Mahanandi

I learned the basics of bread making by watching Breaking-Bread series by Father Dominic on PBS. His show demystified the whole bread making process for me. I grew up in Andhra Pradesh, the rice bowl of India, where bread is not an everyday food. It is an exotic thing associated with sickness, prescribed by doctors as an easy digestable food for people when they are ill. Only time I had bread was when I was under the weather and that too quite reluctantly.

When we moved to US, it took some time to get know that bread is not a bland tasteless cardboard kind of food that I remembered and also to separate the bread-sickness association from my mind. I was fascinated by the completely unknown world of bread making and different varieties of bread. I was curious and eager to learn the process so I tried the cook books about baking bread. With information overload, the whole process of bread making felt as easy as preparing for an entrance exam or tooth pulling.:)

During that time, Breaking Bread series by Father Dominic started on PBS. This chubby, homely monk with a pleasant, fatherly disposition and witty, calming narrative showed the bread making in such a way, that I felt confident to try out. The bread I first baked was a plain whole wheat bread loaf. We both liked the taste of it and later on I experimented with adding honey, nuts etc., After moving to Ohio, I am using the whole wheat flour, produced in old style – stone grinding powered by water at Lanterman’s Mill (not only the major tourist attraction but also a functioning working flour mill of Boardman, Ohio) for my bread. The difference in taste is tremendous, the close thing I can compare it is that of great harvest bakery whole wheat bread. Lot of texture and full of flavor, just two slices would fill us up good.

Last weekend I tried again my bread making skills. Although the dough behaved with a mind of it’s own because of excessive rainy and humid weather, the loaf cameout good after baking. Here is the recipe and the whole process in images:

Lanterman’s Mill……………..Stone ground Whole Wheat Flour

Recipe:

1 cup coarsely ground whole wheat flour from Lanterman’s mill
1 cup whole wheat flour (King Arthur brand)
1/4 ounce packet of dry active yeast
1 cup water
½ cup buttermilk
½ cup honey
½ cup of golden raisins and chopped walnuts
¼ cup of oil

First Rise:
Dissolve yeast in half cup of warm water. Measure the flours in a big bowl. Mix buttermilk, oil, honey, water and yeast mixture into the flour to make soft, sticky dough. Take the dough on a wooden board and knead it for about 5 to 10 minutes, handling it gently. Use a spatula to pick up the sticky dough and turn it over as you work. Place this kneaded dough back in the bowl, cover and place the bowl in a warm place and let the yeast do the work. Wait until it tripled in size for about 2 to 3 hours.

The Second Rise:
When the dough has finished rising, add nuts and raisins and prepare the dough for the second rise. Take the dough again on flour board, deflate it by pressing the dough flat. Now sprinkle finely chopped walnuts and gloden raisins. Incorporate them into the dough by kneading for few minutes. Place the dough in a loaf plan, cover and let it rise to the top of pan, takes about another two to three hours.

After this final rise, place the loaf pan in preheated oven at 400° F and bake for about 30 to 45 minutes or until golden brown. Remove it from oven, bread slides out of the pan easily and let it cool completely before slicing.

The pearls of wisdom, I learned from Father Dominic is ” Let the dough rest and don’t peek and poke it too often”. Very true for successful bread making.

Honey whole wheat bread with walnuts and golden raisins
Our weekend breakfast, lunch and dinner

Recipe Source: Cooking Show on Television.

Freshly harvested raw peanuts, boiled in salted water – we grew up eating them and we both love them. They are one of the popular street foods in India. But they are hard to find here in US, particularly in the northeastern states. Imagine my surprise when I saw them at Subji Mandi, NJ during our recent trip.

We bought 5 pounds, we couldn’t wait, ate half of them raw on our return trip. We cooked the remaining half in salted water. They are wonderfully tasty and we couldn’t get enough of them. We should have bought lot more. Perhaps next time, whenever that’s going to be.

