Paruppu Payasam

My first  lengthy post after an year:-)

Time is moving is fast. It looks like I have just started my blogging journey but its an year now:-) After taking a break from IT industry for one year I always wanted to do something during my free time but kept passing my time with food network, browsing, chatting, cooking and of course eating. Things changed after my son was born. Though I became busy with him, I missed doing something for myself and that’s when hubby suggested to do blogging. My blogging journey started when my son was 6 months old. Being a lazy person, initially when I started writing I thought it won’t continue for a longtime, but continuous support from my close ones kept me motivated:-)

I am not a great cook, nor a great photographer, nor a great writer but my lovely reader and dear blog friends taught me those are not absolutely essential.

Thank u all for visiting, reading and commenting in my space.

Its traditionallymodernfood.com from now on 🙂 changing to .com was a big discussion for quiet sometime in our home. Ever since I started blogging hubby was insisting to change it but I kept postponing. At one stage he convinced me and I discussed about this with some of my good friends but somehow I felt will do it later. Today I got a pleasant blog Anniversary SPL gift from my Hubby 🙂 . Evening my hubby pinged me my blog URL in WhatsApp I was surprised to see .com instead of .wordpress.com. Have to work on importing the contents. May be when I do my next post it should be ready 🙂

Paruppu Payasam

Paruppu payasam is one of the most common payasam prepared during many festivals. The blend of protein rich lentils with jaggery (iron) and calcium (milk) is perfect for kids and Adults.

For the past couple of days I was in a dilemma thinking what to post for my blog anniversary. When I was browsing my pictures though Muffin, cake, cookie, creame brulee, burfi and laddu, this pulled my attention, I chose Paruppu Payasam as this my special favorite even before I tried/tasted any other desserts and sweet

Checkout my other payasam,

• Arisi Thengai Payasam
• Carrot Almond Paysam
• Rice Kheer (Paal Payasam)
• Macaroni Payasam

Ingredients

Moong dal – 1/3 cup

Channa dal  – 2 tbsp

Milk – 2  cup

Water- 1 cup +3/4 cup

Jaggery – 3/4 cup

Grated coconut – 1/4 cup

Cardamom powder – 1/8 tsp

Turmeric Powder – pinch

Salt -pinch

Butter/ Ghee – 1 tsp

Cashew & Raisin –  2 tsp each

Method:

• Soak jaggery in  1 cup of luke warm water for 20 minutes (Time depends on the size of the cut jaggery). Strain to remove impurities
• Soak both the dals in luke warm water for 20 minutes
• Heat a tsp of ghee and saute cashew nuts till they are golden brown; switch off and add raisins. In the same pan dry roast both the soaked dals separately for a minute
• Pressure cook the dal with 3/4 cup of water for 2-3 whistles. Once the pressure subsides, open the cooker and mix the dal once

• In  heavy bottomed pan add the jaggery syrup and cardamom powder and bring it boil. Add the cooked dal and continue cooking for 3-5minutes
• Add grated coconut and boiled milk. Cook for 2 minutes and switch off. Garnish with cashew and raisin,serve hot/ cold

My Notes:

• Turmeric powder is optional,I added to give yellow color to the Payasam
• Adjust milk according to the desired consistency
• Dal can be sauted for 2-3 minutes and cooked
• Edible camphor and saffron can be added for extra flavour

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Banana Sweet Pidi Kozhukattai

Kozhukkatai is a traditional south Indian delicacy prepared in both sweet and savory versions. There was a stage when my son started preferring foods which he can hold and eat. Paniyaram was my instant saver on many days. One day I prepared Savory pidi Kozhukattai for us and he liked.

Knowing the fact he loves sweets and  to include banana into his diet, generally I prepare sweet pidi Kozhukattai with jaggery and banana.

Check out my other Kozhukattai recipes,

Cracked Wheat Kozhukattai

Sweet Kozhukattai

Aval Kozhukattai

Ammini Kozhukattai

Ingredients:

Rice Flour – 1 cup

Banana – 1 cup puree from two  banana

Jaggery – 1/4 cup

Water –   1 cup 

Cardamom powder – 1/8 tsp

Salt – pinch

Oil/ Ghee – to grease

Method:

• Soak jaggery in  luke warm water for 20 minutes (Time depends on the size of the cut jaggery). Strain to remove impurities
• In  heavy bottomed pan add the jaggery syrup and cardamom powder and bring it boil. Add the banana puree and cook for 2 minutes

• Add rice flour and salt to the jaggery syrup – banana puree and mix well to avoid lumps. Cook til the dough separates from the pan and forms a mass

•  Keep it aside till you can handle the dough. Cover it with a damp cloth

• Grease the hand with little water, take a small portion of Kozhukattai and make it into cylindrical shape
• Grease the idli mould with little oil. Steam kozhukattai in idli stand or pressure cooker for 8 to 10 minutes. 

