Pacha Manga Chammanthi Recipe

Pacha manga chammanthi is a Kerala style, sour and spicy thogayal, made with raw mangoes, coconut, shallots and chillies. Traditional chammanthi calls in for shallots. But I have not used.

Best when served with kanji and can be mixed with hot rice, topped with ghee. A good accompaniment with curd rice as well. Mangoes that are raw (unripe) and slightly sour is used for this chammanthi.

INGREDIENTS:

Sour raw mango - 1/2

Green chillies - 2

Dry red chillies - 2

Coconut grated - 1/2 cup

Salt - to taste

Ginger - a small piece

Curry leaves - few

METHOD:

Roughly peel and chop raw mango.

Coarsely grind the mango pieces, green chilies, dry red chilies and ginger. Do not add water.

Add grated coconut, salt and curry leaves and grind again to a thick, coarse paste.

Serve with hot rice topped with ghee OR kanji and pappadam.

NOTE:

Do not add water while grinding. The moisture from the mango is enough.

Add chillies according to your taste buds. This chammanthi tastes great if a bit spicy. You can also use green chillies instead of red chillies OR a mix of green and dry red chillies.

INJI KARUVEPPILAI THOGAYAL / GINGER CURRY LEAVES THOGAYAL

Ginger has many medicinal properties. It has been used to aid digestion, reduce nausea and help fight flu and common cold. Ginger has powerful anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and other health properties.

INGREDIENTS:

Curry leaves - 1 cup (tightly packed)
Ginger - finely chopped - 3 tablespoons
Tamarind - amla sized
Scraped coconut - 1/2 cup
Dry red chillies - 2
Pepper - 1/2 tsp.
Urad dhal - 1 tablespoon
Salt - to taste
Hing - 1/4 tsp. or hard type asafoetida- turkey berry sized
Gingelly oil - 1 tablespoon

METHOD:

Peel ginger skin and chop ginger into small pieces.

Heat a kadai, add a tsp. of gingelly oil and fry asafoetida (I used the hard type), red chillies, pepper, urad dhal to golden brown. Keep aside.

In the same kadai, add remaining oil and saute the curry leaves without moisture and without raw smell. Add ginger, give a quick saute. Allow it to cool.

First blend curry leaves, ginger, chillies and tamarind without water. Now add remaining items with very little water, salt and grind to a coarse, thick paste. Do not add too much water.

Inji Karuveppilai thogayal is ready to be mixed with hot cooked rice and ghee or sesame oil.This goes well as a side dish for arisi upma, idli, dosa and adai.

MAAVADU THOGAYAL / VADUMANGAI THOGAYAL

My grandma makes this traditional thogayal. Now, you can say this as a forgotten food as I never came across this recipe anywhere while browsing and thought of sharing this traditional recipe with all. My grandma used to make this thogayal with the old, soggy, one year old vadumangai/maavadu, just after/before the fresh batch of seasonal maavadus are ready. This is called 'azhugina mavadu thogayal', NOT literally made with the rotten ones, but with the soggy ones which has lost its crunchiness in a year, without wasting it. Mine was crunchy even after a year and I did not have any soggy ones!!! However, you can also make with regular maavadu. My grandma also makes a pachadi / raita with this, like nellikkai pachadi, which is quite common.

INGREDIENTS:

Maavadu - 15 (one year old)
Urad dhal - 2 tablespoons
Chenna dhal - 2 tablespoons

Toor dhal - 1 teaspoon
Dry red chillies - 3 or 4
Salt - to taste
Hing - a generous pinch
Curry leaves - few
Oil - 1 teaspoon

METHOD:

Heat oil in a pan and fry the given ingredients (except maavadu) until golden brown. When cool, dry grind coarsely, add maavadus, very little salt (as maavadu has salt and chillies in it) and grind again to a coarse paste. This thogayal should be coarse as shown in picture and should NOT be a fine paste. Sprinkle very little water if necessary. A perfect combo for curd rice. You can also mix with hot rice and ghee, but tastes great with curd rice. 

NOTE: The seeds of baby mangoes have medicinal benefits. So it is not necessary to remove the seeds. However, you can remove the seeds if it is not so tender.

PIRANDAI THOGAYAL

Pirandai / Perandai in Tamil, with ribbed veins, is a medicinal plant grown in kitchen garden. A small piece of stem planted in a pot grows abundantly, and it does magic in one's health. It is also known as bonevine, adamant creeper, and veldt grape.

