Mutton Liver Roast, Naadan Style

There is something infinitely comforting about warm, spicy, peppery food. Just the thought of non-vegetarian food cooked with black pepper is enough to get me salivating. Today, I am posting my version of a naadan mutton liver fry. There are several version of the same dish. This dish, when cooked at our relatives houses, tastes wholly different, though the ingredients remain the same, much like the love that goes into its making. Feel free to adjust the level of spices according to your tolerance. I will mention now that the spice tolerance in our house is very high (except poor ol' dad, who by the end of the meal, sweats buckets and goes charging for the ice-cream tin! :D )

Without further ado, I present to you my version of naadan mutton liver fry!

This recipe serves 4-6 people.
Cooking time: about half an hour
Preferred equipment: Non-stick kadai
Best served with naadan matta rice.

Mutton liver (washed, drained and cubed) - 1/2 kg
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp.
Saunf (dry-roasted and ground) - 1/2 tsp.
Pepper powder - 1 tsp. + to taste
Coriander seeds - 2 Tbsp.
Dry red chillies - About 10 (or to taste) + 2-3 extra
Ginger-garlic paste - about 4 Tbsp. (preferably freshly ground)
Curry leaves - a big handful
Coconut oil - as required
Salt - to taste

Method:
Mix the liver with turmeric and about 1 teaspoon of pepper. Set on a medium flame. (Please remember that no salt or water is to be added at this stage, since the liver will release water as it cooks, and adding salt at this stage makes the liver tough and rubbery). Cover and let it cook.

Meanwhile, dry roast the coriander seeds and dry red chillies, and grind to a coarse powder. Add this powder to the cooked liver. Mix and set aside. In the same kadai, heat some oil, and add the ginger-garlic paste, curry leaves, and 2-3 torn dry red chillies. Fry this on medium flame till fragrant. Now add the liver to this, and roast well, then mix in the . Add in salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.

Notes:
- When roasted to perfection, the liver will get a dark brown colour, bordering black.
- To take this recipe a notch up, fry a few cloves of slivered garlic till lightly browned and add this to the mixture and combine before serving.

Ayala Varuthathe - Mackerel fry, Malabar style

It's funny how people come up with some terms. I've been learning a few new terms ever since I moved to Cochin. 'Chill-mode' is one of those. On a chill-mode day we stay at home all day lazying around, mostly with some very precious bottles of Bacardi breezers. Ya, that's right, breezers are pretty precious for us Kochites, we don't get them here, b'coz of some government regulation, and have to request our friends visiting from Bangalore and Hyderabad to get us some. The past 2 years that I have been here I've had the hope that someday they're gonna start selling it here. But now, thanks to new rules, that hope is dead. I really have no idea how the Mallu alcoholics are gonna survive this. Doesn't make a difference to us breezer drinkers, since we never did get it here to begin with.

Anyway back to food, so as I was saying, tonight's chill-mode for us, my friend Parvathi and me. And since we were gonna be downing some breezers, we got some fish to fry as "touchings" with the breezers. Touchings is something spicy that's eaten as a side-dish with alcohol, I know breezers aren't much to call alcohol, but technically they are. So, tonight's touchings was Ayala Varuthathe, Mackerel Malabar style. A very simple recipe, but thought I'll put it up for some of my friends who are upcoming Malabary cookers ;)

Ingredients for Ayala Varuthathe

1. Ayala - 2, cut, cleaned and striped
2. Chilli powder - 1 ½ Tbsp.
3. Turmeric powder - ½ Tsp.
4. Pepper powder - 1 Tsp. 
5. Salt - ½ Tbsp. or as per your taste
6. Lime juice - 1 Tsp.
7. Coconut oil - To shallow fry, about 3 Tbsp. on a non-stick pan.

