Kerala Kappa Masala - Tapioca Masala Recipe - Step by Step

Learn how to make this Kerala-Style Tapioca Masala or Kappa Masala which is different from the usual Kappa recipes that are used in Kerala.

I am fortunate enough to live in a place where fresh tapioca (kappa in Malayalam, maravalli kizhangu in Tamil) is always available. While in most Kerala homes Kappa Puzhukku is the common dish made with tapioca, this Kappa Masala has been a regular in my home ever since I can remember. It's not mushy like Kappa Puzhukku, but the tapioca pieces are boiled until soft and spiced mildly with red chillies and a good amount of garlic. It's delicious on its own as a quick snack in the evenings with tea or an accompaniment to your breakfast.

Oh and before I forget, I must tell you that this dish is special because a bunch of folks from the Kerala Kitchen group in Facebook are joining me to cook it this month. You don't really have to be a Malayali or from Kerala to join in either the Facebook group or this cooking group. Just grab some kappa and cook this dish along with us and you are good to go. More details below:

Some basic rules to join this Kerala Kitchen cooking group this month:

- You can use the Kappa Masala recipe below as a general guideline to make your dish. Feel free to adapt and change it to your taste and liking
- You have to link to this post in yours if you are a blogger. Eg: "This Kappa Masala Recipe was adapted from Edible Garden, who is hosting the Kerala Kitchen cookout this month".
- The post needs to be made between the 1st of Feb and 2nd of March and linked to below using the Linky Tool.
- Non-bloggers are welcome to join but I would request you to share a picture of your dish.

That's it! I hope you have fun cooking up your Kappa Masala Recipe.

Kappa Masala - Kerala-Style Tapioca Masala Recipe

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves 4-6
Recipe Source: Amma

Ingredients:
5 cups of kappa or tapicoa, cubed (about 500 gm)
5 cloves of garlic, crushed
5 of dry red chillies
1 tbsp of coconut oil
1/2 tsp of black mustard seeds
1/2 tsp of split urad dal or uzhunnu parippu
1 strand of curry leaves, torn into pieces
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder

How to Make Kappa Masala:

Peel the tapioca and wash it thoroughly. Cut into rough cubes by driving the knife in and splitting it off the centre of the tapioca. There's a technique to this actually. Will upload a video at some point if I can.

Cook the tapioca in a pan with enough water to cover it by an inch, until the pieces are soft (about 10-15 mins).

Crush or coarsely grind the garlic and red chillies together in a pestle and Mortar.

Heat oil and add the mustard seeds. When they pop, add the garlic-chilli paste along with the turmeric powder and fry for 10 seconds until fragrant.

Add the cooked tapioca, salt, and the curry leaves. Mix well and continue to stir until the spices coat the tapioca.

That's it! Hot and delicious Kappa Masala is ready. Wasn't that easy?

Love the serving dish? Check out more details of where I buy my food photo props from!

Notes:

- Use fresh garlic please. None of that minced bottled stuff.
- You can use red chilli powder if you don't have whole chillies.
- The kappa must be cooked soft before you proceed with the rest of the cooking process.

Do you want to cook this Kappa Masala along with the rest of the Kerala Kitchen members? Go ahead and do just that. Thank you for joining us!

Update: this cook-along is now closed. Here are the 14 others who cooked Kerala Kappa Masala with me and made it fun.

• Black Haired Genie
• Meena
• Swapna
• Swathi
• Shabs
• Arthy
• Veena
• Reshmi
• Vineetha
• Rafs
• Poornima
• Vijitha
• Pavani
• Nisha

Kelly Moore B-Hobo Bag Review-Camera Bags for Women

Every time I go on a trip and share the pictures, I get questions on my camera bag. When I upgraded to a Nikon D90 over 2 years back, I got one of those ugly functional bags from Nikon. I put up with it because I was too excited about my new camera to care too much about the bag I was carrying it around in. Then it struck me how God-awful it looks and even worse, I was carrying the camera bag and my handbag making it immensely uncomfortable and unsightly.

So I started doing some research on the best camera bags for women. There were quite a few options and I was pretty surprised I hadn't come across any of these before. Most of the brands were from independent sellers and they looked stylish and very unlike the regular camera bags. So you can carry them around just like you would regular hand bags with your cameras practically hidden inside.

