Pazham Pori | Banana Fritters | Step By Step Recipe

Pazham Pori is also known as Ethakka Appam as I am told. The mere mention of Pazham Pori conjures of memories long forgotten, of childhood delights, of youthful indulgence and a mature fantasy. Well for all the adventures we have had, the conquest of Pazham Pori remains the one of the top. And my fondness to this delightful snack remains untarnished.

If you can understand how much of an impression these Pazham Pori has had on my "snack disliker" hubby dear, who  got these Nenthra Pazham, you can know how great these tastes. I think I have some deep connection with Kerala and its cuisine as I love all their dishes. Growing up on these dishes during our many summer vacations, made us love the cuisine. In fact most times I am mistaken for a malayali and addressed in Malayalam.

Ernakulam is one city we must have visited many times. When Dad was the Medical Director, in-charge of the south zone, he used to take us along for vacations. All those wonderful trips down south, surely brings back many nostalgic memories. We could be sure of getting treated to the best of what the place had to offer. And these tempting, delicious Pazham Pori were a must on the list when we visit Ernakulam. Of course Pazham Pori is available across the state, yet I can relate this more to this place than anything else.

Hubby dear just decided he wanted to eat Pazham Pori and got some Nenthra pazham. And it was pretty late when I got down making these. We managed to finish some and even had some spared for my colleagues.

How to make Pazham Pori in Step By Step

Nenthra Pazham before peeling. I used only two of these.

After peeling cut into two horizontal pieces.

Then proceed to cut vertically into thick pieces

 Like this..

Dip the banana pieces into the batter made with all purpose flour, sugar, soda.

Make sure the fruit is coated on both sides.

 Gently drop them into hot oil.

Cook on both sides.

Drain using a colander ladle.

Pazham Pori | Banana Fritters

Ingredients Needed

Nenthra Pazham - 2 big ones
Maida / All purpose flour - 3/4 cup (can use more)
Sugar - 3-4 tsp
Cooking Soda - 2 pinches
Turmeric - a tiny pinch.
Rice flour - 1 tsp (opt I didn't use this time)

Oil for deep frying

Method to prepare:

Peel the banana and cut in the middle horizontally. Then proceed to cut vertically into think strips.

Take the flour, sugar and cooking soda in a bowl, mix well. Then slowly add the water to get a thick batter. Whisk it well so that it rises up. You wont actually see the rise but you can see froth coming out during whisking.

Heat kadai/pan with oil. When it is hot, dip the banana strips into the batter on both sides and gently drop into the hot oil. If the banana/plantain is over ripe, it will slip very badly, so got to hold it tight!

Once it turns lightly golden flip to the other side. When done, remove on a kitchen towel to drain excess oil.

Notes:

• The fruit has to be ripe, yet not too ripe for you not be able to handle the cutting.
  When you use rice flour, the batter tends to come out little crispy.
  Take care not to lower your fingers close to the oil, it has happened few times to me.
• I added a bit of turmeric, in fact more than necessary by mistake during the first batch. The fritters turned out pink! So if you want a little yellow hue, add a small pinch and not more.
• The proportion of Rice flour depends on how crispy you want. Without this flour the fritters tend to become soggy. 

We enjoyed the Pazham Pori and it transported me to my childhood days. Do share which dish brings your childhood to memory!

Happy Weekend and enjoy!

Lunch Box Series : LBS#56 ~ Beans Mulagootal & Parippu Thogayal!

I have always admired Aparna's pictures and her stories. I normally never go further to read the recipe in most cases when I am admiring the pictures more. So when I clicked her menu, I was surprised at how well she had lined them up. I have always wanted to put a picture for all my index pages, but never came around doing that. Seeing her Index page, it surely makes me want to do it right away!

I was excited seeing her Palakkad Cuisine. Kerala Cuisine is one of my favorite ones and especially after blogging I have come to know that even within that there are so many different styles.  Then seeing that she has a good collection of baked goods, I remembered I have not yet got my muffin tray from Divya, who was sweet enough to get me one from her native. Hopefully I should get it within this month for me to attempt some baking from Aparna.

By the way which reminds me that T&T is until September 15th and not end of this month as I wrongly mentioned.

I wanted to choose something that I could carry for my lunch and I decided on Beans Molagutal as I remembered that beautiful picture from memory. Aparna mentioned that this dish is bit bland so the parupu thogayal goes well as a combo. So made both the dishes for afternoon lunch. Since this is a lunch box Series, I had to hurriedly take a group photo. Requested Hubby dear to take individual pictures to highlight the dishes more.

