The Tam-Bram ubiquitous Thogayal

No meal in a Tam-Bram house is complete without a Thogayal atleast once a week. It is either consumed as part of the main course by mixing with rice and eating with a Kootu for an accompaniment or like a pickle with the main course. No amount of praise can do justice to the Thogayal. It stays for longer than Sambhar/Rasam/Kootu and it tastes just as yummy. When you have unannounced visitors dropping in for a meal, the Thogayal acts like a ready-mix that you can just mix with rice and serve as a 'Variety Rice" with a raita or papad or both. So here's my tribute recipe blog to this lovely find by our ancestors.

Most Thogayal is prepared in a similar manner, except for a variation in the main ingredient of a Thogayal. Hence for ease of understanding, I am mentioning the list of ingredients that are used for all the Thogayal's[pardon my apparent murder of the English language using the plural form for Thogayal...but in the matters of the tummy, such minor faux-pas must be ignored]

Ingredients
Oil-preferably Gingelly Oil or Nalla Ennai[else Sunflower oil is fine too]
Kadugu or Mustard Seeds
Ulutham Paruppu or Urad Dal
Kadla Paruppu or Channa Dal
Red Chillies
Tamarind paste or tamarind soaked in water
Salt
Asafoetida
Jaggery/Sugar[Optional]

Method
Roast all the above ingredients in oil until crisp and allow to cool.

1)Coriander or Kothamalli Thogayal

Blend all the roasted ingredients alongwith washed and cleaned coriander leaves to a fine paste.

2)Mint or Pudina Thogayal
Blend all the roasted ingredients alongwith washed and cleaned Mint leaves to a fine paste.

3)Onion or Vengaya Thogayal
Add sliced onions to the Thogayal ingredients and roast alongwith the other ingredients until the onion is transparent. Allow to cool.
Blend all the roasted ingredients in the blender to a fine paste

4)Curry Leaves or Karuvepillai Thogayal
Add washed curry leaves to the Thogayal ingredients and roast alongwith the other ingredients until the curry leaves are crisp. Allow to cool.
Blend all the roasted ingredients in the blender to a fine paste. Add water if necessary.

5)Coconut or Thengai Thogayal
Blend all the roasted ingredients alongwith grated coconut to a fine paste, adding water, as required.

6)Ridge gourd or Peerkangai Thogayal
Add skinned and chopped peerkangai the Thogayal ingredients at the end and roast alongwith the other ingredients . Allow to cool.
Blend all the roasted ingredients with a bit of grated coconut in the blender to a fine paste. Add water if necessary. The coconut gives a nice consistency to the Thogayal.

7)Brinjal or Kathrikkai Thogayal
If roasting Brinjal over gas, wash and coat the Brinjal with oil and roast directly on flame until the skin of the Brinjal is charred. Then drop the brinjal in water to be rid of its skin.
Blend all the roasted ingredients with roasted brinjal and some grated coconut to a fine paste. Add water if necessary. The coconut gives a nice consistency to the Thogayal.

8) Coriander and Mint Thogayal
Blend the roasted ingredients with a bunch of washed and cleaned Coriander and Mint leaves to a fine paste.

Chutney Attack

I can confirm that all cooks go through a crest and trough in their cooking moods. While it is an exhilarating high on some days and you want to cook all that you can, it is an abyssmal low on some when you are happy either doing a make-over of left-overs[to save that "good cook" reputation] or just making something plain and simple...well, for some reason, I dont seem to want to get away from cooking. So on low days I cook simple stuff and on high days...well, its not-so-simple stuff. And when i get into these "Attack" moods its simply experimenting all the way. Here are some tried and tested Chutney recipes that I have managed to post after a long time. I suppose I could post the pics later...But as for the recipes, here we go.

