Potato Masiyal

Ingredients

3 big potatoes
1 cup tamarind water
1 tbspn chopped ginger
2-3 green chillies
1 tbspn channa dhal
1/2 tspn mustard seed
1/2 tbspn coconut
1/2 tspn turmeric powder
sprig of curry leaves
juice of 1/2 lemon (adjust to taste)
1 tspn oil


Method

1. Preasure cook potatoes and remove the skin. Mash it with the back of your spoon. Make sure there are some lumps in the potatoes.
2. Add the potatoes in a pan and add tamarind water, turmeric and salt. Let it boil for 3 to 4 minutes.
3. Meanwhile in a pan add the oil and once it is hot add mustard seeds, Channa dhal, chillies, ginger, curry leaves and shredded coconut. Fry till they are all golden brown.
4. Add this to the cooked potatoes and remove from heat.
5. Finally add the juice of one lemon.

Serve with hot rice.

Pitlai

Ingredients

• 3-4 long long purple Brinjal (Eggplant) cut into cubes


• 1 lemon sized tamarind (extract the juice in 1 cup water)


• 1 cup soaked Garbanzo beans or Chick peas preasure cooked.


• 1/2 cup thoor dhal preasure cooked


• 1/4 teaspoon Turmeric


To fry and grid


• 1 tblspoon oil


• 2 tblspn corriander seeds


• 2 tblspn Channa dhal


• 10 pepper corns


• 5-8 red chillies


• 1 cup cocunut

For thaduka


• Curry leaves, 1/4 teaspoon of Mustard seeds, Methi seeds, Hing

Method

1. Boil brinjal with salt and turmeric powder till it is half cooked


2. Pour oil and fry corriander seeds, channa dhal, pepper corns and red chillies until they are golden brown. Take them out and then add coconut and fry till it is slightly brown. Grind the fired mixture into a coarse paste.


3. Add tamarind juice and chick peas to the boiled brinjal. Let it boil for 2-3 minutes


4. Add the ground mixture and preasure cooked thoor dhal. Let it boil for another 3-5 minutes or till the raw smell goes away.


5. Heat oil a separate pan, add the mustard seeds and let them splutter. Add the urad dhal, Methi seeds hing powder and coconut. Fry till they turn brown. Lastly add curry leaves and immediately add to the boiling kootu.


6. Finally add jagary or brown sugar to the kootu. Take the kootu off the heat


7. If you want to reduce cocounut then add a little bit more thoor dhal.

You can make the same pitali with Potatoes, bitter gourd, tomatillas (Green tomatoes). If you are using bitter gourd soak it for 30 minutes with salt drain the water. Then preasure cook bitter gourd with salt and turmeric and drain the water again. Now follow the same steps. For tomatillas skip tamarind if they are too tangy.