Of all the options I saw, Kelly Moore bags really called out to me. After much deliberation and trial-and-error (more on that below), I finally got the B-Hobo Bag in Grassy Green.

I had initially ordered the Libby bag in Sapphire because I absolutely loved the colour and it looked very functional with enough space for a camera body, 2 lenses, laptop and misc things like your purse, a book, etc. Since I was traveling to the US for a short time, I got it delivered a week before my trip to Anu's place where I was staying. When I finally landed and got to see it, I realised it's way too big to be an everyday camera bag. Everything was great except the size. I panicked a bit because I was only going to be in the US for a week and returning and shipping takes way longer. So I wrote to Kelly and she responded saying she's happy to exchange the Libby for a B-Hobo, refund the difference, and also absorb the shipping costs to Singapore! Gotta love that service!

My new bag, the Grassy Green B-Hobo, arrived about 3 weeks later and I was one happy cookie. The colour is a gorgeous green and the inside is a very pretty purple. The bag is sturdy and has enough padding to fully protect your camera and gear.

I carry my camera bag everywhere, and it's especially useful when I am traveling, which is quite often. It can fit all the essentials like my wallet, passport, a medium-sized book or my Kindle, sunglasses, and misc things like a pen and lip gloss, in addition to the camera attached to one lens + one additional lens.

In the picture above, it shows how you can also store a tablet but since I don't use one, I use that extra space for my essentials. A 500ml water bottle can easily be placed inside the bag too. And here's something I had totally forgotten! The B-Hobo bag comes with a longer detachable handle that you can use to wear the bag cross-body or messenger-style. Mine is tucked away somewhere since I only use the shorter handle, but I must pull it out and use it, especially when I travel to a cold place (I am looking at you, London in winter) and the jacket tends to be a bit slippery, making it hard to carry an over-the-shoulder bag that's heavy. 

The newer B-Hobo bags come with a detachable inner basket design so you can remove the padding in one go (mine is removable too but in three pieces, not in one go) and turn it into a regular bag. The lavender B-Hobo looks absolutely gorgeous!

My second favourite was the grey B-Hobo back when I bought mine. Isn't it lovely? I am sure it would go with most of your outfits. But I decided to be a bit bold and went with the green. 

So in a nutshell, here are the pros and cons of getting a Kelly Moore B-Hobo Camera Bag for Women:

Pros:

1. It's very well made and is durable, protects your camera and other belongings well

2. It's very stylish and comes in a range of lovely colours, often two-toned

3. There's a zipper that closes on top along the length of the bag and also the flap that goes over it. this is very useful because you can get away with not zipping up your bag all the time, especially when you constantly need to access things inside

4. The compartments inside the bag are customisable; you can re-adjust the partitions as you please; they are stuck to the side of the bag using velcro

5. I have been using mine for almost 2 years now and I have traveled a LOT with the bag. It still looks new 

6. I have received compliments from many people, both friends and strangers, on how pretty my bag looks. Someone once thought it's a baby bag and asked where I got it from (thankfully, she didn't ask where the baby is! What an irresponsible mom I would have seemed like to her). Coming to think of it, you could use this as a baby bag because you can arrange a lot of things inside upright, although I am not sure diapers need so much padding

7. The b-hobo handles are the perfect length and they fit snugly under your arm. I haven't used the cross-body handles yet so can't comment on that

8. The price is reasonable, in my opinion. Agreed, the material is not leather but I would rather they keep it that way considering how much of rough-handling the bags need to take when you travel

9. Oh, and this is a big one. The bag sits upright if you place it down. This is HUGE you guys. Once you have owned a bag that can do this, there's really no going back to the ones that plonk down and spread out on a table or the floor when you put it down. The B-Hobo is stiff (in a good way) and can sit upright on pretty much any surface

10. There are a ton of pockets all around the bag for you to easily store your personal things. I keep my passport and tickets in the back zipper, pen, phone and business cards in the front slots with zippers, and lip gloss and hand cream in the side slots

Cons:
- it's not super easy to take the camera out of the bag if you want to get it out quickly. Generally, this doesn't bother me because when we are out and about, I take out the camera and sling it around my shoulder, take all the pictures I want, and then put it back inside until I need it again. So what I mean is, you can't really get the camera out while the bag is over your shoulder. I generally ask TH to hold it as I take the camera out which takes all of 5 seconds but initially this irritated me a bit. Since the bag can stand up on its own, you can also put it down and take the camera out.

