masala curry and istoo

I feel masala curry and Istoo are brother and sister .

Let me tell you first .

Masala curry is mostly seen in Malabar area as a side dish for pittu or poottuu wheres in central and south Kerala its mostly kadala curry .

Both places use pazham and pappadam for pittu .

Strangely Malabar also takes istoo for puttu !

Now fish molee is istoos non veg sister and varatharacha mutton curry is Masala currys wayword younger brother .

Now why do I say this .

Knowing to make both dishes quite well I made a fiery masala curry today .

In both masala curry and istoo coconut is a vital ingredient .

In masala curry likes its second cousin varatharacha sambhar we use coconut gratings, red chillies ,curry leaves, and full coriander, roasted brown in coconut oil and grinded with some water in a mixy into a brown liquid paste .

In sambhar we use coconut gratings ,red chilly little uluva, sambhar powder and make mix

This is then added to tamarind water vegetables and cooked dhal in boiling water .

While in masala curry we do same to garnished onions with boiled potatoes, green chilly, chilly powder, turmeric powder add the masala mix and some water.

While in istoo the beautiful sister we add coconut milk to water with potato onions (not sautéed ..but boiled in water as in sambhar )and if u want carrot

initially one adds dilute coconut milk and in the end thick coconut milk .

I remember way back in 2008 in Tawam Hospital in UAE I made chicken curry ,istoo with steamed bread for a dept. breakfast .

The fiery chicken curry was liked only by Indian colleagues while the Arab ,Pilipino and Europeans loved the bread dipped in soft timid istoo

a bit sweet too .

0Let me tell you first .