Kappa Cutlet and Manga Chammanthi (Tapioca Cutlet with Mango Chutney)

Ingredients

For cutlet

1 kg Tapioca / Kappa

10-12 cup pearl onions (peeled)

3-4 green chillies

A handful of curry leaves

Coconut oil as required

Salt to taste

For Mango Chutney

2 semi ripe mangoes

4-5 dry red chillies

8-10 pearl onions (peeled)

2 tbsp shredded coconut

A handful of curry leaves

2-3 tsp coconut oil

Salt to taste

Method

Remove the skin from the tapioca. Cut into chunks and pressure cook adding some water, salt and turmeric powder till it is soft.

Drain the excess water and mash the tapioca coarsely.

Mince together pearl onions and green chillies. Add this, curry leaves and salt to the coarsely mashed tapioca.

Mix together, divide into lemon sized balls and shape this mixture to make cutlets.

Heat coconut oil on a tawa. Tawa fry the cutlets on medium heat until both sides are golden brown.

Serve hot with mango chutney.

To make Mango Chutney

Peel and cut the mango into small pieces.

Add the mango pieces, pearl onions, red chillies, grated coconut, curry leaves and salt to a blender.

Blend together till you get a slightly coarse paste.

Transfer the chutney to a bowl.

Add 2-3 tsp coconut oil, mix and 

Serve with tapioca cutlet.

Jackfruit Chips

( Chakka varuthath)

Jackfruit is a wonderful aromatic fruit that grows in tropical weather. Most homes in Kerala have jackfruit trees in their yard.
Jackfruit is a huge fruit with prickly green thick skin & yellow edible fruit & seeds inside. It can used in its raw & ripe form to prepare several dishes. Jackfruit seeds are also used to make "Chakkakuru Upperi/thoran".

On our last visit to the Indian store, we saw jackfruit (cut & wrapped) in the fresh produce section. My daughter was eager to taste it. I decided to buy it & try making something with it. But then it sat in my refrigerator for a while until I saw Swathi's post on Zesty South Indian Kitchen. After reading the post, I was tempted to use my jackfruit immediately. Unfortunately, mine wasnt ripe like the one in Swathi's post. So, I decided to make Chakka varuthath (Jackfruit chips) with mine.

With the help of the pics in Swathi's post, I cleaned my jackfruit successfully. Thanks Swathi for the wonderful post!!!

Then washed & dried the edible fruit & sliced them into thin strips.

Deep the sliced jackfruit strips in small batches in hot oil. Remove them when they are crisp & turm golden brown.

Sprinkle with salt.

Store any leftovers in an airtight container.

In my case, I made this at dinner time to go with the rice & curry. We had nothing left by the time everybody was done with their meal. Planning to make this again another day.

Linked to Sharan's Samayalarai 
Onam Sadya ~ the grand feast

Payaru Mezhukkuvaratti

( Asian String Beans Stir-Fry )

This is a very simple dish with very few ingredients. I prepared with the string beans from my vegetable garden.

Ingredients

a handful of fresh string beans
2-3 green chillies (slit in the middle)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
1-2 tsp oil

Method

Wash & cut the beans into 1 inch long pieces.

In a pan, add the beans, some water & turmeric powder. Cover & cook on low-medium heat till tender.

Add the slit green chillies, salt & oil. Saute for 5-10 mins & turn off the heat.

Serve hot with rice.

More from my Garden...

Olan

Ingredients
250 gms ash gourd
250 gms orange pumpkin
1/2 cup dried black eyed beans
1 cup thick coconut milk
1/2 cup diluted coconut milk
4-5 green chillies slit
a handful of curry leaves
2-3 tsp coconut oil

Method

Soak the dried black eyed beans in water for 5-6 hrs.
Remove the skin of the ash gourd & pumpkin. Cut them into bite sized pieces.

Pressure cook the soaked beans with salt till you hear 5-6 whistles. Drain the excess water.

In a separate pan, cook the cut vegetables with diluted coconut milk till the vegetables are tender. Add the slit green chillies & salt.

Finally add the thick coconut milk & cook on simmer for about 5mins. The coconut milk should not be allowed to boil.

Turn off the heat & garnish with coconut oil & curry leaves.

