Kadai Subji

One of North Indian style simple basic gravy is Onion Tomato gravy. Most versatile common gravy which is also called as Yellow gravy. Kadai Subji, Kadai Paneer, Kadai Mushroom are made using this base gravy. As name describes kadai veggies are prepared using an exotic kadai masala. This masala is base for any kadai type gravies both veg and non-veg. Kadai dishes goes well with Naan, Roti, Chapathi and even with jeera rice and coconut pulao. It is little spicy gravy but yummy when it is served hot with rotis.

Ingredients:

Onion - 3 nos (finely chopped)

Tomato - 1 (ripen, large, finely chopped)

Cinnamon stick - 2 nos

Cardamom - 3 nos

Oil - 2 tablespoon

Ginger garlic paste - 2 teaspoon

Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Chili powder - 1 teaspoon scooped

Coriander powder - 2 teaspoon

Salt to taste

Water - 1 cup

Kasturi methi - 1 tablespoon

Veggies (beans, carrot, broccoli /cauliflower, peas) - 1 cup

Ingredients for Kadai Masala:

Cardamom - 2 nos

Cinnamon stick - 2 nos

Cloves - 4 no

Coriander seeds - 1 table spoon

Jeera - 1 1/2 teaspoon

Black pepper - 1 teaspoon

Dry Red chilly - 3 nos

Method to make Kadai Masala powder:

1. Dry roast all the ingredients mentioned in kadai masala and allow them to cool off. Grind it as a coarse powder in blender. Make sure blender is dry ( You can store this masala in refrigerator for a month).

Method to make Yellow Gravy:

1. In a kadai heat oil , add cardamom, cinnamon stick and saute it for few mins. Then add finely chopped onion and saute it until it turns golden brown colour.

2. Simultaneously in another pan boil water and add chopped veggies to it. Add little salt to it. Make sure veggies boil to 85%. Since we are going to saute it with gravy, it is enough to cook veggies 75-85%.

3. To the finely saute onion, add fresh ginger-garlic paste. Stir well to make sure it doesn't get burnt.

4. To the above mixture, add tomatoes and saute for few mins. Now add turmeric powder, coriander powder, chili powder, salt to this gravy. Mix well and allow them to cook by adding little water. Remember salt was added to veggies while boiling. Meanwhile strain water from boiled veggies and keep aside.

5. To onion tomato gravy, add dry kasturi methi and cook until oil separates from gravy. This is the right indication that gravy is completely done and switch-off flame.

This is the base gravy for any kadai gravies.

Method to make Kadai Masala:

1. Add yellow gravy to pan and mix well by adding little water. To this mixture add boiled vegetables and toss well for few mins. Finally add kadai masala powder to this and toss well.

2. While serving add cube of butter to kadai masala and serve it with hot roti/ chapathi.

Ever versatile Kadai Subji is ready to serve.

Tips:

1. To make more exotic al-carte style kadai subji we can use mushroom, zucchini , baby-corn to the veggies. 

2. If kadai masala is more spicy, then add a table spoon of thick curd finally and toss it before serving it.

Tomato Chutney (Fatafat)

Tomato chutney is one of my favourite chutney which goes well with most of the breakfast/tiffin. Tomato chutney usually been made in many ways. Simple fatafat chutney is what I am going to list down. Whenever feel very hungry, immediately I make this chutney with Idli/dosa. I love this chutney very much as it taste so tangy and yummy.  This chutney suits very well also to be applied to toasted bread in sandwich.

 

Preparation time : 5 mins

Cooking time -10 mins

Serves 2

Ingredients:

Tomato (ripen) -3

Sambar powder - 1 tea spoon scooped

Tamarind paste - 1 tea spoon 

Garlic cloves - 3 nos

Salt - for taste

Jaggery/Sugar -1/2 teaspoon

Asafoetida -1/4 teaspoon

For Seasoning:

Sesame Oil - 1 table spoon

Mustard Seeds - 1 teaspoon

Split Urud Dhall -1 teaspoon

Curry Leaves - few nos

Red Chilly  - 1

Method:

1. Cut tomatoes, each into 8 pieces. Add tomatoes, sambar powder, tamarind paste, garlic, salt into mixer and blend well. Addition of water is not required as ripen tomatoes itself enough to get the chutney consistency. 

