Happy Pongal !

Here’s wishing all of you a Very Happy Sankranti !
Sankranti is a harvest festival , so it is all about celebrating the one element that sustains life – Food !
It starts with buying farm fresh produce at the local market – pumpkins, cow peas/ Avarekayi, sweet potato and the like. It is indeed quite amazing that the spirit of Sankranti has withstood the test of time. In fact, I feel the fervor to celebrate this festival has only increased – very heartening.
The trademark of Sankranti is the dish “Pongal”. Wholesome and tasty and also simple to make- it is a cook’s delight. There is no standard version of Pongal -I will share with you my version.
Talking about sharing of recipes, the recipes of the Royal kitchens of the kings were treated like big National secrets. Here’s something I heard about the Rajah of Raigad . This Rajah was a connoisseur of Food. He had a fetish for all forms of culinary art. He was once served a special delicacy by another monarch when he paid a friendly visit. He knew there was something about the ingredient mix- especially the spices, their proportions that made it taste really delicious. He was cognizant of the fact that the royal recipes were very well-guarded secrets so he designed a plot to procure the recipe. He invited the Monarch to his kingdom and also extended a warm invitation to the Royal Chef. So, one fine day they arrived. After taking care of them for a couple of days- the Rajah of Raigad requested the Monarch’s Royal chef to display his culinary talent and prepare his favourite dish. His idea was that his team can be assisting him while he makes it in their kitchen and learn the recipe. The Royal Chef agreed but on one condition- He will lock himself alone in the kitchen and make the dish.
The King was stumped! The frown on his resplendent face and the knit-brows could have sent a shiver down the spine of a commoner. But he quickly regained his cool and said “That is not a problem. We respect your need for privacy. We will ensure that all ingredients, pots and pans are present in the kitchen and then you can lock yourself and prepare the dish.”
The Royal court sighed in relief – the last thing they wanted is a battle over a Royal Recipe!
So, the next day the sun shone brightly and the kitchen was cleaned and stocked and made ready for the celebrity chef. The King was waiting impatiently for the day’s lunch. And the much anticipated moment arrived. The Royal Chef served the special delicacy with pride. The King ate to his heart’s content and exclaimed in joy “This is just divine! I have never eaten anything better in my life.” He hurriedly relieved his neck off a grand pearls and emeralds necklace and gifted it to the Royal Chef with gleaming eyes. The Royal Chef was mighty pleased both with the encouraging comment on his talent and of course the necklace. The visiting Royal party departed happily to run their kingdom and kitchen. The courtiers watched the Rajah of Raigad sport a wicked smile on his face. He called his chief minister and whispered in his ears – “I have the Recipe!”
The chief minister was really surprised. The King had recorded the measures of all the ingredients in the kitchen and had measured them all again after the chef finished cooking!
When I heard this story , I said to myself “ I hope the King showed this ingenuity in governing his kingdom as well!”

Okay, here’s the Pongal recipe :
Ingredients
¾ cup rice
¾ cup moong dal
1 cup grated jaggery
2 tbspoons ghee
1 tbspoon of grated copra(dried coconut)
1 tbspoon of grated fresh coconut
Few strands of saffron soaked in 1 tbspoon of water
Couple of cloves
Cashews and raisins
Spice Powder-Cardamom seeds (from 4-5 pods) + 1 tsp sugar + a pinch of edible camphor
(Edible camphor is the one used in temples in the holy water- theertha)

Procedure
1>Pressure cook washed rice and dal along with 2 cloves and grated coconut (fresh and dried).
2>Once it cools down, take another pot with a thick bottom (I use an old bronze pot)
3>And add jaggery to it. Cover the jaggery with little water and allow it to melt fully.
4>Once it starts resembling honey, add the cooked rice and dal and Saffron.
5>Keep stirring continuously till the sweetness of jaggery is incorporated into the rice and dal evenly.
6>Meanwhile heat the ghee and add cashew and raisins and turn them golden brown. 7>Toss them along with the ghee into the cooking Pongal.
8>In the end, just before turning off the stove add the ground spice mixture.
This is quite a wholesome sweet dish as it contains rice and dal and nuts.

