Curry leaves and black hair and a centum in Maths

Curry leaves and black hair and a centum in Maths

Eat it up! It'll make you hair grow. It'll make your eyes bigger! It'll prevent your hair from growing white when you're older! It'll make you get a centum in Maths!

Good genes, right? for all this?? Not if you're an Indian kid growing up in a middle class Indian household - the "this" refers to Karepak / Karuvepillai/ Kadhi patta ? Yes, the humble curry leaf which was capable of performing miracles that we couldn't dream of, leave alone verify! There must have been some brave kid out there, right, who actually listened to all of this and then turned around and asked his greying mom - then how come yours is??....errrr....THAT much courage was a bit TOO much courage, methinks!

And then we grew up telling our kids,' it'll make your hair white...errr... black etc. etc...i think it was just payback time, folks, - after all, why should we be the only ones forced to eat this yucky thing - let other kids also have a taste of our medicine!!

Yep, all that till we grew up. Now i convert it into karepak podi - my grandmom's staple cure for all ailments from the hair to the toes, including ailments of the heart and soul!

Here's my ammamma's recipe - the best karepak podi in the world. I still have her recipes which she wrote down for me in her spider-crawled-out-of-the-inkpot Telugu handwriting!

• Karepak (curry leaves) - 4 cups - wash well and dry on a kitchen towel in the shade. Either microwave them on high in batches - 3 batches of 3 minutes each or roast them in a tawa till dry but still green. I've done both and trust me, the microwaving a sight easier!
• Coriander seeds (dhania) - 1 tbsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Red chillies - 2
• Pepper corns - 1 tbsp

  

  Karepak podi annam

• Jeera - 1 tbsp
• Chana dal - 1 tbsp
• Urad dal - 1 tbsp
• Asafoetida - 1 small pinkie nail size lump ;)
• Salt to taste
• Turmeric - 1 large pinch

Heat a few drops of oil in a kadhai and drop in the asafoetida. When it swells, add the mustard and let it start spluttering. Add the coriander seeds and the red chillies and fry till that nothing-can-quite-replicate-it aroma arises out of the dhania. Empty the kadhai into a plate, and roast the rest of the ingredients except turmeric, individually till each smells great. Add the turrmeric to the roasted ingredients. Let the whole caboodle cool and powder together into a fine powder. Add salt and run the mixer again to blend in salt.

This is a very versatile podi (powder) - you can eat it with hot rice and - if you've been following this blog, you'll know what comes next - yep, ghee! Or else use it as a garnish on roast potatoes or roasted green plantain curry or yam curry. .. and watch your hair turn black and your Math marks go through the roof and your eyes grow bigger and all the rest of it ;)

And in pinwheels, lies beauty in the eyes of a 3 year old!

And in pinwheels, lies beauty in the eyes of a 3 year old!

There once was a little girl who, like all little girls do, went through a phase of fussy eating - thankfully for the mother, it didn't last long! But as long as it did, the mom (read self) stood on her head trying to think up interesting lunchboxes for the brat in question (read A!). With a full-time career, it wasn't easy but it was a VERY determined mom! 

Idea after idea was tried out, some successfully, some not and then mom came up with what she thought was a brilliant idea - pinwheel sandwiches! After all, what could be more exciting to a 3-year (yes, that's all she was!) old heart and little tummy? But mom, being who she was, also needed to not forget the nutrition part of it - so-pudina chutney and tomato relish were chosen as being 'full of nutrients!' The relish got ditched along the way with the pressure of office deadlines and ketchup - secret guilt :( - took it's place. 

All good so far? Excitedly made chutney, sandwiched it and wrapped it an wet napkin as i'd been told to and then voila, next morning packed the whole caboodle - i was as excited as her! Came back in the evening to a VERY hungry daughter who hadn't touched her lunch! And why? "Because, Amma" (very small voice), "they were too beautiful to eat"!! Phew!! What was i supposed to do?? Cuddled her and gave her dinner - NOT sandwiches!

