Moar Canerik Oorugai - Canerik Fruit Pickle

By the beginning of this year, Aparna initiated the 52 WEEKS OF FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY 2018 group on Facebook to have interactive discussions on food photography. Members of the group post pictures under a given theme every week and share it on their social media networking spaces, blog, Instagram and such. I joined the group sometime later and keep sharing my pictures too for weekly themes. One such theme was SEASONAL FRUIT/VEGETABLE. It was around the beginning of summer season, so we had a variety of spring - summer produce to photograph.
On one of my weekly runs to the supermarket here, I found on their refrigerated vegetable aisle, small boxes of a very green fruit. The label read JANEREK. I did not know what the fruit was and quickly clicked a picture of the fruit and label with the phone to look it up later at home. I found that they were Canerik fruits, particularly short seasonal fruits. There was an informative blog post about the fruit that tempted me to purchase a box from the market.

It was very interesting to know that they were a special kind of plum, green in colour and is a native of Asia Minor region. My friend Niv found that they are also called greengage plums. They had a tart taste and were consumed dipping the erik in salt in Turkey, very similar to the Indian gooseberry. They had a firm texture and a brighter green colour, with a plum like seed within. The taste was so similar to the gooseberry and left a cool after feel when you drank some water soon after eating the fruit.
Having bought the fruit that was so sharp in taste that you felt a shock running along the upper jaw right up to your ears, I was left to look for ways to use them. I was discussing this with my mother and she suggested that I could make canerik rice, just like amla rice or lemon rice. That gave me the idea of  making a pickle with the fruit.
When it comes to pickles, my selection is very limited and one of the pickles I really enjoy is the nellikkai oorugai, the Indian gooseberry pickle. One particular way of pickling is to cook the gooseberry to just about soft and add it to curds with other condiments. This way the pickle needs just a day or two for curing. It does not have a long shelf life and has to be finished quickly. So it is always made in small batches unlike the whole amla in brine and the thokku.
I made the rice as suggested by my mother and made this pickle too. I went back to purchase another lot just to make yet another batch soon after I had finished, lest the fruit goes off season.

Moar Canerik Oorugai - you will wonder if it is thayir nellikkai oorugai :)

Ingredients:
(Makes a small batch about 150 grams pickle)
15 Canerik fruits
1/2 cup curd whisked well
3 green chillis
2 tablespoons gingelly oil
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
Salt to taste (I use coarse Himalayan pink salt)

Method:
Wash the canerik fruits well and pat them dry. Let them dry on a spread cloth for a few minutes.
Chop each fruit roughly, leaving the seeds attached to some of the pieces.
Wash, dry and chop the green chillis.
Whisk the curd well and smooth. Keep aside.
Heat the oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. Once they crackle, add the green chillis and saute them for a while.
Add the salt and the cut fruit pieces. Cook until the fruit is just about soft. When you try to press hard between your fingers, you should feel some resistance before the fruit breaks. Do not cook it to a mush.
Allow this to cool well.
Add the whisked curds to the cooled fruit and chilli mixture and mix well.
Transfer to a clean glass or ceramic bowl or bottle.
Allow a day for the flavours to blend and the pickle is ready.

This pairs well with curd rice.
Try to consume the pickle within a week or can go up to another two days. If the curd gets consumed, you can top it with some more whisked curds to the pickle.

Poondu Mandi Kuzhambu - Spicy Garlic Gravy

On our recent visit to our daughter, we chanced to have lunch in an Indian restaurant that listed many Chettinad type of dishes in their menu. While we all ordered, the staff who served tried to detail to us about their dishes. I had then wanted to try their Poondu Kuzhambu that he suggested to have with steamed rice. That tasted very good and they willingly adjusted the spice level to our liking. Their serving portion was quite large and we packed the same with us.
This was a unique preparation that uses charred tomatoes as base and the water we usually discard after rinsing rice, the 'mandi' or 'kazhuneer' (as in rinsed starchy residue from cleaning rice) to tcook the gravy.
We liked it so much that we wanted to try making the same at home. I checked with a few friends who are from Chettinad, for the recipe. One of them guided me to a blog that had authentic Chettinad style poondu kuzhambu, but it was not the same. I found a video of the preparation, which was nearly the same; it had shallots in the recipe, which was not in the dish we had tasted. I then formulated my own recipe for the kuzhambu and tried to replicate the dish that we had tasted in the restaurant. I share that here today. This may not be an authentic recipe from the region, but a delicious dish, nonetheless.