For more weekend herb/food ingredient blogging, checkout Kalyn’s Kitchen.

Kittaya watching me cook:
Our green eyed beauty loves to hang out with me in the kitchen.

Yay.. Kiri is back, check him and other cute kitties of food blogging world at Clare’s.

Festival feast without bajjis – no way

Dipped them in a batter, prepared with gram flour(besan), red chilli powder, salt, baking soda, ajwain seeds(Vaamu) and water. (Check out this post for ingredients photo.) Then deep fried them in hot oil.

Platefull of Chilli-Onion-Potato Bajjis

Ingredients:

For Purnam
One cup chana dal(sanaga pappu)
One to one and half cups of jaggery– powdered
One tablespoon of poppy seeds(gasa gasaalu)
Two cardamom pods, seeds powdered
Purnam Wrap
One cup all purpose flour (maida)
Quarter cup of ghee
Half cup of water

Preparation:

Step 1:(Two hours before)

Prepare soft, pliable dough with all purpose flour, water and ghee(1 or 2 tablespoons).

Pressure cook chana dal in plenty of water until one whistle. Do not Overcook the dal. The cooked dal must be rigidly soft and not broken. Drain using a colander. (We make a tasty rasam with this dal water called bhakshala rasam.) Spread out the cooked chana dal on a clean cotton cloth or on paper towels, for atleast one hour, so that all the moisture is absorbed from them.

Step 2:(one hour before)

Purnam: Using a food processor/blender make a paste of cooked and now completely dried chana dal and powdered jaggery, cardamom powder. Do not add water. The purnam should come out as firm ball. In case if it is more on the runny side or soggy, cook it on stove top on medium-low heat for about 5 to 10 minutes, continuously stirring and let it cool. This will definitely make the purnam firmer and that is what we want consistency-wise for this recipe.

Take the dough on a flat surface, add ghee and knead it for few minutes then punch with your fist few times. Pour ghee knead and punch, do these steps for at least 5 to 10 minutes. All this is to make the dough more pliable and when pulled, it should stretch without breaking.

Step 3:(Show time)

Divide the dough into marble sized balls.

On aluminum foil or on the back of a steel plate (traditionally banana leaf is used), apply liberal amounts ghee and roll out each ball into a small round using a rolling pin or with your hand. Keep a lime sized Purnam in the middle and cover it by bringing the edges together. Dip your fingers in oil and using them, flatten the ball, starting at the edges, gradually pressing towards the center, into a thin, flat, circular shape.

Lay the foil on the griddle and carefully using a spatula, separate the bhaksham from the foil onto the warm(not hot) iron griddle. Fry or cook it on medium-low heat, applying liberal amounts of ghee, till golden (14 carat gold), on both sides. Sprinkle some poppy seeds on each side, keep on the griddle for few more minutes and remove.

Naivedyam is ready.

Serve them with ghee, chitrannam and some bajjis. Festival Feast is ready!

Recipe Source: Family – Amma & Attamma

Celebrating Vijaya Dasami:

Our Festival Feast:

Bhakshalu(Puran Poli) with Ghee, Chitrannam, Potato Curry, Tomato Dal, Rice and Green chilli- potato-onion Bajjis.

Watermelon Seeds

These beautiful watermelon seeds are rich in taste and don’t have any characterizing smell like sunflower and pumpkin seeds. They were our timepass snack when we were growing up. And in South India, they are added to betel nut(areca) mix (supari) as part of paan masala.

These days I am adding these seeds, spoonful of them to curries/kurmas. They bring subtle flavor and sweet nuttiness to whatever dish I add, love the taste of them.

Checkout for more weekend veggie/food ingredient blogging at kalyn’s Kitchen.

