Vegetable Stew

This dish is an easier version of avial. Quick and easy to prepare with your frozen mixed veggie packet off the freezer.

Ingredients:

1. Assorted vegetables (potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, french beans, and green bell peppers) - 4 cups , chopped
2. Onions -2, sliced
3. Green cardamoms - 4, whole
4. Cloves -4
5. Cinnamon stick - 1 "
6. Chilies -2
7. Ginger-2 , cut lengthwise
8. Black peppercorns- 1 tsp, coarsely crushed
9. Coconut milk- 2 cups
10. Water - 2 cups
11. Oil - 4 tbsp
12. few curry leaves
13. salt to taste

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan.
2. Add the green cardamoms, cloves and cinnamon when oil is hot and fry for a few seconds.
3. Then add the chillies, ginger and sliced onions and saute on medium heat for 2 min or till the onions are transparent
4. Add the vegetables, curry leaves, salt and water.
5. Cover and cook on low heat till the vegetables are cooked.
6. Add the peppercorns and the coconut milk.
7. Simmer on very low heat (so that the coconut milk does not curdle) for a min.

Serves 4
Serving Suggestion: Coconut Rice

Kerala style chicken curry

On all our festivals, we have to begin our day with appam and chicken curry. I took it for granted during those days. I crave for it now. Yumm Yumm Yummmyyyyy.

Ingredients:
1) Chicken- cleaned and cut into 1-2 inch pieces - 1 kg

2) lemon juice - 2 tbsp
3) coriander powder - 1 1/2 tbsp
4) yogurt - 1/2 cup
5) salt

6) Onion -1/2
7) Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
8) cloves- 2
9) cardamom - 2
10) cinnamon sticks - 3
11) bay leaves- 2
12) greeen chilies - 5
13) ginger- 1 inch
14) garlic - 3 cloves
15) poppy seeds - 1 tsp
16) curry leaves - few

17) Onion, cut lengthwise - 1 1/2
18) corriander powder- 1 tbsp
19) red chilli powder - 1 tsp
20) turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
21) chicken masala - 3 tbsp
22) Tomato, cut finely -1
23) Coconut milk - 3/4 can
24) Corriander leaves - a bunch
25) Vegetable oil

Method:

1) Marinate chicken in ingredients (2-5) for an hour
2) Fry ingredients (6-16) in canola/veg oil till onion becomes golden brown
3) Grind them with little water to make a paste and keep aside
4) Fry remaining onions till golden brown in remaining oil.
5) Add remaining masalas
6) Then add tomatoes and cook till done.
7) Add chicken pieces along with sufficient water to cook it.
8) When chicken is half done, add ground masala paste and stir
9) After a while, when chicken is almost done, add coconut milk.
10) When chicken is done and oil separates, put off stove
11) Garnish with corriander leaves

Tip: You can adjust spiciness with coconut milk. If you add too much cocnut milk, the result might be sweet. So just add till gravy attains required thickness and tinge of sweetness.
My friend, Sarat, added lotsa lemon juice while marinating and the result was real good. Try it

Serves: 6

Serving Suggestion: Serve with plain rice, kerala parotta or appam

Aloo Stew

My mom gave me this recipe when I requested for a vegetarian side with palappam during easter. This one is real good with only the garam masalas for spices.

Ingredients:
1) Potato - 1 kg
2) Butter or oil - one forth cup
3) Patta (dalcheeni) - 1 inch length - 3
4) Laung - 12
5) Ilaichi (cardamom) - 4
6) Thejpatha - 2
7) Pepper , cut into 2 halves - 1 desert sp

8) Onion - half cup(cut in length )
9) Green chilies - 3
10) Ginger - 1 desert sp
11) Garlic - 10
12) few Curry leaves

13) Maida - half desert sp
14) Vinnegar - 2 desert sp
15) Salt - to taste
16) Coconut first milk - half cup
17) Coconut second milk - 3 cup
18) Peper (whole)

Method:

1) Heat Oil or butter.
2) Put garam massala, ingredients 3-7
3) then put (8-12) ingredients & fry.
4) Then remove from oil and keep aside .
5) Put maida in remaining oil and fry for some time.
6) Then put potato and fry for some time.
7) Then put half vinegar, salt & second coconut milk and cook .
8) When potato is half cooked, put the fried masala (which is kept aside), remaining 1 desert sp vinegar & salt.
9) Put lid And cook well.
10) Then put first milk & stir well.
11) Stop boiling when it reaches required thickness.
12) Lastly, add the whole pepper.

Tip: You can add carrots or capsicum(bell pepper) when potato is half cooked. You can replace potato with chicken, to make a non-veg stew. This is yummy too.

Note: Coconut first milk is obtained when the scrapped coconut is first rinsed from grinder. The second milk is the milk rinsed the second time, and so on

Serves 6
Serving Suggestion: Serve with Pal Appam or Kerala style parotta