Kalthappam

Ingredients:
Kaima (biriyani Rice) / Raw rice - 1cup
Jaggery/sarkara  - 200 gms
Cooked rice - 1/4cup 
Shallots - 6
Coconut slices/Theghakothu -1/4 cup
 Coconut oil/ Refined oil - 4 tbsp
Baking soda ( Appakaram) - a pinch 
Cardamon Powder- 1/2 tsp
Salt - a pinch

Method:

Wash and soak rice for 2-3 hrs. Grind it along with cooked rice and 1/4 cup of water . Add cardamon powder,salt and baking soda and Keep it aside.

Melt the jaggery with 1/2 cup of water. Strain and add this to rice batter. Melted jaggery should be very hot while adding to the batter. Immediately mix fast. otherwise the chances forming rice lumps is more. Keep this batter aside for 1 hr.

Take a small pressure cooker for this measurement. Chop Shallots and coconuts into pieces.  In the pressure cooker add 3 tbsp of oil and saute the coconut slices till it become golden brown. Do the same with shallot also. Set aside some of the fried coconut pieces and shallots to garnish on top 

There is enough oil left in the pressure cooker now and swirl the cooker to give a coating of oil on its sides. Keep this burner in sim. Now in another burner heat the set aside batter warm by continuously stirring in low flame. Be very careful that the lumps are formed due to over heating. When the batter is warm pour into cooker. Add the remaining  fried shallot and coconut slices on top of it. Close the pressure cooker tightly without the weight/whistle. Reduce the heat to low.Heat should be extremely low otherwise the chances of getting base burnt is more. Cook for  15 minutes. Check if its cooked by opening the cooker and inserting a fork.if its not cooked keep on low flame for some more time. Switch off the stove. Remove the cooker from the burner and keep unopened for 15 minutes.When it is a bit cool, open and run a blunt knife along the edges to loosen the appam and remove from the cooker. The bottom would be dark brown with the onions and coconuts on top. 

Kalthappam ready.... cut  into pieces and serve with hot tea....:)

Recipe Courtesy: Mrs.Nirmala Jayakrishnan,Calicut (Ammayi)

Vellakareppam (Kannur Appam)

Ingredients:

Boiled rice - 1 cup
Maida - 1/4 cup
Sugar - to taste
Raisins - 1 tsp
Broken cashew nuts- 1 tsp
Cardamon powder - 1/2 tsp
salt-1 pinch
oil- for deep frying

Method:

Wash and soak rice for 2 hours. Drain the water and grind it to a smooth Paste.

Mix maida, sugar, nuts, raisins and cardamon powder with the batter. Mix well. The consistency of the batter should  be like idli batter. keep this batter overnight. 

Heat a Kara appa chetti or Paniyaram pan. Pour oil to 3/4 of each hole.  When the oil  becomes hot, reduce the flame to medium heat and fill the holes with the batter. Fill only up to 3/4 th of the hole. When its getting cooked, flip it over to the other side with a spoon or a skewer. Let the other side get cooked uncovered . Once cooked, remove and drain on a paper. Repeat the same Process for the rest of the batter.We should not make appam brown. Appam should be in white  color with edges light brown.

Super duper vella kareppam ready. With this measurement I could make 28 appams of this size.....:)

Recipe Courtesy: Mrs.Prassana Sugathan (Amma)

20 minutes Paalpayasam

Ingredients:

Unakkalari ( broken brown rice) - 1/4 Cup
Milk- 1/2 Liter
Sugar- to taste
Cardamom Powder - 1/2 tsp

Method:

Unakkalari:

 In a big pressure cooker add half liter of milk and  cleaned rice together.

 Keep cooker on high flame and when the steam starts coming out of the nozzle put weight. After the first whistle simmer the flame.

 Exactly after 20 minutes. (Twenty minutes includes the time time the cooker is kept on flame to the time the flame is switched off). switch off the flame. when the pressure get released open the cooker and add sugar and cardamon powder.

 Paal Payasam ready...:)

Recipe Courtesy: Mrs.Suchetha Jayesh,Calicut.

