Plantain Ghee Roast

Hello friends!!!  HAPPY EASTER!!!

Trust u would be busy preparing for Easter and the holidays accompanying... hence, I thought a simple and tasty tea time snack wud be perfect at this occasion.. This can even be had as a sweet dish after lunch..So, definitely try this out n let me know! This wudn't take much of ur time too! 

Ingredients:

Ripe Plantains : 3 nos.

Ghee : 3 tbspns

Grated coconut : 1 cup

Cashews : 3 tbspns

Raisins : 1 tbspn

Sugar : 1 cup

Groundnut : 1/2 cup

• Take a heavy bottomed pan and pour ghee. When hot, fry cashews and raisins and remove once done.
• Peel off the skin from the plantains and slice them into about 1/2 inch pieces, put into the pan and saute until they get slightly roasted.
• Add grated coconut, sugar and saute until the sugar gets completely melted and mixed with the other ingredients. 
• Add more ghee if required for the dish to get softened. See to it that the plantain doesn't get mashed while sauting. 
• Coarsely grind the groundnut and sprinkle over the dish and saute for a minute and you're done! Jus as simple as that!!!

PS: Add more sugar if required to suit ur taste buds! 
kerala

Tomato Egg Fried Rice

This is a very very quick n tasty dish. Its often perceived that any fried rice variant is difficult to prepare and hence most of them avoid preparing fried rice. Hence, I would say; start off with this dish and then you'll know fried rice is really easy!

Basmati rice : 2 cups

Cardamom : 3 nos.

Cinnamon : 1 inch piece

Cloves : 1 no.

Pepper : 5 nos.

Egg : 3 nos.

Ripe tomato (big ) : 1 no.

Chilly powder : 3/4 tspn

Finely sliced onion : 2 big ones

Pepper powder : 1 tspn

Turmeric powder : 1/2 tspn

Green chilly : 3 nos.

Mustard seeds : 1/4 tspn

Crushed jeera / jeera powder : 1/2 tspn

Bay leaves : 1 no.

Coriander leaves : 1 bunch

Salt : as required

Garam masala : 1/4 tspn

Ghee : 3 tbspn

Oil : 1 tspn

• Wash rice and drain; keep aside. Take a large bowl and pour half the amount of required ghee in it; saute the raw spices; cardamom, cinnamon, pepper and cloves for about a min. Add bay leaves cut into 1 inch piece.
• Put the drained rice in the pan and saute thoroughly with a wooden spoon until the rice gets completely mixed with the ghee. 
• Pour 4 cups of water and cook rice covered along with required salt. Keep aside to cool.
• Beat the eggs with required salt, chilly powder and 1/4 tspn pepper powder and scramble it and keep aside.
• Take a heavy bottomed pan and pour the remaining ghee. Once hot, put the mustard seeds. Once they start to splutter, add the finely sliced onion, sliced green chillies, turmeric powder, remaining pepper powder, crushed jeera with required salt. Saute until the onion gets golden brown in colour.
• Add the tomato cut into small dices and saute until they get completely mashed. Check salt and add if required. Now, the masala is done.
• Add the cooked rice to the masala and mix thoroughly. Add garam masala, scrambled eggs and mix well.
• Sprinkle coriander leaves cut into small pieces and mix for a minute. And its ready!!!

Note : To those who would prefer a description of scrambled eggs, take a pan and pour oil, pour the beaten eggs. You may add a little water or milk to the mix and beat until fluffy. Cook slowly under low flame. High temperature might turn them rubbery. Stir it often until it forms clumps and its done.  

Its better to prepare scrambled egg after ur done with the masala and rice since keeping it for long might make the egg slightly rubbery.
kerala 

Egg Masala

Selecting this one as the first egg recipe of my blog wouldn't b a bad start na? Cuz, this one is really easy to prepare and a best match with appam, chappathi, idiappam, etc.. and a must know for almost all housewives and some hubbies out ter ;)! There would be different versions of this dish with almost all Keralites. An absolute delight indeed!

You would need

Boiled eggs : 3 nos.

Finely sliced onion : 2 nos.

Ginger : 1/2 inch piece

Garlic : 7 pods

Green chilly : 3 nos.

