Kerala Style Idlis

Did you know that Idli is cooked in most households in Kerala more than twice a week? Preparing soft idlis is not difficult when you have an idli cooker and the necessary ingredients. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup urad dal
• 3 cups raw rice
• 1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
• Salt to taste

How To Prepare:

1. Soak both the urad dal and rice for 30 minutes.
2.  Add the fenugreek seeds.
3. Make a thick paste of urad dal, rice, and fenugreek seeds.
4. Let the batter ferment overnight.
5. Add salt to it and make idli-shaped molds.
6. Grease the idli cooker with oil and place the molds in it.
7. Steam the idlis for 15 minutes. Serve hot with sambar.

Idiyappam | Noolputtu | Kerala Special

Idiyappam or string hopper or Sevai is a popular Kerala breakfast. It goes best with vegetable kurma, but if you want, you can also have it with vegetable stew or Kerala egg curry. Here’s how you can make it.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rice flour
• 1-1 ½ cups water
• 1 teaspoon gingelly oil
• Salt to taste

How To Prepare:

• Boil the water in a pan.
• Use the boiled water to knead the flour into a sticky yet firm dough.
• Now, take an Idiyappam press and press the dough through it to make strings of it.
• You can use an idli maker and make small idiyappams.
• Cook for 5 minutes. Serve hot.

Kerala Egg Curry ( Nadan Mutta Curry )

If you want to experience the true taste of Kerala, nadan mutta curry is a must. It is a breakfast favorite of many Keralites. And why not? It tastes so mouthwateringly delicious! You can have it with appam or steamed rice. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients

• 4 hard-boiled eggs
• ¼ cup chopped onions
• 1 ½ teaspoons ginger paste
• 1 ½ teaspoons garlic paste
• ¼ cup chopped tomato
• ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon red chili powder
• 2 teaspoons coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• ¾ cup coconut milk
• ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
• ¾ cup water
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 5-6 curry leaves
• 1 chopped green chili
• 1 teaspoon ghee
• Salt to taste

How To Prepare

• Heat oil in a pan.
• Toss in the fennel seeds and curry leaves and cook for 20 seconds.
• Add the chopped onions and cook till they become translucent.
• Add chopped tomatoes and stir. Cover the pan. Keep stirring at intervals. Let it cook till the tomatoes soften.
• Add ginger and garlic paste and cook for a minute.
• Add the coriander powder, red chili powder, salt, and turmeric powder. Saute till the oil starts to leave the onion and tomato paste.
• Add the chopped green chili and add water.
• Let it come to a boil.
• Add the boiled eggs.
• Cover the pan and cook for 3 minutes.
• Add the coconut milk, stir, and cover the lid. Cook for 2 minutes.
• Remove from the flame and add a teaspoon of ghee. Your yummy nadan mutta curry is ready!

Kerala Vegetable Stew

The famous Kerala vegetable stew is full of flavors and can even become your favorite dish. It goes well with rice, chapati, and appam. Here’s the recipe.

Ingredients

• ½ cup cubed carrots
• ¼ cup cubed potatoes
• ¼ cup green peas
• ¼ cup chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon ginger paste
• 1 teaspoon garlic paste
• 3 cloves
• 2 cardamoms
• ½ teaspoon black peppercorns
• ½ cup thick coconut milk
• 1 ½ cups thin coconut milk
• 10 curry leaves
• 3 tablespoons coconut oil
• Salt to taste

How To Prepare

• Crush the clove, cardamom, and black peppercorns.
• In a heated pan, add coconut oil and
• The crushed spices and cook for 30 seconds.
• Add the chopped onions and cook till they become translucent.
• Add the ginger and garlic paste and cook for a minute.
• Add the cubed veggies and stir well.
• After about 2 minutes, add the thin coconut milk and simmer. Let it cook for 10 minutes.
• Now, add salt and the thick coconut milk and cook for 5-7 minutes.
• Remove the pan from the flame and add curry leaves. Serve hot.

