Kale Dal Curry

Kale is a cold weather crop, but available year round. Kale has a strong flavor to it, so when selecting kale go for the smaller and young leaves. With all its health benefits, it's good to make kale part of your diet. Usually i prepare greens like, spinach, drumstick leaves along with toor dal/lentil and it goes so well together. So i had to try kale with dal and it happens to go well too.

Ingredients

1 cup - Toor dal

2 bunches - Kale, finely chopped

1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder

2 - Green chili, slit in center

1 - Tomato, quartered

1 - Baby potato, cubed

Salt to taste

Grind to a smooth paste

1/2 cup to 3/4 cup - Freshly grated coconut

1/4 tsp - Jeera

2 - Shallots, chopped

4 - Dry whole Red chili

1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder

Seasoning

1 tsp - Mustard seeds

3  - shallots, diced

2 sprigs - Curry leaves

sesame or coconut oil

Method

1 ) Cook dal in enough water along with turmeric powder, green chili, potato and tomato. When dal is half cooked add chopped kale and cook till dal and kale is cooked well.Use only the leafy part of kale.

2 ) Now add the ground ingredients to cooked dal and kale. Add little water to make a thick gravy. Add salt to taste and bring to a boil. Cook for a minute or two and take off the stove.

3 ) To season, heat oil, pop mustard seeds, then add shallots and curry leaves. Fry till shallot is browned. Pour the seasoning on the curry and stir in.

Serve with rice.

When making spinach-dal or drumstick leaves-dal curry, you don't have to add potato and tomato. Rest just follow the above recipe.

Potato Mushroom Masala Curry

Potato and mushroom cooked in a varutharacha (ingredients dry roasted and ground to paste) gravy.

Ingredients

1 big - Potato, cut to small cubes

8 oz - Mushroom

2 - Green chili, slit in center

1'' piece - Ginger, grated

1 big - Tomato, cut to small piece

1 tbsp - Poppy seed / khus-khus

Dry roast & grind to paste

2 tbsp - Coriander powder

1/2 tsp - Red chili powder

1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder

1 small piece - Cinnamon stick

3 - Cloves

1/2 tsp - Fennel seeds/ Perumjeerakam

1 small - Shallot, chopped

1/2 cup - Grated coconut

Seasoning

1 tsp - Mustard seeds

2 sprig - Curry leaves

2 big - Shallots, diced

Method

1 ) Boil potato in enough water with ginger, green chili, tomato and salt to taste. When potato is partially cooked add mushroom and cook till potato and mushroom are well cooked. Soak poppy seeds in water for 30 minutes.

2 ) In a pan dry roast, coriander powder, red chili powder, turmeric powder, clove, cinnamon, fennel seeds, till the aroma of the spices comes out. Add coconut, shallots and dry roast till coconut is browned lightly. Cool and transfer the ingredients to a blender and dry grind. Then add poppy seeds, little water and grind to a smooth paste.

3 ) Add ground masala to cooked potato and mushroom. Add little water to make a thick gravy. Bring to a boil. Adjust salt to taste.

4 ) In a pan heat oil and pop mustard seeds. Then add curry leaves and shallots. Lightly fry the shallots till lightly browned. Pour this seasoning on the gravy. Turn off the stove and serve.

Serve with Chapati /roti.

To make Potato-Beetroot masala curry

Follow the same recipe as above. Instead of mushroom add one beetroot. Also make with just potato for potato masala curry.

Cherupayar Kaya Puzhukku

Made with green gram dal and unripe plantain, this is a tasty puzhukku.

Ingredients

2 cups - Green gram dal
1 - Unripe plantain, chopped with the skin
Salt to taste

Coarsely grind

1 cup - Grated coconut
1 to 2 - Shallot
4 to 5 - Green chili
1/2 tsp - Cumin seeds

Seasoning

1 tsp - Mustard seeds
2 sprigs - Curry leaves

Method

1 ) In a pressure cooker, cook green gram dal and plantain with 4 cups water. Add salt to taste. After the first whistle, lower heat and cook for 5 minutes. Turn off the stove, cool and open the cooker.

2 ) Coarsely grind ingredients listed without any water. Add the ground mixture to the cooked green gram dal. Mix well. Add little water if there is no water after cooking green gram dal. Keep the cooker back on stove and just cook for a minute, so the ground ingredients are lightly cooked. Turn the stove off.

3 ) Heat a pan with coconut oil / sesame oil. Add mustard seeds and pop, then add curry leaves. Pour the seasoning over the puzhukku.


Serve with Kanji or rice or chapati.

Also check out Cherupayar Kaya Erissery

Tomato Pachadi

This is an easy and simple tomato pachadi to make. Marta of 'An Italian in the US' is hosting an event based on 'Fresh Produce of the Month' . Tomato is the produce of the month. Now let's get to making this pachadi....

Ingredients

2 - Plum & ripe Tomatoes, chopped
2 - Big shallots, diced
1 tsp - Ginger -garlic paste
1/2 cup - Butter milk
1 cup - Thick creamy yogurt
Salt to taste

Seasoning

1/2 tsp - Mustard seeds
1/4 tsp - Cumin seeds
2 sprigs - Curry leaves

Method

1 ) Heat a saucepan with oil, add mustard and let it pop. Then add curry leaves and cumin seeds. Add shallots, stir and fry then add ginger-garlic paste, fry for a minute.

2 ) Add tomatoes stir and fry. Close with a lid and cook on low heat till tomato is well cooked. Add salt to taste. Turn off the stove .

3 ) Meanwhile, mix & blend buttermilk and yogurt well. Add this mixture to the saucepan , stir and mix well.

Serve with rice as a side dish.

Potato Ishtoo / Stew

This potato ishtoo is one of my favourites to go along with puttu, appam and idiappam. Cinnamon and cloves gives this ishtoo an aromatic flavour and Coconut milk enriches it.

Ingredients

2 big - Potatoes, quartered
1/2 of a medium size -Onion, chopped
2 - Jalapeno chili pepper Or 4 - green chili, slit in center
1 to 2 inch piece - Ginger, chopped
1 medium size - Tomato, chopped
2 to 3 sprigs - Curry leaves
1 stick - Cinnamon
4 to 6 - Cloves
1 whole - Grated coconut, to extract coconut milk
4 - Hard boiled eggs, cut into two ( Optional )

Garnishing

1/2 cup - Onion chopped, fry in oil to a light brown color
Coconut oil

Method

1 ) Extract coconut milk - In a blender/ grinder, grind grated coconut with little water and then extract the first thick coconut milk. Keep aside for final garnish.

• Make second extraction with same ground coconut. Pour 1.5 cup water and make second extraction.
• Make a third extraction with 1.5 cup water.

With one whole coconut, you will get a very rich gravy. You can use half of one whole coconut too for the above ingredient proportion. Use less water in extraction.

2) Heat little oil in a sauce pan, add cinnamon, cloves and curry leaves to the pan. Add onion, saute till onions become soft. Then add chili and ginger.

3 ) Pour the 3rd extracted coconut milk. Add potato, salt to taste and cook till potato is fully cooked. Don't over cook the potatoes.

4 ) Add tomato and the 2nd extracted milk. Bring to a boil and simmer. Adjust salt to taste. Add boiled eggs and simmer for 2 minutes.

Finally add the thick 1st extracted coconut milk and take off the stove. Garnish with some onions fried to light brown color.

.

Serve with Appam, idiappam, puttu or neipathiri.

Tip

• If the gravy is watery when using half of a coconut, then mix little rice flour in water and add to the gravy. This will thicken the gravy.
• Mixed vegetable ishtoo / stew also can be made in the same manner, cooking other vegetables( peas, carrot, french beans ) along with potato.
• You can use canned coconut milk instead of extracting coconut milk. You will need one can of coconut milk. Dilute half of the coconut milk with water and use as 2nd extract. Use thick coconut milk as 1 st extract.Cook vegetables in water.

Kootu Curry

This kootu kari /curry is made with black chickpeas and vegetables. Yam/suran, unripe plantain are used as the vegetables, but i have made with just yam and black chickpeas. Coconut ground with other ingredients makes a good gravy and adds to the taste of this curry.

Ingredients

2 cups - Black chickpeas / Kadala / kala chana, cooked
1 cup - Yam / Suran, chopped
Salt to taste

Dry roast

1/2 tsp - Red chili powder
1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder

Grind to paste

1 cup - Grated Coconut , dry roast to light brown colour
1/2 tsp - Cumin seeds / jeera
2 - Shallots / small onions

Seasoning

1 tsp - Mustard seeds
2 - Dry whole red chili
2 sprigs - Curry leaves

Method

1 ) Cook suran in water with roasted red chili and turmeric powder.The vegetable should very well cooked. Add cooked kadala and salt to taste.

2 ) Add the ground coconut mixture, mix with the cooked vegetable and kadala. Add enough water for gravy and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.

3 ) Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and pop it. Then add dry chili and curry leaves. Season the kootu curry with this.



Serve hot with rice. This will make a good addition to Onam sadhya.

Pacha Manga Curry / Raw Mango Curry

What's the difference between mambazha pulissery and this manga curry ? For this manga curry, pachamanga (unripe mango) is used and for mambazha pulissery, ripe mango is used.

Since pachamanga is sour, yogurt is not necessary to make this curry. I was supposed to make this curry with unripe mangoes, but by the time i got down to make this curry, mangoes became semi-ripe. Anyways, i went ahead and the final result was really a yummy mango curry. The aroma was overwhelmingly so similar to mambazha pulissery.

Ingredients

2 - Unripe or semi-ripe mangoes, peel skin off & chopped
1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder
1/4 tsp - Red chili powder
Salt to taste

Grind to a paste

1/2 to 3/4 cup - Grated coconut
1/2 tsp - Jeera / Cumin
1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder

Seasoning

1 tsp - Mustard seeds
1/2 tsp - Fenugreek seeds / Uluva
2 sprigs - Curry leaves
2 - Dry whole red chili
Coconut oil 0r sesame oil

Method

1) Chop mango to small pieces. Cook mango in little water with turmeric and red chili powder. Add salt to taste. Cook till mango is cooked, which won't take long.

2 ) Add ground paste to the cooked mango. Add just enough water to get a thick gravy consistency. Adjust salt to taste and cook for a minute on low heat.

3 ) Meanwhile, heat some oil in a pan. Pop the mustards, then add fenugreek seeds, dry chili and curry leaves. Season the manga curry with this. Take off the stove and serve.

Serve as a side dish with rice.

Recipes with mango

• Mambazha pulissery - Ripe mango curry
• Mango Kadhi with onion pakoda

Kadala Curry

Puttum kadalaum...hmm....irrestible combo for a malayali. There are other combinations with which puttu is had with, but this the most popular one. Black chickpea is used to make kadala curry. Kadala curry goes so well with vellayappam too. A detailed post on how to make puttu, was posted before. So here is the kadala curry i learned from my mother.

Ingredients

3 cups - Kadala / Kala chana / Black chickpea ( cooked )
1 medium - Tomato, quartered
2 - Green chili, slit in center
1'' piece - Ginger, grated
2 to 3 tbsp - Coconut cut to small bit's ( Thenga kothu )
3 to 4 sprigs - Curry leaves

To Roast & grind to a smooth paste

1 to 1.5 cup - Grated coconut
4 big - Shallots, chopped
6 big - Garlic flakes
1 medium size stick - Cinnamon
2 - Clove
1 tsp - pepper corns
1 - Star anise
1 - Cardamom
2 tsp - Fennel Seeds / Perumjeerakam
1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder
1 tsp - Red chili powder
3 to 4 tsp - Coriander powder
3 sprigs - Curry leaves

Seasoning

2 tsp - Mustard seeds
1/2 of one - Onion, chopped
Coconut oil or Seasame oil

Method

1 ) To cook kadala - Soak kadala over night, then pressure cook for 30 minutes, with little turmeric powder, a small stick of Cinnamon, salt to taste and enough water.

2 ) To make masala for the gravy - Heat little coconut oil in a pan, add coconut, fennel seeds, star anise, cardamom,cloves, cinnamon, stir and roast till coconut turns medium brown in color on a low flame.Transfer to another utensil to cool.

3 ) Now add little coconut oil to the pan, add pepper corn, small onion, garlic, curry leaves - stir on low heat. Add turmeric, red chili and coriander powder, stir till the powders looses the raw smell. Take off the stove and cool.

4 ) Transfer browned coconut and roasted masala powders to a blender. Grind the ingredients to a smooth paste with water.

5 ) To make the curry - To a big utensil, add cooked kadala, stock from the cooked kadala, tomato, green chili, ginger, curry leaves , coconut bit's and cook the kadala till the tomato gets cooked. Then add the ground coconut masala paste to the kadala. Add enough water to make a semi thick gravy. Bring to a boil, adjust salt to taste.

6 ) Seasoning - Heat coconut oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and pop it, then add onion and brown the onion to golden brown color. Pour this seasoning on the curry and mix in.



Serve for breakfast with puttu or appam to experience keralites favorite breakfast.

Chembu / Taro Moru Curry

Taro is extensively used in South Asia. In Kerala state, it is used as a staple food, as a side dish, or as a component in various side dishes. As a staple food it is steamed, and eaten with a chutney of green pepper and shallot onions. The leaves and stems of certain varieties of taro are used as a vegetable in Kerala.

Taro is consumed in most of the regions of South Asia. It is called chembu in Malayalam, arvi in Hindi, kesu or kesuvinagadde in Kannada, aalu (अळू)

or arukudya in Marathi, alvamande in Konkani, chamagadda or chamadumpa in Telugu, chembu or cheppankizhangu in Tamil, saruwada in Oriya, and kochu in Bengali.Taro is so widely available in India and Bangladesh that its Bengali name kochu can also mean "worthless thing" or "nothing" in sayings. [ Source - Wikipedia ]

This moru curry's main ingredient is Chembu / Taro. A meal with chemu moru curry, meat masala fry along with rice is a great combination. The combination is irresistible for me. Curry tastes even better once it cools and sits for a while.

Ingredients

6 - Chembu / Taro, cut to small pieces
1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp - Red chili powder

Salt to taste

Grind to a paste with yogurt

1 cup - Coconut
1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder

1/2 tsp - Jeera / Cumin

1 - Green chili
2 - 3 flakes - Garlic
1/2 inch - Ginger
1 cup - Yogurt / Curds

Seasoning

1 tsp - Mustard seeds
1 tsp - Fenugreek seeds / Uluva
4 - Whole dry red chili
2 sprigs - Curry leaves
Sesame oil

Method

1 ) Boil taro in enough water with red chili powder, turmeric powder and salt. Cook till taro is well cooked.

2 ) Meanwhile grind ingredients listed to be ground to a thick paste.

3 ) Add ground paste to cooked taro. Add little water to make a thick gravy. Adjust salt as to taste. Cook on low heat till it comes to a boil. Take off the stove.

4 ) In a pan heat oil and pop mustards. Then add fenugreek seeds, whole red chili, curry leaves. Season chembu moru curry.

Serve with rice as a side dish.

Brinjal Mooru Kootan

Today is April Fools day and did some of you have a good time making a fool of the other ? It was really funny in the school days to be silly and try all your stunts to make a fool of your friends. That's some good memories.
Today my taste buds are craving for something tangy. I had some green brinjals in hand and thought why not experiment with them. So this recipe is the result of that experiment. If you like tangy taste, you will like/love, but not dislike this curry. Green brinjals are fried and cooked in yogurt gravy.

Ingredients

8 - Green round brinjal, chopped lengthwise
1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp - Red chili powder
1/2 tsp - Asafeotida/ hing

For Yogurt gravy

1. 5 cup - Sour thick Yogurt / curds
1 big flake - Garlic, chopped
1/2 inch - Ginger, chopped
1/2 tsp - Cumin powder / Jeera powder
Salt to taste

Seasoning

1 tsp - Mustard seeds
1 sprig - Curry leaves
2 -3 - Whole red chili
Corn Oil

Method

1 ) Heat oil in a pan, add turmeric powder, red chili powder and hing. Fry for a minute. Then add chopped brinjal, Stir and fry till brinjal is browned. Do not add salt now. Brinjal should not get mashed up.

2 ) Meanwhile, grind and blend ingredients for yogurt gravy in a blender. Add this to the fried brinjal. Add salt to taste and bring to a boil on low heat. Take off the stove.

3 ) Heat oil in a pan, pop mustard seeds, then add curry leaves and whole red chili. Fry for a minute. Add this seasoning to the brinjal yogurt curry.

Serve this delicious brinjal yogurt curry with plain rice.

Chakka - VanPayar Erissery

Erissery made with a combination of chakka ( Jack fruit ) and vanpayar ( red beans ) is delectable. My usual combination is raw plantain and red beans for the same recipe.
Now i wonder if i have put the right title for this recipe. Since there is 'Elissery and Erissery' what is the difference between them ? Then i read the explanation given in Priya's Kitchen. If there is more to add to this explanation, please let me know.
Ingredients

500 gm - Unripe Jack fruit, cut to small pieces
250 gm - Red beans / vanpayar
1/2 tsp - Red chili powder
1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder
Salt to taste

Grind to paste

1 cup - freshly grated coconut
2 to 3 - whole dry red chili
1/2 tsp - Jeera / cumin
2 to 3 - Shallots / small onions

Seasoning

1 tsp - Mustard seeds
2 tbsp - Grated coconut
2 - Whole dry red chili
2 sprigs - Curry leaves

Method

1 ) Soak red beans for 2 to 3 hours. This is to lessen the cooking time. You can pressure cook even without soaking.

2 ) Pressure cook red beans and jack fruit with red chili, turmeric powder, salt and 2 cups or more water to cover the ingredients well. Bring to full cooking pressure, simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Cool and open the pressure cooker.

3 ) Grind ingredients listed to grind with water. Add the ground ingredients to the cooked ingredients. Mix in well. Add enough water to make a thick curry. Place on stove and bring to a boil. Simmer.

4 ) Season with mustard,red chili, curry leaves and grated coconut. Fry grated coconut to golden brown color. Add to the erissery. Take off the stove and serve

Serve hot with rice.

Vellarikka Kootan

Vellarikka is a cucumber. This vegetable is kept for 'Vishu Kani'. Here is a mild tasting curry made from this vegetable.

Ingredients

1 - Vellarikka
1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder
1/4 tsp - Red chili powder

Grind to paste

1 cup - Fresh coconut
1/4 tsp - Mustard seeds
1/4 tsp - Jeera / Cumin
1 - big shallot
1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp - Red chili powder


Seasoning

1 tsp - Mustard seeds
Few curry leaves
Oil
Salt to taste


Method

1 ) Cut the vellarikka into small cubes with the skin on. To each cube give 2 - 3 slash, as shown in the picture. Discard the seeds.

2 ) Cook the cut cubes in one cup of water with turmeric powder, red chili powder and salt.

3 ) Grind coconut, jeera, shallot, turmeric and red chili powder to a smooth paste. Then add mustard seeds and then just pulse the blender, so that mustard seeds gets crushed and not ground too much.( Do not grind too much after adding mustrad, as it will spoil the taste - this is important to note.) Once the mustard seeds are crushed then the paste is ready for the next step.

4 ) Add the ground paste to the cooked vellarikka. Do not add too much water, as it will turn too watery. Cook to a boil, simmer to a low heat.

5 ) Meanwhile, heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds. After it pops, add curry leaves. Garnish the vellarikka curry with this seasoning.

Serve with rice.

Tags : Cucumber recipes

Olan With Zucchini

Usually Olan is made with white pumpkin. Olan with Zucchini, turned out well. Coconut milk gives an enriched flavor to this dish. Olan is the name of this dish, popular in kerala.
Ingredients


3 - Zucchini, chopped
3 to 4 - Green chili, slit in center
2 - Shallots, diced
1/2 cup - Thick Coconut milk
Curry leaves
Coconut oil
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp - Black pepper powder (optional)

Method

1 ) Wash and cut zucchini into thin even slices.

2 ) Cook zucchini in a heavy bottom pan with green chili, shallots and enough water. Add salt as required. Cook till zucchini is cooked.

3) To the cooked Zucchini, add coconut milk and bring to a boil. Meanwhile taste to check if olan is spicy enough. If not add black pepper powder.

4 ) Garnish with some coconut oil and take off the stove.

Serve with rice.

Tags: Zucchini recipes, Indian recipes

Mambazha Pulissery - Ripe Mango Curry

This curry is made with ripe mangoes. It's sweet and sour in taste.Really a tasty curry to try out. Use a extra ripe mango to make this pulissery.

Ingredients

2 - Ripe mango, cut into small pieces
1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp - Red chili powder
1 cups - Water
2 cups - Thick yogurt / curds
salt to taste

Grind to paste

1 cup - Grated coconut ( fresh )
1/2 tsp - Jeera / cumin seeds
1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder
2 - green chili

Seasoning

1 tsp - Mustard seeds
1/4 tsp - Fenugreek seeds / Uluva
4 - Dry whole red chili
Curry leaves
Oil

Method

1 ) Cook cut ripe mangoes in one cup water with red chili powder, turmeric powder and salt. Cook till mango pieces are well cooked and can be mashed. Mash a bit of the pieces.

2 ) Meanwhile grind to a paste the ingredients listed to be ground with half the yogurt. Add 2 to 3 leaves of curry leaves also while grinding in the end.

3 ) Add to the cooked mango, whip the remaining yogurt and add to the pulissery. Mix well. Adjust salt as per taste. Bring to a boil and cook for a minute. Don't allow the yogurt to curdle.Take off the stove.
4 ) Heat oil for seasoning in a pan. Add mustard and after it pops add fenugreek seeds, dry red chili and curry leaves. Add this seasoning to the pulissery.

Serve as a side dish with rice. Enjoy this delicious pulissery. This will make a good addition to Onam Sadhya.

