Dry Chilli Chammanthi / Chuttaracha Mulaku Chammanthi

Ingredients

Grated coconut – 1 cup, heaped

Dry red chilies – 3 – 4 (Adjust according to your spice tolerance)

Pearl onions – 4

Curry leaves – 5

Salt – To taste

Method

1. Arrange the dry red chilies on a metallic skewer (I used a pappada kambi) andplace on a flame and roast until it it gets charred and turns slightly blackish.

2. Grind it along with all the other ingredients to a coarse mixture. Add 1 – 2 tsp water, if required. Shape into a ball. This mulaku chutta chammanthi goes extremely well with kanji/rice.

Tips

1. Instead of step 1, roast dry red chilies in 1/2 tsp oil until it turns slightly blackish.

2. You can also grind little ginger (1/4 inch) and tamarind (1/2 tsp) along with the other ingredients.

Oats Payasam

Step by step pictures…

Add 1/3 cup water to the jaggery and melt it. Strain the melted jaggery…

Add oats to the strained jaggery. Cook till the jaggery is dried up…

Add medium thick coconut milk, bring it to a boil. When it starts to thicken, add crushed cardamom and thick coconut milk. Stir well…

Heat ghee in a pan and fry the cashews and coconut bits, till it turns golden brown. Add this to the payasam serve hot…

Oats Payasam

Recipe type: Dessert

Cuisine: Kerala

Serves: 3-4

Ingredients

• Quick cooking Oats - 1 cup
• Jaggery - 200- 225 gms
• Medium thick coconut milk - 2- 2½ cups
• Thick coconut milk - ½ - ¾ cup
• Crushed cardamom - 2
• Cashew nuts - 1½ tbsp
• Coconut bits (thengakothu) - ⅓ cup
• Ghee - 1 tbsp

Instructions

1. Add ⅓ cup water to the jaggery and melt it. Strain the melted jaggery. Add oats to the strained jaggery. Cook till the jaggery is dried up. Add medium thick coconut milk, bring it to a boil. When it starts to thicken, add crushed cardamom and thick coconut milk. Stir well. Cook on low flame for 5 mins.
2. Heat ghee in a pan and fry the cashews and coconut bits, till it turns golden brown. Add this to the payasam and serve hot.

Notes

Usually I dont add cardamom, cashew, ghee and coconut bits. Also, I use only medium thick coconut milk. I use maggie coconut milk powder to make this. You can adjust the qty of coconut milk to suit your requirements. Please keep in mind that it thickens as it rests, so adjust the consistency accordingly. If you are making it for kids, you can increase the qty of ghee.

Cut Mango Pickle

Here you go with the step by step pics…

Marinate the mango strips with salt and turmeric powder for 1 hr. Add chilli powder, fenugreek powder and Asafoetida to the marinated mango strips…

Mix well. Heat oil in a pan, when it’s becoming smoking hot, switch off the flame. Add mustard seeds,dry red chilli and curry leaves to this.Fry it for a min or so…

Add this to the mango mixture. Stir well for 2 mins or so. Make sure the raw taste of chilli powder isnt there.In the same pan, boil 1/4 cup water along with vinegar and add to the mango mixture. Stir well…

Instant Mango Pickle

Recipe type: Side dish

Cuisine: Indian, South Indian, Kerala

Serves: 4-5

Ingredients

·         Raw Mango - 200-225 gms (1 med-big size)

·         Turmeric powder - ¼ tsp

·         Chilli powder - 1 tbsp

·         Fenugreek (uluva) powder - a pinch

·         Asafoetida (kayam) - a pinch

·         Dry red chilli - 2

·         Mustard seeds - ¼ - ½ tsp

·         Vinegar - 1.5 tbsp

·         Sesame oil - 2.5 - 3 tbsp

·         Water - ¼ cup

·         Salt

Instructions

1.     Cut the cleaned mango into thin lengthy strips. Marinate the mango strips with salt and turmeric powder for 1 hr.

2.     Add chilli powder, fenugreek powder and Asafoetida to the marinated mango strips. Mix well. Heat oil in a pan, when it's becoming smoking hot, switch off the flame. Add mustard seeds,dry red chilli and curry leaves to this.

3.     Fry it for a min or so. Add this to the mango mixture. Stir well for 2 mins or so. Make sure the raw taste of chilli powder isnt there.

4.     In the same pan, boil ¼ cup water along with vinegar and add to the mango mixture. Stir well. You can serve it immediately.

5.     Once it is cooled completely, store in an airtight bottle in the fridge.

Notes

I kept the skin on for mango, but I think it's better to remove the skin and use the mango.
Also after adding chilli powder, fenugreek and asofetida to the mango mixture, do a taste test. If you dont get the flavours, you can add a bit extra of the same along with mustard and dry red chilli.
The original recipe doesnt use vinegar, but I added it for a slight tangy taste.
In the original recipe, it's mentioned that the oil tends to become foamy/ bubbly after adding to mango, but nothing like that happened for me. If it becomes bubbly for you, just keep stirring it, till the bubble subsides.

UNNIYAPPAM

Grand Recipe

Melt jaggery in 1 cup water till it becomes syrupy, but not thick…

Add the melted jaggery to the rest of the ingredients and mix well. The batter should be of dropping consistency. If the batter is too thick, add water to loosen it…

Heat oil in Uniyappa chatti, make sure the oil is hot, but not smoking hot. Drop spoonfuls of the batter into hot oil and deep fry till golden brown…

Unniyappam

Recipe type: Snack

Cuisine: Indian, South Indian, Kerala

Serves: 10

Ingredients

• ·         Rice flour - 1 cup
• ·         Jaggery - 100 gms
• ·         Water - 1 cup
• ·         Coconut bits (thengakothu) - ½ cup, fried in ghee
• ·         Black sesame seeds - ½ tbspn (optional), fried in ghee
• ·         Mashed ripe bananas - ½ cup (mashed it in mixie)
• ·         Sugar - ½ tbsp
• ·         Bicarbonate of soda - ⅛ tspn
• ·         Oil- for frying (I used coconut oil)

Instructions

1.     Melt jaggery in 1 cup water till it becomes syrupy, but not thick. Add the melted jaggery to the rest of the ingredients and mix well. The batter should be of dropping consistency. If the batter is too thick, add water to loosen it. I added 3-4 tbspn of water.

2.     Heat oil in Uniyappa chatti, make sure the oil is hot, but not smoking hot. Drop spoonfuls of the batter into hot oil and deep fry till golden brown.

Notes

I got around 30 small size unniyappam from the above quantity. I used cheru pazham in this recipe. You can also make it using chiquita. I med - big size will be enough for the above quantity.

Though I havent tried shallow frying, I think you can do it. But the look and texture may be a bit different.

Initially I heated the oil at med-high and then reduced to low-medium and fried the unniyappams. Make sure the oils is at right temp, otherwise the unniyappam will brown fast but the inside remain uncooked. Do a trial and error with a few unniyappams to get the right temp.

You can store it at room temp for 2-3 days. For longer storage, refrigerate it and microwave for a few seconds before serving.