Olan

Overview
A simple a delicious vegetarian dish made with ash gourd and coconut milk. This is an easy to make staple dish of Kerala. Fresh coconut milk mixed with the ash gourd, ginger, green chilly, onions and spices make a delicious gravy. There are several recipes for Olan through our Kerala, this is the recipe I got from my mother.


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Olan

Ingredients
Ash Gourd   - thin sliced square pieces 2 cups
Ginger 2 inch pieces thin sliced
Green chilly - 3 - 5 split at center
Red onion - half of
one medium size thin sliced
Curry l;eaves 2 sprigs
Coriander powder - 1 teaspoon
Chilly powder - 1 teaspoon
Turmeric - 1/4 teaspoon
Thick coconut milk - 1 1/2 cup
Salt to taste

To garnish
Oil 3 - 4 tablespoons
Red Onion  one half thin sliced
Curry leaves one sprig

Steps
1. Mix the ash gourd with half cup water, ginger , green chilly, red onions, chilly powder, coriander powder, turmeric, curry leaves and salt and bring to boil. Simmer heat and cook till the ash gourd is cooked well about 6 - 10 minutes.
2. Add the thick coconut milk to this and bring to boil. Turn off heat
3. In another pan heat the oil. When the oil gets hot add the thin sliced onions for garnish to this. Saute till the onions are golden brown, add the curry leaves and saute  and pout over the prepared curry

Serve hot with plain rice

Gulab Jamun

Overview
Gulab Jamun is one of the most popular desserts in India that you can get at any Indian restaurant.  It is a dumpling made with milk and immersed in sugar syrup. The word Gulab Jamun translates to Rose Berries since this dessert is flavored with rose essence and looks just like berries. This is an easy recipe to make at home. I used non fat milk powder and Bisquick pancake mix to make this.

Gulab Jamun

Ingredients
Non fat milk powder - 1/2 cup
Bisquick pan cake mix(Flour with baking soda) - 1/2 cup
Milk to make the dough - 1/2 - 3/4 cup
Ghee 1 teaspoon
Oil - 2 -3 teaspoons
Oil for deep frying

For Syrup
One cup sugar
Two cups water
Rose essence  - 1 teaspoon or Cardamom seeds powdered( seeds from 5 - 7 cardamom pods)

Steps
1. Mix the milk powder with the pancake mix.  Add the ghee and mix well. Slowly add the milk and make a smooth dough.
2. Put some oil in your hands and make small balls with the dough. Do keep in mind the size of the balls you make since they double in size when they are fried and immersed in sugar syrup.
3. Heat oil in a pan. When the oil gets hot keep the flame in medium. We need to fry the balls in medium heat so we get a the golden color and the inside of the balls also gets cooked. Deep fry all the balls in batches till they are golden brown.
4. To prepare the syrup add the sugar and water mix well and bring this to boil. Once it starts boiling add the Rose essence( or cardamon powder) and let it boil for about 10 minutes in medium heat.
5. Add the fried balls to the hot prepared syrup. Keep it immersed in syrup for about 4 hours to overnight.

Serve hot or cold

Mint Chutney

Overview
This green tangy mint chutney goes well with fried Indian appetizers like Pakodas, samosas and kabob's. This is a very flavorful and easy to make chutney that goes very well with grilled lamb and chicken too. You can make it as spicy as you like by increasing the number of  green chillies. For mild chutney just use one green chilly.

Mint Chutney

Ingredients
One cup Mint leaves
Half cup Cilantro leaves
Tamarind pulp 1- 2 tablespoons
Green chilly 1 - 4
Shallots 2 - 3
Salt to taste
Sugar 1/4 teaspoon
5 -6 tablespoon water

Steps
Grind all ingredients in a blender with water to make a smooth thick chutney. Serve with grilled meat or any fried appetizers as a dip.

Lemon Rice

Overview
Lemon rice is one of the popular rice recipes from south India. Zesty lemon rice is one of the favorite picnic lunches and a lunch box special. This dish can be made with left over rice too. Urdu Dal, Channa Dal and Peanuts adds a nutty flavor and protein to this dish. The tangy taste of lemon juice mixed with the simple spices adds a unique texture and flavor to this rice dish.

