Kappayum Meenum / Boiled Tapioca with Kerala Fish Curry

Kappayum Meenum! Need I say more? Every person who grew up in Kerala must miss this when they are out of their nests. Oh, unless they are vegetarian. Then they would miss... I don't know! What do vegetarians miss when they leave Kerala? Enlighten me.

Anyway, I miss this. Among other things of course but this I miss one of the most because it represents home so much to me. Suma, our maid, brought some kappayum meenum for sis and I and of course I took the banana leaf that happened to lie around in amma's kitchen and clicked it. I later asked amma for the recipe so I am not sure if this is hers or Suma's. Either ways, it works, trust them if not me.

Meen Mulakarachathu, as we call it in Kottayam, is not my favourite Kerala fish dish but with kappa, its unbeatable. Its called by so many names by the way - Meen Vevichathu, Meen Mulakittathu, and even Meen Pattichathu. All one and the same folks!

Kappa Puzhukku / Boiled Tapioca Kerala Style

Ingredients:
1 kilo tapioca / kappa
3/4 cup grated coconut
5 green chillies
5 flakes of garlic
5 shallots
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp cumin seeds / jeera / jeerakam
3 sprigs of curry leaves
3 tbsp coconut oil
Salt to taste

How Its Made:

1. Peel and wash the tapioca well. Cut into small cubes and add to a pan with water 3" inches higher than the level of tapioca. Bring to boil and add salt. Let it simmer on medium-low flame until the tapioca is almost soft.

2. Meanwhile, grind the other ingredients except curry leaves and oil. Once the tapioca is almost soft (just short of mushy stage), add the ground paste, along wtih the coconut oil and curry leaves. Mix well and let it heat through. (Alternately, you can heat oil in another pan, add curry leaves to it and then mix with the tapioca).

3. Remove from fire and serve with tangy and spicy fish curry /  meen vevichathu.

Meen Mulakarachathu / Meen Vevichathu / Meen Mulakittathu / Kerala Style Fish Curry

Ingredients:
1/2 kg any firm fish, cleaned and cubed (ideally with bones)
3 tbsp red chilli powder / mulaku podi (use Kashmiri chilli powder or a mix of that and the regular one if you can't take heat)
1 tbsp coriander powder / malli podi
3 pieces of kudam puli
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds / uluva
3 sprigs of curry leaves
5 shallots
5 garlic cloves
1" piece of finger
3 green chillies, slit
3 tbsp coconut oil

How Its Made:

1. Crush shallots, ginger, and garlic together in a pestle and mortar (or grind together).

2. Heat oil in a pan and add the fenugreek seeds. When they start to brown, add the crushed ginger-garlic-shallot paste. Fry for 10 seconds and then add the coriander powder, followed by the red chilli powder. Fry for another 10 seconds. Add curry leaves and green chillies and mix together well.

3. Now add the turmeric powder and the kudam puli with 2 cups water and salt. Bring to boil and let it boil for 2-3 mins before adding the fish.

4. Simmer on low heat for another 10-12 mins until the fish is cooked through. Check for salt and tanginess and add more of either if necessary.

Goes best with kappa puzhukku.

Nethili Meen Fry / Anchovies Fried Kerala Style

This is probably my most favourite Kerala fish recipe - nethili (natholi / uzhuva) fry. Its supposedly high in calcium because we eat the bones too.

Anchovies make regular appearance in a lot of Asian cuisines, especially in Malay dishes but those are much tinier than the ones I have seen in Kerala. I hear these are also called bait fish because of their size and alternate use.

Since I don't cook meat or fish in my kitchen, raw fish/meat slightly turns me off. I contemplated for a long time before posting this. Its one for the Kerala non vegetarian lovers :)

My mom adds a special ingredient to the marinade to make it yummier. Its probably common in your kitchen but she got the tip a few years back and nethili fry in our kitchen has been awesome since then.

