Parippu Vada - Lentil Fritters, A Savory Snack from Kerala

Have you ever wondered about the kind of relationship you will share with your spouse a few years down the line, when you are old? After many years of togetherness, will there be anything left to talk about, or will a perpetual silence prevail to be occasionally broken by visiting children and grand children? Will outings be as much fun as they are now, or will you be too tired and grumpy to move out of your reclining chairs?

In my family, uncles and aunts seem to be enjoying retired life in luxurious homes with their pets and gardens, large flat screen plasma TVs for the latest movies and all the "mega" serials, comfortable cars to take them to marriages and engagement ceremonies, exhibitions and sales. I just can't wait to get retired! A part of my maternal uncle’s daily routine is a game of cards in the evening at the “Elder’s Club”. Though the name suggests a unisex club, women are a big no-no here (they surely don't want anyone telling them off when their gossip goes over the limit or the card game gets too noisy). I think this must be one of the rare activities of the day that my uncle engages in, that does not involve his wife. Probably as compensation, he often gets her parippu vada from a chaaya kada or tea shop on the way back, to be enjoyed together on their porch, surrounded by lush greenery on all sides.

"Aliyambal kadavil anu arakku vellam,

annu nammal onnayi thuzhanjille kodumbu vallam?

Nammude nenjillake anuraga karikkin vellam..."

Do you hear that, or is it my imagination going into over drive? Seriously, after years of hardwork and struggle that life brings along, could there be anything more blissful than sharing hot, fried parippu vada and a cup of steaming tea on a cool breezy evening with that someone who has been with you all the way through?

Moving on to the recipe for parippu vada



You will need:

1/2 cup yellow lentils (thuvara parippu/toor dal)
1 small red onion, chopped finely
3 green chilis, chopped finely
1" piece ginger, chopped finely
A pinch asafoetida
1 sprig curry leaves, finely chopped.
To taste, salt
Coconut oil, to fry

Directions:



1. Soaked lentils and other ingredients for the parippu vada
2. Mix together ground lentils and other ingredients
3. Shape the dough into vada
4. Fry the vada in hot oil
5. When one side is brown, turn over and fry the other side
6. Serve hot

Soak the yellow lentils in water for three hours. Drain out the water properly. Grind the lentils coarsely. It is important that the lentils are ground coarsely, and not into a smooth paste.
To the ground lentils, add the remaining ingredients except oil, and mix well.

Shape into small discs as shown in the picture. The vadas should not be more than a cm thick in the centre.

Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Place the shaped dough into the hot oil without overcrowding the pan. When one side is brown, flip over and fry the other side.  Be sure not to fry over high heat, else the outside will brown and the inside will remain uncooked.


Remove from oil and serve hot.

You can also use split bengal gram (chana dal/kadala parippu) or a combination of bengal gram and yellow lentil to make parippu vada.

Parippu vada tastes great with bananas and a cup of tea.

Enjoy maadi!

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Meen Varathatu - Kerala Style Fried Fish

In Kerala, it seems the day begins with the sound of the fishmonger's horn going "pong pong" and housewives' calls of "Enna meena?" (what fish?). The malayali's diet comprises mainly of fish and rice, which explains the many fishmongers roaming the streets on bicycles or bikes (followed by all the cats in the area) with loads of fresh sea food that range from expensive seer fish and prawns to the common man's sardines or mathi. After making their purchase, the women settle down to clean the fish in their backyards, and then proceed to the kitchens to make a fiery red fish curry or spicy fish fry.

At home, I never used to eat mathi fry. Perhaps I thought it did not taste good because it was the cheapest fish available (and continues to be so). My mother's assurances of its great taste, and my dad's narration of its health benefits did nothing to change what I now consider my rather pigheaded attitude towards mathi. Once I started hostel life during my college years, I realized that my only hope of non vegetarian food would be the occasional mathi fry. So I sadly put aside my pride (and encouraged by the fact that nobody in my family was watching), I ate my first mathi fry. And I must say, it was love at first bite.

So here is the recipe of mathi varathatu, in true Kerala style.

Ingredients:

500 grams sardines/mathi
3-4 tablespoons red chili powder (or according to your tolerance level)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon pepper corns
5 shallots
1 teaspoon each of chopped ginger and garlic
Salt to taste
A sprig of curry leaves
Coconut oil, to shallow fry

Method:

Wash the sardines well. To clean, remove the scales by moving your knife from tail to head of the fish repeately. Cut off the fins and tail and make a slit along the side of the fish. Remove the gills and guts. If you wish to, you could cut off the head as well. Wash repeatedly in salted water, changing the water after each wash.

Make 3-4 shallow slits on both sides of the fish.

Grind together all the remaining ingredients except oil to a smooth paste. Apply all over the fish, and let it rest for half an hour in the refrigerator.

Heat oil in a wok or frying pan over a medium flame. Place the fish in the hot oil without overcrowding the pan. After one side is done, flip over the fish and fry the other side. I like my fish to be almost crisp, whereas my dad likes it to be just cooked. Your frying time depends on how you want the fish to be.

