Nadan Pacha Thakkali Thoran/Raw Green Tomatoes in Coconut - Kerala Special

I know I know. This is the umpteenth time I am posting thoran in here but trust me this is slightly different. I mean, the basic recipe is the same but the main ingredient is not something you would have tried before.

Here it is: pacha thakkali thoran

For the basic recipe, please click here. Just change the main ingredient to raw green tomatoes to get the above dish. 

The dish tastes very different from the normal ones that we have simply because the tomatoes give out a nice sour flavour. Make sure that you choose raw green tomatoes (and not the Bangalore tomatoes). I don't know about the availability of these outside India.

Dish prepared by : my mom :) So all credit goes to her. I am so happy I can send this across as my contribution to 'Fresh Produce of the Month' Event, hosted by ChemCookIt. I just took a picture when amma made this while I was home on vacation. Never thought I could share :)

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Ethakka Thoran/Vazhakkai Poriyal/Raw Banana Kerala Style

Normall we use pandikka/vazhakkai for thoran and mezhukkupuratti. This time I went home, there were some left over ethakka after making chips so amma suggested we make thoran with that. Not only did it come out well, but I am also quite proud of the pic below :D




What I Used:

Raw bananas - 3
Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
Shallots - 6 nos
Jeera powder - 1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder - one pinch
Chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - one strand
Salt - to taste

How I Made It:

Boil the banana till soft in a little water and salt. Grind coconut, jeera powder, 2 shallots and turmeric. Heat oil and add mustard seeds and urad dal. Then add the remaining shallots in small pieces, curry leaves, the ground coconut paste and fry a little. Finally add the boiled banana, mix well and stir till the paste has blended. Serve warm with rice.

This is my entry to JFI - Banana, for September, hosted by Ahaar.

Semiya/Vermicilli Payasam

Onam has come and gone. Due to the bomb blasts in Hyderabad, things were a little gloomy at home. But nevertheless, I had two Onam meals - one at my colleague friend's house and the other at my friend Amitha's place. It was her first Onam after her wedding and her parents were in the city. So we all enjoyed a full-fledged sadya.

Payasam is an intergral part of any sadya and is the after-taste invariably. I for one, am a payasam lover but find it too time-consuming to actually prepare it myself. Anyway, this is the payasam that we made at home. The simplest and easiest of them all - Semiya Payasam.



What I Used:

Milk - 3 cups
Water-1 cup
Vermicelli/semiya - 100gm
Sugar - 1 cup (adjust according to taste)
Cardamom - 4
Cashew nuts - 12
Raisins - 8
Ghee - 2 tsp

How I Made It:

1. Fry the raisins and cashew nuts in the ghee. Remove and then fry the vermicilli till it turns golden brown. Keep aside.

2. Mix water with the milk and boil in a pan, stirring constantly. Add sugar and cardamom. Bring to boil keeping the fire on sim.

3. Now add the vermicilli, stir well and bring to boil again. Make sure the vermicilli is cooked (leaving the pan aside, closed for some time will help)

4. Garnish with the fried raisins and cashews.

We enjoy payasam cold but serve warm or cold accoring to your taste :)

Chicken Sausages in Onion Gravy

I turned my brains upside down wondering how I can contribute to the Weekend Breakfast Blogging event #14, that's all about ethnic breakfasts. That's when I thought of sausages and 'Indianizing' it into a dish. This is simple and yet makes a great breakfast dish.



What I Used:

Chicken sausages - 6
Onions - 2
Tomatoes - 1
Green chillies - 2

Masala
Chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - 2 tbsp

How I Made It:

Defrost the sausages

Saute onions in oil till transparent and add the tomatoes and chillies. Fry for two minutes.

Add all the masala and fry till the raw smell leaves the paste.

Add very little water and mix well with the cubed sausages.

Garnish with curry leaves.

I served it with fried potatoes and bread.



This goes to Weekend Breakfast Blogging #14, hosted by Glenna. Original event idea - Nandita of Saffron Trail.

Me and My Cook Book

I recently came across this site which has a very unique and fun event going on, called "Show me your cook book". It just says that we need to send a pic holding our favourite cook book. I Instantly fell in love with the idea and have been meaning to make someone take a nice picture of me. After all the procastrination, here I am, with a so-so pic, cuz I had to take it myself.

This is Tarla's Dalal's 'Healthy Subzis', an all-time favourite cuz it has simple and healthy recipes in there. I also do some mix-n-match between the subzis.

Here I am.

Wheat Dosa with Rajma/Red Kidney Beans in Onion Gravy

Dosa is the staple dinner back home. We have it almost every day, unlike most mallu families who either have chappathi or rice. On some days, when the rice batter has either turned too sour or when we don't have enough, amma makes wheat dosa/godambhu dosha. Though I prefer the rice one, this variation is very easy to prepare and a quick breakfast on a Sunday morning when one is too lazy to shop or even go out.


