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Prevaricating Hyderabadis and baingans!

                 "Can you make that baingan curry we had at the wedding reception?" asked my father-in-law very hopefully of his new daughter-in-law - aka me! I could cook but baghara baingan - the dish he was asking for - was definitely a stretch!

Hailing from Madras, my husband's family was used to the typical 'thaali' meal served at Tamil weddings and our Hyderabadi "daaawat ka khana" which is what they got at my wedding - was a total shocker! The fact that it was a shocker to them was a shocker to me - Hyderabad -born and bred! After the initial surprise, however, they fell to with gusto - greeting each bowl of mirchi ka salan, baghara baingan, biryani, poori- masala aloo, khatti dal like they'd never seen it before - which was likely - no one in their family ever having married a Hyderabadi before! My father-in-law, particularly fell in love with baghara baingan and some weeks later, asked me if i could make it. Now, i could cook but festive dishes like this one were a problem - i knew only how to eat them!
But could i say so??? And lay my Hyderabadi background open to ridicule?? Of course not. So i prevaricated - who knows better than the Hyderabadi how to put off till "tarsoon" (the day after day after tomorrow!) anything that begs to be done today??!!! The telephones in the colony we lived in did not work most of the time - so no quick SOS call possible to mom for recipe. God had not yet taken birth in his Google avatar - in fact, most people hadn't seen a computer! Cookbooks were few and far between. Couldn't even find a Hyderabadi in Madras those days - phew!

Snail mail was the answer. Quickly posted off to my mom for recipe. Mom obliges very quickly - too quickly because the speed at which she responded added to the famous "doctor's scrawl" meant much of it was illegible.  Never mind, i reasoned, the "Madrasis" wouldn't know if it differed from the original and proceeded to decipher as much as i could and make up what i couldn't! Unfortunately, to cater to family's desire for spicy - very spicy- food, i added a LOT of chilies and forgot to put in any salt! A cousin who was visiting was the first to try this exotic dish from the new bride - hmmm.... all i'll say is the cousin never visited us again!

After that, of course, many baghara baingans have happened with much happier results. Try this out:

• Baingan (long purple brinjals/ eggplant) - 1/2 kg
• 2 small tomatoes - quartered - optional
• 1/2 tsp red chili powder
• 8-10 pods of garlic - grind to a paste
• Tamarind paste - 2 tsp

  

  pic courtesy : internet
  

• Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
• Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
• Oil - 4 tbsp
• Salt

Make a masala by roasting separately and grinding together the following:

• Poppy seeds (khus khus) - 2 tbsp
• Dhania (coriander) - 1 tbsp
• Peanuts - 2 tbsp
• Jeera (Cumin) - 1 tsp
• Til (Sesame seeds)  - 2 tbsp
• Copra (dry coconut) - 3 tbsp

Onion paste - 2 large onions - slice, fry in a tbsp of oil till golden and grind to a paste.

Slit the brinjals length wise into 4 keeping the stalks intact. Fry them for 5-6 minutes till they discolour. Set aside. In the same oil, add mustard seeds and wait till they pop. Add the curry leaves, Add the onion paste and garlic paste and fry for 3-4 minutes. Add the chili powder and the masala powder and stiry for a couple of minutes more. Add the tamarind paste and 1 cup water and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the fried brinjals and the salt and cover and cook for about 7-8 minutes till brinjals are tender. Drop the quartered tomatoes on top and cover. Switch off and let the tomato pieces stew in their own juices!! ;)

Top with chopped coriander and serve with white pulao rice. Watch 'em drool!

Birthday parties, laddoos and small "assistants"!

                   The year is 1975. The place - Vizag. The occasion - the first birthday of the twin 'babies' of the family. My uncle and aunt have invited the whole colony and some 200 people are expected to turn up. The house has been busy for several days with various aunts, not to mention us small fry pitching in to "help" with making loads of goodies for the party.More about this "help" later on!


Birthday parties were not so common in Indian homes back then and catered parties were undreamt of! Soft drinks (luxuries) bottles arrived and were stored in large drums full of ice - serious depredations happened on our particular favourite - a sickly sweet mango concoction imaginatively named "Mangola"! Said depredations were quickly brought to a close by my uncle discovering some 30 empty bottles neatly hidden in the bushes!

My aunts were busy making "boondi laddoos" for a crowd of 200, not counting family - another 30 or so staying in the house. My brother Arvind was roped in to help them count the laddoos - haha! The aunts parked themselves on the floor next to the dining table and the laddoos were made and handed over to Arvind who was supposed to lay them out in neat rows on the white table cloth and count them. About an hour later, my aunt asked him to count and tell them how many were there - by her reckoning, there should have been about a 100. Arvind counted the rows and the columns many times up and down and down and up and sideways but the number stayed firm - a grand total of THIRTEEN! Summary dismissal happened - now we KNOW how laid-off employees feel on getting the little pink slip - except that they don't have a stomach full of laddoos to console them!

Boondi laddoos are a time consuming affair but rava laddoos can be dished up with the most basic cookery skills! And i assure you, these will disappear just as fast!

Here goes:

• Rava(semolina) - 1.5 cups
  
• Powdered sugar - 3/4 cup
• Cardamoms- powdered - 3 
• Pacha karpooram (edible camphor) - 1 teensy weensy bit - about the size of a mustard seed
• Saffron - few strands dissolved in 2 tbsp of warm milk
• Ghee - 1/4 cup
• Cashew nuts - 2 tbsp
• Almonds - 2 tbsp
• Raisins - 2 tbsp
• Milk - 3 tbsp

Heat the ghee in a pan and add the cashews, almonds and raisins. Stir till the raisins puff up and the cashew are golden. Remove from the ghee and set aside. Add the rava and stir for 7-8 minutes till it's golden. Add the sugar and stir for 3-4 minutes more. Add the nuts and raisins, milk and saffron milk and mix well. Switch off - it should be the consistency of a heavy sludge - easier to shape. Let cool a bit till you can handle it. Dip your palms in cold milk and shape the mxture into balls. Set aside for about an hour to dry before storing in a tin. Do NOT eat while shaping! Count. Whaaaatt??? Only 3??? What happened to the other 15???

Pastoral longings and undala pulusu...

