Ulli Theeyal / Kerala Style Theeyal Recipe
Ulli theeyal is a
Kerala dish which tastes awesome. Ulli meaning onions and theeyal means
something that browns in the pan. As the name suggests we are going to brown
the grated coconut and prepare a masala for this spicy dish.
In this dish we are
using shallots ( small onions ) also known as sambar onions or pearl onions.
They get a lovely taste after getting cooked in the tamarind juice along with
the masalas. The masala that we prepare is a bit spicy, though. It has all the three
tastes namely sweet, spicy and tangy - sweet from the jaggery that is added at
the end of the preparation.
I would consider it
a kind of rasam which is spicy and has the vegetables along with roasted
coconut bringing out a unique flavour and aroma. You could add any kind of
veggies like drumstick, potatoes, ladies finger, bitter gourd etc. , are a few to name. After preparing malai methi Gobi with shallots, I had some more of them in
my pantry, so went ahead and prepared this dish for a weekend lunch.
It was very tasty, especially the tiny pearls in the spicy and tangy sauce. You can also check
my shallots sambar recipe.
Preparation
Soak tamarind in
water and extract the juice and keep aside. Dry roast the spices one after the
other separately starting with coriander seeds. Fry them until crisp and a nice aroma
comes from it.
Next, dry roast the black pepper corns and red chillies together
until the red chillies turn dark in colour.
Lastly fry the mustard seeds, cumin
seeds and fenugreek seeds together until the fenugreek seeds turn brown in
colour and the mustard seeds start to crackle.
Transfer all these spices to
another plate and allow to cool. Now dry roast the fresh grated coconut on a
low flame until it browns completely.
Keep stirring continuously to avoid
burning and uneven browning.
Allow to cool. Take another vessel and add coconut
oil. Do the tempering with mustard, cumin and methi seeds.
When they crackle
add curry leaves, ginger garlic paste and hing.
Now add turmeric powder,
shallots and salt and give a nice toss.
Add enough water and cover with a lid
and cook for a while.
Remove the lid, pour in the tamarind juice and jaggery
and mix well. Cover again and cook until the shallots are cooked. Meanwhile,
put all the roasted spices along with browned coconut in a mixie jar and make a
fine powder or paste by adding little water to it.
Add this powder to the cooked shallots mixture and mix
well.
Check for seasoning and cook until it comes to a boil. Switch off the
flame and serve hot with steamed rice accompanied with papads or fryums.
Ingredients
Coconut oil 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds 1/2 tsp
Methi seeds 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves few
Ginger garlic
paste 1 tsp
Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
Hing pinch
Shallots 1 cup
Tamarind lemon size
Salt to taste
Jaggery 2 tbsp
Spices to roast
Coriander seeds 1 tbsp
Black pepper
corns 1 tbsp
Red Chillies 6
Fenugreek
seeds 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds 1/2 tsp
Grated coconut 1/2 cup
Method
- Extract tamarind juice and keep aside.
- Dry roast all the spices mentioned under ' spices to roast' separately one after another on a low flame until crisp. Allow to cool.
- Dry roast grated coconut on a low flame until it browns completely. Keep stirring. Allow to cool.
- Make a fine powder or paste of the above roasted spices and keep aside.
- Take another vessel and add coconut oil.
- Once hot, add mustard, methi and cumin seeds.
- When they splutter, add curry leaves, ginger garlic paste and hing.
- Add turmeric powder, shallots and salt and mix well.
- Add enough water and cook covered.
- After a while, add tamarind juice and jaggery and again cook covered.
- Once the shallots are cooked, add the ground masala and mix well.
- Check for seasoning.
- Cook until it starts boiling and switch off the flame.
- Serve hot with rice.
Notes
- Theeyal can be prepared with any kind of veggies like drumstick, potatoes, ladies finger, bitter gourd etc.,.
- You can also add 1/2 tsp of fennel seeds to give a lovely flavour to the dish.
- If its too spicy for you, you could consider adding a dollop of ghee and relishing the theeyal.
