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Vratham / Pooja - Worship
Neivedyam - Food offered to God
Prasadam - Food distributed to devotees after offering to God
Satyanarayana pooja or vratham is performed in reverence to Narayana form of Lord Vishnu. Satyanrayana swamy is considered to be the embodiment of truth. Devotees believe that the ritual is a powerful one and God bestows good luck upon those who perform it with reverence and humbleness.
This pooja is mandatorily performed in Andhra brahmin homes whenever there is a celebratory occasion. Be it a wedding, home-warming ceremony or any other important occasions of life. Usually the pooja is performed by a married couple. During weddings, the bride's family does the pooja before the wedding to include their daughter in the ritual while the groom side does the pooja after the wedding with the son and his new bride as a couple. However it doesn't mean that people wait for celebratory occasions to do the vratham / pooja. People who are going through difficult times may also vow to perform it once they get back to normalcy. Or one may choose to perform it just out of reverence. There are people who try to do it once every month without giving a miss. People believe that once vowed, the pooja must be performed at any cost to avoid the wrath of the God.
Whatever may be the occasion, people consider poornima / full moon day of the month to be the auspicious day to perform it. If one cannot pick the day, then they go with the next auspicious day according to the Hindu calendar. If doing on a large scale, the family invites the priest home, worships with all proper rituals and feeds their guests. Or simply, they can just read the katha / story and offer the neivedyam/ food offering to God. Even better, they can perform the pooja at a local temple with other devotees in a holy ambience. It is generally expected that the people who participate in the pooja hear the story that is read at the end. The story describes the origin of the pooja, the merits of it and the bad luck one faces when the vow of worship is forgotten.
There is a famous temple devoted to the Lord in Annavaram, Andhra pradesh where the pooja is performed every day. Devotes who
come from far and wide, worship and perform the vratham in the temple. The usual neivedyam (food offering) offered in Andhra would be Rava halwa / Semolina halwa whereas in Annavaram temple, the prasadam is made with cracked wheat and sugar / jaggery. An important requirement of the vratham is that everyone present at the ritual are expected to taste the neivedyam without a miss. Even strangers who happen to be around usually receive the prasadam or they would ask for some without any reservations. Rejecting the neivedyam or leaving the pooja without tasting / receiving the neivedyam is believed to be a bad omen.
While cooked semolina halwa is the commonly prepared neivedyam, many people in Andhra also prepare the dry version. In our homes, we usually go with the dry version since it has longer shelf life. That way, extended family members / friends who are far away or couldn't attend the worship will receive the neivedyam as well. My today's 'S' post is based on that and here is the recipe for the 'Satyanarayana Swamy vrata podi prasadam'.
'S' ingredients in pantry:
Saggubiyyam - Sago, Tapioca Pearls
Semya - Vermicelli
Senagalu - Chickpeas
Senaga Bedalu / Pachi Senaga Pappu - Chanadal, Split chickpeas
Senaga pappu - Split, roasted chickpeas
Senaga Pindi - Besan / Chickpea flour
Sona masuri Rice
Produce:
Seema Chintakaaya
Seethaphalam - Custard Apple
Seemonkaaya - Chayote squash
Sorakaaya - Lauki / Bottle Gourd
Some Andhra dishes:
Saggubiyyam payasam
Sandiga koora
Sandiga pulusu
Semya payasam
Senagapindi janthikalu
Sivangi pulusu
Sunnundalu
Sukhilu / Sugheelu / Boorelu
(& also breakfast, curries and dals made using above ingredients.)
Ingredients
2 tbsp. neyi / ghee
1 tbsp. jeedipappu / cashews
1 tbsp. endu draksha / raisins
1 cup rava / semolina
1 cup panchadaara / sugar
1/2 tsp. elakula podi / ground cardamom
Method:
* Heat ghee in a pan and add cashew and raisins.
