Friday, April 22, 2022

Thuvayal Thokku Tofu

 Thuvayal and Thokku are two items that can be just mixed with rice and eaten or used as a side dish for other recipes.

A thokku is like a pickle but not exactly the same. Basically grated , minced or ground vegetables are sauteed in sesame oil with some red chilly powder or paste for the spice and salt to taste. This is left to cook for some time till it reaches a nice spread sort of consistency. Thokku can be preserved in the fridge for over a week.

Thuvayal and small onion (shallot) thokku

Thuvayal is sort of a coarse chutney. Its made by roasting lentils and red chillies and ground with some other ingredient like curry leaves or mint or corriander leaves or coconut. My mother in law makes excellent thuvayals and a whole variety of them including ones with brinjals( thats what we call eggplants in India) . You can even make thuvayals with the peels or other parts of some vegetables which we might otherwise throw away! The inner filling of snake gourd  for instance (snake gourd is a vegetable. Have you heard of it? )

Hot rice, coconut thuvayal with tomato raita on the side was a favorite combination for me and my brother. Its easy to cook and great to eat.

Food from other lands:

Tofu . After over a decade of stay here in Singapore, tofu has become a part of our weekly diet . It is manufactured using soy beans and is a key constituent of vegetarian Chinese food. It couldve scrambled like eggs , fried  , added to soup. I have also heard that silken tofu is a good replacement for eggs in some of the baking recipes.

Food for thought:

Todays quote is from Thirukkural, one of the most renowned works in Tamil literature comprising 1,330 short couplets, or kurals. Each kural is of seven words and many of them convey important life lessons. The text is close to 2000 years old. Thirukkural quotes are taught to children in schools and used in oratorical contexts too.

Theeyinar sutta pun ullaarum aarathey naavinar sutta vadu.

Thee - fire

Pun - wound

Sutta - burn 

Naavu - tongue 

Aaru - heal

The wound or the burn caused by fire will heal and fade, but the hurt caused by the tongue or harsh words will never heal ( or last forever).

We must exercise restraint of speech as the hurt of words runs pretty deep and is indelible !




17 comments:

  1. That's a good saying, much better than the rubbish we were taught as kids "Sticks & stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me". Clearly it was total nonsense!

    Today's post: T Is For TKO

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    1. Hmm...... i think its based on perspective... mine asks us not to hurt others with words and yours basically asks us to not be affected by others words

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    2. I like your perspectives--if we combine the two sayings (yours and the one Dino has quoted above)and follow them, we'd end up being good human beings--I think:)

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    3. Half of the worlds problems would be solved

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  2. Reading this one made me hungry! I think I will go get breakfast. I never heard of snake gourds. I will have to look them up. I imagine they have long twisty necks...

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  3. The quote is spot on...i love thokkus..tamarind tokku ( chintakaya) in Andhra is my favorite.....never had a thuvayal ...but feels yummy


    Good day


    Dropping by from a to z "The Pensive"

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  4. I love coconut thuvayal and chow chow (coyote) peel thuvayal. Nice quote from Thirukkural.

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  5. Some people call chow chow as Bangalore eggplant/brinjal.

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  6. I learned lots today - Thuvayal and Thokku are new to me and sound delicious. I've never heard of snake gourd sounds so intriguing! And what a powerful quote. So true.

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  7. Very interesting! I learned a lot here!
    You're doing great on the A to Z!

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  8. I'm positively drooling after reading this. Will have to try thuvayal
    one of these days. I do love hot rice, ghee and gun powder combo:)

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  9. Absolutely - can't take back that which comes from the tongue.
    Turned Back

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  10. Yes, harsh words can be sharp as knives. And the thing is hurtful words can be replayed in one's mind over and over

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  11. I haven't heard any of these foods, but from the description I think I've eaten them at Indian restaurants. I've never heard of a snake gourd, but my wife would hate the name. She cannot stand snakes.

    Arlee Bird
    Tossing It Out

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  12. Waaoww Jayshree , the thuvayal and thokku, seem really delicious πŸ˜‹ πŸ˜€ South Indian cuisine is forever delightful 😊 and so are your blogs Jayshree . I am not very fond of tofu although.
    And the quote from Trikural is also wonderful and apt πŸ‘Œ

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  13. The thuvayal and thokku seem really yummy πŸ˜‹ 😍 😊. South Indian cuisine is forever delightful 😊 ☺ and so are your blogs Jayshree . Although I am not very fond of tofu, still its remarkably nutritious.
    The quote from Trikurral is also wonderful and aptπŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘ŒπŸ‘ŒπŸ‘Œ

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