Jihva for Ingredients (JFI) the web based food event that celebrates natural ingredients has completed three years this month. Online Food events have always been great places to learn about new recipe techniques, refresh old familiar recipes, and familiarize with fresh blog talent. The past year, brilliant bloggers Jigyasa and Pratibha, Pooja, Sig, Rachna, Sia, Suganya, Srivalli, The Cooker, Dee, ms, Mythreyee and Roma dazzled us with unique and memorable JFI’s featuring Love, Bell Pepper, Tamarind, Flower Power, Soy, Whole Grains, Festival Treats, Carrots, Sprouts, Chickpeas, Cauliflower and Wheat. My sincere thanks to all the hosts and the participants for taking JFI to heart and for sharing culinary knowledge and wisdom so generously with the world.
To continue this learning and get to know each other’s tradition, I am extending an invitation to fellow food bloggers to host the JFI event for the year 2009-2010. If you have a natural ingredient that you feel strongly about and would like to highlight it, then this is your chance. Here is more about this event.
What is Jihva?
Jihva, the Sanskrit word means taste, desire and deep longing. This powerful word also represents tongue and taste buds.
What is Jihva for Ingredients?
I believe for Jihva to happen, it’s all in the ingredients and how they are prepared. Jihva for Ingredients (JFI) is an online monthly food event, celebrating the natural Ingredients and what they can do for our Jeeva.
What are the guidelines to host?
1. Feature any natural ingredient and there are many.
2. I’d greatly appreciate if you could pick an ingredient related to India or Indian cuisine. (Which style of cuisine that ingredient prepared is, of course it’s up to the choice of participants.)
3. Announce the event on your blog by the first week of the month before hosting. This will give plenty of time to the participants to shop, prepare, write and post their contribution.
Interested to host the Jihva event? Mail me stating your preference of month. Food bloggers with great passion for Jihva only, please. Once confirmed, your website name will appear on the calendar below. Thank you.
Update: The invitation is closed at this time and all slots are filled up for this year. Thanks and congratulations to the Jihva hosts 09-10.
In every person’s life, there will be several exceptional “aha” moments. You would be trying to solve a problem for several days and suddenly at an unexpected moment, you would find a solution. In the field of software it always happens to me. I’d want to learn something new and interesting but I wouldn’t be able to spend hundreds of hours reading thousands of pages. I’d suddenly, somewhere, somehow find a small few-page article that would give me all the information I needed. And, that would be my “aha” moment. “I got it, I understood it and I know what to do now.” I feel more knowledgeable.
One such “aha” moment happened to me when I read the book “Sukham Ayu” by Jigyasa Giri and Pratibha Jain. From outside it looked like any other coffee table cookbook, but when I started reading, it answered many of the questions I had about ayurveda and food, and with a beautiful narration of many mouth watering recipes. I realized that by reading the book I could quickly know what ayurveda is, incorporate it into regular cooking, and clearly understand what kind of effect a food ingredient will have on my body if I eat it.
You see, that was an eye opening “aha” moment. It was like finding the user’s manual for a complex system you are required to work with. If you don’t have a user’s manual, you cannot fully utilize the system. You’d be always working on trial and error basis, learning about it as you go, but never be able to utilize full potential of the system. That is what we generally do with our bodies and food. Our body is a complex system and food is the input we give to it without knowing what kind of effects it would have on our body.
The book “Sukham Ayu” is like a manual that helps to understand the nature of body and food, and the relation between them.
The knowledge I have gained from Sukham Ayu is:
1. Basic terminology in ayurveda
2. Different body types and how to determine a body type
3. Details about many food ingredients in ayurveda perspective
4. Plan for meals based on a body type
5. Over sixty good vegetarian recipes
6. A detailed meal planner
7. A food guide based on body constitution
If you are interested in learning ayurvedic concept of food, this is a must have book. If you are not interested in ayurveda part of it, you can just enjoy the recipe part, a set of homely vegetarian recipes that were tried for several generations before and will continue for several more generations in the future. Anyway you see, “Sukham Ayu” is a good cookbook to have in your library collection.
I wanted to know more about the inspiration behind the book. Authors Jigyasa Giri and Pratibha Jain responded immediately to my questions. Here is my interview with the Sukham Ayu authors.
Pratibha Jain and Jigyasa Giri with Dr. Prakash Kalmadi at KARE, Pune
You have written an excellent book exploring the Ayurveda roots of everyday food. What was your inspiration? What prompted you to choose this subject?