My Notes:

• I used store brought rice flour, instead homemade rice flour can also be used
• The water quantity depends on the rice flour so adjust accordingly

Microwave Ladies Finger Fry

My hubby loves ladies finger, even If I cook It daily he will be happy. For me more than cooking ladies finger pre work is the one which demands a lot of time – Washing and patting well with a dry cloth or dry in a paper towel for a longtime. These days with my little one running around my legs I find it difficult to do the steps my mother usually does to avoid mushy ladies finger. As I mentioned in my Bhindi Masala, microwave helps me to skip those steps. One  day when I had microwaved ladies finger, I thought of giving a try with cooking the entire curry in microwave and it worked.

Ingredients:

Chopped Ladies Finger – 2 cups

Sambar powder/ chilli powder – 1 tsp  ( I used Sambar powder)

Coriander Powder – 1/4 tsp

Cumin powder – 1/8 tsp

Rice flour – 1/8 tsp

Asofetida – generous pinch

Curd – 1/2 tsp

Salt – to taste

Oil – 1/2 tbsp

Method:

• In a small bowl combine sambar powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, rice flour, asofetida and salt
• Cut the washed ladies finger into small pieces and place them in a paper towel. In a bowl add oil and ladies finger; mix well

• Microwave them for 3 minutes, take out and add curd. mix well. Microwave for another 3 – 4 minutes till the mushy texture changes
• Add the spice powder mix and combine well

• Microwave for 6 – 8 minutes or till the bhindi cooks well with spice powders flavors well incorporated. Serve it with rice/roti

My Notes:

• Can do tempering separately and add it to the curry but I skipped it
• Curd is optional. Add it of you thinks Okra is very sticky than usual
• Can bake ladies finger instead of using microwave method. Bake it for 375 degree Fahrenheit 20 to 25 minutes if its cut like this. If  cut pieces are lengthy baking time changes
• Can add coconut for extra taste during the last minute
• Can cut ladies finger into big pieces, slit and stuff the spice powder
• Can add garam masala, chat masala or any other spice powder of choice

Macaroni Payasam (Kheer)

Both my husband and I love pasta, and now a days even my little one started liking Mac & Cheese. Every time I open a pasta packet I wouldn’t finish it and have some leftover. To finish the remaining uncooked pasta, I end up buying same variety of pasta again.  Other day I felt like having payasam and searched for semiya, suddenly pasta pulled my attention and tried payasam with pasta. It was a big hit at home.

Ingredients:

Macaroni – 1/3 cup

Milk – 3 cups

Condensed milk  – 3 tbsp

Sugar –  3 tbsp (adjust according to your sweetness)

Saffron  – A pinch

Cardamom powder –  pinch

Butter/ Ghee-  1 tsp

Salt – a pinch

Method:

• Add ghee and macaroni to the pan; saute for a minute. Add 3 cups of warm milk and cook till the macaroni are fork tender

• Add saffron, condensed milk,  sugar, cardamom powder and salt, continue cooking for 4 – 6 minutes and switch off. Can  serve immediately or chill this overnight and serve it next day.

My Notes:

• Adding condensed milk gives rich creamy texture adjust the sugar accordingly
• Payasam tends to thicken more when cool down
• Usually I add cashew and raisin for payasam but other day missed to add while taking picture so I didn’t write in my recipe!
• I have used whole wheat pasta instead maida pasta can also be done
• If you are using penne, rotini, fettuccine, bow or any other pasta, cut the cooked pasta with ladle according to your taste

Apple Pancakes – Guest Post from Chitra

Its time for a breakfast recipe, today we have Chitra from Chitra Healthy Kitchen.  Since we both started blogging in almost the same time, Chitra and her space is very familiar to me ever since the beginning. Chitra is a good friend of mine, she always stops by and leave her encouraging words. Chitra’s recipes perfectly fits her blog title. I admire the way she tells the healthy aspects of ingredients in her intro for each post.  Knowing Chitra is a mom I appoached her for toddler friendly recipe and she instantly agreed to give me one. I was happy when I saw pancake recipe from C,  my son loves pancake and I have a new way to give him apple.

