Kadu Manga Achar/Keralan Mango Pickle

Did I tell you about my recently bought cook book???Yes, Itz "The Suriani Kitchen" by Lathika George.Even though mummy has her own way of making pickles,I was quite intrigued by the quantity of mustard that was given in the recipe.I thought it to be too much when compared to the normal amount that we use

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But given the reputation of the recipes featured i decided to give it a try and i was one happy girl.The pickle turned out to be perfect and am planning to make another batch before the Mangoes become pricey.Make hay while the sun shines???I dunno how many cut mango pieces go into the making coz i love eating mangoes and making funny faces after that.

So lets get into action of pickling without delay.

Recipe Source: The suriani Kitchen Page No: 191

Ingrdients

1. Diced and unpeeled mango-4 cups
2. Salt - 1/2 cup
3. Water-1/2 cup
4. Sesame oil - 1/2 cup
5. garlic - 6 cloves sliced
6. Sliced Ginger - 1tbsp
7. Curry Leaves - A handful
8. Chilly powder - 5 tbsp
9. Ground Turmeric-1/2 tsp
10. Mustard powder - 1/2 cup
11. Vinegar - 1/2 cup

Method:

1. Mix the mango pieces with two tsp of salt in a ceramic jar or glass bowl.Set aside  for a day or two.
2. Remove the mango pieces from the salty liquid and discard the liquid.
3. Mix the water with the rest of the salt in a pot and bring this to a boil.Strain and set aside.
4. Heat oil in a medium pot add the garlic,ginger,and curry leaves and saute for two minutes.Add the chilly powder,Turmeric powder and mustard powder and saute over low heat for a minute.Care should be taken that the masala powders are not browned.
5. Now add the vinegar,Salt solution and mango pieces and cook for some time Allow the mixture to cool and store in clean sterilized bottles.

Notes:

• Be careful in selecting the pickle jar as it should be air tight and clean.No creepy creatures growing in your pickle.
• Use this pickle after 15 or 20 days so that the flavors are blended well.
• Do not be intimidated my the mustard powder.It gives a magical explosion of flavors , a very different one from the usual one.

Am sending this to Pari and Runner Girl's "Only From Cook Books Event
Also to Manju and Gayathri's WTML event and to Made with Love Mondays

Meen Vevichathu/Kerala Style Fish Curry Adapted from "The Suriani Kitchen"

I don't think i need to give any introduction about my love for the bounty from sea.I wont be bored for eating fish three or four times a day i mean appam and fish molee for breakfast and fish curry and fish fry for lunch and tuna cutlet for tea.So that said if you are not a strict carnivore or fishetarian (Is there any word of this sort?) please donot dare to open my lunch box or venture into my kitchen.

                      

Recently i bought a copy of The Suriani Kitchen from flipkart.It is more like a storybook than a cookbook with a lot of stories and anecdotes.A very different take from the usual cook books that have only recipes featured in them.The Author, Lathika George is a bombay born Syrian Christian who moved to Kerala in her teens.She rightly says that "Meals are a celebration of the spices, herbs, seafood, meats, pulses, grains, nuts, and every edible leaf and seed that grows in this fertile land.”

Even though i have my own version of meen vevichathu,I wanted to try the recipe that was mentioned in the book. Donot be intrigued by the use of rice flour,it does wonders to the final taste.I have used King Fish in this recipe,You could substitute it with any fish of your choice.

Recipe

Source :The suriani Kitchen Pg.No. 86

Ingredients

1. Fish 1 kg cut into squares
2. Oil-1/4 cup
3. Shallots - 8
4. Ginger paste - 1 Tsp
5. Garlic - 10 Cloves thinly sliced
6. Garlic Paste  - 2 tbsp
7. Curry leaves - 3 Sprigs
8. Rice Powder - 1 tbsp
9. Cocum - 4 , 2 inch pieces soaked in water
10. Water - 2 cups
11. Salt - As required

For spice Paste

1. Kashmiri Chilly powder - 3 tbsp
2. Turmeric Powder -1/2 tsp
3. Coriander Powder - 1 tbsp
4. Fenugreek - Roasted and ground - 1/2 tsp

Grind the above ingredients to a fine paste with a little water.

