Mango Pulissery/Manga pulissery

Ingredients

Ripe mangoes - 4 Nos.

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

Water - 2 cups

Curd - 2 cups

Water - 1/2 cup

Salt 

Coconut oil

Curry leaves

To Grind

Grated coconut - 1 cup

Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp

Green chillies - 2 Nos.

For Tempering

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Dry red chillies - 2 Nos.

Curry leaves

Fenugreek seeds

Method

Peel the skin off mangoes, gently mash them with your fingers. Add turmeric powder, chilli powder, water, and salt. Cook well. 

Grind grated coconut, cumin seeds, and green chilli to a smooth paste.  

Add the smooth ground paste to the cooked mangoes, along with curd and 1/2 cup of water (if you think the curry is too thick, add enough water to get the desired consistency ). Stir occasionally. When it is about to boil, switch off the stove. 

Heat coconut oil in a pan, splutter mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, add red chillies, and curry leaves. Pour this above the prepared curry. 

Qamar El Din/Apricot leather juice

Let’s talk Qamar El Din for it’s the in thing to talk and drink this season when it is sold in heaps and mounds in UAE. There were more reasons for me to try this at home. Firstly, the name Kamar-uddin, thickly resembled like a long forgotten uncle’s name from a Muslim community where I spent my thin slice of childhood sharing, caring and wondering about their traditions and how religious they actually are. Memories of breaking fast together and eating with all my might seeing my buddies struggle to eat after a long day of fast. Memories of hills and fields, of lotuses and water lilies, and thick clay which we muddled to shape it to the finest shape possible.  

Secondly, a glass of Qamar El Din is truly a sight to behold. It is reminiscent of glass jars which carry candles that brighten your living room, making it look instantly feng shui-ed. It was indeed beautiful with emerald pistachios.

Stop ... My sense of taste was not in harmony with the sight and when I gulped, the reality bit. Sadly I am not an apricot enthusiast anymore. Now this time my family was with me drinking and Mummy said I should have considered snacking on them instead of pureeing it. Oh! this is an acquired taste.

Ingredients

Apricot leather - 300 g 

Water - 4 glasses 

Sugar as required

Ice 

Rosewater - 2 tsp

Nuts to garnish 

Method

Using scissors, snip apricot leather into pieces. Place apricot leather and water in a pan. Bring them to boil stirring them in between. Switch off the stove and leave it to cool. Stir in between to break any lumps. Pass through a sieve. Mix in rosewater. Serve with ice and nuts. 

Mango Salsa

I’m a mango lover and a trip to Kerala in early May seemed to be a brilliant idea as the mango season was still on. The thought of gorging on limited edition mangoes made my mouth watery, you know what I mean, the ones you grow in your or someone else’s backyard, timely picked and ripened with much love and care for perfect texture, color, and smell that even the flies nor you want to be away from them.  

Then confronted by a real life situation of days moving like a breeze, typical of us visitors who pays yearly visit, we started getting acrobatic in scooter to catch up with friends and family and returning back home with those limited edition mangoes and no time to eat them.

Back home, the real deal were Pakistani mangoes. It is a dream of a mango, so sweet and cheap, having a couple of slices will make you think world is indeed a better place to be, and how blessed you are to savor them. I say it is a sweet swap for alphonsa mangoes. 

I skipped my dinners for mango mousse, a mid morning meal for a sweet bowl of yummy yummy fruit salad with some milkmaid to top it, you call it mango smoothie or mango milkshake, I am for it. This salsa has to be the healthiest thing I have done this mango season followed by a Mango Pulissery. I could have dressed a taco shell with mango salsa, and it would have been lovely. But then we are so used to fruit chaats, I ate it all by itself. I never tried pairing it with fish, chicken, or pork and wonder how that would be? For that experience, I cannot stretch my mangoes anymore. My fruit bowl is empty.  

By the by, do you think the topmost caption should be Ode to mangoes rather than a mango salsa?