Over to Chitra,

When V (Vidya) approached me for ‘toddler recipe’ was over whelmed. I tried to give my best as per possible for guest post. I delayed to share my recipe however V waited patiently and allowed me to take my own time.

V is my blogger friend and been interacting with her since I started my blogging journey. She encouraged me with her feedback for each of my recipe and can’t thank enough for that. Look forward to her support in future too.

Traditionally modern food, name of the blog itself is so attractive. So one can expect all such traditional recipes with all possible twists. I got to know lot many traditional recipes from her home town.

I wish Vidya a great success in every step of her journey personally and professionally.

Thanks V for the oppourtunity. Since kids love apple and chocolate thought of combining them to make this recipe.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrChDietFood

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/ChitraJagadish/

Apple ring pancakes drizzled with chocolate

About:

For an adorable twist on the usual pancake recipe, whip up these delicious apple ring pancakes. Slice fresh apples — any variety will work.  The taste? Well it’s a bit donut-ty (yes really, try it!), it’s soft and pillowy. They cook just like regular pancakes, and the apples soften slightly, so when you take your first bite, the apple is slightly crisp but oh so warm and juicy. There’s the perfect amount of sweetness.

These were drizzled with chocolate syrup as kids love chocolates and sliced almonds, pistachio. These are also great for a dessert if you wanted to serve them with ice cream.

Preparation time-10 minutes

Cooking time- 5 minutes per batch

Ingredients:

• Apples-4
• Oil- for toasting

For the batter:

• Gram flour/besan-3/4cup
• Corn starch-3-4tbsp
• Any milk of choice-1/2 to 3/4cup (or more as required for the batter)
• yogurt-1/2cup
• Salt-a pinch
• Baking powder-1/4tsp
• Vanilla essence-2tsp
• Honey/maple syrup-2-3tbsp

Topping:

• Cooking chocolate-100gms
• Chopped nuts/sprinkler

Procedure:

For the batter:

• In a large bowl combine besan flour, corn starch, salt, baking powder and set aside.
• In other bowl whisk yogurt, milk, vanilla essence until frothy.
• Now stir in yogurt mixture to the flour mixture until a smooth batter obtained(add extra milk/yogurt if required)

Preparing apples:

• Wash the apples thoroughly- pat dry and Slice the into slices which are 1/2 inch thick.
• Using a circle cookie cutters remove centre of the apple –the core and seeds.
• Brush some lemon juice and set aside on a paper towels to dry.

For cooking apple rings:

• Heat a non-stick pan/skillet on a medium heat, spray the griddle and then Dip each apple rings in the batter and rub to fully cover it.
• 
• Transfer to the pre-heated griddle and cook as you would do a regular pancakes.
• Flip and cook on the other side and continue to cook for 1-2minutes.

• Repeat with all the apple slices and serve with some honey/nuts

OR

For topping:

• Melt chocolate in a double boiler/microwave and drizzle over panckes.
• Top with some chopped nuts/sprinkler and serve.

Note:

• Batter has to be thick enough to coat the apples.

Crunchy Snack balls – Guest Post from Sridevi

Its day 5 and there is one more energy balls recipe, this time it is from Sridevi – Coconut Craze. During my Initial days of blogging I was checking my wordpress reader and saw Sridevi’s post notification, the word coconut intrigued me to visit her space, and from that day onwards her blog has become one of my regular blogs to visit. Her food pics speaks a lot, I adore her recipe collections some of her baked recipes are in my to do list. She is very friendly and gave me great support ever since my initials days and till date. Though she was busy when I asked for Guest post Sridevi allocated sometime and sent me this post. Crunchy snacks balls are waiting, over to Sridevi,

I have a sweet little treat as a guest post for Vidya Srinivasan of Traditionally Modern Food. Vidya, is a very enthusiastic blogger and has presented us with many wonderful recipes. I appreciate her friendliness and hard work. She has been encouraging me with suggestions and comments which helped me improve my posts considerably. I like her baked recipes that have a traditional element in it. She gives them a modern twist making them less oily and yummy. When she asked me to do a guest post for her, I was in the middle of some activities. I managed to squeeze in some time and came up with this easy recipe.

She suggested a kid friendly recipe and I thought of all things kids can hold in their hands, carry around and eat. My foremost concern was to make it nutritional. I wanted to try something without any artificial additives. It should be attractive to children, easy to make and delicious. I had a lot of things to consider. Honestly, it made me scratch my head and think a bit. Finally, I came up with this ladoo. Hope you like it!

facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Coconut-craze/281334571966246

Energizer ladoos

Imagine a guilt free snack! A snack that is handy and provide energy to play for a long time!

