Yams

This recipe is a huge favorite of mine. I found it in a wonderful cookbook, Flavours of the Spice Coast by Mrs. K M Mathew. If you are the kind of cookbook fiend that I am, then go out and buy this book!


Kerala Yam
(adapted from here)

2 cups Yam, diced
4 cups Water
2 tsp Shallots
3 dried Red Chillies
1/2 tsp Peppercorns
6 cloves Garlic
4 Curry Leaves
2 tsp Oil
Salt, to taste

Cook yam with the water, and add salt to taste. Drain.

Crush onions, red chillies, garlic, peppercorn, curry leaves together. Heat oil and saute the crushed ingredients.

Add the cooked yam pieces and when gently coated, remove from oil. Serve warm.

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.

Mustard Curry

The abundance of mustard in this dishes gives it a spicy flavor that's just wonderful. Especially when combined with rasam and rice. This curry can be made with either mochai (fava beans), peas or green beans. They all taste equally good.


Mustard Curry (Kadugu Kootu)
2 cups Peas OR Fava Beans (mochai) OR Green Beans, cooked
1/2 cup Shredded coconut
6 dried Red Chillies
2 1/2 cups Water
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
1/4 tsp Chilli Powder
Salt, to taste

Seasoning:
1 tbsp Ghee Or Oil
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
1/4 tsp Cumin Seeds
3-4 Curry Leaves
2 dried Red Chillies

Grind the coconut, dried red chilli, mustard seeds and chilli powder. Keep aside.

Heat a pan and add the ground coconut mixture and the cooked vegetable and salt. Cook until the raw smell of the mustard disappears.

Heat the ghee/ oil in another pan. Add the seasoning ingredients. When the mustard seeds splutter, add the seasoning to the cooking vegetables. Mix well and remove from heat.

Kootu #3

And ta-da, another popular kootu. As you might have noticed, its really a very simple way to make a curry and is packed with vegetable and lentil goodness.


Kootu # 3

2 tbsp Bengal Gram/ Kadalai Paruppu
1/2 cup White Pumpkin, cubed
1/2 cup Yam, cubed
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp Chilli Powder
1/2 tsp ground Pepper
Salt, to taste

3 tbsp Coconut
1 tbsp Cumin Seeds

Seasoning:
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
3-4 Curry Leaves
2 tbsp Coconut
A pinch of sugar

Cook the bengal gram in a little bit of water and keep aside.

Cook the pumpkin and yam with turmeric, chilli powder, pepper and salt. Keep aside.

Grind together the coconut and cumin seeds. Keep aside.

Heat about a tablespoon of oil and add the mustard seeds, curry leaves and coconut and saute until a brownish color. Add the ground coconut and cumin mixture and keep frying until brown. Now add the sugar and brown. Add the cooked bengal gram and vegetables and cook until you get a thick curry.

Serve warm with cooked rice.

Kootu # 2

Here we go with the next kootu in the series, called, very imaginatively....


Kootu # 2

2 tsp Urad Dal (split Black Gram)
1/2 tsp Black Peppercorn
2 Red Chillies
1 tsp Cumin
1/2 tsp Coriander Seeds
1/4 cup Coconut
1/2 cup Moong Dal (split Green Gram), cooked
1/2 cup Vegetables, cooked with water (here I've used carrots and peas)

Pan fry the urad dal, peppercorn, red chillies, cumin, coriander seeds and coconut until golden brown. Add water and blend together in the blender. Add 1/2 tbsp moong dal and blend.

Cook the moong dal and veggies and mix together.

Seasoning:
Heat some oil and add urad dal, cumin, curry leaves, asafoetida and red chillies. When golden brown, add to the cooked dal.

Kootus

Kootus are a form of south Indian curry. Usually had with rice and featuring vegetables and lentils cooked together. There are several ways to make kootus and any number of combinations of lentils and vegetables. Here, I'm going to give you a series of three popular kootus that we make at home.

When I was learning how to cook, my aunt gave me this simple recipe to make a basic kootu. Good vegetables to use for kootus are gourds, beans and peas.


Kootu # 1

1/2 cup Vegetables, chopped and cooked (here I've used snake gourd)
1/2 cup Moong dal, cooked
3 Green Chillies
1/2 tsp black Peppercorn
1/4 cup Coconut
2 sprigs Coriander Leaves, chopped

Cook the vegetables and dal together with some water.

Grind the rest of the ingredients and add to the cooked dal and vegetables.

Stay tuned for Kootu # 2 coming up soon...

Spinach Chicken

A few years ago I was involved in a recipe chain letter. You know those chain letters that you mail to 5 people as well as the people who mailed it to you? Well, this was the fun version of that!

One person emails a recipe to 5 people and those 5 people each add a recipe and send it to 5 others including the ones who were originally on the list. At the end of it you get hundreds of recipes! It's pretty cool. So thank you Saima, whoever and wherever you are, for this lovely recipe.


Saag (Spinach) Chicken

3 pounds skinless Chicken pieces
5 cloves Garlic, minced
2 large Onions, minced
2 large Tomatoes, crushed
1 inch piece Ginger, minced
4 tbsp Milk
4 bunches Spinach, washed and chopped
2 tbsp Butter
1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1 tsp Coriander Powder
1/2 tsp Turmeric
2 large Cardamom pods
2 Cloves
7 tbsp Vegetable Oil
1 tsp Garam Masala
1/2 tsp Salt

Fry the chicken lightly in 4 tbsp of oil for 3-4 minutes until lightly browned and set aside.

Put the spinach into a deep pan, add 1/4 cup water. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. When cool, grind in a blender and set aside.

Heat the remaining oil and add ginger, garlic and onions. Saute until lightly brown. Add tomatoes, salt cayenne, coriander powder, turmeric, cloves and cardamom. Sprinkle with one tablespoon water. Cook for 10 minutes over low heat. Add chicken and milk. Simmer until the chicken is tender.

Add spinach and garam masala. Cook until spinach starts sticking to the pan. Remove from heat. Add butter and keep covered until ready to serve.