Idli Podi / Uzhunnu Chammanthi Podi

 

Ingredients

1. Whole urad dal / uzhunnuparippu - 1 cup
2. Red rice (Kerala rosematta rice / kuthari) - 1 cup
3. Whole pepper - 2 tsp
4. Chilly powder - 1.5 tsp ( I added 3 tsp whole pepper corns and 1/2 tsp chilly powder. You can adjust these spices according to your taste preference.)
5. Coriander powder - 2 tsp
6. Hing / asafoetida - 1 tsp
7. Salt - To taste

Method

1. Heat a pan and roast the urad dal, whole pepper and rice at low heat, stirring occasionally. When they are about to turn brown, change the flame to medium heat and roast them until golden brown, stirring continuously. It will take around 20 - 25 minutes. ( Ariyum uzhunnum kadichal pottanam). Take care not to burn them. The color of this idli podi depends on how much you roasted them.

2. Switch off and add chilly powder, coriander powder, hing and salt. Mix well. Keep aside to cool. Grind to a coarse or fine powder in a mixer or coffee grinder. Store in an air-tight container, at room temperature. It will keep for at least 2-3 months. Mix required podi with enough coconut oil  / sesame oil and enjoy with dosa / idli.

 

 

 

Tips:

 

You can substitute red rice / kuthari / rosematta rice with Bengal gram / kadala parippu / chana dal.

Kallappam

Ingredients
1. Idli rice or any raw rice – 2 cups (Soak it in water for at least 5- 6 hrs)
2. Cooked rice – 1 cup
3. Thick coconut Milk – 1/2 cup or grated coconut - 3/4 cup(I used chaokoh coconut milk)
4. Grated coconut - 1/4 - 1/2 cup
5. Cumin seeds – 1/2 tsp
6. Shallots – 3-4
7. Yeast – 1/2 tsp (You can use around 1/2 glass toddy instead of yeast)
8. Sugar – 1 tbsp
9. Salt – To taste


Method

1. Combine 1 tbsp sugar and 1/2 tsp yeast in around 1/4 cup of luke warm water and keep it aside for 5-10 mts.

2. Grind the idli rice in a mixer. When it is half-ground, add the cooked rice, coconut milk(or grated coconut if you are using it)and grind everything together to make a very smooth paste. Add little water if needed. Transfer it to a large bowl. Mix in yeast mixture, stir well and allow it to ferment for 6 - 8 hrs. You can keep it in the oven after heating it for 15-20 seconds. During summer, it won't take more than 4 hrs to ferment.

3. The batter would have fermented to almost double size after 6 - 8 hrs. Take it out.

4. Grind 1/4 - 1/2 cup grated coconut with 3 - 4 shallots and 1/2 tsp cumin seeds. Just before preparing the appams, add the crushed coconut-cumin mixture and enough salt to the batter. Mix well. If the batter is very thick you can add either milk or coconut milk. The consistency of the batter should be similar to that of an idli batter.

5. Heat a non-stick pan or tawa. Apply a little oil on the tawa (you do not need to apply oil if you are using a non-stick pan). Pour a ladle(thavi) full of batter into the tawa. The batter will spread by itself. Flip over to the other side after a minute or two. Cook until it turns light brown. Serve hot with any curry of your choice. This recipe yields around 20 - 25 kallappams.

Idiyappam / String hoppers

Idiyappam / string hoppers is a popular breakfast dish in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. It is usually made of rice flour, salt and hot water, coconut is usually added for an extra taste. Its best combination is with vegetable kurma, any stew, egg curry, any meat curries, green peas/black chana curry and sweetened coconut milk. You need an idiyappam press/maker to prepare this dish.

Ingredients

1. Roasted rice flour - 2 cups (You can use store-bought idiyappam podi)
2. Grated coconut - 1/4 - 1/2 cup
3. Salt - To taste
4. Boiling water - As required

Method

1. Add salt to the boiling water. Make a smooth dough by adding the boiling water little by little to the rice flour, stirring in between. You can use your hands to form a smooth dough when it cools down slightly. Keep it aside for at least 20 minutes. You can add a tsp of ghee to the dough, if you wish.

