Some use Grated Coconut, while other use Coconut Milk. Some use Whole Dairy Milk instead of Coconut Milk. Some use Yeast for fermentation while others use Coconut Water or Toddy.

Palappam is often served for Christian Weddings. It goes well with Fish Molee, Vegetable Stew, Egg Roast, Kerala Chicken Curry and so on.

Kerala Palappam

I make Appams for parties and whenever we have guests. Though it is time consuming, the end result is well worth the effort.

Ingredients

1. Raw Rice – 2 cups (Use any short or long grain rice)
2. Cooked Rice – 3/4 cup approx
3. Yeast – 1.5 to 2 tsp
4. Sugar – 1 tbsp + 3-4 tbsp or as needed
5. Salt – to taste
6. Thick Coconut Milk – 1/2 cup
7. Ice cubes – as needed
8. Water – as needed

Preparation Method

1. Soak the rice for atleast 6 hours or leave it overnight.
2. Wash and drain the rice and keep aside.
3. Dissolve the yeast and 1 tbsp sugar in 1/2 cup of lightly warm water. Keep it aside for ten minutes until it foams.
4. Next, you need to grind the rice in several batches. Grind around two handfuls of raw rice along with a few tablespoons of cooked rice and very little water. I add 2-3 ice cubes while grinding each batch to prevent the mixie from overheating. Grind until you get a smooth batter.
5. Transfer the batter to large bowl. Continue doing this with the remaining rice.
6. While grinding the last batch, add the yeast solution to the mixie.
7. Leave the batter in a warm place for 6-8 hours. I usually leave it overnight. Enusre that the bowl is large enough to prevent the batter from overflowing after fermentation.
8. The batter would have risen after fermentation and will look foamy. Stir the batter and check the consistency. Add 1/4 – 1/2 cup of coconut milk to make a batter of medium consistency. If the batter appears thin after fermentation, skip the coconut milk.
9. Add sugar as per desired sweetness (3-4 tbsp) and salt to taste. Mix everything together.
10. At this stage, you can start preparing the Appams with this batter or for extra lacy appams, leave the batter untouched for half an hour. The batter will froth and rise again. Spoon the foamy layer from the batter and transfer it to another dish. Use this foamy batter for making Appams.
11. Heat a Palappam Chatti and lightly grease it with oil.
12. Once the Palappam Chatti is hot, pour a ladle full of batter and swirl the pan in one direction so that the batter spreads to the edges.
13. Keep it covered and allow the Appam to cook for a few minutes.
14. Once cooked the edges of the appam will start separating from the pan. Remove the appam carefully with a spatula.

Note

• You may need to adjust the amount of cooked rice used in this recipe. If you use too much of boiled rice, the appams will become sticky. If the rice used is less, appams won’t be soft. Try using 1/2 to 3/4 cup of cooked rice but not more than that.
• While grinding the rice, try adding very little water. The unfermented batter should be thick as it will rise and thin out after fermentation.
• To make appams with brown laces, increase the amount of sugar.

Kerala Olan

I have used a variety of Squash similar to Sambar Cucumber (Vellarikka) and Red Beans for preparing Olan. You can use vegetables like Yellow Pumpkin, White Pumpkin, Ash Gourd and any beans like Black Eyed Beans, Cowpeas and so on.

Ingredients

1. Red Beans – 3/4 cup (Soaked overnight)
2. Ash gourd or any Squash – 3 cups (peeled & diced)
3. Slit Green Chillies – 4 or 5
4. Thin Coconut Milk – 1 cup
5. Thick Coconut Milk – 1/2 cup
6. Salt – to taste
7. Coconut Oil – 1 tbsp
8. Mustard Seeds – 1/4 tsp
9. Curry Leaves – a sprig
10. Thinly Sliced Shallots – 3 or 4
11. Water – as needed

Preparation Method

1. Soak the beans overnight. Wash and drain the soaked beans. Pressure cook the beans along with salt to taste.
2. Meanwhile, peel the squash and dice it into small cubes.
3. Cook the squash in and 1/2 cup water and 1 cup thin coconut milk along with the slit green chillies and salt to taste.
4. Be careful not to overcook the squash or else it will lose it’s shape.
5. Add the pressure cooked beans to the squash and continue cooking for 5 more minutes.
6. Pour in the thick coconut milk and simmer for 5 minutes.
7. Season with mustard seeds, shallots and curry leaves. Remove from stove top and keep covered so that the flavors are absorbed by the vegetables.

Vellarikka Moru Curry

I have used Plain Yogurt for making this Moru Curry. As the Yogurt is thick, I never add grated Coconut. We enjoyed this yummy Vellarikka Moru curry with rice.