Mandi is the residual water while rinsing and cleaning rice. Give one brisk rinse in the first round, not removing much starch away. Wash your second and third rinses thoroughly getting as much starch residue as possible. You need to collect this rinse in a bowl. The residue of rice starch will settle on the bottom of the bowl. You may not need all of the water. Carefully, strain some liquid without pouring away the 'mandi’. I will refer to this liquid (kazhuneer) as mandi in the recipe.

Poondu Mandi Kuzhambu

Ingredients:
(makes 400 ml medium thick kuzhambu/ served us 4 good servings)
15 cloves of garlic
3  medium tomatoes
(if possible, char the tomatoes over a low flame and remove the charred skin. Not compulsory, but the taste is enhanced. I used the roti jali as mine had small perforations) (otherwise sauté the tomatoes in a pan to a coarse pulp)
1 medium red onion sliced finely
1 &1/2 cup +1/4 cup mandi (divided)*
2 tablespoons gingelley oil / nallennai
1/2 tablespoon coriander powder
1/8 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 tablespoons raw peanuts (optional and you may replace by cooked chick peas)
Salt to taste

Grinding spices:
Soak in the *1/4 cup mandi the following for 10 minutes and then grind to a paste using the mandi (you may use some more from the 1&1/2 cups, if needed)
4 cloves garlic
4-5 dry red chillis (depending on heat of the chillis) (the kuzhambu is a slightly spicy dish)
1 small gooseberry size tamarind ( if the tomatoes are too sweet, up this a little)

While grinding, half way through, add the coriander powder and the tomatoes. Grind them to a smooth, thick liquid pulp. Keep aside.

Tempering:
 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds and curry leaves ; no mustard seeds are added
(since the cumin seeds are added in the beginning, it does not require extra oil)
Method:
Heat the oil in a heavy bottom pan. Add the cumin seeds. Toss a bit and add the cloves of garlic and sliced red onion. Sauté until onions are  transparent.
Add the peanuts (or chick peas)
Stir the mandi to mix the sedimented rice starch to a uniform liquid.
Add salt , turmeric powder and 1 cup of the mandi, cover and cook until the garlic are soft.
Add the ground pulpy mixture, adjust the liquid by adding some more mandi.
Simmer the kuzhambu for about 15 minutes so the raw taste of garlic, tamarind and red chillis in the liquid subside. 
Add the rest of the mandi and cook further  until the kuzhambu has thickened.

Add the curry leaves and chopped fresh coriander leaves to garnish.
Serve with hot steamed rice or as a side dish for Dosais and Idlis. This kuzhambu can be kept over and had for another day also. If refrigerated it can be kept for up to three days. To reheat, you may add some more of the rice rinsed water or plain water which will thin the consistency a bit.

Chinna Vengayam Pulikaichchal

Few days ago I picked up a big bunch of shallots, yes you heard it right, bunch - because the vendors gather them with lot of their dried stem roots still attached to the bulb and make a bunch. That is how they are sold in the local markets here. The shallots made a very colourful subject to photograph. I had just then got a wood carving man to make me a small container of sorts with a piece of broken tree branch. They both made a vibrant combination in the picture.

