Tastes of Kerala - Kerala Recipes, Traditional Kerala Cooking, Nadan Recipes

Recipe: Kerala Style Mutton Stew

admin — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:58:07 +0000

Summary: A very tasty Kerala’s own dish and I believe the real experts of this are from great travancore christian house wives. Whenever you visit that part of the state – especially Kottayam, Thiruvalla side – it’s suggested to taste this delicious recipe with Appam (Palappam) for your breakfast. This is a less spicy dish and thus a favorite recipe for the tourists from western countries. Let us see the preparation.

Ingredients for Kerala Style Mutton Stew

Goat meat or lamb – 2 lbs
Lemon juice – 1 table spoon
Vinegar – 1 tbsp
Whole black pepper – 12 nos
Curry leaves – 2 bench
Potatoes(diced) – 2 nos
Red onions(Kunjulli) – 2 nos
Green chillies – 3 nos (remove seeds if you don’t like spicy)
Garlic pods – 4 nos
Cloves(Grambu) – 12 nos
Fennel seeds(Perinjeerakam) – 1/2 tsp
Cinnamom(Karugapatta) – 1″ stick
Cardamom(Elakka) – 4 nos
Veg oil – 4 tbsp
Coconut milk(thick) – 1 cup

Instructions

Soak the meat in lemon juice for half an hour.
Wash the meat and half cook in a pot with just enough water, a tbsp of vinegar, 1/4 tsp of ground black pepper and curry leaves.
Heat oil in a pan and stir fry the onions, curry leaves, garlic and green chillies until it turns golden brown.
Crush the Cloves, Fennel seeds, Cinnamom(Karugapatta) and Cardamom(Elakka) and add them into the pan. Continue to stir fry.
Add potatoes and enough water to cook the potatoes. Add the half cooked Meat to it.
Cook until the potatoes and the half cooked meat is done.
Adjust vinegar and salt to your taste.
Add one full cup of thick coconut milk. Do not allow the contents to boil once the coconut milk has been added.

Cooking time (duration): 45 Minutes

Number of servings (yield): 4

Meal type: breakfast

My rating:5 stars: ★★★★★

Varutharacha Meen Curry (Fried Coconut Fish Curry)

admin — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 09:01:14 +0000

‘Varutharacha Meen Curry’ is a medium spicy delicious dish and is made with fried coconut paste. Kerala style fish curry is famous for its spicy nature. But this dish can be prepared with medium spicy so that your kids also can enjoy it well. If you really want to explode your taste buds, there is another recipe called ‘Meen Mulakilittathu (Spicy Red Fish Curry) which we will be learning soon. Now, let us learn how to make ‘Varutharacha Meen Curry’ – (Fried Coconut Fish Curry).

Ingredients for ‘Varutharacha Meen Curry’:

Any fleshy fish (King fish,Pomfret,Tilapia etc.) – 1/2 kg
Grated coconut – 3/4 cup
Pearl onions (Cheriya Ulli) sliced – 4 nos
Red Chilly powder – 3 tbsp
Coriander powder – 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tbsp
Fenugreek seeds – 1/4 tsp
Mustard Seeds – A pinch
Curry leaves – 1 stem
Kokum (Kudampuli / Malabar Tamarind) – A lemon sized ball
Salt – As required
Coconut Oil – 3 tbsp

Preparation of ‘Varutharacha Meen Curry’:

Heat 1 tbsp of coconut oil in a pan or a kadai. Add 3/4 cup of grated coconut, chilly powder, coriander powder, small onions and fenugreek seeds. Fry on a medium heat for a few minutes till it become brown color.

Cool the mixture and grind it well in a mixer grinder. You don’t need to add any extra water as the oil extracted from the coconut will do the job. Pour tamarind pulp water and grind again until you get a very smooth paste.

Heat the remaining oil in the same pan. Put the Mustard Seeds when they start spluttering, add curry leaves and the paste and stir it well. Add turmeric powder and salt. When the paste boils and aroma comes, add fish pieces.

Add enough water so that the fish pieces are well immersed in the mix. Allow it to boil in a medium flame and let the gravy thicken.