Method:

• Cut and clean the fish, and give it 5-6 stripes horizontally over the entire length, so that the marinade can seep in well. 
• Mix the ingredients 2 to 6 in a bowl, add a few drops of water if required and make a slightly thick paste and marinate the fish in it for about half an hour. 
• Heat a flat pan, add the oil.
• Once the oil is hot, place the marinated fish on it. Fry on a medium-slow heat for about 5 minutes on each side or till you feel its cooked to your liking.
• Ayala Varuthathe is ready!

Kayi curry, raw plantain slices cooked in coconut milk gravy

I've always wanted to be a vegetarian, if not for anything else, at least to help me lose some weight. But who am I fooling.. the minute I set eyes on some delicious fish curry or chicken fry, I lose all control. I've decided not to give up so easily though.. am on a path of research now, discovering new recipes with vegetables that resemble their non-vegetarian counterparts. And hopefully, I'd be able to cut down on the meat and fish gradually, at least, that's the plan. This is one such discovery, not my invention though.. this one is a specialty of our cook. Upon first look, it can fool you into believing that it's fish curry and tastes equally good too.

For this curry you'll need,

Raw banana, preferably plantain 1, sliced thinly, diagonally
Tamarind juice 1 cup
Shallots 10, sliced thinly (can be supplemented with 1 onion)
Tomato 1, sliced
Ginger 1" piece, chopped
Green chillis 2-3, slit in half
Turmeric 1tsp.
Red chilli powder 1/2 tsp.
Salt to taste

Boil all the above together, till the plantain is cooked. This shouldn't be over-cooked, b'coz the plantain slices should be intact and not mashed up.

Coconut milk, 1 1/2 cups
Coconut oil 1 tbsp
Garlic 3 cloves, crushed
Curry leaves 1 sprig

Pour the coconut milk in and when the gravy starts to boil and thicken, add the coconut oil, garlic and curry leaves. Serve hot with rice.

Pazhampori/Banana Fritters. One of the many popular evening snacks in Kerala

Nice and ripe plantain slices coated with lightly sweetened white flour batter and deep fried, it just melts in your mouth after each bite… My love for Pazhampori started since the time I could trace back my memory, we had a neighbor, who made Pazhampori every single day, and she would get me a few... every single day. There came a point when I kind of got addicted to it, then mom stepped in and told me I couldn't have em regularly, with the promise that she would make it for me once in a while, she kept her promise, but still, I wasn't too happy about foregoing my daily share of Pazhampori, and was quite sour at that point... it took me a few years from there to put together things like hogging on fried items, putting on weight, the troubles of losing that weight, the health issues and so on and on. I got over the craze gradually, and settled down to rejoicing at the occasions when  Mom made em at home. Later on, when I was on a train journey once, I happened to pass through Palakkad railway station, amongst many other noises around the station, one in particular caught my attention, the monotonous calls of one food vendor, it was none other than the one selling Pazhamporis. Not that you don’t get Pazhampori elsewhere, but I had heard from many that the ones you get at Palakkad railway station are yumm. I had my hubby running for the Pazhampori guy... It is quite good for the store bought standards, but definitely nowhere close to the homemade ones, but I still loved it nevertheless. 

For homemade Pazhampori 

You’ll need…

Ripe plantains – 2; sliced slanted or lengthwise into ½” thick, and about 2-3” long pieces

Maida/All-purpose flour – 1 cup

Rice flour – 2 tbsp.

Sugar – ¼ cup

Cardamom – 1; powdered

Salt - 1 pinch

Egg – 1 (optional)

Baking powder – 1 pinch (Optional)

Water – 1 cup (just enough to make a thick batter)

Oil – for deep frying

Heat the oil in a deep bottomed pan, on a medium flame. While that is getting heated, you can prepare the batter.

In a bowl, mix all the ingredients, except the plantains. Add the water gradually; the batter should be of thick but pourable consistency.

Dip the plantain slices into the batter to coat it well, and immediately drop it into the hot oil, you could fry 4 or 5 at one time, turn them around to fry both the sides, till they turn to a golden color.