Method

1. Heat the oil in a deep pot,add the sliced shallots and fry for two minutes.When they are lightly browned reduce the flame a bit and add the ginger,garlic paste and curry leaves and saute for two minutes til the raw smell goes.
2. Lower the heat and add the ground spice paste and the rice powder.Continue frying for one or 2 minutes.
3. Add the cocum,water,salt and the fish at this stage and simmer for 10 minutes with the lid on.
4. When the fish is cooked drizzle a bit of coconut oil over the curry.

Notes:

1. I have adapted the recipe verbatim and the dish turned out to absolutely delicious.
2. It goes well with rice,moru curry and a thoran(vegetable stir fry).
3. If you donot get kashmiri chilly powder , replace it with usual one but be cautious on the quantity as the normal ones tend to be spicier than their kashmiri counterparts.
4. Kashmiri chilly powder lends a wonderful hue to the curry.
5. Cocum or kudam puli is not to be substituted with sambhar puli.
6. I used /double Horse brand rice powder.

Am sending this to Pari and Runner girl in the Kitchen's Only cooking from cook books event.

Also sending this to made with love mondays

Chettinad Kavuni Arisi and some pics from Pichavaram Mangroves

A happy Dukrana Thirunnal to all..Some two years back on this very same day I went to Chidambaram for the first time. I really didn’t like to go to be frank. The main reason , I REALLY hated my undergrad college days. I was feeling depressed to the core and was not mentally prepared for another merry go round of emotional and mental turmoil. Reluctantly I wrote the entrance for M.E in Computer Science and Engineering and in the afternoon went for the interview. It was by a professor and an associate professor and they asked questions related to PPDP and about the TCP/IP Layers. Both of them made me comfortable and their way of speaking and behavior convinced me that am going to be studying here no matter what. Remember the weather is horrible with the sun scorching even at 8 in the morning. Lucky for me,Chidambaram became a place where I learnt a lot of things both academic and non-academic, my preferences changed and I was accepted, had a friends group and enjoyed being there. Took a dual degree -A post graduate Diploma in Data Mining. Even dry taps meant a learning experience, worst mess food meant sharing pickles or snacks.

During my second year I happened to go to Chandra Ammai’s (Aunt’s) house. After feeding me up to my nose with Chettinad Chicken Biryani , aunty asked me if I would like to have anything sweet , I said yes. So she went to the kitchen to soak some black colored thing that resembled a cross between a needle and rice.I was curious to know what It was, coz never in my life had I seen anything like that. Aunty told me it’s a kind of rice ,rich in vitamin B Complex , grown  in the Chettinad region of Tamil Nadu and that her  relatives in Burma and Malacca and Singapore get it from the supermarkets over there too. And no Chettinad feast (even wedding feast) would be complete without this “KAVUNI ARISI”. Even though I do not have that big a sweet tooth, (I favour murukku or kuzhalappam and Uzhunnu Vada) I loved this. It was similar to sticky rice, Black when cooked and mildly sweet with a hint of coconut, Cardamom and ghee, its that simple. And she treats her daughters ,grandchildren and friends with this incredibly healthy dish whenever they visit her.I were more engrossed in eating than taking pictures.Hope you try this Indispensible Chettinad delicacy and thank me for sharing it too :-).Donot forget to visit Pichavaram if you happen to go to Chidambaram.
Seen below are the pics from pichavaram

Ingredients

Source : Chandra Aunty    Type : Chetinad Dessert     

1. Kavuni Arisi - 1 Cup
2. Sugar - 1/2 cup minus one tbsp
3. Cardamom - 5 pods Crushed
4. Ghee - 1 Tsp
5. Grated coconut - 1/4 Cup
6. Water - 4 cups

Method

1. Soak the rice for a good two or three hours adding sufficient water.This actually reduces the cooking time of the rice.
2. Pressure cook by adding 4 cups of water for 20 to 25  minutes in medium flame.
3. When it is thoroughly cooked and cooled add the sugar,ghee,cardamom and grated coconut and stir well till all the coconut is incorporated and resembles the rice color.
4. Reheat for some two minutes and serve.

Notes :

• The cooking time totally dependss on the quality of the rice used.It is usually advised to soak overnight so that the cooking time is reduced.
• You could add a little more sugar and ghee if you prefer.

