Keralas traditional festival onam and onam recipes

Onam is one of the important festival of kerala.The celebration of festival extends 10 days.Every home is embellished with floral decorations called pookkalam. Onam, also known as Thiruonam, is celebrated in the Malayalam month of Chingam.In thiruvonam day there is a grand feast know as "onasadhya".it has some speciality .sadhya is served in banana leafs.There is a way of placing the leaf and an order of sreving the dish.

Rice is the main course with variety of various dishes.

After the dish everyone engaged in different types of games .Keralas traditional boat race called vallam kali is taken place during this season.

1.Avial

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Grated coconut

5 Green chilies

1/2 tsp Cumin seeds

1cup Yam Thinly sliced into 11/2" length pieces

1cup Cucumber Sliced lengthy into 11/2" length pieces

1cup Snake gourd Sliced into 11/2" length pieces

1/4cup Carrot Sliced into 11/2" length pieces

1/2cup Long runner-beans sliced into 11/2" length pieces

2 Drumstick cut into 2" length pieces

Curry leaves

3 tblsp Coconut oil

1 Raw bananas sliced into 11/2" length pieces

Raw mango pieces

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

Salt to taste

How to make aviyal:

* Grind coconut with green chilies and cumin seeds in paste and keep it aside.

* Heat coconut oil in a thick bottom vessel, add vegetables and cook it on a low flame without adding water.

* When the vegetables are cooked, add turmeric powder, salt and mix well.

* Put bananas and mango pieces in cooked vegetables and cover the vessel.

* When steam comes out, add the coconut paste and stir well.

* Remove from fire and garnish it with curry leaves .

2.Ladys finger kichadi

3 1/2 cup ladyfinger

2 cup thick curd

1/2 cup grated coconut

3 dry red chilies

1 mustard

2 springs curry leaves

2Â tsp oil

salt (namak) to taste

2 green chillies

How to make lady finger kichadi:

* Cut the lady finger in small round pieces.

* Deep fry ladyfinger in oil till crisp.

* Pound grated coconut; green chilies and mustard into a thick paste and keep it aside.

* Take oil in pan and over high flame season mustard, red chilli and curry leaves.

* Lower the flame, add curd and the ground ingredients and let it simmer for few minutes stirring continuously..

* Add fried lady finger and salt to it and remove from flame after it boils.

{ You can use Pavakkai (Bitter Gourd) instead of Ladies Finger as a variation}

3.Payaru thoran

Ingredients:

6-8 sticks Celery chopped

1/2 cup Green moon (cherupayar) cooked to 3/4th

3/4 cup Grated coconut

1/4 Chopped onion

6-7 Green chillies chopped

2-3 Dried red chillies

Curry leaves

2 cloves Garlic

1 small piece Ginger cut into julian strips

1 tsp Mustard

1/2 tsp Cumin

1 tblsp Oil

How to make celery payaru thoran:

* Grind the garlic and cumin together coarsely into a thick paste and keep it aside.

* Heat oil in a pan, add mustard to it and let it splutter

* Add to it the garlic paste and fry it for few seconds.

* Put ginger, chopped onions, green chillies, curry leaves, red chillies and fry it.

* Add the celery and coconut and cook it till the celery is half cooked.

* Add the cooked cherupayar and simmer it for some time on low heat till everything is cooked.

* Add salt to taste .

* Serve hot.

4.Kalan

Ingredients:

1 Raw banana (the kerala nendran banana is the best if available)

6 cups Beaten, thick sour curds

200 gms Chena (jameen kand/karunaikizhangu/suvarne gadde)

1 cup Coconut

2 tsp Turmeric powder

1 tbsp Pepper powder

Salt to taste

2-3 Red chillies

2-3 Green chillies

1 tbsp Mustard seeds

1 tsp Methi seeds

few Curry leaves

Coconut oil

How to make kalan:

* Wash and cut the vegetables into 2" square pieces. They should be thick

* Grind the coconut and cumin to a smooth paste without adding water. Keep it aside.

* Fry the methi seeds to a golden brown in a drop of oil and grind to a fine powder and keep this aside also..

* In 1/2cup of water dissolve the pepper powder and strain it through a clean cloth. Cook the vegetables in this water with turmeric powder and salt.. When the water dries, add 1tsp ghee

* Add the beaten sour curds to the cooked vegetables and boil, stirring occasionally, until the gravy is thickened.