- you can't make the men in your lives carry this bag for you. Well you can, if you are one of those people but personally I think TH would look ridiculous carrying this and for my own sake, I wouldn't want him walking around with a green bag slung over his shoulder or arm. So, when you are tired, the weight of the camera can get irritating. TH carries the camera on its own in such cases and I take it back when we need to put it away for a while.

- this is not so much a con of the bag itself but I feel like I am holding this bag in every single travel picture of ours! Since it's been almost 2 years since I got it, I am almost tired of it. Once you use this, there's really no going back to a regular camera bag and it's hard to carry two handbags so you tend to just carry this with your personal things inside too. That means it's the same handbag everywhere I go!

See what I mean? That bag is everywhere! But, ah well, so are the compliments, so guess I'm

good. Also, while you may think the green will be too jarring with certain outfits, I find that it goes with pretty much anything I wear. 

Kelly Moore has a new design that's out now called Riva that looks adorable. It's on the smaller side so maybe you can carry it as an exclusive camera bag along with a backpack while you are traveling.

Bottomline: if you are looking for a pretty and stylish camera bag to carry your stuff in, then Kelly Moore is one of the better options out there. Obviously I have only used one of her bags and my views are based on that. There are videos on each of her bag pages that you can view (scroll down a bit) to get a better idea of how the bags look inside, what you can store inside, etc. I found them immensely useful while making a decision.

So go ahead and browse the Kelly Moore website to find yours.

This is not a paid review. I paid for the bag and purchased it in March 2011. All opinions are my own. However, the post contains affiliate links. 

Sambar Powder Recipe | Fresh Sambar Powder Recipe

Learn how to make fresh Sambar Powder for your Sambar. Since we are freshly roasting the Sambar Powder just before making the Sambar, it turns out more fragrant and delicious.

K. Athamma of the Unniyappam and Badusha fame also happens to possess the best Sambar recipe ever! Her Sambar is so famous that she makes it every time we visit her for a meal, planning the menu in such a way that she also makes something to serve with the Sambar. While it took me a while to finally figure out I should be getting all her best recipes from her, I'm glad I'm finally well on my way.

Generally, we tend to make or buy and store Sambar Powder in bulk, adding it to Sambar as we need it. Athamma on the other hand, makes her Sambar Powder fresh each time. She grinds only what's required and this results in the most fragrant and fresh tasting Sambar ever!

Fresh Sambar Powder Recipe

Preparation time: 3 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Makes 1/4 cup
Recipe Source: Kumari Athamma

Ingredients:
10 of dry red chillies
2 tbsp of coriander seeds
1/3 tsp of whole black pepper
1/4 tsp of fenugreek seeds
1/2 tsp of cumin seeds
1 tsp of oil

How to Make Sambar Powder:

1. Heat the oil in a kadai and add the coriander seeds. Lightly roast on low flame until it begins to change colour to a darker brown.

2. Add the rest of the ingredients and roast by mixing continuously. Keep flame on low and take care not to burn it.

3. When the mixture turns fragrant and the coriander seeds are nicely browned, remove from fire and transfer to a dry plate. Cool completely and powder.

We added jeera powder in the end since amma was out of whole jeera. Add whole jeera for a better flavour.

Fresh Sambar Powder is now ready to make your delicious Sambar with. Athamma makes the Sambar Powder when the dal for the Sambar is cooking and we too found that it really doesn't take that much extra time that using pre-made Sambar Powder.

Notes:

- Don't store this sambar powder for more than 2-3 days. Ideally, use it all and grind it fresh the next time you make Sambar. The pictures may have more ingredients than I have mentioned because we make Sambar for 8 people that day. I have scaled down the recipe a bit.

- Adjust the amount of chillies to suit your taste.

- If you are looking for the sambar powder recipe that is dry and can be stored for a while, then check this Sambar Powder Recipe.

Here are some Sambar-Related recipes on Edible Garden. Check them out!
Instant Sambar Powder
Sambar cum Rasam Powder
Sambar Sadam
Easy Bisi Bele Bath
Methi Leaves Sambar
Arachuvitta Sambar
Tiffin Sambar (with moong dal)
Chow Chow Sambar
Indian Radish Sambar

Palak Paneer Recipe | Spinach Paneer Recipe

Learn how to make Palak Paneer: this my recipe that's perfected over the years by adding and subtracting ingredients to suit our palates. My version of Palak Paneer contains no cream.

