Ulli Theeyal / Onions in a Roasted Coconut Sauce

    Theeyal, another typical Kerala dish is made from roasted coconut. Theeyal can be prepared from a variety of vegetables like eggplant, pearl onions, drumstick, yam, snake gourd, bitter gourd, long beans, raw cashews, sometimes mixed vegetables or even with shrimp. Out of this my favorite  is ulli theeyal, which is made with shallots / kunjulli. It is a very delicious dish that goes well with rice.  Its very difficult to peel the shallots, but I guarantee that this dish tastes really good. Peeled shallots are nowadays available at the Indian store so you can give it a try sometime.

 

 

Ingredients

1. Shallots – 1.5 cup

Thenga kothu – 1/4 cup (optional)

2. Green Chilies – 2 slit

3. Grated Coconut – 1.5 cup

4. Tamarind Paste – 2 tsp or tamarind – small lemon sized

5. Dry red chilies – 4

6. Chilly powder – 1 tsp

7. Coriander powder – 1 tsp

8. Fenugreek powder –  2 pinch

9. Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp

10. Curry leaves – 2 sprigs

11. Coconut oil – 1.5 tbsp

12. Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp

13. Salt – to taste

Method

 

1. Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan and sauté the grated coconut until light brown. Then add the dry red chiliies. Sauté  until it turns brown in medium heat. Switch off the stove. Add the chilly powder, coriander powder, fenugreek powder and turmeric powder. Sauté for a  few seconds and keep aside to cool. When it cools down, grind into a very fine paste without adding water. Keep it aside.

2. Soak the tamarind in half cup of warm water. Squeeze its juice and strain.

3. Heat oil in another pan, splutter mustard seeds and sauté the shallots, thenga kothu, curry leaves and green chilies. Add little salt .

4. When the shallots turns light brown add the tamarind juice and the ground roasted coconut paste. Add water for your desired consistency. Boil it, check for salt. Add a few curry leaves. It should be medium thick. Switch off the heat and serve with rice.

Tips:

1)  You can also add drumsticks to this theeyal.

2) You can make this theeyal using savola (big onion) as well but it wont be as tasty as this one.