KeralaThe typical Kerala Hindu feast served on a banana leaf is 'Sadya', a sumptuous spread of rice and more than 14 vegetable dishes, topped with payasam or pradhamans, as dessert. The Muslims and Christians also have their own peculiar non-vegetarian dishes like the 'pathiri', biriyani, chicken, fish dishes etc.
Rice is the staple food and the curries are eaten usually with plain steamed rice. Even a typical Keralian breakfast that generally includes Puttu, Vellayappam or Idiappam is made with pounded rice flour. Almost every dish prepared in Kerala uses coconut as oil or in grated, ground form or as milk strained together with spices and tamarind to flavor them. Tender coconut water is used as a refreshing nutritious drink.
Kerala Recipes(* Specifies Changes for Healthy Diet)Fish CurryIngredients:| Regular | Improvised* |
| 1) 6-7 slices of cleaned fish | -do- |
| 2) 6-8 small onions | 2) 5-6 small onions |
| 3) 4 green chilies | 3) 2 green chilies |
| 4) 2 small garlic cloves | -do- |
| 5) 1 small piece of ginger | -do- |
| 6) 1 sprig curry leaves | -do- |
| 7) 2-3 pieces of kudam-puli (Gamboge) | -do- |
| 8) 2 tsp red chilly powder | 8) 1½ tsp red chilly powder |
| 9) ¼ tsp turmeric powder | -do- |
| 10) 2 cups thin coconut milk | 10) 1 cups thin coconut milk |
| 11) ¼ cup thick coconut milk | 11) ½ cup thick coconut milk |
| 12) 2 –3 tbsp coconut oil | 12) 1-2 tbsp oil with omega-3 |
Preparation- Heat oil and sauté finely sliced small onions, ginger, garlic, green chilies and some curry leaves and when it is transparent, add turmeric powder and red chilly powder and combine well.
- Add 2 cups thin coconut milk (or sufficient enough to cover all the slices of fish) and pieces of kudam-puli and salt and let it boil.
- When it is boiling, check the level of sourness and adjust the same by adding/removing one or two pieces of kudam-puli.
- Place fish pieces to this and cover with a lid and allow it to cook in medium heat; swirl the cooking vessel once in a while; avoid stirring as you may end up breaking the fish pieces.
- When it is almost done, add the thick coconut milk and adjust the salt and let it cook in a low flame, without the lid, for 5-10 minutes until a thin coating of oil appears on top.
- Just 2 minutes before turning off the stove add some curry leaves. Serve with rice or tapioca.
Erachi Puttu-Steamed Rice Flour Cakes
Ingredients:
eat Mixture
| Regular | Improvised* |
| 1) 1½ cups cooked or uncooked minced meat | 1) 1 cups cooked or uncooked minced meat |
| 2) ¾ cup minced onion (1 medium size) | -do- |
| 3) ¾ tbsp minced ginger | 3) ½ tbsp minced ginger |
| 4) ¾ tbsp minced garlic | 4) ½ tbsp minced garlic |
| 5) 4-5 green chilies minced | -do- |
| 6) 1 spring curry leaves coarsely chopped | -do- |
| 7) ¼ tsp turmeric powder | -do- |
| 8) ½ tbsp coriander powder | -do- |
| 9) ½ tbsp pepper powder | -do- |
| 10) ½ tbsp garam masala | -do- |
| 11) ¼ tsp finely crushed fennel seeds/Perinjeerakam | -do- |
| 12) 1 tbsp ketchup or ¼ to ½ cup finely chopped tomato | -do- |
| 13) A handful of green peas (1/8 cup) | 13) A handful of green peas (¼ cup) |
| 14) Salt to taste |
|
Preparation- Heat oil in a pan and throw in minced onions and cook until they begin to look golden brown. Add minced ginger, garlic, green chilies and curry leaves and cook until they are soft.
- Add turmeric powder, coriander powder, pepper powder, crushed fennel seeds and garam masala and stir well until the raw smell goes and the spices are well coated with the fresh ingredients.
- Add tomato and mix well and cook till it is soft and at this stage add the uncooked minced meat and salt and let it cook thoroughly; this might take 10-12 minutes. If the cooked minced meat is used, then stir-fry only for 2-3 minutes until all the ingredients are well combined.
- Add green peace and cook for 3-4 minutes and also sprinkle ¼ tsp garam masala to retain the aroma of the spices. Once it is done (should be moist), let it cool down a bit in room temperature.
Directions to make Puttu Mixture:-
- Dry-Roast the rice flour in low heat for 1-2 minutes, stirring continuously and when it is just warm enough, when you touch with fingers, remove the flour to a large bowl and let it cool.
- In a large bowl, mix roasted rice flour with salt and grated coconut and sprinkle water intermittently while mixing with hands and break the lumps formed as you mix.
- Mixing should be gentle enough and mix well until the mixture is damp enough or slightly wet.
Final Assembling of Puttu Mixture and Meat Mixture:-
- Drill a small hole in the halved and emptied coconut shell/chiratta and make a first layer with a tablespoon of grated coconut, another layer with ¼ cup of Puttu mixture, third layer with meat mixture, one more layer with Puttu mixture and sprinkle some grated coconut on top. Do not stack the mixture, just fill in loosely.