Strain out of the oil onto a tissue paper to remove excess oil.  

Serve hot!

Prawn Roast

A worldwide favorite and definitely the most versatile seafood.... the vote would most certainly go to Shrimp/Prawn. Shellfish usually are more popular than other kinds of seafood, for most people mainly due to the ease of cooking, versatility, the ease of eating, since there's no bones to worry about (with the exception of crab of course!) and more than anything, the taste! 
I don't really wanna go on to the part where I'd have to admit to prawn being high in cholesterol... for now we'll jus skip that and get to the interesting part...

For the Prawn roast, we'll need

Prawn or shrimp - 1/2 kg
{Marinated for 30 minutes in 1/2 tsp chilli powder, a pinch of turmeric powder, a tsp of lemon juice and 1/2 tsp salt}
Onion - 1 big, chopped
Tomato - 1 big, chopped
Green chillis - 1, chopped
Garlic - 5-6 cloves, crushed and chopped
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Hot red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Kashmiri chilli powder (for color) - 1 tsp
Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Coriander leaves, chopped - 2 tbsp
Coconut oil - 3 tbsp
Salt to taste

Heat the oil in a shallow pan and fry the prawns just until they turn white. Remove and keep aside. 
In the remaining oil, add the onions and sauté till they turn pink. Add the tomatoes, green chilli and garlic, sauté till the tomatoes are softened and the oil starts to rise through. Add salt, turmeric and both the chilli powders. Fry for a minute, just enough to get rid of the raw smell of the powders. Add the prawns and mix it in well, so that the masala is well coated on the prawn. Throw in the curry leaves and the coriander leaves. Prawn roast ready to serve!!

Koondal peera - Squid fried with ginger and grated coconut

Squid is a unique kind of seafood. Squid, like cuttlefish, have eight arms arranged in pairs and two, usually longer, tentacles. In English speaking countries, squid as food is often sold using its Italian name calamari. Its rubbery texture and opaque color has led a lot of people to misunderstand it to be tasteless. But those who know about squids, will know that, if cooked in the right way, can be one of the tastiest. It can be cooked in various ways - barbecue, curry, fry etc. The arms and tentacles are edible, the parts that are not eaten are the ink, beak and gladius (pen). Cleaning squid is fairly simple, you just need to know the right technique as with crab, prawn etc. 
At home, I prepare squid in various ways, when I feel lazy, I shallow fry it, which is the simplest way. Sometimes when I feel less lazy its squid masala or I fry it with coconut and ginger, which is the recipe I am about to share here. It has a very gingery flavor with a coconut masala. This tastes great with rice. 


Squid - 1/2 kg, cleaned and cut into rings or strips
Kudampuli - 2 pieces
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Shallots - 8-10, peeled and crushed
Grated coconut, crushed lightly - 1 cup
Jeera (cumin seeds) - 1/4 tsp (to be crushed with the coconut)
Ginger, grated - 1/4 cup
Garlic - 2 cloves, crushed
Green chillis - 4-5, (or as per your spice tolerance) crushed
Coconut oil - 2 tbsp
Curry leaves - A few


1. Cook the squid with the kudampuli, turmeric, salt and 1/4 cup water for about 10 minutes or till the squid turns whitish from opaque, on medium heat. By this time the squid would have released its juices too. 


2. Add the shallots, and cook till the water has almost completely evaporated. Add the coconut-jeera mixture, ginger, garlic and green chillis. Sauté for about 5 minutes.


3. Add the curry leaves and coconut oil, and sauté for another 5-10 minutes and the squid is ready to be served.


Its quite a simple preparation, having a distinctive flavor of the ginger. 

Arabian pulpy grape juice

Purple or red grapes ½ kg, preferably seedless

Sugar  ¼ kg

Water 1 liter

· Boil all the ingredients till it starts to thicken slightly. Remove from heat. Keep it aside.

