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.           


Vegetable Bread Roll Recipe / Veggie Bread Rolls – Indian Snack


          Vegetable Bread Roll Recipe is a delicious and healthy evening snack to eat with a cup of tea. They are easy and quick to make recipe with healthy ingredients. You can use whole wheat bread or white bread to make this dish. I have given recipe with step by step pictures. Have this veggie bread rolls with hot tomato chilli ketchup. Also it is great liking recipe both for kids and adult. You can also pack this vegetable bread roll for kids lunch box.

       Ingredients

  • 2 Whole Wheat Bread Slices
  • 1 Large Carrot, Finely Chopped
  • 2 Tbsp of  Green Peas
  • 4 Green Beans, Chopped
  • 2 Tbsp of  Onion, Finely Chopped
  • 1/2 Tsp of Ginger Garlic Paste 
  • Pinch of Turmeric Powder
  • 1/2 Tsp of Red Chilly Powder
  • 1 Tsp of Coriander Powder
  • Pinch of Garam Masala
  • Salt to taste
  • 5 Curry Leaves
  • 1 Tbsp of Coriander Leaves
  • 2 Tsp of Oil To Saute The Vegetable 
  • 1 Tbsp of Oil / Butter / Ghee for Shallow Fry

 


      Method

      For Vegetable Stuffing

  • Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds and curry leaves, after it splutter, add chopped onion and ginger-garlic paste, fry this for 2 mins until onion soften and changes color and raw smell vanishes.
  • Add carrot, peas, beans and salt, saute this for few mins and cook until vegetables turns soft.
  • Add coriander powder, turmeric powder, red chilly powder and garam masala, fry this for few mins.
  • Finally add the chopped coriander leaves and turn off the flame.


       For Bread Rolls

  • Cut the brown crust of the bread, roll it slightly with a rolling pin.
  • Add the stuffing in middle of the bread and then roll it and finally seal the end of the bread with few drops of bread.
  •  Heat oil / ghee in a pan, shallow fry the bread roll until it turns golden brown color and crisp.
  • Serve hot with tomato ketchup.

 


    Tips

  • You can deep fry the bread rolls instead of shallow frying.
  • You can also bake it in oven until it turns crispy.
  • Adjust the amount of red chilly powder according to your taste.
  • Use any vegetables for your choice for stuffing.
  • You can also have cheddar cheese slice or any cheese instead of having vegetable stuffing.

          

     Health Benefits of Vegetables

  •  Vegetables are home for antioxidants.
  •  Vegetables are packed with soluble and insoluble fibers.
  •  They are rich in vitamins and minerals.


Lemon Pickle Recipe – South Indian Style

எலுமிச்சம்பழம்  ஊறுகாய் 


Lemon pickle / Elumichampazham Oorukkai (Tamil) is a basic and  important condiment available  in all Indian kitchen.  Making pickles is an affordable and practical method of preserving lemons for a  long term usage. Ingredients and method of making pickles may vary from one home to other home. This is my mom’s recipe. This is the first time I made this pickle and the outcome was really tasty and more flavorful. I always prefer homemade pickles because they are less in sodium, no preservatives added and also cost effective. It goes well with yogurt rice . If you get lemons then you should try this recipe, it is not only tastes yummy, also it cools the body and fight against infections.Also check this recipe Mango Pickle.

Ingredients

  • 4 Lemons, Big
  • 1/2 Tsp of Turmeric Powder
  • 3-4 Tsp of Salt

To Temper

  • 5 Tbsp of Indian Sesame Oil / Gingelly Oil
  • 2 Tsp of Mustard Seeds
  • 1 Tsp of Urad Dal
  • 1/4 Tsp of Hing / Asafoetida
  • 4 Tsp of Red Chilly Powder or Cayenne Pepper
  • 1/2 Tsp of Fenugreek powder, Dry Roasted

Method

    • Wash and wipe the lemons with cloth /paper towel, there should not be any moisture on the lemons. Cut them into big pieces (1 lemon = 8 pieces) and remove the seeds.
    • In a bowl, mix the chopped lemons, turmeric powder and salt, with a spoon.
    • Put this mixed lemons in a clean, sterilized glass bottles, or ceramic bowl with a lid and leave it aside for 5 -7 days. During this period, place the glass bottle in hot sun for 1 hour daily, also stir the mixture daily to avoid fungal contamination because by this time, lemons would oozes out lot of juices, by dissolving the salt, changes color and the skin becomes so soft.
    • After 7 days, we need to add the tempering to the lemon mixture.
    • For that, heat a pan/skillet, dry roast 1/2 tsp of fenugreek until it changes color. Powder it in a spice grinder or mortar & pestle.
    • Heat oil in a pan /skillet, add mustard seeds, urad dal, asafoetida, after it splutter, add the lemon mixture and red chilly powder, mix well with the temperings and saut’e for 2 mins. Finally add the roasted fenugreek powder, mix well and turn off the stove. Let it cool down for 1 hour and then transfer this pickle to the glass jar.
    • Homemade Lemon pickle is ready to enjoy with curd (yogurt) rice or any upma or any variety rice dishes.

 

Tips

    • Adjust the amount of salt and red chilly powder according to your taste.
    • You can also use coarse kosher salt instead of using the normal fine salt.
    • More oil you add, the more the shelf life of the pickle.
    • You can also add roasted mustard seed powder along with roasted fenugreek powder for a different twist to the taste.

 

 Health Benefits of Lemon

    • Lemon being a citrus fruit, fights against infection.
    • Rich in antioxidants.
    • Lemon lowers blood pressure and increases the levels of HDL (good cholesterol) .
    • Lemon is found to be anti-carcinogenic.
    • Lemon juice is said to give a glow to the skin.