Brinjal Fry

     

 Brinjal is one of the most common vegetables seen in purple, green and white colours. Due to its wide use in both every day and festive South Indian food, it is often called as the ‘King of vegetables’ in South India.

                 It is a good source of calcium, potassium, magnesium and thiamin. Brinjal fry is a very tasty dish and it can be served as a special dish for the vegetarians.

 

Ingredients

1 brinjal

¼ teaspoon turmeric powder

½ teaspoon red chilli powder

1 teaspoon corn flour

Salt to taste

Coconut oil for frying

1 sprig curry leaf

Method

• · Wash brinjal properly. It is better to dip it in salt solution for 1 to 2 hours before using it.
• · Cut it into round pieces.
• · Take turmeric powder, chilli powder, salt, corn flour and curry leaves in a plate and make a paste using required quantity of water.
• · Put brinjal pieces in the plate and apply the paste over the pieces.

• · Keep a pan over the flame.
• · Add 1 teaspoon of coconut.
• · Place the brinjal pieces in the pan and fry them just as we fry fish.
• · Turn it over and add ½ or 1 teaspoon coconut oil according to you choice. Fry till both the sides become golden brown.
• · Serve hot.

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Plantain Shoot Stir Fry

            When the stem of the plantain is cut after harvesting and the layers are peeled like that of an onion, we can see a cylindrical shaped white soft shoot. We call it as vaazhappindi, unnithandu, unnippindi etc.

Plantain shoot is rich in fibre and is a good remedy for avoiding constipation. It regulates bowel movement. The juice of plantain shoot is good for people having high blood pressure and those suffering from kidney stone (It is considered by the locals as a sure cure for blood pressure and kidney stone)

Ingredients

2 cups chopped plantain shoot

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

1 sprig curry leaf

1 teaspoon rice

2 dried red chillies cut into small pieces

1 1/2 teaspoon coconut oil

Salt to taste

Method

•  Remove the outer thick shells covering the tender plantain shoot and discard them. Wash the shoot.
•  Cut the plantain shoot into round pieces and chop them fine. Remove fibre that comes off while you cut into round pieces or you chop them.

•  Transfer them into a bowl. Add 1/2 teaspoon of coconut oil into it and gently mix with chopped pieces. It will help to remove the fibre present in it while you chop the shoot.
•  Heat a pan with coconut oil. Put mustard seeds. Let it pop in the oil. Now add rice and stir till it becomes golden brown. Add curry leaves and red chilli and stir for 2 seconds.
• Add chopped plantain shoot into the pan, add salt and stir well. Close it with a lid. Stir occasionally.
•  After 5 minutes, open the lid. If cooked properly, it will become soft. (Some shoots cooks fast)
• If cooked, reduce the flame and stir it so that water content if present, evaporates and it becomes dry.
• Now transfer it a bowl. It is ready to serve!

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Bitter gourd fry

                               

                          There are many people who doesn't like the 'bitterness' of bitter gourd. this problem can be solved by preparing bitter gourd fry. My grandmother used to fry different things such as bitter gourd, pea, skin of ash gourd, green chilli. lady's finger and so on. These are fried after drying them in the sun. It can be stored for months. 

Ingredients

2 bitter gourds cut into fine round pieces

Salt to taste

1/2 cup loose curd

Coconut oil required to fry 

Method

         Before cutting the bitter gourd into thin round pieces, it should be immersed in salt solution for 3 to 4 hours. If possible clean it using a scrub which would help to remove chemicals which are sprayed to prevent decaying and attack from pests.(It was published by the Health Authority) . Take these pieces of bitter gourd in a pan. Add two teaspoons of water to it. Add salt and keep the pan over low flame. Close it with a lid. Stir occasionally.  care should be taken not to break the pieces. When it is half cooked, switch off the stove. Remove these pieces from the pan spread them on a plastic sheet or cotton cloth and keep it in the sun. In the evening when the sunlight fades, take these dried pieces and dip them the curd which is taken in vessel. Add a pinch of salt to it. Next morning, take these out  and again dry in the sun. In the evening dip these pieces in the same curd that you used the previous day. Continue the process for a week.Ensure that it has dried properly.

