Paal Kappa ( Tapioca in coconut milk)

A trending dish which has become popular these days. I have a bunch of freshly harvested tapioca from my farm, and today I thought of making this simple yet very delicious version of Paal Kappa.

We are going to use coconut milk for this recipe.

Ingredients

1 kg Kappa ( tapioca)

Milk from two grated coconut or 2  dabur coconut milk packet

2 tablespoons of Coconut oil

6 green chillies

4 red chillies

A few curry leaves

2 teaspoons of Jeera

Method

Wash and cut, peel the skin of Kappa, cut  into small pieces, remove the thick vein from it as you cut the Kappa. Thoroughly wash two or three times.

In a cooker or a large vessel add Kappa, salt and water to immerse the Kappa. Cook until soft and tender. In cooker keep it for two whistles.

Discard water from the boiled Kappa.

Take a big ladle and smash the tapioca. Remove any hard veins from it. 

In the same cooker or large vessel, remove all water from the base, pour coconut oil, add jeera and chopped green chillies, let it realise it's aroma, now add the red chillies.

Add the smashed tapioca and coconut milk. Gently blend the tapioca to the coconut milk, add some more water if it's very thick and mushy.

Once it starts boiling and thickness you can turn off the stove, garnish with curry leaves and serve hot. 

You can also serve this dish with chutney and other spicy gravies. Tastes good.

Freshly harvested tapioca from the farm.

Note

You can cook the Kappa in the second milk from coconut, but I have cooked it in water and skipped that step.

Molagai Podi

Molagai Podi

Ingredients 

Red chillies -30 out of which 15 spicy, and 15 non spicy (for colour)

1 cup black broken urad dal

1/2 cup chana dal

1/2 cup tuvar dal

1 cup black sesame seeds

1/2 cup pottukadalai

3-4 small pieces of heeng

1 teaspoon salt or as required 

Method

In a thick iron kadai fry red chillies till crispy. Keep aside.

In the same kadai fry chana dal until it releases aroma. Keep aside.

Follow the same procedure for tuvar dal.

Roast sesame seeds in very low flame,wait for the gentle crackling noise it makes, spread on a plate.

Gently heat pottukadalai and keep aside.

In the kadai add pieces of heeng and roast, wait for it to nicely get roasted and crispy.

Cool all the ingredients to room temperature.

In a mixer jar, add red chillies and  grind to a coarse powder. Keep aside.

In the same jar add chana dal, heeng and tuvar dal, powder it using the pulse mode first and in the next modes. Keep aside.

Now add pottukadalai and sesame seeds, powder and keep aside.

You can now add salt, red chillies powder, dal powder,sesame seeds and pottukadalai powder together and run in the mixer for 3 minutes. 

Cool the molagai Podi and store in airtight container for longer shelf life.

Notes

Make small quantity of molagai podi and store.

Dry roast all the ingredients separately. 

Idly sandwich stuffed with burnt baingan ka chutney

There are diffrent ways to make chutney and most of them have coconut as the basic ingredient.

Here I am sharing a recipe which goes well with idly, dosa, rice and roti. 

Ingredients

1 large brinjal/ baingan, burnt in direct fire, peeled and smashed

2 dry red chillies

2 green chillies

A small piece of tamarind

A small piece of ginger

A small piece of fresh turmeric

A bunch of coriander leaves

Two tablespoons of curry leaves

A small piece of heeng cake

Salt as required

2 tablespoons of black broken urad dal

1 tablespoon of chana dal

1 tablespoon of Gingly oil 

1/4 cup grated coconut 

Method 

In direct fire burn the baingan, remove the skin and smash it. Keep aside.

In a heated pan pour gingly oil, add black urad dal, chana dal and roast, heeng, add red chillies and green chillies, saute for a while, add tamarind pieces, cook further.

Now add ginger and turmeric, curry leaves, coriander leaves and mix together. Add grated coconut. Finally add salt and off the stove.

Take the mixer jar, add roasted dals and grind for a few minutes. Once it's bit coarse add the smashed brinjal.

