ACHINGA KONDATTAM

For making kondattam the runner beans must be of "achinga paruvam",There are different names for runner beans in our part of Kerala, like "achinga", "edayachinga" and " payaru" depending on the degree of ripeness. Achinga is best for thoran, mezhukku puratti etc whereas edayachinga (which is the next stage) is not good for cooking as the skin is hard and can not be peeled off easily. The next stage is "payaru" and for making thoran/mezhukku puratti only the seeds are used and the skin is discarded.

INGREDIENTS

1. Achinga payar, cut into 1" pieces - 1 cup

2. Water - 1/4 cup

3. Salt

4. Turmeric powder - 1 pinch

5. Oil - for frying

METHOD

1.Cook runner beans pieces with water, salt and turmeric. Should not be fully cooked.

2. Dry in the sun for 2-3 days till they break easily.

3. Fry in oil till crisp.

 

MATHALA NARANGA PACHADI

Preparation of mathala naranga (pomegranate) pachadi doesnt involve elaborate cooking or grinding. It can be made in less than five minutes.

INGREDIENTS

1. Pomegranate - 1

2. Beaten curd - 1 cup

3. Salt

4. Coconut oil - 2 tea spoon

5. Mustard seeds - 1/4 tea spoon

6. Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tea spoon

7. curry leaves - 1 sprig

8. Dried red chillis - 3

METHOD

1. Place the pomegranate arils in a bowl. Crush some with your fingers. ( This is optional. This will add some sweetness and a light pink colour to the curry) Mix with curd and salt.

2. Heat oil in a pan and splutter mustard seeds. Fry fenugreek followed by red chillis and curry leaves. Pour into the pachadi.

CARROT PICKLE

INGREDIENTS

1. Carrot (finely chopped) - 1 cup
2. Lemon juice (or lime juice) - 2 table spoon
3. Salt
4. Chilli powder - 1 tea spoon
5. Asafoetida - 1 pinch
6. Sesame oil - 1 table spoon
7. Mustard seeds - 1/4 tea spoon
8. Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tea spoon
9. Curry leaves - 1 sprig

METHOD

1. Mix carrot well with lemon juice, salt, asafoetida and chilli powder.

2. Heat oil in a pan and splutter mustard seeds. Fry fenugreek and curry leaves and pour into the carrot  and mix well. Refrigerate.

ETHAKKA & PAYAR MEZHUKKU PURATTI

INGREDIENTS

1. Raw banana - 3 (cut into 1" long thin strips)

2. Achinga payar (runner beans) cut into 1" pieces - 1 cup

3. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tea spoon

4. Dried red chillis - 2

5. Chopped coconut - 2 table spoon (optional)

6. Coconut oil (or any vegetable oil) - 1 1/2 table spoon

7. Mustard seeds - 1/4 tea spoon

8. Salt

METHOD

1. Cook banana with 1/2 cup water and turmeric.   When half done, add achinga pieces and salt and cook till done and all the water is gone. Use a spatula (not a spoon) to stir in between.

( I use thin dark green runner beans from Sreelanka which takes very little time to cook. If you are using thick beans they can be cooked along with banana)

2. Heat oil in a pan and splutter mustard seeds. Crush the chillis in a mortar and add to the oil . Stir for a second and add the banana- payar mixture.

3. Stir fry on low heat for 8-10 minutes.

MOLAGOOTTAL

Molagoottal is made with dal and one ore more vegetables like ash gourd, raw banana, koorkka, elephant yam etc. I usually add some chopped potato also to get a thicker gravy.

This curry goes well with rice, accompanied by pappadam and pachadi/inchi curry

INGREDIENTS

1. Ash gourd diced - 1 1/2 cup (the size of pieces can vary according to your liking)

2. Potato diced - 1/4 cup (optional)

3. Toor dal - 1/4 cup

4. Grated coconut - 1 cup

5. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tea spoon

6. Green chilli - 1

7. Cumin seeds - 1/4 tea spoon

8. Coconut oil - 1 table spoon

9. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tea spoon

10. Red chillis - 2

METHOD

1. Pressure cook dal and vegetables for 10 minutes.

2. Grind coconut, green chilli, cumin seeds and turmeric to a fine paste. Add this and enough water to the cooked dal-vegetable mix to get a gravy of required consistency. Close and cook on low heat.

