Egg Appam

                                        

Egg Appam

This is a very simple dish, if you already have the batter for Appam. Be sure to check out my previous post on  Kerala Appam to learn how to make Appam batter. Once you have the batter ready, all you need is an egg and some salt & pepper. This is a very good recipe for kids, who are always on the run and never sit down for a complete meal. The utensil I have used here is the Appam chatti (available in all Kerala stores) which is curved at the bottom. This gives the Appams the actual curved shape and texture. The Appams would turn out to be crispy and lacy on the edges and thick and fluffy in the middle.


                                       

Ingredients.

Appam batter - 2 tbspn
Egg - 1
Salt - As needed
Pepper - As needed

Directions

1. Heat the Appam chatti, and pour the batter in the center.
2. Lift it with both hands and swirl the vessel twice to make the batter flow in a circular motion forming thin lacy edges.
3. Place the lid, and cook for 1 minute.
4. Once the appam gets cooked in the center, break the egg carefully and pour on top of the appam.
5. Swirl the vessel again to make the egg white coating on the edges while carefully centering the yolk.

6. Sprinkle some salt and pepper.

7. Place the lid and wait till the egg gets done.
8. Serve plainly or with some curry that go well with appams.

Appam

Appam

Appam is a classic breakfast in Kerala, mainly popular within the Christian Community in Kerala. It is mainly served with Stew (Non veg or Veg), Egg Curry, Veg Kurma or Chick peas curry. Who wouldn't want to have some soft, lacy, fluffy appams on a perfect Sunday morning? So here goes the easiest recipe to make the best Appams. 

                                

Ingredients

Raw rice - 3 cups

Pre - Cooked parboiled rice - 1 cup

Coconut - 1 cup

Yeast - 2 tspn

Sugar - 2 tbspn

Jeera/ Cumin seeds - 1 tspn

Salt - As needed

Directions

1. Soak the Raw rice for around 5- 8 hours or over night.

2. Take some warm water ( hot water will kill the yeast), put the yeast and sugar and keep it aside for 10 mins till the yeast activates.

3. On a grinder or a blender, grind all the ingredients all at once (if using grinder) or one by one ( if using blender) to make the batter.

4. Once the raw rice is blended, go ahead by blending the remaining ingredients along with the activated yeast and sugar.

5. The consistency of the batter should be runny and smooth. When you pour the batter from a spoon, the batter should flow continuously without breaking. That is the consistency we are looking for.

6. Wait for 3-4 hours till the batter gets fermented.

7. Now pour the batter on a preheated Appam Chatti , swirl to make the lacy edges and cover with lid for 2 minutes.

8. The fluffy appams are ready !!

Additional Info

1. The pre cooked rice that we add here, gives the softness to the appams. So it is an important ingredient. Mostly I use any left over rice from our lunch that day. 

2. Jeera or Cumin seeds are optional. Not every body adds it. But it gives a distinct flavour and aroma to the batter.

3. There are ready made Palappam/Appam powders available in the market which is equally tasty, but making a batter from scratch is the best way as we know what are the ingredients that we add. This way we can avoid eating any preservatives that are added in a ready made packet. But occasionally I too use the ready made powders.

Healthy Veg Pulav

Veg Pulav is a delicious healthy meal, perfect for a weekend family get together. It is easy to make and is a great way of making your kids eat vegetables. There are so many ways to make pulav. This is just one tasty way to make one for yourself.

Ingredients

Basmati Rice - 2 cups

Carrots - 2 nos chopped

Beans - 6 nos chopped

Green peas - 1 cup

Sweet Corn - 1 cup

Onion - 1 sliced

Ginger Garlic paste - 2 tbspn

Salt - As needed

Soy Sauce - 2 tbspn

Pepper - 3 tspn

Oil - 1 tspn

Garnishing

Coriander leaves - Few

Onion stems - Few

Directions

1. Cook Basmati Rice adding enough salt, drain and keep aside.

2. Heat oil in a vessel , add ginger garlic paste and onions and saute for a minute.

3. Add the chopped vegetables, add salt, pepper and soy sauce and fry it till is half cooked.

4. Add the cooked Basmati rice and mix well . Garnish with coriander leaves and chopped onion stems.

You can bring in any variations by choosing what goes into it. You can choose to add chicken, egg or vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage etc.. So go ahead and test your creativity by adding different ingredient in yours. 

