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 :)

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Madakku san ~ The Coconut filled Pancakes of Kerala!

These delectable coconut crepes evoke fond memories of my teen years back in my home town, Kottayam! Madakku san was a regular 'after the school tea time snack', for children back home at 4 or 5 in the evening in Christian households. Our neighbour Kunjumol aunty used to make the best madakku san ever, that the taste still lingers in my taste buds! I believe the delicacy hasn't yet disappeared from the tables of Syrian Christian homes, while I wish to recreate the dish after decades, here in my space.

Central Kerala is one of the places in South India, highly inflluenzed by the  English culture during the foreign rule which has thrown its impact over the cuisine. A major part of the Central Kerala Christian menu is at least a fusion of the Anglo-Malayalee food preferences.
Madakku san dish is closely related to the Westernised pancakes, predominantly the batter part combined with the addition of fresh coconut, making it the fusion combo :). It  has the name, Mutta Kuzhalappam , meaning rolled egg pan cakes, as well!

Down to the recipe....

Madakku san
 Serves a family of 4
 Prep time- 5 minutes
 Cooking and assembly- 25 minutes

Get ready with:

 1 1/2 cups Maida or All purpose flour
 1 egg
 2 tbsps sugar
 3 fat pinches of table salt
 *1/2 cup milk
 *1 - 1 1/2cups Water




 For the filling:

 2 cups loosely filled freshly grated coconut
 Half of 1/4 tsp cardamom powder
 4 tsps sugar



Method:




Beat the egg with a whisk in a bowl. Add flour, milk, water, salt and sugar to it and blend well to make it a thin runny batter. for 1.5 cups flour, you may need around 2 cups of liquid (milk and water combined). Probably you can add the milk first and carry on with a careful addition of water until to make the batter of the right consistency.




Heat a griddle or a tawa. Take a ladleful of batter and pour in a circular motion to complete the circle. Put the fire low.Flip the pan cake carefully over and cook the other side. Only if the batter is in the right consistency you will see the holes on one side and brown dots on the other side ( as in the picture below)  after cooking the pan cakes. make them one by one. Arrange them on a flat plate.




Prepare the filling. Combine the coconut, cardamom and sugar in a bowl. Spoon the filling on each of the crepes, in the centre from one end to the other as in the picture.




Bring one side over to cover one half and close the other half.  No rules about this part and you may roll it like your yoga mat too :). Just see that the filling is secured.

Drizzle maple syrup or honey and serve warm with tea of coffee.

Aparna, this post is for you!

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Spicy and Flavourful 3 minute Coconut Garlic Powder!

I am confused how to name it! Thenga podi to please the Keralites?  Thengai Podi to please the Tamilians? Or just the rightly named Thekkaye Podi which amma calls and makes for us from the time I can remember. She is unsure of the the nativity of this simple side dish: whether Kerala, Tamil or Andhra, but sticks on to the recipe which was my granpa's (her mama's or father-in law's) favourite side dish for dosas.

How soon can you make this ready?

Within 3 minutes! For certain, if you have grated coconut ready in the chiller.
I make this quick accompaniment while the idly is being steamed or the dosa getting cooked on the stove and my family with dinner plates on the dining table!

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Tender Coconut Mint Cooler

Coconuts are nature's IV bags! I vaguely remember reading somewhere about this.
During World War II and the Vietnam War, hospitals used coconuts as IV drips to rehydrate sick and unconscious patients. The hospitals with limited supplies of medicines, particularly during the war, sometimes run short. At one time they saw a bunch of soldiers come in with partial bodily paralysis and high fever. One of them was unable to take in fluids, and soon became severely dehydrated. The hospital was running low on IV bags. Somebody scaled a coconut tree and fetched a coconut down, careful not to crack the outer husk. Part of the husk was peeled away, exposing the eyes of the coconut. Doctors jabbed a large needle through one of them. The needle came out full of coconut meat, and so a new needle was inserted in the existing hole, and, presumably, sucked a little nutrition out of the original needle. The coconut was connected up to the IV tube, which was jabbed right into the patient. The man stayed hydrated with coconut water for two days, after which he recovered and regained his health.
I believe many of you would would have come across this story, but it reminds me of this every time I gulp down the nature's best water.

