Mahanandi

Somehow, I’ve been missing participating in Nandita’s Weekend Breakfast Blogging, an event celebrating the much neglected, overnight fasting breakers - the morning mini meals (breakfast/tiffin). “A twist in the plate” is the theme for this month’s WBB. Taking an old recipe and adding our own touch and improving it a little bit is the idea behind the theme.

Ponganalu, the classic Rayalaseema breakfast, the recipe is fine on its own. Leftover dosa batter, onions, chana dal, green chillies and cilantro, mixed and cooked in a special ponganalu pan. The result is small goblets or space saucer shaped rounds - fun and tasty on their own. My twist to this old classic is adding a bunch of finely chopped spinach and few tablespoons of sara pappu (chironji) and watermelon seeds. Mixed with dosa batter and cooked to crispy, crunchy perfection in ponganalu pan. Less batter, more ingredients and better ponganalu, that’s papa johns pizza, sorry:), that’s my “twist in the plate” ponganalu and my contribution to Weekend Breakfast Blogging.

Spinach, Sara Pappu and Watermelon Seeds in Ponganala Batter

Cooking Spinach Ponganalu in a Special Ponganala Skillet

Spinach Ponganalu with Peanut Chutney ~ For Nandita’s WBB-”Twist in The Plate” Event

Detailed Recipe and images of traditional Ponganalu - Here
To purchase a skillet similar to Ponganala Pennam - Click Here

Rosematta Rice ~ Traditional Rice of India

The first time I heard about rosematta rice is at InjiPennu’s Ginger and Mango’s blog. This is the reason why food blogs rock. They can highlight a completely regional ingredient and make it accessible to those of us interested.

After reading her post, I thought I should try this beautiful pinkish grain at least once in my lifetime and fortunately I was able to purchase the rice at Indian grocery shops here in Seattle. Before blogging I wanted to know more about this rice. Sadly, there is not that much out there on the web. I couldn’t find even a single article or a photo (except for InjiPennus’s article) written on this traditional rice of India. Instead, what I found was umpteen articles on how mughals influenced Indian cooking etc, you know the same old, tiring typical things, authors of Indian cuisine focus on. Learning history is a good thing I agree but I do wish there were more articles on foods like rosematta rice that are unique and traditional to India. If there is anyone out there who knows the detailed history and irrigating areas of this rice, wants to share, it’d be my pleasure to publish your article on Mahanandi.

Rosematta Rice - Raw and Cooked

Well, here is my experience of rosematta rice (also known as Palakkadan matta rice or Kerala red rice) - The raw grain is short and plump. It has brownish red, more like watered down terracotta color. There is 3 to 5 thick dark terracotta colored vertical streaks on the grain. I am guessing this is the outer bran of the grain, which will be lost if they polish this rice.

When it comes to preparation, I have prepared it little bit differently from my regular rice (Sona Masuri). First I took and let the water boil in a big pot and then added the rosematta rice to this boiling water. Partially covered the vessel with a lid and cooked the rice until the rice is soft and water evaporated. The measurements I used were 3 cups of water for 1 cup of rosematta rice. The time it took to prepare was about 20 minutes. Result is superior quality rice in a pale rose hue. I would describe its taste as earthy and gutsy, more pronounced than the regular white rice and with a nutty overtone. I loved the ruchi of it mixed with the dal.

Many thanks to dear InjiPennu for introducing this rice to me. I am glad that I tried and planning to prepare it atleast once a week from now on at my home. Brown rice doesn’t have to be boring, you can surely say that with this terracotta colored, traditional Indian rice.

Rosematta Rice with Moongdal Rasam

‘Rosematta’ Rice From kerala and Tamilnadu
An Ancient Grain of India ~ For This Week’s “Indian Kitchen”

Purchased from Seattle Indian grocery shops
How to cook rose matta rice - recipe

Intense Kittaya

Happenings Around Blogosphere

My Dhaba’s Virtual Cooking Competition:
Theme: Festival Food - Any Cuisine
Prize Money: $100

Wanted: Hopefully Alive

Reading recommendations from a mother who is a children’s literature enthusiast - “Saffron Tree” from Desimom

Paneer Pad Thai with Pistachios and Bok Choy

This is an eggless version of pad thai and prepared in response to this comment. Dear Terri, this recipe is for you.

Paneer is prepared in bhurji style and has been added to rice noodles. When all done, it almost looks like fried eggs of padthai but with paneer taste and smell. I have also added pistachios in place of peanuts and lots of bok choy, a green leafy vegetable of Chinese. I am able to purchase all the ingredients listed for this recipe at affordable prices, that means at the prices I am willing to spend:) here in Seattle, and because of that I could experiment however I like.

