Brinjal curry

Brinjal is not a favorite vegetable for many children.I hated it too as a kid .Later when I started cooking and experimenting on food I realised i was avoiding so many vegetables and left with not many choices.
Then i started trying out vegetables like bitter gourd and brinjal and many more.
This Brijal curry is a yummy one with Onions.It tastes great with rice and ghee that you don't even need a sambar(south Indian gravy)to go with it.

Cabbage and peas curry/Cabbage and green peas Poriyal

Cabbage poriyal or curry is a simple vegetable accompaniment for any south Indian gravy like sambar,rasam or vathakozhambu.It is a common poriyal made in all households.It goes well with sambar sadham too.In lot of places when you order sambar sadam(variety rice)cabbage curry would be the accompaniment.

My mother used to make this curry with Sambar and i would always  complain why she didn't make a potato fry with sambar????But now when i am a mom  i want my kids to try out all the vegetables and i am sure she would have also felt the same!!!!

Lady's finger fry/Vendakkai Curry

                                                                    Lady's finger is called Vendakkai in Tamil.It is a very common vegetable in Indian homes.We make Vendakkai sambar,curry,north Indian syle Bhindi fry,Dahi Bhindi etc but the most common way i make is the vendakkai curry/poriyal to go with the south indian gravies like sambar,vatha kuzhambu or rasam.
It has lot of Health benfits and most of us would have grown up listening to our mom saying Vendakkai is very good for brain development and we would do very good math if we eat lot of this simple vegetable.It cooks easily and easily digestible aslo.It can be grown in our home also.

Pumpkin sweet Curry/Parangikkai Inippu curry

                                                                     Parangikkai or Pumpkin is one vegetable that is used a lot during pongal time.We make the kuzhambu with other vegetables along with lots of pumpkin and we also make sweet pumpkin curry only on Pongal day.I remeber this small tamil poem about pumpkin while I was making this curry.I am not sure if the words are accurate, correct me if i am wrong !!!!!

 பரங்கிக்காயை நறுக்கி 

பட்டையெல்லாம் சீவி

துண்டு துண்டாய்  நறுக்கி 

உப்பு காரம் போட்டு 

இன்பமாக உண்போம் 

இன்னும்கொஞ்சம் கேப்போம் 

The recipe itself is given in the small poem.Make this yummy curry and enjoy your Pongal!!!Wish you all a very Happy Pongal!!!!

Carrot and Beans Curry/Poriyal

Carrot and beans curry(as we call it)poriyal is one of our favourites.I like it for its colour and taste.My mother used to make only beans curry with sambar and other spicy gravies but one of my friend told me to combine carrots along with it which is more healthy,tasty and colorful.It goes well with sambar and vathakuzhambu.I like to add  half a spoon of sugar when the gravy is a little spicy.

Potato and Onion curry

Potato is the most staple vegetable all over  the world and South India is not an exception.Potato curry is a special dish and favourite of most of the people especially children.Potato curry is part of any vegetarian festive menu in Tamilnadu.

In my family this potato and onion curry is made on  all Sundays along with Onion Sambar and Avial.It used to be our Sunday Feast.I love this menu.I make this potato and onion curry atleast once a week mostly with sambar if not with Avial.Ths curry is so yummy that it can be wrapped in a chapathi for lunchbox or travel.It can be used as a filling for sandwich for a spicy potato grilled sandwich.

Sweetcorn Paruppu Usili

                                                           I think i am posting too many recipes with sweet corn now, yes it is a phase(sweet corn Phase).I love sweet corn i buy the butter corn whenever we go to the malls or the theater.I cannot resist the smell of the corn and butter.
All of us do try a lot of dishes with sweet corn these days.I ate this paruppu usili(lentil curry)with sweet corn in a wedding and it was so good.The spicy lentils and the sweetness in the corn made it lip smacking!I thought it was really new and let me post it on the blog.Here is the recipe....

Potato Podimas/UrulaiKizhangu Podimas

                                                                  Potato Podimas or Urulaikizhangu Podimas is a simple potato curry/vegetable/accompaniment for any spicy Gravy.It is a little different from the usual way vegetables are made.The ginger,lemon juice and the green chilli makes it different and different from the other curries.We usually make it when we make Onion sambar on Sundays.

Kovakkai Curry

                                                          Kovakkai is otherwise known as  ivy gourd.It is a commonly cooked vegetable in north and south India.Sometimes it is mistaken with bitter melon and becomes bitter when you buy them.North and south Indians have various recipes for this vegetable.I myself cook it in two varieties.I thought i would share this particular recipe which can be an accompaniment for both rice and chapathis.I add a potato to the curry to give a binding.This is a simple recipe without much of masalas.

Beans Curry with Moong Dal

                                                                  Beans is a high fiber vegetable to be included in our diet.It is not only fibrous it has lot of anti oxidants to protect us from many diseases.Beans are super healthy,versatile and affordable.When you are picking your beans make sure they are tender and flexible.

Avial

                                                                    Avial is a vegetable curry in Kerala style.Though it is a Kerala Dish it has become very popular in Tamilnadu also. Avial is part of every festival menu in Tamilnadu and the Onam Sadhya..My mother used to make avial with onion sambar and potato curry on sundays.I do make it some times but not very often.

