Beetroot Thoran/Poriyal

I had this huge aversion towards beetroot till I actually started having it. I guess it was something about the color (which is in fact very beautiful) that led me to hate the vegetable despite all its known health benefits. Fortunately or not; I married a man who simply loves the vegetable. He can have beetroot with any meal, any preparation! Thus started my beetroot encounters :P

Beetroot Sambar, Beetroot Thoran, Beetroot Subji for Roti's.... the list is endless.
I make sure we make some beetroot preparation once a week and ensure my little one takes a liking to the vegetable so that she wouldn't have to deal with the change management I had to undergo :)

Kerala Fish Curry with Kodumpuli

This is how fish curry is made in Central and South Kerala. The main ingredient of this fish curry, other than the fish of course (haha!) is a different form of tamarind called Kudampuli(Kodukkaippuli in Tamil, also commonly known as Gambooge and scientifically named Garcinia Cambogia).

Check out details in the links below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garcinia_cambogia
http://kodampuli.com/index.html

It is actually a fruit that grows in moist forests. It has a distinct sour taste that enhances the flavor of curries. This is how the ripe fruit looks like apparently:

 

The green fruit shown in the picture above is a young version, It will turn yellow when ripe. Once fully ripe, fruits are collected, cut in half, de-seeded and are sun-dried for a day. The sun-dried fruit halves are smoked till black, and are rubbed with a mixture of salt and oil before transferring to earthenware pots and tightly sealed. These will stay fresh for years. Before use, wash the pieces under running water quickly to remove any dust accumulated from the drying and smoking process, then soak these for 10 minutes in water.

 This is how the Kodumpuli looks like. This is rarely used in our part of Kerala (North Malabar region). We use the tamarind that everyone uses for Sambar and other curries for our fish and prawn curries as well. However, most of the Kerala restaurants in Chennai serve only the south Kerala style fish curry with Kodumpuli. I liked the taste and from then on, have been having this dying urge to make it. The biggest challenge was to procure this in Chennai. I have not seen it in any supermarkets in Chennai.

So the last time someone went to Kerala, I tasked them with bringing me some. Then the usual procrastination that so aptly describes me happened and these shriveled black puli pieces were left untouched for over a year.

Last week was a Seafood overdose at home. So I used this opportunity to make fish curry this style.

 Ingredients:

• Fish (Sear/Pomfret) - 10 pieces
• Kodumpuli - 2 pieces (soaked in warm water)
• Shallots - 15-20, thinly sliced (do not substitute)
• Green Chillies - 2 slit lengthwise
• Coconut oil - 2 tbsp
• Red Chilly powder - 1+2 tsp (for marinating and the curry)
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4+1/4 tsp (for marinating and the curry)
• Corriander Powder - 1 tsp
• Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
• Fenugreek Seeds - 1 tsp
• Curry Leaves - 2-3 sprigs
• Ginger - 2 inch piece finely chopped
• Garlic - 5 cloves finely chopped
• Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tsp
• Thin Coconut milk - 2 cups
• Thick Coconut milk - 1 cup
• Salt to taste

Method:

•  Marinate the fish with salt, 1 tsp chilly powder and 1/4 tsp turmeric powder and set aside for 2 hours.
• Soak kodumpuli in 4 tbsp warm water for 1 hour.
• Heat coconut oil in a pan.
• Splutter mustard seeds.
• Splutter fenugreek seeds and curry leaves.
• Add chopped shallots and green chilly and fry well.
• Add the ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw smell disappears.
• Add the chopped ginger and garlic pieces.
• Add the chilly powder, turmeric powder, corriander powder and salt and fry well.
• Add the kodumpuli, fish pieces and thin coconut milk and cook till the fish is done.
• When the fish is fully cooked, add the thick coconut milk and allow it to boil.
• Remove and serve hot with rice.

Note: Usually, fish curry is made in a traditional earthenware called "Meen Chatti". I've not seen people use the spoon once the fish is added for fear of breaking them. They usually hold on to the sides of the pan and twirl it around twice or thrice for the curry to mix well. Fish curry in the Meen Chatti can be kept for days together and infact it increases its taste with each passing day.

Fish Mollee

Fish Moilee, Fish Mollee... however it is called is literally Fish Stew. It is prepared pretty much the same way as we prepare the vegetable stew or the mutton stew. Kerala is known for the seafood consumption and the abundance of coconut in its cuisine. So you can well imagine what would happen when the two come together exclusively for a dish!!!!

I was very curious to understand what the word Mollee meant. I googled for it, and most of the websites/blogs claim that Mole is Spanish for stew and Mollee is the "Manglicised" version of this word. I'd like to believe that because it is a very Indian thing to extend the e's (like Shoppee). I guess this was the barter system of those days - they took our spices and taught us how to cook their dishes (albeit for them).

Apparently Indian Mackeral (Ayila) is supposed to be the best one to go with Fish Molee, but you can make it with any fish. I made mine with Pomfret. It is the thick coconut milk and the mild spices that add the flavor to this. Lightly laced with pepper and made spicy with green chillies, the sweetness of the coconut milk acts as a balance, making this dish simply yummilicious! :)

Here is how I made the fish mollee this time.

