Kadala/Channa Curry for Puttu

Obviously cooking's been going on in Cheenachatti. No one can survive that long without food! OK, maybe some:-) Puttu was one of the stars that made many appearances and I remembered that I had not blogged about Kadala Curry which almost unfailingly accompanies Puttu in its journeys to the netherworld, er.., I mean tummy. I usually make it with canned garbanzo beans which is the best kind of kadala for this kind of curry. Since it is already cooked, soaking and cooking times are pretty much taken care of. But today is when I got blogging time and feeling a little nostalgic, I had made the curry with black kadala. So this post is on that.

In The Mix

Channa/Kadala - 2 cups of black kadala (or 2-3 cans of garbanzo beans)
mustard - 1/2 tsp
curry leaves - a sprig or two
green chili - 3 each cut to 3-4 pieces lengthwise
red onion - 1/2 sliced
ginger - 1/2" piece sliced to splinters
coriander powder - 4 1/2 tbsp
chili powder -2 tsp
turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
garam masala - 1/4 tsp (made from equal measure mix of cardamom/cloves/cinnamon powder)
warm milk - 2 cups
water - 1 or 2 cups
salt to taste

How To Do

Soak kadala in water for 4-5 hours. This step is not needed when using canned garbanzo beans. Need to take care to drain the water out if using garbanzo.

Heat oil in a pan, break mustard and add curry leaves. Then saute onion, green chili and ginger in that order and mix well with salt. Add all the curry powders. Add 1-2 tbsp of water so everything mixes well together. Roast the mix till everyone at home get the scent of spice powders in the air and can't wait to taste the curry that goes with it:-)

Add the milk and water and boil. Add kadala, let boil once, lower heat to medium and cook covered for 12-15 minutes. (If you are adding garbanzo the cooking time is 2-3 minutes just so everything blends well.) Stir once or twice during this time so the milk won't get separated out too much. Channa curry is ready to be mixed in with puttu and devoured. Some eat this with flat appams and even rice and while I found it all not too bad, I must admit that for me kadala is made for puttu and puttu only.....

The seasoning part of breaking mustard with curry leaves can be done in the end too. Just do that in another small pan and add to the curry at the very end. The latter looks a lot better while taste remains pretty much the same in either case.

Smoothie - Smooth and Easy!

Smoothie shops are all abound. Yet there is only one shop that I care to have smoothie from and for this one I am willing to go the extra mile - the shop being at the other end of the mall :-) - just for my pine-orange-banana fix.

As always when a craving hits I have to get to work I guess. This was before food blogs. I had yet to discover them. But I could still search for a recipe couldn't I? I found a whole bunch and after many a try, public opinion settled on my current and final adaptation. Be forewarned that you will need a blender with ice crushing option for this.

In The Mix

ice cubes - 12
milk - 1 cup
ripe banana - 1
sugar - 4 tsp
frozen fruit concentrate - about 4 oz. or 120 ml.

How To Do

Put all the ingredients and blend using the 'ice crusher' button. Blend till all the ice is crushed but not so it turns into water. A smoothie needs the crunchiness of the 'yet to melt snow cone' ice texture to give it credit. Should not take more than a minute. Do the crushing in bursts to make sure the smoothie is retaining the desired texture. When it comes to a smoothie, it is all about texture, texture, texture. At least for me:-) Pour into glasses and settle down for a lazy afternoon. The above will make four cups.


Any fruit concentrate will do but pineapple-orange is the best with banana. Orange-mango is the next best and this is what I used here. I usually buy a 12 oz can and use 1/3rd of it each time. Also don't add more sugar than what is given no matter how much you are tempted as that will take away the subtle sweetness of the smoothie and render it rather common. I am sure using other fresh fruits instead of the fruit concentrate will also work but I just have not tried it, having found 'the one' already!

Vermicelli Pulau

Remember the vermicelli package that enticed me? I had two of those and this is what I did with the other one:-) The package had a recipe for pulau on it and that was just what I needed as a start. Lately my husband had been complaining a little more than usual about the successful marginalization of veggies on our dining table.

I am always open to veggies so long as they are not alone. So this turned out to be the perfect idea for a Sunday brunch. All steps except the veggie cooking details are as in the recipe. Since the experiment was successful, I followed the same steps albeit with the readily available cooked rice for many days till my husband went from pleasant surprise to shock to acceptance. And that was my cue to forget about veggies till next time:-))

In The Mix

vermicelli – 200gm

vegetables – any in the fridge. fresh or frozen. no need to thaw.

raw rice - 1/4 tsp

urad dal - 1/4 tsp

chopped onion - ¼ red red onion chopped

green chili – 3 sliced in thin circles

curry leaves - 1 sprig

water - 1 1/2 cup

salt to taste

oil - 3 tsp

How To Do

Cook veggies as follows: Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan. Stir in the veggies. Sprinkle salt and mix together. Cook by covering in high heat for 5 min. I had available frozen kovakka(tindora), beans, fresh carrots, and frozen cauliflower. They were languishing since I had good intentions but never got around to them. I put a handful of each in for the cooking. 5 or 6 minutes of covered cooking is more than enough. Don't add water.

