Fish pickle

Pickles

Pickles add to the spiciness of life. You make it once and use it for months together, so they help you to make life easier. Most of the people love to eat pickles but might not be the healthiest dish. An old saying goes that eating too much pickles may create an acidity problem in the stomach. May be because the pickling process creates some acids as part  of the fermentation.

We can make pickle with almost any food item. Different people prepares pickles in different ways. In many traditional households, they have their own process of preparing and preserving pickles. Pickling is the process of preserving or expanding the life span of food either by anaerobic fermentation (meaning fermentation without air, in a tightly closed jar) in brine (solution of salt) or immersion in vinegar.

Fish Pickle

Today let me write about how to make a non-vegetarian pickle, which is made out of shark fish. This  pickle makes me feel nostalgic because this is one of the best dishes of my mother used to send me to the hostel during my collage days. Whenever I see the fish pickle that reminds me of how me and my friends used to compensate the tasteless mess food with the spicy and tasty home prepared pickles that many of us have brought with us.


Typically fish pickle can be made with shark, sardine, butter fish (moda), seer fish, prawns etc., except mackerel. Here we will used dried shark, and not the fresh shark.

Ingredients:

1) Shark Fish,dry                1 Kg(Cut in to small square pieces and soaked in water about 8 hours, for to remove its salt);
2) Ginger                           1 tbsp, cut in to thin slices;
3) Garlic                           8 cloves;cut in to slices;
4) Green chilly                  6 no(slit through center);
5) Kashmiri chilly powder        2 tbsp;               
6) Curry leaves                   1 spring;
7) Mustard                       1 tsp;
8) Coconut oil                   As needed;
9) Vinegar                       1 tbsp;
10)Salt                         As needed;

Marination

1) Kashmiri chilly powder     2 tablespoon;
2) Turmeric powder            1/2 tsp;
3) Salt 
4) Oil                        For Frying ;   

Method of preparation:

1. Marinate the cleaned fish  with Kashmiri chilly powder (2 tsp), Turmeric powder (1/2 tsp) and salt. Keep this for half an hour. Heat oil in a pan & fry the fish. Keep it aside.
2. Heat oil in a pan and sprinkle in mustard seeds,When they start sputtering add curry leaves, garlic, ginger and chilly pieces, stir well. To this add chilly powder, add fried fish pieces. Switch off the flame and add vinegar. Mix everything well. After it cools down, keep it in glass jar or bottle.

Sandwich with corn

Reminds you of Subway? Well if you or your children are addicted to those footlong Subway sandwiches, then here are some other options for you to try at home. And let's make it a bit 'desi' by adapting the filling a bit.


Sandwiches are typically made by wrapping some food items such as vegetables, sliced cheese or meat between two or more pieces of bread that serve as a container or wrapper. Children today like to take sandwiches as part of lunch, taken to school. Though sandwiches are widely available in restaurants and cafes, they can be very easily made at homes as well. When you make them at home, you can choose to include healthy food within the the wrap, thus making sure that you get the right nutrition out of it.


Today let me introduce one sandwich, which has some healthy vegetables wrapped inside. It contains corn along with carrot, tomatoes and onions as the filing. In this Sandwich I also used cream cheese, especially to make the bread softer and make the sandwich tastier for the children.

Ingredients:


Steamed corn: 1 bowl,
Onion (big): medium size, cut in to cube shapes,
Carrot : 1no (cut in to small pieces),
Tomato sauce: As needed (I typically use 1 table spoon),

Capsicum: One piece (cut into thin pieces),
Salt: As needed
Ghee or oil: As needed


Method of Preparation


Take one pan pour some ghee into this. Add the onion pieces, saute the onions. Once the onions turn golden brown, add the carrot pieces and salt. Saute it well. Once they are cooked well, add the steamed corn and tomato sauce. Mix everything well and, switch off the flame. Keep it aside.

Take two bread slices, and spread some cream cheese on the top. Fill the mixture in between the two slices. Put it in the sandwich maker or a pan. Your sandwich will be ready in 5 minutes.

Egg and drumstick avial

Egg and drumstick avial

Avial  is a dish which is believed to have been originated from the Indian state of Kerala and which is common in Kerala, Tamil as well as Udupi cuisine. It is a thick mixture of vegetables and coconut, seasoned with coconut oil and curry leaves. Avial is considered an essential part of every sadya, the common vegetarian feast in Kerala during the Onam festival and Hindu marriages.

Normally Avial is the combination of most  of the vegetables. Here let me introduce a slightly different variety of Avial . This is one of the egg and drumstick (mutta and muringakka) combination.

Ingredients:
1) Egg                                 3 no (Boiled egg,cut in to 4 pieces,lengthwise)
2) Tomato                           2 no,if big(Cut in to small pieces)
3) Drumstick                       3 no,peel its skin ,cut in to 5 pieces;
4) Savala (big onion)           1 no(cut in to pieces)
4) Coconut                          1 cup,grated.
    Jeerakam                                       1 tsp;
    Green chilly                                   5 no;
    Small onion                                   5 no;
    Turmeric powder                         As needed;
    Salt                                                ,,
    Water                                           ,,
5) Curd                                   ½ cup;
6)Coconut oil                         1 ½ tbsp;

Method of preparation:
1)  Take tomato, onion and muringakka pieces in a vessel, add little water, salt and turmeric powder, cook it well.
2) Grind the 4th items (not in to a pure paste).
3) Add this in to the above vegetable mixture,keep it in flame for some time ,when steam comes keep it in low flame then add egg pieces keep it in flame for some time,to this add curd.
4) Switch off the flame, to this add coconut oil and curry leaf..

Chena puzhungiyathu (Elephant foot yam)

ചേന പുഴുങ്ങിയത്   (Elephant foot yam)

Year end is vacation time and while traveling back home I had a chance to enjoy the old style 'chena puzhungiyathu' with some small onion and green chilly chutney. It was so delicious and nostalgic that I thought I will write about preparing 'chena' as a main dish this time. For those who do not understand what is 'chena' it is called the elephant foot yam in English. Many in our generation wouldn't know that chena can be prepared as a main dish.

Beware: Before you jump in to preparing yam, please be aware that excessive skin contact with the yam fluids can cause itching to many people. So it is advisable using a pair of gloves while working with the yam. In case you get an itching or skin rashes, washing with cold water or applying some coconut oil can be helpful. 

Ingredients:
Elephant foot yam - remove outer skin, cut in to pieces.
Grated coconut -As needed.

For the chutney:
Small onion - 6 no,
Green chilly - 4no,
Salt -As needed.

Method of preparation:
It is pretty easy to prepare the yam. Clean the yam, remove the hard outer peel, cut it into pieces of 2 inch size approximately, and boil it in water with some salt. That is pretty much what it is.

Here is the detailed steps. Take the yam, remove the outer skin and wash clean. Again beware of the skin allergy that the yam fluid can cause. Cut into small pieces of 2 to 3 inches in size. Take enough water in a vessel so as to cover the yam pieces. Add a pinch of salt. You can use a pressure cooker as well. However, turn the flame of after the first whistle itself, otherwise the yam can become over-cooked and watery.

Once it is cooked, drain out the excess water and add some scraped coconut on top (coconut helps to increase the taste as well as any itchiness that some people might experience). Serve hot with the green chilly chutney.

Preparation of green chilly chutney:
Smash the small onion and green chilly together, and mix with salt. Add coconut oil into this and mix well. The coconut oil added into the chutney will helps to reduce spiciness and increase taste of the chutney.

Vattayappam (വട്ടയപ്പം)

Vattayappam (വട്ടയപ്പം)

It has been a while since I posted something here. Let me come back from my break with a delicious snack item, which is also an all time favorite of mine. Vattayappam is Kerala's own fermented steamed rice cake. It is a healthy traditional tea time snack. During Easter season, the christian families of Kerala prepare vattayappam along with kallappam.

In Malayalam,  'vatta' means round shaped. So vattayappam derived it's name from it's shape. It is basically rice and coconut grinded together and fermented with yeast to make it super soft and fluffy. It is a sweet snack, easy to make and doesn't take much time to prepare.

I like to make it not very sweet, but on the other hand place nuts, cherries or raisins on the top for decoration and enhanced taste. You cannot stop eating the vattayappam because the light flavor of cardamon along with the sweet and mellow rice cake melting in your mouth, the thinking brain has to surrender to the taste buds.

 

Ingredients:
Soaked raw white rice (known as pachari): 1 1/2 cups.
Freshly grated coconut:  1 1/2 cups
Cooked Rice: A handful (heaped)
Instant Yeast: 1/2 tsp.
Salt: 1/2 tsp.
Sugar: 2-3 tbsp.
Cardamon seeds: 4 to 5
Cumin seeds (jeera): A pinch
Water: As needed.
Oil to grease, preferably coconut oil.

Method of preparation:

Soak raw white rice (pachari) for about 2 hours. Use a mixer or blender to grind the rice. Add 1 cup coconut, cooked rice, and instant yeast before grinding it. Use just enough water to cover the ingredients. Be careful not to add excess water, the batter should be thick, almost as thick as the idli batter. Add the 3 tbsp of sugar and 1/2 tsp of salt. after grinding for 2 minutes approximately, add 1/2 cup coconut and cardamon seeds. Also add a pinch of cumin seeds (jeera). Grind them again for a minute. Note that you don't have to add water this time. Do not want the coconut to grind too fine either. Pour the batter into a steel or glass bowl. Keep it untouched for 2 hours. See if it has risen because of fermentation.