                I don't know what it is about starting this blog, but ever since i  began, my kitchen has seen more and more South Indian food - and my blogging has been about this - something about digging for roots? Growing up in Hyderabad in the 60's and 70's, life was one long, happy sinecure - punctuated by the occasional painful exam period but more often than not, it was about playing in maidans till the light faded, "bhuttas"(roasted corncobs) hot off the charcoal fire, waiting for the "munjal" (nongu in Tamil, Tari in Hindi) guy to come on his rounds, stealing grapes from the gardens around my grandfather's house, waking up to the unmatchable joy of the first winter chill and overarchingly - unending summer holidays. These summer holidays were a period of great fun but somewhere, i had a hankering for the kind of holiday that all my classmates seemed to have - which was two months in their "native" villages. Now, as then, this seemed the most exotic vacation and my mom must have grown quite fed up of the endless "why don't we have a village to go to?"!! Swimming in the village well - something that everyone seemed to do - was an unimaginable thing - after all, all the wells i'd ever seen were about 3 feet across so if you stretched out, the chances were you hung out on either side of the well!

Villages on both parents' sides having been abandoned centuries ago, we considered ourselves "deprived" kids!

Later decades haven't quite removed this longing for the pastoral life from my heart but i have learnt to appreciate the linguistic and culinary heritage that my multicultural, city-bred background has given me - Andhra, Kannadiga and Maharashtrian with a Tamil immersion for the last 30 years. And the last month has seen me digging more and more into my roots for old recipes. Today's special was "undala pulusu" or "urundai kootaan" - an all time favourite.

Here goes:

1. For the "undalu" (balls)

• 3/4 cup tor dal + 1/4 cup chana dal - soak for two hours
• 3-4 red chilies
• 2 green chilies
• Asafoetida - a large pinch
• Rice flour - 1 tsp
• Grated fresh coconut - 2 tbsp
• Chopped curry leaves and coriander leaves - 1 tbsp
• Salt

Grind everything except for the herbs to a coarse paste. Mix in the herbs. 

To season:

• Sesame oil - 1 tbsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Heat the oil in a pan and add the mustrd seeds. When they splutter, add the ground paste and stir for 4-5 minutes. Cool and shape into balls and steam for about ten minutes. Set aside

   2. For pulusu:

• Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
  
• Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
• Asafoetida - 1 large pinch
• Sesame oil - 1 tbsp
• Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
• Tamarind paste - 2 tsp
• Jaggery - 1.5 tsp
• Sambar powder - 3 tsp + Peppercorns - 7-8 + Jeera (cumin seeds) - 1/2 tsp -grind together
• Salt
• Rice flour - 1 tsp
• Turmeric - 1 large pinch

Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add urad dal, asafoetida and curry leaves. Add the ground powder, rice flour and turmeric. Immediately add 3 cups water, tamarind paste, jaggery and salt. Bring to a boil. Simmer and add steamed balls. Cook for 3-4 minustes more and switch off. Serve with hot rice, ghee and roast potato.Bet you won't miss the village any more!

GEMS and sourpusses, injineers and monkeys!

                  " What a GEM of a person"!! Compliment, you'd think, right? Wrong! GEM is an acronym for Ginger Eating Monkey - a loose translation from the Tamil - "Inji kadicha korangu"! Colourful way to describe a sourpuss with a permanent sneer - English similes pale in comparison - i dare not take on a Wodehouse (it would be sacrilegious to even think of paraphrasing anything writtten by the God of humour) but I think Mr Wodehouse would definitely have loved to describe an Aunt Agatha thus!

Aside : Imagine the first man - or woman - let's not get gender-biased here - or actually first baby or LGBT member or any other grouping  or of any of the above groups (as you can see i do NOT want to step on any toes here) who saw a monkey biting a piece of ginger, then saw their Aunt Agatha and drew a comparison between the two- again with no offence to any grouping, aunts included!!

My mom makes the best 'upma' in the world today but there was a time when she was so busy with her medical calling and running a home that shortcuts were the order of the day - with the result that the upma would result in a number of GEMs around the table - literally - as we bit into many lumps of ginger of all shapes and sizes! Anand, my brother, went through a phase where he hated mustard in the seasoning (popu) of anything and particularly upma so you can imagine his agony and subsequent hatred of upma on which many hours had to be spent picking out not just the various sizes and shapes of ginger but also the little black mustard seeds!! No wonder we grew up preferring omelettes and paranthas - after all, you couldn't  put ginger into omelettes! Or so we thought - until i actually was served and omelette with ginger and curry leaves and turmeric and ....ah, well,.....that's another horror story i'll save for a scary evening!

Ginger/inji/allam is definitely an acquired taste and one that i acquired rather late in life. Today, though, no one could be a bigger fan of "allam pachadi" (ginger pickle) than said erstwhile GEM - self!

Here's my mom's recipe for allam pachadi:

• Ginger - peeled and cut into thin slices - 2 cups 
  
• Red chilies - 1/2 cup + 3 extra
• Asafoetida - a pinky nail sized (gorantha in Telugu) lump
• Jeera (cumin seeds) - 1/4 cup
• Methi (fenugreek seeds) - 1/2 tsp
• Tamarind - 1 lime-sized lump - wash
• Jaggery - 1.5 lime-sized lumps
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Sesame oil - 4 tbsp
• Salt - 1.5 tsp

Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a pan and add the asafoetida, red chilies and methi seeds. Fry for a minute - till you get an aroma and start coughing ;). Add the jeera and stir for a minute. Add the ginger and fry for about 5 minutes - stirring constantly. The ginger will change colour slightly to golden brown and turn crisp. Switch off. Cool and grind along with tamarind, and salt to a slightly rough paste.Can add a few tbsp of water at this stage. Heat the rest of the oil, add the mustard seeds. Wait till they splutter and then add the 3 red chilies. In a few seconds, add the ginger paste and the jaggery. On a medium fire, cook till the ginger stops smelling raw, stirring constantly. The consistency of the chutney should be like idli pindi/maavu - dropping. It thickens a bit when cooled.

Cool completely and bottle in a sterile jar. Lasts in the frig for a couple of months at least.

Serve with idli or pesarattu or dibba rotte (see post dated 16/09/2014). Bet it wouldn't make you look like a GEM even if you are an inji-neer! ;)

Conwomen part 2 and childhood grievances!

Bitter gourd – 2 large              

Another guest post today - from my friend and to-be-neighbour in Coonoor - Praveena. Praveena's story of kaakarakai/ paavakai (bitter gourd) will find an echo in many hearts - and memories of childhood grievances!

"Archana’s con mum has inspired me to put this down.  My sympathies Arch. Here’s another version of the con mom.

I am not a foodie. But there are things I love to eat, things I eat because I have to and things that I refuse to eat (finally, as an adult you get to do this, but when your kids are not by your side watching your every move.)

