Pulinkari/ Puli curry

Pulinkari/ Puli curry

Nothing can beat this recipe… I got this pulinkari for rice from my aunt and at home no one encourages it.  This is actually a hurry burry recipe and MIL’s favorite one. What all she has for lunch pulinkari will empties her plate. Best combination is pulinkari and mathi/fish fry, pulinkari and aviyal… goes on. 

Ingredients:

Green chillies – 2 nos

Shallots /small onion – 2 nos

Tamarind – soaked 1 lemon size

Asafoetida resin – turkey berry size

Water – as required

Salt – for taste

Oil – to fry

To temper:

Coconut oil – 2 tbsp

Mustard – 1 tsp

Red chilli - 1

Curry leaves – a sprig

Method:

Smash green chillies and shallots in a hand mixer add required amount of salt and tamarind. Add water and maintain the taste consistency. Heat oil in a pan – splutter mustards and curry leaves. Now fry Asafoetida resin to it. Allow the pulinkari to boil. Serve hot with rice.

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Tomato fry

Tomato fry

The taste of my first outing with my friends to Narmada restaurant… Chapati and Tomato fry… umm. Tomato fry is easy to cook and reddish tomatoes tempt me to cook this delicious recipe. It clubs well with dosa, naan and rice varieties. It takes just 10 minutes.

Ingredients:

Tomato (ripe) – 4 chopped

Onion – 2, sliced

Green peppers - ½ sliced (optional)

Green chillies – 1 chopped

Garlic – 2 chopped

Chilli powder – 1 tsp

Turmeric powder – a pinch

Curry leaves – 1 sprig

Coriander leaves – chopped

Salt – to taste

Method:

Heat oil in a pan – deep fry chopped garlic - sauté chopped onion, green chillies and tomato step by step on medium heat. 

Reduce the flame and sprinkle chilli powder and turmeric and mix gently with the sauté mixture. Add Salt for your taste. Now add coriander leaves with curry leaves. Mix gradually and switch off the flame. Serve with chapatti or roti.

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Simple curry with coconut for rice/ Ozhichukootan curry

Simple curry with coconut for rice/ Ozhichukootan curry

 A curry without coconut is unbelievable for papa... he carries a Nair tag wherever he goes… with his “any curry with coconut” except his “chaya” J

Ozhichukootan can be easily made without veggies and it tastes the rice rich. But my MIL sautés a handful of drumstick leaves/ muringa leaves which further increases health and taste. Try this simple recipe for rice!

Ingredients to grind:

Coconut grated – 2 cups (medium)

Shallots /small onion – 2 nos

Chilli powder – 2 tsp

Jeera/ cumin seeds – 1 tsp

To mix:

Tamarind paste – for taste

Salt – for taste

To temper:

Coconut oil – 1 tbsp

Drumstick leaves - handful

Shallot – 1, chopped into small pieces

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Curry leaves – a sprig

Red chilli – 1

Method:

Grind the items listed ‘to grind’ with water in a mixer into a smooth paste. Transfer the grinded paste into a bowl. Add required amount of tamarind and salt. Heat oil in a cheenachutty /wok – add mustard seeds to splutter, and then finely chopped shallots, fry till it turns golden brown. Now add curry leaves, drumstick leaves and red chilli toss well - pour grinded paste into it. 

Close the wok with a lid so that the aroma remains with it. Allow it to boil – not heavily. Now it is ready to serve.

  

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Aviyal

Aviyal

After a short break! Probably a reasonable break… in my role as daughter-in law. Now back with my cam for aviyal. A traditional side dish of Malayalees… wherever we are, an inevitable side dish for sadya. Be it onam / wedding sadya or any occasion it is served at the right hand of banana leaf.  Whether Bhima invented it or not, someone who tried with all veggies might get this recipe. In hostel days it was Sunday special.

It’s easy to make mezhukupuratty or thoran but when it goes to aviyal and sambar it is for weekend dish. I had a reason to make aviyal on weekends in overseas. We get fresh veggies from India and Srilanka by Saturday.  But most of the time we don’t get all veggies required for aviyal and I tried Bhima’s way. Pick whatever we have but the proportion of each veggie is a must.

Ingredients: vegetables

Cucumber      –

Snake gourd   –

Elephant yam –

Carrots           –

Drumsticks     –

Raw banana(Nenthran) –

Broad Beans/Avarakka –

To grind:

Coconut grated – 1 cup

Shallots – 2

Green chilli – 1, sliced length wise

Chilli powder – 1 tsp

Turmeric powder – a pinch

Cumin Seeds – 1tsp

Tamarind juice/curd – as required

Curry leaves – a sprig

Coconut oil – 1 tsp

Salt – for taste

Method:

Slice the vegetables length wise (size of point finger). Grind the coconut with green chilli/chilli powder, cumin seeds, turmeric powder and shallots. Make a paste… not too mushy. Cook elephant yam separately with salt and keep aside. In a thick bottomed pan or uruli add the sliced vegetables, ground paste, tamarind paste and salt. Once it’s almost cooked add cooked yam into it. Pour coconut oil and sprinkle curry leaves. Switch off the stove.

Note:

·        If you choose curd instead of tamarind add it after cooking aviyal i.e. after 80% of cooking. When you add curd yam can be added with all vegetables.

·        Do not add too much of water. While mixing the vegetables with ground paste, tamarind juice, make sure the water consistency.

