Cucumber (Kakkarikka) Pachadi | A Special Side Dish for Onam Sadya

  

Cucumber(Kakkarikka) Pachadi is an authentic Kerala festive recipe, made during the festive seasons of Onam,Vishu and even served for wedding sadya's in Kerala.
I love and like to make this pachadi as it has a very good flavour and very easy to make.Hope you too try this for Onam...

 

Ingredients

1. Cucumber(Kakkarikka) - 1 Big
2. Grated coconut - 3/4 Cup
3. Mustard Seeds - 1/4 Tsp
4. Ginger chopped - 1/2 Tsp
5. Green chilli - 2
6. Yogurt -1/2 Cup
7. Jeera powder  / cumin powder - 1/4 Tsp
8. Curry Leaves - 4 to 5 leaves
9. Salt - as needed

To Temper

1. Coconut Oil - 1 Tbsp
2. Mustard seeds - 1 Tsp
3. Curry Leaves - 1 Sprig
4. Dry red chilli - 3

Preparation

• Wash  and peel the skin of cucumber.Grate it to fine shreds as shown in figure. Add some salt and mix well. Keep for 5 minutes.

• In a mixer grind to a smooth paste of coconut, green chilli, ginger,mustard seeds. Add in yogurt and mix well.

• Drain the salt water from shredded cucumber and add the coconut - yogurt paste. Mix well. Sprinkle jeera powder and curry leaves , mix properly. The pachadi should be quite thick and not watery. 

• Heat oil to temper, add in mustard seeds, let it crackle and dry red chillies, curry leaves. Pour this onto the pachadi.
• Serve as a side dish for rice at lunch.

Thakkali Rasam ~ Tomato Rasam~South Indian Tangy Tomatao Soup

Tomato or Thakkali Rasam is one of the soothing and comforting dish that anybody can have during this rainy and chilling weather with some hot rice. This is one of the simple rasam recipe that one can make.There are different varieties of rasam, like pepper rasam, parippu rasam, puli rasam , etc. It is usually made with tomato and tamarind. The sour and a bit spicy taste of spices should be prominent in this dish.I don't like making rasam with instant rasam powder, though it taste's good, but not as we prepare with crushing and tempering.. It has a very unique tastes of its own.

This time tomatoes came to my house in different shapes and sizes, all we looking so cute, so i thought of clicking a photo of those cute little ones...

I love having tomato rasam with hot rice and daal curry with pappad. In this recipe i don't even mash the potatoes, as they well cooked and while adding the spices, i simply crush them with my mortar...Oh.. i cant explain the aroma that comes, when i crush them... the smell of the coriander seeds...wow!!!  

Serves (4-5)
Ingredients

1. Tomato   - 3 Large
2. Shallots big  - 5
3. Cumin Seeds      - 1/4 Tsp
4. Coriander seeds - 1/4 Tsp
5. Garlic      - 5 
6. Peppercorns  - 1/2 Tsp
7. Turmeric powder  - 1/4 Tsp
8. Tamarind / tamarind paste - 1 1/4 Tsp
9. Water - 2 1/2 cups (appx.)
10. Salt - as per taste
11. Coriander Leaves  - 1 Tbsp

Tempering :

1. Coconut Oil/ Ghee - 1 Tbsp
2. Shallots/ onion - 1/2 Tsp
3. Mustard Seeds - 1/2 Tsp
4. Dry Red Chilly  - 2
5. Curry Leaves - 2 twigs
6. Asafoetida (Kaayam)- 2-3 pinches 

Preparation

• Coarsely grind/ or just one twist in a mixer shallots, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, garlic and peppercorns.
• In a bowl add the cut tomatoes, water and tamarind paste. Bring it to a nice boil(tomatoes should be a bit mushy).
• Once it starts boiling,add the coarsely ground ingredients and powders and salt.
• When it boils stir well for 2 minutes till the taste of all ingredients fuse together completely. Off the flame and add coriander leaves.
• In a separate small pan, heat oil. When the oil is hot enough, crackle mustard seeds, red chilly ,curry leaves and onion/shallots. Sauté for few seconds till it leaves the aroma. Off the flame and add asafoetida. Pour it to the prepared rasam. Serve hot.
• Enjoy hot Rasam with rice...

Muringayila Thoran | Drumstick Leaves Stir Fry

Muringayila / Drumstick leaves are the leaves of the evergreen Drumstick Tree. These leaves are known for its unique nutritional qualities and is used as nutritional supplements such as protein, minerals, and vitamins.This wonder leaves are an excellent source of protein that can be rarely found in any other herbs and green leafy vegetables. Highly rich in vitamins like A, c and B6, rich in Thiamine. Minerals like calcium, iron which are very important for all age groups.

My husband is a die hard fan of these leaves  and he even helps me in separating the leaves from the stem. When my kids see this , they say Mummy , are you making pappa work in you territory???. Because he loves to have it, he helps me ... ahhaha . He gets it whenever he sees them in the market.It is a very time consuming process, though it tastes really awesome...We all love it at home. Hope you like it too.

Check out the recipe for Muringayila Parippu Curry 

 

Ingredients

1. Muringayila Leaves / Drumstick Leaves -  5 cups (removed from stem)
2. Grated coconut - 1/4 cup
3. Turmeric powder - 1/4 Tsp
4. Red chilly powder - 1 Tsp
5. Onion sliced/ Shallots - 1 (if using shallots use 5- 6)
6. Salt - as needed

Tempering

1. Dry red chilly - 2
2. Mustard seeds - 1 Tsp
3. Curry Leaves - 1 Sprig (optional)
4. Coconut Oil /Oil - 1 Tbsp

Preparation

• Soak the leaves in water for 10 to 15 minutes and wash under running water to remove the dirt if any. 
• Drain all the excess water and spread it on a paper. Leave it for half an hour so that all the water id dried off. (I usually dry all the leafy veggies like this, spread on a paper and dry under fan if in a hurry, so that no lumps are formed in the stir fry).
• In a bowl mix gently with your hand muringayila/drumstick leaves , grated coconut, turmeric powder , red chilly powder, onion and salt. Keep  for 10 minutes.
• Heat coconut oil /oil a kadai or pan and splutter mustard seeds. Add dry red chilly and curry leaves. Saute for a few seconds.
• Now add the muringayila mixture to it. Stir and mix well. Sprinkle little water. Close the lid and cook on a low flame for a couple of minutes. 
• After 5  minutes open the lid , you can see the leaves have reduced in quantity, so it is cooked.
• Now cook for a couple of minutes opened , so that the moisture gets evaporated and the leaves are not soggy, stir it between.
• Swtich off the flame. Serve with hot Kaalan,Pappada thoran and Fish Fry 

Linking this to Foodalulous Fest @ A Bowl Of Curry event by Simply Tadka, also to WTML June 2014 hosted By The Big Sweet Tooth event by Gayathri