Turmeric powder : 1/2 tspn

Chilly powder : 3 tspn

Coriander powder : 1 tspn

Fennel seeds powder : 21/2 tspn

Oil : 4-5 tbspn

Salt :as required

Coriander leaves : a bunch

Garam masala : 1/4 tspn

• Boil the eggs, remove the shell and keep aside
• Take a pressure cooker, pour oil and once hot, add finely chopped ginger, garlic and green chillies until the raw smell goes off.
• Put finely sliced onion and saute along with a little salt and turmeric powder.
• Once the oinion gets slightly brownish in colour, add chilly powder, coriander powder and fennel seeds powder and saute with a little water to get the powders cooked. Add garam masala too.
• Add chopped coriander leaves and cook covered until u get 2 whistles on the cooker. Keep aside to cool.
• Take the boiled eggs, cut into halves and add to the gravy prepared in the pressure cooker.
• Saute the egg halves with the mix thoroughly without the egg yolk getting mashed until the gravy gets thicker and reduces in content. Check salt and add if less. Serve hot!

Palada Pradhaman/ Rice Flakes pudding

Hello friends! what abt palada pradhaman today? This is one of my yummy favourites..a regular during onam season, a 10 day grand festival of Kerala. It has its origin in the land of Malabar, known for yummy food! A real rich pudding or pradhaman made of flakes of cooked rice, its a really tasty n an easy dish to prepare. Try it out n make ur guests n family wonder at ur culinary skills! :)

Ingredients : 

Rice ada (small flakes) : 200g

Milk : 2 litres

Condensed milk : 3 tbspn

Sugar : 200g

Water : 300ml

Ghee : 3 tbspn

Cashewnut : a handful

Raisin : half the amount of cashews (if required)

Chukku (dried ginger) : 1 inch piece

Cardamom powder : 1/4 tspn

• Cook ada; (not the big ones; they are better for the ada pradhaman made with jaggery) along with water in a pressure cooker until u get 3-4 whistles and keep aside to cool.
• Boil milk in a bowl or cooker along with 3/4th the amount of sugar under low flame for about less than an hour and ur done when the milk reduces in content to about 1 1/2 litres and changes to a creamy pink colour.
• Take a heavy bottomed pan and pour ghee to it; once hot, fry the cashews n raisins and drain it n keep aside. 
• Add cooked ada to the ghee and mix them very well for about 5 minutes. Add milk and stir thoroughly.
• Add condensed milk and cook for about 5 minutes more. Check taste and add sugar if less. Stir occasionally until you get a slightly thick consistency. It is better that you donot wait until the content gets reduced to a much thicker consistency since it will gradually get even thicker after cooking as time passes on (which is called pathrabhagham referred in Vermicelli Pudding / Semia payasam).
• Add cardamom powder and crushed dried ginger and stir well. Add the fried cashews and raisins. Switch off the flame; keep as such for about half an hour and then serve for the ultimate taste!

Note: Ada pradhaman is often mistaken for palada pradhaman, ada pradhaman is made of jaggery and coconut milk however, palada pradhaman is made as described above. 

 
Dont worry; moi will soon come up with ada pradhaman to get rid of ur tiny confusions!

Vegetable Korma

Was a bit lazy... was actually thinkin' which shud be my next recipe for u... shud b something for the vegans n nons alike.. and veg korma came to my mind... Korma, though rich in vegetables, is a favourite of both vegetarians n non-vegetarians and is a regular in functions like marriages, receptions etc..in Kerala. The fact is that non-vegetarian folks take the mutton or chicken variety first and then take our favourite korma too along with rice noodles or appam or even pathiri.. Thats the importance of veg korma in our land, taste this one!

Ingredients:

Potato : 2 nos.

Carrot : 1 nos.

Beans : 3-5 nos.

Cauliflower : a handful

Peas : half a handful

Tomato : a small one

Onion : 1 no.

Green Chilly : 5-6 nos.

Curry leaves : 2 sprigs

Cardamom : 2 nos.

Cinnamon : a small stick

Star Anise (thakkolam) : 1/5th of 1 

Cloves(grambu) : 1 no. 

Garam masala : a pinch

Ginger : 3 pods

Garlic : 1/2 inch piece

Turmeric powder : 1/2 tspn

Coriander powder : 1 tspn

Fennel seeds powder : 1/2 tspn

Pepper powder : 1/2 tspn

Grated coconut : half a big coconut

Coriander leaves: a bunch

Coconut oil : 3 tbspn

Salt : as required

• Clean the vegetables, dice them into small pieces and keep aside. Regarding the beans, you may cut it into 1 inch pieces.
• Extract coconut milk out of the grated coconut in the proportion of 1:2; 1 being 1 cup of1st milk which is thicker and 2 being 2 cups of 2nd milk.
• Take a pressure cooker and pour oil onto it. Once hot, add the spices; cardamom, cinnamon and just one piece of star anise and once you get the wow! aroma (I jus meant the aroma of spices gettin' roasted!), add curry leaves and saute.
• Add onion cut into small pieces and green chillies as well along with a little salt. Saute until onions get soft n transparent.
• Add ginger-garlic made into a fine paste and saute till the raw smell goes off. 
• Add turmeric powder, pepper powder, fennel seeds powder and coriander powder along with 1/2 cup 2nd milk and saute until the raw smell of the coriander powder goes off. 
• Add the diced vegetables and peas along with required salt and remaining 2nd milk and cook under low flame until you hear 4-5 whistles on ur cooker. Allow it to cool.
• Now, open the lid and add the 1st extract of coconut milk and a pinch of garam masala. Donot cook for long once you have added the 1st extract.
• Garnish with coriander leaves.

