Pavakkai Fry | Pavakya Fry | Kakarakaya Fry | Easy Bitter Gourd Fry (Deep Fry)

By know you guys would be knowing my family's love for bitter gourd. Though I am very picky about the dishes made with pavakkai, this one is a personal as well as family favourite. Deep frying can make even the boring bittery bitter gourd yum and this recipe is a testimonial for that ;) And even my guests adore this fry. It tastes yum with curd rice, rasam sadam and samabar sadam.. My little one munches them as such :D And this is the only way he eats bitter gourd. Can't blame him ;) So let's hop on to the recipe now..

Some other recipes with bitter gourd that are there in the blog are Pitla, Pavakya Pulin Curry, Pavakkai Puli Kuzhambu & Khatta Meeta Karela..

Serves: 2-3 persons

I Took: 

Preparation Time: 10 mins

Cooking Time: 15 mins

I Used:

Bitter Gourd/Pavakkai	-	2 medium sized ones
Red Chilly powder	-	1 ½ tsp
Coriander powder	-	1 ½ tsp
Turmeric powder	-	½ tsp
Tamarind Paste	-	1 tsp (or a gooseberry sized piece)
Grated Jaggery (refer notes) Salt Oil	- - -	1 tsp As Needed To deep fry

The Way:

1. Rinse the bitter gourd well in water. You can scrape off the edges if needed. Else can use them as such. Trim the edges and cut them into thin round slices. The seeds and the skin are edible. If you do not prefer you can remove the seeds

2. Take the cut bitter gourd slices in a bowl. Add the red chilly powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, salt, jaggery and tamarind paste, besan and rice flour (if using) to it and mix well. I did not have tamarind paste handy so I added a goseberry sized tamarind instead

3. Allow it to rest for 10-15 minutes

4. Heat oil for deep frying in a kadai or tadka pan

5. First add the tamarind piece (if using paste, directly add the marinated bitter gourd slices) to it. After 30-40 seconds, add a batch of the bitter gourd pieces and fry it till it turns colour and becomes deep and crisp

6. Remove onto a plate and fry the remaining bitter gourd pieces also like this in batches and serve with rice and gravy

Notes:

• To remove some bitterness you can rub salt to the bitter gourd pieces and rest it for 20 minutes. Then rinse it under water and then use. Alternately you can soak in curd as well and squeeze or rinse off the curd and then use. But since this recipe calls for deep frying the bitter gourd, the bitter taste is not felt much and hence I avoid that step

• You can skip jaggery if you do not want. The tamarind and jaggery are to reduce the bitterness of the gourd

• You can add 2-3 tbsp each of besan flour and rice flour or either one of the flour to the bitter gourd slices while marinating. The flours will add a coating to the bitter gourd slices and make them look more appealing :) I generally do not add them

Cheers,

Chitz

Red Coconut Chutney | Kerala Style Coconut Chutney with Shallots | Easy Kerala Style Coconut Chutney

An idly or dosa breakfast at my place usually means there will be a red chutney or white chutney to accompany it :) Both are coconut chutneys with the red one made with red chillies and the white one made with green chillies. Very easy to make if there is grated coconut at hand. Usually I grate the coconut the previous night or during weekends and refrigerate (You can even freeze them if you have more quantity) them. Morning first thing I take the grated coconut from fridge and keep outside. And while grinding I use slightly warm water so that it grinds easily without a slimy appearance (frozen grated coconut tends to make the chutney slimy, so better to use freshly grated ones) This makes life easier on busy mornings :) So today I will share how I make the red coconut chutney :) Other chutney recipes on the blog are Onion Tomato Kara Chutney, Ulli Sammanthi, Pudina Chutney (without coconut), Pudina Chutney with coconut, Pudina-Verkadalai Chutney

Serves: 3 persons

I Took: 

Preparation Time: 10 mins

I Used:

Grated Coconut	-	½ cup
Red Chilly	-	2-3 nos
Ginger (optional)	-	An inch piece
Shallots/Small Onions	-	2-3 nos
Salt	-	As Needed
Water	-	As Needed

To Temper:

Coconut Oil	-	2 tbsp
Mustard	-	½ tsp
Curry Leaves	-	2 sprigs

The Way:

1. Take the grated coconut, shallots, red chilly and ginger in a mixer jar along with required salt. Add little water (¼ cup)

2. Grind them nicely to a smooth (as smooth or coarse as you want) consistency

3. In a tadka pan, heat oil. Splutter mustard seeds

4. Then add the curry leaves. Switch off flame

5. Add the tadka to the chutney

Serve with idly, dosa, uthappam, pongal !

Notes:

• Use freshly broken & scraped coconut. The taste really differs when you use even a day old (refrigerated) coconut

• Avoid using old coconut and also kopra

• Add water according to the consistency of the chutney that you need. I would suggest using less water while grinding. Add more if needed once you grind and transfer the chutney to a container

• Ginger is optional

• Adjust the chillies as per your taste. Quantity of ingredients given are guidelines and can be adjusted to suit personal tastes

• If the chutney becomes too runny, add more grated coconut and grind

Cheers,
Chitz

Cheera Thoran | Kerala Style Easy Red Spinach Stir fry with coconut | Keerai Poriyal

Ask any Mallu to choose between red and green spinach, the answer would be the red one. There is something closer to heart or home with the red spinach for the Malayali :) Especially if the Mallu is in a foreign land and somehow gets to see some red spinach in the market or store, the expression would be "Chummana Cheeraaaaaaaaaa" (Red Spinaaaach) and they would promptly buy it too ;) And there is no brownie points for guessing today's recipe, it's none other than the humble stir fry with the red spinach. It is easy to make like any other thoran, even better, coz there is no grinding or crushing of coconut involved like in some other thorans. Pair it with some curd or Pulissery and matta rice and it's just bliss. "Venel or omelette koodi aavam too ;)" (Can have an omelette too with that combo ;)) 

My other spinach recipes are Cheera Parippu Curry, Cheera Thalippu, Sirukeerai Paruppu Masiyal, Vallarai keerai Poriyal, Chembila Mezhukkupuratti, Chembin Thandu Parippu Curry & Palak Paneer

Serves: 3-4 persons

I Took: 

Preparation Time: 10 mins

Cooking Time: 20 mins

I Used:

Coconut Oil Spinach/Cheera	- -	2-3 tbsp 3 heaped cups - chopped
Shallots	-	10-12 nos - sliced
Red Chilly	-	2-3 nos
Grated Coconut	-	¼ cup

The Way:

1. Wash and rinse the spinach in water 2-3 times so that the dirt and sand is removed. Then spread them on a plate or kitchen towel and allow them to dry for 10-15 minutes

2. Then chop them finely and keep aside. Peel the shallots and slice them

3. Heat the coconut oil in a pan. Splutter the mustard seeds if using

4. Then add the sliced shallots and broken red chilly and saute

5. Saute till they slightly turn colour. Now add the chopped spinach and mix well. Then cover and cook them till done which will take around 10-12 minutes

6. In between open the lid and saute so that they don't get burnt or stuck to the bottom of the pan. If you feel it's too dry add 1-2 tbsp of water and saute. Don't add more, else it will get soggy

7. Finally once the spinach is cooked, add the grated coconut and saute for another minute or two. Switch off the flame and serve with a gravy of your choice

Notes:

• Can splutter mustard seeds in the beginning of needed. I generally do not do that

• You can also make without coconut. That also tastes equally good

Cheers,
Chitz