But at 7, I was horribly fussy and exasperating. So my poor mum spent considerable time and energy in convincing me to eat.  So, there was Kovakka which was the fast-running kai that would make me win races, there was ugh! Bhindi which was maths kai so I could master math in the confidence that my brains had had enough bhindi to eat. And so on and so forth.

Years later, it was my turn to be a con mom. I was luckier because my son is a foodie – provided the food had North Indian, Italian, Chinese or Thai antecedents.

So, one time, I decided to make paharkai pitlai, (a dish that I love). My son, about 11 at the time, walked in hungry and raring to have a go at the food. Straight-faced, I told him it was called pitlai and that it was a variation of an Ethiopian dish!! He lapped it up, loved it and wanted more. Then of course, he also wanted to know what went into it.  Bitter gourd? Dhania seeds? Tamarind? Ethiopian? Really?

pic:courtesy internet

Not really. But he loves the dish. And here’s how I make it. Tweak the proportions of chilli and salt and gur to suit your palette.

Ingredients:

Cooked Toor dal – half a cup

Tamarind water – about 1 cup

Gur – Lemon sized

For the masala:

One tablespoon of chana dal

Four Red chillies (or as per taste)

Half a tablespoon of Dhania seeds

One cup of grated coconut

Method:

Roast the chana dal, red chillies and dhania seeds in one tablsespoon of oil.

Cool and grind with the grated coconut

Keep aside.

Cut bitter gourd (paharkai) into rings and then quarter them

Boil them in water with salt, turmeric and a little tamarind water (quarter cup).

Cool, squeeze the bitter gourd pieces to remove water and keep aside.

Now add fresh water to the bitter gourd pieces, add salt and turmeric if required.

Add the remaining tamarind water and let the mixture cook.

Add the cooked toor dal and allow it to boil some more

Add the gur

Then add the ground masala.

Take the dish off the fire after about five minutes.

For the tadka, use mustard seeds, one or two red chillies and curry leaves. Garnish and serve."

Conwomen of the world - UNITE!

Capsicums and conwoman mothers!

I have a guest blogger today - my daughter Archana - relating her tale of woes as a child not allowed to have preferences in food! I call it learning not to be fussy ;)

Over to Arch:

"When I was a child, I wasn't actually allowed to have food preferences. It was either eat whatever was on my plate, or face the consequences (namely, One Angry Mother). In spite of these strict restrictions, I managed to develop a distaste for capsicums and brinjals. Although my dislike for brinjal faded naturally, the story of how I was fooled into liking capsicum is another kettle of fish. 

I was probably ten years old, when my mother decided it would be more fun to have dinner on the terrace than at home (this was a common phenomenon - perhaps it was easier to get me to eat my food when there were multiple distractions). I was presented with a bowl of soup, which smelled delicious. It tasted even better. It was gone in a matter of minutes. I even ate seconds and thirds. I didn't notice this at the time, but my mother was wearing a triumphant grin through this whole event. Still smiling, she asked me if I liked the soup. "Yes, it was super yummy!" I replied, all innocent. "Would you like to know what was in it?" Cue evil grin. 

I guess you can tell where this is going by now. Unwittingly, I had admitted to liking capsicum soup! That was the end of all conversation about capsicum for me. I could no longer say I hated it, because ONE TIME I liked capsicum soup. This was definitely a turning point in my childhood, as I realized that even parents could be manipulative to little children!

Amma: you will be happy to know that I have developed NEW preferences now. I will no longer eat cabbage, in revenge for your manipulative tactics. Ha!"

So here's the recipe from conwoman amma for capsicum soup! Makes two large soup bowlsful.

• Capsicum - 1 large - cut into slices
  
• Tomato - 1 medium - chop
• Onion - sliced - 1 tbsp
• Garlic - 1 flake
• Butter - just a smithereen (chitikedu!)
• Sage - 1 pinch
• Salt
• Sugar - 1/2 tsp
• Pepper - 1/2 tsp
• Ginger - cut into juliennes - 1/4 tsp
• Coriander chopped - 1 tsp - to garnish

Sweat onions and garlic in butter till translucent. Add capsicum, tomato and 1/2 glass water. Cover and cook till vegetables are soft. Let cool and grind to a smooth paste. Strain and discard the lumpy stuff. Add another cup of water, salt, sugar and sage and bring to the boil. Switch off. Fry the ginger juliennes in very little butter and add on top. Sprinnkle coriander and serve. Play the guessing game now - "guess what's in this soup?" till people are ready to murder you. Stop short of actually getting murdered - then you will live to write another day!!

Pickles with guts and terrorists!

                    As children, we tended to go for the sweets - as adults, unfortunately for our waistlines, we still do!! The only pickles i would deign to eat were the sweet ones - bellam aavakai (jaggery aavakai) and that too, if nothing else was available! I remember one conversation with a cousin at the end of which we decided that the best aavakais were the least chili-ed ones! While too much chili is still a problem - yes I am an authentic Andhra- at least half of me is! Today, aavakai with hot rice and ghee makes my heart sing for the day!

However much of a sweet tooth i may have, the genes come out in the making of the pickles. Store-bought? Sniff - is that a pickle? I have a friend who insists that if you can make pickles successfully, you've "arrived" as a chef! She says that it takes guts to make these - methinks it requires common sense and an ability to terrorise people! What's that? Common sense basically in the cleanliness that pickles demand - a high level of hygiene, bathing, tying up hair so gross stray dandruff doesn't fall in to spoil it, no colds and coughs so evil germs don't breed in the pickle jar and so on...

Why terror? Coz it's fun to scare people with "don't breathe when i'm opening the jaadi (jar)" - this always results in an argument with my extended Tamil side of the family - (challenge to the Tambram-ism? ) Whatever - it has everyone jumping through hoops and THAT is a lot of fun- MWAAHHAAAHAAA says the Telugu Mugambo!!!

Back to basics - it's really NOT that difficult to make pickles - here's one you can make in ten minutes flat and enjoy for the month - gooseberry (usirikayi) pickle.

First bathe and then tie up your hair. Check for stray coughs and colds - if you DO have one, postpone the pickle making! Clean jar - wash and sun-dry or microwave till dry.

• Gooseberries - about 18-20 
  
• Red chili powder - 3 tbsp
• Mustard powder - 2 tbsp
• Salt - 1.5 tbsp
• Turmeric - 1 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Sesame oil - 4 tbsp
• Roasted methi seed (fenugreek) powder - 1tsp

After steaming

Wash and dry the gooseberries. Prick all over with a fork. Set aside. In a pan, heat 2 tbsp of oil and add the mustard seeds. When they crackle, add 2 tbsp of chili powder and as it foams up, immediately add the gooseberries. Sprinkle a little water over the gooseberries. Cover and cook on a low flame for 4-5 minutes. Switch off, remove lid and cool. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Bottle and shake occasionally for 3 days. The gooseberries are ready!

