Raw banana with cow peas

Raw banana with cow peas (വാഴയ്ക്കയും പയറും )

Ingredients:

1. Banana                     1 cup(peel its outer skin,cut in to square pieces)

2. Cow pieces               ½ cup(kuthirthathu)

3. Coconut                    1 cup,grated(medium sized coconut)

    Green chilly              5 no

    Onion small              6 no

    Turmeric powder           

4. Coconut oil               2 tbsp

5. Mustard                   1 tbsp

6. Curry leaves            1 spring

7. Salt                           as desired

8. Small onion              4 nos (cut in to small pieces)

Method of preparation:

1)   Put cow pieces in a vessel with soaking water, salt and pinch of turmeric powder. Keep it on flame till it is half cooked. To this add Banana cooked this mixture well.

2)  Grind the 3^rd items well.

3)  Add this mixture to the above cooked dish,keep it in low flame till it boiling.

4) Heat oil in a pan and sprinkle in mustard seeds. When they start sputtering add curry leaves and onion piecess stirr well till onions colour become brown,Add these in to the above mixture, stir well.

Bitter gourd Meezhukkupuratti

Bitter gourd (പാവയ്ക്ക ) Mezhukkupuratti

Ingredients:

1) Pavakka (bitter gourd)    1 cup (clean it and cut in to thin lengthy pieces)

2) Onion large                      2 no (cut in to small pieces)

    Salt                                   As needed

    Turmeric Powder             As Needed

    Coconut pieces    ¼ cup

    Green chilly         4 no(slit through center)

3) Mustard               2 tsp

  Curry leafs           1 spring

  Coconut Oil          As needed

Method of preparation

1. Take one or two pavakka (bitter gourd) with items under (2) in one dish, mix well with hand.
2. Heat oil in a pan and sprinkle in mustard seeds.When they start sputtering add curry leaves. Add the above mixture to this, keep it on a low flame stirring occasionally.When its color become faded (or check if it is cooked well by taking piece out) swich off the flame.

Raw banana thoran (Nenthra kaya)

Ingredients:

1) Banana              5 no(Peel its skin)

2) Coconut             1/2cup,grated

    Onion small       6 no      

    Green chilly       5 no

    Turmeric Powder  1tsp

4) Mustard             1 tsp

5) Curry leaves      1 spring

6) Salt                      as needed

7) Coconut oil          2 tbsp

8) Small onion         4 nos (cut in to small pieces)

Method of Preparation:

1. Cut the banana in to small square pieces and wash well. Take it in to one pan add little water and salt and one pinch of turmeric powder, keep it in flame till half cooked.
2. Put the 2nd items in to one mixy jar pour little water and just grind,or smash ,add with the half cooked banana and add desired quantity of salt again cooked for some time .
3. Heat oil in a pan and sprinkle in mustard seeds.When they start sputtering add curry leaves  and onion pieces stir well,In to this add the cooked mixture, mix well.

Note: For better taste, instead of coconut oil we can use ghee.

Papaya thoran

Thoran is a dry side dish eaten with rice. In this edition, I would like to write about the papaya thoran. The papaya when eaten as a fruit or prepared as a juice is very delicious and healthy. (On a side note papaya fruit facial helps you to improve the complexion and softness of the skin :-))

Let's see how do you prepare the papaya thoran.

Ingredients:

1) Papaya                           1 cup, grated into small pieces

2) Coconut                         1/2 cup,grated

    Onion small                   6 nos                                                  

    Green chilly                  5 nos

    Turmeric powder          As needed

4) Mustard                        1 tsp

5) Curry leaves                 1 spring

6) Salt                                As needed

7) Red chilly                      4 nos, cut in to 4 pieces

8) Coconut oil                    1 tbsp

Method of preparation:

1. Grate the papaya well.
2. Put the items listed under 2 (coconut, small onion, green chilly and turmeric powder) in to one mixy jar, pour a little water and just grind (or smash them well). Add this with the papaya and add desired quantity of salt. Mix well.
3. Take this mixture in to one pan, cooked well on low flame.
4. Heat oil in a pan and sprinkle in mustard seeds.When they start sputtering add curry leaves  and red chilly pieces, stir well. In to this add the cooked papaya mixture and mix well. (

Tip: Instead of coconut oil, you can use your favorite oil, or ghee. Ghee will add to the taste and healthy for your smaller ones.

Malabar fish curry

If there is any dish that I would love to write about, that is the Nadan fish curry (നാടൻ  മീൻ കറി ). You can find many ways of preparing the same dish. In fact, if you ask each and every village or even families have it's own way of preparing the fish curry. You can find one recipe here which is fish curry with Gambooj (kudampuli -കുടംപുളി). This curry can be used in many combinations: with rice, with kappa (tapioca), with porotta, etc.

Another suggestion: use a clay pot to prepare this curry. According to granny's wisdom, if you use a metal utensil to prepare this curry or keep this curry for a long  time, the tamarind will react with metal and will be bad for your health.

Ingredients:

1) Fresh pieces of seer fish     1 cup(cut in to  pieces), here I used seer fish (നെയ്‌ മീൻ )

2) Chill powder                         2 tbsp;

    Turmeric powder                 As needed

3) Salt                                       As needed;

4) water                                    As needed;

5) Gambooj tamarind(Kudampuli) As needed, depending on the quality and your taste

6) To Temper:       

            Coconut Oil     2 tbsp

            Mustard          1 tsp

            Curry leaves   1 sprig

      Ginger  clean and remove its outer skin and grate in to small pieces;

      Garlic                          ,,

      Fenugreek                  1 tbsp;

      Green chilly                2 no.

Method of preparation:

1. Take items listed under 2 (Chilli powder and Turmeric powder) in a clay pot, cook it with a little coconut oil in low flame until the color turns brown. Add water to this and mix well while the pot is still kept on low flame. Add kudampuli (gambooj) to this. When it starts boiling, add the fish pieces. Keep the flame until the fish is cooked and the gravy becomes thick.
2. Heat coconut oil on a pan and sprinkle in mustard seed. When the seeds starts popping, add fenugreek seeds (uluva), stir well. Add ginger, garlic, chilly and curry leaves, stir well again. Add this to the above curry.

Hello friends!

Kerala has a variety of tastes. This blog is my humble attempt to introduce some of the specific dishes found in the Northern part of Kerala - Malabar.

Most of the recipes found here will be what you would have tasted when you visited your grandparents, or something that you would've cherished down memory lane as a kid, but then disappeared from the dining tables as we adopted the comfortable life-styles of modern times.

The idea of this blog originated when a friend of my husband asked the recipe of a side dish that he happened to taste. I hope you will find the recipes useful and try them. Please let me know your comments. Thank you so much for reading !