Travancore Cuisine

Keralan travancore cuisine

2021-12-01T02:31:00.000-08:00

The tranvancore cuisine has an influence from the syrian christians in that region and thats probably the reason why the meal is called the "Suriyani Christhyani bhakshanam"
The cuisine mostly consists of bland preparations and at times are spicy because of the coastal region's influence. The cusisine has stew both veg and non veg and thay have spicy karimeen pozhichathu.
We will see their popular dishes and their recipes in this blog

Popular Dishes and Recipes

2020-12-09T22:50:00.000-08:00

Click on the dishes below to get the recipe (Ingredients and Cooking Instructions)

1. Beef Ularthiyathu
2. Travancore Sambar
3. Eruseri
4. Karimeen Pollichathu
5. Lamb Curry
6. Travancore Chicken Fry
7. Kerala Moru Curry
8. Olan
9. Kalan
10. Vellappam

Vellappam

2008-04-15T00:19:00.000-07:00

Ingredients :

2 cups - Rice (Basmati Preferrable)
1 cup - Boiled rice
150 ml - Coconut Milk
1/4 tsp - Baking Soda or Yeast (if fermenting overnight)
Salt to taste

Cooking Instructions :

- Soak rice for 4-6 hours, dissolve the yeast in some warm water
- Grind the rice along with the coconut milk and cooked rice to a smooth batter, add the dissolved yeast and salt
- Keep the batter to ferment overnight.
- To prepare the appam immediately(not advised) add baking soda instead of yeast after grinding
- Pour batter into the appa chatti(the pan) and rotate the pan to get a thin layer of batter on the sides, with more batter in the middle
- Keep it covered and cook in medium flame for about a minute
- When cooked take the appam out with a spatula and it is ready to serve
- Serve with veg stew or beef stew.

Kalan

2008-02-05T06:55:00.000-08:00

Ingredients :

2 nos - Raw Bananas
1/4 cup - Coconut
3 nos - Green Chillies
1/4 tsp - Pepper Powder
1/2 tsp - Turmeric Powder
1/4 tsp - Cumin Powder
1 tbsp - Coconut Oil
1 tsp - Mustard Seeds
7 nos - Curry Leaves
1 cup - Curd
Salt to taste

Cooking Instructions :

- Peel the bananas and cut them into small pieces
- Cook them in a pressure cooker with salt as per taste
- Grind together coconut, pepper, turmeric and cumin powders, mix with the cooked bananas
- In a pan add this mixture with curd and bring to a boil
- Splutter mustard in coconut oil and curry leaves, pour this to the boiling mixture
- Serve as an accompaniment

Olan

2008-01-17T06:29:00.000-08:00

Ingredients :

1 no - Kumbalanga (Bottle Gourd)
6 nos - Green Chillies (Slit)
1 cup - Coconut Milk
1/4 Cup - Black eyed beans
2 tbsp - Coconut Oil
5 nos - Curry Leaves
1/4 tsp - Mustard Seeds
Salt to taste

Cooking Instructions :

- Cut kumbalanga into fine slices
- Boil beans and add salt once cooked
- To this add kumbalanga slices, green chillies and boil for 5 mins
- Add coconut milk, bring to boil and remove from heat
- Heat coconut oil, splutter mustard and curry leaves
- Add to olan and serve with rice

Kerala Moru Curry

2008-01-11T21:36:00.000-08:00

Ingredients :urd

2 Cups - Curd
1/4 Tsp - Pepper Powder
1/4 Tsp - Fenugreek Powder
1/4 Tsp - Turmeric Powder
1 Tsp - Sliced Ginger
2 nos - Garlic flakes chopped
2 nos - Green Chillies
1 tbsp - Coconut Oil
1/2 Tsp - Mustard seeds
2 nos - Red Chillies
10 nos - Curry Leaves
Salt to taste

Cooking Instructions :

- Beat the curd without lumps
- Add pepper, turmeric and fenugreek powders
- Add ginger, garlic and salt, heat this mixture and dont let it boil
- In a pan heat coconut oil, splutter mustard, add curry leaves and red chillies
- Add this to the moru curry and serve with rice

Travancore Chicken Fry

2008-01-07T04:38:00.000-08:00

Ingredients :

800 Gms - Chicken
50 gms - Chilly powder
100 gms - Gram flour
1 No - Lemon
50 ml - Vinegar
15 Gms - Ginger garlic paste
Oil for frying
Salt to taste
5 Nos - Curry leaves

Cooking Instructions :

- Cut the chicken into large cuts and clean.
- Make a marination with all the ingredients and marinate the chicken for 15 minutes
- Heat the oil and fry the chicken till golden red and drain the pieces from excess oil.
- Serve the chicken garnished with mixed salad dressed with lemon juice.

