Yam side dish/Suran/Chenna upperi/thoran

Just like my mother, my mother in law is a fantastic cook. Over the years I have learned a lot of great recipes from her. And like me, she is a keen cook and is always trying out new recipes.

I grew up in Mumbai and most of my friends were north Indians. I loved eating north Indian food, be it the yummy street food, Mougali or Punjabi dishes. Other then popular south Indian dishes such as idlis, dosas and appams, I rarely ate south Indian food at restaurants and I didn't really care for rice (especially the naadan(Rose Matta rice/Kuthari) par-boiled rice) or the south Indian side dishes that were made at home. It was too coconuty for me. But after I got married to a guy who loves south Indian food, I started trying out the various south Indian side dishes. I now love the sweet crunchy taste of coconut and the sheer simplicity of these recipes.

I have never seen a better recipe for yam/suran/chenna than the one here. This dish, which my mom in law makes, is so lip smacking good that you wouldn’t want to make yam any other way. The dish gets its sweet taste and crunchiness from the grated coconut and the chopped coconut, its kick from the dry red chilies and its tartness from the touch of lemon. Add a chicken cube and this dish is transformed. The chicken cube changes the dish to a whole new dimension(vegetarians can use vegetable cubes).

*I have used frozen yam, as the Indian grocery store that I go to doesn't have fresh yam. Ideally it is best to make it with fresh yam, but frozen also works. If using fresh yam, you will have to cook it first till just tender. If you are using frozen ones then you can heat the yam in the microwave for a minute or so depending on your microwave.

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cup Chenna/Suran chopped & cooked*
• 1-cup coconut grated
• 1 chicken/vegetable cube bullion
• 1-cup onions chopped
• ½ tsp Chili powder
• ½ tsp Turmeric powder
• 2 tbsp Oil
• ½ tsp Mustard seeds
• 2-3 red chilies
• ½ tsp Urad dal
• 3 green chilies
• 1” ginger
• ½ tsp coriander powder
• ½ tsp jeera powder
• ¼ cup coconut chopped
• 1 – 2 tsp of lemon juice
• Curry leaves a sprig

Method:

In a pot, put the oil and add mustard seeds, when they pop add the dry chilies, urad dal & curry leaves (Keep all this ready, otherwise you will burn either the urad dal or the chilies).

Add the chopped onions, green chilies and ginger. Sauté till the onions or translucent.

Add the grated coconut, turmeric, chili, coriander and jeera powder and sauté for a bit.

Add the chenna/suran/yam, sauté and mix well.

Then add the chopped coconut, chicken/veg. cubes (powder the cubes with your hands).

Add lemon juice. Adjust the seasoning.

Serve hot with rice or chappati and dal

Vella Appams/Hoppers

Appams are to Malayalee cuisine what noodles are to Cantonese cuisine. It takes effort and skill to make but it is made by everyone, regardless of social or economic status. You can have it for breakfast, lunch or dinner, with just coconut milk and sugar or with a spicy non-veg curry. As a kid, I liked my appams for breakfast with a ladle of fresh coconut milk and loads of sugar. As a teenager, I would have it with either mutton or chicken stew. The appam batter is made from rice and grated coconut and then kept out to ferment. The edges of appams have these crispy frills and the center is very spongy.

I have seen many recipes for appams online and most of them use yeast as a rising agent. In southern Kerala, they sometimes use toddy instead of yeast. For me, the taste of yeast is too ‘bready,’ which was not how I ate it at home. Instead of yeast, I use baking soda just before I make them. I also put in a handful of leftover cooked rice while grinding the batter.

Traditionally, we use an appam chatti to make the appams. An appam chatti is a small cast iron wok. Appams can also be made in a small non-stick wok; although I must say that the appams made in an appam chatti beat those made in a non-stick wok in terms of taste and the crispiness (which is very important and what makes an appam, an appam).

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rice
• 1 cup grated coconut
• 1 cup cooked rice
• ¼ tsp of baking soda
• Pinch of sugar
• Salt to taste

Method:

Wash and drain the rice a few times in water. Soak the rice for 4-5 hours.

Grind

• 3 handful of soaked rice,
• 1 handful of grated coconut,
• 1 handful of cooked rice

in a blender with little water. The ground batter should not be very grainy. Grind all the soaked rice this way, with the coconut and cooked rice. Leave to ferment over night. The batter will increase in quantity. Add the baking soda, sugar and salt.

