Indian Trip

One of the good things which happened last year was my visit to India.

Mom recieved me.

Like always  she got me a plateful of banana fritters with a warm cup of tea as i reached home.

I love banana fritters made by mom. This type of banana is rare to find at the place where i am settled. So whenever i goes back my home in india i used to have it as my breakfast, after lunch snack, evening snack and dessert after dinner :)

No matter how many cakes you bake and eat

 nothing can beat the taste of sadya served on banana leaf.

 Even if i make it sometimes of my own, i won't get banana leaves like in India. 

we both made steamed Jackfruit ilayappam at home. 

We used this time Banana leaf, Poriyani leaves, Cashew leaves and Bay leaves.

Got some Jasmin and lotus flowers like always 😍

Banana Cream Chocolate Cake

BANANA CREAM CHOCOLATE TORTE

Extra for Banana lovers....
Have made this so many times by now . Though I could take a clear snap only recently.
Recipe idea is from GU .
You can use any soft ripe bananas (not plantains) .
Yield is 20 pieces, since we are making in a baking tray. . Ideal for parties.

Things Needed:
All purpose flour - 350 gm
Backing powder - 1 small pack
Dark Cacao powder - 3 full tbsp

Eggs - 4
Sugar - 250 gm
Oil - 200 ml
Banana juice - 200 ml (if not available then make using 2 well ripe bananas adding some water, sieve it before adding)

For cream topping:
Vanille cream pudding powder - 2 packets (37gm each) for 1 litre milk.
1 litre milk for pudding making
Butter - 200 gm
Powder sugar - 8 tbsp or as per need
Bananas - 1 kg

For chocolate glaze:
Block Chocolate -200 gm
Whipping cream - 150 ml

Preparation method:
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Cover baking pan with baking paper . Grease the sides.
Mix roughly flour, backing powder, cacao powder in a vessel & set aside.
Beat well eggs in sugar adding one by one until thick creamy.
Add oil & juice . Mix.
To this add the flour mix using a sieve in 2 batches, mix well in between.
Pour this over the baking tray.
Bake for 20- 25 min. Check using a wooden toothpick to see whether its done.
Allow to cool when done.

Topping:
Meantime, make pudding according to the instructions written in the back of the pack (it differs)
Allow to cool. Refrigerate it for 3-4 hrs later.

Beat the butter until soft with the powder sugar. Add pudding to this & mix uniformly to make the cream topping.

Apply over the cake & spread uniformly using spatula.
Slice the bananas & press it almost into the cream .

Chop chocolate. Warm up cream . Melt the chocolate in it by stirring.
Pour it over the cream cake using a spoon.
Refrigerate . Cut using a wet knife.

Kerala onam olan

Nadan Olan recipe
Olan is a must recipe in festivals like Onam . Vegetables & vanpayar ( cowpeas) are cooked in coconut milk,without adding any spices or flavours. Simple but very tasty recipe. While you can also make this even if one or two vegetables missing, cowpeas should be included in the recipe ..it gives the main taste to the Olan. I have also tried it before without adding cowpeas. hmmm

Things Needed:

1/2 cup cowpeas

1 cup bottleguard
1 cup yellow pumpkin
1/2 cup raw banana
1 green chilly

1 coconut cream + 25 gm coco. powder (or coconut milk from 1 coconut)

Method:

Soak cowpeas for atleast 5 hrs. Then pressure cook it adding water & 1/2 tsp salt.
Cook cut vegetables in 1/2 portion of coconut milk,little bit water adding curry leaves & salt.
After vegetables are cooked add cowpeas into this, add rest of the coconut milk . Cook until the sauce thickens.

My Onam Sadya

Lots of memories comes to mind when I think about ONAM & ONAM  Holidays .
Looking at the wrist watch every min. during the final ONAM exam as it ends, reaching home full excited, then begins our ONAM holidays!

Swinging ,visiting cousins, playing , getting injured....we used to visit our Tharavad (Ancestoral home) during Onam holidays . Its the time we get meet rest of our family.  We are a group of 8 childrens and we play all kind o games. Nadanpandhu kali , cricket , sliding on the sand, fishing with towel .. it goes on.