Today, TH turns 31. I met him when he was 24. Both of us were younger, slimmer, naiver, and he really wasn't TH back then, just this goofy funny guy who made me laugh all the time and ridiculed my Tamil. Most of that has changed now except one thing. TH's love for Palak Paneer. When he first told me how much he loves Garlic Nan with Palak Paneer, I was surprised because where I come from, most guys don't really like spinach. TH is neutral towards other spinach dishes but Palak Paneer, he adores. He has tried Palak Paneer in pretty much every city we have traveled to and is still on the quest to find the best Palak Paneer in Singapore.

Since we eat it so often when we go out for meals, I rarely make Palak Paneer at home. This one time I did make it, I used red amaranth leaves and way too much spices. Check out my first version of Palak Paneer Recipe here.

Since then I've realised that Palak needs spices to make it less blah but the spices need to edge it on, not overpower it and become bossy. If you are serving this with nan, the flavours need to be just right so that it complements the nan perfectly.

Anyway, on TH's birthday this year, I wanted to share his most favourite dish and the recipe I have perfected over 4-5 trials. As mentioned, when I make Palak Paneer, I like to keep the recipe simple and don't add unnecessary thickening agents or cream.

Palak Paneer Recipe

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 cup of cubed paneer (how to make paneer at home)
1 large bunch of palak (or green spinach)
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp of minced garlic
1/2 tsp of minced ginger
1 tsp of red chilli powder
1 tsp of coriander powder
1/2 tsp of jeera (cumin) powder
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
1 large pinch of kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
1 tsp of garam masala
2 tsp of ghee (or oil)
1 pinch of hing (or asafoetida)
1 heaping tsp of tomato paste (or 1 pureed tomato) - optional
1 cup of milk (or water)
1 tbsp of plain curd (or yogurt) - optional

How to Make Palak Paneer:

1. The first step is to blanch the spinach. Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil and dunk the washed spinach leaves in it. Let it simmer for about 2 mins and then remove. Puree to a smooth paste.

2. Drain the water and in the same bowl, heat the ghee or oil. Add the cumin powder and within 5 seconds, add the chopped onions. Saute until golden brown and add the spice powders like coriander powder, turmeric, chilli powder, and hing. Fry for a few seconds, taking care not to burn them spices.

3. Next, add the minced ginger and garlic and the tomato paste if using. Mix well and add the pureed spinach.

4. Top this off with the milk. Mix well, bring to boil and add the kasuri methi and salt.

5. Cook covered for about 6-8 mins until the spinach is completely cooked and spices have blended well into the gravy. Gently add the paneer pieces to the gravy.

6. Top off with a tbsp of curd (plain yogurt) if you want the gravy to be thicker. Sprinkle garam masala. Mix well and remove from the stove.

Done! Delicious piping hot Palak Paneer is now ready.

Palak Paneer with Easy Vegetable Pulao (click for recipe)

Notes:

- You can fry the paneer pieces in some oil, dunk it into hot water for a few seconds, squeeze and set aside to be added to the gravy later. This makes the paneer softer. Since I used fresh homemade Paneer, I avoided this step.

- Adjust the quantity of spices to your liking. For me, these quantities work out perfectly.

- You can add a couple of green chillies to the spinach while grinding instead of using red chilli powder. I generally do this but didn't have any fresh green chillies in hand that day.

Serve Palak Paneer as a Side Dish with:

Tawa Nan
Jeera Rice
Methi Paratha
Simple Vegetable Pulav
Triangular Chapatis
Vegetable Biryani

Vengaya Bajji-Onion Bajji-Ulli Bajji Recipe

Learn how to make Onion or Vengaya Bajji using this easy recipe from my MIL. Onion bajji makes a great after-school snack or a hot appetizer to serve guests.

TH's most favourite snack in the world is any kind of bajji and he hardly cares what goes into it. I have made Vazhakka Bajji, Potato Bajji, and even Mirchi Bajji a few times but never really tried the easier Vengaya Bajji ever. Well, easier because you tend to always have onions in hand.

During our trip to Chennai in December, we were left without power on most evenings between 4 and 6pm and MIL would make some snack or the other to munch on as we waited, chatting. On day 1, when she asked what we would like to have, bajji was the unanimous answer.

Making any kind of bajji is pretty much the same, only the main filling ingredient changes and in this case we have used onions or vengayam.

