Padavalanga mooru curry (Snake gourd and yoghurt curry)

We love yoghurt. Period.

We almost always have a stash in the fridge and can easily go through a pot in two days. That said, I have never tried making yoghurt at home and have to depend on the store bought ones (which is not bad at all)

So when YoghurtDirect sent me the Easiyo yoghurt maker to review, I was excited. I'd never tried making yoghurt  at home and this was going to be fun. The yoghurt maker promises fresh yoghurt with three easy steps and makes use of the finest quality New Zealand milk powder, available in a range of plain and flavoured varieties (of course with varying or lower fat contents as well). The instructions were really easy to follow and on a cold night I set about making my first yoghurt.

From the two sachets I ordered, I tried the Full Fat Greek Yoghurt and kept the Sweet Forest Fruits sachet for another day. Followed the manual to the dot, kept it to set overnight and by next morn I had a kilo of perfectly set Greek yoghurt. The yoghurt turned out exceptionally thick and creamy and the slight sourness reminded me of the curds you get back in India, perfect for those south Indian curries. 

Its a no mess, no fuss system and I would think, much more economical than buying store bought yoghurt. The fact that the sachets can only be picked up online is a bit of an issue for me- the non planner that I am, I would invariably end up forgetting to order them and will have to head over to the nearest store to buy yoghurt when in need. If the online store is not an issue, I think Easiyo is a really good addition to your kitchen. 

We enjoyed half of the yoghurt on its own, and the other half, I used for a "mooru" curry (yoghurt based curry) which turned out really nice. 

Recipe adapted from here

Yoghurt- 1 1/2 cups (beaten well)

Water- as required

Salt- to taste

Snake gourd (padavalanga)- 1 cup, peeled cleaned and diced

Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp

Chilli powder- 1/2 tsp

Water- 1/2 cup

To grind

Dessicated coconut- 1/2 cup

Green chilli- 1, roughly chopped

Cumin seeds- 1/2 tsp

Tadka

Oil- 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp

Fenugreek seeds- 1/4 tsp

Curry leaves- a large sprig

Dry red chillies- 2 to 3

Beat the yoghurt with enough water and salt to make it lump free. It shouldn't be too thin. Keep aside.

In a saucepan mix together the diced snake gourd, turmeric powder, chilli powder and water and cook covered over medium heat till the vegetable is done. A fork should easily break through the flesh. 

While that's taken care of, grind the coconut, green chilli and cumin seeds in a coffee grinder to a coarse paste. Add a tsp or two of water if required.

Once the snake gourd is done, reduce heat to low and add the ground coconut mix.

Stir it all together and cook for a further 5 minutes.

Take the pan off heat and keep aside to cool for a couple of minutes (around 7 to 10 mins).

Add the beaten yoghurt and stir well to combine. 

Do a taste test and add more salt if required.

Do a tadka by heating oil and adding all the ingredients to it once the mustard starts to crackle.

Pour over the curry, give a good mix and serve warm with some rice, pappad, fish fry and pickle :)

Notes: The snake gourd can be replaced with the Indian cucumber or ash gourd.

Of course you can omit the coconut mix and instead just add some chopped onions and ginger to the tadka and pour over the curry for a different, but just as good, version.

With thanks to YoghurtDirect for sending me the Easiyo yoghurt maker to review.

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Vanilla macarons with speculoos filling

Dora of BoBo Macarons had given a master class on macaron making at the Bloggers' Buzz event, and that really pushed my confidence levels. I got down to business a few days after the class with a free mind and casual approach and voila, the perfect macarons at my disposal. I had tried espresso macarons a while back (when the macaron rage was full on) and although they weren't perfect, at that time I thought it was an accomplishment. After that I would have had at least 4 to 5 disasters and had almost given up on making macarons when Dora showed us how easy it was. Really, you need to see an expert do it all with ease to actually learn the art of macaron making. 

