Tomato Rice

Tomatoes are packed with a lot of health benefits. Bright red tomatoes are the best to get good amount of lycopene, vitamins C, K & A, potassium, and fiber. Tomatoes does not lose it's nutritional benefits by cooking. Is tomato a vegetable or a fruit ? Tomato is actually a fruit, but considered a vegetable.

Here is a recipe to cook tomatoes and get the benefits of this fruit / Vegetable.

Ingredients

1 cup - Basmati rice

5 - Tomatoes, chopped

2 inch - Ginger, paste

5 flakes - Garlic, paste

10 - shallots , chopped

1 - Green chili, chopped

1/4 tsp - Jeera / Cumin

1/4 tsp - Fennel seeds / Perumjeerakam

2 sprigs - Curry leaves

Sesame oil

Salt to taste

Method

1 ) Heat oil in pan. Add curry leaves, jeera, fennel seeds and fry for a minute. Then add green chili, paste of ginger - garlic. Fry till lighlty brown.

2 ) Add chopped shallots and lightly brown them. Add chopped tomatoes, fry and cook till tomotoes are a bit mashed. Add salt to taste.

3 ) Add 1.5 cup water and bring it to a boil. Add washed rice, bring to a boil and then simmer. Close with a lid and cook till the rice is fully cooked. Take off the stove. Open the lid only after, it has cooled down a bit.

Serve hot and enjoy this tomato rice.

This is my entry for the Jihva for tomatoes, hosted by RP of My workshop.

Kallumakai Pickle - Mussel Pickle

Spicy and tangy Kallumakai pickle. Pickling mussels is done in North malabar region, with the abundance of mussels available in the area. This is not any traditional recipe from that area, but some ingredients i put together.

Ingredients

1 lb - Mussels / Kallumakai

2 tsp - Red chili powder

1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder

Sesame oil

Salt to taste

Ground to a paste

2 tsp - Mustard seeds

2 tsp - red chili powder

1/4 tsp - Fenugreek powder / Methi powder

1/4 cup - Vinegar

Seasoning

3 sprig - Curry leaves

2 inch - Ginger, minced

10 flakes - Garlic, chopped

5 - Green chili, slit and chopped ( Optional )

Method

1 ) Clean mussels and then marinate it with red chili powder, turmeric powder and salt for 10 minutes.

2 ) Place marinated mussels in a pan, cover and cook it on a low heat. Mussel will cook in it's juice. Once cooked, add oil and fry it well. Transfer the mussels to a plate.

3 ) Add more oil to the pan. Then add curry leaves, green chili , ginger, garlic to the oil and fry till light brown. Add the fried mussels, stir and fry.

4 ) Grind mustard seeds, red chili powder, fenugreek with little vinegar. Add this ground paste to the pan, stir ad cook for 2 - 3 minutes. Add salt to taste. Add rest of the vinegar to the pickle. Add some oil to cut the sharp taste of vinegar. Take off the stove and cool.

Once cool transfer to a sterilized container. Can use after a day. Since vinegar is a good preservative you can store outside for some days. Then refrigerate it.

Some pointer to note when pickling

• Always use well wiped and dried utensils to store pickle in. Moisture will spoil the pickle.
• Deep frying meat pickle will make it stay longer to use.
• Oil acts as a preservative, so use good amount of oil in making pickle.

Puran Poli

Puran poli is a sweet, prepared and served as a snack or a dessert in different parts of India for different occasions. Different stuffing's are used in making poli. I came up with a stuffing with Tapioca, coconut, groundnut and jaggery.

Ingredients

For dough

I cup - Whole wheat flour
1 cup - Maida / all purpose flour
Pinch of salt
Water

For stuffing

1 cup - Cooked Tapioca
1/2 cup - Sweetened coconut flakes or grated coconut
1/2 cup - Roasted groundnut powder
1 cup - Jaggery ( thick syrup )
2 - Cardamom , powdered
Ghee or oil

Preparation

1 ) Cook tapioca in water with little turmeric powder. When well cooked drain off all the water. Mash and make a smooth dough. Set aside.

2 ) Roast groundnut lightly and powder it.

Method

1 ) First make the stuffing.

In a utensil, add mashed tapioca, grated coconut, groundnut powder, cardamom powder and jaggery. Mix in all the ingredients well and make small size balls of it, like in the picture below. If the mixture has more liquid content, then add little roasted rice powder to make thick mixture dough.


Secondly make the dough, like chapati dough.

2 ) Add enough water to make dough, by mix all the ingredients listed. Make small balls of the dough equal to the number of stuffing balls.

3 ) Roll the dough and then place a stuffing ball in center, like the picture below.

4 )Wrap and cover the stuffing ball with the dough fully.

5 ) Roll out the dough with a rolling pin, as thin as possible.