Nethili Meen Fry / Fried Anchovies Recipe
Serves: 2-4
Recipe source: Amma

Ingredients:
250gm nethili meen / anchovies
2-3 tbsp maida / plain flour or half an egg (the extra ingredient amma adds!)
Oil to deep fry

For Marinade:
8 shallots
3-4 cloves of garlic
2" piece of ginger
1 tsp red chilli powder (adjust to taste)
A pinch of turmeric powder
1/4 tsp pepper powder
Salt to taste
Water as needed

How Its Made:

1. Clean the fish and cut / pinch off the head part. I have never cleaned fish so no tips from me here, sorry.

2. Grind all the ingredients for marinade into a smooth paste. Mix in with the fish and set aside for atleast an hour.

3. Heat enough oil to deep fry about 1/4th the fish at a time. Before frying, mix in half the egg or the maida and make sure its well incorporated into the fish-marinade mixture. This gives a nice texture to the fried fish.

4. Fry until nicely browned. At home we prefer fish that's not fried to the bones so that the flesh is still soft. Go with what your heart says.

Always serve fried fish with chopped, raw onions. Always. Trust me on this, the onion-breath afterwards is worth it. 

Vegetable Kurma / Kuruma Recipe

Let me confess and say upfront that I made this very similar to the navratan kurma which The Husband really digs. Boys seem to like mixed vegetables disguised under some spicy gravy don't they? If I make TH a single-vegetable dish, he is okay with it. Add two vegetables, he is happy. Add three, he loves it! True story.



I have another confession too. This picture was taken the day after I made the kurma. This is a pile of leftover vegetable kurma that got reheated, got transfered to a nice bowl, and got clicked. This also explains why the gravy is much thicker than it will be when you make it fresh.

Vegetable Kurma
Serves 4 as a side
Adapted from Sashi Recipes

Ingredients:
2 onions
4-5 green chillies
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1.5 cups mixed chopped vegetables (I used carrots, beans, cauliflower, peas)
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp yogurt (optional)
2 tsp coriander powder / malli podi
1/2 tsp cumin / jeera
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
A few curry leaves
Coriander leaves for garnish
1 tbsp oil
2 tsp ghee
Salt to taste

Grind Together (with sprinkled water if needed):
4 cloves
2" cinnamon stick
2 cardamom pods
5-6 cashew nuts
2 green chillies
1/4 cup grated coconut

How I Made It:

1. Grind the listed ingredients to a fine paste.

2. In a pan, heat the oil and ghee together. When hot, add curry leaves, cumin and fennel seeds. Immediately add the chopped onions, green chilies and saute the onion till it turns golden brown. Add the ginger garlic paste and fry for another minute.

3. Add the vegetables, coriander powder and 1 cup water and allow the vegetables to cook covered in medium flame for a few mins (8-10 mins should be sufficient)

4. Add yogurt (if using) and the ground paste with some salt and allow it to boil for 3 min. Then add the milk, stir well and bring to boil. Remove from fire, garnish with coriander leaves and serve warm with idiyappam, appam, roti, Kerala parotta, etc.

Note:

The dish will have much more gravy than what you see in the picture but the vegetables absorb it if you leave it in the fridge overnight. Still tastes great though. 

Kerala Fish Stew / Meen Molee Recipe

As you guys probably know by now, I don't cook meat or fish in my kitchen. Although I reason I give is TH's vegetarianism, the actual truth is, he doesn't care what I cook as long as he gets his vegetarian dishes. So its my laziness in cooking separate things for him and me that's the actual reason. There, I said it!

Due to this self-imposed limitation, I asked my amma to be a guest contributor to Edible Garden. We live in Kerala, and although we don't eat fish every day like most Malayalis do, some fish does get cooked in her kitchen on and off. So expect posts from amma in this blog from now on, with pictures styled by her and taken by my dear uncle.

Here's a previous recipe cooked and clicked by the bro-sis team: chambakka pickle.

Ok on to today's recipe: Fish Molee or Meen Molee, a very popular Kerala fish stew that's cooked in coconut milk and spices. The flavour is light, yet spicy with a good bit of green chillies in the mix. Each household in Kerala will have their own version of course, and this is amma's.

Meet the fish. These big-eyed beauties are called Unnimary after the pretty actress of the 80s known for her large, beautiful eyes. Erm.. yeah she was quiet a sexy addition to movies back in the day.

