Pesarattu with Red pepper chutney

Gone was a wonderful weekend. With loads of people around. Children – crying, shouting, laughing, sleeping, fighting… what not.. I always love it that way. Only thing which I do not like is such days are so short. I always wonder if the clock runs faster – the cheater clock.

Now coming on to the recipe. I had this dosa from my cousins place and always wanted to try this out. But never worked out. And finally when they visited our place, I made her make this for us and learnt too. Here comes the recipe of this yummy and healthy dosa and a wonderful colourful chutney.

Pesarattu - Ingredients:

Moong dal / Green gram --   2 cups
Rice                                          --   2 tbsp
Fenugreek                             --   1 tsp
Cumin Seeds                         --   1 tsp
Salt                                           --   as required
Onion                                      --   to garnish (optional)
Green Chillies                       --   to garnish (optional)

Preparation:

Soak the moong dal, rice and fenugreek for 5 - 8 hours or overnight. Drain and Grind the soaked items adding cumin seeds, salt and water to a coarse texture. It should NOT be so fine. You do not have to ferment it.

Chop the onions and green chillies into small pieces and keep aside.I did not use green chillies as we did not want that spicy.

Using a ladle pour the mixture onto a hot griddle and spread it in circular motions to prepare the yummy dosa. Garnish with onions and green chillies.Let it cook for a minute or two. Turn it over to cook the other side for a minute. Remove it from the pan.

                   

Repeat this until the mixture is done. In case your dosa sticks to the pan, you can wipe the pan with a little oil in between each dosas.

Chutney - Ingredients:

Red Pepper       --   1
Onions                --   1 medium size
Tomato               --    2 small size
Ginger                 --   1 tbsp, chopped fine
Garlic                  --   2 - 3 cloves, chopped fine
Mustard seeds --   1 tsp
Curry leaves    -- 2 - 3 leaves
Oil                        --   as required
Salt                      --   as required

Preparation:

Clean and chop the onions,red pepper, tomatoes, ginger and garlic.Heat oil in a pan and add the onions. Saute until they are transparent. Add the red pepper, tomato, ginger and garlic and saute until they are slightly mushy.Let it cool. Grind into a fine paste.

           

In the same pan, heat more oil and add curry leaves and the mustards. Let the mustard seeds splutter. Pour this over the chutney.Serve this with hot dosas.

Kadachakka / BreadFruit Stir Fry

Kadachakka – This always reminds me of the big tree next to our house and the yummy chips achamma used to make out of it. I ve never tried making it though. Not even the thoran because we can never trust the one we get here. At times it tastes so bitter. But now amma is here is and she comes up with different varieties.

Here comes two different ways to prepare Kadachakka.

Version 1:

Ingredients:

Kadachakka/Breadfruit  --   200gm / ¼ of a medium size fruit
Turmeric Powder              --   ¼ tsp
Red Chilly                             --   4 - 5, adjust according to your spice level. This would be medium spicy
Mustard seeds                    --   1 tsp
Curry Leaves                      --   1 sprig
Oil                                            --   as required
Salt                                          --   as required

Preparation:

Skin off, Clean and cut the bread fruit into small pieces. Add the turmeric powder and required water and cook until they are soft, not mushy. Keep aside.

Coarsely crush the red chillies and keep aside. You can also use chilly flakes instead.

Heat oil in a pan. Add the mustard seeds and let it splutter. Add the curry leaves and the crushed chillies. Saute for a minute. Make sure you do not burn the chilly flakes.Add the cooked bread fruit and mix well, but gently, making sure you do not break the fruit.

Add salt and switch off the flame. Serve with rice.

Version 2:

Ingredients:

Kadachakka/Breadfruit  --   200gm / ¼ of a medium size fruit
Turmeric Powder              --  ¼ tsp
Green Chilly                         --   2 - 3, adjust according to your spice level. This would be medium spicy
Cumin Seeds                        --   1 tsp
Shallots                                  --   1 large
Shredded coconut             --   ¼ cup
Mustard seeds                     --   1 tsp
Curry Leaves                       --   1 sprig
Oil                                             --   as required
Salt                                           --   as required

Preparation:

Skin off, Clean and cut the bread fruit into small pieces. Add the turmeric powder and required water and cook until they are soft, not mushy. Keep aside.

Coarsely grind together the coconut,shallots,green chillies ad cumin seeds.Add this to the cooked bread fruit and mix.