3. When it starts frothing stir with a spoon and switch off heat.

4. Heat oil in a pan, splutter mustard seeds and fry red chillis. Pour into the curry.

CURD, BUTTER MILK, SPICED BUTTER MILK & INCHI THAYIRU

 Butter milk and inchi thayiru are two essential items in a sadya. Curd is the  basic ingredient for the other three and the recipes are  simple.

1.  CURD

INGREDIENTS

1. Full cream milk - 1 litre

2. Curd - 1-2 table spoon

METHOD

1. Heat milk in a pan. When it starts boiling, reduce heat and cook well stirring continuously for 5-6 minutes. Allow to cool. It should not be too hot or too cold.

2. Smear the inside of a bowl (glass/ceramic) with curd. Pour milk into it , cover and allow to stand for 10-12 hours. If the room temperature is low, cover the bowl with an old sweater or blanket.

2. BUTTER MILK

Add a cup of ice water to the curd and beat using an egg beater (or in a mixie with wipper blade). Butter gets seperated and settles on the top. It is taken out, washed 2-3 times and stored. What remains is butter milk or pacha moru.

3. SPICED BUTTER MILK

This is prepared by adding crushed ginger, chilli, curry leaves and salt to butter milk. A diluted version of this is "sambhaaram" an excellent drink especially during summer.

INGREDIENTS

1. Butter Milk - 1 litre

2. Salt

3. Ginger - 1/2 " cube

4. Curry leaves - 1 sprig

5. Green chilli - 1 (or kanthari mulaku )

METHOD

1. Crush ginger and chilli in a mortar

2. Crush curry leaves with your fingers.

3. Add salt, ginger, curry leaves and chilli into the butter milk and mix.

4. INCHI THAYIRU

1. Curd - 1/4 cup
2. Green chilli - 1
3. Ginger - 1/2 "cube
4. Uppu kallu (salt crystals) - 1/2 tea spoon

METHOD

1. Pound salt, ginger and chilli in a mortar
2. Add curd and mix

PAZHAM NURUKKU

Pazham nurukku or "ethappazham puzhungiyathu" is usually made by steaming ripe banana with the skin on."There is another easier method which I use for making pazham nurukku for sadya.

INGREDIENTS

1. Ripe banana - 2

2. Ghee - 1 tea spoon

3. Jaggery syrup - 1 table spoon

METHOD

1. Remove skin and cut each banana into 2 or 3

2. Take the banana in a pan with 1-2 cups of water. Cook covered at medium heat for 5 minutes. Reduce heat and flip the pieces. Cook again till all the water has evaporated.

3. Add ghee and jaggery syrup and switch off heat. Mix carefully so that the banana dosent get mashed.

VELLA NARANGA ACHAR

INGREDIENTS

1. Cheru naranga (lime) - 10
2. Sesame oil - 3 table spoon
3. Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
4. Garlic - 8-10 cloves
5. Ginger chopped - 1 table spoon
6. Green chillis - 4 or Kanthari mulaku - 10
7. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tea spoon
8. Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tea spoon
9. Asafoetida - 1/4 tea spoon

METHOD

 Lime can be cooked either by steaming or by stir frying in oil. I have used the second method in this recipe.

1. Heat 1 table spoon oil in a pan and cook the lime on low heat, stirring in between. The skin will become soft and start breaking. Switch off heat and discard the oil (it would have become brown)

2. Wipe each lime with a dry cloth and cut into wedges.

3. Chop garlic and green chillis

4. Heat 2 table spoon oil in a pan and splutter mustard seeds followed by fenugreek.

5. Add curry leaves, green chillis, ginger and garlic and saute till garlic starts turning brown.

6. Add lime and salt and 1/4 cup boiled water and cook for 3 minutes.

7. If planning to keep for long, add 1 table spoon of vinegar when cooled. Mix well and transfer to a glass or clay container. Put a cloth soaked in sesame oil below the lid and close tightly. Let it stay like this for a week.