Other Bajji Recipes on Edible Garden:
- Vazhakka Bajji
- Potato Bajji
- Mysore Bajji

Vengaya Bajji-Onion Bajji-Ulli Bajji Recipe

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Serves 4-6
Recipe source: Mom-in-law

Ingredients:
2 large onions
3/4 cup of besan (kadalai mavu or gram flour)
1/2 tsp of red chilli powder
1/2 tsp of jeera, whole or powdered (optional)
1/4 tsp of hing or asafoetida (powder)
1 tsp of salt (adjust to taste)
1/4 tsp of soda powder (optional, we didn't add this)
2-3 cups of oil, for deep frying (according to the size of your pan)

How to make Vengaya Bajji:

1. Peel, wash, and cut the onions into 1/4" thick rings.

2. Mix the rest of the ingredients in a wide bowl (except the oil). Add enough water to make a thick batter. It should be thick enough to coat the onions as you dip them in but not too "drippy".

3. Heat oil until it just begins to smoke. Lower the flame to medium-low, dip the onion rings into the batter to coat completely and drop into the hot oil.

4. Fry until golden brown. This should take about 2-3 mins. Drain and set aside and proceed with the rest of the onions until you are through.

Serve Onion Bajji hot with tomato sauce or Pudina Chutney.

Notes:

- Adding soda powder makes the bajjis softer and more puffier but they tend to drink more oil making it a bit unhealthier. Go with the cost-benefit analysis here and do what you prefer.

- You can follow the same process for making bajji with other vegetables like eggplant, raw banana (vazhakka), bajji chillies, potato, etc.

- You can add a pinch of turmeric powder to the bajji batter if you prefer. I personally don't like the cumin so omit that but it does give an extra kick so add it if you like cumin (jeera).

- Based on a tip from a lot of readers (check comments), you can also add 1 tbsp of rice flour to the bajji batter. We have never really done this at home but I am assured it makes the bajjis very crisp, so try it!

Yam Fry on Tawa-Recipe from Raks Kitchen

Learn how to make Yam Fry or Chena Fry on a tawa. This recipe uses lesser oil and is healthier than the more popular Yam Fry Recipe on this site.

Elephant Yam (Chena in Malayalam, Senai Kizhangu in Tamil) is one of my favourite vegetables so when saw this different method of frying yam on a tawa or pan, I was intrigued. Yam is a popular root vegetable in Kerala, often getting incorporated into koottu, stir-fries, and even our popular Erissery recipe wich is an essential dish in the Onam Sadya and for wedding sadyas.

Yam takes longer time to cook than regular vegetables so it needs to be par-boiled in boiling water before you proceed with frying it. Also, many complain of the yam irritating their hands after handling it raw. I have the same issue and sometimes, if not cooked properly, it can also create an itching on the tongue and throat, much like an allergy.

To avoid the itching and irritation associated with yam, I can give you two tips. One, make your husband, brother, father, some man cut up the yam. I am yet to come across a guy whose hands itch after handling yam, trust me. And two, use the freshest yam possible. If you leave it around or in the fridge for a week or two, then it's as good as throwing it away, in my opinion.

Other Yam Recipes on Edible Garden:
- Yam Fry (Kerala-style)
- Erissery Recipe

Yam Fry - Chena Fry on Tawa

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Serves 4
Recipe adapted from: Raks Kitchen

Ingredients:
250 gm of elephant yam (chena, senai kizhangu)
3 tbsp of besan (kadalai mavu, gram flour)
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
1 tsp of red chilli powder
1/2 tsp of coriander powder
1/4 tsp of crushed jeera (cumin powder)
2 tbsp of rice flour
5-6 of curry leaves, chopped
1 tsp of salt (adjust to taste)
4 tbsp + 1 tsp of oil

How to Make Yam Fry on a Tawa:

1. Cut the yam into thin pieces of about 2" diameter. Cook them in boiling water with turmeric until soft yet they hold their shape (about 4-5 mins). Drain completely.

2. Transfer the cooked yam to a bowl and add the rest of the ingredients except the 4 tbsp oil (add the 1 tsp oil into the mixture too). Mix well until the masala coats the yam pieces uniformly. If you have the time, let this sit for a couple of hours or in the refrigerator if you want to keep it longer. Otherwise, proceed to the next step.

