Split Chickpeas Pudding | Kadala Pradhaman

Split Chickpeas Pudding | Kadala Pradhaman

Kadala Pradhaman is hands down everyone’s favorite Kerala dessert in this house and it makes an appearance for every single sadya we make throughout the year! If you’re a chickpeas lover like us, I guarantee you’ll be a fan too. Mashed split chickpeas is simmered 

Vermicelli Pudding | Seviyan Kheer | Semiya Payasam

Vermicelli Pudding | Seviyan Kheer | Semiya Payasam

This is quite possibly the easiest and quickest Indian dessert. Roasted vermicelli is cooked in milk, cardamom, and sugar, then garnished with roasted cashews and raisins. Typically payasams from Kerala are made with coconut milk and sweetened with coconut sugar. This particular one is not 

Cucumber Pulissery | Vellarikka Pulissery

Cucumber Pulissery | Vellarikka Pulissery

Diced cucumbers in spiced coconut and yogurt-based curry. Pulissery is typically served last during a sadhya when my stomach is ready to burst at the seams so I usually end up not eating it. But I do love it as a casual every other week 

Pulissery

Pulissery

Pulissery is another spiced coconut and yogurt-based curry. It’s typically served last during a sadhya when my stomach is ready to burst at the seams so I usually end up not eating it. But I do love it as a casual every other week curry 

Ash Gourd & Black-Eyed Peas Curry | Olan

Ash Gourd & Black-Eyed Peas Curry | Olan

One of my friends who tried olan for the first time said, ” It tastes like a bowl full of love!” Yeap, that pretty much sums it up. Black-eyed peas and ash gourd or winter melon are simmered in coconut milk and seasoned ever so 

Kerala Vegetable Medley| Avial

Kerala Vegetable Medley| Avial

Avial is an original from Kerala. It’s Kerala’s very own unique vegetable medley. Veggies are layered, steam cooked, and enrobed in a mixture of spiced grated coconut and luxurious coconut oil. A sadhya is just not complete without this on the upper right-hand corner of 

Long Beans Stir Fry | Achinga Payar Mezhukkupuratti

Long Beans Stir Fry | Achinga Payar Mezhukkupuratti

Mezhukkupuratti literally means coated with oil in Malayalam. The idea is to slow cook various vegetables in tempered oil such that it gets a liberal coating of the infused oil.  Long beans are one of my most favorite mezhukkupurattis, along with okra, potato, elephant yam, and 

Moringa Stir-fry | Muringaella Thoran

Moringa Stir-fry | Muringaella Thoran

Moringa is a fast-growing, drought-resistant tree native to the Indian subcontinent. Its leaves and fruits are a staple in Kerala households. Almost all parts of the tree are eaten or used as ingredients in Ayurvedic medicine.   Moringa leaves are rich in many important nutrients, 

Banana Blossom Coconut Chutney | Vazhakoombu Chamanthi

Banana Blossom Coconut Chutney | Vazhakoombu Chamanthi

Coconut chutneys are another one of my all-time favorite foods. So here is a great way to up the nutrition and flavor of your coconut chutney while doing your small part to reduce food wastage. Let’s put those beautiful, nutritious purple leaves from the outer 

Banana Flower Fritters | Vazhapoo Bajji

Banana Flower Fritters | Vazhapoo Bajji

I make these with the flowers in the outer layers of the banana blossom. The blossom gets turned into a stir fry and these get turned into crunchy snacks for tea. There’s no reason to throw away the outer purple layers that you peel off