I apologize to my vegetarian readers and friends for this picture. But I had to demonstrate what a quick learner amma is. I gave her some photography tips over phone about good light, background, plating, no flash, etc and she followed the "rules" beautifully.

You can use any firm fleshy fish for fish molee. Cut into small-ish pieces, don't use small, whole fish. Admittedly, I don't have much experience handling fish so trust my mom on this, ok?

Here are some of the ingredients we need. Lots of onions, fresh curry leaves and green chillies, and of course, coconut milk.

Kerala Fish Molee / Meen Molee Recipe
Serves 4
Recipe source: Amma

Ingredients:
500gm firm fleshy fish, cut into small pieces
2 large onions, sliced into long, thin pieces
8-10 green chillies, depending on heat level required
Thick coconut milk 1/2 cup (onnaam paal)
Thin coconut milk 1.5 cups (rendaam paal - if using store bought coconut milk, mix water with 1/2 cup coconut milk)
1 tsp minced fresh ginger
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tbsp vinegar
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp pepper powder
2 1" pieces of cinnamon (don't use powder)
4 cloves
1/2 tsp maida/plain flour
2-3 sprigs of curry leaves
Salt to tate
(Coconut) Oil as needed

Method of preparation:

1. Clean the fish and add a pinch of turmeric powder, some salt, and 1/2 tsp red chilli powder (this is in addition to what is listed above under ingredients) to the pieces. Rub in well and leave aside for 30 minutes to an hour.

2. Heat about 1 cup oil in a small frying wok or pan and fry the fish until half done. The idea is to semi-cook the fish rather than fry it well. Drain and set aside.

3. Heat about 1 tbsp oil in another pan and saute the onions until soft and pink. To this, add the flour, chilly powder, pepper powder, turmeric, and curry leaves. Fry for another minute or so.

4. Next, add the thin coconut milk along with the ginger, green chillies, vinegar, cloves and cinnamon along with salt as needed. Cook closed on low heat for about 12-15 mins until all the spices come together in the mixture.

5. At this stage, add the semi-fried fish. When the mixture comes to boil, add the thick coconut milk, mix well and remove from fire (don't bring to boil after adding the thick coconut milk).

Notes:

- As I have mentioned, different parts of Kerala make fish molee in a different way. Another version I have seen is much milder and lighter in colour because all the heat comes from green chillies and no red chilli powder is added. Amma's version sometimes has an orange colour because she generally uses Kahsmiri chilli powder that has a deeper red colour but milder heat. Dishes cooked in my house are not very spicy, if at all.

- Fresh coconut milk works best for this dish. Store-bought coconut milk will lend a different flavour and may not exactly satisfy your cravings if you are hoping for this authentic fish molee for your meal

- Serve hot with rice and any stir-fried vegetable or mezhukkupuratti of choice.

Huge thanks to Amma and Radha mama for the superb step by step pictures :) 

Veg Dalia (Broken Wheat) Upma Recipe

This is one of those recipes I can't believe I haven't posted yet. Its true that I mostly make it for dinner and I do prefer dalia upma over rava upma anyday!

This is one of those healthy dishes that don't taste healthy, atleast to me. Its delicious piping hot with some steaming sambar and chutney. I didn't grow up eating this but I definitely make sure we have this for dinner atleast once every 2 weeks. Its perfect for weeknights if you use frozen cut vegetables to jazz it up. 

Vegetable Dalia (Broken Wheat) Upma Recipe

Source: Amma

Total cooking time: 25-30 mins

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

1.5 cups broken wheat or dalia

3 cups water

1 tbsp oil

1/4 tsp mustard seeds

1 small onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup mixed vegetables (I use frozen peas, corn, carrots and French beans)

1 tsp powdered ginger or 1/2" grated fresh ginger

2-3 green chillies

Salt to taste

How I Made It:

1. Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. When they pop, add the onions and green chillies and saute until the onions turn transparent (about 2-3 mins). 

2. Add the ginger powder or grated ginger, whichever you are using, and fry for another 20 seconds. Next, add the vegetables and 3 cups water. Bring to boil and cook closed until the vegetables are soft (about 5-6 mins). 

