Padavalanga Kootu| Pudalangai Kootu| Snake Gourd Subzi

All the Cucurbitaceous vegetables are good for health, as this veggies contains more than 90 precent water and negligible amount of fat content. We consume many vegetables like cucumber, pumpkin, bitter gourd, snake gourd, bottle gourd, ash gourd..etc for lunch as kootu| subzi with rice or with chapatis. Popular South Indian preparations with these veggies are kootu, pachadi, theeyal, poriyal or thoran.

Adding dal to this dish makes more nutritious and delicious. It is quite a simple dish but with full of flavours. You could use any dal of your choice like toor dal or moong dal but it is traditionally prepared with chana dal. My mom prepares with toor dal but the same way as i make she prepares this dish. This dish is perfect for summer day lunch with any pouring curry of your choice.

INGREDIENTS:
Snake Gourd, finely chopped- 1/2 big(2 cups)
Chana dal| kadala parippu- 1/4 cup
Turmeric powder- 1/4 teaspoon
Coriander powder- 1 teaspoon
Coconut, grated- 1/2 cup
Green chillies-2
Jeera- 1/2 teaspoon
Oil- 2 teaspoons
Mustard seeds- 1/4 teaspoon
Fennel seeds- 1/4 teaspoon
Curry leaves- 2 strands
Salt - to taste

PROCEDURE:

• Deseed and peel the snake gourd and wash it thoroughly and finely chop it into small cubes.
• Pressure cook the chana dal with tumeric powder by using a cup of water; cook till 4 whistles.
• Once the pressure releases add the coriander powder and some salt and allow to cook in that water. It should not go mushy but it has to cook soft.
• In a blender jar add the grated coconut, green chillies, jeera and grind it as a coarse paste.
• In a separate pan cook the snake gourd with salt and very little amount of water around 1/4 cup. Close the lid and cook till soft but not mushy.
• Now add the cooked snake gourd in to the pressure cooker with the cooked dal. 
• Now add the coconut paste too and allow to cook till the raw flavour of green chillies gone.
• In a tadka pan heat some oil and add mustard seeds, fennel seeds and then curry leaves.
• Now transfer the tempering on top of the kootu and mix well and switch off the gas.

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Broccoli Paruppu Usili

Broccoli Paruppu Usili is a tasty accompaniment with rice and rasam. Broccoli tastes delicious with the dal and the fennel seeds flavour. Generally usili is prepared with the veggies like carrots or beans sometimes together. Here I have given a healthy twist to the traditional recipe. Simple yet a delicious broccoli recipe with a South Indian touch. I had half of the broccoli left over after preparing the Broccoli Potato stir fry (South Indian style) recipe. The South Indian taste from the earlier  recipe made me to create another innovative healthy dish.
 Do try my other Broccoli recipes with Indian flavours. I am sure you will like all these healthy tasty recipes.

INGREDIENTS:
Chana dal- 1/2 cup
Toor dal- 1/2 cup
dry red chillies- 3-4
Fennel seeds- 1/2 teaspoon
Jeera|cumin seeds- 1/2 teaspoon
Salt- to taste
Broccoli- 1/2 head
Oil- 2 teaspoon
Mustard seeds- 1/2 teaspoon
Curry leaves- 2 strands
Onion, chopped-1
Salt-to taste

PROCEDURE:

• Cut the broccoli florets in 3-4 to small pieces.
• Soak the chana and toor dal together for 1-2 hours in water. 
• Drain the water and add the dal inside the blender jar with dry red chillies, fennel seeds, jeera and salt; coarsely grind it.

• Heat water in a idli steamer and spread the dal mixture inside the plate; steam it for 5 minutes.
• Remove the idli plate and allow it to cool. If any lumps are formed during steaming, break and set aside.

• Heat oil in a pan and splutter mustard seeds; add curry leaves.
• Add chopped onion and cook till soft. Add the chopped broccoli with a pinch of salt and close with a lid and cook for about a minute or two till the florets almost get cooked.

• Open the lid and add the steamed dal mixture and add mix well and cook for a minute and switch off the gas.
• Note: Use blender jar to break the lumps if you find more in the dal mixture.
• You could use green chillies with onion and reduce the red chillies too.

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Aloo Jeera Recipe

Aloo Jeera recipe is quite similar to potato roast but here we add extra jeera for more flavour. This recipe is more popular in North India especially Punjab. Simple yet tasty dish for all potato lovers. It goes well with almost all curries like dal, sambar, rasam..etc. Quick to make dish in a jiffy with very limited ingredients available in our pantry.

