Kerala, Onam and off I go to Puerto Rico.  Yes, Pinacolada was apparently concocted by a bartender named Ramon Marrero in Puerto Rico.  Coco Lopez( cream of coconut) mixed with rum, pineapple juice and ice. Cool and smooth it glides down, you will agree.  Sit out on your deck, sip at a glass and wish real hard.  Who knows, it may even take you  to a beach in Hawaii, just, maybe!  No harm dreaming, right? :)

  My husband is the inspiration for me to try cocktails.  Since the time I started blogging he has been persistently forwarding cocktail petitions.  I am only glad to indulge.  The bright colors and the chill drink is fun and easy to make.  




Ingredients:

Unsweetened Pineapple Juice- 6 ounces
Coconut cream- 2 ounce
Heavy Cream - 1 ounce
Light rum- 2 ounce
Crushed ice- 1 cup

Method:

1.Blend everything together in a blender.
2.Garnish with a pineapple wedge and serve.

Notes:

1.You could reduce the amount of pineapple juice a bit,if you wish.
2.This gives you 2 servings.
3.You could also use a shaker to mix up everything.
4.The original recipe calls for Coco Lopez,the cream of coconut.



Contributor: Namitha

  Thaalu thoran is made out of Colocasia stem.  Have you heard of this one before?  I am asking because my friend from Kottayam (my home town) says she has never had this before. You should, if you haven't.  The thaalu and deep friend rice grains together gives this thoran a nice crunchy texture.  I hope I could explain the taste better.

  Everyone at home know how much I like this one.  Not so easily available in the US my sweetest granny made sure I had enough.  She made up for all the missed times.  Oh! she is quite old now and she spoils me.

  Back to the recipe.  It is quite simple.  Though rare you can buy the stems in Chinese super markets in the US.  Exorbitantly priced when the urge hits I indulge.   This used to happen especially when I was carrying my son.  Now, you will agree those are times when you can just let go. I have to say this in closing you need no  excuses to spend on this one.  Once you taste it I guarantee you will go back for more thaalu.



Ingredients:

Stem of colocasia/Taro/thaalu- 4
Cocnut grated- 1/3 cup
Green Chillies- 2-3
Turmeric powder- a pinch
Salt

For seasoning:

Raw rice- 3 Tbsp
Mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp
Coconut oil/Any cooking oil- 1 Tbsp
Shallots- 2-3,chopped finely
Curry leaves- 1 sprig
Dried red chillies- 2



Method:

1.Chop the stem finely into slender pieces.Sprinkle a few tablespoons of water and salt over it and squeeze out this completely to remove the juices from the stem that cause itching.This also keeps the thoran dry and crisp rather than mushy.(You could apply some cooking oil on both your palms,or wear some disposable gloves so that it will not make you itchy !)
2.Heat the oil in a pan and do the seasoning starting with mustard seeds.Once they splutter add the rice into it and let it brown slightly. Trow in the shallots and red chillies and saute for a couple of minutes or until the shallots turn brown.Now saute the curry leaves too
3.Meanwhile grind the coconut and green chillies coarsely.
4.Throw in the chopped stem and coconut mixture along with turmeric and salt into the seasoning and cover to cook on low heat. Stir every 2-3 minutes until it is cooked. This won't take more than 5-6 minutes.
5.Keep the pan open and let all the moisture get absorbed.Serve warm with pulissery or sambar .



These pictures of Taro is from my father's vegetable garden.As a child (and also now) I love to see the water droplets on a taro leaf :-)

Contributor: Namitha

        How is it going?  For me, it has been quite a busy day chatting up with my family and friends.  Nevertheless I spun a very tasty, tongue tingling curry.  I have made a variation of this earlier and shared it on the blog.  However,  this one makes me quite excited because its not a usual dish I make and yet it turned out to my taste.

       I am sure you have had a variation or maybe even the same curry before.  It will be interesting to hear from you and know what you call it.  Tart and spicy it goes well with rice.  I am thinking it won't be too bad with rotis either.  Give it a go and tell me how you like it.



