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)