Sambar

Sambar is one unavoidable item on the sadya menu. With onam fast approaching, I thought sharing a sambar recipe would be apt. Whenever I complain that Jacob should get more involved in the kitchen and should take up interest in cooking, he always picks on me saying "who taught you to make sambar ?". Well those initial days of marriages while I was learning to cook to feed our stomach, the sambar preparations were done by Jacob. He is such a sambar lover. I would always prefer moru kachiyathu over sambar for rice. But I guess, as year pass by living with a sambar lover, I too have started to like sambar.

Well this recipe is not the traditional method of sambar preparation. Usually, the sambar powder is fried in the oil along with tempering and added to the sambar . I avoid doing it, to cut down the consumption of oil. Also I find it as an easier way to prepare, without the fear of burning the sambar powder, especially when you have too many things on the menu for sadya and hurrying, things go wrong sometimes. So try my version of sambar if you would like to, for this onam and let me know if you liked it.

Kerala Fish Fry

Fish fry is one of the best thing to go with rice and moru kachiyathu and a stir fry. The only thing I hate about it is the smell that keeps lingering in the whole house after its done, making our clothes and bags also smell of it. Otherwise it is just super addictive.

At any point of the day, I would choose to go for fish fry rather than fish curry and so would Jacob and Jordan . They are so easy to fall in love with. Its so hard to drag my kido home after school or after play in the park. But bribing him to have fish fry for lunch/dinner after we get back home, would instantly turn him into a sweetheart who would listen to his mama :D. It is just so addictive and yum to have it with some rice and moru kachiyathu. If you do have a stir fry also to go with it, it can turn into a feast.

Kerala Parippu Curry

Onam is fast approaching. Sadya is what comes into my mind when I speak of Onam. We don't usually get to eat food on banana leaf, otherwise. So, Onam Sadya is so looked forward to. Last year, we managed to make a mini sadya at home, for the first time, after having Jordan. We made the pookalam too. The little one was too excited that all the effort seemed, so worth. The other day when I told him that onam is in like a weeks time. He said he wants a sadya. My jaws dropped. I didn't expect him to remember last years celebrations. But he remembers every bit of it.

I remember asking my parents to take me for a sadya at the karshaka market (that is the place were we would get sadya served on banana leaf) when we came to kerala during one vacation. My Mom laughed and said, "usually kids ask for biriyani or porotta-chicken or icecream treat etc. But I asked for sadya". I guess my kido has also gone after me. He loves the whole sitting down for sadya and having the spread infront of him on banana leaf. Ohhh...I just can't wait to have sadya now.

Kovakka Kichadi or Ivy Gourd in yogurt sauce

Onam Sadya has a wide list of items on the menu and one of it is Kichadi. Pavakka Kichadi and Kovakka Kichadi is equally liked by all of us. We go with making of either one of them for the sadya at home. And it is not something that appears only for onam. We make it very often esp. in summer.

My MIL always makes us some pavakka kondattam and packs it to take home after vacation. She once tried kovakka kondattam too when she had too much kovakka from her kitchen garden. We liked it too, but not as much as pavakka kondattam. So we used to fry it and make kovakka kichadi out of it. They were superb that way. And far easy rather than slicing and frying the kovakka for kichadi. So if you have kovakka kondattam in hand, try making kichadi out of it. Its an instant one but tastes so good.

Padavalanga Thoran / Snake Gourd stir fry with coconut

Padavalanga Thoran was one of the frequently made thorans for rice while we were in Bangalore or Pune. When we came to US we really missed having it. Here in Indian stores, we get it once in a while. So we still get to have it once in a while.

At my home, I have never had it. My mom never made it. Honestly, I don't know why she never made it. It was after marriage that I got introduced to it. My MIL makes it often and it was a love at first bite :P,  when I had this. Slightly crunchy and with the goodness of grated coconut in it, it is very unlikely that a mallu wouldn't love it. Try it and let me know if you like it. 

