Authentic Andhra ~ Dappalam

Today marks the final day of this blogging marathon and I am here with another delicious stew from Andhra. Besides the sambhars and rasams (that are popular through out the southern parts of India), various spicy stews with toor dal and/or vegetables are prepared in Andhra to go along with hot, steamed rice. Among those, dappalam happens to be a spicy, tangy stew prepared with an assortment of vegetables. This dish could be prepared in a matter of minutes and particularly an apt one when you have to finish off the odd medley of leftover veggies from your refrigerator. It is delicious when served with rice as it is or along with some mudda pappu (cooked, plain toordal).

Recipe source: M's aunt
Ingredients for 6 - 8 servings:
For tadka: 1 - 2 tsp oil, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds, asafoetida to taste, few curry leaves
6 green chilies - Slit lengthwise (I used Serrano peppers)
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
2 cups - mixed vegetables (Veggies like drumstick, winter melon, brinjal, potato, bottlegourd/lauki, okra, beans and carrot are usually used.)
Tamarind (a lime sized tamarind soaked in water, squeezed and puree extracted)
Jaggery - 2 Tbsp or as per taste
Salt to taste
2 - 3 tsp rice flour
Cilantro for garnish

Method:
* Cook vegetables until tender, not mushy. Some veggies need to be cooked individually since cooking time of each vegetable varies.
* Mix the rice flour with little water to form a watery paste and keep it aside.
* Heat oil in a kadai (small wok) or a pan and add the tadka ingredients. When mustard seeds start to splutter add green chillies and turmeric powder. Sauté the chillies for a few seconds.
* Then add the cooked vegetables, tamarind juice, jaggery, salt and rice flour paste. Also add some water to reach the desired consistency (like a thick sambhar). Check the taste and adjust the ingredients if needed. The final dish should be spicy, tangy and sweet. J
* Bring the mixture to a rolling boil and lower the heat. Then simmer it for a few minutes. Turn off the stove and garnish with cilantro.
* Serve with rice and mudda pappu (plain dal).

Note:
* 1 - 2 tsp of sambhar powder can be added to this dish to enhance the flavor.
* The color of dappalam depends upon the jaggery and tamarind used.

Check out what the other marathoners in BM#5 are cooking today. 
Curry in a hurry under 30 min: Aarthi, Divya, Jayashree , Kaveri, Pavani,
Seven Days of Indian Sweets: Gayathri, Priya Suresh,
Seven Days of Microwave Meals: Monika,
Seven Days of Regional Specials: Harini, Me , PJ and Vaishali
Seven Days of Colorful Dishes Kid's Special: Kalyani
Summer Coolers: Jayasree, Kamalika, Srivalli

Even if an Andhrite haven't eaten dappalam, they have surely heard about it. Thanks to this evergreen and iconic song from Mayabazar.
Ghathothkacha (Bheemasena's Rakshasa son) has come to help his cousins Abhimanyu and Sashirekha get married. In the process, he impersonates Sashirekha to stop her wedding that her parents had arranged with Lakshmana Kumara (son of Duryodhana). He lands up in kitchen where a scrumptious feast has been arranged for the wedding guests and ends up enjoying it single handedly.

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Aviyal - Microwave Easy Cooking

Before going to the recipe, I just wanted to remind that last date to submit entries for the Easy Microwave Cooking - Fresh Produce is 31st of this month. Keep sending the entries.

You have an idea about the regional cuisines of India if 1. you are an enthusiastic foodie who is interested / would try different regional cuisines. 2. you/your family members have lived through various parts of the country or you have friends who represent different states. 3. you have travelled extensively. 4. you spend whatever free time you have in front of a computer going through food related sites. 5. you keep buying/borrowing Indian cook books. And for zillion other reasons. :) There are as many regional cuisines as the number of states in the country and so, it was and still is hard for Indians to be familiar with all the regional cuisines unless for any of those things mentioned above. My mother, like most of the Indian women of her times, has never thought of a computer while cooking or has owned a cookbook till date. She cooked using the knowledge she gained from her mother, other family members & friends and from the recipes in the magazines that caught her attention and most importantly, the expertise she gained from almost 4 decades of cooking. In the process, however she gave prominence only to the regional cooking (and that is the case with many of our Mothers.) My parents who were from Andhra, settled in Karnataka and were tenants of a Tamil Iyer family when they were newly weds. My mom therefore soon learnt the cooking ways of the three states but never got a chance to know about Kerala cuisine. Growing up, I was therefore not familiar with Kerala's cuisine as much as I was with the rest of the South Indian states. Once, however I had a glass of a kheer at a Malayali classmate's home which I could not forget till now. The yellow puree was so fabulous that even a shy kid like me couldn't stop from asking for a second serving shamelessly. I was just a fourth grader then and didn't bother to ask what it was or for the recipe. So bad. :( :( I have started to pay more attention towards other blogs after I started blogging and I should say it is a kind of new experience knowing about the rich and varied Indian cuisines and culture. I had tried earlier a few from other states and it is time to turn towards the southern , coastal state of Kerala. The first time I tasted aviyal was at M's niece's wedding, a dozen years ago. I liked it but didn't bother about asking the recipe since I was not that much into cooking then. I later learned that Aviyal is usually one of the items present in a Kerala Sadhya - The feast. Aviyal- basically an assortment of vegetables in a mixture of coconut and yogurt is popular both in Kerala and Tamilnadu, because of it's proximity to the region. I followed the recipe which I got from one of M's SIL who has some Tamilnadu - Kerala background. I absolutely loved the aviyal with sweet undertones of coconut and yogurt since those two happen to be my most favorite things. However I have omitted the coconut oil seasoning part since we are not used to cooking with that oil. It is too much over powering when you are not used to coconut oil. I know how some feel about our avakai , gongura pickles. :) Ingredients I used: Beans, carrots, winter melon, plantain, potato, peas - 2 cups (Some of the other vegetables suggested were yams, cluster beans, drum sticks and even bittergourd can be used. Avoid sticky vegetables like okra) yogurt 1/2 cup (reduce the quantity if you wish. I added more since I love yogurt) 4 green chillies 1/2 c fresh coconut salt, curry leaves Cooking: . Cut the vegetables into thick, match stick size strips. Cook with little water in a microwave till done. (The original recipe had turmeric which I didn't use. If using, add turmeric to the veggies while cooking.) . Meanwhile, grind the coconut and green chillies in a blender. Add the coconut mixture, few curry leaves and salt to the cooked vegetables and cook for another 3 -4 minutes in the microwave. . The original recipe requires to add the yogurt to the vegetable mixture and heat lightly. Instead, I cooled the mixture and added the yogurt to prevent curdling. It stayed fresh, refrigerated for two days. I had them with my rotis. This is going to be a part of the Easy Microwave Cooking - Fresh Produce, guest hosted by me this month and Srivalli, being the event creator. Comments