Malabar is famous for its various dishes.  Cocconut being the main ingreident is used in almost all Kerala dishes.  The exclusive dishes of  Puthiyangadi village include Pathil, Kaiada etc.  Here we shall describe some of these dishes as well as dishes made in other parts of Kerala as well as India.

Pathil

Ingredients:
Parboiled rice: 4 cups,  Salt to taste,  Coconut milk.

Preparation:   Soak cleaned rice in warm water for at least 5-6 hours.  Drain the water.   Grind the rice with salt and water to make a thick paste. Make small balls of this paste and flatten it in the shape of a thin circle (you can also use a chapathi-presser).   Heat a frying pan, and cook the pathil on both sides.  Dip the cooked pathil in coconut milk to soften it.  Serve with spicy chicken or mutton curry.     

Kayi Ada (Banana Ada)

Ingredients:
Indian bananas(half riped): 1 kg;  Eggs: 3 nos;   Sugar:  2 tablespoons;  Broken cashews and raisins: as required

Preparation:   First make the fillings:  Beat the eggs with the sugar until it mixes well. Heat a frying pan and add some ghee to it.  Add the cashews and then the raisins. Now add the beaten eggs and cook. The filling is ready.  Next, boil the bananas until the skin partly comes out.  Take the bananas from the boiled water and remove the skin completely.  Grind the bananas(without using water) to a thick paste.  Make small balls of this paste and flatten it.  Fill the egg fillings into it.  You can shape it as you wish.  Heat a wok with oil.  Fry the prepared adas till golden brown in colour.  The adas are ready.  Serve with tea.      

Masala Dosa

Ingredients:

Black gram dal - 1 cup
Roasted rice powder - 1 cup
Flour - 1 dsp
Soda-bi-carbonate - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Ghee

Preparation
Soak 1 cup of black gram dal and grind to a smooth frothy paste. Sift the roasted rice flour through a fine sieve, add one cup of it and knead well and keep aside over night. In the morning add one dsp. Of flour and enough water to make a batter of pouring consistency. When it is time to cook the dosa, ad soda-bi-carb and salt to taste.
Heat a greased griddle stone and when it is hot, sprinkle a little water on ti, and pour a ladle of batter and spread it paper-thin. Pour teaspoons of ghee on all sides to fry the dosa properly. The outside must be golden brown and crisp. Place potato masala filling and a little coconut chutney in side, and fold. Serve hots and crisp.

Rice Pudding

Ingredients:

1/2 a measuring cup rice
1/4 teaspoon home made ghee
2 to 3 measuring cups milk( 1% or 2% or Vit D or regular )
1 measuring cup water
5 to 6 threads of saffron
1/2 a cup shredded almonds
1 cardamom( nicely grounded)
one cup condensed sweet milk ( Nestle )

Preparation
Fry the rice in ghee in a pan on low heat untill it gains the white colour and smells divine.
Turn off the heat and cook this in milk and water until done in rice or pressure cooker. (15 minutes.)
Pour the condensed milk slowly into this while continuously stirring on low heat until it blends with the cooked rice. (15 to 20 minutes.)
Add shredded almonds and cardamom and stir it again.
Turn off the stove and dissolve the saffron in the mixture.
Stir it once again and leave it aside for a while. (15 minutes.)
Serve warm.

Aviyal I

Ingredients:

1 or 2 green chilies
one teaspoon cumin seeds
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
raw coconut or coconut powder (½ cup)
salt to taste (one teaspoon)
3 Tablespoons yogurt or 1 Tablespoon lemon juice or 1/3 cup diced raw mango
fresh curry leaves or pre-soaked dry curry leaves
5 cups mixed vegetables (kumbalanga, kathirikka, padavallanga or padaval, muringakka, raw plantain, carrots (1 or 2 only, else it becomes too sweet), japanese or any variety long eggplant, long beans or french beans, cucumber, potatoes, zucchini other kinds of squash, and canned drumsticks.

