Vengaya Kosu is a spicy onion tomato curry from the Chettinad kitchens and served as a an accompaniment to idlis, dosas , pongal.

This dish can be made as spicy as you like or keep it milder but makes a delicious side dish and a great change from the regular tiffin sambar.

This dish can be made with only tomatoes also skipping onions and yet makes a great tasty side dish especially when you do not have stock of vegetables and need a quick side dish .Excellent for bachelors .

 Ingredients:

1 medium onion thinly sliced
2 tomatoes finely chopped
Pinch of turmeric powder
Salt to taste
Some chopped coriander leaves for garnishing.

To grind to a smooth paste:

1/4 cup grated coconut
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp poppy seeds
4 Kashmiri red chillies ( depends on your spice preference
I used Kashmiri red chilies for the fiery look and mild spice )
2 tbsp fried gram dal ( pottukadalai / puttani ).

To temper:

1-2 bay leaves
4 cloves
1 cardamom
1 small stick cinnamon
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
2 tbsp gingelly oil.

Method:

1. In a pan add the oil , and add the tempering ingredients one by one .

2. Add the sliced onions and let it turn translucent , add chopped tomatoes and turmeric powder . Add some coriander leaves and little water to cook the mixture till soft .

3. Meanwhile keep the ground paste ready .

4. Grind to a smooth paste the ingredients mentioned in step 2.

5. Now add the ground fragrant paste to the cooking mixture and stir gently . Add little more water to the mixie to remove the ground paste and add that to the Spicy kosu to make it little more loose in consistency ( keep the consistency as per your preference )

6. I prefer to have a lighter curry for more dipping with idlis and dosas .

7. Delicious simple Chettinad Vengaya ( onion ) kosu is ready to be devoured with soft idlis and dosas, Pongal .

Notes .

The tempering ingredients may also be added by roasting and powdering them as adding them as whole makes the curry spicy and some may not like to bite into spices whole while eating .

You can make them into a garam masala powdered and use as required .

This recipe is also made using some chopped cubed potatoes . Purely optional but a Chettinad Vengaya kosu is usually made with simple two veg ingredients .

The key flavor being ground coconut with spices .

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