In the jar!

Genetic predispositions and 'pappus', easy-peasy everyday foods..

                 "So how exactly do you make the thick pappu (dal) that Andhra households serve?" The inquirer was an elderly uncle of my husband's and i was a new bride; the dish in question was "mudda pappu" (literally "lump of dal")! Apparently said uncle had eaten it in many Andhra households and he had been trying - unsuccessfully - to get the 'ladies' to reproduce it in his kitchen - i must mention that I am married to a Tamilian and "pappu" by itself is not really a main dish in most Tamil households - it's served as a couple of teaspoons to accompany other dishes.

His question stumped me though - how could anyone not know how to make 'mudda pappu'?!! As it formed a major part of my diet till i got married, i thought it was one of those things that you just did - like making rice...or boiling water or sumpin....explanations and questions (do you roast the toor dal before cooking it? how much water should i put? how many whistles of the pressure cooker should i cook it for?) - phew!!Got to thinking about it and realised that it's exactly the same as teaching a South Indian to roll a perfect phulka - it's acquired, NOT in the blood!! And each region has it's own set of dishes for whihc they go "you really don't know how to make this???" for everyday foods.

One of those everyday foods in a Telugu household is "maamidikaayi pappu" (raw mango dal) which i laughed my guts out to see on a 5-star hotel menu as part of an "exotic Andhra cuisine" festival!! "Seriously, you don't know how to make this?"!!!

So here's how to make this!!!

• Raw mango - 1 small - peel and cut up any which way you like - i just slice them roughly - don't chop up fine though. If the seed in hard, leave it in. If it's still soft and white, discard. The hard seed is great to suck on while eating the dal - not very elegant though :)
• Toor dal - 1 cup - cooked in 2 cups water along with a pinch of turmeric - 4 whistles and simmer for 5 minutes before you ask -you just might be an elderly uncle!!
• Green chilies - 2 - sliced

  

  mango pieces cooking

• Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
• Jeera (cumin seeds) - 1/2 tsp
• 1 large pinch turmeric
• 1 large pinch asafoetida
• Jaggery - 1 tbsp (for a medium sour mango, more if it's very sour)
• Salt
• Ghee (only ghee, oil just won't do for this one) - 1 tbsp
• Fresh coriander - chopped - 1 tbsp

Heat ghee in a pan and add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add urad dal and jeera. Add asafoetida, curry leaves and chilies. Fry for a few seconds. Add mango and turmeric and half cup of water. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes till the mango pieces are tender. Add the jaggery and the cooked dal. Add salt and water till the dal is a thick pouring consistency. Bring to the boil and switch off. Garnish with coriander and serve with hot rice. You really don't need a side dish with this dal - except maybe an 'aavakai'!

Corporate woes, outdoorsy kids and whatsapped consolations!

              "Click, whirrr...., whatsapp" was my routine every evening as i consoled my very outdoorsy, athletic daughter who had elected to join the corporate world and by 5-ish every evening, was ready to jump out of her air-conditioned office window, having been cooped up the whole day without the fresh air she had grown up getting plenty of on the track and in the field!

Oh, and what i was whatsapping her every evening was a picture of whatever goodies i had baked/ steamed/ fried that day and the picture was to help her last through the next few hours before she came home from work - little 'consolations'!

" Are you sure you want to do this?? had been my question to her as she finished college and made ready to join a consulting firm, knowing that she hated being cooped up for any length of time. Everyone learns lessons in their own time, i guess and said daughter being a quick learner - 45 minutes into day 1, was sure that this was not her thing in life!!! Full marks to her for grit, however- she stuck it out over the next few months, learnt the ropes and became very, very good at what she was doing before deciding that now, it was okay to quit!  Those few months also saw some frenetic activity in my kitchen as i kneaded, rolled, stuffed and baked with a vengeance so she would have something to look forward to when she came back home and also to take with her to office the next day and share out with the other poor sods caught on the corporate roller coaster! It is also this period that i have to thank for becoming a pretty handy baker!

Here's one of the top hits to help last through your corporate workday :) - cinnabon rolls.

Cinnabon Roll Dough
1 cup warm milk
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup butter, melted 

before baking 

4 1/2 cups maida (flour)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 package yeast – 7 gm

Filling 
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, softened

Spread
1/4 cup butter, softened

Icing
3 oz cream cheese, softened

finito!

1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) butter, softened
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt 

Roll

Dissolve yeast in warm milk in a large bowl. Add sugar, butter, salt, eggs, and flour. Mix well. Dust your hands lightly with flour and then knead the cinnamon roll dough into a large ball. It’s fun doing this and your arms get a good workout!

  Cover the bowl and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until dough has doubled in size.  

 In another small bowl, combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter.  Mix them well.  Sprinkle flour on a flat surface.  Roll out your dough ball into a 16″ x 21″ rectangle roughly 1/4 inches thick then spread a 1/4 cup of softened butter on the dough.  Next, sprinkle the rolled, buttered dough evenly with the sugar/cinnamon/butter mixture you prepared in your small bowl.

Roll up the dough starting with the longer side and cut into 14-15 cinnabon rolls – I prefer smaller rolls – less guilt about polishing off two small ones rather than one big one! Place the cinnamon rolls in a lightly greased 11″ x 15″ glass baking dish. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and let the cinnamon rolls rise until nearly doubled, which should take around 30 minutes.  

Preheat oven to 180 C.  Once your cinnamon rolls have risen, bake them in the preheated oven until golden brown, approximately 18 to 20 minutes.  The dough should still be soft, though fully cooked, especially toward the center of the rolls.    

As your cinnamon rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla extract, and salt for the icing.  The icing should be spread on your cinnamon rolls when they are still warm, shortly after being taken out of the oven so that the frosting melts into the cinnamon rolls and your taste buds melt into fuzzy balls of anticipation!

Adengappas and masala vadas, Rajahmundry challenges!

                    "Dont have too many of those or, if you do - stay out in the garden!!" was the admonition against eating too many of an all -time favourite - masala vadas! Luckily, i come from a family who are all masala vada lovers - so we had plenty of company in the garden!! In fact, the son of a dear friend is so fond of these, he's been known to put away twenty at a sitting - naturally he is called "Waad-a-boy"!!

