Thattukada Style Beef Fry

This was really long long ago during the Kuwait Invasion and we were in Ernakulam for a short time. The weekends Appa would step out to buy parota and beef. I remember once when me and my brother hopped on the scooter with him to buy "parcel dinner". And while Appa ordered at the thattukada (street vendor - with the cart selling hot food on the go)  me and my brother would watch the thattukadakaaran throw some onions and curry leaf into a huge kadai and then once that is browned thrown in a ladle or two of cooked beef (that's his preparation) and sprinkle in some soya sauce, toss it all up and quickly wrap it all up into banana leaf with hot parotas bundled up in a newspaper. The aroma of the hot beef being cooked and steaming parotas, is something that's stuck onto my memory and would be for a long time! Those were indeed some days......down below is my version of the thattukada style beef fry that should be eaten with Kerala Parota.

Ingredients:
Beef - 500gms
Onions - 3, sliced finely
Ginger-2tbs julienned
Garlic - 4 - 5 plum pods sliced
Cardamoms-4
Cloves - 4
Cinnamon sticks - 2, 1"sticks broken
Peppercorns - 10-12 crushed
Turmeric Powder - 1/4tsp
Kashmiri Chili powder - ½ tbsp
Coriander powder - 1 tbsp
Fennel Seed Powder -1/2 tsp
Soya Sauce - 1-2tbs (depending on one's preference)
Salt to taste
Curry leaves- 2 sprigs


Cut the beef into bite size pieces. Add julienned ginger and garlic, turmeric powder, chili powder, fennel seed powder, coriander powder into a pressure cooker along with the beef and cook for about 5-6 whistles or alternatively into a non stick pan with enough water until cooked and the pan juices are well coated. Heat oil onto a non-stick pan and fry the cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and crushed peppercorns till they release their aroma and tip in the curry leaves. Add in the sliced onions and fry till golden brown. Then add in the cooked beef and saute it all on medium heat till nicely browned and then dab in the soya sauce. Coat the beef with the soya sauce and turn off the flame. You could garnish with chopped onion, lime wedges and some more fried curry leaves.

Karimeen Moily ~ Pearl Spot in Spicy Coconut Milk

A Keralite Special~Fish Galore~ Netholli, Karimeen and Prawn Fry

Lunch cannot be complete without these piscean beauties -Nehtolli (Anchovy) , Karimeen (Pearl Spot) and Konju (Prawn) Fry....its a feast for the senses!!!

Ingredients:
For the masala
Chili Powder - 2 tbs
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander Powder - 1 tsp
Fenugreek Powder - a pinch
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 1/2 tbs
Crushed Black Peppercorns - 1tbs
Salt to taste
Lime - 2 halves, squeezed

I have used the same masala to marinate all the three, I had two Pearl Spots, about a half a kilo of anchovies cleaned with their heads off and about half a kilo of prawns de-veined.

Make a thick paste using all the above powders using about 1-3tbs of water if required, the lime juice should do. Smear them onto the fishes and keep them aside for about 1/2 to 1 hour before frying. Heat a deep frying fan with oil (coconut oil is the best, but you could use sunflower oil). Fry the fish till browned on both sides. Serve them with rice and curries.

Chakkakuru Mezhukuperrutti~Stir Fried Jack Fruit Seeds

This is one dish my mom's elder sister is a pro at! I love the way Remaniammama makes her chakkakuru mezhukkuperruti. I have eaten her dish way too many times, for sure I love the way she does it because there is alot more love added when she does it for us!

