Rolling stones of the wet grinder - Black and White Wednesday

We are a household that does not eat light breakfast. My husband does not feel satisfied with a bowl of cereals or flakes. The lightest I might cook would be upma on many days. However, having a prepared batter to steam some idlis or spread nice crisp dosais is such a comfort, especially in my home.
For until my late teens, my mother did not insist on a wet grinder - a heavy duty appliance for tough grinding! She had a domestic help who did the grinding on the traditional mortor, we call attukkal or kallural. We were asked to lend a hand sometimes too. In fact, during holidays in our grand parents home, these were considered fun activities for girls and boys alike!
I too made do with my mixer grinder for many years. Finally when I had to entertain guests, grinding with the mixie was a task, that I decided to purchase a wet grinder and am happy that I did.
I put this to use quite often for all types of batter grinding and on one such day, I took some pictures of the process.....and sharing them through this post.
The pictures below show the soaked rice being processed to a batter for the sevai / shavige or string hoppers that was the picture of last week.


The picture below is a view from the top....the drum revolves in a clockwise motion, the stones each rotate on an axis and the ingredient that has been dropped in is crushed and ground to a batter. The hand on the side regulates the flow of the ingredients being ground.



Capturing motion was fun!

Half way through the process, some grains have been stuck to the face of the roller stone.


I had not expected to see grains of rice when the batter is almost ready.

Near end....a thick batter which will eventually be diluted with the water that will be used to clean the drum and the stones.

Small portions of batter flying off the roller stones and casting shadows in the batter and reflections on the inner walls of the drum go unnoticed unless you are taking pictures.

Sending these to Susan's Black and White Wednesdays - A weekly Culinary Photo Event.

Roasted tomato and bell peppers soup

Once in a while, when I find that my mind is blank on dinner ideas and am exhausted dishing out some upma or another, I decide to make soup and have. Between me and my husband, I can live on soups and salads while he isn't a fan of either. Yet he has a few exceptions, though he may not admit that he quite likes them.
Few days ago, I craved for the comfort of a warm bowl of soup. I had earlier baked the potato bread and so I paired it with this soup, which I hoped was detox after all the deepavali bakshanam consumed.
The recipe was printed and handed to me by the chefs in The Gateway Hotel, sometime in July earlier this year. I had perfect large and firm yet ripe tomatoes and red bell peppers which are main ingredients in this recipe. However, as I proceeded with the soup, I strayed far beyond the printed leaflet on hand.
Recipe for russian potato bread is an earlier post in this site. Spread some garlic butter to the bread and enjoyed with the soup.



Ingredients:
1 large red bell peppers
1 large tomato
1/2 of one small size red onion chopped fine
2 cloves of garlic chopped
1 small sprig thyme (or use dry thyme about 1/2 teaspoon)
1 tablespoon butter
Water as required
Fresh cream just to finish

Method:
Wash the pepper and tomato. Pat them dry.
Carefully, roast the pepper on medium flame directly, turning on all sides until they are charred at the surface. Immediately, wrap this in a cling film. Allow to cool.
Similarly, using a mesh over the stove, place the tomato and roast the same lightly, just until warm. Or for better roasting, grill the same in an oven until short of getting charred. Just as with the pepper, cover the tomato also and leave it to cool.
Once both have cooled to room temperature, rub the cling film so that the charred outer skin of the vegetables fall off. Chop them both coarsely. Keep aside.
Melt butter in a heavy pan. Add the chopped onions and roast them well. Add the garlic and the thyme. Saute' and then add the chopped tomato and peppers.
Add enough water and bring to a boil. Reduce the flame and simmer for about five minutes.
Allow to cool and then puree in a blender.
Pass this though a sieve. Top this with cream to finish.
Serve hot with a basket of warm bread.

