Celebrate this Onam in true gourmet style with these elevated recipes shared by some of the best chefs in Mumbai!
Recipes by Chef Paul Kinny, Director of Culinary The St. Regis Mumbai
Olan
Ingredients
- 50 gm ash gourd
- 50 gm pumpkin
- 50 gm curry cucumber
- 25 gm red dried beans
- 25 gm long string beans
- 20 gm shallots
- 5 gm green chilly
- 5 gm curry leaves
- 120 ml coconut milk
- Salt, to taste
- 40 ml coconut oil
Method
- Cut the ash gourd pumpkin and cucumber into thin slices, and the long string beans into baton-sized pieces.
- Along with the cooked red dried beans, place in it a thick bottom vessel.
- Add sliced shallots, curry leaves, and sliced green chillies. Mix it all together with salt.
- Cook slowly with a lid, pour in the second pressed coconut milk and then finish with the first pressed coconut milk. Pour some coconut oil on the top of Olan to garnish.
Beetroot Pachady
Ingredients
- 200 gm beetroot, thinly sliced
- 10 gm green chilly, chopped
- 10 gm ginger, julienned
- 5 gm curry leaves
- 15 gm shallots, sliced
- 5 gm mustard seeds
- 2 gm fenugreek seeds
- 4 gm dried red chillies
- Salt, to taste
- 100 ml yoghurt
- 50 gm grated coconut
- 5 gm cumin seeds
- 50 ml coconut oil
Method
- Grind the coconut paste smoothly with freshly grated coconut, shallots whole, green chillies, curry leaf, cumin seeds and mustard seeds.
- Heat a thick bottom pan and add coconut oil.
- Add ginger, green chilli, curry leaves, and beetroot and saute it for some time, then add ground coconut paste and add salt to taste. Pour the beaten yoghurt, do not cook after!
- Temper with coconut oil, mustard, fenugreek, red dried chillies, curry leaves, and shallots until it browns. Pour on top of the Beetroot Pachady.
Recipes by Uddipan Chakravarthy, Director of Culinary Operations, Food Production, The Konkan Café
Avial
Ingredients
For the avial
- 1 cup vellai poosanikai (ash gourd/white pumpkin), cut lengthwise
- 2 drumsticks, cut lengthwise
- 2 carrots (gajar), cut lengthwise
- 10 green beans (french beans), cut lengthwise
- 1 raw banana, peeled and cut lengthwise
- 2 potatoes (aloo), peeled and cut lengthwise
- 1 cup elephant yam (suran/senai/ratalu), peeled and cut lengthwise
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder (haldi)
- Salt, to taste
For the coconut gravy
- 1-1/2 cups fresh coconut, grated
- 3 green chillies
- 1 sprig of curry leaves
- 1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- Salt, to taste
Method
- Steam all the vegetables along with salt for 6 to 7 minutes.
- To make the gravy take coconut, green chillies, and cumin seeds and grind. Add a little warm water and blend to make an almost smooth paste.
- Add the coconut mixture to the steamed vegetables,
- Take a tablespoon of coconut oil and let it heat. Add curry leaves, and mustard, let it sputter and then add the vegetables. Adjust the salt to suit your taste. Serve hot.
Kadala curry
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked Black Chana/Kadala/Kala Chana (soak the dried chana in enough water for at least 8 hrs)
To roast and grind
- ¾ cup fresh or frozen grated coconut
- 2 sliced small red onion/pearl onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds, or substitute with coriander powder
- 1 tsp whole garam masala
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 cardamom pod
- ½ inch cinnamon stick
- 1 pc star anise
- 10 nos. whole black pepper
- a few curry leaves
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
For gravy
- 1 cup onion, sliced
- 2-4 red small onions/pearl onions, sliced
- 3 green chillies, slit lengthwise
- 1 tsp red chilli powder
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
- 2 nos. dry whole red chilli
- 150 gm coconut pieces, sliced
- 1 sprig of curry leaves
- ½ tsp coconut oil
- salt, to taste
- ½ tsp mustard seeds
Method
- Soak kadala/black channa overnight and cook them by adding enough water and a little turmeric powder. Keep aside.
- Heat coconut oil in a pan and add the whole spices; saute for a few seconds. Add the sliced pearl onions, sliced garlic, and curry leaves. Saute for a minute. Add the grated coconut.
- Saute and roast on low fire till coconut turns medium brown in colour. Remove from the fire and let it cool.
- Transfer the roasted coconut masala to a blender and grind the ingredients to a smooth paste adding very little water. In a big deep pan; heat coconut oil and splutter mustard seeds, and add dry red chillies.
- Add the sliced coconut pieces and saute until they turn brown, add the sliced onion, sliced red small onions, green chillies, salt and curry leaves. Saute until they turn light brown in colour.
- Add turmeric powder plus red chilli powder and saute for a few seconds. Add the reserved stock from the cooked kadala. Bring to a boil.
- Now add the ground coconut paste and cooked kadala. Mix well and adjust the salt. Cook until semi-thick gravy.
- Serve hot with puttu or appam.
Chicken Rossa Curry by Ankita Fernandes, Chef and Co-Owner, Fresh Catch
Ingredients
To roast first and then grind (For the chicken masala)
- 5-6 cloves of garlic
- Half finger ginger
- Half coconut, grated
- Coriander
- 1 tsp jeera
- 2/3 cardamom pods
- ½ a stick of cinnamon
- Nutmeg, small pc
- 1 tsp saunf
- 1 tsp khas khas
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 large onion, thinly sliced
- 3 large Kashmiri chillies
For the curry
- 1 onion
- 1 tomato
- 1 green chilly
- ½ kg chicken
Method
- Dry roast all the above together starting from the dry condiments, then onions and garlic and make a smooth paste with little water.
- Fry these with 1 tablespoon of oil until translucent.
- Add the chicken and salt. And cook till soft. For about 20 mins.
- Add the masala paste.
- And accordingly and water for the curry.
- Simmer for another 10 mins on slow flame.
- Serve hot with steamed rice, Neer Dosa or Poie.
Read more.
Spice up your festivities with 2 delicious Onam recipes from Boombay
Indian Classic: The Vishu feast