Thai Coconut Rice

This is by far the simplest and most flavoursome rice preparation ever. I made this preparation, this afternoon and served it with Thai Chicken in Kumquat Sauce.

Thai Coconut Rice with Thai Chicken in Kumquat Sauce

I had made some Fish Stew earlier and served it with the Thai Coconut Rice as well. It goes well with the Stew as well. I will share the Fish Stew recipe sometime this week.

Thai Coconut Rice with Fish Stew

To make this simple rice,

You need:

• 400 gms of Basmati Rice or Jasmine Rice
• 3 cups of  coconut milk (you can also use the reduced fat version in a can)
• 3 cups of boiling water
• 1 tsp salt

The Make

Serves 3-4 | Preparation Time: 10 minutes (if fresh Coconut milk is used) | Cooking Time: 10 minutes

1. In a deep bottomed pan, place the rice, water, coconut milk, salt and bring to a boil over medium heat.

2. Then reduce the heat to low and cover and cook for 10 minutes or until the liquid is reduced or absorbed.

3. Fluff with a fork and remove from heat.

Thai Coconut Rice

Serve with Thai Chicken in Kumquat Sauce. This rice also goes well with Indian curries as well.

Thai Coconut Rice with Thai Chicken in Kumquat Sauce

Thai Chicken in Chinese Orange(Kumquat or Limo Manies) sauce

I decided to go with something Thai for Easter Sunday. Well why? My Aunt Anne has these wonderful Chinese Oranges in her garden, that I just had to convince her to give me a few. She loves seeing these beauties on her tree so I am immensely thankful to her for letting me take a few of them to experiment in this new recipe creation of mine. Her friends have made marmalade out of these beauties as well.

These oranges go well with South East Asian recipes and with chicken or fish. So this recipe creation was truly just a trial but has turned out fabulously delicious (I just love when that happens...its my Eureka moment! :-D ). I plan to make some Thai Rice tomorrow to go with the Thai Chicken. I have not decided yet but will share the recipe after I try it out.

Thai Chicken in Kumquat sauce

To make this delicious recipe,

You need:

Chinese Oranges or Kumquats and Thai Chilis

• 1 kg chicken boneless(although you could use boned chicken as well), diced in medium sized pieces
• For the orange sauce:
• 3-4 kumquats /Chinese oranges, zest and juice 
• 1" ginger
• 4-6 cloves of garlic
• 4-5 Thai Chilis (Bird's eye Chilis / Kandari), diced
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp natural molasses
• 2 tbsp of tamarind paste
• 1 tbsp of fish sauce
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 cup of Coconut milk
• 1/2 tbsp of pepper
• 2 large Thai shallots / Purple onions
• 1 tbsp Coconut oil

Thai Chicken in Limo Manies sauce

The Make
Serves 5 | Preparation Time: 5 minutes | Cooking Time: 30 minutes

1. Julienne the ginger, garlic and onions and set each aside.

2. Heat the oil in a wok or a deep bottomed non-stick skillet and add the shallots, chilis, ginger and garlic and saute well until the onions turn translucent.

Saute the shallots, thai chilis, ginger, and garlic

3. Mix the brown sugar, molasses, tamarind paste and fish sauce in a small bowl and add it to the wok. Saute well for about 3-4 minutes.

Added in the sauces

4. Next toss in the chicken, salt and pepper and mix well.


5. Cover and cook for about 25-30 minutes. Uncover and add the coconut milk and bring to a boil.

Added in the coconut milk

6. Turn off the heat and serve hot with Thai Fried rice or Thai Coconut Rice

Thai Chicken in Orange Sauce

Milk Hoppers or PaalAppam

I have an earlier post on KallAppam (Toddy Pancakes). This recipe is not too far from it other than the fermenting agent. PaalAppam batter can also be used to make a sweet dish called 'Vattayappam' (Steamed Rice and Coconut Cake), a Keralite popular make with left over batter from the Milk Hoppers. I will try and post this recipe soon. You can make Vattayappam later in the day  as a Tea Time snack or the next day after making the Milk Hoppers.