Today's Lunch Box had

Beans Mulagootal
Parippu Thogayal
Plain Rice
Curd Rice

I know I am posting my lunch box series after a long time. I felt I haven't been cooking much differently these days. Guess I have till rethink and plan for some exciting lunch..:)

Beans Mulagootal

Ingredients Needed:

French Beans - 1 cup
Toor Dal - 1 cup
Turmeric powder a pinch
Salt to taste

For the paste

Fresh Coconut, grated - 1/2 cup
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
Urad Dal - 1 tsp
Green Chillies - 2 long

Seasoning:

Cooking Oil - 1 - 2 tsp
Mustard Seeds, Urad dal - 1 tsp
Curry Leaves few

Normally Coconut oil is used here, but I used regular oil.

Method to prepare:

Pressure cook toor dal for 4 whistles, once the pressure falls, remove and add finely chopped beans. Pressure again for another 2 whistles or till the dal is soft.

Meanwhile in a pan heat oil, roast the urad dal. Add cumin seeds. Fry till they start crackling. Then once cooled grind along with green chilies and coconut to a smooth paste adding water.

Once the pressure is off, add this paste and 1 cup water. Bring to boil. In the pan, heat oil add mustard and urad dal along with curry leaves.

Then pour this over the boiling dal.

Notes: Aparna added only 1 chili, while I added 2, still it wasn't very spicy. I know this kootu is supposed to be a bit bland. So you can make this dal chutney and spice the meal.

Parippu Thogayal

This one is made with Toor dal, Urad dal with Coconut. Since this is spicy Aparna says its a good combination with the bland mulagootal! I must agree with that for sure. It indeed was good. And my colleagues ate the chutney as such.

Ingredients Needed

Fresh Coconut, grated - 1/2 cup
Toor dal - 2 tbsp
Urad Dal - 1 tbsp
Red Chilies - 6 nos
Tamarind - small marble size
Hing/ Asafetida a pinch
Curry leaves few
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 tsp


Method to prepare:

Heat a pan with oil, roast toor dal, Urad dal well till they start turning golden. Add the chilies towards the end along with hing and curry leaves.

Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Grind with coconut, tamarind and salt adding little water into a coarse paste.

Serve this with mulagootal and rice.

This thogayal will go well with plain dosa too.


I really had a great lunch thanks to Aparna. This is similar to the kootu that is made in Tamil Nadu except I never knew if one adds Urad dal to it. But on the hole a wholesome meal in making!

This is for Tried and Tasted, event hosted at my space, an event by Lakshmi of Kitchen Chronicles

Urulakizzangu Thoran ~ from Ammini's “Grains, Greens and Grated Coconuts”!

Its one of those wonderful experiences where you don't have to work at all but enjoy the fruits of all the hard work! Yes I found myself in the receiving end of such experience and enjoyed thoroughly! This Saturday I had a fantastic time at Pratibha's place spending the day with her and Jigaysa. Both are so passionate about their work and food, that it is contagious, I must say. And when such an offer is made, would anybody say no for a fabulous lunch treat, especially if the menu is from a renowned cookbook author? Obviously not be. In return, all I had to do is click them. Wow I don't think I ever had a easier job than this!

This cooking project as we call it among 3 of us, was very simple. During one of our discussions, Pratibha mentioned their difficulties with taking pictures. She was talking passionately about cooking thalis in tribute to all those wonderful cookbooks that she reads and falls in love with. She wanted to recreate Ammini Ramachandran's Grains, Greens, and Grated Coconuts in her kitchen. So when she said all that was missing was taking pictures of the food, I naturally I jumped in offering to click for her. I can't miss out the easiest part of the whole project right! We decided we can do this project on Saturdays and this Saturday was planned! And what a day it was.

I called in Pratibha, to say I would try to catch her in action. But gosh try as I may, I may not have done it as she completed a thali containing 10 dishes by 9 am! I landed there at 11 am and saw she has completed the entire cooking and was waiting for me. She was praising the author so much that I had a pick up the book and read. And after enjoying a meal with 10 different dishes made from the book, I could very well join Pratibha in her praises! She said it was like a meditation for her, without any disturbance, she was cooking alone in the kitchen and enjoying thoroughly!

Agreeing that too much delay would prove bad, we proceeded to take the pictures. Pratibha set the dishes for me, while I got ready trying to figure out the right spot in her home. Then walked in Jigyasa. Seeing them together and working, is really shows what a great team work they have. We all had fun getting the dishes in the right angle and zoomed in. I transferred to their system and had great time figuring out which one to choose. All of them came out so well. Though I hadn't worked much in terms of cooking this fabulous lunch, I had great pleasure partaking it. It was such a great pleasure when Pratibha insisted that I should share something with my readers.

So with all due credits to Pratibha for cooking and Ammini for sharing such a lovely dish, let me share with you all this simple yet delicious Urulakizzangu Thoran

I must thank Pratibha for sending the recipe sent by Ammini. Thank you Ammini for a wonderful recipe, it was simply too good!

Check out the post by Pratibha on her experience in her blog.

