Pongal

Recently read an article which said that Keralites are now eating more carb than protein. I think one is consuming more quantity of rice and have almost discarded vegetable preparations like curry, thoran and mezhukkuparatty. Even the breakfast like puttu used to be more of kadala curry or payar thoran. Carbohydrates are essential but protein is needed too. This brings me to my recipe : Pongal. It is a late entrant to my kitchen and I am regretting the same since it is so easy to prepare this tasty and nutritious item. Though I have tasted pongal before it was only when my colleague prepared and shared it along with the recipe that I realized it is an easy and tasty one. Recently I had pongal from the Saravana outlet here in Kuwait and found that mine is not that bad! Think there are different ways to prepare pongal but this is a basic recipe.

Pongal

Ingredients

1.      Rice – ½ cup

2.      Split Moong Dal – ½ cup

3.      Water – 3 cups

4.      Jeera(whole or crushed) – 1 tspn

5.      Pepper (whole or crushed) – 1 tspn

6.      Curry leaves – a bunch

7.      Ghee or oil for frying (the more the better)

Cook rice and dal with enough salt in a pressure cooker for two whistles or boil until it is well cooked. Meanwhile take a pan and heat ghee. Add jeera, pepper and curry leaves. Fry them until the jeera is browned. (You can add green chilly and ginger like upuma, but am yet to try it) Add this to the cooked rice and dal and mix well. It is ready to eat!

You can also fry cashew nuts for the extra crunch.

Green Gram Dosa/ Pesarattu

Have no idea if this is an authentic recipe(found different versions online) since I have tasted this dosa only from my own kitchen. But it is an easy one and nutritious too and also while the normal/sadha dosa needs overnight fermentation, this one needs no such long term planning. The other day I returned from work and only then remembered this recipe. Since most recipes ask for 6-8 hours of soaking I used water that was slightly hot. (The tap water is hot enough out here currently). I left it thus for more than an hour and then grinded it. Since it is just two of us right now, the batter was enough for dinner and for breakfast the next day.

Ingredients

1. Green Gram Dal - 1 cup
2. Raw Rice - 2 Tbsp. (I have used both rice and rice powder)
3. Ginger - 2 inch piece
4. Green Chilly - 3 nos.
5. Cumin - 2 tsp.
6. Onion - 3 nos. (you can either grind it or cut it into small pieces)
7. Salt - to taste

Method

Wash and soak the rice and dal either overnight or for minimum 2 hours. Grind it smoothly along with ginger, green chilly and onions. Add enough water while grinding to reach the right consistency of dosa. Add enough salt and the batter is ready to be made into dosas. It comes out as thin and crispy like normal dosas and can be had with chutney/sambar. One can also add finely cut coriander leaves for extra flavor.

 

Mumbai Street Sandwich

Since I am yet to taste the same from Mumbai, thought I shall try and make it myself. It is a very healthy sandwich and one can make it even more healthier by substituting brown bread for white. Since ours is an "egg loving" family, I could not avoid it! But what is a healthy breakfast without an egg? Wink! Actually eggs were not a daily affair while growing up. It only became an everyday affair after I got married to an egg crazy individual. Initially I tried to cut down on it but then I realized that it is not an easy job. But those having cholesterol might as well restrict the intake of eggs. For the time being both me and hubby have kept this fiend at the border. 

Eggs can also satiate your hunger. Recently I cut down on eggs to reduce my weight and realized that I was hungrier and always managed to find something to quell it. The result was that I gained weight. Now I am back to eating eggs. Hubby always cites the example of his grandfather who lived (in Kuttanadu) to a ripe age and for whom one or more duck's egg was a must. Guess the duck's egg is healthier than the hen's since it is able to find a whole range of healthy food either in the rice fields or in the backwaters of Kerala. Unlike earlier, the eggs that we get now is that of the broiler chicken fed in captivity.

I adapted the recipe from Spicy Cookery. 

Mumbai Street Sandwich

Ingredients:

• Bread slices – 4nos
• Tomato – 1no (cut into rings)
• Onion – 1no (cut into rings)
• Potato – 1no (cooked & cut into rings)
• Coriander chutney – 4tbsp
• Eggs - 2 cut into rounds (optional)

Coriander Chutney

Ingredients:

• Coriander/ Dhaniya leaves – 1/4 cup

• Grated coconut – 1/2 cup

• Green Chilies – 1 nos

• Ginger – small piece 

• Small onion/ shallots/ cheruulli – 2 nos

• Curd - 1 Tbs  (optional, I used this instead of water to grind)

• Salt – as per taste.