3. Heat the 4 tbsp oil in a wide pan or tawa (adjust oil amount to the size of your pan). Lay the coated yam pieces in a single layer over it and lightly roast both sides until crisp and golden here and there. Drain on kitchen towels.

Delicious tawa-fried yam is now ready.

I served the Yam Fry with some rice, Beetroot Poriyal (recipe coming soon), and Tomato Rasam.

This Yam Fry Recipe is inspired by a recipe in Raks Kitchen. I have adapted the ingredients to suit my taste and what I had in the kitchen. This goes to the Tried and Tasted event hosted by Nivedhanam with focus on Raks Kitchen this month.

Potato Poha | Kanda Batata Poha Recipe | Indian Breakfast Recipes

Learn how to make Onion Potato Poha or Kanda Batata Poha, an easy and healthy Maharashtrian breakfast recipe using Indian flattened rice, potatoes, onions, and some mild spices.

Needless to say, I didn't grow up eating Kanda Batata Poha, what with it being a Maharashtrian recipe and all that. The first time I tried Batata Poha was at this mini exhibition and sale conducted by some ladies group in my home town that amma was an active member of. They would set up stalls and sell a variety of things, all homemade. In one of those, they were selling Kanda Batata Poha in small cups for 5 rupees each. Amma and I had no clue what Batata or Poha was but decided to give it a shot anyway. After one bite of it, amma goes "ahh aval!" and then quickly went on to dissect the ingredients and tell me exactly what went into the Batata Poha and how it was probably made.

Fast forward a few more years, I moved to Hyderabad for work and met people from all over. I tasted food that I'd never even heard of before. This recipe is from a Maharashtrian colleague who made his mom's Kanda Batata Poha one day and posted it on FB. I, of course, immediately asked him for the recipe and obliged. Thanks Yash!

I was wondering if Batata Poha and Kanda Poha are the same thing so I asked Yash and he said batata = potato and kanda = onion. If you add both to the poha, then it kinda becomes Kanda Batata Poha. Anyway, irrespective of the finer details, this is an delicious, easy, and healthy recipe that you must make!

Love poha or aval recipes? Then check out this aval vadai recipe, and sweetened poha with coconut, a regular evening snack in Kerala. Check this link for more breakfast recipes.

Kanda Batata Poha Recipe

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Serves 2
Recipe adapted from: Yash Godbole

Ingredients:
1.5 cups of poha (aval, avalakki, Indian flattened rice)
1 onion, chopped fine
1 potato, boiled and chopped fine (see notes)
1/4 cup of peanuts (raw or roasted)
2-3 green chillies, chopped
1/8 tsp of hing (perungaayam, asafoetida)
1/4 tsp of sugar (optional)
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
1 bunch of fresh coriander leaves or cilantro
1 wedge of lime or lemon
1 tbsp of oil
1/4 tsp of mustard seeds
3/4 tsp of salt (adjust to taste)

How to Make Kanda Batata Poha:

1. Rinse the poha through some running water, drain completely, and set aside. I mixed the turmeric in the wet poha and mixed before keeping it aside for uniform colouring.

2. Heat oil in a wide pan and add the mustard seeds. When they start to pop, add the onions, hing and green chillies. Saute for a few mins until the onions turn transparent and then add the finely chopped boiled potato. Saute a while longer and then add the peanuts. Since I used raw peanuts, I let it roast in there for a while so the raw smell would leave it. The onions will also roast a bit more which is perfect.

3. Next, add the washed poha, sugar (if using) and salt. Mix well and let the ingredients blend together imparting a lovely yellow colour and a nice flavour to the poha.

4. Turn off heat, add a few drops of lime or lemon and garnish with a generous amount of chopped coriander leaves. These two ingredients are really not optional to make Kanda Batata Poha. Mix again and serve hot with some steaming cardamom tea!

Notes:

- Another, probably more authentic, way of making Kanda Batata Poha is to fry the potato cubes separately and then adding to the poha. Since I happened to have a boiled potato in hand, I used that. You can also grate a raw potato and add it but the cooking time will be a bit longer.

- The peanuts I used were raw and I did feel like they didn't roast completely since I added them after the onions, etc. Either use roasted peanuts or roast them separately before adding, if you are particular about it.

- Curry leaves can be added to batata poha if you prefer but since I added a lot of coriander, I wanted just that flavour to dominate.

- The sugar is optional. I added some and liked the flavour but you can skip it if you'd like.