Pineapple Rasam/Soup

Pineapple...
It is neither a pine nor an apple, and it is not native to Hawaii.
This is one fruit that no one can hate – juicy , sweet ,sour and fleshy. Smell a freshly cut pineapple – it is divine! Botanists call it Ananas comosus.
I am indeed a big fan of this tropical fruit and incorporate it in many of my sweet sour preparations.
Christopher Columbus is credited with discovering the pineapple on the island of Guadeloupe in 1493, although the fruit had long been grown in South America. The association with Hawaii is more recent and because of the fact that pineapples were first canned in Hawaii.
Sometimes I wonder – Plants make their own food by just using minimal resources – sunlight , water and soil, within their body – Kitchen in the leaf - , how is it that during the course of evolution somehow the animal race forgot how to make food on its own? Having said that, I surely do not like to make my own food. I would think it will be quite boring. If I look at this a little more deeply , life would lose its meaning, as most of the things that we do are directly or indirectly related to feeding ourselves! I vote against a progressive evolution of mankind in specific and animal kind in general towards making their own food. But I also strongly believe that the probability of such evolution is extremely low as I see no signs of an internal kitchen in me or around me!
So let’s get back to our external kitchen and experiment with plant foods – Pineapple Rasam.

Ingredients
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1 Cup chopped Pineapple (You can even use a slightly sour one that you cannot possibly eat as a fruit)
1 Tb Spoon Grated fresh coconut
5 Green chillies( suit your taste)
1 inch ginger
2 Tsp Jeera
2 Cups Dilute Dal (The watery top portion of cooked and well settled tur dal)
1 Tbsp Corainder chopped
Salt to Taste
For Seasoning
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1 twig Curry leaves
1 tsp oil Pinch of hing, haldi, some mustard seeds and jeera

Method
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Cook the pineapple with coconut, chillies till soft (quite a fast process)
Cool it and blend it with ginger and jeera.
Bring this mixture to a boil and add the dilute dal to it . Add water to get the desired consistency. Boil it with some salt for 5 minutes and add the seasoning.
Garnish it with coriander leaves.

You can relish this with hot steamed rice or serve it as a soup.

Karigadubu – Sihi Kadubu

It is so ironical – I could not write because I was either reading(read studying) about food or cooking all the time.
Well, I am breaking my vow of silence with a story.
Once upon a time, not so long ago, there lived a glutton called Thimma.
He was such a foodie that everyone called him “Thindi Potha Thimma”
(that is a glutton in kannada). He was invited to a wedding in the neighboring village. Thimma would not miss a festive lunch for anything. So he went. So he went and so he ate, up to his heart’s content (his stomach was at its elastic best !). The host thanked him for coming (for he had not seen him eating) and asked him if he enjoyed the lunch. Thimma beamed and replied that it was the best lunch he ever had and told him the best part of the meal was the brown crisp, almost crescent shaped sweet. He inquired “What is the sweet called? I will ask my wife to make it.” The host replied “Oh , that one , It is called KADUBU”. Thimma repeated “oh, KADUBU! I will tell her”. Thimma decided to walk back to his village as he was feeling really full. Do not even for a minute assume that he was doing this because he was conscious of his health or his apple shape. Thimma just wanted to save some money he has to shell out for the transport and then there was also the benefit of being ready for the next meal. He came home and rested and the day lapsed uneventfully.
The next morning the sun was shining bright in Thimma’s bustling household. And then, this event occurred – Thimma’s wife Thimmi who was well known for her foot-in-the-mouth exercises asked him lovingly “What shall I make for lunch?” And then Thimma’s dormant brain sprung into intellectual action and he exclaimed “You make that Sweet ! You make that Sweet!” She calmly asked him “Which one?” Thimma replied “Of course, that one ! The one I ate yesterday in the marriage “. She, being an epitome of patience inquired “Ok, which one?”. Thimma started losing his temper “Can’t you understand? That brown sweet “. She shook her head to indicate she does not understand. Thimma almost yelled “ That brown, puffed up , crispy sweet , it was almost crescent moon shaped. Oh my god ! I cant remember the name “. This dialogue went on between the couple for a while – he could not recollect the name and she could not understand. The heated arguments reached a stage where Thimma lost his temper and slapped her on her left cheek. She shrieked in pain. Thimma immediately regretted his action and cast a remorseful look towards her and said “Sorry Thimmi! I did not mean to hurt you. I do not know what came over me in my fit of anger. Sorry, my dear”. Thimmi acknowledged the apology returned to the kitchen grim-faced. Thimma noticed that the cheek by now had really swollen. He was very upset with himself and tailed her to the kitchen to cajole her. At that time, the door bell rang – Thimmi rushed out of the kitchen and opened the door. The Neighbor was at the door with a cup in her hand to borrow sugar. Looking at Thimmi she blurted out “What is this Thimmi? Why is your cheek swollen like a KADUBU?” . Thimma jumped with joy and said “ Oh my God, YES YES it is KADUBU! Thimmi it is KADUBU ” . Thimmi could not help smiling!

