Jollimama's Coconut Chutney

I have always made coconut chutney Mummy's way as she was the one to teach me how to make the coconut chutney which goes so well with both Idlis and Dosas. After mum passed away, Jollimama (my Dad's sister) came to stay and helped us a great deal! Loved having her with us. She has such a comforting voice and her presence helped us a lot.

At the time, I learnt how to make her version of the coconut chutney which included the addition of small onions/shallots/pearl onions ('Kunjulli '<Malayalam>) , popularly known as sambar onions in India. Mum did use small onions when available or even the normal pink/purple onions (Allium cepa). Jollimama also advised to grind some of the curry leaves while grinding the pearl onions, so that is what added so much flavour to the chutney. Besides that the make was similar to Mum's make.

You need: 

• 2 cups of coconut gratings
• Salt to taste
• Curry leaves -  1 sprig
• Ginger - 1", chopped
• 1-2 green chilies (depending on how spicy you would like it)
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tbsp of oil
• Drinking water - a tad bit*

The Make:
Preparation Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 5 minutes | Serves on the side approximately of 20 idlis or 12 dosas

1. Grind the coconut gratings, salt, half a sprig of curry leaves, ginger and the green chili well.
2. In a deep bottomed pot/pan, add the oil and splutter  the mustard seeds. Add the remaining curry leaves and fry on medium heat.
3. Next add in the ground coconut mixture on low heat and allow to cook. Clean out the grinder with a tad bit of drinking water, enough to form a thick gravy*, taking care not to add too much water which will ruin the consistency and flavour.
4. Add the water to the ground coconut mix. Turn off the heat when the chutney warms up. Do not bubble away which would split the chutney.

Serve warm on the side of idlis or dosas.

Enjoy!! :)

Okra curry - Mum's recipe

I always, always loved Mum's Okra curry. I miss it lots now! The other day as I was stewing thinking of what to make for lunch the following day, my thoughts treaded upon mum's okra curry and I found myself yearning for it, then teared up.

I then felt a convincing voice/thought that said, "Oh you can make it from memory! After all how many times have you witnessed this make?"

So I ventured on making Mum's Okra curry (Vendakya curry).

It turned on somewhat quite close to what she made but what would I not give to taste her make one more time. Sigh! Sorry dear readers the grieving process from losing your mum esp. one who has inspired your cooking/baking, etc is tremendous that I am quite unsure if I would ever come out of this. Love you Mum and miss you loads.

You need:

• 500 gms of lady's fingers/okra, chopped
• 1 tbsp of red chili powder
• 1 tbsp of coriander powder
• Salt to taste
• 1 large onion, diced lengthwise
• 2 medium sized tomatoes, chopped finely
• 1/2" ginger, chopped finely
• 3-4 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
• 1/4 tsp mustard seeds
• Curry leaves - 1 sprig
• Drizzle of oil
•  Up to 1 cup of drinking water or 1/2 cup drinking water & first and second milk of half a medium sized  coconut.

The Make:
Preparation Time: 10 minutes | Cooking Time: 20-25 minutes | Serves 3-4 adults

1. In a non-stick pot, drizzle some oil and once warm, add in the mustard seeds. Allow to splutter.
2. Then toss in the curry leaves on medium low heat.
3. Add in the onions and saute on medium heat until the onions are translucent. Next add in the ginger and garlic and saute for a minute. Then add the spices and salt and saute well for another minute.
4. Next add in the okra and saute well.
5. Add in the tomatoes stir well until the tomatoes have softened and the stickiness of the okra disappears. This would take between 3-5 minutes.
6. Add about half a cup of water and stir well. Check to see if the okra is almost fully immersed in the gravy, else add another half cup of water or the second milk of the coconut gratings.
7. Cover and allow the okra to fully cook and flavour the gravy over the next 15 minutes. Then lower the flame and add in the first milk of coconut gratings. Allow to warm up and turn off the flame.

Serve hot with piping hot rice or your choice of roti. Bon Appetit!