3. Add salt and the broken wheat in a slow trickle, stirring as you do this. Once you have added all the broken wheat, there should be enough water to cover it completely. If not, add more. Stir frequently and cook until all the water has been absorbed and the upma comes together, soft and fluffy. Pop some of the wheat in your mouth to see if its soft. If not, add more water and keep stirring until its fully done. Also adjust salt at this stage. 

Serve hot with sambar and/or chutney. 

Stir-Fried Raw Papaya / Kaplanga Mezhukkupuratti Recipe

Amma makes a mean raw papaya mezhukkupuratti. We often use raw papaya grown in our frontyard for this but since I live in the land of raw papaya salads, its not hard to find it here in vegetables stores. 

Look! Smoke! I love the effect. It wasn't super intense because the stir-fry had spent some time on the table while I fixed the lens, etc. If its fresh out of the stove, the effect will be nicer!

Stir-Fried Raw Papaya / Kaplanga Mezhukkupuratti Recipe

Serves: 2

Source: Amma

Ingredients:

1 medium-sized raw papaya

A generous pinch of turmeric powder

Salt to taste

1 tbsp (coconut) oil

1/4 tsp mustard seeds

6 shallots, crushed

1/2 tsp minced garlic

3 dry red chillies, broken into halves

A few curry leaves

How I Made It:

1. Peel the papaya and cut into thin pieces. Boil in sufficient water along with turmeric and salt until the pieces are soft. Ideally, add about 1 cup water and add more if needed. This is better than having to drain excess water. 

2. Heat the oil in a pan and add all ingredients listed below oil. When the mustard seeds begin to pop and the shallots and garlic give out a nice flavour, add the cooked papaya. Stir-fry for another 5-6 mins and remove from fire. 

Serve hot with rice and gravy of choice. 

This recipe goes to Kerala Kitchen hosted by Ria this month. 

Green Mor Kozhambu / Buttermilk Curry Recipe

Mor Kozhambu / Moru Kachiyathu is my go-to kozhambu recipe when I am in a hurry or I have spent too much time making the side dishes. Its quick, easy, and delicious and both of us like it. 

There's a small twist to this recipe - I added fresh coriander leaves to the coconut paste. The flavour is distinct and very enjoyable. A great idea if you have coriander-indifferent people in the house.

Green Mor Kozhambu Recipe
Serves 2-4

Ingredients:
2 cups buttermilk + 1 cup water
Salt to taste

Grind Together:
1/2 cup grated coconut
1/2 tsp jeera
A pinch of turmeric powder
1/2 cup coriander leaves, loosely packed

For Tempering:
2 tsp oil
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
5-6 fenugreek seeds
1" piece of ginger, crushed
1 dry red chilli, halved
A few curry leaves

How I Made It:

1. Heat oil for tempering. Add the rest of the ingredients in the order given. When the mustard seeds pop and the fenugreek seeds turn a golden brown and fragrant (take care not to burn!), add the ground coconut paste. Mix well and turn off heat.

2. Add the diluted buttermilk, mixing well as you do. Add salt.

Serve with warm rice and side dish of choice.

Pictures taken in the home made light box for food photography

Kerala Parippu Curry / Kerala Yellow Dal Recipe

Ever had a Kerala sadya? If you have, then this parippu (dal) is the first thing you would mix with rice and ghee and feel the first flavour of what is essentially the essence of Kerala food. 

Before you ask, of course we add coconut to our yellow dal, we wouldn't have it any other way for a dal recipe that's uniquely Malayali! For Kerala cooking, split yellow lentils / moong dal cherupayar, is more used than toor dal. Moong dal is also a very important ingredient in Ayurveda based cooking and is said to have a better effect on our health than most other kinds of lentils. 

Kerala Parippu Curry Recipe
Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 cup moong dal / cherupayar / split yellow dal
A pinch of turmeric


Grind Together:
1/2 cup coconut (fresh or frozen, not dessicated)
1 tsp cumin seeds / jeera / jeerakam
2-3 shallots
2-3 green chillies

For Tempering:
1 tbsp coconut oil
1/4 tsp mustard seeds / kaduku
3 shallots, sliced
1 red chilli, torn into two
A few curry leaves

How I Made It:

1. Roast the dal in a dry skillet until it turns a light golden brown. I generally do this in bulk and store moong dal this way to prevent bugs. It also makes the dal much more fragrant after cooking.

