Aroma of Nostalgia...

Tuna in coconut gravy

noreply@blogger.com (Aroma of Nostalgia...) — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 20:48:00 +0000

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 :)

Heres one of the ways my mom used to make fish curry.

Ingredients:

Fish - one pound (I used tuna)
Red chilly powder - 2 tsp
Turmeric powder - quarter tsp
Ginger - minced ; 1 tsp
Green chilly - 1-2 ( optional)
Curry leaves - 2-4
Coconut - grated ; half cup
Kudampuli - 3 petals
Oil - 1 tsp

Method:

Warm a pan and add chilli and turmeric powder. Stir well to warm the powders up.This should not take more than a minute. Take care not blacken. Now grind the powders, ginger, coconut, green chillies and curry leaves to form a smooth paste. Use very minimal amount of water for grinding.
Heat oil in a pan and add the spice paste. Keep stirring until oil starts oozing out. Add about one and a half cup of water to this. Add salt and kudampuli. Once the mix begins to boil add the fish pieces. Stir occasionally, but not using spoon. Technique is to draw imaginary horizontal circles with the pan :) This ensures that the fish does not get mashed. Cook for 30- 40 mins. This tastes best the day after cooking.

Notes:

Adjust the oil based on the coconut used. Some coconuts are so rich in oil. If your spice paste is oily, reduce the oil. You can always add more if it feels less.

Kudampuli aka Malabar tamarind

noreply@blogger.com (Aroma of Nostalgia...) — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 19:46:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Aroma of Nostalgia...) — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 19:05:00 +0000

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....

I have always felt that cabbage is a dull vegetable. It looks n tastes so dull. This one is a super simple way to spice up cabbage and is extremely common in southern India. This tastes best if you cut cabbage really thin, so that it get cooked without even sprinkling water.

Ingredients:

Cabbage - one pound
Garlic - 2-3 cloves
Green chillies- 2-3 green chillies
Cumin seeds - half tsp
Coconut - grated; half cup
Turmeric powder- half tsp
Oil - One tbsp
Mustard seeds - half tsp
Red chilli - 1-2
Curry leaves - 3-4

Method:

Slice cabbage into thin pieces and keep aside in a big bowl. Crush garlic, chillies and cumin seeds together and add to cabbage. Add grated coconut, turmeric powder and salt to this. Now mix thoroughly. In a pan heat oil, add mustard. When they splutter, add red chillies and curry leaves followed by cabbage mix. Reduce heat and close lid. Stir occasionally till cabbage is cooked.

I love to pair it with yogurt.

Cutlets / Patties

noreply@blogger.com (Aroma of Nostalgia...) — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 14:13:00 +0000

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.
First we need to make kheema fry. The process is explained here.

Ingredients:

Kheema fry - half cup
Potato - one small
Egg - one ( For substitution, check notes)
Bread crumbs - for coating the cutlets
Oil- for frying

Method:

Cook the potatoes so that they can be easily mashed. Mash well when cool enough to handle. In a bowl mix equal amounts of kheema fry and mashed potato to form a smooth lump. Taste the mix to ensure salt and spice levels are to your taste. If needed, add more. Mix well and roll them into balls or any other desired shape. Beat the egg and keep aside. Next to this keep bread crumbs in a plate. Heat oil for frying. When hot enough, dip the cutlets in egg and coat with bread crumbs and fry until golden brown, drain and serve. Makes 4 cutlets.

Notes:

If you want to skip the egg part, use a thin batter made of all purpose or corn flour and water.
The cutlets are usually deep fried, but if you roll them into a flat shape (as shown in the pic above) rather than a ball, you could minimize the oil usage and do a shallow fry.

Sending this recipe to Kids Delight by Foodelicious

Kheema fry

noreply@blogger.com (Aroma of Nostalgia...) — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:33:00 +0000

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

Ingredients:

Minced meat - One cup
Minced onions - Half cup
Minced garlic - 1 tsp
Minced ginger - 1 tsp
Thinly sliced green chillies - 1-2 tsp
Black pepper powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp

Method:

To mince whole meat/fish :
Cut the meat or fish to small pieces.. To this add water, salt and some pepper and cook well. You could add very less water and dry it up or add more and then use it as stock. When the pieces are cool enough to handle, de-bone them. If it is fish, you will be able to mince with your hand or spoon. For beef or chicken, use a blender.
Be warned: Mincing fish this way is a "smelly" affair.