Once done, remove from oil and drain excess oil on an absorbent paper. Enjoy your mathi varathathu with kuthari choru or brown rice.

You can fry any kind of fish using the above recipe. The small fish such as sardines and mackerels can be fried whole, while the fleshier fish such as seer fish need to cut into small pieces. Below is a pic of fried pearl spot, you can almost make out the shallow slits made into the flesh so that the mariande is absorbed well into the fish.

A few years of my experience with mathi taught me that the fish (all fish, not just sardines) tastes best when fresh. You know fish is fresh when the gills are reddish, the flesh is firm and the eyes are clear. Also the bigger mathi taste a lot better than the tiny ones, because bigger mathi have more oil in them. So you need to look for this kind of mathi when you buy fish from your fishmonger.

Bye for now!

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Chicken Roast for this Easter

Image from Wikipedia

I do not have concrete belief in the existence of god, but I cannot deny that during stressful times, messages like the one above have given me a gentle push in the right direction. A person who believes in a super hero who has abundant love and compassion for you, who watches over you every minute of the day, holds you close especially when the going is tough, will have the strength to face each day with hope and optimism. So, a person who has unwavering faith in god is a very lucky person, isn't he?

For this Easter, I am planning to make chicken roast - a whole chicken marinated with spices and baked in its own juices so that the meat is tender, and the skin is crisp and spicy. There is something immensely satisfying about a whole chicken; my little boy just couldn't seem to wait for it to cook completely. I had to endure gku's frowns and little qya's complaints of "vishakunnu" (not to mention growls from my own stomach) while I hurriedly took some pics. Here is the recipe for you before you start complaining:



You will need:

1 chicken (about 1.2 kg) with skin on
3 tablespoons chili powder
3/4 tablespoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon pepper powder
7 cloves garlic
1" piece ginger
1/2 an onion
1 tablespoon curd
1/2 a lemon
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
1 cube chicken taste maker
1/4 cup almonds blanched and skin removed
50 grams butter, cubed and a tablespoon extra
Salt, to taste



Method:

Clean the chicken and pat dry with a kitchen towel. Trim away any excess fat, but keep the skin on for added flavour.

Gently lift the skin a bit taking care not to tear it, and make shallow slits on the flesh with a knife. Squeeze the lemon all over the chicken skin, and also apply some juice on the flesh. Sprinkle salt and pepper all over. Keep in refrigerator.

For the marinade, grind together the remaining ingredients except butter to a smooth paste. Apply all over the chicken, inside out. Let it rest in the refrigerator for atleast two hours.

Grease your baking dish with a tablespoon butter. Keep the butter cubes at different places underneath the chicken skin, and also within the cavity. Place the chicken in the tray.

Bake the chicken at 180C for about 1 hour and 20-30 minutes. Halfway through the cooking, turn the chicken in the tray to ensure uniform cooking. If the skin appears to be drying out, apply the fat drippings in the baking tray over the skin while cooking.

I found that the skin underneath the chicken was soggy because it was submerged in the juices from the chicken. The chicken was well cooked, I didn't think it was a good idea to keep it in the oven for much longer. So, I placed the chicken on a rack and cooked it for a few more minutes till the skin seemed crisp enough.

Carve the chicken and serve with long grained white rice along with the juices from the chicken. I wanted to serve the chicken on a bed of spinach leaves and sliced onions but did not think my family had the patience for it. Anyway, try this out, I am sure you will enjoy it.



Wish you a Happy and Blessed Easter!!!

Other things you could try out this Easter:

Palappam and chicken stew for breakfast or as the first course for lunch/dinner.



Chicken fry as a starter for lunch/dinner.





Chicken biriyani as the main course.





Carrot halwa for a sweet round up.



Enjoy maadi !!!

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Pazham - Pappadam - Payasam for this Vishu

It is almost mid April, the Kanni Konna or the Cassia Fistula is in full bloom. This could only mean that Vishu, considered as the beginning of New Year by Keralites, is almost upon us. Unlike Onam, Vishu is celebrated mostly by Hindus only, but I know what the celebrations include from the detailed accounts that my Hindu friends have given me.

On the night before Vishu, the Vishu Kanni comprising of rice grains and tropical vegetables like cucumber, banana, jackfruit kept in an urili along with coconut halves containing oil, a lamp/wick, gold coins, kasavu clothe and ofcourse the beautiful yellow konna flowers, is prepared. Placed in front of a statue of Lord Krishna, this is the Kanni or the first thing to be seen after waking up on Vishu morning. The start of the new year with this good omen is believed to bring prosperity for the remainder of the year. So after the eldest woman of the house lights up the wick/lamp and views the kanni, the rest of the family is led blind folded to the place where it is kept.

The remainder of the day is spent with the normal fesitivities, such as crackers, and an elaborate vegetarian sadhya served on banana leaves rounded off with various types of payasam or sweet pudding. If you have had a sadhya before, you have probably eaten or been asked to eat hot cherupayar paysam (lentil pudding) served on your banana leaf along with mashed banana and a crushed pappadam/pappad. Inspite of being assured repeatedly that this is a killer combination, I have never tried it, simply because I can't bear to get my fingers sticky with all the mashing, crushing and mixing involved. So, I thought it will be a good idea to serve everything in a glass - a modern twist to a traditional combination - and I was pretty pleased with the result.

