Kerala Mutton Peralan

Kerala Mutton Peralan

Mutton peralan is a popular recipe in North Kerala and is mutton in a dry gravy. This is spicy and delicious mutton which is relatively easy to make  but tastes exotic.This peralan recipe was little different from the peralan recipe I had tried earlier. I found this recipe in a TV show called "Taste of Ramdan" and it looked so delicious that I decided to give it a try. I brought about a little changes to the original recipe and my family enjoyed.It is a delicious accompaniment with rice or pathiri.


Ingredients
1)Mutton - 1 l/2 lb
Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
Pepper powder- 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste

2)For masala
Shallots crushed - 1 cup
Onion finely chopped - 1 medium
Ginger and garlic finely chopped - 3-4 tsp
Whole red chilly- 3-4
Turmeric powder- a pinch
Chilly powder- 1/2 tsp
Pepper powder- 1/2
Coriander powder- 1 tsp
Cumin - 1/2 tsp
Fennel powder- 1/2 tsp
Garam masala- 3/4 tsp
Thick coconut milk- 3/4 cup

3) For Garnish
Cashew nuts- 6-8
Sliced coconut pieces- 10-12
Raisins-  a few
Chopped coriander leaves- a hand full

Clean and cut mutton into medium sized pieces, mix with all ingredients listed under one and half up of water and cooked till meat is soft and tender. Simmer till all the water evaporates.
Heat oil in a pan( preferably coconut oil) and fry one by one coconut slices, cashews and raisins till golden brown and set aside.
In the same pan add cumin seeds, curry leaves and whole chilly and fry till there is a nice aroma. Next add garlic and ginger and saute for a minute followed by shallots and onion and saute till golden brown. Add all spice powders and masala along with the cooked meat. Fry this for a minute and add the roasted cashews, raisins and coriander leaves. Finish it off with thick coconut milk. Reduce the flame and allow this to simmer and thicken. Serve with rice or pathiri/appam.

You might also like,
Kerala Mutton Biryani
Nadan Mutton Curry
Mutton Stew
Mutton Pepper Fry
Persian Mutton Roast
Kerala Mutton Fry


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Hope you will all enjoy..

Bottle gourd/Lauki and Dal Curry

Bottle gourd/ Lauki and dal is a delicious combination and is a great accompaniment with rice or chapatis. It is light and filling with the touch of cumin and a bit tangy from tamarind and tomatoes. I was not much confident to try bottle gourd mainly because we never had much of this veggie in our part of Kerala. Its freshness and tenderness attracted me that I finally decided to give it a try. I did not have a recipe and decided to  try my moms spinach dal recipe,but used lauki instead. Try this recipe..you will surely love it. 

Ingredients
Bottle gourd- 1 medium sized tender
Chana dal- 1/2 cup
Onion -1 medium
Green chilly-  2-3
Tomatoes - 1
Garlic- 2 cloves(crushed)
Turmeric powder- 1/3 tsp
Chilli powder- 1 tsp
Cumin - 1/3 tsp
Asafoetida- a pinch
Tamarind- a small lemon sized ball
( soak in half cup of water)
Curry leaves
Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp. 

Cook soaked chana dal in  two to three cups of water till it gets mashed up( soak at least for one hour)
Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Add garlic, green chilly, curry leaves, turmeric and a pinch of asafoetida. Add finely chopped onions and saute till golden brown. Now add cubed bottle gourd/lauki and tomatoes. Add chilly powder and mix well and cook covered for 2-3 minutes. Add cooked dal and tamarind pulp and allow to simmer and thicken for two more minutes.Serve with rice or chapatis.

Try this..
Hope you will enjoy..

Semiya Payasam

Semiya or vermicelli payasam is simple and delicious dessert and is truly delectable.It has  very simple procedures like roasting the vermicelli in ghee till it slightly changes color and then slowly allowing to cook in milk and sugar till milk is reduced and it attains a slight creamy consistency.When ever its time for celebration or festival I make this payasam because it is the easiest and also my favorite.I made this for Vishu along with sweet boli and the combination was divine. Boli is very popular in southern Kerala and is served along with pal payasam or semiya payasam during Sadhya. For the boli recipe click here.

Ingredients

Semiya/Vermicelli- 3/4 cup
Whole milk- 4 cup
Condensed milk- 1/3 cup
Sugar- 1/2 cup
(adjust according to your taste)
Cashews and raisins- 1/4 cup
Cardamon powder-1/2 tsp
Ghee- 2 1/2 tsp

Heat two tsp of ghee in a pan and roast cashew nut till golden brown and raisins till they pop up and keep aside. In the same ghee roast semiya till golden brown. Allow this to cool a bit. Add warm milk and stir occasionally. Allow the semiya to cook completely before adding sugar and cardamom powder. When it starts thickening add condensed milk and simmer for a few more minutes. Garnish with ghee fried cashew nuts and raisins.

Try this
Hope you will all enjoy

Asparagus Egg Thoran

Asparagus egg thoran is a real comfort food and it is stir fried asparagus with coconut,eggs and a touch of cumin.Asparagus is a healthy vegetable and is rich in fiber, folic acid and vitamins. I tried asparagus thoran when I saw  it in Nisha and Maya's blog and it soon became a family favorite. Once I tried this thoran with eggs and it tasted delicious.This is definitely one of the simplest recipe with asparagus. Give this a try..you will surely love it.