Method:

• Wash the coriander leaves thoroughly. Don’t remove the stems.

• In a mixer, grind all the above ingredients except coriander leaves to fine paste.

• Then add coriander leaves to it & grind properly. 

• Coriander chutney is ready to serve. Preserve the chutney in refrigerator in an air tight container.

 Method:

• Cut sides of the bread slices (4slices). Spread coriander chutney 1tbsp on inner side of 1 bread slice.
• Place 2pieces of onion rings, 2pieces of tomato rings and 2pieces of cooked potato rings and egg pieces over spread coriander chutney.
• Take the 2nd bread slice. Spread coriander chutney 1tbsp on one side of bread slice.
• Place the spread coriander chutney part of bread slice over the vegetables.
• Place it in a toaster & toast bread till both sides of the bread slice turns slightly brown in color or on a pan until both sides are slightly browned.

Braided Bread

I ventured into bread making only recently since I thought it was time consuming, but soon I realized that it was easier than making chapatis! Braided bread lets you have some great fillings and you can get away with some salads to accompany it. The shapes are yet evolve but the taste was fine :)

Braided Bread

Ingredients

1. Flour - 3 cups ( I used 2 cups of all purpose flour and 1 cup wheat flour)
2. Yeast - 2 tspns
3. Milk - 1/2 cup
4- Butter - 2 Tbspn
5. Egg - 2 nos. (optional for vegetarians)
6. Brown sugar - 1 Tbspn
7. Salt - 1/2 tspn


For the filling

1- Onion - 1 sliced finely
2. Garlic - 5 cloves, sliced finely
3. Cheese - any kind ( I used Cream cheese)
4. Mix of herbs - 1/4 tspn each ( I used Oregon, Dill, Methi, Rosemary etc)
5. Tomato paste - 2 tbsn

Method

Warm the milk with butter and dissolve the yeast and sugar in it Leave it until yeast froths. Whisk the eggs into the milk mixture and pour the milk and eggs into the flour and stir with a large spoon, dough whisk, or spatula. If you are using a stand mixer, knead on low for a few minutes, adding flour as needed.

Place the dough in an oiled bowl and make sure to coat the dough with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise until doubled in size, about 60 minutes.

Meanwhile stir the onion and garlic in butter or olive oil until brown. Add the herbs and the tomato paste. Leave it aside.

Punch down dough and divide into 4 parts. On a lightly floured mat roll each part as thin as you can and spread the mix. You can either spread the cheese before spreading the filling or mix the cheese with the filling.Now roll each third into a 15-inch rope. Optionally one can cut each rope through the centre but not right through.  Line a baking sheet with parchment and lay 3 ropes on parchment. Braid loosely, pinch ends and tucker under to seal. Cover and let rise in a warm place until very puffy, about 30-45 minutes. Mix 1 tsp water with the tablespoon of reserved egg and brush over braid. Bake at 400F for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely before cutting.

The fourth roll can be made thus:

Roll the dough to half inch thickness and cut the sides. After spreading the filling, you can braid it. It is very easy!

Healthy and quick breakfast with steamed Plantain

I normally make a lavish breakfast on holidays since I have enough time to do so. But last Friday since we wanted to go out for some shopping, I settled for a quick but healthy breakfast.

Plantain as you may know is a very healthy fruit and is prepared in many ways while raw and ripe. While raw it is used in stir fries and curries and when ripe it is eaten thus or made into fritters. 

Plantain is rich in carbohydrate, Potassium and Vitamin A. Eating a medium plantain provides your body with 2,017 international units of vitamin A, corresponding to 86 percent of the recommended intake for women and 67 percent of the intake for men, according to the Linus Pauling Institute. 

http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/nutrients-plantains-have-3250.html

Nutritional Value of Plantain

According to the USDA nutrient database, 100g of raw* plantain contains the following values:

116kcal

31.2g Carbohydrate

2.3g Fiber (9% RDI)

.2g Fat (neg)

.8g Protein (2% RDI)

909 IU Vitamin A (18% RDI)

10.9mg Vitamin C (18% RDI)

Thiamin (3% RDI)

.1mg Riboflavin (3% RDI)

.8mg Niacin (4% RDI)

.2mg Vitamin B6 (12% RDI)

26mcg Folate (6% RDI)

.2mg Pantothenic Acid (2% RDI)

.6mg Iron (3% RDI)

37mg Magnesium (9% RDI)

34mg Phosphoous (3% RDI)

499mg Potassium (14% RDI)

.1mg Copper (4% RDI)

1.5mcg Selenium (2% RDI)

http://theindianvegan.blogspot.com/2013/03/all-about-plantain-in-india.html

I have also heard that one plantain equals 2 eggs and is a good substitute for vegetarians.