I shared the same on my Instagram feed and many suggestions were there to use them in delicious dishes. I cooked them in a few and was left with a rather large batch that I cannot finish before leaving for my holiday. I ended up making this pulikaichchal that is more preserve like and would stay fresh for days if refrigerated. It was reminded of this by my sister, who does not like and will not have onions and garlic; she would smell it however much we mask the taste.
My father's clients would bring produce from their farms and crops like groundnuts, tapioca and shallots used to be brought soon as they have been harvested. They will still be wet and soil soaked and fresh. My mother would then simply spread them on a newspaper in the corner of a room and use them in batches. She cleaned them as and when she was cooking them. She would often make this dish because it works well as a side for dosais, idlies, pongal and also rice. Painful as it may seem to peel and cut those fresh pungent shallots, the taste of the dish makes it all worth the effort.
When we did not have a refrigerator also, this dish used to keep good for days together, provided we are not careless in the use of utensils and serving spoons. Cooking it in some stoneware utensil will add to the flavour and one might simply store in the same too. I have, with me here, a very heavy bottomed stainless steel pan that is ideal to cook on even heat and slow cooking happens easily.




Chinna Vengayam Pulikaichchal 
 

Ingredients:
Makes 300 ml of pulikaichchal
200 grams of shallots/ Madras onions/chinna vengayam
2&1/2 tablespoons tightly packed tamarind bits
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/4 teaspoon asafoetida powder (or a 1/2 centimeter square of asafoetida dissolved in little water)
1 heaped tablespoon coarse crystal salt (I use pink Himalayan salt) (adjust to taste)

1/4 cup gingelly oil (divided - to saute the onions and for cooking)

For the spice powder:
7-8 dry red chillis (adjusting to the level of heat tolerance and the heat of chillis)
(+3 Kashmiri chillis for the colour, because my red chillis are very brown)
3 &1/2 teaspoons coriander seeds
1 teaspoon channa dhal
2 teaspoons sesame seeds (white or black, cleaned)

For the tempering: 
1 teaspoon gingelly oil
2 teaspoons mustard seeds
1 teaspoon channa dhal
1 teaspoon urad dhal
2 dry red chillis broken in small bits
15 curry leaves washed clean

Method:
Soak the tamarind in water for about 20 minutes and extract the pulp. I repeat the process to extract all the pulp and the last batch of water does not even get the colour.
Dry roast the ingredients given for the spice powder, each separately and on low heat so they are evenly done. Cool them and make a coarse powder. Keep aside.
Peel the shallots and cut them in small pieces.
Heat a few spoons of the gingelly oil and add the onions. Saute them until they are translucent, not very brown.
Add the tamarind extract, turmeric powder and salt. Top up the water just a little more and cook on low heat, to remove the raw taste of tamarind.

When this is simmering, heat the oil for tempering in another pan and add the ingredients listed under there. Once the mustard seeds have crackled and the dhals are golden, transfer this to the simmering mix.
Add the rest of the oil and the spice powder.
Cook for some more minutes blending them well.
Allow it to simmer and the oil will separate forming a layer over the pulikaichchal.
Remove from the stove and let it cool.

Transfer to clean glass bottles or bowls with lids for storing.
Serve as a side dish with dosais, idlis, pidi kozukkattais and arisi upma. You can mix with steamed hot rice and eat as a dish by itself too.

Narthangai Gojju

At home, along with other pickles we had a stock of salt soaked and sun dried citron pickle, always in store. This was because, the fruit is said to have among many health benefits, high vitamin C content. Citrons are used to treat sickness, nausea and many more minor ailments. A small piece of the dry pickle is given with directions to chew and suck the juice in. This pickled citron pieces were dark brown in colour and leather like in texture. They preserved well as they were dry. So keeping stock of them was easy.

We were home in December when all my paternal uncles and aunts were also with us for ceremonies held at home. One aunty from the extended family had sent a few pickles and preserves for my mother sometime ago. Some powdered curry leaves that were added to other spices and rolled, Indian sarasaparilla root pickle and narthangai gojju/ citron preserve were all in bottles on the table handy. With every meal, I watched my aunts enjoying generous servings of the narthangai gojju. My curiosity was piqued and I tasted a small spoon of it. The blend of tangy tamarind, the slight bitterness from the citron rind, heat from the chillis and the sweet from the jaggery were all quite favourable.

