Chemeen Vattichathu

God's own country's chemeen vattichathu is an ideal curry for rice, chappati or anything else and is a specialty of Kerala.

1. Medium sized chemeen (prawns) 1 cup
2. Coconut oil
3. Mustard 1/2 teaspoon
4. Fenugreek 1/4 teaspoon
5. Chopped Ginger 1 teaspoon
6. Chopped finel Garlic 1 teaspoon
7. Chuvanulli (small onion) 1 cup
8. Chopped tomato 1/2 cup
9. Thich tarmarind paste 1 cup
10. Salt to taste
11. Coriander leaves, curry leaves chopped
12. Chilly powder 2 tablespoon (Kashmir chilly would be preferred)
13. Turmeric 1/4 teaspoon

To heated coconut oil, add mustard seeds, fenugreek and then chopped ginger, garlic and saute. Then add chopped chuvanulli and saute for some time. After that, add tomatoes and saute for some time. After it comes to a paste like consistency add all the 12 ingredients. Then pour tamarind paste and a little water. Add chemeen too. After it comes to a boil add needed salt. After the chemeen is cooked and the gravy starts thickening, add coriander leaves and curry leaves. Spread a dash of coconut oil on top of it finally. Chemeen vattichathu is ready to be served.

Potato dosa

There are a variety of dosas and many restaurants offer even non-veg dosas for a change. Make potato dosas crispy by spreading it thinly.

Dosa batter 1 big cup
Cooked and mashed potatoes 2
Green chillies finely chopped 1
Onion finely chopped 1 tablespoon
Curry leaves finely chopped
Salt to taste
Ghee 2 tablespoon

Mix the dosa batter nicely adding the mashed potatoes, green chillies, curry leaves and salt. Make crispy dosas adding a dash of ghee. Tastes good with coconut chutney.

Cauliflower bajji

Since cauliflower is a seasonal veggie, it can be prepared for children as snacks in the evening. Easy to make too.

Cauliflower cut vertically 2 cups
Channa dhal 300 gm
Chilly sauce 1 teaspoon
Ginger dauce 1 teaspoon
Tomato sauce 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste
Oil 2 cups

Clean cauliflower and dry it. In another vessel, mix channa dhal, chilly sauce, ginger sauce, tomato sauce and salt along with little water and make a smooth paste. In a kadai, after the oil gets heated, dip the cauliflower florets in the masala paste and deep fry it in oil. Tastes delicious with tomato sauce.