These crunchy snack balls will provide you all of the above. They are gluten free and refined sugar free if you do not use powdered sugar to decorate. This is a convenient snack to can grab and go!

I developed this recipe inspired by a snack ball we make at home. It is from a mix called avalouse podi made using rice flour, coconut and cumin seeds, fried to a grainy texture.  Back home, it is our homemade breakfast cereal that is eaten with sugar and slices of banana. They also make it into snack balls adding melted brown sugar or honey.

I thought it was an appropriate snack and tried to add a few more ingredients to enhance it. When I took a bite, I was reminded of my aunt who makes them when we go on vacation to our grandmother’s house.

For simplicity, I took equal quantities of most ingredients. You may increase or decrease it as desired.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup rice
• 1/4 cup oats rolled or steel cut oats
• 1/4 cup quinoa
• 1/4 cup dry coconut
• 1/4 cup almonds
• 12-15 pitted dates
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• honey to bind

Method:

1. Soak pitted dates in water for 20 minutes.
2. Chop soaked dates into small bits.
3. Take a heavy bottom pan and roast oats, rice and quinoa each separately until golden brown.
4. Toast grated dry coconut. (If it is fresh coconut, grate it finely and toast with rice until it becomes dry.)
5. Add raw almonds and chopped dates to the roasted ingredients and pulse it in a blender in small batches.
6. Powder it to get a coarse texture.
7. Mix the powder with coconut oil.
8. Add enough honey to the mixture to make it moist enough to hold.
9. Roll them in your hand into small balls.

I made 16 balls with this mixture. They harden after they rest a while. Store them in air tight containers or in a refrigerator for weeks. You feel a satisfactory crunch when you chew it.

Sprinkle powdered sugar for an attractive coating or dust with chocolate powder if your kids like it.

This is exclusively a kid friendly snack but if you have a kid in you, go ahead and enjoy it! When I made this at home, surprisingly, it was the oldest member in the house who loved it the most. So there is no age limit to taste one and run back for more!

Thanks you for inviting me and having me post in your space, Vidya!

Potato Smiley – Guest post from Mullai

Snack mania continues and today we have Mullai from SpiceIndiaOnline. Mullai and I become friends recently but in a short span of time, we have become close to each other. Though I am a Amateur blogger when compared with her blogging experience, she never treats me so. She is friendly and kind, shares her blogging techniques and things which worked for her.  My India trip is fast approaching and time to prepare something for my hubby and freeze it when was thinking what to do, Mullai gave me a lot of interesting ideas. I have to check her blog for more recipes. During our calls one day I told about Guest post and she squeezed sometime between her busy schedule and gave this yummy snacks. Can someone say no to this beautiful crispy snacks??

Over to Mullai,

Writing a guest post is all new to me… one fine morning Vidya casually pinged to chat and from then on we became good friends. That  fun chat still continues with never ending conversations until duty calls. Vidya Srinivasan,  who i’ve  known for a few months now is a very dedicated food blogger..runs this beautiful, very impressive  blog called “traditionallymodernfood” with wonderful collection of both traditional & modern recipes.  She mostly shares  simple recipes with easy instructions and keeps it interesting & neat. She is one sweet person with humble attitude and when she asked me to write a guest post on toddler friendly food I couldn’t say no.

https://www.facebook.com/spiceindiaonline

https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/104988302656588183755/+SpiceindiaonlineRecipes/posts

While googling  for a good one, I ran into YummytummyArthi’s space which had this fun recipe called Potato smiley faces which caught my eyes, which made me feel like a kid in the candy store! Well this recipe is inspired from that with few alterations to suit my taste. Though not that healthy, it will for sure impress your kids and I can assure that it will definitely bring a smile on their face. Try it out!

Ingredients:

Medium size Potatoes    3

Corn flour    5- 6 tablespoons

Salt  3/4 teaspoon

Black pepper  1/2 teaspoon

Oil    2 cups (for deep frying)

Method:

• Boil potatoes and keep aside. Let them cool completely. Finely grate them or mash like how you would do for mashed potatoes
• This mixture will be very sticky, add salt, black pepper powder and just half of the corn flour and make a stiff dough. Add more corn flour until the dough looks firm.

• Cover and refrigerate for atleast an hour.  By now the potato dough would have turn stiff.Dust corn flour on a board and roll out the dough flat for about 1/4 inch thickness.

