Introduction

Avocado Annam

Chestnut Lentil Soopa

Maamidi Thokku Pacchadi

Healing Herbal Rice

Daikon Radish Kura

Henna Plant (Gorintaaku Mokka)

“Caldwell Nursery” is a small nursery near our home that sells one of a kind plants, roses and fruit trees. They also have a nice website and keep it updated with latest offerings. After going through the website I made a list. Visited the nursery in March, the planting season in Houston, bought henna and few other plants. The henna was a tiny potted one, but after planting in the ground, it is growing well.

My father in law, the master gardener, who is visiting us from Nandyala, wanted to trim the branches and add some support to help the new growth. As a result, I have a cup full of fresh henna. I’ve added few drops of tea decoction to henna leaves and made a fine paste in a stone mortar. Henna is a healthy herb, not only colors but also reduces the heat of the body. During hot months, what is better than henna to keep the hands and the head cool and colorful?

Henna Paste with Tea Decoction (Gorintaaku Mudda)

Allam Pacchadi (Ginger Chutney)

Ginger, one of the oldest and most popular spices in herbal medicines is spicy, peppery and fragrant. It is good both in sweet and non-sweet dishes. It adds a hot yet refreshing warmth to curries and cakes. Ginger is so good to health; our elders devised a great recipe for everyday consumption. That is allam pacchadi or ginger chutney. In this another 100 plus year old recipe, ginger, tamarind, jaggery and dried red chillies are ground together, then to remove the rawness fresh tadka is added and cooked for few minutes. This is a potent pacchadi, usually taken in small quantities and tastes excellent when served with idly, dosa or pesarattu.

Allam Pacchadi (Ginger Chutney)
(makes about cup and half)

Ginger: Fresh and young, thin skinned ginger is best for this recipe. Gently peel the skin and finely chop the ginger. One full cup.

Tamarind: Take two tablespoons of thick tamarind pulp.

Dried red chillies (Indian variety) – 6, small finger length ones

Jaggery: We need about quarter cup of jaggery for this recipe. Pound or grate it for easy mixing.

Take all the above in a mixer or in a mortar. Add half teaspoon of salt. Pulse or pound to smooth paste. Remove to a cup.

Do the tadka: In a small pan, heat a teaspoon of peanut oil. Add a sprig of curry leaves and pinch each cumin and mustard seeds. Also a pinch of hing. Toast to fragrance. Add ginger chutney to the pan. Cook for five minutes on low heat, stirring often. Remove and serve. Stays fresh for a week, when refrigerated.

© Recipe and Photos Copyright 2009 Indira Singari.

Allam Pacchadi with Idly ~ Breakfast Today

For me, lunch is the ideal meal of the day. Less bustle than breakfast and less stressful than dinner. And this is what I prepared for our lunch today. Masoor dal sprouts cooked with fresh turai and served with chapati. Tasty combination.

Masoor sprouts are the next best thing after mung sprouts. The taste buds are in chorus. Any fans of masoor sprouts out there?

Masoor Sprouts

Masoor Sprouts with Turai

Masoor Sprouts – 1 cup
Turai (beerakaya) – 2
Red Onion – 1
Green Chillies (Indian variety) – 2
Grated Coconut – 1 tablespoon
Turmeric – 1/4 teaspoon
Salt – 1/2 teaspoon
From Masala Dabba: Tadka ingredients

For masoor sprouts: Purchase whole masoor dal from Indian grocery. For sprouting, we need the whole dal with skins, not the split, orange ones. Soak a cup of whole masoor dal in water for 6 hours. Drain and take the rehydrated dal in a muslin cloth. Cover and keep it in warm place. The sprouts will appear in a day or two.

Turai and Onion: Peel the ridges of turai. Wash and cut the turai to small, bite sized pieces. Finely chop onion and green chilli.

