Carrot Pachadi

Here is another recipe that I always make when I make a sadya. Pachadi is one of  Aishwarya's favorite  sadya dishes. It is also very easy to make, which is another reason I love it.
Ingredients:
Carrots – 2
Yogurt – 3/4 cup
Oil – 1 tsp
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Shallots- 1 to 2
Ginger- 1/4 tsp chopped
Green chilies – 2
Curry leaves – few
Method :
Clean the carrots and shred them. Add salt, ginger, and finely sliced shallots, mix well with your hands.
Whisk yogurt and add the shredded carrot mix. Mix well and check for salt. If it’s thick, add some more yogurt. In a pan, heat oil and add mustard seeds, add green chilies and curry leaves, and give it a stir and remove from heat. Add it to the carrot yogurt mixture and mix well.

Olan

Vishu is almost here and I thought of sharing an Olan recipe. Olan is one of the easiest sadya dishes. I have made this the way  we make it in Thrissur. Do try and let me know
Ingredients:
Kumbalanga(Ash Gourd)-2 cups(small pieces)
Thick Coconut Milk-1 cup
Thin coconut milk-1 cup
Green chilli-2
Ginger sliced-1tbs
Curry leaves-2 sprig
Salt – to taste
Coconut Oil -1 tbsp
Method:
Cook Ash gourd in half a cup of water and half a cup coconut milk(thin coconut milk) along with green chilli,ginger,a few curry leaves and a salt. By 10 minutes it would be done cooking,add the thick milk and when the milk is heated through add coconut oil and remaining curry leaves.

Cashew Masala

Cashew masala is one of my favorite summer time curry. This is usually made with fresh raw cashew, since I can't get fresh raw cashew here this is the alternate method I use to get the same taste here in US
Ingredients:
Raw Cashewnut (Split)-1 cup
Green Chilli-2
Turmeric powder-1/4  tsp
Chilli  powder-1/4 tsp
Corriender powder-1/2 tsp
Shallots-4
Curry leaves-few
Coconut oil- 2 to 3 tbs
Coconut milk ( thick cream)-1/2 cup
Salt to taste
Method;
Pressure cook  cashewnut with the first 4 ingredients along with 2 cups water, a sprig of curry leaves and salt. Open the the cooker once pressure is released. Now remove the lid and cook till the gravy thickens. Add the coconut milk and cook till the gravy comes to a boil. We love the gravy to be thick so I let it thicken a bit more by letting it come to a rolling boil.  Mean while in a non stick pan fry the sliced shallots and remaining curry leaves with the coconut oil. Once the shallots are brown add this  along with the oil to the cashew masala and mix thoroughly. The Cashew masala can be had with rice, Chapathi, Appam or even with some bread.

Spicy Orange Tofu

For the vegetarians who are looking for a veggie version of spicy orange chicken, here is a good recipe you can use. Though you can buy the sauce for this in some stores, it isn't that difficult to put together the sauce yourself as most of the ingredients would be there in almost any kitchen or can be acquired easily. I know you would all agree when I say home made is always better than store-bought. So why wait? Go try this tomorrow. This goes well with fried-rice or with Indian breads like chapati.

Ingredients for Sauce
1 cup chicken broth/veggie broth
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup distilled white vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 teaspoon Sriracha, or more, to taste; can be substituted with chilli paste
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
Method:
To make the marinade, whisk together chicken broth, orange juice, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, orange zest, Sriracha, ginger and white pepper in a large bowl. In a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and stir in 2 tablespoons cornstarch combined with 2 tablespoons water. Cook, stirring frequently, until thickened about 1-2 minutes; keep warm.

