Then cooked dal, vegetables and ground powder are boiled in a pan. Finally tempering with mustard seeds was added to the dal.


You can use any vegetables of your choice to make this kootu. Here I added carrot, beans and turnip. This is very healthy dish with full of proteins and vitamins. Kootu with rice tastes divine with a tsp of ghee.


      Ingredients

      To Pressure Cook

           1 Cup of Mixed Vegetables(carrot, beans and turnip), Finely Chopped
           1/2 Cup of Toor Dal (Thuvaram Paruppu)
           1/2 Tsp of  Turmeric Powder
           1 Tsp of Sambhar powder / Red Chilly Powder       
           1/2 Tsp of Oil
           Salt to taste

       To Saute and Grind

            1 Tsp of Coriander Seeds
            1 Tsp of Urad Dal
            1/2 Tsp of Whole Pepper
            1/2 Tsp of Whole Cumin
            2 Red Chillies, Big
            4 Tsp of Grated Coconut, I used dry dessicated coconut
            1/2 Tsp of Oil           

       To Temper

             2 Tsp of Oil/ghee
             1 Tsp of Mustard Seeds
             1 Tsp of Urad Dal
             1/2 Tsp of Whole Cumin
             Few Curry Leaves
             Pinch of Hing
             


       Method

       To Pressure Cook

• Soak the toor dal in water for 1/2 hr. Drain it and wash it in cold running tap water.
• In a pressure cooker, add toor dal, oil, turmeric powder, red chilly powder, salt, enough water (2 cups) and mixed vegetables. Close the lid and cook it for 3 whistles. Or pressure cook it for 10 mins in medium low flame.

       To Saute and Grind

• Heat oil in a pan, add coriander Seeds, urad dal, whole pepper, whole cumin, red chillies, fry until dal turns golden brown color. Finally add grated coconut, fry until it changes color. Turn off. Let it cool down for 10 mins. Grind it to a powder in a blender/mixie.

• Open the cooker lid, turn on the heat, add the ground spice powder, let it boil for 5 mins and turn off the heat.

       To Temper  

• Meanwhile, heat oil in a pan, when it is hot, add mustard seeds, urad dal, cumin, curry leaves and hing, when mustard seeds splutters and dal changes color.Transfer the tempering to the dal.
• Hot mixed vegetable poricha kootu is ready to serve with rice.

     Tips
      

• Add green chillies instead of red chilly powder.
• You can enrich the taste by adding 1tsp of ghee.
• You can use any vegetables of your choice.