· After about 4-5 hours, squish the grapes well with a masher or with hands. The pulpy part of the grape should be left in. Remove the skin, which will be floating above and blend it with a little water, strain and add it to the juice.

· Chill in the refrigerator. Serve chilled. 

Chicken Piralen, Malabar style

Chicken is definitely the most versatile meat. And this preparation is one of the most common one all around Kerala. Almost every blog has a version of this recipe. This is the way my Mom makes it: 

Chicken 1kg, medium to small pieces

Coriander powder 3 tbsp

Chilli powder 1 tsp

Turmeric ½ tsp

Pepper-Saunf powder* 1 tsp

Cumin powder ½ tsp

Cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, a little of each

*'Pepper-Saunf powder' :

Take pepper and saunf in equal proportions and grind and store in an airtight jar. This masala can be added to almost any non-vegetarian preparation.  It improves the taste a lot. 

Grind all the masala ingredients together with a few drops of water and marinate the chicken in it for an hour.

Ginger 2” piece, chopped

Garlic 10-12 cloves, crushed

Shallots, 10-15, sliced

Apple cedar vinegar 1 tbsp (You can substitute with normal vinegar if you don’t get this one)

Water 3 cups

Salt 1 tsp

Cook all the ingredients together with the marinated chicken, until the chicken becomes tender. Then take the chicken pieces from the gravy and keep both aside.

Coconut oil 4-5 tbsp

Onion 1, sliced thinly

Chilli powder 1 tsp

Curry leaves, a few

Heat the oil in a deep skillet and fry the onion and curry leaves in it. When the onion turns golden brown in color, add the chilli powder and sauté for a minute. Now add the chicken pieces and fry well for about 10 minutes on a medium heat. The chicken shouldn’t get scrambled. Now add the gravy which was kept aside and mix well into the fried chicken. Keep cooking on a medium to low flame till the gravy becomes thick.

Goes well with Rice, Chapatti, Vellayappam etc. 

Koorkka fry

I love this preparation. It’s not a complicated one, but the complication comes in the preparation part, it needs to be fried and fried and fried… for at least 20-30 minutes.. that’s a lot of work for a simple vegetable fry if you ask me.. but the final result is definitely worth the effort though, no doubt..

Koorkka, peeled and cut into small pieces (The small ones taste better than the larger ones)

Onion, 1 big, chopped

Green chillis 3-4 chopped

Turmeric powder ½ tsp

Salt to taste

Mustard ½ tsp

Urad dal ½ tsp

Coconut oil 2-3 tbsp

Curry leaves, a few

Heat the oil, add the mustard, when it sputters, add the urad dal, curry leaves, onion and green chillis. When the onion starts to turn pinkish, add some salt. Now add the Koorkka and the turmeric. Keep frying till the Koorkka is well cooked. Close the lid and let it cook for about 3 minutes, sprinkle a little water if necessary.  But Rosh never adds water, he says adding water spoils the taste and texture of the vegetable. It’ll need to be cooked for at least 20 to 30 minutes, altering between closing the lid and stirring every few minutes.

Vellarikka unakkachemmeen curry

Vellarikka 1 small, cubed

Toor dal ½ cup

Turmeric ½ tsp

Chilli powder 1 tsp

Garlic 3 cloves

Curry leaves, a few

Cook all the above in a pressure cooker till the dal is well cook. The Vellarikka shouldn’t get over cooked.

Coconut grated, ½ cup

Jeera, ½ tsp

Turmeric ½ tsp

A small piece of onion

Water ¼ cup

Grind all these into a smooth paste and add it to the cooked dal mixture. Add some salt. Let it boil for about 5 minutes.

For the garnish:

Coconut oil 1 tbsp

Mustard ½ tsp

Dry red chilli, 2

Curry leaves, a few

Heat oil, add the ingredients for garnish in the given order. Add to the curry, close the lid and serve after 10 minutes.

