340) VEGETABLE PUTTE (PUTTU)

VEGETABLE PUTTE (PUTTU)

A TRADITIONAL KERALA STEAMED BREAKFAST DISH MADE EVEN HEALTHIER AND TASTIER, HOT AND SPICY

Ingredients:

     1)    Putte podi (roasted raw rice powder) – 500 gm.

     2)    Grated coconut – 125 gm.

     3)    Peeled potato – 175 gm.

     4)    Peeled beetroot – 300 gm.

     5)    Peeled carrot – 150 gm.

     6)    Onion – 50 gm.

     7)    Hot green chilies – 15 gm.

     8)    Coriander leaves – 10 gm.

     9)    Curry leaves – 2 sprigs

     10)    Powdered salt – 12 gm.

     11)    Garam masala powder – 3 gm.

To prepare:

          Grate the potatoes, the beets and the carrots. Chop the onion, the green chilies, the coriander leaves and the curry leaves to superfine pieces. Transfer to a mixing bowl. Tip in 25 gm. of the grated coconut. Add the rice powder (putte podi), the powdered salt and the garam masala powder. Mix well with your fingertips and set aside.

To steam:

          Fill three fourth of the putte steamer with water, cover with its lid and put it on high heat. Place the perforated disc at the bottom of the putte kutti (cylinder).

 

Putte / Puttu Kutti

Tip in a couple of teaspoons of grated coconut. Fill a third of the cylinder with a vegetable rice mixture. Tip in a teaspoonful of grated coconut and fill up another third of the cylinder with the mixture. Repeat with grated coconut and the mixture once again till the cylinder is full. Top up with a teaspoonful of grated coconut. Take care never to press the mixture for the steam has to pass through freely. Put on the perforated lid and set the cylinder on the putte steamer which should be boiling by now. In 2 to 4 minutes, the steam will start coming out at the top. Keep for a minute longer, turn down the heat and lift up the cylinder. Remove the lid. Keeping the cylinder horizontally over a plate, insert the steel rod into the bottom of the cylinder and gently push your delicious steaming hot vegetable putte onto the plate. Enjoy hot. You need no other accompaniment for this healthy dish. Hungry kids coming back from school just love to gobble up this putte. So does everyone else!

Enjoy!!!

Note:

          The moisture from the vegetables is just right to make the putte, so long as you are steaming it immediately after mixing. If, however, you take an hour or more to start steaming the putte, you may need to sprinkle a few drops of water and mix again, since the rice flour tends to absorb water, rendering the mixture too dry to bind properly.

336) MULAYARI PAYASAM

MULAYARI PAYASAM

A SWEET, DELICIOUS, BEWITCHING BAMBOO RICE PAYASAM

Introduction:

          In the wild, bamboo clumps burst into bloom once in a dozen years or a few decades. Once a clump starts the flowering process, it spreads like a chain reaction across the whole forest, often culminating in the drying up of all the bamboo clumps, but not before they leave us with their wonderful gift of bamboo rice.

          This grain, the size of rice grains, but having the colour and texture of wheat is perhaps the hardest of cereals and is believed to possess medicinal properties which can boost health and induce rejuvenation. The blooms soon fade to give way to tons of bamboo rice, a tiny fraction of which germinates to bring forth new bamboo colonies.

Much of the grain is devoured by rodents and other forest critters, a good portion washed away by the rains and a small part collected by the tribal population. The ground beneath the clumps is swept clean and the ripe, dry grains strewn therein are swept together daily. The grit and chaff are removed and the grain brought to the market where it fetches a good price.

My mother used to make mulayari payasam at home when I was quite young. Neither my brothers, nor I would care to touch it for the grains were so hard to chew even after hours of cooking. It was decades later that I came to know of the technique of making superbly delicious mulayari payasam.

Last year, one of my husband’s friends had come here, wishing to visit the famous Tirunelli temple. The millenniums old temple nestles on top of a hill with the breathtaking view of the majestic, forest-clad Western Ghats (Brahmagiri and Nilgiri mountains) where an ancient stone aqueduct brings fresh, cool mountain water into the temple.