Hence, apart from the medicinal properties of coconut water, the intracellular fluid or the plasma best matches with the density of salts present in coconut water.
The glucose is easily assimilable and refreshes you instantly once consumed orally!

I can go on and on about the heavenly goodness.
 The peak summer is on in T.N, the temperature touching the perfect 40 deg and today I flavoured the tender coconut water with mint, for a change.

Tender Coconut Mint Cooler

 For one serving,

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Thengai Pottukadalai Chutney / Roasted gram and Coconut Dip for Idly and Dosa

There are a few dishes we normally ignore to blog just because we make it almost everyday thinking, "ah! who wants this recipe. I better not bring it to light"

Thengai Chutney is one such recipe, I had never wanted to bring out.

While we adapt stylishly, the westernised fruit shakes, cereals and sandwiches as food for the morning, I feel a South Indian does justice to his genes by opting his simple and favourite comfort breakfast which is none other than a plate of hot and soft idlies or crispy dosas with small katoris of seasoned flavourful coconut chutney and sambhar.
I bet he misses the satisfaction he might get in this simple breakfast, otherwise in his westernised option, wherever he lives!

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Cardamom Flavoured Coconut Pull - Apart Bread

Have I ever mentioned that it is coconut, I love, after chillies and spices?
Having grown in a state where coconut is abundant and introduced in almost all ways in the everyday life, my love for the nut had been undying all the years.

I came to know about Aparna's ,"We Knead to Bake", only 3-4 days back. I instantly fell in love with the theme, the name and everything about it.
Unfortunately being shifted to a small town for the time being, I couldn't get hold of fresh yeast. All I had was 1/2 tsp of Fleishmann's that too almost nearing the expiry date. The proof testing part went fine and I my hopes started flying high. With the limited amount of good quality yeast in hand I couldn't knead the full amount of dough and use my loaf pan now!
I was pleasantly surprised to see that Aparna had an answer to every single doubt I had in mind back in her post!

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Whole wheat Coconut and Cashew cake baked with Coconut Oil

Ihappened to see this interesting combo ultimately made into perfect moist muffins in Dershana's space and I found myself whipping up the cake the very same day!
Dershana, a charming girl, hails from my native town, grew up in the same little community and completed her graduation from the same old college I had been, is my classmate Archana's cousin as well.
This interestingly combined cake batter, she admits, is her invention instilled by the demands of her cute little school going kid! So, obviously this is a kid friendly recipe.
The flavour of  fresh coconut, wheat, coconut oil and cardamom is a delicious melt in your mouth combo complimented by the richness of the cashews!

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Meen Peera / Fish with Shredded Coconut

Meen Peera is a popular dish belonging to the Christian households of Central Kerala. As any fish dish, I have grown up savouring meen peera right from my childhood days and still one among the favourites!

Traditionally meen peera is made with Netholi or anchovies but any small fish should serve fine too.
The combined flavour of cooked fish with the coarse coconut in which the juices of chilles, 'kudampuli', coconut oil and curry leaves all melded in becomes irrestitible to any fish lover in the state!

Ingredients:

Fish-(anchovies is used here) - 1/2 kg , cleaned
Kudampuli (kokum) - 3 to 4 pieces
Coconut oil - 2 tbsp
Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
Salt to taste

To Grind Coarsely

 Freshly grated coconut - 1 to 1 1/2 cups
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Green chillies - 7 or 8 numbers
Small onions - 6-7, sliced
Ginger - 1" piece,  sliced
Garlic - 10 small cloves, sliced

                                                                   Kudampuli / kokum
                                                                   

Method:

Wash the kudampuli and soak in 1/2 cup of  warm water for 10-15 minutes.
Pulse the green chillies, small onions, ginger and garlic for not more than 3-5 sec, followed by the coconut and turmeric powder added in. Let the whole mixture be coarse and dry. No water is added during grinding.