The curry goes well with rice, curd and your choice of side dish.

Varutharacha Sambhar, better known as Kerala style sambhar

An unavoidable part of the Kerala Sadya. 

Step 1:


Dal, ¾ cup
Onion, 1 small, sliced
Tomato, 1 medium, cut into small cubes
Potato, 1, cut into small cubes
Carrot, 1, cut into lil longer cubes
Beans, 5-6, cut into 1” pieces
Vellarikka  or Yellow cucumber ½ of 1, cut into small cubes
Ash gourd, 1 piece, cut into small cubes
Curry leaves, 1 sprig

Cook all the ingredients with a pinch of salt and turmeric in a pressure cooker for about 3-4 whistles.

Step 2:

Tamarind extract, 1tbsp, Diluted in 3 cups of water
Drumstick, 1, cut into 4” pieces
Ladiesfinger, 4-5, cut into 2” pieces
Brinjal, 2, cubed
Sambhar powder, 1 ½ tbsp, I used Eastern Sambhar powder

Cook all the vegetables in the tamarind water, with a little salt, for about 8-10 minutes. Just before removing from heat, add the sambhar powder.

Step 3:

Coconut ½ of ½ grated
Red chillies 6
Garlic 8-10 cloves
Curry leaves 1 sprig
Fenugreek ¼ tsp
Jeera 1tsp
Whole dhaniya or coriander seeds 1 handful
Peppercorns 1tsp

Dry roast all the ingredients till the coconut is golden brown in color. Grind to make a smooth paste.


Step 4:

Asafoetida ½ tsp
Salt, to taste


For garnishing:

Mustard seeds 1tsp
Dry red chillies 3, broken into pieces
Curry leaves 1 sprig
Coconut oil 1tbsp
Coriander leaves, a few stems, chopped

• Add the ground paste and the dal mix from the cooker to the tamarind mix. Let it boil for 5 minutes. Add asafoetida and more salt if necessary. Remove from heat.
• In a separate pan, heat the oil for the garnish, add mustard seeds, red chillies and curry leaves. Pour over the sambhar. Add the coriander leaves.
• Can be served with Idli, Dosa, or Rice.

Onion chutney

Onion, 2, sliced

Dry red chillis, 4-5

Tamarind, a small piece (or if you’re using the paste, ½ tsp)

Curry leaves 2-3

Asafoetida, ¼ tsp

Salt, to taste

Coconut oil, 1tbsp

Heat the oil, add the chillies, tamarind and asafoetida, as soon as this starts to heat up, add the sliced onion, curry leaves and salt. Fry till the onion starts to turn brownish. Once it cools, grind to a smooth paste.

Can be served with Idli, Dosa, Uthappam etc.

Banana/Plantain milkshake.. also called Banana Cream

This is one from my past again, yeah yeah, I know… I’m back on the nostalgia track yet again.. but I just have to put this one up, I just remembered it when mom happened to mention it today. It seems silly that I’d forgotten about it, coz it’s such a simple thing, but I suppose we all forget the simpler things in life most often, than the complicated ones. It’s a delightful drink, especially for kids. For me, it’s like finding lost love.. hehe.. I know how silly that comparison sounds.. but that’s how it is, I used to be in love with it as a kid. So here’s my long lost, and found, or remembered rather…Banana cream…

Ripe plantains, 2

Cold milk, 4 cups

Sugar, 3tbsp

Vanilla essence, 2 drops

• Cook the plantain in a steamer, with the skin on, for about 10-15 minutes. Let it cool.

• Blend this with the remaining ingredients in a mixer, to make a smooth paste.

• Serve warm or cold!! It’s yummy either way!

Biriyani Chutney

This chutney is quite hot, but can be sobered down a bit with jaggery and dates. This is one indispensable side dish with a Malabar Biriyani.

