Poosanikai vathal/ Kuzhambu vathal/Ash gourd vathal

Poosanikai vathal is the easiest and very tasty vathal. Also we can use the entire ash gourd unlike the other ash gourd dishes. It is a South Indian dish.

Ingredients: 

Ash gourd / white poosanikai - 1/2 kg

Urid dal - 1 cup

Red chili - 10 to 15

Hinge- 1/4tsp

Fresh curry leaves - few

Salt - as required (1tbs)

Method:

1. Wash the ash gourd and remove the skin and keep aside. you can cut off the skin along with some flesh which will be easier.
2. Take the urid dal and red chili in a broad vessel.
3.  Cut the flesh part along with the seed into small pieces and add over the urid dal. Mix well. Leave it aside for at least 2hrs. Urid dal gets soaked by the water in ash gourd pieces.
   
   
   
4. Grind the skin first well and then grind the urid dal, red chili, salt, hinge, curry leaves and ash gourd pieces into a coarse paste.
   
   
   

 5. Using a table spoon, drop on a plastic sheet and dry under the sun for two days and store in an air           tight container.

Tips:

• You can cut the ash gourd and soak the urid dal the previous day evening, grind and refrigerate. 
• Next day morning you can put the vathal before 8am.
•  Do not soak urid dal separately which will increase the water and it might affect the consistency.
• This can be fried in very little oil and used for verum kuzhambu , more kuzhambu instead of the vegetable as a than.
• This can be used in seasoning keerai masiyal by breaking it into bits along with vepambu and other ingredients.
  
  
  
  

2. Sambar

2.       Sambar (Freshly roasted araithuvitta sambar)

Vegetables that can be used
Drumstick, raddish, capsicum, carrot, ashguard, brinjal and lady's finger.

Ingredients:
Toor dal - 1cup
any vegetable -200gm
Tamarind -1 lemon size ball
Salt - 2tbs
Hinge - a pinch
Oil - 1tbs
Turmeric powder - a pinch
For grinding:
Grated coconut - 3tbs
Daniya/coriander seeds - 2tbs
Channa dal - 2tbs
Methi seeds - 1/2 tsp
Hinge - a pinch
Redchilli - 8
Curry leaves few
For tempering:
Gingely oil/ ghee - 1tbs
Mustard seeds - 1tsp
Red chilli - 2
Methi seeds - few
Hinge - a pinch
Curry leaves
Preparation: 1. Soak toor dal for 20 minutes in hot water and pressure cook for 3 whistles.
2. Roast all the ingredients (till the dal turns brown) given under grinding except coconut  and grind with grated coconut into a coarse paste.
3. Chop the vegetables (1 inch size).
4. Soak tamarind in hot water and extract 2cups of syrup.
Method:
1. Cook the vegetable in tamarind extract along with salt, hinge and turmeric powder.
2. Add the the ground past, cooked and smashed toor dal to the tamrind extract.
3. Mix well and boil it for 2 seconds.
4. Temper with the ingredients given under tempering.

3. Simple sambar

3.       Simple sambar
Vegetables can be used same as parupu kuzhambu. Ash guard is the best suited.you can dd potato when you make mixed vegetable sambar. Sambar onions can be used.
Ingredients:
Same as parupu kuzhambu
For grinding
Grated coconut -2tbs
For tempering
Refer parupu kuzhambu
Method:
Repeat steps 1 to 3 from parupu kuzhambu.
4. Grind the grated coconut along with sambar powder into fine paste and add to the tamrind extract.
    and add fresh curry leaves liberally.
5. Repeat steps 5 to 7 from parupu kzuhambu.
Tips: For onion sambar fry small sambar onions in ghee and then add to the tamarind extract.

7. Paal kootu

7.       Paal kootu

Snake guard, pala keerai, seemai ponnaganni keerai can be used to make this dish. Ashguard can also be used.
Ingredients:
Snake guard - 1/4kg
Milk - 1cup
Green chilli -2
cumin seeds - 1/2tsp
Rice flour - 2tbs
Salt -1tsp
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Asafoetida - a pinch
For tempering:
Mustard seeds -1tsp
Urid dal - 1tsp
curry leaves
Method:

1.       Chop into very small pieces and cook in little water, salt and turmeric powder.

2.       Add chopped (lengthwise) chillies and milk. Boil it for 5 minutes. Add rice flour paste.

3.       Temper all the items given under seasoning in oil.

3. Puli vitta kootu

3.       Puli vita kootu
Vegetables like senai, brinjal, keerai thandu and poosanikai can be used for this gravy cum side dish.
Ingredients
Any one of the above vegetable -250gm
Toor dal/Channa dal or Both in 3:1 proprtion - 1/2 cup
Tamarind - small lemon size
Coconut - 1/4 cup
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Asafoetida - a pinch
Salt -1 1/2tsp

     Ground nut (raw) -2tbs  
To roast
Channa dal - 1 1/2 tbs
daniya - 1tbs
Red chili - 4
Methi seeds - 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida -a pinch
Oil - 1tsp
Seasoning
Oil - 1tsp
Mustard - 1tsp
Redchili-1
Asafoetida - apinch
Curry leaves
Method:

1.       Pressure cook dal adding a pinch of turmeric powder and asafoetida.Cook groundnut also in seperate container along with dal.

2.       Wash and cut the vegetables into small pieces.

3.       Cook the vegetable in 1 1/2 cup of extracted tamarind water, salt and asafoetida.

4.       Roast all the ingredients given under roast till they turn brown and a nice aroma comes out.

5.       Grind coconut and the roasted items into caorse paste.

6.       Mix the paste with cooked peanut,  cooked and smashed dal and cooked vegetable. Boil it for 2 seconds.

7.       If the consistency is very thin add rice flour paste and mix thoroughly and allow it to just boil.

8.       Season with all the ingredients mentioned under seasoning.

Tips: Adding a handful of cooked groundnut or channa  will increase the quantity and crunchy groundnut will increase the taste.
This can be used as side dish with morkuzhambu. This can be used as gravy with roasted/deep oil fried papad/appalam.vathal.
Instead of roasting we can add 1tsp of fried sambar powder to the grated coconut and grind. This may minimize the time but of course freshly roasted ingredients will give added taste and aroma.