Coimbatore Annapoorna Hotel Sambar Recipe – Restaurant Style Idli Sambar Recipe

I make varieties of idli, dosa at least thrice in week. So I keep trying different side dishes, it may be either chutney or sambar. As a result of this, I could share a collection of South Indian style 50 chutney recipes and 30 idli sambar/Tiffin sambar recipes in my blog. In my idli sambar collection, I have already shared few hotel style sambar recipes like Saravana bhavan hotel sambar, Tamilnadu style hotel sambar ( Madurai, Tirunelveli), easy restaurant style sambar, Udupi hotel style sambar and AAB sambar recipes. But my collection won’t be a complete one without some of the most popular idli sambar recipes like Coimbatore Annapoorna Hotel Tiffin sambar and Madras Ratna Cafe Sambar. I have tasted this sambar only once from Hotel Sree Annapoorna Sree Gowri Shankar near Coimbatore Bus stand and that too before marriage. To be frank, I did not remember its taste at all.So I was hesitant to try this sambar recipe from other blogs. Recently my friend Sudha suggested me to try this sambar recipe from Kannamma’s blog.Thank you so much Suguna & Chef Mr.Palanisami for sharing this wonderful recipe with us . After seeing the excellent feedbacks from many readers of Coimbatore, I got the confidence to try it. Just like other hotel sambar recipes, this one also calls for roasting, grinding and adding freshly ground spices.But the ingredients for sambar powder is different. Actually my friend had advised me to use half the quantity of ingredients as the yield of this sambar will be more for a 2-3 members family. So I reduced the quantity of sambar powder ingredients & dal, modified the cooking procedure slightly for ease. As per the original recipe, drumstick is one of the most important ingredients. But I have skipped it as the cost is very high in market ( Yes, Rs.15 per drumstick ). Still the sambar came out finger licking good. Raksha & Sendhil loved it a lot. Friends, do try this yummy hotel style sambar recipe at home (If possible with drumstick). Its one of the best side dish for idli/ mini idli, dosa, pongal and vada. You will love it for sure. If you want to make it for rice, you need to add more tamarind and chillies. Ok, Lets see how to make this yummy, Coimbatore special Annapoorna hotel sambar recipe with step by step photos and a video !! Don’t forget to go through the “Points to note” given below.

POINTS TO NOTE

1. As per the original recipe, the quantity of drumstick should be twice that of toor dal. For this quantity, u should use 1 drumstick. Chop into small finger size pieces.Alternatively, you can use 2 brinjal, 1 medium carrot,1 medium sized potato. But flavor of the sambar may vary.
2. This Sambar masala needs 12 ingredients. So please keep them ready in a plate before roasting. Roasting the spices perfectly is the key for this sambar.So do not burn them.
3. According to the original recipe, the quantity of tamarind and jaggery should be equal. But I reduced the jaggery as Sendhil doesn’t like the sweet taste in sambar.
4. I used long red chilli but original recipe called for using guntur chilli. So slight color deviation in the sambar was there. 
5. The original recipe called for pressure cooking tomato, onion and drumstick pieces separately for one or two whistles in high flame whereas I cooked them along with the dal by keeping them in a small box inside the cooker. Refer the pics and video for more detail. I did this to reduce the cooking time of sambar.
6. As a general rule of hotel sambar, it tastes the best when you give more standing time.So if you prepare this sambar for your guest, prepare it 3-4 hours in advance. Reheat it at the time of serving.
7. The yield of this sambar will be more as it thickens when cools down.So add little water at the end, mix well, check for salt and then serve.
8. If you want to make this sambar only for 2 people, use half of the quantity of ingredients mentioned.
9. Adding ghee at the end is a must. It gives awesome flavor to this sambar.
10. Garnish with coriander leaves without fail.

Annapoorna Hotel Style Idli Sambar Recipe

Coimbatore Annapoorna Hotel Idli Sambar Recipe - One of the best hotel sambar recipes !

