Rawrice – 2cups

coconut – 1 cup

shallots – 3-4

fennel seeds – 1 tbsp

cooked rice – 1/2 cup

Soak the raw rice for 3-4 hrs. And grind all the rest of ingredients finely. The mix should be watery. But not so running. Pour into a nonstick cookware and close it. These pancakes cook really quickly. I make them a bit thick so that i have to make only 4-5 of them!!

Accompany them with chicken or any other non veg curry.. yummmm..

2 Kerala banana cut into thin slices

1 cup maida -plain flour

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp kalongi – karinjeerakam

1/4 tsp salt

water for mixing

oil for frying

Cut the banana into thin slices. Mix the rest of the ingredients into a thick paste. Dip the banana slices into the maida mixture and deep fry.

Another post which goes for the Ramadan Event.

Ramadan Day 6

Samosas are the most famous snack in Malabar. These are not large samosas like the veggie ones, Malabar meat samosas are small, petite kind of samosas. They look really cute and you’ll need to et atleast 5-6 to fill your tummy.

Samosas are nicked as Triangle Chicken by my daughter! For her even when i make cutlets i make in triangle shape otherwise she wont eat them! And they should be perfect for her!

I make the meat mix and freeze them in small bags. Just take one bag at a time and thaw. Meat samosas can be made of chicken or beef or mutton. I havn’t tried mutton samosas till today but one of my friend was raving about it.

Its easy to prepare and very tasty to eat!

THe recipe for the meat mix

Boneless Chicken or beef – 1 lb

red chili pwdr – 1 tbsp or add more or less according to your taste

turmeric pwdr – 1/2 tsp

oil – 3-4 tbsps

onions – 3 medium sized finely chopped

ginger garlic paste – 1 tbsp

corriander pwdr – 1.5 tbsp

curry leaves,corriander leaves, mint leaves – a small bunch chopped finely.

How to proceed :

Cook chicken, red chilli powder, turmeric and salt.

Shred the cooked chicken and set aside.

Heat oil in a pan and add onions. When the onions are brown add ginger garlic paste and green chillies to it. Fry for another 3-4 mts and ad the shredded chicken, corriander powder and chopped leaves to it.

FOr the wrapper:

All purpose flour is usually used in Malabar but i use wheat flour

salt to taste

knead just like you make the Roti Aata. Divide the aata into small lemon size balls.

Roll the balls into a roti. It should be thin and not so big. Because we are going to make petite samosas not big ones. Cut into 4 pieces. Take a piece and fold the rounded edge into a cone. Fill in the meat mixture. Close the samosa with the pointed edge.

Deep fry in oil and enjoy!!

My Samosas are going for the Ramadan Event!

Ramadan Day 5

I’m smiling as i type this because i was nicked as ‘Bonda’ during my childhood days! I used to be angry when my cousins call me that but now when i think back i cant help laughing because i really was fat and round! the gol gol type LOL! and i loved potatoes and i still do.

Potato is the Raja (king)of all veggies. I havent come across someone who doesn’t like potatoes. Fry ir or bake it or steam it of add to your stew it tastes so good.

Here is my simple recipe for bonda:

For the potato mixture–

1/2 tsp mustard and cumin seeds

3-4 tbsps of oil

4 large potatoes boiled and mashed

1 tsp ginger garlic paste

3 green chillies finely chopped

salt to taste

a handful of corriander leaves chopped finely.

Heat oil in a kadai and add the mustard and cumin seeds and let it splutter. Add onions and fry till onions are light brown. Add ginger-garlic paste to it and fry for 2-3 mts. Add green chillies and salt and  mix well. Add the mashed potatoes mix well and then chopped corriander leaves at the end and set aside till it cools. Make lemon size balls after cooling.

For the batter–

1 cup plain flour

1 tsp ajwain

salt to taste

water to mix the batter

Mix everything to form a thick batter.

**The batter should not be watery otherwise i wont stick to the bondas. In my picture my batter was a bit of watery so it did not stick to the batter.

*** Variations of the batter

> 1/2 cup plain flour and rice flour (According to me this one is the best)

> 1 cup rice flour

> 1 cup besan flour

Dip the potato balls in the batter and deep fry.

My bondas go for the Ramadan Event hosted by Lubna

Ramadan Day 4

Have i ever mentioned that i cant pass a day in Ramadan without Tarikanhi?? It really gives me the strength to move on to the next day! It is nutritious as well as it has semolina and milk in it.

