Thogayal

Thogayal is a kind of thick chutney (thick spicy paste). You need to mix it with hot cooked rice along with 1 tsp of gingely oil/ghee and then savour it with roasted/fried papad. Also every thogayal has a best combination partner; like ridge-guard thogayal goes very well with 'vatha kuzhambu', pudina thogayal with 'more kuzhambu', ginger thogayal with 'cucumber/tomato pachadi'(pachadi is similar to raita) and so on. We have seen recipes for 'vatha kuzhambu' and 'more kuzhambu' in earlier posts. There are many varieties of thogayal, let's see recipe for few here.

Pudina Thogayal

Ingredients:

Pudina leaves (Mint)- 1 bundle
Mustard : 1/2 tsp
Salt : 3/4th tsp (or) as per taste
Urad dal : 1.5 to 2 tbsp
Red chilli : 3
Pepper : 1/2 tsp
Tamarind paste: 1/2 tsp
Freshly Grated coconut : 2 tbsp
Oil : 3 to 4 tsp

Method for thogayal:

1. Heat 1-2 tsp oil in a pan, add mustard and let it crackle, add red chillies, urad dal and pepper.
2. Fry the above till dal turns golden brown and then switch off the flame. Transfer the content in mixi jar.
3. Heat remaining oil in pan on medium flame and add the pudina leaves(Make sure you have cleaned the leaves and strained all the water well beforehand). Saute till the leaves shrink and raw flavour goes away.
4. Now add the pudina leaves too into the mixi jar, and once it cools down add salt, tamarind paste, grated coconut and grind it little coarsely.

Peerkangai Thogayal:

Ingredients:

Peerkangai (ridge guard): 1 small (250-300g)
Tuwar dal - 1.5 tbsp
Red chilli - 2 to 3
Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp
Freshly Grated coconut - 2 tbsp
Tamarind paste : 1/4 tsp
Salt - 0.5 to 0.75 tsp (or) as per taste
Oil - 1.5 tbsp

Method:

1. Take 1/2 tbsp oil in a pan, add tuwar dal, red chillies. Stir till dal turns golden brown and remove from flame. Transfer it in a mixi jar.
2. In same pan, add 1 tbsp oil and fry chopped ridge guard (peeled & chopped) till the raw flavour goes off.
3. Add the fried ridge guard to the mixi jar, add grated coconut, tamarind, asafoetida, salt and grind it little coarsely.

 

Ginger Thogayal

Ingredients:

Ginger : 75-100g
Mustard : 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida/Hing : 1/4 tsp
Urad dal : 1.5 to 2 tbsp
Pepper : 10-15
Salt : 3/4th tsp (or) as per taste
Oil : 3-4 tsp
Red Chilli : 4-5
Tamarind paste : 1/2 to 1 tsp
Jaggery : small tamarind seed size

Method:

1. Heat 1-2 tsp oil in a pan, add mustard and let it crackle, then add urad dal, pepper and red chillies and fry till dal turns golden brown in colour. Remove from flame and transfer contents into a mixi jar.
2. In the same pan add the remaining oil and fry chopped ginger on medium flame for 5 min. Switch off the flame. Transfer contents into the mixi jar.
3. Once it cools down, grind both these mixitures little coarsely with salt, asafoetida, jaggery and tamarind paste.