Note : Keep the peas overnight in water and cook it separately with some water before adding along with the other vegetables since it requires more time to get cooked.

I might be giving atleast some of u a chance of doubt while mentioning the spices and the garam masala separately. Spices is the raw version of cinnamon, cardamom, star anise and cloves and garam masala is the dry roast version of the aforesaid :)

Beef Fry / Beef Ularthiyathu

So guys,this is gonnabe the first beef dish of my blog.. and am sure this is a favourite of all household, really spicy n tasty to the extent that all those homesick Kerala NRIs take along the 'beef ularthu' made by their moms or wives while leaving homes, and its a perfect match to chappathis! This wud let u get rid off homesickness; oh! I cant guarantee that! Anyways, try it out n enjoy! :)

Ingredients :

Beef : 1 kg

Green chilly : 10 nos.

Ginger : 3 inch piece

Garlic : 10 big pods

Shallots : 15 nos.

Onion : 2 big nos.

Garam Masala : 1 tspn

Turmeric powder : 1/2 tspn

Chilly powder : 3 tspn heaped

Coriander powder : 2 tspn

Fennel seeds powder : 2 tspn heaped

Pepper powder : 1/2 tspn

Coconut oil : 4-5 tbspn

Salt : as required

Vinegar : 1/2 tspn (required if beef is hard)

Coconut cut into small dices : a handful

Curry leaves : 2 sprigs

Thin slices of lemon

• Clean beef n cut them into small pieces.
• Coarsely grind shallots, green chillies, ginger n garlic with half a tspn of powdered garam masala and keep aside.
• Marinate the beef with a little salt, half the coarsely ground mix, turmeric powder, 2 tspns of chilly powder, 1 1/2 tspn of coriander powder and 11/2 tspn of fennel seeds powder.
• Cook the above ingredients in a pressure cooker until you get 5 whistles and keep aside to cool off. 
• Take a heavy bottomed pan and pour oil. Allow it to heat, put curry leaves and also the stem cut into small pieces for that excellent aroma. Once that gets fried, add the coconut pieces and fry until slight brownish. Remove them from oil and keep aside.
• Add the coarsely ground ingredients and saute until the raw smell goes off. 
• Finely slice one onion and add to this and saute until slightly brownish.
• Add the cooked beef into this and put the remaining powders except garam masala and stir continuously for the powders to get mixed with the beef very well. Check salt and add if less.
• Add pepper powder and saute very well. Pour oil gradually at different intervals from the sides of the pan and keep stirring to avoid sticking to the bottom, under low flame.
• Add the remaining garam masala and u'll get the perfect aroma now. Add the fried curry leaves n coconut pieces. Continue stirring until its dry.
• Garnish with round slices of onions and lemon. 

Note : In case the beef you've bought is hard, pour 1/2 a teaspoon of vinegar to the marinated beef n cook for it to become tender.

Plantain Coconut Sweet / Unnakkai / Kaayada

This is a famous snack of the malabaris and keralites now, one of the most important snacks during the holy month of Ramadan. This is rich in coconut n plantain or ethakka which is high in Vitamin A n fibre. Plaintain is rich in solids and low in water content hence a must for kidsto give them energy.. contains egg too! If given in the form of Unnakkai, am sure they wud grab it.. :) Very easy n tasty rich snack indeed.

Ingredients :

Ripe Plantain: 3 large nos.

Grated coconut : 2 cups

Egg : 2

Ghee : 1 tbspn

Sugar : 1 tbspn or as required

Cardamom powder : 1 tspn

Cashew nuts : 1 tbspn

Raisins : a few if u like it..