Ingredients

• Fish (any variety, but try not to make it with the extremely small ones like Anchovy or Sardines) - cleaned and cut - 10 pieces 
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
• Chilly Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Pepper Powder - 2 tsp for marinating and 1 tsp for the gravy
• Salt - to taste
• Coconut oil - 4 tbsp
• Curry Leaves - 3-4 sprigs
• Small Onion/Shallots - 15-20 sliced fine
• Green Chilly - 5 slit lengthwise
• Tomato - 1 cut into round pieces
• Ginger - 2 inch piece finely chopped
• Garlic - 10 cloves slit lengthwise
• Garam Masala Powder - 1 tsp
• Thin Coconut Milk - 2 cups
• Thick Coconut Milk - 1-2 cups (depending on how thick it is - I used one big pack of Maggi coconut powder and dissolved it in 200 ml water.)

Method:

• Marinate the fish with salt, turmeric powder, chilly powder and pepper powder and set aside for 1-2 hours.
• Heat 3 tbsp coconut oil and fry them till they are cooked (this is only to avoid the fish from crumbling while cooking - hence you do not have to deep fry it)
• Remove the fish from the pan. Discard the remaining oil. I wouldn't recommend you to use that for making the gravy as it has a weird smell.
• In another pan, heat 1 tbsp coconut oil. Add curry leaves, ginger, garlic, green chillies and onions and fry till they are done.
• Add the tomato and thin coconut milk. Add salt to taste.
• Add the fried fish pieces and bring to boil. Cook till the fish is done.
• Add 1 tsp garam masala powder (I wouldn't recommend Everest or MDH or Badshah - these taste best when you use them for north indian cooking - You could use Sakthi or Aachi or any south indian brand for this dish. If you have Eastern Curry powder or Chicken Masala, you could add that - it enhances the taste of the dish.
• Mix well and ensure that the fish pieces do not crumble.
• Add 1 tsp pepper powder.
• Add the thick coconut milk and bring to boil till the gravy reaches the required consistency.
• Serve hot with Appam or Idiappam.

Note: If your gravy is too thin, it is probably because the coconut milk was not thick enough. You could add 1 tsp of cornflour to thicken the gravy if you like.

Chemeen Thoran - Shrimp/Prawn Masala with coconut

This one is an all time favorite.... I can just eat this - truckloads. It is very spicy, has loads of onions and coconut that gives it the ability to tickle all the varied taste buds. The bigger the prawn, the better it tastes. This can be made in a variety of preparation styles, which I would eventually post here, but this time I had this craving to eat this one and so it was. I did modify the traditional recipe a wee bit... I found an Andhra prawn masala recipe in one of the blogs and I added some extra ingredients based on that. My mother makes this dish devoid of the extra  bit and as you read the recipe, I will tell you which ingredients are a part of the original recipe and which are my inclusions.

The problem with prawns or rather the difficulty in cooking them lies with the initial cleaning and deveining part. Once that is done and you have clean meat in your bowl that's ready to cook, you can churn out wonders. My husband and mom are so fond of prawns that everytime we go out for a meal, we would invariably end up ordering atleast one dish.

It was only the week before that I saw some pics on my ex-colleague's Facebook album - that had yummy prawns and fish curry - I was so tempted that I asked for the recipes and very sweetly, his wife sent me all the recipes immediately. I wanted to make the recipe that she had suggested but that had tomato sauce in it and I was not sure if my in-laws who are visiting me would like a different taste. So i decided to stick to the traditional Thoran (obviously with a few modifications from my end).


Here are the key ingredients that I used:

• Prawns - de-veined and cleaned - 1 kg
• Shallots (Small/Sambar Onions)- 300 gms
• Green Chillies - 4-5 (depending on how spicy you want it to be)
• Coconut - 1/2 to 3/4 grated (depends on how much you like)
• Curry Leaves - 3-4 sprigs
• Ginger finely chopped - 2 inch piece
• Garlic chopped lengthwise - 10-15 cloves
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
• Chilly Powder - 1 tsp (adjust it according to your spice level)
• Salt - to taste
• Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
• Coconut Oil - 4-5 tbsp (you can reduce it)
• Tamarind Paste - 1/2 tsp or Kudam Puli - 1/2 piece *(Optional)

For marinating the prawns (to be ground to a fine paste):

• Chilly Powder - 2 tsp
• Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - 1 tsp
• Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tsp*(Optional)
• Poppy Seeds (Khus Khus) - 1 tsp *(Optional)
• Cashew nuts - 1/2 cup *(Optional)
• Cinnamon - 1 small piece *(Optional)
• Clove - 1 *(Optional)

Note - The items marked *(Optional) are my additions - traditionally, my parents never added these to the Chemeen Thoran. I wanted to make some variations and hence this. You can prepare it without all these 4 ingredients and trust me, it will only taste yummier!

Method:

• Marinate the prawns with the ingredients above and set aside for 2 hours
• Heat coconut oil in a vessel, splutter mustard seeds.
• Add curry leaves, chopped shallots, green chillies, ginger and garlic and fry well.
• Add the turmeric powder, chilly powder and salt and fry well.
• Add the marinated prawns and mix well.
• You may add the tamarind paste or the kudam puli if you want a tangy flavor in the dish.
• Do not add water as the prawns will bring out water.
• Cook covered till the prawns are done.
• Dry the excess water and add grated coconut and mix well.
• You can remove the Kudam Puli piece after cooking, if you have added it.
• That's it - Tasty Chemmeen Thoran is ready to be served with rice and roti's!

Note: Apart from cleaning and de-veining the prawns, the tough parts would be to peel and chop the shallots and grate the coconut. An easier alternative would be to use normal onions and exclude the coconut and maybe you may want to substitute the coconut oil with your regular cooking oil - but trust me, it will lose the authentic flavor.