My aunts were asking my sister to fetch the recipe as she was visiting the person who sent it. She relayed the recipe to all of us and I had a mental note of it.
When I returned to Accra, where you can pick citrons from every street vendor, I bought just one, medium fruit to try this recipe. I have used only part of the fruit in this recipe because we rarely consume pickles. I have used mostly the zest and rind having removed most of the pulp and all of the seeds.

Gojju is a dish in which certain vegetables like ladies finger/ okra, capsicum, onions, tomatoes and even green chillis. When I picked up loads of green chillis from my home garden I made the milagai gojju.
Gojju is a sweet-sour and spice blend dish with any of these vegetables and few others too in it. It is often had as a side dish and goes well with kozukkattais, adai, dosais and also steamed hot rice with a generous spoonful of ghee or gingelly oil.

Narthangai Gojju 

Ingredients:
Makes 1 and 1/2 cups gojju

1 cup finely chopped citron
7-11 dry red chillis (depending on the heat and level of spice required)
3 green chillis
1 tablespoon tightly packed tamarind
4-5 teaspoons of powdered jaggery
1 &1/2 teaspoons coarse sea salt (I use Himalayan salt. You may use table salt also.)(adjust to taste)
1/4 teaspoon asafoetida powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
5 tablespoons gingelly oil

For tempering:
1 teaspoon gingelly oil reserved from the above
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
10-12 fresh curry leaves

Method:
Wash the citron fruit well and pat it dry. Cut and squeeze out the juice which can be used in other cooking or making a drink. Remove seeds and some of the juice sacs. Chop the rest of the fruit finely to get 1 cup full of zest and rind.
Reserve one teaspoon of gingelly oil for tempering later.
Place a heavy bottomed utensil on heat and add 2 tablespoons of oil. When the oil is hot, drop the citron pieces and cook them, tossing them at regular intervals until they are soft and you are able to crush a piece to almost a pulp between fingers. Add the tturmeric powder and asafoetida powder.
While the narthangai is getting cooked, pulse the tamarind, salt, dry red chillis and the green chillis to a fine powder in a spice blender.When the narthangai is soft, the oil might separate. At this point add the powdered spices blend and top up with another tablespoon of oil. Cook this for a further 7 - 10 minutes in the oil. Then add half a cup of water and cook on low heat allowing it to simmer. The raw taste of the spices should go.

Meanwhile, dissolve the jaggery in little water and strain out the impurities.
Add this jaggery water to the cooking narthangai.
If required, add some more water, just so not to burn the mass.
When the gojju has thickened, add the rest of the oil and cook until oil separates and floats on the top.
Remove from the heat.
In another bowl, heat the reserved one spoon of oil. Add the mustard seeds and when they crack, add the curry leaves. Toss them a bit and transfer this tempering to the gojju.
Allow the gojju to cool down and transfer to a clean storing bottle or bowl.

This gojju stays well outside of refrigeration for a fortnight to 20 days and inside the fridge for longer.
Enjoy this hot, sour and sweet gojju just as you would any chutney or pickle.

Ready To Make - Moar Kuzhambu - Powdered Mix

Sometimes when I travel and my husband has to manage his meals, I try to make it easier for him to fix something, lest he skips his meal. I had tried part cooking and freezing foods which seemed quite handy. Then he found that if I post instructions, that might help him cook a few dishes. Thus, my counter top and refrigerator door would be filled with notes. He had managed very well that he would even grind his batter, make dhal and sambhar.
While I wrote some recipes for my daughter, she still had to juggle time with the demanding coursework and assignments; it was getting harder to cook something elaborate. Soon both of my nephews were also going away from home and were left to manage cooking for themselves.
It was then, my mother tried to coax us to make some ready to cook meals ideas. We had found that making the packaged dosa, upma mixes were easy to make at home. It took us some trials and misses to make them have longer shelf life. Thus, our puliogere ready mix and adai mix took shape. Little more experimenting lead to moar kuzhambu mix and  an 'all - in - one - sambhar mix'. This moar kuzhambu mix is a very quick dish that you cook the vegetable and mix this powder to the whisked curd. Give it a boil and add some tempering. So easy!