When at home brother used to get flowers to make attam on our front courtyard,

sadya in banana leaf made by mom , watching special Onam programs in TV the rest of the day & after all enjoyments going back to school with dull faces to receive the corrected exam papers..all those memories make Onam very special to me.
Even I am so far away from home i tries to celebrate onam the way possible, so that my children get to know our culture more....

This was my ONAM sadya this year . Upperi,Parippu curry,Sambar,Erusseri,Vegetable koottu curry, vellarikka pachadi,pavakka pachadi, pineapple pulisseri , keera thoran, Carrot-Beans thoran, Aviyal, Pickles & pappadam followed with Ada payasam with pazham. Sambharam to drink in between. Also made Gulab Jamun .

ONAM came home 2 days early. Here we don't have any ONAM  olidays .Usually our weekdays goes by without any fun . Hectic work for both of us & our son who keeps us always buzy . Aware of this I made my sadya already on Sunday . My parents in laws were visiting us and I thought of giving them a surprise. Mom bought also plums pickles which we all love.

Usually in Kerala some other recipes are also included for sadya like Olan , Kalan , Sweet Betroot pachadi etc ..  there are so many dishes u can make, so i used to pick always some of them at once.

Some videos on how to make ONAM Sadya faster and easier. 

Video of how to make pal payasam,

Video of how to make 3 type of pachadis....sweet,salty & bitter for Thiruonam.

Beetroot pachadi,Vellarikka pachadi & Pavakka pachadi

Video of how to make fast Rasam and Parippu curry..for Thiruonam.

Video of how to make fast Kerala Sambhar curry..for Thiruonam.

Have a very happy and prosperous Thiruvonam !! :)

Bye ! Tschüs!

Kerala's own Kalan

KALAN -
Banana & Elephant yam cooked in coconut paste finished with yogurt

Things needed :
Chena ( Elephant yam....strange name :O ) - peeled & cut into cubes , 1 cup
Raw banana - peeled & cut into cubes , 1 cup
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 2 spring
Curd - 1 cup

Grind Paste:
Grated coconut - 1 cup
Jeera - 1/4 tsp
Garlic - 1 small pod
Green chilly - 1

Seasoning:
Mustard seeds
Dry red chillies
Curry leaves

Preparation Method:
Cook chena & banana adding turmeric,chilly powder 1 spring curry leaves, 1 1/2 tsp salt & enough water.
After its cooked add the ground paste mix and allow to boil.
After rawness is gone , allow it to cool down a while.
Add the beaten curd & check for salt.
For seasoning, heat oil in a pan,splutter mustard seeds. Fry red chillies & curry leaves.
Pour this over the Kalan. Kalan is ready now!!

Banana Fritter Fry ( Snack of Kerala)

VAZHAKKA APPAM

Things needed :
Banana - 5
All purpose Flour - 150 gm
Turmeric- 1/2 tsp
Sugar - 1 tbsp
Cardamom or Elakka - seeds of 5 crushed
Egg - 1
Water - as required.
Oil - to fry

Preparation method :
Use a thick batter mixing flour, turmeric, sugar Cardamom , egg and a small measure of water.
Cut the bananas into 1 inch thick long slices.
Dip the banana into the batter and fry in the oil until crisp.

Pazham Pradhaman / Banana Gheer

PAZHA PRADHAVAN Recipe

Things needed :Bananas - 4, 600gm
Jaggery- 160 gm
Ghee- 2sp
Coconut milk cream -5 tbsp 1/2 bottle

Cardamom - 5 crushed
Nuts and raisins - a handful

Preparation method :Slice the peeled bananas . Boil or steam them adding a small quantity of water.
Grind them to a paste ( dont need to be a a fine paste).
Add Jaggery to the water in which we cooked banana . Heat until it dissolves completely. Use a strainer to remove impurities in the Jaggery if any.
Else add the Banana paste to this. Add 2 sp ghee . Mix well .
Add 3 tbsp cream coconut milk and cook until it thickens and oil seperates to the top.
Add rest 2 tbsp coconut milk. Cardamom crushed ,nuts & raisins and mix well .
Boil once and finish .

