Kitchen Corner-Try It

Chakka Pazham Pori- Chakka Appam/ Ripe Jack Fruit Fritters Today's recipe is a snack made with ripe jack fruit. It is a deep-fried jack fruit fritters gently laced with the flavor of cardamom. This snack is very similar to the ever-popular street food of Kerala - Pazham pori , made with ripe plantain. I make pazham pori all the time, yet this one with chakka or jack fruit is so unique in taste. It is extremely flavorful and absolutely delicious-a die for! There is a beauty in the simplicity of traditional tea-time snacks. We often refer to them as  naadan palaharam . Some recipes make you nostalgic and we keep coming back to it time and again. It brings back memories of some distant times. I don't even remember this existed until my mom reminded me of chakka pazham pori. I am so happy I tried this again and along with it came a flood of childhood memories :) This is a sure winner if you have sudden guests at home. The flavor of ripe jack fruit dipped in sweet c...

Kozhukatta/ Steamed Rice Dumplings Kozhukatta is a traditional Kerala delicacy. They are soft round steamed rice dumplings with both sweet and savory fillings. It is a tasty and guilt-free treat or a snack. At home in Kerala, my mom often made these in the afternoon, so we can enjoy them as a snack at tea time. But you can have it any time of the day and if you have a sweet tooth like me kozhukatta is a perfect guilt-free snack . This is a classic one you will never get tired of eating. It seems like these sweet dumplings is an age-old traditional snack. Kozhukatta is also a popular festival offering. It is made on special days like Onam, Vishu and Vinayaka Chathurthi as offerings. Kozhukatta perunal is celebrated by the Christians of Kerala. It is the day before palms Sunday. Modhak is the North Indian version of Kozhukatta. Kerala style kozhukatta has a sweet filling. It is a quick recipe with very few ingredients, rice flour, coconut and jaggery being the tastemakers. Do ...

Beef Vegetable Cutlet Cutlet is a very popular snack in Kerala. This recipe is made with beef and vegetables. Also check my earlier posts of chicken cutlet, fish cutlet, and vegetarian version of beetroot and mushroom cutlet. Cutlet is a tempting snack and party-pleasing appetizer. The meat and vegetables are cooked in aromatic spices, breaded, and deep-fried to make this crispy snack. Beef cutlets are a must have in most Christian wedding parties and also found in restaurants and road side tea stalls. You can make this in advance in bigger batches, and it freezes well. So whenever you need cutlet just thaw them and fry. Serve this with ketchup and onion salad and enjoy with a cup of tea. Ingredients Beef- 1/2 kg Potato large-1 Green peas- 1/2 cup Chopped carrot- 1/2 cup Chopped beans and bell pepper- 1/4 cup Onion- 1 medium Green chilly-1 Ginger Garlic paste- 1 tsp Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp Pepper powder-3/4 tsp Chilly powder- 1 tsp Tomato ketchup- 1 tsp (o...

Neyyappam Neyyappam is a traditional sweet/snack of Kerala. It is deep fried fitters made with rice and jaggery and with the enticing flavor of ghee and cardamom.You can use karupatti/palm jaggery or regular jaggery. Batter is mixed into a smooth thick paste and fermented overnight. But you can add baking soda if you want to make it the same day itself.  The proportion of rice and jaggery/karupatti is 3:2 ratio,adjust according to the sweetness you prefer.This ever popular delicacy is soft in the inside and crispy in the out side. Ingredients Raw rice- 2  cup Karupatti- 1 1/3 cup (adjust according to taste) Cardamon crushed- 5-6 pods Chopped coconut slices- 3 tbs Dry ginger/chukku - a pinch Cumin powder- a pinch Black sesame seeds- 1/2 tsp Baking soda- a pinch Salt- a pinch Ghee- 2 tbs Oil for frying Wash and soak rice for 4-5 hour. Drain and spread the rice on kitchen towel and allow to air dry till it is almost dry. Make a fine powder of the ri...

