Cucumber Kichadi

Cucumber - 1 Large
Green Chilli - 5
Mustard - 1 teaspoon
Coconut ground - 1 cup
Curd - 3 cups
Coconut oil - 2 table spoon
dry chilli - 3 cut into two
curry leaves - a few
Salt to taste

Cut cucumber into small pieces and cook in salt and water. Grind item no. 2 and add to cucumber. Cook for 5 minutes and then add curd. Low the fire and keep on stirring till it is just about to boil. Remove from the flame. Season it with dry chilli, mustard and curry leaves.

Kaalan ( Yoghurt curry)

Raw banana ,cubed 1 medium
Chopped yam -1 Cup
Sour yoghurt - 3 cups
Fresh (or frozen) Coconut - 1 cup grated
Green chillies - 4
Red chillies - 1 teaspoon
Red chilli powder - 1 teaspoon
Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon Mustard seeds
Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Oil - 2 tablespoons
Salt - 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder

Grind the coconut, cumin seeds and green chillies to a fine paste. Beat the curds well and mix in the ground paste. Keep aside. Peel and cube the banana. Pressure cook the vegetables with 1 cup water, salt, turmeric powder and red chilli powder till the vegetables are done. Simmer on a low heat for 3 minutes. Add the curds and simmer further for 2-3 minutes. Do not boil. Heat oil in a small pan. Add mustard seeds, red chillies, fenugreek seeds and curry leaves. When the seeds start spluttering, pour over the cooked vegetables. Serve hot.

Inchipuli ( Ginger and tamarind pickle)

Ginger-1lb Green chillies-1 lb
Oil-1 cup
Mustard-1 tsp
Turmeric-1 tsp
Salt to taste
Bengal gram-1 tbsp
Urad dal-2tbsp
Fenugreek seeds-2 tbsp
Asafoetida-pinch
Jaggery 4 tbsp
Tamarind-4 tbsp
Black sesame-1 1/2tbsp(roasted)

Cut ginger and green chillies into small pieces and keep aside. Heat oil in a deep pan. Add the mustard and all the dals, ginger and green chillies and saute for a minute. Now, add water, tamarind paste, turmeric, asafoetida, salt and jaggery to this. Keep stirring and cook on a low flame till it becomes reduced to half. Garnish with sesame seeds.

Kootu Curry Yellow pumpkin, snake gourd etc cut into small pieces
Red chillies - 6
Coriander powder - 2 tsp
Urad dal (black gram) - 2 tsp
Chana dal - 2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Til - 3 tsp
Raw rice - 1 tsp
Grated coconut - 6 tbsp
Jaggery - 1 piece (lemon-sized)
Oil - 3 tbsp Tamarind - the size of a marble
Mustard - ½ tsp
Curry leaves, salt, - as required
Asafoetida a pinch

Fry coriander, urad dal, turmeric, asafoetida, chana dal, rice, coconut, red chilies in a little oil. Clean til and fry it. Grind all these into a rough paste. Cut vegetables into small pieces and mix with jaggery and salt. Cook with required amount of water. Boil the Bengal gram. Now mix the vegetables and cooked dal and place it over the fire. Add the ground rough paste allow it to boil. Season with mustard and curry leaves.

For more Onam Recipes visit http://www.lokvani.com/lokvani/article.php?article_id=415

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