Indian Winter # 3 : Tender Toor Sukke with Baby Potatoes

The Sukke was fresh and fragrant, when I clicked this snap.
The snap is not exactly fresh, though. :-(

I have not been blogging, I know. And no, it's not the New Boss. Actually, it's the old husband, who was so busy at the beginning of this month that he had no time for the house or the dauthter or the me. Since the me had to look after the earlier two, there was no time left for anything else. Including the blog.

So, what did I do? I just packed off the old husband to a faraway country, to the land of 'Sahib'. I wouldn't let anything or ANYBODY come between my blog and me, you see. (For fellow Hindi film buffs: Duniya ki koi taaqat mere blog ko mere se judaa nahin kar saktee...nahin...)

My agony was not to end here, though. The next hurdle showed up when I actually managed to switch on my PC at home. Although all else was fine, I could not log in to Blogger. I could see all blogs, including mine, but logging on to Blogger? Nah...that wasn't happening.

So, what did I do? Well, I fooled Blogger. I as in Vaishali, the Smarty Pie (oooh, I like that) somehow managed to log in through my old Blogger account. When I tried to go to my posts, it reminded me that I had switched to the 'new' Blogger, (it was YOU who was suffering of amnesia, Blogger, not me!) and asked to to log in to my new account. And it worked. Yipee!

Now, there I am. With my recipe and my pictures. It's not really winter here in Pune any longer. (Although you Guys out there reach out for that extra sheet early in the morning!) But hey, the winter veggies are still available. Also, there's gonna be a winter next year too. So, why not stock up on recipes before the next winter hits us? There...I got you convinced...I can see that. :-)

Anti-clockwise from top: whole Toor beans, shelled green/tender Toor, the 'everyday' Toor dal

Before I move on to the recipe, a little about 'tender Toor'. These are fresh pigeon peas. Once dried and split, they become 'Toor dal' or 'split pigeon peas'. As you can see in the picture above.

And now the

Recipe for Tender Toor Sukke with Baby Potatoes

Ingredients:

1 heaped cup shelled tender Toor ( ½ kg. of the beans should yield that much)
12 Baby potatoes
¼ cup chopped onion
salt to taste

For the paste:
3 dried red chillis
1 tsp Urad dal
a lime-sized ball of tamarind, soaked in water
1 cup grated fresh coconut

1 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 sprig of curry leaves

Shelled tender Toor (left behind) and boiled & skinned Baby Potatoes (front)

Method:

1. Rinse the shelled tender Toor once and put them into a wide vessel that fits into your pressure cooker. Pour water over the Toor until just covered.
2. You could add washed Baby potatoes to the same vessel or you could arrange them on the lid that covers the vessel in the pressure cooker.
Any which way, please make sure that the Toor as well as the potatoes are cooked thoroughly. :-)
3. Roast the dried red chillis in a couple of drops of oil until they turn two shades darker. Then take them out.
4. Roast the Urad dal in the same vessel without adding any oil till it turns golden and aromatic.
5. Sqeeze all the water out of the soaked tamarind, and discard the residue. In case you do not want to have any impurities, pass the tamarind water through a strainer once.
6. Grind the roasted red chillis, roasted Urad dal and grated coconut with the tamarind water until you get a smooth paste.
7. Take the ground paste as well as the cooked Toor and boiled potatoes into a heavy-bottomed vessel. Add the chopped onion and salt to it.
8. Cook this mixture on high heat. Add more water, if necessary. However, please keep in mind that this is a rather dry dish; it's not expected to have a lot of gravy.
9. Once the dish appears to have come together, turn the heat off.
10. Heat the oil in a Tadka ladle. Add mustard seeds, and let them splutter. Then add the curry leaves, and take the ladle off heat.
11. Add this Tadka to the Toor+potatoes mixture. Cover it immediately with a lid so that all flavours blend well.

Serve warm with Rotis / Phulkas or with rice & dal.
By the way, this Konkani dish can be prepared using any pulse instead of the tender Toor. You could use fresh green peas too. I assure you that it will taste equally stunning. :-)

What blog events do to you... Coconut Bread Burfi

Can you spot me in the picture?

