Puttu & Payaru Curry

Puttu is the favorite breakfast dish of Keralites, I am no different and why not, so easy to make, no cutting/chopping, no batter and no fermentation.   But yes, you have to make something to go with it, right? I like either kadala curry (black chick pea curry) or payaru curry (lentils cooked with spices). But if you don’t feel like making anything and want a quick breakfast in 10 min, have it with a banana.  How easy is that?

  

Traditionally, puttu is made with rice flour, either the white rice powder or the brown rice powder, which is also called chemba puttu podi. However,  puttu is also made with  sooji (semolina) or whole wheat flour. Process is pretty much the same though.  You can make your own flour or else it is available in any Indian store. That will save you some time. If you want to make your own rice flour, here is the process:

Soak the raw rice for at least 5 hours. Drain completely and let it dry for 1 hour or till it is completely dry. Now grind to a fine powder. Don’t add water. Now dry roast the flour in low flame, till you get the aroma, stirring continuously, so it doesn’t burn.  Cool, store in air tight containers.

Also for making puttu, you need a puttu maker/puttukutty.  It comes with a removable stopper inside the puttukutty,  so steam enter through the pores on stopper and escape through the pores on the lid.  Puttu kutty comes in various shapes and sizes.  Some of them come with a bottom part, in which you can boil water and some have a notch at the bottom that can be fitted to the pressure cooker lid after removing the weight/whistle.

  

Let the making begin..

Serves - 2

Ingredients:

Puttu podi (Rice flour) – 1 cup

Grated coconut – ½ cup (or less as required)
Salt – as required
Warm water (for mixing)

Preparation:

Take the puttu podi in a bowl. Add salt. Mix.

Add warm water little by little and mix with your hands until it looks like bread crumbs. (It is all about the mix. So make sure you use the right amount of water).  It should be powdery and wet.

Cover and let it rest for 10 min.

In the meantime, boil water in the puttu maker or your pressure cooker.

Add grated coconut to the puttukutty (as much as you like), then add flour, half way through the puttukutty, now add more coconut and fill with rice flour and finish it with coconut on top.

When the water starts to boil, close the pressure cooker, remove the whistle and place the puttukutty.

Cover and steam for 10-12 min.

Voila…hot, delicious puttu is ready.

Puttu made of whole wheat flour...

Though puttu-kadla is the famous combination, I like to have my puttu with payaru curry as well and a papadam. Hmm…sounds good, right?

Let me show you how I make it:

Things we need:

Whole green gram (payaru) – 1 cup
Pearl onions (chopped) – 3
Green chillies – 2
Ginger - a small piece
Curry leaves – a few
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
Salt – as required
Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
Whole chillies – 1 (broken)
Coconut slices – few
Vegetable oil – 1 tsp

Process:

Clean green gram and transfer to a pressure cooker. Add salt, green chillies and little water and pressure cook.

Heat oil in a skillet. Splutter mustard seeds. Add whole chillies and few curry leaves.

Add grated ginger.  After a few seconds, add the chopped onion and few more curry leaves.

When the onion changes color, add turmeric powder and mix.  Add  coconut slices.

Now add cooked payaru (lentils). Mash some to make the gravy thick. Add required water. (don’t make it too watery)

 Check the salt, cover and simmer in low flame for 3 min.

Serve hot..enjoy!!

Egg Potato Frittata

This is something I used to make before I had learned to cook.  Yes, you don’t need any cooking skills to make this dish. Happy?  :)

Breakfast is EXTREMELY  important to me. I am not one of those who can get through the morning with a cup of yogurt/bread &  butter or a bowl of cereal. I want proper breakfast..I want it hot..I want my protein, something that will keep me full well until lunch at 1 pm.

 

So this is the one I used to go to whenever amma was not there to fix me something to break my fast.  Easy, healthy and extremely satisfying.  Here is the recipe:

Serves - 1

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1 small onion (sliced lengthwise)

1 small potato (thinly sliced)

Salt to taste

¼ tsp black pepper powder

¼ tsp garam masala

1 tsp vegetable oil

1 tsp butter

Lets do it now.

Heat vegetable oil in a skillet.

Add the onion and pinch of  salt to quicken the cooking process.

Now add the potato. Again add pinch of salt.

Mix.  Cover and cook in low flame.

In the meantime, beat the eggs. Add the black pepper powder,  garam masala  and salt. Mix thoroughly. (make sure not to add lot of salt as we are seasoning every step of the process.)

When the potato is nicely cooked, transfer them to the egg bowl and mix.