6 ) Heat a pan and place the rolled out poli in the pan. Cook on both sides. Smear some ghee or oil on both sides. Take off the pan and serve in a serving plate.

Enjoy this puran poli as a snack.

Check out the recipe at Neivedyam for puran poli with a different stuffing.

Pazham Pori - Ripe Plantain Fritters

This snack is very popular in kerala. Quick and easy to make.

Ingredients

3 - Ripe plantains
1 cup - Rice flour
3 tbsp - Maida / all purpose flour
3 tbsp - Sugar
a pinch or two - Turmeric powder
a pinch - salt
oil to fry

Method

1) Peel the skin off the ripe plantain and cut into two parts. Then cut each part into 3- 4 slices,lengthwise.

2 )Mix rice powder, maida, sugar, turmeric powder and salt. Make a thick batter.

3) Heat oil in a deep frying pan. Dip the sliced plantains in the batter and deep fry till golden brown in colour.

Serve with evening tea.

Variation

With the sliced ripe plantain....Heat ghee or butter in a non-stick pan. Fry the slices on both side till light brown in colour.Drain and place on a serving plate. Sprinkle some sugar on the fried plantains and serve.

Also try pazham pori in slightly different batter. Check the recipe here

Mutton Pickle

Pickling meat comes in handy for those lazy days when you don't want to cook an elaborate meal. So then you can cook some rice and have with pickle and maybe some yogurt.

Ingredients

500 gm - Boneless mutton, cut to small pieces

Masala

1 tbsp - Ginger paste

1 tbsp - Garlic paste

1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder

4 tbsp - Coriander powder

1 tsp - Black pepper powder

1 tsp - Red chili powder

1 tsp - fennel seeds

Roast and powder

5 - cloves

2 - Cinnamon stick

1 - Star Anise

Seasoning

2 to 3 sprigs - Curry leaves

5 - whole dry red chili

1/4 tsp - Asafoetida / Hing

1/2 cup - vinegar

Salt to taste

Method

1 ) Heat good amount of oil in a heavy bottom pan. Add ginger - garlic paste and fry till ginger- garlic is lightly browned.Then add turmeric powder, red chili powder, black pepper powder, coriander powder and fennel seeds. Fry on low heat for a minute.

2 ) Add mutton pieces, stir and mix in well with the spices. Add little water and salt to taste. Simmer and cook the meat till well cooked. Add oil and fry meat till lightly browned.

3 ) Heat oil in a pan. Add curry leaves, whole red chili, hing, roasted powder (star anise, clove and cinnamon ). Fry for a minute. Add to the meat, fry and mix in well. Then add vinegar and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Take off the stove and cool.

Put the pickle in a sterilized container. Start using pickle after a day or two of preparing it. Refrigerate after a day outside. All the masala will settle into the meat by then.

Some pointers when making pickle

• Always use well wiped and dried utensil for cooking and storing pickle in.
• Use more oil while making pickle. Oil acts as a preservative. So its good if some oil floats on top of the pickle bottle.
• By frying meat well, you can store meat pickle for longer time.

Mango Kadhi with Onion Pakoda

Yummy yummy mango kadhi, relished with onion pakoda's. Kadhi's are very popular in northern India. This kadhi is sweet and sour in taste. You can enjoy this kadhi, on it's own.

First make Onion pakoda and keep it ready.

Ingredients

1 cup - Bengal gram flour / Besan

1 big - Onion, chopped

1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder

1/4 tsp - Red chili powder

1/4 tsp - Ajwain

Salt to taste

Method

1 ) In a bowl make a thick paste of besan, turmeric powder, red chili powder, ajwain and salt to taste with water.

2 ) Add chopped onions to the besan mixture and mix in well.

3 ) Heat oil in a wok or kadai. Take a small amount of prepared mixture and add to oil and fry to golden brown color. Strain and keep aside. In the same way make pakoda's with rest of the mixture.

You can serve this onion pakoda / fritters as a snack. Now for this recipe, keep pakoda's aside, to add later to mango kadhi.

This is similar to how cauliflower pokoda is made. Have a look to see pics....

Mango Kadhi

Ingredients to make mango kadhi

2 - Ripe mangoes, peel the skin & cut to pieces

2 cups - Yogurts / curds

2 tbsp - Besan / Bengal gram flour

1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder

1.5 cup - Water

For Seasoning

1 tsp - Mustard seeds (optional)

1/2 tsp - Jeera / Cumin seeds

1/4 tsp - Asafoetida/ hing

1 sprig - Curry leaves

2 - Whole dry red chili

1/4 tsp - Fenugreek seeds/ Uluva / methi

1 tbsp - Ginger & green chili paste

1/2 bunch - Coriander leaves, chopped

1 tsp - Sugar

Salt to taste

Method

1 ) Add mango pieces to a blender and blend to a smooth paste. Add yogurt, besan, turmeric powder and salt to taste to the blender. Run the blender and mix the ingredients well.

