Vishu...

For the memory of Cassia Fistula flowers...

In lieu of Kani Konna, early morning sunlight on the the daffodils from our garden; a light dusting of  the soil. Unedited photograph.

Unda Sammanthi: Roasted Red Chilli and Coconut Chutney with Pappadams

This year, we have no traditional celebrations due to a death in the family. In lieu, I have memories to share  with perhaps only a replica of recipes,  to conjure up a scene from another time and space.

No taste! No Flavour!

Not like 'back home'! ...are the phrases we don like a second skin. We become zealous guardians of our 'traditions', fervently  striving to recreate the flavours and aroma's of what we left behind. What is real and what is presented for our audience through the blog is often left unanswered with our props, substitutes, posting and 'presentations'. The exercise often takes a stark, physical view of what  represents our food, tradition and culture. As long as they look like the originals, as along as they feel and perhaps taste (?) like what we used to get back home? As long as we do it on the same day of our solar / lunar calendar we have not let anyone or anything down. Then we may not ponder much on the disconnect across the oceans  and the actual seasonal connection of our cuisine to our land. 

Matta Ari Kanji, Chakka Puzhukku, Pappadam and Unda Samanthi

We may never use newly harvested rice, which symbolizes the new year for  traditions which revolve around growing seasons. Our Vishu Kanji had to do with store-bought parboiled Matta Rice, Chakka Puzhukku made with frozen jackfruit and was served on regular Corningware plates! But we did grind our coconut chutney on a grinding stone! Not the dark granite one's used in Kerala but one that gave similar results. This  pink, sandstone, Sil-Batta has northern provenance but in Ma's expert hands, produced a favourite recipe. She made  the occasion special.

This goes to Black and White Wednesdays # 79 , created by the The Well Seasoned Cook
and hosted this week by Food and Clicks

Vishu was always celebrated with our grandparents. Rice was important. After the morning ritual of Vishukani, Vishu kanji would be prepared. In some parts of Kerala there are elaborate feasts. In our nook, this humble, everyday dish is celebrated.

Puthari Kanji Vishu Kanji was special. One could use 'old' rice or the newly harvested rice for Vishu. If Puthari ( Puthiya Ari = New Rice) was used, it  was considered auspicious to  use a length of Uzhinja creeper around the cooking pot*. Uzhinja- Cardiospermum Halicacabum, a native perennial creeper  is also  one of the ten sacred, medicinal plants in Kerala's folk and Ayurveda tradition, known as the  Dasapushpa's/ ten flowers. They   are important both for their medicinal properties and  for religious rituals.

Chundakka Another important accompaniment to the Puthari Kanji was a dish made with the bitter Turkey Berries/ Chundakka.  Lightly sauteed in coconut oil, seasoned only with salt and red chilli powder.

Chakka Puzhukku The Vishu kanji was served with a touch of dried ginger/ Chukku, rock salt, clarified butter/nei and perhaps a generous heap of grated coconut. Some garnished it with boiled green mung beans. It was accompanied by the traditional coconut chutney and a hearty seasonal stew, the Puzhukku made with tender  unripe jackfruit pods and adzuki beans. The spicing was simple: turmeric, ground coconut and red chillies simmered with seasonal, jackfruit pods and soaked adzuki beans.

*I am not sure about the roots of this tradition; will enquire and update.

Black and White Wednesdays: Why you shouldn't be 'surprised' at fermented foods

Not just a " an eloquent protest against the homogenization of flavours and food now rolling like a great undifferentiated lawn across the globe..."

We often come across articles educating us lesser mortals on which food is good for us and why it is good for us. Most of them in the tone of a new discovery, of something we might have been too ignorant to know for our uninitiated, bad-eating-habit selves. After  one starts reading, one realizes that it is yet another 'American' / western discovery. One that many, 'looked-down-upon'  parts of the world take for fresh, normal, healthy, seasonal,  usually sustainable, locally sourced  food and eating habits. Since 'ancient times'.

