Vallarai keerai thogaiyal (Centella Chutney)

I know it has been a while since I came back with a recipe! But here's me trying to make a come back.
So I go to my local veggie store yesterday and see this beautiful bunch of vallarai keerai (Centella) and grabbed at it like a mad buffoon!

Image courtesy: Zimbabwe flora

Thing is, Vallarai keerai is like an entire pharmacy was packed into a little green leaf. It is anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, helps cure ulcer, acts as a brain tonic, help keeps anxiety down, and the list goes on! But that is definitely not why I picked this up! Earlier in the week, when I was skimming through a Tamil magazine in a waiting room, I had chanced upon a gorgeous picture of Vallarai thogaiyal and seeing these leaves somehow made my mouth water all over again! Sad part though, was that I had not noted the recipe down and my memory certainly seems to need some vallarai magic anyways! So, I begged Uncle Google for help!
What gorgeous recipes are out there. I personally loved the idea of keeping it plain and simple vallarai, as in En Samayal Arai's post, but also knew Solai's recipe would have a better edge in terms of taste. However, the recipe in the magazine had a tinge of garlic in it. So I mixed and matched and made a version of my own :)

What you will need: 
Vallarai Keerai or Centella leaves - 1/2 cup (Cleaned and stems picked.)
Urad dal - 2 Tbsp
Red Chillies - 3
Garlic pods - 4
Grated Coconut - 1 or 2 Tbsp
Salt - to taste
Tamarind - 1 marble size
Gingelly oil/pomace olive oil - 1 Tbsp

For Tempering:
Gingelly oil - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
urad dal - 1 tsp
curry leaves - 6-7
Red chillies - 1


How to make it:
In a tawa, heat 1 tbsp gingelly oil and roast the chillies.
Remove chillies and roast the urad dal.
Remove Urad dal and roast garlic till golden.
Remove garlic and roast the coconut for about 30 secs
Remove coconut and saute the vallarai till it loses the water a little.

Now in a mixie, add all the roasted ingredients with tamarind and salt and blend to a coarse paste.

In the same tawa, heat 1 tsp of gingelly oil and temper mustard seeds, urad dal, red chilly and curry leaves in that order, and pour the tempering on the thogaiyal

There you go! Vallarai Thogaiyal is ready to serve with Dosas and idlies.

This thogaiyal can be refrigerated for upto 3 days.

It does have a tinge of bitterness in it, which is the natural character of Vallarai. I prefer it this way. However, if you are not a big fan of mr.bitter, you can mask it, by adding a little more tamarind. Alternatively, add 1 medium tomato into the mix. You will have to saute it whole, right after taking out the vallarai from the tawa, and blend it with the rest of the ingredients.

Brussel Sprouts and Pomegranate Warm Salad

What you will need:

Butter - 2 tsp

Brussels Sprouts - 200 gms (Cleaned, peeled and halved)

Walnuts - 5 (chopped and toasted)

Pomegranate seeds - 1 handful

Soy sauce - 1tsp

Lemon - 1/2 juiced

Salt & pepper - to taste

How to make it:

1. Melt the butter in a tawa and toast the brussel sprouts in it till their green gets vibrant. (If you prefer your brussel sprouts cooked a little longer, feel free to!)

2. Switch off the tawa, and add in the toasted walnuts, pomogranate seeds, salt and pepper. Mix and transfer to a bowl.

3. Mix the soy sauce and lemon juice nicely with a fork and dress the salad with it.

4. Dig in...

Notes: I added a tsp of raisins to make it a little more sweet. Skip it though.. The salad is better without it!

Hello!

Phew! Finally, after all the procrastination, It is finally here! My food blog :)
I have been sitting on this idea for almost a year now! ok. 8 months! That IS almost a year right?
Somewhere in the beginning of last year, I had put on way too much weight! Almost 20 Kgs more than what was ideal for me.
There were a few physical issues that prevented me from vigourous exercising, and so I chose a healthy diet as my way to decrease. 8 months later, I am at my ideal weight, getting a lot of compliments and rich by a book load of recipes that are not just healthy, but tasty as well! (Did you really think by diet I meant bland salads thrice a day? naaah!)

And that is my Tawa tale! My diet was not about low calories as much as the right balance of food. But we are going to discuss that in detail later! But here, I will share with you the (successful) experiments from my kitchen, in detail.