Ingredients:
Chembu/Taro - 5 nos

To Fry:
Onion - 1 small size
Coconut - 1/2 cup
Chili powder - 1/2 tbspn
Coriander Powder - 1 Tbspn
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tspn
Oil - 1 tspn

Tamarind - lime sized ball soaked in a cup of water

For Tempering:

Mustard - 1/2 tspn
Shallots - 1 big or 2 small
Red Whole chilies - 2 broken in pieces
Pepper corns - 4
Curry Leaves - 1 sprig
Oil - 1 Tbspn



Method:

1. Pressure cook the chembu, skin on and some salt. Peel once cooked and set aside. It takes about 3 whistles on medium flame in a pressure cooker.

Grinding:
1. Heat oil and fry the chopped onions till translucent
2. Add the coconut and fry till you get the fried coconut aroma. Wait till the color changes from white to light golden hue
3. Add in the three powders and stir cooking the powder and you the raw smell of the ingredients changes to a cooked aroma of the coconut and spice mix
4. Set aside and once it cools some add some water and grind it to a fine paste.

Combine:

1. Take the juice of the soaked tamarind using your fingers and throw away the fiber.
2. Add another cup of water and bring the tamarind juice to a boil in a gravy pot and add the cooked chembu and check for salt.
3. I let this mix boil hoping to let this root get some of the salt and tart taste
4. Finally add the ground gravy and let the curry boil and mix
5. Add the tempering and serve



The reddish brown pot you see in the above picture is 'chatti' the earthen pot used in a lot of cooking in Kerala. When cooked in this over a log fire and coconut oil wherever you are in the world you can taste a little Kerala.

The pot is courtesy a very dear friend. She packed it to the US from Kerala and then had it transported from Chicago to Ohio just for me. It will be cheap to just say thank you because the gesture is priceless. Love you J for who you are and for being so thoughtful and kind! Need to also thank another friend who helped bring this from Chicago. I will write all about it when I can get a better decent picture of the chatti and thavi. Love it!

Contributor: Sunitha

  Another mango treat made during this season.  Summer and the raw mango season is fast fading in Kerala, India but without letting you in on how to make mango chammanthi it will not be complete.  Mostly we use the mangoes that fall down from the tree, before they mature,for this chutney.  The sourness of mango soothed over by sweet coconut and then taken a notch up on the spicy scale with green chillies this is all you will need with hot rice.  I have to admit I can eat a plate of rice with just this and some curd. I will not let any other flavors bother this rich, spicy taste.  Give it a shot and let me know what you think     



Ingredients:

Mango slices- 2-3 (2 by 4 inch pieces,preferably the flesh, closest to the seed)
Coconut grated- 1/3 cup
Green chillies- 2 or 3
Shallot- 1
Curry leaves- 2
Salt- to taste

Method:

1.Peel off the skin from mango slices.
2.Grind everything together in the small bowl of a mixie/ on the "ammikkallu" without adding any water.
3.If you are grinding using an "ammikkallu"/arakallu grind the coconut and mango first followed by green chillies, shallot and salt. Finally grind everything together/mix together.
4.Serve with rice,thoran and curd/yogurt.Believe me,if you haven't tried this one yet, it tastes divine :-)



1.I did grind this in a mixie, the presentation is just for the camera ;-)
2.You could add more or less mango slices, according to your sourness level.

Sending this to "Green Gourmet event" hosted by Preeti of Write food.Happy hosting, such a cool event Preeti :-)



Contributor: Namitha

¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo amigos!