Lemon Rice

Ingredients
Basmati Rice or any long grain rice - 2 cups
Lemon Juice -  Juice of 2 big lemons
Roasted Peanuts - 3 tablespoons
Urdu Dal - 1 tablespoon
Channa Dal - 1 table spoon
Ginger 2 inch piece finely chopped
Green chilly - 2 - 4( depending on how spicy you want it to be)
Finely chopped shallots (optional) - 3 tablespoons
Curry leaves  - 2 sprigs
Whole dry red chillies - 3 - 4 cut into piece
Turmeric - 1/2 teaspoon
Mustard seeds  - 1 teaspoons
Oil - 4 tablespoon
Salt to taste

Steps
1. Cook 2 cups cleaned rice in 4 cups water and keep aside. Once the rice is cooked fluff it up with a fork and  let it cool.
2. Heat oil in a pan. When the oil gets hot add the mustard seeds to it and let it splutter. Add the red chilly pieces and curry leaves to this and fry them then add the Urdu Dal and Channa Dal. Saute till the Dal's are brown.
3. Add the finely chopped green chillies . ginger, turmeric and shallots to this and saute few minutes. turn off the heat.
4. Add the cooked rice, salt, lemon juice and roasted peanuts to this and mix well.

Serve hot with Raita and Papaddams

Onam 2014

Special Onam dishes I made this year for Onam. I loved making these traditional vegetarian dishes for Onam for my family.

Onam special dishes

Dishes
Sambar
Avial
Chenna Kalan
Pullissery
Beans Thoran
Chekka Ellissary
Ingi Pulli
Pappdam
Sarkara Uppari(My friend got me this from Kerala)

Eggplant Lasagna

Overview
Eggplant Lasagna is one of my favorite dishes. There is no pasta used here the layering is done with slices of roasted eggplants. It is a  filling and satisfying lasagna and has lots of vegetables in it.The cheese sauce is mixed with spinach, carrots and onions which adds an additional texture and flavor to this lasagna.

Eggplant Lasagna

Ingredients
2 Big eggplants sliced length wise 1/4 inch thick
1 1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
4 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

For Tomato sauce
28 oz  can diced fire roasted tomatoes
1 6 oz can tomato paste
1 teaspoon dry basil
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and ground black pepper to taste

For the Cheese sauce
1 packet frozen chopped spinach
1 medium size onion thin sliced
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 1/2 cup shredded carrots
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 15 oz container of ricotta cheese
2 eggs
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 cup grated Romano/Parmesan cheese

Steps
1. Heat oven to 400 F. Coat the egg plant slices with olive oil salt and pepper and bake in a oiled tray for about 15 - 20 minutes till the eggplant slices are lightly browned.

2. Mix all the ingredients for the tomato sauce in a bowl and keep aside.

3.  Thaw the frozen chopped spinach and squeeze out the water from it. Heat one teaspoon olive oil in a pan and saute the thin sliced onions in it. Saute\few minutes and add the spinach and shredded carrots to this and mix well. Add salt and pepper as needed and saute for about 5 minutes. Turn off heat and let this mixture cool to room temperature.

4. In another bowl add the ricotta cheese with 2 eggs and the Romano/Parmesan cheese mix well. Add the onion and garlic powder to this and mix well. Add the cooled spinach carrot mixture to this and mix well.

5. In the Lasagna pan start layering. First add  a spoon of tomato sauce and spread it at the bottom of the pan. Put a layer of the roasted egg plants on top of this. Then add half the amount of cheese mixture on top of the eggplants and spread well. Add a layer of tomato sauce on top of this and then a layer of roasted eggplants followed by the remaining cheese sauce. Put a last layer layer of tomato sauce and then on top of it the shredded Mozzarella cheese.

6. Bake the lasagna at 350 F for about 40 minutes till the cheese is melted. Turn off the oven and take out the lasagna and let it stand for about 5 - 10 minutes before cutting it.

Mango Pie

Overview
This mango pie is easy to make and is very delicious. There is no baking or cooking for this pie, just mix all ingredients and let it set in the refrigerator. I have used sweetened can mango pulp to make this pie. This pie has silky texture and has a deep yellow ripe mango color. Anyone who likes mango is sure to like this pie.

Mango Pie

Ingredients
1 Can of sweetened Mango pulp (14 oz)
If using unsweetened mango pulp add 8 OZ of sugar to it
8 oz softened cream cheese
8 oz of cool whip
2 packets of no flavor gelatin
2 pre-made graham cracker pie crust

Steps
1. Add softened cream cheese and cool whip and  mix it with a hand blender or whisk till it is mixed well with out any lumps
2. Add the mango puree to this and mix well.
3. Dissolve 2 packet of gelatin in 8 fl oz of tepid water. Strain the dissolved gelatin and add this to the mango puree mixture and whisk well  to make a smooth and consistent mixture.
4. Pour this prepared mixture into the pie crust. Cover the pie crust and refrigerate for  4 hours before serving.

Serve chilled with ripe mango slices.