10 Simple Kodava Recipes

This cookbook lists 10 Coorgi recipes, greatly simplified so that a first time cook can easily cook them. There are just a handful of Coorgi recipes available on the net, which is a pity, as this delightfully unique cuisine deserves to be more widely known. For detailed recipes, check out Muthamma’s ‘The essential Kodava Cuisine’, published by Penguin India.

1.: Inji Pachchadi (Ginger- Yogurt curry) Coconut, ginger, jaggery and salt is blended together, mildly cooked and mixed in with yogurt.

2.: Ellu Pajji (Sesame chutney): Thick paste). Served mainly with Akki roti / dosa, this is just roasted sesame seeds blended to a paste with coconut, green chilies and tamarind.

3.: Tomato Pachadi (Tomato Chutney ) is just tomato raita flavoured with the typical Coorgi flavouring of coconut, green chili, mustard, garlic and salt blended together.

4.: Kummu Kari (Mushroom curry) is usually made from black jungle mushrooms

5.: Toppu Kari (Dry Spinach curry ) is just stir fried spinach.

6.: Boodi Kumbala Mor Kanni is boiled Ash gourd flavoured by coconut, cumin and mustard paste, (which is briefly cooked) and mixed in with yogurt..

7.: Kootu Kari (Mixed vegetable curry ) is boiled, mixed vegetables cooked with spices and coconut paste into a thick gravy.

8.: Chekke Kari (Raw Jack fruit sour curry) . Like Kerala, Baby jackfruit is a much loved vegetable (another specialty vegetable , like the North East is fermented Bamboo shoots) which is boiled along with tuvar dal and cooked with spices and tamarind.

9.:. Mudre Kanni (Horse gram gravy) . Similar to the Ulava Charu of Andhra, horse gram stock is cooked with spices into a soupy gravy.

10.: Togay (Tuvar dal coconut curry)is boiled tuvar dal flavoured by coconut, cumin and garlic paste. Like many Coorgi curries, it is garnished with fried mustard, red chili and curry leaves.

1001 Tamarind stews

1001 Tamarind based Sour stews:

This entry is for Sig's JFI- Tamarind.

Kulambus and Sambars are two major classes of tamarind stews consumed in the South. A Kulambu is a plain tamarind stew and a Sambar is basically a Kulambu with boiled dal thrown in. In sambars the sourness of tamarind is balanced by the dal. In kulambus we use jaggery to regain this balance.

By changing the base, flavouring and goodies, we can cook up innumerable stews.

The Base :
Change the base and new classes of stews listed in Column 1 appear.

0.: Puli Kulambu is the simplest Tamarind stew cooked with just tamarind, jaggery, flavouring and a vegetable.

1.: Thakkali Kulambu uses tomato puree for an additional punch.

2.: Thenga pal kulambu is a mild kulambu using coconut milk with tamarind. Coconut milk is added at the very end and is to be cooked as little as possible on low heat with constant stirring so that the coconut milk does not curdle.

3.: Iru Puli Kulambu or twice sour stew, uses both tamarind and yogurt.

4.: Kara Kulambu uses a puree of stir fried onions, tomatoes, garlic and coconut for an extra rich stew.

5.: Common Sambar is cooked with tamarind and boiled tuvar dal

6.: Pasi Paruppu Sambar uses mung dal in place of tuvar dal.

7.: Iru Puli Sambar uses both tamarind and yogurt along with tuvar dal.

8.: Iru Paruppu Sambar uses both tuvar dal and mung dal along with tamarind.

9.: Chettinad Sambar is a sambar on steroids using a puree of stir fried onions, tomatoes, garlic and coconut.

Change the flavouring style and new classes of stews spring up. Column 2 summarises these changes.

Change goodies used and more stews appear. Use sun dried veggies and you have Vatral kulambu. Use a mix of boiled pulses and you have Kadalai kulambu. Use steamed lentil balls and you get Paruppu urundai kulambu. Column 3 lists these variations.

It took me quite a while to realize that Kulambu & Sambars are universal solutions, not just local recipes. For example, Vatral Kulambu is about converting dried goodies into a tasty stew. The genius of this solution is that it is not limited to local stuff. As it is universal, it can handle any dried foodstuff with ease. Every culture has its own dried foodstuff and almost all of them can be turned into delicious sour stews. Vatral kulambus can gracefully accommodate a huge variety of dried goodies – from the Sangriya, Ker or Gunda of Rajasthan to the dried shitake / porcini mushrooms or sea weeds of the Far East or even the dehydrated fruits / dried meats of the west.

