Mathanga Erissery / Pumpkin Erissery

Erissery is an essential part of Kerala Sadya or Onam Sadya. Erissery can be cooked with different ingredients like mathanga, chena, Kaya or it can be cooked with a combination of vanpayar too. The cooking method will be the same in all. Here is how I make Mathanga Erissery....

Mathanga Erissery / Pumpkin Erissery

Ingredients:

Mathanga / Pumpkin - 2 cups, diced

Green chilly - 1, chopped
Salt to taste
Grind Together:

Grated coconut - ½ cup
Turmeric powder - ¼ tsp
Green chillies - 3
Cumin seeds - ½ tsp
Garlic - 1 clove
For Tempering:

Coconut Oil - 1 ½ tbsp
Mustard seeds - ½ tsp
Dried red chillies - 2, torn into 2 pieces 
Curry leaves - 2 strands

Small onion / Chumannulli - 3-4, sliced

Ginger - ½ tsp, chopped

Grated coconut - 1 tablespoon 

Method:

• Cook mathanga / pumpkin with chopped green chilly, salt and enough water. Mash pumpkin well with the back of a spoon.
• Grind coconut and all the other ingredients to a fine paste. Add ground paste to the cooked Pumpkin, Let it cook on low flame for 5-8 mins. Remove from heat.
• Heat oil in another pan and splutter mustard seeds. Add small onion, red chillies, curry leaves, ginger and coconut and fry till brown. 
• Pour this over the erissery, mix well and serve hot with rice. 

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Nadan Parippu Curry / Kerala Dal Curry

Parippu curry is a typical Kerala side dish for rice and also one of the main dish of Kerala Sadya or Onam Sadya. I usually make parippu curry with toor dal, but some people make it with Moong dal (cherupayar parippu / split yellow gram). If using moong dal, you have to dry roast it first to enhance the flavour and then cook in a pressure cooker.  If Parippu curry is served with hot rice, pappad and ghee you don’t need any other curry for rice.

Nadan Parippu Curry / Kerala Dal Curry

Ingredients:

Toor Dal / Thuvara Parippu - 1 cup

A pinch of turmeric powder

Grind Together:

Grated Coconut - ½ cup

Cumin seeds / Jeerakom - ½ tsp

Shallots / Chumannulli - 2

Garlic – 1 clove

Green Chillies - 3-4

For Tempering:

Coconut Oil - 2 tsp

Ghee -2 tsp

Mustard Seeds / Kaduku - ½ tsp

Shallots / Chumannulli - 2, sliced

Curry Leaves - 2 strands

Red Chillies - 2, torn into 2 pieces

Method:

• Grind coconut with the rest of the ingredients adding 3 to 4 table spoons water to a smooth paste and keep aside.
• Pressure cook washed toor dal with 3 cups of water and a pinch of turmeric powder for 8 whistles on medium flame.  Once done, mash well to a smooth paste with the back of a spoon.
• Add ground paste, salt and enough water to the mashed dal. Let it cook on low flame for 5-8 mins. Remove from heat.
• Heat oil and ghee in another pan and splutter mustard seeds. Add small onion, curry leaves and red chillies. Fry till small onion becomes golden brown. Remove from fire and pour everything over cooked dal. Mix well.
• Serve with rice and pappad and a drizzle of some ghee.

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Kerala Chicken Stew Recipe / Kozhi Stew

Stew or Ishtew is a mildly spicy and creamy Kerala special delicacy which goes very well with appam,bread, puttu, chapathi etc. In most Kerala Christian families, Christmas or Easter breakfast is incomplete without appam and chicken or mutton stew. Stew has to be white in colour and you have to make sure not to brown the onion while sautéing. Cashew nut paste will enhance the flavor and make the gravy thick and creamy.

Kerala Chicken Stew Recipe / Kozhi Stew
Ingredients: 

Chicken - ½ kg (cut in to medium pieces, I used boneless chicken)

Potato - 1 small, cubed

Carrot - 1 small, cubed

Onion - 1, thinly sliced

Green chillies - 4, slit

Ginger - 1 tsp, finely chopped

Garlic - 1 tsp, finely chopped

Cinnamon sticks - 1 inch x2 pieces

Cardamom - 4

Cloves - 4

Black peppercorns - 1 tsp

Medium thick coconut milk - 3 cups

Thick coconut milk - 1 cup

Cashew nuts - 6 - 8 ground to a fine paste

Curry leaves - few

Salt - to taste

Coconut oil - 2 tbsp

Method:

• Heat oil in a pan and add cinnamon sticks, cardamom, cloves, black peppercorns and sauté. Add onion, ginger, garlic and green chillies and curry leaves and stir fry until they becomes soft and translucent. (make sure not to brown the onion).
• Add chicken pieces and stir fry for 2-3 minutes until the meat is lightly seared.
• Add cubed potatoes and carrots, medium think coconut milk and salt, and cook for 15-20 minutes over medium heat until the chicken, carrot and potatoes are fully cooked.
• Add cashew nut paste, thick coconut milk and vinegar, mix well and simmer for 2 minutes or until you get the required thickness.
• Serve hot with palappam, vellayappam, Idiyappam, Puttu, Chapathi or bread.