* Add the grinded coconut mixture and fenugreek powder into it and bring the gravy to boil stirring continuously.

* Remove the gravy from flame.

* Heat oil in a pan. When it smokes add the mustard seeds. When the mustard splutters, add the red chillies broken into halves and curry leaves and season the gravy with it.

* Enjoy it with rice.

5.Parippu payasam

Ingredients:

250 gms Parippu (Green gram dal)

Coconut milk from 2 coconuts

250 gms Jaggery

2 tblsp Ghee

handful Cashew nuts, Raisins

How to make parippu payasam:

* Clean the dal and saute it in ghee till light brown.

* Boil the fried dal in water till it is cooked.

* Make a thick solution by heating jaggery with some water .

* Take milk from the coconut thrice. Keep the thick milk taken 1st, aside.

* Add the third milk and the second milk with the jaggery solution to the boiled dal .and simmer on a low flame till thick.

* Finally add the first milk and simmer it for a while.

* Season it with fried nut, raisins.

* Stir well and remove from fire immediately

6.Erissery

Ingredients:

2 cups Ripe Pumpkin (sliced into pieces )

1/2 cup Red oriental bean

1 cup Coconut milk

2 tsp Oil

2 Dried chilli

1 tsp Mustard

2 springs Curry leaves

Water

Salt to taste

To be Ground in paste

1 cup Grated Coconut

1 Small onions

1/2 tsp Cumin

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

2 or 3 Green chilli

2 Garlic pods

How to make erissery:

* Soak beans overnight.

* Cook pumpkin with beans after adding enough water and salt

* Put the grounded paste to the pumpkin, boil for sometime and keep aside.

* Heat oil in a pan, season mustard, curry leaves and dry chillies and add the thick coconut milk. Pour it to the cooked pumpkin curry and stir well

* Yummy erussery is ready to be served.

7.Pulissery

Ingredients:

10 to 12 pieces Ripe Mango or Pineapple

1 cup Thick yogurt

a few Curry leaves

1/4 tsp Turmeric powder

1/2 tsp Chilli powder

1/8 tsp Cumin seeds

1/2 tsp Mustard

2 Red chilli

6 Green Chilly

1 tbsp Oil

Salt to taste

How to make pulissery:

* Cook mango/pineapple with 3 green chillies, turmeric powder, chilli powder, cumin powder water and salt

* Beat yogurt and add it to the mixture ,stirring it regularly.

* Remove the mixture from heat.

* Season with mustard seeds, curry leaves, fenugreek and whole red chilly, green chillies.

* Ready to serve.

8.Kootu Curry

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Bengal gram  Dal

2 tblsp White gram dal

1/2 cup Grated coconut

1/4kg (all together) Pumpkin, snake gourd, Long runner beans, yam, cucumber

1/2 cup Inner flesh of drum stick

1/4 tsp Turmeric powder

3 Green chillies

Salt to taste

1/4 cup Coconut oil

1 tsp Mustard

3 Dried red chillies

2 sprig Curry leaves

1 tblsp Ghee

How to make koottu curry:

* Grind 1/2cup grated coconut with turmeric powder and green chillies into a fine paste..

* Pressure cook the bengal gram dal with salt and water to a thick gravy

* Clean and cut the vegetables into small pieces. Boil the vegetables by steaming.

* Heat oil and season mustard, white gram dal, dried red chillies and curry leaves.

* Add the ground coconut mixture. Saute for sometime, till the water dries. Add the cooked vegetables, salt and bengal gram dal to it and simmer it on low heat

* Heat 1tbsp ghee and fry the 1/4cup grated coconut in it till golden brown. Season the koottucurry with it and mix well.

9.Parippu curry

Ingredients:

1 cup Lentils (green gram dal)

3 cups Water

1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder

2 tsp Ghee

Salt to taste

How to make parippu curry:

* Saute the lentils in a pan.

* Wash the lentils in plain water.

* Boil the water and add the washed lentils and turmeric powder.

* Reduce the flame and when the lentil is cooked well, add salt to taste and ghee

* Stir well and remove from fire.

