Kadala Curry without coconut

Kadala curry, a quintessential dish from Kerala, served usually with rice, appams or puttu. There are two versions to this dish, one with coconut, which is usally made it when there are a lot people to be served and the quick and easy one without the coconut. 

1 cup black chana soaked overnight
Cook in the pressure cooker with enough water until done.

1 onion finely chopped
1 tbsp each ginger/garlic/green chilles minced
3 tomatoes chopped
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 tbsp coriander pwd
1 tsp chilli pwd
salt
1/2 tsp fenugreek pwd
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
1/4 tsp asafoetida
curry leaves
2 tbsp oil

Heat oil, add mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, and hing.
Once the mustard seeds pop, add onions and curry leaves.
Add ginger, garlic and green chilles.
Once sauted, add tomatoes and all the dry spices.
After the tomatoes are cooked down add the kadala with the water that it was cooked in.
Add salt and cover and simmer till a nice gravy is formed.
Serve with any kind of Kerala bread or rice.

Easy Peasy huh!!!!

Egg and Veggie Kothu Paratha

Kothu means minced and paratha as you all know is Indian flaky bread, Kothu Paratha is a street food available in the southern parts of India and is usually made with chicken and lamb. I have tried making it here with eggs and vegetables, but you could make it ony with vegetables too. I usually use leftover chapatis or parathas to make this dish, I think flour tortillas would also work. I also used cooked asparagus in this again any leftover vegetables can be use in this dish. This is such a balanced dish as it has all the food groups and can be served for breakfast, packed for lunch or even eaten for dinner.

Eggs - 2 beaten
Parathas/Leftover Chapatis/ Kerala Parottas broken into small pieces - 3 or 4 cooked
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Curry Leaves - a few
Onion- 1/2 chopped
Green Chilli- 1 minced
Ginger and garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
Cabbage 1/2 cup chopped
Carrot 1 chopped
Green Pepper 1/2
Asparagus 1/4 cup cooked
Salt to taste
Chilli pwd 1/4 tsp
Soy Sauce 2 tsp
Oil 2 tbsp


Heat 1 tsp oil, add the beaten eggs and scramble the eggs.
Remove the eggs, add the rest of the oil.
Add mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves.
Add onion and green chillies, once the mustard seeds splutters.
Add the ginger /garlic paste, cabbage, carrot and capsicum.
Add salt and a little chilli pwd, once cooked add the asparagus.
Add soy sauce, and the parathas.
Stir well, add salt only if needed. Once everything is well combined, remove from heat.
Add lime juice and cilantro leaves and serve.

If it is too dry add a little water, I like mine a little dry, traditionally some curry or veg kurma is added to make it less dry.

Nadan Egg Curry

This is a great dish to serve at dinner and goes well with a variety of breads. I used ground coconut in this dish but the traditionally coconut milk is used. In Kerala this might be even served for breakfast.
Hardboiled eggs - 4
Coconut Oil - 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry Leaves 3 or 4
Onion - 1 chopped fine
Green chillies - 1 chopped fine
Ginger and garlic paste- 1 tbsp
Tomato -1 medium sized chopped fine
chilli pwd - 1/2 tsp
coriander pwd - 1 tbsp
turmeric- 1/4 tsp
pepper a pinch
garam masala - 1/4 tsp
coconut about 2 tbsp ground to a paste or 1/2 cup coconut milk
salt to taste

Heat oil, add mustard seeds and curry leaves.
Once it splutters add onion, saute well.
Add ginger garlic paste and tomato.
Add the chilli pwd, coriander pwd, turmeric pwd, pepper, garam masala and salt and 2 tbsp water, fry well
Adding water keeps the masala from burning.
Once everything is well cooked add the coconut milk or ground coconut(this is what I used)and eggs, cook on low heat.
Serve with rice, appams or parathas.

Elissery- Pumpkin and Black Chana Curry

This is for you Rana, Sumitha and Seema, for enjoying all the Kerala dishes that I make. This is a dish that you would find at any Sadya or feast.

Yellow Pumpkin peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes, I used a big wedge about 2 to 3 cups when cut up.

Black Chana 1 cup soaked for a few hours and cooked till tender or use canned Chickpeas

Turmeric 1/2 tsp

Chilli pwd/ Cayenne Pepper 1/2 tsp

Salt to taste

To Grind-:1/2 cup, 3 green chilles, 1/2 tsp cumin seeds

Tempering-: 2 tsp coconut oil, 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, 1/2 tsp udad dal, 2 red chillies,

3 tbsp grated coconut and curry leaves

Method:

• Cook the pumpkin with chilli pwd, turmeric, and salt.
• When half cooked add the cooked black chana.
• Once the pumpkin is cooked, add the ground paste.
• Cook for a few more minutes, it should be a thick gravy not too watery and not too dry.
• Heat oil for seasoning, add mustard seeds, once they splutter add red chillies and urad dal, once they are golden add curry leaves and coconut.
• Brown the coconut till it's golden brown but be careful not to burn it.
• This is the most important part, once the coconut is the right color add to the pumpkin.
• Serve with rice or chapatis.

