Unnakkaya ( Plantain fritters with coconut mixture)

Unnakkaya  is a popular snack in north Kerala. Its main ingredient is Nendran Banana .Only Nendrapazham/Ethapazham ( half ripen) can be used for this snack. The banana should not be ripened or boiled too much. 

Ingredients

Nendrakkaya - 2 big( Semi ripened)

Grated coconut - 1/2 cup

Egg - 1 (Optional)

Broken Cashew & Raisins - 1 tablespoon

Ghee - 3 Tablespoon

Cardamom powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Sugar - 1-3 table spoons( or As per the taste)

Oil - For deepfrying

Water - To steam or boil Bananas 

Steam the bananas for 4-5 minutes and allow it to cool. Mash it using a food processor or a fork. The consistency of the mashed  banana should resemble like mashes potatoes. Keep it aside

Add sugar into egg and mix it well and keep aside.

Take a pan add some ghee into it, fry cashews and raisind and keep it aside. Now add grated coconut into it and fry till light brown color. Now add the egg sugar mix into it and stirr to get scrambled egg. Add Cardamom powder into it. Check the sweet and add some more sugar if required.

Make lemon sized balls with the mashed bananas. Apply some ghee on your palm and flatten each ball on the palm and fill the coconut -egg mixture and close the edges and shape it like Unnakkaya. Deep fry till golden brown color. Yummy Unnakkaya is ready to serve. Serve hot with Tea or Coffee.

Note: If you don't eat egg you can skip adding eggs. Even without egg it tastes good.

Ulli Theeyal (Perl onion in fried coconut gravy)

Theeyal  means burnt curry! This name typically being used in south Kerala for curries made by adding fried coconut in it.

Ulli theeyal is a delicious curry made using Perl Onions which is a very tasty side dish  for rice , which has an authentic kerala taste. Ieven likeit with chappatti, Roti, Dosa , Idli, etc.















Ingredients (Serves 2-3)

1. Perl onions (Peeled and Washed ) - 20- 25 Nos
2. Oil - 4-5  table spoons(Preferably coconut oil or sunflower oil)
3. green chilly - 2 nos
4. Grated coconut or desiccated coconut  - 1 cup
5. Coriander powder - 1 tablespoon
6. Red chilly powder -  1/2 to 1 teaspoon
7. Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
8. Fenufrek powder - 1/4 teaspoon
9. Tamarind pulp - 2 teaspoons( or as per the taste)
10. Salt - To taste
11. Water  -  200ml
12. Curry leafs - 1 stem

Method

Cut Perl onions into thin slices lengthwise. Heat oil in a pan add onion slices into it. Fry till golden brown. Don't allow it to burn. Meanwhile heat  another pan and add grated coconut into it and stir continuously  it till light brown color  then add ingredients 5 to 8 into it. stir well for 1 minute, switch off the flame and allow it to cool.  Grind the cooled mixture very well and add it into the fried onions along with tamarind pulp ,salt and water. Boil it for 5 minutes or till the curry comes to the required consistency. Add curry leaf and remove the curry from fire. Now the delicious Ulli theeyal is ready to serve.

A Healthy lentil recipe

Muthira Thoran(Horse gram Stir fry with coconut) 

Muthira (Horse gram) one of the lesser known yet healthy and tasty legume. I have seen this from my childhood . We can prepare many dishes out of these. Muthira curry, Thoran, Rasam etc.

Muthira thoran goes well with Rice, Rice gruel, etc.

Ingredients

1. Muthira - 200gms
2. Grated coconut - 1 cup
3. Turmeric -1/2 teaspoon
4. Red chilly powder - 1/4 teaspoon
5. Garlic - 4-5 pieces(If you dont use garlic use perl onion instead)
6. Jeerakam( Cumin seeds) - 1/2 teaspoon
7. Oil - 1 -3 teaspoon
8. Red chilly(Dried)- 2 or 3
9. Mustard seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
10. Curry leef - 1 stem
11. Salt - for taste

Method

Soak Muthira for 4-5 hours. Cook in Pressure cooker for 10 minutes with sufficient amount of water.

