Periya katharikaai pulikuzhambhu / Big eggplant pulikuzhambu

This is one among many of my mother's great dishes and this is my favorite one too. Generally any food made with eggplant is very tasty and this one in particular is heavenly since eggplant is cooked with tamarind and chilly gravy. We dont add any pulses for this and its just the proper mix of tamarind juice with chilly powder that gives the great taste.

This kuzhambhu tastes yummy with rice and with tiffin varieties like Idly,Dosa,Chapathi or Pongal. In my home, we make this kuzhambhu with Ven Pongal in particular as my dear hubby is an ardent fan of this combo.

In India we see this veg easily available in super markets, but here in Australia though i find this in the super market, i didnt afford to buy it as it was very costly. I was surprised to see this veg in an affordable cost in Farmers market one day and i didnt wait to grab it immediately. Then comes the experimental part. My mom used to cook the eggplant directly in the flame, then peel the skin and cook it. Since i dont have a flame gas stove here, i tried to cook it in Microwave oven.

The result of my experiment was a huge sucess :) The eggplant was cooked as i expected in the oven and so the kuzhambhu turned out to be awesome. 

Here goes the recipe:

Items Required:

Big eggplant - 1

Onion - 1 chopped

Curry leaves - few

Tamarind - 1 small lemon sized

Turmeric Powder - 1 pinch

Sambar Powder - 2 tbsp

Salt - as per taste

Oil - 5 tbsp

For tempering:

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Jeera - 1 tsp

Hing - 1 pinch

Pre-requisites before starting to cook:

1. Apply oil all over the eggplant nicely and cook it in the microwave for 4 mins. The skin should become soft as shown in the pic which means its cooked. Keep it aside.

2. Soak tamarind in water for 30 mins.

Method:

1. Once the eggplant is cooled,  try to peel off the skin. Can be done with the hand though it becomes little messy. If you prefer not to use your hand, use a spoon to remove the skin, but make sure to extract all the veg inside before throwing off the skin.

2. Once the skin is peeled, mash the cooked eggplant nicely and keep it aside.

3. Heat oil in a kadai. We need a little more oil to this recipe for it to taste awesome. I use Olive oil and for those who are particular about oil intake can adjust it according to their need.  Add mustard seeds to it.  Once the mustard starts to splutter, add jeera and hing. Now add the chopped onion and the curry leaves and saute them well till the onion becomes golden brown in colour.

4. Once the onion is nicely cooked, add the mashed eggplant and mix it well with the onion.

5. Extract tamarind juice 2 times and add it to the mix. Now add turmeric powder, sambar powder and salt and allow this to boil in medium flame. This would take some 10 - 15 mins to thicken based on the how much tamarind juice is added.

6. Once the kuzhambhu becomes thicken, remove it from flame and transfer it to a serving bowl.

Serve hot with rice or with tiffin varieties. Try this and provide your valuable comments.

Tips:

1. For those who like more sour taste, 1 chopped tomato can be added after the onion is cooked.

2. Adding more tamarind juice would make the kuzhambhu more watery and will not taste good. Extract the juice only 2 times for this one to taste better.

Kathirikai kondai kadalai puli kuzhambhu / Eggplant and black channa kuzhambhu in coconut based gravy

Whenever I see nice shining eggplant in the super market, I plan to do this kuzhambhu immediately the next day. In our family, this kuzhambhu goes very well with dosa as well as rice. I also prepare sundal with karuppu kondai kadalai cooked for this kuzhambhu. My mother's version of this kuzhambhu is slightly different from my in-laws. Here goes the recipe:

Items Required:

Eggplant/Kathirikaai - 2 medium sized, cut into small pieces
Onion, tomato - 1 each, cut into small pieces
Karuppu kondai kadalai - 1 cup
Curry leaves - 2 strands
Coriander leaves
Tamarind - 1 small lemon sized
Turmeric powder
Sambar powder
Salt
Red chilly, oil, mustard seeds and jeera - for seasoning

For grinding:

Coconut - 3 slices
Green chilly - 1
Jeera - 1 teaspoon
Fried gram/rice - 1 teaspoon

Pre-requisites before starting to cook:

1. Soak kondai kadalai for 8 hrs in the night. Cook it with fresh water and little amount of salt for 7 whistles.
2. Soak tamarind in water for a minimum of 30 mins.
3. Grind all the items given under 'grinding' section to a smooth paste and keep it aside.

Method:

Heat oil in a kadai. Once oil gets hot, add red chilly and mustard seeds. Once they start to splutter add jeera to it. Now add onion and curry leaves to it. Once onion is nicely cooked, add cooked kondai kadalai and tomato to it and saute them well.

Extract tamarind juice for about half of the kadai and add it to the above mix. Add turmeric powder,salt and the grind paste and bring it to boil. Now add sambar powder as per the taste and allow the kuzhambhu to boil for sometime till the consistency becomes little thick.

Once the kuzhambhu is cooked well, transfer it to a container and garnish with Coriander leaves.

This goes very well with rice, dosa, idly and chapathi.

Variation: For grinding, add coconut, green chilly, onion, tomato and garlic. Grind these to a smooth paste and add it to the recipe. This gives a slightly different taste and a good flavor.

Try it and provide your valuable comments :)

Red Pumpkin/Parangikaai puli kuzhambhu

Red Pumpkin, we call it as Parangikaai in tamil, is a delicious vegetable with a light sweetness in it. I love this veg in kuzhambhu, sambar or kootu. My mom used to prepare a different type of kootu with this, which i will post soon :)

This parangikaai puli kuzhambhu is an excellant combination with curd rice and the veg soaked in the kara kuzhambhu tastes yummy.

Items required:

Parangikaai/Red pumpkin - as required. Cut in to cubes.
Green chillies - 1 or 2 slit lengthwise.
Curry leaves
Tamarind - a small amla size soaked in water
Oil  - 1 tablespoon
salt - required amount
sambar poweder - 3 tablespoons
fenugreek seeds - little. If fenugreek powder is avaible, take 1/2 teaspoon.
Mustard and Jeera seeds - little.

Method:

Heat oil in a kadai. Add the mustard and Jeera seeds. If you are using fenugreek seeds, add them now. Now add the pumpkin pieces, green chilly and curry leaves to the kadai and mix them well. Add required amount of water such the veg are just dissolved in the water. Add a pinch of turmeric powder and salt and let the veg cook in the water for few mins.

Once the pumpkin is cooked, add the required amount of tamarind juice extract, sambar powder, fenugreek powder and mix all of them well such that the powders dont form any lumps. Leave it in medium flame till the sambar powder and tamarind juice gets mixed with the veg nicely.

Remove from flame when the kuzhambhu is not so watery and not so thick. It has to be in medium consistency.

Serve hot with hot rice with a spoon of ghee and sutta appalam :)