In Kerala, we make use of almost everything from the Jack fruit tree.  Excuse the exaggeration but think about it.  We use the leaf to scoop gruel and in spite of having cutlery we still do it for fun.  We cook the jack-fruit when its raw and eat it with a gravy, when ripe, ofcourse, we eat them as you would any other fruit.  We seldom stop there.  Steamed rice flour topped with jack-fruit, mix of rice flour and fruit pressed between a banana leaf and pan baked are all but a few things variations.  The outer covering cut into small pieces are fed to the cattle.  Now for the seed.  The topic of today's discussion.  Its hard and seems rock like when raw but when cooked powders like baked potato.  Most times it is sauteed with coconut pieces or otherwise made into the scrumptious gravy paired with mangoes like I am sharing with you.  Another summer treat these are some dishes which makes me nostalgic beyond my own comprehension. Hope you will see now that it si no exaggeration when I say we make good use of Jack-fruit tree.



Ingredients:

Raw Mango slices- 1/2 cup (3/4th of a mango)
Jackfruit seeds- 10-12
Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
Coconut grated- 3-4 Tbsp
Cumin seeds(jeera)- 1/4 tsp
Green chillies- 2
Shallot- 1

For seasoning:
Coconut/ any cooking oil- 2 tsp
Mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp
Red chillies- 2
Curry leaves- 1 sprig

Method:

1.Slice the mango after removing the skin. Cut each jackfruit seed into 4 pieces.
2.Cook the Mango slices and jack fruit seeds together after adding some salt and turmeric and water in a pressure cooker.
3.Grind together the grated coconut, cumin, green chillies and shallot together.
4.Mix this with the cooked veggies and cover and cook again for 3-4 minutes.
5.In a small pan do the seasoning(heat the oil,splutter the mustard seeds and throw in the red chillies and curry leaves and saute) and pour over the curry. Mix and serve with rice.



Notes:

1.You may want to add or reduce the number of mango slices,depending on its sourness level.Mine was medium sour.
2.If the mango slices are not mashed even after the seeds are cooked, mash them gently.
3.This is not recommended for people who have gastritis problems

I won a giveaway by Gina of Simply life and see what I got. A package of POPCHIPS which had all the 6 flavors, 4 packets each. We all loved it and thanks again Gina :-)





Contributor: Namitha

 Kootu curry is a mix of chick pea, yam and plantain in coarsely ground coconut.  The main flavoring of the dish is the fried coconut.   This dish is popular in North Kerala.  I learned this dish from a family friendthat  from Kannur.   Eating at her home made me realize with finality  that small changes in ingredients make huge difference.  I say that because she would serve a fish curry which is with a coconut gravy and I would expect it to be like something I have already tasted.  However, the minute I taste it I know I am wrong.  A little jeera or a little this or that I learned gives a totally different dimension.  Anyways, the crux of it is this dish may not sound very different from a sauted vegetable with coconut but once the vegetables are more of the starch protein variety and pepper and chili powder instead of green chilis come into play  you have a new experience.  Another of those dishes served in sadya it seems just apt to talk about it today.  
Ingredients:
Black Chana - 1/2 cup
Yam - 1 cup
Grated Coconut - 1/3 cup + 1Tbspn
Chili powder - 1 tspn
Turmeric - 1/2 tspn
Jeera - 1/2 tspn
Pepper - 4 - 5 pepper corns or about 1/4 tspn or as per taste
Salt - for taste




Method:
1. Soak chana overnight or atleast 6-7 hours
2. Pressure cook with a little salt till done
3. Cook yam with turmeric, chili powder and a little salt
4. Grind coconut coarsely with jeera and pepper corns
5. Mix cooked chana, yam and the ground coconut mixture and check for taste and salt.  Add pepper or salt if needed
6. Temper with 2 tspn of coconut oil, mustard, curry leaves, 1 broken red chili, curry leaves and 1 Tbspn of coconut
7. Mix well and serve with rice

Notes: You may add plantain to this dish.  There is also a version of green grams and pumpkin with the same coconut mixture which I will talk about in another post.

