Malayala Ullichamandi

I am transported to that one night almost a year back when my good friend R visited me and divulged a lot of her culinary secrets. I was assiduously taking notes almost all through the night! I had made a lot of recipes from the kitty, but, this one somehow was always untouched, probably because it looked so simple. Suddenly this recipe found its way onto my kitchen counter today. Now after making it, I sincerely regret for not having made it earlier.

This recipe results in a beautiful chutney from R’s land – Kerala. This malayala ullichamandi is traditionally made with pearl onions, but, I used big white onions that I had handy (probably thats why the colour of mine looks a little pale). This ullichamandi is a great friend to appam, dosa, idli, chapatti, etc. I have used it as an emergency bread spread here and absolutely loved the combined taste of roasted onions and coconut.

Ingredients:

Onions: 2 medium (or equivalent pearl onions)
Coconut pieces: ¼ cup
Red chillies (long): 2 - 3
Hing: to taste
Salt: to taste
Oil: 2 – 3 tsps

Method:

Fry onions in 2 – 3 tsps of oil.
Add the red chillis and the coconut pieces .
Fry till a great aroma arises and all the ingredients are decently done.
Add hing and salt.
Let it cool for a while.
Grind to a fine paste without adding water.
Ready!


This ullichamandi goes to Bookmarked Recipes every Tuesday, started by Priya Mitharwal and hosted by Aipi of US Masala. Also, it is my contribution to Jagruti’s lovely event ‘Complete my Thali – Chutney’. This chutney also finds its way to the second edition of 'Any one can cook' event hosted by Taste of Pearl City

Carrot Burfi

Kheers, halwas, cakes, salad, curry and sambars using carrots are familiar entities. But, I had not tasted a Carrot Burfi till now. Ever since I saw this recipe, I knew I had to try it. And when I made it, I was surprised how quickly this burfi made its way to my list of probable Diwali goodies!

I used Kamala’s recipe for this. Had a couple of doubts and the benevolent Kamala gave me the needed instructions. I altered her recipe only on the sugar front. This recipe is fairly deceptive in the sense that it uses a whoopingly large amount of carrots and yields a substantially small number of Burfis. So, I would sincerely suggest anybody to hit the market, stock up on the carrots and then try out this Burfi. It was so tasty that I had a trouble saving up some pieces for the clicks since they were vanishing. The relieved public (me and K) gobbled up the remaining as soon as the photo session was over!

Ingredients (makes 8 small pieces)

Carrots (washed, peeled, grated and roasted in ghee till raw smell disappears): 1 cup
Ghee: 3 tbsp
Sugar: 40% of the measure of ‘processed’ carrots or more or less per taste
Cashews/Badam/ Raisins/ Pistachios: 2 tbsp finely chopped
Cardamom powder: ¼ tsp
Saffron (optional): 3 -4 strands
Water: 3 – 4 tbsp

Method:

Take a heavy bottomed kadai. Heat a tsp of ghee and roast the dry fruits till golden brown.
Wash the carrots. Peel and grate them. Now (without adding any water), roast them in 2 tbsp ghee on a medium flame till the raw smell appears and it has cooked to about 75 percent. You could add the cardamom powder also while roasting.
Now measure this quantity of ‘processed’ carrots. For every cup of this, you will need 0.4 cup of sugar (or even less, since carrots are inherently sweet).
Now in the kadai, add the sugar and water and make sugar syrup of one string consistency.
When this is done, add the processed carrots.
Keep stirring constantly.
Initially the mass would become a little loose. But by constant stirring, it would reach a stage where it comes together like hard ball. It will take some time and a lot of stirring.
While stirring, add some saffron if you want to.
Immediately pour into a greased tray.
After it has cooled a bit, make pieces.
Enjoy!


This delicious burfi is my contribution to to ‘Bookmarked Recipes – Every Tuesday’ event by Priya Mitharwal.

It also finds its way to 'Only' Festive Food Event conceptualised by Pari and hosted this month by Preeti.

Sambar Rice

Any dish cooked on a slow flame for a long time is bound to taste divine. I have read somewhere that chefs of Bukhara Restaurant of Maurya Sheraton in Delhi cook their Dal Makhani for over six hours! That is really something.. and it leads me to wonder how creamy, wonderful and comforting that dal would be!


One of my dishes that fit into this category (not six hours of simmering!) is my mom’s Sambar rice. I choose to make this on those days when I am in no mood for active cooking, but have a lot of time on hand – perfect for lazy Sunday lunches and an amazing crowd pleaser. A bowl of steaming sambar rice and potato chips for that added crunch would make any tummy truly happy. This recipe serves two growlingly hungry stomachs.

Ingredients:

Rice: 2/3 cup
Toor dal: 1/3 cup
Tamarind: (soaked for a couple of hours): medium sized lemon
Vegetables (potatoes, drumsticks, green peas, carrots, tomatoes, beans, cauliflower, onions): 3 cups
Sambar powder (homemade or store bought): 2 tbsp
Salt: to taste
Curry leaves: Few sprigs
Corriander: to garnish
Gingelly oil: 5 tbsp
Ghee(to drizzle on the rice while serving): few tsps


For grinding:
Grated fresh coconut: 4 tbsp
Dhaniya seeds: 2 tbsp
Red chillies: 2 Nos
Chana dal: 1 tbsp
Corriander leaves (optional): 1 tbsp

For the tempering:
Red chillies (halved): 2 Nos
Mustard seeds: 1 tsp
Chana dal: 1 tsp
Urad dal: 1 tsp
Jeera: ½ tsp
Cashews (optional):1 tbsp
Hing: One big pinch


Method:

Cook the rice and the dal separately in a pressure cooker. Keep aside.
Wash and chop all the vegetables into slightly larger pieces. Keep aside.
Roast all the needed ingredients and grind to a fine powder and keep aside.
Heat the tamarind water in a fairly large vessel. Add the sambar powder and the vegetables and curry leaves and boil for about 10- 15 minutes till the vegetables are cooked and all the raw smell disappears.
Add the toor dal and let it cook for a while. (Usually at this stage, I transfer all my contents to my pressure cooker because it is heavy bottomed. Also, I find it easy to cover and cook the dish slow flame for a long time over a slow flame)
Add the ground masala and let it boil for some more time.
Now add the cooked rice and add the needed salt.
Now add about a cup of water and lower the flame. Let it cook covered on the slowest possible flame for about a minimum of 25 minutes.
Give it a good mix once in a while so that nothing sticks to the bottom. Ensure that the whole thing has come together well. The end product should be in a pouring consistency. The sambar rice will thicken as it cools down.
Switch off the flame and garnish with coriander leaves.
Now, in a separate pan or skillet, finish off the tempering and pour it over the sambar rice.
Mix well.
Serve this sambar rice with loads of ghee and potato chips or papads.
Enjoy!

This Sambar Rice is my contribution to 'Festive Rice Event' by Torview