ArachuVitta Sundal ~ SpotLightBlog Recipe

Its Monday and time for my spotlightblog recipe. During Navarathri, many blogs had recipes for variety of Chundals, made as prasadom.. At that time, I had then recently bought a copy of Meenakshi Ammal's Samaithupar Part II. I had noticed the varutharacha chundal recipe. Reading through the recipe, I thought the ground mix is similar to what I make for Sambhar and was skeptical of its taste and dropped the idea of trying it. Shoba posted a similar one as Navarathri prasadom. While chatting with Shoba, she cleared my doubts of tasting like Sambhar, and nudged me to give it a try. And when I started this series, I knew this is going to be one of the recipes and here it is. The taste was different from the usual sundal, though it takes some extra work in form roasting the spices and grinding. But its worth all the effort.  White chana can be replaced with any legume of your choice.

You need
2 cups of cooked white chana

Roast & grind

Chana Dal/Kadala paruppu - 2 tblspn

Dhania/Coriander seeds - 2 tblspn.

Red chillies - 4 nos

Urad dhal. - 1 tblspn

Grated Coconut- 1/3 cup



Seasoning

Oil

mustard

curry leaves

hing



Method

Wash and soak  1 cup of  white chana overnight or for 6 hours. Pressure cook chana  with a pinch of turneric , till soft. It should not turn mushy. Drain and keep it aside. Roast the spices in little oil, till the dals turn light brown. Cool and grind it along with coconut to a thick paste. Sprinkle little water. Let the paste not be runny.

Heat oil in a kadai. Add the seasoning ingredients.Add the cooked chana and salt. Stir in the ground paste. Mix well so that the ground spice coats the chana well. Cook under low flame for 5 minutes. Garnish with curry leaves and serve as tea time snack or as a side dish with rice and gravy.

 
 
 
 

 
 

Homemade

Soon after I moved to Chicago, I attended a culinary tour along Devon Avenue. Indian retailers began settling its borders in the 80s, and over the years, it's come to resemble a Bombay side street. Toward the end of the tour, a local grocer guided us through his store.  As we passed the freezer section, he pointed to rows of frozen dinners featuring perfectly plated Indian meals.

“Just like mom’s,” he pronounced. 

Unable to help myself, I blurted out, "Not my mom's."

Unfazed, he pulled open the freezer door, picked up two of the sleekly designed packages, and handed them to me.

“You’ve really got to try these.”

After stepping out of the store, I handed the dinners to a woman on the tour who had clearly been coveting them.

Growing up in southern Illinois, I envied kids who regularly ate Swanson's TV dinners.  I longed for the normalcy of these All American meals - country fried chicken, oven roasted turkey, salisbury steak - neatly compartmentalized in aluminum trays.  On occasion, my mom made pizza or pigs in a blanket from scratch. When she really let her creative juices go on Valentine's day, we divvied up a heart-shaped meatloaf.  But on most nights, we ate homemade curry (fish, beef, or chicken), a stir-fried vegetable, yogurt, and rice.  Dinner was one of the few things my mom could recreate from the old country. And, for the most part, the menu like our curfew and the policy on dating, were nonnegotiable. To cope, I created a disdainful jingle, "Rice is for mice..." 

Now when my mom cooks for me, I recognize it as a unique gift. The flavors are pure, not formulaic or masked by preservatives buzzing in the background. More importantly, her dishes possess a human touch forever missing in frozen dinners, including "Home-style" versions.  And If I’m dining by myself, eating her food makes me feel less alone. 

I know I’m not the only one who craves the comfort of home cooking.  It becomes abundantly clear when I walk around with my cake carrier.  The top is translucent enough to let passersby see the frosted cake sitting inside.  I encounter a wide range of reactions from strangers, from shy glances to looks of desperation.  The latter are often accompanied by passionate inquiries like, “Did you make that?” or “Is that for me?”  I’ve never sensed such longing in the frozen food aisle. 

So this Valentine’s day, if you’re searching for a unique gift, consider making heart shaped salmon patties for your loved one. They're sure to appreciate your human touch.

Heart-shaped Salmon Patties

Makes 6 patties

INGREDIENTS 

1-14.75 ounce can Alaskan Pink Salmon

2 large eggs

1/2 cup bread crumbs (preferably panko)

1/4 cup finely minced green onion

1/2 teaspoon finely minced garlic

2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

1 tablespoon soy sauce

Freshly ground pepper to taste

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 

Drain salmon.  Place in a bowl and mash with a fork until very flaky.

Beat eggs and add to salmon.  Mix in remaining ingredients. 

Heat cast iron skillet to medium-high heat.  Coat with 1 teaspoon olive oil.  

Place heart-shaped cookie cutter on skillet. Spoon some salmon mixture into the cookie cutter and press to shape along edges.  Gently remove cookie cutter.  Cook until patty browns on side touching skillet (about 8 minutes).  Carefully flip patty and cook until second side browns. Repeat with remaining salmon mixture.  

Serve with steamed peas or roasted sweet potatoes.

Atukula Pulihora(Aval Puliyodharai)

Even though the recipe may sound very simple, it is very easy to mess up. For a great tasting dish, soak aval/poha with the right amount of tamarind extract so that the flakes are fluffy and separate and not soggy. My mom makes the best Aval upma! We make it frequently at home. Aval puliyodharai is slightly different from Aval upma. I came across this recipe in some blog and tried it. It's a super quick brunch or tiffin item that can be made in 10 minutes flat!

Ingredients:
Aval/Poha/Atukula/Beaten Rice-2 cups
Tamarind-small lime size ball
Salt
Hing-1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp

Seasoning:
Oil-2 tbsp
Curry leaves-a few
Broken Red Chillis-3-4
Mustard Seeds-1 tsp
Urud dal-1/2 tsp



Method:
Soak tamarind in 3/4 cup warm water for 10 minutes and extract thick juice. Discard the tamarind.
Now soak aval in tamarind extract for 10 minutes or until it absorbs all the liquid and the flakes become soft, fluffy and separate.
Meanwhile heat oil in a wide pan. Add mustard seeds, curry leaves, hing, red chillies, urud dal, turmeric powder. When mustard seeds crackle, add poha. Sprinkle salt.
Gently toss everything together without mashing poha. Fry for 2-3 minutes and serve hot.

Note: Any dish made using poha should be consumed when hot. 

This recipe being so simple and easy, let me add it to my own event-Cooking Basics! For details, click the logo on the side bar.

Due to time constraints, I have not been regularly commenting on some of your blogs these days. I apologize for the same. I will try to catch up with your recipes whenever I can.

Happy Valentine's Day to all my readers :)