2 ) Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard. After mustard pops, add jeera, asafoetida, curry leaves, whole red chili , and fenugreek seeds. Fry for a minute on low heat.

3 ) Add ginger - green chili paste and fry for a minute or two. Now add the mango mixture, water and sugar. Bring to a boil, simmer and stir. Add chopped coriander leaves to the kadhi . Cook for 2 - 3 minutes on low heat. The consistency of the kadhi should be like a thick soup. Take off the stove.

4 ) Add the prepared onion pakoda's to the mango kadhi. Immerse pakoda's in the kadhi.

Serve hot with basmati rice.

Mango Kadhi is so similar in taste to mambazha pulissery of kerala.

Potato Bonda

An evening snack with your tea or coffee. Potato is the main ingredients used to make this snack along with other ingredients and spices.

Ingredients

4 large - Potatoes

For Seasoning

1 tsp - Mustard seeds
1 tsp - Urad dal
1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder
1 small - Onion, chopped
3 to 4 - Green chili, chopped
2 inch piece - Ginger, chopped
1/2 bunch - Coriander leaves, chopped

To batter

1 cup - Bengal gram flour / besan /kadalapodi
1 tsp - Rice flour
1/4 tsp - Red chili powder
1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder
Salt to taste

Method

1 ) Boil potatoes well and mash it up. Add salt to taste and keep aside.

2 ) Chop and cut to very small pieces, green chili, ginger, onions and coriander leaves.

3 ) Heat oil in a pan, add mustard. After mustard pops, add urad dal, then turmeric powder, green chili, ginger. Fry ginger and chili for a minute or two then add onion and fry onion till it is translucent.

4 ) Add this to the mashed potato and mix in well. Make small balls of the potato mixture.

5 ) Mix ingredients for batter. Add water and make a thick batter. Batter should not be too thick nor too thin.

6 ) Heat a wok or kadai with enough oil to deep fry. Dip each potato balls in the batter and coat the batter all around. Carefully put into the hot oil and fry till golden in color. Fry all the potato balls similarly.

Serve hot as a snack and enjoy with your tea or coffee. Jihva for potato hosted by Vaishali at Happy Burp.

Other recipes with potato

• Potato Kurma
• Fish cutlets

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.

Prawns Pickle/ Achaar

Ingredients

60 to 80 counts prawns
5 - Green chili, slit in center
2 inch piece - Ginger, sliced thinly
10 flakes - Garlic, whole or sliced
1 tsp - Mustard seeds
2 pinches - Fenugreek powder/ uluva powder
1/4 tsp - Hing powder
1 tsp - Fennel seeds / Perumjeerakam
2 to 3 tsp - Red chili powder
1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder
2 to 3 sprigs - Curry leaves
4 tbsp - Vinegar
4 tbsp - Sesame oil
2 tsp - Salt

Method

1 ) Peel, devein and clean the prawns. Put prawns in a colander to drain off all the water.

2 ) Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and allow it to pop. Then add curry leaves, fennel seeds, fenugreek powder, hing, turmeric powder and red chili powder. Stir and fry for a minute on low heat. Then add in green chili, ginger, garlic and fry a minute on low heat.

3 ) Add prawns to the masala.Stir and cook on low heat. Add salt. Once the prawns has cooked well, add vinegar to prawns and cook for a minute. Take off the stove and cool. Add more vinegar for more gravy.

5 ) Transfer prawns pickle to a sterilized and well dried out container to store. Warm little oil and pour on top on the pickle. The oil floating on top will prevent pickle spoiling. Can keep the pickle for a day outside. Then refrigerate.

Fish Mollee

I am very nostalgic, when i think of fish mollee. I get lost in the moments and memories when fish mollee was cooked and served by my mother and the whole family enjoying that meal. Those are some happy memories.
Usually fish mollee is cooked with neimeen ( Seer fish ) in my house. I had also tasted fish mollee made with karimeen (which is a very bony fish) and the taste was awesome. Tilapia is similar to karimeen and i made fish mollee with whole tilapia. The taste was mind blowing for me. So here is the recipe for fish mollee.

Ingredients

1 lb - Tilapia /Seer fish / pomfret, cut to small pieces.

To marinate the fish

1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder

2 to 3 tsp - red chili powder / kashmiri chili powder

salt to taste

Extract coconut milk from one coconut

1/2 cup - Thick first extract

1.5 cup - Second extract

Other Ingredients

2 - Green chili, slit in center

2 inch piece - Ginger

1 - Onion, diced

2 medium size - Tomatoes, quartered

2 sticks - Cinnamon

3 - cloves

2 to 3 sprigs - Curry leaves

Method

1 ) Marinate the fish pieces with marinating ingredients for 5 minutes.

