Vegetable cutlets

Keralites admire Indian coffee House cutlets.  Cutlets are yummy snack for a hungry school kid as well as an unavoidable starter for a christian wedding feast in Kerala.  Today am trying a vegetable cutlet. You can add vegetables of your choice in this recipe.

Preparation time: 30 mins

No of servings: 10 nos

Chicken mappas

Chicken mappas is a traditional Kerala style chicken curry which is very low in spices compared to most of the Kerala dishes. Hence its a favorite among foreigners. This recipe is done with fish also. It doesn't contain any masala powders, only ginger, garlic and green chilly is added for flavor. It goes well with appam, idiyappam, boiled rice etc. I am trying an easier version of this traditional recipe.

Preparation time: 30 mins

Kerala fish curry

This is a Yummy Kottayam style Fish curry that we usually prepare at home. Coconut paste is added for a thicker consistency. Fish curry is medium level spicy. It goes well with Boiled rice or Tapioca/ Yuca.

Preparation time: 20 mins

Meen Peera/ Thoran

Meen Peera is again a simple fish recipe of Kerala. Am I using "Simple" tooo often? hmmm... Its a fish thoran.. Remember I have mentioned other Thorans before? Its a dry side dish with grated coconut. Its mildly spicy and you can use any fish for this.

Preparation time: 20 mins

Easy chicken fry

Nothing much to say about this Chicken fry, its super easy and simply yummy. Chicken fry can be entered as a starter or a side dish in a dinner menu. Its a crispy deep fried chicken recipe that can be served with Indian rice or other flat breads.

Preparation time- 25 mins

Thakkali kichadi

Kerala`s Thakkali kichadi is a tomato - yogurt curry with coconut paste. Its a mildly spicy dish and its nothing like the north Indian 'Khichadi'. It is served as a side dish as well as main curry by varying its consistency.  I am doing a Thakkali (Tomato) kichadi that has a flowing consistency.

Preparation time: 20 mins

Green Peas Masala Kerala style

Origin of this dish is unknown.. but its awesome. For a long period of time, this Green peas masala was my favourite side dish for roti. Green peas is not an easy-to-find vegetable in Kerala, but still peas masala is a favourite item in Kerala restaurants. It is a mildly spicy dish. This peas masala can be served with Indian flat breads like chapati, roti, Nan, appam, etc and ghee rice and other mildly spicy pulavs.

Preparation time: 30 mins

Chicken biriyani

A Kerala cook book is incomplete without chicken biriyani recipe.  In India you can find many varieties like hyderabadi biryani, Thalashery biriyani, kashmiri biriyani, Sindhi biriyani, karachi beef biriyani etc etc. Originally, it is a Persian dish, Indians adopted during the time of Mughal rulers. Making a Biriyani can be a controversial issue when it comes to the ingredients that goes in. A large no of spices along with pineapple, rose water, cashews, raisins, saffron .. etc etc are used. Today I am preparing the simplest among the many recipes I have seen, with a biriyani masala that you get from stores.

Preparation time- 60 mins

Varutharacha Kozhicurry

Kerala's own cuisine - Varutharacha kozhi curry is a traditional chicken curry with  roasted coconut. Again different variants are there but this is how my Amma cooks it. It is time consuming, becoz of roasting and grinding, but lets make it easy by using our microwave and grinder. I am trying the easiest way to get the authentic taste. It can be served with ghee rice, chapati, boiled rice, kerala paratha, appam, idiyappam etc

Preparation time- 45 mins

Vellarikka Pulinkari

Vellarikka or Cucumber Pulinkari is a curry that has n number of varieties through out Kerala. In some places in Kerala they add jeera, others add shallots, some add dal etc etc. I am preparing my mothers own Kottayam style Pulinkari with only Cucumber. For this authentic  Kerala dish you need to use the round fat cucumber not your salad cucumbers. For easy cooking am preparing it in Pressure Cooker.

