Kundu Thosai with Coconut Tamarind Sambal

A friend of my mother dropped by this morning with some breakfast treats that she had made so I decided to post the recipes for those two dishes. The first is kundu thosai with a coconut-tamarind sambal.

(a) Kundu thosai

Cooking time: 15 mins + preparation time: nearly 8 hours

Makes 24

Ingredients:

• Black gram/ Urad dal/ Ulunthu – ½ cup
• Raw rice – 1 cup
• Fenugreek seeds – ¼ tsp
• Pepper – ¼ tsp
• Cumin seeds – ¼ tsp
• Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
• Wheat flour – 2 tbsp
• Oil, as required

Method:

1. Soak ulunthu and rice for about 3 to 4 hours.
2. Grind the soaked ulunthu and rice together with the fenugreek seeds, pepper, cumin seeds and turmeric powder.
3. Mix the wheat flour in the blended mixture. The batter should be thick.
4. Let the batter rest for about 3 to 4 hours.
5. Place the special ‘kundu thosai’ pan on the stove on low heat.
6. Pour a little oil in each of the 8 holes of the pan. Then, pour a tablespoon of batter in each.
7. Cook the thosai for about 1 ½ to 2 mins each side. Flip to the other side so that both sides are browned.
8. Serve hot with the coconut-tamarind sambal.

(b) Coconut-Tamarind Sambal

Time taken: 10 mins

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• Freshly scraped coconut – ½ cup
• Dried red chillies – 4 + 1
• Onion – ¼ + ¼ , chopped
• Curry leaves – 1 sprig
• Fennel seeds – ½ tsp
• Tamarind extract – ¼ cup
• Salt, to taste
• Oil, as required

Method:

1. Soak four of the dried red chillies for a few minutes and then chop them up.
2. Grind the soaked dried red chillies with the coconut and 1/4 onion and keep aside.
3. Heat a tbsp or two of oil in a pan and fry the fennel seeds.
4. When the seeds start spluttering, add the chopped ¼ onion and chopped dried red chilli and curry leaves.
5. Add ¼ cup of tamarind extract to the pan and let it simmer.
6. When the tamarind juice starts bubbling, add the ground chilli-onion-coconut mix and salt, to taste.
7. Mix well and remove from heat.
8. Serve with ‘Kundu’ thosai.

Recipe source: Ithayarani Jeyabalasingham.