Let’s see how to make the simple curd rice.

Ingredients:

Cooked rice – 1 cup
Cooking oil – 1 tbsp
Curd – 3 tbsp
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Split black lentil (urad dal) – 1 tsp
Ginger – 1/2 inch piece
Curd chilly/slit green chillies – 2
Curry leaves – 1 stalk
Chopped coriander leaves – 2 tbsp
Salt to taste

Preparation Time: 5 mins.
Cooking Time: 2 mins.

Method:

Pour oil on to a pan and put mustard seeds and split black lentil. Add slit green chillies or curd chillies. Chop the ginger finely and add to the oil after the mustard seeds splutter and split black lentil and chillies turns brown. Add curry leaves as well. Sauté until ginger pieces are cooked. Add cooked rice and stir well. (If you are using leftover rice from the fridge, you can cook the rice for 3 mins). Cook for a minute and turn off the fire. Sprinkle finely chopped coriander leaves. Let it cool for a minute. Add curd and mix well. You can add chopped cucumber pieces to the curd rice and make it healthier. If you won’t have the curd rice immediately, use half the amount of curd and mix some milk along with the curd and rice. This ensures that the curd rice doesn’t become too sour by the time you eat.

Serve with hot appalams (Madrasi papad) and fried curd chillies (Spicy green chillies slit and marinated in sour salted buttermilk and sun dried. Available in South Indian stores.)  and mango or lime pickle. Describing this is making me salivate!

Ingredients:
Dry ginger (crushed): 1 piece
Jaggery: 1 rectangular piece (as needed)
Tulsi leaves – 4-5
Peppercorns (crushed) – 1/2 tsp
Elaichi (crushed) – 1/2 tsp
Water – 1 glass
Coffee powder: 1/2 tsp (optional)

Method:
Boil the glass of water and melt jaggery in it. Add the dry ginger, tulsi leaves, peppercorns, coffee powder, and elaichi and let it boil for 2 minutes. Strain and serve piping hot.

This concoction tastes as good or better even without the coffee powder. So those of you who are conscious of caffeine intake can do away with the coffee powder.

Gently sip in and the sweetness hits you first. As you gulp it down the throat, the heat and spiciness hits you! Thats why it’s a coffee with an interesting twist. Gives you good relief if you have a sore throat and blocked nose. Do give it a try before the monsoons fade away.

Making a sweet jackfruit dosa is really simple. Grind a few jackfruit pieces along with soaked raw rice and jaggery. Make dosas crisp at the edges by sprinkling some ghee and they are yummilicious! so here we go:

Ingredients:
For grinding:
Jackfruit pieces: 1 cup
Raw rice soaked in water for 2 hours: 2 cups
Jaggery: 1 cup
Elaichi: 2 pods

While making dosa:
Ghee – 1 tbsp

Method:
Grind the jackfruit pieces along with raw rice, jaggery, and elaichi into a fine paste. Add sufficient water to get a normal dosa consistency.

Heat a dosa tawa in medium flame. A non-stick tawa would be ideal. When the tawa is adequately hot, lower the flame and spread half a teaspoon ghee on the tawa. Pour a ladle full of sweet dosa batter on to the tawa. Do not spread because the thinner the dosa, the more the chances of it sticking to the tawa. Cook in low flame. The sweetness of the dosa might cause it to stick to the tawa. Cook in low flame to avoid this. After a minute or so when you see the sides getting brown, pour some ghee on the dosa, and gently flip the dosa using a spatula. Cook for a minute. Remove from tawa and serve.

I feel that Keralites have the most varieties of recipes using jackfruit, both sweet and unripe. Do write to me if any of you know some unique jackfruit recipes. You know i am a die-hard jackfruit lover.

Ingredients:
Spinach/cheera/keerai/palak – a bunch
Tur dal – 1 cup
Water – 2 cups
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Salt – to taste
Coconut oil – 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

To grind:
Grated coconut – one cup
Cumin seeds – 1/2 tsp
Urad dal – 1 tsp
Dry red chillies – 3 or 4
Shallots* – 1-2

Alternatives:
Shallots is an optional ingredient.

Method:
Clean the dal, add water, and pressure cook. Mash and keep aside.

In a wok, add few drops of oil and add urad dal. Roast the dal and then add the dry red chillies. Turn off the fire and keep aside.

Wash, clean, and chop the spinach. In a wok, cook the spinach with water and some turmeric powder.

Close with a lid while cooking. This will ensure that the nutrients are not lost while cooking. Cook in medium fire for not more than 5 mins. When the spinach is cooked, add the mashed dal into the spinach, mix well, and cook for 2 mins.

In a mixer, grind the grated coconut, cumin seeds, shallots, and the roasted urad dal and red chillies.