Similarly, feel free to experiment with other goodies by using locally available vegetables, pulses and fruits.

‘Safe’ Tamarind Stews
The strong flavourings that South Indian cuisine uses has caused quite a few embarrassing incidents in the kitchens, office and school cafetaria’s abroad. (My brother in law was politely asked to have his lunch in the privacy of his cubicle and my nephew refuses to pack in a traditional lunch, dismissing it with what his friends comment -“Yucky”) - and everyone is familiar with the problems of trying to sell a house with a ‘smelly’ Indian kitchen. This is not demeaning or insulting as it stems from ignorance – it is no different from my grandma turning away in disgust after smelling parmesan cheese.

On the other hand, I’ve had the pleasure of introducing South Indian cuisine to people from all over the world and have watched many go bonkers over it. It is not easy to appreciate a thousand year old cuisine, without putting in a little effort to understand it. For the uninitiated, we need to alter the flavouring and souring agents so as not to cause a ‘cuisine shock’. ‘Strange’ local spices need to be replaced by ‘safe’ spices familiar to your guests.

Red chillies can be replaced by the milder paprika or black pepper, Asafetida by onion- garlic powder, Black mustard by brown mustard, Coriander seeds by cumin and tamarind by tomato/sour cream/ yogurt. Traditional sesame oil can be replaced with oils familiar to your guests. ‘Strange’ vegetables like sundakkai can be avoided. When you have a doubt with your guest’s familiarity with an ingredient, it is usually better to replace it with a safer alternative.

When cooking for newbies to South Indian cuisine, I do the following:

1. Tell my guests exactly what to expect – “I’m cooking up a sweet and sour stew from coconut milk and tamarind” and not “I’m cooking up a Tamil delicacy – Thengapal Kulambu”.

2. Avoid strong flavourings like asafetida, turmeric, chili powder & sambar powder and use milder alternatives.

3. Let my guests handle the spices, smell them and even taste them. I talk about each of the spices and the reason why it is used. I do the same with vegetables my guests might not have encountered earlier.

Once you’ve let your guests taste a ‘safe’ kulambu, it is easy to let them work their way up to traditional kulambus.

Flavouring
Each cuisine has its own set of spices. In addition to the traditional spices we use for flavouring you can try experimenting with various spices.
Allspice which tastes like a mixture of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg can be used in masala kulambus. Vanilla bean can be used for mild kulambus like thengapal kulambu. You can add subtle flavoring by garnishing kulambus with a variety of herbs like rosemary or dill. Or experiment with a variety of European herbs like Marjoram, Oregano, Sage, Tarragon, and Thyme. To be safe, add these added towards end of cooking as delicate herbs lose their flavour on overcooking.

Thickeners
Traditionally only rice flour or gram flour (besan) are used to thicken sour stews. However, you can experiment with a variety of thickeners like Lotus root flour, Sago starch, Arrowroot flour, Corn flour, Okra powder or Tapioca flour. Dissolve a pinch of these thickeners in a spoon of water and add it towards the end of cooking.Each would vary the texture of the stew differently.

Sweeteners
Instead of jaggery as a sweetener you can use Panai vellam ( Palm Jaggery), Karupatti, Brown sugar , Molasses, Honey, or just about anything sweet. Each will yield you a sour stew with a subtly different taste.

Goodies
Each region has its share of local fresh and dried goodies. Almost all of these can be turned into delicious sour stews. Embark on a voyage of discovery, visit the local markets, buy stuff you have never tasted before and turn them into stews never cooked before.

With these innumerable variations, you can cook up a different sour stew for every day of your life and still would not have scratched the surface.

10 simple 'Less is More' South Indian recipes

Nupur’s Less is More, is one of the rare events which force you to think out of the box. I found the challenge of cooking up a variety of recipes with 5 or less ingredients compelling.

This One page cookbook lists 10 simple South Indian recipes I’ve cooked from fellow bloggers, , modifying them to use 5 ingredients or less. It is greatly simplified so that a first time cook can easily cook them. In all these recipes I’ve made minor replacements and modifications. For original recipes and variations, check out the sources below.

1.: Yogurt The best loved ‘ recipe’ is the yogurt. Yogurt mixed with cooked rice is consumed at the end of a meal across south India. Not a ‘cooked’ recipe? Why not? Milk is warmed and cooked by bacteria overnight. And like any recipe, 'cooking' up yogurt takes skill.

2.: Thenga Thogayal ( Blended Coconut- Tamarind curry) If you can operate a blender, you won’t go wrong with this one.

