Paal Paayasam

Wishing a Happy Onam to all...

Onashamsakal.... 

No festival is incomplete without a grand feast which ends with a sweet, So today being Onam, i prepared a simple paayasam, Paal Paaaysam.Whereever malayalees are there , they will definitely celebrate it with a grand Kerala Sadya. So wishing you a Happy Onam to all...
I have prepared a simple Onam Sadya also we made pookalam at home.

 Pookkalam

Kerala Sadya

Recipe for Paal Paayasam
Ingredients

1. Kaima rice/Jeerakashala rice/Basmathi Rice - 2 cups
2. Water - 4 cups
3. Milk - 1 1/2 Litre
4. Sugar - 2 cups (the sweetness of my sugar was less)
5. Cardamom powder - 1/4 Tsp
6. Ghee - 1 Tbsp
7. Cashew Nuts - 10 to 15 slit
8. Raisins - 2 Tbsp

Preparation

• Wash and drain water from rice. In a pressure cooker, add rice and water. Cook for 4 whistles on medium flame. Once done off the flame and allow the pressure to release.Transfer this to a bowl.
• In the same cooker boil milk and cook on low flame.Let it reduce to 1 liter.
• Add sugar and mix well until sugar dissolves.Add the cooked rice and mix well. If lumps are there just mash it using a spoon.
• Now add cardamom powder. Switch off the flame and remove from fire.
• Heat ghee in a pan , fry cashew nuts and raisins till golden brown. Pour this on to paayasam and mix well.
• Serve it hot or cold.

Note

• The payasam thickens with time so switch it off accordingly.
• Addition of cardamom powder is optional.
• Also tempering cashew nuts and raisins in ghee is optional. You can directly add it.

Puli Inji

Puli Inji, a sweet and sour pickle or sauce in an essential finger-licking side dish served as part of Kerala Sadya.This is a sweet and sour ginger pickle from Kerala where ginger is cooked in a sweet and tangy tamarind sauce.Though there are many side dishes prepared for sadya like avialy, Kootu Curry, Kaalan, Olan, Saambhar,pickle,etc... no sadya is served without puliy inji.This is the first dish which i will prepare a week before Onam comes....The first lick on this tangy sauce makes your taste buds stand up and enjoy your meal.This is awesome.Each home it is prepared in differently fried ginger , tamarind and jaggery being the stars of this dish. This comes in the category of 'thodu curry's. So do prepare this to have a complete authentic meal from Kerala.

Ingredients

1. Ginger skin removed and sliced - 3/4 cup
2. Tamarind - 2 lime size balls soaked in 1 cup warm water
3. Green Chilli - 3 chopped
4. Curr Leaves - 2 Sprigs
5. Mustard Seeds - 1 Tsp
6. Dry Red Chilli - 3
7. Jaggery / Sharkara grated - 3/4 cup
8. Water - 1 cup
9. Turmeric powder - 1 Tsp
10. Red chilli powder - 1 Tbsp
11. Asafoetida/ Kaayam - 1/4 Tsp 
12. Fenugreek/ Uluva/Methi seeds - 1 Tsp
13. Salt - as needed
14. Coconut Oil - as required

Preparation

• Heat an earthen pot / non- stick sauce pan (not iron pan),  add coconut oil,splutter mustard seeds, then add dry red chilli and 1 sprig of curry leaves .
• Add green chilli and sliced ginger and fry nicely to golden brown. Keep aside.

• Squeeze the soaked tamarind,extract the juice and keep aside.
• In the same pot/pan add grated jaggery, tamarind extract, water, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, asafoetida,1 sprig of curry leaves and salt. Mix well.
• Let it boil and cook on low flame,till the gravy thickens and reduce to pulpy texture.

• Now add the fried ginger mix, kept aside and mix well and remove from heat.
• Heat a pan, add fenugreek seeds and dry roast it. Immediately powder it using a mortar. Add this to the prepared tangy sauce. Mix well.

• Let it cool and reach room temperature before store it in air tight container. You can serve it after one hour of preparation. If stored properly will last for 3 weeks.

Beetroot Pachadi | A Kerala Sadya Recipe | Kerala Onam Special Recipe

Pachadi is one of the special traditional side dishes that is served during festivals , especially )Onam ,Vishu and also during Hindu marriages.The use of vegetables and even fruits vary so much and also in their taste. The main ingredient being freshly grated coconut ground to smooth paste along with ginger, green chillies, and mustard seeds and yogurt and is mixed with variety of raw or cooked vegetables.  

