Keerai Mandi

This Mandi goes very well with hot rice. We will be using water, drained after washing the rice called as Mandi, This dish helps to reduce body heat and mouth ulcer. You can use any type of Greens even Spinach too. I have used Drumstick greens in this recipe.

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
No. of servings: 4

Ingredients:

Drumstick greens - 1 cup
Onion shallots - 8 no's

Garlic pods - 5 no's

Green chilly - 1 no.

Salt - required

Water drained after washing rice - 2 cups (this water is called as Mandi)
Coconut milk - 1/2 cup
Rice flour - 1 Table spoon

To Temper:

Oil - 2 Table spoons

Cumin seeds - 2 Tea spoons

Red chilly - 1 no.

Method:

1. First will do MEEZ-ahn-plahs. The term is used to keep the ingredients ready before cooking.
Clean, wash and then chop the greens if required. But before chopping, wash the greens, don't do it in reverse, else nutrients in greens will go away in water if u do chopping first and then washing the greens.
2. Chop the shallots, green chilly and garlic pods.
3. Keep it aside of 2 cups of water drained after washing the rice.
4. Get it ready of 1/2 a cup of coconut milk, mixed with 1 table spoon of rice flour.

5. Place a pan and add oil, once oil is hot, add the ingredients mentioned in "To Temper" list, one by one.

6. Then add garlic,green chilly once garlic turns golden brown, add shallots. Shallots takes very less time to cook, don't leave it for a long, else it will be burnt.

7. Once shallots turns to translucent color, add greens, don't add salt now, else greens color will be changed. Just leave it for two minutes.
8. Now add the 2 cups of rice water, add required salt and close the lid.

9. Let the greens get cooked in water, add the coconut milk mixed with rice flour.
10. Switch off the stove once stew starts boiling again after adding coconut milk. Don't leave it for a long else coconut flavor will be changed, now the dish is ready to serve.

This Mandi will goes very well with hot rice.

Tips:

1. Dish will be delicious depends on the water which you have drained after washing rice. Usually I store the water(Mandi) while I grind rice for Idli/ Dosa. As you will get good quantity of concentrated rice water(Mandi).

Thakkali Kurma

This Kurma suits for Idli, Dosa, Chapathi, Poori.

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
No. of servings: 4

Ingredients:

Onion - 1 no. big in size

Tomato - 3 no's

Garlic pods - 5 no's
Potato - 2 no's

Green chilly - 1 no

Salt - required

Red chilly powder (Kashmiri) - 1 Table spoon

Coriander leaves - few

To Grind:

Coconut Grated  - 5 Table spoons

Cumin seeds - 2 Tea spoons

Roasted Split Gram - 3 Table spoons

To Temper:

Oil - 5 Table spoons

Fennel seeds - 2 Tea spoons

Bay leaf - 1/2

Curry leaves - few

Method:

1. Chop the veggies required for this dish.
Tip: If Potatoes are chopped finely, it helps to cook faster in Kurma as we are preparing it in pan. Onions and Garlic as to be chopped as lengthier ones, so it will be crunchy while tasting it.

2. Place a pan and add oil, once oil is hot, add the ingredients mentioned in "To Temper" list, one by one.

3. Then add garlic, green chilly. Once garlic turns golden brown, add onion.

4. Once onion turns to translucent color, add tomatoes with required salt, close the lid to get cooked.

5. Tomatoes will be smashed, add potatoes then add chilly powder with required water, close the lid.

6. While waiting the kurma gets boiled, Grind the items required mentioned in "To Grind" list.

7. Once kurma in the pan boiled, add the paste, once it start boiling it again, switch off the stove, don't leave it for longer duration. This will change the taste of coconut paste.

This kurma suits for Idli, Dosa, Chapathi, Puri.

Tips:

1. You can grind tomatoes as a puree instead of chopped ones to get different taste. For that you need to cook the tomatoes in hot water, peal the skin, dice and grind it.