Grind further to a chutney consistency without adding water in pulse mode. Adjust salt and serve with idly, dosa, rice and roti.

Kanji, chammanti

Kanji is made with red rice the recipe is very simple. Take a small cup of red rice, wash it several times. Keep aside for half an hour. 

In a pressure cooker, add rice and about 5 cups of water, 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook for 5 whistles. Check whether the rice is well cooked. 

Serve with the spicy chammanti.

Recipe for the spicy chammanti

5 shallots (small onions)

2 pods of garlic

2 red chillies

2 green chillies

2 non spicy chillies for the colour

A small piece of ginger cut into small pieces

A gooseberry sized tamarind

Salt as required

1 teaspoon coconut oil

Two pieces of salted mango

A pinch of heeng

Method

In a small pan, pour oil add shallots, garlic, green chillies, red chillies and ginger. Cook for a minute. Add tamarind,tear it into small pieces. Add heeng and salt. Cook for another two minutes. Off the stove, cool off the ingredients.

In a mixer jar add two pieces of salted mango, add all the ingredients and without adding water grind to a coarse paste. 

Serve with hot kanji. 

Note : Two tablespoons of coconut ( if you have it, it's optional, I have not added coconut

you can add coconut if you like to the mixer jar while grinding the ingredients. It gives a different flavour and texture to the chammanti.

Coriander and lemon soup

Coriander and lemon soup

Ingredients

A small bunch of coriander leaves, wash, trim, and cut into small pieces.

One green chilli

A quarter teaspoon of grated ginger.

A teaspoon of lemon juice.

Seasalt as required

Two cups of water. 

Quarter teaspoon of crackled peppercorns.

Method

In a pan pour water, add coriander leaves, ginger, chilli, seasalt and bring to boil. Off the stove, add the lemon juice, and crackled peppercorns. Serve hot.

Roasted coconut chamanti

Roasted Coconut chamanti 

1 cup grated coconut

3 to 5 dry red chillies

10 shallots( peel and trim the edges)

1 sprig curry leaves

1 tablespoon coconut oil 

A small gooseberry sized tamarind

Salt as required

Method 

In direct flame roast the dry red chillies, keep aside.

In a heated pan pour coconut oil, add shallots saute for a frw minutes, add grated coconut saute until it's turns brown in colour. 

Add curry leaves, tamarind and salt.

Mix well and turn off the flame. Let it completely cools off.

Add the roasted dry red chillies to the roasted coconut. 

Grind in a mixer jar or in a grinding stone.

Remember not to add water at all while you are grinding the chamanti.

Serve with rice or kanji

Notes

Roasting the dry red chillies gives a smokey flavour to the chamanti.

Make sure the tamarind has no seeds and is very clean, make small pieces of it before adding.

Sambar powder/sambar podi

Sambar is served with idly rosa and rice. we make different types of sambar, with different vegetables combination.

The sambar podi is the main ingredient in the sambar which makes it tasty and brings in the taste of all cooked vegetables.

Sambar powder/sambarpodi

ingredients 

Red dry chillies 8 to 10 (spicy and non spicy)

Whole coriander 1 tablespoon

Jeera 1 teaspoon

Mustard seeds 1/2 teaspoon 

Chana dal 2 tablespoon

Tuvar dal 1 tablespoon

Heeng a small piece (cut into tiny pieces)

Curry leaves a few

Methi seeds 1/4 teaspoon

Method

Dry roast all the ingredients separately. 

Coriander and Jeera can be roasted together in low flame. Make sure it's not turning into dark brown, just light brown and releasing its aroma is enough. Keep aside.

Add red chillies and gently roast them, by tapping now and then to check whether it's crispy. Don't over fry, it may turn into black and you will get a burnt smell, so without changing the colour we have to roast the chillies. Once they are crispy, keep aside.

Chana dal when roasted  realeas a nutty flavour, just a little brownish colour and you can take it from the pan.