2. Heat oil in kadai, add mustard seeds, when it splutters, add urud dhall, curry leaves, asafoetida and red chilly. Saute it for a minute and add grounded tomato puree to it.

3. Cook this chutney in medium flame for 5-7 mins until its raw smell vanish off. 

4. Before switching off flame add sugar.

Yummy yummy tangy tomato chutney is ready to serve.

Tips:

1. Tamarind and Jaggery are added to increase the sweetness and tangy flavor of this chutney.

2. Optionally one medium size onion could be added to this chutney while blending.

Mor Kuzhambu

Mor kuzhambu is the easiest kuzhambu one can make immediately. It is also called instant kuzhambu. One can make it much quicker without much strain. All required is little soar curd/yogurt. We can use any vegetables such as lady's finger, white pumpkin, chayote(chow chow) and all water squash vegetables(Neer kaikaris). But I feel Mor kuzhambu is good when it is made with masal vada. Its very yummy and good if we eat with hot steamed rice. When we eat with masal vada, no veggies is infact required. Children will love it and it is really good when we consume this dish during summer.

Preparation Time -10 mins
Cooking Time -15 mins
Serves - 4 member 

Ingredients:

Thick soar curd/Yogurt - 1 cup
Turmeric Powder -1/4 teaspoon
Water - 1/4 cup

For Grinding:

Soaked Channa dhall - 1 tablespoon
Green chillies - 1(Big) / 2 small chillies
Jeera - 1 teaspoon
Coconut -3 tablespoon
Curry leaves - few
Coriander seeds - 1 tablespoon (optional)



For Seasoning:

Shallots/ small onion - 15 nos
Red Chilli - 1
Mustard -1/2 teaspoon
Curry leaves -  few
Urud dhall (split) -1/2 teaspoon
Coconut Oil - 2 tablespoon

Method:

1. Soak channa dhall for 20 mins in hot water. Few people use coriander seeds for grinding masala for Mor kuzhambu. If we use corriander seeds for grinding, then soak it in hot water for 20 mins before grinding.
2. Grind soaked channa dhall, corriander seeds, green chillies, jeera,  coconut and curry leaves. Make it to fine paste.



3. Make thick butter milk by adding little water to curd and blend it. Add grounded masala paste,turmeric powder and salt to it.
4. Add oil in a kadai and once it is in right heat add musturd. When mustard crackle out, add urud dhall, red chilli, curry leaves and shallots. Allow shallots to turn transparent, add buttermilk mixture to this. Allow it to boil until raw smell of masala goes off. It would take max of 10-12 mins.
5. To this plain Mor kuzhambu, add masal vada when it is hot. It is the best combination to have it.

Yummy Yummy  Mor kuzhambu is ready to serve.

Tips:

1. Instead of Masal Vada, we can use vegetables as mentioned above. If we use any water squash veggies, then kindly peel of skin and make into small cubes. Before adding into kuzhambu. Boil it seperately by adding little salt. So you can add this veggies at step 5.
2. If lady's finger is used, then fry it seperately in oil or shallow fry with little salt  before adding to kuzhambu. similarly you can add fried lady's finger at step 5.
3. Corriander seeds are optional to use. To make kuzhambu thick we use coconut and channa dhall mixture.
4.Buttermilk mixture could be boiled seperately and seasoning can be added at last.

Idli Milagai Podi

Idli Milagai Podi/ Ellu Milagai podi is my favourite sidedish for Idli/Dosa. My mom when ever make new Idli podi she will call me to taste it. Immediately I will ask her to make special dosa or idli. Still craving for idli podi when it is newly made never stops :). My mom used to make this podi which taste too good. I love that recipe and learnt from her. Still whenever I go to my home she used to make me new podi and give me with dosa/adai.

Ingredients :

Channa dhall - 1/2 cup

Urud dhall -1/2 cup

Black sesame seeds - 1/2 cup

Red Chilli -16-20 nos 

Garlic cloves - 20 nos

Curry leaves - few

Oil - 1 teaspoon

Salt - as needed

Asafoetida - 1/2 teaspoon

 

Method :

1. In a kadai, add oil saute channa dhall and urud dhall until it become golden brown colour. Make sure it doesn't get burnt.

