Cooking Is Easy

Nadan Njandu Curry is country style crab curry of Kerala. Crab meat is cooked in coconut milk with a blend of spices and topped off with a tadka in fresh coconut oil. Seafood is Kerala's own natural gift, and fresh seafood is available all the year around. So, we Mallus prefer fresh seafood and rarely need to consume frozen seafood. Two days ago Homey got some crabs from the market, and the fish monger was kind enough to clean and cut them, and that made my cooking part a lot easier. About 750 gms of fresh crabs were reduced to 400 gms after cleaning and cutting. After making this curry I got a big warm bear hug from my son (he loves crab curry). I actually wanted to surprise him but the flavors and aroma of the curry played havoc to my surprise plan!  "This curry is so good, Amma!" is what he told me when I gave him a little hot curry in a plate...to check whether everything is right or how we mallus say "uppu nokkal"! Bachelors, novice cook, new brid...

Onam Sadya (sadhya) recipes: Onam is the harvest festival of Kerala, celebrated by the people of Kerala irrespective of caste or creed. It is one of the most popular festival of Kerala. It also marks the homecoming of King Mahabali and the festival falls during the Malayalam month of Chingam (Aug-Sept). King Mahabali's rule was considered to be the golden era of Kerala, I remember this song about the reign of Mahabali which was taught at school as a child...I do still remember the first few lines,  "Maveli nadu vaneedum kalam, Manusharellarum onnupole, amodhathode vasikkum kalam......" Which is translated as.... "When Maveli ruled the land, all the people were equal, and people were joyful and merry; They were free from harm...." Onam sadya is another indispensable part of the festival, on "Thiruvonam" Keralities make a festive meal known as "sadya" and all the family members try to be at home for "Thiruvona Sadya"; which is an...

I am so excited to announce the partnership of nisahomey.com with Ziplist ,  an online convenient tool that stores all of your favorite recipes (wow!!), and also helps you to plan your meals, and creates grocery shopping lists, and even helps you find grocery savings in your area. Ziplist provides a free service which helps you to save and organize recipes from your favorite food blog. Yes, I know this made you smile; personally, I too love to save recipes from my favorite food blogs and that is why I am so excited to share this with you. I have added a Ziplist  button (Recipe Box) at the top navigation bar, which will help you to easily access the Ziplist services and save recipes not only from nisahomey.com but also from any other food blog you come across. Saving a recipe from Nisahomey.com to your recipe box is a breeze! You just have to click on the "Recipe Button" which is next to the "Recipes" on the top navigational bar. See the picture below for re...

Ceylon Spinach or Sambar Cheera is a popular backyard spinach of Kerala and  rich in Vitamin A and C, calcium, iron, and dietary fiber. A handful of this organic spinach is chopped and stir fried with coarsely grounded coconut, a simple, quick and healthy side dish for lunch. If you love simple Kerala style cheera thoran   try thi s , it is perfect with hot steaming matta rice. I  made an easy pulav with Ceylon spinach and I loved the way it turned out, the whole family loved it; one pot meals are a winner always. I had mentioned about a surgery earlier and by the grace of God and your prayers, I could come home on the the 4th day. My surgery took 3 1/2 hours and my children and Homey was my strength. The surgery was scheduled at 9 AM and I was wheeled out at 4.30 PM to ICU and could briefly see my parents, kids, and Homey. The night in the ICU is something which I will never forget, cannot have words to thank the two nurses who helped me ease my pain, to me t...

Nadan Chembu Astharam , is a traditional Kerala style taro root curry made with coconut and curd (yogurt) and lastly seasoned with coconut oil. Typically nadan chembu (organic backyard taro root) is used, preferably smaller size (tender ones), though full grown bigger ones can be used, the baby ones (kochu chembu) are more tastier for astharam. Chembu or taro is a common root vegetable found abundantly in Kerala. These curries are not so popular with the younger generation but the older generation simply love it. As I have mentioned earlier; I try to include traditional recipes as much as possible in our family meal and this is one such curry which I make whenever chembu is available. This curry is most popular in my hometown Kottayam, I have not seen this in Malabar (North Kerala). I have memories of my grandmother making this curry as a child, which was passed on to my amma.....and after marriage, my MIL also makes the curry the same way....my son loves this very much and a...