So after the success with vanilla macarons, I was over confident that I had tackled the macaron monster. and happily agreed to make some chai spiced macarons for a shoot (as per request of course). Little did I know the macarons had a mind of their own. The day before the shoot, I shortlisted Meeta's recipe for the same (spiced chai macarons) and got down to business- confident to the core and a bit nervous at the thought of ending up with no feet at all. Well, feet were the least of my problems. The first batch had feet but came out cracked on top, like crazy cracked. Of course, what do I do first, panic. Panicked like crazy for about 1/2 an hour, read up on troubleshooting macarons, thought it was the temperature that caused it to crack and decided to make another batch. Followed the same recipe, reduced temperature a bit and nope, no difference, cracked tops on some, and those which didn't crack came out with crinkled tops. Chucked out that lot as well. 

By this time, I was almost in tears. I immediately called up Shab (an expert at this) who calmed me down and I decided to do the recipe I was used to, with just the addition of the spiced chai powder. Piped them out onto two trays and this time, one tray came out sort of perfect, but the other again crinkled and cracked tops. The problem here was... I had no clue what the hell I was doing wrong, to actually rectify it. If one tray of the same batch came out right and the other didn't, it couldn't have been the macronage or the setting time or the temperature. The only reason I could come up with was the tray lining used. One was a silicone mat and the other just baking paper. The macs on silicone mat came out good whereas the other was rubbish. I got around 6 to 8 decent macs from that lot, but it still wasn't enough for the shoot.

My mum called at the exact minute I was fretting over the macs and managed to freak her out as well. Her solution, just buy them from the store. If only chai spiced macs were readily available..and that too not filled, because that I had to do on the day of the shoot since they wanted to capture the piping technique. I had other dishes to prep for the shoot, plus a prop consultation by the stylist and I was a mess by then. I decided to give the macs a break and started tackling my other dishes. And then at around 9 at night I decided to give macs one last try. Yup, you guessed it right..disaster again. I mean I just didn't know what to do. Sorted out around 10 decent macs from the 4 batches I made, which means just 5 sandwiches. I knew I was in deep shit and had to figure out a way to make the macs work at the shoot. Lesson learnt..never ever agree to do macs for anyone. Like Dora said, your mood clearly reflects on the macs you make, I completely believe that now!

In the pic above you can see the disastrous macs (see the cracks?). Even after sandwiching them, they looked ugly. The flavour however was brilliant and I hope to try them out again when my macaron phobia is over. Comparing the vanilla macs to the chai ones, I'm in awe of how great they turned out. The biscoff / speculoos spread is a current fav and Nutella has been happily replaced. Keeping the macs simple with vanilla worked because the speculoos filling is fab and that was the only way to bring out its flavour. I loved the combo and some of our friends who tried it, loved it as well.

Recipe adapted from here, makes around 18 to 20 sandwiched macs (originally from Ottolenghi)

Ground almonds/ almond meal- 60 gms

Powdered sugar- 100 gms

Caster sugar- 40 gms

Vanilla paste- 1/2 tsp (or 1/2 tsp vanilla extract)

Egg whites- 60 gms (I used eggs whites from a carton Two Chicks)

For the filling

Double cream- 1/4 cup

Speculoos spread- 4 tbsp (Lotus spread)

Granulated sugar- 2 tbsp (optional)

If you are trying macs for the first time, do read Demystifying Macarons by the ever talented Helen Dujardin and you will be fine (except if the macs just decide they will not make us happy).

Before you start, get the baking trays lined with baking paper and the piping bag with round tip nozzle ready.

Sift the icing sugar and almond meal together once or twice to make sure there are no lumps. Its ok if they are not too fine. 

In a free standing mixer with whisk attachment whisk the egg whites till frothy.

Add the caster sugar bit by bit, while continuously beating, till soft peaks form.

It should hold its peak shape when you lift the whisk, but shouldn't be too dry and stiff.

Add two spoons of almond powder mix into the meringue and fold it all in using a spatula. You can be a bit vigorous here.

Add the remaining almond powder mix and slowly fold it in till you get a smooth mix.