So last Sunday, I made wheat dosa and Rajma in onion gravy. For the rajma, I followed the recipe amma uses for paneer gravy. It came out yummy and of course, much healthier than the paneer variation.

Wheat Dosa/Godhambhu Dosha


What I Used:

Wheat flour/atta - 2 glasses
Water - enough to make a loose batter, slightly more dilute than rice batter for dosa
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Gingelly oil - to make dosa

How I Made It:

Pour it on the dosa girdle and cook both sides till golden brown. Use gingelly oil on both sides to make it non-sticky. It takes longer to cook than rice dosa so keep the fire on medium and be patient (Something I find very difficult!).

Rajma in Onion Gravy


What I Used:

Rajma/Red Kidney Beans - 1 cup, soaked overnight
Onions - 2 medium, cubed
Tomatoes - 1 big

Masala
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Capsicum - 1 small, cubed
Chilly powder - 1 tsp
Chicken masala - 1.5 tsp
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Salt - to taste

How I Made It:

1. Pressure cook the rajma for upto 4 whistles.

2. Saute onions till golden brown. Add all the masala and fry for 3 mins. Add the tomatoes and stir for another minute. Remove from fire and let it cool.

3. Grind the cooled masala mix well, with a little water. Keep on fire, add the rajma and capsicum and simmer till the excess water has left and the gravy becomes thick. I crushed some rajma and added it to the gravy to make it thicker.

4. Add salt and remove from fire.

This rajma curry also goes well with chappathi and other rotis. I even had it with rice for lunch and liked it.

Now for some nice stuff in here. My sis has passed on two awards she got for her awesome blog. Err.. she may have been a little biased, but I am really flattered nevertheless. Thank you sis :)

An 'Eventful' Independence Day Lunch!

Oriyan/Odiyan Cuisine! I never imagined that I would actually try out anything so radical and actually emerge successful. I am very much in the learning stage as far as cooking is concerned and I simply had to contribute to this month's RCI. A search for a simple recipe started and I ended up with two! Jeera Pakhala and Aloo Cabbage Rasa. I actually came across some amazing examples and illustrations of cusine in Orissa. I hope I have done justice to their way of cooking.

This post is titled an 'eventful' lunch because I made a meal which will help me contribute to four events this month. The other three are:

Jeera Pakhala: sent for JFI - Rice

Jeera Pakhala, also sent for: Sunita's 'Think Spice... Think Cumin'

Litchy Lemon Cooler for AFAM. Recipe posted here.

Here is the meal that we are going to make.


Jeera Pakhala/Odiyan Jeera Rice

This recipe is very similar to the normal jeera rice. I slightly modified it and added sliced onions and chilly powder.


What I Used:

Basmati rice - one glass/1.5 cups
Thinly sliced onion - 1 small
Jeera seeds - 2 tbsp
Jeera powder - 1 tsp
Bay leaves - 1
Chilly powder - 1 tsp
Vegetable oil - 1 tbsp
Salt - to taste

How I Made It:

1. Wash rice and soak in water for 15 mins.
2. Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds. When the cumin seeds start spluttering, add the onions and fry until the onions turn transparent in color.
4. Then add cumin powder and chilly powder.
5. Add rice and salt & mix well.
6. Cook it in pressure cooker for one whistle.

Basic recipe from here.

I am also sending this entry to this month's JFI - Rice, hosted by Neivedyam.
and Think Spice... Think Cumin hosted by Sunita.










Odiyan Aloo Cabbage Rasa/Oriyan Dry Cabbage Curry

This is a very simple and easy-to-prepare curry that goes well with a variety rice dishes. The original recipe was for aloo-gerkins rasa but I changed it to cabbage cuz its been some time since I cooked the vegetable. I also thought it would blend well with the aloo gravy.


What I Used:

Cabbage - 250gm, finely sliced
Potatoes - 2, cubed
Oil - 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Chili Powder - 1 tsp
Cumin/jeera powder - 1/4 tsp
Coriander powder - 1/4 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp
Bay leaves - 2
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste

How I Made It:

Fry cubed potatoes in hot oil in a wok until lightly browned.
Remove from oil and keep aside.







To the same hot oil in the wok, add cabbage, sprinkle with salt,
stir and cover and simmer for 5 minutes.





To the water given out by the cabbage, add the masala pastes.
Stir and fry until masala are well blended with the cabbage.



Next, add 1/4 to 1/2 cup water - just sufficient to cook the potatoes. Stir and add potatoes. Adjust salt to taste.

