My uncle was telling me how when he went with his friends to Kodai, a surgeon friend of his got food poisoned. They were MMC alumni who were staying in a five star hotel in Kodaikanal. All were retired men and there were a few ladies. Since many had health issues, generally bland food was preferred. A particular surgeon thought he would play safe sticking to mere dahi chawal or curd rice. Finally he was the one who got food poisoned at the age of 65. His holiday turned into a nightmare with him getting admitted to a hospital in the hill station for a week. He had to be admitted to ICU as his condition deteriorated before he recuperated. Apparently the culprit was the curd that had been refrigerated for long as there weren’t many takers. Sometimes when you go out, its prudent to eat the hot food that might be heated up lately. That way you can avoid stale food consumption unknowingly. Any fungus in the food may be ruled out. In my case, I have had stomach upsets whenever I consumed milk based desserts in Indian restaurants. Having to share my time between two countries India and Qatar, my body has grown gentle and delicate over years as the food quality standards followed in Qatar are too good. So whenever I am in India, even though I may want to believe that I am immune to the Indian heat and dust and adulterated water, food and environment, I am still affected a little when I try to have my fill whenever I am carried over by the air of festivities. The allure of sweets is too much in India. YOu just cannot say no. As freezers face problems in Indian heat conditions with erratic power supply, the vegetables used in restaurants have to be dipped for a longer time in vinegar to keep them fresh from rotting. For my gentlest stomach therefore eating out regularly means food poisoning sooner or later. A big bout of food poison happened to me at no place other than the Club Mahindra five star restaurant at Coorg. This was unbelievable. I am vegetarian and whenever I am outstation, I pay attention to what i eat. Still some ten years back, I was confined to bed in the resort for a day, having dined on seemingly innocuous vegetarian dish. My family who gorged both on veggie and non veg fare were fine. I investigated the matter with my niece who is a gynecologist presently. She concluded that the vinegar soaking of vegetables must have rumbled my stomach. I started taking note of my restaurant visits after that. I found that the milk based panneer (cottage cheese) proved havoc to me after vegetables. Milk based desserts served in restaurants could do maximum damage. After this Kodaikanal episode of the doctor that can be traced back to the five star kitchen, we can see how preserving food for a longer time extending their shelf life by the restaurants can have a worse effect on our health. I had rabdi, a milky dessert, last evening. Rabdi can be easily put up together I know. Not a big seller. Restaurants here maintain very high hygienic standards. Food inspection is pretty regular in middle eastern countries where even the walking space between tables is regulated so that the restaurants are not cramped. Yet I had food poisoning last night and I threw up everything I ate. What started at 2 am went on until early morning 6 am. I avoid normally the desserts in our restaurants but still went for it when friends ordered. Interestingly and as usual, I was the only one affected. Others got away. Ice creams are fine from fast moving stalls and ice cream counters but again never from restaurants that don’t see consistent orders. Some of us would want to settle for the simple and easily digestible curd rice whenever we go outstation. This post is for them. Hot food is always recommended in restaurants and as far as possible curd rice and any milk based dish must be avoided as the age of the curd or the milk in question cannot be ascertained. There is a risk component. If the curd rice is from a busy popular mess that has no leftovers from previous day, then it is fine. Otherwise we must think twice about ordering milk based dishes and desserts from restaurants. Those with gentle stomach like mine who cannot tolerate vinegar soaked vegetables in gravies, must stick to hot rice menu as far as possible and minimize the subzis if not totally avoid them. For me personally, most restaurants in Doha are fine. Now I am so used to having unadulterated food here that whenever I visit India, it takes time for me to adapt. I do eventually but I play it safe going for steamed food such as idli in that case. Two or three days of continuous restaurant food can totally debilitate me. I still travel a lot within India and in foreign countries. Balancing the food intake is a big challenge for me.
