Parippu manga curry (Dal & raw mango curry)

We Indians have dal on our plates almost every day in one form or the other.Its kind of our staple food. Dal with rice, dal with roti, its an all time favorite in our house. My hubby can survive on dal and roti for days together without complaining ;)

Be it plain dal tadka, or sambhar or rasam, i love it. We all love it. Every time we travel out of home for a few days and don't get to eat Indian food, we all would be dying to get back home and eat hot rice with dal. It relaxes everyone in our family.

Parippu manga is another version of dal, i would say its the tangy version. Because it has raw mango in it.yumm...i am in for anything tangy or spicy :)

The ground coconut gives the rich texture to the curry.Simple, but a different flavor of dal. This is one of my all time favorite curries. I guess its more of a south indian, or to be precise Kerala take on dal.

Have it with steaming white rice and a sabzi( vegetable stir fry), oh my, that makes me one happy soul ;)

Parippu manga curry (Dal and raw mango)

By Nikki
Published 11/12/2014

Ingredients

• Toor dal : 1 cup
• Raw mango: 1 no, medium sized
• Grated coconut: 1/2 cup
• Turmeric powder : 1/2 tsp
• Chili powder: 1/2 tsp
• Salt: 1/2 - 3/4 tsp

For Tempering:

• Coconut oil: 1 1/2 tbsp
• Mustard seed: 1 tsp
• Curry leaves: a few sprigs
• dry whole chili: 3-4 nos, cut into halves

Instructions

1. Wash and cook the dal in the pressure cooker with turmeric powder and chili powder with 2 cups of water. The dal should be cooked really mushy.
2. Peel the mango and cut the slices into small cubes and add to the cooked dal. Add salt and 1/4 cup water, cover and cook for 2 min.
3. Grind coconut with a few table spoons of water, into very fine paste.
4. Once the mango pieces gets cooked, add the ground coconut paste and boil for a few minutes. Add a little bit of water if the curry is too thick.Check the salt level and turn off the flame.
5. For the tempering, heat oil in a small pan, add mustard seed. Once it splatters, reduce the flame and add the dry whole chili pieces and curry leaves. Turn off and add it to the currry.

Serve with hot rice and paapad. Stays fresh for couple of days in the fridge.

P.S: The curry thickens when it sits, so make sure to leave it watery enough when you finish cooking.

Ok, let me not start with my usual lame excuses for not updating this space for quite a long long time.

Because I don't have any good one expect for the fact that I was lazy. there you go.. i said it.

You call it writers block, lack of mojjo or whatever, I say its plain old laziness.

So now you would be wondering why I am writing this post....hmmm

A few days back my dear hubby was telling me, "Failure to plan is planning to fail".

C'mon, its me who get to use all the "quotes" in this house.( of course on him ;) )..you know..men men men

And for the first time he got to use one on me...oh no! it felt like one tight slap

Any way, I hope I will post more frequently here after....I have to...at least to save my face

Its always towards the end of summer I get the urge to utilize the abundant supply of stone fruits that summer offers and preserve them for the rest of the year. I guess, one reason for that is, I don't want to let go of the summer...and also because I find it really hard to embrace fall n winter...yeah I hate cold weather and all that comes with it....The very sight of peaches, plums, nectarines all their cousins on the fruit stand in the farmers market makes my day. its such a visual treat..I love summer and all these yummy fruits. 

This peach preserve is a very versatile thing..can be used in a cake, or in a pie or use as a topping in any kind of pudding desserts,ice creams or simply just spread it on your Sunday morning toast and enjoy :)

Chunky peach preserve

By Nikki
Published 10/21/2014

Ingredients

• Peaches: 3 lbs (ripe and firm ones)
• Sugar: (5 cups)*
• Lemon juice: 2/3 cup

Instructions

1. Wash and dry the fruits and cut a X on the rounded edge.Bring a large pot of water to boil and add the peaches to it, a few at a time and blanch them for 30 sec.
2. Transfer to a bowl of ice water immediately to stop cooking. Let it cool, once cooled peel them from the X cut we made.
3. Cut each peach into 6-8 wedges and each wedge into 3 pieces. Put them in a large bowl and add sugar and lemon juice and mix well. Let it stand for a few hours or even overnight, stirring it 2 -3 times in between until the sugar dissolves completely.
4. Transfer the mixture to a large pot and cook it on moderate heat for 25- 30 min , until the syrup thickens and the peaches become soft.Skim off any white films that collects on the surface while cooking.
5. Let cool the mixture, cover and let it rest overnight. Drain the fruits from the mixture using a sieve and set aside. Bring back the syrup to a boil on moderate heat for a few minutes, until it reaches the jam like consistency. To check the consistency, pour a spoonful of the syrup in a chilled plate and wait for a couple of minutes to cool down. If it thickens to a jam like consistency, you have got it rite.
6. Add back the drained fruit pieces to the syrup and mix it all together and cook for a couple more minutes.
7. Remove from the heat, let it cool and transfer to jars and wipe the rims with clean cloth. Crack open the lid until it cools down completely. Once completely cooled, tighten the lids and store in a cool place.