Simmer over medium heat until potatoes are cooked and there is practically no gravy in the pan.

Finally, in a frying pan, heat oil, add the bay leaves and garam masala. Stir fry a couple of minutes and pour over the cabbage mix. Stir for 2 minutes and remove from fire.

Basic recipe from here.


Jeera Pakhala with Odiyan Aloo Cabbage Rasa - my entry to this month's Regional Cuisine of India hosted by Swapna of Swad.

Litchy Lemon Cooler

I went crazy looking for a recipe with litchy in it. I found quite a few on the Internet. But then came the search for litchies. Since the season time is over, I had to be happy with litchy juice. I used it to make a tangy cooler paired with one of my favourite flavours - lemon!


What I Used:

Litchy juice - 250 ml
Fresh lime syrup - 2 tsp
Ginger - 1/2 tsp, skinned and shredded
Salt - one pinch

How I Made It:

Mix all the ingredients and serve cool and fresh. This will not taste good when refrigerated cuz the lime emits a bitter taste with the passage of time. (I learnt that the hard way!)

This goes to the "Serve me Some…Juices, Shakes, Smoothies" event at Cook Curry Nook.


This was also my entry to this month's A Fruit A Month - hosted by Sig of Live to Eat.

Actually, most of the pics I took of the drink got deleted through Picasa and I had also wiped my memory card :( So this is the only good one left.

Karimeen Pollichathu/Pearl Spot Kerala Style

I was recently back home in Kottayam for three weeks and my bro was also there on a vacation from Dubai. So was my sis from Trichy. So all of us were craving for some karimeen pollichathu, a toddy shop speaciality. The monsoons have been acting up this year and the toddy shops were making use of the opportunity and selling one fish at 150rs. Considering we are around 6-7 members in the house, we decided to cut the costs by preparing this at home. Mom immediately turned to me since she was not very comfy with making it on her own. I have experimented with Sardines/Mathi when I was in college, but with karimeen, one couldn't afford to experiment and mess up. Anyway, I decided to give it a shot and at the end of it all, we were all pretty happy :)

The marinated fish ready to be wrapped and fried

What I Used:

Pearl Spot/Karimeen - 4, cleaned and slit on the side.

For the paste:
Shallots - 10
Onions - 1 big
Ginger - a 2" piece
Garlic - 10 cloves
Chilly powder - 1 tbsp
Pepper powder - 2 tsp
Vinegar - 2 tsp
Curry leaves - 2 strands
Salt - to taste

Coconut oil - for frying
Tender banana leaves - to wrap the fish in while cooking

How I Made It:

1. Make a paste with all the ingredients mentioned.

2. Marinate the fish well in the paste. It may not completely stick to the fish, but make sure that it is mostly covered.

3. Place the fish in the banana leaf and wrap gently.

4. Pour some oil in a wok. Gently place the wrapped fish in, close with a lid and cook on a low fire till both sides are done. This took me around 30 mins, per fish.

Garnish with onion rings, tomatoes, cucumber and a piece of lime.

Final pic taken by my sis :)

The same recipe may be followed by big-sized sardines too, but I am not sure if it will come out well for canned sardines. I have only used fesh sardines and they come out nice and soft. The masala makes sure that the unpleasant smell of sardines is completely masked.

For a behind-the-scene story, visit my sister's blog.

The Birthday Cooking Bash - Vegetable Pulao, Special Chicken Roast

Sigh.. I turned another year old last Saturday and this year I decided to 'treat' my friends differently. I cooked for them. Also gives me some stuff to post in here, since I have resolved not to let my cooking blog die a slow death with neglect.

So, here are the things I made. Sadly, I didn't get much time to take good pics, since the guests were hungry and I was busy with the cleaning, setting up the table, getting ready myself before the 'cake-cutting', etc :). Anyway, here goes.

Vegetable Pulao




What I Used:

Ingredients Set One

Basmati rice - 3 cups
Onion - 1 big
Tomato - 1 big
Carrots - 2 medium
Beans - 15

Ingredients Set Two

Bay leaves - 1
Cloves - 3
Cardamom - 2
Green chillies - 4
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tbsp
Chilly powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp

Oil - 2 tsbp
Salt - to taste

How I Made It:

1. Heat oil in the pressure cooker pan, add ingredients set two and fry for two minutes.

2. Then add the ginger garlic paste and fry for another minute before adding the finely chopped vegetables in ingredients set one. Stir this mixture for 3 more minutes. Add required amount of salt.

3. After that, add the rice and fry for another minute.

4. Add 5 cups water and pressure cook till the first whistle.

5. Open as soon as steam has espaced and transfer to a wide bowl.

Serve warm.

This is my entry to this month's JFI - Rice, hosted by Sharmi of Neivedyam.