The recipe is simple - the trick or "kituku" as my mom, the grandmom who doesn't enter this story would say, is in the chutney and the rolling of the sandwiches.

Here's pinwheel 101 #

• Pudina (mint) - 2 bunches - washed and picked
• 1 green chili - this is NOT for you but a 3 -year old, remember??! If you want more "kick" get it your self! 
• Coriander leaves - 1 bunch
• Garlic flakes - 1 or 2
• Ginger - a wee bit - abt a cm
• Juice of one lemon
• Sugar - 1 1/2 tsp
• Salt to taste
• Kala namak or chaat masala or Himalayan pink salt - 1 generous pinch

Grind everything together to a thick chutney (not adding excess water because the sandwiches will turn soggy)

1 loaf of soft, white, unhealthy ;) sandwich bread - edges cut off (is there any end to our unhealthiness???)

Butter

Ketchup

pic: courtesy internet - i couldn't find the right bread yesterday!

Butter the bread on one side only. Place the slice on a wet kitchen towel - obviously buttered side up!!. Spread out chutney - just a thin layer - and place another slice on top. Smear ketchup on this one.. Using the napkin to push, gently roll  up the sandwich and try not to break it! Also don't fold the napkin into the sandwich - you don't want pieces of cotton towel in your mouth, do you? 

Repeat many times till either you or your bread are exhausted! In ANOTHER napkin, place the sandwiches, cover so they fit in snugly, place in a box, and leave overnight in the frig. Next morning, they should be easy to cut. If they fail, you can have a savoury Eton mess for breakfast!

Bisibeles and siestas!

Bisibeles and siestas!

Bisibele huli anna to give it it's full name (hot dal tamarind rice - if anyone's looking at putting it on a New Yorker menu!)

Sunday lunches, actually come to think of it - all meals on Sundays - were hearty affairs - now you know how i got to be the size i did ;). Mom used to really go to town on Sunday to make up for weekday meals of sambar and curry and paranthas - come to think of it - those sound heavy too (sigh, life seems to be all about heavy.... ;)  Breakfast would usually start with masala dosas - with all the frills. Lunch would be either bisibele, potato curry, appadams and a sweet dish (remember the apple pie in a previous chronicle??? ) or a biryani! Would you believe it, after that, at about 5-ish, Panda, our amazing cook, used to dish up either samosas or cutlets for tea! And not one or two each - but unlimited numbers! Followed by a dinner of parathas, eggs and a curry to go with it! Strangely, with all that, all of us were quite trim but i think, like nemesis, all those cutlets are following me around now :(

My mother was one of those women who'd never learnt the meaning of the word 'no' or 'enough' when she offered us third or fourth helpings - the second one wasn't even counted - normal food! I remember a cousin who was staying with us who burst into tears because Indatha ( mom) served her a second helping. For the first time , probably, Mom was shocked into not offering a third helping! (D, remember?)

For all the crusader's spirit which my mother had wrt strange foods, there were things at which she was unbeaten queen - bisibele definitely being one of them. She'd learnt the dish from her mom-in-law - my appamma.

Here goes:

• 1 cup rice - cook in 3 cups water till soft
• 1/2 cup toor dal - pressure cook.
• Assorted vegetables - carrots, potatoes, shallots (fry slightly), peas, pumpkin etc.) -1 cup
• Tamarind paste - 1.5 tsp
• Jaggery - 2 tsp
• Ghee - 1/4 cup  
  
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• Turmeric - 1 pinch
• Cashewnuts - fried
• Curry leaves 2 sprigs
• 1 large ripe tomato - ground

For seasoning: 

• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• Urad dal 1tsp
• Asafoetida - a sprinkling

For masala: Roast and powder fine

• Asafoetida - 1 small lump the size of a chana dal
• Dhania - 2 tsp
• Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp

  

  The rest....

• Chana dal - 1 tsp
• Urad dal - 1 tsp
• Red chillies - 4 - 6
• Cloves -2
• Cinnamon - 1 " stick
• Patthar ke phool (stone flower, dagad phool, kalpaasi) - it's actually a lichen which grows on rock - 1 generous pinch
• Mace (the outer layer of the nutmeg) - 1/4 tsp
• Nutmeg - 1/4 tsp

  

  The plate...

