Appams and Stew

Serves 4

Ingredients:

For The Appams
1 cup raw white rice
½ cup grated coconut
½ tsp fresh yeast (khamir)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp flour (maida)
salt to taste
½ cup water

For The Vegetable Stew
3 cups mixed vegetables (potatoes, peas, carrots, beans)
1 cup thick coconut milk
1 cup thin coconut milk extracted from a medium-sized coconut in a blender

Spices
½ tsp pepper
½ tsp cumin (jeera) powder
½ tsp coriander (dhania) powder
½ tsp minced ginger (adrak)
½ tsp minced garlic (lahsun)
A few cloves (laung)
1 stick of cinnamon (daalchini)
1 green chilli, finely minced
2 tbsp fresh coriander
1 large onion
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp vinegar or ½ a lime

Preparation:

For The Appams
Soak rice overnight and grind with coconut in a blender. Put the yeast in a glass with 1 tsp flour, 1 tsp sugar and half a cup warm water. Let it bubble and rise. Then, add it to the ground rice. When it ferments, stir thoroughly. Use a ladle to pour the mixture one spoonful at a time into a greased appam pan or wok. The pan should be fairly hot and have a lid. Spread the mixture thinly like a pancake. Cover each appam while cooking, until done. It should be crisp at the bottom.

For The Vegetable Stew
Boil the vegetables in a pan with the thin coconut milk until tender. Add cloves and daalchini. Fry onion, ginger, garlic and green chillies lightly and add to the vegetables. Lastly, add thick coconut milk and simmer. Garnish with chopped fresh coriander.

Vengan Batata Nu Shaak

Serves 6-7

Ingredients:

4 eggplant sliced
4 potatoes sliced and peeled
4 tomatoes sliced
1 tsp of red chilli, turmeric, coriander and cumin powder
1 tsp garam masala
4 tbsp oil
4 cups watersugar and,
salt to taste
For garnish coriander leaves finely chopped

Preparation:

Heat oil in a pan. Add tomatoes, spices and a little sugar. Fry on medium heat till the tomatoes are soft. Add potatoes and eggplant. Fry again for about 5 min. Add water and cook covered on medium or low heat till the vegetables are cooked. Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves.