Punjabi Masala Stuffed Tinda

Tinda, a vegetable more widely used in the northern part of India, looks more or less like a green tomato. They are also called as Indian round gourd or apple gourd. Here is an interesting recipe i had noted down long time back from a friend. Got to try it now when i got some fresh tinda, that i could slit to stuff masala powder in.

Ingredients

400 grams / About 8 to 9 - Fresh Tinda

Dry masala powders

1 tsp - Coriander powder
1/2 tsp - red chili powder
1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder
1 to 1.5 tsp - Amchur powder / dry mango powder
1/4 tsp - Black pepper powder
1/2 tsp - Garam masala powder
1/4 tsp - Dry ginger powder
1/4 tsp - Hing powder
1 tsp - Fennel powder/ Saunf powder
Salt to taste

Seasoning

1/4 tsp - Jeera/ cumin seeds
2 medium - Onion, thinly sliced
1 cup - Coriander leaves, finely chopped

Method

1 ) Scrap the tinda skin off. Slit them slightly vertically and horizontally like a cross. Remove any hard seeds. Mix all the dry masala powders listed above together. Add salt to taste and mix well.

2 ) Now stuff this dry masala powder into the slits of the tinda, like in the picture below. Save the extra masala powder towards the end.

3 ) Heat a flat bottom pan with oil. Add jeera and splutter jeera. Then place the masala powder stuffed tinda in the pan and cook on low heat covered with a lid.

4 ) Check if the tinda is cooked and fried on the bottom. Then carefully turn over and cook on the other side. Cook till tinda is tender and browned lightly. Scoop the tinda off the oil and transfer to a plate. To the remaining oil add the onion and fry it to light brown color. Then add the remaining masala powder and fry for a second. Adjust salt to taste. Now place the cooked tinda back into the pan. Stir onion and tinda to mix in . Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with roti.

Vazha Pindi Thoran - Banana Stem Stir Fry

Banana plant is one plant, whose all parts are used either to eat or to serve food / wrap food. On the whole this plants fruit, flower and stem has natural benefits and curative properties. The plant is chopped off once it bears fruit. Mostly the stem is discarded. But then this stem is rich in fibre.Banana stem when peeled, the inner creamy core is edible and can be used to make delicious dishes.
Banana stem - cut and chopped to small pieces, in picture.
Cut the stem in round, slowly move the knife away, you will see fibre. Clean the fiber off the stem on each round cut and then chop to small pieces. Put the chopped stem into water to stop discoloration.


Ingredients

4 cups - Vazha pindi, chopped
1/4 cup - Toor dal ( soak for one hour )
1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder
Salt to taste

Coarsely Crush

1/2 cup - Freshly grated Coconut
2 to 3 - Green chili

Seasoning

1 tsp - Mustard seeds
1 tsp - Urad dal
3 to 4 sprigs - Curry leaves
Coconut oil

Method
1 ) Chop the banana stem to small pieces. To a pan add chopped banana stem, toor dal, turmeric powder, salt to taste and about 1.5 cup water. Cover and cook on low heat till the dal and banana stem is cooked and tender. Alternatively, you can pressure cook banana stem and dal in little water for 1 to 2 whistles. If pressure cooking, you do not have to soak toor dal.

2 ) Heat coconut oil in a kadai. Add mustard seeds and urad dal. Pop the mustard seeds and lightly brown the urad dal. Then add curry leaves and the cooked banana stem and dal. To this add the coarsely ground coconut and green chili. Stir and mix all the ingredients. Now stir and dry off any excess water. Add little coconut oil towards the end, stir and fry for a minute. Take off the stove and serve.

Serve with rice as a side dish.

Methi Matar with Paneer Pulao

My kitchen was filled with this wonderful aroma of, spices and basmati rice, which lingered in my kitchen for so long. So inviting was the aroma and subtle was the taste of methi, with matar and paneer.

Ingredients


For Rice

2 cups - Basmati rice (used India gate,super brand )
2 - Green Cardamom
1 - Black cardamom/ Badi Elachi
3 to 4 - Cloves
A small - Cinnamon Stick
Salt to taste

Other Ingredients

250 grams - Paneer cubes
1/2 tsp - Jeera Seeds
4 medium - Onion, finely sliced
4 to 6 - Green chili
1.5'' piece - Ginger
1/4 cup - Garlic Or one medium bulb
1 big - Tomato, crushed /puree
1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder
1 to 1.5 cup - Methi / Fenugreek leaves
1 cup - Matar / Green Peas
Salt to taste
Ghee or oil

Method

1 ) Bring to a boil 4 to 5 cups of water in a big pan, add green & black cardamom, clove, cinnamon stick, salt to taste and little ghee to the water. Now add washed basmati rice to the water and cook till rice is cooked. Take off the stove and drain off excess water.

2 ) Coarsely grind green chili- ginger and garlic to a paste. Wash methi leaves well, then chop it. Heat a kadai /wok. Add some ghee and fry paneer cubes to a light brown color on all sides. Drain off oil and transfer to a plate.Then add sliced onion and fry till onion turns brown in color. Drain and transfer to a plate.

3 ) In the remaining oil( add more if need), add jeera and fry for a second. Then add chili-ginger-garlic paste and fry on low heat till it turns lightly brown. Now add turmeric powder, matar and methi leaves. Stir and fry for a minute. Then add tomato puree, salt to taste, close with a lid and cook on low heat till peas is cooked. Add little water to cook peas if needed.

4 ) Once the peas is cooked, add fried paneer cubes to the kadai and cook for a minute. Adjust salt to taste. Turn off the stove. Now add the cooked rice and fried onion little by little. Stir, toss and mix all the ingredients. Transfer the pulao into a microwave safe bowl and warm the pulao.This will evenly distribute the flavors.

Now serve in platter, garnish with some fried onions.

Serve pulao with raita and pappad.

Chemmeen Roast

It's been 4 years of blogging and i hardly took a break. When i did take a break, i felt so lazy and not motivated enough to get back to blogging. Now here i am, hoping some of you missed me and looking forward to some more posts from me :) A dear friend ' S ' shared with me this chemmeen roast recipe. I was delighted by the taste and wanted to blog immediately.

Ingredients

50 to 60 counts - Prawns, big size
1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder
Salt to taste

To crush

1 - Green chili
1'' piece - Ginger
8 to 10 flakes - Garlic

Other Ingredients

3/4 cup - Shallots / Small onion, chopped
3 tbsp - Coconut chopped to bits, (thenga kothu )
2.5 to 3 tsp - Coriander powder
1/2 tsp - Red chili powder/ kashmiri chili powder
1 to 1.5 tsp - Black pepper powder
1/2 to 3/4 tsp - Fennel / perumjeera powder
3 to 4 stalks - Curry leaves

Method

1 ) Devein and clean prawns well. Add turmeric powder, salt and mix well. Cook prawns, covered with a lid, on low heat till cooked. Take off stove.

2 ) In a kadai / wok, add coconut oil and warm it up. Now add shallots, coconut bits and fry till onion turns pinkish. Now add green chili- garlic-ginger crushed to the pan and fry till it turns lightly brown. Now add coriander powder, red chili powder and pepper powder. Lightly fry the powders in coconut oil.

3 ) Add cooked prawns, stir and mix in with the ingredients. Adjust salt to taste. Add curry leaves little by little in between. Then sprinkle fennel powder, little by little. Stir and fry the prawns, adding more coconut oil. Fry till the prawns turns brownish.



Serve hot as a side dish.

Varutharacha Kozhi Curry - Chicken in Roasted Coconut Gravy

For a varutharacha kozhi curry, a naadan chicken meat will be the best tasting one than the broiler chicken. Naadan chicken needs more cooking time than broiler chicken. I was not aware of the different breeds /types of chicken, other than broiler and naadan /desi chicken. Now there is something called english chicken, where the meat is more like naadan chicken meat and need more cooking time and this meat is really good for making a curry like this.

Ingredients

1 kilo - Chicken, cut to small pieces

1 big - Potato, quartered

1 big - Tomato, quartered

2'' piece - Ginger

6 big - Garlic

1/2 cup - Shallots / Small red onion

2 - Green chili, slit in center

1/2 tsp -Pepper powder

2 to 3 stalks - Curry leaves

To roast & grind to smooth paste

1 to 1.5 cup - Freshly grated coconut

4 - Star anise

2 small stick - Cinnamon sticks

3 - Cloves

2 - Green cardamom seeds

3 tbsp - Coriander powder

1 tsp - Red chili powder

1 tsp - Turmeric powder

Garnishing

8 to 10 big - Shallots

3 stalks - Curry leaves

Coconut oil

Method

1 ) Wash chicken well and drain. Coarsely crush, ginger, then garlic, then shallots in a blender.

2 ) Heat coconut oil in a cooker, add curry leaves, then coarsely crushed, ginger-garlic- shallot and green chili. Fry in the oil till light brown in color. Add potato pieces, stir and fry for few minutes. Then add chicken pieces, pepper powder, tomato, salt to taste and stir and fry for a minute. Then add enough water to cook the chicken. Close the cooker with its lid and pressure cook for 15 minutes.

2 ) Meanwhile, heat a kadai /wok with little coconut oil, add grated coconut, star anise, cinnamon, clove, cardamom seed and fry/roast on low heat till the coconut turns deep brown in color. Now add coriander powder, red chili powder and turmeric powder. Stir and fry till the powders turn to a deep brown color on low heat. Cool and grind to a smooth paste with little water.

3 ) Open the cooker and check if the meat is well cooked. If not simmer and cook for little more time with lid open. Add the ground coconut masala to the the cooked chicken, add enough water for the gravy and bring to a boil. Add curry leaves and stir.

4 ) In the side, heat coconut oil in the kadai/ wok and fry the shallots to a deep brown color. Pour this browned shallots with oil on top of the chicken curry and garnish it.

Serve hot with rice, appam, pathiri or puttu.

Homemade Popcorn

I popped some pop corn and thought of sharing it here with all of you. Smeared with some utterly, butterly delicious butter and seasoned with salt, it's good to go. Now you can flavor the pop corn as to your taste. Add chili powder to make it spicy, sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese to make it cheesy. Whatever it is, there is one ingredient, that add a lot of flavor to the pop corn and that is the coconut oil. I remember watching food network channel, where they mentioned to use coconut oil to get the same taste to the pop corn that is made at the movies.

Ingredients

1/2 cup - Corn Kernels
3 to 4 tbsp - Coconut oil
2 to 3 tbsp - Butter
Salt to taste

Method

1 ) Use a cooker or a heavy bottom utensil with tight lid to make the pop corn. Heat coconut oil in the cooker. Let the oil heat up on medium- high heat. To test if the oil is hot enough for the kernels to pop, add 2-3 kernels to the oil and once it pops, the oil is ready.

2 ) Add the kernels to the cooker and close with a tight lid. Once the kernels starts popping, shake the cooker back and forth to evenly pop the kernels. Once the popping slows down, turn off the stove. Transfer the pop corn to another big enough utensil. Melt butter and pour over the pop corn, toss, sprinkle salt to taste. Toss well to get the butter and salt evenly on all corns.

Now enjoy this home made pop corn.

Breakfast with Toast, Scrambled Egg & Potato

Having an omelet or scrambled eggs with toast or bread is a quick breakfast to fix. Now add some potatoes and scramble the eggs for a difference. You will get a more hearty breakfast, that is delicious and filling.

Ingredients

4 - Eggs

2 medium - Potatoes, boiled & cut to small pieces

2 to 3 - Shallots/ small onions, chopped

3 to 4 - Green chili, chopped

1/8 to 1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder

1/4 to 1/2 cup - Grated cheese

Few coriander leaves, chopped

Bread slices to toast

Tomato ketchup and butter to spread on toast

Method

1 ) Heat coconut oil in a pan, add green chili and shallots and fry till onion are fried to a light brown color. Then add turmeric powder and fry for a second.Add potato and fry the potatoes to a light brown color.

2 ) Meanwhile beat eggs with salt to taste, coriander leaves. Pour this beaten egg into the pan. Stir and mix well with the ingredients and cook till the eggs are cooked and scrambled. Take off the stove and set aside.

3 ) Toast 2 bread slices,then apply little butter on the toast if you like. Then spread tomato ketchup on top of the butter. Now place some scrambled potato and egg. Then sprinkle some grated cheese on top. Close with another toast and serve. Toast more bread and do similarly.

Serve for breakfast and i hope the meal will put a smile on your face :)

Puli Inji / Inji Puli

Inji puli or puli inji as it is called, is part and parcel of onam sadya. A thick sauce that is sweet, spicy and tangy in taste.

