Tropical Smoothie

Papaya - 1 cup (coffee mug)
Mango - 1 cup
Milk - ¼ cup
Sugar - 1tbsp
Vanilla Ice –Cream

Wash papaya and mango and dry them with
a napkin. Peel and cut the fruits into chunks.

In a blender first put papaya. Run the blender for
one minute. Now add mango milk and sugar.
Switch-on the blender for two minutes.

Cool it and serve with a scoop of ice - cream.
The sweet tempting smoothie to cool
you on a hot summer day….

Tips:
1. Papaya should not be too ripe.
Too ripe papaya will affect the smoothie’s
Silky consistency.
2. Use the same cup to measure all the ingredients.

Chemmeen Olathiyathu (Tangy Prawns in Coconut)

Prawns - ½ kg
Coconut - ½
Grated coconut - ½ cup
Big onions - 2
Green chillies - 2
Garlic pod - 10
Ginger - 3 inch
Curry leaves - a bunch
Red chilli powder – 1 ½ tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1tsp
Kudampuli (kokum ) – 4 pieces
Water - ¼ glass
Salt to taste

Remove the shells and devein the prawns.
Wash thoroughly and keep aside.

Chop onions, ginger , garlic and slit green chillies.
Scoop out ½ coconut from its shell and thinly slice it.
Put them in an earthen ware (chatti ) along with
curry leaves , prawns ,turmeric, red chilli powder ,salt
and grated coconut.

Cut kudampuli into small pieces, wash them twice.
Add ¼ glass of water and kudumpuli to the
prawns (chemmeen ) mix in the chatti and keep on
medium flame till the water gets dried.

Keep a wok on low flame .Pour a table spoon of oil ,add
curry leaves and crushed garlic.When the garlic turns
golden brown ,add the chemmeen mix into the wok.
Stir for two minutes, on high flame and serve hot with rice .

Tips:
1.Take care not to over cook the prawns. It is more soft
and tasty when just- cooked. Adjust the flame accordingly.

Avial (Onam Special )

Yam - 100 gm
Carrot - 100gm
Ash gourd - 100gm
Pumpkin -100gm
Drumsticks - 2
Raw mango - half of a mango
Small onions - 1 ½ cup
(shallots)
water - ½ glass

grated coconut - ½ of a coconut
green chillies - 3
jeera - 1tsp
mustard - ½ tsp
chilli powder -1 tsp
turmeric powder –1tsp
curry leaves -a bunch
oil for seasoning



On a low flame, keep a vessel with ½ a glass of water.
As yam takes a lot of time to cook,
first cut yam into 2 inch pieces,wash twice and
put into the simmering water and close the lid .
Clean and cut the carrots ,
layer on top of the yam and close the lid.
Now goes in, the cut kumbalanga(gourd),
peeled and cut drumsticks ,Pumpkin,
1 cup small onions and cut - pieces of mango.

Add salt , chilli and turmeric powder .
Stir and check in between whether the
vegetables are evenly cooked.

In a chutney grinder put grated coconut,
green chillies, ½ cup sambar onions, jeera, mustard
and 2 tbsp curry leaves from the bunch.
Grind with- out adding water.

In a cheena chatti (wok) on medium flame, pour 2 tbsp of oil (coconut oil preferred ),
put the remaining curry leaves to let it turn crisp and emerald green.
Now add the Coconut mixture and vegetables,
add salt as needed and stir till it is dry.
Serve hot with rice.

Tips: 1. Can use vegetables of your choice, but try to stick to shallots and coconut oil.
2. For a gravy version , curd is used instead-of raw mango.
3. Try to cut vegetables in same length.
4. Before cutting yam, apply oil on your palm . This will reduce itching.

Prawn Fry (Konch Varuthathu)

Tiger Prawns - ½ kg
Chilli powder - 1 tbsp
Ginger - 3 inch size
Garlic - 6 pods
Salt - to taste
Curd - 1 tbsp
Bread crumbs of 2 slices
Oil for frying

Peel the tiger prawns and remove the veins.
Wash twice and keep aside.
In a chutney grinder, make a paste of ginger and garlic by adding curd ,
Chilli, turmeric powder and salt. Marinate the prawns in this paste
overnight or keep atleast for 4 hours in the fridge.

Keep a wok ( cheenachatti) on medium flame; insert each prawn
with a tooth pick , dip in bread crumbs and deep fry.
Serve hot.
Excellent as starters or as side dish with rice.

Tips;
1. While peeling the prawns, retain the tail , for better presentation.
2. Insert the tooth pick straight into the prawn so that it does not
curl much while frying.

Fish Moly (Kuttanadan special)

Ingredients:

Karimeen (Pearl spot) or Pomfret - ½ kg
Grated Coconut - 1 whole
Big Onions - 2
Green Chillies - 5
Ginger - 3 inch
Garlic - 4 pods
Big tomato - 1
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Maida - 2 tsp
Oil for frying
Salt to taste

Cut fish into medium size. Clean thoroughly with salt. Make a slit on each piece and apply turmeric and salt. Fry the fish lightly on both sides. See that it does not turn brown and that it retains the yellow colour. Keep aside the fish and also the remaining oil. In a grinder, put the grated coconut and extract first and second milk from it. Keep them separately. Keep a cheena chatti (wok) on medium flame and pour the remaining oil that you have reserved after frying the fish. Add the onions (medium sliced), chilies cut length-wise and julians of ginger and garlic. Saute till translucent but not golden brown. Add the second coconut milk and let it simmer for a while on low flame. Gently keep the fried fish and a tomato cut into four big pieces. After about 3 minutes, add the first milk. Now mix maida in half glass of water. As the fish molly starts to simmer, pour the maida mixed in water. Let it simmer for two minutes on low flame. Now, the sauce slowly starts thickening… we are done, turn off the flame. Serve hot or cold with appam or bread.

Tips:
1. Use only green chilies for this lip smacking subtle delicacy of kerala.