My husband took his friend to the temple. Behind the temple is a hotel and a curio shop run by the son of the temple priest. There, they had a couple of glasses of mulayari payasam. The payasam turned out to be delicious and my husband purchased a packet of fresh bamboo rice.

The shop owner was kind enough to share with him the technique of making this wonderful payasam. I soon made mulayari payasam at home and from my husband’s expression as he sipped it, I saw that the payasam had indeed far exceeded his expectations. Since then, I have cooked mulayari payasam several times, making subtle adjustments here and there, the result each time improving upon the previous one.

I joyously share with you my finest recipe for this gem among payasams. Do cook and enjoy!

Ingredients (to make 1.5 litres of payasam):

     1)    Bamboo rice (cleaned, washed and sun-dried) – 200 gm. (see note)

 

     2)    Grated coconut – 645 gm. (from two large coconuts)

     3)    Coconut kernel – 15 gm.

     4)    Cashew nuts – 10 gm.

     5)    Kismis (sultanas or seedless raisins) – 10 gm.

     6)    Jaggery (unrefined cane sugar) – 350 gm.

     7)    Cardamom pods – 6 Nos.

     8)    Ghee – 2 teaspoons

     9)    Water – 1525 ml.

To prepare:

          Put all the bamboo rice into the dry-grind jar of your food processor. Grind it on low speed (the first notch) for 4 seconds. Stir and repeat twice more (a total of 12 seconds). Take care not to exceed the time as you need plenty of broken rice for getting the right texture (see picture).

          Put the grated coconut into a food processor. Measure out and set aside 1500 ml. of water. Grind the coconut to fine paste in 2 or 3 batches using as much of the measured water as may be necessary. Pour the paste into a stainless sieve set atop a fitting vessel. Squeeze out the thick coconut milk and set aside.

          Soak the pomace (coconut solids) once or twice more in the remaining water, knead well, sieve out the thin coconut milk and set aside separately.

Put the broken bamboo rice together with the thin coconut milk into a pressure cooker. Set on high heat. As soon as you hear the first whistle, lower the heat and cook slowly for 5 minutes. Now switch off the heat. By the time the cooker depressurizes normally, the bamboo rice should cook to perfection.

In the meantime, put the jaggery together with 25 ml. of water into a pan. Set it on low heat. Stir occasionally till the jaggery melts fully. Sieve and set aside.

Peel the cardamom pods and crush the seeds to powder. Chop the kismis and the cashew nuts separately to fine bits and set aside. Chop the coconut kernel too likewise and set aside.

Put the contents of the pressure cooker together with the melted jaggery into your payasam vessel (use a thick bottomed vessel or pan if possible). Set on high heat and stir frequently. As soon as it comes to a boil, turn down the heat and let cook for 5 minutes so that the bamboo rice sweetens as it absorbs the jaggery.

          Now turn up the heat and pour in the thick coconut milk. Stir continuously as you do not want the payasam to burn at the base. As soon as it starts boiling nicely, tip in the cardamom powder and switch off the heat.

          Set a skillet or small pan on low heat. Pour in the ghee and tip in the coconut bits. Stir continuously till the coconut turns a light brown in colour. Now throw in the cashew bits and stir till the cashew turns the same colour. Tip in the kismis bits, stir once and switch off the heat.

Pour the sizzling contents into the payasam, stir and cover with a lid. Your supremely delicious mulayari payasam is now ready to enjoy. Serve hot.

As you drink the payasam and munch on the delicious bamboo grains, the fried coconut pieces and the cashew bits, you are in heaven!

Bon appétit!

Tip:

          Peanut lovers try garnishing mulayari payasam with a handful of skinned, fried peanuts (ground nuts) and enjoy!

Note:

          Please do not confuse original reddish brown bamboo rice with the green (paddy grown white rice soaked in bamboo juice and dried) rice sold in markets under the false name of bamboo rice.

