Traditional dishes to savour this Puthaandu

With the beginning of the mango season and the Tamil New Year just around the corner, bringing together the best of both worlds, the most quintessential dish made for the occasion across the southern regions is a mango pachadi/jam, says Rakesh Raghunathan, chef and food historian. “It has jaggery, tamarind, a little bitterness from the neem flower, and some tartness from the raw mango. Together, this explosion of flavours also signifies what the year ahead holds for us — ups and downs, happiness and everything in between!” he explains.

Here are some traditional dishes to ring in the Tamil Puthaandu…
Pachai More Kuzhambu Vadai
Ingredients
For the vadai: Toor dal – 1 cup ● Channa dal – 1 cup ● Urad dal – ½ cup ●Curry leaves – 10 ● Green chillies 2 ●Oil ● Salt ●Yoghurt – 2 cups;
For the kuzhambu: ●Oil – 2 tsp ●Coriander seeds – 1 tbsp ●Fenugreek seeds – 1 tsp ●Urad dal – 1 tsp ●Green chillies – 2 ●Coriander leaves – ½ cup ● Grated coconut –2 tbsp ●Turmeric – ½ tsp ●alt;
For tempering: ●Oil ●Mustard seeds – 1 tsp ●Curry leaves – 10 nos

MethodTo make the vadai:
●Soak the lentils for an hour.
●Grind along with green chillies, curry leaves and salt to a coarse batter.
●Heat oil, and fry the vadais till golden brown
●In a wok, heat oil and roast ingredients for kuzhambu except grated coconut and coriander leaves
●Grind to a coarse to smooth paste, adding little water and turmeric
●Mix paste in thick yoghurt. Add salt and set aside.
●Heat oil and temper with items required for tempering
●Dunk vadais in kuzhambu and let them soak

Note:
This kuzhambu does not require cooking/heating.
You can serve this cold, too

Manga Pachadi
Ingredients
●Raw Mango – 1; ●Jaggery 100gm ●Salt A pinch; ●Turmeric A pinch; ●Chilli powder – ¼ tsp ●Gingelly oil 2tbsp ●Mustard ¼ tsp ●Black gram dal ½ tsp ●Red chillies – 3 ●Curry leaves ●Small onion 5 ●Neem flower
Method
● Peel mango and cut into small sizes ● Heat kadai, add oil and temper with mustard, black gram dal, red chillies and curry leaves ●Add small onions and saute for a minute ● Add mango and cook for a minute ●Add jaggery, turmeric, chilli powder, and salt ● Cook well. Switch off flame and add neem flowers ● Serve hot