Ace – Our neighbor’s cat and Kittaya’s Playmate

Photo by Singari Vijay

This week, check out all cute kitties of other food bloggers at Susan’s blog – Farmgirl Fare

Nimmakaya Pulihora:

Prasadam in temples, part of festival feast, or simple lunch – Chitrannam or lemon rice plays an important part of South Indian meal. Our celebratory feasts are not complete without this particular dish. The tangy rice prepared with lemon juice refreshes the palate after the sweet beginnings, as you may already know it is an Indian tradition to serve the sweet first. I think serving these two, traditional Indian sweet and chitrannam together, is our elders way of reminding us to appreciate life moments, both sweet and sour. That is why, I think the temple prasadam or the celebratory food in all moments of our lives includes chitrannam.

People, who know the taste, crave this lemony rice. Even though the recipe is so simple to make, there is always one expert in the family who prepares the best chitrannam. In my home, I can manage an edible one, but Vijay prepares the ‘can’t get enough’ version. We do use the same ingredients and methods; still I don’t know how his version always turns out so exceptional. I am sure it is true in every other south Indian family too. Only chosen few are blessed by Annapurna, the Goddess of Food, to prepare this favorite food of Gods. It is one of those recipes, where either you have it or you don’t. And I am sorry to say that even though I know the authentic recipe, follow all the tricks and tips still the end result in my case always turns out mediocre. There is no magic in my hand.:)

What about you, are you the chosen one? Try it out, if you have not already done so.

Recipe:
(Serves two)

Rice:
4 cups of freshly cooked rice. (Any kind of white rice is ok for this recipe, but I prefer ‘Sona Masuri’. Cook it like for pulao or fried rice but not like pongal or risotto.
Limes and Chillies
2 to 3 juicy limes – cut and juice to a cup
6 to 8 green chillies, Indian or Thai variety – slit vertically
(Chitrannam needs spicy punch from chillies. So, add one or two chillies (of any variety) more than your normal tolerance of chillies. Otherwise the dish falls apart, and lime juice dominates the taste.)
Seasoning
¼ cup – Chana dal (senaga pappu), pre-soaked in water at least half an hour before.
2 tablespoons – urad dal (minapa pappu)
1 teaspoon each – salt and turmeric
2 tablespoons –ghee, Or oil for calorie-consicous.
For popu or tadka
1/2 tsp each – mustard seeds, cumin, and red dry chilli pieces.
12- 15 fresh curry leaves. Don’t forget to add the fresh curry leaves. Chitrannam is not authentic or complete without the curry leaves.

You can prepare decent, basic version of chitrannam with the above items. But for special occasions, and if you want to impress guests or family, then you need the following items too.

Nuts
Quarter cup – cashews
Quarter cup – peanuts
Veggies
Quarter cup vegetables – I usually add potato, finely cubed, sometimes Indian type brinjal and shredded carrot too.
5 to 6 majjiga mirapa kaayalu (Green chillies soaked in buttermilk and completely dried in sun, a specialty of Andhra), deep fried in oil.

Method:

In a skillet, heat one tablespoon of ghee. First add peanuts, fry them until they turn light brown. Remove. Add and fry cashews next. Remove from the pan to a plate, keep them aside.

Now in the same skillet, add another tablespoon of ghee. Heat. Add and fry the curry leaves first. Then cumin and mustard seeds. When seeds start to splutter, add the split green chillies, chana dal, urad dal, and cubed potatoes. Saute them till golden and crisp. In the end, sprinkle half teaspoon turmeric for that golden yellow color. Mix and then saute for another one to two minutes.

Sauteing the cashews and Peanuts…… Sauteing the veggies and dals

Stirring in turmeric………. Squeezing some lime juice over rice and sauteed ingredients

Add the sauteed ingredients of skillet, and also the toasted peanuts and cashews to the cooked rice. Stir in salt and sprinkle the limejuice. Combine thoroughly and delicately (without breaking the rice grains) with your hand or using a big slotted spoon.

Have a taste, it should zing or shock your taste buds like sucking on a fresh lime wedge. If not, add some more limejuice and salt. Mix again. And keep in mind that rice absorbs the limejuice, and the tanginess you feel during the preparation reduces in intensity after sometime.