Ingredients

Cut very finely

8 - Green chili

2'' to 3'' piece - Ginger

1 cup - Shallot or 2 - Onions

To roast & powder

1 tsp - Raw rice

1 tsp - Jeera /cumin

1/2 tsp - Pepper corns

Masala powders to be roasted

3 tsp - Coriander powder

1.5 tsp - Chili powder

1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder

Other ingredients

1 fist full - Tamarind

1 small cube size - Jaggery

Salt to taste

Seasoning

1/2 tsp - Mustard seeds

2 - Dry red chili, split into two

Few curry leaves

Method

1 ) Extract thick tamarind juice, from tamarind, adding about 1.5 to 2 cups of water to the tamarind. Roast the ingredients listed above.

2 ) Heat a kadai /wok with little coconut oil, Add mustard seeds and let it pop. Then add dry red chili, curry leaves and fry for a few seconds. Then add finely chopped, green chili, ginger and onion. Fry on medium heat very well till the raw smell goes and the ingredients get fried to a medium brown color. Add more coconut oil as required.

3 ) Now add the roasted masala powders, mix and stir. Now pour in the tamarind juice, salt to taste, stir and cook till the sauce thicken up. Then add jaggery and let it blend in with the sauce. Now sprinkle the powdered, rice,jeera and pepper. Stir and mix and cook for a minute. Take off the stove and let it cool.

Serve inji puli for a grand onam sadya meal.

Fried Prawns in Coconut Milk Gravy

My kitchen is filled with this enticing aroma of freshly pounded spices, that i sprinkle into the pan of fried prawns and coconut milk. It's a winning combination of ingredients, that is flavorful and delicious.

Ingredients

To marinate

55 to 60 counts - Prawns,deshelled

1 tsp - Turmeric powder

Salt to taste

For the gravy

1/4 tsp - Cumin seeds

1/2 cup - Shallots / small onion

2 - Tomatoes, pureed

2 - Green chili, slit in center

1/2 '' piece - Ginger, finely sliced

1/2 tsp - Red chili powder

1/2 tsp - Coriander powder

1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder

3 to 4 sprigs - Curry leaves

1 small - Coconut

Spices to be powdered

2 - Green cardamom

1 small stick - Cinnamon

2 - Cloves

Method

1 ) Marinate the prawns with turmeric powder and salt to taste for 10 minutes. Grind shallots to a fine paste. Powder the spices to a fine powder. Extract coconut milk - First extract of thick coconut milk about 1/2 a cup, then second extract of 2 cups .

2 ) Heat enough coconut oil to fry the prawns. In small batches, the fry the prawns to a golden brown color. Drain off the oil to a plate. After frying all the prawns, to the remaining oil, add cumin seeds and let it fry for a second. Then add the onion paste, stir and fry on medium to low heat till onion turns deep brown in color, without burning it.

3 ) Now add the powders, chili powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, ground spice powder and fry for a second. Then add green chili, ginger, tomato puree' and salt to taste. Fry till the tomato gets cooked and oil separates.

4 ) Add the fried prawns and mix in with the ingredients. Stir and fry on low heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Now pour in the second extract of the coconut milk and cook for 5 minutes. Adjust salt to taste. Now add the curry leaves and the first extract of the coconut milk. Let it come to a boil on low heat. Turn off the stove and serve.

Serve with basmati rice or appam.

Methi / Fenugreek Dal

Some in my house will not eat anything bitter, where in i just go for it. Methi with it's characteristic bitterness, when cooked with dal /lentil will reduce the bitterness and balance the taste. Adding coconut oil enhanced the flavors to this simple dish.

Ingredients

1 cup - Toor dal

1 tsp - Red chili powder 

1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder

Salt to taste

Seasoning

1/2 tsp - Mustard seeds

1/4 tsp - Hing powder

1 big - Roma tomato

6 big - Shallots, chopped
5 big - garlic, crushed & chopped

1 bunch - Fenugreek / methi leaves

Method

1 ) Pluck the methi leaves off the stem, rinse and clean well in water. Drain off the water

2 ) Cook dal in enough water with red chili powder, turmeric powder and little coconut oil.Once the dal is cooked add salt to taste and take off the stove.

3 ) Now heat a kadai /wok, add coconut oil for seasoning. When the oil heats up add mustard seeds and let the mustard seeds splutter. Then add hing, shallots and fry till light brown in color, then add garlic fry for a minute. Then add tomato and fry till tomato is well fried. Then add the methi leaves and fry till the leaves wilt on medium flame.

4 ) Now pour in the cooked dal to the kadai. Stir and mix, adjust salt to taste. Simmer and cook for a minute. Take off the stove and serve.

Serve with rice or roti.