Ingredients:

Jack fruit Seeds - 400gms

Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp

Chili Powder - 1/2 tsp

Garlic - 8 pods, chopped finely

Coconut Slivers (Thengakothu) - 1/4cup

Water - 1/4cup

Salt to taste

Peel the white outer cover off the jack fruit seeds. Then soak them in water for about 2 hours and then remove the brown layer. Alternatively the seeds could be pressure cooked in water and salt for a speedy process. Once the brown layer is off, cut them lengthwise. Into a pan, pour some oil and tip in the garlic and saute for a minute. Add in the jack fruit seeds, along with the turmeric, chili powder,coconut slivers and salt if not added.Saute for about 4-5 minutes on medium heat. Add about a quarter cup water. Cover and cook till the seeds are al-dente. Once the water is evaporated, fry the seeds till they are slightly crispy. Check for seasoning and add more salt if required.

An Easy Veal Biriyani

Easter has passed and a good time has gone by, and I just couldn't find the time to post this one on account of my health being really low in the recent past! Well, if not my friend constantly peppping me on my blog this post on the biriyani would have been lost. My cooking hardly involves any effort, I resolve to this time of cooking owing to many reasons, my child, my work, and other commitments. So when time beats you to the game, you got to beat time, yet I wouldn't like to compromise on the food that is being put on the table! So for this easter, as simple as it got was the Veal Biriyani and this is how it goes.....

Ingredients:
Veal Cubes - 500gms
Rice - 2 cups
Onions - 3, sliced finely
Green Chilies - 4, finely chopped
Ginger - 4 inch piece, julienned
Garlic - 8 to 10 cloves
Cloves - 5
Cardamom - 5
Peppercorns - 10
Cinnamon Sticks - 4, 2 inch pieces
Coriander Leaves - 1 bunch, finely chopped
Mint Leaves - 1 bunch, finely chopped
Tomato paste - 1 tablespoon
A pinch of Saffron soaked in 1 tablespoon of warm milk
Salt to taste
Fried Cashew nuts - 50 gms
Fried Raisins and Sultanas - 50gms
Fried Onions - 1 cup for garnish

Soak the rice in water, rinse well and drain. Cook the rice in salted water till soft and tender and keep aside.

In a pressure cooker, place the veal cubes along with some salt and pepper. Cook till the veal cubes are tender. Meanwhile into a pan, pour some oil, and splutter the whole spices - cardamon, cinnamon stick, cloves, peppercorns. Then saute the onions till evenly browned. Add in the garlic and ginger. Saute till fragrant and then tip in the green chilies.Add in the chopped coriander and mint leaves, reserving a handful of coriander for the final garnish. Cook till the leaves are wilted and well mixed with the onion. Add the tomato paste and cooked veal and fry well. If the meat while cooking turns dry, add about a less than a 1/4 cup of of the veal stock from the pressure cooker or water to moisten the dish a little bit.

Into a large casserole, layer in the rice, and the cooked veal and add the saffron milk mixture and gently mix the rice and the veal in. Layer the top of the rice with fried cashew nuts, raisin and sultanas and some fried onion. Cover the casserole and bake in the oven for about 30 minutes at 140 C. Once out from the oven, add a handful of freshly chopped coriander and the biriyani is ready!

Ensure you have pappads, a raita, pickle, and a good malayalam movie to watch!:P

Kerala Style Chicken Fry~ Amma's Way!!

A regular meat dish had with chapathy and a nice salad. Mum made this regularly on her quick dinner days. I did the same, needed to whip up a quick dinner to get my day set, just so that I could have some time off: :)

Ingredients:

Chicken - 1 kg, cut into medium pieces (You could even use only drumsticks which would taste better)

Ginger Garlic Paste - 3tbs

Fennel Powder or Saunf - 1tsp

Kashmiri Chili Powder - 2 1/2tbs

Turmeric Powder - 1/2tsp

Onion - 4 large, sliced thinly

Salt to taste

Coriander Leaves - 1tbs, freshly chopped

Oil to fry

Into a non - stick pot, combine all the ingredients and the chicken with about 1/2cup of water and cook for about 20minutes. Allow the masala to coat the chicken pieces completely. In the meantime, into a large wok or skillet, pour a little oil just enough to fry the sliced onions. Fry them till nice and caramelized and keep aside. Add in little more oil and fry the cooked chicken till nice and golden on all sides. Top the chicken with the fried onions and some freshly chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot with chapathis and a nice salad.