* When cashews turn golden brown and raisins turn plump, transfer them onto a plate using a slotted spoon.
* To the same ghee, add semolina and toast until it starts to change the color.
* Turn off the stove. Add sugar and cardamom to the pan and mix well. The heat from the semolina is enough to help the sugar incorporating into the mixture.
* Once cool, it can be stored in an airtight container.
So far on my 'A - Z' Andhra Cuisine,
A for Alasanda Vada
B for Bellam Garelu
C for Chiyali
D for Dondakaaya Kaarapu Kaaya
E for Endu Kobbari Podi
F for Fine Biscuits
G for Gongura - Mamidikaya Pappu
H for Halwa Holigalu
I for Idli Karam Podi
J for Janthikalu
K for Kobbari Koora
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 63.
From palatial kitchens, we move towards the humble abodes of the working class for today's 'R' recipe. My choice of ingredient is ragi and the dish is 'Ragi Sangati' / 'Ragi Muddha' which is truly rustic and unpretentious. The word 'sangati' is also colloquially called 'sankati' though the correct written form would be 'sangati'.
Anhra pradesh is one of the Indian states (along with it's neighbors) where ragi is widely grown and consumed. Ragi is eaten in Rayalaseema area more compared to the coastal regions where it is not that popular. May be because of the
abundance of rice yield in the coastal areas which gives the state it's
status of being the 'Rice bowl of India'. The other misconceived notion
being that ragi is a poor man's crop though slowly it's regaining the
popular status it deserves. If someones gives a bag of ragi to any one
of my aunts who all are from the coastal areas, they wouldn't probably know what to do with it. My guess is mainly because brahmin households prefer
rice over any grain and especially this sangati doesn't fall under their radar.
I grew up in Bangalore area where ragi is cherished. There, a 'ragi muddhe', the ball of cooked mixture of finger millet flour is as mandatory as rice in the other southern states or rotis in northern parts of India. It is always served at the lunch and dinner tables, irrespective of economic class and especially in non-brahmin homes. I personally know many adult males who feel like they are deprived of a meal when a muddhe is not served. A muddhe served with bassaru / soppina saaru and they are set. Boards outside small eateries / restaurants announcing that 'a ragi muddhe lunch' served is norm in the state. I know I hopped over to the neighboring state while talking about Andhra but couldn't stop myself from pointing out Kannadigas love for ragi.
While Karnataka's ragi muddhe is prepared with the finger millet flour alone, Rayalaseema's version of sangati is a cooked mixture of rice and finger millet flour. Sangati is not something you fall in love with when you eat it for the first time. It is an acquired taste and honestly there is nothing special to write about. One dips a morsel of it in a spicy side dish which is usually a gravy kind and swallows it. If you try to chew and slowly savor it like any other foods, it gets stuck to the palate as it is gummy. On the sunny side, ragi is valuable as it is nutritious, healthy being rich in iron and calcium and keeps you fuller for long time. It is diabetic friendly and cheaper compared to the other grains like rice and wheat. Whereas it is another story in U.S. where ragi flour is expensive as it has to come from India. And if you haven't tried ragi before, there are more appealing dishes to try from here.
I am fond of ragi and eat in many forms but to be honest, not in the form of sangati. Why? It is because my mother never cooked it and I didn't grow up eating it. Her simple logic was no one in our families ever made ragi sangati and she finds it unappetizing, one of the common complaints among the non eaters. My sister however as a toddler picked up the habit of eating it, from the sneaky neighbors who fed her without my mother's knowledge. My paternal aunt who lived in the Rayalaseema area had learnt how to prepare it and during her visits, she would prepare some for my sister and father. My mother and I wouldn't touch the stuff then but now I can eat it in small quantities as I happen to prepare it now at least once or twice a month for my husband who loves it. I have been making it for years now that I have mastered the recipe at least while preparing in small quantities.