Rest of the ingredients:
1 block firm tofu, pressed
For cooking:
2 Tbsp canola oil
4-6 cups fresh or frozen veggies (carrots, broccoli, onion, peppers, spinach, summer squash, bok choy, etc.)
Method:
To press tofu, place block of tofu on cookie sheet, cover with foil, and weigh it down with a heavy pan (I use a large cast iron skillet). Let press for about 1/2 hour, and add a few more pounds of weight - cans of beans or veggies work great. Let press for at least another 1/2 hour. This will drastically improve the  texture of your  tofu. Cut tofu into small (1/4 in) cubes,  heat a wok or large frying pan with 2 Tbsp canola oil. Add tofu -and cook over high heat until lightly browned tofu. Add veggies as desired ,cook, stirring often, until veggies are just cooked through. Stir in the sauce. Serve with rice or noodles. Makes 3-5 servings

Kurukku Kalan

Kalan is the second dish I always make in advance for a Kerala feast.This dish too stays well for a few days. Kalan is made with yogurt,coconut and a few veggies.
Ingredients:
Yam-1 cup
Raw plantain-1/2 cups
Pepper-2tbs dissolved in 1/2 cup water and strained(We are using the water)
Turmeric-1/4 tsp
Salt as required
Green chilli-2
Ghee-1tsp
Greek Yogurt-1 cup
Coconut-1 cup
Fenugreek powder-1/2 tsp
Cumin - 1/2 tsp
Coconut oil-3 tsp
Dried red chilli-2
Mustard-1tsp
Curry leaves-few
Method:
Add cut vegetables to strained pepper water along with turmeric powder ,green chilli and salt and cook until water dries up.Add ghee and yogurt and mix well,now cook this at low flame till it thickens.
Mean while make a fine paste of coconut ,cumin seeds add this along with the fenugreek powder. Bring this to a boil and remove from fire.Finally splutter mustard seeds ,dry red chilli and curry leaves and mix this to kalan.

Inji Puli / Puli Inji

With Vishu around the corner I thought I would post some Kerala sadya recipes.Vishu is celebrated with much pomp and festivities in central and north Kerala with full course Sadya . In all Kerala feasts there are some dishes that are prepared a few days in advance;  main reason being these stay good for few days or even a few weeks without any refrigeration. Here is one such dish:  Inji Puli or Puli Inji. As the name suggests the two main ingredients are Inji or ginger and Puli or Tamarind.This dish is spicy, sweet and tangy with pleasant flavor notes of ginger. Watch out for more sadya dishes in the run up for Vishu.
Ingredients
Fresh Ginger-1/4kg(finely chopped)
Tamarind-3 lemon sized
Coconut Oil-5tbs
Turmeric Powder-1/2tsp
Salt -to taste
Chilly Powder-1  tsp
Mustard seeds-1/2tsp
Curry Leaves-2sprigs
Small onion-3(chopped)
Dry Red Chilly-3
Green Chilly-4(finely chopped)
Jaggery/brown sugar-according to  taste

Method
Peel the ginger and cut into fine pieces,heat coconut oil in a kadai and add the ginger and fry it. Fry till it ginger turns  light  golden.Drain them and set aside.
Soak tamarind in one cup of hot water for 15 minutes  or you can microwave for 30 seconds and extract the juice .Sieve it and add to a deep bottomed kadai  along with salt,chilly powder and turmeric powder.
Mix well .Bring to boil . Once it starts to boil reduce the heat and simmer and cook for 30 minutes or until the raw taste of the tamarind is no longer there. By that time the gravy will be almost thick.If you like your
 inji puli to be sweet or purified  jaggery now.Now add the crushed ginger and ,lower the flame and allow it to come to a boil. Add hot water if it became too thick,Inji puli gets thicker when it cools down..
Now heat remaining oil in a separate pan and add mustard seeds.When it splutters add chopped onion,chopped dry red chilly,chopped green chilly and curry leaves and saute till it turns brown. Add this to Inji puli

Coconut Kofta

If you are in a mood for some creamy and delicious curry to go with your Indian breads or rice, here is one of my go to recipes. There are different varieties of kofta, made with meat, fish, paneer and a variety of vegetables. But being a vegetarian, this is one version of kofta that I often make.
For Koftas
2 cups grated Coconut
3 tbs Chickpea flour
4 Green Chillies, minced
1/2 cup cilantro minced
1/8 to 1/4 cup Mint leaves, minced (optional)
1/2 medium Onion, grated
1/2 tbs Ginger paste
1/2 tbsGarlic paste
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp freshly ground Garam Masala
Salt to taste

For Gravy:
Tomato paste-2 tsp
Milk-1/4 cup
Ghee-1 tbs
Heavy cream-1tbs (optional)
Kasuri methi-1/4tsp
Cilantro-1/4tsp
For paste:
 Onion-1
 Chilli-2
 Ginger-1tsp, grated
 Cinnamon-1 stick
 Clove-1
 Cumin -1tsp
 Garlic cloves-2
 Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp

Method:
Grind the coconut coarsely and mix it with all the other  kofta ingredients. Form the mixture into round balls and deep fry to a golden color . Kofta quantity is actually a little more than needed for the curry as I love having a few koftas to taste test :)
Heat a pan, add about a table spoon of ghee or oil and saute all the ingredients for paste till onion turns translucent. Make a paste of this sauted ingredients using about a cup of water. Mix it with tomato paste, milk,ghee,kasuri methi and salt and cook for 4 -5 minutes.When the gravy reaches desired consistency add cilantro and heavy cream.Add the koftas to the gravy before serving .Serve hot.

Achari Mushroom

We are a family of Mushroom lovers. We make it a point to try any mushroom out in the market. Whenever I get a new variety that I haven't tried before I always end up making a simple caramelized mushroom and if the mushroom is not to our liking I add spices and see what works for us.Now I have a recipe for each type of mushroom we get here in Bay area.Our favorite recipe for Shiitake mushroom or Bella mushroom is this Achari Mushroom curry. The pickle spice that you add to this curry makes it fingerlicking.
Ingredients:
Bella mushroom /Shiitake mushroom -8oz sliced
Chilli powder-1tsp
Turmeric-1tsp
Plain yogurt-3 tbs
salt-1/2 tsp
Fennel seeds-1tsp
Cumin seeds-3/4 tsp
Coriander seeds -1tbs
Fenugreek-1/4 tsp
Clove -4
Onion-1
Ginger paste-1tbs
Garlic paste-1tbs
Tomato -1 sliced
Green chilli-2
Mustard seeds-1/2tsp
Dried Red chilli-2
Asafoetida-1/2 tsp
Lemon juice-1tbs
Pickle(mango,garlic or lemon)-1 tbs
Sugar -1/4 tsp
Method:
Marinate mushroom in yogurt along with chilli powder,turmeric and salt for at least half an hour.Meanwhile crush fennel seeds,cumin,coriander,clove and fenugreek seeds and set aside. Take about 3 tbs of cooking oil in a kadai and when the oil is hot add mustard and dried chilli Add finely sliced onion,asafoetida along with ginger garlic paste.Saute for about 3 mintues and when onion turns translucent add finely sliced tomato.Saute till tomato starts to ooze out oil.Add the crushed  spices along with green chilli saute for a minute and add the marinated mushroom along with a cup of water.Cook covered till mushroom is cooked. Add lemon juice along with  pickle and sugar.Check the salt.When gravy is thick switch off the stove and garnish  and serve
  

Vegetarian Thai Red Curry

Hailing from the land of coconut trees, I am in love with any cuisine that has coconuts or coconut milk in it. So, needless to say I am an avid lover of Thai cuisine. The Thai Red Curry is a perennial favorite of ours. For me a Thai meal is never complete if it doesn't have the red curry as part of it.
One of the things I like about this dish in particular is that you can make it with whichever vegetables that you have  handy, as the secret is in the gravy.
If you keep the curry paste prepared ahead of time, you can put together this in no time.
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon cilantro
1 tablespoon coriander
1/2 tablespoon cumin
20 or to taste (de-seeded) dried Thai Red Chilies
1 1/2 tablespoons galangal/ginger
1/4 cup garlic
3-4 tablespoons lemongrass
1/2 teaspoon peppercorns
2 tablespoons salt
1/2 cup shallots
1 tablespoon Kaffir Lime Zest
3 tbs oil
Method:
Prepping
Soak the chili pepper in hot water for 10 minutes or until soft. You can see that the color gets brighter once when it's soft.  Skin the zest out from kaffir lime. Slice lemongrass thin to limit the fiber size. Peel garlic and shallots.

Grinding
Grind the dry spices(peppercorns, cumin and coriander) separately in a spice grinder or mortar and set aside to  add them to the curry paste later.
Squeeze the water out from the chili peppers. Put the rest of the ingredients in the mortar or grinder and make a smooth paste.The paste should be thick and not watery.Add the powdered dry spices to ground paste.
Heat Oil in a skillet.Add the paste and cook it until the oil starts to separate and the paste starts to clump together (3-5 mins).