Now take a round cake  pan, grease it with a few drops of coconut oil. Pour batter, about 3/4 full. Place it into the hot steamer. Keep the steamer open until the steam starts to come. Close the steamer and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes. After that open the steamer and decorate the top of vattayappam with nuts, raisins or cherries as you may like. etc. Again close the steamer and continue cooking. (The reason why I do not decorate the vattayappam at the beginning is that they will go inside the  batter. So it is a good idea to wait for the vattayappam to be half cooked to do the decoration). Once it is well cooked, switch off the steamer and take the pan out. You can even insert a tooth pick to see if it is well cooked.When they are nicely cooked, the sides do come off a bit.

Cut the vattayappam with a knife. If you invert the pan, while it is still warm, invert the pan, to get the pieces out. Try it and enjoy the delicious vattayappam!!

Dry curry with sardine fish

Dry curry with sardine fish (മത്തി  തേങ്ങാ  പീര )

This item is usually known as മത്തി പീര when prepared with sardine fish or മീൻ പീര when prepared with other types of fish. A typical Kerala dish that is easy to cook and a very nice combination with rice. For this preparation, you will need any small fish such as anchovies  (Natholi  or  Chooda) or small sardines.

Fishes are are a good source of calcium. Since this preparation uses small fishes such as sardines or anchovies, we don't even need to remove the bones. So that is more calcium rich.

Fish peera is always combination of coconut, Malabar tamarind (kudampuli or Garcinia Cambodia) and fish. In some places, people also uses dry fish to prepare the same dish. Common dry fishes used for peera preparation are dry shark, mathi (dry sardines)  and ayila (mackerel). This preparation goes well with tapioca (kappa puzhukku) or rice. Some  times we can use raw mango or bilimbi (irumban puli) instead of kudampuli.

Ingredients:

1) Sardine(Mathi)     1 kg (cleaned and cut in to 2 or 3 pieces)

2) Coconut                 1 cup, grated

    Green chilly           7 no chopped well

    Small onion            8 no,cut in to 4 pieces

    Turmeric powder   1 tsp

    Salt                         as desired

    Ginger                    cut in to small pieces

    Curry leaves          1 spring

    Malabar tamarind(kudam puli)     3 or 4 pieces as needed

3) Coconut oil    2 tbsp

Method of Preparation:

Clean the sardines and cut them into 2 or 3 pieces. Mix the sardine pieces with items under (2). Take all the items in to one clay pot. Add little water and cook it well. When it is well cooked, pour 1 table spoon of coconut oil in to the cooked dish. (Instead of using all the items as is, you can moderately grind them before mixing with the fish)

Spinach (cheera) Papad

Spinach (ചീര) Papad

Today let me introduce another easy to make evening snack. It is called spinach papad (ചീര പപട്). This is also very healthy and tasty one. Everyone likes it, especially the children. It is also a crispy item, we can prepare it as a evening snacks.

This is the spinach that I am using today:

And this is how the prepared papad looks like:

Ingredients:
Spinach (cheera) leaves   As needed;
Maida                               3 tbsp;
Egg                                   one;
Salt                                   as needed;
Sugar                                as needed;
Coconut oil                       as needed;

Method of preparation:
Break an egg in to a bowl and with an egg beater, make it in to a foam. To this add maida, salt and sugar. Mix it to make the mixture in to a thick paste. Dip the spinach leaves in this mixture and deep fry in the oil.

Bitter gourd with Dry Shark (പാവയ്ക്കയും സ്രാവ് മീനും)

Bitter gourd with Dry Shark (പാവയ്ക്കയും സ്രാവ് മീനും)

Last time I provided the Malayalam version of this recipe. Let me translate it in to English today :-)

Ingredients

1) Bitter gourd          1 cup, chopped well

2) Dry Fish (shark)   1/2 cup,cut in to thin and small pieces.

3) Coconut                1/2 cup,grated well.
   Small onion           10 no,cut in to 4 pieces.
   Ginger                   1 small piece,chopped well.
   Green chilly          6 no,chopped well.
   Curry leaves         1 spring.
   Salt                       Desired quantity (Note: If you haven't removed salt from the dry fish, be very careful while adding the salt. You will need very little salt)

4) Mustard               2 tsp.
5) Coconut Oil         2 tbsp.

Method of preparation
Take all the items listed under 1, 2, 3 (bitter gourd, dry shark fish pieces, coconut, etc.) in a dish and mix it well. If you would like to fry the curry leaves and ginger pieces in oil, you can keep them separate.

Heat some oil in a kadai and sprinkle some mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds start sputtering, add the above mixture. Add a little water. It would be better if you can add very little or no water, but still able to cook without it getting burnt. You will need turn the flame into low once it is half cooked so that the dish will not be burnt.