Had it not been for Jihva for Coconut hosted by Ashwini, I would have perhaps never made this Burfi. Why? Because I am not really a dessert person. I mean, I like desserts but I do not really look forward to making them (excluding baked goodies, that is). If you are somebody who has been to my place for lunch or dinner, then you perhaps know that. Although there would be several chutneys and various vegetable preparations in the menu, the dessert would usually be store-bought.

Blog events have changed the scene in my kitchen, though. The urge to make something special and to try out a new recipe for a blog event has resulted in me making various sweets in the last few months. Like I gathered the courage to make Puranpoli only for Jihva for Dal hosted by Sailu. Or like I made Pista Choco Squares only for Jihva for Milk hosted by Vineela.

This time, when Ashwini announced 'Coconut' as the theme, I immediately thought of Undi. And then I said, nah...something new...yes, the event deserves something new...an experiment...
Next moment I was going through all the recipe books on my shelves.
Which one? Which one? Aaaah, this one it's gotta be. Yeah, a Burfi made with coconut and bread(!)...now that sounds exotic!
So, Coconut Bread Burfi it is. Adapted from the Marathi cookbook 'Annapoorna' by Mangala Barve.

My only problem is that other recipes and foods that I want to blog about never get the chance to see the light of the day. Or they get published some three months after I take the pictures. Like I have made the preparations for at least five posts for my Indian Winter series, but those recipes always have to take a backseat when some event comes up. I hope I get to finish the series while it is still winter here in India (which is just another month or so!).

Anyway, let's proceed to the Recipe for Coconut Bread Burfi for the time being.

Clockwise from top right: White bread slices, grated fresh coconut, whole coconut

Makes 20 (3 cm. X 3 cm.) squares

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups grated coconut
1 ½ cups breadcrumbs (from approx. 3-4 slices of white bread without the edges)
1 cup sugar
powder from 5-6 cardamoms
a few strands of saffron (optional)
1 tsp Ghee to grease the dish / Thali

Method:

1. Mix all ingredients upto powdered cardamoms in a heavy bottomed pan or a non-stick pan. (I used the latter.) Cook uncovered on a medium flame until the mixture starts moving in a mass when stirred. (This process takes only about 10 minutes. The breadcrumbs play a great role in quickly bringing all ingredients together.) Add saffron strands, if using.
2. Grease a small Thali or a shallow dish with the Ghee.
3. Transfer the coconut-breadcrumbs mixture into the Thali, and spread it evenly. Press it with the back of a bowl to make the surface smooth. Let cool.
4. Once cool, cut the Burfi in desired pieces. You could grease the knife with some Ghee to prevent the mixture from sticking to it.

Serve Coconut Bread Burfi as dessert or offer it to kids as a sweet treat after school. Whoever you serve it to will not guess the ingredients right. I mean the bread in it. At least nobody in my family circle did. :)
You could stretch the guessing game to 10 days, because that's how long it keeps fresh without refrigeration in winter.

Let me now hurry to Ashwini's to ask her to include my post in her round-up now. I know, it's late, but I also know that she is kind. :)

Tags: Coconut, Barfi, Burfi, Bread, White bread, Breadcrumbs, Mithai

Jihva for Coconut : Undi

This is one more dish that required some getting used to from me. First of all, I had never eaten anything like this before. Secondly, it is eaten with jaggery syrup and fresh butter. "Sorry, with what???", was my first reaction when I saw that combination. The last but not the least, considering that it's an everyday breakfast dish and not a festive sweet, the amount of coconut that goes into it is shocking.

In the beginning of my marriage, I generally used to find the amount of coconut being used in Konkani kitchens really objectionable. I mean, how can you treat coconut(!) just like any other ingredient? How can you finish one entire coconut in a day's cooking????? I must say that it does not disturb me any longer. One reason is habit. Another one is that the consumption of coconut around me has also gone down in the last few years. Because the doctors are shouting 'Cholesterol' clear and loud. :)

Also, I have learnt to respect other cuisines much more. All said and done, some of the dishes in the Konkani cuisine are just unique. For example, Undi. You don't come across dishes like this every day. Neither the combination of accompaniments. Earlier, it was a strict no-no in my kitchen. However, nowadays, I make it once in a while. So that I continue the tradition. So that my daughter gets to know her father's cuisine as well as her mother's. So that me carrying the surname 'Kamath' has more meaning to it.