Apple Kums/Pola Kums is an innovative dish from the Malabar region if Kerala.  It is a popular Iftar snack, made during the Ramadan month.  If you love tea time snacks here is a quick and no fuss snack made with eggs and apples, which you will surely enjoy. Kids will love this sweet delicacy.   Apple Kums  looks like a cake, but has a pudding like texture,moist and tender. It is an egg based dessert and is slow cooked on stove top. The custard is allowed to cook and set till it is firm and can be sliced. You can make it with egg as the key ingredient or flavor with fruits. It has the right amount of sweetness to satisfy sweet cravings and the flavor of apples. You can also add other fruits like pineapple, plantain, jack fruit etc. Cardamom and ghee add a pleasant aroma and taste. You can also add flavors like vanilla, cinnamon or nutmeg. You can serve this apple pudding with a dollop of vanilla ice cream, or frozen whipped cream.Try this, tea time snack. Yo...

Sharkara Upperi/Ethakka Upperi/ Plantain Chips Kaya varuthathu/upperi/plantain chips is a popular snack in Kerala. Plantain chips are available all year round in bakeries and it served as a snack along with tea. It is also a quintessential part of the Kerala Sadhya or traditional feast. Sharkara varatti (upperi)  and ethakka upperi is made with unripe plantain. Both these chips are addictive snacks that you cannot stop munching.During Onam festival in Kerala, bakeries are stacked up with plantain chips and sharkara upperi. My mom makes this at home all the time and it is super yummy. The real flavor of plantain chips comes from coconut oil.So try making it in coconut oil to get the authentic Kerala chips flavor and taste. Sharkara upperi or Varatti is a sweet chip version made with plantain and jaggery and Ethakka upperi is thinly sliced crispy and salty plantain chips.Chips are easier to make. But Sharkara upperi needs a little practice to get it right. The pieces are...

Pazham Nirachathu Pazham Nirachathu is a yummy snack from North Kerala. It is whole plantains stuffed with a sweet coconut filling, dipped in batter and fried. It is similar to pazham pori and kids will surely love this. Ingredients Whole plantains-2 All purpose flour/maida- 1/2 cup Rice flour- 2 tbs salt- a pinch Sugar- 1 tbs For the filling Coconut- 1/3 cup Sugar- 3 tbs Ghee- 1 tsp Cardamon- 1/3 tsp Raisins- a few Chopped cashew nuts- 4-5 ( I also used 1 tsp dates and 1 tsp candied pineapple) Heat ghee in a pan and roast cashew nuts and raisins till golden brown. Add coconut and sugar and stir for a minute and set aside. Allow this mixture to cool. Make a medium consistency batter with maida,rice flour, salt and sugar and water. Keep aside. Peel plantains and making a long shallow slit lengthwise ,leaving one inch towards both edges.  The slit should reach the center and carefully remove the black seeds. Stuff in the filling mixture. Heat oil i...

Chakka Vattal/Jackfruit Chips Chakka/Jackfruit is a seasonal fruit in Kerala but you can still enjoy this chakka vattal/chips all the year round. Plantain chips and jackfruit chips are the most devoured chips in Kerala. Jack fruit is found in every backyard in Kerala and you can get up to 30-40 fruits per year. It is a huge and utterly unique fruit. The young or tender jack fruit is used for savory dishes and the ripe sweet fruit for desserts. The unripe ones are used in curries and also to make chips/vattal. The ripe sweet fruit is or preserved as chakka varatti or chakka jam. Recently jack fruit has gained much interest as a plant-based meat alternative. The unripe one has a neutral flavor and we use it to make mashed jack fruit/puzhukku that can be served with spicy fish curry. It is also perfect to make crispy chips. The edible part of this fruit is the yellow sheath around the seeds but when it is unripe it will be white. The outside will be green in color while the ripe ...