Strawberry fruit salad

STRAWBERRY FRUIT SALAD

Things needed :
Strawberries - 12 , cubed
Apple - 1 , Peeled & cubed
Banana - 2 , cubed
Yogurt - 1 cup or less , beaten & smooth
Sugar - 3 tbsp

Preparation method :
Mix well the cut fruits , Yogurt and sugar using spoon. You can add more sugar if you want.
Serve straight away.

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Stuffed Banana Sweet - Nirakka

Nirakka Recipe

STUFFED BANANA SWEET
This sweet is made using paste of cooked Plantains ( Banana) with a filling made with egg , nuts & raisins. I don't know from where mom got the recipe of this sweet..I remember having it from school time..It tastes delicious ..Especially the filling inside is awesome , I used to have it just like that.

Things needed :

2 Ripe Bananas - Tip: It should be just ripe & not fully ripe.
All purpose flour if needed.

For the filling:
5 Cashew nuts
2 Cardamom
2 Eggs
1 sp sugar
10 sultanas
ghee

made 6 of them

Preparation method :
Prepare Batter :
Boil the bananas . Peel & mash them using mixer.

We have to make forms using this banana paste.
So if it is not tight enough we can add some all purpose flour . The flour added should be as less as possible for good taste .

I had to add 5 sp of all purpose flour to get the right batter , like in picture .Keep the batter aside.

Prepare Filling:
Beat well egg , sugar & cardamom crushed & keep aside.
Heat a spoon Ghee in a nonstick pan .
Fry the dry grapes in it till it becomes balloon like. Take it n keep aside .

Add the egg mixture to it & make fine egg scrambles by breaking the thick egg pieces by the back of the spoon.

Next add the crushed nuts & fry till very slight brown. (I added nuts in the last because it will be tougher to remove nuts from pan when its crushed to small.)



The tasty filling is ready . Now we can stuff them inside the banana paste.

Apply oil in both hand(to avoid stickiness of batter) , put 2 spoons of banana paste into it & spread it using other hand .You can use oil if needed.

Put 1 spoon filing in the middle & close the edges of the batter by pressing finger.


Fry in oil.

Its good to add 1 spoon Ghee into the oil to get good flavour.






Drain using tissue paper.
Garnish with the rest of the filling & serve.
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Stuffed Banana - Pazham Nirachathu

Stuffed Banana - Pazham Nirachathu Recipe

STUFFED SWEET BANANA

Things needed :
Bananas 2
All purpose flour - 1/2 cup

For the filling:
5 - Cashew nuts
2 - Cardamom
2 - Eggs
1 sp -sugar
10 -dry grapes
ghee, oil

Preparation method :

For the filling : Beat well egg , sugar & cardamom crushed & keep aside.

Heat a spoon Ghee in a nonstick pan .
Fry the dry grapes in it till it becomes balloon like. Take it n keep aside .

Add the egg mixture to it & make fine egg scrambles by breaking the thick egg pieces using the back of the spoon.

Next add the crushed nuts & fry till very slight brown. (I added nuts in the last because it will be tougher to remove nuts from pan when its crushed to small.) . Mix in fried dry grapes as well to this. Filling is ready.

I have used the same filling for other recipe , you can for some pics of the filling.


Slit the Banana into halves.

Remove the center with black seed with a small
knife , like in the picture.

Fill the filling.

Close the sides with a thick paste of flour.



Add enough Ghee or vegetable oil in a nonstick frying pan.
Fry turning over sides until your desired texture. Some people used to fry it only till smooth. I fried till little bit crispy.

Enjoy this classic snack of kerala with a cup of cardamom tea !
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Banana Ghee Fry

BANANA GHEE FRY

This is my favourite Banana recipe. One of the fastest 5 min. recipe .
All you need is a Ripe Banana & some Ghee ( clarified butter).
The idea is simple , fry them in a nonstick pan applying Ghee on both sides .

I used to have it as breakfast in my student time...its so easy to make & have it .
Some of friends didn't knew about this recipe at all & I was thinking it's being made only in my home. When I started this blog I came to notice that many other blogs have already posted this recipe ( laugh at me :D ).


