Kalan [ kerala recipe ]

Ingredients:

• Elephant yam [ senai kilangu ] - 1/4 kg. [ wash, peel the skin and cut into big cubes ]
• Raw banana [ nantherangai ] - 2 [ peel the skin and cut into big cubes ]
• Curd - 3 cups [ well beaten ]
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 sp
• Salt - as required
• Curry leaves - little
• Fresh grated coconut - 1 1/2 cup
• Green chillies - 3 to 4
• Red dry chillie - 1
• Cummin seeds - 1/4 sp

For seasoning:

• Coconut oil - 1 tbl sp
• Mustard seeds - 1 sp
• Red chili - 1
• Curry leaves - little

Method:
Cook the vegetables till tender, with just enough water adding turmeric powder. Grind together finely grated coconut, green chillies, red chili, cumin seeds to a fine paste. Add salt and ground masala to the vegetables, boil for another 5 mints. Add well beaten curd and curry leaves. When it comes to boil remove from the gas. Season the ingredients [ given under seasoning.]
Serve hot with rice and papads or other accompaniments like kootu, thoran, poriyal, usili etc.


                                                            

Type -2

Ingredients:

• Raw banana - 2
• Red chili powder - 1 / 4 sp
• Turmeric powder - 1 / 2 sp
• Coarsely crushed pepper - little
• Cumin seeds 1 / 4 sp
• Mustard seeds - 1 / 4 sp
• Red chillies - 2
• Curry leaves - little
• Grated fresh coconut - 2 table sps.
• Coriander leaves - little
• Oil - for frying
• Salt - as required
• Fresh thick curds - 1/2 cup

Method:
Peel outer skin from banana and cut into an inch squares. Dip in water till required. Then heat oil in pan, put mustard seeds, cumin, pepper, broken red chillies, curry leaves and then banana pieces. Fry for few minutes, add turmeric powder, salt and mix well. Add curds and reduce flame. Cook till dry and banana becomes soft. Fry coconut till it turns golden brown in coconut oil and add to kalan just before removing from gas.Your tasty easy kalan is ready to serve.

Olan [ kerala recipe ]

Ingredients:

• Red pumpkin - 1/4 kg. [cut into rectangular pieces after removing the skin and seeds]
• Colocasia [seppankilangu ] - 3 to 4 [ cut into thin round pieces ]
• Green payaru - 50 gms. [ cut into1/2 inch lenth ]
• Whole green gram - 1 hand full [ soak for 1 hour ]
• Green chillies - 2 [ slit lengthwise ]
• Coconut milk - 2 cups
• Curry leaves - little
• Coconut oil - 2 table sp

Method:
Wash the pumpkin, peel the skin, remove the seeds and cut into rectangular pieces. In the same way wash and remove the skin of colocasia and make thin round pieces. Cut the green payaru into 1/2 inch pieces. Soak the whole green gram [ muzu pacha payaru] for an hour and pressure cook adding enough water and keep aside. Then add 1 cup of coconut milk with 1 cup of water to the vegetables. Add curry leaves, salt, slit green chillies and boil till the vegetables are well cooked. Add the cooked whole green gram, mix well and boil for 5 more mins. Check for salt. In the end add the remaining coconut milk, 2 tablespoon coconut oil, and mix well. Remove from the gas before it starts boiling.Your mouth watering easy dish is ready for serving. This dish can be made without adding coconut milk also [use regular cold milk instead of coconut milk]. Serve as a side dish for rice, sambhar, rasam, morkuzhambu, etc.

