Unakka Kappa Vevichathu(Dry Yuca Cooked)

In Kerala,Kappa/Tapioca/Cassava is also considered to be a staple food just like rice mainly because it is inexpensive and is widely available.We could eat Kappa for breakfast,as a evening snack or for dinner.Kappa can be grown very easily,only thing you’ve to taken care is the attack from rats.

Variety of deliccacies can be prepared from fresh Kappa,and the most popular one is Kappa kuzhachathu with meen curry.Unakka Kappa/dry Cassava is not much appreciated when compared to the fresh ones.It is nothing, but tapioca peeled,washed,sliced/diced, boiled and dried in the sun.This can be stored for years and gives out a totally different flavor when cooked.

This dish used to be a regular at my amma’s place in Erumely.Its a very simple preparation and is usually served with Ulli chammanthi or Kanthari Mulaku (a kind of chilly called bird’s eye chilli) Chammanthi.

Ingredients :-

Unakka Kappa/Dry Cassava – 4 cups
Fresh grated coconut – 1- 2 cups(use it according to your taste..I like it with more coconut)
Green chillies chopped- 6-10 (again use it accordingly)
Shallots sliced – 8-10
Salt – to taste
Coconut oil – as needed

Method:-

Wash the kappa pieces well and soak it overnight or for 8 hours.Drain and add around 5-6 cups water to kappa and allow it to boil.Strain the water and add fresh water to it again and cook kappa until it turns soft.If you’re using a pressure cooker ,cook for 1 whistle.Strain the water again and let the kappa cool.

Take a big bowl and add coconut,shallots,green chillies and salt into it.Mix them together with hand.Add kappa pieces into it and combine them well.Add 3-4 tsps of coconut oil into it and mix them together with hand.Serve with chammanthi of your choice.

Note :-You can prepare Kappa Kuzhachathu (with ground coconut-cumin paste) with Unakka Kappa also.After the kappa gets cooked,follow the procedure of Kappa Kuzhachathu recipe.

Also check out Inji’s Kappa Puzhukku with Unakka Kappa

Rava Idly

Its been a long time since i’ve posted any kids special dishes.So here it goes, my little guy loves this for breakfast.

Rava Idly is not a popular dish in Kerala,but this is a much easier and healthier version compared to plain iddlis.Rava or semolina lightly sauteed in oil is mixed with chopped veggies,grated coconut and curd ,allow to sit for 30 mins and then cook in steam.Serve it with any type of chutneys.

Ingredients :-

Rava/Semolina – 2 cups
Finely chopped or grated veggies – 1 cup
(I use carrots,tomatoes,beans,potatoes,spinach etc)
Turmeric Powder (Optional) – 1/4 tsp
Curd/Yoghurt – 1 cup
Grated coconut – 1/4 cup
Coriander leaves chopped (Optional) – as needed
Baking soda – a pinch
Cashews (Optional) – 10 – 12

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Urad dal – 1 tsp
Asafoetida(Kaayam) – 1/4 tsp
Green chillies chopped – 4-5
Grated ginger – 1 tsp
Curry leaves chopped – a sprig
Salt – to taste
Oil/Ghee – as needed

Method:-

Heat oil/ghee in a a pan and allow mustard seeds to splutter.Add asafoetida into it,then add urad dal,ginger,green chillies and curry leaves.Stir for a while and add rava into it.Turn the heat to medium and keep stirring it until the rava is roasted.Turn off the heat and allow it to cool.
Add the veggies,curd,coconut,coriander leaves,baking soda and salt and mix well.You can add little more water/curd to get the consistency of the normal idly batter.Allow it to sit for 30 minutes.
Grease the idly plates and keep 1-2 cashews inside each plate and pour batter over the cashews,just like you pour idly batter.Steam cook it for 10 – 15 mts on medium flame.Allow it to cool in the rack for few minutes and then carefully lift it with a spatula and serve with your favorite chutney.

Vattayappam

I’ve been getting so many requests to post a recipe for Vattayappam.So here it comes…

Back in my home,this is a regular tea time snack,but i’ve seen families serving this for breakfast along with Fish molly ,spicy curries ,stews etc.