Ingredients 

Chopped mangoes - 1 cup

Chopped ripe tomatoes - 3/4 cup

Chopped capsicum - 1 tsp

Spring onion - 2 tsp

Chilli flakes - 1/4 tsp

Oregano - 1/2 tsp

Salt to taste

Method

In a bowl, combine the mangoes and tomatoes. Lightly mash them with a spoon. Add capsicum, spring onion, chilli flakes, oregano, and salt. Mix well. Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

Tamar Hindi/Tamar Al Hindi/Tamarind drink

I sure am a festival blogger who pops in times of Vishu and Onam. I took up a wobbly job and by no means it is stopping me from coming here and if you think I am not properly fed…. you are wrong guys! My blogger mamma is home and she is cooking up way more than I could eat …… and I am spoilt. Apart from that, I remain the same with constant itch for recipes, made new friends as passionate as I am for food, and now I am brimming with recipes.  I even leached out a recipe from my boss. I feel like I am on the verge of explosion with a world of recipes shared by like minded people who believes recipes are to be shared, so I thought to come back here and spit it all out. I have also got a new friend who reserves a seat for me our ride back home from office so we can talk about food and only food. Crazy it may seem, but you understand. Don’t you?

Tamar Hindi is a popular Ramadan drink, where tamarind is the main ingredient.  We usually use tamarind only for flavoring sambars, rasams, and theeyals in our house, so it came to me as a surprise to know how potent indian dates (that is what tamarind or puli is called) really are.

The drink by the very look is muddy, not at all appealing, and taste is a sour-sweet combination. Over here, arabs add a dash of rose syrup to make it look more adorable. Although I love all things sour, I was wrong here. It was not definitely my glass of drink, but my family loved it.  So can’t say it is an acquired taste.

Ingredients 

Tamarind block –  50 gm

Sugar – ¾ cup

Ginger chopped – 1 tsp

Salt – a pinch

Method

Soak tamarind in a cup of water for 1 hour. Squeeze out the pulp and discard the seeds and fibers.

To the tamarind pulp, add sugar and ginger. Stir well and once the sugar is dissolved, add 3 cups of water. Bring it to a boil. Switch off the stove. When it is not hot anymore, add ice cubes and serve chilled. 

If you don't like ginger, before serving add cardamom powder. 

You can use dates syrup, honey, etc., as alternatives for sugar.  

Add rose syrup, if you are looking for a deep color. 

Kaplanga Vellapayar Erissery/Raw papaya and Black eyed bean curry/Raw papaya and lobia curry

Ingredients

Raw Papaya - 1 medium

Vella Payar/lobia/black eyed beans - 1/4 cup

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Chilli powder - 1 tsp

To Grind

Grated coconut - 3/4 cup

Garlic - 2 cloves

Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

Tempering

Coconut oil

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Urad dal -3/4 tsp

Dry red chillies - 2 Nos.

Curry leaves

Pearl onions - 3 Nos.

Fried grated coconut - 1/4 cup



Method

Pressure cook vella payar until 2 whistles.

Pressure cook papaya, turmeric powder, chilli powder till 1 whistle.

Grind grated coconut, garlic, and cumin seeds to a coarse paste.

Add the coarse paste, cooked vellapayar, and salt to cooked papaya. Boil them. Switch off the stove, when curry thickens. Add little water if necessary.

Tempering

Heat oil in a pan, crackle mustard seeds and urad dal. When urad dal starts to change color, add dry
red chillies, curry leaves, pearl onions, and grated coconut. When grated coconut is light brown in color, pour this mixture over curry.

Vishu Katta/Pachor/Coconut rice cakes/Rice cakes with coconut milk

Ingredients

Basmati Rice/Raw Rice - 1 1/2 cups

Thick extract of coconut milk - 1 cup (3/4 cup of tinned Eastern coconut milk + 1/4 cup of water)

Thin extract of coconut milk -  4 cups (1 cup of tinned Eastern coconut milk + 3 cups of water)

Cumin seeds - A pinch

Salt - as needed

Jaggery syrup - To pour over vishu katta before serving.


Method

Cook rice along with thin extract of coconut milk. When the rice is half cooked, add thick extract of coconut milk, cumin seeds and salt. When the rice is cooked and coconut milk is all absorbed. Remove it from stove and spread it on to a greased plate. Leave it for sometime to set.

Cut vishu katta in desired pieces and serve with jaggery syrup.

Jaggery syrup is made by heating desired amount of jaggery with water. Allow it to thicken a little, but it should still have a liquid consistency so that you can enjoy it by pouring over vishu katta.

• For a more tastier vishu katta or if serving as a dessert, try increasing the amount of coconut milk, i.e.,  Thin extract of coconut milk -  4 cups (2 cups of tinned Eastern coconut milk + 2 cups of water)

Pazham appam/Steamed rice cake with ripe banana

Ingredients

Rice flour/Appam podi - 3 cups

Thin extract of coconut milk - 5 1/2 cups.