• Copra or dry coconut -2 tbsp                                                                                               (substitute with fresh if you don't have)

Heat sesame oil in a large vessel, season with mustard, urad dal and asafoetida. Add curry leaves. Add the vegetables and a pinch of turmeric, 1 glass of water and cook till almost done. Add the tamarind paste, ground tomato, masala powder and jaggery and let it come to a boil. Add more water to bring it to a thick pouring consistency. Add the cooked rice and dal  and salt and bring it up to the boil, stirring frequently. Add the ghee and continue to cook till the family comes drooling around ;)

Sprinkle fried cashewnuts on top and let rest till flavours infuse - about half an hour if everyone can wait, 10 minutes if they can't! What goes with it? Potato curry and appadam. Bisibele tastes great the day after - i like mine cold but if it's gotten very thick overnight (must be getting tight on the beer on the frig sitting overnight - check the bottle!) , add a glass of boiling water and mix again.

Warning :Bisibele is heavy, very heavy so if you want to eat it, you'd better prepare for a siesta in the office!

Toad in the hole - India ishtyle!

Toad in the hole - India ishtyle

I first encountered these little balls of deliciousness - crisp and browned on the outside and deliciously, steamily soft on the inside at an aunt's place in Bellary. Being brought up on a diet of sambar and koora (dry vegetable curry), with an occasional biryani thrown in for the sake of Hyderabad, we hadn't been exposed to the finer side of  South Indian cuisine very much! This aunt, Meera kaaki, was one of those very painstaking cooks who MUST get it right - and boy, did she! 

Oops, i still haven't told you what this thing is, right? It's Tamil name is kuzhi paniyaram but i much prefer the hilariously descriptive Telugu version - ' guntha ponganaalu' - literally - ' the thing which swells in the hole'!!!!

Meera kaaki served it with the most awesome peanut chutney and i tried for years before finally cracking it! Being the nutrition conscious niece of Malathi Mohan, i had to find ways to make it lower in fat and here's my version.

The picture, btw, was part of, operative words, being 'part of' Kanchana's brekker today - the other parts consisting of a large bowl of leftover pasta and Boost as a pre-breakfast 'digestive'! The post breakfast thing you see on the plate is a glass of banana mango milk shake - and no, this is NOT my biggest glass! I had to put in a tiny glass (my share) to fit the whole thing in the frame!

Let's get to the matter though!

Guntha ponganalu with peanut-mint chutney :

Dosa batter - well, if you have a family with a large appetite, about 8 to 10 cups. For normal human beings 1 or 2 cups should suffice!

Ponganala pan - here's a picture - 

ponganaalu pan..

Oil - a couple of tsps.

To make the ponganaalu, heat the pan on the stovetop on medium heat, add a few drops of to each of the holes and swirl around. Lower heat, pour in enough batter into each hole till it's almost at the brim. Cover and cook on a low flame till the appams swell ( get it??) and the batter draws away from the sides. Test by peeking under one - with a skewer, silly - till they're golden brown. This should take about 3 minutes. Turn over each appam and let cook, uncovered for a further two minutes. 

Peanut and mint chutney:

Peanuts (surprise!) - 1/2 cup

Mint - 1 cup

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

in the roasting..

Chana dal (bengal gram) - 1 tbsp

Urad dal - 1 tbsp

Asafoetida - 1 lump about the size of a chana dal

Green chilies - 3

Red chilies - 3-4 - believe me, the kick is worth it!

Tamarind or tamarind paste - 1 tsp

Jaggery - 1 1/2 tsp

Salt - about 1/2 tsp

Coconut grated - 1 to 2 tbsp.

Cabbage - shredded - 1/2 cup - this recipe actually calls for more coconut but i have substituted a lower cal option. You are free to choose to pile 'em on but jes' giving a statutory warning here!

Sesame oil - preferred - but can do with any other oil too - no, no, Arch NOT diesel oil!

