September 14, 2020

South Indian Lunch - Thali #3


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 Festival time or special occasions at home call for a delicious spread keeping in mind every  family member's liking and prepared with love and utmost affection. 

Today's thali is very close to my heart with all of my mom's favorite which she would always relish and as a tribute to her I prepared this small thali on her birthday.

I wanted to make this my 300th post as a gratitude post to my mom who has been a friend , philosopher and guide as long as she was there and continues to be my guiding angel every minute. Coincidentally, that very day we bloggers at FMBH were discussing about the 264th week's monday theme and we finalized on Thali theme which was proposed by Sasmita of First timer cook . 

 Hence, my 300th post was a delicious Choco Orange Cake and this delectable thali got scheduled for 264th week - "Time for Thali" . If you love chocolate flavor like me , you should check out Sas' piped chocolate cookies which are a melt in mouth treat for all chocolate lovers



It took me a total of 2.5 hours to prepare this thali from scratch . I started preparing around 9.30am. I have detailed how I went about with the pre preparations to make cooking stress free. 

The items on thali starting with the small cups on plate 

  1. Thovve / Dhall /Paruppu 
  2. Podi Pota Sambar
  3. Aviyal
  4. Tomato rasam
  5. Vellarikai kosambri / Cucumber salad
  6. Nendran chips / Kerala Banana chips
  7. Plain Rice with ghee 
  8. Semia Payasam /vermicelli pudding/ sevayyan kheer
  9. Curd / Dahi / Yogurt 

Recipe for thovve and podi pota sambar is detailed below while recipes for all other items are linked and you can click on individual item names to get the detailed recipe.

 Pre Preparations 

  • Chopping of vegetables for the Avial, salad/kosambri  and Sambar . 
  • Grating the coconut for preparing the masala for Avial and salad . I prefer to grate fresh coconut for aviyal , incase you are using frozen grated coconut, thaw the required quantity atleast 30min prior to cooking. 
  • Pressure cooking the thuvar dhall with haldi for sambar and thovve.
  • Blanching the tomatoes for rasam
  • Soaking tamarind in hot water to prepare the tamarind extract for sambar and rasam. 
  • Nendran chips I had prepared the previous evening .
  • Boil fresh milk for kheer /payasam
  • Curd was set the previous night 


Thovve / Paruppu 

Paruppu or thovve is served soon after hot rice and ghee are served on the plate or banana leaf . People usually mix hot rice with this paruppu and start enjoying their feast . Dhall is followed by Sambar and other items which are served one by one.



Ingredients 
1 cup pressure cooked thoor dhall /thuvaram paruppu 
1 tsp cooking oil
1 tsp mustard seeds 
Few fresh curry leaves + chopped corriander 
2 tsp grated coconut
Salt as needeed
Pinch of asafoetida 

Method 
  • Mash the boiled dhall with a whisk or beater till it is creamy . Add required quantity of salt.
  • Heat oil in a small pan and temper with mustard seeds , curry leaves and asafoetida. 
  • Pour this tempering over the dhall and lastly add the fresh coconut and corriander leaves . Mix well.
  • Serve with hot rice and a dollop of ghee.

Podi Pota Sambar 

In Tamil ,podi means  masala /spice powder , pota means " put " so loosely Podi pota sambar means a Sambar prepared  with spice powder and there is no use of coconut masala paste .Just freshly ground sambar powder is used in the preparation of this sambar. Podi pota sambar tastes very delicious and is easy to prepare . A perfect accompaniment for even idlis, dosas and vadas too .
I have used beans and carrot as vegetables for this sambar,but we can use any vegetable like ashgourd, red pumpkin, lady's finger etc. 



Ingredients 
8 to 10 French beans 
1 medium carrot 
1.5 cups tamarind extract 
3 tbsp freshly ground sambar powder 
2 cups boiled and mashed thoor dhall 
1 cup water 
2 tsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds 
1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds /methi
Salt as needed 
1 tsp jaggery powder
Fresh corriander 

Method 
  • Cut the French beans into 1 inch long pieces . Peel the carrot and cut into 1 inch long pieces
  • Boil the carrot and french beans in water with a little salt .
  • Once the vegetables are 3/4th done add the tamarind extract , haldi and 1 tbsp sambar poeder.Boil until the raw flavor of tamarind  is lost .
  • Once the raw flavor is lost , add the boiled thoor dhall, jaggery and remaining sambar powder , mix well and bring it to a rolling boil . Adjust salt if needed and also check for the consistency of sambar. If too thick, add some water and bring it to the right consistency. You can add some more sambar powder if you want it more spicy . 
  • Prepare tempering of mustard seeds and methi seeds in oil and pour it over the sambar and garnish with fresh corriander .
  • Add a dollop of ghee when you pour the tempering, this gives a nice flavor to the sambar.

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Other South Indian thali variants on my blog 


Thali # 1
 

(Vethakuzhambu, rasam, potato stir fry,Alphonso mangoes , buttermilk)



Thali #2
 

(Capsicum rice , Aviyal, Baby Potato roast, Curd rice) 




Aloo Capsicum Sambar , carrot Kosambri , chou chou carrot curry , rasam, kheer , curd and papad 





11 comments:

  1. Such a delightful South Indian platter this is Priya! I am sure your Mumma must be so happy with your lovely tribute. Kosambari and avial being my favourite of this meal.

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    Replies
    1. thanks dear..glad to know you like aviyal and kosambri..they are my fav too

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  2. Priya I'm sure your mum must have appreciated all the effort you put in to prepare all her favorite items. Such a wonderful spread and your South Indian Thali has got me craving for one. Whenever we are in Bangalore hubby likes to go to Anjappar Chettinad Restaurant for the thali meal.

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    Replies
    1. thank you dear :-) . My hubby loves anjappar for the spicy Biryani

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  3. Ah South Indian Thali looks scrumptious.Each and every dish looks delicious. Your mom must so happy seeing this Thali.. I think I should also post a south Thali soon. Your post reminded me of my Bangalore trip last year.

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    Replies
    1. thanks Preethi. We must meet up the next time you are in blr

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  4. Such a wonderful tribute to your mom! The thali looks so divine - I want to dig into it right away. :) I love all the dishes you have included here.

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    Replies
    1. thank you Priya . The items on the menu are our family fav too

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  5. Going through such enticing thali brings memories of my mom. I will call her today to tell her how much I miss her tomato pappu , idlis dosa. By the way this post of yours looks so lively and robust as if celebrating South Indian thalis. Loving them so much. I too am yearning to make something from these thalis today. Good job!

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  6. Anu chitti undoubtedly would be proud of you with such a platter - I love beans - carrot sambhar though been ages since I made it. and that coconut on top of the thovve is such a karnataka thing to do, and I LOVE it !! - Kalyani

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  7. Lovely food prepared by you. Nice tribute to your mother. I have never added coconut to dal, must try it sometime.

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