Karakka Porichathu / Fried Dates

Ingredients:

Black dates (karakka, Ethapazham) - 10 nos
All purpose flour( Maida) -1/2 cup
Salt-one pinch
Sugar- 2 tbsp
Water -As required
Coconut oil- for deep frying

Method:

Cut gently the dates and remove the seeds. Do this with all dates.

 Combine Maida,  sugar, salt and water in a mixing bowl to form a thick batter. Mix well with your hand so that no lumps are formed.

Heat oil in a frying pan. Dip each dates in the batter and put into hot oil.  Flip both sides and deep fry until golden brown.  When done remove from oil to an absorbent paper.

When Served with hot tea this tastes excellent...:)

Recipe Courtesy: Mrs.Prassana Sugathan (Amma)

Pazham Pori

Ingredients:

Nendrapazham ( ripe plantains)- 2 nos
All purpose flour( Maida) -1/2 cup
Rice flour-1 tbsp (optional)
Turmeric powder-1/4 tsp
Salt-one pinch
Sugar- 2 tbsp
Water -As required
Coconut oil- for deep frying

Method:

Peel plantains and cut it  horizontally into two. Cut each slice again into two thin slices and keep aside. Bananas should be very ripe. More ripe the bananas are, More tasty the pazhampori's are:)

 Combine Maida, rice flour, turmeric powder, sugar, salt and water in a mixing bowl to form a thick batter.Mix well with your hand. Heat oil in a frying pan. Dip the sliced banana in the batter and put into hot oil.

 Flip both sides and deep fry until golden brown.  When done remove from oil to an absorbent paper.

 nammude swandam pazampori ready....:)



Recipe Courtesy: Mrs.Prassana Sugathan (Amma)

Unnakaya

Ingredients:

Plantain/ Nenthrappazham- 4
Grated coconut- 1/2 cup
Sugar- 4 tbsp
Raisins- 1 tbsp (optional)
broken Cashew nuts- 2 tbsp (optional)
Cardamom powder-1 tsp
Maida/ ghee - little
Oil-For deep frying

Method:

Bananas should not be too ripe .Cook the Plantain by steaming it in a pressure cooker or microwave until it is soft.Remove the skin and grind in mixie (without a drop of water) to a dough like consistency and keep aside.The banana dough consistency should not be loose.

Mix grated coconut with sugar and cardamon powder and keep aside. Raisins and cashew nuts are optional.

 

 Apply Maida/Ghee to your palm and make a lemon sized ball of the mashed plantain and flatten it .Place a spoon full of the grated coconut filling ,close and roll it into the typical unnakaya shape.

 Keep all unnakayas ready to fry.

 Deep fry in medium flame until brown. Turn and fry so that all sides are uniformly brown

 Unnakaya (cotton Pod) with plantain is ready.....:)

Recipe Courtesy: Mrs.Prassana Sugathan (Amma)

Garlic Pickle with Dates

Ingredients:

Garlic - 1 cup
Ginger - 1 tbsp
Curry leaves 1 tbsp
Green chillies- 1 tbsp
Vinegar - 1/2 cup
Mustard - 1 tbsp
Red chilly powder- 2 tbsp
Gingelly oil-4 tbsp
Asafoeitida powder- 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste

Method:

Peel and take one cup Garlic. In a kadai add 4 tbsp of oil. Fry garlic in that oil and keep aside.

Chop Ginger, Green chillies and curry leaves. Fry them in the same oil. when done add red chilly powder and saute for two minutes. We should not over fry as it will give burnt smell. Add fried garlic and switch off the stove.

Grind seedless dates in vinegar and add to the garlic and mix well.

Roast the mustard seeds on very low flame for a minute or so just to make it warm. Take them out in a mortar and using the pestle press the seeds couple of times. The skin of the seeds will break and you will get split seeds. this adds a beautiful aroma to the pickle.This is kadukuparippu.

Add kadukuparippu, asafoeitida and salt and mix well. If you want the pickle more watery add more vinegar.

