Theeyal is one of the most famous. With coconut being Kerala’s staple ingredient for everything sour and sweet, Ulli Theeyal uses shallots and coconut paste in a clever combination , resulting in a flavour packed dish. Theeyal is a good combination with rice or appam.
Ingredients
Shallots / chinna vengayam — 1 cup / 20-22 nos
Tamarind. — small lemon size
Fresh coconut — 1 cup
Coriander seeds —- 1 1/2 tablespoon
Cumin seeds — 1 tablespoon
Whole pepper —- 1/4 tablespoon
Dry red chili — 4
Jaggery — 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder — 1/4 teaspoon
Asafoetida — 1/4 teaspoon
Mustard seeds — 1 teaspoon
Salt — 1 1/2 teaspoons
Coconut oil — 3 tablespoons
Few curry leaves.
Method
Soak tamarind in water. Peel the skin of the shallot and chop them( soaking the shallots in water for 10 minutes makes it easy to peel the skin). Heat one spoon of oil in a deep pan, add the shallots and saute them till they change pink in color; add the tamarind pulp, turmeric powder, salt, asafoetida cover and cook in low heat. In another pan, heat 1/2 spoon of oil in a pan and add the coriander seeds, cumin seeds, peppercorn, 3 red chili and fry them till they become red in color, keep aside. In the same pan, heat one spoon oil add the coconut till they change red in color. Grind together all the fried ingredients along with fried coconut, adding sufficient water to get a smooth paste. Add this paste to the cooked onions, mix well and cook for further 3-4 minutes. Heat the remaining oil and add the mustard seeds. When the crackle, add the broken red chili and curry leaves. Add this tempering to the ulli theeyal. Enjoy ulli theeyal with warm rice and pappadam.
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