Loving Mexican – as authentic as it can get… From the Tacos and Tamales to the Chipotle sauce… being vegetarian restricts your food choices but then Mexican has great veggie options for those like me. Fast food joints do a super service. Their tacos are even lighter and can be had on the run – so no wonder a hit with the local Americans. Exotic/ethnic cuisine gets distorted in other parts of the world as we see with even Indian curry masala. After my Pizzas and Risottos and Raviolis in Florence and Rome, never could I bring myself to touch the Spaghetti or Pasta again anywhere else. The US may not be exactly the right place to sample Mexican but this is the best that I could manage. Tamales are my No.1 and somewhat remind me of steamed south Indian rice dishes such as Uppurundai for instance, and Tacos come a close second. What makes Mexican special is that, it is a bit spicy to cater to typical Indian taste buds bred on red hot chili pepper and pickles. Neither did I find the Mexican junk. With rice and bean sauce and elaborate preparations, the cuisine can be a complete meal. A vegetarian connoisseur’s delight lies in discovering regional veggie cuisine. That way the Falafel is my hot favourite Arab signature dish with their dessert ‘Baklava’ now getting popular in India. Of course, the Sharia rice is irresistible to me, so filling and sumptuous tweaked with kismis and pistachios toasted on ghee. A curious twist of long grain rice and vermicelli, the dish is yet to hit the party circles. Egyptian Kushari is a welcome diversion as is their Babaganoush, the eggplant dish. Love equally the Lebanese veggie platter with ‘Labneh.’ Labneh or labaneh which may be the whey is my most preferred bread spread for last fifteen years. We live in the Olive-and-Date heaven so I make most of the flavour of the region. Sehlab the syrian ‘kheer’ and the Turkish ice creams remain my other top favourites. Life in Middle East is a blessing that way that I get to sample the original versions, as gulf countries teem with expats from every corner of the globe. Partial to cheese – and as much as possible I go for vegetarian cheese that is not made with rennet. We have a selection from the Mediterranean to choose from. Vegetarian from birth, I have been aware i can never get to taste most of the food spread the world has to offer and that my choices are enormously limited. But sampling the global vegetarian cuisine seems to somewhat make up for what I stand to lose on food front. Of course, of late I am loving something as staple as Mashed Potatoes and Spinach Potato patties from IKEA, so predictable and boring to most, served with Mushroom sauce. But only a vegetarian will know, what a luxury it is to find something as trivial as smoked potatoes in a world gorging on meat and fish. My exploration of vegetarian world dishes started with our time in Malaysia. The ‘Kuihs’ from ‘kumpungs’ of Malaysia, the rice dumplings steamed in Pandan leaves, were my first ever veggie foreign dish over a quarter century back nearly. Introduced to me by my Malay and Chinese friends, a wave of nostalgia washes over me as I think of kuihs and I can strangely remember the aroma of the pandan even now. May be smell travels fastest over light and sound! I was lucky to get my order of veggie Kway Teao (thick Malay noodles) done to my taste and preference in Malaysia. Come a long way since then. This as much breaks the stereotypes about nations and cultures. There is no doubt that India is the vegetarian capital of the world with infinite and unique recipes from practically every district and state of the country. A lifetime is not enough to experience and savour the phenomenon called India palate. But there is vegetarian aspect to every cultural cuisine as I have seen, that most of us Indians especially vegetarians tend to neglect. It adds a beautiful dimension to food theories. India does not monopolize vegetarian cuisine. Neither can we Indians reduce others to mere meat eating status. I have savoured Poori and Halwa, veggie Samosas and Channa-Dal in Pakistani restaurants and Bindi (okra) and Naan from Afghan. The latter to me offered the bestest bread basket ever, putting five star restaurants to shame. My favourite eating place is Chinese with its simmering Tofu on the grill with mixed vegetables and Jasmine tea. The variety of veggie cuisine the world has to offer with respect to regional and seasonal harvesting/vegetations makes for interesting menu. Survival is possible in any part of the planet provided we nurture an open mind even as a vegetarian. Help yourself to generous servings of global vegetarian. You will want to eat out of humanity’s hands.