Peas Pulao with Fish Mapas

Fish  mapas is a coconut milk based curry which goes well with a pulao, plain rice, roti.. I had veena and little ivona home, so when you have the best people coming over to spend time with you. You want to be able to give them the best too. Before she and her little one came over I ensured I had summed this up, so as to be able to talk at length and not get caught in the kitchen.....

Fish Mapas

Ingredients:

Seer Fish - 1kg and cut into 2inch pieces

Onions - 2 medium thinly sliced

Curry leaves - 2 stalks

Green chillies - 4 sliced, slit

Red Chili Powder - 1 1/2tsp

Turmeric Powder - 1/4tsp

Coriander Powder - 2 tsp

Ginger and garlic paste - 2tsp

Tomato - 2 medium diced

Mustard seeds - 1tsp

Fenugreek seeds - 1/2tsp

Coconut milk - 1 cup thick

Mix the chili, turmeric, coriander powders together in a little water. Heat oil in a pan and splutter the mustard sees, then add the fenugreek sees. Saute the onion, and curry leaves till onion becomes transparent. Add the ginger and garlic paste and saute for two minutes. Then add the powders and fry for another minute. Add the diced tomatoes and saute till the tomatoes are softened and the powders are well combined. Add about 1/2cup water and bring to boil. Gently lay the fish  and cook over a low flame for a few minutes and pour in the coconut milk and bring to a light simmer. Take care not to boil the curry.

Peas Pulao

Ingredients: 

Long grain Basmathi Rice - 2cups cooked

Onion - 1 big, finely chopped

Peas - 1cup, blanched

Cloves - 4-5

Black Cardamom - 2

Cinnamon - 1 2inch piece

Salt to taste

Coriander leaves - a handful

Into a heavy pan, pour in some oil and saute the onions till light brown. Add a couple of cloves, a piece of cinnamon and 2 black cardamoms and let it saute till the flavors are released. Then add in the blanched peas and quick it a quick stir. Add the rice and carefully mix the rice and peas. Add salt and then add the coriander leaves. Take it off the flame, put the lid on and give it 5 minutes to rest. Serve the rice with the hot mapas.

Masala Shrimps

Mum in her visits here always brings me shrimps from Kuwait, they are cleaned and de-veined and zip-locked ready to be used.  So decided to use it up with Ramani Aunty's recipes from her Book on Series of Classic Recipes from Kerala....

Ingredients:
Shrimps - 300gms cleaned and de-veined
Garlic paste - 1tbs
Chili Powder - 3tbs
Turmeric Powder - 1/4tsp
Aniseed Powder - 1/2tsp
Ground Cinnamon - 1/4tsp

Ground Clove - 1/4tsp

Onion - 2medium finely sliced

Black pepper and salt to taste

Squeeze the water out from the shrimps, combine shrimps with chili, turmeric, aniseed, clove, cinnamon powders, salt and the garlic paste with 1/4cup water in a non-stick pan. Cover and cook the shrimps till the gravy coats. Heat oil in a frying pan, sauté the onions till lightly brown, stir fry the shrimps until browned. Sprinkle in the black pepper before serving.

Ripe Mango Curry ~ Pazha manga Curry

Mangoes in season and this is is a side dish you've would love to have for an afternoon. A sweet and sour curry which is an excellent combination with rice.