Today i made Beetroot Pachadi , which is a bit sweet in taste. This was on my list from quite sometime.The final verdict from my family was "Delicious", i loved the rich colour that Pachadi had was truly amazing to have with rice.

Ingredients

1. Finely chopped or grated beetroot - 1 cup
2. Water - 1 cup
3. Grated coconut (grind o smooth paste) - 3/4 cup (I had previously made coconut paste was 1/2 cup)
4. Green Chilly - 2
5. Chopped ginger - 1/4 Tsp
6. Mustard Seeds - 1/4 Tsp 
7. Yogurt - 1/2 cup
8. Salt - as needed

To Temper

1. Coconut Oil/ Oil - 1 Tbsp
2. Mustard Seeds - 1/2 Tsp
3. Dry Red Chilli - 2
4. Curry Leaves - 1 Sprig

Preparation

• Cook grated beetroots in 1 cup of water till it turns soft. It takes just around 4-5 minutes to cook the beetroot. Cook until all the water get absorbed. Cook on medium flame. (Be careful not to get burnt beetroot.)

• Meanwhile grind the grated coconut, green chilli, mustard seeds and ginger to a smooth paste. 
• Add in yogurt and grind just once.
• Add this grind paste to the cooked beetroot, also add salt and cook for a couple of minutes.(i cooked for 1 minute on sim flame).Remove from flame.

• Heat oil for tempering, add curry leaves and mustard seeds. When mustard seeds starts to sizzle and pop add the dry red chilli halves into it.
• Pour this on to the pachadi and mix well.

 

Do check out my Special Pineapple Pachadi - Kerala Style  
and Pineapple Pachadi - Kerala Sadya Style

Njandu Thenga Aracha Curry

Ingredients

1. Njandu / Crab  - 1 Kg
2. Tomato  - 1
3. Onion sliced - 1
4. Green chilly - 4 to 5 nos.
5. Turmeric powder - 1/2 Tsp
6. Red chilly powder - 4 Tbsp (adjust accordingly as spiciness of chilly powder differs)
7. Grated coconut -3/4 cup
8. Tamarind - size of a small lime (soak in 3/4 cup water)
9. Curry Leaves - 2 -3 Sprigs
10. Coconut Oil/Oil - 1 Tsp

For tempering

1. Coconut Oil/Oil - 1 Tbsp
2. Mustard seeds - 1 Tsp
3. Shallots  - 5
4. Dry red chilly - 2
5. Curry Leaves - 1 Sprig

Preparation

• Grind the grated coconut into fine smooth  paste by adding little water. Keep aside.
• Wash and clean njandu/crab and make into pieces(separate legs from body).
• Heat an earthen pot/saucepan with oil, saute onion, tomato, green chilly till soft (5 to 10 minutes).
• Add cleaned and washed crab, turmeric , red chilly powder and salt. Close with lid and cook.
• It may take just 5 to 8 minutes. Now when you open the lid you will see water has come out from the cooked crab.
• Now add the coconut paste and tamarind water. Adjust salt and add curry leaves. Let it boil and cook for 10 minutes.  Add curry leaves.
• Heat oil in a pan, splutter mustard seeds, add finely chopped shallots, when light brown add dry red chilly and curry leaves. Pour this to the sizzling curry.
• Serve hot with rice.

Check out the recipe for Njandu (Crab) Thenga Varutharacha Curry

Sweet Banana Rotti ~ Pazham Gothamba Rotti

Oh i am back from Kerala , after a small vacation... The weather there was so so lovely and moody... The rain was so beautiful ( I miss rains after being relocated to Bangalore)...I had a few posts in my drafts ... so let me start with those....
Usually when you hear the name 'ROTTI', the picture that will come to your mind is the 'ROTI'S'  we make. All of us make different kind of rotti's and innovate our own recipes. We usually make savory rottis, adding chopped onions, green chillies and curry leaves. Today i am sharing , a sweet version of the whole wheat rotti's using Kerala plantains . This was something i made , when my kids were small and they used to love this . I serve it with ghee and sugar for tea,  when they are back from school. So recently when here was ripe plantain's i made it again for tea and they were like, mummy we still remember the taste and smell of this rotti. So i thought , why don't i share it with my bloggers.. so here goes  the recipe.

