Old is gold.

Discussion in 'Ask ChitVish' started by Chitvish, Sep 27, 2005.

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  1. Varloo

    Varloo Gold IL'ite

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    Old is gold

    I make pulikkachal in Microwave oven. The method is-
    Ingredients as per your usual method.
    First microwave the tamarind pulp (made out of an orange sized tamarind ball) with turmeric for 10 minutes.
    Add the fried and ground chilli etc. Add 2 tablespoons of gingelly oil. Mix well and microwave for 10 minutes more.
    Now add salt, 1/2 cup gingelly oil and microwave for 5 minutes.
    Heat 4 tabsp of gingelly oil in a kadai. Add mustard seeds. Add broken urad dal and channa dal, 6 broken red chillies, curry leaves. Add to the paste. Mix well and add oil if needed. Micorwave for 2-3 minutes. The pulp should be a little soggy. When cool it would harden and the oil would have separated. Check inbetween so that it will not become very dry. This can be stored in an air tight container when cool and used for 2 months.
    Preparing this pulikkachal in microwave saves time. When we make it on the stove, it gets splashed all around and cleaning becomes a task.

    I make Deepavali marunthu also in microwave only. Grind 1/4 kg of peeled ginger well. Add the same volume of powdered jaggery. Add 2 tbsp of gingelly oil, 2 tbsp of ghee, 1 tbsp of coriander powder and mix well. Microwave for 5 minutes. Now add a little more ghee and 2 tbsp of honey and microwave for 2 minutes. It is ready. Here also make sure that the marunthu is a little soggy and allow standing time. Then it will be of the right consistency.
    Please check in between. The time may vary slightly. But the taste is the same.
     
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  2. Chitvish

    Chitvish Moderator IL Hall of Fame

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    Thankyou for the mail.

    Dear Varloo, Thanks for the recipes. I am also a microwave-fan & do most of my cooking in that (including pulikachal & deepavali marunthu !). But when I post recipes, I give minimum microwave usage because there are not "user-friendly" for many ! So I alter all my recipes to conventional cooking style, so that everybody will feel more inclined to try them out. Anyway thanks for your mail.
    Regards,
    chithra.
     
  3. Varloo

    Varloo Gold IL'ite

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    Old is gold

    Dear chitvish,
    I was a novice when I started cooking after marriage. But today I can say that I am a good cook. I improved by reading and watching Khana Khazana etc. I saw almost all of your recipes in the site. I have a request to make. While giving traditional recipes, give only the traditionally used ingredients and the method also traditional one. Then give the variation. That way, one can know both and use whichever is suited. I feel that the recipe should not to altered, otherwise the authentic taste will not be there. I do not like Badam kheer without badam, avial without coconut etc. It is okay , if medically it is taboo. Otherwise one should taste the original recipe as it is. The consistency of the dish should also be authentic. We should not alter everything according to our liking or else it will not be called by the same name.
    In one of his shows, while making stuffed paratha, Chef Sanjeev Kapoor said that you should make paratha with ghee only. If you do not like it, you should not eat it at all, because that will not be paratha.
    So I request you to give the genuine recipe. I too want to try out new recipes. I am looking forward to many delicious sessions with you.
    I have a request, I would like to know how to make cashew kathli. My son likes it very much and I would like to prepare it for him.
    Thank you very much,
    with regards,
    varloo
     
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  4. Chitvish

    Chitvish Moderator IL Hall of Fame

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    Katli recipe is already given.

    Hello Varloo, I have already given the recipe for <A href="http://www.indusladies.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3118&postcount=52" target=_blank>kaju katli - I now note that it does'nt show up in the index. It is given before the bournvita cake. I took note of all the points that you have mentioned.
    Thanking you, Chithra.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 6, 2005
  5. Vidya24

    Vidya24 Gold IL'ite

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    a train of thought

    Hi friends,

    There are many things I like abt Indusladies. First & foremost, is that it is a collection of women (and a man) of diverse cultures, as varied as India herself. The second is the Ask Chitvish section which has made cooking a renewed pleasure. And third and most important, I like Indusladies becos it is a democratic forum, where we all deserve to have a say.

    Varloo, your message is interesting. I have tried some of the recipes put out by Chitvish and results have been good. After reading your posting, I re-read some of the recipes-especially traditional ones like avial, morkozhambu and olan. You have suggested that both the traditional method and the variation be mentioned separately. I see that demarcation is already there in the Chitvish recipes.The avial clearly states that for the cholestrol angle, 75% carrots and 25% coconut are ground. And as regular cooks, we can decipher that the traditional way is to use 100% coconut. Similarly with olan and morkozhambu, the traditional and modified versions are well differentiated in the Chitvish versions.

    In raising the issue of tradition (traditional ingredients & methods), there is an inherent danger. We are a group of different cultures and culinary methods. Whose tradition should be followed? Let us take avial itself. Apparently, avial originated in the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple when the royal cook first made it with vegetable peels and oil left from fying pappadam. Like avial, I am also from Trivandrum, and like my avail with an extra generous helping of coconut. My husband's family from Thirunelveli, add very little coconut, but add chepankizhangu, which in my Keralite mind is taboo for avial. Both of us like only our 'own' traditional form of avial. Even within Kerala, Christians add a dash of garlic to avial while Nairs top it off with crushed fried pappadams. In Tiruvayyar, Asoka Halwa is offered as naivedyam with a generous sprinkling of fresh panneer roja petals, while I add cardamom or rose essence. In Kerala, the Christians who make the softest appams, swear by adding toddy to the batter, while we add yeast. To each her own tradition.