As I mentioned above, ragi sangati is prepared in Rayalaseema areas and it seems that my mother in law would prepare it occasionally on a weekend for the whole family, which by the way was a huge one. My husband has fond memories attached to rainy days when his mother would serve hot sangati along with some onion-eggplant sambhar. My grandmothers who had been her
contemporaries would of course have been clueless if presented with ragi flour, I bet.☺ I know I am digressing again but couldn't help thinking about them. And onto the topic again, a gravy kind side dish would be best suited to serve along with sangati, in my opinion. It makes eating sangati more easier. I follow my MIL here and usually make eggplant sambhar to go with sangati.
This is the traditional way of cooking sangati but if in a hurry, cooked rice can be used to save time but the water quantity has to be reduced accordingly. I have posted another version here which is rice free and a lot quicker one. The following proportions yield three small sized balls pictured above. It makes one full meal for an adult or two mini meals.
Ingredients: (2 big or 3 small sized balls)
3 & 1/4 cups water
1/4 cup rice (I use sona masuri.)
1/2 cup ragi flour / finger millet flour
Salt to taste
1 tsp. ghee or oil (optional)
Method:
* Rinse and soak rice in water for about 15 minutes and drain.
* Heat water in a pan and then add rice, salt and ghee / oil. Cover the pan with a lid and cook on low flame until rice is done (or appears soft).
I prefer a non stick pan for mess-free preparation.
* At this stage, dump the ragi flour onto the cooked rice and again cover the pan. Do not stir or mix the flour at this point.
* Cook for about 5 to 6 minutes. Then remove the lid and stir the ragi flour well with a wooden spoon, so that there are no lumps and the flour gets incorporated well into the rice mixture.
(I prepare a small quantity of ragi sangati and usually a wooden spoon works fine for me. When prepared in large quantities, usually a wooden stick specially meant for the purpose is used.)
* Cover again and cook for about 20 minutes.
* Wet your hand with cold water and make balls. Drizzle with ghee and serve the ragi balls immediately with sambar or any of the side dishes preferred.
And 'R' ingredients in the Andhra kitchen.
Raati puvvu - Stone flower / dagad phool
Ragi - Finger Millet
Ragi pindi - Finger Millet flour
Rava - Semolina
Regi pandu - Jujube / Chana ber
So far on my 'A - Z' Andhra Cuisine,
A for Alasanda Vada
B for Bellam Garelu
C for Chiyali
D for Dondakaaya Kaarapu Kaaya
E for Endu Kobbari Podi
F for Fine Biscuits
G for Gongura - Mamidikaya Pappu
H for Halwa Holigalu
I for Idli Karam Podi
J for Janthikalu
K for Kobbari Koora
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 63.
An InLinkz Link-up
Comments
It's time for the 'Q' post in this A - Z marathon, based on Andhra vegetarian recipes. Picking a dish for this particular alphabet was easy-peasy, as my daughter would say. Though there is not a single ingredient in an Andhra kitchen which starts with 'Q', there are however a couple of popular 'Q' dishes if one travels to the capital city of Hyderabad. And I picked the sweet one among those, a popular delicacy from the region called 'Qubani ka Meetha'. It is a dish that is almost synonymous with the Nizam city and a cherished one among the Muslim community there. This was on my 'to do' list for about two decades now and thanks to this marathon, I could prepare it recently.
'Qubani'
means apricots in Urdu and 'Meetha' means sweet and so the name 'Qubaani
ka Meetha' literally translates to a sweet dish prepared using
apricots. Apricots are not local to the region and hence there is no Telugu name for either the fruit or the dish. While Hyderabadi 'Fine biscuits' I posted earlier in the marathon has a English name, this 'Q' dish has a Urdu name. Those are the only names by which these dishes go by and both names have no regional translations / substitutes and so, they helped me in maneuvering around the 'regional names clause' for these particularly difficult alphabets. I am reserving to use that clause exemption for more difficult alphabets which are coming my way next week.