To make these Milk Hoppers,

You need:

• 4 cups of raw rice or Basmati rice (long-grained rice)
• 1/2 cup of fresh grated coconut
• 5-6 cups of filtered water
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp yeast
• 2 cups of cooked rice
• 2 tbsp of cooking oil

The Make
Makes 15-20 hoppers | Preparation Time: 8-10 hrs (soaking and fermenting time) | Cooking Time: 20 minutes

1.  Soak the rice for 4-6 hours in the water.

2. After the waiting period, in batches, grind the soaked rice with some of the water in which the rice was soaked and the portions of the cooked rice and grated coconut.

3. Next add the yeast to some lukewarm water and sugar and dissolve. Allow to stand for 2 minutes and add it to the batter. Give the batter a good mix and cover and allow to rest. Grease the pan you plan to use the next morning and cover.

I did the grinding of my batter this evening and will allow it to ferment overnight. You can chose to make it in a few hours (3 hrs) of grinding.

4. After the resting period, add the salt to the batter and mix well and get ready to make those hoppers.

5. Wipe the pan with a paper kitchen towel. Heat the non-stick pan or an Appam Chatti (Hopper Pan with lid) on high and once it reaches the desired heat, lower the heat and lightly grease the pan with a kitchen paper towel dipped in oil (hold the oil in a small bowl for easy use and keep the towel dipped in). Use the same paper towel to wipe the pan between making hoppers.

6. Take a rounded ladle with about 1/2 cup quantity of batter and pour in the center of the pan and in a clockwise direction spread the batter to form a nice round circle or flower ring circle.

7. Cover and cook for about 2 minutes on medium-low heat. Uncover and place the hopper on a serving plate or in a casserole dish. You can also choose to serve as you make if your guests/family enjoy the crispy wings of the hoppers. You can also break an egg in the center of the poured out appam batter which can be had as is without any gravy/accompaniment.

8. Repeat till the batter is used up or as required. For the leftover batter, you could refrigerate and reuse even the next day to make more Milk Hoppers or make a sweet dish 'Vattayappam' (Steamed Rice and Coconut Cake).

Serve hot with Eggs in Coconut Milk or Chicken Stew or Vegetable Stew! Enjoy!

Easter Recipes - Eggs in Coconut Milk Gravy (Motta Thengapaal Curry) with Milk Hoppers(PaalAppam)

PaalAppam or Milk Hoppers are traditionally the go to breakfast meal for Easter Sunday morning and it is normally served with Eggs in Coconut milk. After 40 days of Lenten sacrifice, this is the first non-vegetarian or vegan meal we would consume.

My batter for my Milk Hoppers is being fermented even as I write this so I will share the Milk Hoppers recipe but the pictures would have to wait till tomorrow.

So for those last minute Easter cooks, the recipes I have for this Easter Sunday are easy to make and mostly under 30 minutes. In fact I made both the breakfast gravy and the afternoon chicken in less than 30 minutes each while juggling a curious and ever so enthusiastic toddler.

Eggs in Coconut Milk Gravy

To make the Eggs in Coconut Milk Gravy,

You need:

• 4 eggs (I used farm chicken eggs)
• 2 large onions, finely diced lengthwise
• 1 tbsp Kashmiri Chili powder (or Paprika powder)
• 1/2 tbsp Garam Masala
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp Coriander powder
• 4 cloves of garlic, finely diced and crushed
• 1/2" ginger, finely diced and crushed
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 2 green chilies, slit lengthwise
• 1 sprig of curry leaves
• 1 cup of Coconut milk
• Salt to taste
• 1 tbsp cooking oil

The Make:
Serves 4 | Preparation Time: 5 minutes | Cooking Time: 20 minutes

1. Boil the eggs in water (enough to cover the eggs) for 10 minutes and then place then in some ice water.

2. Meanwhile, heat the oil a non-stick skillet, splutter the mustard seeds and then add in the curry leaves for less than a minute on medium-low heat.