To check if the consistency is right the batter should fall back in ribbons when you lift the spatula.

Also put a spoon full of the batter on a plate and if it spreads out on its own (not too fast) then you are good to go. If it doesn't, give a couple more folds and loosen it out. This is very tricky, if too loose  you are ruined.

Fill the piping bag with batter and pipe small rounds on to the trays. leave around 2 inches gap between the shells.

Gently tap the trays on the kitchen counter to rid of the air bubbles and keep aside to dry. This can range from 15 minutes to about an hour, depending on the humidity of the place. 

They are ready to bake when a film forms on the shells and when you lightly touch them, they no longer stick to your fingers.

Pre-heat oven to 140C and bake the macarons on the middle rack for 12 to 14 minutes. And do pray that nothing goes wrong in the oven. 

Once time is up, take the trays out of the oven and leave aside to cool completely after which you can carefully remove the shells from the paper and store in an air tight container till ready to pipe.

For the filling, whip the double cream till soft peaks form.

Fold in the sugar and speculoos spread and mix till they all come together.

I have eye balled the measurements here, if you need more spread flavour coming through, then add more.

Either fill a piping bag with the filling and pipe on to the macaron shells or if you are lazy like me, use a small tea spoon and spread on to the shells.

Sandwich them and store in the refrigerator in an air tight container over night for the flavours to set in.

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Food and wine pairing {Chablis food blogger challenge}

I have always wanted to do wine pairings on my blog and am completely in awe of those who can actually do so with ease. I mean I have evolved from being a fan of the really sweet wines, to the more drier ones and particularly the reds which we now order online and always have stash at home. That said, I crave for the occasional white wine and when I do, I savour it like no business. Its like drinking a can of coke after ages and you realise how incredibly awesome it tastes. Its also the whites that I would prefer for an afternoon drink or a BBQ. So when I was sent two bottles of Chablis wines to sample, I was over the moon. For one, I could introduce food and wine pairing on my blog and two, it had been a while since I'd had a good bottle of white wine and I couldn't wait to give it a go. I read up extensively about Chablis- thanks to the great tasting notes and info sent along with the wine and the plethora of info on the Chablis website- its opened my eyes on a whole lot of things. Do read up more on Chablis here

The challenge put forth was to recommend a take away pairing for the wine. I gave it a little thought and decided it had to be Chinese food. We love Chinese food and if it wasn't for our favourite take away joint around the corner, we would never have tasted authentic Chinese grub. I have always wondered what sort of wine would go with Chinese food and I'm proud to say that I made the Chablis work for us. I mean, I am no expert at wine pairings or even, wine tasting for that matter, but what I can definitely do is differentiate a great wine from a lot. We order Chinese take away every other week and almost always go back to a certain few dishes on the menu. After some brain storming sessions, I decided that along with the takeaway, I'd make two of my favourite dishes from the restaurant and present it here. I paired the Petit Chablis with steamed prawn and chive dumplings and the Chablis La Maladiere with spicy Kung Pao Pork (a take on the much known Kung Pao Chicken)

 

The dimsums at this place are too good, and I thought the prawn and chive dumpling with simple flavours would bring out the best in the wine, and vice versa. The slight chalky taste (I don't know if I was imagining it) and acidic taste went well with the coastal tones of the dumpling, and the fresh, slightly sweet tasting notes paired well with the heat from ginger, garlic and chives, all brought together by the saltiness of the soy sauce. The smell, absolutely fragrant and the colour a clear gold. These dumplings on a sunny afternoon, with a glass of Petit Chablis, would definitely make it to my favourite list.

The Chablis La Maladiere was a drier wine, which if you ask me, was my favourite among the two. I could just enjoy a glass or two on its own. But since we are talking food pairing, the spicy Kung Pao Pork was a good choice- a very exotic wine had to be paired with an exotic dish. I would think the wine would go well with spicy Indian food as well. A bite of the spicy pork, followed by a sip of the wine and the freshness hits you. It has a very unique taste and yes, its a wine I would buy again.