Badam Kheer - a vegan version

Time and again, I set myself the task of reading the Sundara Kandam from the Valmiki Ramayana . There are a few set reading rituals as ordained by our elders viz. read all 68 chapters in one day, split them over two/three/five or nine days and so on. Recently, I did the reading and on the concluding day I desired to make some sweet and some urad dhal vadais for offering.
It so coincided that on that Saturday, I wanted to also try my hand on the 'one day vegan challenge' set by Harini.
Pondering upon the sweet dish that I might make without the use of any dairy and coconut (as I had already done an overdose of coconut usage for one day), I remembered the kadalai paruppu payasam in S. Meenakshi Ammal's Samaiththu paar volume two. That recipe uses milk and I was sure I can skip the milk and use almonds to compensate the lack of the same.
During the initial days of my working, the staff of our office preferred to party at a particular restaurant that was just a stone's throw from the office building. Mostly it was a Saturday lunch and invariably the featured sweet dish was a poor attempt at Badam Kheer, which we always detested having it there. We used to jokingly discuss the ingredients and preparation. On one such occasion one of the senior staff recognised that it had the flavour of gram flour. Then on we would joke that it was water added gramflour to which few drops of essence and food colour was added.
However, during the later years, I discovered that indeed you could make a faux badam kheer with grinding bengal gram and milk, add few drops of essence and it works!
Now I had the task of not using cow's milk on that day and I took a look at the recipe in the book.
The author had suggested that if you add a few almonds and grind it along with the channa dhal, it would taste as nearly as badam kheer which has a thin consistency, yet delicious in taste.
I set out to try the recipe substituting the cow's milk with almonds that were ground to a fine milk texture. The result was quite an amazingly rich kheer that had the real flavour of the almonds and the roasted gram. The consistency was that of a drinkable kheer, thicker than badam milk, but not quite thick as regular payasam/ kheer.
For the garnish, I dry roasted on a very low flame the chopped cashews and pistachios.



Ingredients:
1/2 cup split Bengal gram / channa dhal
1/4 cup (loosely packed) whole almonds
1/2 cup sugar (adjustable according to taste)

For garnish:
2 tablespoons chopped cashews and pistachios
1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder
few strands of saffron

Cooking Procedure:
Soak the almonds in very hot water for a few minutes. When the water has come to room temperature, skin the almonds and discard the water and skin.
Soak them again in one cup of very warm water.
Meanwhile, heat a pan and add the channa dhal to it. On a moderate heat, toss the dhal until it roasts to a golden brown and gives away a strong aroma.
Soak the channa dhal in another bowl in one cup of water.
When both the almonds and the dhal have cooled, grind them separately adding the same water that you soaked them in. the pastes should be very smooth and of fine texture.
Take the ground channa dhal in a bowl. Mix some water to make a very thin liquid and place this on the stove.
Also in another bowl take the ground almond milk and bring that to a boil.
Stir both the liquids frequently to avoid them getting burnt. Simmer both until the raw taste is lost.
Then mix both the liquids in one of the bowls, stir in the sugar and cook until the sugar dissolves.
Then add the cardamom powder and the saffron strands. Allow the mixture to thicken a bit.
Without any fat, dry roast the chopped nuts until they are golden.
Cool the kheer well and serve with a garnish of the nuts.
This kheer tastes best served chilled.
You may opt to cook both the liquids together, or to grind both the soaked dhal and almonds together and proceed, if making a small quantity. That saves fuel and time.

If desired, you may also add few drops of almond essence that will enhance the flavour, though it is not necessary. The roasting of the dhal and the addition of cardamom are sufficient to make this kheer delicious.
For those who would cook with milk, reduce the quantity of water that you add to either paste; but you will have to cook them well until the raw taste is lost. Add boiled milk to the cooked mix and bring to a boil with the sugar.
You may also roast the garnish with ghee or any form of fat.
My earlier post on the regular Badam Kheer can be read in this page.

