Nadan Pazha Manga Curry / Kerala Ripe Mango Curry

You either 'love' Nadan Pazha Manga Curry or 'hate' it. It's all about whether you like  ripe mangoes, made into a curry, tangy, hot and sweet with the flavour of coconut and jaggery blended in.
I should admit, everyone except my dad, back home, in Kerala, love this side dish. Amma makes it   sweeter with lesser amount of coconut, but I thought of blogging the recipe, the Kerala way :). Suma, our maid, assisted me throughout and I enjoyed the luxury of watching her making it, clicking pictures and making a note of what she had been explaining :)

Ammayi, my husband's grandma, used to make Mambazha Kuzhambu, the Tamil counterpart, which I clearly remember as a much 'easy to make' dish with a  flavourful concoction of sliced, half ripened mangoes straight from our side yard, jaggery and sambhar powder with no compromise on taste.

Back to ours, I made up my mind to make the curry, when Amma got hold of a few organic mangoes, the original naadan pazha manga. Most of them were consumed as mangoes as such and I had to battle hard to save some here for the curry :)

Nadan Pazha Manga Curry / Kerala Ripe Mango Curry 
Serves 6
Prep time- 20 mins
Cooking time - 15 mins
Total time needed - 30 mins


Ingredients:

8 small sized ripe Mangoes
1 tsp red chilly powder
1/2 tsp table salt
 2 whole green chillies, each slit until 3/4th, lengthwise
A handful or 1/4 cup scant crushed jaggery or nadan sarkara 

To grind to a paste:

1/2 cup grated coconut
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp cumin seeds / jeerakam
2 shallots / pearl onions / ulli
2 small cloves or 1 medium clove garlic

To season:

1.5 - 2 tbsps  coconut oil
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds / uluva
2 tbsps of sliced pearl onions / ulli 
A sprig of curry leaves


 Method:




Wash the mangoes well and drain in a colander. These mangoes are small sized as you see.




Peel the skin of each. You can do this easily only if they are well ripened.
Pour 1 cup of water in a sauce pan and, arrange the mangoes.  Add 1 tsp chilly powder, half a tsp salt and the green chillies and cook for 6-8 minutes.




Add along a handful of crushed molasses while simmering . You need to melt the lumps completely. (You may close the pan and simmer in lowest flame and give a gently stir now and then to assure the they are melted) while you do the grinding part, that follows...




Grind grated coconut along with turmeric, shallots, garlic adding 1/4 cup water to a paste, not too smooth, but a bit coarse.




If the jaggery has melted well, it is better to remove the pan from the stove as I did. Combine the paste by a gentle stir. Add water only if necessary. Let the curry be not too runny. Simmer for 3 minutes , to ward off  the raw smell of the paste. Check salt and add accordingly.




In the mean while, you can do the seasoning part.
Heat 1.5 - 2 tbsps of oil in a kadai, Crackle the mustard seeds, brown the fenugreek and add along the sliced onions and curry leaves. Caramelise the onions.




  Add to the curry and combine gently. Keep the curry closed for alteast an hour before serving, for the spices and sweetness to meld.

Serve with steamed rice.

 These country mangoes are fibrous as you see  above in this picture. That's the uniqueness of this delicacy. as well :)

We were four of us and had the curry, the following day too as the spices would seep in better.
So, feel free to halve the recipe :)

Read More »

Tweet

Pori Urundai / Sweetened Puffed Rice Balls) for Karthikai

Deepavali just got over and I can't believe the next festival is almost here!  Thiru Karthikai !
Deepavali and Karthikai have way different stories of origin according to Hindu Mythology but both the festivals are similar in two main aspects. Festivals of  lamps and light. Festivals of fresh sweets.

Read More »

Tweet

Eggless Wheat Cake (with Jaggery)

She looked sweet!
When I happened to see her first on the 'food fest' grounds a couple of months back, this girl was busy presenting her goodies on the plate. I watched her with a smile from some distance which she couldn't have possibly realised! Herself and me were among the 50 competitors who contested for the cooking contest arranged by the 'food fest' team.The ingredient for the day was 'wheat flour' (with which we were supposed to make something sweet!) Among the crowd of competitors she invariably stood out which would have probably caught my eyes!

I saw her working in a hurried way as she had to work with the toppings making it look perfect before we were asked to place the trays on the table for judgement. Since I was through with my wheat flour almond cookies, I walked up and offered help to this sweet girl who was already with her finishing touches.
I told her I would mind her handbags and things while she presents her plate on the table and she smiled and thanked me while hurrying off.

While we were waiting for the judge to arrive, we had a chat. She introduced herself as Namrata and talked about her native place. We talked as if we knew for ages.
After the judgement got over we exchanged what we made. She happily shared her wheat flour cake and chocolate bombs while I shared my cookies.

The cake as well as the chocolate bombs were simply irresistible!
I absolutely loved the cake which was moist and light with a different taste and much "Indianish".She said it was eggless and had jaggery instead of sugar!
I had always thought of a cake sweetened with jaggery and here I am with a perfect recipe!
I got excited and couldn't wait to grab the recipe from her!