This curry paste will stay fresh for a few weeks in the refrigerator and for a year in the freezer.
For the curry

Ingredients:
Oil – 1 tbsp
Red Curry Paste – 1-2 tbsp
Coconut cream -3/4 cup
Coconut Milk – 1 cans (14oz/400ml each)
Palm Sugar – 1/2 tbsp
Soy Sauce – 1 tbsp optional
Snow Peas – handful
Red Bell Pepper – 1/8, sliced
Green Bell Pepper – 1/4, sliced
Eggplant- 1 medium sized
Carrots – 1 thin slices
Onion – 1/4, sliced
Frozen corn-1/2 cup
Thai Basil Leaves – 4-6, torn up
Extra Firm Tofu – 14 oz block, cubed optional
Method:
Heat the oil in a thick bottom pan over medium heat ,stir in curry along with sliced onion and stir for a minute. Mix in the coconut cream.When curry paste is dissolved in coconut cream add the coconut milk ,soy sauce and sugar .Check the saltiness and add salt if needed.Add the cut veggies to this along with a green chilli if you need added heat. Add the basil leaves and cook till veggies are cooked.If you are adding Tofu add it 2 minutes before you are done with the cooking.

Kashmiri Dum Aloo

Almost a decade ago, when I was not into the internet in a big way, the primary sources of good recipes for me used to be my mother, my grand-mother or MIL. Other than these direct sources, I also used to collect recipes from TV shows or magazines.I used to note down the ones that I found good in a notebook and used to refer to those when I wanted to make it again. This recipe of Kashmiri Dum aloo is one such recipe that I had in my recipe book. All of us used to like this dish quite a lot and it was a good one to serve for a dinner or to take to a potluck, as it is quite an eye-pleaser. I used to make it quite often during those days.
How the times have changed! Now a days I rarely ever need to refer a book for recipes. It is all just a click away. With so many wonderful new things to try out from around the globe, I hardly ever made this dish in the last many years. By chance I was flipping through my recipe book the other day and since I had some nice Idaho baby potatoes with me, wanted to try it out. And as always it turned out to be wonderful both in taste and in presentation.

Ingredients:
For Aloo:
Medium potatoes - 5-6 numbers
Raisins - 1 tbs
Cashews - 1tbs, powdered coarsely
Cream - 1 tbs
Salt - to taste

For Gravy:
Tomatoes pureed and strained -3
Capsicum finely chopped - 1
Onions chopped into strips - 1
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Cardamoms -2
Cloves - 3
Peppercones - 3
Cinnamon piece - 1/2 inch
Ba:y leaf -1
Kasoori methi-1 tsp
Water -1 1/2 cups
Cream -2 tbs
Coriander leaves, chopped - 1/2 tbsp
Refined oil - 2 tbs
Salt - to taste

Onion Paste:
Onions - 2, medium
Ginger piece - 1/2 inch.
Red Kashmiri Chillies  or  Paprika - 4-5
Mint leaves - 8-10
Cloves and garlic - 5 (optional)

Method:
For Aloo:
Peel and boil potatoes till they are half done. Cool and core with a potato scoop. Mix raisins, potato scooping, cashew, cream and salt. Stuff this mix into the potato hollows and keep them aside.

For Gravy:
Heat oil, add onions and stir-fry till brown. Drain and keep aside. Stir-fry capsicum till done, drain and keep aside. Add whole spices to the oil, allow to splutter and then add the onion paste and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add the tomato puree, masalas and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Add water, sugar,kasoori methi, salt and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes.Add the cream and give a nice stir
Now put the potatoes in a casserole and pour the gravy over them. Sprinkle the stir-fried onions and capsicum over this and cover with aluminium foil. Bake in the oven at 200 degree C for 20 minutes. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Thattil Kutti Dosa & Garlic chutney