Pazham - Pappadam - Payasam

Mash a banana (pazham), the small kind, such as pallan kodan, with a spoon.

Fry or roast a pappadam. Try to get hold of kerala pappadam. Crush the pappadam.

Into a serving glass, pour 1/2 to 3/4 cup of cheru payar payasam. Click here for the recipe. Top with mashed banana and crushed pappadam.

Wish you and your family a very happy Vishu.

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Tea Time with Pazham Pori / Ettakappam / Plantain Fritters

We Indians can be proud of the close family ties that keep us united whatever the conditions may be - for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, now and forever. When a bad time falls upon a family, everyone comes together to express solidarity and offer help and support, and surprisingly most of it is sincere.

Now that you have a background understanding of how things  are, it would be wise to give you an insight on the ground rules required to fit in with the large family unit, assuming you are not familiar with it (say, you were brought up outside India?). For now, I choose the scenario of visiting relatives in hospitals because someone in the family is bound to be hospitalized sooner or later. (Morover, I am about to be hospitalized soon because of a misbehaving appendix, so right now hospitals are on my mind more than anything else). There is a chance you will be seeing the remainder of your family on a hospital visit, so you should be know how to conduct yourself in an appropriate manner. Remember that these rules apply only in the unique conditions that exist in India. Elsewhere, you may be considered irresponsible and possibly unstable for abiding by them. OK, here goes:

• You are expected to visit irrespective of whether your relative is suffering from H1N1 flu, or is simply under observation after experiencing false pains during pregnancy, and irrespective of whether you carry something contagious yourself.

• That you may be very distantly related or that you didn’t even know such a person existed before you got the call in the morning (much before your usual wake up time) informing you that he/she is hospitalized is NOT an excuse not to drop by. Unless you are ready to be stricken out of the good books of the remainder of his/her family.

• It would be nice to take oranges and apples with you. It does not matter that the patient may not be in a condition to eat or is allergic to fruits; the others with him will appreciate the gesture.

• Once you are there, it is important to let people who matter know about it. Otherwise, it would be a wasted effort.

• You are allowed to sit on the bystander’s bed without being invited to do so and sift through his reading material if you get bored. Though I must warn you that it is better to talk as much as possible to whoever is listening (or even if no one is listening) because reserved people are generally considered arrogant.

• Ask the sick person LOUDLY, “Appacha, engane ondu? Enne manasilayo?” even if he is sleeping or appears to be groggy under the influence of drugs. If you are not a malayali, Appacha is what you call an old man, and the sentence translates to “How are you? Do you recognize me?” Such conversations are considered to be an expression of your love and concern, believe me!!! And yes, mop his forehead with your saree pallu or your handkerchief.

• DO NOT call a man below 80 years appacha (or the equivalent in your language), you may be doing his already poor health condition further harm (assuming he can hear you). Men also can be touchy when it comes to age.

• Spread the news of the hospitalization far and wide. Not informing others is almost as bad as not visiting at all.

• Keep your ears open for fresh gossip. After all, you will be meeting many cousins and aunties and uncles you last saw when someone else was ill or on the occasion of someone’s marriage. So much must have happened between now and then and I see no reason why these visits can’t be as much fun as possible.



And speaking about fun hospital visits, I used to do lot of it when I was in my home town. You see, diabetes runs in my family, and many a time, an inability to resist rice, pastries, jackfruit and cassava coupled with a dislike for exercise (all of which I seem to have inherited) often landed my aunt in hospital with blood sugar levels shooting through the roof. And since she was not actually ill and my mom was usually the bystander, the day time would be spent happy gossiping about everyone who dropped by, and everyone who didn’t drop by, and just about everyone (in short). The party would be at its best around tea time when others (my dad and uncles) would visit, and the canteen people would come by with large kettles of tea and coffee and trays of ettaka appam(plantain fritters) and uzhunnuvada(savory rice fritters). Though these ettaka appam were nowhere as good as homemade ones, we always bought them, and the snacks used to add immensely to the fun.

Malayalis have a soft spot for ettaka appam and it finds a place on the tea table regularly as an after school/college/work snack or when guests come home, or simply when a craving hits us (which happens quite often). Do try it out and find yourself getting addicted.



Recipe:

You will need:

3 ripe plantains

3/4 cup plain/wheat/rice flour or a combination of these flours

4-5 tablespoons of sugar or according to taste

2 teaspoons gingelly seeds (optional)

Water

Oil, to shallow fry

Method:

Make a smooth batter with the flour, sugar and water. Add the gingelly seeds and mix well. The batter should be a little thicker than low fat cream.

Cut each plantain into 3 pieces, along the length of the plantain. Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Coat each plantain slice with the batter and place in hot oil. When one side is lightly browned, flip and fry the other side. Remove from oil and serve hot.

Some people add cardamom powder to the batter, while others add a pinch of salt. Some also add baking powder so that the coating gets crispy. But I like ettaka appam best with the simplest of flavours.

Enjoy!!!

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