Qubani ka meetha was conceived in the Nizam kitchens, on his behest. I heard an anecdote about the origins of this dish recently on a cook show, which coincidentally was showcasing some Hyderabadi delicacies. It was mentioned that the Nizam of Hyderabad who went to Kashmir to meet the Mughal emperor, fell in love with the apricots he was served there. It is said that the emperor later parceled him dried apricots so that the Nizam can enjoy them to his fill, through out the year. The Nizam sent those apricots to his palatial kitchen and asked the chefs to come up with something interesting. Obviously it had to be something delicious and thus the qubani ka meetha was born. I don't know how authentic the story is, but qubani ka meetha was indeed a creation of Nizam chefs. The dish probably reached the common masses later and is now an integral part of the celebrations, especially weddings among the local Muslim community.
Qubani ka meetha is a very straight forward and simple preparation that involves only two ingredients, dried apricots and sugar. Even a novice cook can master the dish in the first trial itself and can boast about. It takes
about 15 to 20 minutes to cook the meetha, on low simmer and one need not hover around, especially if using a non-stick pan. I probably stirred the meetha only twice or thrice during the entire cooking.
Dried apricots are soaked in water overnight to re-hydrate them. The stones are removed and the pulp is cooked along with sugar in the soaked water until it reaches the consistency of a compote and then pureed. Inside each stone there is an edible seed which tastes and looks like an almond albeit smaller in size. Those are collected and are used to garnish the meetha. Qubani ka meetha was served with malai / cream traditionally but now it can be served with custard or even vanilla ice cream. Qubani ka meetha is always prepared subtly sweet because of the custard / cream garnish which adds additional sweetness to the meetha. I prepared some thick custard to serve the meetha with.
Ingredients: (yield over 2 cups / 4 servings)
400 gm. dried apricots (72 apricots)
5 tbsp. sugar (Taste and adjust. The meetha should be subtly sweet.)
Custard / Cream / Ice cream to serve
Method:
* Wash the dried apricots thoroughly and soak them overnight in water, covered. The apricots should be completely immersed in water.
* By morning, the dried apricots would have swelled and the fruits would have become softer. The re-hydrated apricots are going to look like those in the above image. Do not throw away the water used to soak the apricots, which would have changed color by now. Collect the water in another bowl and reserve it. It is needed later to cook the apricots.
* Collect the fruits in another bowl and remove the stones from each fruit. If you have any eager hands to help, let them chip in. (The dried apricots may be lighter or darker in color and don't discard the darker ones thinking that they are rotten.)
* Do not throw away the stones yet. There are edible seeds in them which are going to be used later in the recipe.
* Add the stone-less fruits and the soaked water reserved in the earlier step to a pan, preferably a non stick one. Cook stirring intermittently until the mixture turns mushy.
* The soaked water would be enough to cook. However in case, if the mixture needs some more liquid and if you have run out of soaked liquid, add plain water as needed. The fruit pulp attains a darker shade while cooking.
* With the
back of the spoon, just mash the fruit pulp into a single mass. Add
sugar, stir and cook until it melts. At this point, the mixture is
cooled a bit and pureed. I chose not to puree it. Or the apricots can be pureed
at the beginning itself before cooking them
* While the apricots are cooking, collect the apricot seeds for garnishing. Gently break open the apricot stones using a mortar and pestle (or what ever gadget works for you). The stone will break open easily revealing a tiny almond sized apricot seed/kernel inside. Throw away the hard shells and collect the seeds.
* Garnish the cooked meetha with apricot seeds.
* Serve qubani ka meetha with custard / cream or ice cream.
So far on my 'A - Z' Andhra Cuisine,
A for Alasanda Vada
B for Bellam Garelu
C for Chiyali
D for Dondakaaya Kaarapu Kaaya
E for Endu Kobbari Podi
F for Fine Biscuits
G for Gongura - Mamidikaya Pappu
H for Halwa Holigalu
I for Idli Karam Podi
J for Janthikalu
K for Kobbari Koora
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 63.