Brahmin Sambar (Lentil based vegetable chowder)

I can tell you that Sambar is one of the many dishes I refused to try until I knew that I could make it just right! There are a few such dishes I took time to cook not withholding Keralite Fish curry which I have made countless times now, avial, etc!

The best Sambar I have had thus far are three, my Mom's (as always), my hubby's Mom (I refuse to call her my MIL as she is one of the sweetest people I have been blessed with. In fact when I was getting married, I was warned by my Dad not to upset her ever! Apparently everyone in the families knew of her nature and my dad knows what a little tom-boy I could have been. I can tell you for certain I have never upset her till date although I have cried on her shoulders a couple of times. She is an excellent listener too! I feel sorry for those who crib about their mom in law! Anyways I better stop about talking her. I know a zillion women who would be jealous at knowing that such a MIL exists :)! I don't want any bad eyes to fall upon her :D!) The third is of a woman I don't want to rave about as she turned out to be a thief - she was our part-time maid and there is this tradition of a new mum having mostly vegetarian food right after having a baby esp. during the first 40 days. This lady used to make me some amazing Sambar after I had Izzy. If I could I would ask her how to make it in lieu of some of the money she stole but even if I knew her number she probably would not answer as she owes us a lot of money (not considering the cash she stole from both Dad and Mom).

This was a recipe I have tried on my own considering all three recipes plus some advice from my friends who come from a Brahmin household. Remember Sambar can have as many variations of vegetables. I have suggested ones that I have recently tried. You can opt out any vegetable with which you are not comfortable.

Sambar goes well with rice, idlis (steamed cake of rice) or dosas (Fermented crepe made from rice and ground pulses). I remember in Dubai we used to conveniently get  cut vegetables called Sambar mix vegetables either from Sunrise Supermarket or Lulu. No such luck here! :-(

You need:

• 5-6 small onions, crushed with the back of your knife
• 7-8 cloves of garlic, crushed and diced (Nos of cloves are optional but I like my sambhar to be accented with garlic flavour)
• 1/2 tsp Fenugreek seeds
• Vegetables - carrots (2 nos), drumsticks(3-4 nos, each stick cut into 2" each), eggplants(4 nos small sized), ash gourd (400-500 gms), potatoes (2-3 nos), okra (300-400 gms), tomatoes (2 nos); chopped in medium bite size pieces
• 1 cup Toor dal
• 1 tbsp Chana dal (optional) [I sometimes add masoor dal or moong dal instead of chana dal]
• 1 tbsp Sambar powder (My marital mom introduced me to Brahmins' Sambar powder. In case you do not have Sambar powder where you stay, you can attempt to make it. Recipe here or here)
• 1/4 teaspoon Turmeric powder
• 2 pinches Asafeotida
• Tamarind (1 gooseberry sized ball ), soak in hot water and strained
• 1 tbsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tbsp Red Chili powder
• 1 cup gated coconut (optional) [I would add coconut very rarely - not a practice at home]
• Curry leaves, 1 sprig
• Salt to taste

For the seasoning:

• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• Curry leaves, 1 sprig
• Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp, chopped finely
• Oil

The Make
 Cooking Time: 25-30 minutes | Preparation time: 10 minutes | Serves 3-4 adults

1. In the pressure cooker, cook the washed/cleaned toor dal, add a pinch of turmeric powder and asafoetida.
2. In a large covered pot, cook the vegetables (except the okra and drumsticks) with the turmeric powder, salt and tamarind juice.
3. Meanwhile, in a small pan, add a drizzle of oil, the onions, half quantity of crushed garlic and sambar powder. Saute well taking care not to burn it. Next add in the okra and drumsticks and saute for about 2 minutes. Add this to the cooked vegetables.
4. Next in the same small pan, add another drizzle of oil. Toss in the curry leaves, chana dal, fenugreek seeds, red chili powder and coriander powder. Saute well. Then set aside to cool and grind it a paste. You can add the coconut (optional) at this stage and make it into a fine paste.
5. Once the vegetables are cooked, add the ground mix and pressure cooked dal to it.
6. Add some oil to the small pan, add the mustard seeds, curry leaves and remaining garlic. Saute for a minute on medium-low heat. Set aside.
7. Add salt to taste to the cooked vegetables and allow it to run to a boil.Once bubbles appear, add the seasoned oil from the small pan.
8. Garnish the Sambar with the coriander leaves and serve hot with rice of your choice or idlis/dosas.