Pairing wine and food is certainly an art and thanks to Chablis, I was able to kick start the series on my blog. Here is the recipe for the two take away dishes we love the most.

Kung Pao Pork (recipe adapted from here, originally from Easy Chinese Recipes by Bee Yinn Low)

 

Pork- 250 gms, cut into bite size cubes (I used diced pork leg)

Rice wine- 1 tsp

Corn flour- 1 tbsp

Sichuan peppercorn oil- 1 tsbp (recipe follows)

Garlic- 2 pods, peeled and finely chopped

Ginger- 1 inch piece, peeled and finely chopped

Dried red chillies- 7 to 8, de-seeded and slit

Peanuts- 2 tbsp, roasted

Spring onions- 2, cut into round + enough for garnish

Oil- 2 tbsp

Water- 1/4 cup

Sichuan peppercorn oil

Sichuan peppercorns- 5 gms

Oil- 1/4 cup

Sauce

Dark soy sauce- 1 1/2 tbsp

Rice vinegar- 1 tsp

Rice wine- 1/2 tsp

Sugar- 1 tsp

Black pepper- 1/2 tsp

Water- 2 tbsp

Corn flour- 1 tsp

Salt- to taste

 

Make the Sichuan peppercorn oil first. Have the peppercorns ready in a heat proof bowl and heat the oil to smoking point (white smoke swirls are visible and you'd know its good to go). 

Pour it onto the peppercorns  stir well to release all that flavour and keep aside to cool for at least an hour or so for flavours to develop. The smell is divine.

Marinate the pork with rice wine and cornflour and keep aside for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Mix all the ingredients for the sauce in a bowl. Test for salt and add more if required.

When ready to cook, add 1/2 tbsp of oil into a wok on high heat.

When hot, throw in the marinated pork and stir fry on high heat till the pork is 3/4th cooked. It should be nice and charred outside. Keep stirring otherwise you might burn the pork.

Remove from wok and drain on paper towels.

Reduce heat to medium and add the remaining oil plus the sichuan peppercorn oil.

Once hot, into it add the garlic, ginger and dried red chillies. Stir fry till they are fragrant. Take care to not burn them though.

Return the fried pork to the wok and mix it all together.

Pour the sauce and water, stir well to coat the pork.

Cover and cook till the pork is done. About 8 to 10 minutes. Keep stirring in between and add more water if the sauce dries up.

Just before taking it off the fire, stir in the roasted peanuts and spring onion, give a final stir and serve hot with fried rice or plain jasmine rice.

Notes: Original recipe called for chicken. Follow same method for chicken.

Original recipe called for light soy sauce, but I didn't have any and used a smaller quantity of dark soy. Hence the deep colour of the dish.

The dish is crazy spicy, reduce the red chillies if you don't want it hot.

Pork takes longer to cook, so make sure the pieces are not too big and they are as even in size as possible

Steamed prawn and chive dumplings (makes around 20)

 

Prawns- 250 gms, finely chopped

Ginger- 1 tbsp, peeled and finely chopped

Garlic- 2 tbsp, peeled and finely chopped

Green chilli- 1 small, finely chopped 

Oyster sauce- 1/2 tbsp

Dark soy sauce- 1 tbsp

Chinese chives- 1 1/2 tbsp

Black pepper- 1/4 tsp

Salt- to taste

Dumpling wrappers- 20

Into a large mixing bowl, add all the ingredients, except dumpling wrapper. Mix well.

Place a spoon full of the filling into the centre of each wrapper, wet the edges and seal the wrapper well. Make tiny pleats with the edged, although this step is completely optional.

Place a well oiled baking paper in a bamboo steamer and arrange the dumplings in it, without touching each other. (my bamboo steamer can take 5 dumplings at one time).

Bring some water in a wok or shallow skillet to boil and place a bamboo steamer on it. Make sure that the water level is not too much. The dumpling layer should sit above the level of water.