Happy cooking!!

Must Haves in a South Indian Kitchen

Must Haves in a South Indian Kitchen

Rice - (Of course : D ) A par boiled rice or a raw rice (like Ponni)  for everyday cooking. White raw rice for making batter for Appam, Idli Dosa etc.

Deskinned Split Black Gram (Urad daal ) - Ingredient in Idli/ Dosa batter

Lentil/ Chana Daal

Split Pigeon Pea (Toor daal) - For Sambar, North Indian Daal recipes

Tamarind - For Sambar, Theeyal etc
Gambooge ( Kudampuli) / (Different type of Tamarind) - For Fish curries
Yeast - For Appam
Curd (Yogurt )
Pickle


Masalas and Powders

Coconut Oil, Curry Leaves, Dried Red chillies, Mustard Seeds - For almost every dish :)
Whole Spices (Buy the total package) - Mainly for biriyanis but can be used in some curries as well
Garam Masala
Chilli Powder
Coriander Powder
Turmeric Powder
Pepper Powder
Fenugreek Seeds
Cumin Seeds
Sambar Powder
Asafoetida (Kayam powder)
Salt


Vegetables

Onions
Shallots
Potatoes
Tomatoes
Carrots
Beans
Brinjal
Garlic and Ginger
Green Chillies

With the above ingredients you can make a variety of dishes. Listing some of it below

1. Idli Dosa batter
2. Appam batter
3. Rice Porridge
4. Plain cooked rice.
5. Veg Pulav
6. Puttu/Idiappam Powder

Side dishes

Sambar
Veg Kurma
Dal Tadka
Theeyal ( Spicy Veg curry for cooked rice with roasted coconut paste and tamarind juice)
Brinjal Masala
Spicy Potato Masala
Beans Thoran
Carrot Thoran
Curd Curry (Moru Curry)
Vegetable Stew

The above list is just some of the recipes I could think of. But there are many more. So if you are a beginner in cooking, the above list would help you get started. The masalas and powders section has a complete list of what you need for most of the cooking in Kerala cuisine.

Hope you like this list. Do share your views regarding what you think should also be added in the above list.

Happy cooking !!

Cooked Green Gram with Coconut/ Cherupayar Vevichathu/ Cooked Moongdal with Coconut

Cooked Green Gram with Coconut/ Cherupayar Vevichathu/ Cooked Moongdal with Coconut















This is a very easy recipe. This dish is mainly had with Rice porridge ( Kanji)  in Kerala. The recipe is a variation from the usual Green gram recipe. This one goes well with Roti as well.

Cooking green gram is not that difficult if we pressure cook it. 3-4 whistles would be perfectly fine for cooking it. I prefer it a little mushy so I go till 4 whistles. If you don't want it to be so soft you can stop at the 3rd whistle. Another way to cook it, is to soak the green gram overnight and then cook it in an open vessel, so you can see till which consistency you want it. If you choose to pressure cook soaked gram, don't go over 2 whistles.

Ingredients

Green Gram - 1 cup
Grated Coconut - 1/2 cup
Garlic - 6 pods chopped
Green chillies - 3 nos ( sliced in halves)
Onion - 1 medium sliced
Chilli powder - 1/2 tspn
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tspn
Salt -As needed

Seasoning

Mustard seeds - 1 tspn
Dried red chillies - 2
Curry leaves- 1 sprig
Coconut oil - 1 tspn

Directions

1. Cook the green gram by adding 1/2 tspn chilli powder, 1/4 tspn turmeric powder , some salt and keep aside.

2. In a pan, pour coconut oil. Once hot , add the mustard seeds. When it starts to pop, add dried red chillies and curry leaves and give a quick stir.

