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Avarakkai kootu is a popular side dish from the Tambrahm cuisine made from just moong dhall (yellow split gram) , fresh coconut paste and a Sizzling tempering of mustard seeds ,curry leaves in coconut oil.
Avarakkai(tamil),Avrekkai(Kannada), chikkidkaay (Telugu) is a native Indian vegetable and used extensively across cuisines in India . In the Maharashtra and Gujarat it is called as Vaal papdi or papdi and Sem in Hindi .
Avrakkai is a diabetic friendly vegetable and also rich in protein, dietary fibre,vitamin A ,potassium and folates. Consuming avarekkai is a good source of plant protein and apt for vegetarians to meet their dietary requirements of protein intake. The fibre present in the Indian flat broad beans helps to manage cholesterol in the body.
Since, Avarekkai is a native vegetable, it is used during the Mahalaya Paksha , Amavasya cooking and also for cooking during Shraadh or Devasam. During Shraadh , Amavasai or Mahalaya paksha avrekkai is mostly used in the form of kootu but some families also make a simple stir fry known as Thenga pota curry .
I shall share the recipe of the simple yet flavorful curry very soon. You may refer to Mildly Indian Seema's Kothavarangai Poriyal and in the same way you can make avarekkai poriyal .
Avrekkai kootu can be mixed with rice or can also be served as an accompaniment to sambar ,vethakuzhambu, milagu kuzhambu along with some toasted papads and a simple paruppu Thogayal or pudina Thogayal.
If making kootu to mix with rice, make it a little runny else we can have a thicker consistency.
Avrakkai kootu is purely Saatvik and Vegan making it No Onion No garlic and Jain friendly .
You may also want to try some lip smacking healthy and delicious kootu recipes from my blog
Preparation Time - 10 mins Cooking Time - 25mins Complexity - Simple Serves - 2 to 3
Ingredients
150 gms Indian broad beans /avarekkai 1 cup moong dhall 1/2 cup fresh grated coconut 1 tsp jeera/cumin 8 to 10 pepper corns 2 dried red chillies Few curry leaves Pinch of turmeric Salt as needed 1 tsp coconut oil 1/2 tsp mustard seeds Pinch of asafoetida
Method
Wash the broad beans and trim the head and tail. Bundle them up and chop into medium cuts.
Wash the moong dhall under running water 3 to 4 times.
Add the washed moong dhall,chopped avrakkai ,turmeric , 2 cups water and pressure cook for 3 whistles. Let the pressure release naturally.
Grind the coconut, cumin,red chillies ,pepper with water to a fine paste .
Once ,the pressure cools down,lightly mash and mix the lentil and add the ground coconut paste to this along with required amount of salt.
If too thick,add 1/4 cup water and bring it to a quick boil with occasional stirring. Coconut paste has a tendency to stick to the bottom and the kootu will get burnt.
Turn off the stove when the kootu thickens and the raw flavor from the coconut paste is gone.
Prepare a tempering of mustard seeds,fresh curry leaves,asafoetida in hot coconut oil and pour it over the delicious kootu.
Paneer Tomato grilled sandwiches are a perfect choice for packing in kids' lunch box or even for adults when you want to carry something filling at the same time not messy to eat on the desk .
You can also serve this as an after school snack or even makes for a perfect light dinner when paired with some warm Italian style Tomato soup . (Recipe source - Priya Iyer's blog)
Paneer takes care of the protein quotient for the day and the tomatoes keep the sandwiches moist and don't let it get too dry and stuffy. Adding some mozzarella chees gives a nice gooey and melt in mouth texture.
I love to work with different fillings that go into the sandwich and this is yet another successful attempt as my family loved the flavor and the crisp grilled bread.
For the spice, I have used only red chilli powder and 1 small green chilli chopped. Some boiled corn was added for the crunch and tomatoes used were firm and deseeded to prevent the sandwiches from getting soggy .
Some sandwich varieties from my blog that you must definitely try
Preparation Time - 10 mins Grilling Time - 3 to 4 mins per sandwich Complexity - simple Makes 3 sandwiches
Ingredients
6 slices of bread 100 gms paneer 2 medium firm tomatoes 3/4th cup boiled sweet corn 1 tsp Chilli powder /chilli flakes Salt as needed Fresh corriander chopped 1 green chilli Grated mozzarella cheese as needed Butter to apply on bread
Method
Firstly grate the paneer, crush 3 tbsp of corn kernels with green chilli in a blender and de seed the tomatoes and dice into small cubes.
In a mixing bowl mix the Tomatoes, crushed corn , paneer, boiled corn ,chilli powder ,salt, chopped corriander and mix it all well . Let it rest for 5 to 10mins . Our filling is ready .
Donot let the filling sit for extra time because the tomatoes will release water when mixed with salt and the filling will become soggy .we don't want that
Heat the grilling pan, apply butter on one side of the bread , place some filling on it ,spread grated mozzarella cheese as per your wish ..close using the other slice of bread .
Apply some butter to the grilling pan and grill the sandwich on both sides until crisp and golden brown .
Cut the sandwich into wedges and enjoy .
If packing for lunch, then place foil paper in the inside of the lunch box ,place the cut sandwiches once they have cooled down .this will prevent the sandwiches from getting soggy .