Spinach Uttapam and Sambhar

Ever since my school days, I have always had a shadow of South Indians around me, either in form of friends or mentors. The the time spent with them is somehting to cherish. I had a good friend in school who was a mallu. Then in college another very good friend who was from andhra or karnataka or somewhere down south (my geography is pretty bad :P ). In medical college, my best friend, an iyer - the best that I have had till now. If this was not enough, the clinic where I was working in for two years before my marriage , was of a doctor who is a tamilian. My mentor, my teacher, everything. I have a colleague and a friend with me currently - a tamilian again. And not to mention the blog world majorly dominated by South Indians again!!!!! Also, in the place where I am staying - Singapore, out of all the Indian population here, 80% is South Indian again!!!!!!!

I can call myself half South Indian when it comes to food. Coffee is like my middle name - thanks to my medical college friend and the clinic of the South Indian doctor that I was working in. Rice is like a staple food in my house for the sheer lazyniess to come home after a whole day of work and roll out chapatis. The idli/dosa batter is forever there in my fridge, at any given time. Enough to prove me a south indian right.

The commonest complaint I have heard from them is,

“Why do you guys categorise everyone from halfway down the map of India as SOUTH INDIANS???!!!!!! Everyone from each different state has a different culture, different cuisine, different custom!!!! Why doesn’t everyone above the half way mark of India realize this???!!!! Why always the common term of SOUTH INDIANS???!!!! PHEW!!!!”

And I have no answer to this till today. I still can’t categorize them as per their states, their culture and their languages.

For me all the languages seem to be the same. All the foods - sambhar, rasam, idli, dosa, wada, upma kuttu, poriyal, kozumbu, bisi bele, tamrind rice, appam, iddyappam …… is south Indian cuisine. Whether its pongal or vishu - its a south Indian festival.

So please my dear friends, please don’t cringe your face when you hear me say South Indian ‘n’ number of times over here. I am really handicapped with regards to this.

So with all you South Indians ….. err, let me use ” ” (two smilies - for the wonderful people that they are) when I want to say sou….. you know what right??? So with all you wonderful experts of ” ” cuisine, here’s my small little attempt to showcase your food. Its like diye ko roshni dikhana (showing light to a lamp…..) …….. but let me still try

The doc that I mentioned about in the beginning, his wife had come to Singapore for an official visit and then spent 2 days with us. When she offered to make something authentic ” “, I was excited!!!! We had eaten a heavy lunch and hence wanted to make some light dinner, so she suggested sambhar and rice. And I was more than happy with it. This is how she made it:

Pressure cook 1 cup toor dal and 1 tomato together for 2 whistles. Once the pressure is released, run your hand blender through them.

For the fresh masala:

2 tbsp chana dal

2 tbsp corriander seeds (not there in the pic since I didn’t have them at home)

1tsp fenugreek seeds

2-3 whole kashmiri chillies

Dry roast them for a few minutes till the chana dal starts to brown, cool a bit and then powder it in a grinder.

Chop the assorted veggies as per your choice. She had used diced eggplant, bottle gourd, carrot, okra, onion, potato. I used these:

Heat the oil and let the mustard seeds splutter then add jeera and curry leaves. Add the veggies and the fresh powdered spices. Cook for 2-3 mins stirring in the middle. Add 1/2 a glass of water, cover and let the veggies cook.

Once the water starts boiling add the dal + tomato, 3-4 tsp tamrind pulp, just a bit of jaggery (to balance the sourness from tomato and tamrind) and salt to taste.

Give it a good boil, garnish with corriander and serve hot with your favourite food.

After that, I always make my sambar this way. All the podi’s and sambhar powders are being stocked in the fridge since god knows how many years, untouched. I can categorize them as oldestest, oldest, old, new, newer, newest. I rarely use them now, only when I am running out of time. And my hubby dear is smart to point out the difference in the sambhar taste then.

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As I mentioned earlier, the idli/dosa batter is always there in my fridge. I will soak and grind it over the weekend and then use it over the week. This time I tried something which I have never tried before - Spinach uttapam!!!!

To the idli dosa batter, add the following:

Chopped spinach

1 finely chopped onion

1 tsp ginger chilli paste.

1/2 tsp turmeric (optional)

Make uttapams over the tava applying a bit of oil and cook till it is golden brown on both the sides.

And we had a lovely breakfast of spinach uttapam with sambhar.

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My entries for RCI / JFI / WBB this month.

April 20, 2007 | Filed Under Beans/Lentils, Spinach

Comments

35 Responses to “Spinach Uttapam and Sambhar”

asha on April 20th, 2007

Hello unofficial southie,
greetings from a very very genuine southie who is always been a southie born to southie parents and raised in South India and don’t know anything but being a southie and love being a southie!!!!!!!!!!:D:D:D :razz:

I loved what you wrote.I don’t mind being called south indian at all.
When I was in B’lore,ppl always used to ask me whether I was a Coorgi,a Gujarati,or a Goan ,even if I was a Christian and a muslim!!! Bcos they have this stereotypical idea of a Hindu south Indian and I didn’t fit the picture!I am a Hindu Lingayat and a pukka Kannadiga!