Cook: Heat a teaspoon of peanut oil in a skillet. From masala dabba, add 6 curry leaves and pinch each – cumin and mustard seeds. Toast to fragrance. Add onion and sauté to soft. Add turai pieces, green chilli and masoor sprouts. Cover the skillet. Cook, stirring often until the sprouts are tender. Turai cooks easily and doesn’t take much time. Just before turning off the heat, add coconut, turmeric and salt. Mix and cook two more minutes. Serve the curry warm with rice or chapati.

© Recipe and Photos Copyright 2009 Indira Singari.

Masoor Sprouts with Turai, Wrapped in Chapati ~ Meal Today

Kittaya’s Net Friends ~ Chloe and Max

Chloe Drinking from Water Fountain at Her London Home

Kittaya Bird Watching

Thank you Ranjan for sharing the adorable Chloe and Max’s photos.

Fresh Mint (Pudina) Leaves and Gunpowder Tea

In the midst of pressure-packed day, there is nothing like taking a breather with a warm cup of chai.

I wanted something new that would relax and refresh. Pudina chai sounded soothing.

A glass of water, a teaspoon of gunpowder tea, six freshly plucked mint leaves and few drops of milk. Ten minutes of gentle simmering on stove-top and then straining out the seeped mint-tea mixture. There it is, mint chai sweetened with honey. My ॐ for today.

A Cup of Mint Chai ~ For Jihva:Mint

© Recipe and Photos Copyright 2009 Indira Singari.
first published on March 14th, 2008 at my old website – link.
Tea Finds:
North African Mint Tea (Without Milk)
Green Tea (Gunpowder or Pearl tea) Health Benefits

Here is an offering, from my mother-in-law, that turns bitter karela into a bewitching morsel. As a new bride, she had learned this recipe from her mother-in-law at Nandyala half a century ago. Now, it’s my turn. I feel extremely privileged to learn first hand and share this centuries-old recipe tradition here on Mahanandi.

The ingredients and the cooking method are exactly as they were in the past. The only thing changed is the stuffing preparation. Earlier, they used to powder the ingredients in a mortar using a pestle. Now I use a Sumeet mixer.

In this recipe, the karela is subjected to steam cooking, stuffing and then sauteeing. The stuffing is ever desirable kobbari-pappula podi. Even children who would otherwise never touch a karela devour these tender karelas with a crisp outer shell and tasty stuffing. Stuffed karelas are excellent as a lunch or supper side dish, accompanied by daal, sambar or curd rice.

Stuffed Karela (Nimpina Kakara)
(Ingredients are for 6 karela. A steam-cooker and a wide, thick-bottomed skillet or pan are needed for preparation.)

Karelas – Young and fresh looking karelas, about hand or palm length are the best ones for this recipe. One or two karelas per person.

Stuffing – for 6 karelas, we need about half cup pappulu (dalia), quarter cup finely chopped dried coconut pieces, 6 Indian variety dried red chillies and half teaspoon each – cumin and salt. Take them in a mixer and grind to fine powder. Keep this stuffing in a cup on the side.

Then, follow the Karela pictorial.

Peel the Karela outer ridges lightly. Rinse under water.

Place a steam cooker on the stove-top. Fill the cooker to quarter with water. Add a teaspoon of salt to water. Place the karelas in a steam basket. Cover tightly with lid. Bring the water to boil and steam-cook the karelas to tender. Takes around five minutes. Pay attention to the process and do not overcook the karelas to mush. Remove the basket and let the karelas cool.

With a sharp knife, cut karela lengthwise, keeping the ends intact like shown in the photo above. Scoop out the seeds and keep them in a cup. Prepare all of them this way and line them up for stuffing.

Fill the karela shell with stuffing. Add about a tablespoon of powder to each one, and spread along the length.

Bring the cut edges together and run a thread around the stuffed karela. Tuck the thread edges underneath a round. Karela will hold the shape and would remain closed during sautéing. There is really no need for tying the knot or needle threading.

Place a wide pan on stove-top. Add and heat a tablespoon of peanut oil. Place the stuffed and threaded karelas in a single row. Also, on the sides, add the seeds removed from karelas. On medium-low heat, sauté karelas to golden, turning frequently. Take care not to blacken or burn them. The seeds also get grilled to crisp.