And cholesterol can wait. I am not going to the gym for nothing, am I? :)

Left to right: Grated fresh coconut and raw rice

Recipe for Undi (pronounced Oun-deeh)

Makes 20 pingpong-sized balls (Serves 2-3)

Ingredients:

2 cups raw rice (not parboiled)
1 cup grated fresh coconut
1 tsp salt (or to taste)

2 tbsp oil
½ tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp Urad dal (You could use a sprig of curry leaves instead.)

For the jaggery syrup (Ravo in Konkani):
1 cup jaggery
approx. ½ cup water (Sorry, I do not have exact quantity of water for this one. I will update the post when I make it next time.)
Powder from 4-5 cardamom seeds

Method:

1. Soak rice in water for two hours. You could soak it for longer, although it's not really necessary. Actually, in case you are in a hurry, and own a good heavy-duty grinder, then soaking the rice only for 30 minutes suffices too.
2. Grind the soaked rice with grated coconut to a coarse batter. The ground granules of rice should be the size of Idli Rawa or coarse semolina granules.
3. Transfer this batter to another vessel. Add one of water to the grinder, shake, and add this water to the batter. (How much more economical can you get? :) Add salt, and give the mixture a thorough stir.
4. In a thick-bottomed pan or a non-stick Kadhai (I used the latter.), heat the oil. Add mustard seeds. Once they begin to splutter, add the fenugreek seeds and Urad dal/curry leaves.
5. Once all mustard seeds have popped, and the fenugreek seeds are a shade of golden brown, add the prepared batter. Cook it uncovered on medium-high heat until much water evaporates and the mixture turns into a thick mass, that is too difficult to be stirred with a spatula.

6. Take the pan off heat and let the mixture in it cool.
7. Divide the cooled mixture into 20 portions and shape these into flattish balls. Press one of the flat sides with a finger to make a depression, so that the centre too cooks well.

Undi ready to be steamed in a pressure-cooker

8. Arrange all these balls in a vessel that fits into your pressure cooker. Alternatively, you could arrange the balls on your Idli stand or on the perforated sheet that comes with your Idli steamer (Pedavan in Konkani).
9. Fill your pressure cooker / Idli steamer with enough water and heat it. Once the water starts boiling, place the vessel / stand with Undi in it. Cover and steam the Undi for good 20 minutes. No shortcuts here. Or else, the Undi will stay unpleasantly uncooked.
10. While the Undi are steaming, you could prepare the jaggery syrup by combining the jaggery and water, and cooking on medium heat until the mixture reaches the consistency of honey. Take the syrup off heat and add powdered cardamom seeds to it.

Serve warm Undi with the jaggery syrup and fresh home-made butter (at room temperature) . The way to eat it is by dipping Undi in the butter first and then into the Ravo/jaggery syrup. The morsel that lands into your mouth is sure to make you look forward to the rest of the day. No, really, I have experienced it. :)

Undi served with jaggery syrup. A simple yet exquisite breakfast.

Note:

Since this breakfast dish requires a lot of preparation, it is advisable to do most of it the previous evening. Usually, I finish the preparation until Step 7 the previous night and store the unsteamed Undi in the refrigerator in a container with a tight lid. I prepare the jaggery syrup too (Step 10) the earlier night; it stays fresh outside the fridge for several days. The following morning, I just steam the Undi and voila...breakfast is ready.

Hope you Guys try out this dish and like it. Hope Ashwini likes it too. As my entry, although late, to Jihva for Coconut. :)
And before I leave, let me wish All of You a very Happy New Year!

Tags: Konkani, Mangalorean, South Indian, South Kanara, South Canara

Chutney with Fresh Turmeric and Mango Ginger

I hope that either you already know about these two main ingredients or you have read about them in my earlier post. In case neither, then in a nutshell, Fresh Turmeric is...well...Fresh Turmeric and Mango Ginger or Ambehalad or Curcuma Amada is a rhizome from the ginger family, which gives out, when cut or crushed, the smell of fresh unripe mangoes. What I made using these two ingredients and some more is this.

