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.

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 !

Tapioca Biriyani (Kappa Biriyani, കപ്പ ബിരിയാണി)

Have you ever attended a wedding eve function in North Kerala ? In many parts of North Kerala the special item served for the wedding eve get-together is something called 'Kappa biriyani' (കപ്പ ബിരിയാണി) which is made out of tapioca and beef with bones.

We can prepare kappa biriyani with many vegetarian and non-vegetarian items like Bengal Grams (കടല), Green grams, Fish (മത്തി , നത്തോലി), chicken and beef. In this post, I would give the recipe for making the dish with beef. I felt this is the super combination compared to all others. It makes me very excited write this one as it is one of my favorite dishes.

To make kappa biriyani, we can use both fresh and the dried variety of tapioca. However, if you are using the dry variety, then remember to soak it in water for a few hours before preparing the dish). Both varieties are tasty. In this recipe I have specified the fresh tapioca.  I would say that both are equally tasty. (One word of caution: if you are on a watch out for cholesterol, beware of the the beef).

Ingredients:
1) Kappa                           1 kg (peel the skin out, cut into small cube pieces and wash well)

2) Coconut                        1 cup, grated (use fried coconut or fresh one, here I have used fresh one. Fried one is more tastier than fresh coconut)
    Small onion                   6 no;
    Garlic                            3 cloves;
    Chilli powder                 ½ tsp(part of powder used in beef preparation)
    Jeera (perumjeerakam)  1 tsp;
    Curry leaves                   1 ½ spring;
    Salt                                 As needed
    Turmeric powder            As needed

3) Beef with bones (specially ribs and belly mixed)   1 kg (cut in to small cube pieces)
 
4) Onion (big)                 1 no(chopped well)
    Small onion                 6 no
    Ginger and garlic        (smashed or cut in to pieces)

5) Chilli powder              1 tsp;
    Coriander powder       2 tsp;
    Turmeric powder        As needed;
    Garam Masala            ¼  tsp;
    Curry leaves

Method of preparation:

1) Peel the tapioca, removing both the layers of brown and white skin. Cut tapioca into small cube pieces. Wash well and boil it until cooked. Drain the water.
2) Grind the items under (2). Grind only coarse and not in to a paste.
3) Heat oil in a pan and add chilli powder and coriander powder (from the items listed under 5), stir well until the color turns into brown. To this add garam masala and curry leaves. Stir well and then switch of the flame.
4) Cut the beef into small cube-shaped pieces. Cook the beef using a pressure cooker. For this put the beef in a cooker, along with the paste from the above step. Make sure  that the beef is well cooked. You might have to wait for 4  whistles or more before switching off the flame.
5) Pour the coconut mixture (prepared in step 2) on top of the cooked tapioca, above that put the cooked beef and its contents. Keep it on the flame for some time. When steam start to come, switch off the flame and mix all the items together with a wooden spoon. Then serve with hot in Banana Leaf.

Notes:
1. For this Biriyani we can use some side dishes like beef fry (ularthiyathu), or mango pickle and Salad.
2. For better taste we can also add cashew nuts paste to the tapioca biriyani.

Unnakkai - an evening snack made out of ripe banana

Unnakkai (ഉന്നക്കായ്) - An evening snack made out of ripe banana

This week, let me give you the recipe of a delicious evening snack from North Kerala. This one is widely used as special item during the Ramadan by the Muslims in Thalasseri and Kannur regions. It is believed to be originated in North Malabar. This snack is called Unnakkai (ഉന്നക്കായ് ) in North Kerala and is made out of ripe banana (Nenthran varity) and coconut.  It very special for the sweet taste. It is also a very healthy snack for the kids, in case they are reluctant to eat the steamed bananas.

Ingredients:

Ripe Banana (Nenthran variety)        4 no
Coconut (grated)      1/4 cup
Cashew nut               6 nos, cut into small pieces
Raisins                      6nos, cut into small pieces
Sugar                         as needed
Cardamom powder   a pinch
Ghee                         2 tbsp
Oil                            as needed (to fry)

Method of preparation

1. Steam the Bananas till it become soft.  
2. Let it cool for some time. When it is slightly warm, peel the skin out and mash it with hands. It would be a good idea to remove black portion in the center of the bananas.
3. Heat ghee and fry the cashews and raisins in ghee.
4. To this add grated coconut and stir well for some time.
5. Add sugar and turn off the flame when the mixture turns golden brown. sprinkle cardamom powder on top of this mixture. Your filling is ready.
6. Make lemon sized balls out of the mashed banana.
7. Make each ball into an oval shape by rolling it in your palm.
8. Make a long dip in the oval with your fingers and fill it with a heaped teaspoon of filling. Roll it again in your palm so that the filling is covered by the mashed banana. Repeat this process with the remaining banana mixture.
9. Heat oil. Put the 'unnakkai' into the hot oil and fry them with medium flame. Keep them on flame until the unnakkai turns golden brown in color.

