Vathal or vendhaya kuzhambu is the ultimate Tambrahm rustic dish, made when you don’t have fresh produce on hand, especially during the monsoons when the sundried vegetables from the previous year come in handy. Vathal means dried stuff basically any vegetable or certain berries like turkey berry (sundakai in Tamil), black night shade (manathakkali in Tamil) in their sundried form are added to a thick tamarind extract, with basic kuzhambu powder (spice mix) and boiled to a thick jam-like gravy, and eaten with rice. The flavor comes from the tadka/thalippu/tempering in sesame oil and the tart tamarind extract, the tartness balanced by the vathal or vegetable of your choice. Fresh vegetables such as drumstick, red pumpkin, onions/shallots are also used and are typically my favorites. If you have no vegetable or vathal on hand, one version of this uses papads. Fry the papads broken in pieces in the initial tempering, and proceed as usual.
Lemon Rasam
One of the easiest, healthiest and tastiest rasams. Very little oil/fat, plenty of protein (toor dal) and loaded with vitamin c in the form of cilantro, green chilies, and lime/lemon juice, and packed with the healing digestive ginger. That’s the recipe in a nutshell!
Kadai Paneer
Kadai paneer is a rustic dish, with big chunks of vegetables and paneer, cooked al dente, coated in a freshly blended spice mix incorporated into a semi dry gravy. Most restaurants serve it floating in a ton of sauce, everything cooked to death, with all the flavors overpowered by the ubiquitous tomato onion gravy. My husband and I have been looking for a semi dry dish, with the vegetables retaining a lot of the texture and fresh flavor, and the paneer just soft enough to chew. I finally found this recipe online, tried it once,and its a winner.
Recipe Source: (with very minor modificaitons)
http://www.chefandherkitchen.com/2012/12/kadai-paneer-recipe-paneer-recipes.html
TriColor Pepper Chutney
Tired of the same old same old coconut, onion, or tomato chutneys? Here’s a refreshing multi-colored, vitamin rich, tangy low fat chutney for you! No need to grate or thaw coconut! Ready in about 20 minutes! Goes great with idli, dosai, pooris, rotis, rice, doubles as sandwich spread!
Potatoes In Tomato Gravy (Aloo Tamatar Subzi)
A simple side for pooris/chapathis/rotis. Minimal ingredients, no fuss, rustic side dish. This can quickly become a go to dish, it’s vegan, and needs no garlic or onions. All you need is potatoes, tomatoes and a few staple spices that most pantries would have.