Recipe for Chutney with Fresh Turmeric and Mango Ginger

Ingredients:

Before I start, let me mention that there are no set measurements for this chutney. You can add ingredients as per availability and liking. The quantities I used this time are as below.

gratings from ¼ of a coconut
100g. fresh turmeric
100g. Mango Ginger (Ambehalad)
50g. ginger (Adrak)
2 green chillis
juice from ½ of a lemon
4 tsp sugar (This ingredient is quite important as it balances the tartness coming from all those rhizomes.)
salt to taste

Method:

1. Wash, peel and chop all rhizomes. You might consider wearing gloves while handling the fresh turmeric, because it stains your hands pretty badly. And the stains take at least three days to go away completely. Want proof?

2. Combine all ingredients and grind to a fine paste without using any water.

This chutney keeps in the fridge for several days. Serve it as an accompaniment to any meal. Like so.

Clockwise from left: Fresh Turmeric & Mango Ginger Chutney, salt, Tomato chi Aamti, Cabbage Bhaji, Bottle Gourd Bhaji with Moong Dal and Phulkas

All dishes cooked with turmeric in some form or the other. Cancer isn't even gonna look this way, is it? :)

I'd like to send this post as well as the earlier one containing the info to Kalyn's Weekend Herb Blogging #61. Off to her then...

A wish fulfilled : Pineapple Coconut Muffins

Pineapple Coconut Muffins

Do you know what pineapple is called in German? 'Ananas'! Which means, if you know Marathi or Hindi, then you already know a little bit of German. :) :)

Let me leave humour aside now and thank my kid-cousin, Leena for this post. It is because of her that I made these muffins in Düsseldorf. She had come visiting us along with her parents (her mother is my father's cousin) and her brother in September. A fortnight before we left Germany for good. I know, it sounds weird, but weird can be fun sometimes, right? So there.

Leena had come to us with this big wish of baking something with me. She loves baking, and she knows that I do too. And bake we did. Only a bit in a hurry. A few hours before they were to leave our place. Sounds weird again, I know, but she really really wanted to bake, and we hadn't managed it until then because we were busy doing 'Düsseldorf-Sightseeing'.

By the way, lack of time wasn't the only hurdle there. Once I realised that I had to bake something with her, I started looking for recipes. However, every recipe that looked 'do-able' asked for some ingredient or the other that I didn't have in stock. Naturally, because I had kinda started finishing off stuff because of the impending move. What I did have, though, was all-purpose flour. And that is what saved me. The paper bag containing the flour, to be precise. I found this recipe on that bag and guess what (!), I had all the ingredients. Apart from rum, that is. Well, even if I had it, I wouldn't have used it, because two kids were gonna have those muffins. And did they have them? Oh yes, with lots of gusto. And they got a few packed for the journey too. What I got in return was a tried and tested recipe AND my kid-cousin's happy face. A win-win situation, what? :)

Recipe for Pineapple Coconut Muffins

Makes 15 rather large muffins. You might consider making 18 smaller ones.

Ingredients:

200g. all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
50g. dessicated coconut
250g. pineapple pieces (Preferably canned.)
1 egg
150g. brown sugar (White sugar should be ok too.)
100ml oil (I used sunflower oil.)
250g. plain yogurt
1 tbsp rum (I used milk instead.)

Powdered sugar for dusting (optional; I used)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C.
2. Sieve the flour and baking powder together. Add the dessicated coconut to it.
3. Beat the egg. (I used a simple fork for it.) Add the sugar, oil, yogurt and rum/milk to it. Cut the pineapple into smaller pieces, in case the ones from the can are largish. Add them to the mixture and stir well.
4. Add the flour mixture and stir until just mixed. You need not use your electric beater here. Just a large spoon is enough.
5. Grease the muffin moulds with butter/oil or line them with paper cups. Fill the batter in them and bake in the pre-heated oven on the middle rack for 20-25 minutes.
6. They are done when a skewer/ knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Then take out the muffin pan and let it cool for 5-10 minutes.
7. Unmould the muffins and let them cool on a cooling rack.

Dust with powedered sugar, if you like.

Great for breakfast, as evening snack or when on the road. I've got the feedback. :)

I'd like to send this plateful of muffins to Nandita for WBB #7 Baking for Breakfast and to Meeta for MM #6 Give Thanks. And I thank them for hosting these events. (Enough of your wordplay, Vaishali. It's time to end the post now.)
-takes cue- Ok then, Bye Folks. ;-)

Tags: WBB, Monthly Mingle, Muffin, Breakfast, Cupcakes