This is my version of that dosa and chutney combo made famous by the Malayalam movie " Salt'N Pepper". I haven't yet got a chance to taste the original one. From googling about this I understand that this originated in Thrissur, which is where I am also from. So the next time I am in India, I am definitely planning to pay a visit to this dosa's birth-place and try this out.
Thattil Kutty Dosa literally means "the small dosa made in a pan". The Garlic Chutney is what was shown as the accompaniment for this in the movie. I referred to many recipes in the internet and came up with this version both for the dosa and chutney.
It is a good change from the regular dosa and we all liked it.
Ingredients:
For the Dosa batter:
2 cups rice
1 cup urad dal
1 tbsp fenugreek seeds
Method:
Soak the rice, fenugreek and the dal separately for 4-5 hrs.
Grind together the rice and fenugreek to a fine paste. Also grind the dal  to a fine paste adding enough water. Mix the rice and the dal and let it ferment over night.
Before making the Dosa, add water to the batter to bring it to a pouring consistency. Add salt and mix.
Heat the Non Stick Pan, pour 1/2 ladleful batter about 1/2 cup and small dosas. No need to spread the batter unless it is too thick.Cook in low to medium flame to get golden crust. Drizzle some oil/ghee on the dosas.Flip once the bottom turns golden and cook in low to medium flame for a minute or 2 or until golden in colour. Drizzle oil when ever desired.  Serve with garlic chutney / sambar ...

Garlic Chutney
Ingredients:
Coconut(grated)- 1 cup
Dried red chilli -8
Garlic cloves-8
Tamarind-1 tsp
Shallots-1
Salt- to taste

Seasoning:
Oil-2 tbs
Mustard-1 tsp
Dried red chilli-1

Method:
Heat a teaspoon of oil and roast the red chilli till they turn crisp.Set it aside. In the same pan brown crushed garlic.Now grind all the ingredients to a fine paste adding as little water as possible. Now heat the oil and add mustard followed by red chilli,once the mustard is done with the spluttering  add it to the ground chutney.

Moru Curry sans Coconut and Oil

Though I got over with the flu, the after effects are still lingering. Primary one is the loss of appetite - I can't stand any food at all. One way it is a blessing in disguise; when the majority  of the world is making  new year's resolutions to somehow reduce their weight, here I am able to achieve it without effort! I feel so full by just the smell of food and even my favorite dishes, I can't make myself to eat.
I had been getting a lot of advice from my moms about how to revive my appetite - one such suggestion from my MIL was to have a cake that I like - she knows me too well, I guess. But that plan didn't work as I couldn't even tolerate a single bite. So my mom suggested that I try this with some rice. Though I couldn't eat much of rice, I did end up having this as a soup.
This oil and coconut free recipe is originally by my grand mother, especially for the times when anyone was sick in the family.
Ingredients:
Buttermilk/Curd (whipped)-1 glass
Water -1 glass
Garlic-3 cloves
Green Chilli-1
Crushed Black Pepper-1/4 tsp
Turmeric-1/4 tsp
Curry leaves-few
Salt as required
Fenugreek-1/4tsp
Method:
In a hard bottom pan add water,garlic,green chilli,pepper,turmeric and curry leaves. Bring this to a boil and at medium heat reduce this to half the amount.Now reduce the heat to low and add the buttermilk along with salt. Keep stirring till it just start to boil and then remove from heat. Dry roast the fenugreek and powder this to add to the curry.
Note: If you want you can temper some mustard and red dry chilli in a tbs of oil and add to the curry.

Japanese Curry Rice

  

A friend of mine asked me if I knew how to make the Japanese Curry. I was taken aback a little - may be due to my ignorance of Japanese cuisine. I told her that the only curry I know of is the Indian curry, but I was curious to know what this is. Then I came across another friend of mine, who shared with me some instant curry sauce as well as the recipe for making this. Once I made this curry with the instant sauce cubes, I wanted to try making it the traditional way, as this was well liked by my family.
As per what I have heard this is a very popular dish in Japan and the instant sauce cubes are the most widely used ones because of its convenience.
Ingredients:
for the roux
1 and 1/2 Tbs butter
1/8 C flour
1 Tbs garam masala (or curry powder)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (add less if you want it mild or more if you want it spicy)
fresh ground black pepper
1/2 tbs tomato paste
1/2 tbs tonkatsu sauce (or worcestershire sauce)