*The pictures I have added are from two versions of Sambar I made. Variations are in terms of the dals used and the choice of vegetables.

Red pearl onions in grated burnt coconut (Ulli Theeyal)

Ulli Theeyal (Ulli : Onion commonly associated to red pearl onions or small onions or shallots and Theeyal (pronounced:Thiiyyal) : refers to burnt coconut or dark brown coconut caused  due to roasting).

G'Gina's Kitchenette will still feature more vegetarian recipes to help you in the kitchen throughout the Lenten season. Also my vegetarian friends/readers are happy to see more vegetarian recipes being shared from my Kitchenette.

Easter is less than a month away! Hope your Lent sacrifices are going well.

Ulli Theeyal has always been one of my favourite dishes that mum cooks! As you may have guessed, yes this is another one of my Mum's recipes <3

My kid loves this dish so I am almost certain that your kid would too. I had to reduce the quantity of chili powder to cater to her taste buds.

What you need:

• 200 gms of Red pearl onions / small onions / shallots (Kunjulli), sliced finely
• Flesh of 1/2 a medium sized coconut, grated
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/2" ginger, chopped
• 3-4 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds (optional - mom doesn't use for this recipe)
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 4 long dried red chilis or 1/2 tbsp of red chili powder
• 1/2 tbsp of coriander powder (I use the powdered version as it was made out of roasted coriander seeds - you could use about 2 tbsp of coriander seeds instead)
• 1 gooseberry-sized : Tamarind pulp (soaked in lukewarm water and strained)
• A sprig of curry leaves
• * Oil - A drizzle
• Drinking water
• Salt to taste

The Make:

Serves : 3-4 adults | Preparation time: 10 minutes | Cooking time: 15-20 minutes

1. You have two options, either dry roast only the coconut gratings on medium-low heat in a wok or wide pot taking care to even brown the coconut until dark brown (not black). The second option is to dry roast the coconut gratings with the fenugreek seeds, dried red chilis and coriander seeds in case you are opting for these two ingredients instead of the powdered version.

2. Cool the dry roasted ingredients and grind well in an electric grinder with a tad bit of water to a smooth paste. You could also use a mortar and pestle in case have one.
3. Using the same wok, heat the oil on medium high and splutter the mustard seeds.
4. Lower the heat and add in the curry leaves.
5. Next add in the sliced onions, ginger and garlic and fry until the onions are golden brown.
6. Add the turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder (if you opted for the powdered version instead of the dried red chilies and coriander seeds) and saute well for a minute on medium heat.
7.  Next add the tamarind water, mix well and allow it to boil.
8. Once the water comes to a boil, toss in the ground coconut mixture, salt and stir well. Lower the heat and allow it to simmer for about 2-3 minutes until medium consistency is reached (it should neither be to watery nor too thick).

Serve hot with piping hot rice.

Note:
*Oil : You can choose any cooking oil. For this dish, it would taste extra special if you used Coconut Oil

Muringaella Thoran (Drumstick tree (Moringa Oleifera)'s leaves with coconut gratings)

Somehow it is becoming increasingly difficult since Lent started to write my recipe creations. There is a lot of challenges I experience during Lent and quite unexpected too. I guess that is what happens in the spiritual world with a battle between Good and Evil! So it is probably but natural that a lot of these challenges and unwanted concerns arise during the season of Lent. How you deal with it is probably a test of your faith.  Also, I seem to have a lot going on at once and hence the delay in sharing this way too simple recipe.

You can prep this dish when you are free or even whilst doing another activity that does not involve using your hands. You can even get your toddler/little ones to assist. They will definitely enjoy doing so and you can have some fun time with them as well while prepping for the dish.

