KANNUR SPECIAL KOOTU CURRY

Being the Kannur girl that I am, I have a few forever favourite Kannur curries. One of them is the Kannur meen curry which I've already blogged about. The other ones include  Kootu curry,Varutharacha Kozhi curry & Varutharacha Sambar. I've made the latter two at home quite a few times but it's never ever lasted long enough for me to share it here.This time while I cooked the kootu curry, I made sure I save some to photograph and blog about.



Kootu curry as the name suggests is a mix of a few vegetables cooked together. The highlight of this curry is the flavour of the tempering.It is awesome! It transforms the othewise simple looking and simple tasting curry into a good one.This curry is very common on a sadya menu in Kannur and is also made during Vishu & Onam. I maybe wrong here because in my household Onam & Vishu is always celebrated with a good Chicken Biriyani and the food that's sent over by neighbours :-)

Yes, in Kannur you would be surprised to know that not many celebrate Onam with the full swing sadya. There's always biriyani on the table :-) So now, you may know why there's hardly any Vishu & Onam specials here on my blog. How can I blog about things I don't make for that day ? ;-)

KOOTU CURRY
My own recipe

Ingredients:
1 c dried bengal gram / Karutha kadala
1 big green plantain / Paccha ethakka /Kaya, cubed
1 c elephant yam /Chena /Suran , cubed
1 tsp red chili powder
2 -3 tsp pepper powder or to taste
Salt to taste
1/2 c grated coconut
1 tsp cumin

Method: Soak the bengal gram overnight in plenty of water and pressure cook the next day with enough salt & 1 1/2 c water for 2 whistles. Let the pressure go down and then open the cooker. Add the cubed plantain & yam. Pressure cook for one more whistle. Open the cooker and check if the gram & vegetables are cooked enough.Grind together the grated coconut ,cumin & 1/4 c water to a coarse paste. Add this to the pressure cooked veggies. Also add red chili powder, pepper powder and some more water, if needed. Let it come to a boil.

For tempering:
3 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
2 sprigs curry leaves
1 tbsp urad dal
1/4 c grated coconut

Method: Heat oil, crackle mustard. Add the curry leaves and let it splutter for 10 secs. Add the urad dal and cook till golden brown. Add the grated coconut and fry till it turns golden brown. Pour over the curry and check for salt & pepper. Serve hot with rice!

I can eat this curry on it's own, in a bowl while watching a favourite Malayalam movie. This curry gets it's heat from black pepper powder, so incase you feel the heat is missing, add some more pepper powder. Don't skip the tempering , it really transforms the curry and leaves you wondering what a taste and smell some fried grated coconut can lend to a curry.The flavours were spot on and even the colour of the curry was exactly the same that I've seen in Kannur. You have to try this out,someday :-)

Jobin usually prefers Sona Masoori rice over Kerala Matta rice. But whenever I make any naadan curries he likes to pair it with the big fat Kerala rice :-) Even I think this curry would taste the best with that rice.If you can fry a pappadam or two, a micro mini sadya is there right on your plate! Now, can someone pass me some payasam please? ;-)

GUESS WHO?

Any guesses as to who this lady could be? I've mentioned her in my Kannur Meen Curry post...she is Janu Chechy, our help at home for the last 30 plus years. She's been in our household even before my parents got married so obviously long before I was born.A lady with a big big heart. A lady who is the only support for her family.She cooks one of the best 'Kannur Meen Curry','Pachhadi' & 'Puliyum Molakum' ever!

The dish she is holding is her popular 'Puliyum Molakum'. There's no cooking involved in it actually. It's just a combination of some of my favourite things...Tamarind & Coconut Oil.She has been making this for me from the time I can remember. I eat it straight from the bowl but she tells me that I should eat it with some rice or else, it will affect my stomach.

When I was young,like really young I used to ask her every single day as to what she had for breakfast,lunch & dinner. She used to tell me various things she had and one of those days she mentioned about the 'curry' she used to take along with her for work while she worked in the paddy fields long back...very many years ago, when she was young. She called it 'Puliyum Molakum'.

PULIYUM MOLAKUM

You will need:
Tamarind
Water
One small red onion, diced
Green Chilies,chopped
Red Chili powder
Ginger
Salt
Sugar
Coconut Oil

Method:
Soak the tamarind in some water and squeeze out it's pulp.To that, add rest of the ingredients to taste.
I love a big fat drizzle of coconut oil over it.This is an awesome dip for Bhajji's or you can eat it straight out of the bowl.