Grease the cast iron appam chatti lightly with a paper towel. Pour a ladle full of the batter and quickly swirl the chatti so that the batter coats the sides of the appam chatti. Cover the appam chatti. It takes around 3-4 minutes to cook. When the center of the appams have risen and the sides begin to turn a golden brown color, the sides will start to separate from the wok.


The appam is ready and can be taken out of the appam chatti. Serve appams hot with coconut milk and sugar or lovely chicken/mutton stew.

Murangakkai(drumsticks) Theeyal

Many households in Kerala are self-sufficient when it comes to fruits and vegetables. If you have some land around your house, you are sure to find not only coconut trees, but also trees/plants bearing papaya, guava, jackfruit, gooseberry, mango, chicoo, banana and drumsticks.

Keralites tend to use coconuts in every which way possible. Tender coconut, grated coconut, dried (copra) coconut, coconut oil, coconut milk, etc. The other tree that is used just as much is the Moringa pterygosperma, M. oleifera or otherwise know in Malayalam as Murangakkai (drumstick). This bean is long, and its rigid pod grows on a tree rather than a vine. It's hard, green outer covering is rigid enough to earn its common name of drumstick. Both pods and leaves are relished in Kerala. Drumsticks are delicious when cut into finger lengths and cooked in a spicy gravy.

Theeyal is a traditional Kerala dish, the coconut and spices are roasted and then ground to a paste. You can make Theeyal with any vegetable you prefer. The gravy has the sweetness from the coconut and a slightly sour flavor from the tamarind which balances the kick you get from the dry chilies and peppercorns.

Ingredients:

• 14oz/400g Drumsticks (string & cut into 1 ½ pieces) *
• 200g/7oz Potatoes (cut into quarters)
• 200g/70g Shallots sliced
• ½ tsp Turmeric powder
• 1 ½ oz Tamarind pulp
• Salt

Masala:

• 1 cup grated coconut
• 1 tbsp Coriander seeds
• ½ tsp peppercorns
• 2 tsp Cumin seeds
• 2 Dry red chilies
• 1 tbsp Oil

Tempering:

• 1 tbsp Oil
• ½ tsp mustard seeds
• 2 Dry red chilies
• Few curry leaves.

Preparation:
Cook the potatoes with a little salt and turmeric powder till they are ¾ cooked. Now add the drumsticks and shallots. Cook till the drumsticks and potatoes are cooked. You may need to add some more water. Keep aside.

Masala:
Heat a pan and dry roast all the ingredients separately over low heat till it emits its own aroma. Transfer to a blender; add a cup of water and pulse to obtain a coarse paste. Remove and keep aside. Heat oil in a pot and stir fry (bhunno) over a medium heat till it acquires gravy of Khoya consistency and completely devoid of moisture. Add this masala to the potato and drumsticks. Bring it to a boil. Stir in the tamarind pulp; bring it to a boil again. Simmer it gently till the potato and drumsticks are cooked. Adjust the seasoning.

Tempering:
Heat oil, add mustard seeds, when they begin to pop, add the dry red chilies, when their color changes add the curry leaves. Take it off the heat and pour it over the curry. Serve it hot with rice.

* Since I don’t get fresh drumsticks in the Indian/Asian stores here. I have used frozen drumsticks.

Asparagus upperi/thoran/side dish

Asparagus is definitely a new vegetable for us Indians. I had never seen this vegetable until I moved to the US where I had it in restaurants, stir-fried, steamed or grilled. There are not too many recipes that do justice to this vegetable. So I experimented and came up with this side-dish/upperi/thoran. It's made the same way as we make green beans or cabbage in Kerala. The dish comes out beautifully with the sweetness of the grated coconut meeting the mild mustardy and chili flavor from the tempering. It is a simple side-dish, as is typical of most dishes from Kerala. This is my entry to RCI - Kerala hosted by Jyothsna of Curry Bazaar.

When buying Asparagus look for stalks that are rounded, firm stems with deep green and purplish colored tips. The cut ends should not be too woody. Once trimmed and cooked, asparagus loses about half its total weight. While it is not necessary to peel asparagus, you should cut off the fibrous base before cooking. Wash it under cold water to remove any sand or soil residues.

Some facts about Asparagus are:

• The asparagus plant is a member of the lily family, which also includes onions, leeks and garlic.
• The larger the diameter, the better the quality!
• Asparagus is a nutrient-dense food which is high in Folic Acid and is a good source of potassium, fiber, vitamin B6, vitamins A and C, and thiamin.
• Asparagus has No Fat, contains No Cholesterol and is low in Sodium.

