Pothichoru Recipe | Pothi Choru

Pothichoru Recipe, Also known as pothi choru, kattu choru or பொதி சோறு. Nostalgic Kerala Food Packages Wrapped in Appetizer Leaves. The variety of dishes include Kerala red red red (matta rice), chammanthiti, thoran, omelette, fried fish and achaar packed in banana leaves. This gift brings back childhood memories at school.

Pothichoru

Kerala favourite. It’s usually made the day before and taken for lunch the next day. Since everything was wrapped in banana leaves, nothing was damaged. It tastes better if left for hours.

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I’ve been wanting to try this recipe for a long time. Finally I succeeded today. It turned out perfect and delicious. This pothi choru is nothing but a dish wrapped in banana leaves along with poriyal, coconut chammathi, fried fish and omelet.

About Pothichoru

Pothichoru, also known as pothi choru, kattu choru is a staple dish of Kerala. It is also made in many parts of Tamilnadu. Pothi means parcel and choru means rice, the name pothichoru literally means parcel of rice.

There are many side dishes packaged in banana leaves. Because it is wrapped in roasted banana leaves, this food stays fresh for a long time. So this is the best dish to make and travel with.

Memories of me and pothi choru take me back to my childhood school days when Amma packed this for me. It was so fun to open it at lunch and share it with my friends.

Similar Recipes

Pothichoru usually has a main dish which is rice. Traditionally Kerala red rice is also known as packed matta rice. But you can also use white rice. Some types of vegetable dishes like thoran or mezhukupuratti are added.

The main dish is chammanthi which is a thick coconut chutney. When making chammanthi, you should not add any water as it can make it spoil faster. Fried fish, omelette, packed achaar.

If you want to go completely vegetarian, you can skip the fried fish and mutta omelette. I love making buttermilk and bottling it which makes the whole dish satisfying and filling. Optionally, you can also include fish curry.

What Makes It So Special & Nostalgic

It’s not just food but emotions wrapped in paper. Traditionally packaged in banana leaves in old newspapers.

It is packed in banana leaves in the morning and when eaten for lunch, the rice absorbs all the flavors of the side dishes like thoran, mezhukkupuratti, chammanthi, pickles, omelette, fried fish which makes it so delicious.

This brings back a lot of memories of school trips, long train journeys, temple festivals, beach outings and amma packing food in the morning. Very good.

What I Packed in Pothichoru

• Matta Rice – this is also known as Kerala red rice. This is traditional, but you can also pack white rice.
• Engaged to Thoran – this is my favorite vegetable dish to pack. I like to change vegetables when making thoran like carrots, ladyfingers, cabbage.
• Thengai Chammanthi – one of the mandatory dishes when making pothichoru. When mixed with rice, this chammanthi is really perfect.
• Tawa Fried Fish – My all-time favorite fried food recipe is this one. The marinade is simple but the taste is spectacular. This fish marinade can be applied to any type of fish.
• Omelet – to increase your protein intake and make this dish filling, add mutta omelette.
• Curd – this buttermilk is also known as moru with the addition of ginger, curry leaves and chilies which makes the final dish refreshing.
• Pickle or Achaar – You can add any type of pickles when packing. Its hot and spicy taste complements other side dishes perfectly.

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Step by Step Images

Making Dishes

1) Start by cooking the rice. I use matta rice or Kerala red rice. This is how to cook matta rice in a pressure cooker.

2) Make some kind of vegetable side dish. I chose beet thoran this time.

3)This is fish marinated in basic spices, ginger, garlic, lemon. Check out my fried tawa fish recipe. The fish I use is vila meen, any fish can be used for this marinade.

4)Fry the fish in coconut oil, make sure to sprinkle lots of curry leaves when frying the fish.

5) Spicy and delicious fried fish is ready.

6) This is thengai chammanthi. Thick coconut sauce is made from coconut, shallots, curry leaves, chilies, ginger, tamarind, salt, coconut oil. It is very flavorful and should be packed in pothichoru.

Once I grind the chammanthi, I like to divide it into individual balls to package.

7) The last dish made was muttai omelette. This is a basic Indian omelette, I mixed 4 eggs, 1 chopped onion, 2 chopped green chilies, 1 sprig of curry leaves, salt and ground black pepper.

8) Heat oil in a frying pan. Pour in the egg mixture and cook for 1 minute.

9) Flip and cook the other side too. This is your omelet. And usually I cut this omelet in half and package it.

Withered Banana Leaves

10) Pothi choru packed in banana leaves. Banana leaves must be withered by exposing them to an open fire. This makes the banana leaves soft and pliable, making it easier to wrap.

11) Expose both sides over an open flame until pliable.

Wrapping

12) Usually the final wrapping is done with newspaper. But I like to use aluminum foil which makes this process easier.

Place a sheet of foil on the base, place a banana leaf on top. You can put a small piece of banana leaf in the middle to make the base more stable.

13) Spoon enough rice onto the banana leaves.

14) Place all the side dishes on top of the rice. I added beetroot thoran, omelette, chammanthi, fried fish and achaar.

15)Now with the help of tin foil, wrap everything tightly and secure it. That’s all the pothi choru wrapped up. Let the parcel rest for at least 3 hours before collecting.

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