3. Add the green chilies and ginger and fry till lightly brown.

4. Next toss in the onions and fry till lightly brown and add in the garlic.

5. Add the dry spices, salt; stir and cook till the spices leave the sides of the skillet. Crack the egg shells and cut each egg in half.

6. Add in the coconut milk. Add in the egg halves.

7. Bring to a boil and serve with Milk Hoppers.

Eggs in Coconut Milk

Happy Easter dear readers, family, friends and loved ones!

Green gram and Raw Banana (Plantain) with Coconut/ Cherrupayaar Pachayethakaya Thoran

As I mentioned in my last post, for Good Friday, we normally have gruel (rice soup), Green Gram with Raw Plantain and Coconut, Diced Mango Pickle and Pappadum/Pappad. Tomorrow is Good Friday and I made this recipe after a quick call to Mum.

Green gram with Raw Banana and Coconut served with Rice, Pappad and Mango Pickle

Green gram is rich in Vitamin C and has several health benefits. High fiber content and low in calories, green gram is a good choice for adults and kids alike. Raw Banana/Plantain also has several health benefits. It is rich in Vitamin C, low in saturated fats, low cholestrol and also rich in Potassium and Manganese.

To make this recipe,

Small red onions (Cheriya ulli)

You need:

• 2 large raw bananas (plantains), skinned and diced
• 4-6 small red onions (Cheriya ulli), diced
• 2 green chilies (slit) / (You can also use dried red chilis)
• 4-6 cloves of garlic, diced
• 1" ginger, diced
• 4 cups of green gram (Cherupayyar)
• 1/2 of a small coconut, grated
• Salt to taste
• Crushed peppercorns, to taste
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 2 cups filtered water
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 sprig of curry leaves

The Make:
Serves 4-6 adults | Preparation Time: 5-10 minutes | Cooking Time: 15-20 minutes

1. Cover and cook the green gram with water for 10 minutes and add the diced bananas and cook for another 5 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, heat a skillet and lightly brown some coconut and set aside.

2. Add 1 tbsp oil to the same skillet and lightly fry the onions, ginger and garlic.

3. Crush the fried ingredients with salt and pepper and set aside.

4. In the skillet, heat the remaining oil and splutter the mustard seeds. Lower the heat and toss in the curry leaves and lightly fry.

Stir in the Green gram with Raw Banana and Coconut

5. Next add in the cooked green gram with bananas and the fried coconut mix. Saute for about a minute and turn off the heat.

Green Gram with Raw Banana and Coconut

6. Serve hot with rice/gruel or rotis/flat bread of your choice.

Cheruppayar and PachaYethakaya served!

Toddlers would also not fuss over this dish when mixed with rice. Tried and tested with my toddler :)

Diced Mango Pickle (Kadu Manga Pickle) - Mummy's Recipe

With Good Friday soon approaching, I would like to share with you what would be our main meals throughout the day. We normally have gruel (Rice soup), a veg mix of green gram and green banana, mango pickle and Pappad/Pappadum (Fried cracker).

Diced Mango Pickle

There are several ways to make this accompaniment. However I would like to share the delicious make that my Mum creates.

You need:

Kanthari or Bird's Eye Chilis

• 5-6 medium sized raw, green mangoes, diced in small pieces
• 6-8 cloves of garlic, diced
• 1" ginger, diced and crushed
• 1 sprig curry leaves
• 2-3 tbsp of red chili powder
• 2-3 small chilis / Bird's eye Chili (kanthari) - * optional
• 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder
• 1 tsp of Fenugreek(methi/uluva) seeds powder
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• Salt to taste
• 3 tbsp or more of Sesame oil (Ellaenna) - ** some people also use coconut oil
• 1-2 cups of filtered drinking water/boiled, cooled water

The Make:
Makes 1 large jar or 800-900gms | Preparation Time: 20 minutes | Cooking Time: 10-15 minutes

1. Heat the oil in a large wok and splutter the mustard seeds. Next add the curry leaves and allow to stand for less than a minute (do not brown).
2. Add the garlic, ginger and other dry ingredients except the mangoes and simmer for 3-4 minutes. You will find that the spices leave the oil and is cooked.