CHENA UPPERI & CHEMBU UPPERI

 

Fried chena (elephant yam) and chembu  are two of the four fries included in the Kerala sadya menu.

INGREDIENTS

1. Chena - 250 gm

2. Sheema Chembu - 250gm 

3. Oil - for frying

4. Salt - 1/2 tea spoon

5. Turmeric - 1/2 tea spoon (optional)

6. Water

METHOD

1. Remove skin and cut yam into thin  long strips or cubes. Keep it in water containing a little turmeric powder and wash well. Drain on paper towel.

2. Heat oil in a pan and fry the strips stirring continuously.

3. Sprinkle some water with salt and turmeric when half done.

4.  Continue frying till done, stirring all the time.

5. Similarly clean and cut the chembu into thin round pieces.

6. Fry in oil stirring continuously, sprinkling  salt water when half done.

Sometimes chena upperi gets soggy if kept for long time. This can be prevented by baking it for 8 -10 minutes in the oven at minimum temperature.

KOOTTU CURRY

Koottu curry is an item on the Kerala sadya menu which is different from "koottu", popular in Tamilnadu. It can be prepared using different combinations of vegetables and grams/dals like "raw banana - chana dal", "elephant yam - black chana", "cucumber, elephant yam, raw banana and black chana"etc.

INGREDIENTS

1. Chena ( elephant yam) cubed - 2 cups

2. Karutha kadala (black chick peas) - 1/2 cup

3. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tea spoon

4. Chilli powder - 1/2 tea spoon

5. Grated coconut - 1 cup

6. Cumin seeds - 1 pinch

7. Coconut oil - 2 table spoon

8. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tea spoon

9. Whole red chillis - 2

10. Curry leaves - 1 sprig

METHOD

1. Soak chick peas overnight and pressure cook for 10 minutes. Add cubed yam, chilli powder and 1/4 tea spoon turmeric powder and pressure cook again. Stop heating after the first whistle.

2. If you are using a pressure pan continue cooking in it. Otherwise transfer the yam - chick peas mixture into a pan.

3. Grind 3/4 cup of coconut coarsely with 1/4 tea spoon turmeric and cumin seeds. Add this to the pan and cover with yam - chick peas mixture. Close with a lid and cook on low heat for 3-4 minutes. Mix with a spoon.

4. Heat oil in a pan and splutter mustard seeds. Add red chillis, curry leaves and 1/4 cup coconut and fry well. Add to the koottu curry and mix.

PACHORU

This is my 100th post and I wanted to try some special sweet recipe. Today is September 8th and this date always reminds me of paachoru (nercha paachoru) which our neighbour used to bring after finishing her "Ettu Nombu". It is very much similar to "chakkara pongal" which we make during Navarathri.

INGREDIENTS

1. Raw rice ( I used jeerakasala rice) - 1/2 cup

2. Jaggery - 200 gm

3. Ghee - 1 table spoon

4. Grated coconut - 1/2 cup

5. Chukku-jeerakam-elakka podi - 1/2 tea spoon (dry ginger, cumin seeds and cardamom taken in equal amounts and powdered)

6. Chopped coconut - 1 table spoon

7. Kismis - 10-12

8. Cashewnut - 8-10

PREPARATION

1. Heat 6-8 cups of water in a big pan and cook rice well. It should be overcooked.

2. Make jaggery syrup by heating it with 1 cup water and filtering when completely dissolved.

3. Blend the grated coconut well with hand till the milk starts coming.

4. Add jaggery syrup and coconut to the rice and cook again till all the water is gone.

5. Switch off heat, add chukku-jeerakam-elakka powder and mix well.

6. Heat ghee and fry chopped coconut, cashew and kismis. Pour into the paachoru and mix.