Savory Kozhakatta (Steamed Rice Dumplings)

These dumplings are eaten in Kerala for a snack, in other parts it's also served as a prasadam, during Navratri, Ganesh Puja, VijayDashmi etc. There are different kinds of kozhakattas, they could be sweet filled with coconut and jaggery or made with different ingredients like coconut or carrot.
I made these for Navrathri, as I was feeling a little homesick missing all the fun that was going on in India, in the US all the holidays just go by, I have to keep asking my mom 'when's Diwali', no clue when any holiday is going on. Anyways for once I knew Navrathri was ending tomorrow, and hence the dish.

Dough:
2 cups Rice Flour
2 cups water
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp sesame oil
1/4 cup coconut grated

Grind:
4 Green chillies
1/4 tsp hing
1/4 cup water

Seasoning;
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
2 red chilles
a few curry leaves

Method:
1.Roast the rice flour on low heat for about 5 minutes, this gives a nice flavor to the rice.
2.Heat water, add salt and oil.
3.Grind the green chillies and hing with water.
4.Add the boiling water to the rice flour, add the ground up green chillies, and coconut.
5. Stir well, don't worry about the clumps.
6.Once the dough can be handled, knead it well and make a smooth dough.
7.Heat a steamer with water, spray the plate or steamer stand with oil.
8. Make about one inch balls, they don't have to be perfect rounds, just press themm together to make dumplings.
9.Place on the steamer tray, and steam for about 6 minutes.
10. For seasoning, heat oil, add mustard seeds, red chillies and curry leaves.
11. Add the steamed kozhukatta, and stir well for a few minutes till dry.
12. Serve with chutney podi or chutney.

Beetroot Pachadi ( Asianet Cookery Show)

I saw this on Asianet TV, a Cookery Show on a Malayalam TV channel. I have always made Pachadi or Kichadi with tomatoes, white pumpkin and cucumbers, but never with beetroots. Pachadi is a good side dish with different Dal based curries or even as a Raita with a Pulao or Biryani.

1 small beetroot peeled

salt to taste

1/2 cup yogurt whisked

To Grind:

1/2 cup coconut

3 green chillies

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1/4 cup water

To Season:

1 tsp coconut oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp udad dal

1 red chilli

a few curry leaves

Method:

Steam beetroot and grate.

Simmer with salt and 1/4 cup water.

Meanwhile grind to a fine paste the masala and add to simmering beetroot.

Simmer for a few minutes.

Heat oil for seasoning add mustrad seeds, udad dal, and red chilli, once the mustard splutters add curry leaves and pour over the beetroot.

After it cools down add the whisked yogurt and serve.

Moru Kootan with Raw Mango (Yogurt Based Sauce)

Moru means buttermilk or thinned and whisked yogurt and kootan means a gravy or curry in Malyalam.

1 cup cubed white pumpkin

1/2 of a raw mango sliced lengthwise

Salt to taste

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp chilli pwd

1 cup yogurt whisked

2 tbsp sour cream optional

Grind to a paste:

1 1/2 cup grated coconut

10 green chillies or according to your spice level

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

Seasoning:

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 red chilli

1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds

a few curry leaves

Cook pumpkin and raw mango with salt, turmeric, and chilli pwd and 1 cup of water till tender.

Meanwhile grind the ingredients to a fine paste with 1 cup of water.

Once the vegetables are cooked add the ground paste and let it come to a simmer.

Remove from heat add the whisked yogurt, and sour cream.

Put it back on low heat, and let it come to a simmer. Remove right way do not let it boil as the yogurt could curdle. Check for salt add if required.

Heat oil for seasoning add mustard seeds, red chilli, fenugreek seeds once they splutter add curry leaves, and pour over Moru Kootan.

Enjoy with rice.

NOTE: I use sour cream to give it a little better consistency as I use homemade yogurt made with lowfat milk. This yogurt does not withsatand heat well, hence the sour cream. But if you are using store bought yogurt or whole milk yogurt you can eleminate the sour cream.

Sambar

1/2 cup Tuar Dal

Brinjal, Okra, Pumpkin, Drumsticks all together cubed about 2 cups

1/2 tsp turmeric

Salt to taste

1 tsp tamarind paste

1/2 tsp jaggery

2 tbsps chopped coriander leaves

Masala for grinding:

1 tsp oil

1 tsp fenugreek

1 tbsp coriander seeds

2 red chillies

1/2 tsp hing

1/2 cup grated coconut

2 tsp sambar powder( I use 777 Sambar Pwd)

Seasoning

1 tbsp coconut oil

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1 red chilly

1/2 tsp hing

1 tbsp shallots minced

a few curry leaves

Cook the dal till tender, I use a pressure cooker.

Cook the vegetables with salt and turmeric and 1 cup of water, once cooked add tamarind paste.

Let it boil well.

Meanwhile make the ground masala, heat oil add fenugreek seeds, coriander seeds, red chillies, and hing, stir till golden, do not burn.

Add coconut, stir for a few minutes add sambar powder, and remove from heat.

Grind to a fine paste with about 1/2 cup water.

Add this paste to the boiling vegetables.

Add the cooked dal, and about 1/2 cup water check the consistency add more water if required.

Remove from heat once the sambar comes together, add coriander leaves.

Heat oil for the seasoning, add the mustard seeds, red chilly, hing, curry leaves, and shallots.

Fry till golden brown, pour over sambar.

Serve with rice.