Coming to the dishes,Palak Uttapam is excellent idea and looks so yummy.I will try.I make Sambhar with same spices too,I love the taste.I bet you enjoyed both,thanks for posting these too.

Coffee,it’s good that you are enjoying so many south Indian company in your life and know us first hand.I almost was expecting to read you married a southie too!;P

Have a great weekend Coffee.You are a sweetheart.Hugs to you:))

Errrr….. so you a south indian right :P
asha on April 20th, 2007

Oh man! I just left a looong comment,I can not see it now!PC ate it?!

Hope you got it Coffee,I don’t want to write the same again.Loved the palak Uttappam.Have a great weekend.Hugs:))

I found it!!!! Looks like me spam eater also like big comments like me.
bee on April 20th, 2007

coffee, get over this south indian nonsense, gal. i come here to see kadhi and dal dhoklis. :twisted:
just kidding. :mrgreen: love your post and recipes - all of them.

I guess you will be disappointed with the next post as well then
Mishmash! on April 20th, 2007

Hey, Southi-North Indian, I dont know any other term to address u otherwise Spinach oothappam, being a south indian, thats something new to me :))

Shn
musical on April 20th, 2007

Coffee,

He he, love your smilies and totally in love with the idea of spinach oottappam. Am going to make some dosai batter tonight, will save some for oottappas

Just a question, is your friend from Karnataka?

You mean the one who taught this to me??? I am not sure where is she from, but she is a tamil iyer from palaghat I think. Now where does that come???
richa on April 20th, 2007

hey coffee, that spinach uttapa looks great, nice variation there.
About the spices, don’t even get me started :roll: , I’ve a HUGE collection of all the spices and their brother
Maybe I should put up a pic of my spice collection, what say??

Good idea!!!! I will do the same Lets see who wins the competition :P LOL LOL LOL
Mythili on April 21st, 2007

Coffee!
2 smilies to you too

Spinach uttappa, now that’s good one !! And the sambar is delish! Super duper post.
swapna on April 21st, 2007

Hi Coffee
I am also a …i hope u get it…

the sambar making me drool over it.. and that too with utappam mmmm!!!yummy!!!!
Sangeeta on April 21st, 2007

Wow ! Delightful spread. The Uttapam and sambar look soooooo good I wanted to eat it off the blog I have some leftover dosa batter and a handful of spinach and guess what we are having for dinner tonite
Pavani on April 21st, 2007

Hi Coffee, many of my north Indian friends call all Southies Madrasi (I’m from Hyderabad, AP) . We often used to have heated arguments abt this issue.
Your sambar and spinach uttapam look delicious.
Prema on April 21st, 2007

Hi Coffee,
Nice to read ur write up….In our house we make sambar every friday… Its everybody’s favourite .. with dosa its heaven for us south Indians. spinach uthappam is new to me and tempting. will try it sometime.
Cynthia on April 21st, 2007

Hi Coffee, love your post. I am a Southie too I’m originally from South AMERICA
Priya Bhaskaran on April 21st, 2007

Hi Coffee, thanks for letting me know abt the cutlet recipe being copied….I guess the person has removed the post and the image you have a wonderful blog here and I didn’t know how I missed….
Kanchana on April 21st, 2007

Spinach Uthappam looks sooo good. I’m glad you like South Indian food, its such good stuff. But as a southie I always wanted to eat at our neighbors house, my favorite is mattar panner and roti!! As they say the grass is always greener on the other side!

Hahaha…. I agree….. Grass is always greaner on the other side.
sra on April 21st, 2007

Madame, as long as you don’t call all of us South Indians Madrasis, that’ll do! There are kinds and kinds of us, “white, brown, black,” veggie, non-veg … I came across a woman from Kolkata last year who told me she thought there was no difference between the languages spoken in the South and that all four States were the same!!! :mad: :???: :roll:

Oh my dear Sra, don’t get so angry
We all love you south indians dearly!!!!!! Its just the confusion because of so much of similarity……. Please dont get so worked up dear.
Mallika on April 22nd, 2007

Oh Coffee - I feel your pain. I am guilty of the same thing. Bundling all Indians from below Mumbai as “Southies”. I should really stop considering I hate it when I, a Bengali from Calcutta, am often called a Bangladeshi!!

Thanks sooooo much for posting a sambhar recipe that doesn’t use the readymade powder. I will definitely try this (and your kadhi recipe!!)

M
x
Trupti on April 22nd, 2007

haha, coffee…that was a cute post….I am guilty of that too..paan addat thi majboor. I do love South Indians and the food…don’t care what part it is from, it is awesome, all of it!

tara uttapams aney sambhar nu combination bahu saras che…!