Biriyani is soul food for connoisseurs of food not only in India but throughout the world. Touted the ’emotional food’ of the masses. Purportedly food popularized by the Moguls who invented it accidentally adding Indian spices to Kashmiri Basmati rice cooked with juicy mutton/meat marinated in herbs, Biriyani catered to rich man’s platter for centuries. It is only in last few years that the biriyani reserved normally for feasts, has come within common man’s reach with outlets selling it street to street with all possible variations one can imagine. Finally the dreamfood of meat lovers is affordable with the arrival of the broiler chicken. Loaded with ghee and spices and dripping with greasy oil, heavy meal meant for hard stomachs, biriyani is not exactly your health food on the menu. Overdoing biriyani is harmful to one’s health and there can be no two opinions on the same.
Thayir saadham (curd rice) on the other hand is the polar opposite. Cool on your tummy. Bland. Probiotic that aids in digestion and absorption of minerals and other nutrients, no south Indian meal is complete without thayir saadham. Although a particular community has branded it as theirs, the fact is that there is not a south Indian who does away with thayir saadham when he/she has not consumed meat with the meal. Curd does not sit well with meat, and curd with fish for instance can lead to food poision. This is the reason meat eaters prefer buttermilk to thayir saadham. Supposed to be the super brain food, I cannot though figure out how those who claim exclusive properties to thayir saadham have not still produced the Korean or Japanese or Chinese range of intelligence so far! Apparently the centipede and millipede and snake eaters win hands down when it comes to IQ! Some brainfood here!
So, it is not merely biriyani, even thayir saadham is overrated. If the ‘Rajas guna’ of the biriyani is indeed the reason for physical violence, then the ‘Sattva’ curd rice is only too capable of passive aggression that has been the characteristic trait of some Hindus for centuries. You don’t have to weild the sword like the moghuls and draw blood every time. The very opinionating nature in some is disturbing.
Men who work in tougher conditions involving physical labour need their quota of protein that can come best only from meat. Those who work indoors with not much of physical activity can forego meat for their own sake. Geographic conditions too dictate our food habits. High fat food is a must for those living in cooler climes. Availability of food used to be a primary factor in determining our dietary customs until very recently. Camel meat and milk were staple food for nomadic tribes of Africa and Arabia. Where agriculture flourished, vegetarian food habits developed with the harvest of food grains. Where maize cultivation was suitable like in Africa, corn became staple food. Islands had fish eaters. As we all know, the universally recommended diet is Mediterranean with its rich olive and cheese blocks and a fair share of fruit, nut, fish and meat. The Japanese formula is Sushi and the Mexicans spice it up with their herbs. The Chinese wash down the fat in the food with their herbal teas.
Personally I prefer saatvik food for health reasons. Easy to palate for a homemaker like me. Insufficient for a hardworking man like my spouse. Meat is a must in his daily portions. So that does make a man more aggressive or less intelligent. Each of us is bred with a different metabolism that may determine our energy levels. In my opinion, we must never disturb that equilibrium but must do with what works for us. Moderate meat consumption complemented with fruit bowls and sprouts/cereals may make for ideal balanced diet.
There are gentlest meat eaters I have come across in my life and violent vegetarians. One thing I can observe is that, the meat eaters have undoubtedly better stamina and libido compared to vegetarians. The nonvegetarian platter is more balanced than a vegan’s or a vegetarian’s. The nutrition content in vegetarian menu is skewed and most of us vegetarians including me lose out on essential proteins and omega fatty acids from fish. Plant substitutes hardly prove to be sufficient. Good number of kidney patients and liver cirrhosis and intestinal cancer patients are vegetarians surprisingly and not alcoholics or voracious meat eaters. So that must have a point for us. On the otherhand when we consume light food and our metabolism is evolved differently with less fat in our blood stream, our memory cells could work sharper. This is merely scientific evidence. Excess fat can make one lethargic.
A north based friend would say, biriyani or any meat diet carried the soul of the culled animal with it. So do leather boots and bags and belts. But the irony is that the friend’s family is into money lending business that is ruthless and preys on the poverty and helplessness of the borrowers. So this is what I call passive aggression which is worse than physical violence.
