Spicy Kizhangu/Potato Curry

Usually I and my husband have Roti and subzi for dinner. Roti is not a common food in Kerala. My parents like to have rice for lunch and dinner. But if i offer to make chapathi for dinner they are happy because they will get something different for dinner and they know that I will do everything by myself  ;-)
Anyways, coming to roti and chapathi, chapathi we make at home is actually the thinner version of the north indian paratha. I prefer chapathi to roti. I can eat anything with chapathi from pickle to raitha. But my most favourite is, like many people, is potato curry. When I make potato curry for my husband it's different with garam masala,ginger garlic paste or even some green peas. But if i make for only myself, i prefer a Kerala spicy potato curry which has ground coconut in it. When i say this, I can imagine the frown on the faces of my non-keralite friends with a thought in their mind - Coconut with potato! What a wierd combination!
But dear friends, yes it sounds wierd, but it's not at all bad! In fact, this is my most favourite side dish with chapathi. So here I share this wierd recipe with my friends who want to try it out and feel the difference from usual paneer mutter, aloo gobi etc.
Ingredients :
Potato - 2 medium sized
Onion - 1 medium
Garlic - 1/2 tsp
Coconut grated - 1/2 cup
Turmeric powder -1/4 tsp
Chilly powder - 1 tsp
Meat masala - 1 tsp
Salt - as per taste
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 bunch
Dried red chillies - 2
Water - 1/2 cup
Oil - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp

First fry the coconut in 1 tsp oil for 2 minutes and grind it with meat masala and chilly powder by adding 1/4 cup water and keep aside. Peel the potatoes and slice them into thin long pieces. Chop the onion and crush the garlic. Now heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds,curry leaves and dried green chillies. Add onion and garlic and saute well adding little bit salt. Once the onion turns golden brown in colour, add the potato pieces and turmeric. Again fry for 2 minutes. Now add the ground masala and water and cook adding salt as per taste till the potatoes are cooked. Once the gravy is thick, remove from fire and serve hot with chapathi.

Note : For meat masala, we can add ready made powder or a ground mixture of all the spices such as corriander seeds,pepper,nutmeg,fennel seeds,star anise,cardamom,cloves,cinnamon etc. I add ready made meat masala powder available in the market which is equally good.

Chakkakkuru ulli thoran - Jackfruit seeds & shallots thoran

I don't like to eat ripe jackfruit, mainly because of it's smell. I don't even like to sit near someone who eats it because of that strong smell. But raw jackfruit dishes are very tasty. For example chakka puzhukku which is a favourite of most malayalis.But I like the jack fruit seed dishes more. My mother simply fries it adding salt and chilly powder.


Chakkakkuru or jackfruit seed can be used in a variety of dishes. But my favoruite dish is a thoran made with this.It's very simple and tasty. I would like to share the recipe here.

What you need is

Jackfruit Seeds - 1 cup

Shallots - 1 cup

coconut grated - 1/4cup

chilly powder - 1 tsp

turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

oil - 2tbsp

jeera - 1 pinch

Chop jack fruit seeds and cook it by adding salt. Drain the remaining water and keep aside. Chop the shallots into small pieces. Grind the grated coconut coarsely by adding chilly powder,turmeric powder and jeera.Heat oil in a pan and add the chopped shallots by adding little bit of salt.(Don't add too much salt since already the jackfruit seeds will have salt.If required add salt in the end.The taste of this dish depends on how well the shallots are fried)Once the shallots are fried well, add the cooked jackfruit seeds.Fry it well and then add the ground coconut and mix well. Keep the flame low and cook for 2 minutes by stirring continuously and switch off the stove. Serve the dish with hot rice as a side dish.

Sambar Fried Idli

I love idli with hot spicy sambar for breakfast. But to prepare it in the morning, that too before going to office is really a time consuming task and can make me late for office.But once idli is made, we can convert it into a snack which actually gives the taste of idli with sambar. Sometimes I make this snack when there are leftover idlis or when I feel lazy to make any accompaniments with idli.(Making idli itself is a tiresome job as far as I am concerned though I buy the ready made batter from the supermarket.But washing the steamer and the plates in it and then making idlis and taking them out and then again washing the steamer...uffff)So what makes me love this snack is that the simple and easy recipe and the lesser number of ingredients used for it. So it's assumed that nothing can go wrong with this recipe.

Ingredients:



Idlis - 4

Tomato -2

Hari Dhaniya/cilantro - one bunch

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Chilly powder - 1 tsp

Sambar masala - 2 tsp

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Methi seeds/Fenugreek - 1 pinch

Salt - as per taste

Water -1/4 cup

Oil - 1 tbsp



First cut the idlis into small cubes. Chop the tomatoes and hari dhaniya.

Heat oil in a frying pan. Put the mustard seeds till they sputter, then add the methi/fenugreek seeds. Now add the chopped tomato and fry well. Cover the pan and keep for 2 minutes for the tomatos to be cooked well. Mash them with a spoon and add the turmeric and chilly powders and fry again for 2 minutes. Then add sambar powder and stir well.Now add salt and hari dhania and mix well. Add water and salt and allow the tomatoes cook well with all the spices. Now add the idli cubes and stir well so that they get mixed well with the gravy. Cover the pan and simmer for 5 minutes. Serve hot.



Note : If you don't have sambar masala, don't worry. Add one tsp chilly powder, 1/4 turmeric powder, 1 tsp dhania powder and a pinch of powder hing/asafoetida instead of sambar powder.