Note:
If you are preparing for kids, then we can use ghee instead of oil to fry the unnakkai. Of course unnakkai fried in ghee is tastier compared to the ones fried in the oil.So if you are not worried about the cholesterol factor, you can go with ghee.

Side dish with Onion

Dry Side Dish with Onion (ഉള്ളി തോരൻ)

It is difficult to imagine a dish that doesn't contain onion. We typically use onion to enhance the taste of a variety of dishes. However not many people know that we can make a side dish with the onion (big onions - സവാള) alone. In today's recipe let's see how to make a delicious and easy to make dish with onions.

Ingredients (this will serve approximately 5 people):

1) Onion                          250 gm cut thin and length wise

2) Green chilly (6)          Chopped well
    Fresh coconut             1/2 medium-sized, grated
    Salt                             As needed
    Ginger                        Small piece, chopped well

3) Coconut oil                1½  tsp

4) mustard seeds            1 tsp

5) curry leaves               1 spring

Method of preparation:

1) Chop the onions and mix it with ingredients listed under 2. (Green chilly, grated coconut, salt and ginger).

2) Heat oil in a pan and sprinkle in mustard seeds.When they start sputtering add curry leaves stir well. Add  the above mixture in to it, stir well, add about 1 tbsp water. Close the pan with one lid. Keep the flame high till the onions are half cooked (i.e, until steam comes out). Keep the flame low till it cooked well.

Drum stick (Moringakka) Thoran

Drum stick (Moringakka) Thoran

Another drum stick delicacy today, however with a difference! This one is made out of the soft flesh inside the drum sticks, not with the sticks as is.

Ingredients:

1. Drum stick       1 cup (split drumstick lengthwise and take out the soft flesh alone with a small knife or spoon).

2. Coconut            1/2cup, grated
    Onion small      6 no   
    Green chilly      5 no
    Turmeric Powder   1 tsp
4. Mustard            1tsp
5. Curry leaves     1 spring
6. Salt                    as needed
7. Ghee  or Coconut oil   2 tbsp


Method of Preparation:

1. Grind the items under 2 (grated coconut, small onion, green chilly, turmeric powder)  using a mixer with a little water. Or you can smash them alternatively.

2. Heat ghee in a pan and sprinkle in mustard seeds.When they start sputtering add curry leaves. Add the ground coconut mixture to this, stir well. In to this mixture add the drum sticks (item under 1), keep it on low flame till the drum sticks are cooked well.

Drum-Stick leaves curry

Drum-Stick leaves (മുരിങ്ങയില തോരൻ)

If you are looking for a tasty and healthy dry side dish, rich in fiber to go ahead with a plate rice, here is one. Drum stick trees are found almost every place in India. Many a traditional dishes are prepared with the drum sticks. However, the leaves and the flowers are not so well known in the diet. But in Kerala, the leaves of drum stick tree are cooked and used like spinach.

It is also worthy noting that dried and crushed leaves are used in soups and sauces.  The leaves are used for making various types of curries in combination with other vegetables. The flowers are edible when cooked and taste almost like mushrooms. ( I will try to provide the drum stick flowers recipe in some other posting, which is another great delicacy).

From a nutrition perspective, drum stick leaves is a rich source of Calcium, Potassium, Proteins, beta carotene (vitamin-A) and Vitamin-C. For example, the Vitamin-C level in drum stick leaves are comparable to that of orange fruit (which is usually mentioned as the primary source of vitamin-C), the protein content is comparable to yogurt, potassium content is comparable to Banana and calcium content is about 60 percentage of milk. No wonder drumstick leaves has been a recommend by grandmas for pregnant and breast-feeding women.

