Mango Thokku / Sweet and Spicy Mango Jam

Thokku is a mildly sweet, mildly spicy mango jam made usually with 'moovandan' mango. So it is not really a pickle. It is relished with Dosa, Upuma and also curd rice. We have gone a step further and used it as a bread spread too!
My maternal Grandmother (Late Mrs.Lakshmi Suryanarayanan) made the BEST thokku, ever.
This recipe was given to me by her daughter, my mother - Mrs. Radha Parameswaran.
If you want a simple recipe of mango pickle, click here.

Note:
The Mangoes for thokku are usually grated, but I prefer to chop them. Please feel free to grate your mangoes.
My grandmother used to squeeze the juice of the mangoes, after grating and use that water to melt the jaggery. This syrup used to be sieved before getting added to the mangoes.
The green chilly , ginger and curry leaf step is optional.

Ingredients:
Raw Green Mango - 4, grated or chopped - yield 3 cups
Green chilly - 5
Ginger - 3 inch 
Red chilly - 30 (increase /  decrease, according to your family taste)
Uluva / menthayam / methi seeds - 3 tsp
Asafoetida / kayam - 2 cm radius round
Til oil / nallena / gingelly oil - 3 tbsp + 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Jaggery / sharkara - 1/3 cup

Method:
Dry roast the methi seeds and Red chillies separately. Cool and powder them together. Keep aside.
Heat some 1 tbsp til oil and fry the asafoetida in it. Cool and powder. Keep aside.
Chop / grate the mangoes.

Heat 2 more tbsp of til oil in the same vessel and splutter the mustard seeds.
Add the green chilly , ginger and curry leaf.

Into this add the chopped / grated mangoes to this. Stir well.

When the mangoes start getting cooked, add the salt, turmeric powder and asafoetida powder.

When the oil starts seeping from the sides, add the jaggery and mix well.

After 2 minutes, add the powdered Methi + Red chilly powder.

You will see that almost no oil is there in the dish.
After a minute of continuous mixing, add the last 1 tbsp of oil and mix well.
Your Thokku is ready.
Cool and store in air tight containers.

A Tamilnadu Temple Prasadam / Tirukostiyur Tirumaalai Chamba / tamarind rice with brinjal and bittergourd

Since I am a food blogger, I go through various recipes and view many food shows, to increase my repertoire of recipes.
During one trawling sessions, I came upon a recipe of a Prasad served in a temple in Tamil Nadu hinterlands which I KNEW would taste good. My inner-taste buds (there is something like that inside my head!) started salivating and I just HAD to make it.
So I made it and took it to my uncle's house and everyone of them approved the dish!
How can a centuries old unchanged recipe be wrong?

The food served at all Indian temples as Prasadam are very wholesome. It suits the climate of the region, is filling and supports the local farmers. This dish is a true ode to old style cooking where til oil and ghee is used and for spiciness only pepper and not red chillies.

Tirukostiyur is part of the 108 divyadesam and this dish is served to the deity (and later to the devotees) after the evening alankaaram / aarathi (called Tirumaalai).

Basic Recipe Courtesy : Puliyogare Travels

Ingredients:
Raw white Rice / pachari - 1 cup
Pasiparippu / moong dal / cheru parippu - 1 tbsp
Urad dal / uzhundu - 1/2 cup, washed and soaked for 2 hours
Brinjal / aubergine / vazhuthana gai- 1 large (or) 4 small , cut into large chunks
Bitter gourd / kaipakka - 3 tbsp, chopped fine
Green chilly - 1
Salt to taste
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Ghee / clarified butter - 3 tbsp + 2 tbsp
Til oil / nallenai - 3 tbsp
Mustard - 1 tsp
Curry leaf - 2 sprigs
Tamarind- 1 lime sized ball, soaked in warm water
Pepper corn - 5 tbsp
Fenugreek seeds / menthayam /uluva - 2 tbsp
Oil for deep frying

Method:
Grind the urad dal with very less salt and the green chilly into a fine paste without adding water.
Deep fry spoonfuls in hot oil, till golden brown. (Do not bother with shape) Keep aside.