In the entire repertoire of South Indian cuisine, there surely is no "food item" as hot a favourite as these little morsels of crisp and crunchy, savoury yumminess! In my five decades, I have yet to meet a single person who does NOT adore these! In fact, i remember an uncle whose wife was one of the best cooks i've ever had the good luck to know (Ameena Murali mentioned in an earlier post - the lady with the magic fingers and the most awesome 'kurma') who, no matter how well she made these - masala vadas, would still insist that there was some fella in Rajahmundry (some 500 miles away!), who had a little roadside eatery who could make these better than anyone else in the world!!

Well, i don't know about the Rajahmundry chappie, but for my part and for the rest of the cousins, my aunt's masala vadais were the very top of the pops!

It was only many decades later that i came across another maker-of-masala-vadas as good, if not better - in fact, i am pretty sure that he is the THE king of masala vadas. The tiniest little hole-in-the-wall shop in Kotagiri, at a little corner called Danington (Donington which has undergone Tamilization!), a handful of ingredients - here is the man who has learnt to transform base "paruppu" into sheer magic!! With a name like Adaingappa, the guy probably had to become the best at what he did to live down the name - the kids at school might have gone "Ada-inge-appa, Vada- enge-appa?" prompting him to one day throw one vada at said sniggering bunch of kids who then caught the whiff of the vada and instead of throwing it back, bit off a tiny bit???? That's the way it must have happened!!!

Here is THE MAN's recipe:

• Chana dal - 2 cups - soaked for 2 hours 

  

  THE KING OF VADAS - ADENGAPPA

• Green chilies - 4 - chopped fine
• Curry leaves - chopped - 2 tbsp
• Coriander - chopped - 2 tbsp
• Onion - chopped - 3 medium
• Salt
• Oil for deep frying

Set aside 2 tbsp of the soaked dal. Grind the rest of it to a rough paste with very little water and the salt. Mix the rest of the dal and the chopped herbs and onions. Shape into flattish disks,s lightly fatter in the middle and fry on a medium low flame till crisp, very crisp!! The trick is to fry a couple of cloves of garlic in the oil first BEFORE you fry the vadas. There truly is nothing better. These vadas are so good they don't even need a chutney to accompany them.

Empty fridges and unexpected guests, pink slush and the 100th name of Allah

                                 "Melted strawberry ice-cream with biryani? Are you sure?" was the politely phrased question from a neighbour who actually must have wanted to tell me I was outta my mind! The family, of course, had no such compunctions - "pink slush - GROSS!! " was their reaction. I, the only one who knew the truth about the pink slush, smirked like the camel - the only one who knows the hundredth name of Allah!

Having unexpected guests and being caught out with an empty fridge has happened to all of us, i guess. This time, i really was in trouble as all i had was frozen peas and a couple of beetroots along with staples like onions The peas and onions i could easily convert into a simple biryani or pulao but the beetroots? And what do i serve with the peas pulao? More peas? Not likely! Also, i was unlikely to have guests like my daughter whose standard order in any restaurant till she was about six was "Peppi and Peas pulao" (Pepsi and Peas pulao), which she proceeded to demolish without any need of accompaniments!

So there we  are - one large bowl of yogurt and 2 rather shriveled beetroots staring me in the face...inspiration strikes! Beetroot raitha is born!

• Beetroots - boiled - 2 (they don't have to be shriveled)! Grate finely.
• Yogurt - 2 cups
• Green chili - 1 - chop very, very fine or pound to a paste - mind you wear glasses if you're pounding - i've had them fly into my eye and make a 10-minute dish into a hopping half hour of agony!
• Salt - 1/2 tsp
• Mustard oil - 1 tbsp
• Chopped mint or coriander or what the heck, let's go to town - use both - to garnish!

Whip yogurt and mix in everything else - chill and serve - either as a side with a rice dish or as a dip for chips. C'est tout! Watch the wary looks change to pleasure at the mustard-y, silky dip with the bite of the chili!

Madanapalle and forefathers, palleelu and spice!

     My guest post today is from my aunt - Malathi Mohan. Pinni, as i call her, has been someone i've admired from childhood - for her outspokenness and fiercely independent spirit. These peanuts are a bit like her!! 

Over to Pinni:

"MADANAPALLE   PALLEELU   ( PEANUTS)

Our ancestors, with the family name of ‘Nemali’, hailed from Madanapalle  in Andhra. Recently 3 of us siblings went to Madanapalle, chasing some ghosts as we are in the process of writing a biography of our grandfather, Nemali Pattabhi Rama Rao, erstwhile Dewan of Cochin. That’s when it suddenly dawned on me that the spicy groundnuts that our relatives used to bring for us in big oil or biscuit ‘dabbas’ ( nothing was in small quantities, those days, mind you),whenever they visited Madras, were named by us as ‘Madanapalle peanuts’ and all of us fought tooth and nail for our share, though the lions’ share was kept hidden for the elders in the family to enjoy with their evening beverage of beer or whisky.

  Now, here we were, on that very same holy ground after 3 decades! We asked our young relatives about them and where could we buy them, but they were very matter-of-fact and did not seem to know what we were talking about, or where and whether they were available these days.

Sorely disappointed, we were returning to Bangalore when a small inquiry proved lucky in a small village near Chintamani and we were able to buy a half Kg for Rs.50. In Bangalore, we do find these from a shop called ‘Hurigallu’ which sells all roasted pulses as snacks, which are nutritious and oil free. Women are purposely fed these during pregnancy and lactation to step up protein intake.

If Hurigallu is not on your commute from Fremont to San Jose, you could always get down to making them yourself - please switch off the smoke detector - both in your ceiling and on your tongue!

I had a neighbour in Madras; M.C.Reddy  (Madanapalle C. Reddy), and Ms Reddy kindly taught me how to make this divine preparation as I was waxing eloquent in my nostalgia, raising the humble groundnut to the skies! The method looks quite easy, you just have to try it on your own, though!

Raw, shelled peanuts, ½ kg should be roasted in a kadai or banali or wok - take your pick! If you are lazy like me, you can buy ½ kg of roasted peanuts. Make a paste of 2 tsp. turmeric powder (level, tsps.) 2 tsp salt, chilly powder could be 1 tsp or more, as to your taste. Apply this paste to the roasted groundnuts, as evenly as possible, you have to use your fingers as spoons don’t do a good job. Get a feel of it! Then dry these peanuts till their face mask dries up. You can air dry under the sun, or under a fan.  Roast once again. Now this is the happy, hot, spicy moment.  I always wore a mask for my eyes and nose. The whole house can get hot and spicy. Woe unto the American POIs  who try this. The fire brigade will be at your door.

