Kitchen Corner-Try It

10 Delicious Kerala Sadhya Payasam/ Pradhaman- Vishu and Onam Sadhya Tomorrow Malayalees around the world will be celebrating Vishu/ Kerala New year. So this is the perfect time to share some Sadhya recipes. Sadhya is a hearty meal, a vegetarian feast made on festive occasions. It is served, on a banana leaf with rice, pickles, chips, and curries ranging from mild yogurt and lentil curries to more spicy vegetable curries. But this post is dedicated entirely to the delightful treat/ dessert. Payasams are festive puddings served at the end of the Sadhya/ feast. Pradhaman/ payasam is made on all festive occasions like Vishu, Onam , Diwali, etc. If you love desserts here, are ten Kerala-style puddings for you to try. Payasam and pradhaman are both desserts or puddings, but when it comes to making pradhaman, there is a time-honored cooking technique. Payasam is easier to make but, pradhaman is time-consuming. It is cooked and reduced, and then cooked again- sort of double cooking which add...

Do you often look for snack ideas? I like to try new snack recipes. Freshly homemade, tea time snacks appeals to all ages. There are comfort and joy in munching a delicious sweet or savory deep-fried snack with hot piping tea. Some recipes make you nostalgic, and we keep coming back to it time and again. Kerala has an exhaustive list of traditional tea-time snacks. You never get tired of eating them! So here is a list of family favorites. Today I am sharing a collection of 10 easy to make snacks that you can make under 20 minutes . Do you have any favorite snack that is simple and easy to make? Please share your ideas, leave me a comment below Want to try more Kerala snacks, check my post 12 Best Traditional Kerala Snacks - Tea Time Snacks  Pazham Pori- Crispy Fried Sweet Plantain Pazham pori is a quick and easy tea time snack. It is made with ripe sweet plantains dipped in a batter and then deep-fried in coconut oil to crispy golden. Ingredients Ripe plantains - 3 medium Maida-...

Kakka Erachi Thoran Coastal Kerala has a great variety of sea food delicacy and clam meat is one among them. Kakka erachi/Clam meat is stir fried with coconut or is made into coconut based curries or fries. Kakka erachi  thoran is a spicy stir fry with grated coconut.Try this recipe,you will surely love it.  Ingredients Kakka Erachi/ Clam meat- 1 lb Shallots chopped-1 cup Grated Coconut- 1 cup Green chilly-3 Pepper powder- 1/3 tsp Ginger- 1 inch thick Garlic-4 - 5 pods Turmeric powder- 1/3 tsp Chilly powder- 1 tsp Garam masala- 1/3 tsp(optional) Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp Dry red chilly- 2 Curry leaves -a few Clean kakka erachi/clam meat. Squeeze each of the black sack that you see on the top portion and discard it. Wash and rinse thoroughly three to four time so that there will not be traces of dirt and sand.You can also rinse using a little lemon juice. In a mixer crush coconut, garlic and green chilly  and set aside.  Mix kakka erachi wit...

Ethapazham Paal Curry Ethapazham paal curry or pazham curry is a simple breakfast stew made with ripe plantains and coconut milk. It is mildly spicy and sweet curry and goes well with appam or idiyappam. Ingredients Ripe plantain/ethapazham- 2 large Shallots chopped- 1/4 cup Green chilly- 3 Ginger chopped- 1/2 tsp Curry leaves-a few Coconut milk thin- 1 cup Coconut milk thick- 3/4 cup  Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp Cardamom powder- a pinch Cumin powder- a pinch Powdered jaggery- 1/2 tsp (optional) salt to taste oil Heat oil in a pan and saute shallots, curry leaves, green chilly and chopped ginger till translucent. Add turmeric powder and salt and then the chopped plantains. Mix well and add thin coconut milk.Cover and cook till the plantain are cooked and soft. Remove the lid and mix cardamom powder, cumin powder and powdered jaggery. Mix well. Add thick coconut milk and simmer for a minute and remove from the stove. Serve with appam or idiyappam. Try th...

Spicy Chilly Sardine/Mathi  Adukkiyathu Sardine is very common sea food in Kerala. I love this small oily fish and tastes best when it is fried. Mathi adukkiyathu refers to layering of the fish and the masala.This recipe is very similar to the Pepper Sardine posted earlier. But the best part of this recipe is that, the fish and the masala is spicy and slightly crispy. This is inspired from a recipe I found this in a newspaper and I guess it is one among the collection of Mrs K. M. Mathew recipes.Had  tried several of her recipes in the past and they have turned out really good. So I decided to give this  a try and was really surprised as to how simple, yet tasty this turned out. Ingredients Sardine- 1 lb Shallots- 1/2 cup Onion- 1 medium chopped Ginger -1 inch thick piece Garlic- 4-5 cloves Turmeric powder- 1/3 tsp Dry red chilly- 6-7 (or according to spice tolerance) Pepper powder- a pinch Coriander seeds- 1 tsp Fenugreek seeds- a few Thick tamarind p...

