Vegan/Vegetarian South Indian Stew

This South Indian vegetarian (Vegan) stew is inspired by the recipe Vengaaya Sambhar by Viji Varadarajan

Ingredients:

1/2 cup	Red Gram/Thuvaram Paruppu/Thuvar Dhal (Toor Dhal)
pinch	Asafoetida/ Hing powder
1 1/2 cups	Water- soak a golf ball sized piece of tamarind in this water.
3 tablespoons	oil
¼ teaspoon	Mustard seeds/kadugu/rai
1/2 cup	Red diced onions
10	curry leaves/Karuveppalai/Kari Patha torn or crushed
¼ teaspoon	Black gram/ulutham paruppu/urad dhal (optional)
¼ teaspoon	Fenugreek seeds/Methi/mendhiyam
A few	Curry leaves/Karuveppalai/Kari Patha torn
2 cups	Vegetable of your choice (okra/bindi, eggplant/brinjal, drumstick, etc.)
4 teaspoons	Sambar powder

Method:
1. In separate small saucepan, on medium heat boil toor dhal. Wash first and add 1 1/2 cup water and a pinch of Asafoetida. Continue to boil until dhal is mushy.
2. Soak the tamarind in 1 1/2 cups warm water for about 10 minutes.
3. In a separate bowl, keep the diced onions, curry leaves, Fenugreek seeds/Methi/mendhiyam, and urad dhal.
4. Heat a deep vessel (pan that can hold about 6 cups of food). Put oil in the bottom. When it heats, add mustard seeds. When they pop add the contents of the bowl in step 3. Stir for about 1 minute or until a nice aroma comes. (Note some people will add only spices and not onions to this seasoning, I find that the curry leaves brown too quickly, and the urad dhal blackens and hardens slightly. To combat this, I place all these items in together.)
5. Add 2 cups water.
6. Add sambar powder and vegetables, stir well.
7. Keep on medium heat until it boils. Let boil for about 10 minutes. This will thicken it slightly.
8. Keep checking dhal throughout. More water may need to be added if it starts to evaporate and dhal has not become mushy yet. When dhal is mushy, try to mush some with spoon in pot. Add this dhal into the sambar.
9. Strain the tamarind from the water by squeezing the tamarind pieces to retain the juice. To strain remaining small pieces, use a tea strainer or similar device while pouring the water into the pan.
10. Now the heat on sambar should be on simmer. When dhal is done and mushy, add to sambar.
11. Taste for salt and add little at time to get to your preferred salt level. I usually add by sight and taste until it’s to our salt level. I think I added about 1 to 1 ½ teaspoons.

When all steps are completed, turn off flame after it has been on low heat about 15 minutes. Let sit off flame for about thirty minutes or so before eating. Serve hot with plain rice and if desired, ghee, and side dish curries of your choice. Some may also prefer to mix the sambar and rice with papard (Indian Chips) or American potato chips for a crunchy effect.

Related Posts/Sites:
Sambar Varieties - Recipes
Vathhal Kozhumbu
Besan (Chick pea flour) Sambar
Savory Sambar
Mysore Sambar
Homemade Sambar Powder
Eggplant Sambar

Related Posts/Sites:
Join Viji's Fan Page on Facebook
Insights and Inspirations of Viji Varadarajan
Viji’s website- Viji Samayal
Brahmin Recipes by Viji Varadarajan on Magic Chef Hat, October 2008
Fusion in the Kitchen – The Hindu, March 2009
The tradition continues – Harmony Magazine, September 2007

tags : "cookbook authors", "south indian food", "tamil brahmin", "tamil food", "vegetarian samayal", traditional cookery "indian cooking" vegetarian "Indian vegetarian cooking" "pure vegetarian cookery' sambar stew vegan vegetarian gravy

Sambar Inspired by Viji Varadarajan

A few months ago, on this blog, I introduced you to Tamil Brahmin Cookbook Author, Viji Varadarajan in the interview, Insights and Inspirations by Viji Varadarajan.

