Yam fry

Yam fry or Chenai mezhukkupuratty is a typical kerala dish which is generally made in a iron wok. For this week's alphabets I mostly depended on english words. So I didn't think a lot for Y. I had decided it has to be Yam. But the decision of curry or fry was made last week.

Most keralites have a backyard at home where they do some farming. I have seen most of the keralites growing Yam in their backyard. Yam is a root vegetable and takes about 5-6 months to grow. I have seen big yams weighing about 5 kgs also. I tried growing yam in grow bags / sacks and it yielded me small yams - weighing 500-750 grams. That was ideal for making a curry for a day.

I love to have this yam fry with dal and rice. Although it will also be a good side dish for rasam rice.

And this is a no onion / no garlic recipe . 

Ingredients:

Yam / Chena - 500 grams

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Chilly powder - 1 tsp

Salt - to taste

Coconut oil - 2 tbsp

Mustard - 1/2 tsp

White Till seeds - 1 tsp

Curry leaves - few

Method:

• Chop the yam into small cubes.
• Boil the yam with salt, turmeric powder and chilly powder and cook until the yam is soft.
• Heat coconut oil in a wok, add the mustard seeds and once the seeds start to splutter, add the curry leaves and the till seeds.
• Add the cooked yam and mix well.
• Fry the yam on medium-low flame, stirring occasionally, until yam is crispy on the outside.

Serve hot with rice and a curry of your choice.

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Xmas Fruit Cake

X for Xmas cake!! I didn't think of other options from X.Now don't start thinking that how can a cake fit into Kerala recipes. The christian communities in Kerala are very good cake bakers. The cake that I am presenting below is baked by every christian in their home at Christmas time. From christians this recipe has passed on and now most of the malayalees who are interested in baking do bake this cake. You will also get this fruit cake or plum cake or christmas cake in every other bakery in kerala during christmas time.

For this recipe I tried taking some step by step pictures. I found it very difficult to take step by step pictures while simultaneously preparing the cake. My main problem was my hand was not clean because of which i couldn't hold the camera. I guess we need an assistant with us all the time :). Wonder how the others manage it. 

I have tried this cake recipe around 3-4 times, mostly during christmas times. This time I made it specifically for the blogging marathon and it came out perfect! I was happy with the outcome. I got the initial recipe from my MIL and over time I have also adapted some steps after reading a couple of blog posts. 

Ingredients:

For Soaking:
Mixed fruits - 3 cups
Rum/Brandy - 1.5 cups

For Caramel:
Sugar - 3 tbsp
Warm water - ¼ cup

For Cake:
Plain flour (maida) - 2 cups
Baking powder - 1¼ tsp
Baking soda - ½ tsp
Sugar - 1 cup+ 2 tbsp
Unsalted Butter - 250 gms (1 cup + 2 tbsp, approx) @ room temp
Eggs - 4 @ room temp
Vanilla essence - 2 tsp

For Spice Powder:
Cloves - 2
Cardamom - 2
Cinnamon - a small piece
Nutmeg - a small piece

Method:

• Soak the dry fruits in brandy / rum. I used a combination of tutti-fruity, plums, cashews, raisins, badam, apricot, orange and lemon peel. I soaked this for about 4 hours.
• Grind all the spices listed under "For Spice Powder" with a pinch of sugar, to a fine powder & keep it  aside.
• Sift the plain flour with baking powder & baking soda. Powder the sugar & keep aside. 
• Separate the yolks & white of the eggs. Beat egg whites till soft peaks form. Keep aside.

• Heat 3 tbsp of sugar in a thick bottomed kadai. Don't add water, let the sugar melt in the heat. When the color of the melted sugar becomes dark brown, remove the kadai from fire & add ¼ cup warm water to this. Bring it back to the heat & boil for a few more mins, 1-2 mins. Remove from fire & let it cool completely
• Preheat the oven @ 180 C for 15 mins, before baking.
• Drain the soaked fruits & keep aside. Retain 4 tbsp from the drained liquor. Toss the drained fruits in 1-2 tbsp of flour. (This will prevent the fruits from sinking to the bottom of the cake). 
• Beat butter and sugar for about 10 minutes until the butter turns fluffy. Now add the egg yolks one by one and beat for another 5 minutes.

