No doubt I’m a great fan of Kerala dishes, especially the breakfast dishes. Breakfast, is not only the first meal of the day, it is also the most important meal of the day. So, it should have everything in it to add a zing to your day. I can’t even think of the delicious dishes like puttu and kadala, appam and cuury , kappa and curry etc without watering my mouth. I hope this post will help you to enjoy these special dishes.
This breakfast dish is so common and very popular in kerala. It’s called ‘ Puttu ‘. Steaming is the method used to cook puttu. Puttu is made with different cereal grain powders like, Rice, wheat, Ragi etc. Puttu and kadala curry is a popular combination. On the other hand, rice puttu with banana, pappadam, some ghee and sugar, mixed is really a mouth watering combination. Every one has their favourite combination to have puttu with. The utensil used to cook puttu is called ‘Puttukutti’.
1 cup – Rice flour
1/2 cup – Freshly grated coconut
Pinch of salt
water as required
1/2 cup – Extra grated coconut
Add salt and approximately 3 table spoons of grated coconut into the flour and mix well. Add water little by little to the rice flour and mix it. The flour should be wet enough for steaming, but we have to be careful when you add water to the flour. The consistency has got to be right. It should not become too watery. Puttu has to be made in a Puttu maker. Layer the Puttu maker with some grated coconut first, then the rice mixture and then the grated coconut again. Steam for 2-3 minutes, take out and serve hot.
Black Channa/Bengal gram/Chickpeas-100 gms(soaked overnight)
Soi bhajil masol – 3-4 tbsp OR
Roast 5 tbsp of coconut,3 red chillies,1 tbsp coriander,1 tsp cumin till brown and make a smooth paste adding enough water.You can also add 2 cloves and 1″ piece cinnamon.
Onions – 2,finely chopped
Tomato – 1,finely chopped
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Mustard seeds – 1tsp
Coconut oil – 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
Pressure cook channa till done. Take a kadai and add coconut oil,splutter mustard seeds. Add finely chopped onions and saute till they turn light brown. Add curry leaves and tomato and saute again for about 2 minutes. If you are using soi bhajil masol-add the water in which channa was cooked to the masol to make a smooth paste-do not add too much,just as required.
Add the masol at this stage. If you are using freshly made masala,add it at this stage and mix well. Add salt to taste and add the cooked channa-mix well. Let it boil and then simmer it for about 10 minutes. Kadala curry should be a little watery than the normal curries,so add water accordingly.Puttu kadala ready!!
This is one of my favorite breakfast dish and a popular one in kerala. Made with a batter of rice, coconut and yeast, which is fermented till the batter rises in volume. It’s called vellay (white) appam (pancake). In the original traditional recipe, toddy was used to ferment the batter. It’s got lacy edges and soft center. This can turn out to be quite a heavy breakfast or a brunch.
Rice flour (finely powdered ) 500 g
Coconut milk 250 ml
Salt to taste
Sugar 1 tbsp
Semolina 100 g
Water
1. Heat the semolina in a little water to a thick consistency.
2. Remove from the fire and keep it aside to cool.
3. Make a batter with rice flour, coconut milk and water.
4. Add the cooked semolina, soaked yeast and sugar and then mix well.
5. Keep the mixture to ferment for three to four hours.
6. Heat the appam thava (the special vessel for making appam), rub a little oil and pour some batter into it.
7. Turn the batter around in the thava and make it into a round with thin edges and a thick middle.
8. Cover with a lid and keep it over a slow fire.
9. After the appam is ready, serve with mutton stew.
Mutton, 1 1/2 inch pieces on the bone 750 grams
Coconut, scraped 2 cups
Split Bengal gram (chana dal) 2 teaspoons
Black peppercorns 5
Cumin seeds 1/4 teaspoon
Coriander seeds 1/2 teaspoon
Oil 4 tablespoons
Star anise 2
Cinnamon 1 inch stick
Green cardamoms 4
Potatoes, 1 inch cubes 2 medium
Curry leaves 10-12
Green chillies, slit 4-5
Salt to taste
Soak scraped coconut in two cups warm water for five minutes. Grind and squeeze through a muslin cloth to extract thick milk. Repeat this process two more times but with only one cup water to get a second and third thinner extracts. Dry roast chana dal, peppercorns, cumin seeds and coriander seeds on medium heat. Cool and grind to a powder. Pressure cook mutton in two cups water for six whistles or until almost done. Drain and keep aside. Heat oil in a thick bottomed pan, add star anise, cinnamon and green cardamoms and sauté till fragrant. Add pressure-cooked mutton, potatoes, curry leaves, green chillies and salt. Sprinkle powdered masala and cook, stirring continuously, for five minutes. Add third coconut extract, bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook on medium heat for five minutes or until potatoes are almost cooked. Add second extract and continue cooking till the both mutton and potatoes are completely cooked. Remove from heat and stir in first extract of coconut milk and adjust salt. Reheat and simmer for two to three minutes before serving hot with appams or paranthas.
Hope you may have tasted this very special and common dish from kerala. Whh!! It’s really delicious. Idli is a South Indian Delicious food, normally eaten as Breakfast along with Chutney or Sambhar. It is made by steaming batter especially made from pulses. Idli is commonly available food fastfood anywhere in India, especially in the states of South India.