Before I sign off, here are some South Indian Breakfast Recipes from Edible Garden to motivate you to cook and eat the most important meal of the day

- Soft Idlis
- Instant wheat dosa
- Rava upma
- Semiya upma
- Rava idli
- Idli with idli rava
- Wheat puttu
- Idiyappam

10-Min Cheese Garlic Bread Recipe - Quick & Easy Snack Recipes

Learn how to make this easy 10-min Cheese Garlic Bread. It serves as a great appetizer and is easy to prep ahead and serve hot in large batches.

Who doesn't like Garlic Bread? Wait, don't answer that. Who doesn't like Garlic Bread with Cheese? Even my in-laws who are generally garlic-dislikers would say yes to Garlic Bread especially if it came with some cheese on top. Now, you can be all fancy and make Cheese Garlic Bread from scratch but that won't get done in 10 mins and you will be left with a bunch of vessels to clean. Don't get me wrong, I am all for making bread from scratch but sometimes what you need is a quick and easy snack or appetizer for guests (or for yourselves!) and this Cheesy Garlic Bread could be just the thing you are looking for.

I made these Cheesy Garlic Bread as an appetizer for a pizza party for 6 people. I made my favourite pizza base recipe in a large batch, picked three different vegetarian pizza topping ideas (more on that later), and was wondering if we would have enough food to munch on while we waited for the pizzas to get done. I was wary of making an appetizer that would tie down my oven but nothing else seemed to go well with pizza except garlic bread!

But I needn't have worried because this Cheese Garlic Bread takes not more than 10 mins and while you roll out your pizza base and get the toppings all layered on, the garlic bread is ready to be served.

10-Min Cheese Garlic Bread Recipe

Preparation time: 4 minutes
Cooking time: 6 minutes
Serves 6

Ingredients:
1 baguette (mine was about 1 feet long)
4 tbsp of butter, softened to room temperature
1/2 tsp of salt (if using unsalted butter)
2.5 cups of grated mozarella + cheddar
3 tbsp of chilli flakes
6-8 cloves of garlic, minced (I finally put my garlic press to good use)

How to Make Cheese Garlic Bread:

0. Pre-heat your oven to 300F / 180C.

1. Slice the baguette into 3/4" thick pieces. You can go thicker or thinner as you like, I like it neither here nor there. I am grey (I didn't mean to rhyme, sorry).

2. Mix the minced garlic and butter along with salt if you are using unsalted butter. On that note, I used Amul salted butter and it was delicious, but we all know that already. Slather a good layer of butter on one side of the bread pieces evenly.

3. Add the grated cheese on top and garnish with chilli flakes. You can be as generous as you want but don't even think about being skimpy. Skimpy and cheese don't go well together. Since I was serving pizza next, I went a bit easy on the cheese for the garlic bread, but note how I didn't just make plain garlic bread, I had to add some cheese!

4. Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 5-6 mins until the edges of the bread slices turn crisp and the cheese melts. Don't let it sit in there too much even thought you are tempted because if you over-bake them, they turn out like rusk when slightly cool.

You can use a baking tray but I didn't have any spares since I was using them for the pizza so I directly put them on the (clean!) oven racks.

And we are done! Hot, spicy, cheesy garlic bread is ready in 10 mins! Let your friends enjoy these with ketchup and more chilli flakes while you make the pizza and wow them further. Lots and loves of cheese for the win!

Notes:

- Please in the love of all things edible, use fresh garlic for garlic bread. No substitutes, no compromises.

- Mincing garlic for garlic bread is way easier with a garlic press (this is what I have), but it's really not a useful tool for anything else so you don't really need one. That didn't stop me though.

- Serve garlic bread hot. Make them after your guests are in your living room. You can do all the prep work and keep it ready to bake. It takes only 5 mins so they won't miss you, don't worry.

- The chilli flakes are optional but definitely recommended. I save the extra chilli flakes sachets when we order pizza and use that for when I make garlic bread or pizza at home. You can also add some herbs to the garlic-butter mixture. Try oregano, parsley, basil, anything you have in hand (thanks for the tip Archana!)

- You can definitely use regular bread to make garlic bread. The texture will be different but it will still work.

- No, I haven't tried to make garlic bread in a microwave but I do feel they will crisp up too much because the MW has this way of sapping all water out of whatever you put in it. It could work though, try it and let me know?