Ingredients:
Ripe Mangoes - 5nos.
Green Chillies - 5-6nos chopped (some reserved to be ground)
Turmeric Powder - 1/4tsp
Water -500ml
Salt - 1tsp
Grated coconut -150gms
Shallots - 10-15 (some to be reserved for tempering)
Cumin seeds - 1/4tsp
Mustard seeds- 1tsp
Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
Dried red chillies - 2nos.(broken into 2-3 small pieces)

Peel the mangoes. Cook the mangoes turmeric powder, a little salt, 250ml water and some green chillies for about 10minutes. Grind the coconut, reserved chillies, reserved shallots, cumin seed and the rest 250ml water to a fine paste. Add this to the cooked mangoes.Add more salt and heat the curry for about 5minutes taking care not to boil. Remove from the fire. Temper the mustard seeds, curry leaves, shallots and red chillies and add to the curry. Serve hot.

Lunch Accompaniments - Snake Gourd Thoran and Carrot Thoran

Our afternoon lunches are incomplete without a vegetable thoran or a stir fry/saute. In the morning, after dropping my son off at summer camp, I was reminded of the snake gourd thoran my mum makes which is usually accompanied with a fish fry or fish curry. It's a sumptuous combination to be had. So instantly stopped to buy the snake gourd and got to making it the way Mummy does. Had some leftover carrots about to rot in my fridge, which also ended up being a thoran too.

Snake Gourd Thoran


Ingredients:
Snake Gourd - 300gms cored, de-seeded and finely chopped.
Coconut gratings - 1/4cup
Shallots - 10-12 finely sliced
Garlic - 5-6 pods finely chopped
Turmeric Powder - 1/4tsp
Cumin Powder - 1/4tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1tsp
Green chillies - 2 finely chopped
Curry leaves - a sprig
Egg - 1 beaten
Salt to taste

Into a frying pan, heat some oil, and splutter the mustard seeds, curry leaves and shallots. Once the shallots turn brown, add the chopped garlic, chopped, green chillies and sauté for a minute. Then add the finely chopped gourd sauté the gourd for about 3-4 minutes. Add turmeric and cumin powder and again sauté for about a minute. Then add the coconut gratings, sprinkle in some water, so that the mixture doesn't turn dry.Cover cook on low flame for about 5-7minutes. Add the beaten egg into the mixture give it a good mix and cook for another 2minutes. Add salt to taste.Serve hot with rice.

Carrot Thoran

Ingredients:
Carrots - 300gms grated
Coconut gratings - 1/4cup
Shallots - 10-12finely sliced
Garlic - 5-6 finely chopped
Turmeric Powder - 1/4tsp
Cumin Powder - 1/4tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1tsp
Green chillies - 2 finely chopped
Curry Leaves - a sprig
Salt to taste


Into a frying pan, heat some oil. Splutter the mustard seeds, followed by the curry leaves. Brown the shallots, and then add the chopped garlic and chopped chillies and sauté for a minute. Add the grated carrots and sauté for a minute, Then add the turmeric and cumin powder and continue sauteing for another 2minutes. Then add the grated coconut, sprinkle in some water - about a tablespoon or two, cover and cook for approximately 5minutes on low flame. Serve hot.

Coconut Stuffed Dumpling (Kozhukotta)

An easy to make tea time snack. Something that appeals to the young and old alike.

Ingredients:
Fine rice flour - 250gms
Boiling water - 500ml
Salt - 1/2tsp
Grated coconut - 250gms
Jaggery - 250gms
Water - 50ml

Boil and the jaggery till it melts with the water and strain this onto the coconut and cook till almost dry. Pour boiling water into the rice flour and make a soft dough. Make lime sized balls with the rice dough. Fill each ball with a teaspoon of the coconut filling close and seal. Steam all the dumplings for about 15-20minutes and serve warm with tea.

Chicken in Spicy Coconut Curry and Awards

Who can resist an appam and chicken curry combination....I mean atleast my husband and I totally love the duet, you serve it to us morning, noon and night we would never ever complain. Also, today is the day I can rejoice, and be glad at the fact my blogger friends have passed me on these awards - I am on cloud nine ladies....

