4. Onion sambar

Onion Sambar
Hot rice, ghee, onion sambar with fried potatoes or deep fried appalams are the best combo.
Best side dish for dosa, idli and upma.
Along with onions other vegetables used for sambar can also be used for a different taste.
Ingredients:
Sambar onion - 1/4kg
Toor dal - 1cup
Tamarind - Lemon size
Hinge - a pinch
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Salt - 2tbs
Grated coconut -2tbs
For roasting:
Channa dall -2tbs
Daniya - 2tbs
Methi seeds - 1/2tsp
Red chilli - 8
Hinge - a pinch
Curry leaves
Oil - 2 tsp
Ghee - 1tsp
For tempering:
Gingely oil - 1tsp
Mustard seeds -1/2 tsp
Hinge - a pinch
Red chilli - 1
Curry leaves

Method:

1.       Peel off the skin of onion. (If you soak it in water and peel, your eyes may not water while peeling). Trim out the top and bottom portion of onions.

2.       Soak toor dal in hot water and pressure cook for 3 whistles.

3.       Roast all the items given under for roasting till channa dal turns brown. Keep it aside.

4.       Fry onions in ghee till the aroma come and onions turn transparent.

5.       Grind the toasted items with grated coconut and 2 or 3 fried onions into fine paste.

6.       Soak tamrind in hot water and get 2 cups of extract. Add turmeric powder, salt, hinge and onions. Allow it to boil till the raw smell of tamarind goes off and onions are cooked well.

7.       Add ground paste and cooked and smashed toor dal to the tamrind extract. Allow it to boil for 2 minutes.

8.       Temper all the items given under tempering in gigngely oil.

9. Avial

8.       Avial

Ingredients

Ash guard - 200gm
Snake guard - 100gm
yam - 100gm
potato - 1(big)
Drumstick - 1
Brinjal - 50gm
Arvi/colacasia -5
Raw banana -1
Carrot - 2 
Brinjal - 2
Beans - 50gm
Kothavarangai/cluster beans -50gm
Avaraikai - 50gm
Salt - 2tbs
Optional
Fresh Green peas - 50gm
Sweet potato -1
 For grinding
 Coconut - 1/2 shell(big size)
Jeera - 1tsp
Green chilli -10
Red chilli -1

For tempering
Coconut oil - 2tbs
Mustard seeds - 1tsp
Curry leaves
For spreading
Grated Coconut - 2tsp
Coconut oil - 2tbs
Curd - 2tbs

Method:

1.       Peel the skin of yam, raw banana and yam. Wash all the vegetables and cut length wise (1 ½ inch approx).

2.       Pressure cook arvi separately and peel off the skin and keep aside.

3.       Cook all the vegetables in a non stick container adding salt.

4.       Meanwhile grind all the ingredients given under grinding coarsely.

5.       Once the vegetables are cooked, peel the skin of arvi and add.

6.       Add the ground coconut to the vegetables and mix thoroughly.

7.       Allow it  to boil for 2 seconds.

8.       Heat coconut oil and add mustard seeds. Add curry leaves after mustard seeds splutters.

9.       Spread grated coconut and coconut oil.

10.   After it is cool add curd and mix well.

Note: You can even add curd to the quantity which you are going to use immediately. Adding to the whole lot may turn sour after sometime. So it is to be refrigerated. 

vegetable fry

Vegetable fry: 

Vegetables like lady’s finger, brinjal, potato, kovaikai, vazhakai, senai (yam) and pavakai(bitter guard) can be fried with little more oil.

Lady’s finger fry:

Ingredients:

Fresh lady’s finger – ½ kg
Oil – 5 tsp

Mustard - ½ tsp

Asafotida – a pinch

Turmeric powder – a pinch

Chilli powder – 1tsp

Salt -1 tsp

Curry leaves

Method:

1. Soak lady’s finger in water for a while. Then wash it in running water. Leave it aside for 2 minutes to drain the water completely. Chop it into thin slices. 
2. Heat the pan and add oil, mustard and asafetida. When mustard splutters, add curry leaves and the copped vegetable. 
3. Add salt and turmeric powder. Stir well once. Now stir gently and occasionally. 
4. Do not add water. Do not stir too much. Keep the pan open to retain the green color.  It takes just 5 to 7 minutes for cooking.   
5. Add chilli powder and switch off the stove. Do not close till the pan is cool.

Brinjal fry:

Ingredients:

Potato – ½ kg
Oil – 5 tsp

Mustard - ½ tsp

Asafotida – a pinch

Turmeric powder – a pinch

Chilli powder – 1tsp

Salt -1 tsp

Curry leaves

Method:

• Soak brinjal in water for a while. Then wash it in running water. Chop it lengthwise. 
• Heat the pan and add oil, mustard and asafetida. 
• When mustard splutters, add curry leaves and the copped vegetable. 
• Sprinkle handful of water, add salt and turmeric powder. Stir well once. 
•  Now stir gently and occasionally. Sprinkle handful of water again and stir when the all the water is dried. Do not stir too much. 
• Keep the pan closed for fast cooking. It takes just 5 to 7 minutes for cooking.  Add chilli powder and switch off the stove.

Potato fry: 
Ingredients:
Potato – ½ kg
Oil – 5 tsp
Mustard - ½ tsp
Asafotida – a pinch
Turmeric powder – a pinch
Chilli powder – 1tsp
Salt -1 tsp
Curry leaves
Method:
1. soak  potato and wash thoroughly. cut potato into small cubes. Fry as we do for lady's finger without adding water. Or you can sprinkle water as we do for brinjal but you should keep the pan open or it will be smashed.
2. you can pressure cook potato, peel off the skin, cut into 4 or 8 peices and add all the ingredients mix well and then fry as we do for lady's finger. You can add 1 onion cut into lengthwise. This does not take much time. Just 2 or 3 minutes will do.
Tips: You can cut the potato 8 pieces and pressure cook. Either fry them as such or peel the skin and fry.
Baby potatoes can also used. Leave it on the stove in lower flame for more time to get deep fried.

