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

Cooking Carnival recap

Presenting the round up of this mega marathon. I thorouhly enjoyed participating and posting recipes in this mega marathon. Though there were lots of ups and downs in the personal front, yet I could complete my recipes and post it as planned and I also reached my 300th post. Would definitely love to participate in more such mega marathons.

I chose different ingredients for every week and also dedicated one complete week to millets. Learnt some very good new recipes also. 

Week 1: Garlic / Poondu / Vellulli

Garlic chutney



Garlic pickle



Garlic fried rice



Week 2: Ivy gourd / Kovakkai / Tindora

Kovakkai Poriyal



Tindora Rice



Kovakkai Thogayal



Tindora-Nu-Shaak



Manoli Kadle



Tindora Masala



Week 3: Puttu / Rice flour cakes

Tamarind Puttu



Lemon Puttu



Egg Biriyani Puttu



Veg fried Puttu



Thakkali Puttu



Puttu Payasam



Week 4: Varagu / Koovaragu / Kodo Millet

Varagu Pulao



Varagu Kanji



Varagu Adai



Varagu Idli and Dosa



Varagu Pakora



Varagu Pongal



Week 5: Mangai / Raw mango

Mangai kari



Manga chammandhi



Mamidikaya Pappu



Uppilitta Manga



Kadugu Manga

An InLinkz Link-up

Kadugu Manga | Tender mango pickle | 300th Post

Today is the last day of this mega marathon. Yippeee!!! I succeeded this time in posting all the recipes almost on time. Also this is the 300th post I am publishing. What a coincidence. And I am posting my favourite pickle. This pickle tops my list. If this pickle is available I will eat anything!!

I guess kadugu manga is the most favourite pickle of all kerala brahmins. Haven't heard anywhere else so... Others prepare kanni manga achar, or vadu maanga oorgai, but both of them can't come near the authentic kadugu manga oorgai that is prepared in the kerala brahmin household. I guess it depends on the type of this raw mango. Though I am unable to find what this particular type of raw mango is called. I guess the tiny mangoes of the raw mango with which we prepare "aavakkaya oorgai" might be the apt one.

Mind you this pickle preparation is a strenuous job. But this pickle is very healthy since when compared to other pickles this has less oil and no water is added. The water that is seen in the pickle comes from the mangoes it self. 

Ingredients

Vadu manga / maavadu / baby mangoes - 5 cups heaped

Salt (rock salt preferred) - 1 cup

Castor oil or sesame oil - 2 tbslp

*The baby mangoes should be round variety

To Roast and grind

Red chillies (Long variety) - 20

Vendhayam (fenugreek seeds/ methi seeds) - 1/2 tsp

Mustard - 3/4 tsp

A small piece of turmeric Or turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp

Method:

• Choose fresh, roughly same size of baby mangoes / vadu manga. Wash properly and don't remove the stalks. You can probably cut the stalks if they are too lengthy but dont remove them completely.
• Pat dry completely in a clean kitchen towel and dry in the shade for making sure it has no water. 
• In a porcelain bowl or glass bottle, big enough to hold the mangoes, transfer the mangoes and salt in layers. 
• Keep stirring or shaking the mangoes every day. By the second day, water would have started oozing out of the mangoes. Keep stirring daily until the water level reaches above the mangoes. Generally this takes about 15-20 days time.
• Now, roast the items given under ‘To roast and grind table’. Add asafoetida powder towards the end. (I used the solid ones). No need to roast the turmeric. Roast until the mustard starts cracking. Do it in medium flame. Cool down and powder everything.
• Take the salted water from the raw mangoes and mix in the chilli powder and mustard powder in clean bowl and add to the mangoes. 
• Keep the jar covered air tight and keep in a cool dark place. Keep stirring every day for another week. The pickle will be ready to use in a week.

Kadugu Manga is ready!!! Relish it with a bowl of thayir sadam....

Notes:

• As always told for pickles, always use clean spoons while handling the pickle.
• Use only peengan/bharani or glass bottles as others may not withstand the salt content in the pickle.
• Using kal uppu / rock salt is recommended.
• Do not forget to toss the mangoes everyday atleast 2-3 times for a week.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 68

An InLinkz Link-up