Transfer ground paste to a flat earthern vessel / meen chatti or a thick-bottomed utensil. To this, mix in the kudampuli (and the water in which it was soaked) along with fish and the curry leaves and salt. Drizzle 1 tbsp of coconut oil to avoid the curry sticking to the bottom. Cook on medium heat for about 10-15 minutes until the fish is cooked. Drizzle the rest of the coconut oil or the remaining 1 tbsp over the curry. Serve hot with steamed rice.

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Thakkali Kuzhambu / Tomato Coconut Curry

                             
                                 Tastespotted,  Foodgawked
I have brewed my Christmas wine, baked the cookies today and will be ready with the cakes next week!
      Hope you too are catching up with the festival with loads of homemade goodies..

Something which excites about past week is that my traffic has peaked up in spite of  being the dullest month of the year. In fact the past two weeks had earned the most hits ever!
I had always consoled myself and thought December is the right month to take a break from blogging with less visitors coming in because of fun and festivity and holidays all around. But alas, the opening of the month is here with all the pleasantest surprises!

In between making the wine and cookies , I made this tomato coconut curry for dinner, hot and spicy with crispy dosas. The crepes and the curry went extremely well and was apt for the winter evening!
As most of the recipes, I learnt this from my in-laws and is a regular dish at least once a month for dinner. The curry goes well with steamed rice but my in-laws strictly have the curry with dosas / idlies.

Here goes..

Tomato Coconut Curry
To serve 2-3

Ingredients:

Roast and grind to a smooth paste:

Oil- 2-3 tsps
Big onion- 1 medium sized, sliced lengthwise thinly
Pottukadalai / roasted gram - 1 tbsp
Red chillies- 4 nos or chilly powder-3/4 tsp
Coriander powder- 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
Ripe red tomatoes - 2 medium, sliced to bite size pieces
Coconut- 1/2 cup

To season:

Oil - 2-3 tsps
Mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp
Sliced small onions- a tbsp
Curry leaves- one sprig

Cubed potatoes- 1 cup
Salt- to taste

Method:

Heat oil (to roast and grind) in a thick bottomed kadai. Roast the chillies and keep aside. (if you use chilly powder you can use it later) Throw in onions. While it is translucent add in roasted gram. Sauté both, followed by the powders (chilly powder, if you use instead of chillies, coriander and turmeric) in a very low heat taking care not to burn the powders. If you feel the heat is too much, put off the stove and mix.
Sauté sliced tomatoes and while it is mushy and cooked, mix in the freshly grated coconut. Mix it along well for just a few seconds(say, 30 secs) and switch off the stove. Let it cool.

In the meanwhile, heat oil (for seasoning) in a larger vessel ( because we are going to mix the ground paste  after the seasoning and make the curry in this one). Splutter mustard seeds, caramelize the onions, throw in the curry leaves and pour 1/2- 1 cup of water. Add the potatoes, once the water simmers and close it over low heat. Add salt. Switch off when the potatoes are half done.

Or, while it gets cooked, grind the roasted ingredients to a smooth paste adding a little water.
Mix in the paste, carefully without lumps, along with the potatoes in the pan . Check the consistency. It should neither be too thick nor thin. Check salt. Simmer the curry  gently for  5 minutes. Serve warm with dosas/ idlies!

I am off to Pondy and Chennai for the weekend. So I may not be able to blog hop in return.
See you next week :)

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Tender Coconut Pudding

 The pictures of this recipe are Food Gawked and TasteSpotted.
 The recipe was also tagged by the Foodbuzz 


This pudding unties a bundle of sweet memories in me! I can hardly remember when and where exactly I tasted tender coconut pudding, first in my life, may be in one of the Christian weddings, but I had hugged the taste ever since it melted on my taste buds when I was a teen. It contains no eggs and this should be the reason why it was so simple and unbelievably comforting! Getting the recipe was not a big task coz this was a regular dessert in many of the Christian homes in Central Kerala. I jotted down the recipe then but I lost it in due course of time...