An InLinkz Link-up
Comments
I am doing 'A - Z' recipes based on Andhra cuisine this month, presenting dishes with
regional names in an alphabetical order and it's time for the letter 'P' today.
This 'aavadalu' was supposed to be my first post of this marathon but my husband's favorite alasanda vadalu aka black-eyed pea fritters came in between and this was pushed to today's 'P' post. I prepare these perugu vadalu at least once a year, especially on my husband's birthday since these are one of his favorite fritters. His birthday is next month but these got made two months in advance this time. Perugu is Telugu word for yogurt / dahi and these perugu vadalu also called as perugu garelu or aavadalu are the spicy, Andhra version of the north Indian dahi vadas. While 'Perugu vadalu' is the most common term used in the state, 'Aavadalu' is a term used mostly in the upper coastal regions. I had noticed during our vacation in the Godavari districts that these aavadalu are served as a breakfast even in the small food joints there. It may be a form of recycling leftover vadas, I guess.
What are perugu vadalu? Urad dal / Black gram fritters are freshly made and then allowed to soak in a spicy, yogurt sauce for few hours. No sweeteners go into the recipe as I had noticed some non regional bloggers were mentioning. Instead, one uses fresh yogurt which naturally is subtly sweet, at least in our circles. These are served alone and no
condiments go with them usually since the ginger - chillies in the
yogurt sauce lends the spice factor to the dish. Where as the north Indian versions of dahi vadas / dahi bhallas go with load of embellishments like chutneys and as such. The yogurt sauce here is yellow in color, thanks to the turmeric used in the recipe.
The perugu vadalu are prepared only spicy enough that one can handle. It is not like they are overtly hot and you need a glass of cold water besides you to enjoy them. The spice level of the yogurt sauce can be customized according to one's preferences. And one more difference between the north Indian and this version is the vadas are allowed to slightly cool after the frying and are directly dunked into the yogurt sauce. In north India, they are dunked in water before dropping them into yogurt so that they soak the flavors well and quickly. Perugu vadalu are instead allowed to sit for few hours for the flavors to mingle, before savoring them.
Traditionally, perugu vadalu were prepared on festival days. It can be a part of party meal too since it can be prepared in advance and actually tastes better after sitting for a while. It
is a great savory treat and can be enjoyed any time. And if you have
left over vadas, they can be recycled too by just preparing the yogurt
sauce.
Some 'P' culinary terms:
Palahaaram - Breakfast / Snack
Paalu - Milk
Pachadi - Chutney / Pickle
Pachi - Raw
Pakam - Syrup of sugar / jaggery
Pandu - Fruit
Perina neyi - Unmelted ghee
Perugu - Yogurt
Podi - Powder / Spicy powder condiments
Pindi - Any flour / batter
Pulupu - Sourness
Pantry / Produce:
Pachi Senagapappu - Split chickpeas / chana dal
Pallilu - Peanuts
Pappulu - Roasted split chickpeas
Panchadaara - Sugar
Pelalu - Popped rice grains with husk (Popped Vadlu)
Pesalu - Green Moong
Pesarapappu - Moong dal
Paalakoora - Spinach
Pachi Mirapakaaya - Green chillies
Panasa Pandu - Jack fruit
Pandu mirapakaya - Fresh red chillies
Paayalaaku - Purslane leaves
Pampara Panasa - Grape fruit variety
Perugu Thotakoora & Ponnagantaku - Variety of Greens
Potlakaaya - Snake gourd
Puchakaaya - Watermelon
Pudina - Mint
Everyday kind dishes:
Pesarattu, Pullatlu & Pullatakulu - Breakfast dishes
Pappu / Pappu Pulusu - Lentil based dishes
Patoli - Vegetable and Lentil preparation
Perugu Pachadi / Perugu Pulusu - Stews based on sour yogurt
