Soy Chunks Koottu Curry

             

Soak 11/2 cups of soy chunks in water for 2 hours, squeeze the excess water & cut each chunk into 2.

Heat 11/2 tbsps of coconut/canola oil & saute 2 medium onions cut into square pieces. Add 1 tsp of red chilly powder, 2 tsp of coriander powder, 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder & 3/4 tsp of pepper powder; fry on low heat for 1-2 minutes. Add soy chunks & saute for a minute on medium high heat.. Add 1 cup of thin coconut milk (randaampaal) & enough salt; bring to a boil. Cover cook on low heat for 15-10 minutes.

Add 1/2 cup of thick coconut milk & 3/4 tsp of garam masala powder & remove from heat immediately.

Heat 1 tbsp of coconut oil in a wok. Splutter 1/2 tsp of mustard seeds. Add 2 sprigs of curry leaf & 2 dry red chillies. Pour this seasoning over the curry.

This goes well with rice & roti.

Tomato Curry with Coconut milk

        

Tomato curry with coconut milk

This recipe is from Lakshmi Nair’s magic oven cookery books. I have modified the recipe a bit; I haven’t used garam masala as suggested in the original recipe but used few fresh curry leaves instead. It tasted great with rice.

Ingredients:-

Tomato – 4 medium ( I used 2 big beef tomatoes), cut each tomato into 6 pieces
Cumin seeds – 1/2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds – 1/2 tsp
Onion -1 medium, chopped long & thin
Ginger – a small piece, chopped
Garlic – 2 big cloves, chopped
Curry leaf – 2 sprigs
Red chilly powder – 11/2 tsp / to taste
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder – 11/2 tsp
Coconut oil – 2 tbsp
Water – 11/4 cups
Coconut milk powder – 2 tbsp ( bit heaped)
Sugar – a generous pinch

Method:-

Heat the oil & splutter the cumin seeds, add the fenugreek seeds & fry.

Stir in the chopped onions, ginger, garlic & a sprig of curry leaves. Saute till the onion turns brown. Add all the masala powders & fry for a minute.

Add the tomatoes  & 1/2 tsp of salt; fry on medium high heat for 2 minutes. Add the water & bring to a boil. Check for salt & add more if needed. Cover cook on medium low heat for 7 minutes.

Mix the coconut milk powder with 1/8 cup of water & pour  this into the curry. Bring to a slow boil & cook for 2 minutes more. Finally add the remaining sprig of curry leaves, & sugar; remove from heat.

Keep covered so that the gravy will absorb the flavour of the curry leaf.

Egg Curry with coconut milk

          

Egg Curry

This egg curry goes well with Puttu, Appam and Idiyappam.

Ingredients:-
Eggs – 2, harboiled
Curry leaf – 1 sprig
Onion – 1 big/ 13/4 cup
Garlic – 4 big cloves
Ginger – 1/2″ piece
Greenchilly -1
Tomato – 1/2 of a medium sized tomato
Coriander powder – 13/4 dessert spoon (heaped)
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp.
Pepper powder – 1 tsp.
Red Chilly powder – 3/4 tsp.
Cumin powder – 1/4 tsp.
Uluva/Methi powder – a pinch
Thin coconut milk (randaam paal) – 11/4 – 11/2 cups (/ use 2 heaped tbsp. coconut milk powder)
Garam masala powder – 1/2 tsp
Coconut oil – 3 tbsp.
Salt as needed

Method:-
Make slits on the eggs and keep aside.

Heat 3 tbsp. coconut oil.

Add 1 sprig curry leaf.Now add the thinly sliced onion, the juliened ginger, chopped garlic and the slit greenchilly.Saute till the onion turns golden brown.

Add all the masala powders except garam masala powder and stir fry for 2 minutes.

Add the chopped tomato and fry till oil is visible.

Add the coconut milk and let boil.Add the hardboiled eggs and simmer for 5-10 minutes/till the gravy thickens sufficiently.Finally add the garam masala powder and mix.

Garnish with cilantro (optional).

Aval Pazhapradhaman

          

Aval Pazham Pradhaman

Ingredients:-
Kerala Banana – 5 numbers, very ripe ( around 1 kg.)
Red rice flakes – 1 cup
Ghee – 3 tbsp
Sago pearls / Chowari – 1/4 cup
Jaggery – 400 grams ( Use more if your bananas are less sweet)
Moonam paal – 1/4 cup (/use 1 rounded tbsp coconut milk powder)
Randaam paal – 3 tea mugs / 750 ml. (/ use 6 heaped rounded tbsp coconut milk powder)
Thick coconut milk – 1  cup / 200 ml.(/ use 3 heaped rounded tbsp coconut milk powder)
Cardamom powder – 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder – 1/4 tsp
Dry ginger powder – 1/4 tsp
Cashews – 2 tbsp.
Raisins – 1 tbsp.
Coconut cuts – 2 tbsp.