This is a recreation of the recipe from the basic mousse pudding where I had substituted the coconut and water. It was simple and hassle free... a 'no chance to go wrong' recipe. I had wanted to try this for the past two decades and believe me, it turned out perfect and left me absolutely excited in my very first attempt itself!

Tender Coconut Pudding (eggless)
yields 25 medium squares.(Serves 10.. coz no one can stop with two ;))

 Get ready with :

1 tin sweetened condensed milk = 400gms = 300ml   I used Amul Mithai Mate
*Sugar- 1/4 cup scant (not more than 6 tsps if you prefer less sweet)
China grass / agar agar- 10 gms
Thick (non fat preferable) milk -2 tins; measured in the condensed milk tin.
Tender coconut water- 1 tin
Tender coconut meat - 1/2 cup
(you may need 2 large Tender Coconuts for the water and the meat)


Step by step method: 



To begin with ,cut china grass into one inch long strips. Rinse and soak in hot tender coconut water for 1- 2 hours.




Let the coconut you scrape out be tender and transparent rather than the opaque whitish matured ones.




Boil milk, condensed milk and sugar together.




Once it boils, simmer just for a few seconds giving a stir in between.




Heat tender coconut water in which the china grass had been soaked and melt it bringing the coconut water to gentle boil. I could melt it within 2 minutes of gentle simmer. Too much of boiling destroys the natural texture and flavour of the coconut water. It is tough to melt down the grass strands completely. A few might remain at the bottom and you may strain and grind it in a mixie before combining with the milk mixture. I didn't do this and combined as it was..




which brought up after the mixing along with the fine tender coconut pieces. These strands are harmless and doesn't alter the texture and the taste of the pudding. When you mix the china grass solution and the milk mixture, let them both be of the same temperature; either warm or luke warm.
 So, after you mix it all together pour in a flat squarish  shallow glass container and not like what I did coz it will be difficult to unmould and slice into serving sizes.




Freeze for 5 minutes and then place it on the normal refrigerator compartment to chill for about 30-45 minutes until it is set. Do not over freeze or chill as it hardens the pudding.




I toppled the bowl gently and it moulded out pretty clean.




Umm.. not bad...




Slice into serving portions. Did I tell you, I halved the original recipe? Mine yielded 16 unequal portions.
You can also use ramekins or small individual bowls for setting the pudding. You need not unmould too.

You may serve the pudding as it is.Transferring into plates is not an easy job as they are soft 'flubbers' :)

The berries are fresh from my garden. My vegetable garden is going crazy these days and I have topped the fruits for a colour contrast and make it  look glamorous.

Another reason of these fruits getting into the dessert is because Raks insisted to have either fruits or veggies in them. ...and all I have is coconut :)...
Well,  Raks as you all know is an awesome blogger with a wonderful variety of recipes, a girl who never fails to encourage most of the bloggers around with her warm and sincere comments. She had been surprisingly regular in mine though I skipped visiting hers many a times. This dessert is specially made for her event, Celebrate Sweets September 2011 event coz she really deserves something sweet and very special! :)..


Note:

 The pudding tastes better, * less sweet. However you can check the sweet level before you freeze and can add more if you want to.
I had added no flavours like vanilla as it just tastes good without a flavouring. The mild natural flavour of tender coconut is irresistible!
You can enjoy the pudding topped with cut fruits, berries or even praline.
I like it as it is :)

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Idiyappam with Ishtoo

It always makes wonder how the name 'Ishtoo' got popular in Kerala and presume as an attempt to sound like the English, when they named this mild curry, Stew..probably!