Tuvar dal also require very gentle roasting like chana, it's pretty fast roasting dal, so keep the flame low, once done take it out.

Heeng should be pulled and split into small pieces, roast it till crispy.

Methi seeds get roasted quickly so just a few seconds and take out from the pan.

Mustard seeds should be roasted carefully, as they are very fast in roasting in a heated pan, as soon as you hear the crackling immediately remove and keep aside. 

Finally add curry leaves, in no time it will be crispy and you can crush it with hands.

Make sure all the ingredients completely cooled down.

Now you can add all the above roasted ingredients together in a mixer jar and make a fine powder. 

Note

I have not added peppercorns but used dry red chillies instead for that spiciness.

Rasapodi/rasam powder

Rasam powder/rasapodi

Coriander seeds/ whole  dhania – It's the major ingredients which bring in the texture and flavour to the rasam.

jeera– On roasting jeera releases it's aroma.

Black peppercorns adds zing to the spice mix. 

Dried red chilies/kashmiri/badagai chillies– Red chillies give a beautiful colour to the spice mix.

Tuvar dal or sambar dal– It's very flavorful and gives a delicious touch to the rasam powder mix.

You can also add chana dal, methi seeds, curry leaves and heeng for adding more flavours to the rasam powder.

My recipe has a blend of all the above ingredients.

I roast every ingredients separately as each one should be properly roasted before making into powder.

Ingredients

Dhaniya/ whole coriander seeds - 4 tablespoons

Jeera - 2 teaspoons

Black peppercorns - 2 tablespoons 

Tuvar dal -2 tablespoons

Chana dal - 2 tablespoons

Dried red chillies/kashmiri/badagai chillies 15 to 20 numbers

Heeng a small piece

A few curry leaves

1/2 teaspoon methi seeds

Method

I measure all ingredients and keep everything ready before starting the roasting process 

In a thick iron kadai roast coriander seeds, let it release it's aroma and turn a bit brownish in colour, keep aside.

Jeera should be roasted in slow flame, it will get roasted and you can smell the gentle flavour of it, keep aside.

Peppercorns should be roasted in low flame till it's done.

Roast the chillies till they are crispy, gently pat a ladle you can hear the crispiness. Don't over roast in high flame, it will loose it's colour and turn bit black.  So when it nice red and crispy remove them.

Roast chana and tuvar dal till they are but mild brownish and crispy.

Heeng cake should be cut into tiny pieces before roasting, it will turn into small brownish lumps and you can crush them when they are done. (Let it completely cool down before you touch it)

Curry leaves should be completely crispy and you can crush it when they are roasted.

Spread all the roasted ingredients on a tray, wait for it to cool down, 

Add everything together and make a coarse powder. Store in an air tight container.

Kootu

Kootu is made with different vegetables like, snake gourd (pudalangai) ridge gourd ( Peerkangai) cucumber (vellarikkai) ash gourd ( elevan) chow chow ( chayote) cabbage, mixed vegetables like potato, carrot and beans 

The basic ingredients remains the same.

The kootu today I made from vellarikkai and ridge gourd 

Ingredients

Vellarikkai ( cucumber), this one is a variety which we use for making sambar and pachadi - peeled and cubed two cups

Ridge gourd (Peerkangay) peeled and cut into circles - 2 cups

Moongdal - washed, cooked with water, turmeric powder - 1 cup

For the tadka

1 teaspoon of coconut oil

1/2 teaspoon of urad dal

1/2 teaspoon of mustard seeds

A few curry leaves

For the gravy

3 tablespoon grated coconut

A little jeera

One red dry chilli

A pinch of heeng powder

A few crushed peppercorns 

Add all and make a coarse paste by adding little water.

Method

In a kalchatti (stoneware) cook vellarikkai and ridge gourd by adding water and turmeric a little salt till they are tender.

Add cooked moong dal, and coconut paste, cook for a few minutes. Adjust salt.

In a small pan pour coconut oil, add mustard seeds and urad dal and jeera, heeng. Let the mustard splutter, Add curry leaves, crushed peppercorns,  pour it on top of the kootu. 