Viji has encouraged me since to not only continue to try her recipes in my own kitchen but has given me permission to republish some recipes on this blog. I will share the first recipe in this post, the recipe for Vengaaya Sambar as found in her book, Samayal: The Pleasures of South Indian Vegetarian Cooking (Winner Gourmand World Cookbook Award)


Sambar is a thick, lentil based vegetarian stew. I am translating 'sambar' as stew, because often it has a lot of lentils, and sometimes these lentils are cooked and mashed then placed into the sambar, creating a thick variety. Some sambar, however, is a bit thinner, still having dhal, but not as much, and not mashed in. (Incidentally, I have learned too that sambars with mashed dhal in it should be eaten quicker as if it sits longer as leftovers, it becomes thicker and thicker; almost pasty and hard to eat as a usual 'topping' to rice.) This thinner sambar is very watery, and could be considered a soup. Often this sambar is served with rice or idli. The thicker variety, I think would go well with rice or dosa. Some sambars, called kozhumbu, are thicker gravies that are often more tangy because of concentrated tamarind and a bit more spicy. Some eat this kozhumbu straight with rice. However, for me, who likes spicy, flavorful food, but may not be able to handle this 'straight on rice' because it is a bit more hot due to concentrated peppers (green and red chilies), love to eat this rather as a side with curd rice (thayyir sadham).

Lastly, it must be noted that all varieties of sambars and kozhumbus on my site are not only vegetarian but vegan, they contain no meat, meat broth or eggs. There are sambars and kozhumbus in India, particularly, I think in Chettinad cuisines that do contain meat products.

Now that your taste buds are tempted, here is Viji's recipe for Vengaaya Sambhar (shallot and gram gravy) as found on pages 16-17 of the book, Samayal: The Pleasures of South Indian Vegetarian Cooking.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup	Red Gram/Thuvaram Paruppu/Thuvar Dhal (Toor Dhal)
2 teaspoons	Thick Tamarind Pulp
1/2 kilo/250g	baby onions/shallots pealed
1/4 teaspoon	Asafoetida/ Hing powder
1 ½ teaspoon	Sambar powder*
a few	curry leaves/Karuveppalai/Kari Patha torn or crushed
½ bunch	cilantro/coriander leaves
½ tsp	Salt
For Seasoning (tadka)
¼ teaspoon	Mustard seeds/kadugu/rai
½ teaspoon	Black gram/ulutham paruppu/urad dhal (optional)
¼ teaspoon	Fenugreek seeds /Methi/mendhiyam
A few	Curry leaves/Karuveppalai/Kari Patha torn
1 tsp	oil

Method:
1. Soak the toor dhal in hot water for 15 minutes and cook in 2 cups of water to a very soft consistency. Or, pressure cook for four or five whistles.
2. Heat the hoil and pop the mustard. Stir in the urad dhal and fry for 8 seconds until brown. Now add the fenugreek sees/methi and brown.
3. Into this add the onions and stir for 1/2 minute. Add sambar powder and a cup of water. Cover and simmer on medium flame for ten minutes.
4. Add the tamarind pulp, asafoetida powder, salt and some curry leaves.
5. Simmer over a medium flame for a couple of minutes until the onions are soft.
6. Add the cooked dhal. When it thickens slightly, remove from fire.
7. Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves and remaining curry leaves.

Serve hot with steamed rice, kootus, and avial and karis, and assorted tiffens.

Tasty tip: This dish can be prepared with okra, eggplant, radish, brussel sprouts, turnips, capsicum, carrot, potato, bitter gourd, cabbage or spinach. You can also prepare a kadamba (colorful) sambhar adding a few of the vegetables of a much lesser quantity. Each vegetable still retains its own flavour.

*Viji has her own homemade sambar powder recipe in the book that she refers to for this recipe. However, you can use ready made sambar powders from the store also. You may want to experiment with the amount you want to use by adding what she's recommended, and taste throughout and see if you get a good flavor. It should be flavorful, adding more should not make it more hot spicy unless the sambar powder has as it's first ingredient red chili. Try and taste for yourself!

I have made this sambar as above and with my own flair, to be posted soon!



Other related links:
Link to Viji's Profile on Alaivani, with links to all her cookbooks, fan page and more!

Link to Padmini's Profile on Alaivani with links to insightful and inspirational articles on Indian culture and spirituality.

Related Posts/Sites:
Sambar Varieties - Recipes
Vathhal Kozhumbu
Besan (Chick pea flour) Sambar
Savory Sambar
Mysore Sambar
Homemade Sambar Powder
Eggplant Sambar

tags : "cookbook authors", "south indian food", "tamil brahmin", "tamil food", "vegetarian samayal", traditional cookery "indian cooking" vegetarian "Indian vegetarian cooking" "pure vegetarian cookery' sambar stew vegan vegetarian gravy

Vatthal Kozhumbu

Vatthal Kozhumbu is a spicy south Indian vegan/vegetarian gravy

This is an updated version of the same recipe posted here.

Photo right: Vatthal Kozhumbu as a side dish with yogurt rice.