(more info visit http://www.asparagus.org)

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of Asparagus, cleaned, chopped(woody base discarded)
  
• ½ an onion chopped
  
• 2-3 green chilies
• ½ tsp mustard seeds
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• 2 dry red chilies
• few curry leaves
• 1 tbsp fresh coconut or desiccated coconut
• 2 tsps vegetable oil
• Salt to taste

Method
In a pot, heat the oil, and splutter the mustard seeds, add the dried chilies and curry leaves. Add the chopped onion, chilies and the chopped asparagus. Sauté for a few minutes. Add the turmeric and salt. Cook the asparagus uncovered, until crisp-tender, around 3 to 5 minutes. Add the coconut and cook it for another minute or so. Serve hot.

Coconut dal okra curry

My husband is the kind who says that he likes simple food. The reality is that it's very hard to please him, as he is a real fusspot. He is more of a vegetarian than a non-vegetarian; he doesn’t like Indian non-vegetarian food, as we tend to boil the meat. But he loves a big piece of steak – medium rare (now, isn’t he weird for an Indian).

In his house, there was (rather still is) always a big pot of Sambar especially for him. If I serve my husband Sambar 365 days a year, he will be the happiest person in this world. After we got married, we continued this 'tradition' of having Sambar every day. Needless to say, it wasn't long - two days - before I was sick of having Sambar. It took a little work, but I've weened him off Sambar. Now, especially on weekends, I try to cook something different, although vegetarian. The base of the curries that I cook on weekends are usually experiments with different kinds of dal (lentils).

Today, I came across this Okra curry recipe from Flavours of the spice coast by Mrs K.M. Mattew. Okra is one of my favorite vegetables. I love it as a suki (dry) sabji with chapatti (an Indian bread). I also love it fried till it’s crispy. The original recipe by Mrs K.M. Mattew is Okra in coconut milk gravy; the only change I made to the recipe was I added Toor dal to it. The dal gives the curry some texture and thickness, which is great on a mountain of rice.


Ingredients.

• 1 tsp coriander powder
• ¼ tsp chili powder
• ¼ tsp turmeric powder
• ¼ tsp pepper powder
• ¼ tsp aniseed powder
• ¼ tsp garam masala
• 2 tbsp oil
• 2 cups okra (washed, dried with a paper towel, cut the top and bottom)
• ¼ cup onions sliced
• 1 tsp ginger
• 3-4 green chilies
• 1 ½ cups thin coconut milk
• ½ cup thick coconut milk
• 2 tbsp Lime juice
• ½ cup cooked Toor dal
• Few curry leaves
• Salt to taste

Method:
Heat oil in a vessel and sauté the okra, till you see small bits of brown color on
them. Keep aside.

In the same vessel sauté the onions, ginger, chilies and curry leaves. Add the spices and sauté till the spices are well incorporated. Pour in the thin coconut milk and bring to a boil.

Add the cooked dal, okra, salt, and lime juice. When the gravy thickens add the thick coconut milk. You might need to add a bit of water if the gravy thickens too much. Serve hot with rice.

Tomato rasam

There are probably thousands of recipes for tomato rasam online. Some recipes are with crushed tomatoes, some with dal water, with or without coriander seeds, etc. My tomato rasam has a few teaspoons of tomato paste. It gives the rasam a beautiful red color, thickens it a bit and adds to the sour flavor. This is a wonderful spicy/sour/peppery drink that will clear your sinuses for sure!

Ingredients:

• A small lime size piece of tamarind
• 2 cups water
• 1 dry red chili
• ½ tsp black pepper
• ¼ tsp asafoetida
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 button onions or a small piece of onion
• ½ tsp coriander seeds
• ¼ tsp cumin seeds
• 1/4 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 pinch of fenugreek
• Few curry leaves
• 2 tomatoes
• Few sprigs of coriander
• 1 ½ tsp tomato paste
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp Oil

Method:

Dissolve the tamarind in water. In a mortar and pestle or a grinder, crush chili, garlic, onions, peppercorns, cumin and coriander seeds.

Heat oil; add asafoetida and the mustard seeds, when the mustard seeds splutter, add the fenugreek seeds. Add the crushed spices and fry a little. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook a little. Pour the tamarind juice, tomato paste and salt. Bring it to a boil. Turn off the heat; puree it with a hand blender till the tomatoes are crushed and soupy (optional). Garnish it with fresh coriander.