Nendran pazham pradhaman/payasam/Ripe plantain payasam

I love Onam because it reminds me a lot of my childhood days when my then lovely neighbours used to pass on lovely food.Back then it was really exciting to get food from friends' or even eat from out.Small kiddy wishes we used to have.

Wishing all my friends from Gods own country(Kerala) a prosperous Onam.

Onam guest post - Puli Inji

Onam wishes to all my friends.

I have some close friends and we end up speaking about food more than our other stuff.So I thought I'm going to ask some of my friends to make guest posts for me.They are non bloggers just people so close to my heart.I'm glad such friendships exist in this age when people hardly find time to do anything but their own stuff.I thank Nandana who is a school friend of mine she took efforts to send me step wise pictures of this beautiful Onam delicacy - Puli Inji.

Lets see how this dish goes about.

Puli Inji

Preparation time - 20 mins

Quantity one ramekin as shown in the pic.

3-4 tbsp of finely chopped ginger

2-3 tsp of finely chopped green chilli 

2 tsp of Urad Dal (optional)

1 tsp of chana dal (optional)

1/2 tsp of grated Jaggery

Lime sized piece of tamarind

1/2 tsp of mustard seeds

Curry Leaves 3-4

Dried Red chillies 3-4

Oil 2 tsp

Pinch of Asafoetida

1. Heat 1-2 tsp of oil and burst mustard seeds in it .

2. Add Urad Dal, chana dal and red chillies and fry until dals turn light brown.

3. Add chopped ginger, curry leaves and green chillies and fry for about 30 seconds .

4. Add juice of tamarind, grated Jaggery and salt and boil.

5. Once it boils, reduce heat to medium and simmer until the mixture becomes a thick paste.

I have a collage of the procedure and ingredients below.

Second pic is taken at the end when it becomes a paste.

Hope you enjoy your Onam Sadya.Thanks Nandana for giving me this lovely post.

Onam guest post - Puli Inji

Onam wishes to all my friends.

I have some close friends and we end up speaking about food more than our other stuff.So I thought I'm going to ask some of my friends to make guest posts for me.They are non bloggers just people so close to my heart.I'm glad such friendships exist in this age when people hardly find time to do anything but their own stuff.I thank Nandana who is a school friend of mine she took efforts to send me step wise pictures of this beautiful Onam delicacy - Puli Inji.

Onam Guest post - Mathanum Payarum

I was wondering why I didn't think of this last year maybe i was shy to ask people to make guest posts for me.But no its a great way to interact and also make new friends.Even though we are geographically neighbours we don't celebrate Onam. After seeing all the pictures of yummy Onam sadya dishes I thought i must have a post for Onam.So I thought of asking a keralite friend.So Rafeeda it was.She's a sweet girl maybe we've passed each other by on some street in the UAE years ago now she's a working mother of two pretty girls, a home maker and a blogger, who knew then we'd be friends through blogging.Rafeeda blogs at The Big Sweet Tooth like many of you are familiar with.

So today Rafeeda obliged at such short notice by sending me this lovely dish of Pumpkin and cow beans/Mathanum and payyarum - an Onam delicacy.

Wishing all my friends A Joyous Onam :) 

Lets see what Rafeeda has to say now :

Hello everybody…

Working on a guest post, is always a hassle for me. I don’t know why, it kinds of hits my confidence to a certain level.  When you work on your own blog, you don’t have anybody to please but when it’s a guest post, you have to ensure that the host is happy, isn’t it? My host for the day, Princy asked me for a guest post, and I literally gasped, “me?” Seriously, I am so bad at preparing vegetarian fare especially that needs to be served with rice. It’s very rarely that my curries turn out well and I have blogged about it. Otherwise, I take quite time to reach the exact taste that my umma tries to bring. Since Princy asked, I quickly pulled out my drafts and lunged through it to see if there was any sadhya vegetarian fare that I could give. I emailed her whether this would be fine, and she replied back saying she would take anything from me! So sweet of her… J

A little introduction – my name is Rafeeda, who blogs at “The Big Sweet Tooth”. A working mother, with two daughters, I take cooking as a stress buster to relieve me from the pressures of a working life. Princy’s is one of the blogs that I regularly visit for some mouthwatering fare and constantly keep commenting as well. During our interactions, I have learned that she was an ex-UAEite and my posts keep poking on her nostalgic memories. While blogging, I have come across so many fellow bloggers who have been in UAE during their school days, who are able to connect to what I write. That is what keeps me blogging, as I love the personal connections.