Fish Fry

This ain't rocket science, and really, I need not post it here cos all of you  know how to fry it. Well, I just wanted to break the jinx of  not being able to post whatever I have been wanting to, and the best way to do it would be with a post where I have less of writing and more of pics to show.

Fish Fry can be made with practically any fish. Rather I'd have to say, any type of fish can be fried. There are different variations of spices that are added to marinate it and this differs from region to region and cuisine to cuisine.

Pomfret(Avoli in Malayalam) and Sear Fish (Nei Meen in Malayalam and Vanjaram in Tamil) are undoubtedly the hot favorites, albeit expensive. You do not have to encounter too many bones, the meat is fleshy and it marinates well.

This is what you would find in most of the restaurants that serve fish fry. But, the homes in rural Kerala use smaller varieties of fish on a day to day basis, and when I say day to day basis, I really mean it... They cannot live without fish curry every single day.

I still remember my childhood summer vacations at my grandmothers place. There used to be one or two regular fish vendors, who'd carry the fish in baskets on their head. These day's they come in motor cycles or at least plain cycles. I'll try to get a pic of one of them when I visit Kerala next. They used to make a specific sound, akin to the coo of a bird. You could hear them from far off those days, because the number of houses in our locality were very less.What was the most interesting part for me as a child was that even the pet cats in the house would get ready for the fish vendor the minute they heard their call. As a child, it used to fascinate me to see the open mouthed fish lying in the baskets when the elders in the house would bargain with the fish vendor, their standard line being, "Ah, your fish is so expensive, XX was willing to give it to me at this price". What interested me further was that it was this fish vendor's visit that helped me get closer to the cats at home. I would always insist on buying one or two pieces of fish more than what my grandma bought, simply to feed the cats. Hmm!!!! Nostalgic indeed!

The other varieties of fish that I like as fried are Sardines (Mathi in Malayalam and Tamil), Indian Mackerel (Aila in Malayalam and Tamil, Indian Salmon (Kaala in Malayalam and Tamil) and Anchovy (Nethili in Malayalam and Tamil). I used to struggle with the fish names in any language earlier because I hated buying them here. Buying them in Chennai meant going to the dirty fish markets where you'd have more flies than fish, walking through muddy, dirty slushy water and much more. Now, with various stores like Reliance Delight, Fish and Fresh, Fish Shoppee etc selling fresh fish, buying them has become way easier. I researched on fish names and found this link that gives me names of fish in Malayalam and English.

http://recipes.malayali.me/english-malayalam-fish-names
http://www.scribd.com/doc/28130423/Confused-Over-Fish-Names
http://soulsdelight.blogspot.com/2009/09/no-more-confusion-over-fish-names.html


 Well, so much for all the talk on fish names, here is how I made this fish fry.


Ingredients:

• Sear Fish - 4 slices
• Red Chilly Powder - 2 tsp
• Salt - 1 tsp (or to taste)
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
• Oil - for deep frying
• Lemon Juice - 1 tsp

Method:

• Make a paste of the spice powders and lemon juice. Make sure you do not add too much water as it will become difficult to fry them.
• Marinate for 2 hours.
• Heat oil in a frying pan.
• Place the marinated fish and fry on low with the lid on for 5 minutes.
• Turn over and repeat.
• Remove and drain excess oil and serve.

Haha, I told you... making the fish fry is very very simple. I just needed to write and hence this post. Well, have fun with your fish fry and trust me, nothing tastes better than fish fry with just about any dish in the world.

Malabar Style Kayi Vattan

This recipe probably got its name because the Raw plantain(Kayi) is cut into circular pieces (Vattan). The only reasoning I can think of, probably its the truth too. This is an accompaniment prepared in our parts of Kerala for Kanji (Rice Gruel) along with Cheru payar Puzhuku and Chammanthi. (I'll post those recipes when I take pics of them)

Plantain tree's are grown everywhere in Kerala. You cannot find a house that does not have one. The tree itself is one of the most used utility by Keralites (We use the stem, the flower, the raw fruit, the ripe fruit and the leaves). The only thing we've probably spared is the root.

I always thought making Kayi Vattan was rocket science. I couldn't understand how they made it. Recently, I had my brother in law over for lunch. I wanted to prepare something absolutely mallu, so I called my mother for this recipe. And needless to say, its very simple. Here is how we make it.


Ingredients

• Raw Plantain - 2
• Garlic - 5-8 cloves
• Red Chilly - 2-3
• Curry Leaves - a handful
• Grated Coconut - 1/2 shell
• Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Chilly Powder - 1 or 2 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
• Coconut Oil - 2 tsp

Method

• Peel the plantain in a way that only the outer layer of the peel is removed. You should not peel it completely. Just remove the fibrous part of the peel and let the remaining stay on.
• Cut the plantain into circular pieces.
• Cook it with very little water, turmeric, chilly powder and salt till done.
• When done, dry it completely to drain the water.
• Crush grated coconut and curry leaves coarsely with your hand. Add salt to this and add this mixture to the cooked plantains.
• Heat coconut oil in a pan, splutter mustard seeds fry the garlic and then add red chilly and curry leaves.
• Add this tadka to the boiled plantain and coconut mix and your accompaniment is ready.

Spicy Kerala Prawn Curry

I got this recipe from my friend Smita. She had posted a photo of this prawn curry on her album and the next instant I was asking her for the recipe. She gave me a fairly simple recipe and I was sure it was not it... The curry looked way too tempting to be this simple a preparation.