Thick extract of coconut milk - 1/2 cup (Thick coconut milk is used to pour over the batter to give a creamy texture)

Sugar -3 tbsp

Banana/Nendrapazham/Ethappazham - 2 or 3

Cardamom powder

Method

Mix 2 cups of thick coconut milk and 2 1/2 cups of water to make 51/2 cups of thin extract of coconut milk.

Mix rice flour, 5 1/2 cups of thin extract of coconut milk, salt, sugar, and cardamom powder to make a watery batter.

Grease a steel plate with oil, pour this batter and sprinkle some chopped banana, and thick coconut milk of about 2 tbsp. Steam this for 15 minutes. Remove appams from steamer, cut into bite size pieces and enjoy.

Continue steaming the remaining batter in batches, sprinkling chopped banana, and pouring 2 tbsp of thick coconut milk.

You can use idli molds to make mini appams the same way shown below.

Peechinga Chemeen Ularthu/Ridge gourd with prawns and tomato

Ingredients

Peechinga/Ridge gourd - 2 small

Tomato - 1 medium

Onion - 1 medium

Prawns cooked - 1/2 cup

Garlic - 1 tsp

Ginger - 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves

Kashmiri Chilli powder - 1 tbsp

turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

salt

oil

Method

Cut ridge gourd into pieces.

Heat oil in a pan, add garlic, ginger, and curry leaves followed by onion. Saute the onions until light brown in color. Add kashmiri chilli powder, turmeric powder and stir. Add tomato. When tomato is mushy, add ridge gourd and salt. Close the lid. When the ridge gourd is half cooked, add cooked prawns. Close the lid again. Open the lid to see if the ridge gourd is cooked. When done, switch off the stove.

Vazha Pindi Cherupayar Curry/Kerala Pindi Curry/Banana stem with whole moong dal

Ingredients
Vazha pindi/banana stem - 2 1/2 cups

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Cherupayar/whole moong dal - 1/4 cup


To Grind
Grated coconut - 1/2 cup

Pearl onions - 5 Nos.

Garlic - 2 cloves

Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

Chilli powder - 1/4 tsp

Green chillies -2 Nos.


For tempering

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Dry red chillies - 2 Nos.

Curry leaves

Salt

Coconut oil

Method

Pressure cook whole moong dal with salt until 2-3 whistles.

Pressure cook banana stem along with turmeric powder and salt for one whistle.

Grind grated coconut, pearl onions, garlic, cumin seeds, chilli powder, and green chillies to a smooth paste.

Mix cooked banana stem and ground smooth paste. Continue cooking. Allow it to boil. When it starts to boil, add cooked moong dal. Check for salt. Add if needed. Now when the curry starts to thicken, switch off the stove. Proceed with tempering.

Tempering

Heat oil in a pain, add mustard seeds, dry red chillies, and curry leaves. Pour this over curry. 

Netholi Varuthathu/Podimeen Varuthathu/ Kerala Anchovy Fry

Ingredients

Netholi/Anchovies - 1/2 kg

Chili powder - 2 1/2  tsp

Pepper powder - 2 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Fennel powder - 1/2 tsp

Ginger garlic paste - 1/2 tsp

Salt

Oil

Method 

Combine the above ingredients with water to make a thick paste. Marinate the fish pieces using this paste. Keep this for 1/2 to 1 hour. Fry them in oil. 

Carrot and Orange Soup (Zero Oil)

Ingredients

Onion, chopped - 1 medium

Carrots, peeled and sliced - 3 medium

Vegetable stock - 350 mL

Ginger, peeled and grated - 2 inches

Water - 350 mL

Zest of 1/2 orange

Juice of one orange

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Method 

Pressure cook onion, carrots, ginger and stock till one whistle.  Open the lid, add the water, orange juice and zest to the pressure cooker, bring back to the boil and simmer for another 10 minutes. Remove the cooker from the heat and allow the soup to cool slightly before blending until smooth. Reheat and add salt and black pepper as needed. Serve garnished with herbs of your choice. 

Pavakka pitlai/Pavakka parippu curry/Bittergourd in dal gravy

Ingredients

Bittergourd/Pavakka - 1 medium

Toor dal - 1/2 to 3/4 cup

Grated coconut - 1 cup

Coriander powder - 1 tbsp

Chilli powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Asafoetida - 1 tbsp

Tamarind - gooseberry sized (Soak tamarind in water)

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Dry red chillies - 2 Nos.