Method:-
Heat 1 tbsp ghee & roast the rice flakes till crispy for 5 minutes on medium high heat. Transfer to a plate & keep aside.

Soak the tapioca pearls in hot water for 1 hr. Put it in boling water and cook for 5 minutes till soft. Drain the water completely and reserve this cooked sago.

Cook the sliced bananas in a pressure cooker adding 1 tbsp ghee  and 1.5 cups water. Simmer for 30 minutes after the 1st whistle. Open the cooker when the pressure subsides ( the banana will change it’s color to red) and let the cooked banana cool slightly. Grind this banana to a paste ( I used my mixer/grinder). Mix the moonam paal with this paste and make it slightly loose.

The cooked bananas

Melt the jaggery adding water. Strain it to remove any dirt. Add the cooked banana paste and 1 rounded tbsp ghee. Bring it to a boil. ( I used a non- stick pan). Lower heat to medium – low & cover cook for 30 minutes, stirring occassionally. When the mixture starts to get dry keep stirring for 15 more minutes, till the whole thing gets dry.




Now add the randaam paal, the rice flakes and mix well. Let boil. Lower heat to medium- low and cook it till it becomes thick for 10-15 minutes.

Finally add the cooked tapioca pearls, the thick coconut milk, cardamom powder, cumin powder and dry ginger powder. Mix well, bring it to a very slow boil & remove immediately from heat.
Toast the cashews, raisins & coconut cuts seperately and pour into the payasam. Keep the payasam covered for 3 – 4 hours till it reaches the PATHRAPAAKAM.

Note:-
Never use milk for making this pradhaman. As the bananas are sour it will curdle, so use only coconut milk for making this.
To make thick coconut milk add 200 ml of lukewarm water to 3 cups of grated coconut & run it in your mixer for sometime. Squeeze & strain the extract. Repeat to make the randaampaal & moonampaal.

Kerala Sambar

          

Kerala Sambar

Kerala sambar is a mixed vegetable lentil soup served hot with rice, idli, dosa and vadas. It has many vegetables added to it .However, the basic process of making the sambar remains the same.

The process involves 4 steps:-
1.Cooking the toor dal and mashing it.
2.Preparing the sambar masala.
3.Cooking the vegetables with sambar masala and other spices.
4.Adding the mashed toor dal and asafoetida to the cooked veggies and boiling it for a couple of minutes more.

The following vegetables are usually added to the sambar
Ashguord
Brinjal
Pumpkin
Ladies finger
Carrot
Tindly
Beans
Guar beans
Snakeguord
Potato
Elephant yam / Suran
Taro
Plantain
Drumstick
You don’t need to have all these vegetables. Anything will do except bitterguord, beetroot etc.This is my favourite recipe for Sambar.

Ingredients:-
Toor Dal – 1/2 cup
Curry leaf – 1 sprig
Onion – 1 big (cut into 4)
Shallots – 8 big
Brinjal – 11/2 cup
Plantain – 1 cup
Carrot – ¼ cup
Red pumpkin – ¼ cup
Guar beans – ¼ cup
Snakeguord – ¼ cup
Drumstick – 1
Ashguord – ¼ cup
Ladiesfinger – ½ cup
( I have used 4 cups  of chopped vegetables)
Tomato – 1 big ( cut into half)
Green chillies slit – 4
Red chilly powder – 1 tsp
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp +1/4 tsp
Tamarind – a small gooseberry sized ball
Oil as needed
Salt as needed
Chopped coriander leaves – 2 tbsp
Asafoetida(Kaayam) – ¼ tsp
Jaggery – a small piece / as needed to balance all the flavours

For Sambar powder:-
Grated coconut – 2 tbsp
Coriander seeds – 2 tsp (heaped)
Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Peepercorns- ½ tsp
Chana dal – 1 tsp
Methi seeds – ½ tsp
Urad dal split – ½ tsp
For Popping:-
Mustard Seeds – 1/2 tsp
Red chillies – 3
Curry Leaves – a sprig
Ghee – 1 tsp

Method:-
Soak tamarind in 1/4 cup of warm water, squeeze and strain the tamarind extract. Reserve.
Cook toor dal in a pressure cooker adding ¼ tsp turmeric powder, a sprig curry leaf and 2 tsp coconut oil. Simmer for 10 minutes after 1^st whistle. Mash the cooked dal and keep aside.