Ingredients:
Chicken - 1kg cut into medium pieces
Coriander Powder -2tbs
Chilly Pwder - 1tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/4tsp
Garam masala - 1/2tsp
Garlic paste - 1tsp
Onions - 2 medium finely sliced
Mustard seeds  - 1tsp
Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
Potatoes - 2 peeled, boiled and quartered.
Peas - 1/4cup
Green chillies - 2 finely chopped
Ginger - 1tsp julienned
Coconut milk - 2cups (1/2 cup thick and 1 1/2 cup light)
Lemon juice - 1tsp
Salt to taste

Mix the masala powders and garlic paste and make it into a thick paste along with water. Heat oil into a large pan, splutter the mustard seeds and and then fry the curry leaves. Saute the onions, green chilly and ginger till nice and tender and then fry the masala for about three minutes. Pour in the light coconut milk, lemon juice and salt and bring to a boil. Then add the chicken and simmer for about 25minutes. When the chicken is almost done, add the potatoes, peas and thick coconut milk and simmer for about 5minutes. Do not allow the curry to boil. Serve hot with appams.

Once again thankyou Sarah Naveen from Vaazhayila and Maria from Maria's Menu for the awards. I'd like pass these on to Tina, Faiza Ali, Latha Biju, Divya Kudua, and Padhu.

Chiratta Puttu and Egg Roast!!

When your conscious of what you eat, it sometimes gets to you, and this time it did for both me and my husband. We were bored of rotis/ or of any any indian flat bread and my husband says, 'could you make egg roast?'. I liked the idea and instantly thought of Puttu, its a deadly combination of course teamed with bananas or plantains.

Chiratta Puttu


Ingredients:
Double Horse Wheat Puttu Powder - 2cups
Grated Cocout - 1 1/2cups
Salt to taste
Water

Into a bowl, empty the puttu powder, add salt to taste and add about 4-5tbs of coconut gratings. With your hand pour water little by little to wet the puttu to get a coarse wet sand like mixture. Keep the puttu mixture aside for about 10minutes. Into the puttu maker, first put a little coconut and then add the mixed puttu powder, when the puttu maker is almost full top the puttu powder with more coconut gratings, close with the lid and place onto the steamer. Use a coconut shell steel replica known as Chiratta Puttu maker and steam the puttu for 7 minutes. Unmould and serve. Below is a picture of the Chiratta Puttu Maker.

Egg Roast


Ingredients:
Eggs - 5 hardboiled
Coriander Powder - 2tbs
Chilly Powder - 1tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/4tsp
Cumin Powder - 1/4tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1tsp
Onion - 2 medium finely sliced
Tomatoes - 2 blanched and chopped
Coriander leaves - 2tbs chopped finely
Salt to taste
Sugar to sprinkle

Saute the onions till browned, while sauteing the onions sprinkle a pinch of sugar. Tip in the ginger garlic paste and then saute for a minute, then add all the powders and saute till the fat separation starts to happen add, in the roughly chopped up tomatoes and saute till the tomatoes are well integrated into the masala. Add about quarter of a cup of warm water and let the masala simmer. Once the masala is cooked well add in the chopped coriander leaves and mix well. Make a couple of  knife slashes around the eggs and toss in the eggs into the masala and give the eggs a good mix. Serve hot with puttu.

Tip: To make puttu you could use any ready made Puttu powder available in other leading brands from Nirapara or Double Horse. The types of Puttu Powder available are aplenty. Note that the method to make any puttu remains the same.

Fried Fish in Coconut Gravy

This is such a versatile dish that it can be accompanied with anything and is sumptuous down to the last bite.