Coconut Chutney
Ingredients
Coconut
Green Chillies
Odacha Kadla[you can substitute this with Cashewnut or Peanut or roasted Channa Dal]
Salt
Coriander[optional]
Sugar[optional]
Water

Method

• Mix all the above ingredients in a blender/mixer to a fine paste.
• You can consume the chutney as it is as an accompaniment for Idly/Dosa or add a seasoning of Mustard seeds, Cumin seeds, Asafoetida and Curry leaves in oil.

p.s: I have not mentioned measures as you can add the ingredients depending on what taste you want dominating in the chutney

Peanut Chutney
Ingredients
Roasted Peanuts
Green Chillies
Big onions
Coriander[optional]
Salt
Asafoetida
Tamarind Paste/Tamarind the size of a small gooseberry soaked in hot water
Sugar[optional]

Method
Mix all the above ingredients in a blender/mixer to a fine paste.
You can consume the chutney as it is as an accompaniment for Idly/Dosa or add a seasoning of Mustard seeds and Curry leaves in oil.

p.s: I have not mentioned measures as you can add the ingredients depending on what taste you want dominating in the chutney

Chettiar Vengaya Chutney
Ingredients
Sliced Onions
Red Chillies
Tamarind Paste/Tamarind the size of a small gooseberry
Oil-to roast
Salt
Sugar[optional]

Method
Saute/fry all the ingredients in oil except Salt and Sugar. Allow to cool.
Mix all sauteed ingredients alongwith salt and sygar in a blender/mixer to a fine paste.
You can consume the chutney as it is as an accompaniment for Idly/Dosa or add a seasoning of Mustard seeds, Urad Dal, Asafoetida and Curry leaves in oil.

p.s: I have not mentioned measures as you can add the ingredients depending on what taste you want dominating in the chutney

Dosai amma Dosai...Amma panna Dosai...

My husband can be fed Dosai or Dosa[as the non-south Indians refer to it] as a meal anytime of the day and he will polish them off without any fuss. Well, obviously, because its his favourite food...snack...tiffin. Well, a dosa can be a fast food or a slow food, or a "fast" slow food, if you had the batter in the refrigerator. Store-bought batter also serves the purpose.

In my quest for the perfect Dosai, I finally mastered the art of making the batter a while ago. But I have started blogging my recipes only recently and hence am publishing it now. Besides, my 1 year old also loves the dosai for a meal. Hence the title of this blog.

Dosai can be eaten plain, with "molaga podi/ennai or ghee/nei", with chutney, sambhar, thokku, "nei sakkarai" or with all of these for each mouthful. And after having relocated out of India where the only place you can enjoy a dosai is at home, barring a few restaurants which serve pancakes masked as Dosai, eating crispy dosai becomes an even more enjoyable thing to do. So here we go, with the recipe for making Dosai, Coconut chutney and Sambhar...yummmy, my mouth waters even as I type this blog because thats the dinenr today and it is ust awaiting a diner. So here it is:

Dosai
Ingredients
Boiled Rice/idly Rice-4 cups
Urad Dal[ulundu]-1 cup
Salt-1 tbsp Method

Method

1. Soak rice and Urad dal separately overnight[because it is easier...but 3 hours is enough soak time]
2. Grind the Urad dal to a fine paste first and transfer to a vessel. Add ust about enough water so that Urad dal paste is not too light. You must be able to make a soft ball with the paste.
3. Grind the rice into a fine paste and transfer it to the same container as the Urad dal paste.
4. Add 1 tbsp salt and blend them well.
5. Allow to ferment overnight for making crispy dosais next morning.
6. If you stay in a country where overnight is not enough time for the batter to ferment, allow it to stand for 1 day and 1 night. That is usually enough.
7. Put the pancake girdle on the gastop and wait until it has heated up well.
8. Ladle one big portion of the batter to the centre of the pan and ladle a pancake size dosai on the girdle.
9. Add a bit of oil to cook the dosai. Turn it to cook on the other side, after one side of it is cooked to a nice brownish color.
10. Continue to do as many dosais as you need.
11. Serve with Molaga podi/ennai, chutney and/or sambhar.