Pressure cook the moong dal and rice in 3 cups water for 4 whistles. Keep aside. It must get well cooked.

Heat a heavy bottomed vessel and dry fry the pepper and fenugreek seeds separately.
Powder both separately and keep aside.

Heat the 3 tbsp til oil and 3 tbsp ghee together in the same heavy bottomed vessel.
Splutter the mustard and then add in the curry leaf, bitter gourd and brinjal.
Fry for 2 minutes and add 2 cups of tamarind extract.
Season with salt, turmeric powder and 4 tbsp pepper powder.
Reduce flame and cook covered for 5-6 minutes.
The vegetables must just soften, not get well-cooked and the raw smell of the tamarind pulp must go.
Add the urad dal vadais and boil for 1 minute.
Now add the cooked rice, fenugreek powder to this.
Mix well.

The dish should neither be too watery, nor too dry.
Add more hot water, if necessary.
Taste and add more pepper powder, if you so prefer.

Serve hot with the rest of the ghee on top.

Taal Pachadi / Colocasia stem curry

Each part of the colocasia plant is used in various recipes.
Patroda - a very delectable snack is made using it's leaf and is loved by the Gujarati community and Gowda Saraswat Brahmins.
The root produces a tuber called Colocasia or Taro or Chembu or arbi which is used widely in various recipes. Do try the arbi dry fry.

Taal - is the stem of Colacasia plant and here I will tell you how to prepare the stem for the pachadi.

You will find the recipe of Taal pachadi when you click this link - Traditional Pachadi .

Important Notes for this recipe:
1. Use Tamarind juice.
2. Grind coconut with mustard and green chilly.
3. No curd is used.

Pictorial Preparation of Taal Pachadi

Peel skin

Peeled skin

Boil with a little water, salt and turmeric powder

Add tamarind juice

Grind together the coconut, green chilly and mustard seeds

Add jaggery and the ground paste

Kerala style Vegetable Stew / Mixed Vegetable in Coconut milk gravy

Almost all the Kerala dishes are high in masala and spice level. How to counter this high with a mild?
Vegetable Stew is mild. Coconut milk acts as a great combiner of flavors and provides a beautiful smoothness and sweetness to the curry.
There is no tomato, no turmeric powder, no masala powder, no garlic used in this recipe.

You will find many 'optional' ingredients in this recipe. Potato and carrot are a MUST.
Cauliflower, green peas and beans are vegetables you CAN add if you have it available at home.
Ginger - I do not add it in my stew, but my mother does.

Ingredients:
Potato - 3 large
Carrot -1 large
Green peas - 1/2 cup (optional)
Beans - 4, cut into 1 inch batons (optional)
Cauliflower - 1 cup (optional)
Green chilly - 2, slit
Ginger - 1 inch, chopped fine (optional)
Onion - 1 large and 1 medium , cut into thin long pieces
Coconut oil - 2 tbsp
Peppercorn - 4
Cloves - 3
Cinnamon stick- 1 inch, broken
Curry leaf - 2 sprigs
Coconut milk - 200 ml
Salt

Method:
Either pressure cook the potato and carrot together for 3 whistles. Boil the green peas, beans and cauliflower separately. Peel the potato and mash into chunks with the rest of the vegetables. Keep aside.
(Or)
Peel the potato and carrot. Cut into cubes and boil in plenty of salted water until it is nearly cooked through and then add the peas, beans and cauliflower (if using). Cook covered till all the vegetables soften. Mash some and leave some whole.

Heat the coconut oil and fry the peppercorns, cloves and cinnamon stick.
Once they pop, reduce flame and add the onion, green chilly, ginger (if using) and 1 sprig of curry leaf.
The onion must just become transparent. Do not increase flame as the onion might brown.
Now add the boiled vegetables with some water and little salt. Mix well.
Do not make it too watery as we need to add the coconut milk.
Boil for 5 minutes , stirring often on low flame.
Add the coconut milk and mix well.
Do not boil after you add the coconut milk.
Taste and add more salt, if necessary.
Decorate with the rest of the curry leaf and enjoy with idiyappam / appam and any spicy dish like mushroom ularthiyathu.