Showing posts with label Drumstick. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Drumstick. Show all posts

Tuesday, 22 May 2018

Unakka Chemmeen Pacha Maanga Curry | Unakka Chemmeen Maanga Muringakka Kootan

Kerala Style Dried Prawns & Raw Mango Curry with Drumsticks



And here I am with the last post of the season with dried shrimps. I promise :) My stock of the dried prawns is over :D So this is a recipe of the summer season coz the dried shrimps are paired with raw mangoes to make this gravy. It is a yummy tangy gravy that you can make when you do not have fresh fish in stock to enjoy a fish curry. Here in this gravy tamarind is not used, instead the raw mangoes impart the necessary tanginess for the gravy.. It is easy to make and you can pair it with aviyal or any thoran or stir fry of your choice. Deeps liked this gravy and did ask for a second helping (proof that he liked this and I can continue to make it as part of our menu ;)) and so this is going to be a regular whenever I get hold of some dried shrimps. So let's see how to make this yummilicious gravy..

Other recipes with Dried Shrimps:

Unakka Chemmeen Chammanthi Podi | Dried Shrimp Chutney powder
Unakka Chemmeen Roast | Dried Shrimp Fry

Other recipes with Mango:





Recipe Source: Adapted from Here


Preparation Time : 15 minutes

Cooking Time : 45 minutes


Serves : 3-4 persons


I Used:


Dried Shrimp - ½ cup
Raw Mango - 1 no (big sized one - totapuri/kilimooku) - cut into cubes
Drumstick - 1 no - cut into 2 inch long pieces
Shallots - 4-5 nos - sliced
Ginger - 1 inch piece - sliced
Green Chilly - 2 nos
Curry leaves - 3 sprigs
Red Chilly powder - 2 tsp
Turmeric powder - ¼ tsp
Salt - As Needed
Water - As Needed

To Grind:

Coconut  - ½ cup

To Temper:

Coconut Oil - 2 tbsp
Shallots - 4-5 nos


The Way:


1. Rinse and wash the shrimp thoroughly 3-4 times to remove any dirt or dust particles in them. They tend to absorb water, so be quick to rinse and once done, drain them and keep aside for 10-15 minutes



2. Now heat a man chattai (earthen pot) or a kadai. Add the washed dried shrimps and roast on medium/low flame for 5-10 minutes till they turn golden in colour. Once done and dried, remove them on to a plate



3. If you have bigger shrimps and would want to remove their heads and tails now would be a good time to do so


4. Then in the same man chatti or pan take the roasted shrimps, drumstick, cut mangoes, sliced shallots, sliced ginger, green chilly, 1 sprig curry leaves, red chilly powder, turmeric powder and salt (add cautiously as dried shrimps already have salt in them)


5. Add water and mix well. Cook them on high flame till water begins to boil


6. When it starts boiling, reduce the flame to low and cover the vessel and cook till everything is cooked. Check occasionally to see that water doesn't evaporate off completely and they get burnt. This would take around 15-20 minutes




7. Meanwhile grind grated coconut to a smooth fine paste by adding water. Once the mangoes and shrimp is cooked, add the coconut paste to it and stir well. Check for salt and hotness. Add accordingly if required


8. Cook for another 10-15 minutes in low flame 




9. Meanwhile heat coconut oil in a tadka pan. Add sliced shallots and fry them till golden brown

10. Once the gravy is done, pour this tempering on the gravy and add 2 sprigs of curry leaves and give a gentle stir



Serve with rice and a stir fry of your choice!



Notes:

  • The tanginess for the gravy comes from the raw mangoes. So add accordingly. I used the whole of a kilimooku/totapuri mango. If you are in doubt, first add half of the mango. Then once the shrimp and mangoes are half cooked, check for the tanginess, add more if needed 

Cheers,

Chitz

Tuesday, 29 August 2017

Kerala Style Aviyal Recipe | How to make Kerala Avial | Onam Sadhya Recipe Aviyal


Aviyal.. The word literally translates to concotion or a mixture of different things! That's what this dish is also all about. It is a beautiful collection of different veggies cooked together along with curd and coconut. And it is a potpourri of all different kinds of taste like salt, sour, sweet and bitter.. Curd gives the sourness and a little bit of bitter gourd gives the bitterness. 

