Subru Uncles Delicious S Indian Sambar Veg Curry We All Love Food

SUBRU UNCLE'S DELICIOUS S. INDIAN SAMBAR VEG CURRY WE ALL LOVE

Steps:

• Prepare the tamarind pulp by first soaking a few pieces of tamarind in 1-1/2 cups of hot water.
• Squeeze the tamarind pieces as well as you can and allow the tamarind pulp (juice) to mix into the hot water.
• Once you have squeezed out half a cup, transfer this to a pot.
• Note that the consistency of the tamarind pulp should be such that you have more tamarind pulp and less water.
• Add the chopped ladyfinger to the pot.
• Allow to boil for 5 minutes.
• This is a neat trick Subru uncle's taught me.
• By doing this, the sticky fluid that comes out of the ladyfinger will not come out.
• Remove from heat and keep aside.
• Now, take a large pot in which you will be preparing the sambar.
• Heat the pot on medium-high flame.
• Once its hot, pour 3 cups of water in it.
• Add the drained toor dal (yellow lentils) and mix well.
• Add garlic and mix well.
• Allow it to boil well (for about 15 minutes).
• Lower flame and add all the chopped and diced vegetables to the boiling lentils (toor dal).
• Mix in turmeric powder, asafoetida powder, salt and Sambar masala powder.
• Fold in the chopped tomatoes.
• Cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook until the tomatoes are softened and the veggies are tender.
• In the meantime, prepare the seasoning.
• For this, heat oil in a non-stick frying pan on medium-high flame.
• Once it's hot, add mustard seeds, methi seeds and cumin seeds.
• Allow to crackle and splutter.
• Once this stops, add curry leaves, green chillies and whole red chillies to the pan.
• Mix well and stir-fry for 2 minutes on medium flame.
• Remove the pan from heat.
• Add this seasoning to the sambar.
• Mix well, cook on simmer for 5 minutes and serve this wonderful curry immediately (hot) with cooked long-grain Basmati white rice and low-fat plain yogurt, if required.

HOT AND SOUR TOMATO BROTH WITH SHRIMP

Steps:

• Soak the tamarind pulp in six cups of very hot water (bring it to a boil and then pour it over the tamarind) for 20 minutes and crush it with the back of a spoon to make a pulp.
• Marinate the shrimp in lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Set aside in the fridge.
• In a deep soup pot, heat the vegetable oil on medium heat and add the mustard and cumin seeds, fenugreek, curry leaves and garlic, and cook 3-4 minutes. As soon as the mustard seeds begin to pop and crackle out of the pan, add the asafetida, tomatoes and green chilies. Stir for a couple minutes and then add the curry powder. Be careful as the mustard seeds will pop out of the pan!
• After about 4-5 minutes, when the tomatoes have started to wilt and become soft, pour in the strained tamarind gravy.
• Stir in the jaggery piece and the fish sauce, and heat for about 10 minutes. Make sure the jaggery dissolves completely. Adjust salt, if needed. Once the oil begins to separate, and little pools of oil form on the surface, add the shrimp and cook until just opaque, 2 to 3 minutes. Do not overcook the shrimp!
• Remove from the heat and stir in the cilantro. Serve piping hot in bowls.

IDLI

Steps:

• Rinse rice and dal and soak in water for about 2-3 hours.
• Grind mixture in a blender, adding enough water to make paste. Add salt and keep it aside to get sour for 12 hours.
• Take idli plates and place a drop of oil in each idli mould and spread it over the entire mould.
• Heat 2 cups of water in a large vessel or pressure cooker and place the filled idli plates and cover with lid.
• Cook on high for about 20 minutes.
• Remove the plates from the vessel and remove the idlis.
• Pour 2 tsp of sesame oil while serving.
• Side dish - Sambar, dosai milagai powder, and coconut chutney.

SAMBHAR

Steps:

• In a heatproof bowl, combine the tamarind pulp and 1 cup of boiling water, and let stand for 30 minutes. At the end of this time, squeeze and press the tamarind with your fingers to release as much pulp in the water as possible, then strain, discard the fibrous residue and seeds, and reserve the tamarind water.
• Meanwhile, place the lentils in a deep saucepan, add the 3 cups of water and the turmeric, and bring to the boil over high heat. Reduce heat to a simmer and gently cook, uncovered, until the lentils are just tender, 20 to 30 minutes. If the water evaporates too quickly, add another 1/2 to 1 cup in total.
• While the lentils are cooking, heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in a small skillet, and saute the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, sambhar masala, dried red chillies, asafoetida, curry leaves, garlic and coconut, until the coconut becomes a golden brown - take care not to burn. Remove from heat and set aside.
• When the lentils are tender, add the sauteed spice mix, along with the prepared vegetables, tomatoes and the tamarind water. Mix well, cover, and simmer until the vegetables are just tender. This should take 10 to 20 minutes, depending on how small or large you have diced the vegetables. As the tomatoes cook down, they should provide enough fluid to simmer the other vegetables in, but you can add another 1/2 cup water at your discretion.
• Just before serving, heat the extra oil in a small skillet, and saute the sliced garlic and fresh cilantro for 30 seconds. Pour this mixture over the sambhar and mix through gently.
• Serve immediately.