Am sending this to Sowmya's event ,Priya Chechi's event,Manju's event and to Gayathri's event.
And a very happy birthday to Divya Pramil of you too can cook.
Also sending this to made with love mondays

Prawn Roast/Chemmeen varattiyathu Kuttanad Style

Meen Curry is something that you can find in my adukala in almost all the days of the week or year for that matter.Hailing from one of India's famous harbors, my love for sea food needs no introduction.Mummy on the other hand is not a great fish eater.She used to tell me, that she got bored because her mother(My ammooma) always fed her with fish ,either fry or curry.So mummy got bored and doesnot cook fish if am not at home.My daddy leans on the vegetarian side ,so no issues for him even if mummy does not cook fish.

Prawns/Konju is something that i buy whenever i find them.I prefer the relatively smaller ones rather than the hefty creatures.Even though de-veining them is such a pain i donot mind ,coz i dream about the yummy end product.A back breaking business indeed.

This time when i got some from the meenkaaran my brother was insisting that i make pickles out of it.My mom wanted to make a Padavalanga chemmeen curry and i wanted to make olarthu.I was convincing both of them that i need to blog about this and so on.My marketing strategy worked and here it is Yummy prawn olarthu.The main reason why i opted for this version of cooking prawns is that i wanted to try this.I followed the recipe to the T and it was amazing.Oh my ,amazing would be an understatement.Any number of adjectives will not explain how yummy it turned out.My brother who was going around with a sad doggy face for not getting the prawn pickle was overjoyed for that matter.He told me,"Namakku adutha pravashyam chemmeen medikumbol ithu thanney undaakam tto".That says it all.It is a spicy preparation so please go easy if you find the measurements to be too much for your standards.But trust me itz worth it.

Coconut oil does wonders to this yummy delicacy from Kuttanad.

Ingredients

1. Prawns- 1 lbs (peeled ,cleaned and deveined )
2. shallots- 1 cup to 1 1/2 cup chopped
3. Ginger - 1 1/2  tbsp minced finely
4. Garlic - 1/4 cup julienned 
5. Green chillies - 4 slit lengthwise
6. Thenga kothu/Cocunut slices-1/3 cup
7. Kudam puli -1 or 2 pieces.
8. Masala powder
9. Red Chilly powder- 2 tsp
10. Coriander powder-1 1/2 tbsp
11. Turmeric powder-1/4+1/4 tsp
12. Freshly squeezed lemon juice-1 tbsp(I omitted this coz i didnt have any)
13. Coconut oil-As required
14. Salt-To taste
15. Curry leaves- A handful

For Masala Powder

1. Fennel Seeds -1 tsp
2. Black pepper-1/2 tbsp
3. Cinnamon 4 or 5 1/2 inch sticks
4. clove -1
5. Cardamom-1

I added two cloves and two cardamom coz they were small in size.Grind the above to a powder using a coffee grinder or the smallest jar of your mixer grinder.Set aside.

Method

1. Make a marinade with the masala powder,1/4 tsp of turmeric powder,salt ,lemon juice and half of the chilly powder and coriander powder and set aside for an hour.
2. Soak the kudam puli in a cup of water.
3. Heat oil in a manchatti,and saute the small onions till they become translucent.Now add the ginger,garlic and green chillies and cook till the raw smell goes.
4. At this stage add the remaining turmeric powder,chilly powder and coriander powder.have stove in low flame when adding the masala powder coz they should not get burnt.
5. Now add the coconut slices and curry leaves and give a quick mix.
6. Add the marinated prawns along witht the masala thatis sticking with the vessel used for marination.
7. Add the soaked kudampuli and required salt at this stage.
8. Cover and cook in medium flame till the prawns are done.
9. Remove the lid and roast till all the water is dried uo and the prawns are lavishly coated with the masala.It should get a brown color as mentioned by Shn.Do a taste test at this stage and add coconut oil  and curry leaves as this is what gives a great face lift to the dish.
10. Serve with Rice or Roti or simply eat like we did.

Notes:

1. This is a really spicy dish for people who are not used to.
2. Donot replace Shallots for big onions as it will be a compromise on the taste.
3. The dish does not have an overpowering taste of garlic.
4. I donot advice substituting or avoiding any of the mentioned ingredients.

Thanks a lot Mishmash for sharing an absolutely yummy recipe.
Sending this to Made with love.

