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Archive for August, 2007

Onashamsakal & AdaPradhaman

Posted by Annita on August 27, 2007

Adapradhaman
Wishing you all a very happy and prosperous Onam

AdaPradhaman is an indispensable factor in a Kerala Sadya.As per the name Ada is the main ingredient here,it is very similar to pasta in texture and is made of rice or maida.Ada when cooked in milk and sugar is called Palada and when cooked in coconut milk and jaggery is AdaPradhaman.The traditional method of preparing Ada is very laborious and time consuming.But Ada is now easily available to us,even in Indian grocery stores outside India.

Back home,my mother-in-law uses Maida Ada for preparing Adapradhaman,and rice ada is used only for making Palada.But here I’ve used Rice Ada in my Adapradhaman as I couldn’t find any Maida Ada here.

Ingredients:-

Ada(Maida Ada is the best) – 1/4 kg
Jaggery(Sharkkara) – 1/2 kg
Sabudhana(Chowari) cooked – 1 cup
Ghee (Neyyu)- 1/2 – 1 cup
Thin Coconut milk (Randaam Paalu)- 3 cups
Thick coconut milk(Onnam Paalu) – 1 cup
Cardamom powder (Elakka Podi)-1/2 tsp
Broken Cashewnuts (Andiparippu)- as needed
Raisins (Unakka munthiri)- as needed
Coc0nut pieces chopped (Thengakkothu)- as needed

Method:-

Cook Ada as per the directions on the packet,allow it to cool and drain.Melt jaggery adding 1/2 cup of water and strain it to remove any unwanted particles in the jaggery.Jaggery you get in U.S is very good and you might not want to do the straining part.Now heat a big vessel(preferrably Uruli if you have one),add the melted jaggery into it,stir well and add cooked ada into it.Continue stirring until you’ve attained a medium thick consistency,adding ghee in between to prevent it from sticking.Now add thin coconut milk,mix well and add cooked sabudhana into it.Allow it to simmer for 10- 15 minutes.Switch off the heat and add thick coconut milk,mix well and add cardamom powder into it.Stir again and keep it aside.

Heat ghee in a small pan and fry coconut pieces,cashewnuts and raisins.Now add these into the Payasam.Mix and serve hot or cold.

Adapradhaman

Posted in Desserts & Cakes, Lil' Milan's Choice, OnaSadya, Traditional Kerala Dishes | 33 Comments »

Cream of Broccoli Soup

Posted by Annita on August 23, 2007

Broccoli reigns the vegetable kingdom with its high nutritional value.It is rich in Vitamin A,Vitamin C,fiber,folic acid,iron,magnesium,zinc,thiamin,riboflavin etc etc.The dark colored florets contain more beta carotene and Vitamin C than those with the lighter ones.So this explains why broccoli has to be included in our regular diet,eventhough it is a bit on the bitter side.

But my family(not me,I love it !!) simply hates this vegetable,I’ve tried out different recipes and there was no way I could make them eat it.Then I found this lovely soup recipe at SaffronHut.The picture itself was so appealing,and i couldn’t resist the craving.To my surprise,my little one loved it..and me too..!!And now he has even started eating broccoli added in fried rice or pizza.Still my husband is in broccoli haters club and i’ll continue to look out for interseting broccoli recipes to drag him to our group.

Cream Of Broccoli

Thanks dear Saffron for this recipe..

Ingredients:-

Broccoli chopped very fine -1 cup
Butter – 1 tbsp
White onion chopped – 1 tbsp
Garlic chopped – 1/2 tsp
All purpose flour – 1 tbsp
Milk – 2 cups ( I use 2% reduced fat milk)
Salt & Pepper – to taste

Method:-

Heat butter in a pan,add onion and garlic and saute till translucent.Now add the flour and fry it until it turn light brown with a nutty aroma.Add finely chopped broccoli and saute for a while.Now pour in the milk and stir it to avoid lumping.Heat/boil until it attains a desired consistency.Don’t forget to stir in between.Add salt & pepper to taste.