Note

You can make kootu with many vegetables, drumsticks can also be added in the above recipe.

Mambazha pachadi ( ripe mangoes, spices and tadka)

A delicacy in summer when we get abundant of mangoes.

The small ripe mangoes collected from the backyard will be put to use for this delicious pachadi.

Mambazha pachadi

5 small ripe mangoes ( wash and peel)

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

1/2' teaspoon red chilli powder

Salt as required

A pinch of heeng powder

1 tablespoon jaggery powder

1 cup water 

For the tadka

1 teaspoon coconut oil

1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds

1/4 teaspoon methi seeds

1/2 teaspoon urad dal

1/2 chana dal 

2 dry red chillies broken into halves

A few curry leaves

Process

In a kalchatti ( stoneware) pour a cup of water, add the peeled mangoes and cook.

Add turmeric, salt, jaggery powder, red chilli powder and bring to boil.

In a small heated pan pour coconut oil, add mustard seeds, methi seeds, urad dal, chana dal and broken red chillies. Once the mustard splutter, add curry leaves, pour it on top of the mambazha pachadi. 

Serve with rice.

Spicy panner in coconut milk

Spicy panner in coconut milk.

Ingredients

400 grams paneer cubed

2 tomatoes

1 large onion

A small piece of ginger sliced

2 green chillies

1/2 teaspoon of crushed peppercorns

1 bay leaf

2 crushed cardamom

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder

1/2 teaspoon coriander powder

1/2 Jeera powder

2 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves

1 teaspoon kasuri methi 

Salt as required 

Peanut oil/mustard oil/ghee 1 tablespoon 

Kashmiri chilli powder

1 packet Coconut milk ( I used dabur)

Process

Steam tomato, onion, ginger, garlic and make a puree. 

In a heated kadai pour oil/ghee add bay leaf, crushed peppercorns, cardamom, paneer cubes, turmeric, red chilli powder,Jeera powder and coriander powder, salt, and gently toss.

Once the paneer turns mild golden brown add tomato onion puree, cook for a few minutes. Adjust salt, 

Add a cup of coconut milk. Cook in slow flame for 2 minutes.

Add chopped coriander and crushed kasuri methi. 

Mix well. Serve with phulkas 

#paneerrecipes

#coconutmilk

#spicy

#creamy

#sides

#easyrecipes

Mixed vegetable kurma

Mixed vegetable kurma for dinner.

It's a delicious combination of cauliflower, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, capsicum, onion and garlic(optional)

I have used a few salad chillies for the vibrant reddish colour and they are very sweet.

Ingredients

2 potatoes

2 carrots

A handful of cauliflower florets

5 salad red chillies, cut into cubes or circles 

1 large onion thinly sliced

1 capsicum cubed

An inch of ginger sliced

Garlic a few pods

2 green chillies slit into halves

One cup of coconut milk, I used dabur coconut milk 

Garam masala 1/2 teaspoon

Salt as required

Turmeric powder 1/2 teaspoon 

For the tadka

A small piece of cinnamon stick

1 bay leaf

A few crushed cardamom

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

2 teaspoon ghee/peanut oil

For the garnish

A few curry leaves

Two tablespoons of chopped coriander leaves

Process 

Cut all veggies into cubes, steam cauliflower florets, carrots and potatoes together and keep aside. (This process gives a creamy texture to the kurma)

In a kadai pour oil/ghee, add whole spices like fennel seeds, cinnamon stick, crushed peppercorns, cardamom, bay leaves and thinly sliced ginger, garlic, two green chillies slit.

Cook for a few seconds. Add chopped onion and saute for a while. Add tomatoes, capsicum and chillies.

Cook for 2 minutes, add salt, turmeric powder, garam masala and mix well. 

At this stage add steamed veggies and gently toss. 

Then pour coconut milk, add a cup of warm water and bring to boil. Off stove.

Garnish with chopped coriander and curry leaves. Serve hot with phulkas.

