Sadhya special

This Onam, we bring you dishes that form an integral part of the Onam Sadhya, a variety of vegetarian dishes served on a banana leaf..

Ingredients

40 ml coconut milk 20 gm pumpkin 20 gm yam 2 green chillies, slit 5 gm coriander chopped 50 gm beaten yoghurt 3 cluster beans 1 carrot (medium sized) 3 french beans 20 gm bottle gourd tsp turmeric powder Salt to taste For the coconut paste 50 gm grated coconut 1 green chilli 4 gm cumin seeds Grind these ingredients into a fine paste For tempering 50 ml coconut oil 3 gm mustard seeds 4 red chillies dry 10 curry leaves

Method Wash the vegetables, cut them length-wise and set aside. Heat a pan and add coconut oil. Once hot, add mustard seeds, red chillies and curry leaves. Then add the vegetables to that and let it cook for a while. When the vegetables are half-cooked, add turmeric powder and mix well. After a minute, add the ground coconut paste and some water. Let the vegetables simmer till they are cooked completely. Once that is done, add the yoghurt and the coconut milk. Stir and simmer for a minute, serve with steamed rice.

Paal payasam Ingredients 250 ml milk 30 gm rice 80 gm sugar 20 gm chopped dry nuts 2 gm cardamom powder 10 flakes of saffron 10 gm ghee

Method In a pan, pour ghee and then sauté the rice on medium flame. Take it off the heat and grind it into a coarse powder, add a drop of ghee to the rice and set aside. Meanwhile, boil milk and once that is done, add the rice and let it simmer until cooked. Add sugar and let it boil on low flame for another 10 minutes until you get a thick consistency. Take it off the heat and top it with saffron, cardamom powder and nuts.

Chef Unnikrishna, The Westin Hyderabad Mindspace

Ada pradhaman

Ingredients 100 gm rice flakes (easily found in the market) 250 gm grated jaggery 5 cups thin coconut milk 1 cup thick coconut milk 2 tbsp of ghee tsp of cardamom powder tsp of roasted, powdered jeera tsp of dry ginger powder 2 tbsp of coconut pieces 12 raisins w 12 cashew nuts

Method Melt the jaggery and set aside. Boil water and once it starts bubbling, turn off the heat and add the rice flakes to it. Let it soak in the water for 15 minutes. Then, add the thin coconut milk to the rice flakes and cook until it turns soft. When the mixture thickens, add the melted jaggery and let it simmer for five to 10 minutes. While the mixture bubbles away, heat ghee in a pan and fry the coconut pieces. Once it is darkened (make sure it’s almost black), take it off the pan. In the same pan, add the cashew nuts and raisins and fry until golden brown. Then, to the simmering rice-coconut mixture, add the thick coconut milk, mix once and turn off the flame. Don’t boil the payasam, otherwise the coconut milk will curdle. Then, add the spice powders — cardamom, dry ginger, cumin — along with roasted coconut, raisins and cashews and the ghee used to roast them in. Serve hot.

Banana chips

Ingredients 3 raw bananas 1 tsp of turmeric powder 1-2 tbsp of salt 4-5 cups of coconut oil for deep frying

Method Make grooves into the skin of the bananas and peel it gently. Meanwhile, mix turmeric powder in a bowl of water and immerse the bananas in it. Let it rest for 30 minutes. Heat oil in a pan and let it almost reach its smoking point. Pat the soaked bananas dry using kitchen towels (it’s okay if it’s a little moist), Using a slicer, slice the bananas into thin discs and add it to the hot oil. The chips will sizzle and then start to brown a bit. The sizzling will almost subside when the chips are ready. Meanwhile, mix salt in two cups of water, sprinkle it over the chips when they are still in the oil but ready. Give it a mix and serve after draining the excess oil.

— Recipe: Food blogger Nagalakshmi, cookingandme.com.