Kovakai Masala/ Tindora Masala/ Ivy Gourd stir fry

Ivy Gourd/ Kovakkai is a good source of Protein and Fiber. You can eat it raw and can make varities of dishes out of this vegetable. It looks like small cucumber. Tastes very good with all spices in it. So here comes the recipe.

You will need:

• 4 cups Kovakai/ Tindora
• 1 big onion
• 3 tbsp chopped tomato
• ½ tsp ginger garlic paste
• 3
• 1½ tbsp chicken masala powder or(1 tsp chilli powder, 1½ tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp garam masala powder, ½ tsp cumin powder)
• salt to taste
• ½ tsp pepper powder
• Lemon juice(optional)
  

For tempering:

• 3 tbsp oil
• ½ tsp mustard seeds
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• ½ tsp urad dal
• 2 dry red chilli
  
• few curry leaves
• cilantro(coriander leaves) for garnish
  

Procedure:

Step 1:

Wash the Tindora/ Kovakkai nicely in the running cold water. Trim of the ends and slice it horizontally into thin pieces.

Step 2:

Chop onion and tomato into fine pieces and keep it aside.

Step 3:

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal, red chili and curry leaves to it. Allow it to splutter. Now add te chopped onion to it and saute it till it turns light golden brown color.

Step 4:

Now add the ginger garlic paste to it and saute it till it get rid off the raw smell. Add the masala powders along with chopped tomatoes to it.

Step 5:

Now add the chopped tindora pieces to it and coat well with all masala powders. Then cover with a lid and keep the flame on medium heat.

Step 6:

Allow the tindora pieces to cook in low flame for 10 mins stirring occasionally.Add salt and pepper powder to it. Finally squeeze the juice of ½ lemon on top of it and serve hot with roti, chapathi or with any rice as side dish. You can even garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Enjoy!!!!!

Rava Dosa / Sooji Pancakes

Rava dosa is one of the breakfast dish in India. Very simple to make, but it need some skill to spread the batter very thin in the hot pan.

Here comes the recipe..

You will need:

• 1. 5 cups of rice flour
• 1 cup of sooji/ rava
• ½ cup of maida/ all purpose flour
• salt for taste
• water as required to form a thin batter (consistency similar to butter milk)

For tempering:

• 1 tsp oil
• 1 tsp ghee
• ¼ tsp mustard seeds
• ¼ tsp cumin seeds
• ¼ tsp black cumin
• ½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes / red chili powder
• ¼ onion ( chopped finely)
• few curry leaves (chopped finely)
  

Step 1:

Heat oil and ghee in pan. When its hot add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, black cumin, and then the finely chopped onions. Saute onions till it turn golden brown color. Then add the curry leave sand teh red chili flakes and switch off the heat.

Step 2:

Take another bowl and add maida, rice flour, sooji/rava, salt and water. Mix it well to get thin batter. Now add the tempered mixture to it and mix it well.

Family size rava dosa


Step 3:

Heat a non stick flat pan on medium high heat. Spread the batter nicely in the hot pan. Better to start from sides of the pan and then finish it in the middle. But at Vahrehvah video i saw him sprinkling the batter over the pan using hands. I tried that and it worked for me. Apply oil on top if necessary. Turn the dosa when it turns golden brown colou. Enjoy with sambhar, chutney or with idli chutney powder

Kara Kuzhambu/ Simple spicy curry

Kuzhambu is the tamil word for curry. This kara kuzhambu is the simple version of sambhar but without dal. I made this kara kuzhambu with one vegetable i.e, brinjal(Egg plant). You can make this kara kuzhambu with fried okra(lady's finger), drumsticks(murungaikai) too. It tastes wonderful with garlic, tamarind paste and small onions in it.

You will need:

• 1 big onion (chopped finely)
• 10 small onions or use one more big onion (chopped finely)
• 5 garlic pods
• 3 small brinjals (chopped finely)
• 3 tbsp canned crushed tomatoes or 1 tomato(chopped finely)
• ¼ tsp tamarind paste
• 1 tbsp sambhar masala powder / (1 tsp red chilli powder and 2 tsp coriander powder)
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 2 pinch of asofoetida (perungayam)
• salt for taste

For tempering:

• ½ tsp mustard seeds
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• few curry leaves
• 3 tbsp oil

Procedure:

Step 1:

Heat oil in a pan and when its hot add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, followed by asofoetida and curry leaves. When it splutters add chopped onions(small onions and big), chopped garlic and chopped brinjal. Saute it till it turns golden brown color.

Step 2:

Adding masala powders:

Now add the sambhar masala powder along with cumin powder and saute it for 1 min. Then add chopped tomatoes and saute it for min. Now add some water with tamarind paste and salt. Allow it to simmer for 3 to 5 mins or till it thickens.

Serve with steaming rice and omellete. Enjoy!!!!


Hint:

1. If you like very thick consistency add 1.5 cups of water or else add more than 2 cups of water.
2. You can even add 1 tsp jaggery/ 1 tsp sugar to this dish.