Ingredients:
Seer Fish fillets - 500gms
For the marinade
Chilli Powder - 1tbs
Ginger garlic paste - 1tbs
Coriander Powder - 1tsp
Black pepper Powder-1/2tsp
Turmeric Powder- 1/4tsp
Salt to taste

For the gravy
Ginger garlic paste - 1tbs
Coriander Powder - 2tbs
Turmeric Powder - 1/4tsp
Chilli Powder - 1/2tsp
Onions - 2 thinly sliced
Tomatoes - 1 finely chopped
Curry leaves - a sprig
Coconut milk - 1cup

Combine all the powders to smear onto the fish. Allow the fish to be marinated for an hour. In the meantime heat oil into a pan and saute the onions till transparent, then add the curry leaves and fry for a minute. Add the ginger garlic paste and saute for a minute. Then add the coriander powder, turmeric powder and chilli powder and saute till the masala powders are well combined and the fat separation happens. Then add salt to taste, add the tomatoes and fry till the tomatoes are softened a bit before adding the coconut milk. Bring the gravy to a light simmer. Take it off the flame and keep aside.
Into a another frying heat oil enough to immerse the fish and fry till evenly brown on both sides of the fish. Once the fish is fried, carefully place each fish back into the coconut gravy and put the pan back onto the flame and let the fish simmer for 15minutes. If one desires more coconut milk could be added. Serve with dinner rolls/ bread/ rotis/ parathas/ steamed rice and a fresh salad.

Christmas Dinner

 Christmas dinner~ its a pure family time when everyone gathers around at the kitchen table to enjoy what my mums makes, the only person missing was my brother this time, never the less mum is sending me some of her Turkey roast on my route back to Bangalore tomorrow. That's right my holidays are over and its back to the grind and  it's back to the workstation.

Our Christmas dinner menu consisted of Appam and Turkey Roast (Naadan style), Pan Seared Salmon. The drink~ Homemade Red Wine and for Dessert Christmas Cake.

Appam and Naadan Turkey Roast

The recipe on Appam has already been posted on 18 December, 2009. For the Kalappam that has been used here the batter has to be thick. Once the tava is hot enough, ladle a spoon of batter, cover and cook till done. And flip over the other side to cook as well.

Ingredients for the Turkey Roast
Turkey - 4.5kg with skin cut into medium pieces
Onions - 5 large ones finely sliced
Potatoes - 5 large ones peeled and cut into thin wafers
Coriander powder - 5tbs
Chilly powder  - 3tbs
Ginger garlic paste - 4tbs
Cumin powder  - 2tsp
Mustard seeds - 2tsp
5 spices whole - 3tsp (cardamom, clove, cinnamon, star anise and fennel)

Marinate the turkey with chilly powder and salt and set aside for half an hour. Into a large pan, dry roast the 5 spices and keep aside. Then pour in vegetable oil and fry the sliced potatoes till crisp and keep aside. Into the remaining oil, brown half the quantity of sliced onions and keep aside to garnish. Saute the remaining onions till almost brown, and tip in the turkey and fry the turkey pieces till brown. Cover and cook for 15minutes. Into another pan, splutter the mustard seeds, and roasted spices and saute the rest of the masala powders (ginger-garlic paste, coriander powder and cumin powder) till the fat separation happens. Transfer the sauteed masala to the cooked turkey and gently combine the masala and turkey. Once combined, put the lid on the pan and bake into a cool oven for 15mins at 140 C. Once baked spoon the fried onions and top with crispy potatoes. Serve hot with appams.

Pan Seared Salmon

Ingredients:

Pink Salmon - 250gms
Black pepper powder
Lemon juice  - 2-3tsp
Salt to taste
Shredded cucumber and carrots to garnish

Rub salt and pepper onto the salmon and keep aside for 10minutes. Into a flat pan, heat olive oil and sear the salmon on both sides till done. Shred Lebanese cucumber and carrots onto a plate, bed the salmon on top and squeeze lemon juice and serve immediately.

Red Wine

Ingredients
Water - 12litres

Grape Juice - 12litres
Sugar - 4kgs
Yeast - 1-2tsp

Mix all the ingredients together and leave to ferment in a closed barrel. You would need to stir the liquid once everyday during the fermentation period. The process should take about 14-21 days. After the fermentation period, strain the liquid into another barrel or cask and let the wine age.