Update: (Updated on 7th May 2018)
This powder stays fresh over a year even at room temperature. We had made this batch last year in May and I had carried with me a portion. i just finished my last tablespoon full ready mix powder today.

Ready To Make - Moar Kuzhambu - Powdered Mix

Ingredients:
Makes 5 standard cups of powder
200 ml / heaped 3/4 cup+1 tablespoon fresh grated coconut
125 ml / heaped 1/2 cup raw rice
250 ml / heaped 1 cup / 250grams pack channa dhal / Bengal gram / split chickpeas
250 ml / heaped 1 cup / 250 grams pack thuvar dhal / split pigeon peas
70 ml / heaped 1/4 cup cumin seeds
30 ml/ 2 tablespoons coriander seeds
16 -20 dried green chillis* (1&1/2 inches long and slightly high on heat)
60 ml / level measured 1/4 cup salt
5 ml / 1 teaspoon asafoetida
About 1/3 cup dried curry leaves**

Method:
*To get dry green chillis, wash them, remove the stem and pat them dry. Spread them on a very flat dish / paper / cloth and leave them to dry for a few days. Once they are dry, they become brittle, but the green colour is just about faded. They stay well for over a month and will retain the spice level.

** The curry leaves can be dried after separating them, washed and spread between layers of cloth in the sun. Or you may choose to oven roast dry leaves until they are brittle.

To make the powder, dry roast over a low the coconut until the moisture is gone and the coconut is dry. Do not roast it to turn shade over the white. transfer to a dish and allow to cool.
Then dry roast separately over low - medium heat  the dhals, rice, coriander seeds and cumin seeds until they are just about hot. Take care that they do not over roast. (When grinding for moar kuzhambu normally the ingredients are soaked and ground raw, so we do not over do the roasting here).
Transfer them to another dish.
Finally roast the sea salt until it turns pink and transfer to this dish.
Allow them all to cool.
Pulse all the said ingredients leaving out the coconut until they are a coarse powder, add the coconut and grind further to a powder that is not very fine.

Cool this and store in airtight containers. You may refrigerate this powder if the quantity is more. Usually, the mix stays well for two moths outside of refrigeration.

To make Moar Kuzhambu:
2 tablespoons of above powder
3 - 4 tablespoons thick, slightly sour curd
Vegetable of choice
2 teaspoons ghee /coconut oil for tempering
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
Few fresh curry leaves and fresh coriander leaves

Cook the vegetable and keep ready.
Mix the powder to the curd and whisk to blend them. Add another 1/3 cup of water.
Add the cooked vegetable and bring the moar kuzhambu to a boil.
Remove from the stove.

Heat the ghee / coconut oil in a small pan and add the mustard seeds. Allow them to crackle and add the tempering to the moar kuzhambu.

Let the kuzhambu cool down a bit before adding the curry leaves and the coriander leaves.
Enjoy the kuzhambu with steamed white rice or as a side dish for ven pongal.


 

Sundaikkai Gothsu - Turkey Berries and Onions Stew

It had been many years ago that I may have last tasted some of the vegetables that we had often been given in our childhood and until little older too. Most times greens, spinach and few other vegetables were grown in the home garden. Some yielded abundantly and my grandmother would share with the neighbours. They encouraged us to help around; we have helped making trellis for the beans and spinach, water the plants and such.The home patch yielded few varieties of vegetables that were locally easy to grow and many flowers. It now seems like ages ago and I had lost touch with such pleasures. Once we had a huge turkey berry plant and I remember that my mother cooked the berries in a stir fry kind of dish with lot of coconut and condiments.
When we set our house in Coimbatore, we laboured a bit and have a garden to show. The area has fertile soil and hence the garden thrives. few of the neighbours have fruit trees and flowering plants all in their glory. One of them has the turkey berry planted nearer to their front wall and thus as we pass by we get to see bunches of them in the plant. They have generously shared those with any of us who would cook them.
During the few months, I slowly settled in, the neighbours have pampered me to the point of being spoilt. Sometimes, most unexpectedly, someone would send me piping hot food just so I can cook only rice and such. That was when one of them sent me this tangy and spicy stew. It was lip smacking, finger licking delicious.
You might well imagine my delight when the other evening I spotted in the shop assistant's trolley these small packs of these berries labelled green eggplant. I read up later that these are the same family.

