Don’t you think sometimes you need a full vegetarian meal? And that too with almost all all all the veggies in it?? LOL!! I felt like that few months back! Yes this is from a draft long long back. I still remember i was craving for all the veggie curries I’m not good at cooking kerala veggies. I opened my cook book after a long time and started searching for these recipes. I hardly take a look at the books now becase i find everything in GOOGLE now! LOL! but i think if u need anything authentic tried and tested and tasted you have to open those books which you have treasured or passed from ur mom or aunt or grandmaa… the list goes on! So here goes the recipes.

Avial is a vegetables with coconut and yogurt. I add all my favorite vegetables to it like potatoes, raw bananas, carrots, yam… yumm yumm!!

Carrot – 1 medium size
Potato – 1 medium size
Elephant Yam -1 cup
Raw Bananas – 1 large
long Beans- 1 cup

• All veggies cut in 2 inch long pieces.

Coconut-1 cup
Green chillies-2 nos
Cumin seeds-1 tsp

• Grind into a fine paste

Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp
Curry leaves 1-2 springs
Coconut oil for tadka
Sour curds-1 cup
Salt to taste

• Cook the vegetables in a skillet with little water.
• Add turmeric and salt to it.
• When the veggies are soft add the coconut mixture to it.
• After a boil add the beaten curd to it and turn off the stove.
• Heat coconut oil in a separate tadka pan and add mustard seeds and curry leaves to it.
• Serve with rice

Olan is beans mixed with winter melons in coconut milk. I love beans and winter melons but not really a fan of coconut milk. I had to buy it because this recipe is incomplete without it!

Small red beans – 1 cup soaked overnight
Winter melon -1 cup

• Pressure cook the beans till its half done and then add the melon and salt and cook again till soft.

Coconut milk- to taste around 1/2 cup.
Curry leaves 1 spring
Coconut Oil for tadka

• Add coconut milk to the cooked beans and melon and let it boil for few minutes.
• In a tadka pan add coconut oil and mustard and curry leaves and add the the beans.

Spinach is the only veggie my kids will eat everyday! So i try ot make it often and in the simplest way! I make Cabbage also in the same way.

Heat coconut oil in a skillet. Add mustard seeds. When they splutter add chopped spinach/cabbage to it. Add salt to taste and mix well. Wait till the veggies are done. Usually these veggies are cooked within 5 minutes if u chop them finely.

Okra Curry is one of the easiest curry for me.. why?? because one can cut the okras into half and and still it will be soft after a boil! Also i roast gring a large packet of coconut and freeze it so its easy for me to add the coconut also. Please note that the roasted-grinded coconut doesnt not really freeze and become hard in the freezer. It will be still like a powder if you dry grind them.

10-12 okras cut in to any size
1 small onion chopped finely
1 small tomato optional
a lemon size tamarine ball soaked in 1 cup of water
2-3 tsps of coriander pwdr
1 tsp of red chilli pwdr
coconut oil for frying onions
salt to taste

coconut 1/2 cup
cumin seeds 1/2 tsp
fennel seeds 1/2 tsp
curry leaves 1 sppring
turmeric pwdr 1/4 tsp
shallot 1-2

• roast all till dark brown and dry grind.

In a skillet add coconut oil and fry onions. If you are using tomatoes add them after the onions turn brown. Add chopped okras and fry then for 2-3 mts. Add the tamarine water and spices to it.  Cover and cook till the okras are soft. Add the grinded coconut to it and adjust the spices if u need more. And bring to a boil. Turn off immidietly after boiling.

• You don’t have to add all the coconut to it. Adjust according to how thick you want the curry. Freeze the un used coconut if any.

Enjoy the kerala meal with kuruva rice!

Im overjoyed to receive this award from Malar Gandhi.

And im passing this to Srivalli, Faiza Ali, Pajusha, Yasmeen, Lubna, Lissie.

This has been in my draft for a long time.. When both my laptops crashed i finally learned the lesson not to treasure my pics in “My Pictures ” but i have to publish them here! LOL! I finally returned to my old desk top but i have lost the mobility! now i have to come to the computer room when im making something new or i’ll have to print out the recipe. Well but im happy that my desktop never lets me down but i did promise myself to publish the recipes as soon as i  cook or bake them!

One of the easiest curry i make when i wake up late or not in the mood for cooking. Thank god my kids love this!