Note: In case you want to make smaller portions of the batter, just remember the ratio 4:1 for Rice: Urad Dal. Some do 3:1 and some do 5:1 as well. But then 4:1 is what I follow and it has worked fine for me each time. Some also add Methi/Vendayam/Fenugreek seeds to the Urad dal to enable the batter to get fluffy and nice. The Kitchen is yours. Indulge in your fancies.

Coconut Chutney

Ingredients

Coconut-1 cup
Green Chillies-3 numbers
Groundnut/Odacha Kadala-1/4 cup
Salt-taste wise
Kothamalli/Green Coriander-small bunch[optional]

For Seasoning
Oil-1 tsp
Mustard-1/4 tsp
Asafoetida-a pinch
Curry Leaves-10 numbers

Method

1. Blend the all the ingredients in a mixie and voila! the coconut chutney is done. Adjust the ingredients as per your taste and choice and so you can make it spicy, medium or not-so-spicy.
2. Heat oil in a kadai. When smoking hot, add the mustars, asafoetida and curry leaves and fry until the curry leaves are crisp. Then add it to the chutney.

Note: Adding the Kothamalli gives a nice green colour to the chutney. Else, the Kothamalli looks off-white.

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Dosai is best served with Sambhar for an accompaniment. And I must thank "Kala", my dear household help in Chennai for being a saviour and helping me with this recipe. One day, I had run out of Tamarind and was cursing myself for not buying it when I had been to the supermarket just a few minutes before. And Kala saw that I was not happy with something and asked me what was wrong. I casually mentioned to her saying that there was no Tamarind and hence I can't make Sambhar. She had a quizzical look on her face because she found it to be funny. Now, that reaction was something I hadn't expected. So, I asked her about it. She said, I never use Tamarind to make Sambhar. Now, it was my turn to give that "funny look". What I had thought was impossible all this while, was not an issue at all for her. Making Sambhar without tamarind. She just went on to make the Sambhar using her method that day, to prove her point. Boy, was I pleased! Not only did she come as a saviour with her Sambhar recipe for dinner that day, but also has changed my Sambhar making process forever, well, almost! Except on rare occassions, I only make this Sambhar and it is time-saving and easy too. You can never go wrong with this method. So, here we go with the recipe.

Sambhar

Ingredients
Toor Dal-1 cup
Onion-1, finely chopped
Tomato-4, finely chopped
Garlic pods-4 numbers
Green Chillies-2 numbers, slit vertically
1 tsp of black pepper, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds combined together
Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp
Water-4 cups

For Taste

Asafoetida-1/4 tsp
Sambhar Powder-1 tbsp
Salt-as per taste

For Seasoning

Oil-1 tsp
Mustard-1 tsp
Curry Leaves-10 numbers
Coriander leaves-1 small bunch
Ghee-1 tbsp

Method

1. Pressure cook all the ingredients in the cooker for 7-8 whistles.
2. When cooled, Mash the pressure cooked items well and add the asafoetida, salt and sambar powder. Add a pinch of sugar/jaggery to give it a tangy taste. Check the taste and add/adjust the salt, sambhar powder accordingly.
3. Boil the sambhar well.
4. Heat oil in a kadai and add the mustard seeds, curry leaves and fry until the curry leaves are crisp and add the seasoning to the sambhar. Then add a dollop of ghee and top it with finely chopped coriander leaves.

Note:

1. You can microwave any of the following vegetables for about 4 minutes and saute it lightly in oil and add it to the sambhar before boiling it-Beans, carrot, ladiesfinger, red/white pumpkin cut into 1 inch pieces.
2. I add a dollop of ghee to Sambhar because it gives a nice aroma and twist to the sambhar. In case, you are literally counting your calories, you can avoid this.

Enjoy your Dosai, Chutney and Sambhar and do let me know your feedback and comments.

Cheers!