Heat oil in a pan. Add onions and stir until translucent. Add ginger, garlic, chillies and the meat. Stir well. If the meat is uncooked, close and cook in low flame. Stir occasionally. Add pepper, salt and garam masala... Stir well to mix in... And we are done...
Now snack on this and let loose your imagination... What more can you do with this??
Here's a picture of the fish version. I used mackerel... and to snack on I prefer the fish version :)

Sending this recipe to Kids Delight by Foodelicious

Mango Banana Cherry

noreply@blogger.com (Aroma of Nostalgia...) — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 13:38:00 +0000

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 :)

Ingredients:

Milk - half cup

Banana - one small

Mango - one small

Cherry - 2-3

Cashew nuts - 2-3

Method:

Freeze the milk, sliced mango and banana for about half an hour. In a blender, grind the cashew nuts. Blend in the mango and banana to make a puree. Then add frozen milk and cherries ( Remember to remove the seeds). A quick blend and serve immediately.

Heres another picture with a closer look... Enjoy

Vegetable stew

noreply@blogger.com (Aroma of Nostalgia...) — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 20:01:00 +0000

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...

Ingredients:

Potato - one medium
Carrot - one medium
Frozen Green peas - 1/3 of a cup
Onion - one medium thinly sliced
Green chilli - 3-4
Cloves - 4
Cinnamon stick - one inch roll
Cardamom -3
Black pepper corns - 6-7
Oil - 2 tbsp
Ginger garlic paste - half tsp (optional)
Thick Coconut milk - half cup

Method:

Clean and cube potato and carrot. Heat oil in a pan. Slightly muddle cinnamon, pepper, cardamom and cloves and add this to the heated oil. After a min of stirring, add onions. When onion begins to brown add green chillies, potato, carrot and keep stirring.
After 2 mins add a cup of water. Close the the pan when water starts boiling. After 5 mins add the frozen green peas and salt. Once all the vegetables are cooked, reduce flame and add coconut milk. Mix thoroughly, and shut off the flame. Done!!
This is usually paired with appam or idiyappam... goes very well with chapathis....

Notes:

Adjust green chillies to taste.
Increase water if you need thinner consistency.
Usually cauliflower and green beans are also added to this recipe

Spicy Shrimp Fry

noreply@blogger.com (Aroma of Nostalgia...) — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:28:00 +0000

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.

Ingredients:

Shrimp - quarter pound

Onion - 1/2 cup thinly sliced

Garlic - 1 tsp minced

Ginger - 1 tsp minced

Coriander powder - 1 tsp

Red chilli powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1 pinch

Garam Masala - 1 tsp

Oil - 1 tsp

Method:

Clean and drain the shrimp and keep aside. Heat oil in a pan. Add onion and stir well. When onion is translucent add ginger and garlic. Saute till light brown. Reduce flame to medium low. Add all three powders followed by garam masala. Mix well for a minute and add shrimp. Take care not to add water. Add salt , mix well and cover the pan. Reduce flame to the lowest and let it cook for 10-15 mins. Stir occasionally. Stop when shrimp is cooked. Serve with sliced lemon and squeeze them over as you eat.

Works great as a bar appetizer. Equally great with rice and yogurt...

Notes:

If you add water to cook the shrimp or if you add cooked shrimp to the onion mix, the taste of end product is going to be entirely different. I would recommend the no water cooking method :)

Mampazha Pulissery - Mangoes in yogurt sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Aroma of Nostalgia...) — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 13:43:00 +0000

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...

Mampazha pulissery used to be made with this variety of mango... Usually the skin is torn away and the rest of it goes to the sauce... Ever since this variety became scarce, we use any variety of ripe mango.

Ingredients:

Ripe Mango - 1

Shallots/Onion - 2 tsp thinly sliced

Garlic - 1 petal

Cumin seeds- 1 tsp

Green chilli - 1

Turmeric powder - quarter tsp

Mustard seeds - half tsp

Fenugreek seeds - half tsp

Red chilli - 2-3

Curry leaves - 2-3

Thick Yogurt - 3/4 th of a cup

Grated coconut - 1/4th of a cup (optional)

Oil- 1 tbsp

Notes:

Grated coconut is used in the sauce to adjust consistency and the sourness of yogurt. If you have really thick yogurt, which is not sour, skip the coconut completely.