No 'moar'-kuzhambu and eating vegan through a day

'What is there to change in a South Indian diet when most of it is nearly vegan' is what my husband commented as I discussed the idea of staying vegan through a day. I had to convince him to join in, you see. I listed out the dairy that we use on a regular basis and I could see that I might be losing his support.
Eventually, we agreed upon a menu, I suggested then that I will serve him black tea (for green tea would have put a full stop to the plans then and there). He chuckled thinking of the teas he might have at work, and agreed. To coax him enough, I made puri and kizhangu for breakfast and neer dosa for dinner! Having set that, I worked though the lunch where I had my trump card for him!
The one thing I had forgotten was the morning tea! Which household in our regions does not wake up to a steaming hot filter kapi or a blissful cup of chai? However, he was a good sport and had the black tea without fuss.
Thus a Saturday of cooking and eating vegan was otherwise novel. I had not thought it would be easy to forgo 'nei' and thick home set yoghurt even for a day!
I had earlier made the vegan cashew yoghurt from Harini's post and used in the Badami mixed vegetables recipe. The yoghurt had set so well and tasted very good that I used other ingredients to set yoghurt - peanuts once and coconut milk a few times.
The method I used was always the same; warm the coconut milk until moderately warm and drop about 15 chilli crowns in it and allow that to work. Initially, I had, without knowledge, used the second extract and found that the yoghurt was not as thick as I would like it to be.
With a few trials, I learnt that while the chilli crowns are indeed a good option, setting this with a bit of other vegan set yoghurt, for instance the cashew yoghurt, expedites the process. This yoghurt set in about five hours on warm days. I had planned to use this yoghurt and try the regular moarkuzhambu that uses a fair amount of churned yoghurt as key ingredient.
Having made up my mind on that, the lunch menu was also set : Vendaikkai vathakkal kari, vegan moarkuzhambhu, steamed rice and a kootu which uses a base of legumes (a recipe, I thought will help just in case my husband is not inspired to eat a vegan moarkuzhambu).



I have not posted the poori-kiazhangu until now; (I am making a mental note of that). Neither have I discussed vendaikkai vathakkal kari, other than from Aparna's recipe for a days' lunch. All of these will be posted in the near future.
However, today's star recipe is the 'Vegan moarkuzhambu'.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup/125ml preset coconut-milk yoghurt (recipe discussed below)
Salt to taste
1/4th teaspoon turmeric powder
1/4th teaspoon asafoetida powder
Suitable vegetable cuts of your choice (I used brinjals)

Grind the following to a paste:
1 teaspoon split bengal gram / channa dhal
1/2 teaspoon thuvar dhal
1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon raw rice kernels
3 large green chillis
Soak these in a small amount of water for a few minutes and grind to a smooth paste.
I skipped the usual addition of fresh grated coconut as the yoghurt already has a fair portion of the same.

For garnish:
2 teaspoons coconut oil (or any cooking oil)
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/4th teaspoon cumin seeds
Few sprigs curry leaves
Chopped coriander leaves (if available)

Method:
Setting coconut milk yoghurt:
Take one cup of first extract coconut milk in a bowl. Warm this on a moderate flame until the milk is warm. Do not boil the milk.
Remove from the stove and drop about 15 numbers fresh chilli crowns in the same.
Set this in a warm place and leave undisturbed for about six to eight hours.
The coconut yoghurt will set. Remove the chilli crowns and discard.
You might notice that the thicker yoghurt like substance is floating over some watery mass below. But do not worry. Stir the same and you have your yoghurt ready.
You may use, if you have on hand, some vegan yoghurt to set this and not use chilli crowns.
However, expect that this yoghurt does not set as thick as dairy yoghurt; nor it has the rich creamy flavour of the cashew/ almond yoghurt. You might sense a slight tinge of coconut oil also, if your coconut has been very mature. But this blends well while cooking and adds to the flavours. You will be surprised that this has a nice slightly sweet taste while it also has enough tang that makes it suitable to use in such dishes.
I have used it in aviyal the following day and carried for a potluck. My guests did not find it different, until being told that it was vegan.



Use 1/2 cup of this yoghurt for the moarkuzhambu.

Method for the moarkuzhambu:
Cut the vegetables that you are using in the kuzhambu.
Take the vegetable and turmeric powder in a pan with water and cook the same.
Meanwhile prepare the paste as listed in the grinding.
Add about 100 ml water, asafoetida powder and salt to the paste.
When the vegetable has become tender, add the above and cook on a medium flame until the mixture thickens. Stir off and on to avoid forming lumps.


