Vendhaya Kulambu |Fenugreek Seeds Gravy - Side Dish For Rice

This simple, healthy & flavourful gravy / kulambu have a unique flavour of methi seeds with tangy taste. Vendhaya Kulambu has a balance taste of spicy and tangy.      

Ingredients:

Onion / shallots – 15

Garlic – 20 cloves

Fenugreek seeds – 1tsp

Mustard seeds – ½ tsp

Roasted Peanuts – 2 tsp

Red chilli – 4nos

Tamarind – 1 small gooseberry size

Jaggery – 1tsp

Rice flour – 2 tsp

Asafoetida – a pinch

Salt to taste

Curry leaves – 1 spring

Coriander leaves for garnishing

Oil – 1tblsp

Ghee – 1tsp

Method:

• Soak tamarind in a hot water for 20 minutes and extract the juice and keep it aside.
• Heat oil in a kadai, add mustard seeds let them pop then add fenugreek seeds when it starts splutter, add Curry leaves, red chilli, asafoetida, shallots, and garlic pods and sauté well until it becomes soft.

• Now add salt to taste and then add 1 cup of tamarind extract, 1 cup of water, jaggery and roasted peanuts. Cook in covered for 10 to 12 minutes.

• Dissolve 2 tsp of rice flour with 2 tblsp of water and add this into the gravy and stir well without forming any lumps. Allow to boil well when it starts thicken, adjust the salt and switch off the stove.

• Garnish with coriander leaves and add a tsp of ghee.
• Serve hot with Rice, Ghee & Pappad.

Note:

• Roasted peanuts can be replaced with plain one. This should be added next to red chilli to get roasted.
• Do not brown the methi seeds and then your gravy will get bitter taste.
• Adding jaggery is optional, but I recommend adding as it will enhance the taste.

• Add red chilli powder if you want it to be more spicy.
• It stays good for one week, if stored in fridge.

Adhirasam Recipe

Making Adhirsam is always a big challenge to me. I usually used to watch when my MIL prepares this adhirsam for diwali or any other special occasions. But this time I have done with the help of my MIL. She is an expert doing these kinds of item. She also guides me to get perfect one and to correct if anything goes wrong. The main part of making Adhirsam is getting correct consistency of “Adhirasam paagu patham” and mixing correct amount of rice flour for the sweetness.

Ingredients:

Raw Rice – 2cup

Jaggery – 1 and ½ cup

Sesame seeds – a handful

Oil – for deep frying

 Rice Flour Preparation:

• Wash and soak rice for at least 2 hours. Then drain the water and spread in thin cotton cloth to absorb the excess water for 30 minutes, but moisture should be there.
• Grind it in a mixer in batches to very fine rava consistency. Sieve it and ready to use immediately.

Jaggery Syrup Preparation:

• Powder the jaggery and add water till it immerse and start heating.
• Let it completely dissolve and strain the impurities and boil again, until we get the thick consistency of paagu patham.

• To check the right consistency of adhirsam paagu patham, take one small bowl with little water and when you pour a spoon of syrup, it should not dissolve.

Method:

• Now mix the rice flour to the jaggery paagu and knead it well.

• Store this dough in an airtight container and let it rest for one day.
• After a rest time knead the dough well, divide into equal sized balls and dip in sesame seed to coat well. Grease some oil in thick plastic sheet or banana leaf, and then flatten in to thick round circles.

• Now carefully drop into the hot oil, once it rises up flip it and remove from oil when it turns golden brown on both sides.

• Press it using another ladle and remove the excess oil. Repeat the same process for the rest of the dough.

Tip:

• Here I didn't add the cardamom powder, if you want you can add it when making syrup.
• You can omit the step dipping the dough balls in sesame seeds and can add sesame seeds directly into the rice flour.
• If the dough is very stiff then the adhirsam will become very hard. To 
• make loose you can add little water or milk and knead it well and try again.

• If the dough is very loose then keep in a refrigerator for one day and then try again it become tight.
• The main part for making adhirasam is consistency of the syrup. Should take at most care for noticing the correct adhirsam patham otherwise the adhirsam will dissolve while frying.
• The quantity of jaggery syrup may vary depend upon the rice flour. 

Small Onion Pickle / Vengaya Thokku

There are various types of pickle, this small onion pickle has a special space in our dining. These can be preserved for long time.  Kids too like its blended tastes of sweet, tangy and little spicy which also increases the appetite.

Ingredients:

Shallots / Small onions – 1kg

Tamarind – 1/4 kg

Jaggery – 150gm

Red Chili – 75gm

Salt as needed

For Tempering:

Mustard seeds – 2 tsp

Curry leaves few

Red Chili – 1no

Gingelly Oil / Cooking Oil – 150ml

Asafoetida / Hing – 2 tsp

Method:

• Peel and dice shallots into small pieces. Clean and remove seeds from tamarind.
• Now in a mixer add chopped shallots, tamarind, red chilli in batches and grind roughly.

• Transfer this roughly grinded mixture to the grinder, again grind until smooth without using water, approximately it takes 30 minutes.

• In a kadai add half (i.e., 75 ml) of the cooking oil and crackle mustard seed and then drop the curry leaves, hing and red chili.
• Next add grounded onion mixture and cook under medium flame. Keep stirring continuously for every 5 minutes, by adding rest of the oil in batches until it turns transparent. (It takes about 30 to 40 minutes)

• When the oil starts oozing from pickle and tight, switch off the flame and let it cool down.

 Transfer to the clean jar or airtight container. Serve with murukku or curd rice.

Tips:

• Add the ingredients in the grinder / blender in parts, because if you add in one goes it easily  get stuck. So I have mentioned 2 steps to follow, first roughly grinded in mixer then I transfer to the grinder.
• You can preserve this pickle about 6 months in a refrigerator.
• It is a multipurpose pickle which goes well with curd rice, roti, murukku, upma etc..,