July 03, 2007

Kaya- Payar Mezhukkuparatti/ Plantain w/ Long Beans


I am still on my veggie kick so here is another easy to make vegetable which is a lighter form of the traditional mezhukkuparatti or stirfry. I guess it would take a whole sadya(a Kerala veg meal) to satisfy me now, but with my mom on the other side of the country,(on vacation there now) have to settle for a single dish.
Mezhukkuparatti literally means coated with oil, wheras thoran is any vegetable cooked with crushed coconut in it. We used to call all our dry vegetable side dishes as upperi, but in other parts of Kerala it is distinguished as mezhukkuparatti and thoran based on the type of preparation. And they define upperi as chips. Upperi is prepared from various things like raw bananas (kaaya), yam (chena), jack fruit (chakka), bitter gourd (pavayka) and egg plant fruit (vazhuthanga). Slices of the ingredient are fried in coconut oil to a crisp condition. Yum!Yum!

So anyway, my intention was not to sidetrack and cause tidal waves of salivation. This recipe is the way some vegetables are made at my house. Not stirfried, and not with crushed coconut. The vegetables are steamed/boiled with a little water and tossed with a seasoned oil, which acts as a dressing. Its quite similar to the tossed green salads, at some restaurants, seasoned with a hot spicy oil poured over greens to wilt it. Probably this was done to retain most of the nutrients of the vegetables and to balance the rich preparations of the meat dishes. Though made as a side dish with rice, I end up eating it in lieu of salad or a mid day snack.

You will need:
Raw Green Plantains – 1
Yard Long Beans-1/2 bunch
Whole red chilies-2
Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
Red chili powder- 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves- One sprig
Salt – to taste
Oil(preferable coconut oil) -1 tbsp

Preparation:
Peel the green plantains with a peeler, removing only one layer. Cut into 4 chunk pieces and then further cut each piece into 8-10 thin long segments. Soak the pieces in a bowl of water with a pinch of turmeric for about 5 minutes and then rinse it well and drain.

Cut the yard long beans (payar) into similar size long pieces. Cook the plantains and the beans in 1/4 cup water with the rest of the turmeric, red chili powder and salt. This should be done covered on low heat for the first 5 minutes and then another 5-7 minutes open. When the plantains are cooked, turn off the flame and check for salt and spice.

Meanwhile, heat the coconut oil and add the red chilies torn into pieces and curry leaves. Pour this oil over the cooked vegetables and toss to combine. Serve with rice.

No frying, no further sauting.. vegetables the Malabar way.

16 comments:

Revathi said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Revathi said...

So mom is here in west coast ?? Waiting for your non-veg posts still. until then will adjust with this post :)

sra said...

Tidal waves of salivation - ha ha

Anonymous said...

another veggie???
ooohh oohhh..........

Anonymous said...

sorry forgot to sign me name
ki

J said...

Haha...tidal waves of salivation! you are funny! Oh, this reminded me of mom cooking payar in a similar way. I love it.

Anonymous said...

Hey when do we add the payar?

Shah cooks said...

Revathi, Yeah, mom is on ur side of the country.:)

Sra..i was thinking of all the sadyas back in kerala and drooling here..

Ki, whats wrong with vegs? eat some and u will like it.:)

Jyo, thanks!!

anon, thanks for pointing that out.. the payar or beans is cooked with the plantains itself.

Anonymous said...

Oh, I like the veggies S. -- do keep on :) I would never have thought of plantain and beans. Looks so good!

Anonymous said...

i don't mind veggies...
but i lov ur sizzling non veg items..
:) ki

Srivalli said...

wow...you have a great site here...nice recipes...it was quite interesting to see your malabar recipes.....

Srivalli
www.cooking4allseasons.blogspot.com

Prema Sundar said...

plantain and long beans together.. that sounds interesting.
yeah love chips. In chennai there are lots of 'hot chips' shops ,and u get different varieties of chips fried in coconut oil.. Yummmmm

Nabeela said...

You've been tagged Shaheen!

http://trialsnerror.blogspot.com/2007/07/7-random-facts-meme.html

renuramanath said...

hi shaheen,
i liked the point about 'upperi,' 'mezhukkupuratti,' 'thoran.' we also refer to 'upperi' which includes both mezhukkupuratti and thoran. thoran is usually a cabbage thoran ! thoran is essentially considered a south kerala phenomenon. i'm having a hard time teaching my new cook-cum-domestic help the differences between mezhukkupuratti, thoran and upperi!

Shah cooks said...

renu, i always thot my family was the only one that called all veggies upperi so it was heartening to know there are others too.good luck with ur housekeeper. envy u for it.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for this recipe... I had this dish at a friend's house recently and asked her for the recipe, but her method seemed a bit complicated... this is so simple and tastes great!