Nivedhanam

Welcome friends to another month long marathon – “Buffet on the Table”.. Today we are starting another month long marathon – Buffet on the table with 5 categories and the week 1 is going to be "Combo from Countries". and I am starting with a delicious combo in our house.. Spicy Potato Kari and Kaara Kuzhambu. When you talk about Combos, lot of dishes come to my mind other than the Indian ones.. In our house, it is always combo dishes and rarely do we do an one dish meal.. There are lot of combos that are quite popular like – Pita Bread and Hummus, Brownie and Vanilla Ice Cream, Burger and Fries, Mor Kuzhambu and Parupu Usli, Roti and Paneer Butter Masala, Channa Masala and Batura, Fish and Chips, Fries and Sauce, Ghevar and Rabri etc…

Kaara Kuzhambu

Kaara kuzhambu stands up to its name – Kaara means – very spicy and kuzhambu is a thicker gravy and this dish is sure to make your eyes water along with your tongue.. It is super tasty and tongue tickling.. I served this along with the all time favorite – Spicy Potato Fry

Pachai Milagu (Green Pepper) is something that I got introduced recently (in the last one year)... Amazing aroma and taste.. It also has a signature flavor that one cannot forget.. I made a kaara kuzhambu with it.. As usual, I did a lot of internet search for recipes and referred to Valli's site and a few more and made mine with a few changes.. Some sites tell you to grind the masala along with the peppercorns, but since I was using it for the first time, I wanted to use them whole. Every peppercorn when you bite brings a zinggggg!!! This goes best with hot steaming rice!!

Goa is a coastal state of India along the Western region, located along the Arabian Sea and has beautiful beaches and historic sites. Goa is the smallest state in India by size and is the fourth smallest by population. Although it is the smallest state, it has the highest GDP per capita. Goa’s history goes back 20,000 – 30,000 years.. From wiki – “Goa's history goes back 20,000–30,000 years. The rock art engravings exhibit the earliest traces of human life in India.^[9]:p.254Upper Paleolithic or Mesolithic rock art engravings have been found on the bank of the river Kushavati at Usgalimal.^[10] Petroglyphs, cones, stone-axe, and choppers dating to 10,000 years ago have been found in many places in Goa, such as Kazur, Mauxim, and the Mandovi-Zuari basin.^[11] Evidence of Palaeolithic life is seen at Dabolim, Adkon, Shigao, Fatorpa, Arli, Maulinguinim, Diwar, Sanguem, Pilerne, and Aquem-Margaon etc. Difficulty in carbon dating the laterite rock compounds poses a problem for determining the exact time period.^[”The cuisine is highly influenced by the Hindu origin, but has high impact from the Portuguese with their colonization for about 400 hundred years. Seafood is a big part of Goan cuisine. Staple foods are rice and fish with strong spices and intense flavors. I got this recipe from here and made very few changes.. This recipe has its sourness from tamarind, distinct flavor of the coconut milk and delicious taste of paneer..