Preparation time- 25 mins

Vendakka mizhukkupuratti/ Lady`s finger fry

Vendakka mizhukkupuratti is a dry side dish served with boiled rice. It is a Kerala style preparation.  It is spicy and crispy. I am preparing it in microwave initially and for the final frying moving it to a frying pan.

Preparation time- 15 mins

Kerala Egg Roast

Kerala egg roast is serving hard boiled egg along with a caramelized onion curry. Caramelized onions are best way to bring flavor to a curry.This is a spicy roast. You can make it milder by adding Coconut milk. Kerala egg roast goes best with Puttu and Appam. It can be served along with other Indian flat breads also.

Preparation time- 25 mins

Servings- 2

Chicken 65

Chicken 65 is a spicy Andra dish. According to Google, when a restaurant menu  card misprinted "Chicken 65" instead of "65. Chicken red chilly" (ie on the menu card, 65th item was a chicken dish), the dish got its name. The authentic chicken 65 has red chilly paste in it. It is served as a starter or as a side dish along with roti, chapati, nan or rice. It is a dry dish.

Preparation time- 40 mins.

Ghee Rice

Ghee rice is, rice cooked along with ghee and whole spices. Many variants are seen in India. The one I am trying today is a Kerala style Ghee rice with minimum Ghee as possible.

Preparation time- 20 mins

Thakkali curry/ kerala style tomato curry

Thakkali (tomato) curry is as simple as its name, its tomato in coconut gravy. It is a typical Kerala dish served with boiled rice or chapati. It is a mildly spicy dish. Preparation is similar to a Kerala fish curry. Thakkali curry is a simple dish that takes only 10 mins to prepare. Coconut oil is a must for this preparation.

Preparation time- 10 mins
No of servings- 2

Pepper chicken fry

Pepper chicken fry is an easy starter that can win you guaranteed applause all the time. Its a spicy dry dish with pepper and red chilly powder. You can serve it with lemon wedges and onion rings. Also it can be a side dish for Indian breads like chapati, rumali roti, kerala Paratta( porotta) etc.

Preparation time- 20 mins

Kerala Omelet

Yes.... You heard me right.. Keralites have their own version of omelets also :). This is a very basic recipe that anyone in Kerala would know. Again many varieties are there, this is the one I prefer. Its not only a breakfast item in Kerala, we serve it along with lunch & dinner. In a Kerala Omelet we would definitely add coconut. And the rest of the recipe goes something like this...

Preparation time- 5 mins

Cabbage Thoran in Microwave

Cabbage Thoran is a simple side dish served with boiled rice in Kerala. Thoran is an important dry dish in Kerala Sadhya (A grand Kerala banquet served on Banana Leaves). Almost any vegetables can be used to make thoran. Basically a dry dish with grated coconut is a thoran in Kerala. Even fish & meat are used for making thoran. See my Chicken Thoran for more details. Today I am preparing a Cabbage Thoran in Microwave. I am using burner for only tempering.

Preparation time- 20 mins

Kadala curry

Kadala curry is a thick, spicy coconut gravy with black chickpeas (bengal gram/ channa/ kadala). It is a favourite side dish for breakfast items such as Puttu , Idiyappam, appam, palappam etc. It is very healthy as chickpeas are rich in proteins. Puttu and Kadala curry is one of the first dishes that you have to try if you are not a keralite. 

Preparation time- 25 mins

Chiratta Puttu

Puttu is one of the healthiest breakfast in the world. This steamed rice cake is an authentic Kerala dish, prepared by steaming a mixture of rice powder and coconut in a cylindrical steamer. Chiratta puttu is a variety of puttu prepared in a coconut shell. After grating the coconut, a hole is made in the center of the shell and used for steaming. Nowadays steel/ aluminium chiratta puttu maker is easily available in the market, that can be used with a pressure cooker and I am using one of them. I will try to include the pictures of an original chiratta puttu ASAP. Puttu can be served with kadala curry, cherupayar, egg curry, steamed bananas etc.

Preparation time- 15 mins
No of Puttu- 1 no