Kuzhi Paniyarams /Chettinad Kuzhi Paniyarams/ Indian aebleskiver

There are certain foods that actually kindle whole lotta happy memories. Kuzhi Paniyarams or the Chettinad Paniyarams belong to that category and are my all time favorite. My maternal grandmother used to make fluffy and out of the world paniyarams that can be devoured at any time of the day.Ammooma uses a bell metal unniyappakaral(The Æbleskiver pan),May be that was the reason for the exemplary taste…???

The addiction to paniyarams worsened, when I heard that the restaurant near my college served it as an evening snack. Soon after the boring classes are over, I used to head there to have a devils share of these bellied beauties. At times my dad joined me and that meant an extra plate (for me). During that time paniyarams were not that costly, coz not many people preferred to eat it as evening snack. After some months, lucky for the restaurant owners and unlucky for us, the prices skyrocketed and I was left with no other option than to make this at home. That meant loosing count of how many I ate.

Even though the Aachis(women folk of that region are addressed this way) from Chettinad grind the batter especially for paniyarams, idly/Dosa batter can also be used as a replacement for quick fix cases, even though I grind the batter separately when making this.

This can be had for breakfast or for dinner or even as evening snack or simply eat while roaming around the kitchen. I generally pair this with Sāmbhar and Thenga Chammanthi or even the kaara chutney or “Dangar” (A Chettinad dish).

This dish is for a lovely person "R"(Birthday Gal....) who was with me in my undergrads.It was fun as we belonged to the group that hardly studied.Sitting in the same bench,rambling,commenting,having non stop chatter only to be scolded by our parents etc. That and much more for another post peeps.May God be with You in all that u dear and Have a great time.

Chettinad Kuzhi Paniyarams

Source:My mom
Special equipment required: Aebleskiver  pan / Unniyappa karal

Ingredients

1. Paniyaram batter-2 cups(Recipe follows)
2. Kunjulli/Shallots-1/4 cup
3. Grated carrots-1/4 cup
4. Cabbage-thinly sliced-1/4 cup
5. Green chillies-4-5 thinly sliced
6. Grated coconut-2 tbsp
7. Curry leaves-2 sprigs
8. Coriander leaves-2 tbsp chopped
9. Ginger-1 tbsp
10. Mustard Seeds-1 tsp
11. Crushed pepper-1 tsp 
12. Salt- As req
13. Oil for frying

Method

1. Heat the oil in a pan and splutter mustard seeds and curry leaves.Add in the curry leaves followed by ginger , shallots and vegetables.
2. Saute till they are cooked.
3. Keep the stove in low flame and add the grated coconut followed by the coriander leaves and pepper.
4. Allow this to cool.
5. Throw this into the batter and give a good mix and leave it aside for 10 or 15 minutes.
6. Adjust the salt as only less salt was added during the fermentation process.
7. Just before using the batter give a good stir as all the vegetables and other stuff might be resting in the bottom.mix the batter each time before pouring into the holes.
8. Heat the pan and add little oil in all the holes.When the oil is hot pour a tbsp of batter into the holes.Itz enough to fill 3/4 th of the hole.Do this by keeping the stove on low flame.
9. Cover and cook for 2 or 3 minutes or thill the edges start to brown or when the batter is not sticking to the pan
10. Flip or turn then using a skewer or pappadam kutti and allow the other side to be cooked completely.
11. Drain them in paper towels
12. Continue the same till the batter is used up.
13. Pair them with Sambhar and Coconut chutney

For the batter

1. Idli rice-1 cup
2. Raw rice(Pachari)-1 cup
3. Urad dhal-1/4 cup
4. Fenugreek seed-1 table spoon

• Soak all the ingredients rice(both varieties) together and urad dal seperately for four hours and grind it to a smooth batter.
• Add little salt (lesser than that added for the batter) and allow it ferment for 6-8 hours.

Notes

1. As am a little bit partial towards coconut oil , i used it for making these.Sunflower oil is also fine to use.
2. Go easy on the green chilies and pepper as per your preference level.

Sending this to Sowmya's event ,Cooking with seeds event and also to Pari and Sowmya's event.
Am also sending this to Shruthi and Gayathri's WTML event.This is my second time with the Walk through memory lane event.
Am also sending this to Made with love mondays week of 6-10-2013 by Javelin warrior.
Am also sending this to Dish it out 
Happy Cooking