Heat oil in a saucepan, add asafoetida and peanuts and roast for 3-4 minutes till the peanuts smell 'roasty '. Add the mustard, let 'em pop, add the rest of the ingredients except the jaggery and stir fry on a high flame for about 3-4 minutes. Switch off, add jaggery and grind to a rough paste adding about 1/2 glass water - makes a thick, 'sitting-on-the-plate' and not 'me-running-behind-to-catch-it' kind of consistency!

Dat's it! Eat! And tell what you think..  ;) 

 And finally, ta-da -                     the first batch of Kanch's breakfast!

New brides and strange foods

Twenty nine years ago and counting, I'd come to Madras as a new bride, entering a new home and a new culture and many strange new foods i'd never heard of, much less encountered! 

Some i took to my heart some i preferred to meet just occasionally and some - topping this last list is something called 'maahaani' in Tamil and Malayalam and sarsaparilla in English ( always wondered how something so stomach-churningly smelly could have such a pretty name, conjuring up rose arbors , lavender sachets in frilly lace and peaches and cream and all things nice!) which i'd prefer to keep out of my life and my kitchen altogether! 

Ouch - all you maahaani lovers out there, don't throw stuff at me - i can't actually keep it out as in OUT coz' of a maahaani-loving husband - sigh....

One of the dishes i grew to like and make frequently is something called 'kosu molagootal' - ok, the cat's outta the bag, i'm married to a Palakkad Iyer! Kosu (pronounced with and elongated 'o' is cabbage as opposed to "kosu" pronounced with a shortened 'o' which is the byproduct of eating too much chana and is guaranteed to clear the space around you in seconds!) p.s. - let you in on a secret - i mixed these up many times in the process of learning Tamil, resulting usually in much hilarity!

Molagootal - i am informed - is a 'kootu' made without pepper (i.e molagu vittitu panninadu - made leaving out pepper - weird way of naming a dish by mentioning that which is left out - rather like he-who-shall-not-be-named). This is one injunction i prefer to ignore because just 4 or 5 peppercorns added to molagootal elevate it mightily! 

Here goes my version:

1. Cabbage - chopped fine -  2 cups
2. Green peas - 1 tbsp (optional)
3. Cooked tuvar or moong dal - 1 cup
4. Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
5. 2 small red chillies
6. 1 tsp + 1/2 tsp urad dal 
7. 1 tsp + 1/2 tsp  jeera                                    
8. 4-5 peppercorns                                           
9. Grated fresh coconut                                    (mine's fresh from the freezer ;)
10. 1 tsp coconut oil
11. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
12. Salt to taste
13. Curry leaves to garnish + 1 pinch hing

Cook cabbage and green peas with the turmeric till almost done (in an iron kadhai if you have one. no? go buy one!). In a separate saucepan, heat 1/2 tsp coconut oil and fry the red chillies, 1 tsp each of jeera and urad dal and the pepper. Add coconut and switch off. Let it cool and grind to a fine paste using a little water. Add this past to the cooked vegetables and bring to the boil. Add cooked dal, simmer for 3-4 minutes to blend the dal and veg together and switch off. Heat the remaining 1/2 tsp oil and add mustard seeds, 1/2 tsp each of urad dal and jeera and curry leaves and hing powder. Switch off when seasoning is ready and drop into the dal. 

Molagootal is now ready!

Very simple, very low on fat, high on veggies and very tasty. Serve with rice, a salad and a pickle. 

Jokes apart, Palghat does have a very healthy cuisine - that should keep hubby quiet for a while- along with the molagootal!

Exams and apple crumbles..daughters and fans!

Kanch goes in for a NESTA exam today - that's the US certification exam to become a fitness trainer (phew, my daughter, just imagine - considering i barely know my toes from my fingers when i'm asked to bring the two together ;)!

Excited call about a couple of hours later saying she's passed - obviously being the mom that i am and the daughter that she is - my thoughts of celebration turn instantly to food - what shall i make ???

