Thiruvadhirai Kootu

Thiruvadhirai Kootu

Thiruvadhirai Kootu also called as Ezhukari Kootu or Thalagam is made on the day of  "Arurudhra Darshan" as prasadam and offered to Lord Shiva. This kootu is made out of vegetables, thuvar dal and spiced with a special grounded powder. This tangy, spicy kootu is a good combination with the Thiruvadhirai Kali on the festival day. Its a general tradition to include 7 types of vegetables into this Kootu but you can add as many vegetable variety as you like and make this Kootu more healthier and richer. I added more than seven variety while making this dish and offered to Lord Shiva.

Ingredients

Oil - 1 tbsp

Tamarind - A small Lemon Size

Thuvar Dal / Thuvaram Paruppu / Kandhi Pappu - 3/4 cup

Turmeric Powder - 3 tsp

Hing/Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Curry Leaves - 1 stem

Mustard Seeds - 2 tsp

Urad Dal / Minna Pappu / Ulutham Paruppu - 1 tsp

Salt - To taste

Powdered Jaggery - 2 tsp

Coconut Flakes - 1/2 cup

Vegetables

Beans - 12 cut into finger size

White Pumpkin - 12-15 pieces ( Cut into medium square )

Butternut Squash - 10 - 12 pieces ( Cut into medium square)

Brinjal - 3

Potato - 2 Medium ( Cut into Medium Squares )

Carrot - 1 Big ( Cut into finger size)

Raw Plantain - 1 ( Cut into Medium Square )

Mochai / Lilva - 1 Handful

Chow Chow / Chayote - 1 ( Cut into Medium Square )

Sweet Potato - 1 ( Cut into Medium Square )

Green Zucchini - 1 ( Cut into Medium Square )

For the Spice Powder

Coriander Seeds - 2 tbsp

Channa Dal / Kadalai Paruppu - 1 tbsp

Fenugreek Seeds / Vendhayam - 1 tsp

Dry Red Chillies - 7 to 8 ( Depends on your taste )

Method

• Soak tamarind in water and extract its juice and keep it ready.
• Cook the thuvar Dal in a pressure cooker to a fine paste and keep it ready.
• Wash all the vegetables and cut them into desired shapes and steam cook them in a big nonstick kadai. (Add very little water and cover the lid of the kadai while steam cooking the vegetables )
• Dry roast the ingredients for making the grounded powder and make a fine powder and keep it ready.
• After the vegetables get steam cooked to a desired level, add the tamarind juice, turmeric powder, jaggery powder, mashed thuvar dal, required amount of salt and mix them well.
• Cook them with the lid open for couple of minutes.
• Finally add the grounded powder and fresh coconut flakes and mix them well. Allow them to cook for another 2-3 minutes.
• In a tempering pan, add oil and finish the tempering process. Pour them over the kadai and switch off the flame.
• Cover the lid and let the kootu settles down for few minutes.
• Now its ready for Neivedhyam.

Vankaya Ulli Karam / Brinjals in Spicy Onion Gravy / Brinjal Masala

Vankaya Ulli Karam is my mother-in-laws recipe and we all liked the dish very much. So I decided to share her recipe with my blog friends. This brinjal dish is an excellent choice for parties along with a side of Jeera Rice / Pulav. Even with rotis or plain rice, this tastes much better. The major factor which decides the taste of the dish is the age and size of the brinjals and its freshness..If  you have very fresh small brinjals, don't keep them in the fridge and postpone the preparation.Try to make the Vankaya Ulli Karam as fresh as possible.

Ingredients

Fresh small brinjals - 12 to 15.

Onion - 1 Big

Turmeric Powder - 2 tsp

Salt - To Taste

Sugar - 1/2 tsp

For Tempering

Oil - 3 tbsp

Hing / Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Mustard Seeds - 3 tsp

Jeera / Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp

Curry Leaves - 2 stems

For the Paste

Dry Red Chillies - 8

Groundnuts - 1 handful

Coriander Seeds - 2 tbsp

Urad Dal / Ulutham paruppu / Mina Pappu - 1 tbsp

Channa Dal / Kadalai paruppu / Senaga pappu - 2 tbsp

Methi seeds / Vendhayam / Fenugreek Seeds - 1/2 tsp

Jeera / Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp

Black pepper - 1 tsp

Dry Coconut Powder - 3/4th of tbsp

White Sesame Seeds - 2 tbsp

Tamarind - 1 pinch

Onion - 1 Big one shredded

Ingredients for the Gravy

Method

• Wash the Brinjals and make 4 or 6 slits from its bottom without breaking the brinjal in the middle. Let it looks like an umbrella with different slits and a handle at its top.
• Cut the brinjals in a similar way and put them in a bowl of water. Cut the onion into pieces and keep it ready for the gravy.
• Meantime, with few drops of oil, fry all the ingredients required for the gravy except onion pieces till you get a nice aroma. Then, transfer them to a mixer grinder. In the same pan, fry the cut onions and add them to the mixer grinder. Grind everything together to a fine smooth paste with little bit of water. Keep the gravy paste ready.
• Meantime, in the vessel add oil for tempering. Add Hing, mustard seeds, jeera and curry leaves first.
• Then, add the cut brinjals into the kadai / vessel. Add 2 tsp of turmeric powder and cook them with little water and salt. Cover the vessel and let the brinjals cook inside.
• When the brinjals get cooked three fourth, add the gravy paste from the mixer grinder into the vessel.
• Wash the mixer grinder with some water and pour all the gravy water into the vessel.
• Add required amount of salt and 1/2 tsp of sugar and mix the brinjals with the Gravy carefully making sure that the brinjals don't get mashed too much. Try to keep the brinjals in full shape inside the gravy.
• Let everything cook completely and the oil would ooze out of the dish slowly which indicates that the vankaya ulli karam is done perfectly.

Tips

Fry the spices till you get a nice aroma before grinding them for the gravy. This makes the gravy tastier.

Avoid making this dish with green brinjals or long fatty big brinjals. Try to make with small violet brinjals only to enjoy the heavenly taste of the masala.