Roast the grated coconut adding 1 tsp coconut oil till golden brown and keep aside. Roast together chana dal, urad dal, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, methi seeds and peppercorns in 1 tsp coconut oil for 2 minutes. Grind the roasted dal and spices along with the coconut adding little water to a smooth paste. This is the sambar masala.




Heat 1 tbsp coconut oil. Add onion, shallots and greenchillies. Sauté for a minute. Add all the veggies (except ladies finger) and sauté for a minute.



Transfer to a pressure cooker. Add the sambar masala, 13/4 cups water, ¼ cup tamarind extract, red chilly powder, turmeric powder and 2 tsp salt. Simmer for 5 minutes after 1^st whistle .Let the pressures completely subside before opening.

The cooked veggies

Cook the ladies finger separately with salt and water for 15 minutes.
Add the mashed dal, asafoetida powder, cooked ladies finger, ½ cup water, enough salt and jaggery to the cooked veggies. Let boil. Simmer for 5-10 minutes. Add the chopped cilantro and remove from heat.


 Heat ghee in a pan and allow mustard seeds to splutter. Add red chillies and curry leaves and fry for a minute. Now add the seasoning to the sambar and serve hot with steamed rice.

Tomato Moru Curry

      

Tomato Moru Curry

Ingredients:-

Tomato – 3 numbers, medium; cut into square pieces
Coconut oil – 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds – 1/4 tsp
Dry red chilly – 3 numbers, split
Onion – 1 medium, chopped long & thin
Garlic – 2 big cloves, chopped
Ginger – 11/2 tsp, chopped
Greenchillies – 3 numbers, slit
Curry leaf – 1 sprig
Thin coconut milk ( randaampaal) – 11/2 cups / use 21/4 tbsp coconut milk powder + 11/2 cups of lukewarm water
Thick curd – 3/4 cup, at room temperature
Salt as needed

Method:-

Heat the oil & splutter the mustard seeds. Fry the fenugreek & add the curry leaves & dry red chillies. Stir in the chopped onion, greenchilly, ginger & garlic; saute till the onion changes the color to brown on the edges.

Add the tomatoes & salt, saute on medium high heat for 5 minutes. Pour the thin coconut milk & bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low & cook for 15 minutes/ till the tomatoes are cooked through. Remove from heat & let cool completely ( otherwise the curd will curdle).

Stir in the curd & mix. Serve with rice.

Source: Mrs. Lakshmi Nair

Kerala Porotta

      

Kerala Porotta

Ingredients:-
All purpose flour – 2 cups
Milk – 1 cup/ as needed
Salt – 3/4 tsp
Oil – 2 tbsp + as needed

Method:-
Add salt to the milk & mix well. Heat the milk in your microwave oven for a minute on high powder. Add 2 tbsp of oil & the hot milk to the flour; knead to get a smooth dough. Apply little oil on the dough & keep aside for 1 hour. This step is very important.

Divide the dough into 8 equal sized balls. Take a ball & press it with a little flour from both sides. Roll out to a 5″ circle. Apply oil on top ( this makes the dough very elastic) & flip the rolled out dough over. Now roll out the dough as thin as you can, don’t bother about the shape ( you can seen mine, I have torn the dough.) . You should be able to see your countertop/ Al foil through the dough. Apply oil on the dough.


Now pleat the dough from one end as if you are pleating your saree.

Pleated dough

Make a spiral with the pleated dough & keep aside for 10 -1 5 minutes.

The dough spirals

Roll out the spirals as thin as you can. Heat a thava; when it becomes very hot reduce heat to medium & place the rolled out porotta on it. After sometime the porotta puffs up at several places, flip the porotta & cook the other side. Now apply little oil/ ghee & fry both sides of the porotta.

Porotta getting cooked

Stack, and crush the sideways of every few hot porotta so that it will separate the layers.
Serve hot with a non-veg gravy of your choice. We had them with Punjabi Chicken Masala.
Note:- You may add a beaten egg to the dough if you want. I didn’t use egg in mine yet the porottas were very soft.

Paalak Thairu Pachadi

 

This is a very easy to make, nutritious & delicious dish.Even non-Paalak lovers will like this.
For making the pachadi heat 1 tbsp of oil & splutter 1/4 tsp of mustard seeds. Add 1 dry red chilly split & 1 sprig of curry leaves.
Saute 2 tbsp of chopped onion & 1 greenchilly till translucent. Add 1 cup of tightly packed paalak leaves (finely chopped). Cover cook on low heat for 5 minutes, stirring occassionally. Add 1/4 tsp of salt & mix. Remove from heat & let cool slightly.
Add 1 cup of thick curd, enough salt, a pinch each of uluva powder & cumin powder & mix well. That’s it!