Cuisine: South Indian

Category: Side dish for Idli, dosa

Serves: Serves 4

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 20 Minutes

Total time: 30 Minutes

Chitra Ganapathy

INGREDIENTS
1 cup - 250ml

To pressure cook Toor dal - 1/3 cup Water - 2 cups Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp Cooking oil - Few drops Tomato - 1 no ( Chopped) Big onion - 1 no ( cube cut) Drumstick - 1 no ( Chop into small finger size) For sambar powder Sesame oil/Gingely oil - 2 tsp Methi seeds - 1/8 tsp Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp Pepper corns - 5 nos Red chilli - 3- 4 nos ( I used long variety, 3 Guntur chilli can also be used) Coriander seeds/Dhania - 2 tsp Chana dal - 1.5 tbsp Urad dal - 1/2 tbsp Grated coconut or dry coconut - 1.5 tbsp Curry leaves - 6 nos ( 1/2 sprig) Asafetida - 2 big pinches Jaggery - 1 tsp Tamarind - Medium gooseberry size Water – 2 + 1/2 cup ( To boil + grind) To temper Sesame oil/Gingely oil - 2 tsp Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp Curry leaves - few Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp To garnish Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp ( finely chopped) Ghee - 1 tbsp

METHOD

In a cooker base, add toor dal, 2 cups water, 1/4 tsp turmeric powder and few drops of cooking oil. In a small box, add chopped onion, tomato, drumstick pieces or other vegetables if using. Add 1/4 cup water. Keep the box inside the cooker. Pressure cook in low flame for 2 whistles. Open the cooker and take the box out. Keep aside.Mash the dal with a whisk or ladle. Set aside. In a kadai, heat 2 tsp sesame oil.Roast methi seeds, cumin seeds, chana dal, urad dal, red chilli, pepper corns, dhania and roast till dals turn golden in color. Add pinched tamarind. Saute for a second. Add the curry leaves, hing, grated coconut and jaggery. Saute for 30 seconds. Grind this mixture to a smooth paste adding 1/2 cup water. Slightly coarse paste is also fine. In the same kadai, add the ground paste + 2 cups of water.Mix well and boil for few minutes. Add the cooked onion+ tomato + Veggies mixture.Boil for a minute. Add the mashed dal, required salt & boil the sambar in medium flame for few minutes. Heat oil in a kadai and when it gets heated , splutter mustard seeds, curry leaves.SWITCH OFF THE FLAME ! Add red chilli powder, mix well quickly and add this to the boiling sambar. Do not burn the red chilli powder. Boil the sambar for a minute. Last but not the least, add 2 tsp ghee,  chopped coriander leaves and mix well. Serve hot with idli ! This sambar becomes thick as it cools down.So add water to adjust the consistency before serving.Check for salt as well. Enjoy !

Note

Adjust the quantity of red chilli & chilli powder if u want more spicy taste. Do not add more tamarind. Tamarind should be minimum for idli sambar. This sambar becomes thick as it cools down.So add water whenever needed, mix well. Check for salt and serve.

Enjoy this yummy idli sambar with piping hot idli ! Tastes great

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Savory Corn Fritters {Vegan}

Paring down the cookbook shelves has its advantages. As much as it pains me to let go of books, cookbooks or otherwise, so often the experience is one of renewal and discovery. I looked through books that I hadn't opened for a while, salvaged some recipes from those marked for the donation pile, and managed to make room for the ones that I truly cherish. My brain was buzzing with inspiration. I was discovering recipes I had nearly forgotten about, others just waiting to be enjoyed again, and new ideas to try.