In Ayurveda, the leaves, barks and sticks of the drum stick tree are used for many medicinal preparations. Some tips from the common wisdom: Muringa leaves and flowers are used as a remedy for stomach complaints, hay fever,  hemorrhoids, headaches and sore gums. The muringa leaves are helpful in increasing the lactation in the breastfeeding months. It is used to strengthen the eyes, brain, liver, digestive, respiratory and immune system. It is also used as a blood purifier and blood builder, and for cancer treatment. Muringa leaves are also used to stabilize the blood pressure. Flowers soaked in honey are used as a cough remedy. Taking bath in water boiled with the barks of Muringa tree is recommended for arthritis patients.

Now let's get back to this weeks recipe.

Ingredients:

1) Muringayila      1 cup.

2) Coconut            1/2cup, grated
   Onion small       6   no   
   Green chilly       5
   Turmeric Powder 1tsp

3) Mustard         1tsp
4) Curry leaves  1 spring
5) Salt                 as needed
6) coconut oil     2 tbsp


Method of Preparation:

1. Clean the leaves, if the there is dust or dirt, then dip the leaves in water, take out and shake of the water. Remove the sticks from the leaves and cut it with a chopping knife taking a handful of leaves every time.
2. Put the items under (2) in to one mixy jar, pour little water and grind slightly, or smash. (No need to make it into a fine paste).
3. Heat oil in a pan and sprinkle in mustard seeds.When they start sputtering add curry leaves,In to this add the above coconut mixture and salt and keep it in the flame for sometime .In to this mixture add muringaila, stir well, keep it in low flame till it is cooked well.
4. (Optionally) add one egg in this mixture (center of the mixture) and stir well.At last mix it all  well .

Note: Adding the egg is optional. You can prepare it without egg, in that case if  you can use ghee instead of coconut oil for a better taste.

 

Bitter Gourd with Long Beans

Bitter Gourd with Long Beans (പാവയ്ക്കയും പയറും)

Bitter gourd (പാവയ്ക്ക) is well known for it's health benefit. Doctors today recommend bitter gourd for it's iron content and many vitamins contained in it. It is also scientifically proven that bitter gourd can reduce the glucose levels in the blood and beneficial to the people with diabetes. Many people are averse to the dishes made out of bitter gourd because of the bitter taste. However there were many techniques used by the older generations to mask the bitterness and prepare tasty combinations with bitter gourd. Some of those combinations worth mentioning are bitter gourd with dried shark fish, bitter gourd with jack fruit seeds, bitter gourd with long beans.

In this recipe I will cover the traditional dish of bitter gourd with the long beans prepared in Kerala.

Ingredients:
(This will serve approximately 5 to 6 people):

1) Bittergourd (paavaykka)    250gm

2) Long beans (payar)            200gm

3) Onion big             1, chopped well
   Green chilly           6, chopped well
   Fresh coconut        1/2 medium-sized,grated
   Salt                         As needed
   Ginger                    Small piece, chopped well

4) Coconut oil           1 tbsp

5) Mustard seeds       1 tsp

6) Curry leaves          1 sprig

Method of preparation:

1) Chop the Bitter gourd in to small pieces (kothi ariyuka).
2) Chop the Longbeans also small pieces.
3) Mix the above two together with hands and in this add ingredients under 3. Mix well.
4) Heat oil in a pan and sprinkle in mustard seeds. When they start sputtering add curry leaves stirr well. Add  the above mixture in to it, stirr well ater after that cover the pan with a lid. Keep the flame high when it half cooked after that keep the flame low till it cooked well.

Malabar chicken biriyani

Malabar chicken biriyani (മലബാർ കോഴി  ബിരിയാണി)

Aah.. Chicken biriyani!! That' one of my favorite dishes in the whole world :-) So let me get into some history.

As per Wikipedia, Biryani was believed to have been invented in the kitchen of Mughal Emperors. It is very popular in the Indian subcontinent and is a key element of the South Asian cuisine. Hyderabad, Malabar, Delhi/Agra, Dhaka, Kashmir, Kolkata, Lucknow and Lahore, are the main varieties of biryani cuisine. The word 'biriyani' is derived from the Persian word beryā (بریان) which means "fried" or "roasted". 

Historically, long-grain brown rice was used in North India; while, short grain Zeera Samba rice was used in South India. In Bangladesh, puffed rice is used. Traditionally, the leg of goat was used to make Biryani. Now a days, depending on the region and restaurant, one can find Biryani made with Mutton, Lamb, Beef, Chicken, Fish, and Prawns.