In the same skillet, add butter and rotate the skillet so the butter moves to every corner.  We don’t want our frittata to stick to the skillet, right?

Now pour the egg potato mixture. Level it with a spoon so every bite has  some potato and onion in it.

 

Cover and cook in low flame.

When the top is set, flip it over and switch off the flame. The heat from the skillet will cook the other side.

 

Enjoy with a cup of tea or a glass of orange juice.

Have a magnificent day!! J

 

Kerala Fish Curry

Here is the recipe for my Kerala style spicy yummy fish curry. I used salmon, you can use any fish you like.

Lets get started..shall we?

Serves : 4

Ingredients:

Salmon - 1 lb.

Grated ginger - 1 tbsp.

Chopped garlic - 1 tbsp

Pearl onions (chopped) – 5 nos.

Green chillies – 2 nos.

Tomato – 1 medium size

Whole red chillies – 5 nos.

Kudam puli – 2 nos.

Mustard seeds – ½ tsp.

Chilli powder – ½ tsp.

Coriander powder – ½ tsp.

Fenugreek powder – ½ tsp.

Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp.

Curry leaves – a few

Salt – as required

Vegetable oil – 1 tbsp. + 1 tsp.

Coconut oil – 1 tbsp + 1 tsp.

Coconut milk – ½ cup

For marinade

Chili powder – ½ tsp.

Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp.

Coriander powder – ½ tsp.

Black pepper powder – ½ tsp.

Salt – as required

 

Preparation:

In a bowl, take ½ cup hot water and soak kudampuli and whole chillies.

Cut fish into small pieces.

In a bowl take all the ingredients for the marinade and mix well with little water and rub it onto the fish, cover and keep it aside for atleast 30 minutes.

In a pan heat the vegetable oil/coconut oil and shallow fry the fish. Keep it separate.

In the same pan, add 1 tsp of vegetable oil, if needed and add ginger, garlic, onion and green chillies, preferably in that order. Sauté till the onion changes color.

Add chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, fenugreek powder. Saute for 2 sec.

Now add the tomatoes. Add  little bit of water.

When the tomatoes are well cooked, transfer to a blender.  Add the soaked whole chillies and blend to a paste.

In the same pan, heat coconut oil.

When the oil is hot, add mustard seeds. When it splutter, add the paste and kudampuli along with the water to bring it into the right consistency and simmer in low flame.

Now add the fish and ½ cup coconut milk. Keep it in low flame for 10 minutes.

Garnish with curry leaves.

Serve hot with rice. Enjoy :)

 

 

 

 

Poha

Poha is  beaten rice. This dish is from Maharashtra, India.  

What I love most about this dish is that you can have it for breakfast or as a healthy snack. Wonderful, right?  It is my companion when I am on a road trip. Here is my awesome recipe:

Serves - 2

Ingredients:

Poha – 1 cup

Mustard seeds – ½ tsp

Curry leaves – a few

Onion – 1 medium size.

Ginger – grated 1 tsp. or finely chopped

Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp

Garam masala – ½ tsp

Potaoto – 1 large

Chilli flakes – ¼ tsp

Salt – as required

Vegetable oil – 1 tsp.

Peanuts – ½ cup

Lets do it now:

Slice the onion length wise and grate the ginger.

Slice the potaotoes thin (I do it half moon size and then cut into half)

Take the poha in a colander and run water through it, to make it soft.

In a pan, heat some oil.

When the oil is hot, add mustard seeds and allow to splutter. (Cover the pan so the mustard seeds are not all over your kitchen :)

Add curry leaves.

Now add the ginger and saute for 2 sec.

Add sliced onion and some salt and saute.

When the onion is nicely caramelized, add turmeric powder and garam masala.

Add the potatoes and mix it thoroughly.

Sprinkle some water, cover and let it cook.

When the potatoes are cooked well, add the softened poha and mix it well.

Add the roasted peanuts.

Serve hot.

To make it more flavorful, you can add little bit of tomato ketchup before adding the potatoes.

Let me know how it turned out :)

Butter Chicken

Butter chicken or Murg Makhani needs no introduction. It is a very popular dish among Indians as well as non Indians. 

My friends from work love it and all they want to have from an Indian restaurant,  is Nan and Butter Chicken. That is when I realized, I have never tried it before. Hmmm…

Well, folks, I am absolutely thrilled to share this recipe with you.

Serves – 4

Ingredients:

Chicken – 2 lb.