#vegetablekurma 

#jayanthinarayan

#tamilnaducuisine

Vathalkuzhambu with vegetables

Vathalkuzhambu is a versatile life saver in our palakkad households. 

The best part of vathalkuzhambu is it can be stored in glass bottle for a week's time and can be served as a side dish with curd rice.

Ingredients

Drum sticks - 2 (cut into 3 inch pieces)

Brinjal - 3 (cut into four pieces)

10 bhindi (trim edges, cut into two inch long)

vathal - 2 tbsp(chundakay/marthankkali)

tamarind pulp (extracted from a gooseberry size)

turmeric powder - 1/2 tablespoon 

red chilli powder (kashmiri chilli powder) 1 tablespoon 

salt as required

For dry roast powder 

Chana dal - 2 tablespoon 

fennel seeds 1 teaspoon

jaggery a small piece 

Tuvar dal -  2 tablespoon 

Black broken urad dal - 1 tablespoon 

raw rice - 1 tablespoon 

Peppercorns a few

kayam (hing) - a small  piece

Dry red chilly - 5

curry leaves - a few

For the tadka

gingly oil - 1 tsp

mustrd seeds - 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves a few 

Method 

1. Pressure cook tamarind using a glass of water for two whistle, off stove and extract tamarind pulp. Keep aside.

2. In a small kadai dry roast rice,tuvar dal, chana dal, fennel seeds, black peppercorns, hing,black broken urad dal, curry leaves and red chilly till golden brown. Remove from stove cool and coarsely powder using mixer. 

3. In kalchatti pour a glass of hot water add drum sticks, brinjal, bhindi,  turmeric powder and salt allow it too cook till tender.  Now add tamarind pulp. Reduce the flame. Slow cook for a few minutes.

4. Now you can add roasted powder. Add more water if needed as we are going to allow the vathal kuzhambu to boil and reduce the quantity. Allow it to boil for another 10 minutes. Add crushed jaggery, kashmiri red chilli powder, Adjust salt.

5. Now keep a small pan pour gingly oil add mustard seeds allow it to splutter add on top of the prepared vathal kuzhambu. 

6  In the same small pan pour a tsp of ghee/gingly oil add vathal and roast till its crispy. Pour the vathal in prepared vathalkuzhambu. Serve hot with hot steaming rice, a tablespoon of gingly oil and enjoy. 

Variation

You can add a handfuls of peeled shallots ( baby onion/sambar onion) and garlic, but roast it very well before adding to vathalkuzhambu. it tastes very good.

Cabbage moolaguttal

This year we had our first harvest of cabbage in our farm. Cabbage moolaguttal is a delicious side dish which is eaten with great interest in our households.

Today I made cabbage moolaguttal with drumsticks and jackfruit seeds, coconut and a quick tadka.

Cabbage moolaguttal

Ingredients

1/2 cabbage, grated or chopped

7 to 8 drumsticks pieces

5 jackfruit seeds cooked and cut into pieces

1/2 cup grated coconut

1 tsp jeera

1 cup tuvar dal cooked

For the tadka

1 teaspoon coconut oil

1 red chilli broken into two pieces

1/2 teaspoon mustard

1/4 teaspoon urad dal

A few curry leaves

Method

Wash and grate/chop cabbage, keep aside

Wash and pour 1 cup water in a 1/2 cup of tuvar dal, cook for two whistles in the cooker.

Cook drumsticks and jackfruit seeds, remove the skin from the jackfruit seeds.

Grate the coconut, coarsely grind in the mixer jar with jeera and red chilli. Add a little water if needed.

In a stoneware pour a cup of water, add chopped cabbage, turmeric and little salt, cook till tender, add jackfruit seeds, drumsticks. add coconut paste, boil, add cooked tuvar dal. Bring to boil. Off stove, adjust the consistency by adding hot water.

Keep the smallest pan for the tadka. Add mustard and jeera , one broken red chilli curry leaves.

Serve with rice and ghee.

Mango arachukalakki