Oil : 3 tbspn

• Steam plantains with a little water and allow it to cool. 
• Peel off, remove the black seeds in the middle, mash it very well with ur hands, without lumps, make small balls of it  and keep aside.
• Fry the cashews n raisins in ghee and remove them once done. 
• Add grated coconut n sugar into the ghee n keep on stirring under low flame to avoid getting stuck to bottom, until it turns golden brown. Check taste n add sugar if required.
• Scramble egg over it and mix very well. Add cardamom powder n stir it. 
• Add the fried cashews n raisins n switch off the flame. Keep aside to cool.
• Apply a little oil on ur palms, take a ball of plantain n press between ur palms to resemble a puri, stuff them with the coconut mix we prepared earlier. 
• Close ur hand by joining ends to give unnakkais the shape of ur closed hand. Join all edges so that while frying, it doesn't open up. Do the same with all the tiny plantain balls. 
• Heat oil in a pan n deep fry each of these until golden brown, under medium flame. Serve afresh! 

Tip: At times, it so happens that the steamed plantains doesn't have a stiffness and hence, it doesn't remain in its shape. But I add a little rice flour or all purpose flour along with it while mashing to get a thickness. And it comes out well!

Easy Peasy Semolina Sweet / Rava Kesari

Lets make something sweet today...this one is liked by all alike.. This one is actually a favourite of South Indians.. and my mom makes this much much better than me.. Yeah guys.. and hence, this recipe comes straight from her..Usually, I have seen that many of my frnds n relatives make this with water however, I am using milk instead. You may opt for any of these.

Ingredients:

Semolina / Rava /Sooji : 1 cup

Milk : 2 cups

Ghee : 1 cup

Sugar : 2 cups

Cashew : a handful

Golden raisins : a handful

Crushed cardamom : 1/2 tspn

Yellow powder & Orange powder

• Heat 1/2 a cup of ghee in a heavy bottomed pan and fry cashews n raisins n keep aside. 
• Fry rava in the same pan under low flame, stirring constantly until it turns slightly pinkish. Keep aside.
• Boil milk along with a small pinch of lemon n orange colour each mixed into it and add sugar and keep stirring occasionally. 
• Now, add the roasted rava slowly into the boiled milk and keep on stirring under low flame to avoid lumps. Allow it to cook. We require more amount of liquid content for the rava to get cooked. So, if you feel the milk is less, you may add more until it gets cooked or may add water instead. Check sweetness and add appropriately.
• Keep on stirring to avoid sticking to the bottom. Add ghee occasionally in small quantities until the rava starts coming off the sides of the pan.
• Sprinkle crushed cardamom and garnish with fried cashews n raisins.Serve hot or cold.

Mutton Pepper Fry - Kerala Style

Hmm... I know I ve not yet served all those mutton lovers thru my blog; sorry guys..I was thinking; which mutton dish would be a perfect opener... and mutton pepper fry came to my mind within a fraction of a sec  and I love making this one..very spicy n mouth-watering indeed! You jus wont b able to stop eating..Hence, try this out today itself..

Ingredients :

Boneless mutton : 1 kg

Onion : 1 finely sliced

Curry leaves : 1 sprig

Green chillies : 12 nos.

Ginger : 2 inch piece

Garlic : 15 pods

Shallots : 20 nos.

Chilly powder : 3 heaped tspns

Turmeric powder : 1/2 tspn

Coriander powder : 2 tspns

Fennel seed powder : 2 tspns

Garam masala : 1/2 tspn

Pepper powder : 1 tspn

Coconut oil : 3 tbspn

Salt : as required

Coriander leaves : a bunch

• Clean n wash mutton n cut it into small pieces. Drain water n keep aside.
• Coarsely grind shallots, ginger, garlic and 9 green chillies n marinate the mutton with 3/4th the amount. 
• Mix turmeric powder, chilly powder, coriander powder and fennel seeds powder with a little water to make a paste and apply on mutton evenly. 
• Add required salt and bring to cook in a pressure cooker. Need not add water since the water in mutton would be enough to get it cooked. Cook under low flame for about half an hour. Keep aside to cool.

Note : If the meat is tender, you may require to cook for 20 mins only. If it is not, you can make it tender by adding a tspn of vinegar to it before cooking. 

• Take a heavy bottomed wok or kadai and heat 1 1/2 tbspn oil in it. Once hot, put the ginger-garlic-shallots-green chilly paste into it and saute till the raw smell goes off. 
• Add curry leaves, 2 slit green chillies and finely sliced onions; saute till golden brown. Now, add the whole contents from the cooker along with mutton stock (water remaining after cooked). Check taste; add salt if required.
• Keep on sauteing, pouring oil through sides occasionally under low flame. Saute till its completely dry n roasted. 
• Sprinkle pepper powder and garam masala and mix well. Add the remaining green chilly slit into 4 pieces. You may add coriander leaves to garnish if you like coriander leaves. Thats it!