Did you notice that I said,”I always WORE”?  Yes, I don’t do it any more as my husband and sons gobbled up the peanuts in a jiffy and asked for more. No sirree, I buy them now and I can serve as much as required, only the gas levels at home lift us to higher atmospheres!

One option is to mix them with rice flakes or puffed rice with chopped onion, tomato, green coriander and green chilly for more “dhum” and chat over this chat-like preparation! Happy chatting!

Sprouts and small terrorists!

 " Eeeeeeee!!!" and a little girl runs for her life. Not to be outdone and determined that her friend should not be done out of her share of the "goodies", her littler but bidding-fair-to-become-an-athlete friend chases her all over the school playground. Being faster, she catches up with her and forces a "treat" through her friend's clenched teeth - to have it promptly spat back at her! 

"But, why, amma? Sprouts are soooo...yummy. Why doesn't Tara like them?" And that was Kanchana's first introduction to one man's meat  etc.... the disappointment at not being able to share her pleasure over her favourite food took a little longer to get over though as she kept trying over the weeks to convince Tara that sprouts are "soooo yummy". That not everyone would pinch handfuls of the goodies from the sprouting tray for a "treat" was quite inconceivable!

Sprouts of many kinds were always growing in a corner of my kitchen - chana, rajma, black chana, broad beans, methi seeds - anything that grew from the soil would grow in a tray! Green gram was a perennial favourite though and went into chats, curries, 'pesarattu' - or just generally as a snack!

Here's two recipes:

Sprout chaat

• Green gram sprouts - two cups - steamed for 3 minutes
• Chopped onion - 1/4 cup
• Boiled, chopped potato - 1
• Chopped  green chili - 1
• Chopped coriander - 1 tbsp
• Chopped mint - 1 tbsp
• Sev - a handful
• Date chutney - 1 tbsp
• Jeera (cumin) powder - 1/2 tsp
• Dhania (corainder) pwd - 1/4 tsp
• Chili pwd - 1/4 tsp
• Chat masala or Himalayan pink salt - 1 large pinch
• Lemon juice - 1tbsp
• Pomegranate seeds - 1 tbsp (optional)
• Salt

Mix together the sprouts, potato, chili, onion, lemon juice and all the powders. Plate up, sprinkle the sev (or any other crunchy - even kurkure or crushed potato chips) on top. Sprinkle the herbs on top. Drizzle the sweet chutney and serve immediately.

Sprout curry

• Sprouts - 2 cups        
  
• Green chili - 1
• Fresh coconut - grated - 2 -3 tbsp
• Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp chopped
• Asafoetida - 1 pinch
• Salt
• Oil - 1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves - 1 sprig

Heat oil in a saucepan. Add curry leaves and asafoetida. Immediately add the sprouts and a tsp of water. Cover and cook for just 3-4 minutes. Switch off. Pulse the coconut, salt and green chili in the mixer for a couple of seconds and sprinkle over the sprouts. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving as a side with sambar or rasam.

Sundals and kolus, paavadas and sea-gorillas!

                       
                 "Thengaaa..., maangaaa.....pataneee.....sundaaal......" nothing brings Madras and Marina beach to mind as this cry! I once heard an Anerican who was asked about what his experience of India was like and his response was that no matter where one went, even if it was on the most deserted stretch of road and you went behind a tree to do your business (this was in the days before the mushrooming of toll plazas and loos!), you could be sure of an urchin or two popping up with a grin as you finished - unnerving!! Sitting on the beach in Madras is rather like that - you could be a courting couple, a suicidal soul, an elderly thaatha-paati or even a stray dog - all of you are fair game for the serenade of the "Sundal" seller! With an old aluminium tin can (remember those cans in whihch oil used to be sold at the corner 'kirana' store?), much-patched shorts and a shirt hanging out at the tails, the 'sundal' guy is recognisable everywhere and welcomed sometimes - obviously not by the courting couple!

             Also, it's Navaratri time - can sundal be far behind? "Bommala koluvus", the excitement of setting up the shelves and dusting the toys, the creation of a beach or a village or a temple scene with paper and toys and sand and blue washing powder for the sea ringed with white rangoli powder for the waves - and the overarching joy of ten whole days of holidays!! The pleasure of going from household to household, being asked to sing a song (being completely tuneless, i escaped this ordeal most of the time, except when an unwary new family moved into the colony!!), passing judgment on the quality of sundal in each household - most were good, the odd one was dissed but in general, we were an accepting lot :).

               This being one of my favourite festivals, i was determined that my children should enjoy it too and had a koluvu for many years. Kanch, my younger daughter and her friend Tara were always excited about this and Kanch used to insist on placing her pet gorilla toy in the middle of the Bay of Bengal - which is where she thought he came from! The two of them also firmly believed that they were part of the exhibit and as soon as guests had seated themselves, used to get up and twirl their paavadais round and round till they got giddy and sat down and the paavadai went "busssss..."! Talk about song-and-dance sequences!

Here's today's sundal:

                                                                                    Soaked and boiled chana - 2 cups

Fresh coconut - grated - 2 tbsp
Raw mango - 2 tbsp - chopped
Green chili - 1
Red chili - 1
Curry leaves -2 sprigs
Oil - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida - 1 pinch
Salt

Heat oil in a pan. Add the mustard seeds and let them crackle. Add urad dal and asafoetida. Add the curry leaves. Add chana.
Pulse together in the mixer the coconut, mango and the chilies. Add this to the pan along with the salt and mix together for a minute.Switch off.

You are now qualified to sell sundal on Marina beach - practise your sales pitch - "thengaaa...maaangaaa...pataaanee....sundaaal..."

Dolls' weddings and cashewnut bhojanams!

                           Wedding in the family home signifies great excitement. All the little girls in the neighbourhood are invited and everyone turns up in "Paavada-chokka" (the long skirt and blouse combo - one of the prettiest things ever), flowers in their hair and for those who are blessed with mothers with deft fingers and time on their hands, "poola jadalu" (flowers woven into long plaits). My mom used to try valiantly to do this for me but invariably the whole assembly would be top-heavy and fall off before i reached the end of the road! Not to mention leaving me with a splitting headache!
                  Back to our wedding - said little girls turn up with little gifts - flowers from their gardens mostly, also pretty shells or rocks or coloured paper streamers left over from birthday parties or whatever else could be used to decorate a "mandapam". "Invitations" to the 'bommala pelli' were scribbled on pieces of paper and passed around to all the little people - strictly NO boys!