Eggless Wheat Cake

Ingredients:

Wheat flour - 200gms
Jaggery - 1 cup (grated and loosely filled)
Milk - 1 cup (plus a tablespoon if you feel the batter too thick before transferring to the pan)
Oil - 1/2 cup ( sunflower or rice bran oil)
Soda - 1/2 teaspoon
Baking powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Vanilla - 1/2 tsp

Method:

Sieve flour, soda and  baking powder twice or thrice to combine or whisk in a bowl. Add jaggery and combine gently. Now it's the turn for the milk and the vanilla and lastly the oil. Use a spatula and combine gently.
Bake in a preheated oven for 25-30 minutes with temperature set to 180 deg C or until done while the skewer inserted comes out clean.

-->Namrata had used chocolate syrup and praline for topping the cake which went very well. If you wish to do the same, decrease the amount of jaggery to 3/4 cup.

-->Substitute milk with soy milk for a vegan version.


The result was announced later at night and for our pleasantest surprises we bagged the second and third prizes for the cookies and the choc bombs! :) :)

Read More »

Tweet

Vella vadai, the sweet Indian donuts!

"Athai, how much uzhundu (urad dal) shall I add to make vella vadai?"             (Athai = ma in law)

"Hmm may be kal padi"                                                 (Kal padi - the 250 ml traditional measuring cup)

"And vellam?"                                                                                                             (vellam = jaggery)

"ahmm....you have to add it along until you can shape them into vadais.."

*^%#**$^*


Ma in law makes 'Vella vadai' really well. Ask her the recipe, she stammers!

The most difficult source to extract a recipe from, is thus her! ;) Hope she doesn't read this! ;)

I am not at all a fan of these sweet vadais but had wanted to try this and blog for quite some time. These cuties are traditional and probably disappearing from our tea tables ! I had googled to find the recipe a while ago but was not happy with the results.

Just 2 major ingredients and all you have to be careful is with the measurements and the consistency, meaning more chances of a mess up!

So, how did I make them, finally?

 Ma was off to the nearby town for a couple of days and I was asked to take care  of ammayi and the house..
On another note, I dint utter a word about her Godhumai jira  put up in the site but I knew Ammayi simply loves these vadais.

Our maid Azhakamma, fondly addressed as Aggu, who serves my in-laws for the past 2 decades, came to my support..:). But she was again confused with the measurements but we decided to do it together and amaze Athai ( for me, a chance for a loud evil laugh, contented to have taken that sweet revenge) when she got back home ;)

Aggu asked me to soak a cup of urad dal, crush a ball of jaggery and weigh, while she grinds in the Aattu kal or the grinding stone. She'll keep on adding as ma in law mentioned, and I should weigh the remaining jaggery finally after the grinding. That way, we could measure the right amount of jaggery that went in.
Love you Aggu! :)

Here's how we made, that yielded 20 medium sized vadais.

 Vella Vadai / Urad Dal Jaggery Dumplings


Ingredients:

Whole urad dal / Uruttu uzhunthu- 1 cup or 150 gms
Jaggery/Vellam- 120gms or 3/4 cup after ground coarsely and measured
Pinch of salt
Oil- to deep fry


Method:



Wash and soak urad dal for not more than 1/2 an hour.




Drain water completely. Spread on a dry towel and wipe gently to remove water sticking to it.




The Aattu kal (grinding stone) was washed and wiped with a towel to remove moisture.
The urad dal and the jaggery was ground together without adding even a drop of water!




Half way through..




Salt was added and the stone was rolled for a few more times for the final sticky sweet dough.




which was transferred to a flat bowl.




Now, shape them one by one into vadais with fingers dipped in water.




And deep fry in hot oil.




The oil should not be smoking hot. Keep the flame to minimum and




 fry 1 or 2 at a time. The vadais cook very fast and attain the brown colour. So take care not to over cook / brown them.

They look almost like medhu vadai or the spicy urad dal vadais but have a deeper brown hue due to the added jaggery, if you can't make out the real colour here.

A peep into the soft insides.

Obviously Aggu did the grinding part. She never let me try in a mixie and I really have no idea how these vadias would turn out if done so. Would appreciate if anyone would try the grinding part in a mixie and let me know about the outcome.

Preparing this post demanded 2 whole days as I had to do the editing, uploading and typing whenever I could grab some time in the system at my in law's place, amidst the commitments.

Clicking the publish button while Athai is savouring my vadais....of course me with those devilish grins ;)
(if you don't understand the reason of these wicked smiles, you have missed the intro, please scroll up and read again)

:)

Read More »

Tweet

Godhumai Appam with Jaggery-The soft n sweet Meteorites!

I haven’t come across Unniappams or Neyyappams in T.N and eventually realized them as the 'copyrighted products' of God’s own country! :).

Having grown up with them, Unniappams being an all time favourite, I get hit with that natural craving now and then.V, kids and my inlaws are never fans of sweets, and I seldom make the sweet appams at home.