334) MASALA DOSA

MASALA DOSA

A SOUTH-INDIAN DREAM FOOD

Masala dosa with Green curry leaf chutney and Tomato chutney

Introduction:

          Masala dosas are created in several ways and varied tastes all over South India. Yet, all of them invariably bring forth that unique, mouthwatering aroma and that addictively enticing look which charms your nostalgic memories and makes you want to enjoy them forevermore. My dear children, who seem to have inherited my father’s gourmet palate, often pester me to make for them tummyfuls of my tastiest masala dosas. I happily share with you one of my finest masala dosa recipes. Do cook and enjoy!

Ingredients for the dosa batter:

     1)    Aged raw rice (see note) – 875 gm.

     2)    Parboiled Ponni rice – 125 gm.

     3)    Fenugreek seeds – 5 gm. (1 teaspoon)

     4)    Urud dal (split black gram lentils) – 250 gm.

     5)    Salt – 10 gm. (2 teaspoons)

Ingredients for the masala (filling):

     1)    Peeled potatoes – 750 gm.

     2)    Peeled beetroot – 250 gm.

     3)    Peeled carrot – 100 gm.

     4)    Stemless hot green chilies – 20 gm.

     5)    Peeled ginger – 7 gm.

     6)    Peeled onion – 150 gm.

     7)    Curry leaves – 2 sprigs

     8)    Cooking oil – 15 ml. (1 tablespoon)

     9)    Mustard seeds – 5 gm. (1 teaspoon)

     10)    Urud dal (split black gram lentils) – 10 gm. (2 teaspoons)

     11)    Garam masala powder – 2 gm. (½ teaspoon)

     12)    Kashmiri chili powder – 10 gm. (2 teaspoons)

     13)    Salt – 10 gm (2 teaspoons)

     14)    Water – 250 ml.

     15)    Coriander leaves of one plant (optional)

Ingredient for roasting the dosa:

     1)    Cooking oil to grease the pan (for cast-iron pan) or to sprinkle over the dosa as it starts to crisp (for non-stick pan) – 7.5 ml. (1 ½ teaspoons for each dosa)

To prepare the batter (make the batter today for masala dosas tomorrow):

          Soak the rice (both) and the fenugreek seeds together in water for 5 to 8 hours. Soak the urud dal (250 gm.) separately likewise.

          Rinse and drain the urud dal. Transfer to a wet grinder (for best results) and grind to superfine fluffy paste, adding water from time to time (when you feel the paste is getting too thick for the grinder). Take out the paste and put it in a large vessel (a 10 litre vessel would be ideal as you do not want the batter to overflow when it rises).

          Now rinse the soaked rice and the fenugreek in water, drain and transfer to the wet grinder. Grind likewise to superfine paste (The paste should not be too thick or too watery – if thick, the wet grinder will suffer, if watery, the dosa will. Dosa batter is just a shade thinner than cake batter).

          Transfer the paste to the same vessel. Cover with a lid and leave to rise overnight. Rinse the wet grinder with a little water and save the wash in a separate vessel.

          After resting overnight, the batter would have risen quite well. Take a look at the vessel in which you kept the milky water from washing the grinder. Gently tilt the vessel and drain off the clear water. Add the paste at the bottom to the dosa batter. Tip in the salt. Stir thoroughly, since the heavier rice paste tends to sink to the bottom. Set aside.

To make the masala:

          Dice the potatoes, the beetroot and the carrot roughly to chunks and put them in a pressure cooker. Pour in a cup (250 ml.) of water, put on the lid and set on high heat. As soon as you hear the first whistle, lower the heat and let cook for 10 minutes. Switch off the heat and let the cooker cool naturally (this provides enough time for the vegetables to cook to perfection).

          Meanwhile, chop the onion to superfine pieces and set aside. Chop the green chilies and the ginger together to superfine pieces and set aside. Pull the curry leaves off their sprigs and set aside.

          Check to see if the cooker is cool enough to open the lid (the steam should have subsided fully). If yes, transfer the contents to a mixing bowl and mash the vegetables with the bottom of a stainless steel glass. It is good to leave some small chunks for texture.