Open the fridge and stare at it for a while before registering a few cubes of cheese, maamidi taandra (aam paapad) and assorted vegetables - none of which look particularly celebratory to me. Panic- till i sight some..many apples! Apple crumble - quick and delicious and easy enough to whip up so she can walk into a house filled with the smell of cinnamon and baking - yay!

Start coring the apples - completely forgot to peel them, btw! - and my thoughts zing back some 4 decades and my mother's first attempts at baking. Mom, while not very skilled - was an adventurous soul, if nothing else and we've eaten many a strange result of one of those 'adventures'! Still alive to tell the tale. Back in the sixties and seventies, pre-internet and almost pre-cookbooks (okay, okay, prehistoric if you must say so!), there were very few home bakers and recipes were passed around carefully and preciously. My mother, being crock-full of confidence, disdained pieces of paper and preferred to commit recipes to an uncertain memory ;) 

She comes back from work one day with a recipe (mindmap!) for apple pie that she'd overheard an Anglo-Indian friend of hers discussing with another friend. Since her mind was at the same time, a bit preoccupied with breech presentations and caesarian sections, she decided to gloss over the parts that she had missed out on. The result was a lumpy thing that fell apart when you tried to pick it up! Mom decided that merely slicing apples was too easy to be quite right so she ground them up. Then again, just 50 or was it 100 gm of butter - couldn't be quite right, right? Let's slather it on!  I remember feeding bits of apple pie to Tommy, the dog (mentioned earlier in these chronicles), and Tommy being gloriously sick the next day.

Let's hope this apple crumble doesn't have the same effect on you ;)

1. Apples - don't forget to peel and core - 6 - slice and squeeze juice of about 1/2 a lemon to prevent them from discolouring
2. Sugar - 3/4 cup
3. Oats - 1/2 cup
4. Flour (maida) - 2 tbsp
5. Cold Butter - 3 tbsp
6. Cinnamon powder - 1/2 tsp

Whizz all ingredients from 2 to 6 in a mixie till the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs and is not wet.

Layer in a flan dish and sprinkle oats mixture in top. Bake at 200 C for 25-30 minutes till done and the crust is golden.

Serve with whipped cream. Well, ice cream if you must but it's not a patch on the real stuff..

Wet Monday mornings and conversions

Now we've spent much of Sunday in making rasam powder, yes? Hope you've made enough rasam for Monday too coz we here are about to be beamed up to an elevated level - a rasam based dish. First, we start with picking out the pieces of pineapple you put in yesterday and realised you didn't REALLY care for at all!! (jes' kidding, we are quite sure you loved them, it's only that pesky 4 year old of yours who didn't like them!)

I've been watching Masterchef Oz for years with great relish and Masterchef USA ( a very second rate show - food and drama wise!) when Oz gets over and I really have nothing else to watch - sad state of affairs...and i kept dreaming about making this dish till......i finally did!

Tiny rice kozhakottais with rasam.

4 cups rasam

¾ cups rice flour

1 cup plus 2 tbsp of water

1 tsp gingelly oil

1 fried curd chili crumbled (mor mozhaga/               

 majjiga mirapakaaya)- optional

½ tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp chana dal

1 tsp urad dal

1 large pinch jeera

1 large pinch hing pwd

½ green chilli – chopped

Curry leaves – 1 sprig

Salt

Method: Heat oil in a pan and add mustard, wait till it splutters, add all the other ingredients except rice flour and water. Add water and salt (go easy with this coz the chilis are salted already) and pour in the rice flour, stirring all the while. Switch off and continue to stir till the rice forms a ball around the spoon. Let cool a bit and then shape into tiny balls – about the size of the small marbles (golis). Place in a greased colander and steam for 7-8 mins on high till soft but springy.

To serve, pour rasam in each bowl and add  about 7-8 kozhakottais to each serving. Top with coriander and serve.