Ethakka Vilayichathu An evening sweet snack served with tea.It is simple and can be made in a jiffy. Ripe plantains are slightly toasted in ghee and sugar and flavored with cardamon.The plantains should retain shape but at the same time will be soft caramelized slightly sticky. Serve it warm or cold with a dollop of whipped cream. Ingredients Plantain Ripe-3 medium Sugar- 3 tbs Ghee- 1 1/2 tbs Cardamon pods crushed- 4 Raisins and cashew nuts- a few Cut plantains into round slices. Heat ghee in a pan and fry cashew nuts and raisins till golden and keep aside.Add the plantains and fry slightly, saute and turn to the other sides and fry. Add sugar and allow to caramelize for about 3-4 minutes till the caramelized sugar gets well coated. Mix in the cashew nuts and raisins and cardamon powder. Serve with tea. Try this Hope you will all enjoy!

Today I am extremely delighted to have as my guest, my sweet friend and best buddy in blogging world Dhyuthi. She is the author of Melange! . We became friends right from the beginning and Dhyuthi constantly encouraged and supported me in this virtual blogging world. We never met each other in person, but each time she writes to me there is affection and genuine love. I am glad that I, got this wonderful friend through blogging. Her blog is refreshing and a space you must visit if you are a foodie. It features all those wonderful nostalgic taste and flavor of Kerala food along with recipes of modern taste. I adore her passion and love for cooking and efforts to record those traditional recipes,that would otherwise be easily forgotten. Today's recipe itself is an example. Dhyuthi is bringing back memories of a childhood snack- Kinnathappam. It is an authentic recipe and her Dad's specialty. I thank both of them for sharing this wonderful recipe with us. Thanks so much Dh...

Kaara Vada Today I am very excited and happy to be a guest at Dhyuthi's Melange . I am fortunate to find this sweet friend through this virtual blogging world. Our friendship started two years back,but when we write to each other its just like two old friends. We talk  about everything..food,blogging,nostalgic memories of childhood,our family,hobbies,etc.,etc., :) Dhyuthi's blog is a space that I visit every time and each time I see a new post here, I will have something to relate to. In this space I often comment 'this post makes me nostalgic', 'my grandmother used to make this'.. ... I know this may sound  cliche. But  Dhyuthi understands me better than any of my blogger friends.Many of the post here rekindles those found memories of  the readers, the flavors and taste of good home food. I adore Dhyuthi's passion for cooking and blogging. So when Dhyuthis asked me to do a guest post I did not wish to lose such a wonderful opportunity. Dhyuthi wan...

Kothu Parotta  If you have  left over parotta or parathas here is a recipe which will not fail to interest you. It is a wonderful dish.Kothu parotta is a street food and is common in fast food joints in South India, especially Tamil Nadu. This is made by chopping parattas into small pieces and stir frying along with onions,tomatoes,spices,shredded chicken or scrambled eggs. Ingredients Frozen Kerala Parotta or paratha-4 Egg 1 (optional) Chicken cooked and diced- 1/2 cup Tomato-1 Onion-1 Green chilly-2 ( I used Jalapeno pepper) Ginger garlic paste- 1 1/2 tsp Chilly powder- 1/3 tsp Turmeric powder- 1/3 tsp Chicken curry or kurma gravy- 3 tbs ( optional) Garam masala- 1/3 tsp (If you are not using chicken gravy add more of chilly powder and garam masala) Coriander leaver- a little Cook chicken along salt, turmeric powder and pinch of pepper powder. When cooked cut into small bite sized pieces and keep aside. Tear parattas into s...

Aval Vilayichathu/ Sweetened Flat Rice with Jaggery Aval Vilayichathu/ Varattiyathu is a traditional old fashioned recipe with authentic flavors of Kerala. It is both easy and inexpensive. This snack is one of the most common snacks made in many homes in Kerala and passed down from generation to generation. At home in Kerala, my mom and granny often made these in the afternoon, so we can enjoy them as a snack at tea time. This snack evokes real nostalgia for simple village life. It is deliciously simple- a taste that lingers in your memory. In this recipe, aval or flat rice is, sweetened with jaggery and enriched with the flavors of ghee, cardamom, dry ginger, and coconut. It is slightly crunchy and chewy because of the jaggery. It also has the intense coconut flavor- I mean lots of coconut and tropical flavors! This is a versatile recipe. Reduce the amount of sweetness, it will transform itself into an interesting fun breakfast. It is also my choice when I want a quick dess...