So, is the story of Kadubu. A lot of things can happen over a KADUBU!

Here is the recipe of Kadubu – I make them on Ganesh Chaturthi day to offer to the God.
This time we did not even wait for lunch, we devoured it for breakfast!

Ingredients
For the dough

¾ cup Maida
¼ cup fine semolina(rava)
Pinch of salt
2 Tbsp hot ghee

For the Filling

2 cups grated coconut
¾- 1 cup grated jaggery
Cardamom powder (suit your taste)
2 cloves
3 tsp fine rava

For Deep frying

Refined Oil

Method

Mix the dough with very little water to form puri dough consistency.
Keep it covered for 45 min.
Meanwhile mix jaggery and coconut and roast it on low flame. Keep turning it over so that it does not get burnt. Add cardamom and cloves. Once it is fully mixed switch off the flame. This is relatively a quick process. The filling has to be a little dry not a lump.
Adjust the consistency while roasting by adding rava.
Now, take the dough and knead it nicely. Beat it up on your granite counter if you please. You can treat this as a de-stressing activity! Unleash all your anger on the dough till it becomes soft and mouldable.
Roll it out like small puris- roll them thin without any punctures or folds. Add maida lour to aid you in rolling.
If you have a puri presser you can use that too.
Time to use the kadubu mould – Spread the puri on the mould. Add one tbsp of filling on one side of the circle and fold , press the mould. Open it, use wet fingers to paste the edges firmly.
If you do not have a mould , no worry – You just fold the circle into half and seal the semi circular edges nicely using wet fingers. The idea is the filling does not escape into the oil while deep-frying.
Heat the oil to smoking point and deep fry the kadubu on medium flame. Take them out when it looks inviting and turns golden brown. Drain on tissue.
This recipe can make upto 21 kadubus (just enough to offer to Ganesha!).
If the filling or dough is left you can use them in/as other dishes – add the filling to your rasam or make puris out of the dough.

Try it. Else it may become extinct!

2-D Wada

Yes, you read it right- 2D wada. Let me clarify that this wada though called 2D is a 3D (three dimensional) physical object. Can you guess the expansion/full form of 2D?
Talking about 3D, lot of fond memories tucked away in some remote corner of my long term memory emerges. Do you remember the first 3-D movie “Chota Chetan”?
Well, it was a big event for the kids to watch it in the theatre. There were talks about the goggles that you had to wear and return it to the theatre folks!
I have to admit that it was truly an exhilarating experience watching it with my siblings in the theatre (don’t remember which one). The ice cream cone is right in front of your lips , you want to just take a lick at it! It felt so real and we could hear all the kids screaming! And then there was this monster man trying to swing his dagger right across your chest and then again making the kids scream and yell with horror! And of course, the gravity – defying movements of all the kids on the walls , ceilings ! Oooogh ! It was fun!
I recently watched “spy kids” 3D movie with my kids and it turned out to be utterly disappointing! Not even close !
I hope they re-release Chota Chetan sometime…

Ok after the ride back in time, back to the wada – it is DAL-DILL (2D) Wada. You can add the third dimension to this wada by serving it DIL SE !
I made them while we were enjoying the evening showers in Bangalore signaling the beginning of monsoons. They came out crisp and yummy and they disappeared from the plate in no time!

Ingredients
¾ cup Bengal gram dal (soak for 1.5 hrs and drain)
¾ cup chopped dill
½ cup finely chopped onion
Ginger 2 inches(grated)
6-8 Green chilllies (ground)
1 tbspoon corn flour
2 tbspoon rice flour
1 tbsp hot oil
salt to taste
Oil to deep fry

Method

Coarsely grind the dal without water. Make sure you dont soak it for too long
To this add the dill, onion, green chillies, ginger.
Mix in the corn flour and rice flour.
Add salt and hot oil only when you are ready to deep fry.
Heat the oil for deep frying and when the oil smokes make wadas from the
batter and deep fry on medium flame till it browns on both sides.
Serve and watch it disappear in minutes.

Choco-Nut Kheer

A never before interview with a chocoholic nutritionist !

