Kerala Style Vendakka Gravy | Vendakka Mappas | Vendakka Thengapaal Curry

Okra in Coconut Milk - the best gravy for Kerala Appam

I like to experiment with new veg gravies for my lunch. I make them, eat them and then ask Deeps to taste them when he is back home for the day. If he likes them, then the dish features in our regular menu. If he doesn't like it and it's only me who has fallen for the recipe, then it is made for my lunch at times. This is one such dish which I found while googling, from a dear blogger buddy Julie at 'Erivum Puliyum'. And the best part is I finished the whole gravy at lunch itself not leaving anything for Deeps to taste even ;) 

I love coconut milk in my gravies. They have a mild taste yet feels so rich and tasty and they are very light on the tummy as well. It is much easier to prepare also, if you are using coconut milk powder. The curry will be ready in a jiffy. But if you are extracting milk from freshly grated coconut, then it is a slightly different story. It may take an extra 15 minutes. But I always vouch for homemade dishes from scratch. There is an un-doubting taste and freshness and authenticity in those dishes that can never be replaced with short cuts. 

And although I had this gravy with rice, with every mouth that I took, I had that inner voice telling me at the back of my head that this is going to taste just awesome with Appam, as this curry tastes like a cousin of our regular Vegetable Stew. I have that in mind, sometime soon I am going to try that combo :) If you are looking for some easy fast recipes for lunch at home or for your lunch dabba to office, do try this out. I am sure you will not regret :)

Recipe Source: Adapted from here

I Took: 

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Serves : 2-3 persons

I Used:

Vendakka/Ladies Finger	-	10 nos
Coconut Oil	-	2 tbsp
Cinnamon	-	An inch piece
Cloves	-	2 nos
Green Chilly	-	2 nos - slited
Ginger	-	1 tsp - chopped
Onion	-	1 no - medium sized - sliced
Turmeric powder	-	½ tsp
Red Chilly powder	-	1 tsp
Curry leaves	-	A sprig
Coconut Milk - Thick	-	1 cup
Coconut Milk - Thin	-	1.5 cups
Lemon juice	-	1 tbsp

To Temper:

Coconut Oil	-	3 tbsp
Mustard seeds	-	¼ tsp
Shallots	-	4-5 nos - sliced
Curry Leaves	-	A sprig

The Way:

1. Rinse and clean the ladies finger in water. Chop off the edges and cut them into 2 inch length pieces or bite sized pieces as per your preference.

2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and add the cut ladies finger pieces and saute them for about 3-4 minutes till the stickiness of the ladies finger goes away.Once done transfer to another plate/bowl and keep them aside.

3. If preparing coconut milk from fresh coconut, grind coconut with water (as required) and extract the thick and thin coconut milk and keep aside. If using instant coconut milk powder, add the powder in warm water (as mentioned in the packet), prepare the thin and thick milk and keep aside.

4. Heat oil in a pan/kadai. Add the whole spices - cinnamon and cloves. Keep the flame in low or medium. After about a minute add the chopped ginger and green chillies. Saute for about half a minute.

5. Add the sliced onions and saute till it turns translucent. No need to make it brown.

6. Now add curry leaves, salt, turmeric powder and red chilly powder and saute well for about 2-3 minutes till the raw smell goes off.

7. Now add the sauteed ladies finger and give a nice stir.

8. Add the thin coconut milk and give a stir. Cover and cook till the ladies finger is cooked. This may take abut 6-7 minutes.

9. Now add the lemon juice (is optional) and adjust salt if needed.

10. Once the ladies finger is cooked, add in the thick coconut milk. Give a quick and nice stir. Switch off flame.

11. In another pan (tadka pan) heat oil. Splutter mustard seeds. Add in the chopped shallots and curry leaves. Saute till the shallots turn light brown in colour. Take care not to burn them. Add the tempering to the gravy and give a nice stir.

Serve hot with Appam / Idiyappam / Steamed Rice & Fish Fry :)

Cheers,
Chitz

Sambar | Kerala style Sambar (Without Coconut) | Varutharacha Sambar | Arachuvitta Sambar

There was a time when I never used to get Sambar right. That was during my spinster times. I used to feel so bad then and complain to my mom, 'I am not able to make even a simple sambar'. Now you might think how can such a basic recipe like Sambar go wrong? Sometimes the most simple & commonly made dish would not turn out good until you find out the small trick & nuances of it that makes your shtyle stand out from others' right?? And to make matters worse, after marriage, Deeps became a fan of my mom's Sambar. He too fell prey for her Idly, coconut chutney & sambar combo special of my mom ;)

But that's not the end of the story.. I found out that even Deeps made awesome Sambar. I was like 'Ohh my, I am doomed now'. Finally one day with the determination of mastering it, I called up my mom and got the recipe. I was asking her, 'Ma tell me, how much tamarind.. What do you mean a lemon sized?? Small one or big one? How many spoons of coriander seeds' Finally she got fed up.. She was like 'Chitra, add little of everything. Taste it and add more if required'. I was skeptical and scared the first time and was with crossed fingers when Deeps came from office & tasted it. But he was very impressed. He was like, 'This tastes the best. Better than my mom & yours' That's the best compliment that you can ever get for cooking, right?? I was thrilled.