1 Raw banana

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1/4  fenugreek powder

3/4 – 1 cup grated coconut

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1 green chilli

3-4 tbsp yoghurt

salt to taste

For Tadka/tempering oil, mustard seeds, red chilli, curry leaves

Remove banana skin and  wash and slice them into thick pieces. Put them in a vessel and add turmeric  and fenugreek powder and salt.  In a medium sized skillet add 2 cups of water and bananas, cover and cook till done.    Meanwhile, grind grated coconut, cumin seeds and  green chillies to a fine paste.  Add this paste to the cooked bananas and mix well.  Beat yoghurt and pour over it.  Keep on stirring the curry and cook on a low flame till it starts to boil.  Turn off the flame.  In a tadka pan, heat oil and add mustard seeds, red chillies and curry leaves.  Turn off the flame immediately and pour it over the curry.  Mix well and serve hot with rice

A lazy lazy day and your groceries are almost empty! So what do you feed your family? Well my first choice will be Salads!!! Mix everything you have a there you go.. a very healthy nourishing salad.  :)

All you have to do is mix lettuce, pumpkin seeds, cherry tomatoes, olives, avocados, zucchini  mushrooms, chickpeas, drizzle olive oil on top and serve!

I dont add salt in any of my salads you may add if you like.

This Salad goes to Light Meal event and Healthy snacking event

My kids love this with rice and yogurt. This is another easy breezy lunch i make when i dont have time!

Beans – 250 grms cut into small pieces

jeera/cumin – 1/4 tsp

turmeric – 1/4 tsp

chilli pwdr – 1/4 tsp

curry leaves – 1 spring

salt to taste

Exra virgin olive oil 1 tbsp

In a heaqvy bottom vessel heat olive oil and add cumin. Once it splutters add the dry powders and stir for 2 seconds.. Be careful not to burn the powders. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir for few more mts. If you want to cook the beans close the lid and let it cook for 3-5 mts. Or else keep on stirring for 3-4 mts. Serve with rice or rotis.

im Sending my recipe for Light Meal 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

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 madeputtu 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 puttudough. 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 puttukutti. 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 oilseparates form the mixture add the brown channa and water to it and presurre cook for 20-25mts.

And now its ready to serve with puttu!

This entry also goes to WYF:Breakfast Event

“Soup is a food that is made by combining ingredients such as meat and vegetables in stock or hot/boiling water, until the flavor is extracted, forming a broth”.  source Wikipedia

When im lazy to cook or eat something solid food soups come to the rescue! One of the soups which i make during dinner time is this one.

It is easy to prepare and and very healthy as it as chicken breast, carrots, celery, potatoes, spinach and a lot of spices to spice it up!

So for this soup you will need

200-300 grams of chicken breast

1 medium size potato

1/2 of a spinach bunch

1 small carrot

1 celery stalk

Cut everything in to small pieces and boil together for 2 hours. Blend it with a hand blender into a fine paste or as per you like. Garnish with black pepper, marjoram,basil,oregano,crushed red pepper and salt!

This soup is really filling and you can also change the choice of veggies, u can add corn, green peas, tomatoes, or any other veggie.

Lobia is one of my favorite among beans. today i was thinking to make Lobia parata but somehow i wasn’t in a mood.. And while browsing through some of my favorite blogs i found this recipe in Shaheens Malabar Spices. it turned out so yummy even my kids loved it!

thanks Shaheen for sharing such a wonderful recipe

I love methi.. be it the seeds or leaves or the dried ones (kasuri methi).. i love the flavour though no one else at home is a big fan of it!! In between when i got preggo with my #2 i couldnt even stand it!!!! And for some reason i didnt event buy them for the last 2 yrs!!!

When i went to Mustafa Centre last week i saw the fresh leaves and i thought itz high time i need to have them now! I forgot all the recipes i used to make with the methi leaves i tried to google but didnt get the ones i used to make. Then i stumbled upon this wonderful recipe of Aloo Methi from Chayya’s blog.

i made it exactly like that and it came out very good.. its easy to make and will go with rotis and rice as well. Thank god dry subzis are loved by all at our home!

In our place, kerala daal vadas are made of Toor daal. But since i met my dear friend sasikala who introduced me to the Tamil cuisine i have been making daal vadas with channa daal. And ofcourse its tastier than the ones i used to make!

For this you’ll need

1 cup channa daal soaked for 3-4 hrs
1 onion finely sliced
3-4 green chillies finely sliced
1 tbsp saunf or fennel seeds
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
salt to taste
oil for deep frying

• grind the daal into a fine paste with out adding water
• mix the rest of the ingredients to it
• make small patties and deep fry!