Simmering the spices

3. Turn off the heat and add the mango pieces and stir. After it becomes lukewarm, add the boiled, cooled water. Taste to see if the seasoning is sufficient, else add more salt.

Adding the mango pieces to the spices

4. Cover and set aside for 4-6 hours or till evening if prepared in the morning.

Diced Mango Pickle

5. Bottle the pickle in a pickle jar or bottle jar and set aside for 2-3 days. Check if there is enough oil else top with oil as pickle needs to have some extra oil for preservation.

Jarred up!

6. You can use after 3 days and refrigerate after Day 3.

Serve as an accompaniment with gruel, rice, roti, other flatbreads.

Mummy's Mango Pickle recipe

* Note: Bird's eye Chili or Kanthari is the spiciest Chilis in Kerala, India and is known to reduce cholestrol levels if used with care. I got some from my Aunt Anne's home so decided to toss it into the mix.

Crispy Crunchy Bittergourd

Bitter gourd is not well received by my hubbykins unless it is dried and fried. This one was well-received though:)

Crispy Crunchy Bitter gourd

You need:

• 4-5 medium sized bitter gourd, cleaned and diced finely
• 4 tbsp of toasted sesame seeds
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 cup of honey or crushed jaggery
• 1-2 small chili peppers/cayenne pepper, diced or dry red chili flakes (optional for an extra kick)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 large onion, finely diced
• 2 tbsp olive oil

The Make:

Serves 4 adults | Cooking Time: 20 minutes| Preparation Time: 5-10 minutes

1. Heat the oil in a skillet and add the onion. Saute till translucent for about 2 minutes on medium heat.

Stir fry the bitter gourd and condiments 

2. Add the bitter gourd and stir fry for about 5 minutes.

Closeup of the bittergourd with other ingredients

3. Next add the sesame seeds, smoked paprika, chili peppers and salt. Cover and cook about 5 minutes.

Working the bittergourd and condiments

4. Lastly add the honey or jaggery and saute well. Cover and cook for another 5 minutes.

5. Uncover and allow to drain off any residual water content.
6. Serve your Crispy, Crunchy Bittergourd with spiced fried or plain rice.

Crispy Crunchy Bittergourd, served with Rice

Aloo Jeera (Potatoes with Cumin seeds)

Aloo Jeera, my very first attempt at this dish was well received by my husband and little one. I really enjoyed this simple dish as well. It is very comforting to have this one with Roti (Flatbread), Puris(Puffed Fried  Flatbread) or even Rice.

Aloo Jeera (Potatoes with Cumin seeds)

This is a kid-friendly recipe as it is not spicy but flavoursome.

You need:

• 2 large potatoes, skinned and diced in cubes
• 2 tsp of cumin seeds (or Jeera)
• 1 tbsp of coriander powder
• 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
• 2 tbsp of cooking oil
• Salt to taste
• 1 sprig coriander leaves, diced finely
• 2-4 tbsp of filtered water (*optional)

The make
Serves 2 adults | Preparation time: 5 minutes | Cooking Time: 20 minutes

1. Heat the oil on medium-high in a non-stick skillet and add the cumin seeds.

2. Once the cumin begins to splutter, lower the heat to medium-low and add the remaining ingredients except the coriander leaves and saute well.

3. If required, add some water if it gets to dry or sticks to the pan. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.

4. Uncover and check if the potatoes are cooked or if it requires any water and cook if required for another 5-10 minutes.

I did not add any water as I used a non-stick pan.

5. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with Roti (Indian flatbread), Puris (Puffed, fried Indian flatbread) or Rice.

Potatoes with Cumin seeds

Veggies in Mango Gravy Stew

As mentioned in my earlier post, raw mangoes have started its appearance in the local market. Although I bought these raw mangoes for pickle making, I decided to try making a dish with mango gravy and it turned out well.

