Tirunelveli Sodhi Recipe and Ginger Chutney



             Sodhi is a classic dish from Tirunelveli, South India.  It is a coconut milk based vegetable curry and its a kind of Indian version of Thai Green Curry.  It holds a definite place in every wedding feast in Tirunelveli. It happens for 3 days. Sodhi Sappadu is the final day lunch, which is served on behalf of boy’s side to girl’s side and their guest. Because of this, it is called Mapillai Sodhi. Coming to the recipe, method of making sodhi vary from one home to other home. Here I used carrot, potato, drumsticks, coconut milk, moong dal and other ingredients are garlic and green chillies to make this authentic dish. Sodhi is supposed to be thin and watery but I like it thick. Best accompaniment for this dish are ginger chutney and potato fry or potato chips. Ginger chutney is given as a side dish to help for easy and quick digestion as coconut milk added is rich, creamy and heavy to stomach.

 
     Ingredients

             1 Coconut, Big
             2 Carrots, Cut lengthwise
             7 Drumsticks, pieces
             2 Medium Size Potatoes, Diced
             2 Tbsp of Moong Dal
             15 Small Onion, Chopped
             3-4 Green Chillies, Slit
             3 Garlic Cloves, Big
             1/2 Tsp of Turmeric Powder
             2 Tsp of Lemon Juice           

     To Temper

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






    Method

  • Wash and chop the vegetables, keep this aside.

  • Slit the green chillies and chop the garlic cloves.

  • In a pan, add the moong dal with enough water and cook until it turns soft. Mash it with a spoon and keep this aside.

  • Grate the coconut and transfer this to a mixie /blender. Grind it by adding little water. Strain it with a strainer and extract the thick coconut milk, it will be around 1 cup and keep this aside. Add some more water to the coconut residue and grind it again and strain and take out the second milk. Repeat this one more time and add water, grind it and strain it and take out the third coconut milk. Mix both 2nd and 3rd thin coconut milk in a bowl. Keep this aside.

  • Heat a pan, add chopped onion fry this for few mins until it turns golden brown.

  • Add green chillies and garlic, fry this for few mins, add all the vegetables, turmeric powder and salt, fry this for few mins, add thin coconut milk. In a medium flame, cover and cook this vegetables until it turns soft about 7-10 mins.

  • Add cooked and mashed moong dhal, mix well, bring it to a boil, now reduce the flame and add the thick coconut milk, stir well along with vegetables and cook for another 3-5 mins and turn off the flame. After 5 mins, add the lemon juice, mix well.

  • Heat a pan with oil, add all the ingredients listed under ” To Temper” after mustard seeds splutter, transfer the tempering ingredients to sodhi, mix well.

  • Serve this with hot rice and accompanied by ginger chutney and potato chips or potato fry. Also great side dish for appam and idiyappam.




   Tips

  • Other vegetables that can be used are green beans and peas.
  •  If you are not in a mood to extract the coconut milk, in that case get canned coconut milk from near by supermarket. If you are in abroad, you can get this in Thailand grocery store. For thin coconut milk, just add enough water to the thick and rich canned coconut milk. I tried this method, it tastes awesome.
  • If you want your sodhi to be thin, just add little more water and cook for few mins.
  • Addition of moong dal is optional. It just thickens the sodhi. 
  • Tempering also optional. Because my mother in law used to add it for flavor but my mom like it plain.




                                             Ginger Chutney





        Ginger chutney is very easy to make and delicious in taste. It is very good for digestion. It goes well with sodhi, idly or dosa


   Ingredients

             100 gms of Ginger
             2 Tbsp of  Urad Dal
             2-3 Red Chillies
             1 Sprig of Curry Leaves 
             Pinch of Jaggery (Vellam)
             Salt to Taste           

   Method

  • Heat a pan with oil, add red chillies, curry leaves, urad dal and ginger, saute this for 2-3 mins. Turn off the flame. Let it cool down for 5 mins. After that, transfer this to mixie, along with jaggery, grind it to a smooth paste.

   
    Tips

  • Don’t burn the urad dal while frying, as it causes bitter taste.
  • Adjust the number of red chillies and salt according to your taste.
  • Adding jaggery enriches the taste as ginger and red chillies are spicy in nature.


