Category: Kerala

Ingredients
1/2 cup (heaped) thur dal (papu)
2 Tbs. coconut gratings
1 Tbs. bengal gram dal
2 sprig curry leaves
1 tsp. mustard seeds
tamarind lump (the size of a marble)
2 tsp. (heaped) coriander seeds
2 Tbs. oil
1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
1 bunch coriander leaves
1/2 tsp. fenugreek
seeds salt to taste
8 pepper corns
chunks of vegetables (tomato, turmeric, onion, squash, potato, asafoetida (ingua) okra, raw banana, 6 red chilies (just about anything))

Method
Wash thur dal thoroughly. Boil 1 liter of water. Drop dal in boiling water. Cook until soft.

Take a little oil in a frying pan on another flame. Roast mustard, coriander, fenugreek, cumin, pepper, turmeric, red chilies, asafoetida, bengal gram dal, coconut gratings and 1 sprig of curry leaves – all in the same sequence, until brown.

Grind all the roasted ingredients with tamarind to a fairly smooth paste. To the cooked thur dal, add vegetable pieces and a few coriander leaves.

Cook until tender. Then add salt along with ground masala (paste made above) and some water.

Boil well. When done, remove from flame.

Garnish with bits of coriander leaves. This is usually served with idli or rice.

Ingredients
1 lb. Potato or kadachakka (bread fruit), cut into small cubes
1/2 tsp. chile powder
1/4 tsp. turmeric powder
2 tsp. coriander powder
1 tsp. garam masala
3 oz. coconut milk (optional)
1/3 onion, cut into small pieces
2 green chile (optional), cut long
oil, salt, mustard seeds
Curry leaves (optional)

Method
Heat oil, fry mustard seeds, add onion, green chile & curry leaves, stir until it turns light brown. Then add salt, all the powders and masala, stir until it turns brown, then add coconut milk and veg., stir well, cover it and cook until well cooked. (If not adding coconut milk, add a cup of water instead). It is ready to serve! (In fact, it should be made by roasting coconut and all the spices, and blending them very nicely, but it is not easy to do it here. So I made up this version.)

You can cook kadala too the same way. For kadala, you can use just the garam masala and chile powder only. Either way, it tastes good.

Source: Mareena Yesudas

Ingredients
1 – 2 c. yellow mung dal or yellow split peas
1 potato (optional), cut into cubes
1/4 onion, cut long
2 or 3 green chile, cut long
1 shallot, cut into small thin pieces
oil
salt
crushed chile or red whole chile
Mustard seeds and curry leaves are optional.

Method
Cook parippu with onion, green chile, potato, and a few drops of oil. When
cooked, add salt, stir well. Smash the potato pieces well. Heat oil, fry mustard
seeds, add shallots, then red chile and curry leaves, add it to the parippu when
the shallots turn brown. Stir well, and it is ready!

Source: Mareena Yesudas

Ingredients
half cup tuar dal or yellow split peas
2 onions
10 or 12 medium okra – (fresh or frozen)
3 large (or one can) tomatoes (optional)
quartered tamarind extract (available in Indian stores)
1 tablespoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon chili powder (more if manaassukhum illa)
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon methi powder
1/2 teaspoon hing powder
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/4 teaspoon methi seeds
1/4 teaspoon veg. Oil
1 tablespoon salt to taste
4 tablespoons coriander leaves, chopped
a few curry leaves

Method
Cook the dal with chopped onions, turmeric powder, chili powder and sufficient water.

Cut the okra in two inch pieces and saute them in a frying pan with one teaspoon oil till dry and slightly browned.

Mash the cooked dal with a wooden spoon and add the salt, coriander powder, methi powder, hing and the tamarind extract.

Simmer for a few minutes and add the tomatoes and okra and half of the coriander leaves. When the vegetables are cooked, heat oil in a fry pan with a splatter screen or a lid and pop the mustard seeds.

Remove pan from the fire, add the curry leaves and methi seeds. Add this seasoning to the sambar and garnish with the rest of the coriander leaves.

Hint: Other vegetables that can be added to sambar are potatoes (which do not freeze well), shallots, pearl onions (available frozen), cucumber, Indian or oriental eggplant (baingan), beans, carrots, lima beans or squash.

Source: Maya Nair, modified.

