Kerala Avial (II)

My friend Mrs.Priya Anand gave me the recipe to do this kerala Aviyal.
Before hand I was trying a different version .I used to add coconut milk and do some tempering at the end. Then , I learnt that Keralites do not temper their aviyal. So I tried it this way and it tastes awesome.

Ingredients:
White pumkin - 100 gms
Yellow pumkin - 100 gms
1-Raw banana (vazhakai)
1-Potato
1-Podalangai (snake gourd)
1-carrot
chenai - 100 gms (Indian yam)( I have not seen it at the grocery, frozen is available though- you can skip)
10 strings beans
1 drumstick
2 cups-yogurt (thick should not be watery)
1 cup-coconut
green chillies 6-8 (as per taste)
curry leaves (karugapalai)
coconut oil-2 tablespoon
turmeric
salt

Method:
Cut all the vegetable in one and a half inch long thin strips (like finger chips) Add pumpkin as per required quantity after putting all the other vegetables depending on how much you need. Boil the vegetables with turmeric and salt. When the vegetables are almost cooked drain out the excess water. Add the yogurt and let it come to a boil so that the yogurt is mixed well with the vegetables. Mix carefully as the vegetables may break. Grind the coconut and chillies to a fine paste. You can add the water from the boiled vegetables and grind to a thick paste. Do not add too much water. Add this paste bring it to a boil. Turn off the gas and add curry leave and coconut oil and mix well.

Serving suggestions:
Serve with rice , rasam and papadam.It can also be served with chapathi , naan , adai etc.

Sodhi

Sodhi is one of the unique and popular dishes in Tirunelveli.Sodhi is otherwise called Thengaipal kulambu / coconut milk stew. Sothi is a delicious gravy made of coconut milk and vegetables. This is served at marriage feasts, especially during the Maruveedu (return marriage) ceremony which takes place the day after a marriage.
Sodhi is a heavy dish so it is generally consumed as lunch only.
I used a thick coconut milk from can. But if you wish to extract the coconut milk then you may need 1/2 of a big coconut.Extract milk three times and keep the first thick milk separate and add it in the last step. Mix the 2 nd and 3 rd extracts and use it to cook the vegetables.
Stick to the recipe to get the perfect 'sodhi'.
(source - my Rukmani aunty)

Ingredients:
Coconut milk (canned) - 4 tbsp
Ginger grated - 2 inch.
Moong Dhal -1/2 cup
Garlic - 2 pods.
Lime/lemon juice - 1/2 (2 tbsp)
Carrots - 1 cut in long slices (50 gms)
Drum Stick - 1 (100 gms)
potato, - 1 cut in cubes (100 gms)
Onion - 1 cut in large cubes
Cabbage - 1/4 of a medium sized cabbaged cut in large pieces. (100 gms)

To grind:
Grated coconut - 1 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp
Green chilies - 2-3 (depends on how spicy you want it)

Method:
Cook the moong dhal with garlic in water.
If it is 3/4 th cooked , add all the vegetables and cook it till the dhal becomes mushy.
Take the 2 tbsp of thick coconut milk from the can and dilute it in water to make one can and add it to the boiling vegetables.
(If you are extracting milk, then you may need 1/2 big coconut to do the entire dish.)
Grind the ingredients of the ground mixture.
When the vegetables are tender add the ground mixture and 1/2 can of coconut milk and let it cook for some time.
Now add the remaining thick coconut milk (2 tbsp).
Crush the ginger and extract juice .
Just before you switch off the stove add the ginger juice and cook for a minute and take it off the stove
When Sodhi cools down add salt and lemon juice and temper with mustard and curry leaves. (some people do not temper it).

Serving suggestions:
Makes nearly 700 ml 'sodhi'.Serves 4 people. Serve it over cooked rice.
It should be served more generously like buttermilk so that it runs out of rice.
Do not heat the sodhi as it will give a bitter taste. So try to serve it with piping hot rice. Ginger chutney, sembu (arbi root) fry are suitable side dishes.

