Paalaada/ Soft Rice Crepes with Kerala Chicken Stew

Paalaada is one of the specialty dishes of Kerala. This is one of the softest crepes, which is as thin as a paper and just melts in your mouth. This is very simple and easy to make that requires no fermentation,  like dosa or appam.

My mom used to make these but instead of rice, she uses maida. In a WhatsApp group, one of my friend’s mentioned about this and so I got the recipe from her and here it is today in my blog. A perfect breakfast on a weekend, so that everyone can enjoy it with each bite. You can have these for dinner as well as when guests are at your place. You can have this paalaada along with any spicy curry/ stew. I made the chicken stew to go along with this paalaada, which is our all time favorite.

My mom’s chicken stew is to die for. Thin and thick coconut milk is added to chunks of chicken and potato pieces which is seasoned with spices. A perfect delicacy with appams, idiyappam and so on. Everybody has their own version of this stew. This is a very popular traditional breakfast dish and a much favored one. We can add our choice of veggies to this chicken stew.

Ingredients:

For Paalaada

1. Rice- 2 cups
2. Water- 1 cup
3. Eggs- 2 nos
4. Coconut Milk- 1 ½  cup (thick)
5. Salt- to taste

Method

1. Soak the rice for at least 3 hours.Grind the rice into a fine paste with water as needed. Do not exceed the total quantity of water mentioned in the recipe.
2. Add eggs and coconut milk to the mixer and blend everything together. Add any remaining water to the batter.
3. The consistency that you need is really very watery.Add Salt as needed. Your batter is now ready to be prepared.
4. Heat a  skillet at slightly higher than medium flame.When the skillet is hot, pour a ladleful of batter (a little less than 1/4 cup) into the skillet and immediately rotate the ladle to spread the batter.
5. Wait for 30-40 seconds until the sides of the paalaada start to come off the pan. Paalaada is now ready to be folded into any shape you need.

Chicken Stew:

Ingredients:

1. Chicken- 250 gms
2. Potatoes- 2 nos
3. Ginger (crushed)- 1 tbsp
4. Garlic (crushed)- 1 tbsp
5. Oil- 1 tbsp
6. Cinnamon, Cloves, Cardamom, Star Anise- 1 tsp
7. Curry Leaves- few
8. Whole black Peppers- 1 tbsp
9. Onions- 2 nos
10. Green Chillies (slitted)- 3 nos
11. Coconut Milk- 1 ½ Cups (thin milk)
12. Coconut Milk- ¾ Cup (thick)

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan and saute the cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and star anise for about a minute.
2. Add the whole black peppers, sliced onions, green chillies, and curry leaves. Stir well till it becomes translucent. Add the ginger and garlic, saute till the raw smell disappears.
3. Add the cubed potatoes and chicken. Mix well along with salt. Cook this by adding thin coconut milk on a low flame.
4. When the potatoes and chicken get cooked, add the thick coconut milk and switch off the flame, adjust the salt and enjoy hot, steaming chicken stew with paalada.