Nendram Pazham Puliserry

Busy days of Navarathri are flying by. It’s already the seventh day. Another two days and there goes this year’s Dassara. Hope all of you are enjoying the festive season.

Coming to today’s post, it is nothing related to Navarathri.  Actually I had wanted to post this before Onam. But due to some constraints couldn’t get around doing it then.

Puliserry is a popular Kerala dish, which is almost an integral part of Sadhyas in some parts of Kerala. It is a spiced coconut and yoghurt gravy which is generally had with rice. Puliserry is generally made with a fruit – the most popular one being Mambazha Puliserry made out of ripe mangoes. Nendram Pazhams (ripe plantains) and Pineapples are also widely used in making Puliserry. It has a lovely blend of fruity, slightly spicy and tangy flavors.

What you’ll need

1.       Ripe Nendram Pazham – 2

2.       Sour Thick Curds – 1 ½ cups

3.       Black Pepper Powder – ½ tsp

4.       Turmeric Powder – a pinch

5.       Salt to taste

6.       Curry Leaves

To Grind

1.       Scraped Coconut – 1 cup tightly packed
2.       Green Chillies – 4 (Adjust according to taste)

For Seasoning

1.       Oil – 1 tsp

2.       Mustard Seeds – ½ tsp

3.       Dried Red Chillies – 1 broken

4.       Fenugreek Seeds – ¼ tsp

Method

Peel Nendram pazham, and cut into big pieces. Boil the pazham pieces in just enough water with turmeric powder, pepper powder and salt.

In the meanwhile, grind the coconut with green chillies into a fine paste. You can use a little of the curd to grind.

Once the pazham pieces are cooked, it should be done in 10 minutes. Add the ground coconut and chillies paste. Mix well. Add about 1/2 cup of water and bring to boil.

Whisk the sour curds and add it to the above mixture. Adjust salt. Give it a nice stir. Simmer until it starts foaming up. Let it not boil. Remove from heat.

In a small frying pan, heat the oil, add mustard seeds, once it crackles add the fenugreek seeds and red chilly. Pour this over the puliserry.  

Yummy Pazham puliserry is ready. Serve with white rice accompanied with a simple vegetable stir fry and some pappadoms.

Linking this to Ramya’s event B for Banana, to KeralaKitchen hosted by Khushi and to F is for Fruit Curry guest hosted by Richa originally started by Charitha

Idichu Pizhinja Payasam | Chadhachadhayam

In my previous few posts I have been writing Onam is just round the corner, 2 more days to go etc, and Onam is already here. So tomorrow is Thiruvonam. Everybody must be busy shopping for their Ona Kodi (New Clothes), Ona Sadhya and also preparing for the Pookolam.

No, festive meal is complete without a payasam and so is the case with the Onasadhya. So today’s post is a Payasam – Idichu Pizhinja Payasam. The star ingredient of this payasam is coconut milk, and we all know how it is extracted, by grinding and squeezing scraped fresh coconut. In olden days, when there were no blenders or mixers, people used to pound the scraped coconut in a stone mortar. Idichu in Malayalm refers to pounding and pizhinja means squeezing and hence the name.

 This payasam also known as chathachathayam is offered as Neivedyam, during Navarathri at our Annapoorneshwari Temple in my native place Puthucode. The highlight of the Navarathri Sadhya is the Navarathri Pulinkari and this payasam. Though I have not had the chance to taste the prasadam, my brother has had it many times and he has no words to describe it. He just loves it. So what are we waiting for, let’s get straight to the recipe:

What you’ll need:

1.       Rice: ¼ cup

2.       Powdered Jaggery – 1 cup

3.       Coconut Milk – From 1 big coconut/ readymade coconut milk – 200ml

4.       Ghee – 1 tsp

Method

1.       Wash and drain rice. Cook the rice in a pressure cooker by adding water in the ratio of 1:3.

2.       Scrape the fresh coconut. Now to extract coconut milk:

a.       Blend the scraped coconut in a mixie or blender. Squeeze the milk out and strain it. This is the first milk.

b.      Now add about 1 cup of warm water to the coconut residue and blend it again. Squeeze out the milk in another vessel and strain it. This is the second milk.

c.       Now add about 2 to 2 ½ cups of warm water to the coconut residue and blend it again. Squeeze out the milk in yet another vessel and strain. This is the third milk.

3.       Heat a heavy bottomed Kadai or vessel; add the jaggery and the 3rd milk, mix well.  Let the jaggery dissolve completely. Strain for impurities and put it back on heat. Let this boil for about 5 minutes till the raw smell of the jaggery is gone.

4.       Now mash the cooked rice well and add it to the jaggery and coconut milk. Mix well without any lumps. Let this boil for about 3 to 4 minutes or till the rice and jaggery are well blended.

5.       Now add the second milk and let it boil for 5 to 6 minutes or till the payasam starts thickening a bit.

6.       Now, remove from flame, and add the thickest milk or the first milk. Stir well. Add a teaspoon of ghee for flavor.

Yummy and tasty Payasam is ready to be served. Tastes best when served warm.

Note:

Store bought readymade coconut milk can be used. If using readymade milk, dilute half of the coconut milk with about 2 cups of water and proceed as mentioned above. But the payasam tastes best when made with fresh coconut milk.

Here are links to few other recipes for Onam:

Sambar
Kalan
Olan
Idichakka Thoran
Beans Carrot Thoran
Paal Payasam
Paruppu Payasam

Linking this to Kerala Kitchen, hosted by Divya.

Wishing all my readers and friends a very Happy Onam.