    Which one do we follow in Indusladies where there are members from every cross section? Which is 'the' traditional recipe?If we resolve this issue by taking the standard vegetarian recipes as norm, then there are already the cookery books by the matriarch Smt Meenakshi Ammal. Personally, I feel that if someone puts the Meenakshi Ammal version again in a recipe, it would be merely re-inventing the wheel. We deserve something more in keeping with our times and needs. And the Chitvish recipes cater to that.

    We are a generation of women blessed with gadgets like mixies and pressure cookers. We have the luxury to move away from traditional methods like stirring theratipaal and halwa for hours. We have the resources/awareness to substitute one ingredient that is harmful ( coconut) with another (carrot)that is more healthful. Earlier we were more concered about taste, now we are equally concerned about taste and health. We are not willing to compromise on either, we need both. Period.

    So, recipes have to evolve with times. And here I say' evolve' and not 'mutate'. Because when a traditional recipe evolves as in the Chitvish versions, it becomes more healthful and more grounded, while tasting the same. I had stopped making avial becos of the coconut-cholestrol angle. Now I make it often with the modified recipe and hope to continue doing so. I am having my avial, staying healthy and passing on the taste forward. To me the modified recipes are a win-win combination.

    Cheers!
    Vidya




     
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  6. meenu

    meenu Bronze IL'ite

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    vidyas train of thought,

    hi vidya,
    i am surprised that two people can think alike. you are word to word echoing my thoughts? is itbecause we hail from the same city? your letter is very chaste ,your command of language very nice, and your thoughts expressed have clarity and reflect good exposure. i fully agree with you. chithra is putting down her way of cooking. i see in those recipes an enthusiasm to share what she has enjoyably created in her kitchen. my daughter cooks onlyher recipes. being a novice she feels they are

    fool proof and give best results.chithra, do continue to helpall new entrants to the art of cookery. regards and happy cooking
    meenu
     
  7. Chitvish

    Chitvish Moderator IL Hall of Fame

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    The train-ride is very good !

    Dear Vidya & Meenu,
    Thankyou both very much for the kind words !
    Regards,
    Chithra.
     
  8. Seetha3

    Seetha3 Senior IL'ite

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    Hi Vidya:
    Well written note!!

    I have been impressing upon Chithraji that she should publish her cookery book real soon. As Meenu has pointed out, all first time cooks will swear by her leave alone the seasoned ones. All one has to do is verbatim follow her instructions. It will sell like hot cakes I bet!!

    How many would put in effort in sharing tested and perfect recipes? We cant thank her enough.

    Seetha
     
  9. Chitvish

    Chitvish Moderator IL Hall of Fame

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    Kalkandu Saadam - a rich heavy sweet

    Kalkandu is referred to as sugar candy.

    !/2 cup ghee is the minimum required for this dish, it can be more but not less.

    Rice, thin variety - 1 cup

    Milk - 1 cup

    Water - 2 ½ cups

    Kalkandu (coarsely powdered) - 2 - 2 ½ cups

    Ghee - ½ cup

    Halved cashews - ¼ cup

    Raisins - ¼ cup

    Cardamom powder - ½ tsp

    Saffron - ¼ tsp (warm & powder)

    Edible camphor (pachai kalpuram) - pepper size crystal

    Wash & cook rice in milk & water till soft, adding 1 tbsp of ghee for a nice flavour.


    Mash it lightly, adding ¼ cup ghee.

    Add just enough water to kalkandu, to immerse it & boil till it becomes syrupy.

    Add the mashed rice & keep on stirring till everything has blended well., without any lump.

    Boil for a few mts.


    Add spices & remove.

    In the remaining ghee, fry cashews & raisins & add.
    Serve hot.

    Instead of kalkandu, sugar can be used & it is called Kesari Bath.
    Kalkandu chadam.jpg
     
    Last edited: Jan 4, 2010
  10. Chitvish

    Chitvish Moderator IL Hall of Fame

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    Neiyappam - the Kerala Speciality

    Raw rice - 1 cup

    Jaggery - 1 ¾ cups (pagu variety )

    Cardamom powder - 1 tsp

    A mixture of oil & ghee - to deep fry


    Wash & soak the rice for 3 hrs.

    Drain & grind to a very fine paste adding as little water as possible.

    Make sure there is no grain in the paste to avoid “bursting “ of appam.

    Mix jaggery with ½ cup of water & heat on a low flame, stirring, till jaggery
    completely dissolves.

    Strain & make a syrup till you reach a stage when 1 tsp of the syrup when added to 1 tbsp of water forms a butter like mass.

    Remove from flame, add the ground paste, cardamom powder & blend very well & thoroughly.


    A whisk or electric handblender is very useful.

    It should be a thick pouring consistency.

    Rest it for atleast 12 hrs.

    Heat a mixture of oil & ghee in an appakkara.

    When the oil is hot, pour 1 tbsp in each kuzhi & slightly reduce the heat.

    When one side is cooked turn it on the other side to cook.

    When done remove & spread on a kitchen tissue to absorb excess oil.

    Since banana & coconut are avoided, this preserves better.

    A larger amount of the “appamavu “ can be made by this method & frozen in small ziplock covers in the freezer compartment.


    As & when necessary one packet may be taken out & kept to thaw & appams made.

    The frozen mixture preserves well for 2,3 months.


    This is the traditional method.

    A simpler method to make unniappam is given next in this thread.
    neyyappam.JPG
     
    Last edited: Aug 10, 2009
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