Heat 1 tsp oil in another pan and fry the vermicelli for a minute or so or till golden brown. Remove the vermicelli and add remaining oil to the pan. Add rice and urad dal and saute lightly. Add the sliced chili and fry. Add curry leaves too and the cooked vegetables. Add the water to boil all together. Check salt and add as needed. Now mix in the fried vermicelli and cook covered for 5 minutes in medium heat. Stir occasionally to prevent clustering. Serve on its own or with yummy chicken masala .

The same process can be used with rice instead of vermicelli. I use cooked rice and so after the veggies are added no need to add water. Maybe 1 or 2 tbsp of water. Mix well and cover and cook for 1-2 minutes and you are all done!

Chicken Masala - from Live To Eat

When I have a chicken urge I take refuge in Malluspice's pages and had always been a satisfied customer. Armed with this confidence I tried out a chicken recipe from another blog - Live To Eat. The recipe was a little different from what I am used to and reminded me of a pork vindaloo recipe that we have tried sometimes. It came out very well with nicely blended flavors in an appealing color and goes totally with any kind of carb you have at home!!. I can see this will be a keeper. I am repeating the recipe here for my own reference. I scaled the measures up to go with the quantity I had.

In The Mix
chicken : 3 lbs cut into pieces
red onion - 2 chopped
tomatoes - 2 diced
cloves - 12
cardamom pods - 6
cinnammon stick - 3" thin stick broken to pieces
curry leaves - 1 sprig or 2
salt to taste
oil - 3 to 4 tbsp
water - 3 to 4 cups
To Grind: dry red chilies - 22
garlic pods - 12
ginger - 4" piece
mustard seeds - 2 tsp

How To Do
Grind the 'to grind' ingredients in a blender with little water. I was hesitant about using so much chili but the result was wonderful. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan to brown the onions and set aside. Heat 2 tbsp in the same pan, add cloves, cardamom and cinnamon and saute. After a minute add the ground mix and slow roast till oil separates. Add chopped tomatoes and stir till tomatoes are cooked. I added salt at this stage.

Add cut chicken pieces and mix well so the pieces are coated. Fry to brown. Now add onions and curry leaves and stir for another minute. Add 3 cups of hot water to the pan, mix well and cook covered in medium heat.

Goes with anything. Thanks to Live To Eat for a yummy recipe .

Fish Fry & Fresh Caught Trout

You don't always have to go fishing like my brother to eat fresh caught fish. But you need good neighbors who do and graciously share their bounty. This is how we came to get a foot and half long fresh trout the other day. Since my son complained that we haven't been making fried fish - his favorite form of fish - I decided to do just that. Fried fish will always turn out to be tasty if you follow a few simple rules regardless of what is in the marinade.

1. Never freeze fish after you buy it. If you have to then always thaw in the fridge.
2. Add enough salt to the marinade. This is usually a little more than your usual salt to taste.
3. Marinate overnight in the fridge after scoring the pieces well.
4. Fry to crisp.

In The Mix

Fish cut into pieces and scored with a sharp knife on both sides- I had about 8-9 pieces from the trout
oil - 1 1/2 cups or enough to cover half of the fish pieces

For Marinade

fish masala powder - 1 tbsp (any brand will be fine)
chili powder - 1 tsp
kashmiri chili powder - 1 tbsp
powder mix of equal amounts of cinnamon, cloves, cardamom - 1/4 tsp
shallots - 1 chopped
vinegar - 2 or 3 tbsp
salt to taste

How To Do

Mix the marinade items together and marinate the fish overnight in the fridge. The cinnamon, cloves, cardamom powder is optional. If you don't have it, just add 1/2 tsp of coriander powder. Heat oil in a flat bottomed pan in high heat. Put the fish pieces in and lower the heat to between medium and high. After 3-4 minutes turn over to the other side. Again after 3-4 minutes remove from oil and drain on paper towels. You can leave the fish till your desired crispiness is achieved. This can be done by waiting long enough or by sprinkling some salt water on both sides right before you remove from the oil. The latter is a tip from my husband that I was quite amazed to see work well.

Enjoy with plain rice, yogurt and papadam or enjoy on its own fresh off the fire.

Semiya Payasam - Vermicelli Pudding

Guess it is time for a dessert. I have pretty much come to the end of my humble recipe arsenal anyway:-) The ones that I make the most often I mean. Semiya Payasam is actually being made the first time. It all started when my eyes fell on the colorful package of vermicelli during one of our Indian store trips. I have had the payasam quite often in Kerala as well as here and knew it was rather easy to make. Only problem was when the mood struck me, there were no cashews or raisins at home and so I went with almonds instead. Not a bad choice for a substitute. Wished I had the raisins though as I have a soft corner for those in any food, be it biriyani or dessert.

