Tuesday 11 June 2013

Pudhina Thuvaiyal

Easy to make and super tasty.

Last night, I decided to whip up a very simple dinner for the husband and me - Matta rice kanji(rice soup). We'd picked up some broken matta rice from the Indian store and all these awesome memories came flooding back.

Making the kanji itself is really simple. Wash the rice 4 or 5 times to remove the muddy residue and then let it cook in a covered pan with a lot of water. Once it reaches your preferred consistency and is well cooked, turn off the gas, scoop into a bowl, add a bit of ghee and a pinch of salt and your kanji is ready. A simple kanji tastes awesome when accompanied with any one or all of the below:
1. A freshly ground spicy chutney
2. Inji pulli (a tangy pickle/chutney made with ginger, tamarind and green chillies)
3. Papadum
4. Any tangy/spicy pickle

I decided to make a mint thuvaiyal yesterday to go with the kanji. Here's my modified version of the recipe from Meenakshi Ammal's book

You will need:
A handful of fresh mint leaves
3 tsps of urud dal
5 dried red chillies
1 spoon of tamarind paste
1 tsp of mustard seeds
4 tsps of dessicated coconut
1 pinch of sugar
2 pinches of salt

Heat gingelly oil in a kadai. Add the red chillies, the fresh mint leaves, the urud dal, the mustard seeds and the coconut. When it turn reddish, remove from heat, and grind along with the tamarind, sugar, salt and some water.

Enjoy this with dosas, rasam rice, or like I did, with your kanji.