2. Grind the coconut with the rest of the ingredients and some water into a smooth paste.

3. Pressure cook the moong dal with 4 cups water and a generous pinch of turmeric. Once done, mash well to a smooth paste. Keeping the flame on low, add the ground coconut mixture and some salt to the dal. Cook until well blended - about 5-8 mins.

4. Heat oil for tempering and add the ingredients in the order given. Once the mustard seeds have popped and the red chilly starts to glisten a deep red, remove from fire and dunk everything into the dal mixture. Mix well.

Serve hot with steamed rice and ghee. 

This Kerala Parippu Curry goes to Kerala Kitchen hosted by Ria this month. 

Chena Vanpayar Erissery Recipe

I have been baking a lot lately and realising how much I enjoy it. But that doesn't mean I should give up on my roots and stop making these amazing Kerala recipes. Nothing can transport me back home virtually like a good Kerala sadya.



The last time I posted Erissery, I got a few comments asking for chena vanpayar erissery. Clearly, pumpkin is not a very favourite vegetable to most. But vanpayar is not easily available here and I couldn't find it in Mustafa Stores which practically means its non existent in Singapore.

So I did what any self-respecting food lover cum food blogger would do. I brought a bag back from my last trip to Kottayam. So today, I can share the authentic Erissery recipe with you. Howzaaat?

I absolutely love chena / elephant yam btw. If you are in Singapore and didn't know this yet, Mustafa stocks frozen cubed elephant yam now. No more buying a huge yam and wasting majority of it or trying to rub oil on your itching palms after cutting up a yam. Hooray!

Authentic Chena Vanpayar Erissery Recipe

Ingredients:

3 cups cubed elephant yam / chena
1 cup cow peas / vanpayar
Salt to taste

Grate together:
1/2 cup grated coconut (frozen will work but not dessicated)
1 tsp minced fresh garlic
1/4 tsp pepper powder
A large pinch of turmeric powder
1/4 tsp chilli powder

For tempering:
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
2 dry red chillies, torn into small pieces
A few curry leaves
1 tbsp coconut oil (anything else would make it taste less authentic!)

How I Made It:

1. Wash the vanpayar and sift out any stones that may be there. I found two decent-sized ones in my 1 cup of vanpayar. Transfer to a pan with 3 cups water and cook on a low fire until semi-soft. This will take about 20 mins or so. Add the yam to the vanpayar and cook until both turn soft and almost mushy. (I took the easy route and dunked everything into a pressure cooker and cooked for 2 whistles. The vanpayar was done perfectly but the yam became too soft. You can do this if you don't mind the consistency of erissery seen in the pictures)

2. Once the vanpayar and yam are cooked, add the grated coconut mixture and mix well, cooking on low flame until well combined and the coconut loses its raw smell - about 3-4 mins. Add salt. Mix again. Remove from fire.

3. Heat oil for tempering and add all the ingredients mentioned in the list. When the mustard seeds pop and the red chillies glisten, remove from fire and dunk into the cooked mixture. Mix well and serve hot with rice and moru curry.

I've also made a variation of this dish without the coconut - Yam and Black Eyed Peas Curry without Coconut

Pacha Manga Chammanthi / Raw Mango Chutney

Q: What do you do when you pay $2.50 for one raw mango on a Sunday night?
A: Make chammanthi with it on the same night and take sparkly pictures with unnaturally high ISO and a tripod.



Or atleast, that's what I did.

Chammanthi is a Malayali's comfort food. Although it can be roughly translated to chutney in English, its not watery like chutney tends to be. Pacha Manga Chammanthi is almost always served with kanji or Indian congee, to balance the blandness but I served it with fresh, hot dosas!

Pacha Manga Chammanthi
Serves 4

Ingredients:
1/2 of a raw mango or about 1/2 cup peeled and chopped raw mango
3/4 cup grated coconut
3 green chillies
A small piece of ginger
1 shallot
2-3 curry leaves, optional
Salt to taste

How I Made It:

1. Grind the green chillies, coconut and mango pieces well together.

2. Add the ginger, shallot, curry leaves if using, and salt and pulse for a few seconds until well blended. I added a few drops of water to bring it all together.



