Malabar Mania: An array of dishes from the south

Kerala is known as the land of spices because it traded spices with Europe as well as with many ancient civilisations with the oldest historical records of the Sumerians from 3000 BCE.

Kerala cuisine offers a multiple of both the vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes prepared by using fish, mutton, chicken, crabs, prawns etc. It is eaten with appams or rice. The ingredients used are mainly chillies, curry leaves, coconut, mustard seeds, turmeric, asafoetida and black pepper. In this column I have given some popular dishes of Kerala which are familiar to most people.

Mutton Stew Kerala Style With Appams/ Vegetable Stew

Kerala-style mutton stew is a simple dish with spices enhancing the flavour and with a mild coconut milk broth this stew is like a warm hug in a bowl. The appams served with it complement this dish in every way possible. (This dish can be made with assorted vegetables of your choice instead of mutton. Method is the same. Only cooking time varies).

INGREDIENTS

For marinading the mutton

• 500g mutton. With bones
• 1tbsp green chillies
• 1tbsp ginger paste
• 1tsp garlic paste
• ½tsp fennel powder
• 1tsp black pepper powder

For the stew

• 2tbsp coconut oil
• 2 onions very finely sliced
• 1tbsp garlic chopped finely
• 1tbsp ginger julienned
• 5 green chillies slit
• 2 potatoes cut into chunks
• 1tsp garam masala
• Paste of 10 cashews
• Black pepper according to taste
• 2 cup coconut milk

For the appams

• 2 cups rice
• ¾ cup poha (flattened rice)
• ¾ cup grated coconut
• 1tsp salt
• Water for soaking rice and poha
• ¾tsp baking soda

METHOD

For marinading the mutton

• Marinate the mutton with all the ingredients. Add 1tsp salt and few curry leaves. Let it marinate for 2 hours.

For the stew

• Pressure-cook the mutton with 1 cup water for 4-5 whistles till the meat is tender
• Now take a clay pot (or any vessel you have). Add 2tbsp of coconut oil
• Then add 2 onions very finely sliced. Saute for 2 minutes. Then add 1tbsp of julienned garlic and ginger each. And sauté till the onions are lightly golden. Then add 5 green chillies. Saute well. Now add the potatoes and mix well
• Now add the mutton with its stock. Now add garam masala, and cashew paste. Mix it well. Add black pepper. Now add 1 cup coconut milk just to cook the potatoes. This will take about 7-8 minutes
• Once the potatoes are cooked, add 1 more cup of coconut milk. Cover and let it simmer for 10 minutes.

For the appams

• Soak rice for 5 hours
• Soak poha for ½ hour before grinding the rice
• Now grind the rice, poha and shredded coconut (you can even use desiccated coconut) all together to make a smooth paste. Let the mixture ferment for minimum 8-10 hours.
• Add baking soda and salt just 10 minutes before making the appams . The consistency should not be too watery or too thick.
• Now heat an appam kadai. Then put a ladle full of batter in the middle and then twirl the kadai around so that the batter spreads and is slightly thick in the middle and thin all around. Do not touch the batter once it is put. Then cover it and cook for 2-3 minutes. You will see lots of bubbles in the appam and when it sticks no more to the pan you can remove it carefully.
• Serve hot stew with the appams, a salad and a papad. Enjoy a complete wholesome meal.

Chicken Ghee Roast

Chicken Ghee Roast is a popular dish in Kerala. It is fiery red in colour, and has a tangy and spicy flavour with ghee and roasted spices. Serve it with neer dosa or steamed rice.

INGREDIENTS

For marinading the chicken

• 750g chicken cut in large pieces (or according to your requirement)
• ¼ cup curd
• Salt to taste
• ¼tsp turmeric powder

For the ghee roast masala

• 2tbsp coriander seeds
• A pinch of fenugreek seeds
• 1tsp cumin seeds
• 1tsp pepper corns
• 1tsp fennel seeds
• 4 cloves
• 1 inch cinnamon
• 10 begadi red chillies (substitute Kashmiri red chillies)
• 8 cloves garlic
• A small ball of tamarind

Other ingredients

• ¼ cup plus 1tbsp ghee divided
• 3 sprigs of curry leaves
• 1tsp jaggery
• 1tbsp lemon juice or according to your taste

METHOD

• In a bowl marinate the chicken with yogurt, salt and turmeric for 30 minutes.
• Heat a pan over medium-low heat and dry-roast coriander seeds, cumin, pepper, fennel, cloves and cinnamon until aromatic. Remove and set aside in a plate.
• In the same pan dry-roast the red chillies until crisp. Remove and set aside. Deseed the red chillies to reduce spiciness. This is optional.
• Transfer all the roasted ingredients to a grinder jar. Then add garlic and tamarind. Add ¼ cup water and grind to a fine paste. You have to add less water or else it will be difficult to roast the masalas. Then set it aside.
• Now heat 2tsp of ghee in a heavy-bottom pan over medium-high heat.
• Add the marinated chicken and cook till the colour of the chicken turns from pink to white. Cook till the marinade thickens (2-3 minutes). The chicken will not be completely cooked at this stage. Remove and keep aside in a bowl.
• To the same pan add 2tsp ghee. Set the heat on medium high. Add curry leaves and ghee roast masala. Stir and cook the masalas. After 3-4 minutes masala will start sticking to the pan. This is the time to add 2tsp ghee and continue to cook the masala.
• Add salt. Be careful because we have already added salt to the chicken while marinating it.
• You have to cook till masala stirring all the time. Keep adding ghee at regular intervals until the masala starts to release ghee from the sides. It may take 15 minutes for this process,
• Now add the chicken. Stir to coat the chicken with masala.
• Add 1tbsp ghee and combine.
• Cover and cook for 2 minutes or until the chicken is cooked. Stir in between so the masala does not stick to the pan.
• Now cook uncovered for 2 minutes.
• Finally add jaggery, lemon juice and curry leaves.
• Cook it for a minute and remove from heat.
• Chicken ghee roast is ready to serve with neer dosa or steamed rice and it is usually accompanied by dal.

