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    Home » Gravies |Curries | Side Dishes » Curry Recipes

    Theeyal | Kerala Special

    Published: Dec 28, 2015 by Ramya · 25 Comments

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    I am just back from an awesome holiday at Kerala! Kerala is so scenic and beautiful, aptly named as God's Own Country 🙂 I am under the heavy influence of my vacation and hence a Kerala Recipe - the one we love the most.  Theeyal is a Kerala cuisine based curry which is very easy to prepare yet very tasty. There are many alterations to this recipe making it even more delicious. Ulli Theyal, Vegetable Theeyal, Potato Theeyal and the list goes on. I am going to stick to the basic recipe and one can always add any vegetable to enhance its taste.

    To make Theeyal

    • Servings: 2
    • Time: 30 mins
    • Difficulty: Easy
    • Print

    What I used - 
    To make a masala paste - 
    • Fresh coconut scrapped, 1 cup
    • Cumin Seeds, 2 tsp
    • Dhania Seeds, 2 tsp
    • Black Peppercorns, 2 tsp
    • Red Chillies, 6 no.s
    • Turmeric Powder, a pinch
    • Coconut Oil, 2 teaspoons
    To make the Theeyal - 
    • Onion, 1 medium sized
    • Tamarind Paste, 2-3 tsp
    • Red Chilli Powder, 1 tsp
    • Turmeric Powder, a pinch
    • Salt, as required
    • Coconut Oil, 5-6 tsp
    • Mustard Seeds, 1 tsp
    • Urad Dal, 2 tsp
    • Asafoetida, 2 pinches
    • Red Chillies, 2 no.s
    • Coriander Leaves, to garnish
    • Curry Leaves, as required
    • Water, as required

    How I made - 
    1. Heat oil in a frying pan. Add all the ingredients from list (1) once the oil is hot.
    2. Keep frying them until they are roasted and there are no traces of oil. Keep aside to cool.
    3. Grind the fried ingredients into a smooth paste by adding little water.
    4. Take a heavy bottom pan and heat coconut oil from list (2).
    5. Add the mustard seeds, red chilies, urad dal, asafoetida and curry leaves.
    6. Once the mustard seeds splutter, add onions. Saute until onions are golden fried.
    7. Add the tamarind paste and the ground masala.
    8. Add turmeric powder, salt and red chili powder.
    9. Let it come to boil. Theeyal is ready when oil starts to leave from the edges of curry.
    10. Garnish the curry with coriander leaves. Serve hot. This tastes best for plain steamed rice , dosa, chapathi and idli.

    Note:
    • Keep the pan closed after step 8 until done. The curry might boil too fast leaving you with small burns.
    • Any vegetables can be added to this curry as a variation.
    • Coconut oil enhances the flavor of this curry. Any vegetable oil can be used in its place.
    • Adjust spiciness as per preference.

    PS - Excuse the poor quality photos. Will update the post with proper pictures and step-by-step pictures soon.

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    Reader Interactions

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    1. Parul Singhal

      December 28, 2015 at 9:59 am

      I love karela..

      Reply
      • CHCooks

        January 06, 2016 at 7:05 pm

        🙂 🙂

        Reply
    2. srividhya

      December 28, 2015 at 10:38 am

      This is one of my fav recipe. Hope you had a great trip.

      Reply
      • CHCooks

        January 06, 2016 at 7:05 pm

        Yes I had Sri 🙂 More about it soon.

        Reply
    3. dreamzandclouds

      December 28, 2015 at 10:38 am

      I loved Kerela when I visited it in 2014....and I made a lil' promise to myself that I will definitely go back again 🙂

      Reply
      • CHCooks

        January 06, 2016 at 7:05 pm

        Yes yes, Kerala is so beautiful no number of trips would be enough.. 🙂

        Reply
        • dreamzandclouds

          January 07, 2016 at 12:14 pm

          🙂 🙂

          Reply
    4. Freda @ Aromatic essence

      December 28, 2015 at 10:48 am

      That sounds very flavorful 🙂 I've heard so much about Kerala , hope to go there once Atleast 🙂

      Reply
      • CHCooks

        January 06, 2016 at 7:06 pm

        I really hope you get to visit Kerala sometime.. its awesome 🙂

        Reply
    5. Traditionally Modern Food

      December 29, 2015 at 5:22 am

      Theeyal s my favorite side for appam..yum yum

      Reply
      • CHCooks

        January 06, 2016 at 7:06 pm

        I should try it for appam 🙂 thanks for the suggestion vidya 🙂

        Reply
    6. Traditionally Modern Food

      December 29, 2015 at 5:22 am

      Theeyal s my favorite side for appam..yum yum

      Reply
      • CHCooks

        January 06, 2016 at 7:06 pm

        🙂 🙂

        Reply
    7. Love Served Daily

      December 29, 2015 at 5:41 am

      Very interesting

      Reply
      • CHCooks

        January 06, 2016 at 7:07 pm

        🙂

        Reply
    8. Lynz Real Cooking

      December 29, 2015 at 6:21 am

      Looks so good and very interesting ingredients, yumm

      Reply
      • CHCooks

        January 06, 2016 at 7:07 pm

        Thank you Lynn! 🙂

        Reply
        • Lynz Real Cooking

          January 06, 2016 at 7:09 pm

          🙂 xx

          Reply
          • CHCooks

            January 06, 2016 at 7:12 pm

            🙂

            Reply
    9. kushi

      December 29, 2015 at 7:25 am

      Interesting! Looks so delicious 🙂

      Reply
      • CHCooks

        January 06, 2016 at 7:07 pm

        Thank you Kushi 🙂

        Reply
    10. Bharani

      December 29, 2015 at 7:17 pm

      looks yummy and love the flavor of coconut oil 🙂

      Reply
      • CHCooks

        January 06, 2016 at 7:08 pm

        yeah I love the flavor of coconut oil too! thanks Bharani 🙂

        Reply
    11. Chitra Jagadish

      December 30, 2015 at 3:40 am

      Sounds and looks delicious. ...

      Reply
      • CHCooks

        January 06, 2016 at 7:08 pm

        Thanks a lot Chitra 🙂

        Reply

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    Ramya-CookingFromHeart

    Hi! I am Ramya, the face and voice behind Cooking from Heart 🙂 I was born in Andhra Pradesh, brought up in Chennai and currently living in Bangalore. My food is an amalgamation of the different exposures I have had in my life. More about me →


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