Heat oil in a pan. Add the mustard seeds and let it splutter. Add the curry leaves. Switch off the flame, leaving the pan on the stove. Now add the breadfruit - coconut mixture and salt to the pan and mix well, but gently, making sure you do not break the fruit.

Serve with rice.

 

Recipe Courtesy: Amma

Sabudana Kichadi

The first time I had this yummy kichadi was from my friends lunch box. Loved it and I learnt how to prepare it in exchange of teaching him Chicken biriyani, Chicken being his favorite J.  I introduced this dish to AJ and it was a hit. This being really quick and easy to prepare, it is now our regular lunch box item. I don't exactly remember the quantities and ingredients which he taught me, but this is how I prepare it now. I think I did slightly change it according to our tastes. Anyways - this is for you Mr. Brain. Ohh.. Sorry.. Mr. Brian J. It has been a long time since we spoke. But I always remember you every time I prepare this J 

Ingredients:

    Sabudana                  --   1 cup
    Peanuts                     --   2 cups
    Green Chillies         --   4 - 5
    Red Chillies             --   2 - 3
    Mustard Seeds       --   1 tsp
    Cumin Seeds           --   1 tbsp
    Turmeric Powder --   ¼ tsp
    Coriander Leaves --  ¼ cup, chopped
    Lemon Juice           --   1 tsp
    Salt                             --   as required
    Oil                               --   1 tbsp

Preparation:

Soak the sabudana for minimum of 2 hours. You can soak up to 8 hours for a soft texture. But we like it when soaked for 2 - 3 hours, a bit bite texture.

Dry roast the peanuts until they are slightly brown. You can use peanuts with their skin. When cool, grind it into a coarse powder. Keep aside.

Make sure you do not grind too much. Oil comes out of the peanuts and it becomes a paste. Powdered peanuts have a long shelf life and hence I usually prepare a huge batch. This helps to prepare the kichadi quick and easy.

Drain the sabudana and keep aside.

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Add the mustard seeds. Let it splutter. Add the broken red chillies, cumin seeds and the slit green chillies and saute for a minute. Add turmeric powder and give a mix.Now add the drained sabudana and mix well. Saute for a couple of mins or until the sabudana starts to be transparent. If you do not soak it for a long time, not all the balls become transparent. Switch off the flame.

Add the peanut powder and mix well. Add salt and give a mix. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and lemon juice.

Optionally, you can add potatoes cubed and boiled. Add this before adding the sabudana and fry for a minute. We are not great fans of potato and hence avoid this usually.

I love to have this as such or with chutney or with any thick gravy masalas. I am not sure if this is usually accompanied with anything else, but this is how we love it J

     
Recipe Courtesy: Brian Fernandes / Myself.   

Kurukku Kaalan

 

Ingredients:

Kaaya/Raw Plantain     --   1
Turmeric Powder           --   ½ tsp
Pepper Powder               --   ½ tsp
Ghee                                    --   1 tbsp
Salt                                       --   as required
Water                                  --   1 cup
Shredded Coconut         --   ½ cup
Cumin Seeds                     --   ½ tsp
Green Chillies                   --   2 - 3
Coconut Oil                       --   2 tbsp
Curry Leaves                    --   1 sprig
Red Chillies                       --   2 - 3
Mustard Seeds                 --   ½ tsp
Thick Yogurt                    --   2 - 3 cups
Fenugreek Powder         --   ½ tsp

Preparation of kalan:

Skin off the raw plantain and cut into cubes. Add turmeric powder, pepper, ghee and salt to the raw plantain and cook it in required water until soft. Let the water dry completely. If there is excess water drain it.

Grind the coconut with cumin seeds and green chillies until smooth, adding a little water. Add this to the cooked plantain and mix well. Make sure you dont break the plantain cubes. Add the yogurt and cook for a minute or until the gravy thickens. Switch of the flame and sprinkle the fenugreek powder.

   

For the seasoning, heat the coconut oil in a small pan. Add the mustard seeds and let it splutter. Add the red chillies and curry leaves and fry for few seconds.Pour this over the prepared kaalan and close it with a lid for few minutes.

Serve with hot rice

 

Recipe Courtesy:  YummyoYummy

Mutton Curry

I would call this as an easy, quick and yummy mutton curry. The whole credit for this goes to my friend Jainy. I did make in 3 – 4 times in the last 4 months. A recipe that’s always a keeper. And yeah when I got this recipe from Jainy, I told her that I would post it here in my space. And she wanted me to add her pic to this post here. Jainz – Here is my promise J See the end of the post..