Moving to the recipe… one of the afternoon dishes that umma makes and I become really flat crazy about is her “Mathanum Payarum” – Pumpkin with Cowpea Beans. Something that I just recently learned from her… There’s nothing much complicated about the dish but still I love to keep pestering umma for her recipes. While trying to make this, umma let out a very sarcastic comment, that  I cannot make a proper curry for afternoon despite having two kids. I still don’t think I am old to learn, am I?? Hehe… when she wanted to teach me, I was not interested but now that I am, she is not willing. Hmm…  I guess without much talking, I will go direct to this simple recipe which tastes just out of the world, for me… J

Mathanum Payarum – Pumpkin with Cowpea Beans

Serves 4

Recipe courtesy: My umma

Ingredients:

1 cup red cowpea beans, soaked in water overnight

500 gm pumpkin, peeled and chopped into large pieces

½ tsp turmeric powder

¾ tsp chilli powder (increase for spiciness)

Salt to taste

For grinding:

¼ cup grated coconut

2 shallots, peeled

2 cloves garlic

½ tsp fennel seeds

¼ tsp cumin seeds

2 green chillis

For tempering:

1 tsp coconut oil

¼ tsp mustard seeds

Method:

• Wash the cowpea beans well and place into a pressure cooker.
•  Add the chopped pumpkin, pour water just till leveled, not too much. Add in the turmeric and red chilli powder along with salt. Pressure cook for three whistles and then leave it on simmer for around 30 minutes. Switch off and allow the pressure to go by itself.
• Meanwhile, grind all the “for grinding” ingredients till smooth. Open the cooker lid, add in the ground ingredients and mix well. You will see that the pumpkin is all mashed up and coated over the cow pea beans. Cook on low flame till just warm.
• Heat up the oil in a little saucepan and splutter the mustard seeds. Dump it into mathanum payarum and mix well. 
• Serve as side for rice and any curry! I love to eat it as is… J

Thank you so much Princy for this opportunity. I sincerely hope that you love this post. Wishing all the readers of Spicy Foood a very Happy Onam… J

 Thank you Rafeeda for the lovely touch of Onam  Kerala here :)

Onam Guest post - Mathanum Payarum

I was wondering why I didn't think of this last year maybe i was shy to ask people to make guest posts for me.But no its a great way to interact and also make new friends.Even though we are geographically neighbours we don't celebrate Onam. After seeing all the pictures of yummy Onam sadya dishes I thought i must have a post for Onam.So I thought of asking a keralite friend.So Rafeeda it was.She's a sweet girl maybe we've passed each other by on some street in the UAE years ago now she's a working mother of two pretty girls, a home maker and a blogger, who knew then we'd be friends through blogging.Rafeeda blogs at The Big Sweet Tooth like many of you are familiar with.

So today Rafeeda obliged at such short notice by sending me this lovely dish of Pumpkin and cow beans/Mathanum and payyarum - an Onam delicacy.

Wishing all my friends A Joyous Onam :) 

Avial

I wanted to make an Onam post, its a few days post Onam now.Anyway I had known to make this dish.Its a popular south indian dish, and since we are geographically closer to Kerala many dishes make their way to our menus too.Avial is a mixture of vegetables, many shops have specially packed 'avial' vegetables during Onam.Mostly stiffer vegetables are used in this dish.

To make this dish,you need

Vegetables a little of each (beans, carrots, elephant yam, ash gourd, yellow pumpkin, drumsticks(murungakka) and cluster beans) chopped it into longer pieces.
Turmeric powder a pinch
Salt to taste
Yogurt/Curd 1 tablespoon

Make a paste of the following:
Coconut 2 tablespoon
Cumin seeds 1 tsp
Garlic 2 pods
Baby/sambar onions 4
Green chillies 2 nos(as per your spice tolerance)

To temper:
Coconut oil 2 tablepoons
Mustard seeds 1 tsp
Curry leaves few
Baby onions 2 chopped finely


-You would need to cook the vegetables in a little water with salt (which take longer to cook separately and the one ones which cook sooner separately )and then mix them all together.
- Add the turmeric powder, and the coconut paste into the mixed vegetables.Cook until all the vegetables are cooked soft.
- Add the yogurt to the avial.Now do the tempering and add to the avial.
- Serve the avial with steamed rice and sambar :)

Sending this to A girl's Diary event : The kerala Kitchen 

Avial

I wanted to make an Onam post, its a few days post Onam now.Anyway I had known to make this dish.Its a popular south indian dish, and since we are geographically closer to Kerala many dishes make their way to our menus too.Avial is a mixture of vegetables, many shops have specially packed 'avial' vegetables during Onam.Mostly stiffer vegetables are used in this dish.

Happy Onam :)

Wishing all my precious readers and bloggers A very Happy Onam!

Happy Onam :)

Wishing all my precious readers and bloggers A very Happy Onam!