- Heat water in a pressure cooker and when the steam starts coming out, place the Chiratta/shell on the nozzle of the pressure cooker and keep a kitchen napkin as a lid for the chiratta/shell. Let it steam for 6-8 minutes in medium heat and then remove and invert the chiratta/shell on to a plate and slowly lift the shell. If it is cooked well, then the Puttu will come off of the chiratta/shell very easily, in the shape of the shell itself. Serve hot.
- To make Kutti puttu/ Cylindrical Puttu, use a Puttu Kutti/Puttu Maker and layer the mixture the same way as mentioned earlier and place it on the pressure cooker and let it steam-cook for 8-10 minutes.
- Once it is done, place the cylinder on to a place and using a skewer, slowly push from the bottom of the cylinder and Voila! If it is perfectly cooked, you will get a cylindrical shaped Puttu without breaking or crumbling
Chemmeen/Prawn Biryani
Ingredients:
(Biryani Masala/Dry Spice Mix)
| Regular | Improvised* |
| 1) ½ tsp fennel seeds | -do- |
| 2) ½ tsp cumin seeds | -do- |
| 3) ½ tsp Shahjeera/caraway seeds /Sahjeerakam | -do- |
| 4) 4 cloves | -do- |
| 5) 1 cardamom | -do- |
| 6) 1 flat cinnamon ( 1” inch length) | -do- |
| 7) ¼ tsp grated nutmeg | -do- |
| 8) 1 whole mace | -do- |
- Grind everything to a fine powder.
- This yields around 2 tsp masala but you will require only 1 ½ tsp for making this dish.
Flavored Rice
Ingredients:
| Regular | Improvised* |
| 1) 2 ½ cups Basmati rice | -do- |
| 2) 5 cups water | -do- |
| 3) 2 cups thinly sliced big onion | 3) 1½ cups thinly sliced big onion |
| 4) Salt to taste | -do- |
| 5) 3 tbsp ghee | 5) 2½ tbsp butter |
- Wash and drain the rice on a paper towel.
- When it is medium dry, heat ghee in a large skillet
- Add thinly sliced onions and sauté till it is transparent.
- Add rice and stir continuously for 2-3 minutes in low heat.
Chemmeen/Prawn Masala
Ingredients:
| Regular | Improvised* |
| 1) ½ kg chemmeen/prawn /shrimp shelled and cleaned | -do- |
| 2) 1 tsp chilli powder | -do- |
| 3) ½ tsp turmeric powder | -do- |
| 4) Salt to taste | -do- |
| 5) ¾ cup oil to shallow fry chemmeen/prawn/shrimp | 5) ½ cup oil to shallow fry chemmeen/prawn /shrimp |
| 6) 2 cups thinly sliced onions | -do- |
| 7) 3 tbsp finely chopped ginger | -do- |
| 8) 3 tbsp finely chopped garlic | -do- |
| 9) 4½ tbsp green chillies (around 15-16; adjust according to your tolerance level) | -do- |
| 10) 2 tsp coriander powder | -do- |
| 11) 1¼ tsp biryani masala, powdered earlier | -do- |
| 12) ½ cup water | -do- |
| 13) 1½ to 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice | -do- |
| 14) 1/3 cup fresh cilantro/ coriander leaves, chopped | -do- |
| 15) ¼ cup mint leaves chopped | -do- |
Preparation- Make a wet marinade with chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt and apply it on prawns and leave it for 20 minutes in room temperature.
- Grind ginger, garlic and green chillies into a paste and keep aside.
- Heat oil in a pan and shallow fry Chemmeen/Prawn/shrimp to a light brown colour and remove.
- Add sliced onions to this leftover oil and sauté till light brown.
- Add the ground ginger-garlic-green chilli paste and fry for another 2 minutes.
- Add coriander powder, stir well and add ½ cup water and salt to taste.
- Add fried prawns, lemon juice, chopped coriander leaves and mint leaves and 1¼ tsp Biryani masala/dry spice mix, add 4 tbsp ghee, and ¼ tsp pinches of biryani masala.
Cabbage Thoran
Ingredients:
| Regular | Improvised* |
| 1) Cabbage (finely chopped) 2 cup | -do- |
| 2) Salt as required | -do- |
| 3) Grated coconut (¼ cup) | -do- |
| 4) Green chilly- 3 No | -do- |
| 5) Garlic- 4 No | -do- |
| 6) Shallot – 3 No | -do- |
| 7) Cumin powder - ¼ tsp | -do- |
| 8) Turmeric powder ¼ tsp | -do- |
| 9) Curry leaves 1 stem | -do- |
| 10) Oil - 2 ablsp | 10) 2 tblsp oil with omega-3 |
| 11) Mustard seed ½ teaspoon | -do- |
Preparation
- Grind ingredients 3-8 and keep aside.
- In a pan, pour oil and splutter mustard seeds.
- Add chopped cabbage and salt as required and allow it to cook.
- When half done, add the grinded mixture and cook on low flame.
- Garnish with curry leaves.