Biriyani today faces the flak because it is now identified with a community that is considered anti-Hindu. I am not biriyani lover either even if I can cook up a sumptuous and droolworthy biriyani adhering to health standards even if I am vegetarian by birth. Biriyani tops as the numero uno favourite food of my family. Whoever is against it has not yet savoured its flavours including me.
Neither am I for mushrooming of the biriyani joints in nook and corner of our country. Biriyani is on its way to become the national food or staple food of India and it is ringing alarm bells naturally. The health of our younger generation is at stake. Frozen meat pumped with chemical preservatives is used in tons to turn out huge mounds of biriyani to cater to the tastebuds of crores of our population. It was never this way until a few years ago when biriyani meant only ‘bhai veetu kalyanam’ or ‘ramzan.’ In those celebrations/festivals, no frozen chicken or mutton was used for biriyani. The meat cut was fresh with mostly animals sacrificed for the occasion. The proliferation of meat habits points to explosive growth of poultry industry, nothing more.
Thayir saadham is gentle on our stomach. For summers, every single day I have only the ‘baghalabath’ with grated cucumber and carrots and coriander in it. It is our family’s favourite too, as much as biriyani is. It is always our family lunch box food.
On meat eating days, my family have plenty of buttermilk to offset the spice consumption. In winters, I forsake curd rice and settle for stews and have buttermilk in the place of curd rice because I do not want to miss out on the spice in the chill weather. If it is not curd, it is always buttermilk for us. To my knowledge, this is how meat eaters consume curd/buttermilk. Who says they do away with curd totally. What is ‘raitha’ then. Having a divided family on many matters helps me in contemplating different perspectives.
Even north Indians round off their roti subzi meal with a little ‘dahi chawal’ after ‘dal chawal.’ The arabs buy curds (labaan) (both thick sour curds and the bottled buttermilk) in buckets literally and consume it alongside meat including that of camel. Compared to arabs, thayir or curd consumption in India especially among south Indian Tamils is dismal actually! So much for thayir saadham! Only difference is, the arabs consume tubs of yoghurt (unsalted/plain) straight away without having it with rice like we Indians do. Yoghurt both plain and fruity are popular throughout the world including in south east Asia and America and Europe. But nobody spun a tale on curd rice the way we south Indians do. Research departments in American universities picked it up because the research students there and the faculty are Indians and more specifically south Indians/Tamils!
Well there is an intermediary food called KAAAAARA KUZHAMBU !! I am slave to that! Call it Vatha kozhambu or Kara kozhambu, my vote is always for that and my signature foods that I am good at include this kara kozhambu made with tamarind extracts and red chili powder. Hot and steaming, nothing like our kaara kozhambu with dollops of gingely oil floating on top! Spicy and alluring! Sambhar too belongs in this middle range along with other vegetarian stews like Koottu. Most underrated are these day-to-day cuisines of ours. Much as my biriyani is popular with family and friends, my bisibela bath and baghala bhath too are equally rated! Not that i am a gourmet chef or foodie. Just a regular housewife who does nothing out of the ordinary.
I can agree with discussions of biriyani so far as it is limited to our health aspects. Once you bring in the religious philosophy alleging characteristics and properties to it, you violate a Dharma in the process. One man’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist. Whoever said, ‘kondral paavam thinnal pochu’ in Tamil. World operates on this conundrum.
Why do some of us feel the compulsion to judge everything and everyone. Why can’t we let anything be.
from Nala’s biriyani to bagala bath (curd rice) and mutton biriyani from my kitchen: i am a vegetarian from birth; i cook with a flourish simple food and treat both veggies and meat with the same respect as they both bring energy and happiness to those who eat out of my hands. i can underrate or overrate none. sorry i have not done the window dressing. i get fresh meat from groceries always for my family, NEVER the frozen one.
I do not know how far it is true that Biriyani existed as Mans-oden in Nala’s cookbook ‘Paka Darpanam’ but we all want to perfect our recipes like ‘Nalabhagam’ don’t we. Fellow hindus are now onto to ‘Jhatka’ in the lines of ‘Halal.’ Some ambition here.