These savoury pancakes I rediscovered in one of the first vegetarian cookbooks that ever occupied a space on my shelf. I have adapted the recipe over the years to make it my own, but as corn appears only occasionally on the menu, these moist, almost melt-in-your-mouth fritters hadn't been served up for a quite a long time. Usually they were paired with a zesty and chunky black bean and feta salsa. The corn kernels in these fritters provides a bit of a crunch, along with the grainy cornmeal, with some underlying tanginess from the sun-dried tomatoes and some heat from spices and hot chilies. Serve these up for dinner or enjoy for brunch.

Savory Corn Fritters {Vegan}

Recipe by Lisa Turner Published on January 23, 2017 Simple sweet and savory corn fritters perfect for serving with salsas or chutneys Print this recipe Dry ingredients: 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal 2/3 cup spelt or unbleached white flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 2 teaspoons coconut or brown sugar 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 1/2 teaspoon chili powder 1/2 teaspoon sea salt Wet ingredients: 2 tablespoons oil + more for frying 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce 2/3 cup almond milk or other non-dairy milk 1 jalapeño or 2 green or red chilies, seeded and finely chopped (optional) 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, soaked in hot water for 30 minutes, drained and chopped 2 cups corn kernels, thawed if frozen Instructions: In small bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder and soda, sugar, cumin, chili powder and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, applesauce and almond milk. Stir in the chopped jalapeño or chilies if using, sun-dried tomatoes and corn. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir until evenly moistened. Heat a few teaspoons of oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, scoop about 1/4 cup portions of the batter into the pan, leaving a bit of space between each pancake. Cook until small bubbles begin to form on the tops, about 2 to 3 minutes. Flip and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes or until lightly browned. Transfer to a plate and keep warm in the oven, and cook the remaining pancakes, adding more oil as needed. Serve with your favorite chutney and sauces, with some wedges of lime, or for a sweeter treat, drizzle with syrup. Makes 6 servings

Other recipes featuring corn from Lisa's Kitchen you may enjoy:
Corn and Green Pea Tomato Curry
Homemade Creamed Corn
Indian-Style Spicy Cream of Corn Soup
Quinoa Corn Soup

Carrot Halwa – Gajar Ka Halwa Recipe Without Khoya

Carrot halwa recipe with step by step photo and a video !
Carrot halwa (Gajar Ka halwa In Hindi) is one of the most popular Indian desserts that is loved by all. Long back I had shared “How to prepare carrot halwa in pressure cooker”. That’s my go-to recipe for making easy and quick carrot halwa. Yesterday for a change, I prepared this traditional method of making carrot halwa in a kadai by using milk,sugar and ghee. I offered it as prasadam for my Friday Lakshmi Pooja. For making carrot halwa, Delhi carrots are mostly used by North Indians whereas I made it with our South Indian orange carrots(Ooty carrot). Traditionally it is prepared in a big iron kadai but I used my non-stick kadai that suits my Induction stove as I wanted to make a video recipe as well. So there are mild deviations from the perfect traditional ones but this one tastes and looks equally good. I have not used condensed milk ( Milk maid) Or Khoya/ mawa. So the preparation time and cooking time takes a bit longer that pressure cooker version. Still the final result makes you forget all the pain .Lets see how to make carrot halwa/ Gajar Halwa at home with step by step photos and video !!

Carrot Halwa Recipe - Gajar Ka Halwa

How to make carrot halwa - Gajar Halwa Recipe using milk

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Sweet

Serves: Serves 2

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 25 Minutes

Total time: 35 Minutes

Chitra Ganapathy

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 250ml Carrot - 4 nos OR Grated carrot - 2.5 cups Sugar - 1/2 cup (heaped) Ghee - 3 tbsp Cashews & Almonds/Badam - 5 each ( chopped) Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp

METHOD

Wash and peel the skin of carrots. Grate it using a big sized holes grater.Do not use a small hole grater because halwa turns mushy and the end of cooking.Grate and keep in a plate. In a kadai, heat 2 tbsp ghee and add the grated carrot.Saute well till the raw smell goes off and color of carrot changes to pale orange. It takes nearly 3-5 minutes.  Now add 1 cup of milk and mix well.Keep the flame medium and cover the kadai with a lid. Carrots get cooked in milk. Wait till all the milk is absorbed by the milk. Open the kadai every now & then, stir till bottom to avoid burning. Cooking takes nearly 10-15 minutes. Now add 1/2 cup (heaped)sugar and mix well. Sugar melts and mixture will become watery.Check for taste and add 2 tbsp more sugar if needed. Keep the flame medium and keep stirring till 3/4th of the moisture is lost. When the halwa becomes thick and starts to leave the sides of kadai, add cardamom powder, 1tbsp ghee and mix well. When the halwa becomes thick, gathers in the center with very little moisture, remove it and sprinkle chopped nuts. Serve warm with ice cream or cold ! ** Do not stir the halwa for long time to become thick & dry because when the halwa cools down, it will become hard & chewy.So remove it when there is very little moisture content. This halwa can be refrigerated and stored for a week.Reheat in a microwave for 1 minute and serve warm if needed. Enjoy !

Note

Add more sugar ( 2 tbsp extra) for more sweetness.Sugar can be added any time while cooking carrot halwa. You can use Delhi carrots instead of the regular orange carrot for bright color. Serve warm with your favorite ice cream to enjoy its best taste !

Enjoy this delicious carrot halwa with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Its a blissful combo !!

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Red Poha Upma – Sigappu Aval Upma – Red Aval Recipes

Poha( Flattened Rice/Rice flakes in English, Aval In Tamil, Avalakki In Kannada, Poha in Hindi) is used to make quick and easy, Instant breakfast recipes like Poha upma, Poha idli , Poha pongal etc. Mostly I make Poha recipes using white poha but red poha is considered to be high in nutrition with lots of health benefits.It is prepared from red rice.It is good for diabetes and is rich in fiber, vitamin B and minerals like calcium, zinc, iron, manganese, magnesium. Recently one of my readers suggested me to share some red aval recipes. So last time when I went to Salem, I bought a pack of Red Aval ( Sivappu aval in Tamil), Kambu aval and Ragi aval from Barathi supermarket. I followed my usual aval upma recipe and made this instant sigappu aval upma recipe quickly for our breakfast. It was very nice,flavorful and tasty. Above all, we got a satisfaction of having a healthy food. Ok, Lets see how to make red aval upma with step by step photos !

Check out my Instant, ready to eat Poha Mix Recipe !

Red Poha Upma Recipe

Red Poha Upma - Sigappu Aval Upma recipe for easy, instant breakfast !

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Breakfast recipes

Serves: Serves 2

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 15 Minutes

Total time: 25 Minutes

Chitra Ganapathy

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 250ml Red Poha/ Sigappu aval - 1 cup Big onion - 1 no ( Finely chopped) Green chillies - 2 nos ( slitted) Ginger - 1 tsp ( finely chopped) Curry leaves - few Grated coconut - 1/4 cup Coriander leaves - to garnish Lemon juice - few drops To temper Cooking oil or coconut oil - 2 tbsp Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Cumin seeds – 1/2 tsp Urad dal - 1 tsp Chana dal - 1.5 tsp Hing/Asafetida - few pinches

METHOD

Wash the red poha twice to remove the debris & HUSK.( If the red poha is thin, it will become soft after washing. So no need to soak it. If the poha is thick and hard, it will not become soft even after washing. In that case, you should soak it) I used red thick poha, so I washed and soaked it for 10 minutes till all the water is absorbed by the red poha. Keep it covered. Water should be just 1 inch above the poha while soaking. Chop the onion, green chilli and ginger. Keep it aside. In a kadai, heat oil and splutter mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal and cumin seeds.Saute finely chopped onion, slit green chillies, ginger pieces and torn curry leaves.Saute till onion turns transparent. Add the soaked poha, required salt and mix well gently. Make sure poha doesn’t turn mushy while mixing. Keep the flame completely low and cover the upma with a lid. Cook it for 8-10 minutes. Open it once or twice in the middle and stir it. Check if the poha is cooked soft else add little water and mix well.Cook till done.Sometimes thick poha needs little more water to cook.Lastly add the lemon juice, coriander leaves and grated coconut. Mix well and switch off the flame.Serve hot !! Enjoy !