Ingredients:
1/5 block Imli (tamarind) soaked in 1 cup water
30-40 sundakkai vathals (or as per your taste)***
Pinch uncooked chenna (or toor) dhal (about 35 pieces)
2 red dried crushed chilies
2 green chilies cut lengthwise
Pinch ING (Asafetida)
10 curry leaves (or more as per your taste)
2 tbspn oil
pinch mustard seeds
Pinch vendhyam (Fenugreek seeds) (about 10 seeds)
2 tsp sambar powder
Pinch turmeric
Salt to taste (I used about ¼ tsp)
2 cups water
1 to 4 tsp rice flour

Method.

1. Take a golf ball size of dried block imli (tamarind) and soak in warm/hot water while doing other steps.
2. Take a saucepan that can fit 3-4 cups water, make sure it is totally dry. Heat on stovetop, put in vatthals and dry fry alone until a nice aroma comes. They may turn brown, but do not blacken. Take out of pan and set aside.
3. While the pan is heating, if able to multi-task, collect ingredients 3,4,5,6,7 in a small bowl.
4. After removing vatthals from dry pan onto a plate, put the pan back on the stove. Add 2 tsp oil. The pan would be very hot, so when putting in the mustard seeds, the probably will immediately pop. Add the ingredients from the bowl and stir immediately.
5. Before adding imli water at this point, make sure the imli has been properly soaked and squeezed so that the juice has come from imli and the water is brown. If not practiced at this, it is necessary to soak imli for 15 minutes or so before starting recipe so this water is available to pour in at this moment. (After doing several times, it is not necessary to use a strainer. It is possible to take the bowl with imli and pour over pot itself leaving the pieces in the bowl.)
6. While the water is boiling, add the sambar power, turmeric and salt. Mix.
7. While it is boiling take the additional two cups water, in this water place two heaping spoons of rice flour. Mix vigorously to remove clumps. The water will be a milky white. Add this water to the pot. (Or, place water and flour in a small blender and blend it into a puree this way. Sometimes I prefer this as it usually removes clumps.)
   
8. Mix and leave to boil. As it boils, keep stirring it. As it heats up the rice flour should thicken the consistency of this soupy mixture into a thicker gravy consistency. This is the tedious part. Boiling it down to a thicker consistency takes time. If you want to speed it up, you can add 1-2 teaspoons more rice flour little by little. The tricky part is to make sure the rice flour doesn’t clump. Usually when put in hot water in teaspoons full, the rice flour tends to clump up. Take a spoon and bring these clumps along side of pan to ‘burst’ them. This should thicken up the gravy.
9. When I was done, I measured the amount, it boiled down to 1 cup. It is not very thick, but it can be used as gravy. If you prefer thicker consistency, add more flour per your requirement.

This can be eaten on top of plain rice or as a side with curd rice.

If eaten as a main dish on rice, you may get 2-3 servings. If as a side dish double this. This will be a spicier fare than sambar because the thicker consistency power-packs the spices, this is why I prefer it with curd rice. If eaten as a main dish, adding chips or ghee to this may tone down the spices a bit.

If you can wait before devouring, the longer you let it set, the thicker it can become. After few hours it can be a thicker gravy, like a pudding consistency! Enjoy!

***If you can not get vatthal seeds, you can make this gravy without the seeds or you can substitute a vegetable of your choice (for instance, 10-15 pearl onions, 3 tomatoes diced into big cubes, eggplant/brinjal cubed, etc) or you can add extra curry leaves or peppercorns to make spicier, peppery gravy.

Here is a mango variety kozhumbu, Vidhya makes Mango Vatha Kozhambu, Pumpkin Vatha Kozhumbu, and drumstick vatha kozhumbu.

Besan Chutney (Spicy Chickpea Gravy)

This is a thick gravy made from chickpea flour. This is also known as Senaga Pachadi (See Sailu's Recipe here), Besan Sambar or Bombay Chutney. I have also heard it referred to as 'poor people's chutney' as the economically disadvantaged people often will have all these simple ingredients, which are cheap and easy to obtain.


Ingredients:
3 cups water
1 tbspn oil
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1 cup besan (chickpea flour)
3 green chilies sliced lengthwise
5-8 curry leaves
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup small diced tomatoes
Pinch ING (Asafetida) -optional-
Pinch turmeric -optional-
Salt to taste


Method:
1. Place the oil in a sauce pan on high heat.
2. When oil is hot, add mustard seeds.
3. When mustard seeds pop, turn heat to medium, put in the diced onion, curry leaves and green chilies.
4. As the onions become translucent, add the tomatoes and 1 1/2 cups of the water.
5. While this mix is boiling, place the remaining 1 1/2 water, 1 cup besan, ing, and salt in a blender and blend nicely.
6. Add the blended mixture into the pan and begin to heat. Keep adding salt while it's heating. It will require a lot of salt, more than other dishes. Try to do this quickly because the mix will thicken quite quickly. It's good to turn the heat down a little as when it gets so hot, the mix will bubble up and spurt out of the pan. Be careful as if you add turmeric, the mix that spurts up may stain things.
7. Let this settle for some time before eating so all the tastes can mix together.