But I forgot how much of everything I had added. Lol.. Then I understood why my mom said lil of this and a lemon sized of that !! After that I slowly got the hang of the quantity. And most of the times I cooked this special sambar of mom's like a professional. So when Hasna suggested me to link up 'Butter Beans Masala' of my mom's for her lovely 'Mummy Ka Magic' event, I thought this is the most apt one for the event, as this recipe would always be the numero Uno of my mom's best veggie dishes :D. Her shtyle as it's simple and with NO coconut and a hit among our guests !!

Updated with new and step-wise pics on 19-04-2017

Other Sadhya recipes:

Beans Thoran

Beetroot Thoran
Cabbage Thoran

Mathanga Erissery

Mathan Erissery | Mathan Vanpayar Erissery

Mampazha Pachadi | Pazhutha Manga Pachadi

Mambazha Pulissery | Mambazha Kaalan

Chembu Kumbalanga Moru Kootan | Taro-Ash Gourd Pulissery

Pulissery | Kachiya Moru | Mor Kuzhambu

Homemade Ada for Adapradhaman

Recipe Source: Ma

I Took: 

Preparation Time:40 minutes

Cooking Time: 35-40 minutes

Serves: 4-5 

I Used:

Tur Dal	-	½ cup
Onion	-	1 medium sized - sliced
Tomato	-	1 no - cut into 8
Drumstick Brinjal	- -	1 no - large 3-4 nos
Ladies Finger Tamarind	- -	4-5 nos (small ones) a small lemon sized
Garlic	-	2 cloves
Turmeric powder	-	½ tsp
Asafoetida	-	½ tsp
Curry Leaves	-	2-3 sprigs
Coriander Leaves	-	2-3 sprigs
Salt	-	As Needed
To Roast & Grind:
Oil	-	2 tsp
Coriander Seeds	-	3 tbsp
Red Chilly	-	5 nos
Urd Dal	-	3 tbsp
Fenugreek Seeds	-	½ tsp
Asafoetida	-	1 tsp

To Splutter:

Oil - 2 tsp Mustard  - 1 tsp Red Chilly - 2 nos

The Way:

1. Heat oil in a pan. Roast coriander seeds, red chilly & urd dal until it turns light golden brown in color. This would take 2-3 minutes

2. Now add fenugreek seeds & asafoetida and roast for about a minute and not more. Else the fenugreek seeds can add a bitter taste if it's roasted for a longer time

3. Allow this to cool & add water (3-4 tbsp) & grind it smoothly to a thick paste

4. Soak tamarind in water for 15-20 minutes and extract the juice/pulp out of it and keep aside

5. Rinse tur dal in water for 3-4 times and then soak them in water (around 2 cups) for 20-30 minutes

6. Then pressure cook it with salt & garlic. Mash the pressure cooked dal well, so that there are no visible wholes of dal

7. Heat a pan/kadai. Add the cut drumsticks (cut to 2 or 2.5 inch pieces). Add water (around 1 to 1.5 cups) and turmeric and salt

8. Cook on medium flame until the drumsticks are half cooked. You can cover the pan and cook for faster cooking. This would take around 6-8 minutes

9. Once the drumsticks are half cooked, add the onions (sliced), tomatoes (cut into 8 pieces), brinjal (cut into 8 or 12 depending on the size of the brinjal) , ladies finger (cut into 2 inch pieces) and other vegetables) and cook until the vegetables are half cooked

10. Now add the ground paste (also adjust salt) and cook again until the vegetables are done

11. Add the tamarind pulp & asafoetida (if needed. A strong aroma of asafoetida is a must for a good sambar :)) & allow it to come to a boil

12. Then add the boiled & mashed dal. Cook for 3-4 minutes until all the ingredients come together 

13. Add curry leaves and allow it to boil for another minute. Then switch off the flame

14. In a tadka pan/kadai, heat oil. Splutter mustard and broken red chillies. Take care not to burn them

15. Add the tadka to the sambar. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves

Serve hot with steamed rice or idly or dosa!

Notes:

• You can add more vegetables of your choice like pumpkin, potato, white gourd, radish, carrot & plantain stem
• Adjust the quantity of ground masala as you increase the vegetables
• Another variety is to omit all vegetables & onion and use only shallots (include tomato) called 'Ulli Sambar'. You can follow the same method for that also

Cheers,

Chitz