3. Now add the chopped garlic,1/4 tspn of turmeric powder,  green chillies and saute till you get the aroma of the roasted garlic.

4. Next, add the onions and saute till it is tender.

5. Now add the cooked green gram and salt and mix it well.

6. Finally add the grated coconut and mix it well and cover the pan for 2 more minutes.

The yummy , healthy dish is ready to serve!! Enjoy!

Beetroot Side dish with Yogurt and coconut / Beetroot Pachadi

Beetroot Side dish with Yogurt and coconut / Beetroot Pachadi



This dish is one of the popular side dishes in Kerala and is one among the other side dishes usually served in Kerala Sadya. Kerala Sadya is the meal that is served in banana leaf and it contains cooked brown rice, a variety of side dishes, bananas, pickles, pappadams and desserts. I love this dish especially because of the unusual flavour it has due to the ground mustard seeds.

This dish be prepared with pineapple, mango, cucumber instead of beetroot. The method of cooking remains the same but the taste differs according to the vegetable used.

Ingredients

Grated beetroot - 2 nos
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tspn
Salt - As needed
Curd - 1cup

For Grinding

Coconut - 1 cup
Mustard seeds - 1 tspn
Shallot - 1 no
Green chillies - 4
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tspn
Garlic - 1 pod

For Seasoning

Red chillies - 2 nos
Curry leves - 1 sprig
Mustard seeds - 1 tspn
Coconut Oil - 1 tbspn

Directions

1. Heat coconut oil in a pan. Put the mustard seeds. Once it starts to pop, put the red chillies and curry leaves and give a quick stir.

2. Add the grated beetroot, turmeric powder, salt and 1/2 cup of water. Mix it well and leave it to cook.

3. When the beetroot is getting cooked, grind the coconut, mustard seeds, garlic, shallot, green chillies and cumin seeds into a fine paste.

4. Pour the grounded ingredients into the cooked beetroot and mix it well.

5. Lastly, add the curd into the beetroot mixture and mix in. Turn the stove off once you add the curd. Curd should never be boiled. It should only be warmed by constant stirring.

The pink coloured gorgeous curry is ready to eat with rice! Enjoy!!

Chickpeas Curry/ Kadala Curry

Chickpeas Curry/ Kadala Curry



Its time to reveal the recipe for the tastiest curry for breakfast!!

Now that you know the recipe for puttu, its time to know the wonderful side dish for Puttu, which is the one and only Kadala curry. Of course you can have Puttu with Egg curry, Green peas curry or with plain banana. But none of these can beat the taste of the Puutu - Kadala combination!

For a first timer, this recipe can be long and overwhelming. Only with experience can we manage to do all the steps one shot. But I have an easy method for you, that I follow.

The most time consuming part is the roasting of the grated coconut. It takes around 30 mins for this. So what I do is , I roast one grated coconut in the weekend and keep in the fridge. So when you make the curry you can just take half of this and grind it and add to the curry. The rest of it can be used in another occasion.

Ingredients

For grinding

Coconut - 1/2 grated coconut
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tspn
Red chilli powder -2 tbspn
Coriander powder - 2 tbspn

For Curry

Chickpeas - 2 cups soaked overnight
Onion - 1 Large
Tomato - 1 Large
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 Tbspn
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tspn
Red Chilli Powder - 1 tspn
Coriander Powder -1 tspn

For Seasoning

Coconut Oil -1 Tbspn
Mustard Seeds - 1 tspn
Dried Red Chillies - 2 nos
Curry leaves - 2 sprigs

Directions.

1. This step can be done in the free time you have, to make the cooking easier when the time comes. Heat a pan and put the grated coconut and roast it till it turns pink. This takes around 20- 30 mins for 1 full grated coconut. So be patient and keep on stirring to avoid burning it.Once it looks ready, you can put the turmeric , chilli and coriander powders. Keep on stirring for 2-3 more minutes and switch of the stove. Once cooled you can store it in the fridge for later use.

