Recipes from Keralan Cooking School

Gobi Masala

Preparation:
250 grams cauliflower florets
6 T chick pea powder*
4T water, approximately

Mix by hand until cauliflower is coated with a light batter.

Heat a pan. Add about 1/2 cm of coconut oil in the pan and heat.
Fry cauliflower until golden brown.
Remove cauliflower and put in a strainer on top of a paper towel.

Sieve the oil to remove the bits of batter. Replace 2T of oil in pan.
Add 2 red onions and 5-7 fresh curry leaves.
Stir until lightly cooked and slightly browned.

Add 1t of garlic-ginger paste (equal parts of both mixed in a food processor)

Temper the garlic-ginger paste until it loses its raw flavor, but is not browning or burnt. (To temper, push the other ingredients to the side of the pan and quickly mix the g-g paste, breaking it up with the wooden spoon.)

Add spices and stir rapidly:
<1/2>
1/2 t gumar masala (equal parts lightly toasted and ground cinnamon, cardamon and cloves, it can be kept in a jar for up to 10 days)
<3/4>

Stir rapidly (for longer than you think necessary) until the spices lose their pungent aroma and the vegetables begin to release their oil.
Add 4 tomatoes, blanched, skinned and diced.
Stir until the water begins to evaporate.

Add cauliflower and stir until mixed with spices/onions.
Cover and leave for up to 1 hour before serving.

Okra Turorn

Heat a thick bottomed skillet on the fire
Pour 2-3 T of coconut oil in the pan.
When oil is hot, add 1 t mustard seeds, 2 T of urad dal (white lentils) plus 1 sprig of fresh curry leaves (about 5-7 leaves)

Heat until the mustard seeds pop, the urad dal is brown and the curry leaves are lightly fried.

Add 1 chopped red onion and saute.

Add one broken kashmiri (spiral) red chili pepper
1 pinch of turmeric powder
1/4 c grated coconut (coconut must be tempered)

Add 150-200 g. okra (thinly sliced on a diagonal) and stir into dish. Keep stirring until the okra is pliable. Pile in the middle and let sit and then stir again after a few minutes.

Remove when pliable and add 1/4 c. grated coconut as garnish.

Palak Rieta
Heat pan.
Add 2T coconut oil.
Add 2t ural dal (white lentils halves)
Add 3-4 cloves of garlic chopped
Add 1/2 inch ginger chopped

Stir for some time until well done.

Add 1 chopped red onion
Add 1 green chili pepper (maybe remove seeds)
Saute.
Once sauteed, add 2c finely chopped spinach
Allow to cool and add 1 1/2 cups plain yogurt curd.

Vegetable Pilar
Mix spices:
star anise
pepper
cloves
cardamon
*nutmeg mace
cinnamon
*(allspice leaf, if available fresh)

Heat pan
Add 1 T ghee
Add spices, cover with colander upside down so popping seeds don't spatter.
Add 1 red chopped onion and saute.
Add 1 t garlic-ginger paste
Add allspice leaf and nutmeg mace and stir rapidly
Add tomatoes until liquid evaporates a little
Add 250 g. steamed carrots, beans and peas
Add 1 1/2 c. uncooked basmati rice (cook before adding, but measure dry)
Add 1 t salt

Fold together.

Rice Noodles:
Put 2 1/2 cups rice flour in a large bowl
Slowly, while mixing, add boiling water and a pinch of salt
the amount of water should be roughly 2x the amount of rice, but the dough should not be sticky
Stop adding water when the dough is the consistency of play dough.

Let cool. After 20 minutes, kneed until texture is consistent.

Use a rice mill to make noodles in small piles. Add 1t of grated coconut and then mill another larger pile of noodles on top.

Place in a steamer and cook for approximately 15 minutes.

Egg Masala
Heat 3-4 T coconut oil in a pan
Add 750 g. chopped red onion
Add a sprig of curry leaves
Continue stirring

Add 1 t ginger-garlic paste and keep stirring

Add 1/8 c. sugar and a pinch of salt to balance the acidity of the tomatoes

Continue stirring until the onions are lightly browned

Add spices:
3/4 t turmeric
1 t gumar masala
2 t coriander
1 t chili powder

Stir rapidly

Add 650 g. chopped tomatoes and stir gently
Continue on heat until it is slightly meshed together.

Serve with either hard boiled eggs on the side or lightly fried potatoes with turmeric and pepper in coconut oil. The potatoes may be mixed in before serving.

Vegetable Stew to be served on top of the rice noodles

Spices:
Cardamon
Cinnamon
Cloves
Pepper
Star Anise


Sliced ginger and garlic
1-2 sliced red onion
all spice leaves if available
2 green chilis (remove seeds)
700 g. steamed potatoes, carrots, string beans, all diced.

Heat pan.
Heat oil.
Add spice mixture and stir.
Add onions and stir.
Add garlic and ginger, very soon after onions.
Add chilis
Stir all ingredients until lightly brown.

