Aluchi Vadi

Alu in English is known as colocasia/tora/elephant-ear. In Hindi it is arabi and in Malayalam it is called as Chembu.  They are many types colocasia. The one we use for aluchi vadi is the small soft one which grows on marshy land.

It’s a Maharastrian dish. And I was introduced to this when I was a child. We had just moved in to a ground floor of government quarter, with a small garden in front. Mom was very excited to make it into a kitchen garden. But we got a shock when we saw there were kitchen drain leakage and the water use to come out into the garden. In this mess there were lots of colocasia plants growing. My father was all ready to clear this mess, when one of our Maharashtrian neighbor asked us to give us some of these leaves. She prepared aluchi vadi and gave it to us. We all relished it and the entire plan of scraping of the alu plantation was cancelled. Mummy learnt it how to prepare and it was regularly made at house.

 Ingredients

Colocasia leaf - 10 tender medium sized

Besan (Chickpea Flour) - 1cup
Chili Powder - 2tsp (or per taste)
Coriander Powder - 1 tsp
Cumin Powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp

Garam masala - 1/2 tsp

A pinch of hing

Salt as per taste

For Tamarind paste
Tamarind – 1 lemon size ball
Water  - 1 cup

Oil as needed for deep fry

 Method

1.      Soak the Tamarind in water and keep for an hour.  Mash this hand and then squeeze the pulp.

2.      Wash the leaves gently, flip and remove the veins keeping the leaf intact, specially the stem portion, as it would make the leaf to roll easily. Pat dry the leaf.

3.      Mix basin, chili, coriander, cumin, turmeric, garam masala, hing and salt.

4.      To this add the Tamarind paste and make a thick batter. 

5.      Now take the biggest leaf and place it on the flat surface.  The rough part facing you.

6.      Apply the batter evenly.

7.      Place the next leaf on top of it and apply the batter.  Repeat this procedure for total of 5 leaf.

8.      Now roll it from wider edge to the pointed edge.

9.      Apply a batter on this roll

10.   Do the same process with the next 5 leaves (point 5 -9)

11.  Place these rolls on a greased steamer.  I use idli maker.

12.  Let the roll steam in medium heat for 20 mins.

13.  Remove and let them cool completely. Now using sharp knife cut 1/2" thick rounds vadis.

 

14.  Deep fry these Vadis and serve hot.

Muyal earchi Curry / Rabbit meat curry

This is one of the special dishes I learnt to make during my annual Kerela visit.  The recipe is shared by my paternal aunt (bua).  She is one of the best cooks I know, especially non-veg’s. Thanks Mary Aunty for this recipe.

Ingredients

Rabbit meat – 1kg

Turmeric powder – 1tsp
Red chilly powder – 1tsp
Salt – 1tsp
Ginger – 1 inch piece (cut into small pieces)
Garlic – 5 cut into small pieces
Onion – 2 cut length wise
Curry leaves – a few
Black pepper – 3 tsp
Oil – 1 tbsp
 
Method

1.      Clean the rabbit meat and pat dry

2.      In a kadai mix rabbit meat, turmeric powder, red chilly and salt. Mix it is nicely with hand

3.      Cook this for 5 min.

4.      While it is cooking take heat another kadai and add oil.

5.      To this add curry leaves, ginger & garlic, sauté for a min

6.      Now add onion and sauté till it becomes transparent.

7.      Switch off the burner and add 2tbsp black pepper and mix well.

8.      Add this to the rabbit meat which is cooking in a separate kadai and mix well.

9.      Cover the lid and cook for 5 min.  

Note : rabbit meat has a very fishy smell, pepper is put in abundance to overpower this.

10.  So at this level if you fell you can add a half or 1 tsp more black pepper.

11.  Cook for another 5 min or till the meat is cooked and there is thick gravy. 

Karimeen Varuthathu / Karimeen Fry

Karimeer is a very popular fish in Kerala, it is majorly available in the backwaters.  The English name is Green Chromide or the pearlspot. In Bengali it is called Koral, I could not find the hind name for it.  Being a delicacy in Kerala the popular dish are Karimeen Varthathu, Karimeen Molly and Karimeen Pollichathu.

My husband is a major fan of this fish.  But we hardly get this in Gurgaon, so this time when I went to Kerala I tried my hands on it.  And it came out very well.

Ingredients

Kaarimeen/ Any full fish like Pomfret -  2 large
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Red Chili - 2 tsp

Ginger paste – 1tsp
Garlic paste - 1tsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - to pan fry - approx. 4 tbsp.

Method

      1.      Clean the fish with cold water along with lime and salt, pat dry and place on a plate.

2.      Make deep slanting cuts on the body of the fish, both sides, so that the fish gets the masala flavor, when you apply the masala.

3.      Mix ginger paste, garlic paste, chilly powder, turmeric powder and salt to a thick past. If required you can add a few drops of water/ lime juice.  

4.      Apply this paste on the fish evenly and leave it in refrigerator overnight ( if you don’t have time you can keep it for an hour or 2).

5.      The next day take the fish out and bring it to room temperature (30-40 mins)

6.      Heat pan with oil and place the fish and let it cook on each side. Let one side cook at a time and then flip it to the next side.  Do not disturb by flipping sides as the fish will start breaking.

7.      It will take around 10min

 

I love to have this fish fry with sarlas. One big size Karimeen can fill your stomach. Yummy………..