Appam (Kinnathappam) (Raw Rice - Pancake ) (Kallappam )

Ingredients

Raw Rice - 1 kg

Salt - 1 teaspoon

Sugar - 1 cup

Grated coconut -4 cups

Cooked Rice (Any) -1 cup

Yeast - 1 tablespoon

Water - 2 tablespoon

In a mixer, grind raw rice, cooked rice and grated coconut. Make it a fine paste. Keep it in a separate bowl. In another bowl, add little water and yeast. Keep it aside for 10-15 minutes. Add this to the first bowl and soak it overnight. Next day, add sugar and salt to this. Mix it really  well. Take a plate or any type of small vessel to cook this. Make sure to grease the vessel with little oil. So it will not stick to the plate. In a steamer, cook this for 10 minutes. Once it is out of the steamer, keep it in a pan with little water. so that it will be easy to remove from the plate. Slightly tap the edges as well. It helps the Appam to come out easily from the mould. You can make different shapes using small moulds. Also, try in a plate, to get a round shape.

Try adding 1 teaspoon  of baking powder  and 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda just before cooking which is just optional in case if the batter is not fermented properly. You can make out the volume of batter becoming double if its well fermented. It has to rise little bit. You can also try adding toddy (Kallu) instead of yeast as it's a traditional way of making Appam. And the original name for this Appam is Kallappam. Its a traditional north Malabar dish especially  for Christmas. One should definitely try having this with chicken stew or any chicken curry. Its an awesome dish. Please refer to my post for chicken stew recipe :)

Christmas Cookies

Ingredients

All purpose flour -3 cups

Sugar -1 1/2 cup

Egg -2

Baking powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Salt - 1/2 teaspoon

Vanilla  essence -2 teaspoon

Unsalted  butter - 1 cup

For decoration

Jam

Icing sugar - 4 -5 tablespoon

Mix butter, sugar and vanilla extract using a hand mixer. Slowly add eggs to this and beat well until it becomes fluffy. Mix it really well. Now slowly add sifted flour, baking powder and salt to this. Knead the dough in such a way that it gets the right consistency. Keep adding little flour or butter if its too sticky or dry. Once the dough is ready, refrigerate it for 30 to 40 minutes. Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius. Place a parchment paper on the baking tray. Roll out the dough and make different shapes using cookie cutter. Immediately transfer cookies on the tray and bake it for 10 - 15 minutes. Let it cool on a wire rack for at least 2 -5 minutes.

For decoration, I have used round shaped cookies with jam. Use round shaped cutter to make two discs for one cookie. For first disc, I have used jam in the center. And using a small cookie cutter, I have given different shapes in the center for the second disc. Keep these second discs with center cut outs on top of a wire rack. Now sprinkle little bit of icing sugar on top of it. Please refer to pics for better idea. Use jam in the center of the first disc, that is plain round shaped cookie at the bottom. You can use any jam depending on your likes. Here I have used Kissan mixed fruit jam. So that the jam in the middle will stand out and this gives the cookie that pretty look.  :)

For the other decoration. First divide the dough in to two parts. Use orange colour for one dough and pink for the other. I normally use Wilton food colour which is bit costly but highly recommended by bakers. Now make a long strip out of orange coloured dough. Repeat the method using pink coloured dough. Slowly make swirls by combining both dough. That is just twist both the doughs together so it gets a swirl effect. Cut out different shapes using cookie cutter and enjoy the colourful christmas cookies. 

I got this idea of cookies from Natalie Poeter from Vienna, Austria. :) After seeing pics of Nati's heart shaped Christmas cookies with jam, i got inspired and thought of trying it out though I have posted butter cookies before. Thanks to Clive n Nati for this idea. :)

Kovakka Fry ( Ivy gourd Fry)

Ingredients

Kovakka - 15

Turmeric powder - 2 teaspoon

Red chilly powder - 1 teaspoon

Salt

Oil

Cut Kovakka in long strips, make it medium to thin slices. In a bowl, add turmeric powder, red chilly powder and salt. Mix this well. Now add finely cut Kovakka into this and mix really well. Keep it for 10-15 minutes. Heat a pan, add 1-2 tablespoon of oil.  Once oil is hot, slowly put these Kovakka  in the pan by reducing the flame. Shallow fry this on both sides in medium to low flame until it turns golden brown color. It goes well with rice. Its a simple and easy recipe at the same time tasty as well.

Cauliflower Kuruma

Ingredients

Oil

Cumin seeds -1/2 teaspoon

Spices - 1 teaspoon  (cardamom,  cinnamon,  cloves )

Onion - 1

Tomato - 1

Green  chilies - 2

Ginger - small piece

Garlic - 4 cloves

Cashew  nuts - 7

Grated coconut - 1/2 cup

Cauliflower - around 25 florets

Carrot - 1

Curry leaves

Coriander  leaves

Turmeric  powder -1/2 teaspoon

Red chilly  powder -1/2 teaspoon

Coriander  powder - 1 teaspoon

Cumin powder - 1/2 teaspoon

First cook cauliflower and carrot for 3-4 minutes by adding 2 cups of water. Drain off the water completely.  Keep  it aside. Now in a pan, add little  oil. Once oil is hot, add Cumin seeds, curry leaves and onion. Saute it for two minutes and when onion turns to golden brown color, add green chilies,  ginger, garlic and tomatoes.  Saute it again for two to three minutes. 

Now start adding all the masalas. Add turmeric powder, red chilly powder, coriander powder, Cumin powder  and spices. Mix it well. Later add half cooked cauliflower and carrot to this. Meanwhile grind coconut and cashew nuts together with very little water around 1/4 cup. Make a medium thick paste. Finally add this to the pan. Add little water if you need gravy. But I would suggest not to add water as you mix coconut paste , this itself  will give enough gravy. And moreover it is kuruma where gravy should be thick enough. Now cook this for two minutes and add coriander leaves at the end. It goes well with rotis or even rice. I would suggest to try this for breakfast as a side dish with Appam, Chapatti, Pathiri or even Puttu.