These  leaves came from my parents' garden. I have always loved the drumsticks' tree leaves. And as mentioned in an earlier blog post we grew up in a villa which had this huge Moringa Oleifera tree growing in our front yard garden! These leaves are rich in Vitamin B, C, Provitamin A, Vitamin K, Manganese, Calcium and yes Protein!! Remember overcooking these leaves as with some other leaves as well would kill some of its nutrients. So it is normally cooked on medium-low heat of up to a maximum of 60°C.

Prepping the leaves requires either some old newspapers or a 'Muram' which is either a bamboo or plastic tray. It looks like this. I have the plastic version and will share the photo soon. So you basically you take the drumstick branches and gently tap it on the newspaper or the Muram and the leaves fall off the branches and stems.

You need to make sure to discard the thinner stems as well as it can get in the way once you cook it and tends to taste more bitter than it should. Also its quite stringy so you really cannot chew your way through it. I have photos of version#1 for you where I experimented cooking the thinner stems. It was a pain to get them out of the cooked dish. So make sure you painstakingly discard the stems prior to cooking.

This is mum's recipe <3

You need:

• 5 cups Drumstick leaves, washed clean and separated from branches and stems*
• Half a small coconut, grated *
• 1/2 tsp of Turmeric powder 
• 1/3 cup Split Pigeon Pea (Toor dal/Tuvara dal), semi-boiled (optional but adds more texture and flavour and not to forget added protein!)
• 1/2 cup Red pearl onions/shallots/small onions
• 1 medium sized onion, finely diced
• 1 sprig curry leaves
• Salt to taste
• Water to sprinkle
• 2 Green chilies, chopped finely
• 2 tsp cumin seeds (jeera/jeerakam)
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• Cooking oil

The Make:

Preparation time: 5 to 10 minutes | Cooking time: 15-20 minutes  | Serves 2 adults

1. Set the washed and separated leaves aside on a colander to drain.

2. Next using a mortar and pestle or a grinder, crush the coconut gratings, garlic, cumin seeds and pearl onions with only a sprinkle of water not more.

3. Transfer the drained Moringa Oleifera leaves and crushed ingredients to a large bowl and add the salt, green chilies and turmeric powder.

4. Add the drained semi-cooked split pigeon peas to the bowl.

5.Splutter mustard seeds in oil a large deep bottomed pot or wok and add the curry leaves.

6. Next add the sliced onion and fry for about a minute or until translucent.

7. Lower the heat to medium-low and add the drumstick leaves with the ground mixture blend and saute slightly. Cover and cook for not more than 15 minutes or until the leaves are cooked and no residual water present. The leaves turn to a nice dark green colour as well.

Serve hot with steamed rice.

*Note:
Since we eat very less coconut in our diet, I restricted it to half of a small coconut you could add more as you require and in proportion to the quantity of drumstick leaves. So for 3 cups of drumstick leaves, I added 1/4 cup of coconut.

Bon Appetit!

Beef Roast/Beef Dry Fry - Beef Ularthiyadu/Olaythiyadu - Hubby's Special!!

Anup made one of his mom's recipes for Beef Ularthiyadu which translates to Beef roast or Beef dry fry. He made this when Uncle Soman, Aunty Anne, Anu and Rohit visited our home on a weekend a couple of months ago. It was definitely amazing as we pretty much wiped the dish clean :)

I was only the helper this time just to get the spices ground or for the dicing and the clean up after. This is all him and his mum :) My MIL makes the best beef and cutlets by the way. Of course I love my mom's but they both are aces in their own way.

What you need:

• 1 kg Beef, diced into cubes (washed and cleaned in 1/2 tbsp turmeric powder and 2 tbsp vinegar)
• 1 coconut, sliced finely into squares
• 2 onions, finely diced or 1 cup of red onions, chopped (red onions are preferred)
• 1 sprig of curry leaves (washed in vinegar and turmeric and air dried)
• Ginger-garlic (10 cloves of garlic and 2 tbsp of ginger - chopped finely)
• 2 tbsps Coriander powder
• 2 tbsp Chili powder
• 1/2 tbsp Salt
• 1 tbsp Garam Masala
• 1-2 tsps of Pepper powder
• 11/2 tbsp of cooking oil
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tbsp+ drinking water

The Make

Cooking Time: 1 hour | Preparation Time: 10 minutes | Serves 6-7

1. Drain the cleaned beef in a colander until all the water is completely drained.

2 . Meanwhile, fry the coconut in 1/2 tbsp of the oil till golden brown and add a pinch of turmeric. Set aside.