Avial is a coconut based curry with a lot of vegetables in it.Since it has lot of vegetables like white pumkin,yam,carrots,beans,potato,brinjals,snake gaurd,broad beans,colocasia,drumstick,raw banana, cooking them evenly and not allowing them to get mushy is a challenge in this curry.Some of the vegetables like yam,colocasia,drumstick,raw banana,beans and carrots take a longer time to cook than other vegetables like white pumkin,brinjal etc.So cooking them in batches and combining them in to a tasty curry could be challenging!!!

Bhindi Fry the south Indian way

                                                                     I have been wanting to make this yummy bhindi fry in a while but  somehow it didn't happen.Yesterday my neighbor uncle sent some vegetables from his farm it was correct quantity for me to do this fry,so i thought let me make it.People usually make this only in weddings and festival menus since it is deep fried.I usually wait for a second serving of this bhindi fry in the wedding.
It is crispy, crunchy and spicy and makes an excellent side for any south Indian gravy like Sambar.

Easy Potato Fry

                                                     This is the most favourite curry(vegetable dish) of mine.From childhood i used to love it especially when my mom makes shallots vathakozhambu and this curry.It really comes in handy when you run out of green vegetables.
Today i madee brinjal curry and one of my kids does not like brinjal so i had to make a quick curry for her and i decided to make this "easy potato fry".It is really simple and gets done in few minutes and it is very tasty.It is a great side for any south Indian gravy.

Raw Banana Curry

                                                                       Raw Banana curry with a tinge of Tamarind is the curry that my mom used to make on amavasya day.In most of the Tamil homes i am sure they would make Vazhaikkai(raw banana) in a slightly different style.This one is perfect accompaniment for sambar or pitlai.

Pan Roasted Baby Potatoes

                                                                 
                                                                 Potatoes the universal favorite vegetable is enjoyed in every form,shape and size.These pan fried  baby potatoes are a perfect accompaniment for any other south indian  gravies like sambar,rasam and some steaming hot rice!!

Capsicum Paruppu usili|Capsicum and Lentil curry

                                                                  Paruppu(lentil in Tamil) usili(crumbled) is nothing but lentils thawed with a vegetable.It is very popular accompaniment in the Tamil cooking and it is part of any grand menu.Usually it is made with Beans,cluster beans,banana flower,cabbage and carrot but i had this with capsicum in a wedding and i loved it.So gave it a try and came out so good!!!!If you are a capsicum fan you will surely love it!

Bittergourd Curry

                                                                 Bitter gourd is not a favourite vegetable among children in a lot of homes and it is the same  in my house also.As a child even i used to runaway  from bitter gourd but after i started cooking i did experiment a lot of vegetables that were not in my favourite list.!!!
                                                                 The way that this particular type of curry is cooked  makes it really tasty because it is sour,sweet,spicy and slightly bitter.The bitterness really depends upon the bitter gourd itself while some of them are more bitter and some of them are not at all.So depends on your luck and whether you do not mind the bitterness!

Kathirikkai Podi Potta Curry

You will Need

• 250gms of Purple Brinjal
• Salt to taste
• 1/4tsp of Turmeric powder
• few tsp of Oil
• 1tsp of Mustard seeds
• A pinch of Asafoetida

To Roast and Grind

• One tsp of Gingelly oil
• One tsp of Channa Dal
• One tsp of Coriander Seeds
• few Red chillies
• One Tbs of scraped Coconut

How you Make it

1.Heat a pan add a tsp of gingelly oil fry the ingredients above and cool.
2.Heat Oil in the same pan crackle mustard seeds and add cut(lenghtwise) brinjal pieces.
3.Add Turmeric powder,Salt and close it and cook till done.
4.Powder(coarse) the Roasted ingredients meanwhile.
5.Add the powder,asafoetida and some curry leaves and fry.

Suggestions

• Try this Recipe with Potatoes and Raw Banana.It is good with sambhar sadam.

Mixed Vegetable curry/Accompaniment for South Indian Gravy

When i have some vegetables left over after making kootu i always end up making this vegetable curry for sambar or rasam.I almost use all the vegetables in the mixed vegetable kootu except the chow chow or Banglore Kathrikkai.This curry is very colourful and tasty and you can either make it with or without coconut.

sepankizhangu roast(colocasia)

This is my husband's favourite curry.Now my children have also started liking it.so i try and make it.I t is not one of my favourites.I like it sometimes whey they deep fry it with spices and gram flour.

Ingredients

Colocasia(sepankizhangu)	500gms
Turmeric powder	1/4tsp
Chilli powder	1tsp
Salt	To taste
Asafoetida	1/6tsp
Oil	3tbs
Mustard seeds	1tsp
Urad dal	1tsp
Curry leaves	few

Method

1.Wash and boil the colocasia in the pressure cooker for 2 whistles.

2.Peel off the skin and cut it into thick slices.

3.Heat oil in pan add mustard seeds when it crackles add urad dal.

4.When the dal turns golden brown add colocasia and turmeric powder.

5.Add chilli powder,salt and fry till golden brown.

To improve the taste you can add tamarind paste,gram flour and little more oil while frying.