Curry leaves - 2 sprigs

Jaggery - 1 tbsp

Method

Cut bittergourd in roundels. Marinate bittergourd with salt for 1/2 hour. After 1/2 an hour, give bittergourd a nice squeeze.  Fry them in oil. Set aside.

Dry roast coriander powder, chilli powder, and asafoetida. Grind roasted powder with grated coconut to a fine paste. Set aside.

Pressure cook toor dal for 2-3 whistles. Open pressure cooker, add turmeric powder, salt, tamarind water. When it starts to boil, add fried bittergourd rounds, and jaggery. Add ground paste. When it starts to boil, switch off the stove. Proceed with tempering.

Heat oil in a pan, splutter mustard seeds, followed by red chillies and curry leaves. Pour this over curry.

Flaxseed Ladoo

Recipe source Zee Tv

Ingredients

Split bengal gram/pottukadala - 3 tsp

Broken wheat - 3 tbsp

Flaxseeds - 6 tbsp

Ghee - 3 1/2 tbsp

Almond powder - 4 tbsp

Cardamom powder - 1/4 tbsp

Powdered sugar - 6 tbsp

Method

Dry roast bengal gram, broken wheat and flaxseeds in a pan for 10 minutes. Mix ghee, almond powder, cardamom powder and powdered sugar in a bowl. Grind the roasted mixture and mix it in the prepared powdered mixture. Now shape them into balls. Serve.

Optional: - Coat the ladoos with roasted flaxseeds (Ladoos taste best without coating). 

Note: You can replace sugar with jaggery. 

Serve these ladoos to children without flax coating and they will love it. 

Achinga chemeen ularthiyathu/Runner beans prawn stir fry

Ingredients

Achinga/runner beans - 250 gm

Prawns cooked along with salt and water - 1/2 cup

Pearl onion - 1/4 cup

Garlic - 2 cloves

Curry leaves - 1 sprig

Chilli flakes - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Kashmiri chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

Coconut oil

Salt

Method

Heat oil in a pan, allow mustard seeds to splutter. Saute pearl onions, garlic, and curry leaves. When the onion starts to turn brown in color, add chilli flakes, turmeric powder, and kashmiri chilli powder. Lower the heat. Saute them. When the raw smell leaves, add beans, cooked prawns, and salt. Sprinkle some water. Close the lid. let it cook. Open the lid to see if it is cooked. When it is cooked, pour little more oil and then stir fry before it is served. 

Carrot beans thoran

Ingredients
Carrot, medium - 2 Nos.
Beans - 1 cup
Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
Onion, small, chopped - 1 No.
Green chillies, chopped - 3 Nos.
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Chilli powder - 1/4 tsp (Optional)
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 2 sprigs

Method
Heat oil in a pan. Allow mustard seeds to splutter. Add onion, green chillies, and curry leaves. Saute them until the onion turns transparent. Now add turmeric powder and chilli powder (if using). Add carrot, beans,and salt. Lower the flame, close the lid.When the carrot and beans are half cooked, add grated coconut to this. If the veggies look too dry, sprinkle some water. Close the lid. Cook till it is done. Open the lid and cook for a minute. Mix well, but gently.

Serve with rice, a watery curry, or pickle for a simple yet satisfying meal.

Harpal's Amritsari Macchi/Fish Amritsari

Ingredients
White fleshed boneless fish - 500 gm

Lemon juice - 3/4 tbsp

Red chilli powder - 3/4 tbsp

Ginger paste - 3 1/2 tsp

Garlic paste - 1 1/4 tbsp

Vinegar - 1/4 cup

Besan/chickpea flour - 3/4 cup

Carom seeds/Ajwain/Omam - 3/4 tsp

Egg - 1

Thick yogurt - 1/4 cup

Rice flour - 1 tbsp

Chaat masala - to sprinkle

Marinate fish with lemon juice, red chilli powder, ginger paste, and garlic paste. Keep this for 20-25 minutes.

Make a paste by mixing vinegar, besan, carom seeds, egg, yogurt, and rice flour. Dip the marinated fish pieces in this paste and coat it well with the paste.

Deep fry till golden brown. Serve fish fry with a sprinkling of chaat masala, good squeeze of lemon, onion rings, and coriander leaves.