Panasapottu Koora - Raw jack fruit curry
Pindi Miriyam - A spicy stew made with lentils
Pulusu - Sweet and tangy stew, made with or without lentils
Pulusu Koora - A sour and spicy preparation using greens
Sweet dishes:
Paala thalikalu, Paanakam, Pakam garelu, Panasa thonalu, Panchadaara Chilukalu, Panchamrutham, Payasam, Pheni, Poli, Pootharekulu
Savory dishes:
Pakodi & Punukulu - Deep fried snacks
Paalakaayalu - savory snack
Pelala vadiyalu - Popped husked rice grains wadi
Pannaram - Soaked moong dal with basic seasoning of salt
Pulihora - Rice preparation
Ingredients: (yield 20 - 22)
1 cup urad dal / split black gram / minapappu
1 tsp. grated ginger
2 - 4 green chillies (depending upon the spiciness of the chillies)
1 tbsp. oil
2 tsp. mustard seeds
20 curry leaves
1/8 tsp. turmeric powder
5 cups fresh and thick yogurt
Salt to taste
Oil to fry
Making Vadas:
*
Wash and soak urad dal in enough water to cover it, for about two
hours. Drain the water after the soaking period. Grind urad dal adding salt
and a little water, to a soft and thick batter.
* Heat oil in a deep frying pan until a pea sized batter dropped into it comes to surface immediately.
*
Keep a bowl of water beside the stove. Wet both hands, take a lime
sized portion of the batter and flatten it on a greased banana leaf /
plastic sheet or your palm. Make a hole in the center and carefully
slide the vada into the hot oil. Repeat the steps, make vadas and drop
as many as the frying pan can fit.
* Fry the vadas in batches on low flame, until they are cooked golden brown through out. Transfer them onto absorbent paper towels and let them cool a bit.
Preparing the yogurt sauce:
* Add the yogurt and salt to a mixing bowl and gently whisk the yogurt.
(* Traditionally ginger and green chillies are ground and mixed into the yogurt at this point. That is how my mother and aunts prepare it too. However I would like to saute ginger and chillies in hot oil so that people who don't like to eat chillies can discard them while eating.)
* Heat oil, add grated ginger and saute. When it starts to turn golden brown, add mustard seeds, curry leaves and finely chopped green chilles. Saute for few seconds, add turmeric powder and turn off the stove. Let it cool. Add this tempering to the yogurt and mix well. (If you haven't added the ginger and chillies to the tempering and preferred to add the ginger - green chillie paste, add that as well to the yogurt and mix well.)
* Taste the yogurt mixture and adjust the salt quantity if needed. If it is spicy, fix it adding some more fresh yogurt. Add the fried vadas (not hot ones) to the yogurt mixture and stir them properly with a spoon so that they get soaked well properly in the yogurt sauce.
* Cover and let it sit for at least a couple of hours for the vadas to soak up the flavors.
* Any leftovers can be refrigerated and consumed with in two days. any period further, the yogurt gets sour and vadas do not taste good.
So far on my 'A - Z' Andhra Cuisine,
A for Alasanda Vada
B for Bellam Garelu
C for Chiyali
D for Dondakaaya Kaarapu Kaaya
E for Endu Kobbari Podi
F for Fine Biscuits
G for Gongura - Mamidikaya Pappu
H for Halwa Holigalu
I for Idli Karam Podi
J for Janthikalu
K for Kobbari Koora
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 63.
An InLinkz Link-up
Comments
Here starts a new week of blogging marathon. For those, who are joining me late, I am doing 'A - Z' recipes based on Andhra cuisine this month, presenting dishes with
regional names in an alphabetical order and it's time for the letter 'O' today. The number of recipes with a Telugu name, starting with the alphabet 'O' are very few. The 'few' here meaning where you don't need all your digits on one hand to count them.