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Chilli Chicken

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Kerala Style Beetroot Pachadi / Beetroot in Yogurt and Coconut Gravy

Wishing you all a Very Happy and Prosperous Onam :) :)

It is Onam today and I was hoping to post some Onam sadhya recipes at least this time around!  But as usual just after summer vacation I was trying hard to settle down here.... School re-opened for my son and they are getting ready for their first semester exams by next week....  So in between all this, I didn’t even get time to update the blog which was idle for the last 2 months.... I tried my best to reply to the comments and queries, but if I have missed any please let me know.... Today I thought of sharing the recipe of Beetroot Pachadi the way I make it. I don’t know if it is the traditional way.... Some people don’t add coconut, but somehow I like pachadi this way.... Here is a list of a very few Onam special recipes I have posted earlier, if in case you are searching for any :)....

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Uppumanga Chalichathu / Salted Mango with Shallots, Chillies and oil

A tongue tickling chutney made with Uppumanga (Salted Mangoes in Brine). It is great when you do not have much side dishes for rice or kanji and also a great substitute for pickle too.... This dish gives a distant taste when sour and salty mangoes mixed with shallots, green chillies and oil..... Heavenly dish for Keralites with kanji....

Uppumanga Chalichathu / Salted Mango with Shallots, Chillies and oil

Recipe Source: Mrs. K. M. Mathew

Ingredients:

Salted Mangoes in brine – 2

Shallots / Chumannulli – 6 to 8, cut into thin slices

Green Chillies – 3, cut into thin rounds

Curry leaves – few, chop the leaves fine

Coconut Oil – 1 tsp

Method:

• Smash the salted mangoes with hand (If not soft enough cut it into fine pieces).
• Add chopped ingredients and oil to the mango.
• Mix well with hand and transfer into a serving bowl.
• Serve with rice or kanji.

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Pork Vindaloo Recipe

Pork Vindaloo, is a hot and spicy dish popular in Goa and also amongst Christians in Kerala. It’s a very spicy dish and is served on special occasions like Christmas, Easter, engagement and baptism ceremonies. Like in any other recipe there are many different versions of this recipe. Some recipes add fried potatoes towards the end of cooking; I did not do so but if you wish you can add cubed and fried potatoes towards the end of cooking.  Vindaloo tastes better when served the following day and it goes well with breads, Palappam, Vellayappam, Sannas and all kinds of Indian breads and rice.  And for those who don’t like pork you can substitute with Beef, Chicken or Lamb....

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Kerala Style Potato Stew / Urulakizhangu Stew

Potato Stew is a very easy and simple dish of Kerala that goes well with Appam, Poori, Chapathi, Puttu, Idiyappam,  or even with plain bread.... I have posted another Vegetable Stew earlier with strong and spicy flavors with darker hues due to the masalas used in it, whereas this one has a more subtle flavor.... Here is how we make Potato stew in our homes.... 

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Uppumanga Curry (Salted Mangoes in Coconut Gravy)

A traditional vegetarian side dish of Kerala made with Uppumanga / salted mangoes in brine..... I made this curry following the same recipe of Chakkakuru Manga curry .... A plate of boiled rice with this curry, a piece of fish fry and some stir fried vegetable is bliss for lunch! 

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Chicken with Bell Peppers

I have been making this for quite some time and it’s a Ree Drummond recipe. The original recipe is with Beef and here I used chicken instead, but I have tried beef also many times and both are equally good.... The main thing we love about this curry is that it goes with almost anything like rice, noodles or even with chapathi.....  It can be served as a side dish or as a main dish after mixing it with some noodles..... 

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Saucy Paneer Recipe

Since it is the Lent Season vegetarian recipes are much in demand.... deciding the daily menu without any non-veg dish is challenging for a Christian family :D.... Since Paneer is loved by almost all I thought of sharing this Saucy Paneer recipe with you today.... with just a couple of sauces you can make this curry very quickly and it goes well with fried rice, noodles or even with chapathi.....  If you don’t have 8 to 8 sauce at home you can easily omit it or substitute with sweet and sour sauce like I do when I run out.... Instead of paneer you can also use Tofu for a vegan version..... Check out the other Paneer recipes I posted earlier too.....