Navratan Korma

Navratan meaning 'nine gems' is the name given to this mughlai korma dish, that is a mixed combination of vegetables, paneer, fruit & nuts. Add in your choice of vegetables to make this korma. This will make a good side dish with naan, roti or pulao.

Ingredients

1 cup - Potato,cut to small cubes

1 cup - Carrot, chopped

1 cup - French beans, chopped

1 cup - Green peas

1 to 1.5 cup - Paneer cubes

1/4 cup - Pineapple cubes

Few cashew nuts, broken

1 big - Onion, chopped

2 big - Tomato, pureed

3 to 4 tbsp - Powdered cashewnuts

2 to 3 - Green chili

2 tsp - Ginger, crushed

2 tsp -Garlic, crushed

1/2 cup - Curds /yogurt

1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder

1 to 1.5 tsp - Kashmiri chili powder

1 tsp - Garam masala powder

Garnish with some coriander leaves

Method

1 ) Grind green chili, ginger and garlic to a paste and set aside. Boil carrot, peas and the beans, with salt to taste.

2 ) Heat enough oil to fry paneer and potato in a kadai. Once the oil is hot, add cashew nuts and fry to a golden color.Drain off the oil and transfer to a plate. Then add paneer cubes and fry to a golden color. After all the paneer cubes are done, add potato and fry till golden brown. Take off the oil and transfer to the plate.

3 ) In the remaining oil, fry onion to a golden brown color. Then add the ginger, garlic and green chili paste. Fry for few seconds, then add tomato puree, curds, garam masala, red chili powder, turmeric powder, cashew nut powder and salt to taste. Simmer, cover and cook till oil separates.

4 ) Now add all the veggies, paneer, cashew nut and about 1 to 1.5 cup water, simmer and cook till the gravy thickens. Now add pineapple cubes, garnish with coriander leaves and take off the stove.

Serve hot as a side dish with roti.

Coconut Sevai

Sevai / rice noodles is a popular southern indian dish that is steamed cooked and then seasoned. Different varieties of sevai's are prepared. Like the plain sevai, tamarind sevai, lime sevai, the yummy tasting coconut sevai.To make rice sevai from scratch will be time consuming for a person like me. So i went in for the ready to cook rice sevai available in the market.

Ingredients

200gm / 2 cups - Rice sevai

1 cup - Freshly grated coconut

2 tbsp - White sesame seeds,roasted & powdered

Seasoning

1/2 tsp - Mustard seeds

1/2 tsp - Urad dal

1 tsp - Channa dal

3 to 4 - Green chili, chopped

2 sprigs - Curry leaves

Coconut or sesame oil

Method

1 ) In plenty of water, cook ready to cook sevai. Add salt to taste and little oil to the water. Once cooked drain all the water and set aside

2 ) In a kadai, heat coconut or sesame oil, add mustard seeds, urad dal, channa dal, peanuts, and let the mustard pop and the dals gets fried to agolden color. Then add green chili,curry leaves, 2 tbsp grated coconut and fry till coconut turns lightly golden.

3 ) Add the cooked sevai to the kadai and stir in well with the ingredients. Sprinkle the roasted and powdered sesame powder, adjust salt to taste. Stir and mix well. Finally add the freshly grated coconut and mix in well. Take off the stove and serve in a serving dish.

Serve for breakfast or for evening snacks.

Spring Onion Dosa

A flavorful dosa with spring onions. Rice and different dals is the base of this dosa, with a ratio of 2 :1. Dals should measure all together to one cup, where you can increase any one dal proportion a little bit. More of Channa dal or toor dal will make the dosa crisp and also adds flavor. More of moong dal will make the dosa soft. So you can increase the measure of any of the dals as to what you desire the dosa to turn out to be like.

Ingredients

2 cup - Raw rice, washed well

1/4 cup - Moong dal

1/2 cup - Channa dal

1/4 cup - Toor dal

1'' piece - Ginger

4 to 6 - whole dry red chili or Green chili

1/4 tsp - Hing powder

1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder

1 bunch - Spring onion, finely chopped

Salt to taste

Method

1 ) Wash and soak all the dals and rice in water over night. Then grind to a paste adding little water, dals, rice, ginger, and red chili. The batter should be dosa batter consistency.

2 ) Add hing, turmeric powder and salt to taste. Stir and blend in well. Then add the finely chopped spring onion to the batter and mix. Check and adjust salt to taste.