So when she made Puliyum Molakum for me as soon as I reached home last month, I asked her to pose for me, for a photograph which she did very happily! Today, I saw her searching for onions so that she could make another bowl full for me...just for me :-)

PUTTU & KANNUR MEEN CURRY /STEAMED RICE FLOUR CAKES WITH FISH CURRY

Icannot tell you how much I love Kannur Style Meen Curry/Fish Curry.It is such a simple recipe that even a child can make with adult supervision.I have to say, this is my first attempt at making this curry because Janu Chechy was an expert at it and it was her speciality. When I was growing up, I used to eat this at my childhood friend, Babitha's house. Asha aunty is an excellent cook! This curry was there, always at their house. So when I was cooking this curry, I couldn't help but think of all the fun we had as kids at Babitha's house.

We were a gang of 3 girls. Rechana, Babitha and myself. Rechana was elder to the two of us by 6 years or so but that didn't matter. We still enjoyed pretend play as any other kids would do. I used to be the cook flipping out dosas from my pan with a small 'chattugam'/flat steel spoon.Once in a while we used to fight and since we were 3, one of us were 'outside' the group during the fight as 2 of us paired against the other.

I clearly remember we 3 were enrolled for Indian Classical Dance classes which was held at a school very close by to our house in Talap. Finally we got our uniforms for the class which was a 'salwar kameez'. The kameez was off white and the salwar and dupatta were baby pink. We were super excited to have the uniform but myself and Babitha didn't go for the class after that...just being lazy, you know! :-D

So, one day, we had a fight...this time it was me and Babitha against Rechana. We were so angry with her (and I don't even remember why!) and we decided to pour water at her over my boundary wall when she went for the dance class. But it never happened as she was smarter than us :D

When I look back at it, we were just being stupid and silly! I have such good memories with my childhood friends and the best part is we are still connected. Rechana got married 2 days before our wedding and Babitha was one of my bridesmaid. We live continents away but we are still in each other's thoughts!

Do you have such memories of how stupid and silly you were, when you were young? I have plenty of them. I was a single child till I was 8 years old, so I never liked sharing anything , mostly with my cousins (no idea why!). When my cousins used to visit us and if there were chocolates in the fridge, I used to run and hug the fridge so they they wouldn't open it, also thinking that they wouldn't know they were chocolates in it! Imagine how stupid I was!! :-D

That reminds me...I haven't told you how we 3 became friends right? It's funny, atleast how Babitha and I became friends. That's for another post...I hope I haven't bored you . Now let's move to the recipe :-)

PUTTU with KANNUR STYLE MEEN CURRY
My own recipe 

Ingredients:
For Puttu:
Roasted Rice Flour* or Store bought Puttu Podi (Taste Buds, Avis,Nirapara, Double Horse are good brands)
Salt to taste
Water as needed
Freshly grated coconut as need

For the Meen Curry:
1 lbs/ 0.5 kg King fish (can use sardines, mackerel, shrimp etc)
1c freshly grated coconut
1 tsp turmeric powder
6 green chillies
1 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1 lime sized ball of tamarind
1/2 c warm water
Salt to taste
3 tbsp coconut oil

Method:
For Puttu:
In a large bowl, mix together the salt and rice flour. Sprinle water to it and mix well.Start with half the qty of flour that you are taking.
When you press a ball of flour, it should hold it's shape and not crumble down. If you have reached that consistency, stop adding water. Pass this mixture through a sieve to remove the lumps.Leave it aside for 15 mins.
Take your puttu maker *, add some grated coconut followed by the rice flour mixture. Never ever press the puttu podi into the puttu maker, it just needs to be spooned in.
Bring to boil some water in a pressure cooker. When the steam comes, insert the puttu maker into the nozzle where the steam comes out. Let it steam till you can see steam passing through the puttu maker which will happen in less than 2 mins.
De-mould it and serve hot with Fish Curry.

Fish Curry:
Grind the coconut and turmeric powder. Add water to aid it in grinding.
Add the warm water to the tamarind and set it aside for 5 mins. Squeeze out the pulp and strain.
Add the red chilli powder, green chillies and salt to the tamarind pulp and mix.
Heat oil, add the ground masala and the tamarind pulp.
Once it comes to a boil, add the fish and let it cook.
If you think you need to add more water,add it and give it a boil.
Check for salt .

Notes:
*The rice flour used for Puttu is not super fine, it has to be coarse. The super fine variety is used for Idiappam/String Hoppers. So make sure you have the right one.If you are in doubt, go for the store bought powder made specially for Puttu.
* Puttu maker usually comes in a cylindrical form but Amma always made it in 'Cheratta'/Coconut shells and her shells are as old as I am :) I wanted to get one here but in the last minute hurry all I could manage was this commercially made 'Aluminium' Cheratta. If you are using any other kind of puttu maker, please follow the manufacturers instructions.

* If you do not own a puttu maker, you can still make it by steaming it in a plate . Simple! But this time, you will keep it inside the cooker/steamer and not over it as I did :)

Verdict: It goes without saying how much I love this curry rather the combo! Try it and you will know why I like it :)

I am sending  the deliciousness to The Kerala Kitchen.