Naadan Varatharacha Motta Curry / Kerala Egg Curry

Varatharacha curry is a popular coconut and coriander seeds based gravy for non vegetarian dishes in Kerala. My mother made both eggs / motta and chicken / kozhi in a varatharacha gravy. Here, in this recipe for Varatharacha Motta curry, I have added a little whole spices, but this curry / kootaan can be made omitting them as well. In which case, the taste of the coconut and coriander seeds with the coconut oil varatha iddal will stand out which is the most authentic taste of Kerala.

In Kerala, many households continue to cook only in coconut oil and many a times the oil is extracted from the coconuts got from their own houses. The process of oil extraction is laborious and is best done with extra pairs of hands and when the sun is at its hottest. At my grandmother's house in Kerala, once the coconuts are collected from the grounds and fields, some are kept aside for extracting oil. These have to de-husked, then broken in half and put out to dry in the sun. After a few days in the sun, the kernel shrivels a little and the shell starts separating from it. At this point, they have to be manually separated and the kernels are again put out to dry. The coconut kernel has to be sun dried completely else the extracted oil goes rancid. These dried coconut kernels are then taken to the mill to be pressed to extract oil.

 

The last time, my parents visited Kerala, they got me some home milled coconut oil that I am using currently. Since it is home milled oil without any preservatives it tends to go rancid much earlier than the branded oils. I prefer to keep it in the frig and only keep about 200gms out in room temperature to be used sparingly so I can stretch it as much as possible.

And now getting back to my Varatharacha Motta Curry, this is a great dish to be paired off with appams for breakfast and with rice or parathas for lunch or dinner. The recipe:

Ingredients
Eggs - 4
Coconut - 1.5 cups
Onion - 1 medium
Tomato - 1 large
Turmeric pwd- 1tsp
Red Chilli pwd - 2 tsp
Garlic - 5
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Oil - 1tsp
Salt as per taste
whole spice / khada masala
Coriander seeds - 3tbsp heaped
Peppercorns - 8 to 10
Cloves - 3
Cinnamon - 1 inch piece
Star Anise - 1 or 2 petals
Green Cardamom - 1/2
Black Cardamom - 1/4
for tempering
Coconut oil - 1tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1tsp
Dry red chilli - 2
Curry leaves - 2 sprigs

Boil the eggs and let them cool. When cool shell them and lightly sauté in 1tsp oil and keep aside. Pierce the boiled eggs with a knife so that the gravy can seep in. Fine chop the onions, tomatoes, ginger and garlic and keep aside separately.

 

Heat a pan, first dry roast the grated coconut till brown, then do the same with the coriander seeds separately. Then dry roast the pepper corns, cloves, cinnamon, star anise, green cardamom seeds and black cardamom seeds together till the aroma is released. Heat a spoon of oil in the same pan and sauté half the chopped onions. When the onions are translucent add the chopped ginger and garlic and sauté till the raw smell has gone. Grind together the coconut, coriander seeds, whole spices and onions-ginger-garlic with some water to a fine paste.

 

Heat a sauce pan and add the ground paste and stir it for a minute. Add the turmeric powder, chilli powder and chopped tomatoes and sauté till well mixed. Add 2 cups of water, a few curry leaves torn and cover and cook till the tomatoes have turned soft. Add salt according to taste and check if the gravy is semi-thick. If the gravy is watery boil for sometime so some water evaporates or if gravy is thick then add some water to thin it. Add the eggs. Lower the heat and let the eggs soak in the gravy for a couple of minutes. Take off the heat and keep covered.

 

Heat a pan for the tempering or varatha iddal / tempering and add some coconut oil, when hot add the mustard seeds. When it splutters add the onions, curry leaves and the dry red chillies and sauté till the onions are golden brown. Take off the heat and immediately pour into the egg curry. Cover the egg curry with a lid till ready to serve. Adding cheriya ulli or shallots instead of regular onions for the varatha iddal / tempering gives a lovely flavor to this curry.

Vella Appam / Hoppers

... and ishtew for breakfast on a lovely relaxed weekend morning. Vella appam or hoppers is a favorite Kerala breakfast item. The extensive use of coconut in Kerala cuisine continues to be seen in the vella appam recipe as  well. Grated coconut is added when grinding the batter giving the appam a coconutty and slightly sweet taste to it. In Kerala, many families use toddy to ferment the batter; although it is a delicacy the taste takes getting used to. Our family has always added coconut water when grinding and later added soda to the batter in the morning before making the appam. One reason for that could be that my grandfather was a teetotaler and hence I guess toddy being brought home was ruled out.

Appam is paired off with quite a few accompaniments - chutney, potato stew, vegetable stew, mutton stew, motta / egg curry. And if you check the recipe of these dishes you will find more coconut! The Appam recipe that I follow was given to me by my mother after I shifted post my marriage. I follow it to the T and this recipe has always worked for me. This vella appam recipe requires coconut water which I collect from the coconuts I use at home. This can be stored in an airtight container in the frig for about a week. So every time you crack a coconut carefully collect the water and store it. In case you do not use coconuts and/or don't have coconut water, use plain water to grind.
Recipe Ingredients
Rice, uncooked  - 1 cup
Rice, Cooked  - 1/4 cup
Coconut, grated - 1/2 cup
Coconut water
Sugar - 1 tsp heaped
Salt as per taste
Water (optional)
Baking Soda - 1 pinch
Wash the rice and then soak it for 4 to 6 hours. Add the sugar and 1tsp salt to the coconut water, mix well and keep aside. Grate the coconut just before grinding the batter and keep aside.
Use a blender that can grind finely when doing this batter. Drain the uncooked rice and add it to the blending jar along with the cooked rice, grated coconut and coconut water and grind it. In case you do not have enough coconut water add some plain water to get a thickish batter. Adjust the salt and pour it into a container to be kept in room temperature overnight.
In the morning about an hour before you start making the appam, add a pinch of soda to the batter and mix well and keep aside.

the batter after adding the baking soda in the morning

When ready to make the appams, take a appam chatti - a vessel  like a medium sized kadai with a lid and heat it. Apply oil on the complete surface and spread it using half an onion. Then pour a ladle full of batter in the center of the chatti and slowly swirl it around spreading the batter in a circle. Sprinkle some oil on the sides of the appam and close the chatti with a lid. After about 30 seconds open to see if done. You should have a shiny, cooked, spongy looking top at the center and that is when it is ready to be served on a plate.

Spoon some potato ishtew on to a plate, add an appam and you have your yummy breakfast.

Notes:
- Add the sugar and salt to the coconut water to aid fermentation. In case using plain water to grind, add the salt and sugar when grinding.
- I prefer using a steel container and keeping it in the kitchen which is the warmest place in my house (room temperature is usually between 28 to 35degrees Celsius).
During winter keep this batter in the oven with the small bulb light on.
- An aunt of mine said when scooping the batter to pour onto the pan, take only the top layer that is the bubbly layer. Supposedly it gives the appam than fluffed sponginess. I have not tried this but maybe it helps.

P.S. I had to make my appam early today and I did not have time to prep my appam chatti and instead used my dosa kal, hence the dosa like appams!