Pulissery -

After shifting to the UK post nuptials, one of the major things, other than the country, the people and the dreadful homesickness, I had to get accustomed to, was cooking for myself and the better half. I still feel sorry for poor J.; to say I was terrible is an understatement!!!  I still laugh about the days, where I used to stand next to the stove, waiting for the onions to brown, not realizing really dark brown can mean burnt, or the days when I added 2 cups of water into the chicken curry only to have water flooding out from the pot. (now you realize what I meant when I said I wasn’t exactly good. )

That’s when I realized chicken produces it’s own stock, and onions have to be stirred!

I consoled myself saying everyone starts off like this. Then, I happened to speak to one of my friends, who had recently shifted abroad after her wedding. I took upon myself, the noble task of advising and reassuring this friend.

The conversation went like this after the usual banter and gossip

Myself: how is the kitchen management front?

Friend: It’s going ok..

Myself: (thinking in my head)..poor thing! I must tell her all what I learnt!

Myself:  It’s ok…It will only get better, trust me (Really! This was the next day after the chicken fiasco). After all it’s only been a week since you arrived. So what did you try today?

Friend: Just some vellappam , mutton stew, ginger chicken, egg fried rice and aloo jeera…

Myself:  quite obviously Blank and speechless!!!

Friend: Hello?                                                                                           

 Myself: You have got to be kidding me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  (I can’t tell you how bad I felt for J that moment; It’s worse coz J, to this date has never complained about what is on the table, and he always has whatever I make, without the slightest wrinkle. And I don’t get a chance to try and not produce a wrinkle when I eat his food, because he cooks much better than me! Thank God!)

Haha! It still makes me laugh.                         

One curry kept getting repeated mention during occasional conversations was pulissery. I must say I had never been a huge ‘curry with rice’ fan. I always though pulissery and moru kootan are synonyms. But, seemed it wasn’t. One day as I sat wondering about the next day’s menu, I thought why not pulissery? Since my friend lived on the other side of the pond, I looked up a recipe on ‘pachakam.com’, a messiah for amateurs like me. This is way before I discovered the existence of food blogs.

This is absolutely an easy recipe! Takes minutes to put together and the Result is spectacular! It is a ‘My mum-in-law took the recipe down’ recipe…hehehe..

It’s what I call an easy to make favourite.  The flavor is quite traditional. The original recipe doesn’t call for vegetables in it, but you could use the veggies traditionally used in moru kuttan like, ash gourd (kumbalanga) or the raw green plantain (kaya). It tastes even better with fish curry, specially, fish cooked in coconut milk …..Y_U_M!

 

I make it quite often, and It comes well each time. I’ve made it for guests and they have loved it too. It’s the kind where you want to keep on helping yourself only to the curry, even after your meal.  Try and make your favourite fish curry with it and works together like a dream.

Pulissery

What you need:

Curds (Thick and Sour) – 2 cups

Grated Coconut – ½ cup

Green Chilles -  2

Garlic pod – 1

Jeerakam (Cumin Seeds) – 1 & ½ tsp

Small Onions – 1-2

Turmeric powder – ½ tsp

Coconut oil – 2 tbsp

Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp

Cumin seeds – 1tsp

Fenugreek seeds – ½ tsp

Curry leaves – 2 tbsp

Sugar – ¾ tsp

Salt to taste

Water -1/2 cup

Here’s How:

Grind coconut, green chillies, garlic, ½ tsp cumin seeds, small onion and turmeric powder into a fine paste

Beat the curd by adding this paste, salt and sugar

After beating, the mixture should be of medium consistency. If needed, add ½ cup water, along with the curd mixture

Splutter mustard seeds, and add 1 tsp cumin seeds along with fenugreek seeds and curry leaves and mix well

Pour the curd mixture into the pan and keep it on medium flame, stirring continuously, until it becomes warm

(Never allow the curd mixture to boil)

Remove from fire and sprinkle roasted fenugreek powder over pulissery and mix well

Ta…da

Recipe Courtesy: Pachakam.com