You could freshly roast and grind the cumin and coriander seeds too for more fresh flavour. I have served here with Palak dal.

INGREDIENTS: 
Potato- 3 nos
Oil- 3 teaspoon
Jeera| cumin seeds- 1 teaspoon
Salt- to taste
Turmeric powder- 1/4 teaspoon
Red chilli powder- 1 teaspoon
Coriander powder- 1 teaspoon
Cumin powder- 1/2 teaspoon
Coriander leaves- to garnish

PROCEDURE:

• Pressure cook the potatoes for 3 whistles until they cook soft. Once they cool down peel them and cut them in to medium sized cubes or pieces.
• Heat oil in a pan and add the jeera once the aroma arises add the potato pieces with some salt.
• Toss in the oil till the potatos coats and the outer layer starts to brown.

• Now add the turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder and cumin powder and mix well and cook till the raw flavour leaves.
• Finally add the chopped coriander leaves and switch off the gas.

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Yam Fry| Senai Fry| Chena Fry

My last post was Chicken fry which goes well with almost all curries like dal, rasam and curd. This is also one such vegetarian preparation which goes well with dal, rasam and curd. Easy to make tasty spicy yam fry perfect for vegetarians. This goes well with pulao and biryanis too as a side dish.

When i posted the chicken fry recipe i have planned to post some similar recipe for vegetarians which goes well with almost all curries. So I  have decided to post my moms yam fry recipe which is spicy and tasty which we have relished in our childhood.

INGREDIENTS:
Yam/ Senai Kizhangu/ Chena- 1/2 kg
Chilli powder- 2 tablespoons
Fennel seed powder/ Perunjeeraga Podi- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons
Salt- to taste

PROCEDURE:

• Peel the yam and cut it into 1/2 inch thick big slices. Then cut each pieces into two to three medium sized pieces.

• In a pan keep the yam and add enough water to submerge and close with a lid and cook the yam. Once it is half cooked add some salt and cook further till it  get cooked 75% cooked.(If you prick with a spoon or fork it should penetrate easily)
• Drain the water and allow to cool.

• In a broad plate take the red chilli powder, fennel seed powder and salt. Mix well with some water to make a thick paste.
• Apply this marinade over the cooked yam and rest till the oil is hot.

• Heat oil in a flat tawa or pan and shallow fry or deep fry on both sides till crispy.
• Note: You could add a teaspoon of Ginger garlic paste in the marinade if you wish.

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Chicken Ularthiyathu with Coconut

Chicken Ularthiyathu| Ularthu| Olathu is a dry chicken preparation which is easy to make and a tasty preparation which goes almost with all dishes. It is a traditional Kerala preparation which is generally prepared in two ways with coconut and without. Today I am sharing with you the coconut version and the one without coconut shall be shared later on.

 I had prepared this for lunch and I made plain rice and parippu curry and papad to match with this mouthwatering chicken. You could also serve this with roti, paratha, appam, puttu, rice..etc.You could avoid using coconut in this preparation too. But the coconut adds some volume and taste to this preparation. Simple yet tasty preparation.

INGREDIENTS:

Chicken- 1.3 kg

Oil- 3 teaspoons(use coconut oil to get authentic taste)

Onion- 4 large

Ginger- 2 inch

Garlic- 10 big cloves

Coconut- 1 cup 

Turmeric powder- 1/4 teaspoon

Red chilli powder- 1 ½ tablespoons

Coriander powder- 1½ tablespoon

Pepper powder-1 teaspoon

Garam masala powder- 1 teaspoon

Fennel powder- 1 teaspoon
Cinnamon, cardamom, cloves- 2 nos

Salt- to taste

Curry leaves- 2 strands

PROCEDURE:

• Wash and cut the chicken in to small pieces and thoroughly drain the water.
• Marinate the chicken with turmeric, chilli powder, coriander powder, Pepper powder, Garam masala and fennel powder and salt; rest for 15 -30 minutes.

• Mean while take the coconut, roughly chopped onion, ginger and garlic, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves together in a blender jar; pulse twice or thrice to get a coarse paste. Make sure you coarsely grind them coarsely. I had done this in two batches to avoid over grinding. You could crush it using traditional ammikkal/ pestle and mortar. (I used in a cups measure half grated coconut and half coconut pieces for texture)
• After 30 minutes transfer the coconut mixture into the chicken and mix well with hand.

• In a wide shallow pan heat two teaspoon of oil and add the chicken; close with a lid and allow to cook for 5 minutes.
• Once the moisture from chicken oozes out open the lid and start to cook and dry the chicken by constant stirring to prevent sticking at the bottom while roasting. Drizzle little oil if required.