Pirandai made in the form of thogayal or thuvaiyal can be had atleast once a week as it has many health benefits.

MEDICINAL BENEFITS OF PIRANDAI :

Pirandai has enormous medicinal benefits. It is useful in curing digestive problems , breathing problems, cough, piles, nausea, flatulence (vaayu or gas in digestive track, stomach and bowels). It acts as an appetiser.

IMPORTANT NOTE WHILE CLEANING PIRANDAI:

1. Pirandai makes the hand a little itchy. So, do not use your hand while washing the stem. Run under tap water.
2. Apply little gingelly oil to hand before cleaning and chopping. After chopping or cleaning again apply gingelly oil, rub a little salt over your hands and rinse your hand OR use a glove.
3. Adding tamarind to pirandai dishes is a must as it neutralises the itching tendency of this stem.

INGREDIENTS:

Pirandai - 1/4 cup (chopped)
Tamarind - half the lemon size
Scraped coconut - 1/2 cup
Curry leaves - a fistful
Jaggery - a turkey berry(sundakkai) size (optional...I didn't use)
Dry red chillies - 2
Pepper - 1/2 tsp.
Urad dhal - 1 tablespoon
Salt - as per taste
Oil - 1 tablespoon

METHOD:

Pluck or select tender stems of pirandai. Wash well. Peel off the ribbed, hard veins. Chop into small pieces.

1. Heat a kadai, add a tsp. of oil and fry the red chillies, pepper and urad dhal to golden brown. Keep aside.

2. In the same kadai, saute the curry leaves without moisture. Keep aside.

3. Again in the same kadai, heat the remaining oil and add the chopped pirandai, simmer the stove and saute well for 5 minutes.

Grind 1,2 and 3 alongwith scraped coconut, tamarind and salt to a coarse paste.

Pirandai thogayal is ready to be mixed with hot cooked rice and ghee.

PUDINA THOGAYAL

INGREDIENTS:

Mint leaves (pudina) - 2 cups (tightly packed)
Dry red chillies - 2
Pepper - 1/2 tsp.
Urad dhal - 3 tsp.
Tamarind- 1/2 lemon size
Hing
Salt
Oil

METHOD:

In a kadai, heat a spoon of oil and saute the mint leaves till it shrinks. Keep aside. In the same kadai, fry urad dhal , pepper, chillies and hing till golden brown. In a mixie, first grind the pepper, chillies and tamarind with salt. Now add the mint leaves and little water and grind it to a thick paste. Finally, add urad dhal and give it a whip. Mix it with rice alongwith a little bit of ghee and gingelly oil added to it.

KARUVEPPILAI THOGAYAL

INGREDIENTS:

Curry leaves - 1 cup (tightly packed)
Dry red chillies - 4
Pepper - 1/2 tsp.Urad dhal - 3 tsp.
Tamarind- 1/2 lemon size
Hing
Salt
Oil

METHOD:

In a kadai, heat a spoon of oil and fry the curry leaves till crisp. Keep aside. In the same kadai, fry urad dhal , pepper, chillies and hing till golden brown. In a mixie, first dry grind the curry leaves, chillies, pepper and tamarind with salt. Add water little by little and grind to a thick paste. Finally, add urad dhal and give it a whip. Mix it with rice alongwith a little bit of ghee and gingelly oil added to it.

BRINJAL THOGAYAL

INGREDIENTS:

Big brinjals - 2
Tamarind - lemon sized
Salt - as per taste
Dry red chillies -3
Urad dhal - 2 tablespoons
Hing
Oil - 2 tsp.
METHOD:

Slit the brinjals into half with stems intact. Brush it with oil and heat it on direct, medium flame. Turn it on all sides by holding the stems till the outer skin turns black. When cool peel the skin and gently rub under running water to remove the small black parts. Mash it slightly and keep aside.

Soak tamarind in hot water for 2 minutes.

In a kadai, heat oil and fry urad dhal, hing and chillies till golden brown. First, grind the tamarind with chillies and salt. Next add half of the urad dhal and grind it for 5 seconds. Now add the mashed brinjal and give it just one whip. Transfer it to a bowl and mix in the other half of urad dhal. Excellent with dosas(especially rava dosas), idlis, arisi upma and also goes well with hot rice and little bit of ghee + gingelly oil.

PUMPKIN SEED THOGAYAL

This is also a popular iyengar thogayal. I have done it in the same manner as I have done the snakegourd seed thogayal, but added coconut here.

