Received 01:25:45 on 07/06/91, Posting # 18 ***** Subject: Southern Indian Recipes From: Jerome Grimmer Article 16796 of rec.food.veg: Path: usenet.ins.cwru.edu!gatech!udel!princeton!phoenix.Princeton.EDU!asannuti From: asannuti@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Arun Meda Sannuti) Newsgroups: rec.food.veg Subject: Sambar and idli Message-ID: <11009@idunno.Princeton.EDU> Date: 21 Jun 91 12:23:21 GMT Sender: news@idunno.Princeton.EDU Organization: Princeton University Lines: 83 Nntp-Posting-Host: phoenix.princeton.edu Originator: asannuti@phoenix.Princeton.EDU Hello people. I've been reading r.f.v for almost a year now without posting anything, so I thought I should start giving something back and posting some recipes. But before I start, I just wanted to ask a question. I'm south Indian (telegu) and both of my parents are vegetarians and have been for all of their lives. However, twenty five years ago, when my mom had my sister, she was told, by a doctor, (here in the US) that if the baby didn't eat meat, she would grow up to be unhealthy and malformed. Since my parents trusted the doctor, (why, I still don't understand) my sister and I were brought up eating meat. I became a vegetarian about four years ago when I realized how disgusting meat is, and where it actually comes from. However, I was just curious if anyone else has had the same experience (ie, with doctors telling them that their children should eat meat because it's unhealthy otherwise) and if anybody else was brought up eating meat for this reason. E-mail me please, and I'll summarize and post the responses, if anyone is interested. Anyway, a few days ago, my mom gave me a book of south Indian vegetarian recipes. I never learned to cook from my mom, though that's going to change in the near future, but she thought this cookbook was a good way to start. It is published in India, and neither my mom or I have used any of these recipes, but it was recommended to her by her sister, so I assume that they're good. I thought I'd start with the basics Sambar ------ 1/2 cup (heaped) thur dal (papu) 2 tbsps coconut gratings 1 tbsp bengal gram dal 2 sprig curry leaves 1 tsp mustard seeds tamarind lump (the size of a marble) 2 tsps (heaped) coriander seeds 2 tbsps oil 1/2 tsp cumin seeds 1 bunch coriander leaves 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds salt to taste 8 pepper corns chunks of vegetables (tomato, 1 small piece turmeric onion, squash, potato, 1 small piece asafoetida (ingua) okra, raw bananna, etc.. 6 red chillies (just about anything)) Wash thur dal thoroughly. Boil 1 liter of water. Drop dal in boiling water. Cook until soft. Take a little oil in a frying pan on another flame. Roast mustard, coriander, fenugrek, cumin, pepper, turmeric, red chillies, asafoetida, bengal gram dal, coconut gratings and 1 sprig of curry leaves - all in the same sequence, until brown. Grind all the roasted ingredients with tamarind to a fairly smooth paste. To the cooked thur dal, add vegetable pieces and a few coriander leaves. Cook until tender. Then add salt along with ground masala (paste made above) and some water. Boil well. When done, remove from flame. Garnish with bits of coriander leaves. This is usually served with Idlis ----- 1 heaping cup black gram dal oil for greasing cups 2 heaping cups raw rice or salt to taste (1 heaping cup boiled rice and 1 heaping cup raw rice) Soak black gram dal and the two rices (mixed) seperately in water for 3 hours. First, wash the soaked dhal and grind to a fine paste and keep aside. Then grind the soaked rice to a coarse paste. Mix both the pastes using hands, add salt and keep under cover overnight. Next day, beat the batter well. Grease idli cups (you can use egg poachers if you want) with oil, and fill them (about 3/4 full) with the idli bater and steam in an idli vessel (basically, a big steamer) for about 20 minutes. (note: if raw rice only is used, there is no need to grind it. Just wash it and crush it in a mortar and pedstle (sp?) and then mix it with the ground black gram paste) The same idli batter can be use to make Sannan. Pour the batter in the container of a pressure cooker (previously greased with oil) about 3/4 full and steam fo 15-20 minutes as above. Take out and cut into pieces with a spatula. Recipes from Dakshin Bharat Dishes Cookbook by Jaya V. Shenoy Reprinted w/o permission. Thanks for all the recipes. Good luck Arun asannuti@phoenix.princeton.edu -- Abort, Retry, Fail, Panic? P According to the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Don't Panic. Abort, Retry, Fail? F According to teachers at SIUC, don't fail. So what am I supposed to do? *****