السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ

Chuthama

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The Tharavad Kitchen

Recipes passed from hand to hand, measured by eye and tasted with love.

Ari pathiri

Fathima's thin, soft pathiri, puffed over the flame for Eid mornings.

Kept by Fathima60 minServes 6

Ingredients

  • 2 cups fine rice flour (roasted)
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp coconut oil
  • 1/2 cup grated coconut (optional)
  • Banana leaf or cloth for pressing

Method

  1. 1

    Boil water with salt and coconut oil.

  2. 2

    Add rice flour, stir, cover and rest for 10 minutes.

  3. 3

    Knead warm dough until smooth and soft.

  4. 4

    Roll small balls and press thin on banana leaf.

  5. 5

    Roast on a hot tawa, then puff directly over flame.

  6. 6

    Serve hot with chicken or mutton curry.

Kozhikodan biryani

Dum biryani with kaima rice, the pride of every nikah sadya.

Kept by Kadeeja120 minServes 8

Ingredients

  • 1 kg kaima rice (jeerakasala)
  • 1 kg chicken, curry cut
  • 4 onions, thinly sliced
  • 2 tomatoes, chopped
  • 3 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
  • 1 cup yoghurt
  • Biryani masala, turmeric, chilli powder
  • Ghee, mint, coriander, fried onions
  • Lemon juice and salt to taste

Method

  1. 1

    Marinate chicken with yoghurt, spices and salt for 1 hour.

  2. 2

    Fry onions golden; set half aside for layering.

  3. 3

    Cook chicken masala until thick and oil separates.

  4. 4

    Parboil soaked kaima rice with whole spices; drain.

  5. 5

    Layer rice over masala with ghee, mint and fried onions.

  6. 6

    Dum on low flame for 25 minutes; rest before opening.

  7. 7

    Serve with raita, pickle and sulaimani.

Unnakkaya

Sweet plantain rolls stuffed with coconut and egg, fried for guests.

Kept by Mariyumma75 minServes 6

Ingredients

  • 4 ripe plantains (ethapazham)
  • 1 cup grated coconut
  • 3 tbsp sugar or jaggery
  • 2 eggs, scrambled and crumbled
  • 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
  • 2 tbsp raisins and cashews
  • Ghee for roasting filling, oil for frying

Method

  1. 1

    Steam or boil plantains, peel and mash smooth.

  2. 2

    Roast coconut, sugar, egg, raisins, cashews and cardamom in ghee.

  3. 3

    Make oval cups with plantain mash on a greased palm.

  4. 4

    Fill with coconut mix and seal into spindle shapes.

  5. 5

    Deep-fry in medium-hot oil until golden brown.

  6. 6

    Drain and serve warm with chai.

Mutta mala

Delicate egg-yolk garlands over pinjanathappam, the nikah sweet.

Kept by Zainaba90 minServes 6

Ingredients

  • 10 egg yolks
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 cups water
  • 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
  • A pinch of saffron (optional)
  • 1 tsp lemon juice

Method

  1. 1

    Separate yolks cleanly without any white.

  2. 2

    Beat yolks smooth and strain through muslin.

  3. 3

    Boil sugar and water into a sticky one-string syrup.

  4. 4

    Drizzle yolk in thin streams into simmering syrup.

  5. 5

    Poach garlands briefly, lift out gently.

  6. 6

    Serve over pinjanathappam with syrup.