3.: Thambuli (Raw Coconut- Yogurt blended curry) , much loved in Karnataka and the Konkan coast usually uses green chilies, which I’ve replaced with red chilies.

4.: Thenga Milaga Podi (Tamarind – coconut - chili powder) , a dry powder popular across South India, is a blend of roasted coconut, red chilies and tamarind. Roasted pulses can also be blended together for a crunchier texture.

5.: Kandi Podi (Lentil - chili powder) is just roasted tuvar dal blended to a powder with red chili and salt. A variety of pulses like urad dal / chana dal can be used in place of or in addition to tuvar dal to create a range of Podis.

6.: Kobbari Pachadi (Coconut – chili blended curry) Coconut blended with chili and salt is a much loved blended curry. Variants call for the addition of a bit of tamarind, onions, garlic clove , roasted peanuts or cooked gram (pottu kadalai / Bhuna chana) which are blended along with coconut.

7.: Paruppu ( Plain boiled lentils) – the simplest dal of them all. Plain tuvar dal/ mung dal is boiled with a dash of turmeric powder and eaten mixed with hot rice and ghee at the start of a meal. Most Brahmin kids still grow up on ‘Pappu Mammu’. The original versions call for spicing up the dal. However, it tastes just great without any additives.

8.: Paruppu Podi (Spiced Lentil powder) Contrary to popular belief, a mix of lentils is not needed for Paruppu podi. Any roasted lentil or any mix of roasted lentils blended with red chili and coconut tastes delicious.

9.:. Paruppu Thogayal (Blended lentil Tamarind curry)
Paruppu Thogayal is just roast tuvar dal ground into a paste with coconut, tamarind red chilies and salt.

10 :. Kachiya Moru (Heated Buttermilk curry) is just yogurt thinned with water into buttermilk, which is blended with coconut, chilies, salt and heated. Overcooking causes the yougurt to split. So cook this as little as possible on low heat. The original recipe calls for multiple ingredients and no coconut. Have modified it to suit the event, and it turned out just fine !

North Eastern Meat & Fish cooking techniques

The North East uses a variety of cooking and fermenting techniques to handle fish and meat. Here are a few of them.

Wash small river fish, drain, let dry in sun for a day. Mix with coarsely chopped, young colocasia leaves and salt. Stuff into a dry bamboo hollow. Cover opening with foil and let ferment for a month.

Coat fish with seasoning, wrap in banana leaf to make a parcel and cook on a tava.

Cut pork into 1" cubes. Sprinkle salt. Grill over hot coals for 15 - 20 minutes.

Pack washed and drained, small river fish tightly in a dry air tight container. Let ferment in a dark place or a week. Refrigerate.

Stir in half a spoon of baking powder while cooking curries.

Mix pork and rice and pressure cook them together.

Grill pork cubes over charcoal, shred, mix with chili powder and dry bamboo shoots and pack in air tight containers. This stores for a few months.

Cut pork into 3" thick pieces. Sun dry for a week. Bottle. This keeps for an year. Sun it periodically to keep it fungus free. Heat it before serving.

Mix fish / chopped & semi boiled mutton / chicken / pork , mix with masalas, stuff in a bamboo hollow, seal open end with foil and grill over coals till bamboo is almost burnt.

Mix fish / chopped & semi boiled mutton / chicken / pork , mix masalas, wrap in banana leaf and cook on hot coals.

Bring water to boil. Add fish. Let cook. Add salt to taste and serve.

Take small river fish. Sprinkle salt and turmeric over them and deep fry.

Clean fish. Mix in salt, stuff into a clay pot, mix in mustard oil, seal and let ferment for three weeks.

Stuf vegetables and spices into bamboo hollow. Cook over hot coals.

1001 Raitas (Indian Yogurt dips)

Republishing 1001 Raitas for Siri's Frozen Yogurt event...

Anything edible mixed with yogurt would taste good' seems to be the logic behind raitas. Raitas can be prepared in a snap and can used as curry, sauce or dip.

Salad veggies like onion, carrot, cucumber, onion etc are chopped fine and mixed with yogurt to make basic raitas. Vegetables that can't be eaten raw are boiled / grilled/ fried and mixed with yogurt.
Almost enything edible can be and usually is mixed with yogurt to make an endless variety of raitas.