Ingredients:

Marinade:

Mutton                       --   1.5 lb/ 0.75kg
Onions                        --   1 medium size, chopped
Green Chillies          --    4 - 5, slit lengthwise
Ginger                         --   ½ cup, chopped into small pieces
Garlic                          --   ½ cup, chopped into small pieces
Chilly Powder          --   3 tsp
Coriander powder --   4 tbsp
Turmeric Powder   --   ¼ tsp
Garam Masala          --    1 tsp
Ground Pepper        --   1 tsp
Curry leaves             --   2 sprigs
Salt                               --   as required

Gravy:

Onions                       --   1 medium size
Shallots                     --   6 - 7
Green Chillies         --   2 - 3, adjust according to level of spice.tsp
Garam Masala        --   1 tsp
Curry leaves           --   2 sprigs
Boiling water          --   1 ½ cup or as required for the gravy
Salt                             --   as required
Oil                               --   as required.

Preparation:

Wash and cut the mutton into medium size pieces. Marinate it with all the ingredients in the marinade section. Keep it aside for a hour or two.

Pressure cook until the meat is soft. I did around 4 - 5 whistles in my pressure cooker. But it might differ according to your cooker.Leave it on the stove until the whole pressure is released.

               

For the gravy, Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Add the chopped onions, shallots and green chillies. Saute until the onions are light brown in colour. Now add the curry leaves and give a mix. Then add the cooked meat and ½ tsp garam masala and mix well. Add the water and mix well. Let the gravy boil. Do a salt check and add more if required. Add the remaining garam masala and switch off the flame.

And here comes me with the recipe owner

 

KunjiKalathappam–A deep fried snack made of rice & coconut milk

This is a delicious snack from the northern part of kerala. I am not sure about how to translate the name in English. May be -- A yummy deep fried snack made of rice & coconut milk

Ingredients:

Ponni Rice         --   1 cup
Sugar                   --   2 cup
Coconut Milk   --   1 cup, thick coconut milk.
Fennel Seeds   --   1 tsp
Sa Jeerakam/Caraway Seeds --   1 tsp
Cashew Nuts   --   10 - 15, broken into small pieces
Salt                     --   a pinch
Coconut Oil     --   As required for deep frying.

Preparation:

Wash and soak the rice in water for one hour.

Sprinkle 2 - 3 tbsp of boiling water over 1½ cup of shredded coconut. Squeeze out the thick coconut milk from it and keep aside. You can also use canned coconut milk. But believe me, fresh coconut milk gives a special flavour.

Add half of the coconut milk to the rice and sugar and grind it. Add the remaining coconut milk little by little while grinding to attain the required consistency. I had couple of tbsp coconut milk left over after grinding. The batter should be smooth without any grainy effect and the consistency of the batter should be in between idly and dosa batter. Make sure that the batter is not too thin. So it is better to  start with a thick consistency and add more coconut milk if required.

Once the batter is ready, add the fennel seeds, sa jeerakam, broken nuts and salt and mix well.

Heat oil in a kadai/cheenachatti. Pour a ladle full of batter into the hot oil. Should not turn the appam upside down to cook. To cook the top part, with the help of a spoon, pour the hot oil from the kadai onto the top of the appam until it is cooked. The appam should be white in colour with a light brown bottom.

Serve with tea or keep munching any time J

Recipe Courtesy: Sabi Aunty

Malabar Chicken Biriyani – A way to Celebrate 3rd Blog Anniversary

Ingredients: (Serves 5 - 6)

Marinate:

Chicken                     --   1 kg
Turmeric powder --   ½ tsp
Green chillies         --   4 – 5 (adjust according to your taste)
Garlic                         --   5 - 6 cloves
Ginger                        --   2 inch piece
Yogurt                       --   ½ cup
Salt                              --   as required

Masala:

Onions                       --   3 large onions
Green chillies         --   4 - 5(adjust according to your taste)
Garlic                         --   5 - 6 cloves
Ginger                        --   2 inch piece
Tomatoes                 --   3 medium tomatoes
Turmeric powder  --   ½ tsp
Coriander powder --  1 tbsp
Almonds/Cashew  --  12 - 15
Mint Leaves             --  ¼ cup chopped, loosely packed
Ghee                           --  3 tbsp
Oil                                --  as required to fry the chicken.
Salt                              -- as required

To Grind:

Cloves                         --   5
Cardamom                --   3
Fennel seeds            --   1 tsp
Cumin seeds             --   ½ tsp
Cinnamon sticks     --   3 inch piece
Star anise                   --  2 petals

To Garnish:

Coriander leaves   --   ½ cup chopped, loosely packed
Mint leaves              --   ½ chopped, loosely packed
Ghee                           --   1 tbsp

Rice:

Basmati Rice           --   3 cups
Water                         --   6 cups
Cinnamon                --   2 piece.
Cloves                       --   4
Cardamom              --   2
Bay leaves               --   2
Whole pepper        --   1 tsp
Ghee                          --   3 tbsp
Lemon Juice          --   4 - 5 tbsp
Cashew nuts & raisins  --   as required

Preparation:

Gravy:

Clean and cut the chicken into medium size pieces. Grind the green chillies, ginger and garlic. Marinate chicken with salt, minced masala, turmeric powder and yogurt (in the marinade section). Keep it aside for 2 hours or overnight.

Soak the almonds/cashews in water.

In a pan, slightly cook the chicken in the water that has come out after marinating. Cook just until the colour of the meat changes, or just until it boils. Switch off the flame and drain the chicken into another pan. Save the remaining water - the stock.

  

Heat oil in a pan. Shallow fry the chicken until it is slightly brown.

Meanwhile chop onions, tomatoes, coriander leaves & mint leaves.

Grind the cloves,cardamom,fennel seeds,cumin seeds,cinnamon sticks and star anise into a slightly coarse/fine powder (For the gravy) and keep aside.
 
In the same grinder, grind green chillies, garlic, ginger and half of the mint leaves and keep aside.

Once the chicken is fried, In the same pan, add the ghee, then add ground ginger garlic chilly paste. Fry for half a minute. Then add onions and fry until mushy. Add the tomatoes and fry until they are mushy and the masala is dark brown. Add salt and the spice powders in the order - turmeric, coriander powder and ground masala (leave a pinch aside for garnishing). Fry until the raw smell goes off.

Add chicken and let it cook. Add the chicken stock kept aside. Add more water if required.

Grind the nuts into a fine paste and add it to the masala. Let it just boil. Add the remaining mint leaves and switch off the flame. This should form a semi thick gravy. Keep aside.

Rice:

Wash the rice and drain it in a strainer. Keep aside for 10 - 15 minutes so that the water is completely drained off.

Heat ghee in a deep pan. Add cashew nuts. Fry until light brown. Add raisins.Let it puff up. Drain it and keep aside.

Add the whole spices. Fry for a minute or two.Add the strained rice.Meanwhile keep the water to boil. Fry the rice until the water boils. Once the water boil, pour it into the rice and mix. Add required amount of salt and do a salt check on the water. Close the pan and let it cook on a medium flame. The rice will completely absorb the water and will be cooked to 90%. Do not let the rice cook 100% as it ll be overcooked after the dhum process.  Let it cool. Spread the rice on a flat platter to cool it quickly. Use a fork to spread. Using a spoon might break the rice.

Assembly:

Take a heavy bottomed pan or an oven safe dish, if baking. Spread the ghee at the bottom. Generously spread the first layer of rice. Sprinkle some garam masala and chopped leaves. Add some nuts and raisins. Sprinkle some lemon juice.(You can also add the lemon juice while cooking the rice. This is to make the rice softer.) Then add the masala. Top it with rice and the garnishing. Repeat this until the rice and the gravy is used. Make sure to top it with the rice and the garnishing. I use a flat pyrex dish and hence have only 3 layers – rice – gravy – rice. 

Preheat the oven to 250 F. Cover the dish tightly with an aluminum foil and  bake it for 25 mins. Back home, my mom does this in a heavy bottomed pan. She will have around 5 – 7 layers. Close the pan with a tight lid. At times to keep the lid tight, she sticks it with maida dough. Keep the pan on a low flame and also have some charcoal or embers of coconut husk on the top –> The traditional way of baking.

Mix it well and serve with raita, pappad and chammanthi.

Chammanthi:

Ingredients:

Grated Coconut     --   1 cup
Mint leaves              --   3 - 4 leaves
Coriander Leaves --   2 sprig
Green chillies         --   2
Lemon Juice           --   1 tbsp
Salt  to taste

Preparation :

Blend everything except lemon juice to a  smooth mixture. Add the lemon juice and mix well. Serve with hot biriyani. 

Recipe Courtesy: Amma