Anyway this is a simple recipe with plantain.

Healthy and quick breakfast with steamed Plantain

Ingredients:

1. Plantains - as many as you have on hand

2. Shredded coconut   - 1 Tbspn for each plantain

3. Ghee/Butter - enough to drizzle

4. Sugar - optional

Method

Cut the ends of the plantains and also make a cut at the centre of each plantain: just enough and not entirely through. Steam them with skin on until the skin bursts through. This ensures that it is cooked right. Split the plantains and drizzle ghee or apply butter (optional). Spread the shredded coconuts and serve!

Appam - Lace Hoppers made with Rice and Wheat

Appam in Kerala can trace it's origin to the Syrian Christians. It may have been brought over by the Jews and the original appam may have changed over the years.

There are two kinds of Appam, depending on the amount of coconut and the way it is cooked. Palappam and Vellayappam. The  Palappam requires less coconut and has the lacy outer appearance. It uses coconut milk and is also called kallappam if Toddy is used. Since unadulterated toddy is hard to get in Kerala these days and not at all here in Gulf :), one always substitute yeast for toddy.

The Vellayappam requires more coconut and is made thicker. It is made with coconut ground coarsely. The more coconut you use the more tastier. While I scrimp on coconut, my MIL is lavish with it since she needs only to use the coconut in her backyard! Palappam needs more time if you have only one "Chatti" while if you have a big non stick pan you can make more than one Vellayappam. If you have holes popping up when you pour the mix then you can be sure that the fermentation is right and your appam is going to behave well :)

The batter when it has almost doubled:

Both the appams can be eaten with curries like chicken/mutton/vegetable stew or the kadala curry. No Easter or Christmas morning is complete without the appam and this tradition is still carried out in most households. 

These days it is possible to buy the instant appam mixes and some of them are good.

The traditional Appam Chatti is made of iron. If the vessel is good, it behaves just like your non stick pan and needs no oil. But in case your appam sticks, you can rub a cut onion or potato or fry an egg :) 

The traditional appam chatti made of iron

Palappam

Now for the recipes:

(Palappam) Appam made with rice 

Ingredients:

1. Raw rice / Pachari– 3 cup (you can also use basmati rice of any variety)

2. Coconut - 1 1/2 cup or Coconut Milk 1 1/2 cups
 

3. Boiled Rice - 1 1/2 cup

4. Salt to taste

5. Sugar-3 tblspn

6. Yeast -1/2 to 1 tsp

7. Water as needed

Method

Wash the rice well and soak it for around 3 hours. Grind this along with coconut and boiled rice. Meanwhile let the yeast rise in warm water mixed with sugar. Alternatively you can skip this step and grind the yeast along with the rice. Leave the mixture covered overnight for fermentation. Make sure you select a vessel that can hold the mix when it may double up.

Instead of grinding boiled rice you can also take a cup of water and add 2 or 3 spoons of rice powder to it and boil it until it becomes thick. This can be added to the ground rice. One can also use Kallu or Toddy instead of yeast.

Before the entry of non stick pans, appam was made in iron tava with a dip in the centre. If you are using the iron tava, make sure to rub the tava with a little vegetable oil before making each appam. A non stick tava do not need any oil. 

For making appam, a ladle of mix is poured and the tava is slowly turned around to make the lacy outer. This is left for slow cooking while covered. Excess mix will settle in the center to provide the puffy look. 

One can also make the appam with rice powder and coconut milk. The rest of the ingredients will remain the same. For 3 cups of rice powder you may add 1 and 1/2 cup of coconut milk. If you are using the instant powder: 2 Tbspn powder mixed with 1 cup of warm water equals one cup of coconut milk.

Now for the Appam with Wheat

Appam made with wheat powder

Just trying a different shape!