Speaking of almonds, I remember this almond tree on the way to the church that had great fascination for us kids. Especially on the way back when we were all hungry for lunch. It had really large leaves akin to oak trees but what attracted us were the green/purple fruits that dropped on the ground when birds were trying to chip off the outer shell. I don't know how the birds could break that shell and maybe they were just eating the soft outer layer, but we could collect 2 or 3 per person as a result of their efforts. Then the hard work of finding good stones to be the breaker and the breakee so we could pop the heavenly delicious almonds into our starved mouths. It was never enough and always left a thirst for more..Sorry to go on but my kids love a childhood story and let me continue for them. The tree had long since been cut down and I didn't know what we knew as 'badam' is what is called tropical almond till much later. If my older sister who was then a botany student was with me then she would name the botanical names of the trees and plants on the way. I was fascinated by botanical names and russian full names and some of them stay with me till now. I don't remember the plant alongside the botanical name though and searching on an impulse I find that 'terminalia cattappa' is this almond. Read all about the almonds here. Some of the other names I remember are 'mimosa pudica', 'lucas aspera' and of course 'hibiscus rosa-sinensis'. These names stay with you not for any reason but they are there as part of your memory. Maybe like Kunta Kinte's 'gambi bolongo' this may evolve over time and morph into similar sounding but different names.

Recipe for Semiya Payasam sans cashew and raisins.

In the Mix

vermcelli - 200gms (cut into shorter pieces if long)
almonds - 5 or 6 diced and fried
sugar - 1 cup
milk - 6 cups (i use 2% )
water - 6 cups (could be more or less depending on how thick you want the payasam to be)
vanilla essence - 1 or 2 drops
cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp
oil or ghee - 2 tsp

How To Do

Heat oil or ghee and fry the vermicelli till golden brown. Set aside.
Boil milk and water together. As always when heating milk be nearby to avoid boil overs and keep stirring. Add vermicelli and cook for 10-12 minutes. Keep the above caution about milk in mind. Add sugar, almonds, cardamom powder, vanilla essence and mix together for a few minutes. Remove from heat. Add more water or reduce as you like. This can be done at any stage so long as the payasam has not gone to room temp. Slurp on warm or cold depending on the mood.

I didn't have cardamom powder either. Before you wonder if I have anything at all of use in the kitchen let me disclose I indeed had regular cardamoms:-) Hmom to the rescue! Seeing our fashionably modern but quite useless pestle and mortar set from Williams-Sonoma, she packed off a "real" one that can do the deed with some friends as soon as she reached home.


So when you find you don't have a certain item in powdered form you can always go to the mortar. This worked out nicely and I even have extra for another time. Remember of course that with cardamom we need to remove the husks.

Payar Thalichathu – Seasoned Long Beans

Well well well, if it isn't a vegetable sizzling in cheenachatti today!!!

Yup, you are seeing it right. I have gone over to the other side. Just kidding!

But I have come a long way from when I used to genuinely worry what vegetarians can eat every day to be not hungry if they cannot eat meat and fish:-)

If ever I loved a veggie it was the 'payar thoran' that my mom used to make with freshly picked long beans from our own ginger fields, of course with fresh grated coconut and coconut oil. Speaking of coconut oil, we hadn't touched coconut oil since moving here but bought a bottle when my in-laws came. The familiar smell brought back memories of many a mouthwatering dish announcing themselves with the heady scent wafting in the air to the study room from the kitchen.....Can I please say: “Ah, those were the days...” A cliché but true.

But, I am not attempting to recreate the magic as I know it will be futile without those exact ingredients including the environment. I am just attempting to pass on a most simple veggie preparation that goes especially well with beans, okra, spinach. Mmm.. that is the end of my veggie repertoire. Do add any other similar veggies you can think of and it will come out fine. This came from my ever resourceful Hmom who has since made veggie eating a pleasure. When asked about his veggie intake my son said, “But Mom I do eat a lot of veggies”. Further investigation revealed that his veggie source sits between the bread and the burger as lettuce and tomato in a much frequented fast food joint:-) Hey, but we as a family love fresh carrots so we are OK! I digress again, so let us get back to my 'fast and simple' veggie preparation.

In The Mix:

Long Beans – 1 ½ packet (1 ½ lbs. - can be fresh cut or frozen)

shallots – 1 or 2 sliced

green chilies – 2 sliced into thin discs

crushed dry red chili – 1 tsp or as needed

curry leaves – as needed

salt to taste

oil – 1 tbsp

How To Do

Heat the oil in a pan. Add onion and curry leaves and mix well. Add salt to taste. Add green chilies and fry slightly. Now add crushed chili powder and stir together.

Add the beans and mix very well together. Cover and cook on high to medium heat. Cook to your desired crispiness. Now open the lid and dry out in low heat. This ensures that the veggie goodness gets absorbed instead of evaporating out. Enjoy with chapathi and yogurt or just plain rice and seasoned milk.

I found frozen packets of a variety native to Kerala in the local Indian store and I fervently hope they will diversify to a store near mcf some day since the brand was double horse. This is the one in the pic but we usually cook with frozen veggie packets from the regular grocery stores.