Serve with kanji or dosa or rice and curry.

Notes:

- Its very hard to give a rigid recipe for chammanthi. The proportion of ingredients is always dependant on persona tastes
- For this chammanthi, adjust the ratio of coconut to mango according to the sourness of the mango and how sour you like your chammanthi
- You can omit the ginger, shallot or both if you want to keep the flavours more plain and focussed on just the mango. I sometimes omit the shallot but love the heat from the ginger
- Add a very small piece of tamarind if your mango is not sour at all. Then again, that mango is not best suited to make a chammanthi anyway

Coming soon: how to take pictures in the night with a point and shoot and no tripod, as part of the food photography series. Stay tuned!

Shamshad's Chicken Biriyani / Biryani Recipe

What better way to get back fully after a lazy break from blogging? Make someone else do the work. So here's a mild yet yummy and super easy Chicken Biriyani recipe shared by my friend Shamshad. She was very apologetic about the pictures but I have to say she did a mighty good job.

Thanks Sham!



Chicken Biriyani Recipe
Adapted from Awesome Cuisine
Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
Basmati rice -  4 cups (soaked in water for 1 hour)
Chicken pieces - 1 kg
Onions - 3 large
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tbsp
Green chilies - 5 (or as per your requirement)
Pepper powder - to taste
Coriander powder - 3 tbsp
Garam masala - 1 tbsp
Cardamom - 4
Cinnamon - a 1" piece
Cloves - 4
Salt to taste

To Marinate
Pepper powder -to taste
Coriander powder - 3 tbsp
Garam masala - 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste

For Seasoning
Ghee - 2 tbsp
Cashew nuts - 15 or so
Raisins - 10 or so
1 large onion

Method:

1. Chicken
Wash Chicken pieces. Marinate for atleast an hour with coriander powder, pepper powder, garam masala powder and salt.
Semi fry chicken pieces in a pan with little oil.

Heat oil and add onions and the ginger garlic paste. When it turns brown, add green chilies (cut into small pieces). Add coriander powder, pepper powder, garam masala powder and salt.

When it is done, add chicken pieces. Keep it for 5-10 mts till it is half cooked. In between you can turn the pieces so that it is heated equally.

Cook in pressure cooker with about 1/2 cup water. Normally 4 whistles.

Biriyani Rice
Put 2tsp ghee in the pan used to fry the chicken. Add cardamom+cloves+cinnamon.
After 2 mins, add the soaked rice. Stir well for 5 mins, else it will stick to the pan. Add the rest of the main ingredients and cook in a pressure cooker with 6 cups water (the ratio of rice:water should be 1:1.5) - normally 3 whistles for basmati rice.

Once done, mix the cooked rice and chicken.

Seasoning
Put ghee in a pan. Add onion (cut lengthwise very thin), cashew nuts and raisins. When it turns light
brown, remove and garnish the biriyani

Serve hot with papad and raita.

Vazhakka Pulissery Recipe

This is probably not an authentic Kerala Pulissery recipe for a couple of reasons. In the traditional pulissery recipes, I don't see the addition of coriander seeds. Also, the vegetable or fruit of choice is usually ripe mangoes, ethappazham, or raw mangoes for a sweet and sour pulissery. In this pulissery recipe, Seetha aunty, a relative of ours in Singapore, has used vazhakka (raw bananas) and winter melon (poosanikkai).

We go over to her place now and then for dinner and this pulissery was one made as an accompaniment to adai. It was a gorgeous combination and I loved it so much that she packed up the remaining pulissery and I brought it home with me!



Vazhakka Pulissery Recipe
Serves: 2 to 4

Ingredients:

1 cup cubed vazhakka / raw banana
(You can use ripe mango or green mango according to your preference of wanting sour pulissery or sweet and sour pulissery.)
1/2 cup cubed winter melon / pooshanikkai
1/2 cup grated coconut
2 green chillies
1 cup thick curd / yogurt
1 tsp coriander seeds / malli / dhania
1/4 tsp mustard seeds  / kaduku
1/4 tsp fengureek seed / menthayam / uluva
A few curry leaves
2 dry red chillies
1/2 tsp grated jaggery(optional)

How to Make:

1. Cook the banana and the winter melon in a pan with little water, salt and turmeric.

2. Meanwhile, grind the coconut, green chillies and coriander seeds with 2 tablespoons of curd to a fine paste.
Add this to the cooked vegetables and let it come to boil. Cook on low fire for 3-5 mins.

