Varutharacha Mutton Curry

In this curry we dry roast the coconut and grind it together with other masala's to make the gravy a little more richer. Many indian cusines like in kerala, maharastra etc follow this type of masala making to give it a special effect.

Mutton or Lamb - 1 lb

Onion - 2 medium

ginger - 1 inch chopped

garlic - 5 or 6 chopped

Tomato - 1 large

Whole garam masala - 2 or 3 pieces of cinnamon,clove,cardamom,1 tsp fennel seeds.

turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

chilli powder - 2 tsp( i used kashmiri chilli which is less spicy), so add ur chilli according to the heat.

corainder powder - 1 1/2 tsp

cumin powder - 1 tsp

coconut - 1/2 cup

Wash and cut the mutton into desired pieces.

Pressure cook them with a little turmeric powder,salt , a tsp of crushed or paste ginger garlic and some water.

In a pan dry roast coconut until nice brown color and keep it aside.

Heat a tbsp of oil, add whole garam masala, followed by chopped ginger and garlic and saute for a minute.

Add chopped onion , saute well until browned. Add tomatoes too.

Now add turmeric,chilli,corainder and cumin powders and saute for a min.

Then grind this onion mixture along with the roasted coconut to a puree by adding some water.

Return back the puree and let it boil for 2 minutes.

Now add the cooked mutton along with the stock into this. mix well.

Let it cook together for about 10 minutes in medium flame until oil separates and desired consistency is achieved.

Enjoy.

Goes well with chapathi, poori, fried rice, plain rice etc.

Murukku

This is an easy and favourite savoury snack to many which comes in a lot of different shapes and forms as we know.

Different parts of india makes it in slightly different recipes.

I adapted the below recipe from a good friend of mine from chennai.

Rice flour - 2 cups

Urad dal powder - 1/2 cup

chilli powder - about 1 teaspoon

Butter - about 2 to 3 tbsp melted

sesame seeds - a spoon or 2 (white or black)

asafoetida powder - a pinch

water - to make dough

salt to taste

Oil for frying

For any required amount take rice flour and urad dal in 4:1 proportion.

To make urad dal powder, slightly dry roast it and powder it in a blender.

Mix all the all the ingredients except water. Slowly add water and make it into a smooth dough.

Heat oil for frying.

Fill it in the murukku achu and gently press it out into the oil with out too much over crowding.

Fry them until its crisp and lightly browned.

Drain the excess oil.

Repeat until all the dough is used up.

Enjoy.

Melting moments cookie

This cookie can be considered as a version of nankatta or butter biscuit, with a lighter texture. I got this recipe from the baking site. The following recipe makes about 50 small cookies. Half or double for your use.

All purpose flour or maida - 1 1/2 cups
Corn starch - 1/2 cup
Powdered or icing sugar - 1/4 + about 1/2 cup
Butter - 2 sticks or 1 cup (in room temperature)
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
salt - a pinch


In a bowl mix together flour, corn starch and salt.
In another bowl beat butter and sugar powder until creamy.
Mix in vanilla extract.
Add in the flour mixture and mix until everything is just blended well.
Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours to make batter firm.

Preheat oven to 350F.
Butter or spray a baking sheet.
Make small balls from the firm batter and place them on the baking sheet 1 inch apart.
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until the edges of the cookie just start to brown.
Remove and cool for 5 minutes.
Dust them with icing sugar.
Enjoy.

Vellayappam

This is a breakfast item done often in kerala christian homes. Vellayappam and Palappam(Aappam), both are made from rice flour fermented, along with coconut grinded for vellayappam and coconut milk for pal appam. Traditionally it was fermented with "kallu" or palm toddy and hence in many places it is called as kallappam too. Since we dont have access to that, we use good quality yeast.

Usually these appams are served with stews(curry made with a coconut milk base) either veg or non veg. But this can go well with any non veg curry or egg roast or kadala curry.