We usually have it after our Tarawih namas when we were in Calicut.  I remember i used to drink 2-3 glasses of it right after the prayers!

This recipe is dedicated to my grandma. Because she tried her best to make me drink it when i was little. But i was a stubborn child and would never drink it. But she proved to be really my “Naani” LOL! One day during Ramadan she put lots of nuts and ghee in this and told me its Payasam! the greedy me grabbed the glass and finished it off in a gulp! From that day onwards i and Tarikanhi have been inseperable during Ramadan!

The moral of the story : You never know how it tastes until you try!

1 glass milk

1 tbsp semolina

2 elaichi or 1/4 tsp elaichi or cardamom pwdr

a pinch of salt

sugar to taste

cashews and raisins for garnishing

1/2 tsp ghee

Boil milk, semolina, elaichi together. Keep on stirring while its boiling or else it will get burned.  Turn of the stove as soon as soon it boils. And add sugar and salt to it.

Heat ghee and add the cashews and raisins fry for some time and add to the milk.

Serve Hot!

** If you want a porridge drink let the milk boil for some more time.

Ths entry goes to Lubna’s Ramadan Event and Sanghi’s FIL Milk Event.

Ramadan Day 3

Day 3 i kept on thinking what should i cook because as my daughter was not fasting i didnt get any input form her! i just hate to think and think what to cook. At last i ended up on the banana as usual and some bread pakoras along with Malabar chicken curry and pathiris.

Sometimes i just wonder how people back in calicutat  dads and moms home used to cook so many things during Ramadan. All day they would be reading the Quran and by 3 pm everyone will be in this kitchen making something or the other. Well those are the joys of a joint family! Every time i go there its a totally different world and i find it very difficult to come out of it especially when we have lots of same age cousins and have a lot to catch up!

This is yet another Malabar speciality. During Ramadan there will be at least one banana snack item everyday. And I’m just used to having it here also so cant pass a day without a banana! Thank god we get the same banana here is Singapore other wise i would have been lost during Ramadan!

When i made this yesterday my hubby as usual was saying wow! i haven’t seen this since last Ramadan! (he says this when ever he sees any Malabar snack item!)

For this recipe you’ll need

2 ripe kerala bananas cut in small cubes

2 large eggs

1/2 cup milk

10 cashew nuts crushed

sugar to taste (i used around 3 tbsps)

2 tsp oil

Heat oil in a non stick sauce pan and add the bananas. Fry it till brown.

Beat eggs, milk, sugar, cashew nuts  together and pour in to the banana.

Mix well and close the sauce pan.

Make sure the bottom doesnt get burned. I use a very thin metal plate to keep on top of the stove and keep the pan on it so that the things inside wont get burned.

Cook for around 10mts open and see whether its done. Serve hot!

My grandma makes the best coconut rice in the whole world!!!! it is so delicious that even if we make it just like her it wont taste the same. she sure has a magic touch. Today i have tried my best to make it just like her i know it doesnt taste like hers but still i tried my best.

In calicut coconut rice is made of matta rice. its round and brown and takes some time to cook. Malabaries usually use this rice. There is also white matte rice but as its not available in singapore i use the brown rice. Another rice which is commonly used is ponni rice. Its white long grain rice and very easy to cook. But my son doesnt like it so i hardly use it.

Back to coconut rice/thenga chor here are the ingredients

2 tbsps dalda or ghee (i used dalda)
4-5 shallots
3 cups rice
1.5 cup grated coconut
1 tbsp methi seeds/ulluva
1 tbsp fennel seeds/perunjeerakam/saunf
7 cups water
salt to taste

In a pressure cooker heat the dalda or ghee and add finely chopped shallots to it

When the shallots are brown add water

Grind the coconut and fennel seeds into a fine paste with less water

When the water boils add the rice, methi seeds, coconut, salt and cardamon to it.

Pressure cook in low flame for 30 mts.

When the steam is gone remove the whistle and mix the rice well.

Now its ready to serve with any chicken curry with gravy!

Srivalli here goes another entry from me for the Rice Mela! i hope your not fed up of me!! LOL!

Today my daughter had her orientation for her new class K1. (wow! time sure flies!!!) i though i would be back soon so i took the chicken out and didnt cook any thing else and went to her school. but when i came back it was already 11:30am and my kiddos usually have lunch by 12:30 ish. i was like OMG!! what im going to do now..

i decided to make neyichor (ghee rice) and chicken curry. but i knew that with all sauteing and stuff i cant make it by 12:30.