There is no produce or a pantry ingredient in an Andhra kitchen which starts with 'O'. However there are a couple of dishes starting with 'otti', which literally means empty. Otti pappu refers to the plain cooked lentils and is also called mudda pappu / chappa pappu and is an important dish in an Andhra kitchen. The other one is 'Otti pulusu', a sweet, tangy stew cooked sans lentils.
And of course a spicy pickle which would be a 'pachadi' in Andhra region becomes 'ooragaaya' in Rayalseema area. And speaking of Rayalaseema, here is one more traditional recipe from the region which starts with 'O' and the dish which kinda kick started the event for me. It is called ottotti and used to be a common preparation in brahmin households. It is a healthy, home style preparation using a combination of amaranth greens and vadiyalu*. While the word 'otti' means empty, 'ottotti' is like stressing that point, in reference to the humble greens' saute. In lieu of amaranth greens, other variety of greens can be substituted. This simple and quick saute is similar to my favorite vadiyala koora recipe where minapappu vadiyalu / urad dal vadi are used where as in the case of ottotti, my mother in law and her mother used to use mainly biyyam pindi vadiyalu (rice floured wadi) and occasionally even the saggu biyyam vadiyalu (sago ones). It is like a old world kind of recipe and is not very commonly made anymore. For blog sake, I broke the vadiyalu into bits and sprinkled some on top. However the vadiyalu are generously used in the recipe and added to the koora just before serving so that they do not get soggy.
* Vadiyalu - Sundried, slightly spicy and crispy spirals made with rice flour. Vadiyalu are called sandige, wadi, vadam in some of the Indian languages.
Ingredients:
1 big bunch of amaranth leaves / Thotakoora
2 spicy variety red chillies, broken into bits
Salt to taste
Biyyapu vadiyalu / Rice flour wadi
1 tbsp. oil + extra to fry vadiyalu
Method:
* Wash the amaranth leaves and chop them finely. Chop the stalks as well if they are tender.
* Heat oil, add red chillies and saute for 15 to 2nd seconds.
Next add the greens along with the chopped stalks and salt. Cook until the greens are done and appears dry. (This is supposedly a dry saute. I used frozen variety greens and the curry kind of became mushy.)
* Meanwhile, deep fry vadiayalu in a frying pan and keep them aside.
* Add them to the cooked greens just before serving and mix.
* Serve it with hot steamed rice and a tsp. of ghee as first / second course of Andhra meal.
So far on my 'A - Z' Andhra Cuisine,
A for Alasanda Vada
B for Bellam Garelu
C for Chiyali
D for Dondakaaya Kaarapu Kaaya
E for Endu Kobbari Podi
F for Fine Biscuits
G for Gongura - Mamidikaya Pappu
H for Halwa Holigalu
I for Idli Karam Podi
J for Janthikalu
K for Kobbari Koora
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 63.
With yesterday's post, I passed the mid-mark of my A - Z journey. Now another half way to go. For those, who are joining me late, I am doing 'A - Z' recipes based on Andhra cuisine this month, presenting dishes with
regional names in an alphabetical order and it's time for the letter' N' today. I chose to go with one of the commonly used ingredient, 'Nimmakaya' aka lemon for my today's recipe. Like any south Indian home, a nimmakaya is used to make rice, charu or pickle in Andhra kitchens too. Or it can be used as a souring agent in lieu of tamarind in a pappu (thick dal) recipe.
Even better, lemons can be used in this super quick and easy karam which can jazz up any meal of the day. It is an instant version that uses only the lemon juice and takes up about five minutes to prepare. This is also one of the pickle options that may appear in Andhra brahmin households on a death anniversary day. Each household will have a certain set number of chutneys/pachadi served on that day, anywhere ranging from 2 to 4 and this karam is one of the quick options. I prepare it without a miss on my MIL and FIL's anniversaries, along with another variety of chutney.