So here it is, with paneer, pistachios and bok choy ~ My version of pad thai.

Ingredients for Paneer Pad Thai

Recipe:
(for two, for one meal)

Flat rice noodles (two bundles)
(Soaked in hot water for about 15 minutes, drained just before the start of stir-fry.)
Paneer - cubed and crumbled - about 1 cup
Baby Bok Choy - 8 bunches - finely chopped
Pistachios - ½ cup
Shallot (Indian onion) - 1, and green onions - 1 bunch, finely chopped
Fresh bean sprouts - 2 cups
Fresh Cilantro - few sprigs, finely chopped
Soy Sauce - 1 tablespoon
Padthai Sauce:
10 fresh red chillies (pandu mirapa kayalu)
1 T of jaggery
1 T of tamarind juice
½ tsp of salt
Take them all in blender, add half cup of water, grind them to smooth paste

Keep all the ingredients ready by the counter.

Place a big skillet or wok on stovetop. On high heat, add and heat about 2 teaspoons of peanut oil.

When it is hot, one by one add the ingredients listed below in that order.
shallots, green onions, crumbled paneer, bok choy, bean sprouts, pistachios, soy sauce and pad thai sauce. Do the quick stir-fry and add the rice noodles. Sprinkle in a quarter teaspoon of salt, mix and saut? briefly and serve with some limejuice sprinkled.

That’s it, a very quick meal to prepare and to have. And this time, I applied the traditional Thai advice and soaked the rice noodles in hot water instead of cooking them in boiling water. They tasted much better this way.

Recipe adopted from Thai food and travel.com

Pears of different kinds, each variety 99 cents a pound.

At Uwajimaya, a local family run Asian grocery shop, pears of all kinds are in. Green, red and yellow, like the breathtaking autumn colors, crisply fresh and tempting, I had to pick a pound of each variety.

That’s lot of fruits so I have prepared a fruit salad this afternoon. Peeled the fruits and cut them to cubes, that’s it. No dressing and nothing. Unambitious I was in my preparation. Even without the extras, the fruits with their aromatic sweetness filled us to satisfaction. Simple fruit salad and a big bowl of tomato chaaru with some leftover rice mixed in - misty steamy rasam and mellow fruitfulness to celebrate the autumn season.

Tomato Rasam with Rice and Pears Fruit Bowl ~ Celebrating the Autumn Colors

Beetroot is one vegetable that I am trying to incorporate into my diet more often. I need iron and beetroot is famous for its folate and iron content, with added bonus of some natural sugar.

Along with steamed and plain stir-fry, one other way I prepare a beetroot curry is by cooking in combination of red cabbage and red beans. Beetroot stains everything it touches and perfect to cook with red cabbage. When it comes to red cabbage, the vegetable may sound fancy but it is almost similar to regular cabbage in taste and texture. When red cabbage cut to half, the color is more purple than red, sometimes solid, sometimes combined with delicate streaks of white. Looks beautiful but it can’t escape the typical cabbage smell and taste. Together with, beetroot and red beans, this ruby red curry is a good, decent one to have on a rainy day with gray skies like the one we are having today.

Soaked Red Beans (Adzuki), Grated Beetroot, Shredded Red Cabbage

Recipe:

1 red cabbage - Shredded using a mandoline
4 small beetroots - peeled and finely chopped lengthwise
½ cup of red beans (chori, Adzuki) -
soaked in warm water for about 3 hours to rehydrate and drained.
1 red onion - finely sliced lengthwise
6 dried red chillies+2 garlic+½ tsp of salt - grinded to fine paste
½ tsp of turmeric and salt (or to taste)
Popu or tadka ingredients along with 1 tsp of peanut oil

In a big skillet, heat peanut oil. Do the popu or tadka (toast curry leaves, cumin and mustard seeds). Add and saute onions and red beans for about five minutes.

Add the beetroot pieces. Sprinkle two tablespoon of water. Cover the skillet, and cook beetroot and red beans until they reach the tenderness you desire. At this stage, add the shredded red cabbage. Because cabbage cooks fast, we add it only after beetroots are cooked properly.

Add the red chilli-garlic paste that we have prepared along with turmeric and salt. Mix thoroughly. Cover and cook for another five minutes.

Serve hot with chapatis or tortillas with a cup of yogurt on the side.
(I have also added few teaspoons of toasted fresh coconut (Deepavali Puja) to the curry at the end.)

Red Cabbage~Beetroot and Red Beans Curry with Chapatis ~ Our Meal Today