I love my vegetarian Lebanese, Egyptian, Turkish, Arab, Italian, Mexican, Chinese, Malay food as much as I love my vegetarian Indian platter. I am keeping my options open and I am willing to experiment and grow, not limiting myself to hypocritic notions and boundaries. Pleasantly surprised to discover vegetarian Georgian cuisine in the shadows of the Ural. My meat eating husband loathed the honey and chocolate dipped meat and turned vegetarian during our tours abroad. There can be no single way of defining food or labeling food. Ingredients like spices and meat and vegetables can be treated in entirely different methods of preparation. Even the cooking ways are different from baking and boiling to tandoor/grilling to deepfrying. Variations even by slightest degrees produce entirely different dishes as we know. Food too is innovative in every step. First of all let’s stop sermonizing and learn to imbibe the best from others.
So why is biriyani the emotional experience and thayir saadham, not? Because once you try to attach the puritanical strings to it and try to own it, it loses it lustre. You make it communal. Food is first about sharing and caring. Biriyani excites a man’s all five senses: visual, aural, nasal and spiritual not stopping with tingling one’s taste buds. Friends and family have confessed to mood upliftment with Biryani. If there is not something matching biriyani in desi cuisine, invent it! Because the biriyani addict-crowd swells by the minute! You just can’t be sitting there in the high stool of your kitchen counter judging without sampling.
The 7 vegetable spicy south Indian stew with coconut and lentils
Aarudhra is the day Lord Shiva is in His dancing best. Very special occasion every Margazhi month during which time anyway along with Perumal temples, Shiva Stalas too open by morning 4 am. I used to hear the bell toll before dawn in Mylapore home right from Kapali temple as once upon a time, me too used to draw ‘kolams’ in the street in front of our house.
Aarudhra special neivedyam for puja at home is this 7 thaan koottu (a stew with 7 native vegetables – or more like 9, 11) along with Jaggery Kali. My patti used to make mouthwatering kali and koottu omg! I don’t know whether I can ever match her but i give it my best shot.
I saw some You tube videos on the koottu but i got disappointed because, many of them were using carrots, cabbage, cauli flower etc in preparation. Nothing wrong. But the significance of the recipe lies in using only native vegetables. We in our family with roots in Arni also repeat this recipe for Maattu Pongal (a day after Pongal/Sankranthi which is the harvest festival of India). In certain things I stick with traditional recipes, in some I add variations. However the 7 thaan koottu is something I never would alter from original recipe.
Ingredients.
Native vegetables – 7 (I used Raw banana 1, Ash guard, yellow Pumpkin, broad Beans, Mochai (fresh peeled) (this is totally native to India/Tamil Nadu that there is no English equivalent name I guess), Yam and Tapioca (valli kizhangu) and Brinjal (actually ended up using 8)! Total weight of the vegetables was over 1 kg. Variations that can be used are: Drumstick, Colacasia, Mango etc that are also native.
Tomato 3 or 4 big size
Shallots (peeled) (I skipped onion on the day of Thiruvadhirai/Aarudhra but otherwise generally add)
Curry leaves and coriander leaves for seasoning
Tuar dhaal – 1 cup
Tamarind – lemon size (or little less if you want the koottu to be little less tangy)
For spice mix: Dhania seeds 2 tbsp, channa dal 2 tbsp, red chili 6 to 8, cumin seeds – 2 tsp, fenugreek 1/2 tbsp, coconut shelled 2 tbsp, (kopra was in use in place of coconut. we never used fresh coconuts in kootu/kozhambu/curry in my granny’s days. only the dried kopra. the fresh coconut usage is a recent phenomenon. we do get dry kopra scrapes in Pazha Mudhir Nilayam in the nuts section. this dry kopra can also be used for payasams).
As you peel, wash, cube and boil the 7 vegetables in water in a thick bottomed pan with lid closed, pressure cook tuar dal separately to smooth mashy consistency. Remember to add the peeled fresh green Mochai along with the dal. Add turmeric powder to the dal.