for the curry
2 tsp oil
1 large onions sliced thin
1 package  mushroom (you could also use beef, shrimp,chicken or tofu)
1 carrots cut into chunks
1 sweet potato
1 cup sliced beans
4 C water
2 large yukon gold potatoes cut into large chunks
1/2 C peas
1 tsp kosher salt (use less if you use regular salt)
1 tsp garam masala
1 tbs tomato paste
4 to 6 garlic cloves
Cilantro a few
Method:
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium low heat and add the onions along with garlic cloves. Saute the onions until they are turn translucent add the tomato paste and saute for about 2 minutes,now add the curry powder or garam masala saute for another minute. Add potato , sweet potato, salt and add water and simmer.When the potato is half done add the carrots and sliced beans.Cook till you can pass a fork through the carrots and potatoes .
For the roux, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium low heat. Add the flour and garam masala, stirring until you have a thick paste. Add the cayenne pepper and some fresh ground black pepper and incorporate into the roux. Add the ketchup and tonkatsu sauce and combine. Continue to cook until the paste starts crumbling. Remove from heat and set aside until the veggies are ready.
To make the curry, just laddle about 2 cups of liquid into the roux then whisk until it’s smooth. Pour this mixture back into the other pot and gently stir until thickened. Add the peas and  mushroom and heat through.Garnish with cilantro.
Serve over rice or noodles.

General Tso's Tofu

All three of us like tofu dishes. Though I make a variety of different dishes with tofu, this one is the most loved tofu dish in our household ever since I tried it the first time couple of years ago. This one goes well with   any of the Chinese rice preparations, with plain rice or even with any of the Indian breads.
Recipe source: Allrecipes.com
Ingredients
1 (16 ounce) box firm tofu
1 egg
3/4 cup cornstarch or all purpose flour mixed with salt and pepper
vegetable oil (for frying)
3 chopped green onions
1/2 chopped onion
2 tablespoon minced ginger
2 tablespoon minced garlic
2/3 cup vegetable stock
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons sugar
red pepper flakes
3 tbs of worchester  sauce
1 tablespoon white vinegar
Method:
 Drain, dry and cut tofu into one inch chunks-You can freeze the tofu the night before to get a more"chicken-like" texture, if desired.Mix egg with 3 Tbs of water.Dip tofu in mixture.Sprinkle cornstarch over tofu to completely cover.Heat oil in pan and fry tofu pieces until golden brown and set aside. Drain oil.
 Heat 3 Tbs vegetable oil in pan on medium heat and add onions, ginger and garlic, cook for about two minutes (be careful not to burn garlic).Add vegetable stock, soy sauce, sugar, red pepper flakes and vinegar.
Mix 2 Tbs of water and 1 Tbs cornstarch and pour into mixture, stirring well.Add fried tofu and coat evenly.
Serve immediately with steamed broccoli over your choice of rice.

Kadai Paneer /Sauteed Cottege Cheese

Kadai Paneer is a sauteed Indian cottage cheese side dish. I presume it got its name  because its a paneer (Indian cottage cheese)  sauteed in a Kadai (Indian wok). It's an easy dish unlike other paneer dishes.And goes well with any Indian  bread or rice.
Recipe source:Rak's Kitchen
Ingredients
Paneer ,cubed 1&1/2 cups
Onion 2,cubed
Tomatoes 3 (small),chopped
Green and red peppers 1,cubed
Ginger,finely minced 1 tbs
Green chillies 2
Red chilli powder 1 tsp
Coriander powder 1 tbs
Garam masala powder 3/4 tsp
Turmeric powder 1/8 tsp
Salt As needed
Kasoori methi 1 tsp
Cilantro leaves, chopped 2 tbs
Seasoning
Oil 3 tbs
Coriander seeds slightly crushed 1 tsp

Method
Heat oil in a pan/kadai and season with the coriander seeds.   Add ginger and saute for 30 seconds. Now add chopped onion,  slit green chillies  and saute till onion turns transparent.
Add the  tomatoes and add salt,add all the masala powders.Saute till tomatoes turn mushy and oil start to ooze out. At this point add bell peppers and saute for a minute, see that it reatins the colour and crunchiness
Add the paneer cubes (paneer cubes should be kept immersed in hot  slightly salted water till use) and crush the kasoori methi within you palms to powder it and add it to this. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup water and mix well.
Cook till the masala coats paneer well and the gravy is thick and  almost dry.  Finally add cilantro leaves and transfer to the serving dish.

