Ingredients:

Cooked rice             : 2 cups
Coriander leaves     : 1/2 bunch
Green chillies          : 3 nos
Grated coconut        : 2 tbsp
Roasted channa dal : 2 tbsp
(pottukadala)
Salt to taste
Mustard seeds         : 1 tsp
Oil as required
Red chillies             : 2 break into 2
Curry leaves           : 1 sprig


Method:

Grind green chillies, coconut, coriander leaves and pottukkadala and salt together to a paste.

Heat oil in a kadai add mustard seeds. When it pops, add red chillies, curry leaves and add the ground paste and mix well. Finally add the cooked rice and mix well. Remove from fire. Serve hot.
                                                                        
   




                                                                             

Ingredients:

Cooked rice                 : 2 cups                              
Turmeric pdr               : 1 pinch
 Lemon Juice              : 1 Tbsp(juice of 1 lemon)
Ginger                         : 1" pc finely chopped
Green chillies             : :3 chopped
Hing                           : a pinch
Mustard seeds            : 1tsp
Red chillies                : 2 break into 2
Coconut  oil               : 2-3 tsp
Roasted ground nut    :2 tsp
Urad dal                     : 1 tsp
Salt to taste

Curry leaves


Method: 

Heat oil in a kadai, add mustard seeds. When it splutters add red chillies,curry leaves, chopped ginger and chopped green chillies and saute this for a minute. Add hing and turmeric pdr to this, stir well. Now add the cooked rice and salt . Mix well and saute it for 2 minutes and remove from fire. Finally add the lime juice and roasted ground nuts. Serve it with potato chips.

Ingredients:

Fish  pieces                             : 1/2 kg
(any fleshy fish eg: king fish)
Shallots chopped                    : 5 -8 nos
Green chillies                         : 2 slit lengthwise
Ginger  chopped                    : 1" pc
Garlic chopped                      : 2 cloves
Curry leaves                          : 1 sprig
Grated coconut                      : 1 cup
Pepper corns                          : 1 tsp
Chilli pdr                               : 2 tsp
Turmeric pdr                         : 1/4 tsp
Coriander pdr                        : 1 tbsp
Tamarind                               : small lemon sized
                                                   ball
 Oil                                        : 2 or 3 tbsp
 Salt to taste
Lemon juice                           :1 tbsp


Method:

Soak tamarind in 1 cup of water and extract the juice and keep aside.
Wash the fish pieces thoroughly and marinate it with salt, a pinch of turmeric pdr and 1 tbsp lemon juice and keep aside.

Grind coconut, chilli pdr, coriander pdr, and pepper corns together to a smooth paste and keep aside.
Heat oil( 2 tbsp) in a kadai, add chopped garlic and ginger saute for a while and add the chopped shallots. Saute for 2 mins and add green chillies and curry leaves, saute again for 1 more min. Then add the tamarind extract, salt and turmeric pdr. Let it boil for 2 mins. Now add the ground coconut mixture and boil again for 1 min and finally add the fish pieces and cook again for 2 mins. Remove from fire. Goes well with steamed rice!

Ingredients:

Puthina(mint) leaves           : 1 cup
Grated coconut                    : 1 cup
Red chillies                         : 4 -5 nos
Urad dal                              : 2 tbsp
Channa dal                          : 1 tbsp
Fenugreek seeds                 : 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida                          : 1 small pc
Tamarind                            : 1 small ball(gooseberry size)
Salt to taste
Oil                                      : 1 tbsp


Method:

Heat a kadai with oil and add asafoetida  first. Then add fenugreek seeds, red chillies, urad dal and channa dal one by one and roast it till the dals changes the colour. Then add the grated coconut and fry it till it slightly changes the colour. Finally add the puthina leaves and switch of the stove. Mix well and cool it. Then grind all this together along with tamarind and salt. Dry grind it first then slowly add very little water, it should be thick.
Have it with rice adding ghee, very tasty combination!!