When the mixture has cooked well with all the raw tastes subsiding, add the coconut yoghurt.
Reduce the flame a bit and allow this to come to a boil. Reduce the heat to the lowest, simmer just for a few seconds and switch the stove off. Over heating will curdle the coconut milk.
Heat the oil for tempering in a pan. Add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Once they crackle, toss the curry leaves in the same and add this to the kuzhambu.
If you have fresh coriander leaves, wash them and add chopped leaves to the above.



We did not detect that it was a non-dairy kuzhambu at all. It was just as good as the usual yoghurt based recipe. In fact I had an unexpected guest who found it hard to believe. That success gave me confidence to prepare aviayal with the coconut yoghurt for about a dozen others. Needless to say that was largely welcome too!

Added to the vegan cooking, that day as I had completed one reading of the Sundara Kandam, I prepared a no milk badam kheer (recipe is my next post) and urad dhal vadas for the evening.
A night's dinner with neer dosa and thakkali-vengayam chutney made a whole day of keeping off non-vegan products.

Harini is hosting a giveaway through the 12th of November. She had set this challenge and I wanted to join in. Thus this post came by and a thoroughly intriguing day long vegan meal. There is an interesting guest post by Preethi and Srinivas of Krya -creating vegan awareness in Tongue Tickers. Please have a look and I am sure you will also want to try the challenge, like I did.

String Hoppers for Black and White Wednesdays

We had an extended weekend with the Eid festival being celebrated on Monday. Our friends decided to have the deepavali parties during this period; thus our lunch and dinner menus and timings took their own pattern. This afternoon's lunch was string hoppers at home. String hoppers are sevai in tamilian homes or shavige as it is known in South Canara.

My husband willingly opted to press the prepared dough while I took pictures.
I am sharing one such picture here; can you see the steam rising from the just steamed and pressed rice balls as they fall in neat strings through the pores?



This picture goes to Susan's Black and White Wednesdays.

Black and white Wednesday - worked overtime

Deepavali has just been celebrated; these were the over worked kitchen gadgets during the week before the festival.



Recipes made using the murukku press can be read in earlier posts.
Ribbon pakodas, Nylon ribbon, Jantikalu and Muththusarai are a few that have been made using this gadget.

This picture is for Susan's Black and White Wednesdays.

Mushroom pulav

At home, my parents never forced us to eat anything if we refused to. Thus, the three of us grew up avoiding many vegetables, fruits and food as such without much ado. There were some that one of us might hate to eat while the rest of us were fond of. So such dishes were cooked and enjoyed by the ones who liked it; one's loss was someone's gain.
Even if my mother would have tried to force anything upon us, we stood our grounds and looked for our grandparents to support us. That is possibly the reason why my younger sister has lot many on the 'no, never to try' list! I had spent a few years with an uncle and his wife had seen to that I eat everything that was cooked and was acceptable for a child.
However, growing up in rural India in the 70s and 80s meant that we were not aware of the existence of many vegetables that are so easily available today. For instance, I came across broccoli and asparagus sometime in my late twenties. Even some of the regular vegetables were kept aside on specific days in our home and some vegetables had a 'no entry' limit.
I was introduced to mushrooms as fungi, for the wild mushrooms grew like everywhere in our back yard once the rains came down. And their health benefits were unheard of.
Then on my husband's first appointment with a shipping agency, he moved to Khor Fakkan in UAE. There the containers that carried food items were strictly subject to checking by the Ministry of Health.
As a representative of the line, my husband's job included that he facilitated such inspections.
The official and a dietician will randomly open some of the packs and take away samples for inspection before certifying them fit for consumption and clearing the consignment. Those randomly opened cartons were distributed to the dock workers by the consignee. Sometimes they might leave a pack or two with the line's office also. That way we have tasted some very good quality biscuits to some rancid crisps.
On one such occasion he was handed two tins of mushrooms. I had no clue as to how to cook them. Our neighbour, a doctor, suggested that they were acquired taste and since we were not seafood eaters, we might not like the taste. She offered to cook the same at her place and share the dish with us. Possibly, the apprehension stemmed from the mention of seafood and I did not truly like the taste.
Many years later, my sister cooked mushrooms in pulav and gravy and fed my daughter. She seemed to like them then. Thus, mushrooms gained their entry into my kitchen, but only for my daughter to eat. My husband would pick the tiny mushrooms out from his pizza wedges and I might swallow them without biting into those pieces.
I hope you have guessed where all this is leading to. Yes, our freespirit blogger pal Anupama suggested a theme for this month. She wanted us to make something that we have hated (still hate) and would avoid given the opportunity. Or, she said, if you were one of those who never refused something, try some ingredient that you have never used so far.
I am one who has more on the likes list than the counterpart. As a youngster, I avoided elephant yam, I never had even a sip of coffee until I went to work, even worse, as a youngster I would not drink anything if milk has been added to it in my presence. That was so long ago and a far away time. Today, I eat, drink, consume many things without sniffing at it.
Thinking hard and pondering on the theme, I had to decide on mushrooms only, for I had to give myself and my husband a chance to try them. I purchased a small can of sliced button mushrooms, called my sister to share the recipe, cooked it at home, conveniently on a day when I had a friend for lunch.