We talked a lot about Vishu and "Vishukkani" yesterday.Here is a picture of Vishukkani for you




Contributor: Sunitha & Namitha

This is one of our favorite Tamilian dish. My family fell in love with this tangy and spicy curry when our neighbor shared this with us.  I told her how much I loved it and requested her for the recipe. Guess what she did?  She gave me a list of all the ingredients and asked me to call her after getting it ready. I did just that and to my utter delight she came over and showed me how to make it.  Yes, she cooked it for me at home and I consider this the best way to learn.  Seeing and learning! Now, I make this often and also found out that Telugu's also make a similar curry. Here is the recipe as I know it and I hope you will love it :-)





Ingredients

Garlic-2 full(peel the cloves)
Shallots-10(cut into halves)
Cumin seeds-1/4+1/2 tsp
Peppercorns-1/4tsp
Fenugreek(uluva)-1/4 Tsp
Tamarind water-To taste(preferably on higher side)
Salt-To taste
Turmeric-1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder-1/2Tsp
Kashmiri chilli powder-1 1/2Tsp
Coriander powder-2 1/2Tsp
Coconut- 1/2 cup grated and ground with min water
Oil-2Tbsp

Method

1.Heat a pan and shallow fry peppercorns and 1/4tsp cumin seeds(without any oil)
2.Remove that and pour oil in the pan and heat.Meanwhile grind the coconut, and dry fried peppercorns and cumin seeds.
3.Splutter cumin seeds and then fenugreek seeds.
4.To this add the ground coconut mixture and saute for a while.
5.Put chilli, coriander and turmeric and saute till the raw smell goes
6.Slide in shallots and garlic cloves and saute for a few minutes on medium heat.
7.Pour in the tamarind water and adjust the consistency and boil well
8.Serve with rice and pappad.

You could add vegetables like okra, brinjal etc to this curry.



Contributor: Namitha

Even the thought of Aviyal makes me nostalgic.It reminds me of my vallyammachi's (grandma's)cooking .I learned this recipe from her, an excellent cook. Though she is a vegetarian she cooks non veg dishes and makes sure they are perfect paying attention to the smell :-) She is the one who brought up my sis and me,when we were kids, since my mom was employed.  While preparing the vegetables she would tell us many stories about cooking. She says the taste of the curry starts right from the way you cut the veggies :-) According to her carrots and French beans are all foreign veggies, and adds that her mother never used them in aviyal and other authentic dishes.



Here is the recipe for aviyal ,which is an important item in the Hindu marriage feasts in Kerala. I know that from place to place the recipe varies, though it is such a popular dish. Here is my version, rather Central Travancore version :-)

Ingredients

Raw banana-1
Ivy gourds(kovakka)-4
Snake gourd- 2 pieces that are 2 inches long
Carrot-1(medium)
French beans-7-8
Long beans(pachappayar)-4
Brinjal(vazhuthananga)- 1/2
Winter Melon(kumbalanga)- A 4inch long piece
Yam (chena)- A 2 inch long piece
Drumsticks- 5-6 two inch long pieces (1 drumstick)
Green chillies- 4-5

Coconut oil -1 +2 Tbsp
Shallots-3-4
Curry leaves-2 Sprigs
Tamarind Juice
Salt
Turmeric powder-1 1/2 tsp
Red Chilli powder- 1/2 tsp
Cocnut-grated and half ground- 1/2 cup
Cumin powder/ cumin seeds-1/2 tsp (If you are using powder , a little less)



Method

1.Cut all the veggies into slender pieces
2.Pour 1Tbsp coconut oil in a pan and add all the vegetable pieces along with the green chillies, turmeric and red chilli powder
3.Mix in everything for a couple of minutes.
4. Throw in a sprig of curry leaves and salt.
5.Pour water ,enough to cook the veggies (Don't add too much water, remember that some of the vegetables like winter melon leaves out lot of water) and cover the pan
6. Cook till it is almost done
7.Pour the tamarind juice and cover and cook for a few minutes (If you pour tamarind juice early, the dish will turn dark in color)
8.Add the coconut and cumin to this, mix well, cover and cook for a couple of minutes.
9. Switch off the heat and add smashed shallots and curry leaves along with the 2 Tbsp coconut oil.
10. Mix well and transfer into the serving bowl.
11. Enjoy with rice , sambar and pappad :-)


You could use any vegetable of your choice. Also you could replace the tamarind juice with sour curd or raw mango.