Ingredients
2 or 3 Potato, cut into round slices, 5mm thick
1 tsp. Chile powder
1/4 tsp. plain flour
oil, salt

Method
Mix the potato slices with chile powder, plain flour, and salt. And then heat
the oil and fry them (like you fry fish) in low flame. That is it! It is so
yummy!!

Source: Mareena Yesudas

Ingredients
tuar dal – 1/4 cup
masoor dal – 1/4 cup
tomatoes – 1 16 oz.can or 4 large tomatoes
tamarind extract – 1/2 teaspoon
black pepper powder – 1/2 teaspoon
saunf – 1/2 teaspoon (optional)
whole red pepper (dry red chili) – 2 or 3
chili powder – 1/2 teaspoon
turmeric powder – 1/2 teaspoon
hing powder – 1/2 teaspoon
methi seeds – 1/2 teaspoon
garlic cloves – 3 cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon
mustard seeds – 1/2 teaspoon
coriander and curry leaves – a bunch salt to taste

Method
Cook the dal well with sufficient water. Add the tomatoes,salt, chili powder, turmeric powder and tamarind extract.

Crush the cumin and garlic and add to the rasam with the black pepper.

Simmer for a few minutes and add the hing powder. Heat a little oil in a fry
pan and pop the mustard seeds.

Add the methi seeds, saunf, and curry leaves after removing from the heat source and add to the rasam. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Source: Maya Nair

Ingredients
1 lb. Potato or kadachakka (bread fruit), cut into small cubes
1/2 tsp. chile powder
1/4 tsp. turmeric powder
2 tsp. coriander powder
1 tsp. garam masala
3 oz. coconut milk (optional)
1/3 onion, cut into small pieces
2 green chile (optional), cut long
oil, salt, mustard seeds
Curry leaves (optional)

Method
Heat oil, fry mustard seeds, add onion, green chile & curry leaves, stir until
it turns light brown. Then add salt, all the powders and masala, stir until it
turns brown, then add coconut milk and veg., stir well, cover it and cook until
well cooked. (If not adding coconut milk, add a cup of water instead). It is
ready to serve! (In fact, it should be made by roasting coconut and all the
spices, and blending them very nicely, but it is not easy to do it here. So I
made up this version.) (You can cook kadala too the same way. For kadala,
you can use just the garam masala and chile powder only. Either way, it tastes
good.)

Source: Mareena Yesudas

Ingredients
moong dal – 1 cup
turmeric powder – 1 teaspoon
cumin seeds, crushed – 1 teaspoon
garlic clove, crushed – 1 (optional)
desiccated coconut – 1/2 cup
(optional) curry leaves – a few
salt to taste

Method
Dry roast the moong dal on medium heat for ten minutes. Cook it with sufficient water and turmeric.

Grind the coconut with a little water and cumin seeds.

Add to the boiling dal along with the curry leaves and salt.

Source: Maya Nair

Ingredients
1 1/2 C fresh shredded coconut (not sweetened)
1 tsp. channa dhal (roast until golden brown)
2-3 green chillies, split and seeded
1 inch fresh, peeled ginger
2-3 tsps cumin powder
1/2 tsp tamarind concentrate (or lemon juice)
salt to taste

Method
Grind above in a blender. Season with asafoetida, fried mustard seeds, and curry
leaves.

Chutney variant #1.. grind 2 bunches coriander leaves for lip-smacking
‘coriander chutney’
NOTES: Experiment with the proportions. Me thinks that’s the best way to learn.
corrections welcome…

source: Prabhu Balaraman [email protected]

Ingredients
Mix together:
4 Tbs. shredded unsweetened coconut
1 Tbs. sugar or jaggery (brown sugar)
1/2 tsp. whole cumin seeds
1/2 tsp. water
In separate bowl, mix:
1 c. rice flour

Method
Enough water to form a dough (about 3/4 c.)

Form a dough from the rice flour and water. When formed, coat your hand with extra flour to prevent sticking, and take a ping-pong sized ball of dough and flatten.

Place about a marble-sized amount of the coconut mixture in the middle of the dough. Close the dough around the coconut to form a ball. Roll in hand until well formed. Repeat the above until all of the rice flour dough is used. Steam the dumplings for 10 minutes.

Delicious for breakfast or with afternoon tea. It is a specialty of Kerala, and in Malayalam it is called “kazhikutta.”