Serve with fried majjiga mirapakaayalu (buttermilk soaked, dried green chillies) and a cup of yogurt for a nice meal.

chitrannam(Lemon Rice) with majjiga mirapa kaayalu.

Chitrannam, the English translation of this Telugu word is chitra= wonderful, magical, Annam= rice. This Refreshing lemony rice is all that and more, and tastes great when served hot or cold.

Recipe Source:Attamma(MIL)

Ridge Gourd Curry

Beera kaaya/Turai/Ridge Gourd is often compared as an Indian equal of zucchini, but ridge gourd tastes so much better. They have a succulent and tender flesh with a delicate, mildly sweet flavor, like crisp lettuce pieces. Ridge gourd is one of my favorite vegetables of all time and I don’t think I ever get tired of this vegetable. It tastes great cooked as it is or as medley with other vegetables like potatoes and carrots.

They are available almost year round in India and also here at US Indian grocery shops. If it is your first time buying ridge gourd, keep in mind to select only fresh looking, young, thin ones. The overripe, stout ones, just like all gourds, won’t have much flesh inside of them and taste somewhat bitter. And also avoid any, that feel soft or generally look limp, as they will be dry and not worth using. Some useful tips.

The following recipe is one way I prepare ridge gourd often and enjoy it very much.

Recipe:

2 to 3 young, fresh looking ridge gourds – With a peeler, scrape the outer skin, mainly the protruded hard ridges. Wash and dice into bite-sized pieces.
Small onion- cut into small pieces
1 or 2 green chillies and 1 tablespoon coconut pieces – grind to smooth
¼ cup or 2 to 3 tablespoons of milk
¼ tsp of turmeric
¼ tsp salt or to taste
Popu or tadka Ingredients (cumin, mustard seeds, curry leaves)

Heat a pan and do the popu or tadka (frying half teaspoon of mustard, cumin seeds, dry chilli and curry leaves in one tsp of oil).

To this popu, add onions, saute them for few minutes to soft.

Add the ridge gourd pieces, coconut-green chilli paste, milk and turmeric.

Mix them all well. Cover the pan partially and cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally. Within 10 minutes, the vegetable will be cooked to tender. If there is lot of water in the pan, then increase the heat to high, remove the lid and cook on high heat for few minutes, until all the water evaporates.

At the end, stir in salt. (Salt brings out the water in vegetables, so in saute style curries, always add salt only at the end.) Mix and turn off the heat.

Serve with rice and dal as side dish or with chapati.

Beerakaaya (Ridge Gourd): Raw and cut ~ ~ ~ Cooked and served.

Recipe source: Amma (Mother). We call this curry “palu posina beerakaya kura” in Telugu.

I’ve been quite busy for the past couple of days, cleaning up the house, rearranging things. All these are part of the preparation for the most important festival, ‘Vijaya Dasami’. The ten-day festival, also called ‘Dassera’ or ‘Nava Ratri’, celebrates the Goddess Durga, the Mother Force of Hindu Scriptures. The festival starts from today, 4th Oct and ends on 12th with grand prayers, processions and feasts.

It is very easy to let go of these traditions and say “whatever or next year”. Because we live in an isolated environment, far from our traditions and festivals, particularly from the festive mood and the atmosphere. I understand the values and importance of these festivals so I try to be enthusiastic to follow the rituals and celebrate as much as possible.

What I am going to do on my food blog during these ten days of festival is to try to write about all the food items that I am going to prepare on the grand festival day, Vijaya Dasami. I usually prepare: a dal, two types of curries, rasam, chutney, papads, bajji, chitrannam with lemons, rice and bhakshalu(poli). I am planning to write about one item each day for the next ten days.

I am going to start my festival food with dal, not any dal but the Andhra special –Gongura dal.