• Using a cookie cutter cut them out into small circular discs. Using big hole straw punch the discs as shown for the eyes. Then using a spoon press to shape the mouth.

• Heat oil and deep fry the smileys… they just dance around in the hot oil, bubbles of oil oozing out from their eyes and mouth will look as if they are talking to you. Once they turn golden brown on both sides, remove and drain excess oil by placing them on a paper towel. Serve hot with ketchup!

• This recipe will yield about 15 smileys, make them ahead of time, dust with corn flour and refrigerate. Make it in the morning and refrigerate and fry when the kids long for an evening snack. Oh…there’s already a naughty one licking up the ketchup!

Oats Quinoa Balls – Guest post from Malar

Day 2 of my guest post series and today its from Malar, neither my blog nor my immediate family needs intro for her. WordPress gave us intro and initially we started talking through comments, but within no time it has changed to a stage where almost every week we started talking over the phone and most of the days during our one hour talk (may be more if my son didn’t wake up during his nap) we seldom talks about blog. As Malar mentioned below during our initial days we both decided to do guest post in each other’s space, but taking advantage of our friendship kept postponing, finally “March” has become a auspicious month for both of us to write a post for each other (oh yes, can see my post in Malar’s page in sometime). I can continue writing about Malar and her space but its time to handover to Malar:-)

Over to Malar,

Hi I am Malar , so excited to do a guest post for Vidya’s Traditionally Modern Food, a fabulous blog. My blog is Malar’s Kitchen. You can find various Indian recipes along with few other cuisine recipes. I have a lot of chettinad recipes too, if it might excite you.

Vidya and myself, we started following each other during our initials days of blogging, eventually we got along so well. From blogging she turned out to be a very good friend of mine. We chit chat a lot, just not blogging many personal stuffs too  It was long time back we decided that we should do guest post for each other and being friends, we took enough advantage of postponing 😉 Finally I am here with a guest post for her with Oats Quinoa Balls. Few details on my blog.

Blog link: https://malarmuthu.wordpress.com/

FB link: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Malars-Kitchen/1516965231871483

Pinterest link: https://www.pinterest.com/vijimalar/recipe/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/malarskitchen

Hopping on to the recipe…..

Ingredients:

Oats – 1 cup

Quinoa – ¼ cup

Water – ¾ cup

Flax seeds – ¼ cup

Vanilla Extract – 1 teaspoon

Dry Fruits – 1/3 cup (I have used cranberries)

Jaggery – ½ cup (Can be replaced by sugar)

Method:

• Dry roast Oats for 3 to 4 mins, until nice aroma rises.
• Dry roast flax seeds for 2 mins.
• Now powder oats and flax seeds either together or separately.
• Clean quinoa and cook with water in high for 6 mins, simmer for 12 mins.
• Switch off when quinoa turns fluffy and soft.
• Heat jaggery with just enough water to bring it to boiling state.
• Now mix all of the together along with dry fruits and vanilla extract.
• Form a nice dough. Make small balls out of it.
• Healthy oats quinoa balls are ready. Place in an airtight container in fridge stay well up to 20 days.
• You can add any sort of dry fruits, cashews, almonds, walnuts. I wanted to use up my cranberries , so I have used only this 

Oatmeal Banana Milkshake – Guest post from Sreelatha

Happy Tamil year and Vishu to all my lovely readers:-)

This new year I am starting with a guest post..After facing so many challenges in making my son eat food I decided to start a toddler friendly recipe section in my blog and asked my friends from virtual world. As i mentioned in my earlier post, happiness is when someone allocates time for me and comes up with a recipe. I feel so blessed by the way I got response from my co- bloggers. I recently decided to post guest post on every Wednesday but I am having India trip plans shortly, so I don’t want the guest posts to sit in my draft for a longtime. Let’s call it a guest post week:-) stay tuned for yummy toddler recipes for a week continuously

Today we have Sreelatha from FramedRecipes. I happen to know her through social link and became friends. I love her recipes and knowing the fact that she is a mom I asked her for a guest post. Though her son crossed toddler stage few years ago she happily accepted my offer and came up with this tasty and healthy shake. For my picky eater I always find ways to include fruits into his diet and after seeing this shake I thought she understood my mind voice 🙂

Let’s hear it from Sreelatha,

Hello Peeps,

I am Sreelatha. I blog at FramedRecipes. I recently celebrated my blog’s first birthday. So, I am new to the blogging world and each day is a learning experience.