Tip: For the real taste, prepare the dish a day before itself.

Thanga Chammanthi (Dry Coconut Chutney) 01

admin — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 08:26:21 +0000

Kerala style Thenga Chammanthi (Dry Coconut Chutney) is an easy but a very tasty recipe. There are a lot of variety recipes available under the same name and almost every variant competes tightly in terms of taste. This is a very common traditional dish get served with meals, kanji (rice cooked in extra water and served as), dosa, idli or appam. Here we are presenting one version of Dry Coconut Chutney with dried red chilies. We will be sharing different more recipes and assure you gonna like all of them.

Ingredients for Thenga Chammanthi

Grated coconut – 1/2 cup
Dried Red Chillies (unakka mulagu) – 4
Ginger – a small piece
Tamarind (Vaalan puli) – gooseberry(Nellikka) sized piece
Curry leaves – a few
Salt – as needed

Preparation of Thenga Chammanthi

Grind all these together in a mixer grinder. Sprinkle a little water if required. Stop before the paste get too smooth. Enjoy each bit of it.

Kerala Mango Pachadi Recipe

admin — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 06:09:19 +0000

Pachadi is a delicious vegetable dish prepared using curd/yogurt with raw mango or cucumber or pineapple. This is a side dish served with cooked rice and a must have in Kerala traditional Sadya (Feast). Here we are going to learn how to prepare Pachadi with raw mango.

Ingredients for Mango Pachadi

Raw mango (cut into small pieces) – 1 – 2 cups
Curd/Yoghurt – 1 cup
Grated coconut – 3 tbsp
Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
Cumin seeds(Jeerakam) – 1/2 tsp
Green chillies – 1 – 2 nos
Salt – for taste
Sugar – As required
Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
Dry red chillies – 2 – 3 nos
Curry leaves – A few

Preparation of Mango Pachadi Recipe

1)Cook the raw mango in water with turmeric powder and salt.

2)Grind together the grated coconut, green chillies and cumin seeds and add this mixture to the cooked vegetable and cook again.

3)Add sugar for sweetness which is optional.

4)Heat a pan. Add oil and splutter mustard seeds, curry leaves and red chilly and pour it to the mixture.

5)Allow this mixture to cool.

6)Finally, add the required yogurt/curd into this mixture and mix well.

7) Serve it with meals.

Kerala Nadan Beef Fry Recipe

admin — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 05:40:10 +0000

Beef Fry has become a very popular dish these days in Kerala life style. It can be served not only as a snack, but also as a main course dish with Porotta, Chapathi, Dosas, or Appams. This is a spicy dry dish and can be prepared with less than 1 hour time. In fast food shops they keep the beef cooked already and thus it takes just another 10 minutes to prepare the fry when someone order. This is a popular combination with kerala
porotta in most of the fast food shops.
Preparation Time: 1 Hour

Ingredients for Kerala Style Beef Fry
Beef(cut into small cubes) – 400 gm
Onion(medium) – 1 no
(diced finely)
Ginger – 1 inch piece
Garlic pods – 8 – 10 nos
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Salt – 3/4 tsp
Meat Masala – 2 tsp
Coriander powder – 1 tsp
Pepper powder – 3/4 tsp
Coconut slices(cut into thin squares) – 1 tbsp
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Oil – 2 tbsp

Preparation of Kerala Style Beef Fry

1)Pressure cook the beef cubes, chopped onion, finely chopped or crushed ginger and garlic, turmeric powder and salt with minimum water. Once the beef get cooked keep the lid open and on the fire till it gets completely dry.

3)In a separate pan, heat the meat masala and coriander powder in low fire for 1 – 2 mins.

4)Add pepper powder to this.

5)Add this masala to the cooked beef and mix well.

6)Heat oil in a kadai.

7)Add the beef and curry leaves. Keep in low fire for 10 mins.

8)Lightly fry the coconut pieces and add it to the prepared beef.

9) Garnish it and serve as hot.