I picked up one pack and soon as I reached home, I shot a message to the lady to share her recipe. She promptly messaged the next morning and I waited for today to cook them.
I was chatting with my mother and gave her the small details in the recipe. she then informed me that her grandmother would cook the berries in similar dish adding her touch. That has to be another day and post to share that.

Sunadaikkai Gothsu
Recipe: Mrs. Padma Balu, my neighbour 

Ingredients:
Serves 4

1 cup / 250 ml Turkey berries/ Sundaikkai
1 cup finely chopped onions
6 tablespoons thick tamarind extract
Salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 tablespoons coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
6-8 dry red chillis
4 tablespoons fresh coconut scrapes
1&1/2 teaspoon powdered jaggery
1&1/2 teaspoon white sesame seeds
3 tablespoons gingelley oil or any cooking oil (divided)
2 teaspoons mustard seeds
Few fresh curry leaves
Coriander leaves ( I did not have any, so had not added)

Method:
Wash the turkey berries, place them in a plastic bag and give a few vigorous taps with a rolling pin. Alternately, place them in a stone mortar and crush the berries. they will break open and few seeds will be strewn. transfer the berries to a colander and clean wash the seeds away under running water.
In a heavy pan, dry roast the sesame seeds until golden brown and they start to pop. Cool and make a fine powder. Keep aside.
In the same pan dry roast the red chillis, cumin and coriander seeds until well roasted.
Add this to the coconut and grind to a slightly coarse paste. Keep aside.

Keep reserve about 2 teaspoons of the oil for the tempering. Add the rest of the oil to the cooking pan and heat. When the oil is hot, add the sliced onions and the berries. Cook them until the onions are transparent and the berries change to a pale green colour. Add the salt and turmeric powder and cook a bit longer.

Add the tamarind extract and cook on low flame until the raw taste of the tamarind subsides.
Add the jaggery and let it cook fora further 3 minutes.
Dilute the ground paste with some water and add to the stew.
Mix well, adjust the water and cook until a thick gravy is obtained.
Transfer to a serving dish.
To temper heat the reserved 2 teaspoons oil, add the mustard seeds and allow them to crackle. Toss the curry leaves and add the tempering to the gothsu.

 
Sprinkle the roasted sesame powder on top. This enhances the flavour.
Garnish with curry leaves and coriander leaves if you have  them.
serve the hot gothsu with steamed rice. It makes a good side for adai and venpongal also.

Ajwaini Aloo Mirch - With Love from Mother

Potatoes are a sure favourite vegetable; but, I do not cook them so often as my husband might like them to be. He would go 7 days a week, 365 days a year on potatoes. Moreover, I think potatoes are such versatile vegetable that anyone will cook no fail recipes with potatoes. I do not share many potato recipes for the simple reason that I may not be making them any differently, worthy to make a post.
This recipe is an exception to my above idea. The other day Niv had shared a photograph of a diary, her late mother had maintained, to write down recipes that might be of interest to her daughter. It was a touching gesture that her aunt and uncle had saved that over these years and handed it to her recently. The diary, Niv says, was a sort of record that her mother maintained when she was too weak to cook. She had copied recipes from everywhere, magazines, television and cookbooks that may interest her daughter.

Picture used with permission from Nivedita -Her mother's recipe diary.

The said photograph had an open page that had part of one recipe and only the list of ingredients of another. There was a tiny note above the list mentioning that it is a dry curry strongly flavoured with carom seeds. It caught my attention as I happened to have on hand all of the ingredients listed there. I had to just roughly work the procedure to make it a dish. I tried it on the same evening and made a mental note of the changes that I would make. Later again for lunch, while I made a single pot dish, this curry was made, this time with my take on it.

