Aapams and Vegetable Stew

Aapams and Stew is probably the most common of foods in a Keralite’s home. Kerala cuisine is an untreaded territory for me, so I sought a friend’s help in making the following two dishes. She is a Keralite, knows her stuff but the only thing was she doesn’t use measurements …now that’s a huge problem for me coz I’m very particular about measurements, especially when I’m trying someone else’s recipe. Every ingredient I asked about it, she said….”I don’t know, I just add it in!” Hmmm, after much cajoling and detailed enquiry, I was able to settle with certain forms of measurement. I came back home and equated them to the standard measures.

Aapams

I’ve made Aapams before, but not the Kerala version of course. This one has oodles of coconut in it, or should I say ‘plenty’…in my friend’s words! I also borrowed the Aapam Pan from her.

You will need:

2 Cups Rice (Sona Masoori)
1 tsp Yeast
½ tsp Sugar
½ Cup Warm water
¾ Cup Freshly grated Coconut
½ Cup cooked Rice
Salt as required

Soak rice for 4-6 hours or overnight.

Add sugar and yeast to warm water, stir and let sit for 10 minutes till frothy. Drain soaked rice and grind to a smooth paste with the yeast and cooked rice. Ferment overnight.

Add salt only before making the Aapams.

Heat a non-stick Aapam pan on low heat. Pour one ladle of the batter in the middle of the pan and swirl the pan immediately to coat the batter on the sides of the pan. Pour a tsp of oil on top, cover and let cook till done.

Serve with hot vegetable stew.

Vegetable Stew

This is one dish we’ve had at home since we were kids. But the Kerala style is a little different from how mom used to make it.

You will need:

½ cup Carrot cut into 1” bits
½ cup Green beans cut into 1” bits
½ cup Peas
1 Potato cubed
1 onion thinly sliced
5-6 Green chillies slit
¾ tsp Black Pepper powder
1 can Coconut Milk
2 tbsp Coconut Oil (or any cooking oil)
Salt to taste

Bring water to a boil and add all the veggies (including chillies) to it. Boil till veggies are cooked through. Drain and reserve little of the water. Place veggies in a deep pan, pour coconut milk over it, add the pepper powder and salt. Stir and bring to simmering boil. If the stew is too thick then add the reserved water as required. Turn off heat and then add the oil on top while the stew is still hot. Stir and serve hot with the Aapams.

When my friend first mentioned that the oil had to be poured on top after the cooking was done, I was surprised because it’s unusual to add the oil after the cooking, because the taste of uncooked oil is not very pleasant. But with this dish, it did wonders; it made the stew creamier and very delicious. It is important to remember to add the oil when the stew is still hot though. I used Canola Oil, as I don’t use Coconut Oil for cooking, its too much 'coconut' to handle!

Aapams and Vegetable Stew is my entry to RCI Kerala hosted by Jyothsna of CurryBazaar

Strawberry and Pineapple Cake:

I took this cake to dinner at a friend’s place. I wanted my friend to cut it so couldn’t take any pictures of the cake slices. We were too busy hogging it up at her place to think about a picture!! The recipe for the basic cake is the same as the one for Black Forest Cake , but without the cocoa powder.

You will need:

For the Cake: (Makes two 9” thin cakes)

2 cups All purpose flour

1 ¾ Cups Confectioner’s sugar (Powdered Sugar)

6 Eggs

2 tsp Baking powder

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

For the Filling and Frosting:

1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream

½ cup Confectioner’s sugar

1 Cup Pineapple chunks

1 cup sliced fresh strawberries

For the syrup:

1 tbsp lime juice

½ tbsp Sugar

½ cup Water

Preheat oven to 300F.

Separate the white from the yolks. Beat each separately adding vanilla extract and little sugar at a time to make a stiff froth. Fold yellow into white. Sift flour and baking powder thrice and fold into the egg mixture.

FOLD: Means to slowly turn dry ingredients into the wet in a circular inward to outward motion. Do not beat or mix vigorously. The main purpose of folding is to allow more air into the mixture and also to avoid flattening the frothy eggs.

Pour mixture into two greased 9” pans. This mixture makes a thin cake, if you want a thicker cake, then use 8” pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes till cake is done and springs back on touch or a cake tester comes out clean when inserted in the centre of the cake.

Let cool in pan for 10 minutes and then on the cooling rack.

Chill the beater blades and the bowl in which you will use to whip the cream. Whip cream while slowly adding sugar to a spreadable consistency. Do not overbeat, it turns to butter!

Mix lime juice, sugar and water in a bowl. Stir till sugar dissolves. Place one cake over a cake pedestal or plate, poke holes with a fork in a few places on the cake. Pour the syrup all over the cake in a spoon, till cake is moist (but not soggy). Spread an even layer of the cream on the cake.

Place pineapple chunks and sliced strawberries.

Place the other cake on top of this and repeat the moistening procedure. Spread an even thick layer of cream, decorate with remaining pineapple chunks and strawberries.

Chill before serving.