*I used only 4 cups of sugar in mine, because I like things less sweet. Adjust it to your sweet tooth level by tasting the mixture.

P.S: I leave mine in the pantry and it stays fresh for almost a year. You can also refrigerate it, if you want to keep it longer

And I'll see you all soon....i'm not kidding ;)

Vazhakka Pulissery/Moru Curry(Raw plantain in Yogurt gravy)

Growing up, there were only a few handful dishes I knew to make...and I were only good at those ones...unlike my sis, who was ready to take risks and tried (and always succeeded) new recipes and dishes...jotting down recipes from every cookery shows we watched together...this pulissery is something I were good at making.....time after time...something I used to be very proud of in those days :)

This curry is something we make in our place at least once a week...like daal curry...very simple one, if you have enough yogurt and coconut handy, which is always found in our fridge....has got good shelf life too

You'll need:

Raw plantain: 2 no:s (peeled and diced into small pieces)
Yogurt: 1 cup
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp

For grinding:

Green chilli: 2-3 nos
Jeera: 1/2 tsp
Grated coconut: 1/2 cup

For tempering:
Oil: 2tsps
Mustard seed: 1/2 tsp
Dry red chili: 2-3 nos
Asafetida: a pinch
Curry leaves: a few sprigs

How to make:
Cook the plantain pieces with turmeric powder, salt and 1/2 cup water in a pressure cooker.
Grind the ingredients mentioned above into a very fine paste, adding just enough water.
Now this is a very important tip to prevent the pulissery from curdling...Cook the ground paste on low flame for about 3-4 min, stirring it in between. Now add the cooked plantain pieces to it.
Beat the yogurt well with a spoon or give it a stir in the blender for a min to make it thin.
Add the beaten curd to the already cooking mixture and let it boil on medium-low flame.
For tempering, add 2 tsps of oil in a pan and let the mustard seeds splutter.
Add red chillies, curry leaves and at last add a pinch of asafetida.
Yummy pulissery is ready...a sour curry to go with rice and subzi(vegetable)

Note: You can use any kind of vegetable you like instead of raw plantain. Winter melon is the best alternative if you are planning to keep this for a couple of days in the fridge.Plantain gets hard on day two, where as winter melon stays soft. Can use cucumber too...

There is another sweet n sour version of this called Mampazha pulissery which uses ripe mangoes...which is the ultimate pulisseri on earth...that too the one my grandma makes with the farm fresh mangoes from her backyard....finger licking good :)

Chinese fried rice...a quick one

i do bulk cooking at times...cook around 4-5 servings and reserve it in the refrigerator...fried rice is one of the things i cook in bulk....easy to make and stays fresh too...you can serve it with different side dishes each time....a variety from the plain old white rice..

i like fried rice with papad (rice cracker), lemon pickle and plain raitha....simple and delicious :)

You'll need:     

Basmati rice: 2 cups (soaked in water for 2 hrs)

veggies:: 2 cups ( mainly green beans, carrot, cauliflower, broccoli, bell peppers,green peas), nicely chopped

scallions(spring onion): 4 nos ( nicely chopped)

clove: 2-3 nos

cinnamon sticks: 2 nos

cardamom: 2- 3nos

bay leaf: 2-3 nos

salt n oil: as per required
soy sauce: as per required (optional)
Worcestershire sauce: as per required (optional)

How to make:

Drain the soaked rice and set aside.
Heat a few tbsps of oil  in a deep skillet.Add cloves,cardamom, cinnamon sticks and let it splutter.
Then add the bay leaves and drained rice.Fry it all together for 2-3 min.
Add enough water(for 2 cups rice around  3 cups of water) and salt.
Pop the lid on and cook on medium high, stirring in between , until the rice gets cooked.
Transfer the rice into a bowl and set aside.
In the same skillet add a few tbsps of oil and add ginger garlic paste and scallions.(Reserve a handful for garnish)
Add the veggies one by one, adding first the ones that require more cooking time.
Stir fry until the veggies get cooked. ( Don't overcook the veggies, it should be still slightly crisp,retaining its fresh color which really adds glory to the final product)
Pour  a couple of dashes of  soy sauce and worcestershire sauce and toss them all together..
Add the cooked rice and mix everything together and garnish with chopped scallions.

tada...you have your fried rice.....enjoy ur meal :)

P.S: If you substitute water with chicken or vegetable stock for cooking the rice, it will give the rice an added flavor.

a twist in the tale....I add scrambled egg to it and present it as egg fried rice the next day.....or add fried tofu chunks for a different version of it :)