You can serve this dish with rice or flat breads such as roti or dosas. I served these with Rice flour dosas.

Veggies in Mango Gravy Stew

You need:

• 200 gms beans,  chopped
• 2 large ridgegourd, peeled and diced
• 100 gms split pigeon peas (toor dal), cooked
• 1 small green, raw mango or 1/2 of a medium sized green, raw mango, diced
• 2 tbsp of cooking oil
• Salt to taste
• 1 tbsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp Kashmiri chili powder / paprika powder
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 sprig curry leaves
• 3-4 cloves of garlic, diced and crushed
• 1" ginger, diced and crushed
• 2 cups of filtered water

The make:
Serves 4-6 adults | Preparation Time: 10 minutes | Cooking Time: 30 minutes

1. Heat the oil in a wok on high and splutter mustard seeds.

2. Add the curry leaves and onions on medium heat.

3. Once the onions turn translucent, add the garlic and ginger and toss for about a minute.

4. Next add the coriander powder, turmeric powder and chili powder and fry until the spices leave the sides of the pan.

5. Add the beans and cover and cook. Next add the mango, ridgegourd and cooked pigeon peas and saute for about 2-3 minutes.

Bringing the gravy to a boil

6. Add salt and water as required for the gravy and bring to boil.

7. Do a seasoning taste and serve hot with rice, flatbread such as roti, chapatti or dosa. I served this with Rice flour Dosas.

Veggies in Mango Gravy served with Rice flour dosas on a cloudy, sunny morning

Ridgegourd skin Chutney (Beerakaya Thokkala)

I had watched Masterchef Australia's episode on making use of leftovers to whip up several meals. After being introduced to Ridgegourd, I always wondered how much of waste the skinning away of Ridgegourd was and how little was left of the vegetable. I asked my maid whether they make use of the Ridgegourd skin for anything. I was surprised to know that there was an Andhrite recipe making use of the skin of Ridgegourd. It makes for an excellent accompaniment to flatbread of any kind or rice.

Ridgegourd skin Chutney (Beerakaya Thokkala)

I used the Beerakaya Thokkala with Rice flour Dosas.

You need:

• Skin of 4-6 ridgegourd. cleaned and finely diced 
• 4 green chilies
• 1/2 tsp of mustard seeds
• 1 tbsp urad dal
• 2 tbsp chana dal (I avoided this)
• 2 tbsp of sesame seeds (Til)
• 1 lemon sized tamarind juice(add the tamarind to hot water and squeeze and take out the seeds/fiber)
• 1 sprig of curry leaves
• 1 tsp cumin seeds (Jeera)
• 5-6 garlic flakes
• 1-2 dry red chilies
• 1 tbsp of jaggery
• 1 tsp salt or to taste
• 2 tbsp of cooking oil

The make:
Makes about 1 cup of chutney | Preparation Time: 10 minutes | Cooking time: 15 minutes

1. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a skillet on high.

2. Add the cumin seeds, urad dal, chana dal (optional), sesame seeds and fry for about a minute on medium-high and then add the green chilies until the dal turn light brown. Set aside.

Frying the dal, cumin seeds and sesame seeds

3. In the same skillet, add the ridgegourd skins and salt on medium-high. Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes or until the skins are cooked.

Cooking the ridgegourd skins

4. Coarsely grind all the fried  ingredients in an electric grinder and set aside.

5. Next add the ridgegourd skins, jaggery, garlic, salt and tamarind juice to the grinder. Add the ground mix to the fried, ground ingredients.

6. Heat the remaining oil in a pan and splutter the mustard seeds.

7. Next add the curry leaves and red chilis and lightly brown.

8. Next add the ground mix to the pan and mix well. Do a seasoning taste and add more salt if required.

Mixed in ground mix and ridgegourd skins

Serve with flatbreads like roti, chapatti, rice flour dosas or regular dosa. I even tried it with rice and it goes well.

Ridgegourd skin chutney served with Rice flour Dosas