Idichakka or Idinchakka (Tender Jackfruit) Thoran

admin — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:55:31 +0000

Idichakka or Idinchakka (Tender Jack fruit) thoran is a delicious dry dish served along with cooked rice. In villages you will find at least one jack fruit tree in each houses. Removing the skin and cleaning up the jack fruit is a tedious job but the taste matters. In season, people at kerala make variety of dishes using jack fruit, jack fruit seeds and tender jack fruit. The thoran made up of tender jack fruit is a tasty traditional dish and let us see the preparation.

Idichakka or Idinchakka (Tender Jack fruit) Thoran (Dry Curry) Recipe:

Ingredients:
Idichakka (Tender Jack fruit)	1 Medium
Grated coconut	1 Cup
Small Onions	5 – 6 nos
Cumin Seeds	1/2 tsp
Green Chilly	3 nos
Garlic Pods	4 – 5 nos
Turmeric Powder	1/4 tsp
Mustard seeds	1 tsp
Red Chilies	2 Bunches
Curry Leaves	2 Bunches
Coconut Oil	4 tsp
Salt	for Taste

Preparations:

Clean the idichakka and chop well into small pieces. Cook it medium with Turmeric powder and Salt – ensure it’s not over cooked as it may get mashed. Prepare a thick paste of grated coconut, green chillies, cumin seeds, small onions and curry leaves. Mix it with the cooked idichakka.

Heat coconut oil in a fry pan or kadai. Splutter mustard seeds, add red chillies and curry leaves into it. Add the above mix into this, and cook for a few minutes under low flame. Stir it well until it get cooked.

Chembu Thal (Taro Stem) Thoran (Dry Curry) Recipe

admin — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:11:47 +0000

The stem of Chembu (Taro) is commonly known as Thal – most popular in the middle of Kerala. The thoran (dry curry) prepared with Thal (Tora Leaf) is healthy as well as delicious. Good for children and aged persons as it digest well and contains enough iron and vitamins for the body. This is also a nadan (traditional) Kerala Cuisine, popular amongst the common people.

Tip: Thal (Taro Stem) contains a thick serum inside which you have to squeeze out after cutting it. Ensure you are not using the wild taro as it difficult to differentiate between.

Chembu Thal Thoran (Dry Curry) Recipe:

Ingredients:
Chembu Thal (Taro Stem)	6 Medium
Grated coconut	1/2 of one
Small Onions	5 – 6 nos
Green Chilly	3 nos
Turmeric Powder	1/4 tsp
Mustard seeds	1 tsp
Red Chilies	2 Bunches
Curry Leaves	2 Bunches
Coconut Oil	2 tsp
Salt	for Taste

Preparations:
Peel the skin from the Chembu Thal (Taro Stem) and cut it 2 inch long. Mix the salt with it and squeeze out the thick serum inside and keep it aside. Prepare a thick paste of grated coconut, green chillies, small onions, curry leaves and turmeric powder, mix this with the chopped Chembu thal (Taro Stem).

Heat coconut oil in a fry pan or kadai. Splutter mustard seeds, add red chillies and curry leaves into it. Add the above mix into this, sprinkle a little of water if you feel to and cook for 5 minutes in medium flame. Lower the flame, open the lid and stir it until it get cooked well.

Chena Vanpayar Erissery (Curry)

admin — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 15:39:30 +0000

Chena (Elephant Yam) – Van Payar (Black Eyed Bean) Erissery is one of the nadan (traditional) dishes
in Kerala. From south to north you can find a lot of variety recipes for preparing an Erissery. The taste will get differed based on the main ingredients used. Here we are going to prepare it with Chena (Elephant Yam) and Van Payar (Black Eyed Bean). This is a low spicy dish served along with cooked rice as part of lunch or dinner.

