What follows here is a step by step method of making four pachadis – kothmir pachadi (cilantro chutney), allam pachadi (ginger chutney), beerakkaya pachadi (ridged gourd chutney) and mavidikkaya kobbari pachadi (mango coconut chutney). I’ve included the traditional Telugu names on purpose as the method described is the traditional Andhra pachadi recipe.

Before starting on the chutneys, Anitha started to make a batch of fresh red chili powder and fenugreek powder.

For this, she roasted 2 (you may also use upto 4) cups of dry red chilies in about 2 tbsp of oil till they become bright red and crisp. Cool and grind to a fine powder. You need to use a powerful blender for this step, to get a smooth powder.

For the fenugreek powder, dry roast (without any oil) about 1/2cup of fenugreek seeds till light brown. Cool and grind to a fine powder.

The above powders are a staple in her kitchen apparently, and find their way into the various pachadis, vegetable curries etc, so this is an essential step before you start making the pachadis.

Cilantro Chutney (Kothmir Pachadi)

Ingredients: (for making 1 12 oz jar of chutney)

6 bunches cilantro leaves (keep the stems aside)

1/3 cup mustard seeds

1/4 tsp asafetida

1 cup tamarind paste

Turmeric powder – 1 tsp

salt to taste (4 tbsp)

6 heaped tsp chili powder

Method:

1. Heat oil in a heavy bottom vessel. Add mustard seeds, asafetida. When the mustard seeds crackle, add the cilantro leaves.Fry the leaves well until they turn a darkish brown.

2. Mix the tamarind paste, salt, turmeric and chili powder (use the fresh powder for better taste). You may add some warm water if needed.

3. Add this paste slowly to the cilantro mixture in the pan. Continue to fry/stir the ingredients until well mixed. Stir on a low flame till the mixture starts to come together.

Ginger Chutney (Allam Pachadi)

Ingredients: (for one 18 oz jar of chutney)

Ginger root – 3 large, sliced and chopped into long pieces

Dry roasted unsalted peanuts – 1/3 cup

Urad dal (Split black gram lentils) – 1/3 cup

Chana dal (Split bengal gram lentils) – 1/2 cup

1/4 tsp asafetida

Sesame seeds – 1 tbsp

Cumin seeds (jeera) – 1 tbsp

Coriander seeds (dhania) – 1 tbsp

Curry leaves – 2 sprigs

Tamarind – 3 big lemon sized balls, soaked in warm water (Note that this chutney has a longer shelf life than the other chutneys and the secret is to use warm and not cold water when blending or soaking tamarind etc.)

Brown sugar – 6 tsp

Turmeric – 1 tsp

Method:

1. Heat oil in a heavy bottom vessel. Fry the chana dal and urad dal till light brown.

2. Add the cumin seeds, sesame, coriander and peanuts and fry well.

3. Add the asafetida and about 1/2 tsp of the fenugreek (methi) powder.

4. Then add the curry leaves and the ginger pieces.

5. add about 5 tsp salt or to taste and fry till they are well mixed, about 5 minutes.

6. Now add the soaked tamarind and fry for another 5 minutes.

7. Add the brown sugar (6 tsp), 10-12 tsp of the freshly made chili powder and 1 tsp turmeric.

8. Fry for another 3 -5 minutes. Cool.

9. Grind to a smooth paste using a powerful blender. Make sure to grind in batches with some warm water to soften the ginger pieces. Alternatively, you may add some warm water to the cooled mixture in the pan and let it soak a little before grinding, to ensure a smooth paste.

Store in a dry container/jar. This chutney, when stored in the refrigerator has a shelf life of about 3-5 months.

I can’t complain though…I have had somewhat of a break since Amma and Appa have been here with me. Especially during special festive days like March 14, the day when we are supposed to observe Karadai Nombu, according to the Hindu calendar. Karadai Nombu is for the South Indian Hindus (read Tamil) what you would call “Karvaa Chauth” for North Indian Hindus (not literally, but the intent is similar)- a day when married ladies pray for the well being of their spouses.  I’ve always wondered why there wasn’t a similar day for men to honor their wives…Hallmark, are you listening?