Papad Bonda (പപ്പട ബോണ്ട)

Papad bonda (പപ്പട ബോണ്ട)

Today let us see how to make Papad Bonda. This is an easy to make snack item. Most people usually have papad in their homes, so they can try this one without any issues. Some people likes to fry the papads in oil, others like to roast it directly which is oil free. In today's recipe, we will make a snacks item out of papad.

Ingredients:
Potatoes                 3 no.s
Green chilly          3 (chopped well)
Onion                    2 (chopped well)
Ginger                   A small piece
Salt                        As needed
Turmeric powder   ''
Coconut oil            ''

Method of preparation:
Keep the soft papad (typically called Kerala papad) socked in water for  2 minutes. This will make the papad very soft. Take it out, and fill it with the masala, fold it properly and deep fry it in oil.

Filling preparation (masala)
We can prepare the masala to be filled within the papd using veg or non-veg items. Here I am going to use potatoes to prepare the veg filling.

1) Boil the potatoes in a pressure cooker.
2) Take a pan, add some coconut oil. Fry the onions in the coconut oil until they turn transparent and soft. Add ginger and turmeric powder to this.
3) Peel the potatoes and smash them well. Add the smashed potatoes into the above mixture.

Fill this mixture into the papad and fold the sides together to make it into a cone shape. Deep fry it. The masala papad is ready !!

Bitter gourd with dry shark

പാവയ്ക്ക  ഉണക്ക മീൻ (സ്രാവ് )  തോരൻ

See the English version here.

 ചേരുവകൾ 
1. പാവക്ക   കൊത്തിയരിഞ്ഞത്     1 കപ്പ്‌   ,
2. മീൻ    ചെറുതായി അരിഞ്ഞത്    1/ 2  കപ്പ് ,
3. തേങ്ങാ   ചിരകിയത്‌                        1/2  കപ്പ്‌ ,
കുഞ്ഞുള്ളി നാലായി മുറിച്ചത്        10,
ഇഞ്ചി  പൊടിയായി അരിഞ്ഞത്     ഒരു ചെറിയ കഷ്ണം ,
പച്ചമുളക് അരിഞ്ഞത്                         6,
ഉപ്പ്                                                               പാകത്തിന്,

4. കറിവേപ്പില                           ഒരു  തണ്ട് ,
കടുക്                                             ഒരു ചെറിയ  സ്പൂണ്‍,
വെളിച്ചെണ്ണ                                രണ്ട്  ചെറിയ സ്പൂണ്‍.

പാകം ചെയ്യുന്ന വിധം 
ഒരു പാത്രത്തിൽ  പാവക്ക, മീൻ, മൂന്നാമത്തെ ചേരുവകൾ ഇവയെല്ലാം ചേർത്ത്  കൈകൊണ്ട് നന്നായി യോജിപ്പിക്കുക .

ഒരു ചീനച്ചട്ടിയിൽ  എണ്ണ ഒഴിക്കുക, എണ്ണ ചൂടാകുന്ന സമയത്ത്‌ കടുക് ഇടുക. കടുക് പൊട്ടി കഴിയുമ്പോൾ കറി വേപ്പില  ചേർക്കുക. ഇതിലേക്ക് യോജിപ്പിച്ചു വച്ച   മിശ്രിതം ചേർത്ത് നന്നായി ഇളക്കി, ഒരു മൂടി വച്ച്  അടച്ചു വേവിക്കുക. ആവി വരുമ്പോൾ തീ കുറച്ചു വെക്കുക. ഇടയ്ക്ക് ഒന്ന് ഇളക്കി യോജിപ്പിക്കണം. വെന്ത് കഴിയുമ്പോൾ തീ നിർത്തുക .

Beef fry (ബീഫ് ഉലർത്തിയത്)

Beef fry (ബീഫ് ഉലർത്തിയത്)

For people who love non-vegetarian food, beef fry is something that is irresistible. Of the many dishes that you can make of beef, beef fry is probably the tastiest.

Ingredients:

1.   Beef - 1 kg (cut into small pieces)

2.  Onion 1 no (finely chopped)
     Garlic- 4 cloves(chopped)
     Ginger- 2 tsp(chopped)
     Curry leaves- As needed

3.  Coriander powder- 4 tsp
     Chilli powder- 2 tsp
     Turmeric powder- 1 tsp
     Meat masala powder - 2 tsp
     Garam masala powder - 1 tsp
     Cumin seeds (Jeera) powder - 1 tsp

4.  Salt- As required

5.  Curry Leaves
     Pepper powder- 1 tbsp(depend up on each one's taste)
     Mustard -As required
     Oil  - As required
     Coconut cut into small pieces (optional)



Method of preparation:

1. Take all the powders listed under (2) and mix it well. Roast this mixture in a pan lightly on the low flame, while stirring carefully. Too much of heat can cause the powder to be burnt and will spoil the taste of the dish.