Idli with a touch of seasoned Tomato and Onion Chutney

Of course, the implication here is that nobody should wrinkle up their noses on foods like Bread, Cheese, Beer, Wine, Chocolate, Coffee and Yogurt. These being gourmet foods that powerful nations and cultures have exalted to an elite status. Plus this food is so good that there is not even a tiny whiff of 'fermentation', and it is far  removed from the important word which is implied here. The very dirty one, 'rotten'. You  will and should however be pardoned for wrinkling your nose and sniffing at foods,  that are fermented and that do not belong to above seven categories and the cuisines they represent in the popular consciousness.

Mostly, food with an entirely different flavour profile, one which has  nourished very different cultures. What comes to your mind? 

Fresh batter poured into idli moulds and a batch of steamed idli's.

This goes to the Black and White Wednesdays # 78 originally created by The Well Seasoned Cook  and hosted this week by My Diverse Kitchen.

For me, it is the humble Idli, made from a ground paste of soaked rice  and black gram. In the hot, tropical, humid climate of the monsoons, our palate quickly adapted to fresh  food, fermented ground pastes steamed into nutritious vegetarian entrees, buttermilk and yogurt  whisked into easily digestible curries, chutneys and cooling summer drinks. It is  unsurprising then that,

We do not have to 'try to bring back' fermentation

We do not have to 'try to revive' an ancient tradition.

It is part of our living culture and tradition.

And it is alive.
And we are not afraid.

And no pun intended.

Plus,  we perhaps do not need a 'Guru' to teach us that!

Again, no pun intended.

In many ways, this reminds me of the  underlying humour regarding Kerala cuisine which touches on the traditional, Malayalee comfort food of sour, coconut-buttermilk chutneys like the Kaalan, Moru Curries and pulisseri's. The Kaalan would never go bad, it would only turn more sour. To balance out the sourness, one just added fresh coconut paste and vice-versa. This back and forth process would end  only when with the curry got over!

So  while experts foment and flog whatever is current and trendy, there are many food traditions and recipes that have  survived the onslaught of over processed, homogenized, frozen, left-over, cliched, fizz and foam! They could perhaps look at something like the Idli... to rise up and leaven, gently ripen to a perfect, tart, sourness and then  be steamed into something truly piquant. Effortlessly. It need not be contrived and unsavoury. The magic is alive. Just check.

Rajma Curry/ Red Kidney Beans Curry

Rajma Curry with a dollop of sour cream for a hearty stew!

A Hearty vegetarian dish for a rainy, cold, spring day. It goes to   My Legume Love Affair # 57,  originally created by The Well Seasoned Cook and now managed by Lisa;  hosted  this month by PJ .

Simple Rajma Curry, 

Ma's recipe

A favourite from our childhood. This curry belonged to a group from Ma's repertoire that brought back fond memories of our time in the North. It reminded us of the Holi  celebrations there, something which was not celebrated in Kerala. Rajma, Boondi Raita,  and a  Chicken Curry was the norm for the celebrations. Ma always always made it with a raita: yougurt, ginger, green chillies, onions & tomatoes or a seasoned Boondi Raita. Rajma Chawal/ Rajma and Rice was a favourite Sunday lunch.

Apparently Ma's recipe changes slightly from time to time. 

However, the taste was consistent every time she made it.

When asked, she would say, "Sometimes I add a little bit of garam masala or the one for the Chana or else just this..."

Soaked Kidney Beans ready for pressure cooking with  a clove of black cardamom and bits of ginger and garlic from the 'mixie wash'!!!

Notes

• **Tomatoes are used according to their sourness, use less or more according to taste
• Red Chilli powder is also used the same way
• Substitute with green chillies; according to taste
• *Soaking Time for kidney beans: 6-8 hours depending on the variety. 
• Cooking Time  for Kidney Beans in Pressure Cooker: 20-30 minutes, Plus 10 minutes for simmer.

Ingredients

1 1/2 Cup dried  kidney beans/ red rajma used here

**Tomatoes: approximately 2 Cups

Onions-1/2 cup, finely chopped

Garlic-2 cloves

Ginger-1 tsp chopped

Cinnamon- 1/2 piece

Cloves-1

Green Cardamom- 1 

Black Cardamom -1

Bay Leaf - a peice

Turmeric Powder-1/4 tsp

Red Chilli powder -1/2 tsp or according to taste

Oil- 1/4 Cup

Garnish

Optional but affects the taste! : A teaspoon of Ghee/ Clarified Butter

Fresh chopped coriander for garnish.