Note

Add finely chopped chillies instead of slit chillies for spicy taste.I used slit chillies for mildly spicy. Adding lemon juice helps to absorb the iron content in poha.So do not skip it. If you want to make no onion version, just use boiled potato pieces and sprinkle 2 tbsp of roasted, coarsely powdered peanuts at the end.

Enjoy this healthy Red Poha Upma For your breakfast or dinner !

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Avarekalu Dantina Soppu Palya Recipe – Field Beans Amaranth Leaves Curry

Every year during Avarekalu (Indian Field beans/Surti/Lilva beans in English, Mochai in Tamil) season, I would like to try some new and interesting recipes with it. As I say in all my Karnataka recipes post, my 7 Kannadiga friends ( School moms group) are the biggest source and inspiration for me to try and share Karnataka recipes in Chitra’s Food Book. According to me, each and every recipe I learn from them is a Gem.I have already shared few avarekalu recipes like Hitikida Avarekalu gravy for Ragi mudde, Avarekalu methi pulao, Avarekalu sagu, Avarekalu Huli from my friends. This year I learnt Avarekalu Dantina soppu palya ( Lilva beans/Surti – Amaranth Leaves curry in English, Mochai kottai -Thandu keerai poriyal in Tamil) from my friend Megha. As I had just a handful of leftover Avarekalu after Sankranti celebration, I wanted to use it effectively. So Megha suggested me to make avarekalu palya adding soppu so that the yield will be more and its a healthy option as well. She told they reserve the cooked soppu water to make bassaru recipe. But I used it to make Lauki gravy.Soon I will learn Bassaru from my friends and share it here. I still have avarekalu akki roti and avarekalu uppittu recipes in my try list. I will try to share them at least by next year during this season.Now lets see how to make this healthy, Karnataka style avarekalu Soppu palya.

Avarekalu Danitina soppu palya

Field beans - Amaranth leaves Curry for rice

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Side dish for rice

Serves: Serves 2

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 15 Minutes

Total time: 25 Minutes

Chitra Ganapathy

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 250ml Avarekalu/ Field beans - 1/2 cup Dantina soppu/ Thandu keerai/ Amaranth leaves - 2 cups ( chopped) Garlic cloves - 5 nos ( crushed) Big onion - 1 no ( Finely chopped) Red chilli - 2 nos ( Pinched) Curry leaves - few To Temper Cooking oil - 1.5 tbsp Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp Urad dal - 1 tsp Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp Grated coconut - 2 tbsp

METHOD

Wash and chop the soppu leaves( Keerai leaves) and set aside. In a cooker base, take the avarekalu ( Mochai/Field beans) and add put the chopped leaves. Add 1 cup of water to it and the required salt. Pressure cook for one whistle in low flame.Drain the excess water in a bowl, use it for making gravies. In a kadai, heat oil and temper mustard seeds, urad dal, cumin seeds and curry leaves.Add pinched red chillies, crushed garlic and finely chopped big onion. Saute till onion turns transparent. Add the cooked soppu+avarekalu, mix well. Check for salt and mix well. Lastly add the grated coconut and mix well. Serve with rice ! Enjoy !

Note

Crushed garlic and chopped onion gives a nice flavor to this palya You can skip onion & garlic if you want to make no onion no garlic version. In that case, add more grated coconut at the end. You can use arave soppu/Arai keerai instead of Dantina soppu/Thandu keerai.

Try this healthy, Avarekalu soppu palya recipe for rice and enjoy !

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