- You can make plain garlic bread by omitting the cheese but that would make me say "Whaaaat?? Why?" in a very loud voice.

Stir-Fried Jackfruit Seeds Kerala Style-Chakkakuru Mezhukkupuratti Recipe

Learn how to make this eay Stir-Fried Jackfruit Seeds recipe or Chakkakuru Mezhukkupuratti. Recipe tested and learnt from my mom.

Jackfruit seeds or Chakkakuru is a childhood favourite for both me and my brother. Chakkakuru Aviyal is a family favourite, really, closely followed by this mezhukkupiratti. Looking back, I realise a lot of vegetables we ate growing up in Kerala were received or grown and not bought. Most homes would have a parambu or a backyard that had all sorts of things growing there, and most homes had atleast one jackfruit tree, mango tree, coconut tree (of course!), and random things like mangosteen, rose apple, custard apple, lots of banana trees etc. Since most people can't really consume all that their backyard produces, often organically, neighbours and friends become grateful recipients of these super fresh fruits and vegetables.

This whole cycle of sharing and giving and receiving was so interwoven that amma actually knows whose jackfruit tree produces the sweetest fruits and who has the orange-red seedless papaya that's actually a hybrid plant and whose backyard produces the best ethappazham that calls for making nothing but ethakka appam with it.

Chakkakuru - Jackfruit Seeds

TH loves jackfruit and every time we go back to Kottayam, amma would have sourced jackfruit from at least 3 homes, taste-tested them all, and kept aside the best and sweetest fruits for us - or, more for her son-in-law, actually. However, having always lived in cities, he had never tasted jackfruit seeds.

Jackfruit seeds take some time to prep before cooking (see notes below recipe) if you are not a patient cook, this dish is probably not for you. That said, I promise that the end result is well worth it.

Roasted Jackfruit Seeds - Chakkakuru Mezhukkupuratti

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Serves 4-6
Recipe source: Amma

Ingredients:
4 cups of cleaned and prepped jackfruit seeds, sliced long
1/2 tsp of turmeric powder
1-2 tbsp of oil (preferably coconut oil)
4-5 crushed red chillies (or 1 tsp red chilli powder)
6 cloves of garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp of freshly cracked black pepper
1 tsp of salt (adjust to taste)

How to Make Chakkakuru Mezhukkupuratti:

1. Prep the jackfruit seeds for cooking (see notes below). Heat oil and add the sliced jackfruit seeds. Keeping fire on medium-low, stir-fry them until the seeds start to sweat a bit. Add the turmeric powder and salt.

2. Keep stir-frying until the seeds turn soft yet hold their shape. This will take about 10-15 mins depending on the freshness of the seeds. It's hard to overcook the jackfruit seeds so don't worry. Once they are cooked, add the crushed garlic and red chillies. Please don't use garlic from a bottle, that really won't taste good in this recipe.

Continue to stir and roast until the oil does its magic and the seeds start to get nicely browned. This will take about 10-12 mins.

3. We like our chakkakuru kinda halfway done but you can continue to roast until it's golden brown or stop when it's partially browned like below. Switch off the flame and add the freshly cracked pepper on top. Mix well.

PS: That's my mom in the picture below. Pretty hands, no? :)

That's it! You are done making stir-fried jackfruit seeds the authentic Kerala way.

Notes:

- How to prep jackfruit seeds for roasting: Remove the outer white layer and soak the seeds in warm water for 30 mins. Scrape off the brown thinner skin using a paring knife. It's tough to get it off clean so a few bits here and there is ok. In fact, I have seen dishes where this brown skin is not removed so I guess it's optional. We always remove it though so I just can't bring myself to leave it on. Wash the peeled seeds and cut each into 4-5 pieces length-wise.

- Mustard seeds and curry leaves are usually not added to this mezhukkupuratti since it alters the flavour a lot.

- Use coconut oil for the best flavour and use fresh garlic and crush your red chillies (as opposed to using a store-bought powder).

Serve Chakkakuru Mezhukkupuratti with rice and any of the below Kuzhambu / Chaaru recipes:

- Kerala Parippu Curry
- Thakkali Kuzhambu
- Mullangi Sambar
- Moru Kachiyathu
- Poricha Kuzhambu
- Kara Kuzhambu

More Indian recipes with Chakkakuru or Jackfruit Seeds:

- Chakkakuru Aviyal
- Jackfruit Seeds Dal