2. Once the masala powder mix is roasted well, take the beef pieces cleaned and cut into small pieces, and add the roasted powder into the beef pieces. To this, add onion pieces, garlic pieces, curry leaves, ginger and salt. (Items listed under 2 and 4), mix all of them together with hands.

3. Cook all of these items together, preferably in a pressure cooker. Make sure that the beef is cooked enough. (4 whistles should be sufficient).

4.Take a heavy bottom kadai (iron kadai preferably) or a nonstick pan. Heat oil in a pan and sprinkle in mustard seeds. We can add coconut pieces cut into small thin squares also, into the frying mixture depending on your taste. When the mustard seeds start sputtering, add the curry leaves and stir well. Now add pepper powder to this, and add cooked beef. Let it simmer for some time with occasional stirring. Notice when the beef starts to turn darker in color. Keep the pan on the low flame until it turns dark. You can add a little pepper powder and fresh curry leaves for for better taste and flavor. Serve hot.

Curry leaves chicken (കറിവേപ്പില ചിക്കൻ)

Curry leaves chicken (കറിവേപ്പില ചിക്കൻ)

Curry leaves chicken is a semi-gravy item that can be served with rice, appam, paratha or chappthi. It is also tasty and goes well with all these dishes. At the same time, the Curry leaves Chicken is an easy dish made with simple ingredients but appetizing and delicious. This dish is quick to cook and does not take much time to treat your kids, family and friends.

Curry leaves are commonly known as kadi pathra or kariveppila. It is one of the main culinary essences added to various dishes right from making a delicious snack, appetizer, breakfast or a sumptuous meal for lunch or dinner. Its aroma and flavors are unique and cannot be substituted with any other herb. Do you know that instead of throwing away the curry leaves from your curry, if you eat them they are a rich source of vitamins ?

 

Ingredients

Chicken                       1 kg (curry pieces),

Curry leaves                4 springs,
Onion (big)                  5, chopped well,
Ginger garlic paste       2 Tablespoons,
Tomato                         3 (cut in to small pieces),
Chilli (dry, vattal mulaku)    6 (crushed one or pieces),
Coconut milk(thick)     1 cup,
Pepper powder              2 Tablespoons,
Garam masala               1 Tablespoons,
Chicken Masala            1 Tablespoons,
Turmeric powder          As needed,
Salt                                 ,,
Coconut oil                    ,,

Method of preparation

Take a kadai and put some oil in it. Fry the curry leaves in this oil and shift the leaves in to a bowl. To  this oil add onion pieces, saute the onions and fry till light golden brown. To this add ginger garlic paste, saute well, until it turns into light brown. Add chilly pieces, pepper powder, turmeric powder, garam masala and chicken masala into this and mix well. Crush the fried curry leaves add them into the mixture. Also add tomato pieces and stir well. Add chicken pieces to this mixture. Pour coconut milk into this and mix well. Keep the kadai on the flame covered with a lid, until the chicken is cooked well. After that reduce the flame and keep it on the flame till the gravy become thick. Serve hot.

Side dish with breadfruit (കടച്ചക്ക തോരൻ)

Side dish with breadfruit (കടച്ചക്ക തോരൻ)

If you are wondering what is breadfruit, refer to this page on Wikipedia. It is our own 'kadachakka' as you see in the picture below. It is a rich source of carbohydrates and proteins, in addition to the many vitamins, which makes it a very healthy item in our menu.

Image credit: Hans Hillewaert, reproduced under the Creative Commons license.

Today let me tell you how to prepare a dry side dish with the bread fruit.

Ingredients:

1) Breadfruit             250 grams


2) Garam Masala      1 tsp
   Coriander powder  1 tbsp
   Chilly powder        ½ tbsp
   Coconut pieces      cut in to small pieces
   Salt                         as required
   Turmeric powder   ½ tsp

3) Coconut oil    1½ tbsp

4) Mustard seeds  1 tsp
    Small onion      6 nos. chopped into small pieces
    Curry leaves     1 spring
    Pepper powder  as required





Method of preparation
First take the breadfruit and peel the hard skin off. Wash well with water and cut into small pieces. Refer to the picture below for the size and shape of the pieces. In a clay clay pot, (by the way, it is better to use a clay pot to prepare this dish) put the breadfruit pieces and add items under 2. For better taste you can roast the powders a bit. Add a little water to cook the breadfruit pieces. Wait until the pieces are cooked well.

Heat oil in a pan and sprinkle the mustard seeds.When they start sputtering add curry leaves, small onion pieces and pepper powder. Stir it well. Add this onto the cooked breadfruit pieces and stir well.

Chakka ada (evening snack with jack fruit)

Chakka ada (ചക്ക അട)

Today I will describe a delicious evening snack that you can make out of the jack fruit. It is called 'chakka ada'. Traditionally the ada is made using banana leaves, as seen in the picture below. The banana leaves add a taste of it's own to the ada. This item is a combination of rice flour with jack fruit. You can prepare the same dish from jack fruit jam (or chakka varattiyahtu) if you have that available with you.

 

The picture below shows chakka varattiyathu.

Ingredients:

Chakka varattiyathu     1 cup (or fresh jack fruit made into a fine paste 1 cup)
Roasted fine rice flour  1 cup
Coconut                        1 cup, grated
Cardamom powder       1 tsp
Cumin seeds powder    1 tsp
Salt                               as needed
Melted jaggery             as needed
Ginger powder             1 tsp

 

Method of preparation

Make a fine paste out of the flesh part of the jack fruit, if you are using fresh fruit. Or else start with the jack fruit jam, warm it a little bit by if you have kept it in the fridge. Add jaggeri syrup and make it loose. Add rice flour to this and mix well. Add coconut and all the other ingredients. Mix well to make a fine smooth dough, make sure that there are no lumps in the mixture. You can add water if necessary, but the dough should not be very loose. The rule of the thumb is that, it should be think enough to hold itself when made into balls.

Place each ball on a piece of banana leaf and flatten it with the fingers to spread it as thin as you can on the banana leaf, fold the banana leaf over and press the ends along the edges to secure the filling. Cook the ada on steam well.

Chakka puzhukku (Raw jack fruit dish)

Chakka Puzhukku (ചക്ക പുഴുക്ക്)

Let me start on lighter note today... Have you seen  an episode of M80 Moosa titled 'chakka viplavam' (or jack fruit revolution) ? If not, watch it here. It is a funny anecdote of a woman trying to reintroduce the jack fruit into the daily menu of a modern family.

On a serious note, have you ever wondered what alternate food items other than rice kept the previous generations going ? If you ask anybody from Kerala, you will get two items, that is jack fruit and tapioca. You can prepare main dishes with both these items. In today's post, let me describe how to make a main dish with jack fruit, traditionally known as 'chakka puzhukku' or raw jack fruit with coconut and spices.

What is special about this dish is that, you can use this as a main dish or even a side dish with rice. On the downside, it will take a lot of effort to get the raw jack fruit cleaned and ready for preparation.

Ingredients

1) Raw jack fruit                    Half of a medium sized jack fruit
2) Coconut                               1 cup
    Green chilly                          3 no
    Small onion                          4 no
    Garlic                                    2 no
    Cumin seeds                         one pinch
    Turmeric powder                   as needed
    Salt                                            ,,

Method of Preparation (chakka keenthi vevichathu)

Clean the jack fruit and get only the edible part. You need to get the  fleshy part, remove the seeds and slice into small thin pieces. If you have never done with it, do not try it alone, it can become messy. Also if you do not cut it properly (against the length of the flesh versus along the length) you will not get the right results. In this preparation you will have to slice it along the length of the fleshy part. Put the sliced pieces in to one vessel with  little water add keep it on the flame. When steam comes, mix the contents well so that the bottom portion contents come up. To this add ingredients listed under (2) after moderately grinding all of them together. Keep it on the low flame for some more time. The aroma will tell you when it is ready. After that switch off the flame, mix all the contents together with a wooden spoon until the items under 2 are uniformly mixed.

Note:chakka arinju vevichathu
Chakka puzhukku can be made in  another way as well. In that case do not add any turmeric powder or chilly and use more amount of coconut and water than above dish. Even cutting the fleshy part is in a different style, where it is cut into round shape against the length. The method of preparation is the same. But you serve it along with a coconut chutney or nadan chicken curry.

Puliyinchi

Puliyinchi (പുളിയിഞ്ചി)

 In Malayalam 'puli' means tamarind and 'inchi' means ginger. So as you would have guessed, 'puliyinchi' is a combination of tamarind and ginger with some jaggiri added in order to counter the spiciness of ginger. It is used as pickle and the taste is so good with a combination of hot chillies, spicy ginger, sour tamarind and sweet jaggiri.