Ginger chutney

Last saturday I prepared this Ginger chutney as side dish for 'sodhi' (a coconut milk stew) and rice.I will post the recipe for 'sodhi' soon.

Ingredients:
Ginger - 50 gms (peeled and cut ..a handful)
Tamarind - a small strawberry size
Coriander seeds - 1/2 tsp
Red chilly - 4
Grated Coconut - 2 tbsp
cooking oil - 2 tbsp
salt - 1/2 tsp (to taste)
jaggery - 1 tsp (crushed)

Method:
Heat 1 tsp of oil in a paan and saute the ginger till it turns brown
Fry the red chilly, Coriander seeds and coconut gratings separately
Grind the ginger along with the items that were fried separately , salt and jaggery.
Heat the remaining oil temper mustard seeds and add the mixture.
saute the mixture till it becomes thick.

Serving suggestions:
It is otherwise called Ginger pachadi / ginger thokku / ginger chutney. This is good for digestion. It can be served with sodhi with rice , chapathi , idly, dosa etc.

Aviyal (Mixed veggie curry).

This is a famous dish of kerala . I call this as Kerala aviyal because TamilNadu Aviyal is a bit different and we should add mango , tamarind and tomato instead of curd. Moreover kerala aviyal has more coconut masala than the Tamilnadu version. I will narrate the other pattern soon.
I used canned coconut milk. It was so thick , so i used just a tablespoon of it.
If you are extracting milk then use 3 tbsp of shredded coconut to get milk.


vegetables:
Unripe banana (choose Indian banana) - 1
Baby brinjal / small eggplant - 3
Drumstick - 1
Red onion - 1
carrot -1
green peas - 1/4 cup
potato / yam (senai kilangu in tamil) - 100 gms

(cut the drumstick into 1.5 inch pieces. Peel and cut banana , potato and carrot like 1.5 inch french fry pieces.Cut the brinjal into 1.5 inch long french fry pieces.chop the onion coarsely.
Banana , drumstick , red onion and brinjal are a must in an aviyal . You can add or substitute any vegetables like cluster beans, green beans, pumpkin , winter melon, etc.
Cauliflower , cabbage , broccoli , celery and beetroot do not go along with the recipe.)

Masala:
shredded coconut - 3 tbsp
green chilli - 4
cumin seeds- 1 tsp
(Grind all of the above coarsely).

Other ingredients:
Indian yogurt / curd - 1 cup
coconut milk (from can)- 1 tbsp
shredded coconut - 1 tbsp
coconut oil (or)any cooking oil - 1 tbsp
curry leaves - 1 brig
mustard seed - 1tsp
salt - to taste
water- 2 cups

Method:
Cut the vegetables as narrated .
Take a deep pan with lid. Add all the veggies with 2 cups of water.Add 1tbsp thick coconut milk. DO NOT add salt now. Cook all the veggies completely (but not too soft). Now add salt.
Add the masala and mix well.
After 5 minutes add the curd and check for salt.Now switch off the flame immediately after adding curd.
Heat a separate pan with oil and splutter the mustard seeds. Add the remaining shredded coconut, curry leaves and fry till it becomes golden in color.
Add this to the cooked veggies and serve hot .

Serving suggestions:
Makes 500 ml of aviyal (nearly 2.5 cups).
It can be served with sambar rice , rasam rice , roti , chapathi .
More suitable with Adai or Rasam on steamed rice.

Vegetable Kuruma.

This is a kind of vegetable kuruma prepared in Tirunelveli hotels and parotta stalls.
It has a unique flavor as the kuruma is made with a different masala and curd.It goes fine with parotta. It can be made in bulk for a week and stored in fridge for serving with chapathi at night.


