Cabbage Poriyal Recipe - South Indian Style Cabbage Poriyal

Learn how to make cabbage poriyal, a simple vegetarian (vegan, actually) South Indian dry curry with cabbage, coconut, and spices. Poriyal can be made with a variety of vegetables and goes great with rice and curry.

I tend to make cabbage thoran more often than cabbage poriyal but the key advantage to a poriyal is that you don't have to grind the coconut while for thoran, in my opinion, the coarse grinding of coconut with jeera and shallots and green chillies males all the difference in taste. Some weekends, we just crave a simple South Indian meal and a bowl of hot rice with mor kuzhambu and poriyal hits the right spot. Using a food processor for chopping up the cabbage makes this a very quick task and you can get the poriyal from vegetable to plate in less than 30 mins. Chopping cabbage by hand is a messy job so I avoid that if I can help it.

If you'd rather try a Kerala-style thoran, then check out this cabbage thoran recipe or this carrot beetroot thoran. I also really like this eggplant poriyal that uses roasted spices and is amazingly flavourful.

CABBAGE PORIYAL RECIPE

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Serves 2-4

INGREDIENTS:
4 cups of cabbage, chopped fine
1 tbsp of chana dal / kadalai paruppu (soaked in warm water for 10 mins)
2 tsp of oil
1/2 tsp of black mustard seeds
10 curry leaves
1/2 tsp of cumin powder (optional)
1/2 cup of sliced shallots (or onions)
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
2 green chillies, sliced (I used one red chilli and one green)
1/4 cup of grated coconut

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Chop the cabbage and set aside.

2. Heat the oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. When they pop, add the soaked chana dal and shallots/onions. Fry until the onions turn soft - about 3 mins.

3. Then, add the turmeric, curry leaves, red and green chillies, saute for another minute.

4. Add the chopped cabbage along with the cumin powder, curry leaves, and some salt. The salt helps bring out the moisture in the cabbage and allows it to cook in its own juices.

Mix well

5. Add about 2 tbsp water and cook covered for 7-8 mins until the cabbage is cooked but not mushy.

Give it a good stir. You can also stir once in between when it's cooking in the closed pan, just to ensure even cooking. Keep flame low and it will steam up in its own water and the little you have added. If the poriyal is too moist at this stage, just let it cook down in the open pot while being stirred now and then.

6. Finally add the grated coconut on top and more salt if needed. Mix well and remove from flame.

Serve warm with rice and any curry. It goes particularly well with onion pulusu or kara kuzhambu or even the combination I used in the meal pictured, with rice and buttermilk kulambu.

Poriyal keeps well if refrigerated for up to 2 days.

For Cabbage Poriyal recipe in Tamil, Hindi, Marathi, Kannada, Telugu, etc, please use the Google Translate button in the sidebar.

Karunai Kizhangu Kuzhambu - Karunai Kilangu Kulambu Recipe

Learn how to make a South Indian style kuzhambu or kulambu with Karunai Kizhangu, strangely called Yam Ordinary in English. This spicy kuzhambu has a tamarind base and tomatoes, coconut, and lots of garlic to give it tang and flavour.

Karunai Kizhangu is one of those vegetables from my childhood associated with lots of memories. It is not easily available in Kottayam and so whenever anyone visited from Tamil Nadu or someone from the family went there, karunai kizhangu was among one of the vegetables usually brought back. It has a very similar texture to yam or senai kizhangu but a different flavour. It tends to irritate the throat similar to yam and so cooking it in a tamarind based kuzhambu is the best option.

My mom and grandmom make a different puli kuzhambu with karunai kizhangu but I chose to cook it in a very easy kuzhambu. I made this back in March when we were in Singapore (and where karunai kizhangu is available almost year round at Mustafa Centre) and my uncle was visiting. A true South Indian lunch on a Sunday since I was making him all sorts of short-cut dishes over weeknights during his 2-week visit.

Karunai Kilangu Kulambu with rice, Beetroot Thoran and Kerala Banana Chips

This is one of the easiest kulambu recipe I have ever made and it has a wonderful flavour. Although it lacks the depth of colour that the traditional Reddiar nalla pulusu has, I still love it and cook it often with regular yam or even just tomatoes and onion.

If you are looking for a good South Indian kulambu recipe, I recommend Ullipaya Pulusu, Kara Kuzhambu, Paruppu Urundai Kuzhambu, or this Poricha Kuzhambu. Or, just browse all kuzhambu recipes in the site and pick your favourite.