1. Wheat powder - 2 cup

2. Milk - 2 Tbspn

3. Yeast - 1/2 tspn

4. Sugar - 3 Tbspn

5. Coconut milk - 1/4 cup or more (coconut increases the softness and taste)

6. Salt as required

Mix the above and leave it for fermentation overnight. Make appam as earlier mentioned.

Vellayappam 

Ingredients:

1. Raw rice / Pachari– 3 cup (you can also use basmati rice of any variety)

2. Coconut- 1& 1/2 cup (more if you have!)

3. Boiled Rice -  1& 1/2 cup

4. Salt to taste

5. Sugar-3 tblspn

6. Yeast -1 tsp

7. Water as needed

Method

Wash the rice well and soak it for around 3 hours. Grind the rice and when it is half way through, grind coconut and boiled rice. Meanwhile let the yeast rise in warm water mixed with sugar. Alternatively you can skip this step and grind the yeast along with the rice. Leave the mixture covered overnight for fermentation. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Only recently I discovered that one can entirely skip the boiled rice or boiled rice powder. Earlier when rice was pounded at home, the sieving of the powdered flour always left some residue (തരി). The homemakers may have incorporated this into the mix by adding water and boiling it instead of wasting it. ( കപ്പി കാച്ചുക ). Hence if you have slightly roasted rice powder, making appam is a very easy job. Just mix it with enough coconut powder or ground coconut depending on the appam you want, along with enough yeast and leave it for fermentation.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A bit of history!

Am reading Wilbur Smith's Seventh Scroll and that is when I came across something similar to appam the Injera bread! Upon checking the recipe I find that it is almost similar except for the addition of coconut. So I guess appam must have it's origin in Africa (Ethiopia)! Here is a picture of Injera bread. 

The Injera bread uses the teff flour. It is a flour made with the smallest grain on earth and it seems it is grown in India too. It looks like rice or wheat.

Puri and an Easy Potato Curry

It is not everyday that I let my household indulge in puri. But it is a favourite and the easiest curry that you can make with it is the potato curry.

Now if one asks me which is the best puri that you have indulged in, then there is one answer.. those from the Indian Coffee House! Ahh... how many of you have tasted it? As children, during our long trips to Mavelikara or Trivandrum, a stop at Changanacherry Coffee House was a must. Recently I relived the memories by stopping at Ponkunnam Coffee House. The potato curry still tastes the same. The one I make at home "almost" tastes similar but without the beetroot, the riot of color is missing. I learned this recipe from my MIL who picked it up during her stay in the once thriving township of Gwalior Rayons at Mavoor, Calicut. The township housed Indians from all over the country and hence there was variety in the cuisine. Since it tasted similar to the one at the Indian Coffee House and was an easy one, I have never tried the one my Mother makes at home. She always makes the drier version which is also similar to the Masala Dosa filling. This potato curry is very easy. All you need is to chop, chop, chop and put, put, put everything into a vessel with enough water. There is no sauteing and meanwhile you can prepare the puri for frying.

Since Puri Recipe is common, I am only going to give you a link to another site.

Potato Curry

Ingredients

1. Potato - 4 medium ones, chopped into pieces
2. Big onions - 2 Nos. - finely chopped
3. Green Chilly - 3 or 4 depending on your taste, sliced lengthwise
4. Ginger - 1/2 inch - finely chopped
5. Tomato - 2 nos. - chopped into small pieces
6. Mustard - 1/2 tspn
7. Small Onions - 4-5 finely sliced
8. Red Chilly - 1
9. Curry leaves - a few
10. Coriander leaves - a small bunch

Method

Put all the items from 1-5 into a vessel and pour enough water to cover the potatoes. Once it starts boiling, add enough salt and lower the flame. When potato is cooked, add the coriander leaves and lightly mash a few pieces of potato to make the curry thick. Switch off the flame and in another pan splutter mustard seeds in 2 tbspn of oil. Add the red chilly, onions and curry leaves and fry until the onions are browned. Pour this over the curry and enjoy!

Upuma

Upuma became notorious in Kerala when it got served in government schools as part of the mid-day meals.          The midday meals first started in year 1941 with rice/Kanji. While the upuma was loved by many, it was also hated by those who craved for a meal with rice. How can a Keralite forgo rice? At present I hear that a full course meal is being supplied. Anyway, coming back to the recipe, Upama is the easiest but a nutritious breakfast that one can prepare in a jiffy. It can be prepared in a variety of ways and not only with semolina. One can add vegetables to make it even more healthy. The following is the Upama I cooked this morning.

