Sometimes when I travel and my husband has to manage his meals, I try to make it easier for him to fix something, lest he skips his meal. I had tried part cooking and freezing foods which seemed quite handy. Then he found that if I post instructions, that might help him cook a few dishes. Thus, my counter top and refrigerator door would be filled with notes. He had managed very well that he would even grind his batter, make dhal and sambhar.
While I wrote some recipes for my daughter, she still had to juggle time with the demanding coursework and assignments; it was getting harder to cook something elaborate. Soon both of my nephews were also going away from home and were left to manage cooking for themselves.
It was then, my mother tried to coax us to make some ready to cook meals ideas. We had found that making the packaged dosa, upma mixes were easy to make at home. It took us some trials and misses to make them have longer shelf life. Thus, our puliogere ready mix and adai mix took shape. Little more experimenting lead to moar kuzhambu mix and an 'all - in - one - sambhar mix'. This moar kuzhambu mix is a very quick dish that you cook the vegetable and mix this powder to the whisked curd. Give it a boil and add some tempering. So easy!
Update: (Updated on 7th May 2018)
This powder stays fresh over a year even at room temperature. We had made this batch last year in May and I had carried with me a portion. i just finished my last tablespoon full ready mix powder today.
Ready To Make - Moar Kuzhambu - Powdered Mix
Ingredients:
Makes 5 standard cups of powder
200 ml / heaped 3/4 cup+1 tablespoon fresh grated coconut
125 ml / heaped 1/2 cup raw rice
250 ml / heaped 1 cup / 250grams pack channa dhal / Bengal gram / split chickpeas
250 ml / heaped 1 cup / 250 grams pack thuvar dhal / split pigeon peas
70 ml / heaped 1/4 cup cumin seeds
30 ml/ 2 tablespoons coriander seeds
16 -20 dried green chillis* (1&1/2 inches long and slightly high on heat)
60 ml / level measured 1/4 cup salt
5 ml / 1 teaspoon asafoetida
About 1/3 cup dried curry leaves**
Method:
*To get dry green chillis, wash them, remove the stem and pat them dry. Spread them on a very flat dish / paper / cloth and leave them to dry for a few days. Once they are dry, they become brittle, but the green colour is just about faded. They stay well for over a month and will retain the spice level.
** The curry leaves can be dried after separating them, washed and spread between layers of cloth in the sun. Or you may choose to oven roast dry leaves until they are brittle.
To make the powder, dry roast over a low the coconut until the moisture is gone and the coconut is dry. Do not roast it to turn shade over the white. transfer to a dish and allow to cool.
Then dry roast separately over low - medium heat the dhals, rice, coriander seeds and cumin seeds until they are just about hot. Take care that they do not over roast. (When grinding for moar kuzhambu normally the ingredients are soaked and ground raw, so we do not over do the roasting here).
Transfer them to another dish.
Finally roast the sea salt until it turns pink and transfer to this dish.
Allow them all to cool.
Pulse all the said ingredients leaving out the coconut until they are a coarse powder, add the coconut and grind further to a powder that is not very fine.
Cool this and store in airtight containers. You may refrigerate this powder if the quantity is more. Usually, the mix stays well for two moths outside of refrigeration.
To make Moar Kuzhambu:
2 tablespoons of above powder
3 - 4 tablespoons thick, slightly sour curd
Vegetable of choice
2 teaspoons ghee /coconut oil for tempering
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
Few fresh curry leaves and fresh coriander leaves
Cook the vegetable and keep ready.
Mix the powder to the curd and whisk to blend them. Add another 1/3 cup of water.
Add the cooked vegetable and bring the moar kuzhambu to a boil.
Remove from the stove.
Heat the ghee / coconut oil in a small pan and add the mustard seeds. Allow them to crackle and add the tempering to the moar kuzhambu.
Let the kuzhambu cool down a bit before adding the curry leaves and the coriander leaves.
Enjoy the kuzhambu with steamed white rice or as a side dish for ven pongal.
While I wrote some recipes for my daughter, she still had to juggle time with the demanding coursework and assignments; it was getting harder to cook something elaborate. Soon both of my nephews were also going away from home and were left to manage cooking for themselves.
It was then, my mother tried to coax us to make some ready to cook meals ideas. We had found that making the packaged dosa, upma mixes were easy to make at home. It took us some trials and misses to make them have longer shelf life. Thus, our puliogere ready mix and adai mix took shape. Little more experimenting lead to moar kuzhambu mix and an 'all - in - one - sambhar mix'. This moar kuzhambu mix is a very quick dish that you cook the vegetable and mix this powder to the whisked curd. Give it a boil and add some tempering. So easy!
Update: (Updated on 7th May 2018)
This powder stays fresh over a year even at room temperature. We had made this batch last year in May and I had carried with me a portion. i just finished my last tablespoon full ready mix powder today.
Ready To Make - Moar Kuzhambu - Powdered Mix
Makes 5 standard cups of powder
200 ml / heaped 3/4 cup+1 tablespoon fresh grated coconut
125 ml / heaped 1/2 cup raw rice
250 ml / heaped 1 cup / 250grams pack channa dhal / Bengal gram / split chickpeas
250 ml / heaped 1 cup / 250 grams pack thuvar dhal / split pigeon peas
70 ml / heaped 1/4 cup cumin seeds
30 ml/ 2 tablespoons coriander seeds
16 -20 dried green chillis* (1&1/2 inches long and slightly high on heat)
60 ml / level measured 1/4 cup salt
5 ml / 1 teaspoon asafoetida
About 1/3 cup dried curry leaves**
Method:
*To get dry green chillis, wash them, remove the stem and pat them dry. Spread them on a very flat dish / paper / cloth and leave them to dry for a few days. Once they are dry, they become brittle, but the green colour is just about faded. They stay well for over a month and will retain the spice level.
** The curry leaves can be dried after separating them, washed and spread between layers of cloth in the sun. Or you may choose to oven roast dry leaves until they are brittle.
To make the powder, dry roast over a low the coconut until the moisture is gone and the coconut is dry. Do not roast it to turn shade over the white. transfer to a dish and allow to cool.
Then dry roast separately over low - medium heat the dhals, rice, coriander seeds and cumin seeds until they are just about hot. Take care that they do not over roast. (When grinding for moar kuzhambu normally the ingredients are soaked and ground raw, so we do not over do the roasting here).
Transfer them to another dish.
Finally roast the sea salt until it turns pink and transfer to this dish.
Allow them all to cool.
Pulse all the said ingredients leaving out the coconut until they are a coarse powder, add the coconut and grind further to a powder that is not very fine.
Cool this and store in airtight containers. You may refrigerate this powder if the quantity is more. Usually, the mix stays well for two moths outside of refrigeration.
To make Moar Kuzhambu:
2 tablespoons of above powder
3 - 4 tablespoons thick, slightly sour curd
Vegetable of choice
2 teaspoons ghee /coconut oil for tempering
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
Few fresh curry leaves and fresh coriander leaves
Cook the vegetable and keep ready.
Mix the powder to the curd and whisk to blend them. Add another 1/3 cup of water.
Add the cooked vegetable and bring the moar kuzhambu to a boil.
Remove from the stove.
Let the kuzhambu cool down a bit before adding the curry leaves and the coriander leaves.
Enjoy the kuzhambu with steamed white rice or as a side dish for ven pongal.
