Kerala preparations

Dear MrsS

Nice to hear so many keerai varieties from you. Can we get those keerais in Chennai? Do you know anything about the place these keerais are available?

Thanks
Lakshmi

[quote=Sashmitaa;36903]Dear MrsS

Nice to hear so many keerai varieties from you. Can we get those keerais in Chennai? Do you know anything about the place these keerais are available?

Thanks
Lakshmi[/quote

Dear Lakshmi,
We cannot grow in our kitchen garden all plants.Most plants grow in the waste lands,fields etc.,You can ask the keerai veraities from the street vender ladies.They will supply.When I was with my brother's house in chennai one street vender lady supplied vallarai keerai.Most of the plants grow as weeds in the lands.[we call it weeds because we d'nt know the use of the plant.]I have interest about to know the herbal food so gain knowledge from various rural peoples and some of them used to prepare by my mum.
Thank you for your response.All keerai I personaly cooked and consumed.
I am trying to give the name in tamil also.
tsseethalakshmi

It is said in the book of Dr.N.Ramaswamy pillai that this herp is described as one of the important household medicinal plant in Purananooru an ancient literary work in Tamil.It is a common weed found in the rainy season.It is a small,hairy,sticky strong smelling plant.Leaf is palmately compound with five unequal leaflets.Flowers are white.The leaf is slightly bitter and acrid when raw and slightly bitter when cooked.Leave paste can be applied on boils.It is also used to eliminate intestinal worms in children.It is used in the treatment of body pain and nervous debility.
vela keerai cut 2 cup
urud dhal 1 tbs
red chilli 4 [as the keerai has bitter taste the hotness may be increased]
asafoeida
tamarind 1 small lemon size
salt
coconut grated 1/4 cup [optional] but tastes better.
oil

Take kadai pore oil.Fry, urud dhal asafoeida,red chilli and coconut grated last
vela keerai.saute. remove from fire.when cool grind with tamarind and salt.
very tasty to consume with idly,dhosa and rice,buttermilk sadam.
My mum used to do this chammanthi after rainy season as this herp is easily available in the front yard of our house when we were in Kovipatti,tamilnad.

Thazhuthama leaves[mookarattai] 4 cup cut pieces
turmaric
salt
oil
coconut grated 1/4 cup
green chilli 1 slit
tuar dhal or green gram dhal 2 tbs
jeera tsp
mustard seeds 1 tsp
urud dhal 1 tsp

Take a kadai pore oil and add mustard seeds when cracked add urud dhal and green gram or tuar dhal when turned brown add jeera green chilli and turmaric.
then add thazhuthama and salt.Sprinkle 1/4 cup water.cook till the keerai well cooked and the dhall also cooked.Add grated coconut and stir well and cook 2 to 3 mints. Remove from fire enjoy with any kuzhambu or rasam sadam or roti.

KAL POL KAPATHAYUM KARAIKKUMAM KARPOORAVALLI.This is the best and common medicine for kapakkattu.This leave juice is given to infants for kappam.The leave are aromatic.We can add this leave in salad,soup etc.,
Karpooravalli leave cut 2 cups
coconut grated 1/4 cup
red chilli 1
urud dhal 1 tbs
mustard seeds 1tsp
asafoetid
tamarind 1 marble size
cury leave
oil,salt

Take kadai pore oil and add mustard seeds when cracked add urud dhal,when turns brown add red chilli,asafoetida,curry leave,coconut and karpooravalli leave.Saute.When cooked let it cool.Grind with tamarind,salt.Enjoy with rice roti,dhosa,idly.

This herb's leaf is 5 to 7 cm long and 1 to 1.5 cm wide.

vayalchulli keerai cut 4 cups
coconut grated 1/2 cup
green gram dhal or
tuar dhal cooked 1 cup
red chilli 1
Jeera 1 tsp
turmaric,salt,oil
tempering
mustard seeds 1tsp
urud dhal 1 tsp
curry leave

Cook the keerai in boiled turmaric salted water.Grind the coconut,red chilli and jeera.Add with cooked keerai with cooked dhal.Temper with mustard seeds,urud dhal and curry leave.Enjoy with rice or chappathi.