If you have thick yogurt, but it is sour, add thin coconut milk.

If your yogurt is not thick, it would be better to use grated coconut.

This is a hot n sweet dish. Taste your mango and sauce before you mix them.

To make it sweeter, add 1-2 tsps of sugar while sauteing mangoes.

If your sauce is hot enough for you, reduce the no of red chillies and remember to remove the seeds before adding. To make it hotter, add more red chillies.

Any sauce with yogurt, should not be heated on high flame. It could curdle.

Method:

For the sauce: Make a smooth paste of garlic,green chilli, cumin seeds, turmeric and coconut. To this add yogurt and blend. Keep aside.

Skin and cut the mangoes into medium sized pieces. Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard and fenugreek seeds. when they splutter add onions, curry leaves and red chillies. After two mins, add sliced mangoes. Stir well. If you need, add sugar at this time. When mango begins to soften, shut off the flame and add the sauce and keep stirring. If the sauce is too thick add some water to get desired consistency. Let it warm in low flame. Do not heat or the sauce would curdle.

And we are done :)

Cloves

noreply@blogger.com (Aroma of Nostalgia...) — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 20:12:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Aroma of Nostalgia...) — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 13:52:00 +0000

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 :)

Ingredients:

Basmati rice - 1 cup

Frozen green peas - half cup

Thinly sliced onions - 2 tbsp

Cloves - 4

Fennel seeds - 1 tsp

Cardamom - 1

Cinnamon sticks - 1 inch

Garam masala powder - a pinch (check notes)

Cilantro chopped - 2 tbsp

Cashews and raisins - 1 tbsp each (optional)

Oil - 1 tbsp

Method:

Wash the basmati rice and cook. If you are using a pressure cooker, add 1 cup of water to 1 cup of rice, use medium flame and wait for whistle. Switch off after first whistle and let it cool. Otherwise, add more than double the amount of water and cook in medium flame. Stir occasionally (take care not to break the rice), and drain the excess water when rice is cooked.

In a pan big enough to contain the rice, heat oil. Add cloves, cinnamon, fennel and cardamom. Stir for less than a min and add onions. When onion begins to brown, add green peas. Stir well , add salt and garam masala. Close the pan for 2 mins. Add cashews n raisins followed by rice. Mix well and add chopped cilantro. Close the lid and shut off the flame. And you are done...

This goes well with spicy Indian sides :)

Notes:

Do not over cook rice. Drain the water when rice is 90% done, draining process will take care of the rest 10%. In case, the rice is fully cooked before draining, run cold water through the rice before draining, this will prevent further cooking.

If you do not have garam masala powder, slightly muddle the cloves, cinnamon, fennel and cardamom together and throw in a pinch of black pepper powder... that would work just fine...

Broken wheat upma

noreply@blogger.com (Aroma of Nostalgia...) — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 18:09:00 +0000

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...

Ingredients:

Broken wheat : Half cup
Cubed vegetables: 3/4 th of a cup
Grated coconut: 1/4th of a cup (optional)
Sliced onions: 2 tbsp
Sliced ginger: 1 tsp
Sliced green chillies: 2 tsp
Curry leaves: 2-3 (optional)
Mustard seeds: 1 tsp

Method:

Cook the broken wheat in 2-3 cups of water. This should take 10-15 mins. Once the wheat is soft, drain excess water and keep aside. Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds, once they splutter add onions and ginger followed by green chillies and curry leaves. When onions begin to brown, add vegetables and saute till they are cooked. Add the cooked wheat, salt and grated coconut. Serve hot or cold with raitha, chutney, ketchup, pickle or as is.

Notes:
For improved UI, add colorful veggies. Beware of beetroot though, they tend to override all other shades.
While cubing veggies, keep them small to reduce cook time.
You could also cut veggies into bigger size and add both veggies and wheat with enough water when onions begin to brown. The disadvantage - tastes slightly sticky cos of starch, also you have to calculate the exact amount of water to avoid forming a paste.