Ingredients:

• Prawns - De veined and cleaned - 500 gms

For the marinade:

• Chilly Powder - 2 tsp
• Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Garam Masala Powder - 2 tsp
• Corriander Powder - 1 tsp
• Pepper Powder - 1 tsp
• Salt - to taste

For the gravy

• Shallots - 300 gms
• Green Chillies - 2-3 (as per taste)
• Ginger Garlic Paste - 2 tsp
• Grated Coconut - 4-5 tbsp
• Tamarind - size of a lemon (or as per taste)
• Garam Masala Powder - 2 tsp
• Chilly Powder - 1 tsp
• Coriander Powder - 1 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Curry Leaves - a handful
• Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
• Coconut Oil - 3 tsp

Method:

• Marinate the cleaned and deveined prawns with the masala mentioned above and set aside for an hour.
• Soak tamarind in water and extract pulp.
• Grind the coconut to a fine paste and set aside.
• Heat coconut oil in a pan and splutter mustards.
• Add shallots, chilly and fry till translucent.
• Add ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw smell disappears.
• Add tamarind pulp, ground coconut and bring to boil.
• Add the prawns, and the remaining dry masalas and cook till prawns are soft and tender.
• Add curry leaves and remove from the stove.

The spicy prawn curry is ready.  Serve hot with rice or dosa.

Chammanthi Podi - Spicy Coconut Powder

This is the mallu equivalent for Andhra Pappu Podi - yeah, when it is the mallu equivalent, it goes without saying that it is loaded with coconut. This podi, called the Chammanthi Podi is made from coconuts and other spices. Chammanthi is the mallu term for Chutney/Thogayal in Tamil. We make varieties of Chammanthi's to go along with rice and Kanji (rice gruel - a staple mallu food). If I am not mistaken, we have one Chammanthi made out of every seasonal veggie that we know of. My favourite ones are the ones made with Ginger, Garlic and Raw Mango. I can have Rice and that Chammanthi for days together without getting bored. Add a papadam to it and it becomes a wholesome meal :-)

This Chammanthi Podi though is predominantly a south Kerala preparation (that's what I was led to believe as my parents are not too aware of this yet). I googled and borrowed this recipe from various blogs and prepared my desired concoction yday. Here is how I made it.

Ingredients:

• Grated Coconut - 1 shell
• Red Chilly - 15 nos.
• Ginger - 2" piece
• Garlic - 5-6 cloves
• Shallots - 15-20
• Curry Leaves- a handful
• Cumin Seeds - 1/4 tsp
• Fenugreek Seeds - 1/4 tsp
• Split Urud Dal - 1 tsp
• Channa Dal - 1 tsp
• Asafoetida powder - 1/2 tsp
• Pepper Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Corriander powder - 1/2 tsp
• Coconut oil - 2 tsp
• Tamarind - small ball
• Salt - to taste

Method:

• Heat coconut oil in a pan.
• Add red chillies and fry.
• Slowly add all other ingredients one by one and finally add the coconut.
• Fry till all items are brown and crispy.
• Set aside to cool.

                          

• Dry grind them with salt.
• Preserve in an airtight container.

Note: You could fry and grind the items separately but you need to make a larger quantity to be able to do that. The problem when you grind them together is that the shallots, garlic and ginger bring out moisture that makes this look more of a chutney than a chutney powder.

Malabar Prawn Curry

My husband loves prawns, but we rarely buy them because of the smell they emit when being cooked and the tedious proceedue of deveining them and cleaning them up. The last time we went to the supermarket, I found a packet of freshly cleaned prawns for sale. So I picked it up and tried my hand at the prawn curry that my mother and mother in law make so deliciously (BTW, my father and father in law are better cooks than their respective spouses).

I was never too fond of the prawns curry till before my marriage. I always prefered Prawn prepared in the "Thoran" style with lots of onions and coconut. Husband dear on the other hand is an ardent lover of the prawn curry. So now, everytime there is prawns at my mom's place, its this preparation that my better half so loves. Here is the recipe I picked from my mom.

Ingredients:

• Prawns - 1/2 kg, deveined & cleaned
• Raw Mango - 1/2 piece
• Tamarind - the size of a lemon
• Coconut - 1/2 shell grated
• Cumin Seeds - 2 tsp
• Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Chilly Powder - 2 1/2 tsp
• Onion - 1 cut into long slices
• Tomato (optional) - 1
• Ginger - 1 inch piece
• Green Chilly - 3-4 slit lengthwise
• Sour Curd - 3 tbsp
• Curry Leaves - a handful
• Salt - to taste
• Coconut Oil - 2 tsp

Method:

• Marinate the prawns with turmeric powder, chilly powder and salt
• Add onion, ginger. raw mango and green chilly to the marinated prawns and set aside for 2 hours.
• Soak the tamarind in water to extract the pulp.
• Grind grated coconut with the curd and cumin seeds to a fine paste (It is this consistency that decides how good your curry is going to be - so take care!)
• Cook the marinated prawns in the tamarind pulp till soft.
• Add the ground cocunut and curd mix and bring to boil. 
• Add salt to taste, curry leaves and a little bit of coconut oil and remove from stove.
• Serve with Rice or Dosa.

Kadala Curry (Black Chickpeas in coconut gravy)

Puttu and Kadala Curry is one of the most prominent breakfast items in Kerala. Puttu is made by steaming Rice Flour along with grated coconut and salt. There is a special mould available in the market. I picked mine from Guruvayoor. The success of your puttu lies in the consistency in which you mix salt, water and rice flour. It should not be too dry or too watery. To be frank, I do not know the consistency yet. I got my mother to mix the flour. All I had to do is put copious amount of coconut and flour in the mould and steam it.