SUBRU UNCLE'S CHANNA MASALA(DELICIOUS CHICKPEA CURRY WE ALL LOVE

Steps:

• Soak the chickpeas overnight in a large pot in lots of water.
• The next day, throw out the water in which the chickpeas were soaked, wash them well, and then add fresh water to the pot.
• Bring to a boil.
• If the chickpeas were not soaked overnight in water, then it will be hard to bring them to a boil and to cook them soon. In that case, add the baking powder to the pot of chickpeas and water, and, then bring to a boil. The chickpeas will boil quickly with the addition of baking powder.
• Boil until the chickpeas are tender.
• Remove from heat and keep aside.
• Heat oil in a large pot on high flame.
• Once its hot, toss in the cumin seeds.
• Allow to crackle.
• Tear the bay leaves into 2 parts, add to the pot and saute for 10 seconds. {Chef's Tip: If the bay leaves are torn and then added to the pot, it brings out the aroma better}.
• Once they stop crackling, toss in the ginger, garlic, onions and green chilli.
• Stir-fry on medium flame until the raw smell of the ginger and garlic is gone and the onions are browned.
• Add turmeric, red chilli and corriander powders.
• Mix well and stir-fry for 5 minutes on medium flame.
• Then add the tomatoes, mix well and cook on medium flame for 5 minutes.
• Add 1/4 cup water, stir well and cook on high flame until the tomatoes are extremely softened.
• The consistency of the tomato mixture should be mushy and in simpler words, really soft.
• Add 3 tsps.
• of salt.
• Mix well.
• Add a little shy of 1/2 cup tamarind juice.
• Stir in garam masala powder.
• Mix well, then add the cooked chickpeas, 1 1/2 cups of water and about 1 1/4 cups of water in which the chickpeas were cooking.
• Mix well and boil on high flame for 10 minutes.
• Remove from heat, garnish with corriander leaves and serve hot with parathas/rice/rotis/white bead with yogurt on the side.

SUBRU UNCLE'S DELICIOUS SPICY S.INDIAN RASAM CURRY WE LOVE

Steps:

• With the help of a pestle, pound ginger, garlic and whole black peppercorns in a mortar as nicely as you can until the peppercorns are completely crushed and the ginger and garlic are completely softened.
• Keep aside.
• Extract tamarind pulp out of tamarind by soaking 4-5 one-inch sized pieces in 1 1/2 cups of hot water.
• Press these tamarind pieces to squeeze out the juice/pulp out of the tamarind.
• Transfer the tamarind pulp in a clean bowl.
• Keep aside.
• Heat oil in a pot on medium-high flame.
• When its hot, add mustard seeds, methi seeds and cumin seeds.
• Allow to splutter and crackle.
• Once it stops spluttering and crackling, add curry leaves and green chillies.
• Stir-fry for a minute or two.
• Then add the whole red chillies and stir-fry for another minute.
• Add the above prepared ginger-garlic-black peppercorns mixture to the pot.
• Mix well.
• Then add turmeric powder, red chilli powder and corriander powder.
• Mix well and continue to stir-fry for 2-3 minutes.
• Put the chopped tomatoes in a bowl and crush them as tightly as you can between the palms of your hands.
• Squeeze them as well as you can to extract the juice/pulp out of them.
• Now add the crushed tomatoes alongwith the juice squeezed out.
• Mix well, add 1/4 cup of water and cook on high flame so as to allow the tomatoes to soften quickly.
• Add salt and mix well.
• Then add the boiled toor dal water (or 3 cups of plain water if you are using that).
• Stir well and bring to a boil.
• Lower flame, then add about 7 cups more of water.
• You can add upto 3-4 cups more also, if required.
• Mix well and allow it to boil for 15 minutes.
• Then add tamarind pulp and stir well.
• Boil for 10-15 more minutes.
• Garnish with corriander leaves and serve hot as a soup on its own or as a lentil curry to serve over rice with/without plain low-fat yogurt on the side.