Ingredients
Asparagus - 1 bunch
Onion- 1 small
Coconut- 1/2 cup
Cumin- 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder- 1/3 tsp
Green chilly-2
Egg-2
Pepper powder- a pinch
Garlic-2 pods
Curry leaves
Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp

Wash and clean asparagus. Discard its woody base and chop and keep aside.
In a mixer crush and mix shredded coconut, cumin and garlic and turmeric powder
Heat oil in a pan and splutter mustard seeds and fry curry leaves. Add onion,green chilly and fry till golden brown. Now add asparagus and salt and fry for two minutes( you can close lid and cook for a minute if you like it soft). Add the coconut mixture  and saute. Beat two egg,make a well in the center of the pan and pour in. Give it a good stir and allow the eggs to  get completely coated with the asparagus and get cooked . Sprinkle a pinch of pepper powder(optional) and serve as  a side dish for rice.

Try this..
Hope you will all enjoy..

Chicken Ularthiyathu

Chicken Ularthu/Ularthiyathu

This is another Kerala style roast with has a perfect blend of flavor of coconut and freshly grounded spices and coconut oil.Ularthu is a kind of sauteed stir fried chicken. Usually thin slices of coconut is added but here I have used grated coconut. It is a dry preparation just like chicken fry . It is time consuming and you need to take extra care not to burn the masala, but it is worth the effort.Try this, you will surely love it.

Ingredients
To marinate
Chicken - 1 Kg
Pepper powder- 1 tsp
Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste

For the masala
Grated coconut - 1 cup
(or thinly sliced coconut- 1/2 cup)
Shallots- 15-20
Ginger- 2  inch thick
Garlic- 8-10
Chilly powder- 1 tsp
Chilly flakes- 1/3 tsp
Whole pepper- 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Coriander powder- 3 tsp
Garam masala- 3/4 tsp
Fennel powder- 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves
Coconut oil

Cut chicken into small pieces and marinate with the ingredients listed under marinade and keep aside for half an hour.
In a mixer coarsely blend shallots, ginger, garlic and coconut. Mix in the rest of the spice ingredients other than curry leaves and oil.
Heat oil in a pan and add curry leaves. Add the marinated chicken and fry till it starts changing color. Add the ground masala mixture and saute for a minute. Drizzle a little water(not more than 1/3 cup),lower heat, cover and cook. The chicken will get cooked in its own water. Stir occasionally till the chicken is almost done. Take of the lid, drizzle a little more oil and continue sauteing till the chicken and masala changes color and becomes dry. Saute till chicken gets crispy in the outer. Finally add some fresh curry leaves.

Try this..
Hope you will all enjoy.

Vada Kootucurry

Vada kootu curry is a spicy vegetarian curry made with Vadas.  It is urad dal/black gram, soaked and made into a paste, fried and added to a  spicy potato and coconut stew. It is made and served during Sadhyas in southern part of Kerala. It is different from the Kootu curry of Northern Kerala  were veggies like yam and plantains are used along with chick peas. You can use uzhunnuvada and cut into pieces and make this curry. It is flavorful and tastes delicious, especially these urad dal dumplings which get soaked in aromatic and creamy coconut sauce. Try this recipe,you will surely love it.

Ingredients
For the Vadas
Urad dal- 1/2 cup
Green chilly- 2
Whole pepper- a  few
Salt
Oil for frying

For the gravy
Potato- 2 large
Onion chopped- 1 medium
Ginger and garlic paste- 2 tsp
Kashmiri Chilly powder- 1 1/2 tsp
 Coriander powder-2 tsp
Pepper powder- 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder 1/3 tsp
Garam Masala- 3/4  tsp
Coconut Milk thick 3/4 cup
Coconut milk thin- 1 1/3 cup

For tempering
Curry leaves
Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
Urud dal- 1 tsp
Oil

To make the vadas
Soak black gram for 4 hours and strain.Grind into a fine paste without adding water.
Add chopped chilly, whole pepper and salt and mix well.
Note:This is optional,it is to enhance flavor.You can just mix in salt and fry.
Heat oil in a pan and take small spoon full of batter and drop little by little into the oil (or shape into tiny vadas). Try to make small ball vadas.Fry in batches till it is golden brown and set aside.

To make the gravy
Heat two tbs of oil in a pan and splutter mustard seeds. Next add one tsp urad dal and fry till golden brown. Fry onions, ginger and garlic, curry leaves and green chilly,till there is a nice aroma and onions are golden brown.Add turmeric powder,chilly powder, pepper powder, coriander and garam masala and saute for a few seconds. Add potatoes and thin coconut milk and cook till potatoes are done. Add the thick coconut milk and the fried vadas and simmer for two minutes in low flame.  Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve with rice as a side dish for sadhya or as a side dish with parattas.

Try this...
Hope you will all enjoy.

Pineapple Halwa

Pineapple Halwa

 If you love the pleasant smell of pineapples here is a mouthwatering dessert. Its preparation is similar to carrot and beetroot halwa.This is a no fuss and easy to make delicacy which you will surely enjoy. You can use pureed pineapple or shredded pineapple. Usually Mawa/khoya is used to make this halwa. Here I used condensed and it tasted equally delicious.

Ingredients
Pineapple - 1
Condensed Milk- 1 tin
Sugar-2 tsp( optional)
Ghee- 3 tsp
Rice flour- 2 tbs
( or all purpose flour)
Cardamon powder- 1/2 tsp
Cashew nuts- 8-10
Raisins- 15- 20 nos
Yellow food color- 2 drops(optional)

Chop pineapple or make a puree. Heat ghee in a heavy pan and fry raisins and cashews and keep aside. Now add in the pineapple puree and stir in continuously till all the water evaporates, Mix rice flour and color in 1/3 cup of water/milk and add stirring continuously and make sure there is no lumps. Add condensed milk  and sugar and cardamon powder and stir till it all becomes one mass. Grease plate with ghee and transfer the contents, spread evenly. Garnish with fried cashews and raisins and allow to set and cool.

Try this..
Hope you will all enjoy..