2 ) Heat a pan and fry the fish pieces, lightly on both sides. Don't have to fully fry and cook the pieces. This is to seal in and make the pieces firm. Also frying enhances the taste. Set aside the fried fish pieces.

3 ) In the same oil that fish was fried in, add cinnamon, cloves, onion and fry onion to a light brown colour. Then add green chili, ginger and curry leaves. Stir and fry for a minute. Add tomatoes and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.

4 ) Add the fried fish pieces and the second extracted coconut milk. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes on slow flame. Adjust salt as to taste.

5 ) Finally add the thick first extract of the coconut milk and take off the stove.

Serve hot with vellayappam, Idiappam, puttu or ghee rice.

Liver Masala Fry

Ingredients

500 gm - Liver ( Goat liver ) chopped to small pieces
1 tsp - Black pepper powder
1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder
4 - Green chili, slit in center
Salt to taste

To dry roast masala

2 tbsp - Coriander powder
1/2 tsp - Red chili powder
1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder

Seasoning

6 big - Shallot, diced
1'' piece - Ginger, finely chopped
2 sprigs - Curry leaves
2 tbsp - Coconut cut to small pieces
Coconut oil

Method

1 ) Add into a pressure cooker, 1/2 cup water, black pepper powder, turmeric powder, green chili, liver and salt to taste. Pressure cook for 5 to 8 minutes.

2 ) In the meanwhile, when the liver is getting cooked, dry roast the masala powders and also fry the seasoning ingredients. To dry roast - To a pan add the masala powders and on low heat dry roast the masala powders. Roast till the aroma of the powders comes out and color of the powder changes slightly. Take off the stove.

3 ) Fry seasonings - heat oil in a pan, add curry leaves, ginger and fry for a second. Add shallots and fry to a light brown.

3 ) Open the pressure cooker and add the roasted masala powder and mix in well. Keep cooker back on flame, cook to reduce the water and make a thick gravy. Before the gravy fully dries up add the fried ingredients and coconut pieces. Mix with gravy and cook till the gravy is thick and coating to the liver pieces. Take off the stove.

Serve with rice or roti.

Brinjal Chutney

I was introduced to brinjal chutney, through a Andhra friend. I was not sure how a brinjal chutney will taste. I was really surprised by the unique taste that comes out when mixed with other ingredients.

Ingredients

5 medium - Brinjal or one big eggplant, chopped

3 to 4 - Green chili, slit in center

1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder

Small piece - Tamarind ( about half a key lime size )

2 flakes - Garlic

1/2 tsp - Jeera

Salt to taste

Seasoning

1 tsp - Mustard seeds

1/2 tsp - Asafoetida / Kayam / Hing

1 tbsp - Channa dal

1 tsp - Urad dal ( Optional )

5 flakes - Garlic crushed

2 to 4 - Whole red chili

1 sprigs - Curry leaves

1/2 cup - Chopped coriander leaves

Method

1 ) Heat oil in a pan, add green chili and fry for a minute or two. Take it out of the oil, to a plate and set aside. To the pan add chopped brinjal. Stir and fry. Sprinkle turmeric powder and salt to taste. Close with a lid and cook on low flame till the brinjal is well cooked and looks mashed up. Take off the stove and cool.

2 ) To a blender add tamarind, garlic and jeera. Grind these ingredients. Then add the cooked brinjal, green chili and coarsely grind.

3 ) For seasoning, heat oil in a pan, add mustard, then chana dal, urad dal, whole red chili, Asafoetida, curry leaves and crushed garlic. Stir and fry for a minute. Then add coriander leaves, fry for minute. Add ground brinjal to the seasoning and stir in well. Cook for a minute or two. Take off the stove and serve.

Serve with rice or chapati.

Tip

Chutney with cucumber, cabbage, red bell pepper, zucchini can be made following the same method.

Cuttlefish Pepper Fry

Cuttlefish is not a fish, but like squid and octopus, it belongs to the class of molluscs known as Cephalopods.

1 Lb - Cuttlefish
5 - Shallots, diced
2 - Green chili, slit in center
1 inch piece - Ginger, crushed
1/2 to 1 tsp - Black pepper powder
1 tbsp - Coriander powder
1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder
2 sprigs - Curry leaves
Salt to taste
Corn oil

Method

1 ) Clean and cut cuttlefish to small pieces.

2 ) Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan. Add green chili and curry leaves. Stir for a minute, then add shallots and ginger. Stir and fry.

3 ) Add turmeric powder, black pepper powder and coriander powder. Stir and fry the powders for a minute. Add the cut cuttle fish. Stir and mix well with the masala. Cover with a lid and cook on a low flame till the cuttlefish is cooked.

4) Add little more oil, if necessary and fry the cuttlefish. Take off the stove and serve hot.

Serve hot as a side dish.

Note

Lessen the amount of black pepper powder, if you do not want it very spicy.