KARUNAI KIZHANGU KUZHAMBU RECIPE

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves 4
Recipe adapted from: Prema's Cook

INGREDIENTS:
3 tbsp of nallennai (gingelly oil)
1/2 tsp of black mustard seeds
1/2 tsp of fennel seeds (saunf)
A few fenugreek seeds (menthayam/uluva)
A pinch of hing (asafoetida/perungayam)
1/4 cup of shallots, peeled
1/2 cup of tomatoes, chopped
1 cup of karunai kizhangu, peeled and cubed
A few curry leaves
1 heaping tbsp of sambar powder
2 tbsp of coriander powder
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
1/2 cup of thick tamarind extract
1/4 cup of grated coconut
1/4 cup of peeled garlic cloves

INSTRUCTIONS:

Here's a picture of karunai kizhangu, the star ingredient in the recipe

1. Since you will be quickly adding them in one by one, I recommend keeping all ingredients prepared and ready.

2. Heat oil and add the mustard seeds. When they pop, add the fennel seeds, fenugreek seeds, and hing. Fry for 10 seconds taking care not to burn any of the spices. Keep flame low.

3. Add the tomatoes, garlic, curry leaves, karunai kizhangu, and shallots to this and give it a good saute for 30 seconds.

4. Now add the tamarind extract, turmeric, coriander, sambar powder, and some salt.

5. Top up with another 1-1.5 cups water and bring to boil.

7. Cook covered for about 5-7 mins or until the garlic and yam is cooked soft.

8. Meanwhile, grind the coconut to a smooth paste by adding some water.

9. Once the vegetables are cooked, add this to the kuzhambu.

10. Mix well and let it simmer for another 10 mins or so. At this time, it will reach a thick consistency. This really depends on how much water you add. If you want the kuzhambu thicker, boil until it reaches the right consistency.

Check salt and remove from fire. Kuzhambu ready! You can store it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Make sure you don't leave it out for too long after cooking. Serve hot with rice and curry and refrigerate the remaining kuzhambu immediately. It tastes better on sitting for a while. Enjoy!

For kuzhambu recipe in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, etc, please use the Google translate button in the sidebar. 

Plain Dosa Recipe - How to Make Dosa Batter at Home (Step by Step, Tips and FAQs)

Note: This is a long and detailed post on how to make plain dosa at home with lots of tips and FAQs at the end. 

Dosa is soul food for me. I often tell TH how I can make and eat dosa every day for a long time and still not be bored with it. It's probably because we ate a lot of dosa growing up. Our family, or rather the Reddiar community in Kerala, always has homemade dosa batter in the fridge, ready to whip up fresh dosas on demand or for the unexpected guests whom we always insist stay for dinner. My mom has been using an industrial sized wet grinder for many years now and it's run about twice a week to keep the idli/dosa batter supply ongoing and fresh. She makes idlis as soon as the batter ferments and then dilutes the batter further to make dosas for the next 3-4 days.

Dosa with Sambar and Chutney from my Mom's kitchen

The batter we make is the same for idli and dosa and uses only whole skinned urad dal (ulutham paruppu or uzhunnu parippu) and idli rice or dobbi ari. Apart from salt, nothing else is added to this. The proportion of rice to dal remains almost constant in the batter, only altered if the dal is old or doesn't seem to do its job properly. This variable is successfully eliminated in most cases by sourcing the rice and dal from trusted grocery stores only (my dad ran one for many years so we directly sourced the best quality stuff from dealers in Andhra and Tamil Nadu directly).

I don't know why I never shared this plain dosa recipe before since it's such a comfort food for us and a constant in our lives. So as I was saying, the idli-dosa batter is made about twice a week and idli is made immediately after the first round of fermenting. Nowadays, amma makes idlis in bulk and stores them but back in the day, idlis only made an appearance the day after the batter was ground. From day two onwards, it was dosa time - soft, fluffy and slight thick for the adults, roasted and crisp for the kids and young at heart (my grand mom loved her dosas crisp).

This would go on for about 4 days until the next round of batter was made. Dinner was almost always dosa with different kinds of chutneys and side dishes to shakes things up a bit.