If you’re intrigued to know more about the story behind this tradition, go here.

For the first time since I have been married, I ventured to make the “adais”. Amma has been here for the last couple of years and she usually makes it, and then there are some years where I tie the yellow thread that is customary but haven’t really gone the whole nine yards, pun intended:) In case you didn’t get that pun, the traditional way is also to wear a nine yards saree while breaking the fast, which I don’t do as well. So this year I did go all out, sort of, minus the nine yards.

Amma and I also sought the help of Viji Varadarajan, the author of “Festival Samaiyal” who has a book made for the likes of me, a glossary of all the traditional South Indian festivals, with step by step instructions on how to make the required menu for each. The recipe that follows for the Vella Adai and Uppu Adai is adapted from this book.

A quick background on Karadai Nombu (pronounced Kaa-ra-dai NO-m-bu). Also known as Savithri Nombu, this festival is celebrated in the month of Maasi (Feb-March). Sathi Savithri, the courageous woman, argues with the God of death, Yama, to free her husband, Sathyavan from the clutches of death. She eventually wins him over and her husband is brought back to life. On this day, women usually fast until the auspicious time arrives (when the Maasi month begins), and chant prayers for the longevity of their husbands. The Vella Adai (sweet steamed doughnut) and Uppu Adai (salted or savory doughnut) is usually offered with a dollop of butter. A piece of flower is tied to a yellow (sacred) thread and worn around the necks of married women (sumangalis). The area of worship is cleaned, and patterns with rice powder are drawn (kolam). Fresh plantain leaves are placed and the adais are served on these. The women eat first and break their fast followed by the rest of the household.

Ingredients for Vella Adai:

2 cups rice flour

2 tbsp Black eyed peas

2 tbsp coconut, chopped or grated

2 1/4 cups jaggery powdered

1/4 tsp cardamom

1 tbsp ghee or clarified butter

1 banana (optional)

Method:

1. Soak the black eyed peas in hot water for 20 mins. Pressure cook for one whistle or cook in a microwave on high for 2 mins.

2. Dry roast the rice flour for 8-10 minutes on a medium flame till it looks a little golden.

3. Take the powdered jaggery in a saucepan and add the 4 cups water to it. Melt the jaggery over a low flame. Strain if needed. Place it back on the stove and add the cooked beans, coconut, rice flour and cardamom powder.

4. Take off the flame and mix well to avoid lumping.

6. Return the mixture and cook for 8-10 minutes or until it starts sticking to the ladle. Switch off the stove.

7. Take lemon sized balls of this mixture, pat them in your palm to about 1 1/2 inch thick patties. You may grease your hands with a little butter if needed. You may also take a banana leaf, wet it a little and make the patties on the leaf to avoid sticking. make a hole in the center of the patty.

8. Place small pieces of banana leaves in idli moulds or in a steamer and steam for about 10-15 minutes.

9. Serve with a dollop of unsalted butter.

Uppu Adai (Salted or Savory steamed rice doughnuts)

Ingredients:

2 cups rice flour

1 tbsp black eyed peas soaked and boiled as in the step above

2 tbsp chopped coconut

3/4 tsp salt or to taste

1 large banana leaf, cut into 3″ squares

For seasoning:

1/4 tsp mustard seeds

4-5 green chilies, chopped fine

1/2 tsp asafetida powder

a few curry leaves, chopped fine

1 1/2 tsp oil

1. As in step above, soak and boil the black eyed peas.

2. In a heavy bottomed vessel, heat the oil, add mustard seeds until they pop. Saute the chopped green chilies, add the coconut, asafetida, curry leaves, salt and cook for a few minutes.

3. Add 6 cups of water and bring to a boil. Lower the flame and add the rice flour, stirring to avoid lumps.

4. Cover with a lid and simmer for about 10-15 minutes until the flour is cooked. Now add the beans and stir until it blends well. Take this off the stove.