I agree.
sandeepa on April 23rd, 2007

Hee hee Coffee…Rolled over from Gujju to down South
I love South Indian food too but don’t make it much much but we all are Dosa, Idli and Sambhar Fan

Among my Bong friends here I am the only one who has had the most down South exp what with 2years staying in B’lore and my friends here in Grad School being from there too. So my bong friends tease me a lot because I keep rattling recipe names like Puliyogare, Bisi Bele Bhath etc. which are not much heard of in the North & East of india
ramya on April 23rd, 2007

hai,
i am a southie.i just love it and that utappam looks so yummy……. never made spinach utappam i will try.nice pics .yha south indians cannot part with sambhar.
roopa on April 23rd, 2007

hey NorSou,
thats a very nice writeup …! i loved it and feel very happy that you love the south indian food. well i do here all soughts of thoughts from various people , here it is in general about indians.

i am also southie:) he he i just don’t care what people say i am myself and i love being one

That spinach uttapam looks like a good idea
Sig on April 23rd, 2007

Coffee, don’t worry, I am an authentic South Indian , er…I mean mallu… but I can’t really tell the difference between the other states’ food, though I love it all…

Anyway your uthappam looks so much better than what my proper southy husband makes
Reena on April 23rd, 2007

You are funny!!! I remember the arguments I used to have over this North-South thing in school. I asked them to go learn Geography or be ready to be clubbed in ‘dehati’ category. I remembered that now and I couldn’t stop laughing.

Your recipe sounds different. I don’t make Uthappams but this one sounds healthy. Isn’t blog world fun that we get to try variety of recipes. I love these emoticons you have. Let me try some. :mad: :twisted: :mrgreen:
sia on April 23rd, 2007

hmmm…hmm….hmmm…
very interesting write up my dear coffee even in south india except for 5 south states almost everything cooked in india is tagged as north indian cuisine so what do u think about that? i guess its totally to do with ignorance nad lack of understanding.
he he he… i love all indian veggie food and i love to google for the source and the story associated with each and every recipes:) thanks to food blogging which is helping everyone to know about regional food and also their culture.
loved ur sambar recipe and also uttappa although i have never tasted spinach uttappa till now:) quite colourful recipe coffee:)
Food Lover on April 24th, 2007

hey Coffee,
I liked ur name & u too …
Thats true…, we South Indians never like calling all of us South indians…. But its same from our side tooo…Me being South Indain (Pakka Iyer) broughtup in many states….but still when wanna talk about any non South ppl they r North Indians for me… & this happens with every body
Forget it…
I like ur Sambar & will try soon….I make the way my Mom makes.. but Loved urs…Thanks

Foodlover
Hema on April 24th, 2007

Hi Coffee? Haven’t visited you in a while? Changed your name, then your blog name. What next? I am more accustomed to the ‘Madrasi’ term. ‘That was truly irritating. South Indian doesnt sound bad at all! Your Sambhar and uttappam look great!
Dilip on April 25th, 2007

Coffeeben…how are you…been awhile…have so much to catch up on…you been posting great recipes as always…and a new blog too…~joins Coffee and relaxes in the cafe~… so tell me ben…do you serve masala chai in the new cafe…~grin~….take care ben…I will try and visit more often…~soft smile~…I must mention that I am now working on a fixed term contract for a local college…its the biggest in South London…its great being in a teaching establishment…
mommy on April 25th, 2007

I am turning sounth Indian too the other day I didn’t cook dal because I didn’t have the curry leaves And gudiya only eats curd rice the south indian way not the regular dahi chawaal.. so I guess both of us can join your club lol
Viji on April 30th, 2007

You became total south indian in this post Cofee Well it has become common to call like this I feel. Nothing specific in that. Both dishes are looking great. Viji
Sukanya on May 2nd, 2007

Hi,
First time to ur blog…..U have a great blog….spinach Uttapam is a different try…… nice
Manisha on May 2nd, 2007

Coffee, never had spinach uttapams! These look delicious. I don’t know where to start with this flood of greens! My bookmarks folder is out of control. My RSS feeds have posts kept as new! I don’t want to cook everyday but it looks like I will soon be doing exactly that!
Suma Gandlur on May 2nd, 2007

Innovative uttappams.
I feel, as long as South Indians are not called madrasis, it is fine. I have met several people who think I speak Tamil just because I am a south Indian.
Linda on May 2nd, 2007

Coffee, your spinach uttappam *and* sambhar both look delicious!!
jyoti on May 7th, 2007

:?: what is boiled rice that we need for uttapam. Where would you get it ? what is the brand?

I sometimes use par boiled rice and sometimes the idli rava. Idli rava is better though!!!

Are you staying in Singapore? Then you should get it in Mustafa.
Chili on September 20th, 2007

This looks sooo good…How do u make the batter?
vimmi on January 20th, 2008

was just going through some JFI. Saw ur spinach utthapam. Love it. What a great idea to make the utthapa more nutritious.