This is usually eaten as a dip with dosa or idli. We have also eaten this with mixed rice.


Another version of besan curry with peanut powder added! Pithale is the regional name of besan curry among Marathis of Maharasthra! Pithale - Bhakri (Besan Curry and Rice Roti)

Related Posts/Links: Kanchipuram Idli

Benefits of Curry Leaves Benefits of Asafetida

Thick and Savory Sambar (South Indian Vegetarian Stew)

This sambar is moderately thick, like a stew. It is good had with dosa or pongal (rice and moong dhal porridge). A thinner variety of this sambar could be made with less dhal, and had with vada (as in vada sambar). (Pongal Recipe Here) Photo below right of sambar (in small bowl) with pongal (rice dish) and vada (fried lentil donuts) taken by Krishna Kumar.

Ingredients
(listed as per methods)

2 tbspn vegetable or olive oil
¼ tsp mustard seeds
1 sprig Curry Leaves
¾ cup small diced tomatoes
5 red shallot onion
or
10 small pearl onion
or
1 onion cut into four pieces
1 cup water
1 cup masoor dhal
1 tbspn sambar powder (We use Tastebuds by Mohanlal/Eastern)
1 cup toor dhal
1 cup water
3 inch piece tamarind
1 cup vegetables of choice- one or more, diced or chunked
(I use two of the following- brinjal aka eggplant, potato, drumstick,
okra/bindi, carrots, Indian pumpkin)
Pinch ing/Asafetida
To taste salt

Method:
Step 1:
Wash and cook the toor dhal in a separate pot. Keep cooking while continuing other steps. When the dhal is soft and cooked, take off flame, cool.

Step 2:
Soak tamarind in 1 cup warm water while doing other steps. After step 3 is completed, squeeze all juice out of tamarind, rid of the tamarind pulp, put tamarind water with toor dhal in a blender, and puree. This will be added to the sambar.

Step 3:
-Put the oil in the bottom of a deep pot, like a pressure cooker. Keep flame on high.
-As oil heats add mustard seeds (MS).
-When MS pops, turn flame down to half, add the diced tomatoes and curry leaves. Stir fry this in oil for a few minutes.
-Add ½ cup water and 1 tbspn sambar powder and one squeeze of ing and stir. Let simmer/boil for about 3-5 minutes.
-Wash masoor dhal, put the washed dhal along with 1 ½ cup water in the pot. (Masoor dhal photographed on hands by http://flickr.com/photos/alaina/42398051/)
-Let this stay in the pot until boils, then add the vegetables as desired.
-Let the vegetables and dhal cook on medium heat for 30-45 minutes until the masoor dhal begins to ‘melt’ into the mixture.
End step 3.

Step 4:
Add the pureed toor dhal/tamarind extract mixture. Stir. Let simmer on medium for 5 minutes or so. Taste for salt, add more as required.

Mysore Sambar

The specialty of this sambar is the fact that it will be made out of a fresh, homemade ground spice mix and not a store bought one!

Ingredients:

10 methi seeds (Fenugreek seeds)
2 tbspn coriander seeds (or 1 tbspn coriander powder)
10 curry leaves
15-20 dried red chilies
1 tspn cumin seeds
½ cup fresh coconut
5 tablespoons oil or more
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp mustard seeds
6-10 curry leaves
1/4 cup juice of imli (tamarind)
1/8 tsp Asafetida (ing)
salt to taste
1 tsp jaggery dissolved in warm water or 1 tsp sugar (optional)

Add any or all of the following vegetables (up to two cups):
1 cup chopped/diced brinjal (eggplant)
1 cup dudhi (Indian squash)
1 cup finely diced potatoes
1/2 cup finely sliced carrots
1 -1 1/2 cup tomatoes cut into about 1 inch chunks
etc..