2. Take a pressure cooker, put chickpeas, 1/2 tspn turmeric powder ,1/2 tspn red chilli powder, enough water and cook for upto 4 whistles,

3. Meanwhile grind 5-6 tbspn of the roasted coconut in a blender into a fine paste by adding enough water.

4. Now place another vessel on the stove and do the seasoning. For seasoning, heat coconut oil in a pan. Put the mustard seeds. Once it starts to pop, put the red chillies and curry leaves and give a quick stir.

5. Add ginger garlic paste and sliced onions. Saute till onion turns golden brown.

6. Add turmeric, chilli, coriander and garam masala powders and saute till raw smell goeas away.

7. Add the chopped tomato and saute till it gets cooked and mix well in the masala.

8. Now add the cooked chickpeas and salt and wait for it to boil.

7. Finally add the grounded coconut paste and mix it well.

8. Cook for 2 more minutes and then turn the stove off. Garnish with some coriander leaves.

The tasty kadala curry is ready to serve. You can have this as a side dish not only with puttu, but also with appam, idiappam and even dosa.

Bon appetit!

Steamed Rice cake breakfast Recipe (Kerala Puttu )

Steamed Rice cake with coconut/Kerala Puttu


This dish is made of Roasted rice powder. The Raw white rice is soaked for around 5 hours, drained and powdered. This powder is then roasted till all the water dries up. This step is very important for the softness of the dish and also for long storage. As this is a tedious process, now everyone opts for buying ready made rice powder. When making puttu, try buying the Puttu powder and not the regular rice flour as the texture of the powder varies for Puttu (the powder is a bit coarse unlike the fine powder needed for Idiappam or Appam)

Ingredients


Puttu flour- 2 cups
Grated coconut- 1 cup
Water - appoximately 1 cup
Salt - As needed
Puttu maker/Steamer

Directions

Take 2 cups of puttu flour in a bowl. Add a little salt.

Add water little at the time and mix well with your finger tips.When you take a handful of flour and press it between your fist, it should hold its shape, when you press it again a little harder, it should crumble. That is the right consistency.

The flour should be crumbly and moist. There should be no lumps.You can blend it in a mixer for 2-3 seconds using the whipper blade. Keep it aside for 15 minutes.

How to fill the puttu kutty/puttu maker

Layer the puttu kutty (cylindrical tube) first with a little grated coconut, then add 2 fistful of puttu flour.Then again add grated coconut followed by puttu flour.Repeat the same process until the mould/puttu kutty is full ending it with grated coconut.

You can do the same way in a steamer or a coconut shell shaped steamer (which I use).Only the shape of the final puttu will change. Taste is exactly the same. Now this should be steam cooked for about 7-8 minutes. The puttu maker or the coconut shell shaped steamer can be mounted on a flat lid pressure cooker instead of the whistle. Puttu maker usually comes with a pot where you can fill water.

When you get a nice flavor of steamed puttu, switch off, remove the cylindrical tube/puttu kutty from the pot, open it and gently push the puttu using a wooden ladle.

Serve with Chick peas curry ( Kadala curry) which is the classic combination for this. You can also eat with small banana and Kerala pappadam (a crispy side snack served during lunch).

Health Point Now Tip - Caramelizing Onions

Yes , I know what you are thinking!!. Caramelizing onions takes forever :(

Here, I give you some easy tips which I learned from experience.

1. How you cut is very important.

If you want the onions to caramalize quickly, make sure you cut it very thin.

2. Add a pinch of Salt.

Yes. The science behind it is that, salt will take out the water from the onions quickly and hence will help you reduce the time it takes to caramelize .

3. Oil should be hot.

Make sure your oil is hot before you put the sliced onions.

For most Indian dishes, we just need to wait till the sliced onions turns golden colour. But for Biriyanis, the more caramelized the onion is, the more tastier your Biriyani will become.

Hope you like the tips!! Bon Appetit !