3. Add the rest of the curd beaten with a spoon. Turn off when the mixture is just reaching boiling point.

4. For tempering, heat 2 tsp oil in a pan. Add the mustard seeds, fengureek seeds, red chillies and curry leaves. When the mustard seeds start to pop, add to the gravy. Adding jaggery enhances the taste so do add it if you have some in hand.

Huge thanks to Seetha aunty for the lovely dinner and for this fantastic pulissery recipe.

Cheera Thoran / Stir Fried Spinach Recipe

Before one more person asks me for the recipe of this pic I featured in my taking food pictures on Portrait mode, I am going to post it.

Cheera thoran is a very simple and nutritious recipe, perfect for a weeknight if you are looking for a side-dish for your dal chawal, or sambar rice, or even curd rice. I love spinach and considering the abundance of spinach and most other greens in Singapore, this is a real treat for us!

Cheera Thoran Recipe
Serves 2 to 4

Ingredients:
5 cups tightly packed chopped spinach leaves (a bunch)
1 cup grated coconut
4 shallots (or half of an onion)
2-4 green chillies
A pinch of turmeric powder
1/2 tsp jeera
2 tsp oil (I always use coconut oil for thoran)
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
A few curry leaves (optional)
1 dry red chilly, torn into half
Salt to taste

How I Made It:

1. Clean and chop the spinach fine. Drain well and set aside.

2. Grind together - coconut, shallots, green chillies, jeera and turmeric. If you don't have a mixie, use a pestle and mortar to bring these ingredients together. If you don't have that, then just finely chop the shallots and green chillies and mix well with the rest.

3. Heat the oil in a pan and thrown in the mustard seeds. When they pop, add the curry leaves and the halved red chilly. Fry for 10 seconds and add the coconut mixture. Fry that for 30 seconds and add the chopped spinach with some salt.

4. The spinach will give out water so cook well until all the water evaporates and you have a dry dish (about 5-7 mins)

Serve with rice and dal, rice and sambar or rice and moru curry.

Pappadam / Papadom Thoran Recipe

A very simple thoran recipe from Kerala but what makes this special is the fact that Amma made this for me, especially to post on the blog, the day she returned from the hospital after her knee replacement surgery.  The recipe is from Ponnamma, the maid who took care of amma in the hospital. Amma is very adamant, didn't listen to any of us saying she should rest, and went and made this, partially sitting on a chair in the kitchen.

This post is dedicated to her and all other mothers who selflessly love their children.

Pappadam / Papadom Thoran
Serves: 2

Ingredients:
10 pappadam, cut into squares (use clean kitchen scissors)
3 tbsp oil
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp urad dal / uzhunnu parippu / ulutham paruppu
1/2 tsp jeera
2 cloves garlic
1/2" piece ginger
1/2 red chilli powder
2 green chillies (adjust to taste)
4 tbsp grated coconut
A few curry leaves
Salt, only if needed

How to Prepare:

1. Heat the oil in a pan and fry the pappadam pieces. Drain and set aside on a kitchen towel.

2. If there's too much oil left, remove some. About 1-2 tsp oil is enough for the rest of the preparation. Add mustard seeds and urad dal to the hot oil. When the mustard seeds pop, add the jeera and the ginger and garlic (crushed together in a pestle and mortar or in a small mixie jar).

3. When the ginger-garlic paste is fried (about 2 mins), add the curry leaves, chilli powder, and the green chillies along with the coconut. Mix well and add the pappadam pieces.

4. Mix again for about a minute, test for salt and add only if needed. The pappadams should be salty enough.

Serve hot and fresh with rice and moru kaachiyathu / curry of choice. If you keep it longer, the papads get soft, but not soggy. Still tasty but I highly recommend that you eat it when still hot and crisp.