Ingredients:

1)Ginger                 250 gram (peel off the skin and cut in to small pieces);
Small Onion           200 gram (cut in to small pieces);
Green chilly           6 nos (cut in to small pieces);

2)Red chillies (dry)  4 nos, cut in to small pieces;
Mustard                    1 tsp;
Curry leaves             1 spring;
Coconut oil               2 tbsp;

3)Chilli powder        1 tsp;
Turmeric powder     as needed;

4)Tamarind            One ball of egg size;

5)Jaggiri (molten paste)      As needed;

6)Salt                As needed;

Method of preparation:
Heat some oil in a clay pot, and add mustard. When they start sputtering add curry leaves and dry red chillies (vattal mulaku) pieces, stir well. To this add items under 1 (ginger, small onion and green chillies) and salt, continue stirring till its color turns brown. Add items under 3 (chilli powder and turmeric powder) to this mixture, stir well. Mix tamarind water and salt with this and stir well. In the end, add jaggiri mixture (item number 5). Allow the preparation to cool.  

Appam

Kerala Style Appam (വെള്ളയപ്പം  or പാലപ്പം)

If you ask anyone from outside Kerala, what is their favorite Kerala dish, chances are that you will hear appams as the answer. Traditionally, Appams are used as a breakfast dish in Kerala. Appam with egg curry or appam with stew, be it vegetable stew or chicken stew or mutton stew, is a favorite breakfast combination.

But outside Kerala, most of the Kerala restaurants serve appams at any time of the day. You can have appams for breakfast, lunch or dinner.


Traditionally appams are made in two different varieties. Today I am going to cover what is known as vellayappam (വെള്ളയപ്പം) or paalappam (പാലപ്പം). I will describe the easiest way of preparing appams so that anyone can try it at home.

Ingredients:
Rice                    2 cups
Boiled rice          1/2 cup
Grated coconut   3/4 cup
Yeast                  1/2 tsp
Sugar                 1 tbsp
Salt                    as needed
Water                 as needed

Method of preparation: 
1) Sock the rice in water for 3 to 4 hours. Add the remaining items and grind all of them together. Add water to the dough until the dough is consistently thick, not too watery or not too thick while poring it.

2) Keep the dough overnight for fermentation. When it gets fermented, it almost doubles up in quantity. So make sure you are keeping the batter in a vessel that is big enough for the batter.

3) The shape of the appam comes from the shape of the vessel used for preparing the appams. Use a deep round bottomed pan, which is called 'appam pan'. Heat the pan on the stove. Use some oil only if it is a not non-stick pan. (I regularly use the non-stick pan, and hence do not use oil).

4) Pour a ladle full of the dough into the pan. Lift the pan, tilt and turn it in a full circle so that the dough spreads uniformly into the sides. Keep the pan back on the flame and cover it with a lid. Because of the shape of the pan, most of the dough will settle in the middle, thus leaving the sides in a lacy design and the center thick.

5) The appam will be ready in a couple of minutes. Serve it hot with your favorite side dish.

Notes: 

1. Traditionally appams are fermented with kallu (toddy - the alcoholic drink from coconut trees or palm trees). In this recipe I have used yeast, since toddy is not widely available. However the appams fermented with toddy has a special taste.
2. Half cup of boiled rice is added to the rice before grinding it, this will help the appams to be softer. However, if the amount of boiled rice is more, chances are that the appams will turn more sticky.
3. Keep the batter overnight for fermentation. Now if the weather is too cold, it might be a good idea to use look-warm water to prepare the batter.
4. You can add coconut water instead of normal water, that will help fermentation. And with coconut water the appams will taste better.

Kappa Villayichathu (കപ്പ വിളയിച്ചത്)

Kappa Villayichathu (കപ്പ  വിളയിച്ചത്)

Have you ever wondered what kind of snacks our parents and grandparents devoured before the packets of junk food from the nearest super market started appearing on our dining tables ? For this week, I would like to write about something that our new generation wouldn't have ever heard of. Or for that matter many of us wouldn't have tasted it for many years. For me this is something that takes me back to my childhood, those rainy days of Karkkidakam when it used to rain 24 hours every day. The rain stops only to start again. And it always looks like the heaven is connected to the the earth by a ten thousand silver strings swaying with the wind. And that smell from the kitchen.. Grandma is busy with roasting the cashew nuts left over from last summer or preparing that crispy roasted tapioca. Ah... what a combination hot coffee and kappa villayichatu.. That's what I wanted to write about today, a crispy, mouth watering tea time snack made out of dried tapioca.

Another thing that I still remember is, once you prepare this dish, you can keep it for many days in an airtight jar and it will continue to be crispy. For that matter it was the chips-equivalent of olden times.

This is how the traditional version of it looks like, though you can prepare it in many different forms.

There are two steps in preparing this snack. The first one is preparing the dried version tapioca, typically done during the summer. (This was our forefather's technique of preserving the tapioca for the rainy days). The second step is deep frying the dry tapioca in oil. Below are the detailed steps.