Coriander leaves, with part of stem - A small handful

Mint leaves - A small handful

Garlic - 6-8 cloves
Ginger - a small piece

Dates - 3, de-seeded OR Jaggery - A small piece

Chilli powder - 1tsp, (dry roasted)

Tamarind paste - 1tbsp

Salt to taste

Grind all the ingredients to make a smooth paste. Chutney's ready!!

Malabar Chicken Biriyani

Malabar chicken biryani is a standard choice for most Malabari functions.


For the rice:

1. Jeerakashala OR kaima rice - 4cups
2. Ghee – 4tbsp (to fry the rice) + 2 tbsp (to fry onions for garnishing)
3. Lime – 2tsp
4. Salt – To taste
5. Water – 8cups
6. Spice-pouch
7. Rose water – ¼ cup
8. Saffron – 5-6 strands (soaked in 4tbsp warm milk)

9. Cashwes and kismis - 6-8 each

For the Spice-pouch:

    Fennel seeds – 1tbsp
    Cardamom – 3
    Cinnamon sticks – 2 pieces
    Cloves – 8
    Star anise – 3
    Shajeera/Caraway seeds – 1tsp
    Bay leaf – 2 leaves

   Crush all these spices lightly and put them into a small pouch, made from a soft muslin cloth, and tie it up.

For the chicken masala:

1. Chicken - 1kg, cut into medium pieces
2. Onion - 4 (for the chicken masala), 1 (for garnishing) - sliced thinly
3. Tomato – 1, cubed
4. Green chillies - 5-8 (as per your spiciness levels)
5. Ginger - 1 big piece
6. Garlic – 1 pod
7. Mint leaves – 1 small bunch
8. Coriander leaves – 1 small bunch
9. Fennel seeds – 2tbsp
10. Pepper – 1tsp
11. Lime juice – 2tsp
12. Curd – ½ cup
13. Turmeric – ½ tsp
14. Salt – 1tsp
15. Ghee – 1tbsp


Preparation:

·        Wash and soak the rice for about an hour. Drain out all the water, you can move the rice onto a soft muslin cloth, tie it up and hang it somewhere so that all the water it drained out.

·        After you have soaked the rice, you can start work on marinating the chicken. Roughly crush together ingredients 4 to 9 (listed under chicken masala). You can do this in the chopper in the food processor or use the pulse option on the mixer. Mix this with the chicken, along with ingredients 10 to 14 and keep aside for at least 2-3 hours so that the masala seeps well into the meat.

·        Heat a skillet and add 2tbsp ghee to it and fry the onion for the garnish, add some sugar to it so that it gets slightly caramelized. Keep frying on a medium flame till the onion become light brown in color. Strain out of the ghee and keep aside. Keep the ghee aside too for garnishing the rice at the end. Fry the cashews and kismis, set those aside too. 

·        To the same skillet add the remaining 4tbsp ghee and fry the rice, on a medium flame for about 10-15 minutes. Keep stirring gently, ensuring that the rice doesn’t break. While the rice is getting fried, in a separate vessel, boil 8 cups water along with the spice-pouch, lime juice and salt. Once the rice is fried, add the boiled water, close lid and cook on a medium to low flame for about 15 to 20 minutes. Turn off heat and leave it for another 10 minutes, without opening the lid. Remember the rice need to cook only about 80% at this stage, since it will get cooked a little more when we set it for dum. 

·        While the rice is getting done, in a pan, heat a 1-2 tbsp of ghee. Add the sliced onions and sauté till it turns pink. Now add the tomato pieces and sauté for 5 mins. To this add the marinated chicken. Mix well. Cook for about 20-30 mins on a medium to low flame. Do not add any extra water. Ensure that the chicken doesn’t get over cooked because when we set this for dum later, the chicken gets cooked further. Once you open the lid, there will be some gravy. Cook on a low flame till the gravy thickens a little.

·        Open the lid on the rice and remove the spice-pouch. Loosen up the rice with a fork and close lid for another 10 minutes.

