Simple kerala-iyer thali | Lunch Menu

I am back!!! After a long sabbatical break.

I am again starting with the blogging marathon. In 2 days time I decided to join this month's marathon. This week I will be posting some interesting thalis. Pardon the photos - I am picking up these thalis from my backlog.

The first one I am starting with a simple home made kerala iyer menu. In olden days kerala-iyers used to have a detailed lunch by around 10:00 - 11:00 in the morning. This was the practise until some 3-4 decades back. But now with increased office goers and a life-style change, kerala-iyers have also changed their food style. Earlier the lunch used to be a very elaborate one with 2-3 curries and 2-3 side dishes but now with lifestyle change and a variety of diseases looming around, the number of dishes in a lunch menu have also come down.

Today I am presenting a typical lunch menu which is served in kerala-iyer households.

Menu:

Rice
Moru koottan - similar to mambazha pulissery
Mathan Erissery
Vazhakkai fry
Vazhaipoo vadai
Karuvadaam
Kadugu Manga oorgai
Buttermilk / curd

Typically a kerala-iyer menu would have a 3-course meal. First one with a koottan, second one with rasam and the third one with curd / buttermilk as gravy. But I have seen that generally with moru -koottan as the gravy, rasam is not served. I forgot to add buttermilk/curd in the above menu.

Method:

• Grate coconut and cut the vegetables - mathan (pumpkin), vazhakkai (plantain) and chembu (taro root) for the moru koottan. Also finely chop the vazhaipoo.
• Soak the dal (kadala paruppu) for making the vada.
• Cook rice in pressure cooker.
• Boil the chembu with little water, salt and turmeric powder. Cook until the chembu is cooked and soft.
• Boil the mathan pieces with very little water, salt and turmeric powder.
• Grind coconut with red chilly and cumin seeds without adding water. add this to the cooked mathan pieces. and mix well. Cook for another 2 minutes.
• Grind coconut with green chillies and curd.  Add this to the cooked chembu. Add sufficient water according to thickness and boil the gravy.
• In a kadai, add little oil. Add mustard seeds and curry leaves. Once the mustard splutters pour this to the mathan erissery.
• Add 1 teaspoon of oil, add mustard seeds, curry leaves and one red chilly. Once the mustard splutters pour this to the moru-koottan.
• Add 3 teaspoons of oil to the kadai, add mustard seeds. Once the mustard splutters add the vazhakkai pieces. Let them cook until soft. Then add salt, turmeric powder, very little sambar powder and red chilly powder. Mix well and fry the vazhakkai pieces.
• Grind the dal for vada (without adding water). Add the cut vazhaipoo, curry leaves, chopped green chillies, salt. Mix well.
• In a kadai, add enough oil for frying. First fry the karuvadams. Then fry the vada patties.

Serve the menu with pickle and curd/buttermilk.

Notes:

You can serve papads instead of karuvadams.

This menu took me around 2 hours to prepare.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#74