Mathanga Erisseri

An unavoidable dish in  the Kerala menu, let it be for the festival sadyas of Onam, Vishu etc or the birthday sadyas of family members. It is said that erisseri is a must for a piranaal( star birthday- as per the Malayalam calendar) sadya.

Ingredients
250 gms ripe pumpkin, cut into cubes
1/4 cup vanpayar/red cow peas
1/2 cup grated coconut + 2 Tbsp
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
few curry leaves
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
2 Tbsp coconut oil
salt to taste

Method

• Soak the red cow peas/vanpayar for 2-3 hours.
• Pressure cook the peas adding enough water  and a pinch of salt ,such that the peas lie submerged on a medium low flame for 3 whistles. Allow the pressure to settle by itself. The peas should be soft and tender but not mashed.(If you have not soaked the peas, more number of whistles will be required)
• In the meantime, in another pot add the pumpkin, turmeric powder, chilli powder and add 2-3 cups of water.  Bring it to a boil and then simmer and cook until the pumpkin turns soft and cooked.
• Add the cooked vanpayar to the pumpkin and mix well. Add salt and cook until everything is mixed well and turns thick.
• Grind half cup coconut with the cumin seeds into a fine paste.
• Add this paste to the pumpkin and vanpayar mixture and mix well. Cook for a few minutes and then remove from heat.
• Heat the coconut oil in a small pan. Oncce hot add the mustard seeds. As the the mustard starts to pop add the curry leaves and 2 Tbsp shredded coconut . Roast well until the coconut turns light brown in colour. Add this to the prepared pumpkin dish. Cover immediately with a lid so that the aroma of the fried coconut gets infused in the dish. Keep undisturbed for a few minutes.
• Mix well and serve.

Spring Onion Curry

Some people are born with magical hands. Whatever they cook up, even with minimal ingredients and limited time turn out into mouth watering dishes which leaves you craving for more. One such person is Kherun, our best bestie. Whatever she cooks let it be anything from her repertoire , from a simple dal to an elaborate biriyani, everything tastes out of the world. And when you try to recreate the same as per her recipe it never turns out to be as good as hers; that is why we call her as a person with magical hands. She has shared many of her recipes with us, which can be soon expected in this space.

Today's recipe is one such dish which needs only a few ingredients but tastes really good with hot ghee smeared chappatis or rotis(as Kherun says,'do serve this curry hot with garama garam desi ghee vali roti'). One thing that has to kept in mind while making this curry is that, this curry tends to thicken very quickly once removed from heat. So please assure that your ghee smeared chappatis are ready simultaneously as the curry gets cooked. It tastes best when eaten piping hot with hot chappatis or parathas. And as this curry doesn't take much time in the making process, you can very well carry on the making of the curry and the rotis side by side. If in case the curry has thickened and cooled , add some water and reheat the curry well before serving.

Ingredients
2 bunches of spring onions
1 medium size onion, sliced into rings
1/2 tsp asafoetida
3/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp resham patti powder/ chilli powder(reduce if you don't want it very spicy)
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 cup besan / gram flour
1 tsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp oil
salt

Method

• Chop the spring onions bulbs and greens separately.
• Dilute the gram flour in approximately 2-3 cups of water(the mixture should be of a watery consistency) and keep aside.
• Heat oil in a pan. Add the asafoetida and fry for a second. Then add the cumin seeds and fry for 2-3 seconds.
• Now toss in the chopped spring onion bulbs and sliced onion. Fry this for sometime on a medium low flame until the onions turn light brown in colour.(Enjoy the lovely aroma that spreads in your kitchen during this step)
• Once the onions start to brown add the chopped spring onion greens. Saute well until the spring onion greens turn soft and wilted.
• Add the turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder and salt. Fry for a minute and then add the diluted besan mixture.
• Cook stirring continuously. The mixture will start getting thicker. Continue cooking stirring continuously until no lumps are seen and the mixture starts to attain a glazed look. 
• Check the taste at this stage and if the raw taste of besan is not there then you can switch off the heat.(approximately 5-8 minutes will be required for the glazed look)
• Drizzle the lemon juice and mix well. Serve hot with ghee smeared hot chappathis/parathas.

Gaajar ka Halwa

 A VERY HAPPY DIWALI TO ALL

A sky full of fireworks

A house full of diyas

A heart full of enjoyment 

and

A mouth full of sweets

Yes, this is what this beautiful festival is all about!
Made a very simple version of the most famous Indian sweet - Gaajar ka Halwa/ Carrot Halwa for this Diwali.

Recipe courtesy: Our dear Tasneem😍

Ingredients

2 carrots grated fine

1 Tbsp ghee

3-4 Tbsp sugar

1/2 cup milk

1 Tbsp sweetened condensed milk

a few nuts of your choice(preferably roasted in ghee)

 Method

• Heat the ghee in a thick bottomed pan. Add the grated carrots and sugar and saute well for around ten minutes on a medium low flame.
• Add the milk and saute for another half an hour until  the milk gets dried up and the ghee layer starts to show up from the sides.
• Add the condensed milk and saute for another ten minutes.
• Remove from heat,add the nuts and serve.

I personally love to have this gajar ka halwa with a scoop of vanilla icecream. Try it.. its really yumm..!