Godhumai Vella (jaggery) Appam is a simple recipe from V’s Ammayi(granma) - a quick to make appam that’s again, cousins of my favourites above ;)..and yeah!! satisfies the craving really well.
Ammayi ; the best cook at home, not much mobile without support at present, unfortunately doesn’t follow exact measurements when it comes to cooking and just gave a short narration of how to go with it.I tried this when I was with her last month.

Here’s her version- (for my patient readers who can read and follow Tamil typed in English ;))

Oru kinniyile ¼ padi thalai thatti godhumai mavu edu.Oru ‘ara urundai’ vellam nalla thatti athula podu.Romba koncham arisi mavu.Thengai oru kaippidi, soda uppu, uppu oru sittikai ( rombavum pottudathe, vellathula uppu irukkum), vasanaikku yela thool.Thanni vittu ellam nalla onna serthu pesanchukko.Idly mavu mathiri irukkanum. Aduppula ney allathu ennai oothi kayavidu.Yendal karandiyile onnu onna mondu oothu.Venthathum thiruppu.Ennai koncham izhukkathan seyyum,atheypathi romba kavala padathe.Ennaikko oru nal seyrom, avvalavu than.


I couldn’t wait any longer, rushed to the kitchen to work with-

• Wheat flour-one cup, heaped
• Crushed Jaggery- 1/2-3/4 cup
• Raw Rice flour-a tbsp
• Freshly grated coconut-a tbsp
• Cardamom powder-to flavour
• Salt and cooking soda- one pinch, each
• Water- just enough to combine the ingredients to form a batter (that resembles Idly batter)
• Ghee/oil- to fry

If you feel the presence of sand particles in jaggery, it's always safe to melt the lumps using minimum water.Cool to room temperature and mix in to prepare the batter.
The batter need not stand to ferment.




Heat ghee or oil in a pan. Using a flat spoon, pour in the batter carefully, moving aside a little towards one side to form the circular shape.
Take care not to move the ladle in a circular way.The shape gets distorted.(Sorry, the pan is not that great looking :)..but I do admire him for being a patient soul to all my 'tortures' for the past 15 years! ;))



Turn over carefully when cooked. Fry one by one.


The above measurement yielded around 8-10 medium sized appams that tasted Heaven!..

Well, Ammayi who is highly diabetic :), having her share of two from me, was with her beaming proud smiles when I went ahead to pick up my camera.

"Seri seri modhalla sooda sappidu mmaa…appram eduthukkalam, photo ellam…enna?" she voiced at me, affectionately, munching the soft appams, relishing every bit, still lying on her bed.

Read More »

Tweet

Ariyunda - The simple sweetened rice balls from Kerala

Ariyunda, the simple snack of God’s own country is one among my favourites. Still being in my home town,I could easily get hold of Kuthari (the red rice) and the sarkara(jaggery).This dark coloured jaggery (I wonder why these exact ones are unavailable in other states of the country!!) gives the unique flavour and colour when blended with the pretty fibre packed Kuthari ,the one extremely preferred to make this delicacy.

Traditionally the roasted rice was hand pounded in Ural and its wooden pestle, the Ulakka, those days , imparted the right fresh flavour and consistency to the done snack.As the Mixer is being replaced as any other machines,the roasted rice gets in there and makes the work much easier, but for sure not that enriched taste as the former…

Get ready with:

Rice-Kuthari preferred- a cup

Jaggery-200 gms-broken to lumps

Water-1/4 cup(to melt jaggery)

Freshly grated coconut- a cup

Cardamom-3-4-powdered

How to..

1. Wash Kuthari well.Remove stones if any. Heat a heavy bottomed kadai .Drain the rice and directly transfer to the kadai.

2. Dry roast the wet rice stirring all the time so that the grains are browned in a uniform way.This takes 10-12 minutes or continue till you hear mild cracking sound of the rice getting roasted.Pop a few grains into your mouth and they crack well between your teeth or will be brittle.This is how we can know the right stage of the roasted rice.

3. Cool and powder in a mixer.Neither too coarse nor too powdery.Sift the powder using the sieve for fine rava or make sure the mesh is in the right size just to allow granules down like that of fine rava.Mix in the powdered cardamom.

4. Melt the jaggery lumps in 1/4 cup of water. Strain to remove impurities, return to the stove and bring to a boil.Add coconut at this stage and keeping the flame low, simmer the mixture until the syrup gets sticky; takes 5 minutes more or less.Take care not to boil this syrup mix is boiled too much as the final Ariyunda tends to be hard.Turn off flame once the right consistency is reached.

5. Stir in the rice powder.Mix well taking care that no lumps are formed.Take a fistful and shape into balls. This measurement would yield upto 15 balls.Don’t worry if the they are soft as they turn harder the next day.Consume while fresh or else refrigerate, even if they have a shelf life for a week.

6.This is referred to as 'Poor man's sweet' and hence the traditional Ariyunda requires no ghee or cashews.If you love the combination ,feel free to add both and enjoy the richer delicacy :)

For my sister who hosts Monthly Mingle-‘Ravishing Rice’, an event started by Meeta.

Read More »

Tweet