If using plantain or raw banana, cut into long strips ( 2 inches x half inch x .25 inches approx.) and mix with some yogurt (2 tablespoons) and keep aside for 10 minutes. Rinse well before boiling. If using canned drumsticks, add only at the very end. Also reduce the salt you add.

Boil the veggies with water (say ½ cup), salt and turmeric powder. When boiling add very little water if the veggies you add are rich in water (cucumber, cumbalanga etc.) Add the sliced green chilies to the boiling vegetables if you don't like it too hot. Else blend it with the coconut. Add the veggies that take longer to cook like plantain first, then beans etc. Meanwhile, blend the coconut to a smooth or semi-smooth paste with the green chilies or half the green chilies, and cumin. When the veggies are almost cooked, add this blended paste and curry leaves cook for a few minutes. Finally add the yogurt/lime juice/raw mango and mix it in. You can season with mustard seeds if you wish but I prefer not to add any more oil (the coconut has enough of it).  Enjoy....... Serve the above with rice, pappadums and plantain chips.

Aviyal II

Ingredients:

1 cup. grated coconut
¼ tsp. Turmeric
¼ tsp. red chile powder
salt
mustard seeds
oil
3 or 4 Tbs. Yogurt
¼ cup. water
2 or 3 Tomato, cut into long pieces
1 medium Onion, cut it into long slices
2 to 4 Green chile, according to how hot you want; cut it long
curry leaves
1 or 2 Potato or Carrot
2 or 3 cucumber
½ raw (green) banana
10 or 12 green beans (or long green beans)

Cut all veggies into long pieces, 1 inch long, and 0.5 cm thick. Put them in a pot in layers, beans and carrot at the bottom, then chokko, then banana, then potato, then zuchini, then add the onion slices, cut green chilees and curry leaves, then put the coconut, turmeric and chile powder (spread it on the top, all three), then put tomato slices, and then cucumber on the top.

Then pour water, cover with a lid and cook in low-medium flame. When it is cooked, add salt, and then stir well, careful not to break the vegetable pieces. If there is plenty water, keep it for a while to be dried up. Heat the oil, add mustard seeds, and curry leaves, add it to the above mix. Then add the yogurt and stir well, adding enough salt of your taste. Serve and enjoy!

Note: After adding the yogurt, don't heat it up, as it will get watery then. So if you want to put some in the refrigerator for the next day, take it first and add yogurt to the rest. You can add yogurt to the other when you are going to have it, after warming it up first. Hope you enjoy.

Coconut Chutney

Ingredients:

1 ½ fresh shredded coconut (not sweetened)
1 tsp. channa dhal (roast until golden brown)
2-3 green chillies, split and seeded
1 inch fresh, peeled ginger
2-3 tsps cumin powder
½ tsp tamarind concentrate (or lemon juice)
salt to taste

Grind above in a blender. Season with asafoetida, fried mustard seeds, and curry leaves.

Chutney variant #1.. grind 2 bunches coriander leaves for lip-smacking 'coriander chutney'

Sambar and Idli

Sambar I

Ingredients:

½ cup (heaped) thur dal (papu)
2 Tbs. coconut gratings
1 Tbs. bengal gram dal
2 sprig curry leaves
1 tsp. mustard seeds
tamarind lump (the size of a marble)
2 tsp. (heaped) coriander seeds
2 Tbs. oil
½ tsp. cumin seeds
1 bunch coriander leaves
½ tsp. fenugreek
seeds salt to taste
8 pepper corns
chunks of vegetables (tomato, turmeric, onion, squash, potato,
asafoetida (ingua) okra, raw banana, 6 red chilies (just about anything))

Wash thur dal thoroughly. Boil 1 liter of water. Drop dal in boiling water. Cook until soft. Take a little oil in a frying pan on another flame. Roast mustard, coriander, fenugreek, cumin, pepper, turmeric, red chilies, asafoetida, bengal gram dal, coconut gratings and 1 sprig of curry leaves - all in the same sequence, until brown. Grind all the roasted ingredients with tamarind to a fairly smooth paste. To the cooked thur dal, add vegetable pieces and a few coriander leaves. Cook until tender. Then add salt along with ground masala (paste made above) and some water. Boil well. When done, remove from flame. Garnish with bits of coriander leaves. This is usually served with idli.

