Tuna in coconut gravy

My home town is known as the Queen of Arabian Sea. More about my place here That would probably give you an idea on the importance fish plays in our diet. Not just my town, the entire state is blessed with a wide variety of fish and we have umpteen ways of cooking it. In fact every home has a different way of making 'fish curry' which is an unavoidable part of lunch/dinner. In my home, this rule is broken only when we observe vegetarianism for some religious reasons :)

Kudampuli aka Malabar tamarind

This is the one crucial differentiating factor in traditional Kerala style fish recipes. The fruit is in yellowish green color. But the dried version is what we use in cooking. Click here to know the scientific name and little bit more.

Cabbage Thoran

I have been stuck some were up in the heights of procrastination. I cant say I ignored this blog totally. I did draft couple of posts...but was way too lazy to review them or add pics... Now I am too bored of this that I decided to get back....

Cutlets / Patties

The smell of cutlets always remind me of my dearest friends...all the times we have spent in canteen... be it college or office... Cutlets taste best with some ketchup, hot tea/coffee and at least one friend :)

The pic on left is chicken cutlet. 

Kheema fry

Kheema or Keema or Qeema is minced meat. I have this strange inhibition... I have tried so many times to buy minced meat from a shop... But something stops me... I always end up mincing it myself...

The picture you see on the right is beef keema fry. I have tried the same recipe with fish and fish roe. Fried keema can be used as a dry side. This also happens to be the step one of many other recipes

Mango Banana Cherry

Mangoes, bananas and cherries... Oh all so good... :)

Wonder what happens if you blend three awesome fruits!!!

Well I decided to try it out and it turned out soo good...

So dont just wonder... try out the below recipe...

Replacing the cherry with red grapes is also a good option. I liked cherry better cos it gave a red tint :)

Vegetable stew

This one is my patriotic curry ;) It has the national colors of India :D... okay.. minus the blue

I always wanted to make this look whiter... But carrot gets in the way... Once i tried cooking carrot separately and then added to the stew...but taste suffered... :( Any battle between taste and UI (user interface... or in other words the appearance..) of food is won by taste...

Spicy Shrimp Fry

Last night, we had a sudden craving for shrimp fry and dint want to do any deep frying...

The solution : bring in the onions 

And the result : on your left :) 

Shrimp is something that was consumed very scarcely at home...they are known to boost allergies... Even today we are very mindful of the quantity of shrimp we consume. 

Mampazha Pulissery - Mangoes in yogurt sauce

Chandrakaran is a variety of mango that used to be available in south India. I have not seen them in years... I dont mean to suggest that they are extinct... hope not... Dont know the scientific name or for that matter any other name of this variety. They were small...smaller than apples...was one of the most aromatic varieties in mangoes...skin was thicker than other varieties... but inside was pulpy... This variety was not sliced, but the pulp was sucked out by making a small bite on its skin...much like sipping without a straw... 

Cloves

The cute little flower buds with a lot of medicinal powers. An important part of Indian cuisine. 

Also known as:
Grambu, Karayambu in Malayalam

Green peas pulao

Simply put, pulao is flavoured rice. Depending on what kind of spices are used, it would fall under more specific categories of Mediterranean or Asian cuisine. Does that really matter??? I doubt.

I am tagging this under Indian cuisine as I use garam masala. Of all the pulaos, this one is super simple, has a wonderful flavor,  and takes about 15 mins in all... A wonderful combination that makes me smile :)   

Broken wheat upma

Traditionally, upma falls into the category of  south Indian breakfasts... For me, these fall into light lunch/dinner or a heavy snack... You can spice them up with your favourite pickle, or mix with raitha or have them as is...

Broken wheat

This is also called cracked wheat and is considered to be much healthier than rava, sooji, semolina etc.
Payasam (a dessert) made of broken wheat is a festival food back home and is one of my favourites...

Also known as:
Gothambu nurukku in Malayalam

Cardamom

Known as the 'Queen of Spices' ... Very versatile and aromatic... And surely lives up to that nick name...
I would have gladly called this one the mother of all spices... after all it has a mom in its name... :D

Also known as :
Elaichi
Elam or Elakka in Malayalam

Cumin seeds

This one is used mostly with vegetarian dishes.. hence I call it the vegetarian jeerakam... This one helps prevent gas and so is part of most bean recipes... If the recipe does not add it, my dad used to ensure that we all ate a pinch of this one after the meal...We even get a sugar coated version of this one called 'jeeraka mithai'.. they were really cute, looking like tiny eggs :)

Also known as:
Jeerakam in Malayalam

Mustard seeds

This was a 'handle with care' spice at home... My grandmother had convinced all of us kids that spilling this is a bad omen and will result in a fight in the family... :) We never kept track of the  spills or the fights...
This is a prime ingredient for most of the seasonings in Indian cuisine. 

Also known as:
Kaduku in Malayalam

Shallots

As a kid i thought these were just baby onions... :) 
Some of the recipes absolutely need these... And its used in many home remedies....

Also known as:
Kochulli or chuvanna ulli in Malayalam

Jaggery

There are two main varieties of jaggery as far as i know... One is made from raw sugarcane juice and the other from coconut / palm tree... 
Both these varieties differ in color, texture and taste... The sugarcane version is preferred for cooking... As kids we were allowed to eat the coconut palm version in limited amounts... 


I have seen a paler version of this, but that turned out to be way too salty... Sugarcane jaggery is usually melted, strained and only then used... While melting, use minimal amount of water...

Green gram

One can do so many things with this tiny tiny bean... 


Also known as:

Moong (Mung) bean
Cheru payar / Pachapayar in Malayalam

Curry leaves

These are an indispensable part of any mallu kitchen... They belong to the family of neems and is known for their medicinal values... But i love them for their flavour... 

Also known as:
Curry veppila in Malayalam

Red Chilli

These ones are really spicy... 

Also known as
Vattal Mulaku in Malayalam

Green Chilli

These are small in size and moderately spicy... 

Also known as:
Pachamulaku in Malayalam

Sughiyan - A green gram sweet

Yesterday while carrying out my periodic inspections on pantry, I found two balls of jaggery.... and I just had to use it... I looove most of the things sweet... And my darling hubby is a great fan of deep fried snacks... 
First combination that came to my mind was that of sughiyan... sweet and deep fried... :) Decision was made... 

Cheera Thoran - Spinach Kerala style

Cheera is a Malayalam word used to denote most of the leafy vegetables ...  The one used in this recipe is a variety of Spinach, predominantly green with some red highlights... 


There are two other very similar versions of this variety of spinach... one is completely green and the other is red (not exactly red... beetroot-ish color)...