For the uninitiated in Andhra cuisine, Gongura is a leafy vegetable and has very distinctive sour taste. For the past couple of years we are able to purchase it in Indian stores, here in US too. I am sorry but I don’t know its English name, it’s usually sold here also as ‘Gongura’, under its Telugu name. When cooked with toor dal or as pickle, it wakes up, more like zings the taste buds and makes you crave its unique taste.

Recipe:

1 bunch of Gongura, leaves separated & washed
1 cup or four fistfuls of toor dal
Green chillies at least 6, jalapeno variety
1 medium sized onion, cut into small pieces
1/2 tsp of turmeric

What makes this recipe unique(my family variation) and so tasty is adding one garlic clove, half tsp of coriander seeds and cumin, all together made into smooth paste and then added to the dal. This paste compliments and gives wonderful aroma and taste when cooked with gongura.

Preparation:
In a pressure cooker, take all of the above ingredients and add one glass of water. Mix them once and pressure cook until three to four whistles or until toordal is tender and breaks apart when held. Wait until the pressure is released, remove the lid and add one teaspoon of salt to this cooked mixture and mash it with a wooden pappu gutti or using an immersion blender into smooth paste.

Now, in a sauce pan, over low medium heat, do the popu or tadka (means toasting the mustard, cumin seeds, red chilli pieces and curry leaves in one tablespoon of ghee or oil). Add the cooked and mashed gongura dal to this popu. Stir all of it once and cover with a lid. Gongura dal is ready.

Tastes great with rice or jowar roti. Best way ofcourse is the combination of this dal mixed with rice, ghee and papad.

Gongura and rice mudda(ball) on sabudana(sago) papad.

I never made stuffed mushrooms until now. As I was browsing through one of those one dollar cookbooks stocked on the checkout line during my weekend grocery shopping, I came upon a great looking stuffed baby portabella photo. That photo compelled me to tryout the accompanying recipe. I changed the ingredients to suit our tastes and tried that recipe this weekend. As I imagined, they came out perfect and Vijay, who couldn’t wait to taste them, gave his seal of approval by finishing all six in one setting. Ahh.. Weekend hunger. I also baked some potatoes and a small frittata (omelet) for me.

Recipe:

Baby Portabella Mushrooms -6
Finely chopped onion, bell peppers and green chilli – to taste
Eggs – 6
Oil and salt – to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C.

2. Wash and wipe the baby portabella
mushrooms. Remove the stems and line them on a foil covered baking tray.

3. In a pan, on stove top, over medium heat, saute the onion, bell pepper and green chilli mixture for about 5 minutes or until soft. Stir in the salt.

4. Divide this sauteed onion mixture between mushrooms. Using the back of a spoon, make a depression in the mixture to form a nest. Break an egg into each mushroom (I added only egg white, removed the egg yolk). Top each egg with a small piece of Monterey jack or cheese of your choice.

5. Bake at 350°F/180°C for about 10 to 15 minutes or until egg whites are set and cheese is melted.

6. I also baked round big slices of potato as a side snack.

Stuffed and Baked Baby Portabella Mushrooms

I think they are perfect entry for this month’s EoMeote event, hosted for first time by lovely Stephanie of Dispensing Happiness. As part of the entry, she asked for a parody of 70’s song to compliment the dish. I remember the “The 60’s’ and ‘The 70’s” series on VH1 on cable. Yes people, most of my pop culture knowledge is from watching VH1 and E True Hollywood Stories on TV. So here I go…Killing the Famous Diana Ross song “baby Love”. (Stephanie, you asked for it!)

When I sang this parody out loud, Vijay and Kittaya ran into the basement. Ah.. some people, they don’t appreciate the talent. 🙂

These nuts are called “Saara Pappu” in Telugu. They taste just like almonds and we usually add them in kheers, payasams and kulfis. I am curious to know their English Name, any help from fellow food bloggers and readers of this blog is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Kittaya’s new pose: Feeling the chill in the air!

Checkout cardboard chewing Kiri and other cute kitties
And gorgeous Dale taking a break after a run and other doggies of food blogging world.