Koottu curry - Chick peas and mixed vegetables

The Kairali sisters' e-book contains two types of koottu curry - one spicy version and the other sweet version. I actually liked ingredients from both and kind of combined it into my own version. I loved it the way it turned out. I intended to add chena(yam) into this as per the recipe, but I realized that I ran out of it by using it in the other dishes. So I replaced it with Chembu(taro) and it still tasted divine!

Ingredients:

· 1 cup Black Chickpeas, soaked in water for at least 3 hours
· ½ cup Plantain(Pachakkaya) cut into chickpea sized pieces
· ½ cup Elephant Yam(Chena)/Chembu(Taro) cut into cut into chickpea sized pieces
· 1 medium Carrot, cubed
· ½ cup grated Coconut
· 4-5 pearl Onions, skinned
· ½ tsp Turmeric powder
· 2 tsp red Chilly powder
· ¼ cup Sarkara/Jaggery
· Few Curry leaves
· Few dry Coconut chunks(Thenga kothu)
· 1 tbsp Coconut oil
· ½ tspMustard seeds
· ½ tsp Cumin seeds
· Salt as required
· 2 dried red chillies
· ½ tsp black pepper or pepper powder
· 1 tbsp Oil

Method:

1. Cook the Chickpeas with Water and Salt until soft (Use a pressure cooker to
cook fast, or soak in boiling water for at-least 8 hours).
2. In a thick bottomed vessel, cook the Plantain and Yam/Taro, Carrots with enough Water to
just cover the Vegetables.
3. Add Turmeric powder and Salt.
4. Keep the vessel covered to prevent drying out.
5. When the vegetables are soft add the cooked Chickpeas, along with some of the
Water used to cook Chickpeas.
6. Adjust Salt, ¾ tsp Turmeric powder, 2 tsp Chilly powder and ¼ cup of Jaggery.
6. In another pan slightly fry the grated Coconut, cumin, black Pepper with the pearl Onions.
Coarse grind this mixture and add to the cooked Chickpeas.
7. Mix well and let the Water evaporate. Splutter the Mustard seeds in Coconut Oil
and then add the dried Chillies and dry Coconut chunks (Thenga Kothu).
8. Pour this over the prepared Koottu curry.

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Chembu roast - Taro fry

Another very easy recipe for those lazy cooks. So few ingredients and the only one that has to be chopped is the chembu itself (or cheppankezhangu as some call it) Those nights when I want to hit the sacks as soon as possible, I make these lovely things that go well with dal and rice.

Credit: http://the-menucard.blogspot.com/2009/09/cheppankezhangu-roast.html

Ingredients:

Cheppan kezhangu/chembu/arbi/Taro/Colocasia - 6
Oil -1 tbsp
Chilli powder-1 tsp
Salt for taste
Asafoetida for taste
For tempering:
Curry leaves- 1 sprig
Mustard-1/2 tsp
Urad dal-1/2 tsp

Method:

My note:
I did not pressure cook the chembu as being asked in this recipe. I tried it once but it got really mushy, but tried it again with just one whistle which was fine. I usually take the chembu and wash them first to take off as much soil as possible. Then I boil them in an open pot for a while and check it in between with a fork or knife to see if it has been cooked just enough so that the peel comes off easily. Once cooked, allow it to cool down or just add cold water to it. Peel off the chembu with a small knife and cut them into bite size pieces. Now use them in the recipe.

1.Pressure cook the roots until 2 whistles. Peel of the skin and cut into small cubes.
2.Temper the rest of the ingredients in a tbsp of oil, add all the powders and cooked cheppankezhangu.
3.Roast for 5 mins. Serve.

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