As soon as I got settled in Singapore, I brought back a wet grinder from India - the Ultra tabletop one. It does a great job of grinding my batter and I have rarely bought batter from stores after buying it. It does take some planning to make your own dosa or idli batter at home but obviously is well worth the effort. You can check my detailed post on making idli batter at home for more info on that. Today we are going to look at how to prepare plain dosa at home. This is not a paper roast dosa or an uthappam, but somewhere in the middle, perfect for everyday breakfast or dinner with some dosa podi. I will share the method to prepare crispy hotel-style dosa soon.

HOMEMADE PLAIN DOSA RECIPE

Preparation time: 8 hours
Cooking time: 10 minutes

FOR THE DOSA BATTER
Ingredients:
1 cup whole skinned urad dal
3 cups idli rice*
Salt as needed (see notes)

Instructions:

1. Soak the rice and dal separately for 3 hours
2. Grind dal first into a smooth consistency adding enough water
3. Grind rice into a smooth batter by adding just enough water to get it going
4. Combine the two, add salt, and let it ferment in a large enough bowl lightly covered, for about 6-8 hours in a warm place
5. * You can increase rice to four cups if using good quality urad dal but it takes experience and practice to tell if that's the case so go with these proportions as you start out

TO MAKE THE DOSAS (~8 Nos)
Ingredients:
4 cups of fermented dosa batter
1-1.5 cups of water
4 tbsp of gingelly oil (Indian sesame oil like Idhayam)

Instructions:

1. Add enough water to the fermented batter until you have a smooth, pouring consistency. Make sure the batter is not too watery though, it should be thick-ish but fall off your spoon easily.

2. Heat a tawa or iron griddle and grease with the oil lightly. Pour about 1/2 cup batter to the centre of the tawa.

3. Using the back of your ladle, gently spread the batter with a circular motion from the centre towards the sides of the tawa.

This requires some practice but is not hard at all. As you can see, I have made dosas enough times to actually do a decent job with my left hand while taking pictures with my right. Ok, I'll stop showing off now.

Since we are not making very crispy dosas, don't spread it too thin. The dosa should be more or less evenly thick.

4. Drizzle about 1 tsp of oil around the edges of the dosa and add a few sprinkles on the top as well.

5. If your tawa is greased adequately and is not sticky, the edge of the dosa will start to come off the pan in about 1 minute or so. Use a spatula to gently lift the dosa

and flip it over. Cook the other side for another 40 seconds or so and remove from pan.

Serve with dosa podi, chutney, sambar, tiffin sambar, or anything that takes your fancy. I can eat dosa with pretty much anything!

NOTES and FAQs:

Q: Why does my dosa stick to the pan?

A: There are a few reasons for this:
Use a well-greased pan - if your tawa is new, you need to season it to make sure it's ready to make dosas. Using a non stick pan works but in my opinion, the dosas turn out dry. Use a pre-seasoned iron tawa and you will be fine.

To grease a dosa pan properly, use anything you can dip into oil - like a piece of onion, potato, a wooden spoon, etc. Dip into the sesame oil and rub generously all over the tawa. If you pour drops onto the tawa, then spreading the dosa will be difficult so always grease fully and don't pour the oil before spreading dosa.

Also, never use a dosa tawa to make rotis. Keep one tawa exclusively for dosa. I have noticed that people who are new to making dosas add way too little oil. Be generous, a few drops are not enough.

Batter has too much water - this makes cooking times longer. If you have more fermented thick batter in stock, add it to the batter you are using, or, just lower flame and be patient. Make sure your flame is not very high. Medium-low heat is perfect for cooking dosas and you may need to adjust this on and off as the pan gets hot and cold during the cooking process.

If the above two are checked, then it's possible that your batter is too old and sour. That's another reason why it would stick to the pan.

Q: Why is my dosa batter grainy?

A: You didn't grind the batter to a smooth consistency, that's why. Remember to soak the rice and dal for enough time and grind it to a very smooth consistency before fermenting. An Indian mixie is good to make small quantities but a food processor does not give you a smooth batter. A wet grinder is obviously the best option for making dosa batter at home.

Q: My dosa is white even after it is cooked. Why?

A: Couple of reasons that could be contributing to this - your batter is too cold - just bring it to room temperature before making the dosa* - or, the proportion of rice in your batter is too high. Adjust proportions next time you make the batter. Conversely, too much dal in your dosa batter will contribute to dosas that are too red in colour. Adjust accordingly in your next batch.