I use rice flour for this recipe. This can also be made by grinding soaked raw rice. Using rice flour makes life easier. And this is an easy version of the traditional preparation.Yields the same results.


Fine rice flour or Appam podi - 2 cups + 1/2 cup
coconut grated - 1 cup
cumin seeds - 1 tsp
small onions - 3 or 4 (optional)
yeast - 1/2 tsp [ get a good quality yeast]
sugar - 2tsp
salt


* Proof the yeast : Take yeast and sugar in a cup, add a couple of tbsp of water and allow it to sit for a few minutes. It should foam up. If it doesn't, yeast is not good.

* Grind coconut grated,cumin seeds,small onion with enough water.

* Make Kappi: This step makes a thick paste like form of rice flour. Its called kappi kachiyathu in malayalam. And was done using the coarser rice powder.
Never mind, we are using the same rice flour. So take the 1/2 cup of rice flour and add 1 and 1/2 cup of water. Mix it. Cook in medium flame until it is thick paste like consistency. Allow it to cool.

* Mix all: Take 2 cups of flour, ground coconut mixture, yeast and some water and mix it together. Now take the cooled kappi and mix it in well. That will take a few minutes. At the end it should be kind of idli batter consistency.

* Ferment overnight or may be 8 hours.
* Morning , add 1/2 to 1 tsp salt and mix it.

* Heat a flat pan or dosa kallu and pour a laddle of batter. Do not spread it much. Cover and cook until you see holes on the top forming. It will take less than a minute. Flip over and cook for another 1/2 minute.

* Serve with any of your favourite curry. Enjoy.

Puttu

Puttu is a very easy breakfast ofcourse well known to all kerala homes. Just sharing for others. Its a steamed rice flour dish. Puttu can be made from the white raw rice powder or the chemba rice powder. It is made in a long steamer which is called as puttu kudam in malayalam.
Below recipe will give about 2 to 2 1/2 tubes of puttu.

Puttu Powder - 2 cups (i used chemba one)
coconut grated - about 1 cup (use more or less as you prefer)
water - about 1/2 cup (a little more or less depending on the flour)
salt

Take puttu powder in a bowl, mix in salt.
Sprinkle water little by little and mix in.
At a point if you take some flour in hand and press, it will hold the shape.
In short the flour should be wet through, but should not go to dough form.
It will take a little practice to find the right amount of water.

Now in the bottom portion of the puttu kudam, fill 3/4 with water and bring it to boil.
In the top cylinder shape, put in the circle sieve first. Add about 2 spoons of coconut. Followed by wet flour, use gentle hands when filling it. half way through add some more coconut grated and then flour and finally coconut grated.
Close the lid.
Keep it on top of the bottom with boiling water.
Steam for 5 minutes. You will see steam coming out of hole on the top lid.
Take it and push it out with a long stick. I use the back of a wooden spatula.
Enjoy with kadala curry or which ever combination you prefer.

Kadala Curry

Kadala curry is a kerala recipe with the black channa. It goes well with puttu or appam or upma.

Black channa(kadala) - 1 cup
coconut grated - 1/2 cup
turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
coriander powder - 1 tsp
garam masala - 1 tsp
onion - 1
ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
coconut slices - some
curry leaves
mustard
oil

Wash and soak black channa over night or at least 3 to 4 hours.
Pressure cook it with a little salt and turmeric powder and keep aside.

In a pan dry roast coconut grated until nicely browned. Turn off the flame and add turmeric,chilli,coriander,garam masala and stir well. The heat will be enough to toast them or else you might burn them. Grind them into a smooth paste.

In a pan, add 2 tsp oil, splutter mustard.Add curry leaves.
Add coconut slices and fry till its slightly brown.
Add sliced onion and saute. add ginger garlic paste too and saute.
Now add the cooked black channa, ground paste and salt.
Bring to boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Done.