Chembu leaves is used for cooking in Kerala very common.Althogh I posted some of the recipies I post another chembu leave recipe. Chembu leave all varietes [pal chembu big varietiy]small chembu any of the variety leave big 2 or small 4
remove the big nerve portion cut into small pieces.
Raw rice of Boiled rice 2 cup
coconut grated 1/2 coconut
green chilli 2 to 3
asafoetida
tamarind 1 small lemon or nellikkai size
salt
oil
tempering
mustard seeds 1 tsp
urud dhal 1 tsp
Soak the rice for 4 to 5 hours.Gind coursely with green chilli,asafoetida,tamarind coconut and salt.
Take a kadai and pore oil when hot add mustard seeds,urud dhal and add water add chembu leave pieces and then ground batter.sirr until the mixer cooked and came as dough.Remove and let it cool.Make kozukattais and cook in steam as idlies.Can eat it as it is or any cutney,sambar as youu like.

To enrich the nutriant can add green gram sprout,green gram dhal,onion cut pieces.Green chilli may replaced with red chilli.

When long beans are growing in the kitchen garden the tender leave of the long beans can be used as vegitable [greens] for cooking.
tender leaves of the ajinga payaru cut pieces 10 cups
coconut grated 1/2 cup
green chilli 1
jeera 1/2 tsp
mustard seeds 1 tsp
urud dhal 1 tsp
oil
sa;t
turmaric

Take a kadai temper with mustard seeds and urud dhal add ajinga leaves,turmaric powder and salt cook well.Add coarsely ground coconut,jeera and green chilli and stir well.best side dish for rice.

variation: you can add onion pieces with the masala.
Boiled rice,red chilli, asafoetida,urud dhal all roasted in the hot kadai
coarsely powder it and add with the cooked leave instead of coconut
masala.

Kovaikkai[T]KOVAI[M] Tonde balli{k}
Koovai Irukkum Edathilum Kozhi Eirukkum Edathilum shrartham venda. this is a malayalam proverb.Kovai undal theerkka ayul[so no shrartham needed].Kozhi makes dirty wherever she goes by it's droppings.[In dirty place there should not be perform shrartham.]
Kovvai kekai may be consumed raw as salad.
Kovai leave may be used with other keerai.

Kovai leave cut 4 cups
green gram dha 1 cup
coconut grated 1/2 cup
jeera 1 tsp
red chilli 1
turmaric
salt
oil
tempering
mustard seeds 1 tsp
urud dhal 1 tsp

Cook the dhal in turmaric water.Add kovai leaves and cook.
Grind coconut,jeera,red chilli,add salt add with cooked leaves.Boil for 2 mints.
tember with mustard seeds and urud dhall.

variation: onion pieces may be added with the leaves while cooking.

This herb grows in all waste lands as weeds.This herb is useful for cleaning the teeth.The juice strengthens the gum.In Old tamil proverb 'Nayuruvi nattilirukka namakken pancham'[when there is the herb rough chaff is in the land of famine will not decend] denontes the food value of this herb.The leaves used with other greens to make curry.Leaf has no taste of any kind in raw.But after cooking it has very mild bitter taste.It is advised to take only small dose of this juice as large dose may hasten labour pain or may even cause abortion in case of expectant mother. [ref:Dr.N.Ramaswamy pillai] In rishipanchami Virutha samabanam the viruthaanushttanee take bath after cleaning the teeth with Nayuruvi.

Nayuruvi leaves 2 cup
raw or boiled rice 2 cup
coconut grated 1 cup
salt
green chilli 1
asafoetida

Soak the rice 4 or 5 hours and grind all increadients.If the batter is thick we can make adai.For dosai add some water to make the batter as dosai consisitancy and make dosai as usual.