Peerkangai Thuvayal/ Ridge Gourd Chutney

This is one of the many recipes given to me by my mother(IL)when she came to visit us here, that is quick and easy to prepare. Before, I would rarely buy the Ridge gourd - never sure what to do with it..:)
So here is her recipe to make Peerkangai Thuvayal that for our sake does not include coconut and is made with very few ingredients.




Ingredients:

Ridge Gourd / Peerkangai - 1 medium size
Urad Dal - 3 tbsp
Garlic - 1 clove
Dried Long Red Chili - 3
1/4 tsp tamarind paste
Sesame Seed Oil / Gingelly Oil / Nalla Ennai - 3 tsp

Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal- 1 tsp
Nalla Ennai - 1/2 tsp

Scrape off just the ridges of the Ridge Gourd. Wash and pat dry before cutting it up into small pieces that can be easily ground and keep aside.
Heat oil and fry the red chili for 2 to 3 minutes, remove and keep aside. Now fry the urad dal until golden brown for few minutes along with the garlic and set it aside along with the chili, now saute the cut ridge gourd for about 8-10 minutes on medium heat until the pieces are soft you may also want to cover it after 5- 6 minutes to speed up the process. Remove from heat and let it cool.

Grind all the ingredients to finely coarse consistency and move to serving dish. In the same saute pan heat 1/2 tsp of oil and splutter the mustard seeds and then add the urad dal. Remove from heat and pour over the Thuvayal.

This recipe can also be made with just the skin of the ridge gourd.
Serve with hot rice and Ghee or use it as a spread for pitas, sandwiches or paninis.

Peanut Chutney

One of my recent favorites is the Peanut chutney ...one of the make ahead recipes... minimum ingredients and it stays well in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days, which is a definite plus for me!


Ingredients:

Peanuts - 1 1/2 cups
Dried Red Chili - 3 to 4 according to taste
Garlic - 2 to 3 cloves crushed
Tamarind paste /pulp - 3/4 tsp but can be adjusted to taste
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 tsp

In a saute pan heat oil and then gently fry the dried red chili and keep aside. Now add the peanuts and roast until golden brown and crackling, Then add the garlic and roast further for a few minutes, until you no longer get the raw taste of the peanuts. Remove from heat and cool. grind the cooled peanut, chili, tamarind paste, salt and 2/4 cup of water. You can also add water little by little until the chutney grinds to a thick paste. I like it a bit tighter...but if you like the chutney to have a little loose consistency, add more water (1/4 cup at a time), increase, salt and tamarind paste accordingly.

For mixing with rice go with less water. For dosa, idli or any thing else you would like to dunk in chutney use more water. If you are using more water you would like to add tadka - splutter in 1/2 tsp of oil about 1/2 tsp of mustard seeds, 1/2 tsp of urad dal/channa dal, 1 dried chili, few curry leaves and pour over the peanut chutney.

HorseGram curry - Muthira Kootan / Muthira Eriserri

Horse Gram, is one of the healthier legumes normally recommended as part of a iron rich diet. Today's gravy can be made in three ways - without coconut in the sauce base, using roasted coconut as the sauce base or without roasting the coconut. Each method has it own deliciously distinctive taste.

Below I will list all the ingredients specifying modifications to the recipe on the way.

(Muthira Kootan -Without Coconut)

Ingredients:
Muthira / horsegram - 1 cup
Pearl Onion - 4 sliced
Green Chilli - 2 Sliced
ginger - 1 " piece
Red chilli - 1/2 tsp
turmeric powder - 2 pinchCurry leaves - a few
Grated Coconut - 1/2 cup
Jeerakam / Cumin Seeds -1 /2 tsp
Peal onion - 1 chopped
salt to taste
coconut oil - 1/2 tsp

In a pressure cooker dry roast muthira for 6 to 8 minutes on medium heat. Add about 2 cups of water or enough water to cover the dal and pressure cook it upto 4 whistles.Turn off the heat and let the steam release. Once you can safely open the pressure cooker, turn on the heat add salt, green chilli, turmeric powder,red chili powder, once the water starts reaches a rolling boil and you can no longer smell raw chili powder,take down the heat to a very low.At this point you can decide how you would like the gravy to be. If you want to exclude the coconut then don't add the coconut and the cumin seeds and let the gravy boil for another 5 minutes until the water reduces to a thicker consistency. If you decide you want to add coconut then you can either

1. Blend grated coconut, cumin seeds and 1 chopped pearl onion into a thick paste with very little and pour over the gravy. Take off heat as soon as the gravy starts to boil again.
OR

2. Dry roast the coconut, chopped pearl onion and cumin seeds, until coconut is a golden to dark brown (make sure not to burn the coconut!)and then grind in the blender with minimum water. Add the mixture to the gravy. Remove from heat as soon as the gravy begins to boil again.

Once the gravy has turned to a boil the second time according to the method your chose from above, take it off the heat and move the gravy to a serving dish. Then, in a saute pan heat the coconut oil. Once the Oil is hot add the sliced onions and let it tenderize in the heat. Then add the curry leaves. Remove from heat and pour this mixture over your gravy.

(Muthira Eriserri - With unroasted coconut)

Jeera Rice

This is a very simple jeera rice without too many ingredients. Jeera rice is one of the most simplest and versatile flavored rice that goes with almost any kind of gravy.


Ingredients:
Basmati rice- 1 Cup
Jeera /cumin seeds - 2 tsp
Bay leaf - 1
Cloves - 3 to 4
Ghee / Clarified Butter - 1 tbsp
Salt To Taste

Soak the rice for 1/2 hr. When the 1/2 hr is almost over, heat the ghee in a heavy saucepan, and add the cumin seeds, bay leaf, cloves,and fry for a few seconds.Drain the rice and add the rice to the oil and fry it for a few minutes.Add 2 cups of water to the pan, salt and stir, the water should have the salty taste... make sure it is not too salty. Cover with a lid and cook on medium flame. Cook for 10 minutes until you see most of the water absorbed and there are bubbly holes forming on top of the rice. Reduce the flame to low and cook for 5 minutes and turn off the heat. Leave the rice to cook for some time with the lid on. Use a fork to separate and make  the rice fluffy.

Serve jeera rice hot with any spicy curry or raita.

Additional ingredients you can add are cashews, fried Onions, Pepper etc.