Okra Buttermilk Curry

This is a mild curry that's great with rice and/or rotis.


Okra Buttermilk Curry

200 g Okra
500 g Yogurt
1/2 tsp Turmeric
50 ml Oil
1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds
1/4 tsp Fenugreek Seeds
4 Red Chillies
2 sprigs Curry Leaves
2 Onions, sliced
2 Green Chillies, cut lengthwise
Salt, to taste
1 tbsp Coconut Oil

Cut the okra into 1.5 cm long pieces. Whip curd with turmeric and keep aside.

Heat oil and season with mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, red chillies and curry leaves. When the mustard seeds pop, add the onions and green chillies. Saute well.

Add the okra and fry well. Finally add the whipped yogurt, salt to taste and simmer on low heat.

More Koozh

This is a creamy delicious breakfast that maybe takes a while to grow on you. We've always loved it in my parents' house growing up. Its simple and quick (takes about 10 minutes from start to eat!).

More (buttermilk) is combined with rice flour or semolina/ cream of wheat, cooked until creamy and seasoned with a variety of spices and lentils. Try it!


More Koozh

1 cup Rice Flour OR Semolina/ Rava/ Cream of Wheat
1 cup Yogurt
1 cup Water
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
A pinch of Asoefetida
3-4 Dried Red Chillies, broken in halves
1 tbsp Urad Dal
1 tbsp Bengal Gram/ Kadalai Paruppu
Salt, to taste

In a bowl, combine the rice flour, yogurt and water. Mix well and keep aside.

In a pan, heat about a tablespoon of oil. Add mustard seeds, asoefetida, red chillies, urad dal and bengal gram. When the mustard seeds splutter and the lentils are a golden color, add the rice flour mixture and salt. Stir just until it starts to leave the sides of the pan. Remove from heat. Serve hot.

Mango Curry

This is a perfectly simple Kerala dish, combining the sweetness of the mango and the tartness of buttermilk. And what I made for the Chennai Bloggers Meet.



Mango Kalan

1 ripe Mango, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 pinch Chilli powder
1 pinch Turmeric Powder
3 tbsp Shredded Coconut
1 tbsp Cumin
2 Green Chillies
11/2 cups Buttermilk

Seasoning:
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
2-3 Red Chillies
3-4 Curry Leaves
1 pinch Fenugreek Seeds

Cook the mango together with the chilli powder, turmeric and salt in a little water. Separately, grind the coconut, cumin and green chillies.
Add the ground mixture to the cooking mango.
Allow it to come to a boil. Turn off the heat and add the buttermilk.
In a separate pan, add some oil and add the ingredients for the seasoning. When the mustard seeds start to splutter, add the seasoning mixture to the mango curry.


(photo courtesy Valli)

Serve over rice, idiyappams or (Lakshmi's wonderful suggestion!) curd rice!

Green Buttermilk

In this 115 degree F heat, nothing really helps as much as cold liquids - in any form - be it refreshments or baths or pools or just cold water splashed on your face. Chennai is so HOT that clothes left out to dry will be done in a matter of an hour anytime between the hours of 10am and 4 pm! I mean, its enough to cook an egg on your balcony on the bare floor. Okay, I can go on forever. What I meant to do was give you a recipe that I made for myself today which was oh-so-delicious!



Just grind together a couple green chillies, curry leaves and about 3/4 cup of chopped cilantro, along with a cup of water. Then add 1 cup yogurt and 2 cups buttermilk (or you can add 2 cups yogurt and add extra water), 1 tsp sugar, 1.5 tsp salt, a little piece of ginger and about 3 cups of water. Blend until it is frothy.

Chill in the refrigerator and drink! Delicious!