      
We liked the flavour of the carom seeds and the crunch from the part cooked bell peppers. Since I did not add garlic and also omitted the tomato ketchup, I added two green chillis and some chilli powder. It was a winner recipe with the potatoes absorbing the flavours and the tomatoes cooked until just about coating the potatoes. It is a must try recipe and a keeper at that.

Ajwaini Aloo Mirch - A Dry Curry
(Adapted from Niv's Mother's Diary)

Ingredients:
Serves 3
2 large potatoes
3 green bell peppers/ capsicums
2 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon carom seeds/ ajwain
5-6 cloves garlic (optional)
1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger
3 tomatoes/ about 250 grams - grind to a puree
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 teaspoon coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder
2 slit green chillis (not in the above list found in the picture)
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1 tablespoon tomato ketchup (optional; I have omitted)
Salt to taste
Fresh, chopped coriander leaves for garnish

Method:
Dice potatoes in slightly big chunks. Boil until you may be able to remove the peel. Toss the potatoes in some salt. Keep aside.
Cut the bell peppers in medium large pieces.
Puree the tomatoes and add to this the coriander powder, turmeric powder and garam masala powder.

Heat oil in a skillet and add the carom seeds. Then add the minced ginger and slit green chillis.
Drop the green peppers and toss them in oil for a few minutes. Do not over cook them so as to loose the crunch.
Add the potatoes and cook further so the carom seeds are coating the potatoes.
Pour the tomato puree in and adjust the salt to desired level. Cook the curry until the tomato puree has coated a dry layer over the vegetables.
I have not used garlic in this recipe. If you like to, you may add it along the chillis and ginger and toss them in oil. If using tomato ketchup, add it along with the puree and cook until almost dry.
Enjoy this as a side dish for rotis and phulkas.
I made a rice dish with chick peas masala and served this curry as a dry side dish for the same.

The above recipe makes a sumptuous serving for two and an extra serving for the potato loving man.

Paruppu Podi

It is rare that you do not find a small bottle with some 'podi', to mix with hot steamed rice, in my pantry. Hot rice, a generous spoonful of ghee or gingelly oil and to mix with it a 'podi', can be a 'go to comfort food' for me. 'Podi' is a powdered and spiced mix of dhals or other varieties. I stock up on thengai podi, sambharapuli, dry coriander powder, curry leaves powder regularly. My husband's favourite is though the simple paruppu podi.
Paruppu podi is an awesome mix needing just three or four ingredients other than salt, a roasting of ingredients for few minutes and grinding them down to a powder, is all the labour required
. I have read some recipes that use roasted gram along with the staple thuvaram paruppu/ thur dhal, while there can be an added flavour by adding garlic also. What I make is a simple version with just three ingredients and salt. While I like to eat my rice just with the podi and ghee, my husband likes to add some 'rasam' to moisten the otherwise dry dish. This podi has quite a shelf life and can be stored at room temperature. This is one easy spice mix to make and store.
Paruppu Podi

 

Yield: 150 grams of powder
Ingredients:
2/3 cup split pigeon peas/ thur dhal/ thuvaram paruppu
2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns
6-8 dry red chillis
1&1/2 teaspoon sea salt (Adjust as required or if using table salt)

 Method:
Dry roast on a medium flame the dhal until it is aromatic and slightly brown. Transfer to the grinding jar and allow to come to room temperature.
Dry roast the chillis until brittle and pepper to heat.
Also roast the salt until very warm to touch.
Add all of the roasted ingredients to the roasted dhal. Take it in a blender or spice mixer and grind to a somewhat smooth powder. It shall not be finely powdered, a little coarse texture is good.
 

Transfer to a storing bottle or jar.
Use as required.
Serve with hot rice and some ghee or gingelly oil.
My Legume Love Affair, the original idea initiated by Susan is now being taken on and hosted by Lisa. This 85th Edition of the same event is hosted by Jagruthi. I would love to send this to the same.

