Kumbalanga moru curry (winter melon yogurt curry)

There are some things etched in memory forever. I have quite some. They have become as old as I am, but far more beautiful and vivid. I treasure them the most. My first building blocks with alphabets, my first books, walks to pre-school holding my Mom's hands, snacks which I often had after school, eating Ammamma's (father's mother) kumbalanga moru curry, chicken neck curry...

She is one person who was very close to me. Sadly not with us anymore. She had many medical problems and nobody thought she will survive all these years. The unbelievable part is she lived to see my Abbey.

On Sundays, ammamma's kitchen is not complete without this kumbalanga moru curry. Love you Ammamma.

Ingredients
Kumbalanga/winter melon - 1.5 cups
Curd - 2.5 cups + water to make it runny
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Green chillies, slit - 2
Grated coconut - 1 cup
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Shallots - 3 nos
Dry red chillies - 2
Fenugreek - 1/4 tsp

Directions
Cook kumbalanga with green chillies, salt, and water. Grind grated coconut, cumin seeds, and turmeric powder. Pour the ground mixture to the cooked kumbalanga. Cook in low flame. Beat the yogurt and add this to the above curry. When everything is hot, but yogurt is not boiling, remove from heat and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan, allow mustard seeds to crackle along with fenugreek, dry red chillies. Saute ginger, shallots and curry leaves. Now pour this over the curry. Serve hot with rice and beef curry.

Puli Inji (Fried ginger in tamarind sauce)

What runs through your mind when you say looking forward to celebrating Onam? Well, for me it is the sense evoking spicy, sour, tangy, sweet treats we have in the noontime called Onam Sadhya. The colourful array of mix and match curries sitting pristinely in the green plantain leaf palette. Huh! it is a divine pleasure and once a year indulgence for all the Malayalis out there. 

My all time favourite Puli inji is a sweet, tangy, spicy, saucy, finger licking goodness categorized as thodu curry (served in small portions).

Recipe Source: Adapted from Cooking at Mayflower

Ingredients:-

Ginger   chopped        -     1 cup

Green    chillies           -     10 nos

Tamarind                    -     Size of one lemon

Red chilli powder        -    1  tsp

Turmeric powder        -    1 /4   tsp

Mustard   seeds          -    1 tsp

Fenugreek  seeds        -    1 tsp

Jaggery                       -    5 tsp or (according  to taste)

Curry   leaves              -    few sprigs

Salt

Oil

Directions:-

Soak tamarind in a cup of warm water, extract the thick juice, and keep aside.

Roast fenugreek seeds, powder it, and keep aside.

Heat oil  in a thick bottom pan.  Add mustard seeds, then curry leaves. Now add chopped ginger and fry till golden brown. Add thick tamarind extract, chilli  powder, turmeric powder, and salt. Bring  it to a boil in high heat. Keep on low flame for around 10 to 15 minutes (for me it took 10 minutes) or as desired to get rid of the raw smell of tamarind and to get a thick gravy. Add jaggery according to your taste, (make sure to taste the sweetness as you go to make it super sweet or less sweet as you like it) and allow it to boil, then add fenugreek powder. Once it reaches a thick consistency and oil starts floating on the surface, remove from  heat. Store in a glass or ceramic container in the fridge.

Kani Vellari Kichadi (Cooked cucumber in yogurt gravy)

This curry is one of the many accompaniments in Onam Sadhya. Some call it vellari pachidi, for some it is vellari kichadi. I researched a bit about this "pachadi/kichadi confusion". The information I got was really new to me. When jaggery or sugar is added to make the curry sweeter, it is called pachadi. The pachadi minus the sweet content is called kichadi.

I mastered to cook kichadi out of necessity - my pregnancy cravings. I phoned my mom and she passed this recipe to me. I blindly followed it, was a huge hit among my colleagues, that in the end I had to satisfy my cravings by going to the cafeteria and indulging in a tub of yogurt. Poor me! Little did I know that it was such an easy breezy curry to make.  

Recipe source: Mom

Ingredients:-

• Kani Vellari – 1 small
• Curd – ¾ cup
• Coconut oil – 2 tsp
• Salt - as needed

To Grind

• Grated coconut – half of a coconut
• Chillies – 3 nos
• Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

To season

• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• Dry red chillies – 2
• Curry leaves

Directions:- 

Cut vellari into small pieces. Cook vellari pieces in water and keep aside. 

Grind grated coconut, chillies, mustard seeds and add this to the cooked vellari pieces. Add curd and salt. Allow it to heat (not boil). Give it a nice stir. Switch off the stove.

Seasoning: 

Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and allow it to splutter. Now add dry red chillies, curry leaves, and turn off the stove. Add this to the above and close the lid till everything blends well.