Mor Kuzambu

Mor kuzambu is a tasty gravy made with curd. It is light, low fat, low calories and nourishing also. It goes well with plain rice, fried rice or mixed rice or can be just had in a bowl.

All the ingredients we have used are good for health. I do not subscribe to the theory that coconut is bad for health. It has healthy fiber and protein and fat.

Ingredients: ( Quantity as per your wish)

Any of the following vegetables are ok and optional:

• White pumpkin (Pooshani)
• Red pumpkin (Parangi)
• Capsicum
• Ladies Finger ( Bindi or Okra)
• Colocasia ( Arbhi or Seppakelangu)
• Potato
• DrumStick ( Murungai kai)

1 Cup Thick Curd
3 Table Spoon TurDal or how much ever you like
Green chillies as required for taste
Handful of Curry Leaves (Kadipatta)
1 cup scrapped or whatever type coconut
2 or 3 Tomatoes


Method:

1. Cut vegetables in any shape you like , cook with some salt. Not too soft. If using Okra ( Bindhi) then cut and roast with some oil and salt in a non stick pan over slow fire. Otherwise the whole stuff turns out slippery like and nobody will eat.

2. Soak dal if you remembered else grind direct ( I have done that and it turns out good)

3. Grind coarsely coconut, dal, green chilly, curry leaves with some water. Cut tomato into big pieces, add and grind together. Add the curd and grind together. Maintain a coarse consistency not too fine. Very coarse is ok.

4. In a kadai ( frying pan) put little oil, mustard seeds, After they splutter put jeera, 1 or 2 tsp. udid dal, 1 or 2 tsp. chana dal, hing ( asaphotida powder) in the hot oil. Add cooked vegetables, ground mixture, salt. Add some water if too thick. Heat to boil. Do not let the gravy actually boil. Heat only almost upto boiling point in slow fire. If you like add a small teaspoonful of coconut oil for flavor.

5. Serve with hot rice or whatever.

Note: NOne of the quatities are rigid. Go by your gut feeling.

Mor kuzambu Vadai:
We can soak udid vada in Mor kuzambu and it tasts yummy. The downside may be the calorie content has shot up. To get rid of oil as much as possible from fried vadas, you may first drop them as soon as fried in very dilute butter milk , drain and then drop them in Mor kuzambu.

You may have to make the Mor kuzambu very watery too as vadas absorb a lot of water and make the whole thing thick. I had done this on a mass scale for a party and everyone simply loved it.

Healthy Cooking

After cooking for so many years I realize how important it is to be nutrition aware while cooking. Food in a family can achieve so many objectives the primary one of course is the appeasement of hunger. I have always been very nutritions conscious while cooking and serving to my family. But I just love food and hence tend to binge. Cooking and serving food in a happy atmosphere at home is such an easy way to bond with family members and friends.

My sons constantly warn me of dangers of gaining weight so all my cooking focuses on taste, low calories and nutrition. I am a pure vegetarian and south Indian . I just love the taste of our food.
Our food is light and with proper adaptations can be very nourishing too. Of course I am game to try all types of food ( except non_vegetarian stuffs )

My cooking is creative in the sense I do not follow rules. I just add whatever I feel like adding, any amount, going by a gut feeling about taste. Most important is to use all ingredients which are good for your health. Why waste time and money on unhealthy food? Sometimes things turn out so tasty, I admire myself. If I read somewhere something is good for health, surely I will try to use it in my cooking. You will find me using lots of Kadipatta ( Curry leaves) as I strongly believe it is so cheap and so good for health. Ditto Tomato.

We living in India are really blessed to get some of the things like ginger, garlic, tomatoes, almost all vegetables so cheap. (Forgive me TV channels who keep crying foul over rising prices and inflationa and all that) . A bunch of Kadipatta is just Rs. 2 and a Kg of tomato is Rs. 8

I consider myself a great cook ( and a great eater too) . Ya nobody stopped you from believing that about yourself. At the heart of the matter is the love you feel for yourself and the people whom you are going to be serving that food.

So here I shall be sharing my recipes with whoever cares to read and try out.