                 The venue was a tiny dressing room in our old fashioned home and the mandapam was below the dressing table! Much excitement over the wedding of two of our dolls - both female but one necessarily had to become a groom - am sure child psychologists and feminists today would go ballistic over gender confusion, gender identity, gender stereotyping blah, blah stuff! We, luckily, were blissfully unaware of the word 'psychology' and feminism ran in the blood anyway!!

Mantras were chanted and the dolls were duly wed and then came the serious business of eating the wedding "meal"! My mother, ever a generous soul, would provide us liberally with cashewnuts and badam (almonds) and kishmish (raisins) which were distributed out with complete fairness so everyone got their quota of 2 cashewnuts and 4 raisins or whatever it was - no army quartermaster could be fairer than a 7-year old!

                 Formal goodbyes were said before everyone trooped off to play something more invigorating after the wedding. Come to think of it, that's why those wedding feasts never made us fat - now we just sit around and nap after wedding lunches and look where we've gotten to!

Cashews and almonds and raisins remain favourite snacks to date and are rarely cooked - mostly just popped into the mouth. But when i do cook 'em, more often than not it's to make badam kheer - cold and delicious.

Badam kheer:

• Almonds - 3/4 cup - soak for an hour and peel.
• Cashewnuts (optional) - 2 tbsp
• Chironji (charupappu, charoli) nuts (optional) - 1 tbsp
• Milk - 500 ml
• Water - 3 cups
• Sugar - 10-12 tsp (sorry, but that's how i measure sugar - not at all sure about cup measures!)
• Saffron - 1 pinch
• Pachakarpooram (edible camphor) - a very tiny pinch - be very judicious in using this - it's heavenly but a very little goes a long way!

Grind the almonds and cashew nuts to a smooth paste using about 1/4 cup of water. Mix the paste with the rest of the water in a heavy bottomed pan. Cook, stirring nonstop - this takes about 7 minutes  - till the raw almond smell goes. Add hot milk slowly into the pan. Add sugar. Bring to the boil, stirring all the while. Switch off and add saffron and pachakarpooram. Stir for a few minutes more. If using chironji, roast in a few drops of ghee, cool and add to the kheer,

Serve chilled. If you're feeling lazy, just eat the nuts!

Grandmothers and thokkus...

       
"Kobbari thokku" (coconut chutney)
"Inkoka rakam kobbari thokku (another variety of coconut chutney)
"Marinkoka rakam kobbari thokku (Yet another variety of coconut chutney!
"Maree inkorakam...." you should have got it by now. As also added two words to your Telugu vocabulary!

This is an extract from the diary that my grandmother wrote for me a couple of decades ago when she spent a few days with me and at my request, jotted down a load of hardcore Andhra recipes in her spidery crawl. Even now i only have to look at the diary to bring memories of a sweet, soft as butter outside, tough as torsteel inside lady - smelling of Chandrika soap and "punugu" (musk) of which she always had a tiny bit stashed away in a little silver thumb-box in her steel trunk. That steel trunk was a source of all sweet things in my childhood - lovely smells, soft saris and always a small surprise hidden away for grandchildren - of which she had many. Ammamma taught us many lessons about generosity and sharing - through her stories and her deeds.

Inspired by her, i went on to experiment with many unusual ingredients for chutneys until now, my family has learnt to dread the question - "Guess what thokku (hey, you learnt the word in the first paragraph, remember??!) this is?" The answers vary from vodka to old shoe leather but that's only to shut me up - i promise they're not a reflection on the thokkus!

Here goes a new one which goes with dosas and idlis and even as a sandwich spread!

Carrot- mango thokku:

• Grated carrot - 1 large
• Grated raw mango - 1 cup
• Green chilis - 2
• Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp
• Jaggery - 1 tsp (more or less depending on how sour the mango is)
• Salt - 1/2 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Urad dal - 1 tbsp
• Asafoetida - 1 pinch
• Chopped fresh coriander - 2 tbsp
• Sesame oil - 1 tbsp

Heat oil and drop in mustard seeds. Let splutter. Add the urad dal and the asafoetida and the dal brown. Add the green chilis and fry for a few seconds. Add the mango and carrot mixture and stir for a couple of minutes. Switch off, add the coriander, salt and jaggery. Let cool. Grind to a not-too-smooth paste with a little water.

Ready to make up "inkoka rakam" carrot-mango thokku on your own?

"Things with things in them" and 2-year old gourmets!

"Aren't you hungry? Would you like some dinner?" 

"What do you have for dinner?""

"Pasta"

"What kind of pasta?"

"Shell pasta with vegetables and tomato sauce"

"Can i see it?"

Yes, of course, sweetie, here you go" and i lifted the two-year old with whom I am having this conversation on to the kitchen counter to have a look.

The gourmet brat looks at the pasta from all angles, examining it as critically as any prof would a new theory and then takes her thumb out of her mouth to pronounce judgment : "I don't like things with things in them"!

Well - you try battling over food with a two-year old! I spent the next ten minutes picking "things out of things" before she consented to put a forkful in her mouth!

This was the exchange between the two-year old daughter of some visitors and me! The parents in question must have had quite a time feeding the little tyrant every day - how many Indian dishes can rightly be described as things without things in them and could be considered an almost full meal?! Being the nutrition freak that i am, thanks to my mother and my nutritionist aunt, it is almost impossible for me to envisage making things without things in them!!!

Well, here;s the closest i can come to making things with very few things in them - spaghetti with meatless meatballs!

• Spaghetti - 1 packet - boil as per instructions and rise on cold water

For the sauce:

• Onions - 3 medium - sliced             

  

  meatless meatballs before frying
  

• Garlic - 5-6 flakes
• Tomatoes - 4 large - chopped
• 1 green chili - chopped
• Tomato puree - 1/2 cup
• Sugar - 1/2 tsp
• Salt
• Nutmeg - grated - 1/4 tsp
• Herbes de Provence - 1/2 tsp (or mixed herbs)
• Coriander - chopped - 2 tbsp
• Hot milk - 1 cup
• Oil - 2 tbsp

Heat oil in a large saucepan and add the sugar. Caramelise. Add onions and stir for a minute. Add garlic and keep stirring till onions are golden brown. Add tomatoes and cook till soft. Blitz with a bar blender for a minute in the same pan till you get  a knobbly puree. Add the tomato puree, salt, nutmeg and herbs and boil. Reserve hot milk and add just before serving.