10.Semiya payasam

Ingredients:

1 cup Vermicelli

3/4 cup Water

1 cup Sugar

A pinch Saffron

1 cup Milk

3-4 Cashew nuts

7-8 Raisins

2-3 Cardamom

How to make semiya payasam:

* Saute the vermicelli in ghee till it turns brown.

* Boil water in another vessel..

* Put vermicelli in boiling water and cover it, stirring occasionally.

* After the vermicelli becomes soft, add the sugar stirring continuously.

* Dissolve in the milk and add this to the vermicelli.

* Powder the cardamom and add it to the mixture.

* Flavor the desert with fried cashew nuts and almonds.

* Simmer the vermicelli for about two minutes. Your delicious payasam is ready to be served .

11.Sambar

Ingredients:

2 cup Sambhar (Tuvar) Dal

1/4 kg Vegetables( Drumstick,Green Pepper,Eggplant,Okra)

1/4 tsp Fenugreek seeds

3 Red chillies

3 Green chillies

1 tsp Sambhar powder

Curry leaves

a pinch Hing

1 tsp Salt

2 tsp Mustard

1/4 tsp Tamarind paste

4 tbsp Cooking oil

How to make sambar:

* Wash and dice all the vegetables.

* Boil water and cook the dal with turmeric and salt.

* Separate the cooked dal and water, and keep them aside.

* In thuvar dal water cook the vegetables..

* After the veggies are cooked, add tamarind paste.

* Now add the cooked thuvar dal and simmer for a few more minutes

* Heat some oil in a pan, splutter mustard, then add methi, red chillies, green chillies, curry leaves, hing, turmeric, and sambhar powder and keep frying for a few minutes.

* Season the sambhar with the above prepared tadka.

* Sprinkle coriander on top.

12.Tomato rasam

Ingredients:

2 Tomatoes

2 Red chillies

4 cups Water of boiled dal (stock)

1 stalk Curry leaves

1 stalk Mint leaves

1 stalk Coriander leaves

1- 2 cloves Garlic grated

2-3 pinches Clove-cinnamon powder

1/2 tsp Sambhar masala

8-10 Peppercorns

2 pinch Hing (Asafoetida)

1 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

1 marble sized ball of jaggery or 1/2 tsp. sugar

1 small strip Tamarind

1 tbsp Ghee or oil

Salt to taste

How to make tomato rasam:

* Put whole tomatoes in boiling water, simmer for 3 minutes, keep it aside to cool.

* Heat 1/4 tsp. oil in a small pan, add pepper corns and 1 tsp. cumin seeds and roast till aromatic, pound it in a mortar till powdered. Keep aside.

* Peel away the broken skin of boiled tomatoes and mash them into a pulp

* To the thick tomato pulp, add roasted whole chillies, all leaves, all masalas, salt, tamarind, jaggery and blend it with the blender.

* In a deep pan, add the stock.

* Heat ghee in a small pan, add mustard and remaining cumin seeds, asafoetida and allow to splutter.

* Add garlic to it and stir.

* Season the rasam with the prepared tadka.

* Bring to a boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Keep aside covered for 10 minutes before serving.

* Serve hot as a soup or with steaming hot plain rice and papads

13.Moru curry

Ingredients:

2 tblsp Yogurt

1/2 cup Coconut paste

1 tblsp Oil

1/4 tsp (optional)Â Fenugreek powder

1/2 tsp Cumin seeds

1/8 tsp Turmeric

a pinch Mustard seeds

1 tblsp chopped Onion

4 broken Whole red chilly

1/2 tsp Garlic

1 tsp Ginger

Curry leaves

How to make moru curry:

* Blend coconut, curd and green chillies in a blender.

* Add 1 cup water, red chilly powder, turmeric and salt to the mixture,bring to a boil and remove from the heat.

* Heat the oil separately. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds to the oil and let them splutter, then add the chopped onion, the red chillies,the garlic, the ginger and the curry leaves and season the curry with it.

14.Palpayasam

Ingredients:

3 litres Milk

700 gm Sugar

180 gm Dried red rice

3 - 4 Almonds and Cashewnuts

How to make pal payasam:

* Boil the milk and condense it.

* Add sugar and keep stirring it.

* When it boils again, put the washed rice in it,lower the flame .

* Simmer it till the rice is cooked.

* Garnish with finely chopped almonds and cashewnuts