5. Make patties as in the step above and steam them in idli moulds or in a steamer.

As if I didn’t have enough challenges making and posting recipes, I decided to take on one more. But I’ve realized that I need a challenge to get me inspired to do anything. I had step by step instructions to make the dish, but the best part about the challenge was the deadline, so I had no excuses. Or so I thought. I was so fired up that I made them the very next week the challenge was posted. I invited a few friends over and spent 4-5 hours in the kitchen. My mother was there, of course, to help me all the way. What would I do without her help? In fact, I realized after various attempts at rolling out the pita dough that there is a skill to it as well. Amma was able to effortlessly roll them out evenly and sure enough, they puffed up with pockets and all!

The reality of this challenge, however, is that the post was due on Feb. 14th, the day of the “reveal” and I am already a couple of days late posting my first completed Daring Cook’s challenge. I do hope I am within the “grace period” of one week.  I have to admit that I had a lot of fun trying this challenge out. I also bought a pizza stone finally from Williams-Sonoma just to make these pitas. Didn’t I mention that I have expensive hobbies?:)

So I made hummus, baba ghanoush , falafels and of course the pita bread. I also added some olive tapenade and tabouleh to finish the mezze, though these were all optional. Would I do this again? The , falafels, hummus and baba ghanoush…absolutely! The pita bread…umm..I’d rather head to the nearest Mediterranean store. These were a little time-consuming and I don’t think I got it just the way it was supposed to be. It may have been other factors in play, I was using a pizza stone for the first time and I don’t know if it was heated enough, as all the initial batches of pita bread didn’t rise very well. Then of course, the even rolling. When I was almost done with my dough (and Amma gave it a hand), the last few pitas started to rise and puff up really well. That’s probably how long it took for my pizza stone to heat to just the right temperature!

All the same, I was quite satisfied with my first venture at being a “Daring Cook”.

Pita Bread – Recipe adapted from Flatbreads & Flavors by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid
Prep time: 20 minutes to make, 90 minutes to rise and about 45 minutes to cook

2 teaspoons regular dry yeast (.43 ounces/12.1 grams)
2.5 cups lukewarm water (21 ounces/591 grams)
5-6 cups all-purpose flour (may use a combination of 50% whole wheat and 50% all-purpose, or a combination of alternative flours for gluten free pita) (17.5 -21 ounces/497-596 grams)
1 tablespoon table salt (.50 ounces/15 grams)
2 tablespoons olive oil (.95 ounces/29 ml)

Directions:
1. In a large bread bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water. Stir to dissolve. Stir in 3 cups flour, a cup at a time, and then stir 100 times, about 1 minute, in the same direction to activate the gluten. Let this sponge rest for at least 10 minutes, or as long as 2 hours.
2. Sprinkle the salt over the sponge and stir in the olive oil. Mix well. Add more flour, a cup at a time, until the dough is too stiff to stir. Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 8 to 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Rinse out the bowl, dry, and lightly oil. Return the dough to the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until at least doubled in size, approximately 1 1/2 hours.
3. Place a pizza stone, or two small baking sheets, on the bottom rack of your oven, leaving a 1-inch gap all around between the stone or sheets and the oven walls to allow heat to circulate. Preheat the oven to 450F (230C).
4. Gently punch down the dough. Divide the dough in half, and then set half aside, covered, while you work with the rest. Divide the other half into 8 equal pieces and flatten each piece with lightly floured hands. Roll out each piece to a circle 8 to 9 inches in diameter and less than 1/4 inch thick. Keep the rolled-out breads covered until ready to bake, but do not stack.
5. Place 2 breads, or more if your oven is large enough, on the stone or baking sheets, and bake for 2 to 3 minutes, or until each bread has gone into a full balloon. If for some reason your bread doesn’t puff up, don’t worry it should still taste delicious. Wrap the baked breads together in a large kitchen towel to keep them warm and soft while you bake the remaining rolled-out breads. Then repeat with the rest of the dough.