3. Add 1/2 tbsp of the oil to a wok and splutter the mustard seeds.

4. Add 1 of the diced onions and saute till golden brown. Then add the ginger and garlic and saute for a minute or until the garlic is slightly brown.

5. Make a paste with some water of some of the dry spices (11/2 tbsp of coriander powder, 11/2 tbsp of chili powder, 3/4 tbsp of Garam Masala and  1/2  tbsp of salt).

6. Add the masala paste to the wok and saute until the masala is cooked or leaves the sides of the wok.

7. Cook the raw beef with the prepared coconut, cooked masala and curry leaves in the pressure cooker for at least 45 minutes (5-6 whistles).

Tip: Make sure you have added enough water to cover half the beef content. It does not have to cover the entire beef content as this a dry fry.

8. In the wok, heat the remaining oil and saute the remaining diced onions till golden brown.

9. Next add in the remaining coriander powder, chili powder, garam masala and the pepper powder and cook the masala.

10. Lower heat to low and add in the cooked beef and fry till the residual water gets absorbed.

Serve hot with a flatbread of your choice - Paratha, chappatis or rotis, appam or rice.

Tip: You can subsitute with chicken or soya chunks. Soya chunks actually work really well with this recipe!

Bon Appetit!

King Mappas (Mild Spicy King Fish in Coconut milk gravy)

It was last Saturday evening and I had already started on my preparation for Sunday morning Appams to be served. So ideally since lunch was my King#1. This became a part of our Sunday breakfast. This goes well with thin long grain white rice(Basmati Rice) or Appams. This is a traditional Keralite dish and is also made with Chicken (Chicken Stew).

King Mappas

You need:

Small red onions/shallots

Curry leaves

• 500 gms of King Fish - clean and cut into medium size
• 6-8 shallots - chopped
• 1 onion - thinly sliced
• Garlic - 6 cloves - crushed
• Ginger - 1 inch - crushed
• Green chilis - 4 slit lengthwise in the center only leaving the head and tail intact
• Tomato - 1 chopped
• Cinnamon sticks - 1" one piece
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves - 1 sprig - 6-8 leaves
• Chili Powder (Kashmiri Chili) - 1 tbsp
• Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Coriander seeds (Powdered) - 1 tsp
• Black Jeera or Cumin - powder - 1 tsp
• Salt to taste
• Cooking oil - 1 tbsp
• Fenugreek powder - 1 tsp
• Cilantro leaves - 1 sprig chopped
• Thin coconut milk - 1.5 cups
• Thick coconut milk - 1/2 cup 

The act:

Cooking time: 25 minutes, Preparation time: 15 mins

Spices sauteed with thin coconut milk

1. In a mortar and pestle, crush the ginger and garlic with the shallots and cinnamon stick. Grind the tomatoes with the spices(chili powder, turmeric powder, fenugreek powder, coriander seeds powder, cumin powder and salt to taste).

2. In a clay pot, splutter the mustard seeds and curry leaves.

3. Saute the onions, cinnamon, ginger and garlic and green chilies till translucent.

4.  Add the ground spices and allow to cook (about 5 mins). Add the thin milk and mix well.

Tip:Do not worry if your gravy looks too thin at this stage.

5. Run to a boil and then add the cleaned fish pieces and mix well.

6. Cover and allow to cook (20 minutes). Uncover and check if cooked. Also check on your salt seasoning.

7. Then add the first (thick) milk and allow to heat(not boil) for 5 minutes.

8. Turn off the heat and dress with cilantro leaves.


Your delicious King#3 is ready to be served with Appams or rice. Bon Appetit!

King Mappas

King Mappas served with Appams