Appala Kootu/Papad Ki Sabji

 I had been lazying around for the past one week.My Kids had a week off from their school and we had been to my hometown after an year.It is always  nice to get back to your hometown and meet some of your old friends...This makes u feel young n energetic...

 

It was quite hard to get back to my routine!!!I was very lazy to cook ...Suddenly remembered my athai's Appalam Kootu which she used to make whenever she runs out of vegetables.So with a simple Vatha Kuzhambu and a appalam kootu I started cooking my lunch.This appalam kootu goes well with the Kara Kuzhambu/Vathal Kuzhambu.

 

This Kootu can be made within minutes and it can be served as a side dish for the rice or as a main gravy...

 

For the recipe click READ MORE below:

 

INGREDIENTS:

 

Makes:4

 

1 medium sized Potato,Diced(Optional)

1 medium sized Onion,chopped finely(Optional)

1 small size Tomato,chopped finely (Optional)

1-2 Green chillies,finely chopped

1/2 Tsp of Pepper Powder(Optional)

1/2 Cup of Channa Dhal/Kadalai paruppu

1/8 Tsp of Turmeric powder

1 Tsp of Chilli powder/Sambar Powder,Heaped

2 Tbsp of freshly grated coconut

10 Nos. of fried Appalam/papad

Salt to taste

Chopped coriander leaves for garnishing

 

 

To Temper:

 

1 Tsp of Oil

1 Tsp of Mustard seeds

1 Tsp of Whole Urad Dhal

1 No. of dry red chilly

Few curry leaves

A Pinch of Asafoetida

 

 

PROCEDURE:

 

 

 

For a quick and easy cooking soak the dhal atleast for 1 hour.More soaking will enable easy cooking of the dhal.

Chop the onion,tomato and chilli.Keep it aside.

In a pressure cooker add the soaked dhal,diced potato(Optional)

 

 

 

Add onion,tomato,turmeric powder,green chillies,pepper powder,chilli powder.

Add 2 Cups of water and a drop of oil

 

Close the cooker and cook the ingredients for 3-4 whistles.Make sure that the dhal gets cooked well.It should not get mashed too!!

 

Take another pan and add oil.

Then add items mentioned in To Temper list..one by one(Mustard seeds,Urad dhal,red chillies,curry leaves,hing)

 

 

To the pan add the cooked dhal mixture.

Add little water and cook the mixture for 1 minute.

Break the fried appalam/Papad into small pieces(Don't break it into very small pieces)

 

 

Add the broken fried appalams to the dal mixture.Cook till the appalams get soft.It will take hardly 3-4 minutes for the mixture to get cooked.

Now add salt and mix well.Appalams have salt..so add salt accordingly.

Finally add grated coconut,give a stir.

Garnish it with chopped coriander leaves and serve it as a side dish with Vathal Kuzhambu and Steamed rice.

 

 

 

HANDY TIPS:

 

• Add salt after adding appalams, as some of the appalams have high salt content.
• Make sure that the dal gets cooked well.It should not get mashed too.
• To enable quick and easy cooking of the dal soak the dal atleast for an hour.
• Instead of tempering with mustard seeds u can temper it with talipu Vadagam.
• U can omit the tomato,onion,potato part and can use only the dal and appalam mixture.
• Instead of chilli powder u can use sambar powder too.
• Few garlic pods can also be added along with onion and tomato
• U can adjust the water quantity/consistency and use it either as a side dish or as a gravy for the rice.