Hummus – Recipe adapted from The New Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden
Prep Time: Hummus can be made in about 15 minutes once the beans are cooked. If you’re using dried beans you need to soak them overnight and then cook them the next day which takes about 90 minutes.

1.5 cups dried chickpeas, soaked in cold water overnight (or substitute well drained canned chickpeas and omit the cooking) (10 ounces/301 grams)
2-2.5 lemons, juiced (3 ounces/89ml)
2-3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
a big pinch of salt
4 tablespoons tahini (sesame paste) OR use peanut butter or any other nut butter—feel free to experiment) (1.5 ounces/45 grams)
additional flavorings (optional) I would use about 1/3 cup or a few ounces to start, and add more to taste

Directions:
1. Drain and boil the soaked chickpeas in fresh water for about 1 ½ hours, or until tender. Drain, but reserve the cooking liquid.
2. Puree the beans in a food processor (or you can use a potato masher) adding the cooking water as needed until you have a smooth paste.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Adjust the seasonings to taste.

Falafels – Recipe from Joan Nathan and Epicurious.com
Prep Time: Overnight for dry beans and 1 hour to make Falafels

1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked in cold water overnight OR use well canned drained chickpeas (7 ounces/100 grams)
1/2 large onion (roughly chopped, about 1 cup)
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped OR use a couple pinches of dried parsley (.2 ounces/5 grams)
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped OR use a couple pinches of dried cilantro (.2 ounces/5 grams)
1 teaspoon table salt (.1 ounce/5 grams)
1 teaspoon dried hot red peppers (cayenne) (.1 ounce/2 grams)
4 whole garlic cloves, peeled
1 teaspoon cumin (.1 ounce/2 grams)
1 teaspoon baking powder (.13 ounces/4 grams)
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour (1 ounce/24 grams) (you may need a bit extra)
tasteless oil for frying (vegetable, canola, peanut, soybean, etc.), you will need enough so that the oil is three inches deep in whatever pan you are using for frying

Directions:
1. Put the chickpeas in a large bowl and add enough cold water to cover them by at least 2 inches. Let soak overnight, and then drain. Or use canned chickpeas, drained.
2. Place the drained, uncooked chickpeas and the onions in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the parsley, cilantro, salt, hot pepper, garlic, and cumin. Process until blended but not pureed. If you don’t have a food processor, then feel free to mash this up as smooth as possible by hand.
3. Sprinkle in the baking powder and 4 tablespoons of the flour, and pulse. You want to add enough bulgur or flour so that the dough forms a small ball and no longer sticks to your hands. Turn into a bowl and refrigerate, covered, for several hours.
4. Form the chickpea mixture into balls about the size of walnuts.

5. Heat 3 inches of oil to 375 degrees (190C) in a deep pot or wok and fry 1 ball to test. If it falls apart, add a little flour. Then fry about 6 balls at once for a few minutes on each side, or until golden brown.
6. Drain on paper towels.

Baba Ghanoush:

This recipe is from Anusuya’s kitchen.

Ingredients:

1 eggplant roasted

2-3 green chilies

2 tsp lemon juice

2 garlic pods

a small bunch of parsley

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp tahini paste

1. Roast the eggplant and remove the skin.

2. Grind all the ingredients except eggplant in a blender. Add the roasted eggplant last and blend again. Do not over blend.

3. Garnish with some olive oil and parsley leaves.

We had been trying to find alternative methods to cut down rice from our diet. Brown rice, broken wheat are all great alternatives, but I find that neither has the protein content that quinoa provides. Basically, quinoa seems the closest to providing a balanced nutrition, the carbs, protein, Vit.B etc.

Of course, we tried it as an alternative to plain rice and then mixed it with plain yoghurt for the traditional South Indian staple, thayir saadhan or rather thayir quinoa! The other characteristic of quinoa that differentiates it from brown rice or broken wheat is that though there is a slight nutty flavor, you cannot taste it at all when you mix it with spices or curries. This, to me, is a perfect alternative to white rice!

