Chef Salin Kumar, Executive Chef at The Gateway Hotel shares his special Onam recipes
Onam is one of those rare festivals that binds every Malayali to his roots. It’s a festival that celebrates history, tradition, culture, cuisine and the unity of Kerala. Although the arrival of King Mahabali, the exotic ‘Pookalams’, the vibrant Vallamkali (boat race), the magical Pulikali and the elegant thiruvathirakali (dances) are some of its enchanting traditions, the Onasadya is definitely an indispensable part of this gala festival. As Kerala prepares to celebrate yet another Thiruvonam, RITZ catches up with one of the top Chefs in Kochi who shares some of the traditional Onam recipes with us!
Compiled By: Riya Sonny Datson
Photography: Binu Avarachan
Chef Salin Kumar, Executive Chef at The Gateway Hotel
Chef Salin Kumar, who hails from Alleppey, Kerala started his career two decades ago and has worked with many leading hospitality brands. He has been with the Taj group for almost a decade now and specialises in Italian, Western, cold kitchen and Moplah styles of cooking.
Dates and moong pradhaman
Ingredients
Split yellow moong dal 250 gm
Dates 150 gm
Jaggery 750 gm
Ghee 50gm
Coconut milk (thick) 200ml
Cardamom 10 gm
Ginger Powder 5 gm
Cumin Powder 5 gm
Cashewnuts 50 gm
Raisins 25 gm
Method
Clean and chop dates finely. Wash moong dal 2-3 times in water, strain and dry it on a tray. Heat 15 gram ghee in a pan and dry fry moong dal till light golden color. Transfer in to a heavy bottom vessel and add 500 ml water, cook till soft or pressure cook to one whistle. Mash well with the back of the ladle. Make Jaggery syrup in a pan by adding enough water and strain. Add jaggery syrup, chopped dates, cardamom, cumin and ginger powder to the cooked moong dal, mix well and cook few more minutes. Add coconut milk slowly, mix well and simmer till it gets the right consistency. Fry the cashews and raisins in balance ghee. Add it to the Payasam and mix well before serving.
Pineapple Kalan
Ingredients
Pineapple 250 gms
Turmeric powder 5 gm
Chilli powder 5 gm
Green chillies 3 number
Ginger julienne 10 gm
Coconut 2 nos
Coconut oil 2 tbsp
Cumin Seeds 5 gm
Curd 500 ml
Mustard 10 gm
Fenugreek (uluva) 10 gm
Red chillies 4 number
Curry leaves 2 sprig
Salt to taste
Pineapple
Method
Select semi ripe pineapple. Peel, core and cut the pineapple in to cubes. Cook the pineapple with turmeric powder, one number slit green Chilli, half curry leaves, Chilli powder, and little water. Add curd and salt. Mix well on low flame and allow the gravy to become semi-dry. Grind coconut, ginger, cumin seeds and green chillies to fine paste. Add this paste to the pineapple and cook for 3 minutes on a low flame. Heat coconut oil in another pan, add mustard seeds, then fenugreek and allow to splutter. Now add the curry leaves and fry it for a while. Pour the seasoning over the curry, check the seasoning and serve hot or cold.
Pumpkin Erissery
Ingredients
Yellow pumpkin 250 gm
Black eyed beans 100 gm
Coconut oil 50 ml
Mustard 10 gm
Cumin seeds 5 gm
Dry red chilli 4 numbers
Curry leaves 10 gm
Turmeric powder 10 gm
Grated coconut 125 gm
Green chilly 20 gm
Salt to taste
Method
Wash and soak black eyed beans for 2 hours and cook in salted water or pressure cook up to two whistles and keep aside. Grind 100 gm coconut, jeera and green chilli together and keep it aside. Peel, remove the seeds and cut pumpkin in to small cubes. Cook pumpkin with salt, turmeric powder, curry leaves and little water till soft. Add ground paste in to pumpkin, mix together and lightly mash with back of the ladle. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seed, allow to pop, add curry leaves and dry chilli, stir for few seconds. Pour the mixture over the curry, mix well and check the seasoning. Heat one table spoon of oil and fry 25 gm grated coconut till golden brown and pour it over the erissery. Serve hot.