Well, the Kadala curry is my preparation though. I undertook a laborious method of preparation today. (My mother does it in a jiffy). Here is how I prepared the Kadala Curry this morning.

Ingredients:

• Black Kadala (Black Chickpeas/Channa) - soaked overnight - 2 cups
• Potato - 1 (optional)
• Onion - 1 big
• Shallots - 10-15
• Tomato - 1 big
• Green Chilly - 2
• Corriander Powder - 2 tsp
• Garam Masala Powder - 1 tsp
• Red Chilly Powder - 1 tsp (or as per taste)
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
• Ginger Garlic Paste - 2 tsp
• Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
• Peppercorn - 1 tsp
• Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
• Curry Leaves - a handful
• Grated Coconut - 1 cup
• Coconut pieces - 2 tbsp
• Coconut Milk - 200 ml (thick)
• Salt to taste
• Coconut oil - 3 tbsp

Method:

• Soak Kadala (black chickpeas / channa) overnight.
• Pressure cook Channa, potatp(optional) with half an onion cut into thin slices and 2 green chillies slit vertically. Add a pinch of turmeric powder before you pressure cook it.
• Heat 1 tbsp coconut oil in a pan.
• Splutter Cumin seeds (jeera) and add the grated coconut. Fry till brown,
• Add corriander powder, red chilly powder, garam masala, pepper, ginger garlic paste and fry till the aroma of cooked masala arises.
• Add the other half of the onion and half of the tomato and saute well.
• Cool and grind to a fine paste with some boiled chick peas.
• Heat 2 tbsp coconut oil in a pan.
• Add mustard seeds and allow it to splutter.

• Add the chopped coconut slices and fry till brown.
• Add half the curry leaves and shallots and fry well.
• Add the tomatoes and cook till done.
• Add the ground paste to this and fry well.
• Add boiled chickpease and potato mixture without their stock.
• Add sufficient water, curry leaves and salt and bring to boil.
• Add coconut milk and bring to boil. Boil for 5 minutes.
• Remove from flame and serve with Puttu or Appam.

Vegetable Stew

Before I start, let me apologise for the poor quality pictures of this dish. It tastes way better than it looks, I promise! :-). I was in a hurry this morning, hence the poor quality pic. I decided in the last minute that it was Appam for breakfast. I usually have the Mangalorean Tomato Curry to go with Appams, but today, I wanted to do something different, so it was Vegetable Stew. Here is how I made it.

Ingredients:

• Potatoes - 2 medium sized
• French Beans - 12-15
• Peas - 100 gms
• Carrots - 1
• Almonds - 2 tbsp
• Cashew Nut - 2 tbsp
• Khus Khus - poppy seeds - 1 tsp
• Warm Milk - 2 tbsp
• Onion - 1
• Green Chilly - 3-4
• Ginger - 2 tbsp
• Bay Leaf - 2
• Cinamon - 1 inch stick
• Mace - 1
• Curry Leaves - a handful
• Pepper - 2 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Coconut Milk (Thick, 1st pressed) - 200 ml
• Coconut oil - 2 tsp (do not substitute)

Method:

• Soak almonds, cashews and khus khus in warm milk. Remove the skin from the almonds and grind them to a fine paste.

• Cut all vegetables into medium sized pieces
• Heat oil in the cooker.
• Add Bay leaf, cinamon and mace and fry.
• Add chopped onions, ginger and green chilly and fry well.
• Add the vegetables, salt and water and pressure cook for 3 whistles.
• When done, remove the lid, add the ground almond-cashew-poppy seed paste and coconut milk and bring to boil.
• Add salt, if required and pepper.
• Add the curry leaves and pour 2 tsp coconut oil and remove from flame.
• Keep covered for 15 minutes so that aroma settles.

Serve with Appam/Idiappam or Puttu.

Malabar (Kannur) Style Kootu Curry

Kootu Curry is a dry accompaniment and a must have in any typical mallu "Sadhya" (Feast). We prepare it for weddings, birthdays, Onam, Vishu and just about every other occasion. This used to be one of the first items served (there is an order for serving the Kerala Sadhya Items apparently) after the Thoran (called Upperi in our part of Kerala). Impatient as I was and still am, I would start eating the Kootu Curry without waiting for the rice to be served even. I realised that I was not the only one who did so. There were so many cousins and relatives and friends who apparently did the same - why wouldn't we do it,when the curry tastes delicious.
I made this for lunch a week ago and I was satisfied with the result. So here goes the recipe.

Ingredients:

1. Black Channa (Chickpeas/Kadala) - 2 cups
2. Yam - 200 gms (cut into small cubes)
3. Raw Plantain - 1 (cut into cubes)
4. Coconut - 1/2 shell, grated
5. Cumin (Jeera) Seeds - 2 tsp
6. Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
7. Chilly Powder - 2 tsp
8. Red Chillies - 3
9. Urud Dal - 1 tsp
10. Mustard Seeds - 2 tsp
11. Coconut Oil - 2 tsp
12. Curry Leaves - 2/3 sprigs
13. Peppercorns - 1-2 tsp (as per your requirement)
14. Green Chillies -1 or 2 (You could use either the green chilly or pepper corn, don't use both)
15. Salt - to taste

Method

1. Soak the Black Channa overnight.
2. Next morning, pressure cook it for 3 whistles with a little bit of salt.
3. Wash and cut yam and plantain into small cubes.
4. Cook them in 1/2 cup water along with turmeric powder, salt and chilly powder till soft.
5. Set aside 2 or 3 tsp of grated coconut.
6. Grind the rest with Cumin Seeds and peppercorns (or green chillies).
7. Add the black channa to the cooked yam and plantain and evaporate the water. This is a completely dry dish. There should be no running gravy
8. Add the ground coconut mixture and cook well.
9. Heat coconut oil in a small frying pan.
10. Splutter mustard seeds, add the urud dal, red chilly and curry leaves and season the prepared curry with this.
11. Finally, fry the 2-3 tsps of grated coconut that you had set aside and add it to the curry. 
12. Your Kannur Style Kootu Curry is ready.