Girish came up with the brilliant idea of trying bisi bele huli quinoa today for lunch and my mother got equally excited with the idea and pulled out her staple recipe for bisi bele huli bhaath. She and I got busy making it and I have to say it was awesome. So if you truly want to try this with rice, the recipe is just the same, only replace the quinoa with cooked rice.

Ingredients:

Boiled Toor Dal (yellow pigeon peas)  – 1 cup

Cooked quinoa – 1 cup (1 cup quinoa and 2 cups water in a pressure cooker, or a rice cooker)

Madras Sambar Powder – 2 1/2 tsp (you can use the MTR brand)

Turmeric – 1 tsp

Tamarind – lemon size soaked in water and made into a paste

Beans – 1/2 cup julienne sliced

Carrots – 2 julienne sliced

Peas – 1/2 cup

Cauliflower – florets 1/2 cup

Masala – to be ground into a paste

Onions – 2

Garlic – 8 pods (optional, if you dont like the smell of garlic, you can skip)

Red chilies – 8-10

Ginger – 2 inches

Khus Khus – 2 tbsp (poppy seeds)

Cloves – 4

Cardamom – 2

Dalchini (Cinnamon sticks) – 2

Grated coconut – 1/2 cup

Oil – 1/2 cup

Garnishing: cilantro – 1/2 cup, cashew pieces – 1/2 cup, mustard seeds – 1 tsp, curry leaves – a bunch, red chilies – 2

Method:

1. Take 2 tsp of oil in a heavy bottomed pan, add all the ingredients for the masala and fry lightly for about 5 minutes.

2. Add the turmeric powder and fry again for 2 more minutes. Allow to cool.

3. Put all the ingredients in the pan, add the tamarind and the tomatoes and grind to a smooth paste. Keep this aside.

4. Now take the same kadai, add the remaining oil and lightly fry the vegetables for about 5 minutes.

5. Add the ground paste and continue to fry until the oil separates, for about 10 minutes. Then add the sambar powder.

6. Now add the boiled and mashed toor dal, add about a cup of water and leave it to boil, for about 5-7 minutes. Add salt to taste.

7. Now add the cooked quinoa to the above mixture, and mix well. Cook a little more for about 5 minutes until the ingredients are thoroughly mixed.

8. In a separate pan, add a little oil, about 1 tsp. When the oil gets hot, add the mustard seeds and fry till they crackle. Now add the curry leaves and the red chilies. Add cashews and fry till they brown a little.

Add this to the bisi bele huli quinoa. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve hot.

Ambat Bhaji is a Tanjore Marathi inspired dish and is sort of a hybrid between a sambar (lentil and vegetables soup) and a koottu (vegetables in gravy).

Ingredients:

Spinach – 1 bunch. You may also use amaranth.

Tamarind – lemon sized ball

Turmeric – 1 tsp

Asafetida – a pinch

Toor dal (yellow pigeon peas) – 1 cup boiled and mashed

Methi seeds (fenugreek) – 1  tsp

Dry red chilies – 4-6

Chopped Cilantro – for garnish

Method:

1. Wash and chop the spinach. You can chop the spinach and steam in a heavy bottomed vessel with a little bit of water. This helps retain the green color better. You can also microwave the fresh spinach. Alternatively, you may use frozen spinach.

2. While the spinach cooks, soak the tamarind in a little warm water, and squeeze it to extract tamarind paste. Alteratively, you may use about 1 to 1 1/2 tsp of tamarind paste. Add water to this paste (about 1 cup) and take this tamarind water in the heavy bottom vessel (kadai)

3. Add the spinach, salt and asafetida to the tamarind water. Let this mixture boil till the raw smell of tamarind goes away.

4. Now add the boiled and mashed toor dal. Boil for another 5 to 10 minutes till everything is well blended.

5. Now dry roast the methi seeds and the red chilies, grind to a fine powder. Add this powder to the dal mixture and boil one more time for another 2-3 minutes. Garnish with cilantro leaves and serve hot with white or brown rice.