In this post I will discuss the way Malabar Chicken Biriyani is prepared. This is more of Kozhikode-style (which is slightly different from the Thalassery style) which my mom used to prepare. My mom had two different styles of preparing the chicken biriynai; one is the dhum biryani and the other is a layered chicken biryani, which she often prepares when there are guests at home. In her opinion, biriyani is the easiest dish to make, as opposed to the meals that consists of boiled rice and three or four varieties of side dishes.

If you have a vegetarian guest or someone in your family is a vegetarian, then it would be easy for you to prepare the layered chicken biriyani. As you would see in the recipe below, the rice and the chicken gravy are prepared separately. 

There are three main steps in preparing a layered biriyani, which are:

1. Preparation of the chicken and it's gravy
2. Preparing the rice
3. Layering

We will see each of these in detail separately.

A) Chicken and it's gravy

Ingredients:

1) Chicken                            1 kg (cut in to big pieces)

Curd                                     2 tbsp

Chilli powder                       2 tbsp;

Turmeric powder                 as needed;

Salt                                             ,,

Curd                                     1 tbsp;

2) Coconut oil                       As needed for deep fry.

Mix the chicken with the items under (1) and half cook. In case you are using a pressure cooker, do not add any water, and switch off the flame after the first whistle. After that, deep fry the chicken in the coconut oil. Tip: if the chicken is mixed with curd, it will become very soft.

Preparing the gravy

1) Onion                                 1 cup (chopped  well)

2) Tomato                                3 (cut in to small pieces)

3) Ginger                                 As needed

    Garlic                                       ,,

    Green chilly                         5 no

4) Coriander powder               1 tsp;

    Chilly powder                      2 tsp;

    Garam masala                     ½ tsp;

    Turmeric powder                As needed

    Coriander leaves                 As needed.

    Salt                                           ,,

5) Curd                                    3 tbsp;

First, grind the items under (3) into a paste. You can use a readymade ginger-garlic paste as well. 

Put the chopped onions into the coconut oil, keep stirring. When the onions are half cooked, add the tomato pieces as well. Add the ginger-garlic-chilly paste to this. Keep stirring well. Add the items under 4 along with a little water in order to make it somewhat loose. Add curd towards the end and mix well.

B) Items for Garnishing:

Ingredients:

1) Onion                     2 no (cut in to thin pieces)

2) Cashew nut           As needed

3) Dry grapes                ,,

4) Carrot                   1 no - optional (cut in to small this pieces)

Fry all these items in oil, or ghee for a better taste. 

C) Rice   preparation

This is an important step, because if rise is over-cooked or even under-cooked, the biriyani will not taste good. 

Ingredients:

1) Rise                           1 kg (Basmati or Ponni variety of rise);

2) Grampoo                  5 no;

    Cardomon                3 no;

    Cinnamon (karuva) 2 no(if big)

    Coriander leaves      As needed;

    Pothina leaves              ,,

    Salt                                ,,

    Water                            ,,

Please keep in mind that preparing the biriyani rice is a very important step. If the rice is over cooked or under cooked, then the taste will not be good and there is no way to compensate for it.

First, soak the rice in water for half an hour, then drain it well. Fry the rice in ghee. Take water in a big vessel that has 5 liter capacity at least. Add the items under 2. When the water starts boiling, add the rice and keep it on low frame for some time. Switch of the flame and keep it covered for another 10 minutes.

It is very important to get the right quantity of water for preparing the rice. Usually I follow 2 volumes of water for every 1 volume of rice. For example, I measure the rice with a glass and for every glass of rice, use 2 glasses of water. In case using a pressure cooker, then use only 1½ volume of water. If the right quantity of water is not used, the rice will turn either sticky or too dry.

D) Layering.

                                                                                                                                            

1)     Lemon juice from one lemon;

2)     Food color (mix in water)

3)     Garam masala 

4)     Coriander leaves and pothina leaves chopped well

5)     Ghee As needed;

Take a big vessel and heat the vessel. Pour a little ghee into this vessel and spread it. Spread a portion of the cooked rice on top of this. The rice should not be more than two inches. A little lemon juice and mixed food color should be sprayed on top of this rice. You can also spread a pinch of garam masala, chopped leaves and other items used for garnishing (such as roasted cashews, raisins, grapes, etc) as well.  Repeat the process of layering until the rice is over. Close the vessel with a tight lid and heat on low flame for about 10 minutes. (I have also seen my mom putting burning charcol on top of the flat lid to keep it hot from top as well).

For serving, first put a portion of chicken on the serving plate and then cover it with rice.

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 !