ACHINGA MEZHUKKUPURATTY

Mezhukku Puratty is an easy to cook side dish in Kerala. (mezhukku means oil) Vegetables stir fried with a bit of oil. Different varieties of mezhukkupuratties are common in Kerala. Pavakka(Bitter gourd), Padavalanga(Snake gourd), Beans, even potatoes are used for making mezhukkupuratties. its quite easy, tasty and time saving too, if u don't have enough time to make recipes which needs more complex preparation. To day we will make Achinga Payar Mezhkku Puratty.(String Beans mezhukku Puratty). Achinga Payar is the Cowpea beans Black-eyed beans, Scientific name Vigna unguiculata, Lobia in Hindi , Alasande in Kannada, Chawli in Gujarati/Marathi. We used to call beans as beans and this long and tender one achinga payar. we call children who looks very thin as achinga pole (like achinga)

When i was a litle kid my father and mother used to plant this string beans in our backyard. and when it strted flowering we loved to see the small light pink flowers. when its started to produce small tender beans we roam around them, then my mother used to tell us children its threads will make you cry and it was true, when we reached home after playing in our Achinga garden our hands and bare legs started to pain and we see long red patches on our skin. The long threads of achinga has a rough nature.
ACHINGA MEZHUKKUPURATTI(my style)

achinga - 1/4 or 1/2 kg(acording to the number of people)
big onion- 1(not kg, a single one)
green chilly- 3-4 pieces
salt - for taste
coconut oil/ oil you use for cooking(but preparing in coconut oil is more tasty)- 2 teaspoon
PREPARATION
wash and cut the achinga's into small pieces(not too small not too big), cut onion, chilly. put a pan on fire, put the achinga, onion, green chilly and salt with half a glass of water. cover the pan with a lid. when water strated to dry and ingredients are boilesd well, add the oil, cook again for 5 minutes. stir the whole item. when achingas look dry and slightly friedoff the fire. serve with rice. its a nice and easy dish.

ACHINGA MEZHUKKUPURATTY 2

Its another preparation.

achinga - 1/2 kg
red chilly 4-6
mustard-1 teaspoon
garlic- 2 -3 pieces from the garlic ball
turmeric powder- a pinch
onino-a single one
coconut cut into small pieces-2 teaspoons
curry leaves
coconut oil- 3- 5 teaspoons
salt for taste

PREPARATION
wash the achingas, cut into medium pieces, cut onion, make a semi paste of garlic and redchillies.
put pan on fire, add oil, add mustard, when it start cracking add curry leaves, onions, coconut pieces, and achingas and salt. add turmeric powder, add the paste of garlic and redchillies, stir well and cover it with a lid. cook it for 5 minutes. serve with rice.