Close with the lid and steam for 10 to 12 minutes or till the wrappers become translucent and the prawns are cooked through.

 

Notes: You can replace dark soy with 1 1/2 tbsp of light soy

If Chinese chives are not available, use normal chives

The dumplings can be boiled as well. Drop them into boiling water and when they rise to the top, take them out with a slotted spoon and leave to drain. 

If you don't have bamboo steamer, a regular steamer works fine.

With thanks to Chablis for sending me the samples. 

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Apple pie pancakes and OXO pancake kit review

I have a love hate relationship with apples. I mean I love apple pie and apple turnover and apple cakes and stuff, but biting into an apple as a snack or so is not preferred. That said, if I'm given a slice or two, I'd eat it without complaint. Ro has taken a liking towards apples (????!!!) and we now have apples lying around all the time. He will soon get over it, I know! ...its like his pear phase, or green tea phase. But till then, I have to play along. 

I guess a whole lot of you know about Shrove Tuesday or Pancake day as its more commonly referred to as? It was on the 12th of Feb and I was sent the OXO pancake kit to review. Due to busy schedules, I could not post it on the day or after the day or even a week after, but finally got around to doing it today. Almost a month later, but better late than never right?

Anyways, talking about OXO. Its one of my favourite brands and I have quite a few OXO products in my kitchen. The pancake kit which comprises of a batter bowl, whisk and pancake turner is a welcome addition to my already existing collection. I have had terrible luck with whisks, it breaks on me or is too flimsy to do its job properly and just when I was ready to give up, the OXO Good Grips Balloon Whisk makes its appearance. Its so sturdy that I can whisk the hell out of a batter or sauce and it doesn't give up. Heck, I even whisked cream to stiff peaks using the whisk. The silicone flexible pancake turner is another fabulous piece. The size makes flipping pancakes a treat and since I don't make pancakes that often, I have been using it for omelettes and rotis and anything that needs to be flipped (pun intended). The batter bowl looks different from all the mixing bowls I own, and has a handle which I thought was a fabulous addition. Its so much more easy to handle a bowl when you can hold it properly, trust me! It has a beak which makes pouring out batter easy as well. Although I must admit, I tried to pour out the pancake batter on to the pan and it was a bit of a disaster. But that could also be because I am, in general, clumsy.

I decided to put the pancake kit to full use by making apple pie pancakes. Its a wee bit time consuming, especially if you don't have apple sauce ready but it tastes fab nonetheless. I doubt this would make it to a breakfast table, but certainly for brunch if you ask me. The apple sauce makes the pancakes super moist and well, apple-like and the cinnamon is what takes it to a whole different level. Try these for your next brunch session and your husband, kids, boyfriend, parents... would thank you :)

Recipe adapted from here (serves 2 to 3)

 

Plain flour- 2 cups

Sugar- 1/4 cup

Baking powder- 1 tsp

Baking soda- 1/2 tsp

Salt- 1/2 tsp

Cinnamon powder- 2 tsp

Grated nutmeg- 1/4 tsp

Buttermilk- 2 cups

Apple sauce- 1/4 cup (recipe follows)

Eggs- 2, medium

Milk- 1/4 cup (give or take a tsp or so)

Apple sauce (recipe adapted from here)

Apples- 2 medium, peeled, cored and cut into cubes

Cinnamon- 1/4 tsp (optional)

Lemon juice- 1 tsp

Brown sugar- 1 tbsp

Water- 2 to 3 tbsp

Topping

Apples- 2 small, peeled, cored and sliced into thin wedges

Brown sugar- 1 tbsp

Butter- 1/2 tbsp

Maple syrup- to drizzle

In a sauce pan mix together all the ingredients for the apple sauce.

Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 10 to 12 minutes, or till the apples become soft and of mashable consistency.

Keep aside to cool a bit and then blend to a purée using an immersion blender or food processor.

For the topping, melt the butter and sugar in a sauce pan.

Add the apples to the mix and toss around, making sure its all well coated.

Cook till you see bubbles around the edges.

