Ulli Sambar /Onion Sambar

My love for cooking came from my mothers relishing dishes.She pops up a curry within minutes...and I must say it turns out to be a mouth watering one. Ulli Sambar is one of her masterpieces. After marriage I too popped up her recipie....now its one of my husband's favourite dishes.Be it with dosa/idli or a serving of steaming cooked rice,onion sambar is a good combination.Here is the recipie...


ULLI SAMBAR/ONION SAMBAR

1 Cup Red Gram(thuvara parippu)
2 Green chillies
2 tsp of mustard seeds
1 tsp of Urad dal(uzhunnu parippu)
1 cup of small onions
1 tomato sliced
4 dry red chillies
1 tsp turmeric powder
1tsp kashmiri chilli powder
4 tsp of sambar powder
1/2 tsp Asafoetida
curry leaves
 4 cloves of garlic sliced
salt to taste

• Wash the redgram in water and put it into a pressure cooker.Now add 2 cups of plain water along with turmeric powder and salt.Close the cooker and place it on flame.After a whistle put out the flame & wait for the steam to release.
• In the meantime,in a pan pour 1 1/2 tbsp of coconut oil .When the oil becomes hot,put the mustard seeds,urad dal,dry red chillies,garlic and curry leaves.Then add the small onions in to the oil and saute them till the colour of the onion changes to golden brown colour.
• Now add chilli powder , sambar powder and a sliced tomato to the onions and stir .Soak tamarind in a cup of water and pour the seived tamarind water into the sauted onions and bring it to boil.
• Now add this onion tamarind gravy into the cooker in which red gram was cooked.Now close the cooker and wait for a whistle putting it on a medium flame.
• When the steam is let out after a whistle,keeping the cooker without its lid on flame,add asafoetida powder and if you feel the gravy is quite thick add some more water and after that add a small piece of jaggery (u can also add jaggery in liquid form).
• The main idea behind adding jaggery is to balance the tamarind's sourness.
• Now the ulli sambar is all ready to serve.

Paneer tomato Curry

A warm hello to all the food lovers out there!

This is my first attempt at sketching out my cooking experiences in a space of my own .First of all I should thank my lovely friend "Shabeena" for pushing into blogspot.With my two naughty little boys ,cooking sometimes gets on my nerves....but I guess that happens in every home.The recipie that I 'm keying out here was one that I tried out after going through a magazine.I made a few changes of my own in the recipie .This curry is a wonderful combination with chappathis/parathas.

PANEER TOMATO CURRY

Greenpeas cooked -1 cup
Large Onion(cut in small pieces) - 2
Green chillies -2
Garlic paste -1tsp
Ginger paste -1tsp
Black pepper powder -1 tsp
Turmeric powder -1/4 tsp
Tomato ketchup -5 tbsp
sugar -1 tbsp
salt to taste
coriander leaves 1/4 tsp
water 1 cup
Oil 1 1/2 tbsp
Milk 1 cup
Cashew nuts 6
Tomato(made paste) 1

Pour oil into a kadai and put the cut large onions and saute them until brown.When the colour of the sauted onion changes,add the ginger & garlic paste and saute them .Now add the tomato paste and saute in the oil.When the water is dried and the oil comes on the top,add the turmeric powder.Add 1 cup water & add pepper powder,sugar ,salt and tomato ketchup.When it starts boiling,add the paneer pieces & let it boil for 10 minutes.When the gravy starts getting thick, grind the cahew nuts with the milk.Add this to the gravy along with the boiled greenpeas.When the curry starts simmering,add the cut coriander leaves.