these all recent publications in Malayalam 

KUZHALAPPAM

INGREDIENTS

Rice powder - 3 cups

Cuminseeds (Jeerakam) - 1/2 tsp

Garlic - 1 dsp

Shredded coconut - 1 cup

Coconut milk - 1/2 cup

Small onions(Kunjulli) - 1/4 cup

Salt - 1/2 tsp or as reqd

Black Sesame seeds(Ellu) - 1 tbsp

Oil for frying

MOTHED

Step 1. Mix rice powder with shredded coconut very well.

Step 2. Puree shallots with cumin seeds and garlic.

Step 3. Mix this with rice mix along with coconut milk, sesame seeds and salt.

Step 4. Make small balls out of it around small lemon size.

Step 5. In a marble stone, either put a wax paper or oiled smeared banana leaf, cover it with the same after putting the ball.

Step 6. Roll it out by rolling on top of the leaf/paper using rolling pin.

Step 7. Roll it out of the paper like a cylinder.

Step 8. When oil is very hot, put the dough

cylinders in it and fry it.

Step 9. Once cooled, store the appams in an airtight container.

Churuttu traditional dessert or snack variety from kottayam.

Ingredients for making flour wafer

1 cup of flour(maida)

1/2 teaspoon of oil

Water as per the requirement

Fine rice flour as per the requirement

Salt for the taste

Method of preparation of flour (maida) wafer

Take the flour in a mixing bowl and add the salt.

Pour 1/2 teaspoon of oil and mix it thoroughly.

Little by little pour in the water and knead the flour to form a soft and smooth dough.

Take out small portions from the dough and roll it to form 1 inch balls.

Dip these dough balls in fine rice powder and roll it to a circular shape of very fine thickness.

Heat up a medium sized griddle, cook the pastry rounds on a low-medium flame for about 30-40 seconds on either side. Also, note that the pastry rounds should still be limp.

Transfer it to a plate and cover it with a damp cloth so that these would remain moistured.

INGREDIENTS FOR MAKING THE SWEET FILLING

2 cups of avalose podi

3/4 cup of water

1½ teaspoon of lime juice

1¼ cup of sugar

1/4 teaspoon of Cardamom powder

Method of preparation of the fillings

Take out 1¼ cup of sugar in a mixing bowl, add 1½ teaspoon of lime juice and 3/4 cup of water.

Heat it in a pan and stir the solution continuously to get a thread like consistency.

When it’s ready, switch off the flame and transfer the syrup to a bowl.

Transfer 1/2 cup of syrup to another bowl and keep it for later use.

Add the cardamom powder  the remaining syrup.

Now, add 2 cups of avalose podi and mix it very well.

Final preparation of Churuttu or Thin Flour Sheets with sweetened Rice filling

Cut each of those cooked pastry rounds into equal halves and apply the syrup on both the edges (from the 1/2 cup of syrup kept in the separate bowl).

Make each semicircular pastry into a cone shape with the wet edges facing the top.

Stuff the cones with the prepared fillings and close the opening on top by squeezing the three fingers of your right hand.

This gives rise to a three spiked pattern on the top surface of Churuttu.  Keep it aside for 2 hours.

The syrup from the fillings would moisture the all-purpose flour wafer.

Serve it as a snack.

 or

for  dessert  serve with vanilla ice cream.

AVALOSE PODI (kerala traditional)

INGREDIENTS

coarse rice powder (puttu podi) 3 cups

grated coconut 1.5cup

cumin seeds 1.5 tsp

salt 1/2 tsp or as per taste

sugar as per taste

METHOD

Mix the ground rice powder,grated coconut,cumin seeds and salt.Keep it covered for an hour so that the moisture in the flour and grated coconut blends the mixture well.

Transfer this mixture in a uruli and dry roast on low medium flame with continous stirring(otherwise the flour may burn).It may take around 25-30 mins to get the light brown color and the rice flour and grated coconut gets nicely roasted.Switch off flame and let it cool.

Serve by sprinkling sugar or grated Jaggery

  Its time for jack fruit

   KUMBILAPPAM(chakka appam)

INGREDIENTS

Chakka/Ripe Jackfruit(chopped)  - 2 cups

Chakkara/Jaggery - 1 cup (according to your taste)

Grated coconut - 1cup

Rice flour (roasted) - 2 cups.