Ripe Mangoes in Sweet and Spicy Curry (Mampazhappulisserri)

Summertime is the mango season in Kerala. One of the traditional Kerala curries that used to be common in any household is the Mampazhappulisserri. during this season. This used to be one of my childhood favorites too. During the mango season, making mampazhappulisseri is a must for me, at least one time. Otherwise, I feel like I am not doing justice to myself and my roots.
For the classical recipe of this, the particular variety of mango used is the Chandrakaran, which is a local grown small mango. But these days, I substitute them with whatever variety of sweet mangoes that are available.
This is combination of different tastes - sweet, sour and savory - creates a unique experience and goes well with rice.

Ingredients
6 small ripe mangoes (Chandrakaran); or you can substitute with 3 medium sized ones, any sweet variety would do
½ tsp turmeric powder
1tsp red chilli powder
salt to taste
1 cup water
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup curd (yogurt)
1 tbsp sugar(optional, in case the mangoes are not sweet enough)

For seasoning:
2 tbs coconut oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2tsp fenugreek seeds
2 sprigs of curry leaves
3 whole dried red chillies

Method:
Remove the skin of the mangoes and use the mango as a whole. In case you are using bigger mangoes, you can make it into smaller slices. Add salt, turmeric powder and red chilli powder to the mangoes along with a cup of water and cook this in a sauce pan till the mangoes are cooked and the curry looks like a thick sauce. Add coconut milk to this and in case your mangoes are not that sweet enough 1 tbs of sugar. Turn off the heat when this starts to boil and add wisked yogurt and mix it all well.
Heat another pan and add coconut oil. When it is hot enough, add all the ingredients listed under seasoning.  Turn off the heat and when the mustard seeds stops spluttering, add this to the curry.

Pav Bhaji

For this week's  Blog Hop Wednesday  I am paired with Shree. As Jai was on a business trip this week I was not in a mood to try anything new, yet waned to make something that I haven't blogged so far. My search ended when I saw this recipe. As usual I adapted it  a bit to our taste. It was just  wonderful to dig into this  while  listening to  Aishwarya's update on school and friends.
Recipe adapted from shreezexperiments
Ingredients:
For the bhaji:
Cauliflower /Beetroot - 1 cup chopped or grated
Peas - 1/2 cup
Bell peppers - 1/2  thinly sliced
carrot - 1 grated
Potato - 3 medium
Onion - 1 cup finely chopped
Tomato - 1 1/2 cup finely chopped
Ginger-1tsp
Garlic paste-1tsp
Pav bhaji masala - 1 1/2 tbsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tbsp (reduce if you do not like the bhaji hot!)
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Kasuri methi-1 tsp
Black salt -1/2 tsp optional
Salt to taste
Pav or dinner rolls
Butter

For Garnishing / Serving:
Cilantro - 3 tbsp
lemon wedges
Onion

Method:
Steam cauliflower/ beetroot, peas, carrot and potato and keep aside. Heat a pan with 2 tablespoons of  butter or oil,add onion and ginger garlic paste,saute till onion turns transparent and  ginger garlic paste gives a cooked smell. Now add the bell peppers and fry for a minute,then add tomatoes,salt,pav bhaji masala and red chilli powder. Saute this till tomatoes turns soft and mushy and then add all the veggies, along with 1/2  a cup of water and stir well.
Simmer for 5 min and mash with a potato masher so that all the veggies get mixed well, add butter if desired.
Add a bit of water, if you feel the bhaaji is too thick.
Simmer the bhaji  for a few mins (10 mins should do). Towards the end of 10 minutes add kasuri methi, black salt and cilatro.
Serve this along with butter toasted dinner rolls or pav, a dollop of butter,few onion slices and a squeeze of lemon
Sending this over to Radhika's

Curried Zucchini 'N Potato Soup

I am a soup lover. Many of my friends find this hard to believe as they all think that I only eat ,drink and dream of desserts. I came up with  this recipe today and believe me, it was real good. We enjoyed this soup to the last drop. Friends, do give this a try and I am sure you will love this simple soup in this cold weather. 
Ingredients:
1 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1tablespoon butter
1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon curry powder
salt to taste
2 small zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut into 1 inch slices
2 potatoes cooked and cubed
4 cups chicken stock/vegetable stock
1tablespoon allpurpose flour
Method:
Heat the oil and butter in a large pot. Saute the onion, and season with curry powder and salt. Saute until onions are translucent. Add  zucchini, and cook until tender. Stir in the flour. Pour in the chicken stock. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and  simmer 10 minutes. Remove soup from heat. Use a hand blender, or transfer in batches to a blender, and blend until almost smooth. Add the cubed potatoes and simmer for another 10 mintues.

