Pirandai Thuvaiyal Recipe / Adamant Creeper Chutney  / veldt grape chutney is a healthy dish for rice and idly with lots of medicinal values. My mom used to grow this creeper plant in backyard and it just beautify the fences with its green stem. We make thuvaiyal (chutney) with pirandai and also dosai. If you don’t feel hungry for few days, eat this pirandai chutney , then you feel more hungry and also it cures all digestive problems. You can make this chutney with or without coconut. Cleaning pirandai is little tedious as it makes our hand itching so always wear gloves while cleaning. Best acompaniment to pirandai chutney are dosa, idly and rice with ghee.

 Ingredients

• 1 Small Bunch of Pirandai (Adamant Creeper) cleaned, chopped into small pieces
• 3 Tbsp of Urad Dal
• 6 Red Chillies
• 1/2 Inch Ginger
• 4 Garlic Cloves
• Lemon Size Tamarind
• 1 Tbsp of Oil
• Pinch of Hing (Asafoetida)
• Salt to taste

         Method

• Peel the fibre from corners of pirandai using a sharp knife. Remove the top and bottom part. Chop them into small pieces.

• Wash the pirandai in a cold tap water.
• Heat two tsp of oil, add red chilies, garlic cloves, ginger, hing, urad dal and tamarind, add this one by one, saute this for 2-3 mins in a medium flame. Transfer all the ingredients to a plate and in the same pan, add oil and pirandai and saute well till it shrinks its size. Transfer this to a plate and let it cool down.
• In mixie, add all the ingredients, water and salt, grind this to a smooth paste.
• Enjoy with hot steamed rice and ghee. You can also use this as side dish for idly and dosa.

        Tips

• Wear gloves before cleaning the pirandai, otherwise it makes the hand itchy.
• You can also add grated coconut while roasting.
• Always buy Pirandais that looks tender, as they are easy to clean.
• Adjust the number of red chilies according to your taste.
• You can also season the chutney with oil, mustard and curry leaves.

        Health Benefits of Pirandai (Adament Creeper)

• Good source of vitamin C and calcium.
• It is used to cure knee problems and used in the treatment of fracture.
• Pirandai juice is given to ladies those who have irregular periods.
• It acts as an appetiser.
• They are good for people with digestive problems.
• They can rejoin the broken or dislocated bones in the body.

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  Kuska is a kind of biryani without any vegetables and it is a popular food in southern part of Tamilnadu. This is my grand ma’s recipe, whenever I go to her house in Dindugul, she makes this kuska biryani for me. In this kuska recipe, the long grain rice is cooked in a pressure cooker along with some aromatic spices, mint leaves, onion, tomato and ginger garlic paste. The outcome of the biryani is just flavorful, spicy and yummy. You can make this easy kuska biryani, if you run out of veggies at home. Best accompaniment for this biryani are some potato curry or protein rich gravy like soy chunks mushroom curry  and raita.
  
  Preparation Time : 30 mins
  Cooking Time : 10 Mins
  Makes : 2 Servings

  Ingredients for Kuska Biryani (Dindugul Style)1 Cup of Basmati Rice 1 Big Red Onion, Finely Chopped 2 Tsp of Ginger Garlic Paste 4 Green Chilly 1 Tsp of Coriander Powder 1 Small Tomato, Finely Chopped 3/4 Tbsp of Dried Mint Leaves, You can use Fresh Mint Leaves(Handful) 1 Tbsp of Coriander Leaves, Finely Chopped 1 Cup of Water 1/2 Cup of Milk Salt to Taste  To Grind 2 Cloves 1 Inch Cinnamon Stick 2 Green Cardamom  To Temper 3 Tsp of Oil 1 Bay Leaf 1 Star Anise Pinch of Stone Flower 4 Curry Leaves  Other Ingredients 1 Tbsp of Coriander Leaves, Chopped 2 Tsp of Ghee   Method  for Kuska Biryani (Dindugul Style) Soak the rice in water for 20 mins. Drain and wash it in tap water. Keep it aside. Grind cloves, cinnamon and cardamom in a spice grinder or mixie to a fine powder. Finely chop the onion and tomato. Slit the green chilies. Keep it aside. Heat oil in a pressure cooker, add bay leaf, stone flower, curry leaves and star anise, fry for a min. In a medium flame, add the ground spice powder, fry it for 30 secs. Add chopped onion and green chilly, fry it for 2 mins  until it changes golden brown. Add ginger garlic paste, fry it until the raw smell vanishes. Add tomato, fry it until it turns soft and mushy. Now add mint leaves, coriander leaves and coriander powder, fry this for a min. Add rice, fry for another min, add water, milk and salt. Cover and cook it for 2 whistles in a cooker. Turn off the flame, let the pressure releases on its own. Open the cooker, add chopped coriander leaves and ghee, give a gentle stir with a fork. Hot, yummy kuska is ready to serve with spicy mushroom gravy and raita.     Tips If you don’t have stone flower and star anise, just use bay leaf for tempering. If you have small onion(shallots), you can use that in place of large onion. Increase or decrease the number of green chilly according to your taste. You can also use 3 green chilies and 1/2 tsp of red chilly powder to this rice. Don’t add turmeric powder to kuska. Adding ghee after pressure cooking gives a nice taste and flavor to rice. You can use jeeraga samba rice in place of basmati rice. For basmati rice, the water ratio is 1 : 1.5 Water. You can use coconut milk in place of water or you can use 1 cup of water and 1/2 cup of cow’s milk, like I did.

   

  

  Tags : biryani, kuska, kuska biryani, how to make kuska, plain biryani, biryani without vegetables and meat, sunday biryani, southindianlunch, indianbiryani, madurai kuska, dindugul kuska, easy biryani, muslim biryani  , beeryani recipe     variety rice without veggies