Meatless meatballs:

• Potato flakes - 1/2 cup or boiled and grated potato - 1.2 cup.
• Gulab jamun mix powder - 1/2 cup
• Grated cheddar (or paneer) - 1/2 cup to mix + 2 tbsp to serve
• 1 green chili - chopped
• Chopped coriander - 1 tbsp
• Marjoram - 1/2 tsp. 
• Pepper - 1/4 tsp

Mix all of these together lightly - do not over-knead - shape carefully into small lemon sized balls and let them rest for 5 minutes. Heat a frying pan or a tawa and shallow fry these, turning over till golden brown. I occasionally bake mine - about 12 minutes. (makes about 16 balls)

To assemble, mix a little olive oil in the spaghetti. Serve one helping. Mix the hot milk into the sauce and spoon over. Add a little grated cheddar on top and place 4-5 "meatballs" on each plate. Sprinkle coriander leaves and serve.

Voila - things with as few things in them as my conscience will allow!

Of Life Lessons, Tea and Things Learnt at Mother-in-law’s Hearth

                           I have my second guest blogger today - my cousin Minnie - who's written a lovely story about her mom-in-law and a fantastic dish - gongura pappu - i can never get enough of this!

Over to Minnie:

"My mother-in-law was a formidable lady with her penchant for crisp Bengal cotton saris in pastel hues and perfection in all things. Her elegant and neat appearance (a string of pearls or corals at her throat when she had to step out) reflected in her gleaming kitchen – no messes on the counter, no piled-up dirty dishes in the sink, methodical and meticulous in all that she did. No room for slatterns and shirkers! Her repertoire of recipes was limited but eclectic, having lived in many parts of India with her railway man husband. Her cooking did not entertain deviations, shortcuts or substitutions. When she made tea, it was an elaborate and unhurried process, much like the Japanese tea ceremony, enough to set the modern day - languishing in the living room- guest’s teeth on edge!

Up early, there was no sitting down or resting till lunch was eaten and cleared. No morning coffee, no lounging on the couch, no breakfast till the tulsi plant was watered and no snacking between breakfast and lunch. Afternoon time was relaxing in the easy chair, with her feet up on the ancient swing occupying pride of place in the centre of the hallway and the day’s newspaper on her lap. What I took away from her and reconstruct every time, as close to the original as possible is her Gongura Pulusu. A quintessential Andhra dish liberally sprinkled with garlic pods (a normally unlikely condiment in a Brahmin kitchen), it is an interesting twist to the regular greens and dhal, the sourness of the gongura and the sweetness of the jaggery giving it a piquant taste. This dish was originally adapted from the famed Gongura Mamsam  to suit vegetarian palates. Alum pachadi (long-lasting ginger chutney) which my mother-in-law made in huge quantities and distributed generously to family and friends was a great favourite and a perfect accompaniment to a myriad things, be it rice, chappathis, idlis, dosas, sandwiches and even as a topping for chats. My sister-in-law is the holder of this recipe and I will get it from her the next time round.

Gongura Pulusu.

Ingredients:

• Gongura (Roselle) leaves : 1 medium bunch
• Bengal Gram (Channa) Dhal : 1 cup cooked, with the dhal appearing separate.
• Red Gram (Toovar) Dhal : ½ cup cooked and mashed
• Garlic  - 8 pods
• Green chillies – 3                               
  
• Turmeric – ½ tps
• Jaggery : according to taste
• Salt : according to taste
• Seasoning:
•  Gingelly oil : 3 tsps
• Mustard : 1 tsp
• Fenugreek  : 1 tsp
• Asafoetida : a pinch or more
• Red Chillies : 4

Method:

Heat oil in pan and add the seasoning and sauté. Add chopped gongura leaves and sauté lightly. Add green chillies, garlic, turmeric and salt and cook till the leaves are soft. Mash lightly and add the cooked dhals. Add jaggery and if required chilli powder, adjusting according to the sourness of the leaf. The consistency should be of that of a thick dhal. Best eaten with rice."

Gongura - to the non-Telugu - only refers to the pickle which is made out of it but this is a great alternate use of the iron-rich leaf. Come to think of it, have put in a lots of posts about dishes which make you hair go black or prevent it from greying.......by now you should have stopped reaching for that bottle of hair dye! ;)

A billion litres of beer, loofahs and chutney!

                              "Beerakai? You mean there a vegetable which gives out beer? Hahaha! ".  Which Telugu hasn't heard this hoary old one when a non-Telugu hears the word "beerakai" for the first time? But just last week there was an article in the Hindu with liquor consumption statistics across India and among the bigger states, AP (the undivided one) tops the list by far with 34.5 litres per head per year, far outstripping Kerala which was undisputed liquor king for years!! At a population of 50 million, that works out to 1.75 billion litres a year which is many time the amount of milk consumed by all of India in a year! (I tried doing the maths - so many metric tonnes of milk to litres of beer but somewhere along the way, the numbers - and the milk - got curdled! Hmmm...wondering whether there is something to the beer and beerakai naming after all???

Wow, we Telugus take our beer and our beerakais seriously!

This staple - cheap and best- vegetable - is what has helped millions of homemakers tide over the end-of-the-month-pocket-is-empty-what-to-put-on-the-table blues for generations.

Okay, to put the rest of you out of your misery, beerakai is the Telugu name for what is called a ribbed or ridged gourd - one of those you have to bribe your kids to eat. This is what it looks like:

Like the coconut in Kerala, there is no part of this super-'umble veggie that is not used. You make a tonic to darken your hair - did you know that???! Bet you're regretting saying 'yuck' to beerakai pappu for the nth time when you were a kid, right? The fibrous part that is peeled away is used to make loofahs to scrub yourself free of all the 'yucks'! The thrifty Telugu housewife uses even the peel of this vegetable to make the most delicious "thokku" or chutney.

Here goes:

• Wash and peel two large beerakais. Reserve the beerakais for use later. Jsut now, we;ll make only the chutney with the peel.
• Chana dal - (Bengal gram dal) - 2 tbsp             
  
  
• Urad dal - 1 tbsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
  
• Asafoetida- 1 small pinkie-nail sized lump
• Red chilies - 5
• Green chilies - 3
• Tamarind - small marble -sized ball
• Jaggery - 1.5 tbsp
• Coconut - 1/2 cup
• Sesame oil - 2tbsp
• Salt - about 3/4 tsp

Heat the oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and wait till they crackle. Add chana dal and roast till golden brown. Add urad dal and chilies and stir for a couple of minutes more. Add the peel and stir for 3-4 minutes till they shrink slightly. Add the coconut and stir again for a couple of minutes. Add the tamarind, jaggery and salt and switch off. Let cool and grind to a rough chutney adding a little water. This chutney goes with most everything - rice, rotis, idlis, dosas, plain!