CHENNAI: The spluttering of seeds, chillies and curry leaves, crackling of puffy pappadams, churning of creamy buttermilk, the sweet aroma of jaggery syrup and freshly ground spices. Come Onam, kitchens in the city will be bustling with myriad activities slicing, chopping, sautéing, tempering, simmering and dishing out the perfect meal. Demonstrating nature’s sweet bounties, a group of food aficionados share five recipes using fresh mangoes, ripe bananas, rich coconut milk, stringy jackfruit and earthy yams as the main ingredients. Here’s how you can add that extra punch of resplendence to your already lavish Onam sadhya.
Cochia pudding by Rahul Ravi and Gayathri Nandakumar (Instagram: @roosfoodconcepts)
Ingredients
Fresh coconut milk: 1 cup (200ml)
Seasonal fruits of your choice (We suggest fresh apples, pear, black grapes, pineapple, pomegranate, mangoes, minced strawberries for the acidity)
Chia seeds (soaked): 2 tbsp (The volume has to double and that’s when you know it’s ready to use)
Honey for sweetening
Almonds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, melon seeds and sunflower seeds (roasted and chopped)
Method
Add the soaked chia seeds into the freshly extracted coconut milk and set it aside for 5-10 minutes.
Take a 300 ml glass jar/bowl
Layering
Layer 1
Coconut milk chia seed mixture
Chopped fruits
Honey drizzle
Layer 2
Coconut milk chia seed mixture
Roasted nuts and seeds mixture
Honey mixture
Layer 3
Repeat layer 1
Garnish with extra soaked chia seeds and chopped nuts.
To make it more attractive, add sliced strawberries and tip-up with a honey drizzle.
Jackfruit fritters/ Chakka Unniappam by Aswathi Ratheesh (Instagram @_the7thspice)
Ingredients
Chakka varattiyath (jackfruit preserve) or you can use fresh jackfruit pulp: 1 cup
Jaggery syrup (Strained. Use more syrup if using fresh pulp): 1 cup
Rice flour (idiyappam flour): 2 cups
Coconut bites: 1/4 cup
Cardamon powder: 1/4 tsp
Dry ginger powder: 1/4 tsp
Ghee: 2 tbsp
A pinch of salt
Water to mix everything
Oil for frying
Method
Mix the chakka varattiyath and the jaggery syrup together.
Add rice flour and mix with water to get a dosa batter-like consistency. Add cardamom powder, dry ginger powder to the batter and mix well.
Heat ghee in a pan and add coconut bits. Fry until it becomes golden brown. And add this to the batter and mix well.
Keep it aside for at least 45 minutes.
After the rest time, heat oil in an appakara /unniappam pan (use an iron pan for best result). Once it’s hot, add the batter to the moulds.
After a couple of minutes, turn it with a skewer and cook the other side. If the skewer comes out clean, it means the appam is cooked.
Repeat the process and serve the unniappams.
Mango chunk jam by Shrreenithy Reddy and Srivatsav Reddy (Instagram @subasrireddy_farms)
Ingredients
Large ripe mango: 1
Lemon (juiced): 1
Sugar/jaggery: 3/4 cup
Fresh ginger (grated): 1 tsp
Method
Chop the mangoes into small chunks. Take a wide saucepan and add the chopped mango chunks.
Squeeze one lemon and gently mix it.
Add sugar/jaggery as per your taste after the pieces are slightly mashed.
Add grated fresh ginger to add an extra flavour punch.
Cook for about 25 minutes.
Turn off the stove and let it completely cool.
Serve fresh as part of your Onam meal or save the jam in a jar for later. The jam can be refrigerated for up to five months.
Red rice banana pancakes by Rahul Ravi and Gayathri Nandakumar
Ingredients
Red rice (Mapillai samba rice): 1 cup
Urad dal: 1/8 cup
Jaggery (powered)
Karupatti (grated): 1 tbsp
Water: 2 tbsp
Banana (mashed):
1-2 based on size
Raw rice: 1 tbsp. Soak for 6-8 hours or overnight
Fresh fruits
Assorted pumpkin and sunflower seeds
Cinnamon, cardamom powder and Himalayan sea salt
Method
Grind the soaked mixture until it’s smooth. The batter has to be runny and not thick.
To the batter, add powdered jaggery and mashed banana.
Add a pinch of cinnamon, cardamom powder and a tinge of Himalayan sea salt.
Set the batter aside for 30 minutes.
While the batter rests, chop some fresh fruits and roast some assorted pumpkin and sunflower seeds and set aside.
The batter has to be runny. On a well-heated pan, pour in 75-100 ml batter.
Reduce the heat by half. And cook this covered.
You will observe that the pancake starts cooking, and check the aeration.
Cook for a good 30-45 seconds on each side and stack them.
Karupatti caramel for the topping
Karupatti is a versatile and extremely healthy alternative for white sugar-based sweeteners or topping sauces.
In a pan, heat 2 tbsp water and as it boils, set it aside.
Add grated karupatti to the same pan and swirl until it melts.
As you observe it melting, add in 1 tbsp water and allow it to blend. This makes your topping sauce for the pancakes.
Plating
Stack 2-3 pancakes, add karupatti caramel.
Top with chopped roasted seeds. You may also add fruits of your choice.
Yoghurt yam curry/ Kurukku kaalan by Aswathi Ratheesh
Ingredients
Yam: 3/4 cup, cubed
Raw plantain: 1/2 cup, cubed
Sour curd: 1.5 cup, beaten
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp
Pepper powder: 1 tbsp
Green chillies: 3-4, slit vertically
Salt to taste
To grind
Grated coconut: 1 cup
Cumin seeds: 3/4 tsp
To temper
Mustard seeds: 1 tsp
Curry leaves: 2 sprigs
Coconut oil: 1.5 tbsp
Fenugreek seeds: 1/2 tsp
Ghee: 1 tsp
Method
Cut the yam and then cube them into medium-sized pieces, add in water. Wash and peel plantains and cut them into smaller pieces. Wash in turmeric water.
To a clay pot, add the yam, plantains, slit green chillies, turmeric powder, and two cups of water; bring to boil. Add pepper powder. When the pieces are half cooked, add salt to them.
If required, add more water and cook well before adding sour curd.
Once the pieces are cooked well and the water is absorbed, add the beaten sour curd, and stir continuously. Thicken the mixture on low flame for 15 to 20 minutes.
Once it thickens, add the ground coconut paste and mix well.
Cook for a few more minutes. Once it starts thickening again and starts bubbling, turn off the flame.
Heat another pan, add ghee and roast the fenugreek seeds until brown. Remove seeds from
the pan.
In the same pan, add coconut oil. Once it turns hot, add mustard seeds. When it splutters, add curry leaves, and in the meantime, powder the fenugreek seeds using a mortar and pestle.
Add this powder and temper the curry. Mix it quickly.
You can either serve it immediately or let the flavours soak in and serve it the
next day.