2. Make small balls from the dough, put them in the idiyappam maker and close it with its lid.
3. Grease the idly moulds and spread about 1.5 tsp shredded coconut. Now using the idiyappam maker, press and squeeze the dough onto the idli moulds in a circular motion. Now add some grated coconut on top of it (You can add some sugar with the grated coconut, for kids). Steam cook for about 10 mts or until done. You can also press it into banana leaves and steam until done. Transfer the idiyappams to a serving bowl and repeat until the dough is finished. Serve warm with any curry of your choice.

 

Sending our plaited prune bread to ‘ONLY’ Kids Delight hosted by Pari of Foodelicious

Palappam

 

 

Ingredients

 

1. Idli rice - 3 cups (You could also use long grain or sona masoori rice)
2. Tender coconut flesh - 1 (or 1.5 cup grated coconut/Around 1 cup thick coconut milk)
3. Sugar - 1/4 cup
4. Yeast -   1/2 tsp   (Combine sugar and yeast in lukewarm water(around 1/2 cup) and leave aside to rise. If you wish to add tender coconut water, add only a pinch of yeast to rise. If you wish to use toddy, you don’t need to add tender coconut water and yeast. Just add 1/4 cup toddy.

5. Salt - To taste

Method

1. Soak the idli rice in water for at least  4 -  5 hrs.

2. In a bowl mix the tender coconut water with a pinch of yeast and 1/4 cup sugar. Keep aside to ferment. OR If you are using toddy, mix it with sugar and keep aside to rise. OR If you are using only yeast, mix 1/2 tsp yeast with 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup lukewarm water and leave aside to rise.

3.  Grind the idli rice to a fine paste adding sufficient water. Reserve 3 tbsp of this batter, now add in the tender coconut flesh ( or grated coconut / coconut milk) and the sugar-yeast mixture and grind again to a very fine paste.

4. Heat a pan and add the 3 tbsp reserved batter or 3 tbsp rice flour (pacha aripodi mixed in around 1 cup water) and stir it for a few minutes (pavu kachuka or kappi kachuka) until you get a thick paste. This is done to make extra soft appams. Leave aside to cool. When it is completely cooled, mix it well with the batter. Allow it to ferment in a warm place ( You can keep it inside your oven after heating it for 20 - 30  seconds or leave the oven light on) for at least 6 - 8 hrs. Remember to transfer the batter to a large container otherwise it may overflow. When fermented, the batter will almost rise double.  If the yeast is of good quality, fermentation might take place in lesser time. Before making appams, add little salt and check for sugar. If it is thick, dilute it by adding milk or coconut milk. We need a loose batter .

5. Make palappams using appachatti.

Heat the appachatti at medium flame and pour a ladle full (thavi or around 1/4 cup) of appam batter into it. Remember to smear the appachatti lightly with oil if its not nonstick. Hold both the handles of the appam chatti, lift from the stove and gently swirl it to spread the batter around, in one direction. You need to swirl it only once for a thin lace on the edges. Now bring down the flame and cover with its lid. Cook until done on one side only. It will take around 2 - 3 mts at low flame. Remove and repeat until the batter is finished. Serve warm with any stew/kadala curry/vegetable korma/ egg curry/ fish moli or any curry of your choice. 

 

 

Tips:

1. Instead of using rice flour or the ground idli rice batter in step 4, use 3 tbsp semolina. Add around 1.5 cup water to it, bring it to a boil, lower the flame and stir continuously until it becomes thick at medium flame, cool down completely and add it (kurukku) to the ground idli rice-yeast-sugar batter.

2. Palappams can be made without coconuts too and there are several ways to make the palappam extra soft. Click here for the tips.

 

 

Bread Puttu and Kadala Curry

 

 

    My dear friend Manju Jyotish gifted me this cute chiratta puttu maker (steel replica of a coconut shell) when she came back from her vacation in Kerala last month. I came to US last january and its been more than a year since I visited India. I didnt bring idli cooker, idiyappam maker etc with me  so I was very excited to have this puttu maker. Besides I had not seen a chiratta puttu maker even while I was in Kerala. This is really handy since it is so simple and quick to make puttu with this. Thanks a lot Manjoos :).

    My mother saw this bread puttu recipe in a cookery show, she tried it and asked me to give a try as well, since everybody loved it. It takes only 3-4 mts for this puttu to get ready and the whole preparation takes only around 5 - 10 mts. Bread puttu tasted great with thenga varutharacha kadala curry.  When you are really tired or lazy but you want to have something special or if you have some left over bread, this is your choice. You can make bread puttu with the traditonal puttumaker (puttukutti) in the same way. Here is the recipe for bread puttu and kadala curry.