And if like me, you are an Andhra who can't live without 'skin potato' curry, here's a variation:

Scrub and cube potatoes (death to those who peel them!) and roast over a slow flame with just hing, turmeric, salt and chili powder till you get a crisp curry. That's it! for the curry i mean. Add this curry into the rice mixture and then make balls and continue as you did before. You now have a gourmet Masterchef dish made from humble rice, potato and rasam. For those lazy bones who can't be troubled with all this - plain rice and roast potato curry with rasam will do!! And don't cry!

For those active bones who DID, in the elimination challenge - here's a 9 on 10 from each of the judges and off you go to the balcony! Oh, i forgot to add - a wet Monday morning in Madras is an inspiration to laziness ;)

Dad in the kitchen .....pineapple rasam

My dad wasn't very often in the front of the kitchen cooking, but what he did every single day was the backend work of chopping vegetables - and believe me - chopping veggies for a family of three hungry kids with, as often as not, a few guests thrown in for good measure, was no small task! Mum, despite being a doctor and working eight days a week, dad constantly touring on his engineering job, always seemed to find the time to welcome guests; very often guests came to stay for months on end - for medical treatment under Mummy's eye, for a holiday or generally because someone was out of a job and needed somewhere to park self and family till the next job turned up!

As kids, we loved it when guests came because there were always more kids to play with, fight with, make up with....woke up many mornings to find a few extra heads on the pillow next to me....and the excitement of waiting for these many cousins to wake up so we get down to the serious business of playing...

Today, i wonder how these many mouths got fed by mom and dad with their extremely busy schedules...I remember once an uncle coming with his family of five to stay with us for several months because he had a brain tumour and was being operated on. My mother was very tied up with her work at the hospital and it was one of those times when the cook had decided to take a holiday! Daddy got into the act, hitching up his lungi, tying a make do turban (towel!) around his head and chopping and cooking away with zest!

All that thunder and lightning - literally because my dad would sing loudly and tunelessly through this whole operation while our dog Tommy howled alongside - either in harmony or despair at my dad's singing! - enough indeed to produce a nawabi feast - was needed to make saaru (rasam) - that his mom- my appamma- was justifiably famous for!

Here's my appamma's rasam - my addition is pineapple - to satisfy family's sweet cravings! The most important ingredient is the rasam powder - which MUST be made like this ONLY - if you want the rasam gods to smile on you, that is!!

Rasam powder (saarin  podi):

• Chili powder - 2 measures ( my measure is abt 1/2 cup)
• Dhania - 2.5 measures
• Pepper - 1/2 measures
• Jeera - 1/2 measure
• Methi seeds - 1/4 measure
• Mustard - 1/8 measure
• Curry leaves - 1 measure - washed and dried
• Asafoetida - 2 lumps the size of tamarind seeds
• Home made ghee (i buy butter and make ghee)

Roast each of these ingredients (except chili powder) separately (i never said it was going to be easy!) on a low flame in a few drops of ghee each.

Cool and powder to reasonable fine powder in the mixie, adding the chili powder. This quantity lasts for about a month for a family of 4.

Now to the actual rasam itself - which is simplicity itself.

• Two ripe tomatoes - preferably the sourer country variety - chunked and crushed
• Tamarind paste - 1 flattened teaspoon (or to translate from Telugu 'thala kottesi'- head lopped off!)
• Cooked toor dal - 2 tablespoons
• Turmeric - 1 large pinch.
• Jaggery - 1/2 tsp
• Rasam powder - 3 tsps
• Salt
• Water - 3 cups
• Pineapple pieces - optional

Boil the tomatoes, tamarind paste and water. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for about 5 minutes more. By now you should be fainting  with the heavenliness of the aroma and everyone in the house should be coming around to sniff and ask when lunch is going to be ready ;)

Switch off. Garnish with coriander.

Tadka - 1 tbsp ghee, 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, 1/4 tsp cumin seeds, a pinch of hing and a sprig of curry leaves.

Bask as the compliments roll in ;)

Rasedaar Thurai - and in simplicity lies .......great taste!