Don't over cook the apples, they should still be a bit crunchy.

When done, take off heat and keep aside.

Whisk together all the dry ingredients (from the pancake section), basically the first 7 ingredients, in the batter bowl.

In another bowl mix the buttermilk, apple sauce and eggs till just combined.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk till the batter comes together. Make sure there are no lumps of flour. It wont be a smooth batter, though.

Add milk bit by bit just until you get that pourable consistency, making sure you don't over whisk the batter.

Heat a frying pan and when hot pour a ladle full of batter on to the pan.

Wait for small bubbles to appear on top and when they just start popping (in around 2 to 3 mins), you are ready to flip.

Cook for a further 2 minutes or so and then take it off the heat.

Continue till all of the batter is used up.

If you are not having them immediately, don't stack them up, instead, place them side by side on baking paper. 

When ready to serve, gently warm them up in a preheated oven (at 90C) for around 15 to 20 minutes.

To assemble, stack two to three pancakes on top of each other and add a layer of the apple topping and a generous drizzle of maple syrup.  

Continue till your pancakes are all used up, but make sure the top most layer is apple.

Give a dusting of powdered sugar or even cinnamon and you are good to go.

Notes: You can also use a potato masher to mash the apple sauce, but i feel small chunks would remain, which of course is not an issue.

Add chunks of apples to the batter if you prefer that instead of the apple sauce.

I love cinnamon, but if its not your thing then reduce the quantity used.

You can do the same with any firm fruit of choice- nectarines, pears, apricots etc.

With thanks to OXO for sending me the pancake kit to review.

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Bloggers' Buzz, 2013, an event recap

Bloggers' Buzz, the event we were all working towards, was on the 23rd of Feb and I am proud to say, in spite of a few glitches, it was a success. We had a whopping 24 attendees and was a day full of fun. Although the 4 of us Nupur, Preeti, me (and Suchi in spirit) had to run around doing most of the things, we were happy to have hosted a bunch of enthusiastic, non fussy bloggers from all over UK and Europe. Thanks to our fabulous sponsors and speakers, without whom we wouldn't have been able to do justice to the event.

The event kick started at 10am with breakfast, sponsored by Total Greek Yoghurt. Their fabulous yoghurt pots with fruit compote, chocolate and blueberry muffins and fruit juice were thoroughly enjoyed by all. Whittard of Chelsea sponsored our tea and coffee for the day and so there was a never ending supply of both. The favourite among a lot of bloggers were the peppermint tea, which was smelling so lovely when taken out of the packet. So you can imagine how it would have tasted. The breakfast session was followed by an informal introduction where all the bloggers introduced themselves and their blogs. We were then ready for Jeanne of Cook Sister who did a presentation on "the basics in photography". 

 

All of us came prepared with our camera manuals and some even with their dslr's. The power point presentation was informative on a whole lot of levels. Although some of the technical details were going over our heads, I am sure, at the end of the day we did take home some valuable information on how to shoot in manual mode. Jeanne was kind enough to answer all our doubts and she even showed us a presentation she had prepared earlier regarding post processing photographs. This I think was a very interesting session and I hope we get Jeanne to do it in detail for us another time. Thank you Jeanne for being a sport and guiding us amateurs in a lot of ways. 

She also announced the winner of the Hotel Chocolat sponsored giveaway we had hosted and Shweta of Merry Tummy won the hamper for her innovative French Crepe cake layered with blueberry sauce and topped with mango mousse. I'm sure she's enjoying the hamper to the max. 

 

After a long lunch of aloo bondas, aloo parathas, a veg pulao and paneer tikka masala sponsored by Sri Krishna Vada Pav, we were all happy and fulfilled. The fact that lunch was pre-packed in a convenient plastic box was a saving grace for us, as it helped us reheat them in the microwave and hand them over to the invitees without any fuss of serving and such. The only problem was, the microwave was rubbish and we couldn't heat them up well. Nonetheless, I guess everyone enjoyed lunch. Thank you SKVP for providing us with yummy food.