          Set a large cast-iron wok (for better taste) or frying pan on high heat. Pour in the cooking oil (15 ml.) and tip in the mustard seeds. As soon as the mustard seeds are about to finish spluttering, tip in the urud dal (10 gm.) and lower the heat. Stir till they turn a light brown in colour.

Throw in the chopped green chilies, the ginger and the curry leaves. Stir for a minute and tip in the powdered salt, the garam masala powder and the Kashmiri chili powder. Stir once. Now put in the mashed vegetables, turn up the heat and stir to mix thoroughly. As soon as the masala is hot, switch off the heat (if you are using coriander leaves to make the masala more aromatic, chop or break, add and stir once more).

To make the masala dosa:

          Set a flat cast-iron pan or a non-stick pan on high heat. Use a ladle (which can hold 150 ml. of batter) to stir the batter thoroughly. If you are using a cast-iron pan, grease it with 1½ teaspoons (7.5 ml.) of cooking oil as soon as it is hot. If you are using a non-stick pan, greasing has to be avoided since the batter will refuse to stick to the pan to form the dosa.

          Pour a ladleful of batter in the center of the pan. Put the bottom of the ladle at the center and softly spread the batter in continuous, ever-widening circles till you get a perfect round dosa.

Cover with a cloche and lower the heat. A minute later, lift off the cloche. If you are using a non-stick wok, just sprinkle 1½ teaspoons (7.5 ml.) of cooking oil over the dosa. Let the dosa roast slowly. Soon, you can see golden spots appearing here and there on the dosa. Use a spoon to spread some masala in a line across the length of the dosa. Use a flat showel headed trowel or spatula to fold either side of the dosa over the masala.

          Lift up the masala dosa and serve hot with green curry leaf chutney or coconut chutney or ekpanni chutney or with tomato chutney and sambar or okra sambar. Eat crispy hot masala dosas, dipping pieces in sambar and different chutneys one after the other as my kids do!

Masala dosa with Kappa bonda and Ekpanni chutney

Enjoy!!!

Note:

          New rice from freshly harvested paddy is a translucent white in appearance and tends to be too sticky or gooey for the dosa. So it would be better to buy aged raw rice which is opaque and slightly cream in colour to get the perfect dosa. B.T. rice (Bombay Terminus rice) gives excellent results.

328) SHARKARA UPPERI OR VELIYUPPERI

SHARKARA UPPERI

OR

VELIYUPPERI

DELICIOUS SWEET AND SPICY KERALA NENDRAN BANANA CHIPS

Introduction:

          In Kerala, no banana leaf feast is considered complete if dual appetizers of crisp, sweet and savoury deep fried nendran banana pieces often called veliyupperi and cheriyupperi are not served. Of these, sharkara upperi is so tempting, no matter how much you make, it is finished in no time. In fact, its very taste is an adventure. Veliyupperi is also known as sharkara upperi, sharkara varatti or sharkara puratti. Here, I share with you one of my more precious recipes. Do cook and enjoy!

Ingredients:

     1)    Peeled, fully mature, raw nendran banana – 1 kg.

     2)    Jaggery (unrefined cane sugar) – 500 gm.

     3)    Krishna tulsi leaves (purple indian basil) – 5 gm.

     4)    Pepper powder – 10 gm.

     5)    Ginger powder – 5 gm.

     6)    Cumin (jeera) powder – 5 gm.

     7)    Cardamom pods – 10 Nos.

     8)    Powdered salt – 2 gm. (½ level teaspoon)

     9)    Water – 100 ml.

     10)    Coconut oil or other cooking oil – to deep fry

To make:

          Cut the banana lengthwise into halves. Cut each half across into pieces of around 8 mm. to 10 mm. thickness (⁵/₁₆ inch). Set a small pan on low heat. Tip in the jaggery and pour in the water. Stir occasionally till the jaggery dissolves fully. Switch off the heat. Strain and pour the jaggery into a wide thick-bottomed vessel and set aside.

