Erissery – Pumpkin Curry with Black Eyed Peas
Erissery is an authentic dish from Kerala and one of the important dishes prepared for Onam Sadya. You can prepare this dish with pumpkin or chenai (yam) or raw plantain. The cow peas or the red beans added to this dish makes it more nutritious and healthy. Serve this delicious curry with rice or roti. Preparation time: 40 minutes No. of servings: 4 Spice level: 2.5 out of 5 Ingredients: 1″ Cubed Pumpkin – 2 cups Cow peas or Van payar or Red beans – 1/3 cup Curry leaves – one sprig Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp Coconut oil – 1 tsp Turmeric powder – a pinch Salt to taste To Grind: Shredded coconut – 1/4 cup Cumin seeds – 1/2 tsp Green chili – 2 Method of Preparation: Grind coconut, cumin and green chilies to a fine paste with...
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Olan Recipe – Winter Melon Coconut Stew
Olan is a traditional dish from Kerala Cuisine. It is made for special occasions such as Onam, weddings, etc. It is one of the most simplest dish you can make. It has winter melon, red cowpeas, coconut milk which is flavored with green chili, coconut oil and curry leaves. You can serve this dish as a side with rice and sambar/rasam or any variety rice. Preparation time: 30 minutes No. of servings: 3 Spice level: 2 out of 5 Ingredients: Cubed winter melon – 1 cup Cooked red cowpeas (karamani or vanpayar) – 1/4 cup Green chili – 1 or 2 (adjust to taste) Thick coconut milk – 1 cup Salt to taste Coconut oil – 1 tsp Method of Preparation: Peel the skin and chop winter melon into small cubes. Wash and pressure cook cowpeas with 3/4 cup...
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Vendakkai Pachadi – Okra Pachadi
Vendakkai Pachadi or Okra Pachadi is a delicious yogurt based side dish. It is very easy to make and one of the few minutes wonders. Pachadi is considered one of the important dish in any traditional feast in South India. You can make pachadi with fresh vegetable such as beetroot, winter melon, cucumber, carrot, etc. Serve this pachadi with rice, dosa, idli or roti. Preparation time: 30 minutes No.of servings: 3 Spice level: 1.5 out of 5 Ingredients: Chopped okra or lady’s finger – 2 cups Shredded coconut – 3 tbsp Green chili – 1 Cumin seeds – 1/2 tsp Plain yogurt or curd – 3/4 cup Oil – 1 tsp Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp A few curry leaves Method of Preparation: Wash and let the okra dry. Chop the ends and and cut it into slices. Heat...
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Kootu Curry (Onam Special)
Kootu Curry is a delicious coconut based curry from Kerala cuisine. I made it for the Onam Sadya feast and it has become one of my favorite dish. It is a simple and fabulous curry made with plantain and chenai (yam). You can serve this dish with rice or roti. Preparation time: 30 minutes No. of servings: 5 to 6 Spice level: 3 out of 5 Ingredients: Black chickpea (kadala) – 1/2 cup Cubed chenai or suran (yam) – 1/2 cup Cubed plantain – 1 cup Cubed Winter melon or Elavan or Pusanikkai – 1/2 cup Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp Red chili powder – 1/4 tsp Salt to taste For Grinding: Grated coconut – 1/2 cup Cumin seeds – 1/4 tsp Green chili – 2 Shallot or small onion – 1 Grated ginger – 1/2 tsp For Seasoning: Oil...
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Kalan – Onam Sadya Special
Kalan or Kaalan is a traditional dish from Kerala, South India. It is a creamy dish made with plantain, yam and coconut spice mixture. Coconut plays an important part in Kerala cuisine. Most of the dishes calls for coconut in some way or the other. I made this dish for the Onam festival and it came out very well. Though the recipe is simple the flavors are amazing. If you carefully follow the steps you will achieve the right taste. You can serve it with rice and papad or any thoran/poriyal. I like to eat it with even rotis. Give this recipe a try and you will love it. Preparation time: 30 minutes No. of servings: 5 Spice level: 2.5 out of 5 Ingredients: Raw plantain (Vazhakkai) – 1 Cubed Yam (Chenai or Suran) – 1 cup Black pepper...
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Onam Festival Recipes
Wish you all a very Happy Onam!! Onam is one of the most important festivals celebrated by the people from Kerala (located in South India). This festival is celebrated every year for 10 days in the Malayalam month of “Chingam” which falls between August and September. These 10 days are celebrated as a harvest festival and also as a homecoming for King Mahabali, who was banished by Lord Vishnu in Vamana avatar. For more details please refer here. All the 10 days are part of Onam celebrations and each and every day is celebrated with various traditional rituals starting from making “Pookalam” (rangoli with flowers) on the front yard of houses everyday for the 10 days which marks the beginning of Onam and set the tone for the celebrations. The celebration continues with conducting Vallam Kali – Snake boat races...