     Health Benefits of Ginger

  • Improves the absorption and assimilation of nutrients in the body.
  • Feeling nauseous ? chew on ginger, preferably tossed in honey.
  • It has anti-inflammatory properties.
  • Haven’t been feeling hungry…Eat fresh ginger before lunch to stoke dull appetite and fires up the digestive juices.           


kathirikkai poriyal / Sauteed Eggplant – Nepali Style


         Egg Plant is also called Brinjal/Melongene. Eggplant is used in cuisine of many countries because everyone love Eggplant next to Potato. Eggplant is one of those unique vegetables – alone it doesn’t taste like much, but cooked with seasonings it takes on a world of flavor. I made this poriyal in Nepali style. In Nepal, they called this dish as Nepali Bhanta Tarkaari. In this they use chinese eggplant, the longer ones. But I used smaller eggplant variety. I got this recipe from my recipe book and the dish tastes awesome. It goes well with curd rice or sambar rice or any variety rice.

      Ingredients

            2 Tbsp of Vegetable Oil
            1/2 Tsp of Cumin Seeds
            1 Large Onion, Finely Chopped
            2 Tsp of Ginger, Minced
            2 Garlic Cloves, Chopped
            1/2 Tsp of Turmeric Powder
            6 Medium Eggplants / Brinjals, Chopped
            1.5 Tsp of Coriander Powder
            1 Tsp of Cumin Powder
            1/2 Tsp of Red Chilly Powder / Cayeene Pepper
            1/2 Tsp of Salt
            1/8 Tsp of Black Pepper Powder
         

     Method

  • Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the cumin seeds and fry until it turns brown.

  • Add the onion, ginger, garlic and fry this for 2-3 mins until onions soften and changes color.

  • Add chopped eggplant/ Brinjal and salt, saute this for few mins.

  • Add coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder, red chilly powder, salt and pepper, mix well with brinjal and fry this for few secs and add little water, reduce the heat, cover it and cook it for 7- 10 mins. Once it done, turn off the flame.

  •  Sauteed eggplant / Kathirikkai Poriyal is ready to eat.


    Tips

  • Best accompaniment are curd rice or sambar rice or rasam rice.

  • You can use smaller eggplant or the longer ones for this dish.

  • You can add chopped tomato at the end, for a tangy taste.

    Health Benefits of Eggplant / Brinjal

  • Eggplants provide 2 g of fiber per cup. Fiber helps with digestion and colon health.

  • Eggplants also are high in a chlorogenic acid, a powerful antioxidant offering antimicrobial and antiviral activities along with the ability to help lower bad cholesterol levels.





Vazhakkai Podimas / Grated Raw Banana Fry



        Vazhakkai podimas is a south Indian dish, made with vazhakkai or raw banana. This dish is very easy to make with less ingredients, flavorful and healthy. This is my mom’s recipe. I love to eat this for rasam rice or puli kulambu. You can cook the raw banana either in pressure cooker or in stove top. I prefer stove top method. Raw banana we use in this recipe should be soft but not mushy. It tastes yummy as a side dish for sambar rice or rasam rice. Sorry my photograph was not good, because its been raining for the past 3 days. So it was not clear.

      Ingredients

            1 Medium Size Raw Plantain, Grated
            2 Tsp of Oil
            1 Tsp of Mustard Seeds
            1 Tsp of Urad Dal
            2 Red Chillies
            Pinch of Asafoetida / Hing
            Few Curry Leaves
            3 Tbsp of Chopped Onion
            1/4 Tsp of Turmeric Powder
            1 Tbsp of Grated Coconut
            Salt to Taste
           

     Method

  • Wash and cut both the ends of raw plantain.
  • Heat a pan with enough water, add raw banana to it, cook till it changes skin color and turns soft but not mushy. It takes about 10 mins in high flame.


  • After it cool down, peel off the skin and grate it.
  • Heat a pan with oil, add red chillies (Break it),  mustard seeds and urad dal, after it splutters,  add asafoetida, curry leaves, chopped onion, turmeric powder and salt, fry for 2 mins.
  • Keep the flame in low, add grated vazhakkai (raw banana), cook for 2 mins.
  • Add the grated coconut, mix well and turn off the flame.
  • Serve hot with sambar rice or rasam rice or pulikulambu.


     Tips

  • You can cook vazhakkai in pressure cooker for 1 whistle instead of cooking it in the pan.
  • Add chopped green chillies for more spicy taste in addition to red chillies.
  • You can also add 1 tsp of lemon juice at the end for a slight tangy taste.


     Health Benefits of Vazhakkai / Raw Banana

  • Good source of resistant starch, a type of starch that cannot be broken down by enzymes in our digestive system, acts like fiber than starch, good for diabetes. 
  • High in potassium and vitamin B6.
  • High in fiber content.

     

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