Ingredients :-

Raw rice – 2 cups
Cooked rice (preferabbly rosematta rice cooked ) – 1 cup
Grated coconut – 1 cup
Yeast – 1/2 tsp
Sugar – 1/4 cup or use it accordingly
Salt – a pinch
Roasted Cashews and Raisins – as needed (Optional)
Cardamom powder – a pinch (Optional :-Personally,I like it better without this)

Method :-

Soak the rice in water for 5-6 hours and drain it. Grind this with grated coconut,sugar and cooked rice adding just enough water to a smooth batter.Be careful while adding water,the batter should not be very watery,it has to be in the consistency of idly batter.Add the yeast and salt and mix well together.Cover it with a lid and keep it in a warm place for 8 – 10 hrs to ferment.

Just before preparing,check for the sugar and also add cardamom powder if you’re using it.Gently stir it and keep it aside.Grease a flat pan or idly mould with little oil and spoon in the fermented batter.Top it with cashews and raisins.

Steam it for 15 mts in a medium heat or until it is done.

Allow it to cool in the pan for 20 mts and gently take it out .

Tip :- For soft vattayappams,carefully spoon only the foamy part from the top of the fermented batter into the pan.Stir the rest of the batter well and again allow it to ferment.With 20- 25 mts,it will ferment again and you’ll get a foamy batter on top.

Check out Maria’s Vattayappam here

Update :- Instead of sugar,you can also use jaggery.Just heat the jaggery adding little amount of water and allow it to melt completly.Pour it through a sieve and collect the melted jaggery in a bowl.Allow it to cool and then add it to the batter .Again be careful about the consistency of the batter,it should be similar to idly batter.

Blueberry Muffins

Now some freshly baked muffins from Elise’ Simply recipes.This recipe is very simple and definitely a keeper.

Ingredients:-

Blue berries – 1 and 1/2 cups
All purpose flour – 3 cups + 1 tbsp(only if using frozen blueberries)
Baking powder – 1 tbsp
Baking Soda -1/2 tsp
Unsalted butter softened – 10 tbsp
Sugar -1 cup
Eggs – 2 large
Plain Yogurt – 1 and 1/2 cup
Lemon peel grated – 1 tsp
Salt – 1/2 tsp

Method:-

Preheat oven to 375°F.Take a bowl, beat butter and sugar together until fluffy.Now add one egg,beat it and add the other.Beat it again until they are well incorporated.Now beat in grated lemon peel.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.Add 1/2 of the dry ingredients to the beaten egg-sugar mixture,and beat it until just incorporated.Now beat in one third of yogurt ,beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients,beat in second third of yogurt,beat in remaining dry ingredients and then the remaining yogurt.Do not over beat, beat it until they are just incorporated.Fold in the blue berries.If you are using frozen berries, defrost them first, drain the excess liquid, and then dust them in 1 tbsp of flour.

Coat a standard muffin pan with vegetable oil sprays or butter and distribute the muffin dough equally among all cups.Bake until muffins are golden brown,about 25 to 30 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted at the centre comes out clean.Allow it to cool for 5 minutes,remove from the pan and serve hot.

Orotti

I’ve been thinking of posting this for a long time and finally i made it today..:)
Orotti,which falls under traditional Kerala breakfasts category is a variety of thick roti made using rice flour and grated coconut.Some add jaggery,mashed banana,mashed jackfruits etc into the dough to make sweet orottis,but in my home we always prefer it to be plain and is often taken with spicy chutneys or gravies.

Ingredients :-

Rice Flour – 2 cups
Grated coconut – 3/4 cup
Salt,Water – as needed
Ghee or Oil – for greasing the pan.

Method:-

Take a bowl, add rice flour and grated coconut into it,mix them together.Boil water in a pan,adding required amount of salt into it.Pour the boiled water little by little to the rice flour,stirring in between,until it is ready to make into a smooth dough.Allow it to cool for a while.When it is half cooled,knead it with your hands into a smooth dough.Divide the dough into 4-5 equal sized balls.

Heat the griddle and apply little ghee onto it.Take a ball and spread it like a thick roti onto the griddle using wet hands.Or else you can shape it into a roti on a banana leaf,a parchment paper,foil etc and transfer it into a greased griddle.Cook for about 1 minute on high heat,then simmer it for 3-4 minutes.Now turn the roti,and cook the other side the same way.Apply little ghee on top and serve hot.

This can also be prepared on a banana leaf,spread the dough into the shape of a roti on a greased banana leaf and cover it with another piece of greased banana leaf,and then cook it over a hot tawa.