Roz Ka Khana

Having spent half of my formative years in Hyderabad, I’m what you may call a Tamil Born (not) Confused Hyderabadi Living in the US! I just made that up…but seriously, I am quite proud to call myself a Hyderabadi, or half Hyderabadi! Some of my best friends are from Hyderabad and I’ve definitely imbibed a taste for pappus (lentils) and pachadis (chutneys) and pulusus (stews?). I believe that Indian cookery’s flavorful and some very creative concoctions come from Andhra Pradesh.

So it was one morning at breakfast at my dear friend Radhika’s house that she made dosas (Indian pancakes) and asked us to taste this new pachadi (chutney) that she had got from her sis-in-law. It was what you might call a true Southern Spice creation. Incidentally, that’s also the name of a famous restaurant from Hyderabad.

She made the culinary experience even more intriguing by asking us to guess the ingredients in the chutney. We assumed it was something generic like ridged gourd or peanuts. Turns out the chutney was made with cauliflower stems and leaves, and scraps of bell peppers. Basically, leftovers from an earlier cauliflower-bell pepper vegetable recipe. The gracious cook that she is, Radhika shared my enthusiasm and made this at my house just for roz ka khana. Thanks, Radhika for your support being such a great friend!

You could practically experiment this chutney with other vegetables as well. I think poblano peppers may work very well too. Let me know if you do try other variations.

She also made a tomato chutney that follows this recipe.

 Ingredients:

Bell pepper 1/2

Medium sized cauliflower stem – 1

Green chilies (Thai peppers) – 10. We like our food spicy but you can adjust this quantity to taste

Tamarind – lime sized ball

Oil – 3 tsp

To be ground:

Urad dal – 2 tsp

Chana dal – 3 tbsp

Peanuts (roasted) – 1 tbsp

Dhania (coriander) - 1 tbsp

Dry red chilies – 8

Garlic – 4 pods peeled

1. Take a little oil in a heavy bottomed vessel and saute all the above (for grinding) except the green chilies and the vegetables .

2. Now saute the green chilies, cauliflower stem and the bell pepper separately in a skillet, until cooked and a little soft.

3. Take the tamarind in a microwaveable container, add a little water and microwave on High for 15 secs.

4. Grind the ingredients for the powder (step1 ) finely.

5. Now add the sauteed vegetables to this mixture, add 1/2 tsp turmeric and salt to taste. Grind again while adding some of the tamarind paste.

6. Add 1 tbsp chopped cilantro to this paste.

For popu or tadka:

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp urad dal

Garlic – 1pod peeled

Curry leaves – a few

Heat some oil in a small pan, and add the above ingredients when the oil is hot. When the mustard seeds start to crackle, switch off the heat and pout the tadka on the finished chutney. Serve with dosas, idli or mix wirh hot rice.

Thanks for all the comments on the recent blog makeover. Being new to blogging, it’s always encouraging to get a comment, even if it’s in monosyllables..it’s just a testament that I have your support.

I have been relatively quiet this month, though that’s not saying that things were quiet in the kitchen. In fact the kitchen is super busy…my mom is here from India. And that only means more scrumptious contributions from my..er..her..our kitchen! Amma has some staple recipes that she has mastered ..I’m not saying that because I’m her daughter, but I’m yet to taste anything like her aviyal (vegetables in coconut curry sauce) and paal payasam (rice kheer/pudding) or her burfis. I think it would be befitting to dedicate a section of this blog to Amma’s recipes. This quote that I read somewhere sums up Amma in a few words..

A mother is a person who, seeing that there are only four pieces for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.

That is Amma.

I thought I’d start off this section on a sweet note with her famous burfi recipe. She makes different kinds but here’s a new one that she made within the first few days of coming here. The burfi was devoured in a few hours!