*We never follow this rule at home though. For years, we have been taking batter right out of the fridge and making dosas immediately with no issues.

Q: My dosas are very sour. Why?

A: Your batter is over-fermented or too old. If you have some wheat flour (atta), add it to the old batter and make semi-wheat dosas. Another trick is to add equal amounts of fresh batter and make dosas. Masala Paniyaram is another way to use up old dosa batter.

Q: How much salt should I add to the dosa batter?

A: I actually don't measure salt each time but noticed that I end up adding a heaped teaspoon of salt to the above-mentioned quantities of ingredients. You can taste the batter and see if it seems salty enough. Adding enough salt is important for right amount of fermentation.

Q: How do I ferment dosa batter in a cold place?

A: I didn't have to ask myself this question when living in India and Singapore but in Sydney, it's a whole different situation. I reached here late winter and have made 3 batches so far. Each time I tried a different method. The best option was to leave the batter in a bowl covered with a plate in the oven with the light turned on. Do not turn on the oven itself. The heat from the light is enough to give it that extra push.

Once, I just left the batter on the kitchen counter overnight. It didn't rise at all but was bubbly and seemed fermented. I didn't risk making idlis with the batter and dosas turned out just fine.

It also helps if you mix the batter for 2-3 mins with your hand. Just don't investigate too much into the science of that ;)

Q: How do I use store-bought dosa/idli batter?

A: The quality of store-bought batter really varies a lot. I have tried a few different brands in Singapore and have had different experiences. One thing that's common is, although they all claim to also make good idlis, they don't. So don't waste your time making idlis with store-bought batter. Dosas, however, have turned out good for me. Most batters need you to add some water to bring it to the right consistency. Use up all batter within 3 days, they don't last as much as homemade batter.

Q: What about variations to the dosa batter - like adding poha, cooked rice, quinoa, brown rice, etc?

I make dosa batter the plain and simple way as mentioned above. I do plan to experiment a bit though but be patient with me, will share them as I get to it.

If you have any more questions on making dosa at home, please leave it below in the comments and I will get back to you. Between my mom and me, we should be able to answer them :) The above questions were compiled after a short poll I did on my Facebook page and hopefully they represent most of your personal questions on making dosa at home.

If you found this post useful, please pin it or share it with friends. Thanks!
To learn how to make dosa or dosa batter in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Urdu, etc, please use the Google Translate button in the sidebar. 

Kanchipuram Idli - Kanchipuram Idli Recipe - Easy South Indian Breakfasts

I tasted Kanchipuram idli once about 6 or 7 years ago and didn't like it. It was harder than regular idli, for one, and the flavour of the spices, especially the cumin, was overpowering the delicate idli flavour that should have shone through. So yeah, Kandhipuram idli and I had a pretty rough start and I soon forgot about this popular idli variety. The striking thing that stayed with me, however, is that the Kanchipuram idli is not made in traditional, round, idli moulds but rather in a pan or plate, to be cut later into squares or wedges before serving.

When you blog about food, you realise that you go to great lengths to cook as many unique and varied dishes as possible, mostly because that's your thing, you are the food blogger, and partly because you want new content for the blog. I am always looking for new things to cook, especially when I have people over. This Kanchipuram idli seemed like the perfect starter for a brunch I hosted a couple months before leaving Singapore.

So what did I do differently in my version of Kanchipuram idli versus the one I tried all those years ago? I spiced my idli batter before fermenting, and I toned down the amount of pepper and cumin, making sure the idli batter flavour can shine through easily. I also had to come to terms with the fact that Kanchipuram idli is a bit on the denser side than a regular idli, that's all. Paired with an easy tomato thokku, it really set a good tone for the rest of the meal I'd prepared.

I used homemade idli batter for these idlis but they can definitely be adapted for use with readymade batter too. I have added some tips at the end of this post if that's the way you want to take it. Remember to adjust all spices and extras to your personal taste and preference.

Also check - idli batter recipe, rava idli, and idli with idli rava.

KANCHIPURAM IDLI RECIPE

Preparation time: 8 hours
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Serves 4-6 as a starter

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup of whole urad dal (ulutham paruppu)
3 cups of idli rice
1/2 tsp of coarse black pepper powder
1/2 tsp of crushed cumin seeds
1 tsp of grated ginger
1/4 tsp of hing (asafoetida)
1 tbsp of gingelly oil or ghee or a mix of both
A few curry leaves

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Grind the idli batter first. You can follow instructions in this post on how to make idli batter. Soak the rice for about 4 hours and the urad dal for 1 hour. Grind them both separately (urad dal first) into smooth batters with sufficient water and mix together.