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Banana Pancake

BANANA PANCAKE

Pancake reminds me of the south Indian dosa we used to have back home. But anyway there is changes in the batter . While dosa is made out of rice flour and dal , pancakes are made using plain flour. This is my pancake which is banana flavoured . Try the recipe and leave your comments.

Things needed :

All purpose Flour 1 cup- 200 gm
Baking powder 2 tsp
salt - 1/4 tsp
Sugar - 2 levelled spoon
Milk 200ml - 1 glass
Egg - 1
Banana 1big - 150 gm
Vanilla essence - 1 sp
Butter or oil

Makes 7 pancakes.


Preparation method :

Mix the dry ingredients except sugar first in a mixing bowl.
(All purpose Flour ,Baking powder , salt )

Mash well banana in a mixer adding some milk , after its mashed, add rest of the milk,egg , sugar & vanilla essence , in the blender & blend well.

Make a well in the middle of the mixing bowl mixture & pour the blended mixture in it.
Mix well to make the thick batter.



Check the sugar of the batter . If you want more you can add it. But usually pancakes are made with less sugar .



In a nonstick pan pour some butter or oil .


Pour the pancake batter into it , spread to a round shape using backside of spoon & fry both sides.


Pour some honey or Jam or top it with some sliced bananas or strawberry or whatever you like & have it ...it makes a delicious breakfast .


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Banana Baji

BANANA BAJI

A quick snack , which can be made in 15 min.



Things needed :


Raw Banana - 1
Gram Flour - 5 sp
Chilly powder - 3/4 spoon
Hing or Asafoetida - 1/4 tea spoon
Salt
Water





Preparation method :

Cut the raw banana into long or round slices and keep aside.
Combine the rest of the ingredients in a bowl adding enough water . The batter should be thick so try to add less water as possible.
Dip the bananas into the batter to coat it well & fry in oil. Give it enough time in the oil so the raw banana inside may cook.
Drain using tissue paper.



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Raw Banana Jaggery

RAW BANANA Jaggery 

Another recipe which has the fragrance of my sweet childhood. Mom used to make it quickly when I comes back from school . Don't know how many times I had this .

The Bananas used in this recipe shouldn't be complete ripe. It should be only slightly ripe.

Things needed :
Raw banana -2 , cut round
Coconut Milk - 3 sp
Jaggery - 4sp ( as required )

Ghee - 1/2 sp
Cardamom - 3

Nuts for garnishing.(optional)

Preparation Method:
Partially cook the cut Banana in water adding coconut milk.

It gets cooked very fast.

So after its almost cooked add the grated Jaggery.

Fully cook.




Garnish with nuts & serve.




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Banana - Milk shake

BANANA-MILK SHAKE

This is a healthy n tasty drink liked very much in my home. Try it and you will know why.

Things needed :

2 bananas
1 1/2 milk
3 sp sugar
1 pinch cardamom


Preparation method :

Blend well Bananas , milk & sugar in blender .
Tip: Use chilled milk .
Add a pinch of Cardamom on top before serving.

Kerala Aviyal - Mixed vegetable curry of Kerala

KERALA MIXED VEGETABLE CURRY - AVIYAL

Things needed:

Brinjal - 1 large 175 gms,
Carrot - 2 , 100 gms
Drumstick - 1
Raw Banana -1, 200g
Green Beans same portion as carrots
Green Chillies - 2 slit
Potato- 1 medium

For the curry paste:
Grated coconut - 5 tbsp
Turmeric -1 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Chilly powder -1/4 tsp

For seasoning:
Coconut oil- 2sp
Curry leaves 1-2 spring

If you are using dessicated coconut soak it in some water in a small pot first.
Cut all the vegetables into 2 inch long pieces and keep aside.
Note: While cutting Brinjal put it in a pot of water, so that it wont change its color .

Grind the coconut, turmeric,cumin n chilly powder.If needed add some water .

Tip: If you have dry or very tough drumstick cook it first in water until it is partially cooked. Then add other vegetables.

Take all the vegetables . Add the coconut paste.

Pour enough salt & water .(water level should be lower that of the veg., to avoid aviyal to be watery.)
Cook it covered with a lid.

When it is done add curry leaves & 2 sp coconut oil , to give it a good flavour. The flavour of aviyal!

Serve with Rice.

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