According to Wikipedia, the origin of Aviyal is 

'It is supposed to have been invented by Bhima (one of the Pandava brothers) during their exile. According to the legend, when Ballav (Bhima's name during this time) assumed his duties as the cook in the kitchen of Virata, he did not know how to cook. One of the first things he did was to chop up many different vegetables, boil them together and top the dish with grated coconut. There are mythological variations. Bheema is said to have prepared Avial, when there were unexpected guests for King Virata and he needed to serve meals for them. There was no sufficient vegetables to cook any single recipe for side dish, so Bheema used what ever available vegetables to make a new dish, which came to be known as Avial'

Different parts of Kerala cook this dish in a slightly different manner from one another. Some use cumin seeds while some don't. Some cook the veggies in curd whereas some add curd in the end. My version of this recipe is from my MIL who makes them in Malabar (to be exact, Nilambur) style. I am specifically saying that coz the Calicut version (which is just a 1.5 hour drive from Nilambur) has an entirely different taste ! And my fussy eater (when it comes to veggies) hubby doesn't seem to like any other version other than this ;) But I must confess, that this is one of the best aviyals that I have had as well. I have lived in many places in Kerala like Trivandrum, Kollam, Kottayam, Kochi, so I can very well vouch for this version ! And this is one dish that I actually look forward to whenever I visit Kerala :) 

The key and the time consuming part of making this dish is cutting the veggies. All the veggies should be cut to equal lengths. And make it as thin as you can so that it cooks faster and blends in well ! During Onam, it seems that it was Deeps' duty to cut these veggies to perfection. And this is done on the night before Thiruvonam. Veggies are cut and kept ready for cooking the next day so that it is easier to finish off that big list of dishes for the Sadhya.. So let's move on to see how this lipsmacking traditional Kerala style aviyal is made !




Serves: 5-6 persons


I Took: 

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Cooking Time: 30 minutes


I Used:


Ash Gourd/Kumbalanga - Around 200 gm
Drumstick/Murungakya - 2 medum sized
Elephant Yam/Chena - Around 100 gm
Kaya/Raw Banana - 1 medum sized
Carrot - 1 medum sized
Bitter Gourd/Pavakka - A quarter of a medium sized one
Long Beans/Payar - Around 10 nos
Curd - ½ - ¾ cup
Coconut Oil - 1 tbsp
Curry Leaves - A sprig

To Grind:

Coconut

-        ¾

 cup
Green Chilly - 2 nos
Curry leaves - 2 sprigs


The Way:



1. Cut all veggies into thin slices lengthwise of approximately 2 inches of length. All the veggies should be cut to the same length. The thinner the better. It will get cooked faster

2. Now take all the cut veggies in a wide pan or uruli if using one. Add salt, turmeric powder and chilly powder and little water (approximately 1/4 cup) give a gentle stir

3. Allow it to come to a boil. Once the water starts boiling, reduce the flame and cover the pan and cook till the veggies are almost done. The yam and long beans take the longest time to cook. So the test is to check if they are cooked


4. Meanwhile grind together grated coconut, green chillies and curry leaves in a blender. Do not add water. It should not become smooth. 3-4 pulses should be enough

5. Now add whisked curd. Whisk the curd once using a whisk or give a quick pulse in mixie. If the curd has lumps it will be difficult to get it blended with the veggies

6. Cook uncovered till there is on water content. Now add the ground coconut and give a quick gentle stir. Leave for about a minute or two

7. Now add the coconut oil and curry leaves and give a gentle stir. Aviyal is ready to be served

Notes:


  • The curd should be really sour. That gives the needed tanginess for the aviyal
  • Do not add more curd as the aviyal will turn watery and the veggies will get over cooked then and turn into a mash. Key is to use really sour curd so that less quantity would be sufficient
  • Add very little bitter gourd else the dish will turn out very bitter
  • Add little water to cook as you do not want the veggies to be over cooked and become mushy

Cheers,
Chitz

Thursday, 18 April 2013

Sambar | Kerala style Sambar (Without Coconut) | Varutharacha Sambar | Arachuvitta Sambar


There was a time when I never used to get Sambar right. That was during my spinster times. I used to feel so bad then and complain to my mom, 'I am not able to make even a simple sambar'. Now you might think how can such a basic recipe like Sambar go wrong? Sometimes the most simple & commonly made dish would not turn out good until you find out the small trick & nuances of it that makes your shtyle stand out from others' right?? And to make matters worse, after marriage, Deeps became a fan of my mom's Sambar. He too fell prey for her Idly, coconut chutney & sambar combo special of my mom ;)


But that's not the end of the story.. I found out that even Deeps made awesome Sambar. I was like 'Ohh my, I am doomed now'. Finally one day with the determination of mastering it, I called up my mom and got the recipe. I was asking her, 'Ma tell me, how much tamarind.. What do you mean a lemon sized?? Small one or big one? How many spoons of coriander seeds' Finally she got fed up.. She was like 'Chitra, add little of everything. Taste it and add more if required'. I was skeptical and scared the first time and was with crossed fingers when Deeps came from office & tasted it. But he was very impressed. He was like, 'This tastes the best. Better than my mom & yours' That's the best compliment that you can ever get for cooking, right?? I was thrilled.