When i was growing up, Beerakai (the Telugu name for Thurai/ Thori/ Ribbed or Ridged gourd, Peerkanka)was one of those things that appeared on the table at the end of the month when budgets were running tight, our piggy banks were being raided (always returned with interest by an overly conscientious mother!!) to last till payday came around. We loved it when Mummy 'borrowed' money from us - after what can quite equal the thrill to an 8-year old of 'lending a tanner' to an adult and seeing it returned with an additional buck or two?!  

Nothing quite exemplifies the Indian maxim by which generations grew up - 'cheap and best' as the humble gourds. Up to 90 % water, packed with vitamins and trace minerals, they are also a dieter's dream, as I discovered after I grew up.

Like many other gems of wisdom, common sense (are they really different??) and simplicity, this recipe was taught me by a very dear friend from Rajasthan.

• Thurai or ridged gourd - 2 large, fresh one. - Peel (reserve peel for chutney) and cube
• 1 tsp ghee                                                 
  
• 1.5 tsp dhania powder
• 1 tsp jeera powder
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 large pinch asafoetida
• Kasuti methi - 1 large pinch
• Salt 
• 1/2 cup milk 
• green coriander - to garnish

Heat ghee gently in a saucepan and add all the powdered masalas and hing. Stir for a minute but do not burn - either self or masalas ;)

Add cut vegetables along with a tablespoon of water and cook, covered on a low flame, stirring occasionally till the vegetables are tender. Add kasuti methi and milk and switch off. Garnish with coriander and serve with phulkas - makes a filling but very light meal.

And if you insist on adding the calories, substitute the milk with cream - but STATUTORY WARNING : watch what it does to the hips!!!

Diet soup

Me? Diet? Naaaah! No way! Nada. Period

Was what I used to think till even a couple of years ago – I pooh-poohed all diets,  maintaining with great pride L that I needed my three square meals a day! Yes, till last year when my weighing scale kept insisting on telling me the truth about the needle pointing ever northward!

Lots of research about diets, I decided to improvise my own – based on the two days a week semi fast. It was difficult to feel full on the supposed 500 calories a day so obviously MUCH improvising happened! Here is the result of one such. I make a large 1.5 litre pot of soup with many goodies in it and eat that through the day whenever I’m hungry – which is still most of the time. Interspersed with glasses of buttermilk (which, btw is counted a zero-cal food- yay!!), it keeps me happy J

Here’s the soup:

• Ooty double beans – 1.5 cups – I use the fresh ones when available or rehydrate the dried one when not.
• ½ cup chopped shallots
• 1 large carrot – cut into cubes
• 1 knolkhol – cubed
• Green beans – de-string and snap into two – 1 cup
• Tomatoes – chopped – 2
• Capsicum and zucchini – ½ cup each - cubed
• 1 pod garlic - optional - chopped
• Oil – 1 tsp
• Rosemary, sage and oregano – 1 large pinch each
• Fresh mint leaves – 2 tbsp
• Salt and pepper

Saute the shallots and garlic  in a pressure cooker in the oil till golden brown. Add the beans and cook for 2-3 whistles. Switch off, let the pressure release, add the rest of the ingredients except the capsicum and zucchini. Simmer till vegetables are still a bit crunchy. Add the capsicum and zucchini and continue to cook till just done – about 3 minutes more. Switch off, garnish with mint and eat for the rest of the day.

End of day, get on the scales and if you haven’t lost weight, you’ve been eating chocolate cake!!!Cheater!

Winter root  vegetables pickle

A few years ago, when my daughter Archana was studying in Delhi, I decided I wanted o experience a “Delhi winter” – that everyone seems so scared of. So off we went – realizing another long-cherished dream – to do a journey across India by train. Nursing hangovers from a well-partied New Year’s, we caught a train from Chennai Central and steamed ( I know, I know – electric engines don’t steam but then steam is sooooo romantic!) into Delhi some 36 hours later – 4 hours late and completely, blindingly smogged out.  It WAS cold, but not bone-chillingly so and coming from the city of hot-hotter-hottest seasons (aka Chennai), the cold was refreshing!