3 ) Heat a tawa and pour little of the batter on the tawa and spread batter in circular motion like for dosa and cook one side and then turn and cook on the other side. Drizzle some butter or sesame oil on the dosa when cooking on both sides. Take off the tawa and transfer to a serving plate. Serve hot with chutney or can be had without chutney too.

Serve hot with chutney.

Instead of spring onion, coriander leaves can be added to make dosa. Grinding few curry leaves along with batter will give good flavor.

Prawns In Hot Garlic Sauce

Going out to have Chinese is something we do often, unless it can be created at home. Fried prawns cooked in hot garlic sauce is delightful in taste and will make a great side dish with Chinese fried rice, noodles or just plain steamed jasmine rice.

Ingredients

45 to 50 counts - Medium size prawns

Marinate prawns with

1 tbsp - Cornflour

1 - Egg, beaten well

Salt to taste

For the Sauce

20 to 25 flakes - Garlic, finely chopped

2'' pieces - Ginger, finely chopped

4 to 5 stalks - Spring onion

6 tbsp - Tomato ketchup

4 tsp - White vinegar

4 to 5 tsp - Red chili paste

1 tbsp - Soya sauce

1 tsp - Sugar

2 tbsp - Cornflour ( dissolved in little water )

Salt to taste

sesame or groundnut out

Method

1 ) To marinate the prawns - Mix cornflour, egg, salt to taste and mix well with the prawns. Marinate for 15 minutes.

2 ) Cut the spring onion - Separate the onion and greens. Chop the greens separately for final garnishing. And the onions, chop them and keep ready for the sauce. In a bowl, mix tomato ketchup, vinegar, chili paste, soya sauce, sugar and keep mixed sauce ready.

3 ) Heat a kadai/ wok, pour some oil for deep frying the prawns. Add the marinated prawns into the hot oil and cook on both sides in medium heat till prawns turns white in color. Once the prawns is cooked transfer to a plate draped with paper napkin to drain off excess oil. Fry all the marinated prawns this way.

4 ) To the remaining oil( add more oil if needed) add ginger and garlic and sauté for 30 seconds, then add the onion and sauté till translucent. Then add the previously mixed sauces to the kadai and stir fry for a minute.

5 ) Now add the fried prawns and stir-fry for a minute. Then add salt to taste and 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil and cook for few seconds. Then add the dissolved cornflour in water to the kadai and stir fry for 15 seconds. Turn off the stove, garnish with green onion and serve hot.

Serve hot with chinese fried rice, noodle or steamed rice.

To make red chili paste -

Soak 6 whole dry kashmiri chili in little water for 1/2 hour. Then grind to a paste with little water in which the chili was soaked in.

Cabbage Thoran ~ Stir Fried Cabbage

Cabbage stir fried with coconut, shallot, garlic, ginger and spices gives it a unique taste that is so good with cooked red rice.

Ingredients

3 cups - Cabbage, chopped

Coarsely grind

1/2 cup - Freshly grated coconut

1/4 tsp - Jeera / Cumin

3 to 4 - Green chili

A very small piece - Ginger

2 flakes - Garlic

1 big - Shallot

1 sprig - Curry leaves

Seasoning

1 tsp - Mustard seeds

5 to 6 big - Shallots, chopped

2 sprigs - Curry leaves

Method

1 ) Mix shredded and chopped cabbage with the coarsely ground coconut mixture. With hand mix in very well. Sprinkle salt to taste and mix with hand well.

2 ) Heat a kadai /wok with coconut oil, add mustard and pop it. Then add shallots and curry leaves and fry lightly. Then add the cabbage mixture and stir in. Close with a lid and cook on low heat for 4 to 5 minutes. In between just give a quick stir. Let the cabbage cook in it's steam. Do not over cook the cabbage. Let it have a bit of crunchiness. Take off the heat and serve.

This is my usual side dish with some kerala fish curry and rice.

Chili Mango

If you love sweet and sour dishes and also love to cook with ripe mangoes, then go for this Chinese sweet and sour dish, Chili Mango. It has the balanced sweet and sour taste, once the dish has cooled down a bit and the flavors have settled in. This will be a good side dish along with chinese fried rice or noodles. But then i just ate the chili mango and didn't need anything to go along with it. Try it and you might also like it.