Serve hot with rice.

More " ONAM SADYA RECIPES"... click here

This recipe is linked to Sharan's Samayalarai  "Onam Sadya ~ the grand feast

Parippu Curry

Parippu curry is one the basic dishes served at a Kerala Sadya. When anybody refers to a naadan sadya, they always say - Parippu, Pappadam, Payasam...

Parippu is served at the beginning of the sadya along with ghee & hot rice.

Enjoy the naadan ruchi with this simple & easy to prepare delicacy!!!

Ingredients

3/4 cup moong dal
1/4 cup grated coconut
1 tsp jeera
2-3 green chillies
1 tbsp coconut oil
a handful of curry leaves
salt to taste
1 tsp ghee
a pinch of turmeric powder

Method

Wash & dry the moong dal thoroughly. Roast the dal in 1tsp of ghee till its a light golden.

Transfer the roasted dal to a pressure cooker, add turmeric, 2 cups water & pressure cook till you hear 3-4 whistles.

Meanwhile grind together coconut, jeera & greenchillies to a smooth paste.

When the dal is cooked, add the ground coconut paste, salt & cook on medium heat till it begins to boil.

Turn off the heat & garnish with coconut oil & curry leaves.

Serve with hot rice, ghee & pappadam.

Christmas Snacks - Achappam & Kuzhalappam

There are some special snacks that are prepared in Kerala during the Christmas season. Achappam & Kuzhalappam are some of the special snacks made during that time. These are some of my favorites and I decided to try making them this Christmas.

ACHAPPAM

Ingredients

2 cups  rice  flour
1 cup coconut milk
1 egg
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp black  sesame seeds

Method

Mix together all the ingredients to form a batter.  The batter should be a little thinner than dosa batter.

Heat oil in a pan. Heat the achappam mould in the hot oil.

When the oil & the mould are hot, dip the hot mould into the batter. Dip it back quickly into the hot oil.

Shake the mould slightly to loosen the achappam from the mould. Fry till golden brown on both sides.

Remove from hot oil & drain on a paper towel.

Once the achappam has cooled to room temperature, store in an airtight container.

KUZHALAPPAM

Ingredients

2 cups rice flour
1 cup coconut milk
a handful of pearl onions (finely chopped)
1 tsp jeera
1 tsp black sesame seeds
salt to taste

Method

Heat oil in a pan.

Knead together all the ingredients into a firm dough.

Divide into small balls & roll out into a circle.

Wrap the dough circle around your finger or a metal tube. Carefully drop into hot oil & deep fry till it is crisp & golden brown.

Remove & drain excess oil on a paper towel.

Store extras in an airtight container.

Idichakka Fry

Ingredients

1 small green jackfruit (Idichakka) cleaned & cut into small pieces
salt & red chilli powder to taste
oil for deep frying

Method

Deep fry the cut jackfruit pieces in hot oil till brown & crisp. Sprinkle with salt & chilli powder.

Image via Wikipedia

Serve with rice.

Store left-overs in an airtight container.

ഓണകാലം Special - Unniyappam

Unniyappam is a small round sweet rice cake made from rice, Jaggery, plantain, Ghee etc. It is a popular snack in Kerala and is a main offering to Lord Ganapathi. In Malayalam, unni means small and 'appam means rice cake.
I have made this snack using chakkavarati (Jackfruit Jam) instead of ripe bananas. Jackfruit Jam is made using ripe jackfruit (Chakka) & jaggery.

Ingredients


2 cups rice flour
1/2 cup maida (all purpose flour)
1 cup chakkavarati
1 tsp sesame seeds (ellu)
water (as required)
ghee for frying

Method

Mix together rice flour, maida, chakkavarati, sesame seeds & water to make a thick batter. Set aside for 10-15 mins.

Heat ghee in the appam pan.

Pour the batter into the cavities into the hot ghee. Fry on both sides till golden brown.

Serve with tea. Store the remaining unniyappams in the refrigerator.

