May 23, 2006

Kathiri Podi Curry

"Kathiri" is just the short form of Kathrika which means brinjal in Tamil. I have made this curry a couple of times and this time it came out perfect.I have just two words for this dish ("SIMPLY DELICIOUS").Yes it is and I wish that everybody tries this and enjoys!!! I made this curry today with Priya's Mor Keerai and the combination was really out of the world. My husband was in all praise of the curry and the mor keerai ,which really made all my effort worthwhile.




Ingredients

Brinjals- 10 preferably small(chopped into neat squares- Soak in salted water atleast 15 min)
salt - to taste
oil - for frying

To pulse

r.chilli-5
bengal gram dhal-1/2 tblsp
shredded coconut- 1 tblsp
asafoetida powder - little

Method

  1. Dry roast r.chillies and bengal gram dhal together till it changes color.Dry roast shredded coconut separately till golden brown color.Pulse the above ingredients 3 or 4 times.
  2. Heat about a tblsp of oil and fry the brinjals till it turns dark brown color. Once brinjals turn color completely add required salt and 1 heaped tsp of the powder and mix nicely and switch off immediately.
  3. Serve with hot rice and ghee/Priya's Mor Keerai

May 16, 2006

AVIAL

Avial is an important dish of the Kerala Cuisine. Avial is a semi dry preparation of all sorts of veggies.The veggies that can be used for this avial preparation is almost innumerable. They are the well-known beans,carrots,drumsticks,peas,yams,gourds,pumpkins and what-not? Other main ingredients to flavor and season this aviyal is the coconut paste,curry leaves and coconut oil which gives a very unique aroma to this dish. Avial is an essential part of the Onasadhya.A Sadhya is a big feast and could be associated with festivals like Onam, marriages ,birthdays and the like. Onasadhya is the most delicious part of the grand festival called Onam and it is prepared on the last day of Onam, called Thiruonam. Well enough about the history and now let's dig into the actual recipe and enjoy!!!I have learnt this recipe from one of my cookbooks(Classic Lunch Recipes by Mallika Badrinath) and I have made it many many times as it's my husband's and my favorite dish. I have adjusted the recipe according to the vegetables.So go ahead and try the vegetables from your own pantry and keep it simple...


Ingredients






Veggies

carrots - 2 cups
beans- 2 cups
peas - 2 cups
drumsticks-2 cups
whipped curds- 1/2 cup
curry leaves- 2 sprigs
coconut oil - 2 -3 tblsp


Paste

shredded coconut - 1 + 1/4 cup
g.chillies - 12
cumin seeds - 1 1/2 tsp
salt - 2 spoons


Method


  1. Pressure cook the vegetables with 2 cups of water just for 2 whistles.
  2. Gently mix the paste with the vegetables and let it boil on med flame.
  3. Once it boils add whipped curds and mix.While adding curds reduce flame completely.
  4. Now add curry leaves.
  5. Heat coconut oil separately till luke warm and pour over the avial.
  6. Now close the avial immediately to lock the flavor.Serve avial with a side of appalam and tasty mango pickle.Delicious Avial ready in absolutely NO time!!!

I would like to contribute this dish towards Anthony's Curry Mela this weekend.



May 05, 2006

Green Bell Pepper Curry

Hello friends!! Iam so happy to be back with my recipes .Hopefully after this recipe I pray that I dont hibernate again... But I guess it happens for everybody...Well sometimes the recipes goes wrong,or some technical difficulties like I had with my camera and the mouse..So if the recipe was ready my camera wasn't ready and if the camera was ready I dint have a good recipe and if everything was ready my mouse wasn't working properly...so finally I just made my mind to put everything together and come up with some neat recipe...Hope you all like it...It's all about bell peppers!!! today....

Bell pepper is a kind of "sweet pepper". Bell pepper is a cultivar or cultivated plant of the species called Capsicum annuum. In some cultivated plants the green peppers ripen to a deep red. In other varieties, green peppers ripen to a golden yellow or bright orange. Bell peppers contain a recessive gene that eliminates the capsaicin content in the fruit. Capsaicin is what puts the heat or pungency in all the peppers. Capsaicin is found in its highest concentrations (about 80% of the total amount) in the ribs of the pepper, and because of their proximity, the seeds are also highly concentrated. Removing the ribs and seeds will reduce the heat of the chili pepper. So that's the reason bell peppers tend to be like a sweet pepper. Actually the heat of these peppers can be tested.They are measured in Scoville Units, with the bell peppers at 0 and the habanero at over 300,000 Scoville Units.The one thing that all chili peppers share is the common name "capsicum". Capsicum, from the Greek word "kapto" means "to bite" is the pepper genus.


Ingredients

Capsicum-3 big
oil- 2 tblsp

Paste

shredded coconut- 1 tblsp
g.chillies-3 or 4
poppy seeds - 1/3 tsp
cashewnuts-5

Method


  1. Dice capsicum into cubes.
  2. Heat oil in a skillet and fry capsicum till they are soft.
  3. Add the ground paste and fry till all the moisture is absorbed.
  4. Thus a very simple side dish is ready to go along with rice.