Olan - A Kerala Sadhya Item

This is one of the Keral Sadhya items. I've always loved having it as a child. Loaded with coconut milk and tenderly cooked vegetables and lentils, this dish was always an accompaniement. Here is one picture that I found on the internet showing the placement of items for a Kerala Sadhya and the white dish you notice right on top is Olan.

I've never made a full fledged Sadhya on my own. I've been spending every Vishu with my in-laws and Onam with my parents. This time I had decided to make my own Onam Sadhya. So I was testing waters before I actually made it.And I was pretty pleased with the result. Oh yeah, that was primarily because I added really thick coconut milk. It enhanced the flavor of Olan, but then I must admit, it made the dish unhealthier than it was supposed to be.

The pristine beauty of Kerala Cuisine (atleast in my part of Kerala) is that very little oil is used. Most of the dishes are prepared by boiling the vegetables/fish and then adding coconut  milk/paste. Dieticians generally ask us to avoid coconut, but I've rarely seen obese Keralites among the ones who have exclusively eaten Kerala food all their lives.

I was reading up on Coconuts, only to be absolutely surprised to realize that India is only the third largest producer of Coconut. Philippines is apparently the largest producer, followed by Indonesia. I laugh at my ignorance as I strongly opined that only South Indians and Thai's used coconut in their cooking, hence India and Thailand would be the only two producers of Coconut.

Well, coming back to my Olan, here is how I prepared it -

Ingredients:

1. Black eyed Beans (Mampayar, Lobia) - 1 cup (Soak Overnight)
2. Raw Plantain - 1
3. White Pumpkin - 200 gms (skin peeled and diced into squares)
4. Thick Coconut milk - 300ml (1.5 cartons or maybe 2, depending on your taste)
5. Green Chilly - 2
6. Curry Leaves - A handful
7. Coconut Oil - 2 tsp (Do not substitute)
8. Salt - to taste

Method

1. Pressure cook/boil till tender the beans.
2. Cut raw plantain in cirles. Boil them with little salt.
3. Boil separately white pumpkin till cooked.
4. Combine all three together, add a little water and slit green chillies and bring to boil.
5. When the water has boiled enough, add salt if required and then the coconut milk,
6. Allow it to boil well till the vegetables soak in the taste of the coconut milk.
7. Add curry leaves, coconut oil and remove from flame.
8. Keep covered for 30 minutes for the aroma to settle.
9. Mix well before serving.

Poricha Kootu

I don't know how this recipe got its name, but I was in love with it the first time I tasted it. My memory fails me as I have forgotten my tryst with this dish in school. The earliest I remember was having it from my colleague M when I was pregnant. Oh Boy, did I love it!!! M, being the kind soul she was ensured she got this for me regularly... this is the nicest part of being pregnant... people are eager to satiate your pregnancy cravings. M got it every other week for me. It's nearly 3 years now since this incident but the taste lingered on.

Recently I decided to ask my best friend G the recipe. I figured since it is a Tamil Brahmin speciality, G would know the recipe too...so what if M was an Iyer and G an Iyengar? The recipe ought to be the same right? G laughed and told me "DO you remember how you used to hog my lunch in school every time my mom packed this dish for me?". My jaw dropped, limbs dragged and the whole body shook!!!! Haha, let me not overdo, but I swear, I really did not remember having this dish earlier. G says she can recall very vividly how I used to exchange the Fried Rice my mom packed for me in exchange for her Poricha Kootu n Rice. I must have forgotten about it in my growing old years, but more than 10 years later, when M brought the dish, I loved it...so I guess the taste was cultivated when I was a 13 or 14 year old teen!

G gave me the recipe which I cross verified online. Fairly simple. So I decided to make it. And relish it!!!!





What you need to make Poricha Kootu

Any of the following veggies (any 2 would suffice)

Chow Chow (I don't know its english name) - 1

Green Brinjal - 5-6 cut lengthwise

Green Capsicum - 1

Kovakkai (Ivy Gourd or Tindora) - 100 gms

White Pumpkin - 100 gms

1. Moong Dal (Siru Parippu) - 1 cup
2. Channa Dal (Kadala Parippu) - 50 gms
3. Coconut - 1/2 shell grated
4. Jeera - 1 tsp
5. Green Chillies - 3-4
6. Peppercorn - 3-4 tblsp
7. Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
8. Sambar Powder - 1 tsp
9. Salt to taste

How to make it:

1. Pressure cook the Moong Dal and Channa Dal for 3-4 whistles.
2. Cut and boil the vegetables in water with turmeric and sambar powder.
3. Grind the coconut, green chilly, peppercorns and jeera into a fine paste.
4. When the veggies are cooked and soft, add the dal and bring to boil.
5. Add salt and mix well.
6. Add the ground coconut-peppercorn paste and cook till the gravy becomes thick.
7. Serve with hot rice and ghee!

