VAZHAI AVARAKKAI PORIYAL

For pongal we make at least five varieties of poriyal in my house and this is will be one among...For me this is a festive season poriyal. And during my childhood,I rarely eat veggies... 

But my father plays a trick in front of my cousins telling that, my daughter is so good that she will finish all the poriyal in her plate and leave her plate clean...Then no other go... If I dint complete my cousins will start teasing me... So i will finish off,as if ,I'm having tablet...And I’m not A big fan of avarakai, but my mom keeps telling me it’s very good for health.. So I combine with my favorite veggie vazhakkai. And taste is also good... This is a best side dish for curd rice or rasam rice.

Ingredients:

Vazhakkai - 1

Avarakkai - 7

Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp

Sambar Powder - 1&1/3 tsp

Pepper Powder - 1/4 tsp

Water - 1 cup

Salt - to taste

To Temper:

Oil - 1/2 tbs

Mustard - 1/4 tsp

Split Ulandhu - 1/4 tsp

Garlic - 4(smashed)

Curry Leaf - few

Method:

Cut Vazhakkai and Avarakkai to small pieces,Then take a kadai put the cut Vazhakkai and Avarakkai pieces with water,salt and turmeric powder.Allow it to boil for 5-7 mins or till vazhakkai is half done.And drain the excess water.

Then take a kadai,pour in oil,and add the ingredients under "To Temper" and saute well till the garlic is roasted well with nice aroma.

Add sambar powder,saute for a min and add the half cooked veggie and saute in a medium  flame till becomes dry.

Then add pepper powder,and saute well for 10 mins till it comes to a dry curry.

Notes:

You can cook vazhakkai along with sambar powder also,but it sticks to kadai and it takes lots of patience to make the poriyal dry.So i feel steaming the veggie is a better option.

You can add roasted peanuts, it enhances the taste also.And don't reduce the amount of garlic it gives a nice taste