Q : Pray, what are the four food groups ?
A : The four basic food groups are: milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and chocolate truffles.
Q: Is Chocolate bad for health ?
A: OMG! Absolutely not ! On the contrary, Chocolate is a Vegetable: chocolate is derived from cocoa beans. Bean = vegetable. Sugar is derived from either sugar cane or sugar beets. Both are plants, which places them in the vegetable category. Thus, chocolate is a vegetable. To go one step further, chocolate candy bars also contain milk, which is dairy. So chocolate is health food.
Q: How does eating chocolate help ?
A : Chocolate causes certain endocrine glands to secrete hormones that affect your feelings and behavior by making you happy. Therefore, it counteracts depression, in turn reducing the stress of depression. Your stress-free life helps you maintain a youthful disposition, both physically and mentally. So, eat lots of chocolate.
Q: According to you, what is a balanced diet ?
A: A balanced diet is a chocolate in each hand!
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Dear Chocoholics, perish the guilt and now indulge in this chocolaty Kheer that is truly low-calorie.
An Indian kheer with a choco twist and crunchy nuts to top it.
I have adapted this recipe from my friend Deepali’s chocolate-walnut rice kheer.

Ingredients

¾ cup dalia (broken wheat)
1 lt milk (skimmed)
1 heaped tbsp vanilla custard powder
2 tbsp cocoa powder
½ cup Sugar
8 cashews (roasted and broken into tiny pieces)
5-6 almonds (blanched and broken into tiny pieces)

Method
Mix the custard powder and cocoa powder in ½ cup cold milk
Pressure cook the broken wheat with 2 cups milk
Add sugar and remaining milk to this mixture and bring it to a boil , stirring all the way
Add the custard, cocoa mixture and let it cook for 5-8 minutes. Keep Stirring.
Add the nuts and take it off the stove
Chill in the refrigerator before serving.

You will be surprised that this creamy kheer is made without butter, ghee or full cream milk ! Enjoy it without a pang of guilt!

Cream of Spinach

Another Wednesday , another soup, this time it is spinach …


"Beautiful soup, so rich and green
Waiting in a hot tureen!
Who for such dainties would not stoop?
Soup of the evening, beautiful soup!
Beautiful soup! Who cares for fish
Game, or any other dish?
Who would not give all else for two
Pennyworth of beautiful soup?"
Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Well, it seems Queen Victoria herself enjoyed Alice In Wonderland so much that she suggested Lewis Carroll dedicate his next book to her, and was accordingly presented with his next work, a scholarly volume entitled "An Elementary Treatise on Determinants", a serious mathematical work. He was a great mathematician too!

Sorry about the off-topic, random rambling!
Back to the spinach soup recipe , here it is !

Ingredients

2 Cups spinach (washed and chopped)
2 Tbsp butter
1 tbsp maida
1 small onion chopped
2 cups milk
1 bay leaf
Pepper powder (suit your taste)
Salt
Method
Melt 1 tbsp butter add chopped onion.
Add chopped spinach to this and sauté it thoroughly.
Cool this and blend it into a puree.
Melt 1 tbsp butter , add bay leaf and maida to this.
Add milk to this and make sure there are no lumps.
Add salt and pepper.
Add water ( 1.5 cups) to alter the consistency and bring it to a boil
The soup is ready!

I tried serving this with cheeselings instead of the usual bread croutons – tasted good !

Carrot Sago Fusion

Holi Hai! – A riot of colours in my kitchen!

Colours , Colours ! so many shades and hues
Can truly wash away the daily blues;
The VIBGYOR in this kitchen of mine …
Well,To enjoy this rainbow I don’t need to put up with the rain !

I always enjoy the confluence of colours in the kitchen- even in the simplest form – be it a Vegetable Upma , or a Brinjal Gojju.
The combination of beans, carrots, capsicum, green peas, sweetcorn and tomatoes is vibrant and colourful and I use them in most of my creations. Every time I sauté them together I feast my eyes on the mix of yellow, orange, red and the shades of green!
Well, they (don’t ask me who) say “cooking is an art” and what is an artist without colours?
So, next time when you are cooking, enjoy all the beautiful colours around you, soak them in!

The Sweet dish for Holi this time was an experiment (a successful one of course, if it had failed nobody would have known about it).
Fusion of Sago and Carrot Kheer. Try it , it’s different !

Ingredients
¾ Cup Nylon Sago (soaked for 3 hours)
5 medium sized tender carrots ( diced)
1 cup Sugar (add more/less to suit your taste)
3 cardamoms
1 Clove
6-8 Cashew nuts
2-3 Cups Milk
Few drops of ghee
A few strands of saffron (optional)

Method

Pressure cook the carrots in one cup milk along with the lone clove , cashews and cardamoms.
While it cools, cook the soaked Sago in 1 cup of water with a 3-4 drops of ghee and the saffron strands.
Stir it occasionally.
Once the carrots have cooled, discard the clove and puree it in the blender to a creamy consistency.
Add this to the boiled sago.
Time to transform this into a sweet-dish – so add Sugar , bring it to a boil, stirring all the way.
Enjoy the dessert!

PS- The flowers in the pic are from my balcony garden!