chettiar

this is a south indian community which belongs to agriculture and trading community who are famous for trade of spices with the other countries. they are famous for their food, trade.
chicken chettinad here the chettinad means cheti land so the preparation is from the chetti place
the

rassam

rassam... juice, or essence as its sanskrit meaning would be, akin to sambar but little different from it as sambar is thick vegetable stew where as this is thinner version majorly prepared with tamarind, tomato to provide the tangy flavour. Rassam has its own condiments to give its flavour which again vary as it changes the state. In tamil they call Rassam; saaru in Kannada; chaaru in Telagu.
this preparation basically has four major ingredients tamarind for sourness; lentils as liquid base; peppers for spicyness; curry leaves with fenugreek it all makes rassam the true rassam .. but it may change as the georaphy changes some parts use tomato instead of tamarind and may wont use the lentil water as liquid. even some uses coconut milk and cilantro to flavour their rassam.
but whatever the way they end up in making rasam, even the rasam is closer to mulligatawany. where as muligatawany has a tamil origin and it is translated as mulligu and thanni.. mulligu stands for pepper thanni for water as black pepper is major ingredient in the rassam.

rassam recipe: 1/2 kg tomato; 1/2 cup red lentils; 1/2 cup tamarind pulp; salt; curry leaves; 1 tsp cumin; 1 tsp mustard; 2 cloves of garlic; cilantro; 1 tsp red chilli powder(substitute paprika for milder version); 1 tsp turmeric
for spice mixture: 1 tsp coriander seeds; 1 tsp cumin seeds; 1 tsp fenugreek seeds; 3 red chillies; 1 tsp black pepper; dried curry leaves; pinch of asafoetida
1. broil all the spices in a pan and grind in a coffee grinder leave them aside.
2. cut tomatoes add in a pot with water and lentils let them cook until tomatoes cooks well.
3. strain the liquid by strainer crushing the tomatoes or use the food mill. the result puree thin it down to a liquid consistency again keep it to boil add tamarind to it add sugar and salt to taste.
4. in a separate pan heat the 2 tbsp oil add mustard seeds when they start to crackle add cumin asafoetida, curry leaves, turmeric and paprika temper the rassam with this mix well add cilantro and let it boil
serve as a soup or with rice.

sambhar

it can be described as southern Indian letil curry with vegetables added in it. it is served all over with 'Idli' or 'Dosa'. even the sambhar can be eaten with anything as it is a vegetable curry. there are plenty of recipes on the web and the books available even every household boosts its own curry recipes changes with the available ingredients. much more like a chowder made with lentils majorly the split pigeon pea.
the major ingredients it contains are split pigeon pea, tamarind, vegetables and curry leaves.
this dish is even called by various names in southern states kuzambu, pappucharu, sambharu. One legend goes it was Maratha king shahuji who was ruling in Tanjavoor who was hailed from western coastal region use to love the pigeon pea preparation called Amti. made with kokum (garcinia indica) a sour fruit from western coast of india. the cooked in his kitchen used tamarind instead of kokum and served in a greeting banquet arranged for visiting cousin Sambhaji. the preparation named after him as 'sambar'