January 19, 2008

Mathan Parippu Curry/ Pumpkin Dal


There are so many events on the blogosphere now that you need a blogging calender just to try and keep up! So of course, I take the easy way out and don't try at all!! I know all my fellow bloggers are probably raining shoes and rotten tomatoes on me, but help...I know I have said this before but there is just too many events on.
Honestly, my intentions are good but somehow can't keep to deadlines. An old habit left over from school days.

But when my friend Sra announced her event a month back, I felt...Hmm, this is interesting.. Grindless Gravy Event...and that I had lots of time to post on it. When I started cooking after marriage, my first notebook had a list of gravies that didn't require coconut and grinding of any kind of masala....I didn't have a mixie/blender then!! Then came the Sumeet grinder and suddenly grinding something in it everyday was second nature. So the Grindless Gravy reminded me of a grindless world for all the harried people out there.


Update 1/18/08
: Hi! Hi! My blogger mates are mercileesly informing me that apparently Sra would have rejected this since the grindless gravy was to be without lentils/dal!!! So much for my entry then.. but its still a good recipe for a grindless curry option!

This is a nadan recipe for a lentil curry(dal/parippu) colloquially called "Tharavadu Puli" and is apparently made in a lot of joint households in the Malabar area when they run out of coconut and there are lots of mouths to feed. It is sweet, sour, spicy and salty..very light on the palate.

It's made with lentils with pumpkin(sweet), tamarind(souring agent), salt, and green hot chilies(spice) and a dash of coconut oil. Tastes best first day with rice. So even though I missed the boat on the event,which already had its roundup, here is my would-have-been-entry for it.

The nadan Pumpkin is harder and doesn't get squished as easily as the ones available here. It is also not as sweet so this curry with the pumpkin available here turned out to be too sweet and became a kootu curry. So I substituted the pumpkin with Butternut squash but you could use either vegetable as long as it doesn't get overcooked.

You will need:
Tuvar Dal-1/2 cup
Butternut Squash- 2 cup cubed.
Green Chilies-4 slit( as per your spice level)
Turmeric-1/4 tsp
Red Chili Powder-1/4 tsp
A small ball of tamarind soaked in 1/2cup water.
5-6 Curry leaves
Coconut Oil-1 tsp.
(Substitute if you want to, but coconut oil is the correct taste giver)

Preparation:
Pressure cook the dal/lentils for exactly one whistle and switch it off. You want the lentils to stand separate and not get mushed. Else cook it on medium flame with a constant eye on it with ample water.
Cook the squash/pumpkin with green chilies and the red chili powder, turmeric and salt and enough water to cover the vegetables on medium heat. When it is cooked(it should get cut by the back of a knife)add the lentils, water as needed for gravy and 1 tablespoon of light tamarind extract and adjust the taste. Let it come to a boil and then lower the flame to a simmer, add the curry leaves on top and pour the warm coconut oil over the leaves. Switch off , cover with a lid and leave it undisturbed for 5 minutes. Then its ready to serve.

25 comments:

Finla said...

Yeah i do agree that there ae so many events going on. I take part in few.
Parippu curry looks delicious.

Mishmash ! said...

This is something like molokoshyam where in ash gourd is usually used....somehow i prefer such grindless , simple curries....comfort food indeed....!

Sig said...

oh I remember this curry...
BTW, good thing you didn't send it to Sra, she would have rejected it mercilessly... No Daal, No Ma'am... :)

remya said...

i too makes this often...sooo comfort...

Anonymous said...

Hi Mallugirl,

In the last few months, you may remember receiving an email invitation to become a part of the Foodbuzz Featured Publisher Program. With all the recipe-writing and food photography to be completed, we know emails can easily get lost in the shuffle, so Foodbuzz would like to re-extend our offer of inviting you to be a part of our food blogger network. I would love to send you more details about the program, so if you are interested, please email me at Shannon@foodbuzz.com.

Pumpkin is one of my favorite flavors, and nothing is better than a warm pumpkin-infused meal in the winter. Thanks for sharing your recipe, can't wait to try it!

Cheers!

Shannon Eliot
Editorial Assistant, Foodbuzz.com
shannon@foodbuzz.com

DEEPA said...

Perfect comfort food ...awesome pic

Rajitha said...

ha ha..agree with sig..sra was on a rolling spree rejecting stuff (
oops..she will kill me once she know this...she did not reject mine tho :)..this pumpkin dish looks so good and simple..love it

TBC said...

lol:D- Sig's comment...

Namratha said...

Hehe, Sig is darn right! No daals indeed, we've all walked the rejection aisle :D Back to the dish, looks yummy and nice...good one!

Kalai said...

This looks so awesome! I usually use pumpkin for tamarind kuzhambu or rotis. Thanks for the great idea!

J said...

Couldn't come up with any grindless gravy for Sra's event. I make a similar thing with more veggies thrown in, a bit more puli & some malli podi- we call it padum pulincurry.

sra said...

I've certainly made myself a reputation, haven't I?

We have a Malayali cook back home, he doesn't know how to cook any Malayali food as he only strayed into cooking - the only thing he knew was something called Erisseri - pumpkin with moong dal!

Revathi said...

Very true Shaheen. I had to really try to shop "event-mode on". Whenever I looked at a vegg in the grocery I would go in my mind "What event will this veggie qualify for?" - I knew that was time to quit.

So no blog events for me !!!

Mythreyee said...

Pumpkin Dal is very good and nutritious too. Good recipe.

Lisa Turner said...

There are a lot of food events but it's nice to have the variety and if you miss one deadline, there's always another you can meet. I also find some foodie events can inspire me in the kitchen.

And, um, I will be launching a food event, along with my good friend Holler, February 1st.

This a very tasty sounding recipe. It's not so much the food events that are the trouble, but food bloggers in general :) So many tempting creations and not enough time or meals in a day to make all of the wonderful food that people like yourself take the time to prepare and share.

Thanks for your continued efforts. They are very much appreciated.

Vineetha Sush said...

I too make this curry but with a slight variation. I add cow's milk to make this gravy thicker and add tomatoes instead of tamarind water for the sour taste.

Shah cooks said...

sorry guys and glas for not responding to ur comments. Rest assured they were received well and i did smile over sig'd glee as well as the rest of u joined it..:)
but was busy with an exam prep and no time to reply individually.
so sra good thing i didn't send u my entry and do try it.. this is nowhere near erissery in taste.
i am curious abt the molkoshyam that shn mentioned..has any of u blogged it? that sounded like food for a recuperation though and this is definitely like a curry.
it might be the same. any experts on it?

KayKat said...

That Sra, she's such a hellion! :)

I'm sure she'll totally wolf this down, as would I. It looks delicious.

Anonymous said...

Nice to see your blog back in all its splendour and glory!-)
hope u ll start updating it soon.
i also want to mention,that i found the links,which u have given also useful too,so thanks a lot for that too.

safia

Muneer said...

Hi, I was very disappointed yesterday when I opened your blog and to see I m blocked!! any ways, nice to see your blogs back. Thanks! and the new look is stunning!

v said...

Shaheen,

Happy to see the site is back. I have white pumpkin and will try and let you know.

Sam

Meg Wolff said...

This looks delicious!

vandana rajesh said...

hi
its real nice to see traditional kerala dishes. Yummy looking parippu.

shajira said...

good recipe..tried it out...but didnt turn out as good as expected...so i added 1 tbsp of sambar powder .....trust me.it became awesome....

saritha said...

easy, simple & looks tasty.....as good as it can get!