Broken wheat

noreply@blogger.com (Aroma of Nostalgia...) — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 17:38:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Aroma of Nostalgia...) — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 18:08:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Aroma of Nostalgia...) — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 17:50:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Aroma of Nostalgia...) — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 17:34:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Aroma of Nostalgia...) — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 17:22:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Aroma of Nostalgia...) — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 14:59:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Aroma of Nostalgia...) — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 14:35:00 +0000

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

Also known as:

Moong (Mung) bean
Cheru payar / Pachapayar in Malayalam

Curry leaves

noreply@blogger.com (Aroma of Nostalgia...) — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 14:15:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Aroma of Nostalgia...) — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 13:22:00 +0000

These ones are really spicy...

Also known as
Vattal Mulaku in Malayalam

Green Chilli

noreply@blogger.com (Aroma of Nostalgia...) — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 13:06:00 +0000

These are small in size and moderately spicy...

Also known as:
Pachamulaku in Malayalam

Sughiyan - A green gram sweet

noreply@blogger.com (Aroma of Nostalgia...) — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 16:58:00 +0000

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...
Before moving to the recipe, theres just one more thing to be said...
This was the first time I was making this on my own, and also the first time I was eating this with my hubby... I had just finished making it when he reached... And he exclaimed.. " You made modakam!!"... Apparently, this is called modakam in some parts of Kerala....

With the below quantities, I made 8 medium sized balls.

Ingredients:

Green gram - half a cup
Jaggery melted - half a cup
Coconut grated - half a cup
Cardamom powdered - a teaspoon
All purpose flour - half a cup
Salt - a pinch
Baking powder - a pinch (optional)
Turmeric powder - a pinch (optional)
Cumin seeds - a pinch (optional)
Oil for deep fry

Method:

Cook the green gram until soft. Drain and keep aside. Pour the melted jaggery into a pan. When its hot, add grated coconut and stir well. After couple of mins, add the cooked green gram. Keep stirring until the mixture is 95% dry. Our idea is to make small balls out of this mixture. The moisture should be just enough to bind them into a ball. When ready add cardamom powder, mix and let it cool.

To make the batter:
Mix the flour and salt (Also the optional ingredients, if you choose). Add water to make a thick batter without lumps. Adding turmeric gives a yellow tint, skip if you are not keen on yellow. Adding baking powder makes the covering soft, when cool and crisp when hot. This was told by a relative. I have not validated this statement myself. And cumin seeds were added for two reasons...one i love the flavour when its deep fried, two it helps prevent gas..

When the mix is cool enough to handle, make balls of any size you like. Heat oil in your deep fry pan. Dip the balls in the batter, make sure its fully coated and then fry till golden brown. Turn around the balls to ensure its cooked evenly.
And we are done !

Tips/Variations:

Most varieties of jaggery have some salt in them, thats the reason i dint add salt to the mix. You could taste it add a pinch if required.
You could substitute jaggery with sugar, but both varieties taste considerably different.

Enjoy :)

Cheera Thoran - Spinach Kerala style

noreply@blogger.com (Aroma of Nostalgia...) — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 19:14:00 +0000

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)...
my personal favourite is the complete green version... I can eat bowls of this one with just yogurt..

The recipe is super simple and requires about 10 mins in all...

Ingredients :

Spinach - a bunch (about a pound)
Shallots - 3-4 thinly sliced
Green chilli - 2-3
Red chilli - 3-4
Grated coconut - 1/3 of a cup
Mustard seeds - a teaspoon
Oil - One tablespoon
Note: Adjust the chillies based on your taste.

What not to do:

Do not add water to spinach. They have it in them.

Adding salt can wait till the spinach shrinks in size. This helps reduce the margin of error while adding salt.

Method:

Clean and cut the spinach. (Tip: If the stem is fat, cut thinly, so that it cooks as fast as the leaf). Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and let it splutter. Add sliced shallots...after a minute or so add green chillies and red chillies (sliced or crushed)... When the onion begins to brown, add spinach and cover the pan ...When spinach shrinks in quantity, add salt and stir well... Cover again till spinach is cooked. This usually take around 5 mins. Add the grated coconut and mix well... Stir well until completely dry...

This is best eaten with yogurt and rice. Enjoy :)