Fish Moilee

Kerala-style fish Moilee is a lightly spiced fish curry usually had with appams. You can have it with steamed rice too. It is a favourite with every Keralite.

INGREDIENTS

• 1kg fish (here I have used Rohu. You can even use pomfret or red snapper cut into pieces)
• 2tbsp coconut oil (for an authentic taste it is very important to use coconut oil)
• 1tbsp mustard seeds
• 8 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1-inch piece ginger cut into juliennes
• 6 green chillies slit and cut into juliennes
• 150g onions cut into roundels and rings separated
• 24 curry leaves
• 3 tomatoes cut into wedges
• ½tsp turmeric powder
• 1tbsp lemon juice
• 2 ½ cups of coconut milk
• Salt to taste

METHOD

• Heat oil in a handi, add mustard seeds. Stir over medium heat till they pop. Then add garlic and ginger, stir for a minute. Then add green chillies and stir.
• Now add the onions and sauté till translucent and glossy. Now add turmeric and stir.
• Now add the fish. Then add coconut milk, curry leaves, tomatoes and cook on medium heat. Add salt. Cover and cook till the fish is done. (Make sure that the coconut milk comes to a boil over low heat. Otherwise it may curdle.)
• Lastly, sprinkle lemon juice. Adjust the seasoning and serve with hot steamed rice.

Kerala-Style Crab Pepper Roast

This Crab dish is a popular seafood delicacy in Kerala. The crab is cooked in shallots, onions, and tomato, and simmered in flavourful aromatic Indian spices. For an authentic taste, coconut oil and fresh spices are used for the preparation. They are mostly caught live from the backwaters. In Kerala they say that freshwater crabs are tastier than the ones caught from the sea.It is usually served with Kappa Vevichathu or tapioca mash. But it goes well with steamed rice as well.

INGREDIENTS

• ß 750g crab, washed and cleaned
• ß 4 large onions sliced
• ß ½ cup shallots sliced
• ß 1tsp mustard seeds
• ß 1tsp fenugreek seeds
• ß 4 green chillies slit
• ß Curry leaves
• ß Salt and pepper to taste
• ß 2tbsp coconut oil
• ß 1tbsp coriander powder
• ß 1tbsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
• ß 1tsp garam masala powder
• ß ½tsp fennel powder
• ß 2 tomatoes sliced

To grind

• ß 10 shallots
• ß 2tbsp garlic
• ß 1tbsp ginger
• ß ½tbsp fennel
• ß 1tbsp peppercorns

METHOD

• Heat a pan and add coconut oil.
• Once hot add mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds. Once they splutter add the sliced shallots, curry leaves and green chillies and sauté for a couple of minutes and then add the sliced onions. Sauté till golden brown.
• Now add the ground shallot mixture. Mix well. Cook for 2-3 minutes till the raw smell of the ground mixture goes.
• Now add the tomatoes and combine well till they turn mushy and the oil starts leaving the sides of the pan.
• Now add all the spiced powders — turmeric, Kashmiri red chilli powder, garam masala powder, fennel powder and pepper powder. Mix everything well.
• Now add the crabs and mix well. Make sure that all the crab is coated well with the masala.
• Cover and cook the crab on medium heat for about 5 minutes. After that mix well.
• Now add 1 cup water and mix again. Cover and cook for another 10 minutes
• Serve hot with rice, appam or ghee rice.

Kerala Prawn Curry

INGREDIENTS

• 6 medium size prawns, deveined
• 1 cup coconut ground with 1/3 cup water and kept aside; passed through a sieve to extract coconut milk
• ½ lemon-sized tamarind ball soaked in ½ cup warm water and the pulp extracted
• 3tbsp coconut oil
• ½tsp mustard seeds
• 15 curry leaves
• 1 onion sliced fine
• ½ inch ginger paste
• 4-5 garlic paste
• 4 green chillies slit
• 1tsp red chilli powder
• ½tsp turmeric powder
• ½tsp coriander powder
• ½tsp cumin powder
• 1 dried red chilli broken in two
• 2tbsp water
• 2 tomatoes chopped fine
• Salt to taste
• 1½ cup water

For tempering

• 2tsp coconut oil
• 2 shallots sliced finely
• 5-6 curry leaves

METHOD

• Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds. Let it pop. Then add onions and sauté. Add curry leaves. Then add ginger and garlic and green chilli and sauté till onions are golden brown.
• Then add turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, red chilli powder and dry red chilli. Saute everything well for 2-3 minutes.
• Then add 2tbsp water and cook the spices for 2 minutes.
• Now add the tomatoes and salt. Cook till the the tomatoes get mushy. Add salt. Now add the tamarind extract and its water. Then add 1 ½ cup water. Simmer for 10 minutes.
• Now add the coconut milk. Mix well. Cook for 2 minutes. Then strain the mixture through a sieve.
• Add this curry to a pan and on medium heat put the prawns in it and cook for 3 minutes.
• Now for tempering, take a ladle, add oil, heat it. Then add shallots and curry leaves. You can add 1 green chilli slit if you wish.
• Then pour it into the prawns. Mix well and serve with hot steamed rice.

Durri Bhalla is a cookery expert and author of Indian Bohra Cuisine and Inner Truth To Good Health And Weight Loss. You can find her at @DurriBhallaKitchen on Instagram, Durri’s Kitchen on Facebook and Durri Bhalla on YouTube