Note : This is very spicy; if you wish it to be less spicier, you may reduce the amount of chilly or pepper powder.

I ve got one tip for u to make this dish more tastier;add fried coconut pieces onto this and you wud definitely luv it!

Vermicelli Pudding / Semia Payasam

Im sure almost all of us wud have had this at any point in our lives; be it birthday, festival or jus any day when u 'felt' like having Vermicelli pudding aka semia payasam. Actually, for Keralites, payasam means semia payasam. Its like THE brand name for payasams. That shows the popularity! 

Today is my mom-in-law's b'day and I made semia payasam.. Its usually her who makes payasam when its any of the family members' birthday. So, this one goes to her on behalf of all of us:)! 

Ingredients:

Vermicelli : 100g

Milk : 1 1/2 litre

Milk powder : 1 tbspn

Sweetened condensed milk : 1 tspn (to garnish)

Ghee : 50g

Sugar : 5 tbspn or as per preference

Cashew : a handful

Seedless golden raisins : 20-25 nos.

Crushed cardamom : 3 nos. 

Salt : a few drops / a pinch

We get plain n roasted vermicelli at supermarkets. If u have bought the roasted one, u just need to stir it with ghee to get them completely coated. I bought the plain one. Hence, those with plain vermicelli, follow me!

• Break the vermicelli into 1 inch pieces (better break it inside the cover itself cuz otherwise, it would be all over ur kitchen!). 
• Heat 3/4th of the ghee in a pan and fry cashews and raisins until slightly decoloured and remove them. 
• Put the vermicelli into it n roast them until golden in low flame stirring continuously n keep aside. 
• Pour the milk along with sugar into a bowl n bring to boil; under low flame. Also, add milk powder mixed in a little water, onto it. Actually, its advisable to boil it in a pressure cooker under low flame until 3 whistles.You will see that the milk has reduced in volume and has developed a slight pinkish colour and has become thicker. 
• Put the roasted vermicelli in milk and keep on stirring to avoid lumps. Now, cover n cook the vermicelli for about 15-20 minutes under low flame. Check sugar n add more if required.
• Add about 5-7 drops of salt or sprinkle a pinch so that u do not feel dizzy cuz of sweetness!
• Add the fried cashews n raisins. Add crushed cardamom n mix well. Pour the condensed milk over to garnish. Switch off the stove. 

However, I advise u to wait for about 20 minutes more before u serve payasam cuz there is something called 'paathrabhaagam' in malayalam which simply means keeping the payasam in the bowl for some more time since that would give it a much greater taste.

I would definitely like all my frnds to know one of my personal favourites; which is adding Tapioca Pearls/Chowwari/Sabodana (soaked in water and cooked) to milk (3rd step). This would make the payasam thicker n gives a different flavour. Try that too n let me know which one stole ur hearts! :)

Anyways, the semia payasam turned out well.. and I wud luv to knw how was urs! Take care!

Tomato roast

My mom used to make this dish since we luvd it with chappathi. Its a quick n easy dish yet too tasty.. After marriage, I used to try this at my home but it neva gave me THE taste of my mom's hands.. and hence, I was particular that I wud call her n record the conversation to get the right amount of ingredients for that matters..Still not satisfied, I went down to her n made her prepare it before me! See, am I not taking extra care to give u THE best?! And guess what, my mommy dearest dint show any disinterest to prepare the dish for me even after a long day's work.

Now this is Mili speaking on behalf of her beloved mother :)

Juicy red tomato : 4 nos.

Onion : 1 big sliced finely in length

Green chilly : 4 - 5 nos.

Garam masala : a pinch

Turmeric powder : 1/2 tspn

Red chilly powder : 1 tspn

Fennel seeds powder : 1/2 tspn

Mustard seeds : 1/4 tspn

Red chilly : 2 nos.

Curry leaves : 1 sprig

Salt : as required

Oil : 2 tbspn

Take a kadai n heat the oil in it, season mustard seeds n allow it to splutter, then add red chillies cut into pieces n curry leaves and saute for a minute. Now, add finely sliced onions and green chillies each slit n cut into two along with required salt and saute till golden brown. Add 1/4 tspn fennel seed powder. Now add the finely sliced tomatoes, turmeric powder and chilly powder and saute thoroughly. Cover n cook under low flame, sauteing occasionally. Do not add water to cook since the water from tomatoes would be enough for the dish to get cooked. U can b sure that your tomato roast is ready once the tomatoes get completely mashed and the oil starts to appear in the sides. Serve hot or cold, as u wish along with chappathi/roti/puri!
kerala