2. Now add chilli and dry roast it.

3. Once chilli is roasted, dry roast sesame seed until it crackles out.

4. Finally roast garlic and curry leaves.

5. Allow all the above roasted ingredients to cool off.

6. Powder all the ingredients by adding needed salt and asafoetida.

7. Powder it finely and have it with hot Idli/dosa along with Sesame oil.

Tips :

1. Instead of black sesame seed, white can be used. But black sesame seeds have good taste than white sesame seed.

2. Garlic cloves gives good taste to this podi. 

3. If podi becomes old, dry roast garlic, curry leaves and grind again with podi. This will give good aroma and taste,

Chettinad Mushroom Masala

I visited my sister's home last december and she made a spicy craving mushroom masala. I just got the recipe and added few of my own ingredients which I usually use for chettinad gravies. This gravy comes out well. Any vegetarian/ Non-vegetarian lovers will surely love it. This goes well with chappathi/ idiyappam/ kal dosa/ briyani.

I usually don't eat much mushrooms but started cooking mushroom after my marriage as my hubby loves it. Started learning to clean and cook mushroom by seeing more videos online. Now I have so many recipes with Mushrooms and heard that fresh mushrooms will stay hard and will turn soft while cooking. This recipe seems to have more ingredients but it turns out so yummy and tasty.

Ingredients for Dry Masala:

Dry Red Chilli - 3
Coriander seeds - 5 teaspoons
Black peppercons - 1teaspoon
Cumin seeds (Jeera) -1 teaspoon
Fennel seeds (Perun Jeeragam) -1/2 teaspoon
Poppy seeds (Kasakasa) -1 teaspoon
Pottukadalai/ split roasted gram - 1 teaspoon
Cardomom -2
Cloves - 3
Cinnamon stick - 1 inch
Mace flower/ Jathipoo - 1 petal
Star Anise - 1 petal
Nutmeg/ Jathikaai - 1 pinch
Dry Coconut - 3 teaspoon



Ingredients for making paste:

Shallots/small onion - 15 nos
Ginger - 2 piece
Garlic cloves - 8 nos
Curry leaves - 8 to 10 nos
Cashewnut - 10 nos
Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon



Ingredients for making gravy:

White Button Mushrooms - 10 nos
Green chilli slit - 1
Curry leaves - 6 to 8 nos
Corriander leaves - 1/4 cup chopped
Bay leaf - 1 no
Large Tomato - 1 finely chopped
Kalpasi - 2 pinch powder
Salt for taste
Oil - 3 tablespoon
Water -1 cup
Coconut milk/ Fresh cream (optional)- 1/2 cup



Steps to make Gravy:

1. Dry roast all the ingredients in table 1 and allow it to cool before you grind it.
2. Once the roasted ingredients cools off, blend in mixer to make fine powder.
3. To this powder add ingredients in table 2 (shallots, garlic, ginger, curryleaves, cashewnut and turmeric powder). Grind it in mixer and add little water to make fine paste.
4. Clean and cut the button mushrooms vertically as shown in the picture.














5. Pour oil in kadai and add bay leaf, green chilli, curry leaves and kalpasi to it.
6. To the above, add the wet grinded mixture. Mix well for 3 minutes and add mushrooms, tomato at this stage.
7. Mix well by adding 1 cup of water to it. Slower the flame. Close the kadai and cook for 6 mins.
8. Mushrroms while cooking will leave little water, so at this stage add salt.
9. In medium flame, mix the gravy until it becomes thicken. It will take all about 6-8 mins.
10. Optionally you can add cocunut milk/ Fresh cream before switching off flame.
11. Serve by adding chopped coriander to the gravy.

Yummy yummy spicy Chettinad Mushroom gravy is ready.

Tips:

1. Instead of table 1 ingredients, you can add chilli powder and garam masala powder as per taste to table 2 ingredients and grind. This is other way of preparing masala. Still taste will surely differs as fresh ingredients has its own taste.
2. Cashewnut, poppy seeds, fried gram are thickening agents.
3. Its optional to use fresh cream/ coconut milk atlast to increase richness of gravy.