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Nadan Kozhi Mappas / Chicken Mappas / Kerala Chicken Curry in Creamy Coconut Sauce

Kozhi Mappas or Chicken Mappas is a typical Syrian Christian delicacy, which is very common in Kerala Christian homes....Chicken cooked in a spiced creamy coconut milk and served with Palappam or Vellayappam is a regular breakfast in Christian families especially on occasions like Christmas, Easter and is also one of the items in ceremonies like Othukalyanam (Engagements), Weddings, Baptism etc... Back home we used to add potato and carrot along with the chicken and these veggie pieces cooked along with chicken in the gravy tastes delicious! You can make different versions of Mappas by substituting chicken with egg, mutton, beef, fish, duck or with vegetables like Broccoli, cauliflower, ladies finger, bread fruit etc…. Chicken mappas can be served with Palappam, Vellayappam, Chapathi, Idiyappam, Puttu or even with plain boiled rice with spiced yogurt.... 

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Pan Roasted Baby Potatoes

During a casual talk with my cousin cum neighbor Saira, she told me to try this pan roasted baby potatoes and gave me the recipe for the same.... These potatoes are a great choiceas a vegetarian appetizer along with other non-veg appetizers for cocktail parties..... This is a very basic recipe and you can add any spices according to your personal taste, eg. if you wish you can add coriander powder or cumin powder or garam masala.... Addition of fresh cream gives a unique and rich taste to the potatoes.... This goes well with Indian flatbreads or Pulav too..... 

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Shahi Paneer Recipe

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Kashmiri Chicken Recipe

Like I told in my Butter Chicken post Kashmiri Chicken curry is the another chicken dish I learned before my wedding from my mom… This is our favorite recipe for chicken curry andit goes well with all types Indian breads or pulav....

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Murgh Ke Sooley / Koyla Chicken Curry / Smoked Chicken Curry Recipe

There are some recipes from my early days of blogging that definitely need a revisit.... This is one such Chicken curry recipe.... This Smoked chicken is one of my best and easiest chicken preparations; I make it very often and it compliments very well with Indian flat breads or pulav’s. It’s also a hit at dinner parties.... But may be due to the pathetic photos I posted earlier, I felt it didn’t get the attention it deserved, so recently when I made it again I took step by step pictures.... when ghee is poured on the hot charcoal, the resultant smoke gives the chicken a nice flavor.... This is a healthy chicken preparation and you can also marinate and smoke the chicken ahead of time and bake it in the oven just before serving.....

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Paneer Butter Masala Recipe / Paneer Makhani Recipe

There are several Paneer Butter Masala recipes on the net. This is how I make it at home. This doesn’t have much cream or butter in it and we can reduce or completely omit it when you make this on a regular basis. Usually when I make it just for us I never add cream and always reduce butter to half; trust me it still tastes great :).... This is a Lakshmi Nair recipe from the Magic Oven show..... in her original recipe she adds 1 cup of peas too; since we don’t like peas much I avoid adding it.... Also I try to avoid using food colours as much as I can, hence my curry is orangish and not red :)...... 

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Aloo Matar Masala Recipe / Potato & Peas Masala Recipe

Here we are not big fans of green peas....whenever I add green peas to fried rice or to some curry hubby very carefully removes the peas from his portion and keeps it nicely in a cornerof his plate:D... so I usually do not add peas to any curries / rice I make....but recently when I saw this recipe neatly written in my first recipe collection book I remembered how much I loved this curry when amma used to make it at home.... so I grabbed a packet of frozen peas and made this curry for myself.... surprisingly hubby who dislike peas liked this curry and told me not bad and it’s ok to have once in a while :).... This spicy curry goes very well with all kinds of Indian flat bread, flavored basmati rice or even with bread or Indian pav bun. 

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Chicken Tomato Curry Recipe / Chicken in Tomato Gravy

Here is a simple & easy to make chicken curry recipe to all who had requested me to post easy chicken recipes :)...This curry is sans a lot of spices as compared to the usual Indian curries and goes very well with all kinds of Indian flat breads. I got this recipe from my mother-in-law. This is my son’s current favorite curry for chapati and I hope you will also like this simple curry.

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Punjabi Chicken Masala Recipe

When I posted the Garlic Naan recipe I had this curry picture along with the Naan and got so many requests for the recipe. I had intended to post this soon after but somehow couldn’t. This is a Lakshmi Nair recipe from the Magic Oven show. I like her recipes and whatever I have tried has turned out good. I make this Punjabi chicken recipe regularly as it goes very well with any kind of Indian flat bread or mildly spiced rice or pulav.  As always we prefer boneless chicken with small pieces for our curries, but you can use chicken pieces with bone in and bigger pieces if you prefer. 

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