2. To this, add the pepper powder, cumin, ginger, hing, and some salt.

3. Mix thoroughly. Remove spoon, close the bowl lightly with and let it ferment in a warm spot for about 8 hours.

4. Here's how the batter looks after fermentation.

Give it a gentle stir with a spoon so as not to break into the air too much.

5. Heat the oil (or ghee or a mix) and add the curry leaves.

As the sizzle comes to an end, add to the batter and mix well.

6. Grease whatever mould you are using (even a plate with sides will do) lightly and pour the batter in. Make sure the idli is about 1" to 1.5" tall. Lower into a steamer or pressure cooker with water in it.

7. Steam for about 10 mins or until the sides start to leave the pan.

Cool, cut, and serve with a spicy thokku or South Indian coconut chutney. It's delicious as a snack, breakfast, or a starter for a South Indian brunch.

Note: If you are using store-bought idli batter, just add the spices and the tempering of curry leaves before making the idli, mix well, and proceed to cook. You can save a lot of time in preparing Kanchipuram idlis by skipping the fermentation step. 

For Kanchipuram Idli recipe in Tamil, please use the Google translate drop down on the right hand sidebar.

Cumin Rasam Recipe - Jeera Rasam Recipe with Pepper

Cumin Rasam or jeera rasam is a South Indian Iyer style rasam recipe that I got from my MIL long back. Then I duly forgot the recipe and made up my own. It's quite similar to her pepper rasam recipe but is more heavy on the cumin which gives it a wonderful aroma and taste and doesn't use tomatoes or garlic. This is also a rasam with no dal so that means less time spent on making it but we do use fresh rasam powder so there's a bit of roasting and grinding involved. I love preparing this cumin rasam in bulk which means I can easily use it for 3-4 meals, mostly weeknights for dinner.

In a way, it truly amazes me how many different varieties of rasam I know to cook now. When growing up, rasam was served in our home only if someone was sick or amma was feeling too lazy to make a 'nicer' thakkali kuzhambu or ullipaya pulusu. And, I have mentioned this before, we only make one version of rasam which has lots of crushed pepper and garlic, and no dal.

Being married to a Tamil Brahmin has opened up this whole world of rasams and boy, am I grateful! But the biggest food discovery for me has been paruppu usili. I love that thing and totally regret the years lost not knowing of its existence.

My top 3 favourite rasams are Milagu Rasam, Tomato Rasam, and Mysore Rasam. Here's the entire list of rasam recipes if you want to browse around a bit.

JEERA RASAM RECIPE

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:
1 lime-sized ball of tamarind
1 pinch of hing or asafoetida
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
To Roast and Grind:
1 tsp of oil
1 tsp of cumin seeds (jeera)
1/2 tsp of black peppercorns
2 dry red chillies
1.5 tsp of toor dal or channa dal
For Tempering:
1 tsp of ghee or oil
A few of curry leaves
1/2 tsp of mustard seeds
1 of dry red chilli, halved
1/4 tsp of methi seeds (menthayam)

INSTRUCTIONS:

0. Add about 1 cup warm water to the tamarind, extract juice, and discard the pulp and seeds, if any.

1. In a pan, heat 1 tsp oil and add the spices to roast.

2. Roast until the dal turns golden brown. Turn off flame, add the hing, mix well, and set aside to cool.

3. Meanwhile, heat the ghee or oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. When they pop, add the halved red chilli, methi seeds, and curry leaves. Fry for 5 seconds, taking care not to burn the methi seeds.

4. Add the tamarind juice along with 2 more cups of water and bring to boil. Simmer for about 12-15 mins until the raw smell of the tamarind goes.

5. Meanwhile, powder the spices as fine or coarse as you want.

6. Add this to the simmering tamarind mixture along with required amount of salt. You can add half the spice mixture, taste as you go and then add more if you need it. I used up the entire thing. Some may find the spice levels too high, in which case, adjust the amount of pepper or

7. After add the spices, don't boil the rasam for too long. When it begins to simmer, remove from flame.

Keep covered until ready to serve. This Jeera Rasam tastes fabulous with banana stem usili and cabbage thoran.