Lamb Curry

2007-12-20T02:24:00.000-08:00

Ingredients :

750 gms - Mutton Cubes (Boiled with stock)
200 gms - Fried Onion Paste
100 gms - Paste of Poppy seeds + garam masala with water
2 Tsp - Red Chilli powder
1 Tsp - Turmeric Powder
2 Tsp - Coriander powder
3 Nos - Bay Leaves
1 Tbsp - Oil
5 Nos - Curry leaves
3 Nos - Red Whole Chillies
1 Tsp - Saunf(fennel seeds crushed)
Salt to taste

Cooking Instructions :

- Heat the oil and add the bayleaves, poppy seeds & garam masala paste and fry for 5 minutes.
- Add the onion paste, chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, crushed saunf seeds and salt, keep frying till oil separates.
- Add the mutton/lamb pieces and cook for 5 more minutes.
- Serve with Appam or rice

Eruseri

2007-12-11T22:11:00.001-08:00

Ingredients :
1/2 Cup - Toor dal
1 tsp - Urad dal
Vegetables of choice (drumsticks, yam, snake gourd, pumpkin, ash gourd)
2 tbsp - Sambar Powder
1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder
1 cup- Coconut grated for seasoning
1 tsp - Mustard seeds
4 Nos - Dry chillies
5 tbsp - Coconut oil
6 Nos - Curry leaves
Salt to taste
Water as required

Cooking Instructions :

- Boil toor dal with turmeric powder, keep aside.
- Take a vessel, put cut vegetables and add salt to taste.
- Now add sufficient of water for the vegetables to cook with sambar powder.
- Cook the vegetables when done, set aside.
- Grind the cooked Dal with half of the Coconut scrapings, Keep aside.
- Now take a vessel and heat coconut oil.
- Add urud dhal, dry chillies, when the dal is light brown add mustard seeds and curry leaves.
- When the mustard seeds crackle add the cooked vegetable mixture, dal and coconut mixture, mix well.
- Add water if the mixture is very thick, remove it from the fire when done.
- Take another 2 tbsp of coconut oil in a kadai.
- Fry the remaining of the coconut scraping until golden brown.
- Pour it over the Erasari.
- Serve with rice or appam.

Karimeen pollichathu

2007-12-11T21:50:00.000-08:00

Ingredients :

2 Nos - Pearl spot fish (Karimeen)
1 Tbsp - Ginger, finely chopped
5 Nos - Green chillies, finely chopped
1/2 Cup - Shallots (small onions), chopped
1 Cup - Thick coconut milk
5 Nos - Curry leaves
2 Nos - Plantain leaves
Oil as required

For paste
1 No - Ginger piece
2 tsp - Chilly powder
5 Nos - Garlic pods 1
1 tbsp - Pepper powder
5 Nos - Curry leaves
1 tsp - Turmeric powder
Salt to taste

Cooking Instructions :

- Grind ginger, garlic pods, chilly powder, pepper powder, turmeric powder, curry leaves and salt for making a fine paste.
- Marinate the fish with the above paste for about one hour.
- Coat few heated plantain leaves with oil.
- Place the marinated fish over it and put the entire thing in a frying pan.
- Cover and cook it over low flame till it is done.
- Take another frying pan and heat oil, sauté chopped onions, ginger, green chillies and curry leaves in it.
- Place the cooked fish without the plantain leaves in the above pan and coat it well with the sautéed masala.
- Combine coconut milk and mix well.
- Simmer for few minutes, until all the water gets evaporated.
- Wrap them in the plantain leaves and serve.

Beef Ularthiyathu

2007-12-09T21:17:00.000-08:00

A very popular meat dish in the Central Travancore region of Kerala, Beef Ularthiyathu is a special delicacy in the region.

Ingredients :

1 lb - Beef (trimmed)
3/4 tsp - Red chilli powder
1 tsp - Coriander powder
1/2 tsp -
Turmeric powder
1/4 tsp - Pepper powder
1/4 tsp - Cummins (Jeera)
1/4 Tsp - Cinnamon powder
4 Nos - Cloves
2 Nos - Cardamom
100 gms -Shallots (sliced)
1 Clove - Garlic (flakes)
1 piece - Ginger
2 sprigs- Curry leaves
100 g - Coconut (cut into small pieces)
1/2 tsp - Vinegar
Salt to taste
50 ml - Coconut oil
1 tsp - Mustard seeds

Cooking Instructions :

- Grind all spices together into a fine paste.Marinate beef with the spice paste and keep aside.
- Add ginger, garlic, shallots, curry leaves, coconut, vinegar and salt to the marinated meat and mix thoroughly.
- Cook meat on a slow fire till tender.
- Temper beef with coconut oil, mustard seed, curry leaves, shallots and crushed garlic.
- Serve hot.

Travancore Sambar

2007-12-01T02:20:00.000-08:00

Ingredients :

1 Cup Pigeon Peas (Thuvaraparuppu)
1/4 Tsp Turmeric Powder
1 Tsp Sambar Powder
4 Nos Red Chillies dried
50 gms Shallots
1/2 Tsp Mustard Seeds
2 Tbsp Coconut Oil
1/2 Tsp Asafoetida (Hing)
3 Nos Drumsticks
2 Nos Potatoes
2 Nos Tomatoes
1 No Cucumber
Salt to taste
1 tbsp Tamarind paste
1 Sprig Curry Leaves

Cooking Instructions :

- Wash and pressure cook the lentils along with turmeric powder
- Transfer the cooked lentils to a stock pot or container
- Add the cut vegetables to this and cook over medium flame with some added water
- Add tamarind paste and salt per taste
- Bring this mixture to boil and add sambar powder and hing
- In a seperate pan heat the coconut oil, add musard seeds, shallots, dry red chillies and curry leaves
- Pour this mixture of spluttered mustard,shallots,chillies over the boiling sambar
- Serve with rice