கடகட குழம்பு ! Kadakada Kuzhambu

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We are constantly being lured to buy instant foods... instant noodles, instant coffee, what not?

Here is a healthy recipe of previous generation. The term Kadakada means, doing in a hurry.

Imagine life hundred years back, life was never easy in terms of kitchen gadgets.

With firewood for cooking, even to cook lentils will take longer.

If there are guests who come without notifying, how to cook and give them an instant lunch?

This was one such recipe that could be done with roasting and grinding by hand.

Lets go some centuries back... with this lockdown and pause to ponder about how life would have been.

This recipe has good proportion of lentils and is also delicious. Most of the ingredients we would anyway have at home and there is nothing that you would need to buy, if you are someone who cooks regularly.



Ingredients:

1. Toor dhal- 2 tbsp

2. Urad dhal- 2 tbsp

3. Moong dhal- 2 tbsp

4. Channa dhal- 2 tbsp

5. Coriander seeds- 2 tbsp

6. Fenugreek (Venthayam): 1 tbsp

7. Black Pepper corns- 1 tbsp

8. Red chillies- 4 or 5 (depending on your spice level)

9. Hing- 1/2 tbsp

10. Curry leaves - a few

11. Mustard seeds- 1 tbsp

12. Oil- as needed

13. A small cup of veggies of your choice (Shallots or Brinjal or drumstick)

14. A small lemon size of tamarind's extract.

15. Salt- as per taste

16. Raw rice- 1 tbsp (only for blending purpose)

17. Turmeric powder- 1/2 tbsp

18. Sesame oil- for seasoning

19.Jaggery- a small pinch

I used brinjals sliced lengthwise.

Take a pan and fry the ingredients one by one without adding oil.

Fry all dhals one by one. Fry Fenugreek until you get the aroma.

Fry pepper corns, rice, curry leaves together.

Fry red chillies adding 1 tbsp of oil. If you do not add oil when frying red chillies, the strong smell would make anyone sneeze.

Add all lentils, fenugreek, rice, curry leaves, pepper corns, and red chillies, hing and grind to a fine paste adding water.

In a thick pan, add tamarind extract and add salt and turmeric powder.Let it boil first. Add brinjals and ground mixture and mix well.

Let it boil in slow flame for 5-10 mins

Add the jaggery.

In a seasoning ladle, add sesame oil, mustard and curry leaves.

After mustard starts splattering, add to the curry.

This can be served with hot rice and paapad.







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