Method:
1. Soak 1/5 block dry tamarind in warm water until step 4
2. Boil 1 cup dhal in 2 cups water until dal is soft, but not pasty
3. Dry fry cumin/methi separately, dry fry chili/coriander separately. Alternatively, if it is sunny, you can keep the spices on a plate out in the sun for 8-10 hours to sundry as the spices photographed in this article were.
Grind these seeds into a powder using a mortar or coffee grinder.
4. Put this spice mix in water and grind in blender with coconut for 15 minutes or until it's puddling-like.
5. Add boiled toor dhal into the blender and blend into a paste. Set this aside. (I believe mashing or grinding the dhal into a paste gives it the thick consistency typical of Udipi style cooking found in Karnataka state, India.)
6. Heat 2-3 tsp vegetable oil in a large pot (5-6 cups capacity). Add 1/4 tsp cumin seeds and 1/4 tsp mustard seeds (MS) in the oil, when MS pop, add cut vegetables add 1/4 tsp turmeric and curry leaves. Fry this mix for 10 min.
7. Strain tamarind water, place in pan with two cups of water along with the vegetables. Boil until vegetables are soft.
8. Add one tsp jaggery dissolved in warm water or 1 tsp sugar if desired.
9. Add blended dhal and spice mix and boil on medium for an hour or until tastes mesh.
10. Add salt as per taste.
11. Previous to serving, garnish with coriander.

Eat with rice, idli, dosai, pongal etc.
Makes 10-15 servings.

Note: Because the dhal is blended as a paste, this sambar will become thicker as it cools. If kept in the fridge over night, water may need to be added the next day to make it a stew consistency. To avoid this if you think you will need to store it, do not blend dhal and only cook dhal until it is done and not over boiled.

**Sambar is a type of South Indian vegetarian stew with lentils, a mix of spices (masala) and vegetables).

Updated July 22, 2008
Original posting date January 26, 2008


Amol has showcased the photo of the sambar masala seeds in his posts here and here.

Sambar Powder

Ingredients:

1  tbs   urad dhal
2  tsp   coriander seeds
1  tsp   cumin seeds
10        methi (fenugreek) seeds
1  tsp   mustard seeds
3          dried red chilies, broken
10        curry leaves
8          peppercorns


Method:

1. Take all these and fry together until you get an aroma.  
Light brown fry is good, don't blacken the seeds.
2. Transfer from pan to cold plate.  Allow seeds to fully cool.
3. Grind by hand or in a coffee grinder.**
4. The entirety of this powder can be used to make sambar 
for about 15 people. 

**I have purchased a coffee grinder that I use only to grind spices.  

Do not use the same grinder to grind coffee.

Vatthal Kozhumbu

Ingredients:
1. Imli (tamarind)
2. Tablespoon oil
3. Pinch Mustard seeds
4. Pinch chenna (or toor) dhal
5. 2-4 red dried crushed chilies
6. 2-4 green chilies cut lengthwise
7. Pinch ING (Asafetida)
8. 4-6 curry leaves (or more as per your taste)
9. Pinch vendhyam (Fenugreek seeds)
10. 4 cups water
11. 2 tsp sambar powder
12. Pinch turmeric
13. Salt to taste
14. 20-30 sundakkai vathals (or as per your taste)
15. 1 to 4 tsp rice flour

Method:

Step 1:
If you have block Imli (ingredient #1) soak a golf ball size of this in warm water (1 cup) until soft. This can be done while doing other steps.

Step 2.
For ingredients 2-9. Heat oil and add mustard seeds (ingredients 2 and 3), when they pop, add ingredients 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9. Fry till they are browned. Put to the side.

Step 3:
Strain and squeeze the water out of the soaked imli pieces out and put he 'imli water' in a sauce pan. Heat it adding 3 more cups water (adding four for #10) sambar powder (#11), turmeric (#12) and salt (#13). Also add all the fried spices at this time (from step 2.) Heat till a rolling boil for 5-10 minutes. More salt may also be added at the end as per your taste.

Step 4:
Dry fry the vatthals till a smell comes. Add the vatthals to the liquid and continue boiling.

Step 5:
This will be liquidy, whereas kozhumbu should be thick. To thicken we add rice flour (#15). Leaving the heat on, while boiling, add one teaspoon, and stir, wait a few minutes, stir it. Keep adding one more teaspoon of the rice flour and stirring until it is slightly thick. Four teaspoons should be enough.

**Kozhumbus com in different varieties. Kozhumbu is a thicker sambar. The closest translation for Kozumbu in English is gravy.

Keep this sitting for some time before eating. It is really good if you eat it later in the day or the next day, the flavor will be very nice.

Eat in small quantities with plain rice or curd (yogurt) rice.

There are also various kinds of vatthals. It may be possible to substitute another variety of vatthal in this recipe for another.

This recipe was originally posted in my yahoo group.
Photo in post taken by Jennifer Kumar.

Other Vatthal Kozhumbu Recipes
Vatral Kuzhambu - Sriranjini