Mezhukku Puratty (മെഴുക്കു പുരട്ടി) is an authentic vegetable side dish in Kerala. Mezhukku in Malayalam means oil, and for the traditional preparation, the vegetable is cooked only using oil. I have this preparation here using long beans (achinga ) as the vegetable, in which most of the cooking done in water to make this dish healthier, without much of a trade off in its its taste and style.
Ingredients
For cooking:-
- Long Beans (Achinga) : ½ kg
- Turmeric : A pinch
- Salt for taste
- Water : About 3/4 Cup
For sauté
- Shallots (chrushed) : 5
- Crushed red chilli : 2 T-sp (adjust)
- Turmeric powder : a pinch
- Coconut : 1 Cup
- Salt for taste
For seasoning:-
- Oil : 1 Tbl- sp (adjust)
- Mustard seeds : ½ T-sp
- Whole red chilly : 2
- Curry leaves : 2 sprigs
Method
- Cut the long-beans into ~ 1” pieces ( see the pic)
- Crush the shallots in a mortar.
- In a kadai/ pan, add the ingredients mentioned for cooking, close the lid and cook it . In-between open the lid and stir it (don’t overcook it, little crunchy will get the dish tastier).
- Dry any excess water on it.
- Transfer the cooked long beans in a bowl and clean the Kadai for further use.
- Keep the kadai on the stove and fry the seasoning ingredients one by one.
- Then add the crushed shallots and fry it for about 2-3 minutes or until it is translucent.
- Then add the crushed chilli along with turmeric powder and fry it for about a minute.
- Now add the coconut and fry it for 1 minute followed by the cooked long beans and mix everything together.
- At this point, check the salt (we already added salt while cooking the long beans).
- Close the lid and cook it for another 1 minute in a low flame.
Tips:-
- Use coconut oil for the traditional taste.
- Traditional mezhukkupuratty preparation uses more oil instead of water , use oil for authentic mezhukkupuratty preparation.