Get the Indian curry basics right

Having been through many recipe books as a cooking newbie I realised that there is enough in there to confuse the novice. That has been the motivation to post powder recipes in my cookery blog. Today I tackle the curry, in a generic way. Essentially most curries have the same base to which a multitude of vegetables and after-thought ingredients are added to pamper different palettes.
There are two forms of curry that is made in India - dry and gravy.

Dry Curry

What you need to make Dry curry

Seasoning

• Mustard seeds (rai) - 1 tsp
• Cumin seeds (jeera) - 1 tsp
• Turmeric for its antiseptic properties as much as the colour - 1/4 tsp
• Kadlebele (Split Yellow Chick peas/Channa dal) - 2 tsp
• Uddinbele(Urad dal) - 2 tsp
• Red chilly powder - 1 tsp / 2 red chillies broken into pieces / 2 green chillies cut into small rings

Optional Ingredients for Seasoning

• Coriander leaves - 2 strands, finely chopped
• Curry leaves - 10, finely chopped or as is

Preparation to make Dry Curry

• Wash curry leaves and dry thoroughly in the sun. It should not have any moisture in it
• Wash coriander leaves thoroughly.

Method to make Dry Curry

• Heat oil in a pan or kadai (heavy bottomed vessel).
• To the oil add all the seasoning ingredients.
• Wait for the mustard seeds and cumin seeds to splutter, kadlebele and
  uddinbele to turn golden brown and chillies to be fried well.
• Add any vegetable of your choice. The vegetable could either have been steamed earlier or be raw(which means it will have to cook in the pan).
• Add salt to taste.
• Optional for Dry Curry - Yennegai Powder could be added at this juncture to get a different taste.

Gravy Curry
What you need to make Gravy Curry
Same as Dry Curry plus

• Onions - 1, blended or cut into small pieces according to convenience
• Tomatoes -2, blended into a puree

Optional ingredients

• Garlic - 4 pods, mashed or cut into tiny pieces
• Ginger - 1/2 inch piece, mashed or grated

Preparation to make Gravy Curry

• Same as for Dry curry

Method to make Gravy Curry

• Same as for Dry Curry

Nalagri/Yennegai/Vegetable "bath" Powder

The way my mom makes "Nalagripudi" distinguishes it from the Sambhar powder of many homes. This is a versatile multipurpose powder. One could use this powder to makeIyengar style Nalagri which is like thicker form of rasam, eaten with rice. This powder could also be mixed with Yennegai, a side dish eaten with rice or chapati. It could also be mixed into vegetable "bath" rendering it a nice classy touch when compared to the regular "Chitranna".
Here I will post the recipe for making 400 gms of Nalagripudi, enough to last for some months.

What you need to make Nalagripudi

• Kadlebele (Split yellow chickpeas) - 100gms
• Uddinbele (Black gram)- 100 gms
• Dhania - 100 gms
• Curry leaves - 1/2 cup
• Copra (Dry Coconut) - 1 cup
• Cinammon - 2 sticks of 2 inches length
• Gasgase (Khus-khus / poppy seeds) - 3 tsp
• Red Chillies - 15 - 20 depending on how spicy one prefers it
• Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp

Preparation to make Nalagripudi

• Wash curry leaves and dry thoroughly in the sun. It should not have any moisture in it.
• Place a heavy bottomed vessel on the stove with the flame low. Do all the roasting in this vessel.
• Roast curry leaves, cinnamon sticks, asafoetida and gasgase together. Take care not to burn it. Keep aside in a container to cool.
• Roast kadlebele till light brown. Pour it into the same container to cool.
• Roast uddinbele till light brown. Pour it into the same container to cool.
• Roast dhania till light brown. Pour it into the same to cool.
• Grate the dry coconut.
• Roast the dry coconut till light brown. Take care not to burn it. Pour it into the same container to cool.

Method to make Nalagripudi

• Once all the ingredients are cooled, dry grind all of them to a fine powder.
• Spread out the powder into a large plate and allow to cool.

My fundas

• Keep the Nalagri powder in an air tight container at all times.
• I had posted a recipe for making Nalagri. This recipe was about making instantaneous Nalagri powder. The variation to this recipe inorder to use this powder would be to just do the same as one would do for Rasam plus add 2-4 tsps of Nalagri powder.
• I will post a recipe for Yenagai soon and update this post on how to use this powder for that.
• I will also post a recipe for Vegetable "bath" and update this post on how to use this powder for that.

Chutney Powder

I am languishing away at my parents' home currently with all the time and laziness in the world. Today I decided to thwart the laid-backedness and post some recipes for basic everyday use powders. Basically my mom is the chef and I am the "helper" while she makes these delights to pack off to my brother's home. But since its my mom, who is anyway behind most of my recipes, I take the liberty to blog about it as if mine :)

"Chutneypudi" as it is called in our homes is a tasty side dish in South India for many snacks like Idli, Dosa, Rotti or even Uppit. It adds to the taste of whatever is eaten along with it. Its lip smacking for its khatta-meetha flavour.

Here I will post the recipe for making 250 gms of Chutneypudi, enough to last for atleast a couple of months.

