Arachuvitta Sambar

Arachuvitta sambar literally means sambar to which ground spices are added. The name itself is so traditional and delicious to me! This is a tried and tested recipe that works like a charm. The last time I made it, I made a note of the amount of ingredients I am putting in because normally for sambar, I throw in stuff and it comes out well invariably. This is a slightly more tedious sambar than how I normally make it but well worth the effort, as always :) TH loves to have this with curd rice, since I make it slightly thicker than normal.

What I Used:

Toor dal / tuvar dal / thuvaram paruppu - 1/2 cup
Shallots / small onions - 1/2 cup, halved or quartered
Tamarind paste – 3 tbsp (or a marble sized amount soaked and squeezed in half cup water)
Asafoetida / hing / kaayam / perungayam - 1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
Curry leaves - a few
Salt - to taste
Oil – 2 tsp
Chopped fresh coriander leaves - for garnishing

Roast, cool and grind for masala mix

Coriander seeds / malli – 2 tbsp
Grated coconut (fresh or dessicated) - 2 tbsp
Chana dal – 1 tbsp
Dried red chillies – 6
Fenugreek seeds / methi seeds / uluva / menthayam – ¼ tsp (or a little less)
Curry leaves - a few
Oil - 1 tsp

How I Made It:

1. Pressure cook the dal in 3 cups water for 3 whistles.

2. Roast and grind the masala mix and set aside.

3. Heat 2 tsp oil in a heavy-bottomed pan and temper mustard seeds until they pop. Add curry leaves and chopped shallots and fry for a minute. Then add turmeric and hing.

4. Add the cooked dal and tamarind paste to the above. Adjust water to get the right consistency. Bring to boil.

5. Now add the ground masala mix and stir well, reducing the fire to sim. Add salt. Let the sambar boil for about 2-3 mins.

6. Remove and garnish with chopped coriander.

Goes well with vada, dosa, idli and steamed rice.

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Kandi Podi / Gun Powder / Andhra Style Paruppu Podi

This is my dad's favorite accompaniment to anything. So much so that each time I visited home from Hyderabad, he would request for this and only this. I try it when we go to Andhra thali restaurants but recently I started craving them and decided to make some.

Andhra Paruppu Podi

What I Used
(Recipe from here)

Toor dal / Tuvaram paruppu /Split gram - 1 cup
Moong dal /Paasi paruppu / Cherupayar Parippu - 1/2 cup
Chana dal / Kadala paruppu / Bengal gram - 1/2 cup
Red chilli powder - 2 tbsp
Black pepper powder - 2 tsp
Hing / Asafoetida / Perungayam - 1/2 tsp
Jeera / Jeerakam - 1 tbsp
Salt - to taste

How I Made It:

1. Dry fry all the dals separately until they turn golden brown. Mix well.
2. Add the jeera and hing to the dal mixture when its still hot and keep aside to cool.
3. Once cool, grind to a course/fine powder depending on preference.
4. Add red chilli powder, pepper and salt to the ground mixture and store in an airtight jar.

Serving suggestions:

- With steamed white rice and hot ghee.
- Mix with some curd or oil and serve with dosa.
- Some variations include adding dry fried curry leaves to the powder. I am sure that's yummy as well, I just didn't have enough curry leaves in hand.

This is my entry to the 7th helping of Legume Love Affair being served by Srivalli this time.

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Basic White Cupcakes

The best way to start baking after a long time - from the basics. I have always loved the simplicity of plain cakes, or tea cakes, as they are sometimes called. My mom used to make them quite regularly as a snack when we were in school. She used those manual egg-beaters that formed beautiful white peaks when the egg whites have been beaten for about 45 minutes.


This recipe doesn't call for beating the egg too much cuz since I don't have an electric beater, I go for such recipes mostly.

What I Used:
(Makes about 16 cupcakes)

Butter - 1/2 cup, at room temperature
All purpose flour / maida - 1 3/4 cups
Powdered sugar 1 cup (measure after powdering)
Egg - 1
Milk - 3/4 cup, at room temperature
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

How I Made It:

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Cream butter and sugar together until nicely mixed.

3. Use a fork and whisk the egg for about 10-15 minutes. The more you beat, the softer the cupcakes turn out. I lose patience at the end of 15 mins or so.

4. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt until blended well. I didn't have a sieve until recently so before that, I just used to put the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly.

5. Once the flour mixture is well blended, add to the butter-sugar mixure.

6. Mix well, in one direction. Then add the beaten egg and milk little by little making sure the batter is nicely blended. You don't need to eccessively mix at this time, just make sure the ingredients are blended.

7. Once the milk and egg have been completely added, mix in the vanilla essense.

8. Grease a muffin tray or line it with muffin paper cups. Pour batter 2/3 of the way.

9. Bake in a 375 degrees oven for about 20-25 mins until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcakes comes out clean.

Notes

- In case you don't have a muffin tray, you can use a regular cake try to make a normal cake.

- This recipe, with a little less sugar can be used to make layered cakes with frosting in the middle.

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