Ingredients

2 big - Ripe & firm mangoes, cut to small pieces

1 medium size - Onion, chopped

1 - Capsicum, chopped

1 - Green chili, chopped

1 tsp - Finely grated ginger

1 tsp - Finely grated garlic

1/4 tsp - Red chili powder

3 tsp - Red chili sauce

3 tsp - Tomato sauce

3 tsp - Soya sauce

1.5 tsp - Vinegar

1.5 tsp - Cornflour

Garnishing

1 stalk - Greens of the spring onion, chopped finely

Method

1 ) Mix and combine the sauces - Red chili sauce, tomato sauce and soya sauce in a bowl. Then in another bowl mix and combine cornflour, vinegar and 2 to 3 tbsps of water.

2 ) Heat 2 to 3 tbsp butter in a pan, add onion and fry till it turns pink in color in medium heat. Then add ginger, garlic and green chili. Fry for a minute then add capsicum and fry till capsicum is fried lightly and still crisp.Add chili powder, lower the heat and then add the mixed sauces and stir in well with the ingredients in the pan. Then add the cornflour mixture, salt to taste, stir and mix well

3 ) Add mango pieces, mix well and cook on very low heat for a minute. Let the mango not get over cooked. Now when still hot i was not so keen on the taste, but when it cooled down a bit and flavors got balanced, it really tasted good. Serve into a serving bowl and garnish with spring onion.

Serve as a side dish with chinese fried rice or noodles.

Muringya Ela Thoran / Drumstick Leaf Stir-Fry

In kerala a drumstick tree in the backyard of a house is a common sight. There is one our back yard too. This gives a good supply of drumsticks and leaves to cook when ever you desire for a dish made out of it. Now to make this drumstick leaves upperi / thoran, pick on young drumstick leaves. Older leaves tend to be more bitter. Pick just the leaves off the stem and then clean them well.

Ingredients

2 to 3 cups - Drumstick leaves,washed

1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder

1/2 cup - Shallot/ small onion, chopped

Coarsely grind

1/2 cup - Freshly grated coconut

1/4 tsp - Jeera

1 big - Shallot / small onion

2 - Green chili

Seasoning

1 tsp - Mustard seeds

1 sprig curry leaves

Method

1 ) Heat a wok or kadai with coconut oil, add mustard seeds and pop it in medium heat. Then add the shallots and fry till lightly browned. Then add turmeric powder and salt to taste and stir in.

2 ) Now add the drumstick leaves, stir and then close with a lid and cook on low heat till the leaves get wilted. Then add the coarsely ground coconut mixture, stir, close with a lid and further cook on low heat for few more minutes till done. The leaves will get cooked in it's moisture. Take care to see that the leaves don't stick to the bottom of the pan and start burning from lack of moisture.

Serve hot as a side dish with rice.

Variation - When the quantity of the leaves are less or even otherwise if you need a variation, add little par- cooked toor dal, and cook with the drumstick leaves. following the same recipe.

Mutton Masala

Mutton masala has the flavors and taste of a naadan kerala meat preparation. And i find comfort in these naadan tastes to have with rice or kerala porotta.

Ingredients

1 kilo - Mutton with bones

1/2 cup - Small onion/ shallots, chopped

1'' piece - Ginger, finelt chopped

6 big flakes - Garlic, finely chopped

1 small - Tomato, chopped

1 tsp - Turmeric powder

1/4 tsp - Red chili powder

1/2 tsp - Jeera

1 tsp - Black pepper powder

3 to 4 tsp - Coriander powder

3 tsp - Eastern, Mutton masala powder

Garnish

1/4 cup - Thenga kothu, Coconut cut to small pieces

4 sprigs - Curry leaves

Method

1 ) Marinate mutton with turmeric powder and salt to taste for 15 minutes.

2 ) Heat coconut oil in pressure cooker, add onion, ginger, garlic and fry till lightly browned. Simmer then add jeera, tomato and fry for minute or two then add all the powders - red chili powder, pepper powder, coriander powder, mutton masala powder and fry in the oil till the raw smell of the masala goes.

3 ) Add mutton pieces and fry for minute or two. Then add 1/2 cup of water, close the cooker and pressure cook for 10 to 15 minutes. Open the cooker, once cool. Place the cooker back on stove and then add the coconut pieces, curry leaves. Simmer and cook till all the gravy is used up. Now it is individual choice here, if you like a little gravy then stop cooking when the gravy thickens up. Adjust salt to taste. If you like it dry then cook till all the gravy is dried out and then add more coconut oil and fry the meat to the desired stage.

Serve hot with rice, roti or kerala porotta.