Mathan Pradhaman - Pumpkin cooked in jaggery syrup and coconut milk

Before I move on with posting the other recipes in my drafts, let me finish off the dishes that I made during the festivals in the last week. Last week, for two days together, it was festive lunch on account of Onam and Avaniavittom. For Onam, I made paladapradhaman. While I was chatting with my cousin over phone, who is a great foodie himself, asked me the payasams I am planning for  the oncoming festivals. I had decided paladapradhaman to make from scratch and I was contemplating on various options for another payasam. It was then he suggested about mathan paradhaman. He reminiscenced that our grand father had prepared this for grihapravesam after my parents wedding. And then, no one could find out the ingredient in the pradhaman. Recalling those instances were enough for me to decide that I will make this for Avaniavittom, provided I get ripe pumpkin.

You need

• Cooked and pureed pumpkin - 1 cup heaped
• Powdered jaggery - 1 1/2 cups
• Coconut milk - 3 halves of coconut
• Coconut bits fried in ghee - 2 tblspn
• Dry ginger powder -1/2 tspn

Method

Chop pumpkin into cubes. Pressure cook with just enough water to cover the pieces for 2 whistles. You can cook on stove top also till it is mashable. Drain the water and mash the pumpkin pieces till smooth. Alternatively can pulse for few seconds in the mixer grinder. The drained water can be used in soups.

Extract three sets of milk from freshly grated coconuts. I have written here about extracting milk.

Melt jaggery in a cup of water and strain for any impurities. Heat the melted jaggery syrup in a thick bottomed vessel. When the syrup thickens, stir in the pumpkin puree. Continue cooking till it thickens to a flaky consistency so that the pumpkin must have absorbed the sweetness very well. Add the third, thin coconut milk and keep stirring. When it reduces to half in volume, add the second, slightly thick coconut milk and continue cooking till it reduces to almost half in volume. Switch off the heat and stir in the first, thick coconut milk. Heat ghee in a pan and fry the coconut bits till brown. I did not have any coconut left so fried cashews instead. Add dry ginger powder. 

My husband and mother-in-law and friends who tasted this payasam could not guess the ingredient as pumpkin. It was very tasty and creamy, similar to parippu pradhaman.

P.S Watch out for the review of  a cook book, which contains recipes from a leading restaurant chain in India.

Badam Burfi/Almond Squares

In my Okra-Fry post, i have mentioned about Pongiduthal tradition. Now, for that feast we made some Badam burfi. This Is my SIL's(Brother's Wife) recipe. Though she was trying this for the first time, it came out great. Very soft and Flavourful!!!!

Ingredients

1 cup Almonds

1 cup Sugar

3- 4 tbsp Clarified Butter

Roasted Almonds for Garnishing

Method

Soak almonds Overnight. Next Day Morning, peel the skin and Grind the almonds to fine paste, without adding any water.

In a Heavy Bottom pan, Put the almond mixture and Sugar together and keep stirring. The Sugar starts melting and this almond mixture gets cooked. Add the ghee and mix well. Keep Stirring. Mean-while, grease a flat plate with some ghee and keep it ready.

Once the Almond mixture, starts leaving the sides of the pan, Pour it on the grease plate and spread it flat.

Let it cool, then use a sharp knife and cut it into squares.Decorated the top with some roasted almonds.

 Store the squares in a Air-tight Container and Enjoy!!!

Sending this to Festive Food - Rakhi 2010 @ Indian Khana by Priti And to 'Only' Kids Delight @ Foodelicious by Pari and to Dish Name starts with A @ Akila's Kitchen

Olan- ash gourd, red pumpkin and cowpeas cooked in thin coconut milk

Olan is a bland dish with the flavor of coconut. It is part of the traditional Kerala meal. It is a very simple dish yet very flavorful. Red pumpkin adds slight sweetness to the dish. Olan can be made with just ash gourd and pumpkin alone. You can throw in few long yard beans also to it. And cow peas (small brown colored beans) can also be added. Sometimes, few pieces of taro root/arbi is also added. You can mix and match the ingredients according to the availability.  The vegetables can be cooked in water or thin coconut milk to add up the flavor. 

You need

• Ash gourd/Kumbalanga - 250 gms
• Pumpkin/Mathanga - 250 gms
• Long yard bean/Payar - 5 nos (optional)
• Cowpeas/vellapayar - a handful
• Green chilli - 1 no
• Thick Coconut milk - 3 tblspn
• Coconut oil - 1 tspn
• Salt to taste

Method

Pressure cook cow peas till soft. I have used black eyed beans. Peel the skin from the vegetables and remove the seeds. Chop both pumpkin and ash gourd into thin squares. Trim the edges of long yard beans and cut into 1 inch long pieces. Dilute 2 tablespoon of coconut milk in 1 1/2 cups of water. Add the chopped vegetables to it. Add a slit green chilly and salt to it.

While its half cooked, add the cooked cow peas to it. Be gentle while you mix the veggies when it is cooking so as not to break them much. Cook till the veggies are soft yet firm. Remove from heat. Add the remaining coconut milk and mix gently. Drizzle a teaspoon of coconut oil and cover it, for the flavors to steep in. Serve hot. The aroma of veggies cooked in coconut milk and of  coconut oil is very tantalizing. If cowpeas is used, it will slighty color the olan to light brown.