But, to be honest, I think I might include these once in a way for they seem to carry a 'HEALTH" label all over them.




Ingredients:
2 cups Basmati rice (brown rice or any long grain rice)
150 grams sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup coconut milk
1&1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1' piece cinnamon
5 units cloves
2 pieces maratta moggu
2 petals of star anise
1/2 teaspoon ginger paste
1 teaspoon garlic paste
1 teaspoon green chilli paste
1 teaspoon garam masala powder
1 teaspoon crushed dry mint leaves
1 teaspoon dry fenugreek leaves
2 medium onions
3 tomatoes
Salt to taste

For garnish:
1 tablespoon ginger juliennes saute'd in olive oil
1 small piece bay leaf
Few cashew nuts (fried) (optional)

Method:
Wash the basmati rice clean and spread on a cloth to drain excess moisture.
Slice half of one onion finely. The rest, chop coarsely as you may be grinding them.
Grind the coarsely chopped onions, dry mint and fenugreek leaves along with the garam masala powder to a fine paste.
Heat 1 teaspoon oil in the pressure cooker, add the drained rice and saute' for a few minutes.
Transfer the rice to another bowl and add a cup and a half of water to the same. Keep aside for about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile cook the tomatoes in boiling water for a few minutes, cool and puree them.
Heat again 1/2 teaspoon oil and fry the onion slices until soft and transparent. Keep aside.
Heat the rest of the oil in the pressure cooker. Add the cinnamon, cloves, maratta moggu and star anise. Then add the ginger paste and then the green chilli paste. In a few seconds add the fine ground onion paste and then the garlic paste. Cook them in the oil on a very low flame until the raw taste subsides.

Drop the mushrooms in and add the salt. Toss until the mushrooms acquire a coat of the masala and then add the coconut milk.
While on a medium flame allow the coconut milk to warm and then add the rice along with the water and the tomato puree. Add another cup of water to the ingredients that are cooking. If the rice has been aged, you may require some more water.
Bring the above ingredients to a boil and place the lid of the pressure cooker on.
Soon as it steams, place the cooker weight and when the first whistle comes on, reduce the flame to the lowest and allow an extra minute to cook.
Switch the stove off and allow the pressure inside to subside.
Open the lid and give the cooked pulav a toss to fluff the same.
Transfer to a serving dish and add the saute'd onion slices and the ginger juliennes.
Serve hot with a curry of choice. I served mine with Lauki Koftas stewed in a gravy of ground almonds, cashews and onions.

Please stop by other Freespirit bloggers to check what ingredients were not their fancies, yet they wanted to try their hands on.

I am pleased to send this to Kavi's Healthy Lunch event, which is part of Smita's Healthy Cooking Challenge.