Ingredients:

1/2 carrot grated

1/4 cup grated coconut

15 cashewnuts powdered

1/4 cup milk

1 1/2 cup sugar

2 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)

1 tsp cardamom powder (elaichi pd)

1. Take the grated carrot, coconut and cashews in a blender. Add the milk and blend to a paste.

2. Take about 1 1/2 cup water in a saucepan and add the sugar to this to make sugar syrup. You will know it’s done when the syrup becomes thick and forms a “single string” when touched between your thumb and forefinger. That’s the test Amma does to ensure it’s done. Unfortunately I didn’t take enough pictures to show you this but I’ll try to explain how she does it. Take a little bit of the sugar syrup and spread it on your thumb. Now press your forefinger against your thumb and when you separate your fingers, you will see a “single string” of syrup.

This could also be called a “soft ball” stage. Check out this link to see what I’m talking about.

3. Now add the carrot-coconut-cashew-milk paste to this sugar syrup. Keep stirring this mixture on a low to medium flame till the mixture leaves the sides of the pan. This may take about 10-15 minutes but make sure you turn off the heat when the mixture starts to thicken and leave the sides of the pan, else you may overcook it.

4. Add the ghee to this mixture and the cardamom powder.

5. Take some butter paper (optional) on a flat plate or thali. You may also use a greased plate if you don’t have butter paper handy. Spread the mixture on the paper with a greased flat ladle. Allow to cool to room temperature and then cut into squares.

I’m still playing around with the features that wordpress offers. As with my daily cooking experiments, it’s always refreshing to try something different with “that signature dish” or even that borrowed recipe:)

I thought this new design for Roz Ka Khana adds some flair to the pages. I still go back and forth between the previous stark white background to this pale pink on the current template. To be honest though, the one thing I wasn’t excited about on the older template was the picture. That was something I always wanted to change but never got around to, so I’m glad to use this clean header. Send in your comments or thoughts. What do YOU think of this new look?

I do realize I haven’t populated the comfort food section in a while. Well, I haven’t blogged in a while , if you could call 12 days ” a while” that is. I suppose it is a long time, for something that warrants “everyday” cooking.

We had our 9 year old nephew visit from India, and while that meant two boisterous boys (including mine),  running around the house, it also meant having to come up with some creative ways to feed them both and fuel all that energy. As with most kids, vegetables were challenging, and I was looking for ways to dot the daily menu with some, while sneaking some in other dishes.

Anusuya’s kitchen had the perfect answer, as always. It’s quite obvious from her previous recipes, that she somehow has that perfect balance between scrumptious and healthy. Whole wheat, low fat, low oil are some key words in her kitchen. Of course, there are always “treats” in store, with her desserts and other signature dishes, and I will try to share them all, as and when she chooses to share them with me.

Here’s a sweet corn soup recipe that’s a favorite of her family, and this is what I “tried” on the kids one evening. May sound cliched, but as with all her recipes so far, it was a hit! The kids downed the corn soup with french bread and actually asked for more. What more could I ask for?

Ingredients:

1 pack frozen corn or 3-4 fresh corn, kernels removed and steamed

2 Jalapenos (I retained the seeds, but if you like it less spicy, de-seed them)

1/2 Vidalia onion (chopped into chunks)

1 tbsp soy sauce

1/2 cup milk

1/2 tbsp butter

1/2 tbsp oil

Salt to taste

1. Take a heavy bottomed saucepan and melt the butter and oil.

2. When the oil is hot, add the onions along with the jalapenos. Saute for 2-3 minutes.

3. Add the corn kernels. You may want to reserve a few kernels for later to add some chunky texture to the soup, but that’s optional.

4. Add 2 cups of water to this mixture and let it boil. Remove from the stove and cool.

5. Now take the mixture in a blender and puree it to a paste like consistency.

6. Take the puree in another heavy vessel or a dutch oven. Add the reserved corn, milk, soy sauce and salt to taste. Simmer for about 10 minutes.

7. Serve hot, garnished with scallion leaves (I was out of the leaves, as you can tell from the picture), and with a side of toasted french bread. I added some garlic butter on the bread as well. Or you could just use store bought garlic bread. Enjoy!