          Set a wide wok or a large deep-frying pan on high heat. Pour in the cooking oil (you can deep-fry the banana pieces in a single batch if you use 2 litres). As soon as the oil is hot (it should not smoke), slip in the banana pieces. Stir occasionally.

Meanwhile, shell the cardamom and crush the seeds to powder. Chop the tulsi leaves to superfine pieces and set aside. Stir the banana pieces till the bubbles are very few and the pieces feel like wood as you turn them with a perforated ladle or meshed noodle strainer (take care to fry them till most of the moisture has evaporated, but not so late as to burn the pieces). Lift out the banana pieces and drain off the excess oil. Switch off the heat.

Now set the thick vessel containing the jaggery on high heat. Stir continuously taking care not to let the jaggery burn at the base. As it comes to a boil, tip in the chopped Krishna tulsi leaves, the pepper powder, the ginger powder, the cumin powder, the cardamom powder and the salt. Continue to stir till the jaggery thickens and feels gummy.

Now lower the heat and tip in the fried banana pieces. Stir well till the banana absorbs and gets coated fully with the melted jaggery (this will take around 2 to 3 minutes). Switch off the heat. Stir for a minute more for the jaggery to crystallize and then tip the contents onto a large banana leaf or on non-stick paper or on a stainless steel platter to cool. When cool, your delicious sharkara upperi is ready to enjoy. Store in an airtight container, if any remain after sampling!

Bon appétit!!!

Note:

          The sharkara upperi available commercially in bakeries in Kerala is prepared the same way, but with slightly different ingredients. Tulsi is not used. Cumin is also often omitted. Only 300 gm. of jaggery is used, but supplemented with 50 gm. of powdered sugar and 100 gm. of fine rice powder. The latter two are simply dusted over the jaggery coated banana pieces while stirring them in the final round.

327) CHERIYUPPERI

CHERIYUPPERI

CRUNCHY NENDRAN BANANA UPPERI

TRADITIONAL KERALA DEEP-FRIED CHIPS

 

Introduction:

          Long before the chipmaker was invented, the people of Kerala were enjoying crunchy, deep-fried nendran chips – each painstakingly cut by hand and fried in coconut oil. This enticing tradition is so ingrained in the heart of the Malayali, that despite the changing times and fashions, each banana leaf rightfully claims a serving of upperi – veliyupperi / sweet sharkara upperi and cheriyupperi / savoury upperi. While traditional cheriyupperi is a simple, savoury deep-fried snack, relying fully upon the goodness of nendran banana alone, the modern bakery version incorporates the flavour of chili powder and curry leaves as well. Here are both versions. Do fry and enjoy!

Ingredients (for the traditional version):

     1)    Peeled, fully mature, raw nendran banana – 500 gm.

     2)    Powdered salt – 1 heaped teaspoon (10 – 12 gm.)

     3)    Oil – to deep fry

Ingredients (for the modern version):

     1)    Peeled, fully mature, raw nendran banana – 500 gm.

     2)    Powdered salt – 1 heaped teaspoon (10 – 12 gm.)

     3)    Oil – to deep fry

     4)    Curry leaves – 2 sprigs

     5)    Kashmiri chili powder – 2 teaspoons (10 gm.)

To prepare:

          Cut each banana lengthwise into halves. Slice each half across into 3 mm (⅛ inch) thick half-moon pieces and set aside. Take two tablespoonfuls of water (30 ml.) in a small bowl or cup. Tip in a heaped teaspoonful of powdered salt and stir till the solution is fully saturated (no more will dissolve). Set aside.

To deep-fry the traditional version:

          Set a wide wok or deep-frying pan on high heat. Pour in the cooking (a little should suffice to deep-fry 500 gm. of banana pieces in one batch). As soon as the oil is hot, tip in the banana pieces. Stir every now and then for frying uniformly.

When the banana pieces are almost done (the bubbles will be few and most of the pieces would be floating on the surface of the oil), tip a teaspoon and a half (8 ml.) of brine (saturated salt solution) and stir continuously. This is for the dissolved salt to coat the pieces uniformly.