        Keep a fry pan over a low flame. Add coconut oil to it. Take only the required quantity of dried bitter gourd. when the oil is hot put it in the oil and stir well. Do not over fr, for it will reduce the taste. It is used as a side dish for rice.

        The remaining dried bitter gourd can be stored in an air tight container. If possible, dry them in the sun once in two weeks.

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Pumpkin Sweet 'n' Salt

           

                     We all like pumpkin. Different varieties of dishes can be prepared with both raw and ripe pumpkins. Tender pumpkins are used for making “Olan” where coconut milk is added to cooked pumpkin.

                   Here is a very easy recipe using pumpkin. Here I have used ripe pumpkin which is slightly sweet. Before cooking the pumpkin, peel the skin of pumpkin, discard it and chop the pumpkin.

Ingredients    

Quarter of the pumpkin, chopped

3 big green chillies each cut into 2, vertically

1 sprig curry leaf

1 dried red chilli cut into 3 or 4 pieces

A pinch of turmeric powder

1 spoon mustard seeds

1 onion chopped

 ¼ cup of water

1 teaspoon coconut oil

Salt to taste

Method

            Wash chopped pumpkin and put them in a pressure cooker. Add green chilli, salt and water. Close the pressure cooker. Keep it over the flame. After two whistles, switch off the stove. Open the lid when all the pressure inside is released. Mix them thoroughly with a spoon.

        Sauté mustard, curry leaves, red chilli and chopped onion. Mix with cooked pumpkin. 

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Tender jackfruit thoran (Idichakka thoran)

                              Jack fruit is a very large fruit from trees native to South western India and Srilanka. In kerala, there are mainly two varieties of jack fruit-"Varikka", which has slightly hard inner flesh when ripe and "Koozha" , which has very soft and dissolving inner flesh when ripe.

                     The skin of the tender jack fruit must be peeled and discarded first. then the whole fruit chopped.

Ingredients.

1 tender jack fruit

3 or 4 small onions chopped

3 green chilli chopped

3 dried red chillies(each cut into 3 or 4 pieces)

3 garlic pods

1 teaspoon chopped ginger

1 cup grated coconut

1 teaspoon coconut oil

2 sprigs curry leaves

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

Salt to taste

Method

•     Peel the skin of unripe jackfruit.
• Wash properly
• Transfer the chopped jackfruit to a pressure cooker. Pour 1 glass of water and add enough salt. Close the lid. Keep it over the flame. Switch off the stove after one whistle. Keep the cooker aside till the all the pressure released(keep it for 5 to 10 minutes)
• Keep the cooked jackfruit to cool. Drain excess water.
• Take a small amount of  cooked jackfruit in a  grinding jar of  mixi. Just one spin is enough to grind the jackfuit. continue with the remaining jackfruit.

•            
• Tranfer it to another vessel.
• Now take onion, green chilli, ginger , garlic and grated coconut in grinding jar and spin once in the mixi. Do not make a fine paste.
• Keep a frying pan over a low flame. add coconut oil.
• When the oil becomes hot put mustard seeds. Let it pop in the oil.
• Now add red chilli and curry leaves and stir it.
• Now  add  coconut -chilli -garlic mixture we have prepared, to the oil and stir well for 1 minute, It is to remove the raw taste of chilli and garlic.
• Add jackfruit to the oil and stir well for  2 to 3 minutes.

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Lady's finger fry

Lady’s finger fry can be used as a side dish for rice. I feel that it is better than pappad because pappad contains baking soda in a large quantity. Moreover it is very tasty too. It takes very less time to prepare. My friend Sony Mary used to bring this fry to school every day. That was how I tasted it for the first time.

Ingredients

1. 2 Lady’s fingers
2. A pinch of turmeric powder
3. A pinch of red chilly powder
4. Salt as required
5. Coconut oil required to fry it

Method                                                                                                                              

                Wash the lady’s finger thoroughly. Cut it into thin pieces as shown in the figure. Add salt, turmeric powder and chilly powder and mix well. Keep the fry pan over the flame. Pour coconut oil. When the oil is hot put these pieces and stir well. Remove from the pan when it attains a brown colour. Serve hot.

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