1. Preparation of dry tapioca:
Clean the tapioca by removing the brown and pink layers of outer skin. Slice the tapioca into thin pieces, preferably in square shape. Refer to the picture above for the shape. Cook it in boiled water until the tapioca becomes half cooked (you can make this out when the tapioca becomes soft). Drain the water and sun dry the tapioca until it loses all the water content. Typically it takes three days of hot sun to get the tapioca really dry. Note that the pieces will be real hard when it is dry. People prepare dried tapioca in different shapes for different purposes. This particular shape of thin squares is for preparing snack items. It is ready to be preserved for the rainy season. Olden days people used to keep this for the entire year, until they are ready to harvest the next year.

2. Frying  the tapioca (കപ്പ  വിളയിക്കൽ)
Ingredients:
Dried tapioca                            1cup ( Need to deep fry this in oil);
Rice powder (red/white)           ½ cup;
Jaggiry syrup                             As needed

2.1 Frying the tapioca



Deep fry the dried tapioca in a pan. This is sometimes referred to as avilu kappa. Sometimes you can eat this fried tapioca just fried. If you want to eat it that way, adding salt and a bit of turmeric powder (by making a small pouch of turmeric powder in a cotton cloth and keeping it immersed in the oil to be fried) would be a good idea. You can also grind the deep fried tapioca, mix it with sugar/jagiry and coconut to make another delicious dish called avalosu podi.


2.2 Preparing the rice powder
Take rice in clay pot, keep it on flame, while stirring it well with wooden spoon until its color turns golden brown. To this add 3 cardamom, allow it to cool, grind in a mixer well to make a fine powder.

2.3 Preparing the snack
Take one vessel or plate and spread the fried kappa pieces in this. Spread the rice powder on top of this, so as to cover the tapioca pieces. Now pour the jaggiry syrup on top of this while the syrup is hot. Mix all together. Refer to the picture below. Your snack is ready. You can keep it in an airtight jar for many days. Refer to the picture below.

Bonda (Kayappam)

Bonda (Kayappam) with banana

Here is  another easy evening snack from Kerala. The main ingredient of this snack in plantain (ഞാലി പൂവൻ പഴം) variety of banana. In some parts of Kerala, this snack is also called kayappam (കായപ്പം).

Ingredients:
Banana             4 no., peeled;
Cardamom       2 no.;
Maida               3 table spoons;
Sugar                as needed;
Salt                   one pinch;
Water                as needed;


Method of preparation
Grind banana with cardamom, sugar and salt,make in to a fine paste using a mixer. Optionally we can smash banana with hand as well, but a mixer would give a fine paste, which helps in preparing very soft bonda. Add wheat flour (maida) to the above paste and mix well with hand. Add sufficient quantity of water, making sure that the mixture is thick.

Heat oil in a pan. When the oil is boiling hot, pour a small quantity of the above mixture with your hands. Deep fry until the color turns brown. Take out once cooked and keep it aside until the oil is drained.Your banana bonda is ready to serve !!

Jack fruit seeds with cabbage (ചക്കക്കുരു - കാബേജ് തോരൻ)

Jackfruit was a part of the healthy diet that many Keralites followed in the past. Unfortunately it is disappearing from the dining table off late. Keralites make many healthy and delicious dishes with different parts of the raw jack fruit as well as the fruit itself. In this recipe, let us make a very common but tasty side dish using the jack fruit seed and cabbage. The jack fruit seed is rich in starch and proteins, and make a delicious dish. Traditionally this is known as “chakkakkuru cabbage thoran” (ചക്കക്കുരു - കാബേജ് തോരൻ) in Kerala.

One common complaint about dishes made out of Jack fruit seeds causes gas trouble. There is an easy and healthy solution for this, remove only the white outer skin of the seeds and retain the brown covering inside.

Another thing that I wanted to mention here is that you can make similar recipes with other vegetables like snake-gourd, if you replace cabbage with snake gourd.

Ingredients (this will serve approximately 8 people):

1) chakkakkuru (jack fruit seed)      250gm

2) cabbage                                      200 gm

2) onion                                          (1) chopped well

    ginger                                          small piece, chopped well

    green chilly                                  (3) chopped into small pieces

    fresh coconut                              1/2 medium-sized, grated

    salt                                              As needed

3) coconut oil                                  1 tbsp

4) mustard seeds                             1 tsp

5) curry leaves                                 1 spring.

Method of preparation:

1) Remove the outer skin of chakkakkuru, (you can choose not to remove brown skin for a healthy preparation). Chop into small pieces and wash well.

2) Chop the cabbage nicely into small pieces (before chopping, it is advised to soak it water with turmeric powder and salt for an hour to remove any poison).

3) Take chakkakkuru in a vessel mixed with 2^nd items, keep it in flame till half cooked. Then add cabbage to this, keep it in low flame till it cooked well.

4) Heat oil in a pan and sprinkle in mustard seeds. When they start sputtering add curry leaves, stir well. Add the above mixture to the curry and stir well.

Your dish is ready to serve !