Pudhina (Mint) thogaiyal

Once a way the kitchen needs to smell of exotic herbs that bring a healthy and fresh aroma to the stale masala flavour in the air. In everyday Indian cooking the use of green leafy herbs cannot be discounted. So many health benefits and so detoxing too.

Pudhina or mint is one such herb which is so full of benefits. After a heavy meal day, pudhina infused lime water can do wonders to your intestines. Regular use of this herb helps to keep us healthy enough to keep binging on junk😀

Below is one of my favorite pudhina recipe which takes about 15 minutes to prepare and is super tasty with hot rice and ghee...yummm

Ingredients:

-1 bunch of pudhina leaves

- 2-3 dry red chilies

- a small pinch of tamarind soaked in warm water 

- 1 tsp oil

- 1 tbsp Urad dhal

- 1/2 cup of shredded or sliced coconut

- a pinch of hing or asafoetida

- salt to taste

Prep time: 15 mins       Grind time: 5 mins

Preparation:

- Soak the tamarind in a bit of warm water and set aside

- In a kadai, heat 1 tsp oil, add the Urad dhal, red chilies and roast until the dhal turns red.

- Now add the hing, washed and drained pudhina leaves and salt.

- Fry it for a minute or two until the leaves come together.

- Switch of the heat and add the coconut and stir them together and set aside on a plate to let it cool.

- Once this cools, grind in a mixie/ blender along with the soaked tamarind.

- Remove on to a serving bowl and serve with rice, dosa or idli.

Notes:

- Additionally, you can temper urad and channa dhal in a bit of oil and add after the pudhina has been made to a paste. This will give extra crunch when eaten with rice.

Kovakkai / Ivy gourd / Tindora / Dondakaya Thuvaiyal

Why so many names?! ha ha...true...I just wanted to find the english name of the vegetable I know of only in Tamil and found some other translations too:-) and I knew my friends from other states also use this vegetable quite commonly. So, I hope this recipe is of interest to more audience than just one. I learnt this dish very recently from the wife of my apartments watchman! Every morning when I set off to work, I would never be able to miss the aromas wafting from her kitchen and on one such morning is when I learnt this recipe :-)

Ingredients:
- 200 gms kovakkai / ivy gourd
- 1 medium tomato
- 1 tbsp urad dhal
- 2 red chillies
- 2 green chillies
- 2 cloves garlic
- small piece of ginger
- a hint of asafoetida
- salt to taste
- 1 tbsp oil



Prep time: 20 mins                                           Cook time: 30 mins

Preparation:

- Cut the vegetables into thin slices.

- In a tsp of oil roast the urad dhal, red chillies, green chillies, garlic, ginger and asafoetida and keep seperate.

- Heat the remaining oil, and fry the sliced vegetables for 15-20 mins , adding salt, until the vegetable is cooked well.
- Allow the vegetable to cool. On cooling, grind the vegetable, adding the roasted ingredients as above.
- Kovakkai thuvaiyal ready to be eaten with idli, dosa or mixed with hot rice and ghee and eaten with a pappad :-)

Peels & Zuchini Thuvayal

Finally I got a chance to try the peels thuvaiyal. I was so glad it turned out good and not bitter:-) When I posted the recipe for Peerkangai Thuvaiyal...I received a load of comments and suggestions on my FB! It took me by surprise....cos I did'nt expect it:-)! It turned out to be so useful for, then I learnt one can actually use the peels of the Ridge gourd to make thuvaiyal. I had always been peeling and throwing them away....what a fool I should have been!

After a lot of deliberation with some of my friends about the peel of ridge gourd being bitter and not usable etc...today I finally tried it and it turned out to be super yummy. I understand there could be some of them which are bitter, so, before you make the dish, taste the skin and check if it is not bitter:-)

In this, instead of using the pulp of the ridge gourd, I have used zuchini to make the thuvaiyal! An idea again from one of my cousins:-)!

Ingredients:

- Peels of one ridge gourd
- Peels of one carrot
- Peels of half  a zuchini( u can use full too)
- Pulp of the zuchini
- a pinch of tamarind
- 2 tbsp grated coconut
- 2 red chillies
- 2 green chillies
- 1 1/2 tbsp urad dhal
- 1/8 tsp hing (asafoetida)
- Salt to taste
- 1 tsp oil, divided

For seasoning:

- 1 tsp channa dhal
- 1 tsp urad dhal
- few curry leaves
- 1/2 tsp oil

Prep time: 15 mins                      Cook time: 15 mins

Preparation:

- Wash all the veggies well in running water before you begin peeling.
- For the ridge gourd, I peeled off the sharp edges and did not use them.

-  Chop the rest of the peel and set aside. Similarly peel the carrots and zuchini, chop them and set aside.Chop the Zuchini into small pieces.

Chopped peels & zuchini

- In a pan, heat 1/2 tsp oil and roast the urad dhal and chillies. After a minute, add the tamarind. Once the dhal is roasted red, add the coconuts and hing and give it a toss. Remove and set aside for cooling.

- In the same pan, add 1/2 tsp of oil and add all the peels and zuchini. Add salt as needed and cook covered for 5 mins on medium flame.

- Once the cooked peels are cooled down, grind them in the mixer without adding any water. The zuchini's water content will be enough.Add the tamarind and chillies along with the peels while grinding.
- After grinding the peels, tamarind and chillies add the rest of the roasted dhal and coconut and give another pulse.
- This will ensure that the urad dhal is a little coarse and gives a nice texture while eating.

- Season with the ingredients given under "seasoning" above for added taste. This can be had with hot rice and ghee and a side of any stir fry curry or papad

Foot note:

- If you do not get Zuchini, where you live, you can use only the ridge gourd and its peel along with carrot peel.


This recipe is participating in Life is green @ Yummilicious Food