As the bubbles subside, you can feel the chips to be lightweight like pieces of wood as you touch them with the perforated ladle or with the mesh net noodle strainer. Lift out the chips and drain off the excess oil. Switch off the heat. Let cool naturally. Your delicious, crunchy, traditional cheriyupperi is now ready to enjoy.

To make the modern version:

Deep-fry the chips just as in the traditional version. As soon as you lift them out, switch off the heat and throw the curry leaf sprigs into the hot oil. Stir once (they would have fried crisp in just a few seconds), lift out and set aside.

Put the hot chips in a stainless steel bowl and sprinkle the chili powder. Shake vigorously so that the chili powder gets coated uniformly. Crumble the curry leaves and tip them in. Shake once more. Let cool naturally before you transfer the upperi to an airtight container.

 

Enjoy!!!

324) KAPPA BONDA

KAPPA BONDA

SPICY, YUMMY, DEEP-FRIED TEATIME CASSAVA SNACK

 

Ingredients for the filling:

     1)    Peeled and washed cassava – 500 gm.

     2)    Onion – 100 gm.

     3)    Peeled garlic cloves – 3 gm.

     4)    Hot green chilies – 8 gm.

     5)    Kashmiri chili powder – 5 gm.

     6)    Garam masala powder – 3 gm.

     7)    Cooking oil – 2 teaspoons

     8)    Curry leaves – 2 sprigs.

     9)    Powdered salt – 6 gm.

Ingredients for the tempura:

     1)    Maida (white wheat flour) – 200 gm.

     2)    Salt – 4 gm.

     3)    Water – 225 ml.

     4)    Cooking oil – to deep fry

To make the filling:

          Chop the cassava roughly to large chunks and transfer to a pressure cooker. Tip in the turmeric powder and pour in enough water to immerse the cassava fully. Close the lid and set on high heat. As soon as the cooker blows the first whistle, lower the heat and let cook for 10 minutes. Switch off the heat and let the cooker cool naturally.

          Meanwhile, peel and chop the onion to fine pieces. Chop the garlic and the chilies to superfine bits and set aside. Check to see if the cooker has cooled down enough for the steam to subside naturally. If so, open the lid and drain off the water.

Put the cooked cassava chunks into a mixing bowl and mash nicely with the bottom of a stainless steel glass. Pick off fibres if any.

Set a wide pan or vessel on high heat. Pour in the cooking oil (2 teaspoons) and tip in the chopped onions, the green chilies and the garlic. Pull the curry leaves off their sprigs and throw them in. Stir well for 3 minutes.

Now tip in the garam masala, the powdered salt and the Kashmir chili powder. Stir twice or thrice and tip in the mashed cassava. Lower the heat and stir till all the ingredients mix thoroughly. Switch off the heat and leave aside to cool.

To make the tempura:

In the meantime, put the flour (maida) in a mixing bowl. Tip in the salt and pour in the water. Mix or blend well till all the lumps are dissolved and set aside.

To deep-fry:

Check to see if the filling is cool enough to touch. If it is, make small balls (you can make gooseberry sized ones or even lemon sized ones as you like) of uniform size.

Set a wok or frying pan on high heat. Pour in the cooking oil. As soon as the oil is hot (it should not smoke), put 5 or 10 balls into the batter. Roll each ball to coat it fully and slip it carefully into the hot oil. Take care not to overcrowd the wok or frying pan.

After a couple of minutes, start turning them carefully. Fry for 4 to 5 minutes till the tempura feels a bit crisp as you turn the bondas. Lift them out, drain off the excess oil and continue the process till all the bondas are fried. Your delicious, spicy-hot kappa bondas are ready to serve. Enjoy hot.

Kappa Bonda with Ekpanni Chutney

Try with ekpanni chutney if you like to spoil yourself or just enjoy a bite of kappa vada pav (open up a pav, put a dollop of ekpanni chutney, top up with a kappa bonda and close the pav) followed by a little bite of coconut chili fries or hinga mirsange. Repeat till you nearly bite off your fingers!

Bon appétit!!!