Sadya
Sadya is the traditional vegetarian feast of Kerala. Usually served as lunch, it consists of par boiled pink rice, side dishes, savouries, pickles and desserts spread out on a plantain leaf. Tradition insists that the tapering end of the leaf points to the left of the seated guest. Rice is served on the lower half of the leaf.
The feast begins with the serving of Parippu, a liquid curry made of small gram and ghee. The second course is Sambar, the famous South Indian vegetable stew in which any available combination of vegetables is boiled in a gravy of crushed lentils, onions, chillies, coriander and turmeric and with a pinch of asafoetida.
Avial, an unavoidable side dish is a blend of vegetables, coconut paste and green chillies. It is seasoned with a spoonful of fresh coconut oil and some raw curry leaves stirred in immediately after the dish is taken off the stove.
Some of the other important side dishes include Thoran, and Olan.The savouries include Upperi, Pappadam, Ginger pickle, Pachadi and Kichadi.Desserts are served mid-way through the meal. The Payasam is a thick fluid dish of sweet brown molasses, coconut milk and spices, garnished with cashew nuts and raisins. There could be a succession of Payasams, such as the Palada Pradhaman and Parippu Pradhaman.
Pazham, a ripe golden yellow plantain, is usually had along with the payasams. After the payasams, rice is served once more with the spicy Rasam. Rasam is a mixture of chilly and peppercorn powders boiled in diluted tamarind juice.
Idiappam and Egg Roast
Ingredients for Idiappam
Rice flour - 2 cups
Salt - 1 tsp
Coconut (grated) - 1 cup
Oil
Method of preparation - Idiappam
Take a vessel, pour some water and heat it. To this, add salt, followed by oil. Pour hot water to the rice flour. Knead well to get a smooth dough. After heating water in an Idiappam maker, fill the Idiappam squeezer (seva nazhi) with the rice dough. Now put small quantities of grated coconut on the concave surfaces of the Idiappam pan and squeeze down the dough on top of that. Steam well.
Smooth Idiappams are now ready for serving. It would taste great with egg roast.
Ingredients for Egg Roast
Hard-boiled egg -4
Onion (sliced) -2 cups
Green chilly (sliced) - 5 no.
Tomato (sliced) -2 no.
Red chilly powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder -1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Ginger-Garlic paste - 1 tsp
Curry leaves
Coriander leaves
Salt
Oil
Mustard seeds
Method of preparation - Egg Roast
Heat three teaspoons of coconut oil and add mustard seeds. To this, add curry leaves and ginger-garlic paste. Stir a bit. Now add big onions. Saute till the onions turn brown. Add green chillies. Stir again. Add coriander powder, chilli powder, turmeric powder and garam masala. Stir well. Add some water and stir again. You may now add salt and the sliced tomatoes. Cook for three minutes. When it boils, add boiled eggs and cook for another three minutes. Now add some water. Mix well.
Garnish Egg Roast with coriander leaves and serve hot.
Unnakaya
Unnakaya is a popular sweet snack from Malabar.
Ingredients
Banana -2 nos
Cardamom
Raisins
Grated coconut - 1 cup
Sugar -2 tbsp
Coconut oil - 1cup
Method of preparation
To begin, steam the bananas in a pressure cooker. Next, take a pan and heat it. Put two tablespoons of sugar and add some water; just enough to soak the sugar. Stir well. Wait for the sugar to become syrupy. Into this add grated coconut. Next, add the raisins and mix nicely. Add to this some cardamom and continue stirring. You may now remove the pan from the fire.
Now it is time to take out the steamed bananas. Make a paste out of it. Take a small ball of that paste and spread it inside your palm. Apply some coconut oil on your palm, so that the ball will not stick. Take some coconut-sugar-raisin mixture and place it inside the flattened banana paste. Wrap it and gently pat with your fingers to give it a spindle shape.
Once enough pieces are ready, heat some oil and fry the pieces. Golden brown Unnakayas are ready to go with your tea or coffee.
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