Ragi Puttu

I must admit that I had not tried ragi before Jordan. My mom says, she has tried her best to feed me ragi, when I was a kid but I used to refuse. When I started giving solid food to Jordan, I had to give him ragi because every other person whom I asked of options, would start with ragi. Now when you give a food to the baby, it's like the presidents assistant tasting it before it is being tasted by the president himself. So I got to taste it too before Jordan. And I must say that I liked it. And then I started hunting for ragi recipes and to my surprise there were so many interesting recipes. One among them is this puttu. 

Jacob doesn't like it. I usually say that is because of his mental block of considering it to be baby food. But his dislike for ragi puttu has never stopped me from making it. When he has the normal rice puttu, mama and Jordan enjoy this ragi puttu . It's awesome. You should try it. 

Kerala Kadala Curry

Kadala curry - one awesome side dish to go with Appam/ Idiyappam/ Puttu/ Parotta/ Chapathi or even rice. There are very rare chances of a mallu to have not had it or hate it. 

I have always loved to pair it with puttu. Every time I make it, I remember my mother making it on weekends, esp. sunday's. She would be hurriedly making it to serve it for breakfast before we head to the church. Appam, Idiappam, Puttu etc. where the speciality of the weekends unlike the weekdays when there would be school and we would hardly sit down and eat breakfast with the fear of missing the school bus. Oh and we would have the breakfast twice on sunday's. One before we head to the church and one after we are done with the mass and the catechism :). 

Idiyappam / Noolputtu

Idiyappam or string hoppers have been my favorite since I was a kid. I may not even need anything particular to go by its side... Just some sugar or shaved jaggery could do the job. 

The finest strands of idiyappam are the ones that taste just awesome. Alas, my idiappam maker does not make the finest ones. My hunt to get the finest holes in the idiyappam maker continues till date. 

Prawns curry

This curry literally disappears real fast at our place. Jacob is a big fan of it . The township that I grew up in was far from the sea. So we never got to eat prawns, while living there. I am talking about those times when there were no malls. These days no matter where you live, you do have these available as frozen foods. 

I used to include different masala/ spices to make it flavourful but the result was not what I was looking for. Then one vacation, when I was home, my mom said that her sister ( my aunt), Lisamma Aunty makes superb prawns curry and we should call her up and get the recipe. When Aunty gave the recipe I was like, what! Is it all that makes the prawns curry taste. Are you sure you are not missing out on any ingredient. It's so simple and made with minimal ingredients but lip smacking good.

Here is the recipe for that amazing prawns curry.

Kalan

We don't make Kalan very often to go with our daily meals. But for Sadya, it is a must. And when you get to have it just once or twice a year, it gets special. Onam is fast approaching and you may want to add it to your already huge list of items for Sadya, if not already.

Raw banana curries are not very well appreciated by my family and that is the very reason why we don't make it often. But if you love raw bananas, don't restrict it for just Sadya alone. Add it to your daily menu items. They are yumm.

Olan

Olan is one thing that we make only for onam. So, I say it is as one onam sadya special dish. However, there is no such restriction that you should make it only for onam. Having it with some hot and steaming rice on any other day is equally mind blowing. 

Here is the recipe for our onam sadya special olan. 

Pavakka Kichadi

Bitter gourd and me have had issues for long and till date it has not changed but yeah resolved a bit with time. I love it fried, in the form of Kondattam. So these bitter gourd are not frequently seen in my kitchen.

But when Onam comes and you have to make a khichadi, I get these and make it this way. It has a bit of frying involved which makes it less bitter, so we get to enjoy it with the sadya. This is how I make it.

Squid roast / Kanava roast

Squid is not a frequent visitor on the menu at both Jacob's as well as my house. The times we had squid from outside, were those fried ones that we usually avoided. 

I have had squid at one of my relatives place in Bangalore. And that taste had lingered around for a while. So once when I saw squid in the market, we decided to buy it to recreate the same. Jacob was all in for the game. But the store keeper packed up a different order for us which happened to be octopus. I might be a foodie but not a bizarre  one. Sorry I consider octopus under that bizarre category. I just can't think of it to be eaten. 

Tamukku ~ A Banana Delight !

