Pudalangai Poricha Kootu & Thengai Thogayal

I cannot do things in a hurry rather do things perfectly when in haste. But unfortunately the present world we are in, demands so much from us that it's almost impossible to work without glancing at the clock every minute. This holds true especially in the kitchen. Every morning is a mad rush hour. From the moment we enter the kitchen, its tea for one, coffee for another; then comes breakfast and lunch should go on side by side. So the only thing that helps me to not go crazy a is little preparation ahead.

This weeks theme, it is cooking under 30 minutes. To make any meal under 30 minutes, you have to have some prep done. You cannot start grating a coconut just before you start cooking and expect your meal to be over in a jiffy. To make things easy have few of the items always at hand. Frozen coconut is one such saviour. The main reason I use this is because thats the cheaper one available where I live and its the most convenient form. Also, whenever I get time I try to chop veggies ahead and keep them.  The meal that is showcased today is the ever classic South Indian kootu and thogayal. Since kootu is vegetables in gravy form, it serves as a 2 in 1. It gives the required quota of goodness from veggies and it is easier to mix with rice (eliminates the need of Sambhar or rasam). To balance the slightly mild taste of the kootu, we can pair it with thogayal that adds the missing zing to the meal. The best thogayal pair to this type of kootu is Thengai thogayal.The best gadget in any Indian household is the pressure cooker. Everyone has at least two and more as per the families need. It saves tons and tons of time. You get this with separator, then you have hit jackpot. The inevitable dal and the rice can be cooked together in no time. Sometimes the snake gourd I get does not cook easily in a saucepan. So what do I do ? Throw it in the cooker. To finish this meal in 30 minutes, keep rice in one separator and the dal and veggie in another. Keep it for 3-4 whistles, might slightly vary depending on the quality. So when this is getting done, heat a pan and roast the ingredients for thogayal and kootu. Let it cool and grind it one by one. You can first grind the thogayal, keep it aside. Then in the same jar grind for kootu. Meanwhile the pressure cooker must have released. Then you can finish off your kootu and start packing the lunch boxes.