Place the sautéed karelas in a serving dish after removing the thread. Sprinkle few tablespoons of remaining stuffing powder and also roasted karela seeds. Serve warm with rice, daal/sambar or yogurt rice.

© Recipe and Photos Copyright 2009 Indira Singari.
Ask First to reprint.

This is another recipe that I came up with green almonds. Slice the green almonds thin and add them to tomato-basil sauce and pasta. When lightly cooked, green almonds have a wonderful flavor and texture, providing quite a different experience from the raw ones. For those of you new to green almonds, this is how I’d describe Green almond’s taste profile:

Outer green skin: Bitter and sour, like how it tastes when you bite into an olive.

The middle white part: Sour and sweet, like tender green mango.

The inner undeveloped almond seed part: Sweet and jelly like, similar to toddy palm seeds (Taati munjalu).

Green Almonds

Green Almond Pasta

1 teaspoon peanut oil or ghee
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup thinly sliced green almonds (like shown in the photo above)
2 cups mixed vegetables like carrot, zucchini, peas and corn
2 cups tomato-basil sauce
salt and chilli powder – to taste
Whole wheat pasta – enough to serve for four

Bring a pot of water to boil. Add pasta and cook to al-dente. Drain and keep aside.

In a large pan, sauté the onion in oil or ghee until translucent.
Add the green almonds and vegetables. Saute until tender for 5 minutes.
Stir in tomato-basil sauce, salt and chilli powder.
Cover the pan and simmer the sauce for about 10 minutes, stirring often.
Add the cooked pasta to the simmering sauce. Toss the ingredients well. Serve hot.

© Recipe and Photos Copyright 2009 Indira Singari.

Green Almond Pasta ~ Meal Today

Finely Chopped Green Almonds, Green Mango, and Black Peppercorn

Today’s recipe is inspired by yesterday’s thought (post) . Green almonds and Green mango sounded like a natural pair. Before the idea expired, I had to try the combination. Green almonds and green mango were cut to small pieces. Black pepper and salt were added. When I had a taste, the flavor combination tasted awesome. Unripe almonds and unripe mango complemented each other without overwhelming and overpowering each other’s sweet and sour qualities. Parents also liked this simple, oil-free salad and praised the good ruchi.

Oil-Free Salad with Green Almonds and Green Mango
(makes about 4 half cup servings)

12 green almonds
1 small green mango
6 peppercorn
1/4 teaspoon salt

Wash the green almonds. Trim the edges and finely cut them to tiny pieces.

Peel the green mango skin. Cut and remove the seed. Finely chop the mango to tiny pieces.

Take peppercorn and salt in a mortar. Pound to coarse powder.

Put the chopped almonds and mango in a bowl. Sprinkle the pepper-salt powder. Combine and serve.

© Recipe and Photos Copyright 2009 Indira Singari.

Oil Free Salad with Green Almonds and Green Mango ~ Meal Today

Green Almonds

Green almonds (Hara Badam) are a rare and raw delicacy in India. I was very happy to see these precious gems again here in Houston at an Indian grocery shop. For us, like I mentioned they are a rare and raw delicacy. Short season and high price makes them a treat. We usually cut the green almond to half lengthwise, sprinkle salt and eat. Skin, seed and all. The sweetness of green almond has a delicate quality to it. Like the valley’s mist in early morning, the sweetness is ethereal and enthralling. You know the vadu manga? Very tender, bud size unripe mango, which is baby sweet with adult sourness just palpable. Green almond’s flavor is almost like that. They are really a delight, and I enjoy them greatly.

Polls are over and we still have to wait for another three days before any results are announced in Bharath. Parents with first hand elections experience from home are here with us now. Getting together at the dining table with a plate of decent meal can always be a good place for a lively discussion about current happenings. That’s what had happened this afternoon at home. We had a typical Andhra bhojanam (Annam, avakaya, tomato pappu, beerakaya kura and on the side cherry tomatoes and carrots from the garden, along with coriander rasam and curd) and a lively chat. What was on your plate today?

Meal Today