My mother doesn't prepare this regularly but my husband's family does. My husband had brought a small bag of juicy lemons from his nephew's backyard in California, a couple of weeks ago and those are the ones pictured here. It was a heartening moment to see home grown fruit, at least to me, who live in a place where sunshine is expected for only 4 to 5 months max per year. It is time then to grow something in backyard and I end up with barren trees and twigs, the rest of the year, providing a perfect gloomy background. Surprisingly, the skin of those lemons was an almost orange tint though they look yellower in pictures. Right now, they are sitting in a jar, marinating on their way to being get pickled. :)
'N' Ingredients:
Nalla Senagalu - Black Chickpeas
Nannari Verlu - Dried, aromatic roots used in making coolant drinks
Nuvvulu - Sesame Seeds
Neyi - Ghee
Produce:
Narinja - Orange
Neredu - Jamun (Hindi), Black Plum
Nimmakaaya - Lemon
Nalleru - A creeper that is grown as weed
Nethi Beerakaya - Silk Squash
Pickles / Spice Powders:
Nallakaram Podi - Spicy Powder
Nalleru Pachadi
Nimmakaya Pachadi - Lemon Pickle (Recipe here.)
Nuvvu Pachadi - Sesame Seeds Chutney
Nuvvula Podi - Sesame Seed Powder
Some 'N' Dishes:
Nannari Lassi (Recipe here.)
Nannari Sherbet (Recipe here)
Nethi Beerakaaya Koora - Silk Squash Curry
Nethi Beerakaaya Pachadi - Silk Squash Chutney
Nethi Beerakaaya Pappu - Silk Squash Dal
Niluva Pachallu - Pickles with long shelf life
Nuvvu Pettina Koora - A curry using sesame seed powder
Nimmakaya Charu - Lemon Rasam
Nimmakaya Pappu - Lemon Dal
Nimmakaya Pulihora - Lemon Rice
Nuvvullundalu - Chimmiri, Sesame Seed Laddu
I must admit that I was taken aback the first time I noticed the lemon and lime varities in the U.S. stores. In India, lemons range from green to yellow, indicating
their stage of ripeness and people prefer to pick the ripe, juicy ones and
their size usually is similar to or smaller than the green colored limes we see in U.S. These limes are thin skinned as the Indian variety lemons. Where as the lemons we see in U.S are yellow in color and almost are as
bigger as small sized oranges in India and have a thicker skin. Now when
that is off my chest, let us proceed to the recipe which uses lemons. I prepared this twice in the past month but both times I forgot to note down the quantities. (The quantities I gave below are what I could recall think approximately were used and will update the post once I prepare it again.)
Ingredients:
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp. mustard seeds
1/8 tsp. turmeric powder
A couple of pinches of asafoetida powder
1/4 cup lemon or lime juice
4 tsp. red chili powder
1 tsp. salt (slightly more may be needed.)
Method:
* Heat oil in a small pan (and no need to bring it to smoking point). Add mustard seeds to the hot oil and when they start to crackle and pop, turn off the stove. Add turmeric and asafoetida and stir once. Let it cool.
* In the mean time, squeeze the juice from the lemons / limes or even can use the bottled juice. Combine the juice, salt and chili powder in a mixing bowl well. Add the tempering from above step (that is at room temperature) to the juice mixture and stir well. It slightly thickens after sitting for few minutes.
* Serve with hot steamed rice and ghee or to jazz up your breakfast / any meals.
So far on my 'A - Z' Andhra Cuisine,
A for Alasanda Vada
B for Bellam Garelu
C for Chiyali
D for Dondakaaya Kaarapu Kaaya
E for Endu Kobbari Podi
F for Fine Biscuits
G for Gongura - Mamidikaya Pappu
H for Halwa Holigalu
I for Idli Karam Podi
J for Janthikalu
K for Kobbari Koora
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 63.