This recipe, unlike other overripe banana recipes is for you if you are lucky to have too much of banana produce at home or got lots of bananas at a hugely discounted price and wondering what to make out of them to prevent getting spoiled or simply because, you love having Tamukku. In our case, the love for tamukku is the primary reason for making it.

Back at home, whenever we have a huge produce of bananas, apart from distributing and redistributing among relatives and friends and also having it every day for breakfast with puttu, upma, Aval villayichathu etc. we would make this tamukku. They are truly addictive. It is also sometimes given away in churches as Nercha. My intension of making it also had another reason and i.e. to make my lil banana hater, have bananas.

Chicken Ularthiyathu

Our favorite dishes to order from the Kerala restaurant here, is chicken ularthiyathu and Kerala Parotta. It is awesome. I have been thinking to recreate it at home. 

When Julie posted her recipe of Chicken Ularthiyathu, I bookmarked it immediately to try it. One day, I tried something very similar to her version and it came out really well. It was greatly appreciated by both the boys. I knew this recipe is a keeper and I have to blog about it to record it. So here it is. 

Varutharacha Mutton curry / Mutton in Roasted Coconut Gravy

We don't indulge in mutton often, but when we do, there is always a push towards making this varutharacha mutton curry. It tastes yumm this way.

This curry may sound to be time consuming, but it's not that big a task and it is all worth it. Last time I made this curry to mellow down the Monday blues that usually hits us by the second half of EVERY Sunday. We paired it with some Kerala/malabar Parotta and it did the trick of bringing in life to the otherwise dull and Monday-blue-attacked-Sunday night.

Unnakaya/ Unnakai/ Kaayada - Coconut Stuffed Plantain Rolls

If I had never built up my interest in blogging, then I think I wouldn't have been introduced to so many delicious and interesting recipes, from different parts of the world or even the country/ state I belong to. This is one such snack I had never had or heard about. Blogging introduced me to this snack and I am glad that it did.

The favorite snack with Ethakka/Nenthrapazham towards our part of Kerala has been the Ethakka Boil/ Pazham pori. So every time I see ripen Ethakka, the only thought that would cross my mind is to make Ethakka Boli out of it. But after trying Unnakaya, this has been a close second option to make with Ethakka. 

Ulli Theeyal

Theeyal is not made often at my home. It just makes its appearance once in a while. However, my mom-in-law makes it often. It is from her that I learnt to make it.

The only difficult part in making it is the frying of the coconut mixture. And, mom-in-law would make a huge batch of this fried mixture to take along to Bangalore. Now when the hardest part was made easy, we would make theeyal quite often. The only difference would the different veggies that went into it- bitter gourd, brinjal, shallots etc. It would make a meal, finger licking good.

Puli inji / Inji Puli / Inji Curry

Puli Inji - the name itself gets my tastebuds active. But since I have some leftover from the last week's Sadya, I am good. I can have it for lunch today :). Now it is not something that I associate as a daily menu item. We generally make it only for Onam Sadya. And they can be stored well. So you could make it before hand and not worry about it among the "n" number of items you would be making on the day of Sadya.

If you are planning for a Sadya anytime, this is a must in your menu list. No Sadya can be complete without the mixed flavor of Puli Inji- a bit of tartness, a pinch of sweet and little spiciness. So here is the recipe to the Puli Inji.

Kappa Vevichathu / Kappa Puzhukku / Tapioca cooked with coconut mix

Which combo, among the two, is your favorite ? Kappa and Meen curry ( fish curry ) or Kappa and Beef curry ? Either ways , they taste heavenly but I like the combo with fish, however Jacob is a fan of the kappa - beef curry combo. So whenever we make it we make beef curry to go with it but fish curry would also be in stock so that I could also enjoy it my way. And ya, a glass of black coffee is a must to pair with it. 

The time I start preparing it, the question keeps pouring in every other minute inquiring if it's been done . He he.... So when it's all ready , without wasting another minute we start digging into it. I wonder , when Jordan grows up , which combo is he gonna pick. I wish he picks up my side : P , so we both could talk Jacob onto our side too.