 

The most awaited session for the afternoon...the macaron making demo by the lovely Dora of BoBo Macarons was a big hit. Macaron obsession is something we food bloggers pride about and Dora, with her wit and humour, made the demo so much fun. She taught us all how to mix and whisk and pipe and even better, most of got a chance to try our hand at these. She also brought some of her signature flavoured macarons to try out and boy we all freaked out on those yummy lil things. Thanks to Dora for taking time off her busy schedule to come and teach us a thing or two about macaron making. Do check out her fabulous website for more details on orders and flavours and such.

We then went on to Glam Media's session on monetising blogs through ad networks. Charlotte did a short talk on Glam media and how it can help bloggers, followed by a question and answer session where all of us had a bunch of doubts to ask and clear. I mean why wouldn't we want to make a bit of pocket money from our hobby right? Glam Media helps us in doing so and we thank Charlotte and Glam media for doing this session for us. 

(with Charlotte of Glam Media)

 

By around 4.30 we were all exhausted after a long day of food, photography, master classes and networking. But wait, we still had some yummy cutlets sponsored by Urban Tadka to make its way through. That and some hot tea and coffee put an end to an eventful day. The bloggers were sent home with a goody bag full of products sponsored by various brands. They included:

Signature sweet box from Devnaa

Cooler bag from Total Greek Yoghurt

Assortment of Silver Spoon products, Nielsen Massey Vanilla Extract, Billingtons sugar products and a Baking Mad recipe book

Online cake decorating voucher from Dream Cakes

Discount voucher from Avedna Ayurveda

Popchips

A special thanks to Ilovesabji.com and Avedna Ayurveda for part sponsoring the venue, PromoSourcery for sponsoring the bags for goody bag and our photographer for the day Abhijeet for managing to capture all those wonderful moments. Last but not the least, all those who attended the event and made it a success. 

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Kerala kappa masala (Tapioca masala)

In my mind I keep thinking I have loads of time and think of taking part in all these cook outs and blog events and such. But then in reality, I am either busy with something or the other or lazy. Being a hard core mallu, I am ashamed at the low number of mallu recipes from down south. Even though I don't make mallu food that often, it is definitely a favourite of ours and I really wished I knew how to make those authentic dishes.

That's when Kerala Kitchen, this group I'm part of on Facebook, decided to do a cook out together. I decided it was the best time to learn some new dishes, and feed my mallu-food-deprived blog some fab dishes from the mother land. But as usual, I waited till the n-th minute to post it. But better late than never right? So here I am with a very popular dish from Kerala- tapioca. Since I couldn't get hold of fresh tapioca, I had to make do with the frozen one. Its not that bad, but if you get fresh ones, that's the best.

The husband loves it to no end, but not in the mashed sort of way, just boiled and served with some spicy onion-chilli chutney. I on the other hand, am not that big a fan of it, but if I do have it, I prefer the mashed one with coconut and such, served with some spicy curry. This prep. is new to me, and since it is very close to the one I prefer, i loved it. I paired it with a fish curry and dinner was sorted. Thanks Nags for the simple, but tasty recipe. 

Recipe adapted from Edible Garden (serves 2)

Tapioca- 500 gms

Garlic- 5 to 6 cloves

Dry red chillies- 2

Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves- a sprig

Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp

Oil- 1 tbsp

Salt- to taste

 

Cook the tapioca till tender. A fork should easily cut through. I pressure cook it with some water for about 10 to 12 minutes. Lightly break/ mash the pieces. (Not too smooth like mashed potato though)

In the mean time, coarsely grind the garlic and red chillies in a spice grinder or with a pestle and mortar.

Heat the oil in a kadai and splutter mustard seeds and curry leaves.

Add the ground mix along with turmeric and cook for a couple of minutes, for the raw taste to disappear.

Tip in the cooked tapioca and enough salt, stir it all together and cook for a couple more minutes, just to heat through the tapioca.

Take it off the heat and serve with your favourite curry or chutney

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