This dish requires no oil. Yeah the coconut is a high cholestrol item, but still, NO OIL!!!!

I love this dish and looks like this is going to feature in my weekly timetable for lunch menu from now on since I've learnt to make it.

Malabar Egg Biriyani

Biryani.... I think it is to do with Malabar Mallu's! I've seen my grandmother drool over Biryani at this age. I know of no wedding/birthday celebration in our part of the world without a "Biryani Party". Though I am not too fond of the Nei Chor (Ghee Rice) that is served, the Biryani is yummilicious!!!! The Calicut Moplah Biryani or Thalassery Biryani finds a mention in wikkipedia as well.

I found this recipe on Mishmash's site (Egg Biryani Finally Makes It to the Hall of Fame). I was not as patient as her, so I probably tried a few shortcuts and omitted a few items. The end result however was appreciated, more so, considering that this is the first time I am making Malabar Style Biryani (My grandmother and mum in law make the yummiest Chicken Biryani...will post that recipe some time soon.)

Right now, it is Malabar Egg Biryani, Thanks to Mishmash. Now, you may wonder why I would want to write down the whole recipe here instead of just directing the link to her site. Well, it is purely for my reference purpose - When I want to make the dish the next time, I wouldn't have to search for it... I'd have it in my own collection here. So here goes the ingredients and the method.



Step 1: Biryani Masala

Ingredients:

1. Black Cardamom - 1 (Not in the original recipe, I had it, so I added it)


2. Green Cardamom - 1


3. Cloves - 5-6


4. Cinamon - 2 inch stick


5. Star Anise - 1 (Not in the original recipe, I had it, so I added it) 


6. Saunf - 3/4 tsp


7. Jeera - 3/4 tsp


8. Nutmeg - 1/4


9. Nutmace - 1


10. Caraway Seeds - 1/4 tsp (I did not have this, hence I did not add it)

Method:

1. Dry grind all the ingredients together. I read in another recipe that you could dry roast them first, but I was scared of burning them, hence I powdered them without dry roasting.

Step 2 -  Chilly-Garlic-Ginger Paste

Ingredients:

1. Green Chilly - 10


2. Garlic - 15 cloves


3. Ginger - 2 inch piece

Method:

1. This one aint rocket science. Grind all of them together into a fine paste without adding water.

The original recipe does not go in this sequence,but I did this just to spare me the misery of going through a power cut at the most crucial time. I finished all the grinding early in the morning so that even if the power gets cut by mid morning, my biryani would be ready by lunch.

Step 3 - Making the rice

Ingredients:

1. Basmati Rice - 2 cups


2. Water - 4 cups


3. Ghee - 4 tblsp


4. Ground Chilly-Ginger-Garlic Paste- 1 tblsp


5. Onion - 1 finely chopped


6. Bay Leaf - 2


7. Green Cardamom - 4-5


8. Cloves - 5-6


9. Jeera - 1 tsp


10. Salt - 1 tsp

Method:

1. Wash and drain rice


2. Heat Ghee in the pan


3. Splutter Jeera seeds.


4. Add bay leaf, cinammon and cardamom to this.


5. Fry for some time.


6. Add onions and fry till they turn translucent


7. Add 1 tablespoon of the ground ginger-garlic-chilly paste.


8. Fry till the raw smell disappears.


9. Add basmati rice and fry till all the water has evaporated.


10. Add salt and mix well.


11. Add 4 cups of water (same measure cup as rice) and bring to boil.


12. Reduce flame to sim and cover cooked till the rice is almost done and the water has evaporated completely

Note: At this stage, the rice may seem half cooked. It is okay, because you are going to let it cook more with the masala (Dum Style)

Step 4 - Making the Egg

Ingredients

1. Eggs - 4 for making the omelet


2. Eggs - 4 hard boiled


3. Onion - 1 chopped into small pieces


4. Green Chilly - 1 cut into small pieces


5. Salt to taste


6. OIl - 2 tsp


7. Biriyani Masala (refer step 1) - 1 tsp


8. Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp


9. Chilly Powder - 1 tsp


10. Oil - 3 tblsp for shallow frying the hardboiled eggs.

Method:

1. Beat 4 eggs till soft and fluffy.


2. Add salt, onions and green chilly and mix well.


3. Heat a pan.


4. Add 1 tsp oil and pour 1/2 the mixture.


5. Reduce flame to avoid it getting burnt.


6. Turn side over and remove when it is done on both sides.


7. Repeat for the next omelet.


8. Shred the omelet into fine pieces.


9. Hardboil the remaining 4 eggs.


10. When cooled, remove the shell and cut into 2.


11. Add 1 tsp Biriyani Masala, 1/4 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp red chilly powder and salt and shallow fry them.


12. Set aside.

I omitted the hardboiled eggs bit because it was an egg overdose for us today. We had Spanish Omelet for breakfast as well, so I thought it would be wise to do away with the hardboiled eggs this time.