Once the horsce gram become soft to bite, drain out excess water and keep the Muthira aside. Meanwhile Grind ingredients 1  to 6 together for 3-5 seconds  without adding water using a food processor. Take a pan  and pour the oil for tempering. When the oil gets heated add mustard seds into it, when it splutters, add dried red chilly into it and fry it for 2 seconds and add curry leaves. Add boiled Muthira and salt into it and mix it well. Then add Coconut mixture into it and cover it for a minute. Then Mix everything together and stir fru for a while till  water get absorbed if it is moist. If you like add a teaspoon of coconut oil to get a nice aroma. Then remove from fire. Serve hot as a side dish with boiled rice or Kanji(Rice gruel).

Easy Mutta Aviyal (EGG Medley)

This is a dish I love since my childhood, which my mother make in a hurry when she has little time to make elaborate dishes for  our  lunch box. I almost forgot about this dish and now , after more than  10 years passed  was just thinking to cook something for  my hubby, who is an egg lover  . Suddenly The Great, Simple , and easy Egg Avial  came to my mind....

Here is the recipe for  EASY MUTTA  AVIYAL (Egg Medley)

 Preparation time - 5 minutes
Cooking time -5-10 minutes
Serving - 2

Ingredients

1. Eggs -3 ( hard biled)
2. Onion (Big)-1 no
3. Green Chilly - 1 slited
4. Chuvannulli( button onion)-5 nos
5. Grated coconut - A hand full
6. Coreandar poweder -  1 tea spoon 
7. Chilly Powder  - Half tea spoon
8. Turmeric powder -Half tea spoon
9. Cumin seeds - Half tea spoon
10. Coconut Oil - 1 Table spoon
11. Curry leaf 
12. Salt and Pepper- To taste
13. Water

Cut each egg into 4 pieces lengthwise. Grind ingredients 4 to 9 together with little water. (Don't grind too much ). Take a vessel, heat the onions without oil( If you want you can  saute the onions with  oil.) Add the  ground mixture into it with half a cup of water. Allow it to boil, add salt.  Put egg pieces into it without breaking the yolks. Cover the egg pieces with the ground coconut mixture.Add pepper powder into it.  close with a lid for 2-3 minutes or till the water gets absorbed. Add coconut oil and curry leaves, and mix gently with a spoon or  by rotating the vessel. Try not to mash off the egg yokes. Serve hot with rice or Roti. .Enjoy....:-)

One more recipe

Thenga chammandi(Coconut chutney)


Ingredients

1. Coconut - 1cup
2. Chuvannulli (Button onion) - 5 nos 
3. Red Chilly - 4 or 5
4. Tamarind ( soaked in water) - as per taste
5. salt - to taste
6. Curry leaf
7. Ginger(not necessary)- 1/4 inch 

Put all the ingredients in the mixer jar and grind it till we get a semi solid mix.Take it out and mix it well with a spoon. Serve it  with hot rice

Recipie for a lazy day

Cherupayar thoran  (Moong dhal dry with coconut)


Ingrediands

1. Grean gram(soaked over night)or sprouted - 1 cup
2. Water-2 cups
3. Grated coconut - 3/4 cup
4.  Jeerakam - 1 tspoon
5. Turmeric-1/4 tspoon
6. Red chilly-2
7. Curry leaf 

Method

Cook the grean gram in water. Dont over cook it. While coking it, Put  ingradients 3-6 in a mixie jar and grind it till all ingedients mix together.(dont over grind it). Add this mix into the cooked green gram and cover the mix with the cooked gran gram,cook it in low flame for 1 minute or till the water gets absorbed. Add curry leafs and mix it all together without mashing it. Cherupayar thoran is now ready to serve.

(If you want you can garnich it with heated coconut oil, splutterd mustard and small onion  and curry leafs in it)