Onion – 1 medium size

Ginger (grated) – 1 tsp

Garlic paste – ½ tsp

Cumin seeds – ½ tsp

Cinnamon – small stick

Cloves – 3

Cardamom – 4

Coriander powder – 1 tbsp

Chili powder – 1 tsp

Fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi) – 1 tbsp

Tomatoes – 2 small or 1 medium

Cashew nuts – 10 whole

Green chillies – 3

Tomato puree - 1 cup

Tomato ketch up – little bit

Sugar – ½ tsp

Heavy cream – ½ cup

Garam masala – 1 tsp

Butter – 4 tbsp + 4 tbsp for frying the chicken.

Vegetable oil- 2 tbsp

For marinade:

1 tsp grated ginger

½ tsp garlic paste

1 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp coriander powder

Salt as required

1 tbsp vegetable oil

½ cup yogurt

½ tsp turmeric

1 ½ tsp fenugreek leaves

1 tsp garam masala

Preparation:

Cut chicken into small bite size pieces.

Mix all the ingredients for the marinade.

Rub the marinade onto the chicken. Mix well, cover and keep it in refrigerator for at least 8 hours.

Now heat oil in a pan. Add the butter as well.

Fry the chicken. (Don’t overcrowd the pan. If the pan is small, fry them in batches).  Keep it separate.

Chop the onion, tomatoes, green chillies and grate the ginger and keep it ready.

In the same pan, add a little bit of oil (if needed) and add the cumin seeds, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom and fry for 2-3 sec.

Now add the ginger, garlic paste, onion. Saute for 2 sec.

Add little bit of water to degrease the pan.

Now add the coriander powder, cashew nuts, kasturi methi, chilli powder, green chillies, tomatoes and tomato puree. Cover and cook till the onion and tomatoes are well done, in low heat.

When done, transfer to a blender and blend to a puree.

In the same pan, add 4 tbsp butter.

Now add the puree along with some water to bring it to the right consistency.

Add salt, sugar, tomato ketch up. Mix well and add chicken and  heavy cleam and allow to simmer in low heat.

Now sprinkle little bit garam masala. Mix, cover, switch off the flame and let it sit for sometime before you serve.

Your Butter Chicken is ready. Garnish with cream or coriander leaves. Enjoy! 

Upma

Upma is another breakfast item or snack,  that I make more often. It is made with semolina/sooji and you can add the vegies that you like to make it rich and healthy.

I like to have my upma with either sambar or banana. Hmm..banana..weird, right? But works for me :)

Sambar that I make for my upma is nothing like your regular sambar. It is very easy to make and I will share the recipe very soon.  This post is all about upma. So let’s stick to that.

So here goes the recipe my friends.

Ingredients:

Sooji/semolina – 1 cup

Carrot – 1 medium size

Green peas – ½ cup

Vegetable oil/ghee – 1 tsp

Mustard seeds – ½ tsp

Curry leaves – a few

Onion – ¼ of a medium size onion

Ginger – 1 “ piece

Salt – as per taste

Cashew nuts – few

Coconut slices – few

Ok lets make it now. Ready?

Dry roast the sooji in low flame. This has to be in low flame so the sooji does not burn. Keep mixing it in between so it doesn’t burn. When the sooji changes color slightly and you get the aroma, it is ready. Switch off the flame, transfer to a plate  and let it cool.

 

Wash and chop the carrot into little pieces. (Nobody likes to have big chunks of carrot in their upma and also they cook fast if they are in tiny pieces). 

In a bowl, add the carrot and green peas and little water and microwave for 3 minutes. Drain the water and keep it separate. Save the water.

 

Grate the ginger and chop the onion and keep it separate.

In another pan, add the vegetable oil/ghee.

When the oil is  hot, add mustard seeds and allow to splutter. (cover the pan so the mustard seeds are not all over your stove)

Add the grated ginger and saute for 2 sec.  Now add curry leaves and chopped onion. Saute till the onion becomes transcluscent. (take a deep breath and enjoy the aroma)

Add the cocunut and cashewnuts. Hmm..yum..yum..

Now add the cooked carrot and green peas and saute for a few seconds.

 

Now add the water that we saved earlier and some more if needed. The vegies should be immersed in water. Add salt. Mix, cover and let it boil.

When it starts boiling,  add the roasted sooji and keep stirring with a wooden spoon to avoid any lumps. (at times like this, i wish i had more than two hands). 

Mix thoroughly. Cover and cook for 5 min in low flame.

Uncover and mix and if needed you can add little ghee.

 

Your wonderful, colorful and delicious Upma is ready to be served. Good job :)

Is your tea ready?