Then my sis called me and told me to come online. While i was chatting with her she gave me this recipe. She told me just mix every thing and toss it into the cooker and add grinded coconut.. i was like what??? no sauteing and no oil???? how come.. she said try it..
And then i just did just like she told me and it really came out good.

chicken 500 grms washed and cut into small pieces
1 medium sized onion
1 small tomato
1 large potato
1.5 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 tbsp lime juice
1/2 tsp turmeric pwdr
1 tsp red chilli pwdr
2.5 tbsp coriander pwdr
1 tsp pepper pwdr
curry leaves, mint and coriander leaves – a handful
grated coconut – 1 cup
1 tsp fennel seeds/perumjeerakam
salt to taste

mix all the ingredients except the curry,mint and coriander leaves and coconut and fennel seeds in a pressure cooker. My sis told me not to add water but i added 1/4th cup to avoid burning (i didnt want to take the risk!!)LOL! Cook for 15 mts.

Grind the coconut and fennel seeds to a fine paste with 1/4 cup of water

When the pressure is gone add the coconut paste to it. And cook on a low flame till bubbles appear. Add all the leaves to it.

Serve hot with neychor or any type of pathiris.

This is the first time im cooking a chicken curry oilless!! Thanks to my dear sis for sharing such a wonderful recipe with me. I love you and miss you. **sniff sniff**

This is one of the very very famous dishes in kerala. and one of the most popular break fast item too. im blogging this for Srivalli’s Rice Mela she really gives a reason to cook and blog! You rock girl!!!

Puttu is made of parboiled rice flour. It is first washed and dried and then grinded to make flour. Well actually thats the procedure in kerala.. but since im in Singapore i go for the ready made puttu flour which is much more easier!! LOL!

Brown channa curry or chicken curry or stews goes well with puttu. today morning i made brown channa curry to go with it.

For the puttu you’ll need

3 cups rice flour
1 cup water
1-2 cups of scraped coconut
salt to taste

Take the flour in a large bowl and add salt to it. Add the water slowly to it to make the puttu dough. The puttu dough is very loose and should not be any lumps in it. If u find any lumps break it and keep on mixing it.

• If you are using roasted flour you might need more water. so add water accordingly.

Now boil water in the puttu kutti (puttu maker). u can see that there are 2 parts of the puttu kutti. Boil water in the below one.

Mean while in the kutti (the upper part of the puttu maker) Add 1 tbsp of coconut. On top of that add 3 tbsp of flour. Again coconut and flour. repeat this till the kutti is full.

But be sure that the top and bottom of the puttu kutti should be filled with coconut layer. Now fix the kutti on top of the puttu maker. And boil it till the steam comes out from the top.

Puttu can also be eaten with bananas and sugar…

Now here goes the brown channa curry or kadala curry

1 medium sized onion thinly sliced
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
2 cups brown channa
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 medium sized tomato cut into small pieces
1 1/2 tbsp coriander pwdr
1/2 tbsp red chilli pwdr (if u want to make it more spicy u can add more.)
1/4 tbsp haldi pwdr
1 spring curry leaves
salt to taste
oil for sauting
4 cups of water

heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add mustard seeds to it. when they splutter add onions and curry leaves to it. When the onions are brownish add ginger garlic paste to it and saute for another 1 mt. After that add tomatoes to it. When the tomatoes are soft add the masalas to it. Once oil separates form the mixture add the brown channa and water to it and presurre cook for 20-25 mts.

And now its ready to serve with puttu!

Pal in malayalam means milk and vayakka means banana. Its not the normal banana you get all over the world LOL! Kerala has a special type of banana that u can cook and eat. And u can also make many dishes of it even when its raw, half ripe and ripe.

Im glad we get the same type of bananas in Singapore!!! with out it ramazan would not be the same

So this is recipe is the ripe bananas with sago and coconut!

2 ripe kerala bananas
1 cup sago or sabu daana
sugar to taste
salt 1/4 tsp
1 and half cup grated coconut
1/2 tsp fennel seeds or saunf
2-3 shallots

• Cut the bananas in to thin long pieces and boil in a vessel with sufficent water
• Boil the sabu daana with sufficent water seperatly.
• Mean while grind the coconut, fennel seeds and shallots into a thick fine paste.
• When the banana and the sago are cooked and soft combine it into one vessal and add the grinded paste to it and cook again.
• Mix well and serve hot!