Kovaikai fry:

Ingredients:

Kovaikai – ½ kg
Oil – 5 tsp

Mustard - ½ tsp

Asafotida – a pinch

Turmeric powder – a pinch

Chilli powder – 1tsp

Salt -1 tsp

Curry leaves

1. Soak kovaikai in a bowl of water for 10 minutes. Clean the impurities and soak again in water for a while. Now wash in running water. Drain the vegetable. Chop it into thin slices.
2. Heat the pan and add oil, mustard and asafetida. When mustard splutters, add curry leaves and the copped vegetable. Add ¼ cup of water, salt and turmeric powder.

Stir well. 
3. Keep the pan open to retain the green color.  Stir occasionally. It takes just 5 to 7 minutes for cooking. 
4. Add chilli powder and switch off the stove. Do not close till the pan is cool.

Vazhakai fry:
 Ingredients:Vazhakai – big size2
Oil – 8 tsp
Mustard - ½ tsp
Asafotida – a pinch
Turmeric powder – a pinch
Chilli powder – 1tsp
Salt -1 tsp
Curry leaves

• Peel off the skin. Cut vazhakai into thin slices. 
• Repeat step 2 to 5 as we did in lady's finger fry.

Note: It requires more oil than other vegetables. If you want to reduce oil, you can either sprinkle tamarind water or buttermilk to get it cooked and then you can leave it to fry in a non stick pan for more time in low flame.

Senaifry:
Ingredients:
Senai – ½ kg
Oil – 8 tsp
Mustard - ½ tsp
Asafotida – a pinch
Turmeric powder – a pinch
Chilli powder – 1tsp
Salt -1 tsp
Curry leaves
Method: 

• Peel the skin and chop them into small cubes.
•  Heat the pan and add oil, mustard and asafetida. When mustard splutters, add curry leaves and the copped vegetable. Add ¼ cup of water, salt and turmeric powder.Stir well.
  
  
• Keep the pan closed. Once the vegetable is cooked, leave it for more time to get fried and add chilli powder finally and switch off the stove after a second.

Pavakai fry:
Ingredients:
pavakai – ½ kg
Oil – 5 tsp
Mustard - ½ tsp
Asafotida – a pinch
Turmeric powder – a pinch
Chilli powder – 1tsp
Salt -1 tsp
Curry leaves
Method:

• Wash and chop pavakai as you wish. you can either cut into small peices or into semicircles. 
•  Heat the pan and add oil, mustard and asafetida. When mustard splutters, add curry leaves and the copped vegetable. Add ¼ cup of water, salt and turmeric powder.Stir well.  
• Keep the pan open to retain the green color.  
•  Stir occasionally. It takes more time for pavakai to get cooked. Add ¼ cup of water again when the water is dried. 
• Add chilli powder and switch off the stove.

Vegetable side dish -Podimas

Vegetables like potato and vazhakai can be used for podimas.

Urulai kizhangu (potato) podimas:

Method: 1
Ingredients:
Potato - ½ kg
Green chillies -2 or 3
Ginger - a small piece
Curry leaves
Lemon -  ½

Mustard - ½ tsp

Oil - 1tsp

Urid dal - ½ tsp

turmeric powder - a pinch

salt - 1 tsp

1.     Wash well and pressure cook the potatoes.
2.          Peel the skin and smash.
3.          Heat the pan, add oil, mustard seeds and asafoetida.
4.          Add urid dal after the mustard seeds splutters.
5.          Add chopped green chilies, chopped ginger and curry leaves after the urid dal turns brown.
6.          Add turmeric powder to the oil and then the smashed potatoes
7.          Add salt. Stir well. Keep it on the fire for 2 minutes.
8.          Squeeze lemon after it gets little cooled.

Method:2

Ingredients:

Potato - ½ Kg

Mustard seeds - ½ tsp

Oil - 3 tsp

Urid dal - ½tsp

Red chili - 1

Chili powder - 1tsp

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Salt - 1tsp

Asafotida - a pinch

Method:

• Follow step 1 to 4 from the 1st method.
• Follow step 5 except the green chilies and ginger. Instead add red chili pieces along with urid dal.
• Add salt and red chili powder finally. Sir well.

Vazhakai podi(mas)

Ingredients:
Vazhakai (Raw banana) - 2
Coconut oil -1tsp
Cooking oil - 1tsp
Mustard - 1/2  tsp
Urid dal - 1/2 tsp
Red chilli - 1
asafoetida - a pinch
Ginger -  small piece
Green chili - 2
curry leaves
Grated coconut -2 tbs
Salt - 1tsp
Method:

• Remove a small portion of the top and bottom of the raw banana. Cut it into two pieces. 
• Place the pieces in the pan and add water till the pieces immerse. Boil the water. Turn the pieces after sometime.
• When the raw bana is half boiled (Do not cook too much), remove it from fire. Leave it to cool.
• Peel the skin and grate it using carrot grater.
• Grate giner and chop the green chilies.
• Heat the pan add cooking oil. Add mustard followed by urid dal, asafoetida and red chili pieces. Fry till urid dal turns brown. Add cocnut oil, green chilis, ginger and curry leaves and fry for a second.
• Add grated raw banana and salt. Stir well in low flame. Add grated coconut and stir well.

 Note: If the raw banana is over cooked the dish will become lump. So it should be half cooked. Once the skin turns dark, you can just poke with a knife and check.