Model Recipes :
Meera's pomegranate Raita
Derek's Banana Raita
Freeland's Raita
Prav's Mixed Raita with great photos
Reshma's Cabbage Raita

The custom of using fried spices ( usually mustard in south India and cumin in North India) for flavouring is unique to Indian Raitas. Skip this flavouring and the raita becomes international and can be safely served to anyone across the world. The raita is now called Yogurt dip and is popular across almost all cuisines.

Though Indian raitas use plain yogurt, our access to world cuisine and advances in food processing have now expanded our choice of raitas.

Thick, strained yogurt, ( also called yogurt cheese) is not normally used in Indian cuisine is used as the base for many delicious yogurt dips across the world like the Turkish Haydari.

A variety of processed yogurt products like low fat yogurt, flavoured yogurt, custard yogurt, soy yogurt and yogurt made from goat/ camel/ mare milk are now found in many supermarket shelves. All these can be used to cook up raitas.

International 'Raitas'
Mix in grated garlic ,mint, olive oil and lemon juice to cucumber raita and you have the Greek Tzatziki.

Mix in grated garlic and black pepper to mint raita and you have Mint- yogurt dip popular in Middle east and Central Asia.

Mix in grated garlic, and lemon juice to mint raita and you have the Lebanese Yogurt dip

Mix in grated garlic, olive oil and crumbled feta cheese to onion raita and you have Turkey's Feta Yogurt dip.

Mix in grated garlic, lemon juice, tahini and salt to yogurt and you have the famous African 'raita' ZABAADI BIL-TAHIN

10 Simple South Indian Tamarind recipes

Tamar – e – Hind, the Dates of India, probably meant as a slur to contrast this sour fruit with the sweet Arabian dates, has stuck on as the name for this delightful fruit on which most Andhra, Tamilnadu and Karnataka curries are built. “Tamarind trees are very common in South India, particularly in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh”. In coastal Andhra, Kosta, tamarind is much loved and is added to just about anything. It is here you’ll find tamarind eaten raw and even young tamarind leaves being used in curries. Tamarind has been a part of Tamil cuisine for centuries.

Apart from South India, India tamarind is used in African, South-east Asian, Thai and Latin American cuisines.

The Sinigang (Philippine sour lamb stew) , Khalia (Georgian spicy beef stew), Bamia (Kuwaiti Lamb Stew), (Tom Kha Kai (Thai Chicken Coconut Soup) , the Swahili Mchuzi wa Samaki (Fish Curry) and Mchuzi wa Kamba ( Shrimp curry) - all use Tamarind.

Tamarind flesh varies from very sweet to very sour. In South-east Asia, a very sweet tamarind (makahm wahn) is eaten like a fruit. You can try cooking up all these recipes below with a variety of tamarind and each would give you a different tasting recipe.

This one page cookbook lists 10 easy to cook tamarind recipes. They are heavily simplified for the first time cook. For detailed recipes and delightful variations check out my fellow bloggers below:
1.: Thenga Thogayal (Coconut- Tamarind blended curry) popular across South India is just a blend of coconut, tamarind and red chilies.

2.: Airawat (Tamarind – Dates blended curry) is a unique sweet and sour Konkan/ Karnataka recipe blending tamarind and dates together.

3.: Thenga Milaga Podi (Tamarind – coconut - chili powder) , a dry powder popular across South India, is a blend of roasted coconut, red chilies and tamarind. Roasted pulses can also be blended together for a crunchier texture.

4.: Pacchi Charu (Raw tamarind curry) could only come from Andhra, which loves tamarind so much that it is consumed raw.

5.: Puli Rasam (Thin Tamarind curry ) is the cooked Tamil version of Pachhi Chaaru

6.: Mushroom Puli Kulambu ( Mushroom - Coconut – cumin- Tamarind curry) is a sweet and sour, soupy curry from Tamilnadu . A variety of vegetables like shallots, okra, eggplant etc can be stir fried and simmered in this kulambu.

7.: Chenai Puli Masiyal is boiled yam mashed with tamarind paste.

8.: Chena Pulingari (Coconut -Tamarind - curry) is Kerala’s take on the sambar. Veggies like colocasia, yellow pumpkin etc can be used in place of yam.

9.:. Vankaya Pachhi Pulusu (Eggplant - raw Tamarind curry) is another raw tamarind curry using grilled and mashed eggplant, the much loved Andhra vegetable.

10.: Mushroom Thenga pal kulambu ( Tamarind – coconut milk curry ) is a mild curry cooked with coconut milk and tamarind.

And that's my two bits for JFI- Tamarind hosted by Sig.