Cardmom (powdered) - 1/2tsp

Vazhana Ela or Banana leaves - as required.

INSTRUCTIONS

Melt jaggery to remove impurities in 1/2 cup of water.

Drain it and keep aside

Make a smooth paste of jackfruit pieces without adding water.

In a big bowl add jackfruit paste,jaggery syrup and coconut.

Mix well with your hands.

Add rice flour little by little and make a smooth dough.

It should not be too thick or too loose.

Now take the leaf(Vazhana leaf or banana  leaf) and make  cones with it and fill the dough inside.

Bend the top of the leaves and press inside to cover the top.

Steam it around 30-45 minutes or till its done.

A write up on fwd magazine on last month

Taste Undefined

test undefined

CRAB SALAD WITH AVOCADO CREAM

Ingredients

Crab salad

·         4 crabs, live

·         3 tbsp of crème fraîche

·         2 tbsp of lemon juice

·         2 tbsp of finely chopped mint

·         2 tbsp of finely chopped tarragon

·         2 carrots, finely sliced

·         2 turnips, finely diced

·         salt

·         pepper

Avocado cream

·         2 avocados, large

·         2 tbsp of crème fraîche

·         2 lemons, juiced

·         salt

·         pepper

Lemongrass vinaigrette

·         1 lemon grass stalk, heart only

·         125ml of olive oil

·         1 lemon, zest and juice

·         2 tbsp of rice wine vinegar

·         1 tbsp of chilly sauce

·         1 garlic clove, minced

·         1/2 tsp of  Dijon Mustard

·         salt

·         pepper

To plate

·         4 tomatoes, quartered

·         2 pink grapefruit, segmented

·         1 handful of mint leaves

·         4 sprigs of chervil

·         1 handful of watercress, sprigs only

·         For the vinaigrette, finely chop the lemongrass and place into a pot with the oil. Fry until the lemongrass starts to sizzle.

·         Remove from the heat and allow to infuse for 30minutes - 1 hour before straining the oil into a bowl and discarding the lemongrass.

·         Combine the infused oil with the remaining ingredients, whisk and season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.

·         For the avocado cream, blend the avocado flesh with the crème fraîche and half the lemon juice until smooth.

·         Season well and pour the remaining lemon juice on top. Chill until ready to serve.

To make the salad, marinate the carrots and turnips in the lemongrass vinaigrette for 10 minutes.

·         Meanwhile, bring a large pan of water to the boil. Add the crabs and cook for 6 minutes.

·         Plunge into cold water for another 5 minutes before removing the flesh. Mix with crème fraîche, lemon juice, chilli and herbs. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

·         Serve onto plates with the marinated vegetables, tomato quarters and pink grapefruit segments. Pour over the avocado cream and garnish with mint leaves, chervil and watercress.

SCALLOPS, PEA PURÉE AND CUMIN FOAM

Ingredients

scallops

6 scallops

1 tbsp of olive oil

10g of butter

1/2  lemon

salt

black pepper

Pea purée

20g of shallots, very finely diced

1 tbsp of oil

400g of frozen garden peas

4g of salt

200ml of milk

Cumin foam

55g of crème fraîche( Sour cream)

110ml of Fish stock

2.5g of cumin seeds

2g of salt

2.5g of lecithin

Method

·         To make the pea purée, sweat the shallots in the oil until soft but not coloured. Add the garden peas salt and milk and simmer for 8 minutes.

·         Drain off the milk into a jug and pour the peas into a blender. Blitz for 2 minutes until ultra smooth adding enough of the milk to make a thickish purée. After blending, cool as quickly as possible as the colour will begin to fade fairly quickly.

·         Heat a non stick pan over a medium flame. When the pan is hot, pour in a spoon of olive oil, add the scallops and cook until golden on one side. After approximately 2 minutes turn over, add a knob of butter, season with salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice. Transfer to a plate along with the cooking juices.

·         To make the cumin foam, combine the ingredients and blitz in a blender for 1 minute. Gently heat to approximately 40°C and no higher than 50°C.

·         Using a hand blender fitted with an aerator, foam up the mix then let it rest for a minute.

·         Spoon some pea purée into the centre of the bowl. Add a cooked scallop and some pea shoots around the edge. Spoon the foam around to finish and serve immediately.