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Avial – Mixed Vegetable Stew
Avial is a delicious South Indian stew made by cooking vegetables in a coconut gravy. Avial is made during special occasions and festivals such as Onam. Avial and adai (Rice & Grain Pancake) is a famous combination served for breakfast or dinner. Avial is also served with rice. Preparation time: 30 minutes No. of servings: 4 Spice level: 2 out of 5 Ingredients: Vegetables – 2 cups (potato, carrot, beans, winter melon, pumpkin) Grated coconut – 1/2 cup Green chilies – 2 Cumin seeds – 1 tsp Oil – 1 tsp A few curry leaves (8 to 10) Yogurt – 1 cup Coconut oil – 3 to 4 drops Method of Preparation: Cut vegetables into 1″ pieces. Boil vegetables in a sauce pan or kadai with 1/2 cup of water and salt until vegetables become tender. Grind coconut, cumin...
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Keerai Milagootal
Keerai Milagootal is a Palakad dish made from greens and toor dal. You can use spinach, amaranth leaves or otheYou can serve this with rice or roti. It is easy to make and a healthy dish with lots of protein and other nutrients. My mother in law is here and I am learning a lot of Palakad (Kerala) dishes from her. I really like the simple and flavorful dishes that she cooks. Keep posted for more traditional and tasty dishes… Preparation time: 30 minutes No. of servings: 4 Spice level: 2.5 out of 5 Ingredients: Spinach – 250 gram Urad dal – 1 tsp Dried red chilies – 2 Cumin seeds – 1 tsp Shredded coconut – 3 tbsp Toor dal – 1/2 cup Oil – 2 tsp Mustard seeds and urad dal – 1 tsp each Method of...
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Puli Inji – Tangy Ginger Curry
Puli Inji is a tangy and spicy dish with ginger and tamarind paste as the main ingredients. It is a perfect condiment with curd rice or any other rice. Easy to make and you can store it in the refrigerator for upto a month. It is more like pickle but tastes like Vathakuzhambu. My mother in law is here and I learnt this recipe from her. She makes authentic Palakad dishes which are simple and delicious. I am looking forward to share more recipes from her. So keep posted!! Ingredients: Chopped ginger – 4 tbsp Green chilies – 2 Whole tamarind – one lemon size Fenugreek seeds – 1/4 tsp Mustard seeds – 1/4 tsp Sesame oil – 2 tbsp Curry leaves 1″ piece of jaggery A pinch of turmeric powder A pinch of asafoetida Salt to taste Method of...
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Mambazha Pulissery – Ripe Mango in a Yogurt Curry
Mambazha Pulissery is an authentic Kerala style curry in which ripe mangoes are cooked in a yogurt and coconut based spicy curry. It is sweet, sour, spicy and a little tangy. It is a tradition to make this dish on Vishu and Onam festival. It tastes more like Mor Kootan or Mor Kuzhambu except for being a little sweet. Mango season is here, so try this delicious curry and serve as a side to chapathis, rice and also as raitha to pulao or biryani. Ingredients: Ripe mango – 1 Grated coconut – 3 tbsp Dried red chilies – 2 Fenugreek seeds (methi) – 1/2 tsp Thick buttermilk – 1.5 cups Oil – 2 tsp Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp A few curry leaves Salt to taste Method of Preparation: Peel the skin and cut mango into big pieces. Boil it...
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Idichakka Thoran – Unripe Jackfruit dry Curry
Jackfruit is a fleshy, starchy, fibrous fruit. This is commonly used in Indian Cuisine. ‘Idichakka’ means unripe jackfruit and ‘Thoran’ means fry. Both ripe jackfruit and unripe jackfruit are used for making delicious dishes. Ripe jackfruit can be eaten uncooked. Here in the U.S., fresh and frozen Jackfruit are available in most of the Asian or Global market. From Wikipedia: The young fruit is called Polos in Sri Lanka, and ‘Idichakka” in Kerala. It is a wonderful dish with spices to replace meat curries in Sri Lankan cuisine. The skin of unripe (young) jack fruit must be pared first and discarded and then the whole fruit can be chopped into edible portions and cooked to be eaten. The raw young fruit is not edible.[24] Young jackfruit has a mild flavour and distinctive texture. The cuisines of India, Nepal, Bangladesh,...
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