Coconut chicken Fry

      

For 1500 grams of whole chicken cut into small pieces,
Marinate the chicken pieces with 4 tsps of kashmiri chilly powder, 2 tsps of coriander powder, 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder, 3 tsps of salt, 1.5 tsps of garam masala powder & a pinch of fried & ground fenugreek for atleast 1 hour.
Pound together 11/4 cups of grated coconut, 5 medium onions, 2″piece of ginger, 12 big garlic cloves, two 1″ cinnamomn sticks, 3 cloves, 1.5 tsp of peppercorns, 2 tsps of kashmiri chilly powder, 2 tsp of coriander powder, 1/2 tsp of fennel seeds, 1 tsp of garam amsla powder & a pinch of turmeric powder.
Mix together the marinated chicken pieces & the pounded mixture. Heat 1 tbsp of coconut oil in an uruli & swirl it around, add the chicken pieces & cover cook on low heat for 1 hour stirring occassionally. Don’t add any water at all.
Open the lid & pour4 tbsps of coconut oil & few curry leaves. Keep stirring for 30 minutes more till the chicken pieces turn almost black in color.
Source :- Taste of Kerala

Drumstick & Green Mango Curry

      

Cut 2 drumsticks into 2″ pieces & cook with a few curry leaves, 2 slit greenchillies 1/2 tsp of salt, 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder &  1 cup of water. Bring to a boil & cover cook on low heat for 15 minutes/ till 3/4th done. Now add 1 small green mango (cut into bite size cubes) & cook further for 5 minutes/ till the mango pieces are soft.
Grind together 11/2 cups of shredded ccoonut, 1 big garlic clove, 4 big shallots, 4 curry leaves, 2 greenchillies & 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder to a smooth paste adding enough water. Add this ground paste to the cooked veggies & bring to a boil on medium low heat whilst stirring continuosly. Let it cook for 2 more minutes & remove from heat.
Heat 2 tbsp of coconut oil & splutter 1/2 tsp of mustard seeds; add few curry leaves, 2 dry red chillies, 3 big shallots sliced  & 1/4 tsp of fenugreek. Pour this seasoning over the curry.

Ginger Payasam /Injipayasam

      

Here’s a strange paal payasam with a flavour of ginger. Ginger lovers will like it & this payasam is a must try for them.
Grind 1 cup of chopped ginger adding 1/4 cup of lukewarm water in ur grinder & strain the extract.
Soak 1/4 cup of broken matta rice in water for 3 hours & grind it to a coarse rava like powder. You should have 1/2 cup of powdered rice. Heat 1 tbsp of ghee in an uruli & fry the rice till you get a nice aroma. Add 4 cups of boiling water & cook the rice till it turns very soft & all the water evaporates.

Add the ginger extract to the cooked rice & keep stirring on low heat till the mixture turns dry.

Add slightly less than 1 cup of sugar & cook for 10 minutes/ till the mixture turns dry & is brown in color like jaggery. This step is very important.


Mix 3/4 cup of full cream milk powder with 21/4 cups of water to prepare thick milk. Add this milk to the payasam slowly whilst stirring continuosly. Bring the payasam to a boil & add 1/2 tsp of cardamom powder.
Remove the payasam from heat & garnish it with cashews & raisins toasted in ghee.
Source :- Mrs.Lakshmi Nair, recipe slightly modified

Mutton Cooker Roast

           

Ingredients:-
Mutton -500 grams
Coconut oil – 2 tbsp
Onion – 2 medium,thinly sliced+ 1 small, thinly sliced
Garlic- 5 big cloves, chopped
Ginger – 1″piece, julienned
Greenchilly -1 number, slit
Curry leaves – a few
Coriander powder -1 tbsp
Kashmiri chilly powder – 1 tbsp
Pepper powder – 1 tsp
Garam masala powder – 3/4 tsp
Turmeric powder -1/2 tsp
Thin coconut milk – 1 cup /use 1 cup of water + 1 heaping tbsp of coconut milk powder
Method:-
Heat oil & add the sliced onions, slit greenchilly, the chopped garlic cloves &the julienned ginger. Saute till the onion turns golden brown in color. Add all the masala powders & fry for a minute on low heat.
Throw in the tomato slices, mutton pieces & salt, fry for 10 minutes on medium high heat. Add 1 cup of water, coconut milk powder, eniough salt & transfer the mutton masala mixture to your pressure cooker. Simmer for15 minutes after the first whistle. Open the cooker & cook till the meat is coated well with the masala.
Heat oil & add a few curry leaves. Add the masala coated meat & fry for 10 minutes. Finally add 1 small thinly sliced onion & remove from heat.