Cabbage Thoran

Ingredients

1 medium sized cabbage (finely chopped)
5-6 Shallots (cheriya ulli)
2-3 tbsp grated coconut
3-4 green chillies
1 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp oil
a pinch of turmeric powder
a few curry leaves
salt to taste

Method

Mince together shallots (cheriya ulli),grated coconut & green chillies together. This SHOULD NOT be ground to a paste.
Heat 2 tsp oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds & wait till they splutter. Add the curry leaves & the minced mixture & fry for a few mins.
Add chopped cabbage, turmeric & salt. Cover & cook on simmer for 15-20mins stirring occassionally.
Turn off heat when the cabbage is well cooked.
Serve with rice.

Kurukku Kaalan

A speciality from " God's Own Country ".......

Ingredients

200 gms small chenna/elephant yam/suran(cut in 1" pieces)

1 raw banana (cut in 1" pieces)

1/2 litre beaten sour yoghurt (Sour yoghurt is required for Kalan to taste good. If you do not have sour yoghurt, you can add a pich of citric acid to the kalan after it has been prepared)

1 tsp black pepper powder

1/2 tsp uluva podi/ fenugreek powder

1 cup grated coconut

3 green chillies

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

salt to taste

Seasoning

1 tsp oil

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

3-4 dry red chillies

a handful of curry leaves

Method

In a deep, thick bottom pan cook the vegetables with 1/2 cup water & turmeric powder.

When the vegetables are 1/2 cooked, add the beaten yoghurt on cook on low heat stirring often till the yoghurt thickens. It is very important to cook the yoghurt on low heat otherwise it will separate.

It can be stored in this form for upto a week(if required) & add the coconut paste just b4 using it.

Grind together coconut & green chillies to a fine paste.

Add this coconut paste to the thickened yoghurt. Cook for a few more mins.

Add salt to taste.

Season with mustard seeds, dry red chillies & curry leaves fried in 1 tsp of oil.

Finally after the heat is turned off, add the methi powder & mix well.

Do not cook after the methi powder has been added otherwise Kalan will taste bitter.

Serve hot with rice.

Idli / Dosa podi

Ingredients

1 cup urad dal (uzhunnu parippu)

2 tbsp channa dal (kadala parippu)

10-12 dry red chillies

1 tsp mustard seeds

2-3 cloves of garlic

a handful of curry leaves

1 tsp asafoetida(kayam/hing)

salt to taste

1/2 tsp oil

Method

In a pan add half 1/2 tsp oil & roast all the ingredients except hing & salt till they turn light brown.

Set the mixture aside to cool.

Powder the mixture together with hing & salt to a coarse powder.

Serve mixed with 1 tsp of oil with idli/dosa.

Pazham Pulissery

Another delicacy with Nendra Pazham.....

Ingredients

2 ripe bananas(nendra pazham)

1 cup plain yoghurt

1/2 cup grated coconut

4-5 green chillies

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp sugar

a small bunch of curry leaves

3-4 dry red chillies

1 tsp oil

1/2 mustard seeds

salt to taste

Method

Peel & slice the banana into thick round pieces. Add water & turmeric powder to the banana pieces & cook till they become soft & tender.

Beat yoghurt & add to the cooked banana.

Grind together coconut & green chillies to a smooth paste. Add the paste to the yoghurt & banana & mix well.

Cook on medium heat till the yoghurt gets frothy. Add 1 tsp sugar & salt to taste.Do not boil.

Turn off heat.

Season with mustard seeds,red chillies & curry leaves fried in 1 tsp of oil.

Serve hot with rice.

Pazham Pori / Ethakkappam (Deep Fried Banana)

Pazham Pori/Ethakkappam is a very common tea-time snack in Kerala. The 2 best combinations with tea are parippu vada & pazham pori.
Nendra pazham is used in its raw & ripe form to make many delicacies & is also very nutritious.

Ingredients

2 ripe Nendra Pazham(banana)

1/2 cup maida

3 tbsp rice flour

a pinch of salt

water(as required)

Oil for deep frying

Method

Peel banana & cut into 3 pieces. Slice each piece into 2 or 3 parts.

Mix maida, rice flour & salt in a bowl. Add water to make a thick batter.

Heat oil in a frying pan. Dip the banana pieces in the batter & deep fry in oil till golden brown.

Remove & drain excess oil on kitchen towel.

Serve hot with tea/coffee.

This recipe is a part of "Deep Fried Snacks" Event on Radhika's Tickling Palates