My mother in law used to make poricha kuzhambu and keerai masiyal every Saturday for lunch. When we moved out, we started doing the same, but on Fridays and without the keerai masiyal. For us, it was poricha kuzhambu, pickle, rice and pappadam. If I feel fancy, I used to make a thogayal.
Poricha kootu or kuzhambu is a dish which uses up leftover bits of veggies. It takes all veggies in small quantities and is not spicy usually. A spicy pickle or thogayal makes an excellent side dish.
Read on for the pictorial recipe. This post goes to the Cooking from Cookbook Challenge. Please check out this page for more details about the event.
Heat 1/2 teaspoon oil in a pan. Add 1/2 cup toor dal and fry until it turns slightly brown. Transfer into the blender. In the same pan, add 3 garlic cloves , 1/2 teaspoon peppercorns and 3-4 red chillies(these are the spice source, so adjust according to your taste). Saute for a minute until the chillis are dry. You can add 1/4 cup coconut to the pan now and fry for another minute. I added it at the time of blending though.
Transfer everything into a mixer jar and blend with 1/4 cup coconut. We like thick and spicy thogayal, so I add only a little water to get everything smooth and ground.
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My Kitchen Trials 
A great and yummy traditional recipe. Thanks for sharing this with us.
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Good traditional old style
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Wow…you brought back so many memories for me, Rajani. I’m sure your recipe was a hit at home :)
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Such a traditional dish Rajani. We make something similar in Andhra but without the coconut.
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Such a delicious and comforting meal Rajani.
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Wow, it looks really yumm! May i ask where the dish was originated? Best wishes, Michael
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It’s from South India, this particular one is from Tamil Nadu.
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Thank you Rajani. My partner and I will be in south India soon. if there is any chance to meet up and cook together, it would be wonderful :)
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I would have loved that, but I relocated from India couple of years back. So maybe some other time..
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I simply love this dish Rajani..I so love it with ghee and hot steaming rice. In fact, I can have it for all meals..lol..I also like the fact that we can have set menus. I am so finicky about such menus and without those fixed menus, I know I will go crazy..:)
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