All about Food

Pidi Kozhukatta’ is a traditional breakfast dish from God’s Own Country, “Kerala’. “Pidi’ means one handful of dough by pressing with four fingers towards palm. There are many variations in this and it’s indeed very delicious. 

Ingredients:
• Raw Rice 1Cup• Grated Coconut 2 tbs• Dried Red Chilly 2 nos. Cut in pieces• Mustard seed 1/2 tsp• Ginger 1/2″ length. Finely chopped• Cumin seeds 1/2 tsp• Urad dal 1/2 tsp• Channa dal 1/2 tsp• Asafoetida 1 pinch• Coconut oil 2 tsp.

Soak the rice in water overnight and grind it to a coarse consistency with bear minimum water. 
Heat a pan with oil and once it’s hot, add channa dal, after a minute, add urad dal, cumin seeds and mustard seed. Once mustard seeds start crackling, add the rest of items-  chopped ginger, dried red chilies, grated coconut, curry leaves and saute for about 2 minutes. 
Put on to low flame, add the rice dough in to the tampering and mix thoroughly. Let the water content in dough dry up if any. Remove from stove, let it cool till you can use your hand to mould the dough to pidi shape. Suggest to prepare pidi while the dough is hot, but you can manage the heat of dough. Cook the Kozhukatta in a steamer for about 10 minutes. Now your Pidi Kozhukatta is ready to eat. Serve hot. Happy cooking!. 

A recipe that’s very easy to make and highly nutritious.

 
Ingredients:

• Avarakai 250 gms• Potato 2 medium sized cut in 2 cm width• Chopped onion 1 medium sized• White Mustard seed 1 tsp• Poppy seeds 1/2 tsp• Green chili 3 nos• Kalonji seeds(caraway seeds)1/2 tsp• Mustard oil 1 tbs• Salt to taste• Coriander leaves for garnish.

Soak poppyseed and White mustard for about an hour. Grind along with green chili to a fine smooth paste. 
In a saucepan, add mustard oil and once it’s hot, add chopped onions and saute till it’s light brown. Add Avarakai, potato and cook for 5 minutes. 
Add now the grounded paste and salt to taste. Stir properly, cover and cook for about 5 minutes. Tamper with kalonji seeds and garnish with coriander leaves. 
Happy Cooking! 

Another delicious, all time favorite of Keralites. It’s tomato cooked in coconut and yoghurt Gravy. It’s a part of great feasts like Ona Sadya. 
Ingredients:

• Tomato fully ripened 6 nos med sized• yoghurt 100 gms• Grated coconut 4 tbs• Green chili 04 nos• Coconut oil 2 tsp• Fenugreek 1/4 tsp• Shallots finely sliced 1 tbs• Cumin seeds  2  tbs• Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp• Mustard seed 1 tsp• Dried Red chilly 2 nos• Curry leaves 2 sprigs• Salt to taste

Step 1
Chop tomatoes. Cook it along with turmeric powder and a sprig of curry leaves till tomatoes are about to mash. 

Step 2 
Grind Green chili, little mustard seed, Cumin seeds, few curry leaves and Grated coconut to a smooth paste. 

Step 3
Add the grounded paste in to cooked tomato, add 1 cup of water, salt to taste and mix well. Cook till the raw smell completely gone and the gravy start turning thick. Put off the flame and allow it to cool. Now add required yoghurt in to it and check for sourness, salt and consistency. 

Step 4
Heat a saucepan over medium flame, once pan is hot, add coconut oil. Add mustard seed, curry leaves, Red chilly ( cut in to pieces) fenugreek, sliced shallots and saute till onion start browning.  Add the tampering to tomato yoghurt mixture and mix well.
Now the soothing aromatic curry is ready to be served. 
Happy Cooking! 

A very South Indian favourite breakfast dish accepted all across. It’s very easy to make and has different variations. However, to make good tasty Upma, one has to follow certain authentic cooking procedures. Upma can’t be lumpy,uncooked or watery. There is an art of making good upma. So let’s get onto the way I have been making it. 

Ingredients:
• Semolina (Rava/Sooji) 250 gms• Chopped onion 2 medium sized• Green chili 5 nos• Ginger chopped 2″ length• Curry leaves 2 sprigs• Channa Dal 1 tsp• Urad dal 2 tsp• Turmeric powder 1/4  • Mustard seed 1/2 tsp• Ghee 2 tbs• Cooking oil 1 tbs• Salt to taste. 