Over the next week, we ‘did’ Delhi – from Hauz Khas to Akshardham to Lotus Temple to Haldiram’s. Two of my favourite memories, though – are of eating huge jalebis in Chandni Chowk and the sheer heavenliness of “Paranthe wali galli”.

Arch and I sit down in this tiny joint which looks like it can’t hold more than four diners at a pinch and miraculously seems to hold at least twenty!  Opposite the bench on we sat, sharing a table with us, was a couple of sisters-in-law – who ordered something called ‘paapad ke parathe’. She must have seen me look surprised ‘cause the next thing was her hospitably sharing her paratha with me when I said I hadn’t even heard of such a thing! Maybe it was that spontaneous gesture of hospitality but along with the asli ghee ke fumes, I was soon encased in a warm and loving fug..

Artery-clogging (am sure there must be a self-cleansing mechanism in there) parathas arrived with the most fabulous carrot pickle and dahi. Very soon, like Oliver Twist, I was asking for mo’e. And then, this little boy, a server, takes my plastic pickle bowl, opens a large jar of pickles, puts his whole hand in and then takes out a fistful of carrot pickle! My hygiene-conscious heart nearly gave up it’s ghost that day but my tummy shushed it!

Here it is – my take on gajar ka achar with winter root vegetables:

·         Carrot – 1 large

·         Turnip –2 tender ones

·         Radish (preferably the red variety) – 1 tender

·         Knolkhol – 1

·         Mustard powder – 1.5 tbsp

·         Chili powder – 1.5 tsp

·         Turmeric – ½ tsp

·         Kasaundi paste – 1 tsp (optional – for extra mustardiness)

·         Salt – about ¾ tsp

·         1 large pinch asafoetida

·         Gingelly or mustard oil – 2 tbsp

·         Juice of 2 lemons

Pick the tenderest and freshest of winter root vegetable. Wash, dry and peel. Cut into thin slivers – about an inch long and 3 mm square. Toss all the ingredients together and leave to infuse for a couple of hours. This pickle can be refrigerated for upto a week. Serve as a side with paranthas.

A paean to perugannam

My go-to comfort food for more decades than I care to remember – it never fails to “settle” me – whether the organ that needs to be “settled” is my tummy or my soul!

Truly soul food, this was my mother’s – and my beautiful, soft and cuddly ammamma’s, always smelling of some mild perfume that she had, mantra for all ills. I am sure that they must have made me eat chaarannam (rasam and rice) when I had a fever, but my memories of comfort will always be tied up with ammamma’s soft- as- butter skin and the wonderful, soft white perugannam that she mixed with so much love.

I always thought I made a pretty mean perugannam myself, till I visited one of the temples deep in the South where curd rice is offered as prasadam and then – I tasted divinity!

A little judicious (and friendly!) overtures to the officiating priest resulted in him calling out to the cook to come and meet this woman who was in awe of his prasadam!

Some friendly banter and exchange of family histories later (and here I will give full credit to a hubby who is as patient as they come!), I had the recipe for ambrosia in my hands!

Here goes:

·         Hot, soft cooked rice – 2 cup (not Basmati but either Ponni or jeera samba or any of the short grained Indian varieties)

·         1 tbsp table butter

·         Cold milk – 1 cup

·         Fresh curd – 2 cups

·         1 tbsp ghee

·         Salt

·         Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

·         Urad dal – 1 tsp

·         Asafoetida – 1 large pinch

·         Curry leaves – 2 sprigs

·         1 green chili – finely chopped

·         Finely chopped cucumber  - 2 tbsp – optional

·         Chopped coriander – 1 tbsp

·         Seedless green grapes – 1 cup (optional but yum!)

Mash the butter into the hot rice along with the salt. Heat the ghee in a pan and mustard, wait till it pops. Add urad, green chili, ginger and curry leaves. Pour over the rice.

Add milk a little at a time and mix till the temperature of the rice comes down to warm. Mix in the curd a little by little. The end product should be of soft, dropping consistency.  Add the coriander. Add cucumber pieces. Add more milk and curd if needed.  Rest for about an hour.

Dot with grapes….

The food of the gods!