10 Simple Recipes from North East India

North East recipes are rare on the Net, in spite of efforts by many bloggers to popularize them. Its cuisine is so different from the rest of India that I've been wanting to put up a cookbook for a long time. Guided mostly by the Essential North East cookbook by Hoihnu Hauzel, published by Penguin India, I now present 10 simple North east recipes. All these are greatly simplified so that a first time cook can easily cook them on the very first try.

1.: Rongpu Takeng ( Egg Chutney) cooked in Arunachal Pradesh is just boiled eggs blended to a paste with ginger and salt.

2.: Alu Pitika (Mashed Potatoes) cooked in Assam is just boiled potatoes mashed with mustard oil, chili and onions.

3.: Hmarcha Rawt (Chili Chutney ) cooked in Mizoram is dry roasted green chilies crushed with salt and ginger.

(Update : Have changed the name from Marcha Rot to Hmarcha Rawt. It does look more edible and authentic now ! - Thanks illusionaire )

4.: Ekung ( Tender bamboo shoots with crushed chillies) from Arunachal Pradesh is bamboo shoots cooked with a chili paste.

5.: Chi Al Meh: (Vegetable Stew) from Manipur is a mildly sour stew with boiled vegetables, flavoured with ginger and coriander leaves.

6.: Oying ( Vegetable Stew) is another simple stew Arunachal Pradesh , again flavoured with ginger.

7.: Ironba (Mashed Vegetables ) is Manipur speciality where a variety of boiled vegetables are mashed up and flavoured by fermented fish.

8.: Kosu Hajor (Colocasia leaf curry ) is a spicy curry from Assam, very much like an Indian curry.

9.:. Akhuni (Fermented Soyabean) from Nagaland is fermented soyabeans cooked with chili, onions and tomatoes.

10.: Akhuni Chutney (Fermented Soyabean Chutney) cooked in Nagaland is fermented soyabeans blended to a paste with roast chilies, ginger and salt.

10 Simple Saraswat Recipes

I found the story of Saraswati, the lost river and the subsequent Brahmin migrations fascinating. It is humbling to know that it was not the mighty Ganga, but Saraswati which was held in high esteem in Vedic times. In the Rig Veda, the mother of all vedas, Ganga is mentioned once, but Saraswati is mentioned at least 60 times. It is extolled as “ambitame, naditame, devitame Saraswati.” ("The, finest mother, finest river, finest goddess’ is Saraswati). It was so revered, that it is still worshipped, 5000 years after it disappeared.

Both Sutlej and Yamnua were tributaries of Saraswati. Due to various factors, Sutlej turned west and joined Beas, whereas Yamuna turned east to join the Ganga. As Yamuna brought Saraswati water to Ganges, the place where Yamuna joins Ganga is still worshipped as Triveni Sangamam (the confluence of three rivers, Ganga- Yamuna and Saraswati). Does anyone know if the Sutlej – Beas –Sindhu confluence is equally revered?

Due to the paucity of authentic Saraswat recipes on the Internet, I’ve drawn heavily upon Rasachandrika, the Bible of Saraswat cuisine.

For more detailed recipes and delightful variations, check out my fellow bloggers below.

Sol Kadi (Raw Kokum Curry with coconut milk) Replace half the water in the Bhinda Kadi above with coconut milk and you have the Sol Kadi. Coconut paste, garlic paste and green chilly paste can be mixed in with Sol Kadi.

Potato Upkari( Stir fried potato with coconut) A variety of boiled vegetables are mixed with grated coconut and stir fried into delicious Upkaris.

Potato Talsani is dry, stir fried potatoes, served as an accompaniment to rice and curry.

Kadgi sukke : (Raw jack fruit curry) Baby jackfruit is boiled and stir fried with a paste of coconut, red chili and tamarind.

Mango Uddamethi is a thick chunky curry where raw mango is cooked with coconut milk, fenugreek and jaggery.

Dali Thoye (Spiced lentil curry) is a spiced up Tuvar dal curry, much loved in the Konkan.

Here’s what I learnt from Saraswat cuisine.

The combination of sweet and salt works – as demonstrated by the Gujarati cuisine and Saraswat cuisine.

Without understanding the history, it is impossible to understand a cuisine. You need to understand Saraswat history to know why some Brahmins sects in Konkan and Bengal eat fish and why Kashmiri pundits eat meat.

A raita need not always have yogurt in it, as evidenced by the raw mango raita.

The mild bedige chilies can be used to give a deep red colour to curries, without making them hot.

Dried gooseberries can be used as a souring agent in making rasam, as evidenced by the Avala Saru.