·        Now for layering the biriyani. Take a skillet in which you plan to set the biriyani, add half of the chicken masala, then add half of the rice, repeat this procedure to make 2  layers. Garnish with the fried onions, cashews & kismis. Spill around on top, the rose water, saffron milk and the ghee that was kept aside for garnishing. Cover with a well fitting lid.

·        Heat an iron tawa on high flame and keep the biriyani’s skillet on top of it for about 15 minutes. Turn off heat, and leave it for another 15 minutes. This is for the dum and helps all the flavors blend well with the rice and the meat.

·        Biriyani is ready to be served!!!

·        Serve with Pappadam, Biriyani chutney and Salad/Raita.

Chemmeen manga muringakai curry (Prawn with raw mango and drumstick curry)

Fresh prawn – ½ kg, shelled and de-veined

Raw mango – 1, cubed

Drumsticks – 2, cut into pieces

Onion – ½ of 1, sliced

Ginger – 1 piece, chopped

Green chillies – 2, slit in half

Turmeric – ½ tsp

Chilly powder – 1 tsp

Salt

Cook all the above ingredients in a Manchatti for about 5-10 minutes.

Coconut - ½ of 1

Garlic – 5 cloves

Ginger – 1 small piece

Turmeric – 1 pinch

Grind these into a smooth paste and add to the cooked prawn mix. Boil for about 5-10 minutes.

Coconut oil – 1 tbsp

Shallots – 5-6, sliced

Garlic - 5-6 cloves, sliced

Curry leaves – 2-3 sprigs

Heat oil, add the remaining 3 ingredients and fry till the shallots become golden brown in color. Add to the prawn curry. Close lid and serve with rice or rotis after 15 minutes.

Vendakka Pachadi

Lady's finger gives a variety of options.. this one is quite popular around Malabar.

Ingredients:

Lady’s finger (Vendakka)  250gms

Thick curd   ½ litre

Grated coconut   ½ cup

Green chillies  4-5

Salt to taste

Mustard  1tbsp

For seasoning:

Coconut oil  1tbsp

Mustard ½ tsp

Dry red chillies  2, broken into pieces

Curry leaves 2 sprigs

Method:

• Cut the lady’s finger into ½ inch pieces. Deep fry it in oil. Move it on to a tissue paper to remove excess oil
• Grind the coconut and green chillis coarsely (couple of spins in the mixer would do), add the mustard and spin some more (the mustard shouldn’t get ground – just crush it lightly)
• Pour the mix into a bowl, add required amount of salt
• Add the fried lady’s finger to it
• Heat the oil for seasoning, add the seasoning ingredients one by one – mustard, red chillis and curry leaves
• Pour this on top of the pachadi
• Serve with rice and dhal

Chicken with crushed red-chillis

Chicken 1 kg cut into small pieces

Dry red chillis 2 handfuls, roughly crushed (Don't use the store bought one, freshly crushed one's are always a better option)

Onion 2, cubed

Tomato 3, cubed

Garlic ½ a pod, cut each clove in half lengthwise

Chilly powder 2 tsp

Coriander powder 1 tbsp

Turmeric ½ tsp

Salt to taste

Coconut oil 3-4 tbsp

Juice of 1 lime

Mustard ½ tsp

Curry leaves 3-4 sprigs

Method:

• Heat oil, sputter mustard. Add the crushed red chillis (you can crush by using the pulse option in the mixer a couple of rounds). Immediately add the onions and curry leaves. Fry till the onion becomes transparent.
• Now add the tomatoes and fry till the oil separates and the tomatoes are mashed.
• Then add the spice powders & salt and fry some more.
• Add the chicken pieces; mix in well till the masala is well coated on the pieces. Don’t add additional water as it will be released from the chicken itself.
• Add the garlic and the lime juice. Close lid. Cook in medium heat. Stir every 3-4 minutes.
• Keep frying till all the gravy dries out and the chicken starts to get a golden brown coating.
• Serve hot preferably… with anything that you want… this is a great side for a drinks session too ;-)
• Enjoy!