Yummy Masala Corn Recipe

Yummy Butter Sweet Corn Recipe

Hearing this name makes you think of the fun time you spend with your friends and family while watching movies in Indian Multiplexes with a cup loaded with this Buttery Golden Beauty. Right? Now the good news is,  you can make it at home!! Yayyy!!

Here is the easy Butter Sweet Corn recipe.

Ingredients

Frozen Sweet Corn - 2 cups
Lemon - Half portion
Pepper Powder - 1 teaspoon
Red Chiili Powder - A pinch
Butter - 1 teaspoon
Salt - As needed.

Directions

1. In a Microwave bowl, put the corn, lemon juice, pepper powder, chilli powder and salt. Mix it well.

2. Cook in the microwave in medium heat for 3.00 minutes.

3. Once done, put one spoon of butter and mix it really well.

4. Your Butter Corn is ready. Yummy!!

Now its time to watch a movie!! :)

PS: All the ingredients can be adjusted to one's taste. Try different combinations and find out what suits you best. Personally I don't like to put butter always because it is yummy even without butter. But once in a while a spoon of butter makes you feel good. :)

Alternatively, you can steam the sweet corn in a steamer and then mix all the above ingredients. You can also use chaat masala ( available in Indian stores), lemon juice, salt and butter combination to attain a variation in the taste.

Traditional Kerala Tapioca Dish with Coconut/ Kappa Puzhukku

Traditional Kerala Tapioca Dish with Coconut/ Kappa Puzhukku

One of the most popular dishes in Kerala is Boiled Tapioca with fish curry.Here, the recipe for preparing the authentic Tapioca dish locally known as Kappa Puzhukku is illustrated. This dish is prepared by adding spices and coconut onto to the boiled Tapioca which makes it even more mouthwatering. This dish can be eaten as such or with a combination of fish curry. This dish is also served as a side dish with plain cooked rice. If you ever get a chance to visit Kerala, this is one dish worth trying.

PS: This recipe is spicy, so if you like it to be less spicy, adjust the no: of green chillies according to your taste.


Ingredients

Tapioca - 2 nos
Scraped Coconut - 6 Tablespoon
Green Chilli - 2-3
Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder - Half Teaspoon
Indian shallots - 2 nos
Dried Red chilli - 1-2

For Seasoning

Coconut Oil - 2 Teaspoon
Mustard seeds - Half teaspoon
Curry Leaves - 4- 5 petals
Dried Red Chillies - 2

Directions

1. Clean off the skin from the tapioca and cut it into 1/2 or 1 inch cube pieces. Take enough water to submerge the tapioca pieces. Put enough salt and a pinch of turmeric ( for yellow colour) and boil it till cooked.

Tip : Cooking tapioca takes a long time in a pan, in a pressure cooker this will be done quickly. But when you pressure cook tapioca, it gets competely cooked ( consistency like butter ) even before the first whistle. So remove the cooker from the stove before you hear the full first whistle.

2. Once cooked, drain off the water and keep the tapioca aside.

3. In a blender, take coconut, green chillies, cumin seeds, turmeric powder, shallots, dried redchilli and blend it till evreything is mixed well. Keep it aside.

Warning : Steps to follow once the oil is hot needs to be done quickly or else your seasoning can get burned. Raise the pan from the stove, in case the oil is too hot.

4. Heat a pan. Pour coconut oil and when it turns warm (not hot), put the mustard seeds.

5 When the seeds start to splutter, break the dried red chillies and put it in. Also put the curry leaves and give a quick stir. By this time all the mustard seeds have spluttered and you did a quick fry of the red chillies and curry leaves.

6. Now put the Tapioca pieces and ground coconut paste and mix it well. Turn of the heat. Your dish is ready. Enjoy!!


Hope you enjoyed the recipe!

Thank you!