Kappa Vevichathu

This tuberous root is known in different names, such as Tapioca, yucca, cassava......kappa in Malayalam and for sure is cooked in different methods by different cultures.
In this recipe, kappa is spiced up to cater to the malayali taste buds.

Ingredients

500 gm - Tapioca / Kappa

To grind coarsely

1/2 cup - Grated coconut (fresh)
2 - Whole red chili
2 to 4 - Green chili
2 flakes - Garlic
1 tsp - Turmeric powder

Seasoning

1 tsp - Mustard seeds
1 tsp - Urad dal
2 - Shallots, diced
Curry leaves
Coconut oil

Method

1 ) Peel the skin off the tapioca, cut to small pieces and wash well.

2 ) Grind coarsely ingredients to be ground. Set aside.

3 ) In a pressure cooker, pressure cook kappa in two cups of water. Reduce heat after reaching full pressure and cook for five minutes. Take off stove and cool.
Or Cook the kappa in a open pot with enough water to cover the kappa and cook till kappa is cooked well and soft.

4 ) Drain out excess water, if there is excess. But not completely. Retain a little water. If there is no water left after kappa is cooked, add one cup warm water.

5 ) Add salt and reheat. Add the ground ingredients and mix well.

6 ) In a pan heat oil for Seasoning. Add mustard, after it pops, add urad dal, then shallots and curry leaves. Fry shallots to golden brown.

7 ) Add to the kappa. Simmer for 2 - 3 minutes. Take off stove.

Serve hot with fish curry.

Tip

If you need to add additional water to cook tapioca, add warm water. Don't add cold water, as it will harden the kappa and it will not cook well.

Beetroot Pachadi

Beetroot has a vegetable has notable amount of sweetness to it.
Both the root and leaves have good nutritional value. It's low in calories and fat. It's a good source of fiber.
In Indian cooking beetroot is seasoned and flavored with different spices.

Here is a recipe making use of both the root and the leaves.

Ingredients

1 - Beetroot with leaves
1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder
Salt to taste

To grind to a paste

1 cup - Grated coconut
2 - Green chili
1/2 tsp - Mustard
1/4 tsp - jeera1/2 tsp - Ginger or very small piece of ginger
2 cup - Curd/ yogurt ( medium sour )


Seasoning1 tsp - Mustard4- Red chili ( whole )
Curry leaves
Oil



Method

1 ) Chop and dice beetroot and the leaves into small pieces. In a pot add one cup water,turmeric, salt and the chopped beetroot and leaves. Cook till the beetroot is fully cooked.
2 ) Grind the ingredients listed to be ground (except the yogurt) to a paste with water.
3) Add the ground paste to the cooked beetroot and cook for 2 minutes. Take off the stove and cool.
4 ) Whip the yogurt well and mix in with the cooked beetroot.
5 ) Season with mustard, red chili and curry leaves. Add to the beetroot.

Serve with rice.

NoteUse freshly grated coconut.

A variations to this recipe is Dhanya's Beetroot kichadi

Potato Kurma

This is a delicious potato Kurma. It's mildly spicy and yummy. I make this for breakfast, to have with appam, puttu or idiappam. Goes well with chapati, naan or rice dishes.

Ingredients

2 big - Potatoes, cut into small cubes
1 big - Tomato, quartered

To grind to paste

1 cup - Grated coconut
4 - Green chili's
2 - garlic flakes
1 inch piece - Ginger
1 stick - Cinnamon
4 - Cloves
1/4 tsp - Black pepper powder
1/2 tsp - Fennel seeds
1 tsp - Coriander seeds
1 tsp - Poppy seeds/ Khus-Khus
3 tbsp - Yogurt/curds

Garnish and Season

2 - Shallots,diced
1 cup - Coriander leaves, chopped

Method

1) Boil potato and tomato in enough water, till potatoes are cooked well.
2 ) In a pan, fry the 4 green chili's lightly. Now add the fried chili's into a blender/grinder, along with rest of the ingredients listed to be ground. Grind to a smooth paste with water.
3 ) Add to the cooked potato. Add more water to make a thick curry consistency. Add salt to taste. Cook to a boil. Take off the stove.
4 ) In a pan fry the shallots to a light brown colour. Add the chopped coriander and lightly fry. Garnish the potato kurma.

Tip

1 ) Add other vegetables like peas, carrot, cauliflower.....for a mixed vegetable kurma.
2 ) Boil eggs and add to the kurma.