Contributor : Namitha

"Menam, menam (venam, want )..."My little imp who is 14 months was pointing his tiny finger to the half cooked bitter gourd in my pan and was jumping into it. I gave him a small piece to quench his curiosity and to my surprise he ate it. He made a funny face at the first bite , but I couldn't make out what he meant by that, since he makes that face whenever he tastes something new. Guess what, he repeated "menam , menam" and had a few spoons of pavakka mezhukkupuratti (Bitter-gourd fry ) as his breakfast :-)
FYI , I cook lunch in the morning on weekdays.

I use Japanese bitter gourd for mezhukkupuratti, instead of the dark green small ones that are available in the Indian grocery stores here. You could buy it from Chinese or Asian grocery stores and they are less bitter than the dark green variety. This goes well with rice and sambar.





Ingredients

Bitter gourd(thinly sliced)- 2
Green chillies(sliced lengthwise)-4
Coconut pieces(thengakkothu)- 2Tbsp
Salt
Oil-2Tbsp

Method

1.Heat oil in a pan.
2. Slide in the bitter gourd and other ingredients.
3.Cover the pan with a lid and cook till it is done.
4.Keep the lid open and let the bitter gourd fry.My family likes it to be deep fried :-)



Contribitor: Namitha

Two years back, when I reached Uncle Sam's country, I was really nervous just like anybody who lands in a new place.I knew there won't be many Indians in the place we were going to live. For the same reason, I thought there won't be any Indian groceries either. It was a great relief when I saw spinach on our first trip to the grocery store. Like a flash of lightning this idea struck, "Why not make spinach thoran instead of cheera thoran".

I love my Amma's cheera thoran and I learned from her how to make them without any lumps. If this dish tastes good the credit is my mom's, but the idea to substitute spinach for cheera, I can proudly say is my own. I shared this idea with a couple of my Mallu friends and they are to date extremely happy about it. I hope you will have the same experience and be happy with this authentic amma's recipe with a twist.





Ingredients:

Spinach- 1bundle
Green chillies-2
shallots/chuvannulli/sambar onion -2-3(finely sliced)
Coconut-3-4 Tbsp(grated)
Turmeric-a pinch
salt-according to your taste
Rice(raw)-1 Tsp
Mustard-1/2Tsp
Red chillies-3(broken into halves)
Curry leaves-1 sprig
Oil-2Tbsp


Wisdom of the ages:

Always when you make a thoran with leaves , wash and dry the leaves completely before cutting.


Method:

1. Wash the spinach and spread it on a paper, at least 1hour before you cut them.This is very important, since if you have water on spinach you will end up having lumps in your thoran.
2.Cut the leaves into smaller pieces.
3. Grind(not much-maybe for a couple of seconds) coconut and green chillies together. If you do not have a grinder/small bowl for your mixer grinder, leave this step and just add more green chillies slit into halves.
4.Heat oil in a pan and splutter mustard seeds followed by rice.
5.Add sliced shallots and saute it till golden brown.
6.To this add red chillies and curry leaves and saute .
7.Mix spinach with turmeric, salt and coconut mix from step 3 and add into the pan.
8.Mix everything together and cover the pan.
9.Cook on medium flame for about a minute or till the steam comes.Don't keep the lid for long, since the steam will accumulate ,which in turn end up in lumps.
10.Open the pan and cook till the thoran is done by stirring in between.

This is a very simple yet nutritious dish. This goes well with pulissery/ moru(buttermilk) curry and rice.

You could use the normal "cheera" instead of spinach and also scramble eggs while giving tadka(spluttring mustard) and mix it, if you like eggs.





Contributor: Namitha