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Urulakizzangu Thoran: Potatoes Panfried with Green Chilies and Coconut

Here is our hot potato salad, spiced and garnished with—what else?—fresh green chilies and coconut. It tastes good either hot or cold. As there is no mayonnaise in this dish, it stays fresh at room temperature for a whole day. A garnish of toasted dal imparts crunchiness to this salad.

Ingredients needed:

5 medium or 2 large Idaho potatoes
Salt to taste
4 fresh green chilies (serrano or Thai) (less for a milder taste)
1 cup freshly grated coconut
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
½ teaspoon mustard seeds
1 tablespoon each urad dal and chana dal
1 dried red cayenne, serrano, or Thai chili, halved
12 to 15 fresh curry leaves

Method to prepare:

Peel the potatoes, and cut them into large cubes. Place them in a heavy saucepan and pour in enough water to cover them. Add salt, and simmer for eight to ten minutes, until they are fork tender. Drain them, and set them aside.

With a mortar and pestle or in a food processor, roughly chop the green chilies. Add the grated coconut, and mix well. Heat oil in a heavy skillet, and add the mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds start sputtering, add the dal, halved red chili pepper, and curry leaves, and fry until the dal turns golden. Reduce the heat to low, add the green chilies and coconut, and fry for a minute or two. Roughly mash the cooked potatoes and add them to the pan. Stir well to combine, and panfry for another five to six minutes over low heat. Serve warm with rice and curries. This dish may also be served at room temperature as a salad.

Variation: Thinly slice a few shallots or a medium onion, panfry in two teaspoons of oil, and add to the potatoes.

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Believe me, it might look very similar, yet there was something different in the taste. I may have eaten this in many numeral occasions during my visit to Kerala. But all that I can now remember is that lingering taste left from a fabulous feast!

Lunch Box Series : LBS#47 Avial ~ Melody of assorted Vegetables in a gravy!

For everybody there must always be something that reminds them of their childhood likes and wants right. In my case, I end up thinking about them in every turn and twist. I sometimes wonder if it only me or with everybody? I hardly find such thoughts hovering over hubby dear's mind. I guess its more to do the gentle genes that we women posses or so I want to think!

Coming back to my original thought process, I was pondering over the fact that I ended up reminiscing lot more over my teenage days upon seeing a dish. That actually sounds weird to me at times. But then guess I got to live that. So when Amma made this Avial sometime back, it got me remembering those lovely Saturday lunches spent drooling over a feast. She used to ensure Saturdays were vegetarian specials and used to rotate my favorite dishes. I always cherish over how our parents made us feel so special to them, infact they still do. And I try very hard trying to make my children feel so too.

Well when Amma made this Avial, she also happened to tell Athamma that I used to love this. So you can imagine what happened next. Athamma kept some for me for the dinner and even at the late hour I got back, I saw a bowl sadly waiting for me, which I couldn't taste. So she was telling me that I should attempt at it another day. One thing led to another and you find me discussing it here today! With great hopes I planned for a lunch to be paired with Pappu Chaaru, as this was the combo I used to love. It got to be either Sambar or a thinner version. I remember the most South Indian wedding feast is incomplete without this avial.

So I was only too happy recording the way Amma makes at home!

Before that, I just wanted to mention that I finally came about to have an About me page! its nearly 2 years overdue!.:)

And yes I also ended up on a random musing too. I would love to hear your thoughts on my Spice your life post too!

Today's Lunch Box had

Pappu Charu
Avial
Rasam with rice
Curd with Rice

Avial

Preparation Time : 10 mins
Cooking Time : 10 - 15 mins
Cuisine: Kerala
Serves : 3-4 medium servings

Ingredients Needed:

Vegetables to be cut in the same size.
Yam, Arbi (Colacasia), Ash Gourd/White pumpkin (Budida gummadikaya), Carrot, French Beans, Cluster Beans, Black eyed Peas (Karamani), Potato, Raw plantain - 50 gms
Drumstick - 1

Thick Curds/ Yogurt - 1/2 cup
Cooking Oil - 2 tsp
Curry leaves few

Grind the following to a smooth paste:

Coconut - 1/2
Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
Green chilli - 4 nos

Method to prepare:

Prep the vegetables and cut them into equal size. If you are using pressure cooker, add salt and water enough to cover the vegetables and put it on high flame, you should switch the flame when the first whistle is about to go. This way the vegetables are half done. Drumstick can be added in the end, so that the shape is retained.

Remove the cooker lid and bring to boil, when it starts boiling, add the coconut paste. Mix well and bring to boil again.

At this stage, add the thick curds and stir well.

In another pan, heat the oil and temper with curry leaves. Pour this hot oil into the boiling pan. It should be done within 2 minutes.

Note: When using coconut oil, it can be added without heating.

Authentic recipe calls for coconut oil, but for those who don't like it can use regular cooking oil

Update on the Mithai Mela:

Thank you everybody for the overwhelming response! I am still trying to wade the sweet assault, will try to do the round up by June 1st, please bear with me.

Have a great weekend!