Take a hard bottom pan, put on to fire at low. Once the pan is hot, get the Semolina roasted. Keep stirring to avoid getting burnt out. Once you get a pleasing roasted smell, put of the flame and allow the Sooji to get cold. 
Heat a wok at medium temperature. Once it’s hot, pour in the oil and allow to heat. Add* Channa dal and saute for a minute. Add Urad dal and saute till both dal get light golden color. Now add mustard seeds and Curry leaves. Wait till mustard sputter. Now add Turmeric powder, chopped onion, green chili and ginger. Saute till onion get translucent.

Once it’s done pour in 2 1/2 cup water and add salt to taste. Ensure salt is adequate and if it’s less, it’s very difficult to add more after cooking and you cant expect each grains to absorb salt. 
When it starts boiling, put on the flame to low, keep adding Sooji in slow stream by one hand and stirring by other hand. Cook for about 3 minutes. Ensure you are stirring continuously to avoid any lumps. Add ghee and mix well. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. 
Serve Upma along with Coconut chutney. 

Authentic Rava Upma will not have any add ons. However you may add chopped vegetables, cashew nut, raisins, etc according to your taste. Its purely optional. 
Conversion: Indian  – 1 Cup = 250 ml* Roasting time varies for dal, so here let’s add Channa Dal first, followed by Urad and then mustard to get all cooked evenly.

Happy Cooking! 

It’s an alternative to other common chat easy to make at home and it’s different. 
Ingredients required:
• Semolina   1cup• Yoghurt 1/2 cup• Tamarind paste 2 tbs• Chopped onions 1 medium sized• Green chili chopped 1 no• chopped ginger 1/4″ length• Coriander leaves 1 sprig• Palm sugar / Jaggery  paste 1 tbs• Cumin powder 1/2 tsp• Chilly powder 1/4 tsp• Sugar 1 tsp• Cooking oil • Salt to taste

Step 1

To prepare tamarind chutney, take a pan and heat over medium flame, dilute tamarind paste, palm sugar paste and bring to boil. Add red chilly powder and reduce the quantity. Remove from flame and allow to cool. 

Step 2

For sooji vada, mix sooji with curd to a thick consistency. Add salt to taste and keep it aside. 
Heat oil in a wok under medium flame. Once oil is hot, drop sooji dough in to oil in small ball shape and fry till it gets golden color. 
Soak the fried vada in water for about 10 minutes and squeeze out water from it by pressing it in between your palms. 

Step 3

In a bowl, whisk yoghurt to avoid any lumps. Add sugar and salt to taste and maintain smoothie consistency. 
Now plate sooji vada, pour yoghurt and tamarind chutney over it. Garnish with chopped green chili,onion, coriander leaves and sprinkle cumin powder over it. 

Enjoy your Semolina Vada Chat.

 Happy Cooking! 

O

Orotti is a traditional breakfast item from Kerala made out of rice flour. The method of preparing it vary from region to region. Therefore, I have here modified it to suit all across. 

Ingredients:
• Rice flour 2 cups• Grated Coconut 1cup• Cumin seeds* 1 tsp crushed• Shallots 10 nos crushed• Coconut Milk 1 cup• Banana leaves as required• Hot water

Take a mixing bowl, rice flour in it. Add crushed cumin seeds and shallots in to it. Add required salt. Mix it thoroughly so that the ingredients are mixed together. Now pour in hot water and use your hand to knead to get a nice dough consistency so that you can flatten it by pressing with your hand. 
Now clean the banana leaf and cut in double the size of the Orotti size you desire to have. Take handful of dough and smoothen the edges to form a nice round ball. Place it on one end of the leaf and press the dough with your fingers to form a round disc like. Now lift the other end of leaf and cover the orotti. 

Heat a pan and place orotti on it, cover and cook for about 3 minutes and turn the other side for another 3 minutes cooking. The banana leaf mark on orotti indicate that it’s cooked also, the leaf starts roasting and a flavor emits out. 
Serve it hot with Coconut milk. 
*Soak in water for about 15 minutes
Happy Cooking! 

Vindaloo is a delicious,spicy Indian curry from the region of Goa and no wonder it’s pride of Goan Cuisine. It’s generally made of Pork and here I use Chicken instead.

As per trace, it’s found that the recipe being brought to India by Portuguese. There is a wrong perception that Vindaloo means, it would be a dish were ” Aloo’ (Potato) would also be a part of it. But itsnt. There is no potato used in traditional Vindaloo. 
Ingredients for Chicken Vindaloo:
• Chicken 500 gms. Washed and drained well• Dried Kashmiri chilly 15 nos. • Cumin seeds 1tsp• Turmeric powder 1tsp• Cinnamon stick 2″ length• Black peppercorns 1tsp• Cloves 6 nos• Garlic peeled 10 cloves• Star Anise 2 nos• Marathi Moggu ( Kapok bud) 2 nos• Ginger 2″ length• Onion finely chopped 2 medium sized• Cooking Vinegar* 120 ml• Sugar 1 tbs• Cooking oil 2 tbs.