Sambar II

Ingredients:

Half cup tuar dal or yellow split peas
2 onions
10 or 12 medium okra - (fresh or frozen)
3 large (or one can) tomatoes (optional)
quartered tamarind extract (available in Indian stores)
1 tablespoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon chili powder (more if you're manaassukhum illa)
1 tablespoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon methi powder
½ teaspoon hing powder
½ teaspoon mustard seeds
¼ teaspoon methi seeds
¼ teaspoon veg. Oil
1 tablespoon salt to taste
4 tablespoons coriander leaves, chopped
a few curry leaves

Cook the dal with chopped onions, turmeric powder, chili powder and sufficient water. Cut the okra in two inch pieces and saute them in a frying pan with one teaspoon oil till dry and slightly browned. Mash the cooked dal with a wooden spoon and add the salt, coriander powder, methi powder, hing and the tamarind extract. Simmer for a few minutes and add the tomatoes and okra and half of the coriander leaves. When the vegetables are cooked, heat oil in a fry pan with a splatter screen or a lid and pop the mustard seeds. Remove pan from the fire, add the curry leaves and methi seeds. Add this seasoning to the sambar and garnish with the rest of the coriander leaves. Hint: Other vegetables that can be added to sambar are potatoes (which do not freeze well), shallots, pearl onions (available frozen), cucumber, Indian or oriental eggplant (baingan), beans, carrots, lima beans or squash.

Rasam

Ingredients:

tuar dal - ¼ cup
masoor dal - ¼ cup
tomatoes - 1 16 oz.can or 4 large tomatoes
tamarind extract - ½ teaspoon
black pepper powder - ½ teaspoon
saunf - ½ teaspoon (optional)
whole red pepper (dry red chili) - 2 or 3
chili powder - ½ teaspoon
turmeric powder - ½ teaspoon
hing powder - ½ teaspoon
methi seeds - ½ teaspoon
garlic cloves - 3 cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon
mustard seeds - ½ teaspoon
coriander and curry leaves - a bunch salt to taste

Cook the dal well with sufficient water. Add the tomatoes,salt, chili powder, turmeric powder and tamarind extract. Crush the cumin and garlic and add to the rasam with the black pepper. Simmer for a few minutes and add the hing powder. Heat a little oil in a fry pan and pop the mustard seeds. Add the methi seeds saunf and curry leaves after removing the heat source and add to the rasam. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Vegetable Cutlet

Ingredients:

2 small potatoes, boiled , peeled and mashed 3 cups vegetables, chopped finely, boiled and drained well (You can use beets, carrots, peas, cabbage,etc) 1 tsp red chilli powder 1 tsp dhania(coriander) powder 1 tsp cumin powder 1/2 tsp saunf(fennel) powder 1/2 tsp amchoor(mango powder) 1/2 tsp garam masala powder 2 green chillies , finely chopped 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste 1 tsp chopped coriander leaves 1 tsp chopped cashewnuts 1 egg white 1 egg well beaten 1 cup breadcrumbs Salt to taste 1 tbsp ghee(clarified butter) Oil for shallow frying the cutlets Method Heat the ghee and add the ginger-garlic paste and green chillies. Fry for about a minute. Now add the cashewnuts and all the powdered spices. Add the coriander leaves. Fry for 1/2 a minute. Now add all the drained vegetables and mix well. If there is any water, fry till all moisture is totally lost. Mix in the mashed potatoes and salt to taste. Heat through and take off the stovetop. Mix in 1 egg white.This will help bind together the vegetables. Make flat rounds of the above. Dip each round in the well beaten egg and roll in the breadcrumbs. Shallow fry on both sides till golden brown. Eat when hot with chutney.