Kadala Curry

Kadala curry is another special breakfast dish from Kerala. Bengal gram is the main ingredient here, and it goes best with appam, puttu, poori, chapati, or rice. Here’s the recipe

Ingredients

• ¾ cup Bengal gram
• 2 cups water for soaking Bengal gram
• 2 ½ cups of water for boiling or pressure cooking Bengal gram
• ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1-inch cinnamon bark
• 3 strands of mace
• 2 pinches of nutmeg powder
• 3 cloves
• ½ cup grated coconut
• ¼ cup coconut water
• ⅓ cup chopped onion
• ½-inch ginger chopped
• 10 curry leaves
• 2 green chilis
• ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• ¼ teaspoon red chili powder
• 2 tablespoons olive oil or coconut oil
• Salt to taste

How To Prepare

1. Soak the Bengal gram in water overnight.
2. Add salt and boil the Bengal gram in water using a pressure cooker. Wait for 6-8 whistles.
3. Meanwhile, blend the grated coconut. Add coconut water if it becomes too dry.
4. Now, dry roast the fennel seeds, mace, nutmeg, clove, and cinnamon.
5. Grind the roasted spices and keep aside.
6. Add two tablespoons of olive oil or coconut oil to a pan and add mustard seeds.
7. When they start to crackle, add the chopped onions and saute for 1-2 minutes.
8. Add ginger and chopped green chili and let fry for 30 seconds.
9. Add the curry leaves and let cook till the onions turn translucent.
10. Add the powdered roasted spices, chili powder, and coriander powder and fry for 2 minutes.
11. Now, add the blended coconut paste and stir well for 4-5 minutes on a low flame.
12. Add the boiled Bengal gram and cook for about a minute.
13. Add two cups of water and salt to taste.
14. Let it come to a boil.
15. Switch off the flame.
16. Serve hot with appam or rice.

Sardine Fish Curry / Kerala Style Mathi Curry

READY IN   : 35mins      | SERVES: 4

YIELD          : 1 bowl      | UNITS: US

INGREDIENTS  - Nutrition

• 4oo grams sardine fish
• 1⁄2 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1⁄4-1⁄2 teaspoon ground fenugreek
• 1 red chili
• 2 green chilies, sliced vertically
• 8 -10 shallots, sliced (small onions)
• 5 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 teaspoon ginger, julienned
• 1 tomatoes, sliced (optional)
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• 1⁄2 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 2 sprigs curry leaves
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons coconut oil
• salt
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup water

DIRECTIONS

Clean Gambooge in clear running water and soak it in little warm water minimum for half an hour. Keep it aside. Cut all the fins and scales of sardines with a knife, rub it with little salt in an earthen ware and clean them in clear running water. Keep it aside. Take a small bowl and all the spice powders and pour little coconut oil or little warm water to form a paste. Grind it in a mixer and keep it aside.

Heat coconut oil in an clay cooking pot / manchatti. Add mustard seeds. When it starts crackling, add the fenugreek seeds. Then add the dry red chilli and sauté it. When these seeds get slightly brown in clour, add the finely chopped shallots and one spring of curry leaves. Shallots have to get the golden colour. Then add chopped ginger and garlic followed by green chillies. Sauté it for few seconds till green chillies changes its colour and garlic gets light yellow colour. Add in the tomato piece and sauté it for few seconds.

Now add the ground spice powders paste you made in advance. Sauté it well till you get a nice aroma and the oil starts separating from the pan. Add the water, salt and the other curry leaves. Bring it to a boil.

When it started boiling add the cleaned sardine pieces. Cover the vessel with its lid and simmer the stove. Let it cook for 10 minutes or until the fish is cooked and oil starts floating. If you want to reduce the gravy, cook for few more minutes keeping its lid removed.

Your Sardine Fish Curry / Keralas Mathi Curryis ready to serve.

Serve it with hot rice or kappa vevichathu. It goes well with Kappa Vevichathu and Appam or Kallappam.