Step 1.
Soak Kashmiri chilly for about 2 hours in hot water. 

Step 2. 
Grind Kashmiri chilly, Cumin seeds, Cinnamon, Black pepper, Marathi moggu Cloves, Star Anise, Garlic, Ginger, Turmeric powder to a fine paste.

Step 3.
In a mixing bowl, add chicken and marinate with the grounded paste, vinegar, Sugar, salt and leave it for about 6 hours. Overnight marination would be highly recommended. 

Take a pan and heat on medium flame. Pour oil and once it’s hot, add finely chopped onion and saute till onion gets caramelized. Add the marinated chicken, pour a cup of water and mix thoroughly. Cover with lid and allow to cook for about 2O minutes. Stir in between and check for salt. If required add salt and cook it uncovered till the Chicken is well cooked and tender. Once done, put off flame and leave it to rest for another 15 minutes.
We can even cook without using oil, by way of adding the chopped onion directly to the marinated chicken and putting directly to pan and pouring water. 
Happy Cooking! 
* I have used ACV ( Apple Cider Vinegar). 

A breakfast dish made out it pounded paddy, or called flattened rice. It’s very popular breakfast / snack item in South India. There are many variations of preparations. 

Ingredients:

• Poha* (flattened rice) 250 gms• Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp• Urad dal 1/2 tsp• Channa dal 1/2 tsp• Cumin seeds 1/2 tsp• Turmeric powder 1/3 tsp• Asafoetida 1/3 tsp• Ghee 1tbs• Cooking oil 1 tbs• Ginger 1″ length• Garlic 6 cloves• Tomato Chopped 2 medium sized• Green chili 5 nos slitted• Chopped onions 1 medium sized• Chopped Tomato 1 medium sized• Finely chopped Carrot 1 small size• Finely chopped French beans 4 nos• Chopped Potato 1 medium size• Curry leaves 1sprig• Coriander leaves 1 spring 

* Soaking time required for Poha based on what kind of poha you are usingIf poha is thick, soaking time should be more than 10 minutes. 

Heat a wok on medium flame. Pour  oil. Once the oil is hot, add mustard seeds, cumin, curry leaves and wait for it to sputter. Once done, add Channa dal and urad dal and saute for a while till dal gets light brown color. Add garlic and ginger, green chilly and cook for about 2 minutes, add turmeric powder. 
Add in the vegetables and mix thoroughly. Pour 1/3 cup of water and add required salt and allow to cook for about 5 minutes. Once the vegetables are cooked, add the washed and drained poha in to it and mix properly. Add Asafoetida, ghee and Coriander leaves. Check for salt. Cover the wok and cook for about 2 minutes. Happy Cooking! 

Kesari Bath is a very popular sweet dish in South India, especially in the State of Karnataka. This is served during breakfast as well as during festivities. Combination of Khara Upma / Upma along with Kesari bath is known as “Chocho Bath’ and it’s often found in any eateries. 

Ingredients:
• Semolina /Rava/Sooji  1/2 cup• Pineapple finely chopped  1/4 cup• Ghee 3 tbs• Butter 1 tbs• Sugar 4 tbs• Cashew nut 6 pcs• Sultana 6 nos• Green cardamom powder 1 pinch• Saffron strands- few.

Heat a pan, add ghee and butter to it and once its hot, add the cashew nut, fry it to golden color and remove. Add the sultana into same pan and fry it till its done and remove it. 
Now add the semolina in to the pan and keep saute till it emits aroma. Add in the chopped pineapple and cook for 5 minutes. 
Add 1 cup of boiled water in to the pan and keep stirring to avoid any lumps. Add sugar and keep stirring till the sugar melts completely and bind along with other ingredients. Add the cardamom powder, fried cashew and sultana. Mix well. Garnish with saffron. Happy cooking! 

A tropical salad which can be made easily at home and can be on your diet during this pandemic. 

Ingredients:
• Pineapple slice 06 pcs• Beetroot boiled (peel flat strips) • Cucumber peel(flat strips) • Carrot peel • Tomato ( flat strips peel) • Yoghurt 250 gms• Honey 2 tbs• CuminCuminia powder 1/2 spoon
Arrange all above in an artistic form, pour yoghurt and honey and mix all together. Happy Cooking!