Add steamed vegetables.
Add 1 t salt (maybe 1/2 t)
Add 2 1/2 c coconut milk (coconut cream with water added, about 30-40%)
Simmer for 5-10 minutes
Close fire.
Slowly add thick coconut milk (add water to coconut cream until its the consistency of milk) and stir (don't do this over a flame or the milk with curdle.)


Snake Gourd Saute
(alternatively use cabbage, courgette, zucchini, chopped beans)

1 T coconut oil
1 t mustard seeds
150 g coconut chips
1 big onion sliced.
1 1/2 t pepper powder
pinch of turmeric
400 g snake gourd, chopped.
salt to taste

Pan on fire
Add oil and allow to heat
Add mustard seeds and allow to pop
Fry out the coconut chips. Stir quickly until brown and starting to release oil. (add additional oil if necessary).
Make a well in the middle and add the onion and stir the onion within the well.
Mix the onion and the coconut quickly until translucent and slightly brown.
This takes a long time.
Add the pepper and turmeric -- stir rapidly for about 3-5 minutes.
Add chopped snake gourd.
Pile in the center of the pan and allow to sit, stir every few minutes and re-pile.
Salt to taste.
** Fully mature coconut releases more oil. Less mature coconut requires extra oil.

Carrot-Cabbage Thoran

1 T coconut oil
2 t short grain brownish rice (parboiled)
1/2 t mustard seeds
1 sprig curry leaves
pinch of turmeric
Make a paste out of:
*1 green chili - chopped
*3 shallots chopped
*1/3 c. grated coconut
300 g. chopped and shredded carrots and cabbage with salt

Pan on fire.
Heat oil.
Add rice, mustard seed and curry leaves. Puff rice, pop mustard seeds and fry curry leaves.
Add turmeric and mix.
Immediately, add ground paste. Reduce heat, and fast stir until spices are tempered (not as pungent).
Add carrots and cabbage and cook until reduced stirring frequently.
Salt to taste.

Aloo Gobi
6 T coconut oil
1 1/2 t fennel
1 1/2 onions
3/4 t turmeric
3/4 t chili powder
6 T tomato paste, but more liquidy (maybe 3 T tomato paste and 3T water)
300 g. cauliflower, uncooked florets
300 g. potato, cooked and diced
6 tomatos, quartered
150 ml milk
150 ml water

Pan on fire.
Heat oil.
Add fennel, until seeds stop popping and browning.
When almost finished popping add onions.
Cook onions until translucent and slight browning.
Add turmeric and chili powder.
Stir quickly until spices are tempered (less pungnet smell)
Add tomato paste and stir until the water reduces a little bit.
Add cauliflower and stir until it is coated in the mixture.
Add potato, stir until coated.
Add salt to taste.
Raise the heat.
Add tomatoes and stir until the tomato skins softens and the mixture is sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Lower the heat and add the milk and the water at the same time.
Stir intermittantly. Put a lid on and slow cook until the mixture is creamy/thickened and the cauliflower is cooked.
Salt again and garnish with mint and coriander.

Jerra Rice
3 T coconut oil
2 t urad dal
1 t cumin
1 onion sliced
2 kashmiri chilis, broken (spiral)
2 c. uncooked rice, cooked
pinch of turmeric
pinch of salt

Heat oil in pan, medium to low heat
Add dal, no stirring, cook until brown.
Add cumin, allow to pop.
Add chili and stir rapidly.
Add onions and stir rapidly.
Add turmeric and salt and stir rapidly.
Add rice, spreading it evently over the top of the mixture.
Don't stir until you've added it all.
From start to finish its all very quick.
For garnish, fry raisins and cashews in coconut oil.

Sambar Dal

3/4 c urad dal (soft dal)
Water
Salt

3 T coconut oil
250 g. chopped onions
1 1/2 t mustard seeds
1/2 t fennelgrek
sprig of curry leaves
1 t chili powder
2 t coriander
1/2 t turmeric
tamrin (just smaller than a golf ball, soaked in water for 10 minutes)
four dashes of asafoetida powder
300 g. fresh tomatoes diced
salt to taste

First cook dal in water and salt for 15 minutes

Pan on fire.
Heat oil
Pop mustard seeds and fennelgrek and fry curry leaves.
Add onions, stir rapidly until translucent and lightly browned.
Add chili powder, coriander, & tumeric. Stir until tempered.
Add the water from the tamerin, but not the flesh.
Add a few dashes of the asafoetida powder, stir quickly.
Add tomatos and stir until soft.
Salt to taste.
Add the dal and the water and simmer for 20 minutes to boil off some of the liquid.

Coconut chutney

1 1/2 c. fresh grated coconut
sprig of curry leaves
1 green chili pepper with seeds removed
1 1/2 in of ginger peeled
6-8 shallots
1 t salt (real teaspoon, not heaping)

Place shallots and ginger and salt in the food processor
Add 1/2 coconut and a few T of water
Empty from food processor into bowl
Add the remaining 1/2 coconut with the green chili and the curry leaf and mix.
Empty into the same bowl and mix together.