Soak tamarind in warm water before you start so that when you have to squeeze the tamarind you get good tamarind juice. Do not throw the boiled water in which the vegetables are cooked. Do not overcook vegetables to too soft.
Dice the tomatoes.
Roast the spice mix ingredients lightly and grind to smooth paste.
Heat the gingely oil in a thick bottom cast iron kadai and when it starts smoking, temper with mustard, cumin and fenugreek seeds. When these splutter add tomatoes that are cubed and rinsed curry leaves. In case you have shallots peeled, first add shallots to the oil and fry to golden brown and then add the tomatoes. When the tomatoes are mushy, add the cooked vegetables along with the water. Squeeze the soaked tamarind and add the juice to the kadai now and stir well. After thorough mixing add the spice blend to the Koottu that is cooking. Add salt. Finally add the cooked dal and season with asafoetida and washed coriander leaves. Do not over cook. I let the Koottu to be in Sambhar consistency. If you want, let it thicken more to actual Koottu padham BEFORE you add the dal.
We have the 7 Thaan Koottu ready, hot and steaming. Best with Arudhra Kali first, but also very good with rice, ven pongal, roti or anything. One of the most yummiest traditional original native recipes. No onion/garlic/ginger but I would love to have the shallots in it. Perhaps, next time on a less auspicious occasion.
Very filling and nutritious vegan/vegetarian stew – the Ezhu Thaan Aarudhra Kootu. My fave since when I was a little girl.
Seriously don’t bother about calorie count or cooking time. So long as food is healthy and hearty, it is good enough for me and family.
Ajwain aids in digestion and Flax seeds are Plant Omega 3 rich. Ragi is glutten-free. Kasuri methi is rich in iron. I mostly use it for taste though. Curds help in fermentation and digestion. Adding garam masala or ginger-garlic paste is optional. As I go for hot and spicy gravies always with rotis, I prefer simple rotis.
Make a smooth chapathi dough of all the above ingredients and roll into rotis with the rolling pin and toast both sides in tawa, preferably with desi ghee. Little bit softer result because of ragi addition. Not too crispy. Makes for a filling lunch/dinner along with any subji (sidedish). Leave the dough to rest for at least 30 minutes before rolling into rotis for toasting.
I guess this is my improvisation. Little original. Most recipes I post are. Never the traditional, but altered and made unique with my signature. This is one such a recipe.
Tomato is selling 3 kgs at Rs. 50/-. An abundance called India! So I am making the best use of the rich, ripe tomatoes pumped with lycopene. Together with cholesterol controller soya, it can make for a yummy recipe.
Soya is believed to be a major GM food so those in fertile years please stay away. But don’t ask me how come Malaysian Chinese harbour no such problems. Soy to be avoided until you are into your 40s and your childbearing years are over.
Minimal consumption like once a month or so fine until one may reach middle-age when it comes to Soy. Or for that matter any food be it fruit or vegetable that you may suspect to be GM.
For this yum tomato gravy, I have used 1 kg tomatoes and a handful of soya chunks readily available in our supermarket shelves.
Ingredients:
Tomato 1 kg
Soya chunks – a handful
Onion – 2 middle sized ones
Garlic – one whole
Curry leaves
Coriander leaves
Gingely oil 2 tbsp
Madras sambhar powder – 2 to 3 tsp (this is 50% dry red chili powder and 50% dhania/coriander powder that I grind and keep stock always in my kitchen)
Garam Masala powder -1/2 tsp (optional) (this too I have homemade with roasting and powdering nutmeg-cloves, bayleaf, cinnamon, cardamom, fennel etc). In this recipe I have not added garam masala powder but sauteed with bayleaf and cinnamon stick and cloves instead.
Turmeric powder just a pinch so as to maintain the rich reddish hue of the curry.
Salt to taste
Water (optional)
For tempering: mustard seeds, fennel seeds a tsp each. If you are to temper with bayleaf and cinnamon and fennel seeds, mustard seeds to be avoided as also garam masala powder.
