Poricha Kuzhambu

One of Tamilnadu s traditional dish is the Poricha Kuzhambu or Poritha Kuzhambu. A significant feature of this delicious but different side dish is the absence of any souring agent like Tamrind but accentuated heavily with flavours of coconut 🥥and roasted spices . Nothing too overbearing but pleasantly delightful on the palate.

Usual accompaniments is a Curd raita called Thair Pachadi . Even Vadu manga Jalam makes an excellent side dish . Poricha Kuzhambu is very healthy as it has lots of veggies and lentils . Kind of a one pot dish .

Every once in a while we like to make quick meals without having to make several dishes as accompaniments as for sambar, rasam which needs a side dish to have with meals. Poricha /poritha kuzhambu  comes to the rescue in a healthhy , nutritious way and one can easily satiate the appetite by having a quick lunch by mixing rice with the poritha kuzhambu and having some papads , raita or pachadi.

The variations are many and you can make this with one or more vegetables of your choice and it becomes very enriched.Good to serve to kids who come back from school and a nice way to sneak in as many veggeis of their choice.

Add a dollop of ghee to the hot rice while mixing this poritha kuzhambu and they will not complain. Serve them with some chips and the meal will not go waste.

Kootu and Poritha Kuzhambu are the famous Tamil meal either festival or even a daily lunch will consist of one of this dish.

Kootu in Tamil means  to add  i.e. vegetables  added to  lentils which form the dish, made of vegetable and lentils and are semi-solid in consistency The Tamil platter for meals usually has a sambar, rasam, kootu, poriyal , papad, pickle, curd  All kootus by default have some vegetables and lentils, but many variations of kootu exist:

·         Poricha Kootu: A kootu made with urid dhal and pepper is called poricha (means 'fried' in Tamil  kootu. Fried urid dhal, pepper and fresh coconut are ground together. The moong dhal and the cut vegetables are cooked separately. Then, the ground paste, cooked vegetable and moong dhal are mixed and heated. Vegetables such as beans and snake gourd are common ingredients in this kootu.

·         Araichivita Kootu: A kootu which has a ground (freshly powdered) masala in it; the word araichivita in Tamil  literally translates to 'the one which has been ground and poured.' The ground paste is a mixture of fried urid dhal, gram dhal, dhaniya (coriander seeds) and coconut. The chopped vegetables and the toor dhal are cooked separately. Then, the ground paste, cooked vegetable and dhal are heated together.
source...Wki

Ingredients

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 tsp split udad dal

3-4 red chilies

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp cumin

salt

1/3 cup or 1/2 cup grated coconut

some curry leaves

1-2 cups chopped broad beans 1 small chayote also chopped

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

pinch of asafoetida powder

1/2 cup moong dal pressure cooked

Tempering

1 tsp coconut oil

1 tsp chana dal

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

few curry leaves,

1-2 red broken chilies

Method

• Take a pan, add 1 tsp coconut oil ,

• add udad dal , red chilies, pepper, fry lightly without burning ,

• just before removing , add cumin seeds , remove and allow to cool .

• Grind to a smooth paste along with fresh coconut , and keep this paste aside .

• First pressure cook, moong dal after washing well, with turmeric powder , and with enough water and 3 whistles to give a smooth mixture .

• Open cooker, after it has released pressure naturally.

• To the cooker add chopped avarakkai ,and chow chow, add salt, asafoetida powder, add the cooked dal , and now pressure cook for only 1 whistle .

• we are adding vegetable to cooked dal after it has been well cooked as vegetables will become mushy if we pressure cook alongwith dal for 3 whistles .

• You can also cook all together with dal for 1 whistle but although the dal will be cooked it wont be mushy and will not give a smooth texture to the dish .

• Open cooker and add the ground paste , mix well , and cook on a low flame without allowing it to boil.

• Switch off and add a tempering of mustard seeds, chana dal, curry leaves, broken red chilies, in coconut oil , add this to the mixture of avarakkai and chow ahow kootu,mix well .

• cover and keep till serving .

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