Chakkakuru Muringakka Thoran Today's recipe is yet another simple thoran that can be served with steamed rice. Jack fruit is a seasonal fruit in Kerala and there are several sweet and savory dishes prepared with jack fruit. Chakkakuru is jack fruit seeds and is used in curries and thoran/stir fry.Drumsticks/muringikka makes it more healthy and flavorful. Try this simple thoran, you will surely love it. Ingredients Chakkakuru/jack fruit seeds- 15-18 Drumstick- 4 nos Shallots sliced- 5-6 (Or one onion- medium finely chopped) Coconut grated- 3/4 cup Green chilly-3-4 Turmeric powder- 1/3 tsp Cumin - 1/2 tsp Chilly powder-1/3 tsp Garlic - 2 pods Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp Curry leaves- 2 springs salt to taste Coconut oil- 2 tbs Wash chakka kuru/jack fruit seeds. You can cook in a pressure cooker. Cook with one cup water and salt in medium flame for 6-8 minutes ( one whistle). When it cools down,gently peel off the top white skin and the bottom red skin. Cut i...

Chena/ Yam Podithuval Chena podithuval is a quick and easy yam stir fry recipe. Serve this as a side dish for rice. You can use other vegetables like potatoes or chembu/taro for this recipe. Ingredients Chena- 3 cups cubed Shallots- 4-5 Curry leaves green chilly- 1 Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp Tamarind pulp- 2-3 tsp Salt to taste Mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp Coconut oil- 3 tsp To roast and grind Urad dal- 2 tsp Raw rice- 2 tsp Dry red chilly-3 Hing/ asafoetida powder- a pinch Fenugreek seeds- a pinch   In a pan add the cubed yam/chena, tamarind pulp,green chilly, turmeric powder, salt, 1/4 cup of water and one tsp of oil. Cook this till the vegetable is soft. Dry roast, urad dal, rice, dry red chilly, fenugreek seeds and few curry leaves. When is light brown mix in the hing. Allow this to cool down a bit and then make a fine powder. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When they splutter add sliced shallots and curry leaves abd saute this golden brown...

Papaya/ Kappalanga Thoran Thoran is Kerala's version of a quick vegetable stir fry with coconut and spices. The heat is from green chilly, and the bright appealing color of thoran is from turmeric powder. Thoran is usually made with any vegetable, and today's vegetable is raw papaya/ papaya/ kappalanga. Papaya is a delicious tropical fruit and has good health benefits. The green raw papaya has equal health benefits as the ripe ones.    If you have tasted dishes with raw unripe papaya, you might have noticed it has a mild taste and is crisp and crunchy. It is widely used in Asian cuisine to make salads, curries, and pickles. The raw papaya has a slight bitterness to it, and the addition of coconut brings a delicious balance in taste and flavor. And to make a thoran, use a generous amount of coconut. Papaya thoran is a delicious and healthy vegan/vegetarian dish . It is heartwarming homey food that you can enjoy with steamed rice.    To make the thoran, papa...

Chemmeen Urulakhizhangu Masala/Prawns Potato Masala Chemmeen Urulakhizhangu masala is a yummy and quick side dish for rice. It is an onion tomato based spicy gravy with prawns and potatoes. It also has the crunch of toasted sliced coconut. Potatoes and prawns is a delicious combo and you will surely love this . The recipe source is my mother-in-law. Thanks Ammachi for this recipe. Ingredients Prawns- 250 grams Onion - 2 medium thinly sliced Potatoes- one cup ( thinly sliced or cubed) Tomato- 1 chopped Green chilly-3 Thinly sliced coconut- a few Chilly powder- 1 tsp Turmeric powder- 1/3 tsp Coriander powder- 1/2 tsp Curry leaves- a few Chopped coriander leaves- 1 tbs Mustard seeds- 1/3 tsp Oil as needed and salt to taste Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When they splutter add sliced coconut and fry for a minute. Next add curry leaves, green chilly and sliced onion and saute till it is golden brown. At this stage add tomatoes and saute till it tu...

Kakka Erachi Ularthiyathu/ Stir-fry Kakka Erachi or Clam meat is another popular delicacy in Kerala.Mussels,crabs and clam/kakka erachi is widely used in the coastal regions of Kerala. Cleaning is tedious. Just like mussels the shells should be undamaged and tightly shut or else should be discarded. This is a spicy and tasty stir fry with the flavor of pepper  and toasted coconut. Kakka erachi can also be made as a thoran/stir fry with grated coconut.Try this recipe,you will surely love it. Ingredients Kakka Erachi/ Clam meat- 1 lb Sliced coconut- 1/3 cup Sliced shallots- 3/4 cup Minced ginger and garlic- 1 tbs Ginger garlic paste- 1 1/2 tsp Green chilly-1 Curry leaves- a few Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp Chilly powder- 1/2 tsp Coriander powder- 1 1/2 tsp Pepper powder- 1/2 - 1 tsp Garam masala-1/3 tsp Meat masala- 1 1/3 tsp lemon juice- 1 tsp Coconut oil Salt to taste Clean kakka erachi/clam meat. Squeeze each of the black sack that you see on the top p...