Ingredients  (For 2 chiratta puttu)

Bread - 2.5 slices (I used multi grain whole wheat bread)

Grated coconut - 1/4 - 1/2 cup

Water - 1.5 - 2 tsp or as required

Method

1. Powder the bread slices(you can remove the sides of the bread) in a mixer. Put the bread powder in a bowl and sprinkle 1-2 tsp water, mix well with hands until they are just damp(no need to add salt).

2. Put the chillu (steel plate with lots of holes) inside the chiratta puttu mould, fill it with a tbsp of grated coconut, then the bread powder and top it with grated coconut. Close it with the lid.

3. Fill a pressure cooker with some water(around 2-3 cups), cover with its lid and bring to a boil. When steam starts coming out, mount the chiratta puttu mould on it. Steam cook for 3-4 mts or until steam starts coming out of the holes on top of its lid. Take the mould out and invert into a serving dish.  Have it with kadala curry or any curry you like, pappadam, ripe  banana etc.

 

Ingredients for Kadala Curry

 

1. Black Chana/Kadala - 3.5 cups cooked (soak the dried kadala overnight and cook with 1/4 tsp tumeric powder, salt and 3 - 3.5 cups water, save the water for the gravy)
2. Sliced coconut pieces (thenga kothu ) - 3 tbsp
3. Onion - 1 large sliced and chopped
4. Green chillies - 3 slit
5. Red chilly powder - 1 tsp
6. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
7. Pearl onions - 4 sliced
8. Dry red chillies-2
9. Curry leaves - A sprig
10. Coconut oil - As required
11. Salt - To taste

To roast and grind to a paste

1. Grated coconut - 3/4 cup
2. Pearl onion - 2 sliced
3. Coriander seeds - 2 tbsp (You can use coriander powder instead, add it while making the gravy)
4. Whole spices - (Fennel seeds - 1/4 tsp, cardamom - 2, cloves - 6, Cinnamon stick - 1, Whole pepper corns - 12 - 15, star anise - 1)

 

Method

 

1. Soak the kadala overnight and cook in a pressure cooker till soft adding 1/4 tsp turmeric powder and salt. I usually cook it for 4 whistles at medium heat. Reserve extra water for the gravy. 

2. Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan and add the whole spices. Saute for a few seconds and add the sliced pearl onions. Saute for a minute and add the grated coconut. Roast until it turns reddish brown. Switch off and leave aside. Grind it to a paste when it cools down.

 

 

3. In a deep pan heat some coconut oil and splutter mustards and brown the dry red chillies. Now add the sliced coconut pieces. Saute until they turn brown,add the sliced onion, pearl onions, green chillies, little salt and a few curry leaves. Saute until they turn light brown. Now add turmeric powder, chilli powder, saute for a few seconds and add the reserved water from the cooked kadala. Bring to a boil and add the ground coconut paste and cooked kadala. Mix well and taste check for salt. Cook until the gravy achieves your desired consistency. I usually prefer a thick gravy for kadala curry.  Switch off and serve hot with puttu.

 

 

 

Sambar

    Idli/ sambar breakfast combo, is a hot favorite of not only South Indians but also of people from other parts of India and even foreigners. My mother always made idli and chutney, sambar was made occasionally, mostly during festivals, birthdays (pirannals), if we had guests and all. So sambar was always special for us! I am always mesmerized by the aroma, especially the rich flavour of asafeotida that arises while making sambar. I used to sniff around my mother’s kitchen and for me, if it smells good, it would taste good too!
   The vegetables most commonly used for preparing sambar are potato, onion, carrot, cucumber, brinjal, snake gourd, drum stick, tomato and amara payar/hyacinth bean. You could even add vegetables like pumpkin, okra, elephant yam, raw banana, plantains, broccoli stems, tindora/kovakka, winter melon, beans etc, if you are short of other vegetables and to make your kids eat veggies. There are many different ways by which you can make sambar. The Trissur style sambar is made using roasted coconut paste (varutharacha sambar) and there are different kinds of sambar like ulli sambar, okra sambar, drumstick sambar, white radish sambar etc. There is variation even in adding masalas. Some people add masala while cooking the vegetables and some add it after the vegetables are cooked since they say that their aroma will be lost if you add it while cooking the vegetables. I usually add lots of vegetables to sambar but I have heard that sambar ought to have more of gravy than vegetables and that it should not be too concentrate. You can use the store-bought sambar powder for making sambar. The recipe for sambar varies region-wise and religion-wise like all other curries. Here is our recipe:

 

Ingredients

 

1. Toor dal/ thuvaraparippu - 1/2 cup
2. Mixed vegetables - 3 cups ( I used potato, carrot, snake gourd, drumsticks, onion, cucumber, tomato, brinjal,  and okra), cubed
3. Onion - 1 diced
4. Green chillies - 2 slit
5. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
6. Red chilly powder - 2 tsp
7. Coriander powder - 2.5 tsp
8. Fenugreek powder - 1/2 tsp
9. Asafoetida/hing - 2-3 pinches
10. Tomato - 2 small
11. Tamarind - Goose berry sized
12. Curry leaves - 1- 2 sprigs
13. Mustard - 1/2 tsp
14. Dry red chillies - 3
15. Pearl onion - 8-10 (It gives a special taste to the sambar.  You can use more of them if you are not using  large onion)
16. Salt - To taste

 

Method

 

1. Cook the toor dal in a pressure cooker adding turmeric powder,sufficient water and salt. Meanwhile soak the tamarind in warm water (around 1/4 cup) and extract its juice.

2. Now add the cut vegetables(except tomato and okra), 4-5 whole pearl onions, green chillies, curry leaves along with sufficient water(2 cups), turmeric powder and salt. Cook for 1 whistle.
3. In another pan saute the okra in oil until its almost cooked.The okra has to be cooked separately before adding to sambar otherwise it will make the whole thing slimy.
4. When the pressure releases, open the cooker and add the tamarind juice, tomatoes and okra.

5. Heat oil in pan and splutter the mustard seeds. Then add the dry red chillies, sliced pearl onions and brown them. Add some curry leaves, switch off and add the masala powders and mix well( just to remove the raw taste of the masala). Pour this tadka over the sambar. Bring it to a boil and switch off.  Mix well and serve it with steamed rice or idli/dosa after 15 - 20 mts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Multi Legume Dosa/Crepe

    This is the recipe for a healthy, nutritious, delicious and spicy dosa. Idli/dosa is every South Indian’s favorite breakfast dish and there must be hundreds of varieties of dosa. My mother used to make this dosa for me when I was a kid. The whole kitchen filled up with an aroma when she made this dosa. I have not added egg to this dosa batter since I do not eat egg these days. Eggs will give it a nice color and more taste. I shall update the picture if I make this dosa adding eggs.

 

Ingredients

1. Idli rice - 1/2 cup
2. Whole urad dal - 1/2 cup
3. Black chick peas - 1/4 cup
4. Green Gram - 1/4 cup
5. Peanuts - 2 tbsp
6. Pearl onions - 10
6. Green chillies - 6-7
7. Curry leaves - 1 sprig chopped
8. Cilantro - 2 tsp chopped
9. Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp (optional)
10. Egg - 1 (optional)

11. Salt - To taste

Ingredients for chutney

1. Grated coconut - 1 cup
2. Pearl onion - 2 - 3
3. Ginger - 1/2 inch piece
4. Green chillies - 2-3
5. Curry leaves - A few
6. Salt - To taste

     To temper

   7. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

   8. Pearl onion - 1 chopped fine

   9. Dry red chillies - 1

  10. Curry leaves - A few

   11. Oil - As required

 

Method

 

1. Soak the idli rice, urad dal, black chickpeas, green gram  and peanuts for around 2 hrs.

 

 

 

2. Grind them with 3-4 pearl onion and  2-3 green chillies to a coarse paste.  Keep aside for around 1 hour. There is no need to ferment this dosa batter. Just before making dosa  add salt, chopped curry leaves, cilantro, cumin seeds, chopped green chillies, chopped pearl onion, egg (optional) and mix well. Make the dosa and serve hot with chutney. You won’t get crispy dosa with this batter but its tasty and healthy as well.