Ingredients:
Cauliflower - 100 gms (1/4 flower)
Beans - 100 gms (25 number)
carrot - 1
potato - 2 (medium size)
tomato - 1
Red onion - 2 (medium size)
green chillies - 4
coriander leaves - a handful.
mint leaves - few
curry leaves - few
curd - 1/2 cup
besan flour - 2 tsp
shredded coconut - 2 tbsp
cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
red chilli powder - 1 tbsp
turmeric powder - a pinch
curry masala powder / channa masala powder - 1 tsp
salt - to taste
olive oil - 1 tbsp
cardamom - 2
cloves - 2
Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp
bay leaf - 1
ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp

Method:
Grind ginger and garlic together.
Grind shredded coconut ,cardamom, cloves, cumin seeds and 1 onion together.
Grind again together  with curd, besan flour keep aside.
Cut cauliflower into big pieces.
peel and cut other vegetables in to big pieces.
Heat oil in a pan. fry some fennel seeds and bay leaf.
Add the chopped onion, green chillies ,curry leaves, cilantro and mint leaves. After the onion turns golden brown , add ginger garlic paste and saute well.
Now add all the vegetables, salt and mix well.
Add 2 cups of water, chilli powder, turmeric powder , curry masal powder and stir well.
close the lid and cook all the vegetables to tender.Add the coconut masala and let it boil it gives a nice flavor.
Boil for few more minutes in low flame , close and Switch off.
Serving suggestions:
serve hot with parathas or roti or naan .
Makes 4 cups of vegetable kuruma and serves 8 people.

Home made Syrup for digestion.

People in India consume some home made syrups for digestion problems.
They drink this syrup before bedtime once in a week.
This is one of the few kashayams (syrups) used in TamilNadu for getting gas relief.
This is the simplest among various syrups . Pregnant women should not drink this.

Ingredients:
Garlic - 7 pearls
Dry ginger powder - 1 tbsp
cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Black pepper - 1 tsp
coriander seeds - 2 tbsp
Asafoetida - 1 pinch
Jaggery - 100 gms
water - 3 cups (600 ml)

Method:
Except jaggery grind all the ingredients given above with little water.
Boil the given amount of water with jaggery and add the herbal paste made.
Stir occasionally and boil everything until the liquid gets reduced to 2 cups.
Now cool the syrup and strain the clear syrup out of it.
Drink it at night (one hour after dinner) to get rid of digestion problems.
serves 2 people.

Milagu saadam

Milagu saadam is the Tamil equivalent of Black pepper fried rice. (saadam means cooked rice and Milagu means Black pepper). Milagu saadam is a special dish usually prepared in the Lord Shiva Temple (Nellaiyappar kovil)of Tirunelveli , TN , India as Pooja offering . It is easy to make and tastes wonderful. Stick to the recipe and DO NOT USE ready made PEPPER POWDER to make this dish. USE WHOLE PEPPER ONLY. Because whole pepper has a wonderful aroma.
Usually people serve 'Paruppu podi saadam' in the beginning of a feast. Instead of it Milagu saadam can also be served before serving sambar rice in a vegetarian dinner. Milagu saadam is good for digestion.

Ingredients:
Rice (Jeeraga samba / kali Jeera rice) - 1 cup
Black pepper (whole) - 1 tbsp
cumin seeds - 1 tsp
mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp.
salt - 3/4 tsp
Olive oil - 1 tsp
Ghee - 1 tsp
cashew nut - 5
curry leaves - 2 sprig

Method:
Heat oil in pan . Fry mustard , cumin and pepper corn till the mustard seeds start to crackle.Put off fire and fry 1 brig of curry leaves in that heat.
Let them cool . Crush them in a small jar of the mixie /blender.
Add some salt (1/2 tsp ) to this powder.
Cook 1 cup rice with little salt (1/4 tsp) and 2 cups water.
Care should be taken so that the cooked rice is firm and all the grains remain separate.
Heat 1 tsp ghee in a pan. Roast the cashews in ghee . Switch off flame. Add 1 brig curry leaves to the same pan . Garnish the rice with this.
Mix the crushed pepper mixture with the rice thoroughly.
Do not break the rice while stirring.
Pepper fried rice is ready.

Serving suggestions:
Serve hot with 'vada kari' (a spicy stew prepared with fried lentil balls) or aviyal ( boiled mixed-veggie side dish) and appalam.