In the above picture, we mixed the mashed dal with the ground powder and then added the mixture to the tamarind water. You may do this as well, but I think adding the powder at the end and then boiling provides an added taste.

But before I write about this recipe, let me back up. I almost forgot , but today marks the 1 year anniversary of Roz ka Khana! I am actually a little embarrassed to say that I almost forgot that it was our birthday. I mean, yes it was February last when I penned the Paruppu Rasam recipe, but I had to go back into the archives to look up the actual date. And maybe I am a little overwhelmed too thanks to my dear friends and readers who reminded me to go look up that date! Sheela, thank you for being such a sweetie and shaking me out of my doldrums with your cheery note.  Thanks for being such an ardent follower among everything else.

And I should also thank Anu of AnEmily’s Vegan Adventures for requesting this recipe. Anu, this was the perfect recipe for RKK’s one year anniversary. I don’t think I’m really a Tamil purist when it comes to recipes, but Tomato Paruppu Rasam (lentil and tomato soup) and Vatral Kuzhambu are the staple, comfort foods in my home, so what better way to pay my tribute to RKK than to post another favorite comfort food? While the Rasam is my staple recipe, this one is Girish’s. As I wrote earlier in the 2 month anniversary of this blog with Girish’s Curry leaves Soup (Karuvepillai Kuzhambu) recipe , he is the inspiration behind this blog. So here’s to Girish again for your love and support, and to all of you family and friends who have been contributing and following this food chatter so far….thank you.

Vatral Kuzhambu recipe (Tamarind Soup)

This is also called Pulusu in Andhra/Telugu lingo. As I mentioned in the Curry Leaves soup recipe, this tastes best in a kachitti or a stone vessel, especially when it’s a day old. If you don’t have this vessel, it can also be made in a regular pot or pan, but make sure to save some for the next day so it has had all the time to let the flavors of the sesame oil, the fenugreek and the vegetables sink in. Also, this recipe is not really true to its name as we did not add the sun-dried vegetables or vatral. The sun-dried vegetables are available as is in Indian stores. We did not add it here since the onions have such a strong flavor that you can make this soup without the vatral. The real reason also was that we didn’t have enough vatral handy:). You can also call this recipe Vengaya Vatral Kuzhambu (Tamarind Soup with baby Onions)

Ingredients:

(I don’t have too many pictures to post for this one. I inadvertently erased some of the colorful ingredient pictures that I took  as I was transferring the pictures to my computer. As soon as I’m done poring through the 2500 photos on my hard drive in a desperate attempt to find them, I will try to update this post with better pictures.)

A large lemon sized ball of tamarind (enough to make about 2 cups of tamarind juice)

1/2 cup pink baby onions or shallots

2 tbsp fenugreek seeds

2 tbsp sesame oil

2 tsp vatral kuzhambu podi (I get this from India, but you can also use Sambar powder that is available in Indian grocery stores – MTR Madras Sambar powder). Alternatively you can find the recipe here.

2 sprigs of curry leaves

6-7 green chilies (the Thai variety)

a pinch asafetida ( we use a brand called SSP that we have only found in India but you can use any brand. SSP is in the granule form instead of powder and we use about 3-4 granules for a good strong aroma )

1. Heat the sesame oil in the kachitti or the stone vessel.

2. When it starts to smoke a little, add the fenugreek seeds, lower the flame and let the seeds get dark brown and oil starts to smoke again.

3. Add the asafetida. Add the kozhambu powder (podi).

4. Add the shallots, curry leaves, green chilies and the sun-dried vegetables (vatral) if available here. Fry till medium brown.

5. Add the tamarind juice and salt.

6. Let the mixture boil on a low flame for 10-15 minutes until the soup starts to thicken a little. You can also add a small amount (half a tsp)of jaggery (crystallized brown sugar) here for an added taste. If the soup is too watery, you can add a little rice flour and water made into a paste to thicken it. But if you let it boil enough, you may not need this step at all.