Method

Soak the Rajma overnight in plenty/ double the amount of cold water

Rinse thoroughly and use fresh water to cover the Rajma with  3/4 - 1 inch of water.

Add one clove of black cardamom and salt

*Pressure cook for one whistle on medium heat

Turn the heat down slightly and cook for another 10-15 minutes.

Grind the green cardamom, clove and cinnamon along with the 

tomato, ginger  and garlic.

Finely chop the  onions 

Heat oil and temper the cumin seeds, 

Saute the chopped onions until soft, 

Add the tomato, ginger and garlic paste 

Saute on medium high heat until the oil separates.

Add the turmeric powder and red chilli powder

Add the Bay leaf

Saute for a couple of minutes

Add the cooked kidney beans with the black cardamom

Simmer for 10 minutes.

or

Add the masala paste to the cooked kidney beans in the pressure cooker

Cook on medium high for one whistle

Switch off.

Serve with  a garnish of finely chopped coriander

Holi

For Black and White Wednesdays # 76 hosted this week by The Well Seasoned Cook 

Colour for Holi  in a ceremonial copper server.

Chana Dal Halwa: Split Bengal Gram Halwa

Chana Dal Halwa

The Workhorse of the Indian Kitchen: Pressure Cooking Chickpeas and Lentils

Steam escaping sharply from a pressure cooker, was part of our morning memories. This steam carried with it  the fragrance  and the promise of our meals for the day. 

It goes to Cindy's  Black and White Wednesdays # 73 originally created by Susan and hosted this week by Zorra.

The unsung heroine's of our daily lives toiled within the cramped kitchen's, managing the patriarchal expectations of a 'complete Indian meal'. This 'complete Indian meal' had elastic boundaries, stretching to include festivals and fasts, snacks and guests,  pampered children and fancies, grandchildren and treats, assorted neighbours and sweetmeats, friends and more family. It arranged the heroine's routine, from her first waking moments to when her work ended. But wait, perhaps it also  inordinately occupied our heroine's sleep, dreams and thoughts. This fairly impossible task would have been herculean without the sturdy, Indian pressure cooker. Through this important role, the dependable contraption has moulded itself to our cuisine and social fabric. 

This has been obliquely acknowledged by our patriarchal Indian guardians. In a cliched advertisement which caters to our notions of the ideal Indian woman and her doting husband...  Jo Biwi Se Kare Pyaar / The one who loves his wife... the pressure cooker figures prominently. This was followed by parodies  in popular culture, of an exploding pressure cooker for spouses who did not like their wives  or for brides, who did not bring the expected dowry. The pressure cooker figured prominently among the common incidents, given for a dowry death.  Exploding cooking gas cylinders were the other common one.

However despite this dark side, there is little dispute that the Pressure Cooker has taken Indian cuisine easily ( with most traditional elements intact) into our modern lives! Perhaps in a twisted way,  don't we Indian women efficiently manage our kitchen, churning out made-from-scratch, nutritious food and all cooked in a healthy method to boot? This apart from managing our studies and careers when compared to  our sisters  in the west?  Why have we  not rec'd any kudos for this feat?!! :-D!

Green Peas Kachori with Dum Aloo / Koraishuttir Kachuri & Alur Dom

Happy that I could use this winter recipe from Bengal, and cater to a little nostalgia from a recent trip

.

• Part of the   South Vs. North Challenge created by  Divya Pramil of  You Can Cook Indian Food
• Recipe challenge by Sanoli's Kitchen Koraishuttir Kachori with Spicy Dam Aloo.

I found several  versions of Bengali Dum Aloo/ Alur Dom  in the blogosphere. Though similar to the Adraki Aloo Tamatar, this has  a roasted flavour. Everyone has a favourite with variations in spicing. I have used Sanoli's recipe but have also adapted Sangeeta's Mottorshuttir Kachuri and Alur Dom recipe. Had bookmarked it for sometime and finally got an opportunity to make it. Her tip on making the green peas filling is specially appreciated. Thank you!