Onam Recipes

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There is something about this time of the year.Back to back festivals which brings in so much joy and the variety in different kind of foods being prepared.I am just back from my hometown and one thing which struck me the most is the concept of ready-made Onam sadya.Yes,I am too guilty of resorting to having Sadya in restaurants but never imagined the ready-made fever will catch up in Kerala too,especially when it comes to Onam.Everything from Puli Inji to Kurukku Kaalan,from Mangakkari to Sharkaravaratti to Palada pradhaman is available in stores,one just has to choose the dishes for the main menu!So,happy food shopping folks!!


But we food bloggers have to make everything from scratch,if not for us,at least for our blogs' sake;).So here are some special Onam dishes for you to try!!


Homemade Banana Chips

Mangakkari ~ Instant Mango Pickle

Varutharacha Sambhar

Avial

Olan

Kumbalanga Cherupayar Parippu Curry

Pineapple Pachadi/Madhura curry

Kadalaparippu Pradhaman

Now here are some special Onam dishes from my fellow bloggers!!


Sharmilee's Ada Pradhaman

Kaalan from Chitra Amma's Kitchen

Paalada Pradhaman from Salt and Spice

Parippu Curry from Indian Cuisine

Mathanga Vanpayar Erissery from Rinku Naveen(also check out her complete recipes from Onam Sadya Vaibhavangal)

Sig's Onam Sadya

Happy Onam to all my readers and hope you have a fun-filled festival,eat till you burp:)


*(image source)

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Chocolate Almond Biscotti

It is fun to try something new,something you've only heard about before and not tasted.I happened to taste my first ever Cinnamon rolls thanks to her and now it is the turn of Biscotti.I've seen so many recipes for Biscotti but never tried any.Since it is the time for our monthly event Sweet Punch,we decided to do a twist and try this recipe.


Biscotti is a type of Italian Cookie which gets its name from the original biscoctus,which means twice cooked/baked.It defined oven baked goods that were baked twice, so they were very dry and could be stored for long periods of time.[source]

I've heard so many horror stories of this very simple recipe that I pushed baking this to the last minute.Stories of the baked dough crumbling while cutting and not holding shape and not baking through were some of the many.Fortunately,this recipe is quite foolproof and got done smoothly.I felt it tasted very similar to our Indian Rusk,perfect with a mug of coffee/tea or even sweetened milk.


Chocolate Almond Biscotti
Recipe source - Joy of Baking

Ingredients

Granulated white sugar - 2/3 cup 
Eggs - 2 large
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
All Purpose flour - 1 ¾  cups
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Salt – ¼ tsp
Chocolate – 110 gms,chopped in ½ ‘ pieces
Almonds – ¾ cup,blanched,toasted and chopped coarsely

Method

Preheat oven to 180C.Line a baking tray with butter paper.

Sift together flour,baking powder and salt,reserve.

In a mixing bowl,beat together sugar,eggs and vanilla using an electric beater till thick pale and fluffy-about 5 minutes.When you slowly raise the beaters the batter will fall back into the bowl in slow ribbons.
Mix in the sifted flour mixture and beat until combined.
Fold in the chopped almonds and chocolate.

Transfer the dough to a baking tray lined with butter paper and form into a log.Roughly 12 inches long and 3 inches wide.
(you many have to dampen your hands while doing this as the dough is quite sticky).
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until firm to touch.Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
Reduce oven temperature to 160C.Transfer the log to a cutting board and cut into 2 cm slices.(diagonally or straight)
Place the biscotti cut side down on the baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes.
Turn slices over and bake for another 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and cool and store in airtight containers.

Notes

• I halved the recipe and got around 10 biscottis.You could slice the log diagonally for better looking biscottis.
• While slicing,follow the trial and error method.Some recipes ask you to cut in a sawing motion and some ask you to cut straight down.Try the method which best works for you.I did the sawing method.
• Shaping the log requires a bit of a patience,the dough is very sticky and forming the log into a neat one seems like a challenge.Try smoothening the top with a wet spatula and it might work.

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Announcing Kerala Kitchen

It's been a while since I last posted.Blame it on my visit to my hometown which always makes me oblivious to the net-world.I had grand plans of posting one Onam special dish a day and all such daydreams which obviously didn't see the light of the day(or the blog!).I didn't want to delay announcing the event further because it is the festive season and many of you would be busy preparing traditional Kerala dishes,what with Onam being just a few days away.

So prepare a traditional(or contemporary!)Kerala dish and send it to The Kerala Kitchen.I have decided on a monthly challenge too.Prepare any kind of Payasam and send it to us along with your other entries.Here are the rules--

• Here at the Kerala Kitchen, we like to keep things simple, so there are no strict rules as such, and anyone can join in all the fun! It doesn't matter if you have never tried Kerala cuisine and want to learn all about it, or if you are a Pachakarani who would like to share your vast knowledge with some enthu newbies :) You are not restricted from sending your entries to any other contests, in fact we actively encourage you to participate in as many as you can!
• Simply cook a dish (or as many as you like)  that is inspired by Kerala. Be it a traditional Malayali dish like Idiyappam or Kappa and Meen curry, or your unique take on it, even a dish that features a flavour or ingredient that reminds you of Kerala but may not be typical Malayali fare (like coconut macarons maybe?) and post it on your blog anytime before or on the 30th of this month.
• Post the recipe on your blog and add your links to the comment box of this post. If you don't have a blog, simply email your entry and photograph to divyakudua@gmail.com.
• In your post please include a link to this event announcement post as well as this blog
       http://thekeralakitchen.blogspot.com


Here are some Kerala recipes for a kickstart!!Happy cooking!!Looking forward to seeing your festive entries!!

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