Malabar Egg Curry / Egg Curry in Coconut Milk

Whenever I make egg curry, its usually the Kerala-Style Egg Roast. Its easy and goes with rotis, rice or even dosa. Recently when I made appam, I had the craving to have egg curry with coconut milk, the sweet and spicy curry of my childhood. Using store-bought coconut milk significantly alters the taste of this so use freshly squeezed coconut milk if you have time in hand.

This recipe is my own version of the popular Malabar Egg Curry. Don't be mean if it doesn't go with what you have in mind.

Malabar-Style Egg Curry
Serves: 2

Ingredients:
3 eggs, boiled, shelled and cut into halves
2 large onions, sliced
1 cup thick coconut milk (onnaam paal)
1 cup thin coconut milk (rendaam paal or 1/2 cup store-bought coconut milk + 1/2 cup water)
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tbsp coriander powder
A pinch of turmeric
1 tsp garam masala (or pound/grind together 2 cloves, 1 small piece cinnamon and 1 cardamom)
Salt to taste

To temper:
2 tsp coconut oil (or any oil)
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp jeera / jeerakam
A few curry leaves

How I Made It:

1. Boil eggs, shell them, cut into halves and set aside.

2. Heat oil in a pan and add the ingredients to temper. When the mustard seeds pop, add the sliced onions and fry until they turn golden brown.

3. Then add the chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala (or masala mix) and turmeric and fry for 30 seconds. Add the ginger garlic paste and fry for another minute or so.

4. Add the thin coconut milk and reduce flame to flow. Bring to boil and let it cook for about 2-3 mins, stirring occasionally.

5. Keeping fire on low, add the thick coconut milk and the eggs. Add salt, bring to just one boil and remove from fire. If you boil too much, the coconut milk will curdle so be careful.

Enjoy warm with rotis, rice, appam or puttu.

Ethakka Appam / Pazham Pori / Banana Fritters - A Kerala Snack Recipe

Ethakka appam / pazham pori, whatever its called, holds a special place in the cuisine of Kerala. Its a quintessential Malayali snack and you get to buy it in every restaurant, roadside snack carts, trains, hostel canteens, college cafes, you name it!


Yes, its deep friend, yes, its coated in all purpose flour, but its worth it and I want you to take my word on this.



The bananas used for Ethakka Appam is Ethappazham (the raw version of which, Ethakka, is used to make the famous Kerala banana chips!). It won't taste the same or as good if you use any other kind of banana. Its also called Nenthram Pazham but I can't seem to find a more representative English translation for Nenthram pazham except plaintain.

On to the how-to now.

Ethakka Appam / Pazham Pori Recipe
Serves 2 : About 8-10 pieces

Ingredients
1 Ethapazham / Nentham pazham / Ripe plaintain (the riper and blacker the skin, the better)
1 cup all purpose flour or maida
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 salt
A pinch of turmeric powder
About 3/4 cup water (more or less)
Coconut oil to deep fry

How I Made It:



1. Place the flour in a wide bowl.



2. Add sugar, salt and baking soda. I used brown sugar but white sugar works perfect too.



3. Add about 1/2 cup water and adjust as you go, to make a batter that's slightly more watery than dosa batter. It shouldn't be too thin, otherwise, the appams will be too oily.



4. Add in a pinch of turmeric powder. This is only meant for the colour bit and doesn't change the taste or flavour in any way.

Some people add jeera to ethakka appam. I personally don't like biting into them but feel free to add it in if you want.



5. Cut the plaintain into half and then slice each half midway vertically. Further slice each of the quarters into 2-3 thin pieces. Dunk these into the batter.



6. Heat the coconut oil until its all bubbly. You have to use coconut oil for the authentic taste. Anything else is a blasphemy so don't tell me if you used vegetable oil or *shudder* olive oil.

I used a super small kadai so that I need only very little oil and that reduces wastage.



7. When the oil is just short of smoking hot, add in the banana pieces coated with the batter.



8. Fry until golden brown and drain on paper napkins.



9. Serve warm with tea.

The appams get soggy and the coating gets chewy and soft once cold so this is best served warm. But when I was a kid, I used to wait till it got cold and chewy :)