Appam with Seer Fish Pollichathu!!

I tell you nothing beats the taste of home cooked food, that too food cooked by mum. I'm on vacation in Kuwait with my parents and it was a welcome treat for breakfast, I love my mom's appams. My brother, while seeing us off at the airport reminded me to master the techniques of 'mom's appams', or else don't return is what he said. Now do I have a task to master in two weeks?!

Appam

Ingredients:
Raw rice -2 cups (long grained rice soaked in water for 6 hours)
Par Boiled rice - 1cup (cooked rice)
Yeast - 1/4tsp
Sugar - 3tbsp
Coconut grated -1cup
Water - as required

Grind the raw rice, cooked rice and coconut together into a blender using water as required. Once the batter is ground well, add in the sugar, yeast and salt and blitz the batter well. Empty into a large vessel and leave to ferment overnight. Make lace appams onto a appam chatti and serve hot. If the batter is too thick you could make small appams that look like dosas.

Meen Pollichathu

Ingredients:
Seer Fish Fillet - 500gms
Coriander powder - 3tbs
Red Chilly powder - 1tbs
Turmeric Powder - 1/2tsp
Ginger and garlic paste - 1tbs
Fenugreek powder - 1/2tsp
Cumin Powder - 1tsp
Onion - 1 finely chopped
Green chilly - 1 slit
Coconut milk - 1/2cup
Salt to taste

Into a large frying pan, saute the onion till pink. Add in the ginger-garlic paste and saute for 2-3minutes. Then add in all the masala powders (coriander, chilly, turmeric, cumin and fenugreek powders) and saute till the fat separation happens. Pour in 1/4cup water and mix in the masala, tip in the slit green chillies and slowly dip the fish. Cover and cook till the fish is done. Once the fish has become nice and soft, pour in the coconut milk. Whirl the pan, to let the coconut milk be thoroughly mixed. Throw in some fresh curry leaves and serve with appams.

Vegetable assortment ~ Avial

This is my favorite accompaniment for lunch. A dish that is healthy and creamy in texture and is considered essential to a Sadya. To make avial you would need ~

Ingredients:
Seasonal vegetables - Depending on what's available with the vegetable vendor like Drumsticks, raw plantains, potatoes, carrots, yam, ash gourd, dosakai (vellarika) -cut into fingers to yield 3cups
Frozen/ Fresh peas - 1/4cup
Turmeric Powder - 1/2tsp
Green chilly - 2 slit
Dried Red Chillies - 3-4 broken into pieces
Coconut gratings - 1/2cup
Garlic - 3-4 pods
Cumin Powder - 1/2tsp
Yogurt - 1/4cup beaten
Raw mango slices/ Green tomatoes slices- 1tbs
Mustard seeds - 1tsp
Shallots - 20 finely sliced
Curry leaves - 2sprigs
Coconut oil to drizzle
Salt to taste.

Into a non-stick pot, combine all the vegetables with a cup of water and turmeric. Cover and cook till the vegetables become tender. Grind the coconut gratings with garlic and cumin to make a paste. Add this masala and the slit green chillies to the cooked vegetables, cover and cook for 5minutes. Once the masala is cooked through add in the mango/ tomato slices and salt. Temper the mustard, curry leaves, shallots and red chillies. Pour the tempering over the cooked vegetables. Simmer for 5 minutes. Take off the flame and add in the beaten yogurt. Once the yogurt has blended in well, drizzle in coconut oil and serve.

Flat beans with coconut slivers

Owing to the busy weekends that we have due to other commitments, lunch on Saturdays is rather elaborate at home. I do ensure there is a vegetable saute, thoran and non-vegetarian accompaniments to compliment the dishes I make for the day. Harini on her blog has posted her recipe on Avarakkai Poduthuval thought I'd try the same except substituted the coconut gratings for slivers simple, because that's what I had stored in my freezer. I was too plain lazy to go through the ordeal of grating the coconut. I have made some minor changes to the original recipe to suit our taste buds.Plus I'm sending in this entry to the Singing Chef and Zlamushka for the event 'Tried and Tasted' from Sunshine Mom's Tongue and Ticklers.