Method:
Soak soya chunks in warm water for about 30 min and squeeze out water. Keep aside.
Peel and grate onion and grate tomatoes fine.
Peel and crush garlic.
Heat Oil in a cast iron kadai. When it reaches smoking point, temper with (i) mustard and fennel seeds or (ii) bayleaf, cinnamon stick and fennel seeds). Saute next onion to golden brown. Add crushed garlic and curry leaves next. Finally add the tomatoes. When the gravy is mushy, add the soya chunks whole or cut into half. Add a little water if so desire, I don’t. I let the soya chunks cook in the tomato juice. Add the madras sambhar powder and garam masala powder and turmeric powder(optional) Add salt proportionally keeping in mind the gravy will be thickening in consistency by the time you are done. Turn well and cook covered for about 20 min until the gravy thickens and the soya is well cooked. Season with cut and washed coriander leaves. Serve hot with rotis or rice. One of the yummiest curries especially in cold weather. Easiest to cook.
Urad Dal – 1 and 1/4 cups to be soaked with 1 tsp Fenugreek (Methi) (Vendhayam) seeds.
Salt to taste (Pink Himalayan Rock/Crystal salt used)
Water for grinding
All millets used in this recipe are organic. Only Urad dal is not certified organic. All these listed millets are also native to India except for Quinoa. Before rice and wheat consumption became fashionable this century, our forefathers mostly ate millet three times a day. Even now, villagers in India have millets for main course. Ragi Mudde is popular in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu peasants have Kezhvaragu koozh for breakfast.
I left out Ragi/Kezhvaragu (Finger Millet) (Mandua in Hindi) because, mostly in roti flour I mix Ragi flour 1 tsp and flax seed powder 1/2 tsp. Moreover, Ragi will make Idli appear very darker. Consistency also may not be upto mark on grinding the batter. May be a handful can be added.
Mixed Millet Idli & Dosa
How to grind the batter?
Mix all millets together and rinse clean. Leave standing water for soaking overnight. (Eight hour soaking recommended)
Soak urad dal and methi seeds together.
Grind to buttery consistency the urad dal first.
Grind to coarse consistence, the mixed millets. Little millets may remain unground, but it is fine.
Pour the mixed millet batter on top of ground urad dal and stir well. You can salt at this stage.
Keep aside. No need to add baking or cooking soda or yeast.
Batter will ferment and raise well on its own just like regular Idli/dosa batter in a couple of hours (or more).
Refrigerate and make Idli/Dosa like regular Idli/Dosa.
Millets are rich in vitamins and minerals. Totally gluten-free and are slow to digest. Therefore ideal for the diabetic or pre-diabetic. However, Millets may be consumed with caution in case of thyroid malfunction. Perfect weight-loss diet.
Power breakfast to kickstart your day with! Sumptuous, nutritious, filling, lighter at the same time. Soft, fluffy, melting in mouth. Best served with Mint-Coriander (Pudina-Dhaniya) Coconut Chutney and Lentil Sambhar and Urad Dal Vada.
This is very basic, still I thought this must have a spot in my blog.
Murungai or Moringa is poor man’s vegetable in south India. Moringa is our native tree. Lower middle class homes have the tree almost always in their backyard or frontyard. Hence there is an abundance of murungakai (Moringa veg) and murungai keerai (moringa leaf) supply anyday in local markets.
In my case, my street has many homes with Mururgai tree so i get both Murungai keerai and Murungai kai free most of the times.
Moringa is also considered auspicious vegetable! No wedding feast without Murungaikai sambar.
Murungai health properties are well documented. Besides being a terrific immunity booster, the murungai family is rich in essential nutrition that keeps cancer away. Cheap and best, Murungai is naturally an integral part of south Indian cooking. Kirumi nashini (germ killer).
My interest in Moringa grew manifold when I started noticing Moringa based beauty products in Bodyshop in Doha. Ever since, of course, I started including Moringa more into my food routine. (As we Indians continue to sleep, many of our traditional medicinal recipes are being patented for profit in the west).
