Guest recipes with Serene Tharian

Ulli Theeyal and the story of Onam

This week Kerala celebrates Onam, the harvest festival, dedicated to the return of the mythical story of King Mahabali. If there ever is a story associated with so much joy and celebration, this is it.

Apart from being a harvest festival, Onam is also the new year for Keralites.

The story is of the ancient Asura (demon) king, Mahabali who was so greatly loved in his kingdom, that it created jealousy among the gods.

To test the King, Lord Vishnu (one of the gods) disguised himself as a poor man called Vamana and asked the king for a piece of land, as big as his three strides could cover.

As soon king Mahabali agreed, Vamana grew to the size of cosmic proportions. His first step covered the whole earth and with the next, the skies. He then asked King Mahabali where his third step could go, and the king humbly bowed and asked the god to place his foot on his head, which pushed Mahabali to Patala, the nether world. Lord Vishnu then granted him a wish.

The king asked that he be allowed to visit Kerala once in a year. He was also blessed with the eternal love of his people.

Onam is the day of King Mahabali’s visit to Kerala. Every year people make elaborate preparations to welcome their King. At the end of this 10-day festival a feast called the Onam Sadhya with 26 to 30 seasonal dishes is served on banana leaves, commemorating the harvest season. This culinary extravaganza is purely vegetarian. The ritual of serving this feast is as intricate as the process of preparing it. Guests are seated on the ground or on benches in rows and eat with their hands from banana leaves. The food is laid out from left to right, and each dish has a specific place on the leaf. Symbolic of humility and gratefulness, the meal is eaten with the hands.

The end of Onam is marked by the annual snake boat races, which are organised at 12 different venues across Kerala.

Ulli Theeyal is one of the 26 dishes served during the Onam Sadya. A South Indian gravy that is very typical of the region of Kerala, Ulli refers to small onions or shallots and Theeyal means burnt or roasted till dark, referring to the roasted coconut and spices that are used to flavour this dish.

 

Ulli Theeyal

Roast the below and grind into a paste with a little water

½ cup fresh coconut

1 tablespoon coriander seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

3-4 dry red chillies depending on required spice levels

¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds

For the gravy

4 tablespoons coconut oil

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

1 cup pearl onions or shallots peeled and halved

1-3 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon chilli powder (depending on desired spice level)

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

Salt (to taste)

Tamarind (seedless lemon sized ball soaked in 10 tablespoons of water for half an hour, squeezed) or a teaspoon of tamarind paste.

For the tempering

2 tablespoon coconut pil

½ teaspoon mustard seeds

10-15 curry leaves

1-2 dry red chillies (optional)

2 tablespoon thinly sliced red onion or shallots

 

Dry roast the coconut until brown and fragrant but not burnt. Keep stirring.

Dry roast the remaining roasting spices until browned.

Add the roasted ingredients and the toasted coconut to a blender along with some water and grind to make a paste.

Heat coconut oil in a pan.

Once the oil is hot, add mustard seeds and let them crackle for a few seconds.

Add the shallots or pearl onion and garlic and fry for 4-5 minutes. They should be slightly wilted from the heat.

Now add the ground masala from the blender, chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt to taste along with a cup of water.

Bring this to a boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Add the tamarind or the tamarind paste to the curry and cook for another minute. Switch off and set aside to make the tempering.

Heat coconut oil for tempering in a pan. Once the oil is hot, add mustard seeds, curry leaves, sliced onions and dry red chilies and let them crackle for a few seconds. Pour the tempering over the curry.

Serve hot with steamed rice or coconut rice. This curry tastes the best next day as the flavours develop more. So make it a day in advance of when you plan to serve it.

 

Serene runs amateur cooking club The Best Exotic Kerala Kitchen, where cooking lessons are held for friends and family. Tel: 99 222462