Paruppu urundai kuzhambu [ dal koftas ]

Ingredients:

• Tuar dal - 1 cup
• Green chillies - 2 to 3
• Red dry chillies - - 2
• Salt - as per taste
• Rice flour - 1 tsp
• Coconut oil - 1 sp
• Asafoetida - a pinch
• Tamarind paste - 1 tbls. sp
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 sp
• Red chillie powder or
• sambhar powder - 1 1/ 2 sp

For seasoning:

• Coconut oil - 2 table spoon
• Mustard seeds - 1 sp
• Curry leaves - little

Method:
Wash and soak tuar dal in water for half an hour. Wash again and grind with green chillies, red chillies, salt, asafoetida to a fine paste. Mix rice flour, 1 sp of coconut oil  to that and make into round balls and keep aside. Then take one deep bottom vessel and place on the gas. Heat oil in vessel add mustard seeds, bits of curry leaves and saute till mustard seeds crackles, pour some water to that, add tamarind paste, salt, turmeric powder ,red chillie powder, and allow to boil. When the kuzhambu boils well, dip these dal koftas gently. Boil for 10 mints in low flame. When the urundais get boiled and begins to float, the kuzhambu gets ready. The kuahambu can be slightly watery as these urundais thickens the dish. A portion of these urundais [ 2 to 3 ] can also be mashed and added for thickening. Serve with hot rice and other accompaniment like curry, kootu, olan etc.

Vendhaya vendai sambhar

Ingredients:

• Ladies finger - 1/4 kg.
• Onion big - 2
• Thick tamarind extract - 2 to 3 tbl. sps
• Cooked tuar dal - 2 tbl. sps [ heaped ]
• Salt - as required
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 sp
• Jaggery - small lemon size [ optional ]
• Fresh grated coconut - 1 1/2 tbl. sp.

For seasoning:

• Oil - 1 tbl. sp.
• Mustard seeds - 1/4 sp
• Fenugreek - 1/4 sp
• Asafoetida - a pinch
• Curry leaves - little

Grind together:

• Red chillies - 10
• Fenugreek - 1 tsp
• Bengal gram dal - 1 tbl. sp.
• Garlic - 3 flakes
• Small onions - 4 [peeled]
• or big onion - 1/2

Fry the above spices in little oil and grind with 1 1/2 sps. of grated fresh coconut.

Method:
Peel and slice onions length wise. Cut ladies finger into 1 1/2 inch pieces. Then heat little oil and fry onions and ladies finger together for few minutes. Add diluted tamarind extract and cook till vegetable becomes soft. Then add mashed tur dal,salt, ground paste with enough water. Cook till raw smell goes and the gravy becomes thick. Fry the seasonings in oil and mix with sambhar, and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Note: When using fenugreek in any recipe do not over fry since it becomes bitter. Add at the end, after frying other spices.

Home made strawberry ice-cream

Ingredients:

• Whole cream milk - 1 litre
• G. M. S.- 2 1/2 sp
• C. M. C. - 1/4 sp
• Cornflour - 2 1/2 sp
• Sugar - 12 to 15 sps
• Fresh strawberries - 10
• Strawberry essence - few drops
• Pink color - 2 drops
• Fresh cream - 1/2 cup

For basement of icecream:
Take one deep bottom thick vessel. Then pour milk, g.m.s, t.m.c, cornflour, sugar and mix well. Keep on the gas in high flame and stir well till the base becomes thick. Then remove from the gas and allow it to cool. Then pour it in the airtight container or in aluminum vessel, close it and keep in freezer for 8 to 10 hours. This is the basement of  all icecreams.  [Meantime, take the fresh strawberries, cut into small pieces mix with 3 sps of sugar and heat it in high flame till it becomes soft and juicy. Keep aside].

Making strawberry icecream:
Remove from the freezer after 10 hours. Blend in a mixture along with adding fresh cream, essence, food color. Just press the whipper button in the blender for a second or two [otherwise it will turn buttery] Repeat the process two more times after one hour to get good results. Finely mix the fresh strawberries and spread a few on top.Transfer the contents in to an aluminum container or airtight thick plastic box. In the end keep for 3 hrs or till set [in the freezer] Enjoy your home made strawberry icecream.

The vessel inside the freezer should be kept over a plastic sheet.