Tingmos - Tibetan Steamed Buns - We Knead to Bake 29

This month the We Knead to Bake Group ventured to make steamed buns from the Tibetan region.
Aparna decided that though we are a baking group, to try a yeasted steamed bun is not treading away from norm. Thus, we are here with savoury steamed buns that are soft and mildly flavoured. While the Tibetan cooking is generally mild it is normal that they partake the food accompanied by hot sauces and curries.
Tingmos or Tingmomos are savoury steamed buns that the Tibetans have with anything from curries to hot sauces along with food or just them. They could be dunked in soups and savoured too. These are usually made small as they are consumed as part of meal. A bigger bun could be quite filling by itself.
Tingmos are similar to the Chinese baozi or more familiarly bao, bau, bakpao, bausak, pow, pau or pao, a type of steamed, filled, bun, with much variation as to the fillings and the preparations depending on the specific Chinese cuisine. They are quite popular in the Indian state of sikkim that borders Tibet while you might chance to find them offered on the menu in other eateries throughout India along side momos.
The traditional tingmos does not use yeast. However, there are recipes that are made with yeast. One such recipe is what we have tried this time. The recipe has been adapted from Rick Stein's book titled "India". He describes the ting momos thus,

“spongy, slightly gelatinous little steamed Tibetan buns, pleasingly savoury with ginger, garlic, coriander and tomato. Rather irritatingly more-ish on their own, they’re addictive when dunked into a rich curry or the very yummy Tibetan red chilli sauce”.

This little bun is made and eaten in Tibet usually at breakfast with a rice porridge called dreythuk. They’re quite popular though with a very spicy red chilly dipping sauce called Sepen. They can also be served with soups or “curries”. When made and cooked properly, tingmos should be soft, fluffy and slightly chewy. They are made with or without the fillings too. we have tried the same with filling.

Here’s a useful video that shows Tingmos being made. 

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8OxkgWIV9E&feature=player_embedded )

Tingmos or Ting momos - Tibetan Steamed Buns

(Adapted from Rick Stein’s India - http://www.amazon.in/Rick-Steins-India-Stein/dp/1849905789 )

Ingredients:

Make 12 to 14 tingmos

For the dough:

1&1/2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon instant yeast

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 to 1/2 cup warm water (I needed more water to knead my dough, hence adjust as required)

1 teaspoon oil to coat the dough

For the filling:

1&1/2 teaspoon ginger paste or finely minced ginger

1 teaspoon garlic paste

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons fresh coriander

1/4 cup finely chopped spring onions greens and white bulbs

2 teaspoons oil

Method:

Make the dough first. Combine the flour, yeast, baking powder and salt in a bowl.

Make a well in the centre of the flour mix and add the warm water.

Knead to a soft, smooth dough adding more water (or flour) only as required. the dough shall not be sticky.

Roll the dough in a ball, coat all over by turning in oil. Place it in a bowl, covered loosely and allow it to double in its volume. This may take about 45 minutes to an hour.

Meanwhile, get the filling ready.

Heat oil in a pan and add the ginger and garlic paste. Saute' until the raw taste of garlic subsides (this step can be skipped if you do not mind the strong flavours). 

Remove from heat and allow to cool. mix in the spring onions and chopped coriander.

Once the dough is ready, turn it on to a lightly floured work surface.
Divide the dough in two equal portions.

Roll each in a rough rectangular shape that is 5 millimeteres thick.

Spread the filling over the surface and roll it along the length in a Swiss roll type of roll.

Cut out six or seven equal portions of the rolled dough.

Repeat the process with the second half of the dough.

Grease your steamer plate with some oil.

Place the rolled and cut buns on the steamer plate with the cut side facing up and down. place them well apart allowing space for them to expand while cooking.

Loosely cover the steamer plate and set aside for 15 minutes for the buns to expand in volume.

Keep water in the steamer and bring to a rolling boil.

Place the prepared steamer plate in the steamer, cover and steam the buns for 15 minutes.
The buns should have fluffed well and look puffed up.

Remove from the steamer, and serve.

I have served them with home made Sepen style sauce. The recipe for the sauce can be read in this post.

Kindly click away from here to Aparna's post to check what other members have shared.