INGREDIENTS:

Tender pumpkin seeds - 2 cups
(Use only the seeds & fibre portion of the pumpkin wedge)
Tamarind - 1/2 the size of a lemon
Coconut scraped - 1/2 cup
Dry red chillies - 3 or 4
Urad dhal - 2 tablespoons
Hing
Salt - as per taste
Oil - 2 tsp.

METHOD:

Take out the tender seeds alongwith the small fibres (only the seeds and soft portion) from the pumpkin wedges. You can use the hard portion for pumpkin soup. The seeds should be very tender , else the thogayal will not taste good.

Fry chillies, hing and seeds in oil, till it shrinks well & the raw smell goes away.

Fry urad dhal till golden brown.

Allow it to cool. In a mixie, grind scraped coconut, chillies, half of the urad dhal, tamarind and salt. Then add the seeds and grind it till soft. Finally, add the remaining half of urad dhal and give it a whip. Sprinkle some water if necessary.

Best when mixed with rice & a little bit of gingelly oil or ghee, also with idlis and dosas.

SNAKEGOURD SEED THOGAYAL

INGREDIENTS:

Tender snakegourd seeds - 2 cups
Tamarind - 1/2 the size of a lemon
Coconut scraped - 1/2 cup (optional)
Dry red chillies - 3 or 4
Urad dhal - 2 tablespoons
Hing
Salt - as per taste
Oil - 2 tsp.



METHOD:

This is a popular iyengar thogayal. Whenever , we see the tender seeds of snakegourd, we make this thogayal.

Scoop out the tender seeds from snakegourd.

Fry chillies, hing and seeds in oil, till it shrinks well & the raw smell goes away.

Fry urad dhal till golden brown.

Allow it to cool. In a mixie, grind chillies, half of the urad dhal, tamarind and salt. Then add the seeds and grind it till soft. Do not add water. (Can also add coconut alongwith this, but I have not added).

Season with remaining urad dhal.

Best when mixed with rice & a little bit of gingelly oil or ghee, also with idlis and dosas.

NELLIKAI THOGAYAL

We can proudly say: "An Amla a day keeps the doctor away". Known well as Nellikkai in Tamil and Amla in Hindi, the Indian gooseberry contains Vitamin C and is very good for health. It is slightly sour, pungent, astringent, and sweet too. During my childhood, I used to eat a gooseberry and immediately drink water and love to feel a sweet taste in the tongue.

Nellikai is used on Dwadashi day in any form, preferably nellikai pachadi or nellikai thogayal, as it is beneficial and regulates the acidity after fasting on an Ekadashi day, prior to Dwadashi day.

INGREDIENTS:

Big nellikai(Amla) - 3
Salt - as per taste
Green chillies - 3 to 4
Scraped coconut - 1 tablespoon
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp.
Urad dhal - 1/2 tsp.

METHOD:

Steam cook nellikai and discard the seeds. Mash the cooked nellikai using your hand. In a mixie, grind the green chillies, salt and scraped coconut, add mashed nellikai and give it a whip. Season it with mustard seeds and urad dhal.

Note:
You can also pressure cook the amla by keeping it in a separate vessel while cooking toor dhal or rice.Green chillies compensate the sour taste of amla.

THENGAI THOGAYAL

INGREDIENTS:

Scraped Coconut - 2 cups
Tamarind - lemon sized ball
Salt
Oil
Hing - a pinch
Dry red chillies - 2 to 3
Urad dhal - 1 tablespoon

METHOD:

Soak tamarind in little water. Scrap coconut and keep aside.

In a kadai, heat a spoon of oil and fry chillies, urad dhal and hing till golden brown.

Grind coconut, chillies, tamarind, salt , and hing in a mixie to a coarse paste using little water. Finally, add urad dhal and run the mixie for five seconds. Transfer it to a bowl .

This goes well with rice. When mixing it with rice add a spoon of gingelly oil . Have it with a roasted papad or poricha appalam.

PARUPPU THOGAYAL-1

INGREDIENTS:

Toor dhal - 1/2 cup
Scraped coconut - 1/2 cup
Pepper- 1/2 tsp.
Dry red chillies - 1
Hing
Oil - 1 tsp.
Salt

METHOD:

In a kadai, heat oil and add toor dhal, pepper, chillies and hing. Fry till golden brown.

Cool and add coconut scrapings, salt and grind in a mixie with little water to a medium coarse paste. Goes well with rice and roasted papad.