Website: http://www.framedrecipes.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/framedrecipes

Google Plus: https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/111393838604867791501/+Framedrecipes/posts

Thanks to Vidya for giving me this wonderful opportunity to share my recipe on her blog.

When she contacted me about doing a guest post, I had no clue how to go about doing that. I had heard about bloggers doing guest posts for one another, but having not done one myself, I had no idea what to do. But I said yes :).

And then comes the next challenge. She wants me to do a toddler recipe!

Toddler Recipe??

OMG!! My dealings with a toddler ended several years back. I got back to Vidya trying to find whether I had a deadline to meet. She gave me the freedom to work at my pace. Alrighty. I at least have time to come up with a recipe. Phew!

I remember starting my Sonshine’s (this is my son’s Undercover ID on my blog) solid foods with raagi porridge and then later moving onto rice and vegetables puree. Once Sonshine realized that adult food is tastier than the bland (well, almost bland) puree that I was feeding him, he resisted eating the purees. So, we switched him to the regular food at home.

So, with this post, Vidya actually gave me an opportunity to relive my Sonshine’s toddler days (which I miss terribly now) and come up with a recipe that I would have loved to serve him when he was a toddler. I am very much thankful to Vidya for this wonderful gift.

I settled on Banana Oatmeal Milkshake as the recipe I want to share with you based on these:

• Easy to make (parent have to spend time with the toddler rather than cooking elaborate dishes).
• Nutritious
• Balanced
• Filling & flavorful.

Even now, I serve it to my Sonshine along with his after-school snack. When he finishes the milk shake, I know, I have served him something delicious and at the same time nutritious.

Enough of my ranting…. Let’s talk about the recipe now….

Recipe:

1/2 cup Oats

1 cup Water

1 Banana

2 cups Milk (See recipe Notes)

2 tablespoon Malted milk drink mix (See Recipe Notes),

Sugar/Honey to taste

Method

Cook the oats with one cup water till well cooked. Cool to room temperature.

Roughly chop the banana.

Blend cooked oats, chopped bananas, milk, malted milk drink mix and sugar till well blended.

Serve immediately.

Recipe Notes

1. I have used refrigerated 2% milk. If you are hesitant to give refrigerated milk, boil the milk and cool it down to room temperature.
2. I have used the Nestle Malted Milk powder. If you have Horlicks or something similar, you can use that.
3. Read the ingredients and the allergen information if you are using the malted milk powder for your kid.
4. Adjust the sweetener – Sugar/Honey – to taste. This is a good recipe to use up those ripe (browned) bananas which everybody is hesitant to eat. The quantity of sugar depends on the sweetness of the banana.
5. I make it like milk shake, but if you like it thicker, reduce the quantity of milk

Zucchini Thogayal

I have a happy news to share with you all. My 25 recipes under the title “Paarampariya Muriyal Naveena Samyal (Traditionally Modern) got published in a magazine called Sneghidi, as a supplement 🙂 I thought I will tell this note with one of the recipes I gave them.

After moving abroad, I started eating Zucchini. Usually I add it in dishes like pasta, panang curry etc. One lazy day I wanted to do some quick rice accompaniment and when I was searching in my fridge Zucchini pulled my attention. Inspired from Ridge Gourd ( Peerkangai) thogayal, this is a version using Zucchini.

Ingredients

Zucchini  – 2, peeled and cut into small cubes

Urad dal – 1 tbsp + 1 tsp

Mustard seeds – 1/8 tsp

Red chilli – 2 (Adjust according to your taste)

Tamrind – 1/2 tbsp, without seed

Asofetida – generous pinch

Salt – as needed

Oil – 1 tsp

To temper:

Mustard seeds – 1/4 tsp

Curry leaves – 1 sprig

Urad dal – 1/2 tsp

Coconut oil -1/2 tsp

Method:

• Add oil in a heavy bottomed pan; add the zucchini with a pinch of salt and sauté until they turn soft and tender. Add mustard seeds, dry red chillies and urad dal and continue cooking for 2-3 minutes until urad dal changes color

•  Transfer the content to a plate and let them cool

• Grind the cooled mixture along with tamarind, required salt and little water; into a smooth texture. Add water according to the desired consistency
• Add oil to the pan, when the oil becomes hot, add mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves. Allow it to crackle and add it to the zucchini thogayal. Serve the Zucchini Thogayal along with a rice and ghee/idli/dosai/uthappam

Notes:

• Zucchini and urad dal can be cooked separately
• Coconut can be added if desired