Ingredients

1. Sambar Cucumber (Vellarikka)  – 2 cups (Peeled & diced)
2. Plain Yogurt – 2 cups
3. Slit Green Chillies – 3
4. Turmeric Powder – 1/4 + 1/4 tsp
5. Water – 1 cup
6. Salt – to taste

For Seasoning

1. Finely sliced Shallots – 5 or 6
2. Dried Red Chillies – 3 or 4
3. Curry Leaves – A sprig
4. Finely Minced Ginger – 2 tsp
5. Turmeric -  1/4 tsp
6. Fenugreek (Uluva) – A pinch
7. Jeera (Cumin) Seeds or Powder – 1/4 tsp
8. Oil – 2 tbsp
9. Mustard – 1/2 tsp

Preparation Method

1. Peel the cucumber and remove the seeds. Dice it into small pieces.
2. In a deep pan, cook the cucumber pieces with salt, 1/4 tsp turmeric powder, slit green chillies and little water. Cook for 5-7 minutes or until the cucumber pieces are tender.
3. Meanwhile, blend the yogurt along with 1 cup water, 1/4 tsp turmeric and little salt.
4. Pour the yogurt mix into the cooked cucumber, stirring continuously. Simmer on low heat for 5 minutes. Never allow the Curry to boil.
5. Meanwhile, heat 2 tbsp oil in another pan and splutter mustard seeds.
6. Saute shallots, red chillies, ginger and curry leaves for a few minutes.
7. Add a pinch of turmeric, cumin (jeerakam) and fenugreek. Stir and remove from heat.
8. Add the seasoning to the yogurt mixture and keep on stirring for a few more minutes.Add more salt if required.
9. Serve with rice and other Kerala Side dishes.

Home grown Cucumber/Squash

Mambazha Pradhaman (Sweet Mango Dessert)

You will have a tough time resisting yourself while the Pradhaman gets prepared. I had to lick my spoon in between!

Ingredients

1. Sweet Ripe Mangoes – 3 big
2. Mango pulp – 2 cups (I used Canned Mango Pulp)
3. Powdered Jaggery – 3 or 4 big cubes (Alter according to your desired sweetness)
4. Dried ginger powder  (Chukku podi) – 1/4 tsp
5. Cardamom powder (Elakka Podi) – 3/4 to 1 tsp
6. Thin Coconut milk – Around 2 cups
7. Thick Coconut Milk – 1/2 cup
8. Cashews -  15
9. Raisins -  A handful
10. Ghee – 3 to 4 tbsp
11. Water – 1 cup

Preparation Method

1. Peel the mangoes and dice it into small pieces.
2. Boil the jaggery in 1 cup of water to make a thick syrup.
3. Heat 2 tbsp ghee in a heavy bottomed pan and saute the mango pieces until it changes color.
4. Mash the mango pieces as it gets cooked. Keep on stirring so that it doesn’t stick to the pan.
5. Slowly add the mango pulp to the pan and continue sauteing for 5-7  minutes.
6. Add the jaggery syrup to the pan and keep on stirring until it thickens. This will take some time until it reaches a thick consistency (Varattiya Paruvam). So please be patient at this stage.
7. Reduce heat and add thin coconut milk to the pan, stirring continuously.
8. Now add the dried ginger powder and cardamom powder and mix well.
9. Simmer for 5-7 minutes and then add thick coconut milk. Simmer for a few more minutes and remove from stove top. Do not allow it to boil.
10. Heat 1 tbsp ghee in a pan and fry the raisins and cashews for a few minutes. Pour it over the pradhaman. Serve this yummy mango pradhaman warm or chilled. This payasam tends to thicken over time.

Note

1. Please use real good variety of Mangoes like Alphonso.
2. You can also fry Coconut bits and add it to the Pradhaman for garnishing.
3. You can loosen the consistency of the Pradhaman by adding 1 more cup of Thin Coconut Milk.

Bitter Gourd (Pavakka) Thoran

In order to reduce the bitterness while preparing Bitter Gourd Thoran, some people rub salt on bitter gourd pieces and squeeze out water from it. This can help to some extend. Bitter Gourd is cooked when it is unripe ie; green in golor or just as it turns yellow. Once it ripens and becomes orange in color, it becomes intensely bitter.

Ingredients

1. Green or Light Yellow Bitter Gourd (Pavakka) – 2 big
2. Sliced Shallots (Kunjulli/Pearl Onions) – 1/2 cup
3. Green/Red Chillies – 4 or 5 ( I used both)
4. Curry Leaves – A sprig
5. Grated Coconut  – 1 Cup
6. Crushed Garlic – 4 or 5 cloves
7. Grated Cumin (Jeera) – 1/2 tsp
8. Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
9. Red Chilly powder – 1/2 tsp
10. Oil – 2 tbsp
11. Mustard Seeds – 1/2 tsp
12. Salt – to taste

Preparation Method

1. Wash the bitter gourd and slice it open. Discard the seeds and pith. Slice the bitter gourd into small thin pieces.
2. Mix together coconut, turmeric powder, red chilly powder, cumin and garlic using your hands or you can coarsely grind everything together.
3. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a non stick pan and splutter mustard seeds. Add shallots, chillies and curry leaves and saute for a few minutes.
4. Add the sliced bitter gourd pieces and saute for a few minutes.
5. Next add the coconut mixture along with salt to taste and mix everything together.
6. Cover the pan and cook on medium-low flame, stirring occasionally. Do not add water while cooking.
7. After 10-12 minutes, the bitter gourd will be cooked. Remove the lid and stir fry for another 4-5 minutes so that the water evaporates completely and the thoran is dry.