Tapioca/Kappa cutlet

Tapioca is one of the staple food of Kerala, next to rice. Every part of Kerala refers to Tapioca in a different name. Kappa, Kolli, Poola, Marachini are some of the names to my knowledge. May be there are more which I am not aware of. Last year, during this time, my Dad was here with us for a month. He visited my grandma during his stay and happened eat some fresh Kappa there. On his return, he got the stem of the plant for me, so that we too can enjoy tasty kappa at home. This is the bounty I got from a single plant this year. Thanks Appa. There were five plants. I have kept one for him, who will be reaching here, next week.

As like any Keralite, kappa is a hot favorite at my home too. We enjoy kappa boiled with salt and turmeric. The ideal dip is the classic ulli chammanthi. I can have that for lunch and dinner too. This variety was very fast to cooking. It got cooked in less than 10 minutes on stove top. Usually, I pressure cook. I made some tapioca chips, prepared the usual upperi as side for rice. Made this cutlet to be served with tea on a weekend.

Tapioca chopped into cubes - 2 cup

onion - 1

green chilly - 4 nos

ginger - a small wedge

curry leaves

turmeric

salt

oil for frying

Maida - 2 tblspn

bread crumbs - 1 cup

Cook tapioca with turmeric and salt. The cooked water is usually discarded since some toxic from the root is released on cooking. Heat oil in a kadai. Add the chopped chillies,ginger and curry leaves. Add chopped onion to it and saute till pink. Crumble the cooked tapioca and mix with the seasonings. Check the salt and let it cook for few minutes. Cool and mix together. Take lemon sized mixture and shape into patties.

Take 2 tablespoon of maida and add water to make a thin batter. Add a pinch of salt. Dip the patties in the batter and roll it over the bread crumbs.Heat a tawa. Drizzle few drops of oil. Place the cutlets on tawa and drizzle few drops of oil on the cutlets. When the bottom is browned, carefully flip it and cook the other side. Serve with your favorite chutney or sauce. I was in a hurry, so could not roast them longer for even browning.

Vidhaas has passed me the Perfect friendship and Hard working blogger award. Thank you Vidhaas and I appreciate your thoughfulness.

These cutlets are off to Local Eats Event hosted at Joelen's Culinary Adventures.

Dal kichdi

We all know how to make dal. In our family, plain cooked dal is used extensively in sambar and rasam. Sometimes we make as a side dish for rotis. I have never made a one pot meal like Dal kichdi before. I came across this recipe from Sunshinemom's blog. It is the simplest and bestest comfort food.

Ingredients:
Mung dal-1/4 cup
Thur dal-1/4 cup
Salt
Turmeric-a pinch
Hing-a pinch
Rice-3/4th cup or 1 cup uncooked
Coriander leaves chopped-1 tsp

To tamper:
Oil-1 tbsp
Mustard seeds-1/2 tsp
Jeera-1/2 tsp
Thinly sliced garlic-1 pod
Thinly sliced onion-1/4 cup
Curry leaves- a few
Red chilli-2
Cashews-4

Method:
Cook rice and set aside.
Pressure cook both the dals together with turmeric and enough water till done.
Do the tampering till onions turn crisp and golden brown.
To the cooked rice, add salt, hing and cooked dhals. The mixture might be very thick. Add little water and bring it to desired consistency. Add the tampered ingredients and garnish with coriander leaves.

Kashmiri Pulao with a South Indian touch

I love Pineapple. I love it so much that you will find it in my fridge anytime. I grab a pineapple every time I go to Costco. They go for 3$ each which is super cheap.

This is Mrs. Chitra Viswanathan's(She posts recipes in http://www.indusladies.com. Her recipes are always a hit and I am a big fan of her)recipe. I feel it has a South Indian touch because the spice powder used here is similar to vangi bath powder. I liked it because the the taste was very mild and not overpowering. Here is how I made Kashmiri Pulao-

Ingredients:
Basmathi Rice-1 cup uncooked
Salt
Onion chopped-1 cup
Peas-a handful
Oil-1 tbsp
Ghee-2 tbsp
Pineapple pieces chopped-1 cup

1. To fry in a drop of oil or ghee and grind:
cloves-4
Jeera-1tsp
Channa dhal-1 tsp
Dhaniya(Coriander seeds)-1 tsp
Red chillis-3

2. To fry in 1/2 tsp of oil and set aside:
Chopped almonds-2 tsp
Cashews-1 tsp
Raisins(I used dark colored ones)-2 tbsp or as you wish
Star anise-1
Cinnamon-1

Method:
Soak basmathi rice in water for 1/2 hour and cook till done and set aside.
In a drop of oil, fry ingredients mentioned under number 1 and grind to a fine powder.
Again, fry the ingredients mentioned under number 2 and set aside.
In remaining oil and ghee, fry chopped onions till golden brown. Add frozen peas and salt and cook for another 2 minutes.
Mix everything together(onions-peas mixture, ground powder, fried nuts and raisins) with rice adding some salt.
Finally add pineapple pieces and serve hot.

Variation:If you don't want to use South Indian spice powder mentioned under number 1, you may omit it. Instead fry green chilli and ginger garlic paste in oil/ghee along with onions- peas mixture and cook rice and saffron together. Rest of the procedure is the same. But I haven't tried it.

I was happy with the way Kashmiri Pulao turned out!




Sending this to Srivalli's Rice mela.