You can always blend or puree the soup at this stage,if you don’t like the tiny bits of broccoli in it.

As Saffron suggested,garnish it with a small microwaved broccoli and serve hot with garlic bread.

Posted in Blogger's Recipes, Lil' Milan's Choice, Soups & Salads | 17 Comments »

Chakka Kozhukatta

Posted by Annita on August 16, 2007

Kozhukatta,another traditional sweet from my home state Kerala is simple rice flour dumplings filled with a mixture of coconut and sugar/jaggery. Chakka Kozhkatta is a variation to the popular sweet Kozhukatta.Here jackfruit jam(Chakkavaratti) is also mixed along with the rice flour to prepare the dough ,and rest of the preparation remains the same.

Chakka kozhukatta

Ingredients:-

Rice Flour -1 cup
Jackfruit Jam/Chakka Varatti – 1 cup
Boiled water – as needed
Ghee – 1 tsp

For the Filling:-
Grated coconut – 1 cup
Crushed Jaggery(Sharkkara) – 1/4 cup
Cardamom powder (Elakka podichathu)- a pinch

Method:-

For the Dough :Mix together rice flour,ghee and jack fruit jam,and add hot water(if needed) little by little until a smooth dough is formed.

Chakka kozhukatta

Chakka kozhukatta

When cooled,knead with your hand to make the dough very soft.

Chakka kozhukatta

Divide the dough into lemon sized dumplings and keep it aside.

For the Filling: Mix grated coconut,cardamom and jaggery together,or else heat the mixture slightly before filling.

Take a dumpling and flatten it thin with your hands.Place 1 tbsp of filling in the middle,close it and shape it again to make a ball.Repeat the same with all the dumplings.Then arrange them neatly in an iddli cooker and steam it until it is well done.

Chakka kozhukatta

Chakka kozhukatta

Posted in Lil' Milan's Choice, Snacks & Appetizers, Traditional Kerala Dishes | 19 Comments »

Chicken Varattiyathu

Posted by Annita on August 6, 2007

As you might know i was a little busy with my in-laws.They went back last week pushing me back to my old routine.Now i’m forced to do the chores all by myself.So i’m here,lazier and heavier.And many thanks to all of you for visiting my blog and keeping it alive,and also for your kind emails and messages.I’m really glad to be back.

This is our new chicken favorite which posess a typical Malayali flavour,the recipe is from my sister,infact its from her mother-in-law.Chicken is cooked and sauteed in plenty of onions and spices until a reddish brown color is attained and it tastes great when coconut oil is used.

Chicken Varattiyathu
Kerala Porotta with Chicken Varattiyathu

The recipe follows …

Ingredients:-

Bonned chicken – 1/2 kg
Onion sliced thin – 4 big
Ginger-Garlic paste – 3 tsp
Curry leaves – 2 sprigs
Red Chilly powder – 3 tsp
Coriander powder – 5 tsp
Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
Garam masala powder – 1 tsp
Salt – to taste
Coconut oil – as needed

Method:-

Marinate the chicken with 1 tsp ginger garlic paste and salt for 1 hr preferably in a refrigerator.Cook it slowly without adding much water(add 1 or 2 tsp of water just enough to prevent it from sticking),and keep it aside.

Heat oil in a pan ,add onions,curry leaves,salt and rest of ginger-garlic paste and saute it for around 10 minutes until onion turns very translucent and soft.

Chicken Varattiyathu

Add all the spices and fry it for 3 more minutes.Now add cooked chicken and fry it well till the chicken is well coated with the masala.Or else you can add the uncooked chicken directly into the sauteed masala and allow it to cook in the masala itself.

Chicken Varattiyathu

When a reddish brown color is attained,switch off the stove and allow it to stand for half an hour.Once cooled,the dish will turn into a dark brown appealing color.Serve with rice/roti.

Chicken Varattiyathu

This chicken dish when made into a gravy tastes great with puttu/Idiappam as well.Just add enough water or coconut milk and heat it for sometime.

Posted in Chicken, Traditional Kerala Dishes | 66 Comments »

 
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