Pound cake or Vanilla cake

Call it a pound cake or vanilla cake ,this cake is my family's all time favourite. And may be the most often made. Probably many of you will have a similar recipe. If its just to eat as such i follow the below recipe as like.
But if i'm going to do some icing on it, i cut the sugar amount a 1/2 cup less because i feel the cake will be too sweet with filling and icing and you wont be able to eat more :)

With the below quantity, it makes one 13 * 9 inches cake or two 8" rounds.
Remember to use everything in room temperature. That will make the cake come out soft.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour or maida - 3 cups
sugar - 3 cups
butter - 2 sticks ( 1 cup)
eggs - 5
salt - a pinch
milk - 1 cup
baking soda - 1/2 tsp ( dissolve it in 1 tbsp hot water and keep)
vanilla essence - 2 tsp

Method:

In a bowl, take sugar and butter and cream them together very well with a whisk or electric mixer.

Add eggs one by one and mix them in.
Add salt and then add milk slowly and keep mixing.
Add flour slowly spoon by spoon and incorporate it well.
Add vanilla essence and baking soda in water and give it a final mix.
In between all these mixing remember to scrap down the edges at times.

Pour it into a buttered pan and gently tap it to release any air bubbles.

Bake in 300F for about 1 hour. [ depending on the oven the time might vary from 50 min to 1 hr and 10 min, so better start checking it at 50 min ]
Check for doneness.
Cool in pan for 10 minutes.

Turn it out and cool completely.

Enjoy!

note : This cake is a little denser type but moist. If you try the "Tea Cake" recipe in the blog, it will give you a more spongier cake but will be to the drier side. When going for icing and filling go for the more matching version of the cake with it.

Arachuvitta Fish Curry

Fish - 1 lb (1/2 kg) (i used red snapper here)

onion - 2 big

ginger& garlic - 1 tbsp

turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

kashmiri chilli powder - 2 tsp

coriander powder - 1/2 tsp

kudam puli(kerala fish puli) - 2 pieces

coconut milk - 1/2 cup

oil

mustard

curry leaves

Clean and cut the fish into pieces. Soak kudam puli in some water.

Heat 2 tsp of oil. Splutter mustard and curry leaves.

Add ginger and garlic, followed by onion and saute well.

Add turmeric, chilli and coriander powder and saute for a minute.

Switch it off and grind it well.

Add it back to the pot along with kudam puli and the water which it was soaked.

Allow it to boil well. Add salt too.

Now add the fish pieces and allow it to cook for 8-10 minutes depending on the fish you are using.

Add the coconut milk and let it simmer for a minute.

Done.

Koobum Payarum(Banana flower-Green gram dal) Thoran

This is a nice dry dish with lot of nutrients. Banana Flower is fiber rich and has lot of vitamins. More than that it has got many medicinal properties . Then green gram dal, its one of the very good in its family with lot of proteins and crab. This dal wont make you heavy or wont create gas problem. So in total its a great dish.

Vazha koombu /Banana flower - 1

Green gram dal - 1/2 cup

turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

coconut grated - 1/4 to 1/2 cup

green chillies - 1

salt to taste

oil

mustard

curry leaves

Clean and chop finely the vazha koombu and immerse it in water mixed with turmeric powder for 15 minutes.

If you are not familiar with it; remove the purple covers over it until you are no longer able to take it off and it will be yellow in colour. Save the flowers you find on the way.

To clean the flowers you need some patience. If you plan to use that separate the tough parts, the stigma and transparent cover, otherwise discard that.

Finely chop all and soak in turmeric water.

Pressure cook green gram dal with enough water and salt.

Squeeze out the water from the chopped vazha koombu.

In a pan add 2 tsp of oil, splutter mustard and curry leaves and add chopped koombu.

Saute for about 5 minutes.

Crush coconut and green chilly.

Add the cooked green gram dal and crushed coconut.

Check for salt.

Saute for a couple of minutes until its dry.

Done.