Chena Van Payar Erissery (Curry) Recipe:

Ingredients:
Elephant yam(Chena)	2 Cup
Black-eyed beans(Vanpayar)	1 Cup
Grated coconut	1/2 of one
Small Onions	5 – 6 nos
Cumin seeds	1/4 tsp
Turmeric Powder	1/2 tsp
Chilly Powder	1 tsp
Salt	for Taste
Seasoning:
Mustard seeds	1 tsp
Black gram (Uzhunnuparippu)	1/2 tsp
Curry Leaves	1 Bunch
Red chillies	3 – 4 nos
Coconut Oil	2 tsp

Preparations:
Soak the Vanpayar (Black eyed beans) for 4 to 5 hours as it reduces the cooking time. Pressure cook it for upto 4 whistles. Meanwhile cut the Chena (Elephant Yam) as small cubes. Add the Chena (Elephant Yam), turmeric powder, chilly powder and salt to the cooked Van payar (Black Eyed Bean) and cook it for another whistle. Grind the grated coconut with 1 or 2 small onions and cummin seeds to a fine paste. Add the paste to the Chena mix and cook in a low flame.

Seasoning: Take a fry pan and heat the coconut oil. Splutter mustard seeds and add black gram, red chilies and curry leaves after. Add this to the cooked Chena (Elephant Yam) Mix.

Serve it along with cooked rice.

Achinga Payar (String Beans) Thoran – (Dry Curry) Recipe

admin — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 14:46:32 +0000

Achinga Payar (String Beans) Thoran – (Dry Curry) is normally used as a side dish along with cooked rice. This is a very common dish prepared along with your daily meals as well as highly demanded on occasional feasts. A favorite dish for bachelors as it consumes very less time for the preparation.

Ingredients:
Achinga(String beans/Payar)	250 gm
Grated Coconut	1/2
Small Onions	1/2 cup
Green Chillies	3 to 4 nos
Turmeric powder	1/4 tea spoon
Mustard Seeds (Kaduku)	1 tsp
Curry Leaves (Kariveppila)	2 leave bunches
Coconut Oil	2 tablespoons
Salt	for taste

Preparations:
Grind grated coconut, turmeric powder, green chillies and curry leaves – add no water – into a medium paste.
Cut Achinga(String beans/Payar) into 1/2 inch size and keep aside.
Finely chop the onions and green chillies.
Heat the coconut oil on a fry pan, put mustard seeds and three to four curry leaves into it.
Put the chopped onion and green chilies and once the onions turn light brown add the cut beans and mix well.
Sprinkle a little water on top and cook it. Once the beans are half cook add the coconut paste into it and mix well.
Cook for another 5 minutes in low flame and the dish is ready.

Kalan (Moru Curry): Sour but Tasty

admin — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 04:28:12 +0000

Kalan (Moru Curry) is also a typical Kerala dish and a must in our Sadyas (feasts). This is sour in taste and the main ingredients are Yum, Raw Plantain (Banana) and Yogurt (Curd). Some part of the state people make Kalan with a thick gravy but mostly youcan have it with medium gravy.

Kalan (Moru Curry) Recipe:

Ingredients:
Tender Yum (Chena)	1 Cup
Raw Plantain/Banana (Pachakkaya)	1 Medium Sized
Turmeric Powder	1 tsp
Red Chili Powder	1 tsp
Salt	for taste
Yogurt / Curd (sour)	3 Cups

Grinding Paste:
Grated Coconut	½ Cup
Cumin Seeds (Jeerakam)	1 tsp
Green Chilies (Pacha Mulaku)	5 to 6 nos

Seasoning:
Mustard Seeds (Kaduku)	1 tsp
Red Chilies	2 nos
Fenugreek Seeds (Uluva)	1/2 tsp
Curry Leaves (Kariveppila)	2 leave bunches
Coconut Oil	2 tablespoons

Preparations:
Grind the Coconut, Cumins seeds and Green Chilies into a fine paste. Mash the Yogurt (Curd) and mix with the paste well and keep it aside.

Peel and Cut the Yum and Raw Plantain (banana) into medium cubes. Cook the vegetables with Turmeric powder, red chilies and salt in 1 cup water. Once it is cooked well add the paste and keep it in low flame. Don’t Boil it. Keep it as thick gravy or with medium gravy as you like it to be.

Keep a pan on medium flame and heat the Oil. Once the mustard seeds start crackling, add Mustard Seeds, Red Chilies, Fenugreek Seeds and Curry Leaves. Keep it less about 1 minute and pour this into the Curry.
Serve it with Rice for lunch or dinner.