·        For red coloured aviyal add 1 chopped green chilli to the vegetables with tamarind juice and for green coloured aviyal grind 3 green chilli and add a cup of curd/raw mango. Instead of tamarind juice - try with few pieces of raw mango. 

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Irumban Puli/ Pulichika/Bilimbi Pickle

Irumban Puli/ Pulichika/Bilimbi Pickle

Our great great grand mothers had a seasonal cooking, well planned, authentic and ayurvedic prescribed balanced diet. Irumban puli, kudampuli, valan puli and the star shaped puliinchi are used for the sour taste in curries according to the season. Sole use of any of the varieties spoils our Vadha, Pitta and Kapha doshas.

Ingredients:

Irumban Puli – 1 bowl chopped

Chili powder – 2 tbsp

Fenugreek powder – ½ tsp

Asafoetida – 1 tsp

Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp

Red Chili - 1

Gingelly oil – 2 tbsp

Salt – to taste

Method:

Wash irumban puli – chop it and store in a glass jar for a day with a tsp of salt. Heat oil in a kadai, splutter mustard seeds, red chilli and curry leaves. Reduce the flame, add chili powder, asafoetida powder and fenugreek powder. Add the salt water sedimented in bottle/bharani. Switch off the flame and add irumban puli and mix well.  Store in glass bottle or achar bharani. Serves as a remedial item in sadyas.

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Ragi Idli / Finger Millet Idli

Ragi Idli / Finger Millet Idli

Hunt after diet foods dragged me to this recipe. Apart from dosa and puttu in ragi I never attempted idli. Probably the whitish idli in the mindset prevented me from a trial. But not disappointing ragi idlis are soft, spongy and tasty.  

Ingredients:

Idli Rice/ puzhungal/ your choice rice– 1 cup

Ragi Flour – 1 cup

Urad dal – ¾ cup

Fenugreek – 1 tsp

Salt – as required

Method:

Use the same method for normal idli. Wash and soak rice, ural dal with fenugreek separately for 4- 5 hours. Grind urad dal in a grinder by sprinkling water on top until it grinds smooth and you get an icy touch. Transfer to a vessel where you can mix the grinded rice and ragi flour.  Now grind the rice in a coarse manner with required amount of water. Transfer grinded rice to the vessel and mix well with ragi flour and salt. I use a lengthy ladle to mix the batter. Leave it to ferment for few hours. Prefer 4 hours for 26-29 º temperature.

Heat water in an idli maker or steamer. Mix the Ragi batter with required level of salt. Now grease the idli maker with coconut oil. Pour the batter into the molds and keep it inside the steamer. Steam for 10 minutes. Reduce the flame – use a tooth pick or fork to finalise the steaming period. If the fork is not sticky your idli is ready. Rest of the  batter you can preserve in fridge. I made vegetable curry for this recipe. You can try this with kara chutney, sambhar and coconut chutney.

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Chola Puttu/ Corn flour Steamed cake

Chola Puttu/ Corn flour Steamed cake

After a short break with achu’s exams and after a health checkup back to iron age again. Mental calculations on calorie value...ohhh MG! my grade exams were better :) .

Dietician preferred varities of steamed cake @ puttu as a healthy diet for my diabetic which ended up in chola puttu.  And hope you guys can expect new butterflies of puttu on my desk.

Ingredients:

Cholam/Corn flour – 2 cups (now available in packets)

Grated coconut – ½ cup

Salt – for taste

Water – as required

Method:

Take 2 cups of corn flour in a bowl – sprinkle salt with water in the flour. Do not pour – use your fingers to mix to mix – avoid getting lumps – again repeat sprinkling water – maintain the consistency. You would feel the wet in the flour. Leave it for 10 minutes to get softness. Now get ready your puttu maker pot with water for steam. Add grated coconut on the bottom of puttu maker and then add corn flour. Repeat the process to get 2-3 layers – till the top. Steam well. Serve hot with banana.

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SemiyaPayasam/ Vermicelli Kheer

SemiyaPayasam/ Vermicelli Kheer

The third option for onam/ wedding sadya – Semiya Payasam. But always served with Boli. If possible I do pick the boil out so that semiyapayasam don't get mixed with boli. I love both .... ummm

My craving to have quick sweet ends up in semiyapayasam while I had NIDO milk instead of fresh milk. Unfortunately I had to empty it... since the family I stepped into is a ‘zero’ milk family.

Ingredients:

Semiya–1 cup (broken)

Milk – 4 cup

Sugar – 1 cup

Water – 3 cup

Ghee – 2 tbsp

Cardamom –1 tsp / 5 nos

Cashew nut – 10 nos

Method:

Take a thick bottomed pan – I used cooker. Heat 1 tbsp of ghee. When it melts add broken semiya/ vermicelli and fry until golden brown.

Pour 2 cups of water with 2 cups of milk to the fried semiya and bring to boil. Use a ladle to stir it so that it don't get stick to the bottom. Check whether the semiya is cooked. Now add 3/4cup of sugar to it.

You can get a watery payasam now but still the consistency is required because it gets thick when it is cooled down.

Now add the rest of the milk to it. Reduce the flame. In another frying pan fry the cashew with the ghee left. Pour this to the payasamwith cardamom on top. Close this with a lid for few minutes to maintain the aroma. Enjoy your holiday.

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