Malabar Crab Curry

This is a typical Mallu preparation, and especially a Malabarie one.

1.  Crab 500gms, cleaned and cut in half
2. Onion 1 big, sliced
3. Tomatoes 2, sliced
4. Ginger 2” piece, chopped
5. Turmeric powder ½ tsp
6. Salt to taste
7. Coconut oil 1 tbsp
8. Curry leaves 1 sprig

For the masala:

1. Coriander powder 2-3 tbsp
2. Chilly powder 1 tbsp
3. Black Peppercorns 1tsp
4. Jeera  ½ tsp
5. Cinnamon ½” piece
6. Cloves 2
7. Garlic 3-4 cloves
8. Curry leaves 2 sprigs

Preparation:

• Heat a pan and dry roast the masala ingredients together till it turns into a dark brown color. Keep aside and let it cool.
• Once it’s cool, grind into a smooth thick paste with some water. Keep aside.
• Now, heat a fish-chatti or a skillet and add the oil. Fry the onion and ginger together, (you can add a green chilly too if you want to, but I wouldn’t recommend that coz that might make the curry too hot as it already contains black pepper as well as red chilly powder) when the onion stats to become transparent, add some salt and turmeric powder. Keep frying for couple of minutes, then add the tomatoes and curry leaves. Fry till the tomatoes are soft.
• Add the crab pieces, and half a cup of water. Close lid and simmer for about 10 minutes.
• Open the lid and cook for a couple of minutes, now add the ground masala. Add half a cup of water.
• Close lid, leaving a small gap to let it evaporate and cook on a slow flame for another 15 minutes.
• Now open the lid and increase the heat a bit and cook for 5 more minutes.
• And the crab curry’s ready to be served.
• Can be served with rice or any other Mallu main course like appam, kallappam etc. 

NOTE: 

It’ll be tastier if you could cook it a day before and reheat the curry a couple of times, the gravy would then become a thick blackish brown color.

Fish Molee

This is a spicier version of the typical Fish Molee or Stewed fish. It's made from fried fish that's simmered in a smooth coconut milk gravy. This tastes great with bread and goes well with appam too.

You'll need:

750 gms fish, thickly sliced

½ tsp turmeric powder

1 ½ tsp salt

½ cup coconut oil

1 onion, thinly sliced

1 tbsp thinly sliced ginger

2 green chillis, slit in half

2 sprigs curry leaves

1 tbsp rice flour or all purpose flour

1 ½ cups thin coconut milk

1 cup thick coconut milk

¼ tsp garam-masala*

1 tbsp shallots, sliced thinly (fried in 1 tbsp of coconut oil) for garnish

*[For the garam-masala:

   Peppercorns 2 tbsp

   Star anise 3

   Cloves 5

   Cinnamon 3 big pieces

   Cardamom (green) 3

   Cardamom (black) 2

   Fennel 1 tbsp

   Roast and powder together all the ingredients. This powder can be stored in an airtight       container for months. But it’s better to make it freshly every time, in a smaller quantity.]

Method for making the Fish molee:

• Marinate the fish in turmeric & ½ tsp salt. Set aside for 1 hour.
• Heat the oil in a shallow pan, and fry the fish for a minute, on each side. Remove the fish from the pan when it’s lightly browned on both sides.
• In the same oil, fry the onion for 2-3 minutes, until it’s lightly browned. Then add the curry leaves, ginger and green chillis. Sauté for a minute.
• Stir in the flour. Add the thin coconut milk and the remaining 1 tsp of salt.
• Slowly add the fried fish pieces. Cook over low heat for 5 minutes.
• Gently stir in the thick coconut milk and simmer for another 5 minutes.
• Garnish with the fried shallots.