• When it becomes smooth add vanilla essence & cooled caramel & spice powder & beat again. 
• Add the sifted flour in 2 batches. Beat after each addition.
• Fold in the beaten egg whites in 2 parts & combine till no white streaks are visible. Fold in the soaked fruits & 4 tbsp of retained liquor. 
• Grease the baking dish & line with baking paper. Pour the batter into the prepared tins. Bake in the pre heated oven for 40-45 mins or until the skewer inserted comes out clean. 

Notes: 

• You need to be very careful while making caramel since the water tends to splash & can cause burns. The caramel can be made earlier and refrigerated.
• The baking time can vary depending on the oven & also the size of the tin used.
• There is also an alcohol free version and an egg free version available. Since I haven't tried I can't comment on it.

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Wheat rava peas biriyani

Today we have to post a recipe starting with W and I am depending on english words. I had two choices for W - either start the recipe name with Whole or start with Wheat. I chose the later. As I have said in my earlier posts, wheat rava is largely used in kerala these days. It is promoted as a healthy food mainly to reduce diabetes. I wanted to try something different. So I tried a biriyani.

I have only replaced rice with wheat rava. I tried my best to make it malabar style. The wheat rava biriyani was excellent!! I am in love with it. I added only peas as the main vegetable - only peas was available at home at that time. But we can add all types of vegetables that are generally added for vegetable biriyani/pulav.  Do try this biriyani. I served this with salad and juice. It was so refreshing in this summer.

Ingredients:

Wheat rava - 2 cups

Peas - 1/2 cup

Shallots - 100 grams (peeled)

Tomato - 2 (finely chopped)

Ginger-garlic paste - 2 tbsp

Coriander powder - 1 tbsp

Water - 4 cups

Ghee / nei - 3 tbsp

Curd - 1 tbsp

Green chillies - 4 

Salt - to taste

Dry masala:

Cinnamon / patta - 2 1" piece

Cardamom / elakka- 4

Cloves / lavangam- 8

Bay leaf / karuvapatta ila- 1

Saunf / Perunjeeragam - 1 tsp

Maze / jathi pathri - few strands

Peppercorns / kurumilagu - 1 tsp

To garnish:

Ghee / nei - 1 tbsp

Cashew nuts / andiparuppu - 1 tbsp

Raisins / munthiri - 1 tbsp

Coriander leaves - few

Mint leaves - few

Method:

• Grind the shallots, green chillies, ginger-garlic into a smooth paste.
• In a kadai, add 1 tbsp of ghee. Fry the cashews and raisins until they turn brown. Drain and keep it aside.
• Add another 3 tbsp ghee. Add all the dry masalas and fry for a minute. 
• Now add the onion-garlic paste. Fry until the raw smell goes away and the paste turns light brown.
• Now add finely chopped tomatoes and peas. Keep frying them until the tomatoes turn mushy and you can see oil oozing out of them. 
• Add the coriander powder, salt and curd. Mix well and cook for another 2 minutes.
• Now add 4 cups of water. Let the water boil. Check for salt.
• Once the water is boiled add the wheat rava and mix well. Cover and cook for 5 minutes.
• After 5 minutes, check if all the water is consumed. Mix well.
• Garnish the biriyani with fried cashews/raisins, mint/coriander leaves

Wheat rava Peas Biriyani is Ready!!! Enjoy this healthy biriyani!!

Notes:

• We can use tomato puree instead of finely chopped tomatoes.
• We can also garnish the biriyani with fried onions.
• Add more vegetables to make the biriyani more interesting.
• Curd can be avoided if you feel the biriyani will turn tangy.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 63

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