Ingredients:

Potato                           :  1 big
Onion                           : 1 big
Green chillies               : 2 slit lengthwise
Ginger                          : 1"pc
Coconut milk               : 1 cup thin milk
Thick coconut milk     :  1/2 cup
Salt to taste
Coconut oil                 : 1 tbsp
Curry leaves               : 1 sprig


Method:

Cook whole potato in a pressure cooker adding 1 cup of water. Cool it and remove the skin and slightly mash it and keep aside.
Slice the onion. Cut ginger into thin long pieces and slit the green chillies lengthwise.
How to make coconut milk:
If you are taking fresh coconut milk, then grate half of a big coconut and squeeze it for thick coconut milk(onnam pal). It will be very less. keep it separately.
Then grind the squeezed coconut in a mixer adding 1 cup of warm water and filter it, this is the thin coconut milk(randam paal).
Nowadays you can easily buy fresh cocnut milk or coconut milk powder from the market. If you are using coconut milk powder then take 1 cup of warm water and add 3 tables spoons of coconut milk powder( consider this as randam pal) Take 1/2 cup of warm milk and add 1 full tbsp of coconut milk powder and this will be thick(onnam pal)
Cook onion,ginger and green chillies in the thin coconut milk for about 5 mins. Then add salt and mashed potato to this. Boil for a minute and finally add the thick coconut milk. Before boiling remove from fire. Add 1tbsp of coconut oil and curry leaves. It goes well with idli, dosa, appam etc.

April and May is the season of mango and Jackfruits in Kerala. After eating the juicy jack fruit,  we can use the seeds in many dishes.
Here I'm making an upperi using chakkakuru(jackfruit seeds) and bitter gourd.  The bitter taste of bitter gourd and a light sweetness of the jack fruit seeds is a nice combination.

Ingredients:

chakkakuru(jackfruit seeds)

Bitter gourd         :  1 big size
Chakkakkuru       :  10 nos
Shallots                : 10 nos
Chilli pdr             : 2 tsp
Turmeric pdr       : a pinch
Salt to taste      
Oil                       : 3 tbsp



Method:


Wash and cut the bitter gourd into small pieces and keep aside.
Remove the outer skin of the chakkakuru and cut into small pieces.
In a Kadai cook this adding 1 cup of water.
When it is almost soft add the bitter gourd pieces, salt and turmeric pdr. Grind shallots and chilli pdr into a coarse paste and add this and cook again for 3 more minutes. Add oil to this and fry for 2 or 3 mins. Tasty upperi is ready!!

Ingredients:

Unnithandu                  : 1 ' pc
Grated coconut            : 1 cup
Green chillies              : 2 or 3
Mustard seeds             : 1/4 tsp
Yoghurt                       : 1/2 cup
Salt  to taste

For seasoning:

Mustard seeds            : 1/2 tsp
Red chillies                : 2 split into 2
Curry leaves               : 1 sprig
Oil                              : 1 tbsp


Cut unnithandu into small pieces, remove the fiber  from it as much as possible  and soak it in water.
Grind coconut scrapings, green chillies and mustard seeds together to a paste and keep aside.
Drain unnithandu from the water and cook it adding salt and 1/2 cup of water till it become soft. Just mash it lightly . Now add the coconut paste and stir well. Cook it for 2 mins and add the yoghurt to this and mix well. Remove from fire before it starts boiling.
Heat oil in kadai, add mustard seeds. When it splutters add the red chillies and curry leaves. Pour it into the curry. This curry should be thick.

Ingredients:

Rice flour       : 2 cups
Salt to taste
Grated coconut   : 1 cup





Method:

This rice flour should not be smooth, coarsely powdered flour is good for making puttu. Nowadays puttu podi is available in market.
Mix salt in water and add it to the flour little by little. Mix well with the hand. The flour should be damped enough, but not a dough form, it should be in powdered form itself.




Take a puttukutti(the mould for making puttu, its a cylindrical vessel with a lid. Remove the weight from the pressure cooker and place it over the cooker and steam) put 2 tbsp of coconut scrapings into the mould first. Then put 2 or 3 handfuls of rice flour, then again 2tbsp of coconut and then again rice flour and on the top again put coconut and close the vessel.



After 2 mins the steam started coming from the holes on the top of the puttukutti. That means the puttu is ready. Reduce the flame and wait for 1 more min,  remove the puttukutti  from the cooker and  push  out the steaming puttu with a skewer to a plate. Have it with kadala(chick peas) curry.




To make puttupodi @ home:

 You can make fresh puttu podi at home. Soak raw  rice for half an hour. It should not soaked more. Then dry it in a muslin cloth. Then powder it in a dry mixer coarsely.  Heat a kadai and roast the powder(no oil needed) for about 10 to 15 mins till vapour starts coming up. Stir it well. Cool it and keep it in a air tight container or in a fridge and use when required.