 

 

 

  

 

For the chutney  

Grind the grated coconut, pearl onion, ginger, green chillies, curry leaves and salt in a mixer. While grinding you can add water if needed. In a pan heat some coconut oil and splutter mustard seeds. Add dry red chillies, chopped pearl onions and brown them. Add the curry leaves and pour the ground coconut mixture to this and heat through. Check for salt and switch off.

 

Sending this recipe to MLLA21 hostel by Mirch Masala and started by The Well-Seasoned Cook.

 

 

We are also sending this recipe to JIHVA - Breakfast hosted by Veggie Platters and started by Mahanandi.

Also sending our vattayappam recipe and spinach, beetroot, carrot chapati recipe to JIHVA - Breakfast.

Vattayappam/Steamed Rice Cake

 

 

Spinach,Beetroot,Carrot Chapati

 

Banana Bread

        I had banana bread for the first time from a local road-side shop on our way to Hana in Maui, Hawaii. They were freshly baked and were sold in small zipper lock bags for 5$ / half lb or so. It was so delicious that we had lots of it that day. I had no idea that it was so easy to make until my friend Reshmi shared this easy banana bread recipe. Nowadays I make it  whenever I have some ripe banana left. It calls for the most common ingredients that are available anytime in our kitchen pantry. You just need to mix them and bake for an hour. You do not even need a hand mixer, you can use a spoon or fork.  You can have them for breakfast, as a tea-time snack or even as dessert. This is the basic recipe for a banana bread. There are n number of variations that you can make to this basic recipe. You can make it even more delicious by adding chopped walnuts, almonds, chocolate chips, raisins or other dry fruits and nuts of your choice. I will post the healthier version soon with whole wheat flour, honey, nuts and absolutely no oil!

 

Ingredients

1. All purpose flour - 2 cup
2. Banana - 3 overripe
3. Sugar - 3/4 cup
4. Eggs - 2
5. Baking powder - 1tsp
6. Baking soda - 1 tsp
7. Cinnamon powder - 1/2 tsp (optional)
8. Apple sauce - 1/2 cup (optional, added to make it moist)
9. Vanilla essence - 1/2 tsp (optional)
10. Canola oil - 1/2 cup

Method

1. Mash the banana with a fork.

2. In a bowl add 2 cups of flour, sugar,  baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon powder. Give it a mix and stir in the eggs, apple sauce, vanilla essence and canola oil. Now add the mashed banana mixture and mix well.

3. Grease a baking tray or loaf pan and pour the mixture.  Preheat the oven at 350 F and bake for 1 hour until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Take it out and let it cool in the pan for around 10 mts or so. Cut into slices and enjoy!!

 

 

Tips:

 

1.  You can substitute all purpose flour with whole wheat flour for the healthier version. 

3.  You can reduce the quantity of oil and add some honey instead.

Vattayappam/Steamed Rice Cake

     Vattayappam/steamed rice cake  is a typical  Kerala sweet dish. This is made from raw rice and coconut. We can have it as a tea-time snack or even for breakfast. It is difficult to make vattayappam without steamer. Here i am sharing an idea to make the vattayappam without a steamer.

 

 

Ingredients

1. Raw Rice – 3 1/2 cup (you can use idli rice/sona masoori )

2. Parboiled rice/Kerala rice – 1/2 cup

3. Cooked rice – 1 cup

4. Coconut milk – 1cup or Grated coconut and coconut water

5. Sugar – 1/2 cup

6. Yeast – 1/4 tsp

7. Raisins/Cashews – to garnish

Method

1. Wash the rice( idli rice and parboiled rice) and soak it at least for 5-6 hrs.

2. Drain it. Grind the rice with cooked rice by adding coconut milk and little water if needed to a fine paste (If you are using the grated coconut, grind the raw rice, cooked rice, grated coconut by adding the coconut water and little water if needed).

3. Add the Yeast and sugar, mix well,close with a lid and keep it in a warm place overnight to ferment ( at least 8 – 9 hrs).

4. Add salt just before preparing and check for sugar. If your batter is too thick, dilute it with whole milk/coconut milk.The consistency should be that of a idli batter.

5. Grease a flat plate and pour the batter to it, and double boil in a larger pan.

6. When the appam is half done, garnish it with raisins and cashews. Steam again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. When it is cooked, remove it from the heat and cool in the same pan. If it is cooked properly, it won’t stick to the knife or spoon.

8.  When it cools down, gently take out and cut into any desired shapes.