 When cool bottle it............:)Yummy garlic pickle is ready to use in 3 days....:)

Recipe Courtesy: Mrs.Prassana Sugathan (Amma)

Pottukadalai Murukku

Ingredients:

Idli Rice or Boiled rice- 1 kg
Pottu kadalai/ Roasted gram- 1/4 kg
Asafoeitida- 1 tsp
black sesame seeds-2 tsp 
Salt- to taste
Butter- 100 gms
Refined Oil- for deep frying

Method:

Soak the rice for 2-3 hours. Grind them in a grinder. When done add salt and asafoeitida powder and grind again . Powder Pottu kadalai ( Roasted gram) in a mixer without roasting and keep aside.



Transfer the ground rice to a big bowl, add pottukadalai powder, sesame seeds,  melted butter and knead them till they are well incorporated. Melted butter should be hot while kneading. The   dough  has  to  be   in  a  correct   consistency, should  not  be  sticky.  When    you   press   the  murukku    if   it   gets broken , that   means   the  dough  needs   more   water, sprinkle   little   water   and mix  it  again. If there  more  water in batter then add some more pottukadalai and knead again.

Heat the oil in a large heavy bottomed pan. Then take a murukku press, add the nozzle with three holes,  press the murukku to the oil directly or on to a greased backside of the plate .



Once the oil is hot enough, immerse the murukku, deep fry them till they are light golden brown and remove them from oil. Maintain the temperature of the oil, if the temperature of the oil is reduced the murukku will be soggy and too high temperature, murukku will brown very fast.


You can also try this shape. Take 2-3 half pates, turn them and grease with oil. Press the murukku batter in round shape on to plates . Deep fry them by dropping the murukku in to oil.



Murukku ready.....:) Once done, let them cool down and store in air tight containers.

Recipe Courtesy: Mrs.Latha,Coimbatore

Boondi Ladoo

Ingredients:

Gram Flour (Kadalai Maavu,Besan) - 1/4 kg
Raw Rice flour- 3 tbsp
Water - to make a flowing batter
Yellow food color - a tiny pinch
Cardamom - 4 powdered
Cloves - 2 powdered
Cashews - 1 tbsp 
Sugar Candy - 15
Raisins - 1 tbsp
Ghee - 3 tbsp
Edible camphor(Paccha karpooram) - a very tiny pinch
Oil - to deep fry

To make the sugar syrup:
Sugar - 1/2 kg
Water -  just to immerse sugar

Method:

In a vessel add sugar and color. Add water just to immerse sugar. stir well and keep on stove.keep on stirring.

To check whether its done we can either drop it in water or press between the thumb and middle finger. If the syrup does not move in water its done or if its of single thread consistency, its done. Remove from fire.

Take cleaned raisins and cashews and deep fry in ghee and keep aside.

Make a batter of gram flour and rice flour. Also add salt.Add water little by little to form a thick paste.Then add more water to form a flowing batter. If the batter consistency is not perfect the balls will not be round and it will have tails.To check if the batter is in correct consistency, first take a spoon and dip the backside of the spoon into batter and hold it on top of the preheated oil. If it drops as perfect rounds then the batter is perfect.If the batter is watery then the balls may fall flat so add little more gram flour.

Pour one ladle of batter over the ladle with the hole. It will drip down by itself, you can even spread it using the ladle in circular motion,like we make dosa.

Turn over to cook on both sides evenly.It should not be crispy just cooked. Once done take from oil and put it into the sugar syrup.

Mix with the sugar syrup and remove them to a separate bowl.Continue the process with  the  entire batter.

To the  boondis removed from sugar syrup add fried cashews, raisins, edible camphor, cardamom powder, cloves powder and sugar candy. Also add ghee in which raisins and cashews were fried. Mix it well and pound with a wooden churner. 

If the sugar syrup crystallizes and if the boondis become dry just heat up the syrup for a minute or 2(not more than that)...this is to make the syrup loose.

 When its warm enough to handle with your hands shape them into ladoos.

 The syrup and oil will squeeze out while pressing which helps the ladoos becoming moist so that we can make balls.

I could make 25 balls of this size....:)

Recipe Courtesy: Mrs.Latha,Coimbatore.