Amma wanted to make idiyappam and ishtoo for breakfast, the dish which evokes the reminiscences of our childhood days, the day sis and me were busy packing off from Kottayam. She had a hard time on the day with unannounced power cuts and least help from her daughters ;), well, she never expects our help as well but later by the end of the day her maid turned up and promised solid help to make the dish, which turned out to be our 'pack-away dinner' in Ernakulam!

I managed to click a few pictures in the middle of packing and running up and down the town for the last minute shopping and today, exactly after 3 weeks, since we left home, I drafted the post and rang amma up for the recipe..

Kerala Idiyappam (Serves 4-6)

Ready made rice flour / idiyappa podi (She used Matha. Double Horse, Eastern and Nirapara are also good brands)- 1/2 kg

Boiling water- 3 1/2 - 4 cups (more or less) or as needed to make a soft dough.

Salt - 1/2 - 3/4 tsp or to taste

Grated coconut- 1 cup

Boil water in sauce pan and add to the flour in a large wide vessel while mixing to form a dough with the stem of a ladle or so. Add water little by little adding salt to the flour and knead to an ultimate soft dough.The amount of water varies according to the quality or the rice powder.




Lightly grease the idiyappam press mould and put in one portion of the dough. Sprinkle 1-2 tbsps of coconut shavings on a a piece of greased banana leaf. Press out the dough to form circular mounds over the shavings.




Place the leaf carefully on the perforated plate of the steamer..




and steam for about 10 minutes till the iddappam is cooked; with the steamer closed with its lid :)
I badly wanted to capture the steam n oye oye, I made it!!

Idiyappam stands or an idli stand can be the substitutes to the perforated plate lined with banana leaf. A pressure cooker, without the weight, can be used for steaming instead of the traditional 'appachembu' or the steamer you see here.

Ensure idiyappam is cooked.




Topple gently on a tray or a flat plate and serve steaming hot with Potato Ishtoo.

Potato Ishtoo

To serve 4 , you need,

Potatoes - 4 medium, peeled & cubed
Big onions - 2 medium, cut into squared slices
Green chillies - 4 to 5, slit lengthwise

For the coconut milk,
Grated coconut - 4 cups, loosely packed. You may need 1 big or 2 small coconuts.

To season,
Coconut oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Finely minced shallots/small onions- 1-2 tsps
Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
Salt to taste

* Dried and liquid variants of coconut milk are widely available in the market, these days. Prepare thick/thin milk according to the package/can instructions . The traditional way of preparing coconut milk, added to the curry enhances the taste and flavour to a large extend and hence I always resort to this method!

Extraction of coconut milk

Place a half of the coconut shavings in the blender with about 100ml (1/2 cup) of warm water. Process for about 20 seconds. Repeat with the other half with another 100 ml. Strain the milk using a filter or a double layered cheese cloth. Squeeze to finish off extraction completely.The milk you thus get is the concentrated milk or the 'onnam pal'/ first extract. Set this aside in a separate bowl.

Repeat, with added 200 ml of water to the coconut. Pulse to strain out the second extract / 'rendam pal'.
Another 200 ml of water pulsed will result in the third extract / 'moonam pal'.


Combine 2nd and the 3rd extracts.You may have, more or less, 3 cups of milk. Transfer into pan and boil potato chunks in this.The liquid part should at least 2 inches above the pieces. Be careful not to bring to a complete boil but simmer instead, stirring every now and then. Add the onions, green chillies and salt let cook until soft. Do not bother much if the milk curdle a bit coz it's natural. Once the vegetables are cooked, switch off the stove and add the first concentrated extract.
Heat coconut oil in a separate pan, crackle mustard seeds, caramelise the minced onions, throw in the curry leaves. Pour this over the curry. Close with a lid until served with steamy idiyappams.

Variations- You can add pieces of carrots and minced ginger while simmering the vegetables, the original Ishtoo additions!We generally avoid both as they suppress the divine flavour of coconut milk.
You may avoid the seasoning part by drizzling the coconut oil and stirring in the curry leaves.

Ishtoo serves well with Appams too!

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