Tomato Onion Chutney

For this weeks Blog Hop Wednesday  by Radhika I am paired with Rudra and  this Tomato Onion Chutney is what I tried from her blog.As usual I did a few alterations and ended up with this delicious dip.Thank you Rudra for this lip smacking good dip
Ingredients
Onion -1
Tomato - 4 medium sized
Green Chilli-1
Ginger-1"
Mustard Seeds -1/2 tbsp
Chilli powder-1/4tsp
Asefeotoida-1/4tsp
Urad Dal - 1/4 tbsp
Curry Leaves - a few
Salt as required
Oil for cooking
Method
Heat oil in a kadai and add chopped onion,ginger,chilli powder and green chilli and fry till onion turn translucent.Then add chopped tomatoes and curry leaves and saute till tomatoes turn mushy. Remove from the heat and allow them to cool.Grind this to a paste.
Again heat some oil in the kadai and add mustard seeds. Once they splutter add urad dal and saute till it turns golden followed by the asefoetida powder.Add the ground paste and saute till excess oil comes on the top.
Serve with hot idlies and dosa.
Sending this over to Radika's

Kerala Kitchen - Aug 2011 Event Round-up

Thank you all for sending in your wonderful recipes for the Aug 2011 Event of the Kerala Kitchen. We had a total of 25 entries and it was a difficult task for me to choose the winners for different categories. To me all of you are winners, yet for the sake of adhering to the tradition of the Kerala Kitchen Event, I have chosen the winners for the categories specified. Hope you all enjoyed participating in the event as I had in conducting it. Keep up the good work!

Ramya of Ramya's Recipe send in this Mathanga Vanpayar Erisseri




 
 Ramya of Ramya's Recipe send in this Yam Fries





Shoba Shyam of Good Food send in this Coconut rice





Ramya of Ramya's Recipe send in this Koottu Curry





 Ramya of Ramya's Recipe send in Egg Kothu Porotta





Ramya of Ramya's Recipe send in Fish Biriyani





Umm Mymoonah ofTaste of Pearl City send in Neythili Meen Aviyal





Rinku Naveen of Rinku's Kitchen Treat send in Kallumakkaya Upperi





Reshmi Mahesh of Easy Cook send in this Collard Green Stir fry





Reshmi Mahesh of Easy Cook also send in this Kerala Puttu





Kaveri of Palakkad Chamayal send in this Chammanthi Podi





Karishma J Anand of Effortless cooking, Easy baking send in this Multigrain power-packed dosa





Nashira of Plateful send in these Chicken puffs





Najla of Foodie Corner send in this Layered Moss Pudding





Kaveri of palakkad Chamayal send in this Mangai Kootan



Indu of Indugetscooking send in this Kottayam Style Red Fish Curry



Najla of Foodie Corner send in this Spring Roll



Sobha Shyam of Good Food send in this Savoury Kozhukattai



Sobha Shyam of Good Food send in this Vegetable Kurma



Jehanne of The Cooking Doctor send in this Stir-Fry Tapioca with saffron



Roshan of Roshan's Cucina send in Pazham-Puttu



Divya of Easycooking send in this Neichoru ~ Ghee Rice



Smitha Mohanan of Food my companion send in this Fried dried fish



Lastly my dish Kaya Bhaji


Now, the WINNERS ARE:
For the month of August is Umm Mymoonah ofTaste of Pearl City's Neythili Meen Aviyal


For the month of August is Nashira of Plateful 's Chicken puffs




For the month of August is Ramya of Ramya's Recipe


Congratulations to all the winners and all the wonderful participants of  this event! Thank you all for the participation