Ingredients:
Flat beans / Ammarapayar - 500gms string clean and chopped finely
Turmeric Powder - 1/2tsp
Shallots - 10-12 finely sliced
Cumin Powder - 1/4tsp
Garlic - 3 pods crushed in a mortar
Mustard seeds - 1tsp
Green chillies - 1 slit
Coconut gratings - 4tbs (I have used coconut slivers - 5tbs)
Salt to taste

Into a pan, cook the beans until al-dente with turmeric, salt and a dash of water. Into a wok, splutter mustard seeds, add the shallots and fry till browned. Add in the garlic and fry for a minute. Tip in the cooked beans and fry for 3minutes on medium flame. Add in the cumin powder, coconut gratings/ slivers and green chilly cook for another minute or two. Take it off the flame and garnish with curry leaves. And eat it whilst its still hot!

Triad Combination ~ Vegetable Saute

Baby chechi is a 60 year old woman who makes a living by cooking for others. Since her husband passed away, the sole means of livelihood for her to raise her three daughters was for her to cook. She has the culinary skills to cook any, and I mean 'ANY' Kerala dish. She came to our house in Kerala 5 years ago, and more than a cook she has become an important member of our family. I had seen her come up with this quick saute...and thus sharing one of her delights.

Ingredients:

French Beans - 200gms

Potato - 200gms diced
Carrot - 200gms diced
Onion - 1 finely chopped
Mustard seeds - 1tsp
Aniseed Powder - 1/4tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/2tsp
Green chillies - 1 finely chopped
Garlic - 2-3 pods finely chopped
Curry leaves - a sprig
Salt to taste

Heat a pan and pour about 3tbs of oil, splutter the mustard seeds, add the curry leaves and brown the onions. Tip in the garlic and chilly and saute for a minute,  add in all the vegetables and saute. Fry for about 3-4 minutes on medium flame. Then add in the turmeric, aniseed powder and salt. Fry till all the powders are mingled in. Add a about 50ml of water, cover and cook the vegetable in the steam for another 5 minutes till done or all the water is evaporated. Serve hot and enjoy!!

Hot pepper drink ~ Mulligatawny

Rasam is known to cure a fever, aid in digestion and also has antioxidant  benefits. For a simple rasam you would require..

Ingredients:
Tomatoes - 2 ripe roughly chopped
Garlic - 3-4 pods crushed
Fenugreek seeds - 1/4tsp crushed
Mustard seeds - 1/4tsp crushed
Cloves - 2 crushed
Cinnamon - 1 stick
Fennel - 1/4 tsp crushed
Black Peppercorns - 10-12 crushed
Dry Red chilly -2-3 broken into pieces
Tamarind pulp - 1tsp
Asafoetida powder - 1/2tsp
Mustard seeds - 1tsp for the tempering
Curry leaves - a sprig
Shallots - 7-8 finely sliced
Coriander leaves - 2tbs
Water - 3 cups
White pepper powder to sprinkle
Salt to taste

In a saucepan, bring the water to boil add all the ingredients except the mustard, curry leaves (kept aside for tempering) and coriander leaves. Simmer for about 15 minutes. Blend all the ingredients and keep aside. Temper the mustard seeds shallots and curry leaves. Put the blended mixture back into the saucepan, pour the hot tempering and lastly add chopped coriander leaves and sprinkle some white pepper powder just before serving.

Tip: Once the rasam is blended the mixture could be strained and the residue could be discarded. I prefer not straining the liquid because the goodness lies in the residue. Also if you are using tamarind pulp, about 50gms of tamarind should do. It should be soaked in warm water for 10minutes and then added to the rest of the ingredients and brought to a simmer.