But I forgot how much of everything I had added. Lol.. Then I understood why my mom said lil of this and a lemon sized of that !! After that I slowly got the hang of the quantity. And most of the times I cooked this special sambar of mom's like a professional. So when Hasna suggested me to link up 'Butter Beans Masala' of my mom's for her lovely 'Mummy Ka Magic' event, I thought this is the most apt one for the event, as this recipe would always be the numero Uno of my mom's best veggie dishes :D. Her shtyle as it's simple and with NO coconut and a hit among our guests !!

Recipe Source: Ma


I Took: 

Preparation Time:40 minutes

Cooking Time: 35-40 minutes


Serves: 4-5 


I Used:

Tur Dal - ½ cup
Onion - 1 medium sized - sliced
Tomato - 1 no - cut into 8
Drumstick
Brinjal
-
-
1 no - large
3-4 nos
Ladies Finger
Tamarind
-
-
4-5 nos (small ones)
a small lemon sized
Garlic - 2 cloves
Turmeric powder - ½ tsp
Asafoetida - ½ tsp
Curry Leaves - 2-3 sprigs
Coriander Leaves - 2-3 sprigs
Salt - As Needed

To Roast & Grind:
Oil - 2 tsp
Coriander Seeds - 3 tbsp
Red Chilly - 5 nos
Urd Dal - 3 tbsp
Fenugreek Seeds - ½ tsp
Asafoetida - 1 tsp


To Splutter:
Oil -2 tsp
Mustard  - 1 tsp
Red Chilly - 2 nos


The Way:

    1. Heat oil in a pan. Roast coriander seeds, red chilly & urd dal until it turns light golden brown in color. This would take 2-3 minutes













    2. Now add fenugreek seeds & asafoetida and roast for about a minute and not more. Else the fenugreek seeds can add a bitter taste if it's roasted for a longer time
    3. Allow this to cool & add water (3-4 tbsp) & grind it smoothly to a thick paste













    4. Soak tamarind in water for 15-20 minutes and extract the juice/pulp out of it and keep aside
    5. Rinse tur dal in water for 3-4 times and then soak them in water (around 2 cups) for 20-30 minutes













    6. Then pressure cook it with salt & garlic. Mash the pressure cooked dal well, so that there are no visible wholes of dal













    7. Heat a pan/kadai. Add the cut drumsticks (cut to 2 or 2.5 inch pieces). Add water (around 1 to 1.5 cups) and turmeric and salt
    8. Cook on medium flame until the drumsticks are half cooked. You can cover the pan and cook for faster cooking. This would take around 6-8 minutes













    9. Once the drumsticks are half cooked, add the onions (sliced), tomatoes (cut into 8 pieces), brinjal (cut into 8 or 12 depending on the size of the brinjal) , ladies finger (cut into 2 inch pieces) and other vegetables) and cook until the vegetables are half cooked













    10. Now add the ground paste (also adjust salt) and cook again until the vegetables are done
    11. Add the tamarind pulp & asafoetida (if needed. A strong aroma of asafoetida is a must for a good sambar :)) & allow it to come to a boil













    12. Then add the boiled & mashed dal. Cook for 3-4 minutes until all the ingredients come together 













    13. Add curry leaves and allow it to boil for another minute. Then switch off the flame
    14. In a tadka pan/kadai, heat oil. Splutter mustard and broken red chillies. Take care not to burn them













    15. Add the tadka to the sambar. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves













    Serve hot with steamed rice or idly or dosa!


    Notes:

    • You can add more vegetables of your choice like pumpkin, potato, white gourd, radish, carrot & plantain stem
    • Adjust the quantity of ground masala as you increase the vegetables
    • Another variety is to omit all vegetables & onion and use only shallots (include tomato) called 'Ulli Sambar'. You can follow the same method for that also

    Cheers,
    Chitz