Plantain meals on plantain leaves

How to prepare?

Pluck enough plantains from your banana bunch. I prefer the homegrown fresh harvested bunch.

Peel the plantain, wash it and boil cook with turmeric and salt to taste. 

Serve it on banana leaves with the side dishes of veggies and non vegetable. It balances the nutrients in the lunch. I served with chicken curry, egg omelette, moringa leaves stir fry, dried fish chutney, chilli onion chutney and a bowl of yogurt. Also kept some rice for rice lovers. That’s it. 

Less carbs lunch idea worked out.

If you are having plantains with you , go for it.

So simple and very healthy. Of course delicious and a total change of taste.  

Plantain Chicken Biriyani

Chicken 500 gm., cleaned and chopped, marinate the chicken with ginger garlic paste, salt to taste and 1 tsp. pepper powder.

Onion 1, green chilli 7, garlic cloves 5, ginger 1 inch piece, all thinly sliced,

Coconut oil 2 tbsp., biriyani masala 1 tbsp., chopped cilantro leaves, curry leaf a sprig.

Prepare the chicken in a shallow pan, by heating the oil, sautéing the onion etc., add the biriyani masala, and cook the chicken in medium flame.

If you prefer pressure cooker cook for a whistle. Chicken roast is ready for the biriyani.

Plantain cooking 

Plantain 3-4, wash and clean, peel, cut into chunks and cook with turmeric powder and salt to taste.

Combine both the chicken and plantain together, add cilantro and curry leaves, mix well. Ready to serve.

Healthy and delicious.

 

Steam cooked plantain and onion chutney

 Homegrown produces are so good in quality.

Raw bananas 2, washed, and cut into desirable pieces.

Wash it again, add 1/2 cup water, little turmeric powder and salt to taste. Cook in a pressure cooker for a while. 

Allow to form the pressure, off the flame and take it out when the pressure is gone.

Onion chilli chutney 

Dried red chilli 20,

Shallots 12, garlic 2 cloves, ginger 1 inch piece, both chopped, tamarind a little as required, curry leaves 3-4, salt to taste and coconut oil 1 tbsp.

Dry fry the chillies, keep aside, in the same pan, dry sauté the other ingredients except salt and coconut oil.

Grind these ingredients in a mixer bowl along with salt.

Transfer into a serving bowl, add coconut oil and combine. Ready to serve. Those who wish to avoid rice have this delicious dish for dinner. The side dish you can choose as you like fish, chicken egg or vegetable curry.

Semiya spinach egg stir fry

So simple to prepare this dish. I made it for dinner. For Onam Festival made semiya kheer. Balance semiya turned out to the nutritious meal. 

Finally garnish with fried salted red chilli flakes in sesame oil.

Preparation 

Semiya 1 cup, cooked in boiling water, strained and kept aside.

Ceylon spinach 2 handful bunches, cleaned, onion 1, garlic cloves 6, ginger 2 inch piece, all thinly sliced, green chilli 6, silted, eggs 2, salt to taste, sesame oil 1 tbsp., soy sauce 2 tsp.

Heat the oil in a shallow pan, drop in onion, garlic and ginger, sauté till tender, add green chilli and salt, combine well, break in the eggs and stir fry, finally add the cooked semiya, soy sauce and combine well. Dish is ready. Healthy with greens and eggs.
 

Broken wheat Dosai

I am not so fond of broken wheat. In the free ration of pandemic Covid 19 situation I got it. Tried sweet balls, upma, puttu and kadai baked cake.

This time I made dosai. It came out thin, crispy and tasty.

Ingredients 

Broken wheat 2 cups,

Urd dal 1/2 cup,

Fenugreek seeds 1 tbsp.

Take the ingredients in a bowl, wash it thoroughly thrice. Soak it for 4-6 hours.

How to prepare the batter?

Grind it in a mixie, add 1/2 cup of cooked rice and grind it into a smooth batter. 

Allow to ferment for 4-5 hours. Add salt to taste and combine well.

Heat the dosa pan, take a ladleful batter, pour on the pan, circle it from inside out thinly. When the bubbles settle down, sprinkle sesame oil, flip over and cook the other side. Serve hot with coconut or tomato chutney.

Broken wheat dosai is having more fibre.

Broken wheat dosai is a healthier version of dosai. 

Choriyanam dishes

 

 

 Choriyanam is a medicinal plant. The white small stings on the leaves and stems make itchiness in our hands and body if touched. Choriyanam is having other names, kodithoova, aanathoova etc. in Malayalam. In English it is known as Indian stinging nettle. Belongs to Euphorbiacece family. The botanical name is Tragia involucrata. This plant is having great medicinal properties and used largely in Ayurveda. The leaves are rich in vitamins, calcium and potassium. Relieves cough and cold. Beneficial for treating disorders in urinary tract and bladder.

The cooking of choriyanam leaves is having great importance in the Malayalam month

 

‘Karkkadakam’ that falls from 16th July to 16th 

August. 

Great care to take in plucking and chopping the leaves to avoid itching. It itches the top of the hands. Palms won’t get itchy. Rubbing the hands with coconut oil relieves itching. Uproot the choriyanam plants, cut of the roots. Soak the plants in a bucket of water for 5 minutes. Wash it for 3-4 times. Allow to drain the excess water. With a scissor cut the leaves and remove the stems and older leaves. Roll a bunch of leaves and cut with scissors or chop on a cutting board. Keep aside. 

Just like normal thoran ( coconut stir fry) this thoran is to cook. Heat oil in a shallow pan, drop in mustard seeds followed by broken dried red chilli pieces, drop in the chopped onion and garlic, sauté till tender, add chopped choriyanam leaves, add salt, turmeric and chilli powders, mix well and cook for 3 minutes in low flame. Add the grated coconut and cumin powder, combine well and allow to remain in the low flame for 2 more minutes. Dish is ready. Serve with hot rice, pickles and yogurt.

 

Other ingredients 

Onion 1, garlic cloves 7, both finely chopped,

Grated coconut 1/4 cup,

Coconut oil 2 tsp.,

Mustard seeds 1/4 tsp.,

Turmeric powder 1/3 tsp., 

Chilli powder 1/2 tsp.,

Cumin powder 1/3 tsp.,

Salt to taste.

Preparation 

Continuation to my previous post above the other dishes I prepared in this ‘Karkkidakom’ last month of Malayalam calendar are Choriyanam parippu thoran, Choriyanam parippu curry, Choriyanam egg stir fry and Choriyanam leaves with other edible leaves such as pumpkin, pulses, spinach green and red , ash gourd, taro, elephant foot yam etc. stir fry.

In parippu curry and stir fry the additional ingredient is cooked yellow split peas. In egg stir fry eggs are to be added.

My personal experience it is so good for gut health. Relieves constipation, eases digestion. It is rich in fibre too. The only hardest part is cleaning and preparing the leaves to cook. I have added step by step pics above.

Hibiscus flower omelette

Hibiscus flowers are rich in antioxidants. It is anti inflammatory Good for heart and liver health. Helps in bringing down blood pressure and blood sugar levels. Those who are having low blood pressure may avoid this.

Preparation 

Two eggs, onion 1, green chilli 2, hibiscus flower 2, petals only needed, salt to taste and coconut oil to make the omelette.

Finely chop the onion and chilli. Break the eggs into a bowl, add onion and chilli, whisk it, add salt to taste, add the roughly chopped petals, mix well. Heat a pan, pour a tsp. oil, allow , pour the egg mix and prepare the omelette. Serve it hot with rice or chapatti or as a mid time meal.