Vishu and a Koottu Curry

The Malayalam new year, Vishu is celebrated on the first day of medam masam (Malayalam month ) It generally falls on 14th or 15th of April. This year it's on April 15th. Very early in the morning, i woke to light the lamp and then woke rest of the family to see the auspicious Vishukkani.

Later in the day starts preparation for a small sadhya. This koottu curry is a combination of vegetables and chana dal, that when seasoned is delicious and will be a good add to the sadhya dishes.

Ingredients

1 cup - Chana dal

1 and 1/4 cup - Chena /suran/yam, cut to small cubes.

1 and 1/4 cup - White pumpkin, cut to small cubes

1 and 1/4 cup - Red pumpkin, cut to small cubes

1 - Raw banana, cut to small cubes

Salt to taste

To roast and grind

1 tbsp - Coriander seeds

1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder

8 - Whole dry red chili

3 - Pepper corn

1 tsp - Urad dal

Seasoning

1 tsp - Mustard seeds

2 to 4 - Dry red chili, broken into two

8 - Shallots, sliced

3 sprigs - Curry leaves

1/2 cup - Freshly grated coconut

Coconut oil

Method

1 ) Soak chana dal for 2 hours in enough water. Transfer the dal to a pressure cooker, add 2 cups of water and pressure cook for 5 minutes. Now turn off the stove and cool. Then open the cooker and add the vegetables. Add salt to taste and again pressure cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Turn off the stove and cool.

2 ) Meanwhile, roast the ingredients listed to roast in little coconut oil. Then powder and grind to a smooth paste with little water.

3 ) Add this masala paste to the cooked dal and veggies. Simmer and bring to a boil. Adjust salt to taste.

4 ) Now heat a pan with coconut oil to season. Add mustard seeds and let it pop. Then add dry red chili and fry it for a second then add onion and curry leaves. Let the onion light brown in color. Then add the grated coconut and fry the coconut to a light brown color. Add more coconut oil, if necessary. Pour this seasoning on top of the cooked dal and veggies and mix in. Close with a lid immediately to capture the aroma inside the pan.

Serve as a side dish with rice. Wishing every one a Happy Vishu !

Check out the malabar style koottu curry preparation here

Masala Curry With Paneer, Peas & Potato

Combination of veggies with paneer adds flavor. A simple to make masala curry that will be good with rice or roti.

Ingredients

1 medium - Potatoes,cubed
1 cup - Green Peas
500 gm - Paneer, cut to cubes
2 pods - Green cardamom,
1 big - Star Anise
2 medium - Onion, sliced
4 - Green chili, slit in center
3 medium - Tomato, chopped

1'' piece - Ginger, chopped

Masala powders

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

1/2 tsp - Black pepper powder

Grind to a smooth paste

1/2 a small shell - Fresh coconut

1/2 tsp - Jeera/ cumin seeds

1 small piece - Cinnamon

Seasoning

1 tsp - Mustard seeds

4 - Dry red chili,

1 medium - Onion. chopped finely

3 to 4 sprigs - Curry leaves

Method

1 ) Add to an utensil, potato, peas, green chili, ginger, onion, cardamom, star anise and the masala powders. Now add enough water to cover and cook the vegetables.

2 ) When the veggies are half cooked, add tomato and salt to taste. Simmer, cover and cook till the vegetables are fully cooked.

3 ) Grind coconut, jeera and cinnamon with little water to a smooth paste. Add this paste to the cooked veggies. Add more water if needed for the gravy. Adjust salt to taste. Simmer and cook.

4 ) Meanwhile, in a frying pan, heat some oil. Add paneer cubes and fry to a light brown color. Transfer and add the fried paneer to the curry. In the remaining oil, do the seasoning. First pop the mustard seeds, than add dry chili, curry leaves and fry for second. Then add onion and fry to a light brown color. Pour this seasoning over the curry and close with a lid. Turn off the stove. After 5 minutes open the lid and serve the masala curry.



Serve as a side dish with rice or roti.

Kumbalanga / Ash Gourd Moru Curry

Trying to recapture a favorite moru curry that my amma prepares, that i used to love having with some fish fry and rice. It's a lovely combination of flavors. Every time i buy Ash gourd, i call up my amma to ask for all the ingredients she puts in, for that special taste. Then i forget the ingredients, the next time i buy a Kumbalam. So this time i thought it's best to blog this recipe and save it. Green chili adds special taste to this moru curry.Here is a moru curry i grew up having and hopefully anyone trying this recipe enjoys it too.

Ingredients

2 cups - Kumbalanga, diced to small pieces

1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder

1/4 tsp - Red chili powder

Salt to taste

Grind to a paste

3/4 cup - Freshly grated coconut

6 to 8 - Indian green chili ( or as to taste )

1/4 tsp - Jeera /cumin seeds

1 cup - Thick creamy & sour yogurt

Seasoning

1 tsp - Mustard seeds

1/2 tsp - Fenugreek /Uluva/ methi seeds

4 to 5 - Dry red chili

3 to 4 sprigs - Curry leaves

Method

1 ) In an utensil, bring to a boil about 1.5 cup water. Add kumbalam pieces, turmeric, chili powder and salt to taste. Cook on medium heat till the pieces are cooked.

2 ) Grind coconut, green chili and jeera in a blender. Then add curd and grind to a smooth paste.

3 ) Add the ground paste / mixture to the cooked pumpkin. Adjust salt to taste. Bring the curry- just to a boil and immediately turn off the stove.

4 ) Heat a pan with sesame oil. Add mustard and fenugreek seeds. Let the mustard pop and fenugreek seeds brown. Once done, add dry chili, curry leaves and fry lightly. Pour this seasoning over the moru curry and immediately close with a lid so that all the aroma stays in the curry.

Serve hot with rice, pappad and fish fry.

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.