Ingredients

1. Wheat Flour - 2 cups
2. Kerala plantain / Kerala banana - 4 nos (was about 1/4 Kg)
3. Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
4. Cardamom powder - 1/4 Tsp
5. Salt - a pinch
6. Sugar - optional (I did not use)
7. Water - as needed
8. Ghee - as needed

Preparation

• Peel and mash the bananas using a blender or a wooden spoon.
• In a bowl mix all the ingredients except ghee, using water into a thick batter. Check the taste of the batter, if sweetness is less, you can add sugar.

• Heat a pan/tawa on a medium flame, drizzle little ghee, now pour a ladle of batter and spread it using your hand (if not just spread using the bottom of the spoon). Cover with a lid. Let it cook for 3 minutes.
• Open the lid and drizzle oil on the sides and flip to cook the other. When you see light brown spots on top, stop cooking and transfer it to a serving plate, drizzle some generous amount of ghee...and Serve hot. (Tastes best) .

Notes

• The batter shouldn't be too thick nor too loose, should be spreadable.
• Add sugar only if the banana is less sweet.
• Should be eaten when it is warm.
• While serving you can drizzle ghee and sprinkle little sugar.

Linking this to Dish it out event hosted by Hasna of Kachuss Delights ; originally hosted by Vardhini of Cooks Joy"

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...

Unnakkaya - A Malabar Ramadan Snack and My 150th post

With this post today,A Bowl Of Curry completes it's 150th post here.It was a journey with lots of interactions,friendships and   learning experience through valuable comments .I would love to thank each of my fellow foodies out there,for their valuable response and support !

It is Ramadan period, a holy month for Muslims all over the world.As all of you know it is the time when they fast and pray each day and break their fast in the evening. Each Iftar day they make delicious snacks, juices, and rice and much more.Each one differ in taste and preparation from one another.

Malabar cuisine is known for their rich,flavourful and exotic in all senses.Being from Malabar, i have tasted many for their recipes and have shared some of them like Chatti Pathiri,Kakkarotti , Pazham Nirachathu , Arikadukka . Today i am sharing one of the famous and a perfect snack from Thalassery, which will melt in your mouth from the first bite, "Unnakkaya". The name and shape of the snack represents elongated "Cotton Pods". When we think of preparation feel it is a long process, but i would say even a bachelor who loves cooking can give it a try. The steamed plantain is filled with mixture lightly sauted coconut , sugar, scrambled egg, elachi powder in ghee called "Pandam" and deep fried in oil. If you don't like or use eggs you can avoid eggs and make it pure vegetarian. Over to the recipe... 

Ingredients

1. Ripe plantains /Nenthrapazham - 5 
2. Grated coconut - 1 cup
3. Sugar - 3 Tbsp or as needed
4. Raisins -  2 Tbsp
5. Almonds /badam  roughly chopped - 4 Tbsp (You can also use cashew nuts)
6. Cardamom powder - 1 Tsp
7. Egg - 1
8. Salt - a tiny pinch
9. Ghee - 1 Tbsp
10. Oil - for deep frying

  Preparation

• Cut each of the bananas into half and also the stems at both the ends. Steam the bananas in a steamer until cooked soft. You can even microwave the bananas and cook. BUT DO NOT OVERCOOK THEM as later it becomes mushy and wont be able to roll it tight .
• After cooling it, peel off the skin and cut into half and remove the black seed thread.
• Now mash it using a wooden spoon or with your hand into a very smooth dough without any lumps. Keep aside.
• Beat egg with a teaspoon of sugar, 1/4 tsp cardamom powder and salt. Keep aside.
• Heat a tsp oil in a nonstick pan and scramble egg. Keep aside.
• Now heat ghee, fry the raisins, let it puff up , remove from heat and keep aside.
• Add grated coconut and saute for 5 minutes till the moisture is absorbed.
• Add sugar, cardamom powder, raisins, scrambled egg and almonds. Remove from heat and keep aside to cool.
• Grease your palm and take little banana mixture, about a lemon size and flatten it with your thumb, place a 2 tsp of the filling inside., seal the edges and roll into cylindrical shape with elongated edges. Shape the remaining the same way.
• Heat oil in a kadai/deep bottomed pan for deep frying. Deep fry each of them into golden . Fry both the sides.
• Drain on paper towel and serve them hot.

Check out the recipe for Pachamulaku Thengaa Chammanthi

Notes

• Do no overcook the bananas, it will become watery and will become difficult to hold.
• If you don't like or use eggs you can avoid eggs and make it pure vegetarian.

Check out for more Ramadan recipes