Mathan upperi

Guru poornima is actually a festival to celebrate our gurus. SO the next 2 recipes that I am posting here is a token of respect for my gurus in cooking which is non other than my MOM and MIL.

Today's recipe is from my moms cuisine. Honestly I haven't seen anyone else making this until today. Its a simple stir-fry with the Indian pumpkin - known as mathan.

Ingredients : 

Pumpkin : 1 cup (cleaned and chopped into small cubes)
Shallots /Small onion : 4-5 nos (crushed)
Turmeric Powder : 1/4 tsp
Crushed Chilly flakes : 1 tsp
Grated Coconut : 2 tbsp
Mustard Seeds : 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves : 1 sprig
Coconut oil : 1 tbsp
Salt to taste

Method:

• Heat coconut oil in the pan and splutter mustard seeds.
• Add crushed shallots, crushed chilly flakes, curry leaves  and saute until shallots turns golden  brown.
• Now add the grated coconut and saute for few seconds.
• Add the chopped pumpkin, turmeric powder and salt along with 1/2 cup of water.
• Cook over low flame till its done. 
• Remove from fire and serve hot with steamed rice and Enjoy!!

Note:

• Shallots can be avoided.
• Do not over-cook the pumpkin and make it mushy. Better to cook in an open tava.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#78

Vazhakka Mezhukkupuratti

As I mentioned in my previous post, todays post is a token of respect to my MIL. So I am posting her signature recipe - vazhakkai mezhukkupuratti - stir fry with raw plantain.

Mezhukkupuratti is yet another wonderful Kerala (South India) recipe which means coated with oil. 

 Raw Banana is cooked and tossed with onion-garlic-red chili coarse paste and then seasoned with coconut oil and other seasoning. Very flavorful dish and goes very well with Pulissery.

Ingredients:

Raw Banana 3 Medium Size

Turmeric Powder 1/4 Teaspoon

Salt To Taste

For Grinding: 

Shallots (Baby onions) 5-6

Garlic Cloves 3

Red Chilli 2

For Seasoning: 

Coconut Oil 3 Tablespoon

Mustard Seeds 1 Teaspoon

Curry Leaves Few

Method:

• Peel and chop the raw banana into cubes and soak them in water till we are ready cook. Soaking in water avoids de-colorisation. 
• In a mixer jar, add garlic, onion and red chili and pulse them once or twice just to crush them coarsely. If you have mortal & pestal you can use that to crush them. Set this crushed spice mixture aside
• Keep a sauce pan in flame and add the cubed raw banana. Add salt and turmeric powder along with water to soak the banana and cook them till they are soft and also little firm. The raw banana should not be mushy. Once the raw banana is cooked, strain any excess water and set it aside
• Heat coconut oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and allow it to sputter. Then add torn curry leaves and then add the crushed spice mixture and saute them nicely in oil till the raw smell goes off
• Once the raw smell of the spice mixture goes off, add the cooked raw banana and toss it gently with the spice mixture and seasoning. Do it gently and do not mash the raw banana
• Finally Garnish with 1 more teaspoon of coconut oil and switch off the flame
• The Tasty and flavor rich Vazhakkai Mezhukkupuratti is now ready to serve!

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#78

Nellikkai Arachukalakki

The last one in this month's blogging marathon is one of my favorites from the traditional palakkad-iyer menu. My mom used to make this but I have never tried this recipe. When I saw the recipe in palakkad-cooking, I thought of trying this. If we have gooseberries in salt-brine we can make this recipe in minutes.

Arachukalakki is a distinctive dish of the palakkad-iyers. It is often made with nellika or with mavudu (salted small mangoes).  he name arachu kalaki exactly translates to the procedure of how this dish is made: Arachu meaning grind and kalaki meaning mix. It is a curd based side dish



Ingredients                      

1.       Fresh or Preserved Nellikai/ Gooseberries/Amla – 2 big or 10 small
2.       Grated Coconut – 2 tblsps
3.       Sour curd – 2 to 3 tblsps
4.       Dried Red Chillies – 3 – 4
5.       Methi seeds – ¼ tsp
6.       Mustard Seeds – ½ tsp k
7.       Curry Leaves a few
8.       Coconut oil – 1 tsp
9.       Salt to taste





Method:

• Heat a small pan with ½ tsp of oil, fry the methi seeds and red chillies. 
• Deseed the Nellikai or gooseberries. Grind the nellikai pieces, grated coconut, fried, methi seeds and red chillies into a fine paste. 
• Add little sour curd to get a smooth paste. Add salt to taste. 
• Transfer the ground pastes into a bowl. 
• Now, adjust consistency by adding some more curd. Mix well. 
• Arachukalaki should not be very thick like thogayal, it should be like pachadi or raita. 
• Heat a small frying pan with the remaining oil, add the mustard seeds, when they splutter pour it on top of the arachukalaki. Garnish with a few sprigs of curry leaves.
• Nellikai Arachukalaki is ready to be served with rice and molagootal. You can also relish the taste of this arachukalaki with idly or dosai.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#78