Idly rice 4cups
Urad dal 1cup
Fenugreek seeds (Methi) 2 tsp
Salt 1tsp
Soak idly rice in the water for about 5-6 hrs. Soak urad dal and fenugreek seeds together in the water for about 5-6hrs. Grind the rice first in the stone grinder for about 20-25 mins adding required quantity of water until it becomes a thick batter. Pour the rice batter into a vessel. Now grind the urad dal and fenugreek seeds for about 30-35 mins adding required quantity of water until it becomes a thick batter. Urad dal requires more water to grind than the rice. I add water every 5 minutes when the urad dal is grinding. Now add the urad dal batter into the rice batter and mix well by adding salt. Cover and keep aside for 7- 8 hrs, undisturbed to ferment. This varies from place to place. In California, it takes only about 10 hrs to ferment in summer days. Winter days it usually takes about 16-18hrs to ferment.
To make idly, mix the batter well before making idly. Take the idly mould and apply little oil in the moulds. You can do this with your fingers. The oil helps the idlis to be soft. Pour the batter to the idly moulds and steam for about 10 – 15 mins. To check whether the idly is being cooked, insert a tooth pick into the idly. The tooth pick should come out clean if the idlis are done. Serve hot with sambhar or chutney or idly podi.
Sambar is a lentil based dish common in South India. In Kerala the Sambar would contain different vegetables, which is similar to avial recipe
Vegetables: Cooked potatoes, egg plant, drumstick, okra, and carrot (You can add any vegetables you like)
Lime Size tamarind soaked in warm water
1 cup toor dal pressure cooked with turmeric, mash the dal to a smooth paste.
In a pan add oil; sauté mustard seeds, cumin seeds, and curry leaves. Add handful of chopped shallots or pearl onions and sauté until it turns translucent. Add the vegetable and little water and cover cook them for few minutes .Add the tamarind water and cook for few minutes. Add the boiled potatoes, cooked dal, and sambar masala paste. Mix everything and add required salt for taste. Cook in Medium heat for another 10 minutes and turn off the heat. You can also add red chili powder as per your taste before cooking. Serve hot with idly.
Idiyappam is another dish I like for breakfast . It takes less time to make and very tasty to eat. Idiyappam and Chicken curry is the best combination for me.
Mix 1 cup of rice flour with required warm water and salt. Knead into smooth dough. Apply little oil over the dough and insert into the cooking press. Put a small quantity of dough into the “cooking press” and press it on the idly moulds greased with oil. Add grated coconut on top of the idiyappam. Steam the idly cooker for 8-10 minutes.
1/2 chicken breasts, skinned and boned
3 garlic, cloves, crushed
1/4 tsp ginger
1 cup low sodium chicken broth
1 onion, chopped finely
1 tsp olive oil
1 cup water
1/2 tsp cummin seeds powder
1 tsp coriander seeds powder
1/4 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 green chilli, finely chopped
2 tbsp coconut milk
3 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves
Make pieces of chicken breasts .Heat oil in a pan .Saute chicken pieces until golden from both sides. Remove and drain .Add onion and ginger-garlic and fry till golden brown .Add all the powders, and saute for a minute. Add chicken broth and water .Let it boil for 2 minutes .Add chicken pieces .Cover the pan and let it cook for approx 30 mins. Then add coconut milk .Cook for another 1 min. Serve with Idiyappam.
This is the very special and unique dish of kerala. I usually have it for breakfast. Tapioca(kappa) is known as the poor mans vegetable.But ask any Malayali,rich or poor,belonging to any class or creed,you will soon realise that inspite of all the differences,Tapioca or Kappa has an universal appeal amongst Malyalis throughout!I cant think of any other meal that can represent Kerala completely as Tapioca and fish curry.
Ingredients : Kappa (for two)
Kappa : about 2 lb ,remove the hard skin and cut into small pieces
mustard seeds : 1/4 t
Scraped coconut: 1 T
Dry red chilies: 3/4
Curry leaf: 4/5
A little turmeric powder and salt
Oil : 1 t
Take the cut Kappa in a pot, fill enough water to cover the yucca, add turmeric and salt and let boil, until the pieces are thoroughly cooked, and can be easily pierced by a fork. In another pan, season oil with mustard seeds, dry read chilies, and curry leaves. Add this to the yucca along with the coconut, and mix well.
Ingredients : Fish Curry / Meen varattiyathu
Any fish : 1 ilb
Tamarind paste : ½ cup
Chili powder : 4 t
Turmeric powder : ½ t
Fenugreek : ¼ t
Onion, sliced : 1 quarter
Green chili : 1
Ginger –garlic paste : 1 t
Curry leaf : 4-5
Water : 1 cup
Oil : 4 T
Heat oil, fry the fenugreek for a couple of minutes. Add onion, ginger, and garlic and sauté until transparent. Add green chilies, curry leaf, and masala powders and let fry until the raw smell is gone. Pour tamarind paste, and water. Bring to a boil. Add the fish pieces, and salt. Cover and cook until the fish is well done, and the curry is fairly thick.Serve hot with cooked yucca.