 Step 5 - Making the Egg Masala

Ingredients

1. Onions - 3-4


2. Tomatoes - 3


3. Biryani Masala (from Step 1) - 2 tblsp


4. Ground Chilly-Garlic-Ginger Paste (from step 2) - 2-3 tblsp


5. Ghee - 4-5 tblsp (You could substitute it with oil)


6. Salt to taste


7. Mint - 1 cup chopped


8. Corriander Leaves - 1 cup chopped


9. Thick Curd (Yogurt) - 3 tblsp


10. Lime Juice - from 1 big lemon or as per taste


11. Shredded Egg Omelet (from step 4)

Method

1. Heat ghee in a pan


2. Add onions and fry till translucent


3. Add the ground chilly-garlic-ginger paste and fry till the raw smell disappears


4. Add tomatoes and cook till mushy.


5. Add the dry powdered Biryani Masala and mix well.


6. Add mint, corriander leaves and shredded egg and mix well.


7. Add lemon juice and salt to taste and mix well.


8. Add yogurt and mix well.


9. Bring to boil.


10. Turn off flame after 1 boil (else the yogurt will separate)


11. You could test the salt now and adjust accordingly.

This step gets over very quickly as you don't have to wait for any vegetable to get cooked. The time taken is for the onions and tomatoes to get cooked and become a semi-gravy consistency.

Step 6 - Mixing the Biryani

Method: (This whole step should be done on a low flame)

1. Heat Ghee in a pan


2. Layer with one serving of rice prepared earlier. (Step 3)


3. Top with one layer of egg masala. (Step 5)


4. Sprinkle Biryani Masala. (Step 1)


5. Repeat this once again.


6. Place hardboiled and shallow fried egg halves (Step 4).


7. Cover with lid and ensure that no vapor escapes the pan.


8. Keep in sim for 20-30 minutes. Ensure that the rice does not get burnt. Depending on how cooked/uncooked the rice is, this time could vary from 15 minutes-30 minutes.

Step 7- Making the Garnish

Ingredients

1. Onions - Sliced into thin long pieces


2. Cashew nuts - 2-3 tblsp


3. Raisins - 2-3 tblsp


4. Ghee - 4-5 tblsp

Method:

1. Heat Ghee and deep fry each of the above separately till it turns blackish brown.

Step 8 - Finally the Biryani is ready

1. Remove the biryani from the stove and mix it well.


2. Take care to ensure that you do not crumble the hardboiled eggs (You could also add it at this stage if you dont want to disturb them too much.)


3. Sprinkle the garnish.


4. Serve!
   
   [caption id="attachment_126" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Malabar Egg Biryani"][/caption]

Phew! I never realised it was such a long process. But the efforts did pay off. Thank you Mishmash for sharing this recipe on your blog. My family had a truly wonderful lunch today along with Papadam Thalichathu, again another recipe from the same blogger!

Mathan Erisheri (Yellow Pumpkin and Dal Curry)

When I was young, I used to hate erisheri, but somewhere along the line, I began to love it. From then on, my experiments with this dish did not cease. I usually make erisheri with raw plantain, for two reasons

1. I love raw plantains


2. I can pressure cook the raw plantains, so making this dish saves me time.

Despite my reflux and acidity, I prefer having erisheri with heaps of pickle. Since we do not add tomatoes or tamarind to this, the sour quotient is missing in this dish. So I add pickle to it. But the best combination is Erisheri with curd (yogurt) and Payar & Kai (Long Beans and Raw Plantain) Mizhikkuperati.

My husband is from the Konkan side and he prefers a tinge of sweet in his food, a complete contrast to my ultra spicy taste. He usually adjusts to my spicy food, but this time I thought I would make Erisheri with Mathan (Yellow Pumpkin) as it is slightly sweet. Here goes the recipe. Note, the recipe is the same for any kind of erisheri, you just have to substitute the pumpkin with raw plantains/yam/peerkinga (ridge gourd I think).

Ingredients:

1. Yellow Pumpkin - 100 gms


2. Tuvar Dal - 1 cup


3. Grated Coconut - 1 cup


4. Jeera - 1 tsp


5. Green Chilly - 2


6. Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp


7. Chilly Powder - 3/4 tsp


8. Salt to taste


9. Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp


10. Curry Leaves - 2 sprigs


11. Red Chilly - 2 broken


12. Shallots - 2-3 finely chopped


13. Coconut Oil - 3 tsp

Method:

1. Wash and Pressure cook dal with a pinch of turmeric powder and a drop of oil


2. Cut Yellow Pumpkin (or any other veggie you are using) and cook them in an open vessel with turmeric. If you are using Yam or Raw Plantain, you can pressure cook them for 1-2 whistles.


3. Grind coarsely coconut gratings, jeera and green chilly.


4. Mix dal to the vegetable and allow to cook.


5. Add ground paste, red chilly powder and mix well.


6. Add salt and let it boil and cook till it is of a fairly thick consistency.


7. Remove from flame.


8. Heat coconut oil in a small pan.


9. Splutter mustards, add curry leaves and red chilly.


10. Add to the cooked gravy.


11. Finally, deep fry chopped shallots in remaining coconut oil and when it is blackend and appears burnt, add it to the curry. This is optional. My mother does not do it, but I liked the smoked flavour the burnt shallots generate.


12. Serve with Rice.

Aviyal

A signature dish from Kerala and popular in Tamil Nadu as well, Aviyal is a must for any Kerala "Sadhya". We mallu's actually do not need a reason to prepare this dish. This is a must have dish for every occasion and is also made on normal days to be had along with Rice and Sambar.

It is supposed to have been invented by Bhima (one of the Pandava brothers) during his agnaathavaasa. According to the legend, Ballav (Bheem's name during this time) when he assumed his duties as the cook in the kitchen of Virata, did not know how to cook. One of the first things he did was to chop up many different vegetables, boil them together and top the dish with grated coconut

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviyal)

Well, needless to say, the end result is yummilicious!