Although many of us have Murungai sambhar and Murungai poriyal pretty often, not everyone has an appetite for Murungai Keerai. However, it is mainstay of my kitchen always.
For Murungai Keerai Pirattal, I took a big bunch of Murungai branch leaves that my housemaid plucked for free (!) from a neighbour’s tree!!!
Here are the ingredients:
Murungai Keerai bunch
Onion medium -1
Garlic – a few pods
Dry Red chili – 2 or 3
Coconut scraped – 1 or 2 tbsp (optional)
Peppercorn – 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste (used Himalayan Pink Rock/Crystal salt)
Water a little (optional)
Oil for tempering: I use either Gingely oil or Coconut oil both coldpressed 2 tsp
For tempering: 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp broken or whole urad dal
Method:
Pluck the Murungai or Moringa leaves carefully from the stems. Rinse in running water and keep aside.
Grate onion fine
Crush the garlic. I use a stone pound (what we call ‘ammi’ in Tamil)
Break the dry red chili and de-seed.
Crush the pepper corn. You can do this while crushing the garlic.
Heat the oil in a kadai (I use either cast iron kadai or clay kadai only)
When the oil is about to smoke, temper with mustard seeds and urad dal and dry red chili.
When the seeds splutter, add the onion and saute to golden brown.
Add next the crushed garlic-pepper corn.
Finally add the rinsed moringa leaves.
Add little water but mostly not needed.
Cover and cook to a crispy tender. Won’t take more than a few minutes. Under 10 min precisely.
When the murunga keerai has no more water retention, add the grated coconut.
Salt to taste.
Stir well and switch off fire.
Result: the Murugai Kai Keerai Pirattal (pic) which can be had as a subji or be mixed with rice for main course. Serve with a tsp on ghee with rice.
A must for teenage children. Moringa is a staple vegetable in our families always. But of late, our traditional vegetables and greens are hardly appreciated by the younger generation. Today we see many women in twenties with ovarian cysts etc. Infertility is on rise. Moringa is one tree that is truly organic because, it grows right in your backyard. It is pesticide and chemical fertilizer free. One good reason to make Murugai keerai and Murungai Kai poriyal/sambar a compulsory part of your weekly diet. Moringa or the Murungai family is credited with natural fertility properties and other medicinal values as per Ayurveda. It is not without a reason that our families have traditionally made Murungai a vital part of our everyday menu.
So is Murungai Keerai yummy? Not sure about that! Mostly it is acquired taste for us hahaha! But today’s Murungai Keerai Poriyal was too good which is the reason I am posting it here in my blog.
PS: Btw I just loved the subtle fragrance of Moringa moisturizer in Bodyshop !!! Was like none other! So original! I can’t believe the MNCs took the Moringa out of India to make cosmetics from face creams to perfumes!
I stopped posting recipes long back because, (1) am not a foodie (2) not a gourmet cook (3) just a regular everyday housewife left with no option than cooking (4) mine is literally hole-in-the-wall 9×6 tiniest minutest kitchen (5) don’t find cooking captivating though cathartic at times like writing this blog (6) prefer eating out during weekends (7) jelebis and halwas and laddoos and murukkus are best at Grand Sweets and Shree Mithai hahaha !!! so why give them competition !!!
Even so, decided to add one or two authentic recipes here that i have perfected on improvisations over traditional methods …. No new found passion for cooking. There are many many more with such a crushing devotion and interest in cooking. Mine is average/normal fare as i said sans any frill – just the mundane run-of-the-mill stuff minus the paraphernalia such as window dressings like presentation while serving, topping etc., etc., displaying your cutlery and table/dining ware that you hardly use otherwise (only guests are lucky in our homes to sample our precious dinnerware!!!)
Food for me must be sumptuous, nutritious and delicious at the same time. I don’t believe in dieting. Eat heartily until you burp. Then work out. That’s my fitness mantra.
Will try to pull up a few old ones too from a previous blog.
vijiravindran's 