What you need to make Chutneypudi

• Kadlebele (Split yellow chickpeas) - 100gms
• Uddinbele (Black gram) - 100 gms
• Red Chillies - 10
• Tamarind - small ball of 1/2 inch diameter
• Copra (Dry Coconut) - 75 gms
• Curry Leaves - 1/4 cup
• Jaggery - small ball of 1 inch diameter
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
• Asafoetida - a pinch
• Oil - 1 tsp
• Salt - 1 and 1/2 tsp or to taste

Preparation to make Chutneypudi

• Wash curry leaves and dry thoroughly in the sun. It should not have any moisture in it.
• Place a heavy bottomed vessel on the stove with the flame low. Do all the roasting in this vessel.
• Roast curry leaves till dry and crackling. Take care not to burn it. Keep aside in a plate to cool.
• Roast kadlebele along with half the red chillies till light brown. Pour it in a separate container to cool.
• Roast uddinbele along with half the red chillies till light brown. Pour it into the same container as kadlebele to cool.
• Grate the dry coconut.
• Roast the dry coconut till light brown. Take care not to burn it. Keep aside in the same plate as curry leaves to cool.
• Heat oil in the heavy bottomed vessel with the flame still low. To this add turmeric, mustard seeds, asafoetida and tamarind (stranded) and fry till the mustard seeds splutter.
• Switch off the stove.
• Now add the roasted dry coconut and curry leaves to the fried ingredients and mix well. Keep aside the entire mixture to cool.

Method to make Chutneypudi

• Once the kadlebele, uddinbele and red chillies are cooled, dry grind all the three to a coarse powder.
• Add the fried and cooled mixture to this and grind some more.
• Add salt and grind.
• Spread out the powder into a large plate and allow to cool.

My fundas

• Do not make the powder too smooth. Its nice to eat when a little coarse.
• Keep the chutney powder in an air tight container at all times.
• I love mixing this powder with sugar and eating it with dosa. You could try it too!
• Another great way to eat this would be to slice an Idli like a burger, apply ghee inside and sprinkle chutney powder. Idli burger :)
• T even eats this with rice with a little ghee to mix well. Loves it.

Rasam Powder

On popular demand I bring you the recipe for the invigorating Rasam powder!

What you need to make Rasam powder

• 1/4 kilo Lal Mirch (Red chillies)


• 1/2 kilo dhania (coriander seeds)


• 100 gms Jeera (cumin seeds)


• 100 gms Kali Mirch (black pepper)


• 300 gms Methi (Fenugreek seeds)


• 50 gms Rai (Mustard seeds)


• 10 strands Kadi Patha (Curry leaves)


• 10 gms Hing (Asofoetida) (For those in India a medium sized SSP HIng box)


• 1 tsp Ghee (use the spoon you eat with)

In South India, the preferred varities for red chillies are from Guntur or Byadgi regions available under the same names.
The guntur variety is roundish and imparts a rich red colour to the powder
The byadgi variety is less spicy, hence you would have to use 1/2 kilo if you choose this.

Preparation for making Rasam powder

• Wash curry leaves and dry thoroughly in the sun. It should not have any moisture on it.


• Clean the red chillies. Its upto you whether you want to remove the cap.


• Place a heavy bottomed vessel(kadai) on the stove (switched on).


• Keep the flame low.


• Switch on the exhaust fans please :)


• Put the coriander seeds into the kadai. To this also add the curry leaves. Roast both together constantly stirring. Take care that it does not burn. Roast till it turns a little brown.


• Pour this out to a big container. (You will keep adding the rest of the ingredients after preparing them to this same container).


• Now its the turn of the red chillies. Put the red chillies into the kadai. I am sure we wouldn't keep giant kadais at home hence you wil have to roast the chillies in parts. Roast the red chillies till they are warm to the touch. Its also necessary that you keep turning the chillies around in the kadai so that they are all evenly warm


• Pour this out to the same big container as mentioned before.


• (You could roast the chillies in the end also because the air does get swamped with "chilliness" and you will end up sneezing and watery eyed.)


• Put the cumin seeds into the kadai. Keep moving it around while it crackles. Stop when it changes colour a little bit.


• Pour this out to the same big container as mentioned before.


• Please note that that the kadai would get pretty hot over time and ingredients could burn if you are not watching.


• Now for the black pepper. Take 1/2 tsp of ghee and put it into the kadai. To this add the black pepper and roast for a veyr little while. It will crackle and spurt a lot so you will have to keep a lid handy to cover it. Ofcourse leave a little place for your spoon to enter and stir :) (Tough job)


• Pour this out to the same big container as mentioned before.


• Take 1/2 tsp of ghee and put it into the kadai. Put the fenugreek seeds into this. Roast till it becomes a brown.


• Pour this out to the same big container as mentioned before.


• Now put mustard seeds and asafoetida into the kadai and roast a little.


• Pour this out to the same big container as mentioned before.

Method to make powder

• Allow the contents of the big container to cool down to room temperature.


• Now either you could use a Mixer/Grinder which you have at home or you could take it to your friendly neighboruhood rice mill and grind all the contents together. It should be ground to a fine powder

My fundas

• You will have with you around 1 and 1/2 to 2 kilos of Rasam powder which could last from 8 months to a year for you depending on usage.


• Please keep this powder in an air tight container at all times.


• My advice would be to pour out little quantities into a smaller box and use this daily instead of opening the big air tight box everyday.


• If you do not want to end up with this humonguos quantity of powder just reduce the quantity of ingredients proportionally.


• The main ingredient being the red chilli, if you reduce it by half for example then you will have to reduce all the other ingredients also by half.


• And yes, the key to making your rasam less spicy is not in the ingredients of the powder but in the quantity you dunk into your rasam itself ;)