Mummy's Special Chicken Roast

This is a dish that my mom used to make when I was in college and I used to love it! Tried to replicate the taste and almost succeeded.

What I Used:

Chicken, cleaned and cut into small pieces - 1 kg
Onions - 5 medium, cut into small square pieces
Tomatoes - 2
Capsicum - 1 small
Green chillies - 5
Jeera powder - 3 tsp
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 4 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1.5 tbsp
Chilly powder - 2tsp
Curry leaves - 3 strands
Oil - to fry
Salt - to taste

How I Made It:

1. Crackle mustard seeds in the heated oil and add the onions. Saute till golden brown.

2. Then add the ginger garlic paste, turmeric-jeera-coriander-chilly powders, curry leaves, chillies and fry for 2-3 mins, till the raw smells have gone.

3. Next, add the tomatoes and capsicum pieces. Stir for another minute and add the chicken pieces.

4. Close the pan and wait till the chicken has cooked. Note that no water should be added at any stage. Once closed, the chicken will release water and will cook in that itself.

5. Once the pieces have cooked, open the lid and keep on fire till all the water has gone and the oil starts clearing.

Enjoy hot!

Tip: This dish is on the spicier side and sometimes when it seems a little too much so, amma adds a pinch of sugar. I follow the same method. In fact, I add a pinch of sugar to almost all the curries I make, that involve a masala paste.

We also made payasam and of course a cake! Recipes and pics to follow in the next post :)

Kovakka Mezhukkupuratti/Gerkins Stir Fried

Kovakka , or Gerkins, mezhukkupuratti is one of the staple, everyday dishes back home. I made this on the last day of my vacation back home, when I was getting absolutely bored.


What I used:

Kovakka/Gerkins - 100 gms
Onions - 1 medium
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 strand
Salt - to taste

How I Made It:

Cut kovakka in long slender pieces and boil in very little water with salt.

Heat oil, add mustard and saute the onions, also cut in long pieces. When it has turned golden brown, fry the ginger garlic paste in it. Then add the chilly powder and curry leaves and cook for another minute. Finally add the kovakka and stir till the pieces have turned golden. This may take up to 10 minutes. Serve hot as an accompaniment to rice.


Recipe courtesy: Mary, our maid of so many years :)

The 30-Minute Kerala Meal

Shaheen's 'Malabar Spices' is the first food blog that I came across and instantly fell in love with. I hope this entry adds atleast some value to her Summer Express Cooking Event.

This is a simple yet complete Kerala meal, which needs some preparations the previous day.


We are going to make rice, moru kachiyathu, chena (yam) thoran and fried fish.

Preparations required for each dish

For chena thoran:

Cut 250 gms chena/yam into small cubes.
Grate 1 cup coconut.

You can keep both these in the fridge overnight.

For fish fry:

Cut and clean the fish, marinate in the paste (recipe follows) and leave in the freezer.

Now let's move on the actual meal.

Here are the items again and the preparation time required.

1. Rice - 7 mins
2. Moru kachiyathu - 7 mins
3. Chena thoran - 10 mins
4. Fish fry - 8 mins

Rice

We use white rice at home, unlike the normal kuthari which is used commonly is Kerala households. Though inferior to the other variety in nutrition, white rice cooks much easier.

Moru Kachiyathu


What I Used:

Butter Milk - 2 cups
Green Chillies - 3
Ginger - 1/2" piece
Garlic - 4 cloves

Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Jeera Powder - 1/2 tsp
Curry Leaves - 1 strand

How I Made It:

Heat oil and crackle some mustard seeds. Make the chillies, ginger and garlic into a coarse paste and fry for 2 minutes in the heated oil. Add curry leaves, turmeric, jeera powder and one red chilly cut into big pieces. Stir for another minute. Then add the butter milk and salt and remove from fire. Please note: heating the butter milk will split it so minimum heat should be used after it is added. The best way is to remove the pan from fire immediately after adding the butter milk.

Tip: If the butter milk is a little too sour for your taste, add some vegetable of your liking, like semi-ripe banana, cucumber or semi-ripe papaya.

Chena/Yam Thoran


What I Used:

Chena - 250gm
Grated coconut - 1 cup
Shallots - 6 nos
Jeera powder - 1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder - one pinch
Chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - one strand
Salt - to taste

How I Made It:

Boil the chena till soft in a little water and salt. Grind coconut, jeera powder, 2 shallots and turmeric. Heat oil and add mustard seeds and urad dal. Then add the remaining shallots in small pieces, curry leaves, the ground coconut paste and fry a little. Finally add the boiled chena, mix well and stir till the paste has blended.

Fish Fry - Recipe posted before, here.

My entry to the Summer Express Cooking Event.