Paakarkaai (Bitter Gourd) Kulambu

1/2 big onion chopped
5 or 6 pods of Garlic chopped
3 big bitter gourds thinly sliced
2 lemon sized balls of tamarind soaked in water
Little coriander leaves chopped
1 tbsp. jaggery powder



To Grid
1/2 big onion diced
1 tomato diced
6 or 7 pods of Garlic
1 inch cinnamon stick
2 cloves
1 tbsp. sambar powder
1 tsp. turmeric powder
2 tbsp. coconut powder


In a pan, heat 2 tsp. oil, add the items under "To Grind" section. Keep that aside. Once its cooled down, grind this into a thick paste.
Take another pan, heat 2 tbsp. oil and add the thinly sliced bitter gourds sauté them well until it turns a little brown. Now add the chopped onions and garlics and sauté it well until the onions are nicely done. Then add the grounded paste to this with salt. Get the tamarind water from the soaked tamarind, and add it to this mixture and keep the fire in low, until the oil oozes out in the edges of the pan. Then add a little jaggery towards the end and switch off the gas. Sprinkle coriander on top.

I learned this from one of my friend Barani. I usually don’t like this veggie since its bitter, but after this recipe, I started liking it and doing it more often. Thanks Barani, for this recipe.

Chettinad Mushroom Masala

1 pk of Mushrooms diced
1/2 onion chopped
1 tomato chopped
5 pods of garlic chopped
Little coriander leaves chopped
5 or 6 curry leaves

To Grind 1:
1 tsp. fenugreek seeds / sombu
1 tsp. Jeera
1 tbsp. coriander seeds
1 tbsp./tsp. (according to your spice level) whole pepper
1 tbsp. pottu kadalai/ Roasted gram
1 tbsp. coconut pieces
1 tbsp. kasa kasa/ poppy seeds

To Grind 2:
1 inch cinnamon stick
2 cloves
2 mace flower
2 star anise

To Grind 3:
1 inch ginger
3 garlic pods
1/2 onion diced
1/2 tomato diced
4 to 5 red chilies
3 to 4 green chilies (reduce either of the chilies according to spice level)

In a pan, heat 1 tbsp. oil, add onions, garlic and sauté it for a while, until onions are translucent. Then add mushrooms to it. Let it cook for a while. Once it’s almost cooked, add tomatoes and cover with lid. Once tomatoes are completely cooked, then add the paste made from all the 'To Grind' section and add salt to it. Let it cook until the oil oozes out in the sides of the pan. Then add chopped coriander leaves. In a separate pan, put some oil and add curry leaves, once it’s done, add the curry leaves to the cooked mushroom gravy.

This goes well with Rice/roti/idly or dosai.

Vegetables with dried beans kurma

One of my friend's mil does this kurma with different vegetable and different bean every time, which ends up in a different taste according to the mixture. So, when i heard it, i wanted to give it a try and so here goes the recipe.

1 cup black chick peas (it can be substituted with different dried beans) - soaked and pressure cooked.
4 brinjal/eggplant (it can be substituted with some other veggies) diced
1/2 onion
1/2 tomato
Little sambar powder (according to taste)

To Grind:
Little coriander leaves
Little mint leaves
1/2 onion
1/2 tomato
1 tsp. cumin seeds/jeera
1 tsp. fenugreek seeds/sombu
1 tsp. pepper/milagu
1 tbsp. coriander seeds/malli
1 tbsp. split peas/pottu kadalai

Separately grind 1 tbsp. coconut

In a pan, splutter mustard seeds, urad dhal and curry leaves, then add onions, tomatoes, brinjal one by one, once brinjal is cooked, then add sambar powder and salt. Now add the ground paste, once the paste loses its raw smell, add the cooked bean as well. Add some water and cover it and let it boil for few minutes. Then add the ground coconut paste to the mixture and switch it off.

This goes well with any tiffin item (idly/dosai/chappathi) or even on top of rice.

Thanks Uma, for this new recipe.