Upuma

Ingredient

1. Semolina - 2 Cups
2. Green Chilly  - 2 Nos. - chopped
3. Ginger - a small piece - chopped
4. Onion - 1 Nos. chopped finely
5. Coconut - 2 Tbspn - scraped
6. Red chilly - 1 Nos. - broken
7. Mustard - 1/2 tspn
8. Curry leaves - a few
9. Coriander leaves - a small bunch
10. Water - 4 cups or a little more

Method

One needs to roast the semolina first. These days you get the roasted semolina from the market so no pain. But depending on your taste, one may have to roast it further if you want the upama not to be mushy. The more it is roasted, the more dry it will be. I make both ways since the kids love it mushy; easy to gulp!

Heat 2 tbspn of oil and let the mustard splutter. Add the red chilly and after a few seconds add the chopped onion. Let it brown. Now add the chopped ginger, green chilly & curry leaves and fry them for a while. Add water and scraped coconut. At this time one can also add chopped vegetable if you are making vegetable upuma. Wait for it to boil well. Add coriander leaves. Reduce the flame and slowly add the roasted semolina. Stir it well and close the lid to let the semolina absorb water. Enjoy!

Puttu or Steamed Rice Cake

Puttu or Kerala’s own steamed rice cake is easy to make. All you need is roasted rice powder and a bit of scraped coconut. 

My memory of puttu making takes me yet again to Trivandrum and to my maternal grandmother. Until the end of 80’s most middle class families in Kerala were self sufficient when it came to milk, egg and vegetables. Each family had one or two cows, a few hens and a vegetable garden. At my grandmother’s place, if it was puttu for breakfast, she could be seen supervising the milking man and her maid while her hand would be busy kneading the puttu dough. She had no time to spare so wherever she went, the vessel accompanied her. She would exchange a bit of gossip with the milking man who comes early in the morning, scold her maid and also try to coax my grandfather to get some fresh fish. Oh! how I miss her still! 

I tried my hand at puttu making only after I got married. All along I thought the secret of a good puttu was to make the dough lump free but that was laid to rest by my FIL. He taught me another secret too, while trying to eat the dry puttu that I had painstakingly made for him. He said it does not have enough water and the secret to gauge it is to take the dough in your palm and press it. If it stays together, then it is done, else you need to add water. Thank you Achaya!

But here in Kuwait all I need is my food processor and the right amount of water. My hands don’t even have to touch the rice powder! Anyway, here’s my puttu made with the smallest puttu maker. More common is the longer ones. Earlier they used to be made with bamboo too.

Puttu or Steamed Rice Cake

Ingredients

1.      Lightly Roasted Rice – 2 cups

2.      Water – ¾ cup

3.      Salt – ½ tspn

4.      Coconut – as per your taste

Knead the dough by adding water in small quantities. Don’t forget to add salt! As I said earlier, you can test the dough by pressing it in your palms. Try to get rid of as much as the lumps to get a smooth puttu or else it will turn out like the puttu provided in school and college hostels! One would need lots of curries or tea to swallow the puttu.

Method

Take the puttu steamer and out a Tspn of coconut. Fill the dough until the brim and top it with more coconut. Once the steam starts coming from the top, wait for 2 minutes and transfer it into a plate. 

Continue this process until you finish the dough. Puttu can be eaten with banana or with curries like black channa or egg roast.

Kerala's Puttu is similar to Assam's Pitha. If you don't have the puttu maker you can steam puttu using a good cloth which is steamed over a narrow necked vessel. Hop over to the following blog to get a better look!

Oroti

Oroti could be the cousin of the more popular Akki Roti. Akki Roti is spicier but the method used for both is similar.

Ingredient

1.      Rice Powder – 2 cups

2.      Boiling Water – 2 Cups

3.      Shredded Coconut – ¼ Cup

4.      Salt to taste

 

Method

 Pour the boiling water over the rice flour and add salt and coconut. Mix it with a spoon and let it cool down enough so that it can be kneaded with the hands. Divide the dough into equal balls and press each down on an oiled surface.

It can also be pressed down on the tava itself. Wet your hands occasionally to make it easier. Place each roti on the tava and close it with a lid. Wait for a few minutes and turn it over. Close it with the lid again.

After a few minutes you can take the lid off and let it get crispy. Since this will take some time, one can have more tava’s if you can spare.


You can have this roti with no accompaniments or like me you can have it with an egg roast.