Add this ground paste to the spinach and dal in the wok. Add salt, mix well, and cook for 2 mins and turn off.

Crackle mustard seeds in some oil and add that to the cooked spinach and dal. Cheera moloshyam is ready. Serve with rice.

Notes:
An alternative to adding the ground coconut, roasted dal, and red chilly paste is to add finely chopped onions sautéd in oil.

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Ingredients:
Parboiled Rice- 2 cups
Coconut grated- 1 cup
Salt to taste
Red chillies (curd chillies) – 2-3
Curry leaves- 2-3 stalks
Mustard seeds- 1/2 tbsp
Chana dal- 1/2 tbsp
Urad dal- 1/2 tbsp

Preparation Time (for batter): 10 min
Cooking Time: 5 min

Method:
Soak the rice in water for 2-3 hrs. Drain the water & grind the rice in a mixer to make a coarse paste. Add very little water while grinding. The batter should not be watery. To the coarsely ground batter, add salt and grated coconut. Mix well.

Heat oil in a thick wok, add mustard seeds, urad dal, and chana dal. If you are using curd chillies, add it along with the mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds crackle, add red chillies and curry leaves. Pour the batter to this and keep stirring. The heat should be medium. Keep stirring until the watery batter turns to a thick dough. Turn off the fire.

When the mixture cools, make small round balls double the size of a lemon and place in an idli stand. Put the idli stand with the rice balls in a steamer and steam for 15 mins. Turn off and kozhukkattai is ready to be served with sambhar or chutney.

List of accompaniments:
Can be served with sambhar or chutney. You can have it with sugar too.

Health Benefits/Alerts:
You can make the dough and store in the fridge overnight and make the kozhukattai the next day.

Skill Level:
Medium

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Ingredients:
To Soak:
Raw rice – 2 cups

At the time of grinding the batter:
Grated coconut – 1/2 cup
Cumin seeds (Jeera) – 1 tsp
Salt

After grinding the batter:
Drumstick leaves– 2 cups
Gingely oil – 2 tablespoons

Preparation Time (for batter): 10 min
Cooking Time: 5 min

Method:
Wash and soak the raw rice for 4-5 hours. Grind the rice along with the cumin seeds and grated coconut. The batter should be smooth and neither too thin nor thick. Add enough water to the batter to get a spread-able consistency. Clean the drumstick leaves and add it to the batter. Add the required amount of salt. Mix well.

Heat girdle and pour about a full ladle of batter on to the griddle. Spread the batter around carefully using the bottom of the ladle.

Close the dosa with a lid. The fire should be on medium.

Remove the lid after about 40 seconds to a minute.

Pour 1/2 tsp oil around the dosa and flip it over. The dosa does not need to be closed with the lid now. Let it cook for about 30 seconds. Serve hot directly onto the plate!

List of accompaniments:
This tasty dosa can be served with sambhar or chutney.

Health Benefits/Alerts:
You can store this batter in the fridge for 2-3 days.

This is a very healthy diet and tastes great even when cold. This is a great way to intake drumstick leaves. Drumstick leaves have high medicinal value and is beneficial in treating many ailments. They are rich iron content and contain seven times more vitamin C than oranges! Spreading this dosa on the girdle can be a little tricky and needs some expertise.

Skill Level:
Medium

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There are various types of sambar and different styles of making it. This is a simpler version, which can be made even if you do not have whole ingredients or a ready-made sambar powder but turns out equally tasty. Try it!

Ingredients:

Toor dal – 1 cup

Drumstick – 2

Malabar cucumber/ash gourd – 100 gms

Potatoes – 2

Tomatoes – 2

Lady’s finger – 6-8

Tamarind – a lime-sized ball

Curry leaves – 2 stalks

Coriander leaves – 1 tbsp chopped

Salt to taste

Water – 3-4 cups

For seasoning:

Coriander powder – 2 table spoons

Asafetida – 1/4 tea spoon

Red chilly powder – 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds – 1/4 tea spoon

Methi(fenugreek) seeds – 1/4 tea spoon

Oil – 1 tsp

Preparation Time: 15 mins.

Cooking Time: 20 mins.

Method:

Wash toor dal and add some turmeric powder and pressure cook it. Mash the dal and keep it aside.

Soak the tamarind in warm water and extract the juice.

Wash, peel, and cut the vegetables in 1/2 inch sized cubes. Put all the vegetables except tomato in a vessel. Add enough water to cover all the vegetables and a pinch of turmeric powder and cook. When the vegetables are cooked, add the tamarind paste and add tomatoes. Cook for 2 minutes. Add the cooked dal to this mixture. Add salt and mix boil for 2 minutes. Add more water if needed.

Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard and methi seeds. When they crackle, add coriander powder, red chilly powder, asofetida. Take care to not burn the powders. Add half a glass of water and cook this mixture for 2 minutes. Instead of adding these powders, you can buy sambar powder from the market and add 2 tbsps of that. Add this to the vegetables. Add curry leaves and chopped coriander leaves and garnish. Hot sambhar is ready.

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Ingredients:

Paneer – 200 gms

Curd – 100 gms

Peppercorns – 20-25 nos (or pepper powder 1 tsp)

Ginger garlic paste – 1 tbsp

Dry basil – 1 tsp

Salt – 1 tea spoon or to taste.

Capsicum – 1 medium size

Oil – 1-2 tbsp

Resting Time (for the marinate): 30 mins.

Cooking Time: 15 min.

Method:

Mix the curd with ginger garlic paste, crushed peppercorns, basil, and salt. Cut paneer into 1-inch squares around half a centimeter thick and put in the curd mixture.

Marinate for half an hour. Cut the Capsicum in square pieces. Pour oil in a pan and place the paneer pieces in the oil and pour the remaining marinate on to the pan. Cook in low fire. Flip over the paneer pieces one by one after 2-3 minutes.

Cook for 2 minutes until the edges are crisp. Take Out the Paneer pieces and place in the serving dish. Place the capsicum pieces on the pan and cook for around 2 minutes. Take out and place in the serving dish. Its a great starter.

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Ingredients for Idiappam:

Rice flour (Idiappam powder/finely powdered raw rice)- 2 cups

Water – 1 cup

Salt – to taste

Grated Coconut – 1/2 a cup

Ghee – 1 tsp

Method:

Take the rice flour in a pan. Boil one cup water, add salt, and pour the boiling water in small quantities to the rice flour to make a smooth and soft dough. The dough should be firm and tight. A loose dough will be unwieldy.

Take an idli tray and lightly grease the idli grooves with ghee. Take a portion of the dough and fill in a sev maker. Use the plate with the smallest holes in the sev maker. Close the lid and move the handle in circular motions. You can see rice noodles coming out of the sev maker. Ensure that the noodles coming out of the sev maker fall into the idli groove. Move your hands in circular motion so that the noodles are evenly spread out. Make a thin layer of noodles first, add the freshly grated coconut, and then make another layer of noodles. Fill all the idli grooves with such small-sized noodles.

Pour some water into the cooker/steamer and place the idly trays with the idiappam. Close the cooker/steamer and steam for about 10 minutes. You can use this time to make the coconut milk.

Ingredients for coconut milk:

Grated Coconut – 1/2 a cup

Cardamom – 1 tsp

Sugar – 1 tbsp

Warm water (not boiling)- 1 cup

Method:

Put the cardamom and sugar into a bowl. Put the grated coconut in a mixer bowl and add some warm water. Grind the coconut finely. Place a sieve over the bowl and pour the blended coconut into the sieve and squeeze out the coconut milk. Put the coconut back into the mixer bowl and add the remaining warm water. Through the sieve extract the coconut milk into the bowl. Mix well. Coconut milk is ready to be used. You could use the coconut milk available in the market and add sugar and cardamom to it but let me warn you that they do not match the taste of freshly made coconut milk.

Turn off the steamer and take out the idli tray. Let the idiappams cool off for a minute. Take the idiappams out and serve with the coconut milk, flavored with cardamom powder and sugar. You can also serve the idiappams with veg korma, vegetable stew, or chana masala.

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Ingredients:

Rice flour : 1 cup

Water : 2 cups

Coconut oil : 1 tbsp

Mustard : 1 tsp

Urad dal : 1tsp

Chana dal : 1tsp

Curd chilly/Red chillies: 1 or 2

Curry leaves : few

Hing : ¼ tsp

Grated coconut: 1 tbsp (optional)

Salt to taste

Method:

Heat a teaspoon of coconut oil in a pan. Add one cup of water and salt and bring to boil. Mix the rice flour with a cup of water and add to the boiling water. Keep stirring continuously.

When the dough leaves the sides of the pan and forms a thick lump, remove from the stove.

Let the dough cool for 10 minutes. Smear a little oil in your palms and knead the dough. Take small quantities of the dough and make small lime-sized balls.

Place the rice balls in an idli tray and steam in a steamer or pressure cooker for 20 minutes. Allow to cool.

Heat a tsp of oil in a pan and crackle mustard, urad dal, chana dal and the curd chillies. When the mustard crackles, add hing and curry leaves. Add the steamed kozhukatais and stir for 5 minutes. Stir carefully or else the kozhukatais might break. Add freshly grated coconut. Turn off and serve and serve with coconut chutney. This is a healthy breakfast/snack item as it is steamed.

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