• Now the raw taste and the flavour of the oniuon, ginger and garlic starts to leave and gets a nice taste and flavour when the colour starts to deepen.
• The colour of the chicken masala turns orange to light brown colour;  now add the curry leaves and a teaspoon of coconut oil for flavour.

• Continue to roast the chicken it starts to turn dark brown and almost all the moisture oozes from the chicken masala.
• It is so easy except the roasting time might take 20 minutes but it's worth the taste.
• Turn off the heat and serve hot with onion rings.
• Note: You could make this same preparation with out adding coconut too.

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Spicy Fish Fingers

Earlier i have shared a fish fingers recipe which is very mild, less spicy and kids friendly recipe. That could be eaten as a starter. But this recipe is a spicy one suits perfectly with rice with any curries like rasam.

Easy to make crispy, spicy fish fingers. The crunchiness lasts for hours after frying. Perfect for this cool climate when had it with rasam and rice. Delicious fish fingers prepared in Indian style as a side dish to go with rice.

Any fish with white meat suits to make this preparation. Even kids love this with rice because of its shape, crunchy texture as well as the taste.

Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Cuisine: South Indian
Makes: 8 pieces

INGREDIENTS:
Fish, white meat, cut in to thin strips-8
Turmeric powder- 1/4 teaspoon
Chilli powder- 1 teaspoons
Pepper powder- 1/2 teaspoon
Ginger garlic paste- 1 teaspoon
Garam masala powder- 1/2 teaspoon
Salt- to taste
Lemon- 1/2 (or) tamarind juice- 1 teaspoon
Eggs-2 (or) Corn flour/ Cornstarch - 3 tablespoons
Bread crumbs- 1 cup
Oil- to deep fry

PROCEDURE:

• Cut the fish in to long thin strips without bones and skin.
• In a bowl add turmeric powder, chilli powder, ginger galic paste, garam masala powder, salt and squeeze the lemon juice.
• Add some water and mix to make a thick paste.

• Take the fish strips and apply the paste and allow to marinate for 10 -15 minutes minimum.
• Roll the marinated fish in All purpose flour or in bread crumbs to seal the masala.
• In a bowl beat the eggs (or)If you are using corn flour/ starch dissolve with some water as a thick paste.

• Then dip the strips in beaten egg(or)corn flour slurry.
• Immediately roll the strips on bread crumbs.
• Heat oil in a deep pan till hot and reduce the flame and fry the strips till golden.

• Serve hot with rice and rasam or any curries of your choice.

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Fish Fry with Semolina

Spicy Fish fry is liked by everyone generally with rice and rasam combination. Today i have come up with a tasty fish preparation could be prepared in no time and really crunchy and tasty. I am sure you love the texture of the fish. The taste of anchovies doubles when fried in this way.

This is an Andhra recipe marinated fish dipped in semolina and fried till crispy. I used to follow the same procedure to fry the King fish steaks too. Tasty crunchy flavorful fish fry.

Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Cuisine: Andhra
Serves:3-4

INGREDIENTS:
Anchovies/ Nethili, Large-250 grams (or) White meat fish- 4 pieces
Turmeric powder- 1/4 teaspoon
Chilli powder- 1 teaspoon (Add according to your spice level)
Garam masala powder- 1/4 teaspoon
Pepper powder- 1/4 teaspoon
Ginger garlic paste- 1/2 teaspoon
Lemon juice- 1/2 teaspoon
Salt- to taste
Semolina/ Sooji/ Rava- 1/4 cup

PROCEDURE:

• Clean the anchovies well remove the head with digestive system and the scales (some varieties do not have scales).
• In a bowl add the turmeric powder, red chilli powder, garam masala powder, pepper powder, ginger garlic paste, lemon juice and salt.
• Add few teaspoons of water and mix well to make a thick paste.

• Add the cleaned anchovies and spread the masala paste all over the fish and allow to marinate for 15 to 30 minutes.
• In a shallow plate spread the semolina and roll the marinated fish one by one.
• Heat oil in a pan and drop the semolina coated fish and fry them till crispy and golden.

• Fry the fish in small batches as it tends to break while turning.
• Carefully turn the fish with out disturbing the rava coating as the coating is also so delicate.
• Drain the fish from oil and keep on top of kitchen towl to absorb excess oil.
• Serve with plain rice, rasam and kootu/poriyal combination.
• Follow the same procedure if you use fish fillets to make this recipe.

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