Healthy Watermelon Treat

Healthy Watermelon Treat

Ingredients

Watermelon Pieces - 5 big chunks
Lemon - Half a lemon
Honey - As needed for sweetness

Directions

1. Blend the watermelon pieces, lemon juice and honey.

2. Pour in a rectangular baking bowl. Leave it overnight in the freezer to solidify.

3. Once set, scrape the water melon with a fork.

4. Serve in an Ice cream bowl and enjoy!!

A very easy delicious recipe that is healthy and will help you cool in Summer!! Please try it and let me know how it turned out for you!!

Thank you!

Healthy Indian Recipe with Raw Papaya/ Kappanga Thoran

Raw Papaya has lots of nutritional values. This post is a well known recipe for Raw Papaya from India. specifically from Kerala (Kerala is a state in South India). If you are wondering about trying a new vegetarian dish, this post is for you.

Ingredients 

Deseeded Raw Papaya - Half portion shredded to very small cubes by hand or by a food processor
Scraped Coconut - 3 Tablespoon
Green Chilli - 1
Cumin seeds - 2 pinches
Turmeric powder - Half Teaspoon
Garlic - Half a pod
Salt - As needed

For Seasoning

Oil - 2 Teaspoon
Mustard seeds - Half teaspoon
Curry Leaves - 4- 5 petals
Dried Red Chillies - 2

Directions

Unlike Western cooking, the seasoning is done in the beginning for most Indian dishes.

Warning : Steps to follow once the oil is hot needs to be done quickly or else your seasoning can get burned. Raise the pan from the stove, in case the oil is too hot.

1. Heat the pan. Pour the oil and when it turns warm (not hot), put the mustard seeds.

2. When the seeds start to splutter, break the dried red chillies and throw it in. Also put the curry leaves and give a quick stir. By this time all the mustard seeds have spluttered and you did a quick fry of the red chillies and curry leaves.

3. Before the seasoning is overdone, quickly throw in the shredded papaya and mix with the seasoning. Put a pinch of turmeric powder for yellow colour and add enough salt.

4. Sprinkle few drops of water just to prevent it from getting burned. This dish is a dry dish , not a curry, so you don't have to add more water.

5. In the meantime, take a blender and put the coconut, green chilli, garlic, cumin seeds and turmeric powder and crush it. The texture should be still very coarse. The blending should stop once the garlic and chilli gets broken and mixed with the rest. Don't make a paste of this.  5 seconds of blending should be enough.

6. Once the papaya is cooked, put the blended ingredients into it and mix it well.

7. One more minute of cooking is enough just to get the blended contents warm and mix well with the raw papaya

Some Facts about the dish.

The regional name of the dish is called Kappanga Thoran. Kappanga refers to Raw Papaya Thoran is the name of the style of preparation. This style can be used to cook vegetables like Carrot, Cabbage, Beetroot etc. So the name of the dish becomes Carrot Thoran, Cabbage Thoran or Beetroot Thoran respectively. All the remaining steps would be same for all the vegetables.The dish will have different taste according to the selection of the vegetable. This method is only suitable for vegetables that can be sliced into very small cubes and can stay dry once cooked and cannot be done with vegetables like Tomato, Brinjal etc. This dish is served with Rice and with some type of curry like sambar.

Spiciness

The red chillies used in the dish are not meant for spiciness, it is for flavor. The green chillies are the ones that give the spiciness in the dish. You can start with 1 green chilli , if your are trying for the first time. While having the dish, some people like to eat the fried red chilies in the dish, but normally people keep it aside in the plate and consume the rest.

How to eat the dish ( For non Kerala people)

Rice is the main dish for lunch and dinner in Kerala. So we will have probably 2 cups of cooked rice in the plate and 3-4 tablespoons of Thoran in the side and 1 or 2 big scoops of curry like Sambar on top of the rice. So when eat,  you take the Rice mixed with Sambar in the spoon first , next take some thoran in the spoon and eat it. So now you got a mouthful of different tastes. Enjoy!

What if you don't have a curry in the side. Here is a tip. You can still have the rice with the thoran. But if you dont want the food to be that dry, you can mix some plain yogurt in the rice and eat it with the thoran.

Hope you enjoyed the recipe and the tips!!

Thank you!