7. Serve with hot white or brown rice and ghee (clarified butter) with a side of paruppu (boiled and mashed lentils).

You would think that 2 whole weeks of being at home during the winter holidays would have resulted in many culinary experiments for Roz Ka Khana. In my case, it’s sadly the opposite. Crazed school day mornings, busy swim and basketball class evenings leave me rushed and stressed but I feel like I always find the time to squeeze in that pistachio cookie or banana-nut muffin as a means to de-stress at that unearthly night hour. I know, it’s quite crazy. But when I had 2 weeks of late, lazy mornings and nothing planned for the day, cooking was the last thing on my mind. And so, when Uma, my good friend, offered to try one of her signature recipes and also offered to come home to make it for us, it was a perfect solution to get me out of my lethargy. Thanks Uma, for the recipe and for snapping us all out of it with your scrumptious brunch recipe.

The bright idea of making this Kerala delicacy came from my husband, Girish, who mentioned it to Uma one afternoon, since we were, as usual, talking about food. We were, actually talking about rare South Indian delicacies, rare, because there is a dearth of South Indian restaurants in Dallas, specifically. So we make do with just talking about it, and craving for it;) Girish was talking about this dish that he had in Toronto, round white lacy, spongy pancakes with a vegetable gravy like dish. You could tell he was reminiscing every little detail though he didn’t remember the name of the restaurant.

Uma is from Palghat or Palakkad, a town in the state of Kerala in South India, that connects Kerala to Tamil Nadu. When she heard about this Aappam craving, she generously suggested that she made it often and would love to make it for him one day. We were shameless enough to keep reminding her about it, so within a week, Uma was home to make it for us and for Roz Ka Khana.

Aappam (Kerala Rice Pancakes)

2 cups idli rice or parboiled rice (available in Indian stores)

2 cups raw rice (Ponni rice or Sona Masoori rice or any kind)

1/2 cup urad dal (skinned black gram – split or whole)

Soak the above for 4-6 hours. Grind to a smooth paste in a grinder or blender. Make sure to keep the batter thick, so don’t add too much water while grinding. Keep the batter in a warm place overnight, to help it ferment. (You can keep it in a warm oven – preheat to 200F and then turn off the oven – and keep the batter in the oven overnight). You can store this fermented batter in the fridge till you want to make hot, fresh, aappams.

On the day of making the aappam, take about 4 big serving spoons of batter in a saucepan, add about 1/8 tsp of baking powder and 1/4 cup coconut milk. You may also add a little water till the batter is of a slightly thin, pouring consistency.

You will need to use a round, deep, preferably non stick vessel to make the appams, like the picture below. Using a dab of oil on a paper towel, wipe the vessel so it is coated with a thin coating of oil.

When the vessel is hot, pour the dough slowly, from the rim all around, until the vessel is completely coated with the dough. You may also swing the vessel in a circular motion so is gets completely coated.

Cover with a lid and leave for a minute or two. When the aappam is cooked completely, the edges get a little golden and it starts to leave the sides of the pan. When you hold the vessel sideways, the completely cooked aappam will just slide off on its own. Serve with hot vegetable stew.

Vegetable stew (to serve 8 )

Potatoes – 2, sliced lengthwise

Onions – 1 1/2, sliced lengthwise

Carrots – 2 or about 6-8 baby carrots, julienne cut

French beans – 12, julienne cut

Zucchini – 1 , chopped into small lengthwise bits

Ginger – 2″, grated

Green chilies – 6-8, sliced lengthwise

Coconut milk – 1 can

1. Heat a kadai or heavy bottomed vessel. Add 1 tbsp oil.

2. Add crushed ginger and green chilies and saute for 2 minutes

3. Add onions and saute again for about a minute or two. Make sure not to brown the onions, it has to just cook until glazed.

4. Now add the carrots, beans, potatoes and zucchini. Add about a cup water, some turmeric and salt. Cover with a lid and let boil until the vegetables are just cooked. Make sure not to overcook.

5. Lastly add the can of coconut milk to the stew. Simmer for a few minutes and then turn off the stove.

6. Garnish with chopped curry leaves. Serve hot with aappam.