Plain Dal - Simple Kongu Dish

Parruppu:

Verum paruppu or plain dhal is a very common and simple dish that almost every kitchen prepares regularly.

Personally, I feel that I have eaten the tastiest plain dhal in the world, during my childhood days.

When we visit my dad's mom during holidays she makes very simple dishes like tomato curry, plain dhal, avaraikkai poriyal probably because that is what she would have had in her house or garden. She would not have enough plates in her home for all 4 of us to eat at the same time, but she served the most simple and authentic food I have ever eaten.

Arisiyum paruppu / Dhal Rice / Lentils Rice

Often pronounced as ' arisiym paruppu' with a subtle 'y' sound, this dish screams the name 'kongu nadu' with a very very simple ingredients list and an amazing taste. This is a simple Dhal rice or Lentil rice. I happened to taste this dish for the first time during my hostel days.

Specially prepared for our 'tvz' gang, my friend's mom would bring a bucket full of this dish from tirupur during a weekend visit to our hostel in coimbatore. We would fight like cats and dogs sitting around that bucket in our hostel room, rushing to feast on that 'dhevamirdham'. She prepares an amazing puli thanni for this dish and I cannot imagine a better 'made for each other' food and accompaniment. For the past many many years, every time I prepare this dish, I only wish I had my frnds next to me to share this dish... And the hot, too little maggie noodles that we used to prepare using the tiny electric kettle, that we were not supposed to posses in our hostel... Nostalgic moments and unforgettable people....

Preparing the food for a batch of 10 hostelites and travelling for 2 -3 hours with it and seeing us all eat it... We had moms from erode, tirupur and coimbatore who loved us all so much.. :)

Yummy Yummy! Tasty Mummy!

Okay.. Having dealt with all the emotions and flashback stories, let’s go ahead to the dish.. As I said before the ingredients list is very simple.

Brinjal Potato kosthu

This is a yet another kongu special dish. My grandmother used to make this by first roasting the raw tomatoes and brinjal over the flame. My tongue still remembers the taste of a slightly burnt food and my nose remembers the smell of it. Afterall I guess my grandmother invented barbeque. I only do the non-barbequeing version of it, and of course with a slight variation. The ingredients and the proportions are from my mom in law.

Tomato curry - kongu style

The recipe is a semi-dry curry that is an authentic kongu nadu food. My grandmother from my dad's village used to make this tasty dish almost everytime we visit. I tried to re-create the recipe several times. It never tasted like she cooked until i found that adding chilli powder or sambhar powder instead of the chillis is a crime committed against this dish. ;) Here goes the recipe and try not to commit any crime. Good luck :)