Thank you for liking the book. As we wrote in the introduction of Sukham Ayu, our tryst with “Pedatha” led us unconsciously to another realm of Indian tradition…Ayurveda. But in all honesty, we’d like to say that we did not choose the subject, rather, strangely we were chosen by it. It so happened that at the first launch of “Cooking at home with Pedatha”, we were introduced to Dr. Prakash Kalmadi who is the founder of KARE, an impressive ayurvedic rejuvenation establishment situated in the idyllic town of Mulshi near Pune. He liked our book very much and wanted us to write a book of Ayurvedic recipes from their kitchen. With this in mind, he invited us to his establishment. Once there, we were extremely inspired to take on the project, and thus KARE became the starting point of our research for this book.
It appears that you did dedicated research on Ayurveda and food. With your knowledge in the subject, I feel you could have written elaborately. But you chose to write a coffee table kind of cookbook. Are there any specific reasons?
A coffee table cookbook such as ‘Sukham Ayu’ is our attempt to make the great tenets of Ayurveda easily comprehensible to laypersons in the field, such as ourselves:). To answer the question, the book is divided into sections of recipes, and each section is preceded by a short chapter of Ayurvedic insights. We started out thinking of just a book of recipes, but soon realized that the point was not to make a book of 60, 70, 80 recipes, but to include insights that can then be applied by the reader to create unlimited wholesome food. Our own first questions soon became an endless inquiry, and in every recipe, with the insight of each answer, came yet another question. Thus our learning of concepts was interspersed with the process of recipe writing. And having enjoyed this methodology of learning, it made sense to share it in a similar rhythm with our readers by interspersing nuggets of information on ingredients, short chapters of Ayurvedic insights and the recipes. This way they all co-exist in balance through out the book and exude a friendly format, so we believe.
What is the best way to get the most out of Sukham Ayu?
First try a few recipes at random to see for yourself that healthy food can be tasty food too. That’s exactly what happened to us during our first visit to KARE.
Next, get curious about your prakriti or constitution, identify it (pg 17), and start reading the chapters on Ayurvedic insights – how we are connected to the elements, the seasons, the essences of food, what makes food compatible to each one of us and so on.
Use the orange box on each recipe page to increase your knowledge about food substances and their effects on the body. The food guide on page 108-109 will eventually help you to choose the right foods for your constitution.
Above all, this is a book about Cooking at Home, which is mostly a family. Hence the recipes are tridoshik, which means they are balanced to suit all doshas. As we have explained on page 9, “When you select a menu from this book for your family, all you have to do is identify who can eat more or less of each dish, based on the main ingredients.”
I noticed that you have begun every section of recipes with a home-style recipe. It is very interesting, do shed light on how that came about.
After every chapter that journeys through an Ayurvedic tenet or insight, we decided to gently guide our readers ‘back home to their present’ with a home-style recipe before they could move on to more specific recipes. The home-style recipes are absolutely basic recipes of daily Indian cooking with suggestions of how to incorporate different food substances using the basic recipe. By the time the readers go through the entire section of recipes, they would be ready for yet another chapter, yet another journey through another realm of Ayurveda, before getting back home to cooking, with a little more knowledge gained in the process.
Would you recommend any additional resources to those who would want to explore more on Ayurveda and food?
Ayurveda is a vast science. There are many elaborate books written on the subject by experts in the field of Ayurveda. Some of the primary sources that we researched from and recommend are: ‘Charaka Samhita’ by Maharishi Charaka, ‘Ashtanga Hridaya’ by Maharishi Vagbhata, ‘Bhavaprakasha’ by Acharya Bhava Mishra and ‘Kshema Kutuhalam’ by Acharya Kshema Sharma. We also like reading contemporary writers in the field such as Ms. Amadea Morningstar, Dr. Robert Svoboda, Dr. Scott Gerson and Dr. Vasant Lad.
You have entered into food blogging world with Pedatha.com. What is your feel of food blogging and food blog followers?
We are amazed at that world out there, and although we are not active bloggers, we enjoy the process of blogging and visiting other blogs. In fact, when we look at the availability of recipes with excellent photos on blogs, we always wonder what makes books sell :).
We know so many friends and so many young people who depend on the blogs a lot to cook their own food. They are great forums for self-expression and sharing views. It is like a good bridge between one’s private space and the external world. We are glad to be part of this wonderful community.
ISBN:819029931x
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Recommend “Sukham Ayu” to your local library.
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“Everyone says I am bitter…,” Karela catchingly said in a low voice.
“What would you like to be if there is a makeover?”
“I want to be saucy with an attitude.”
“Well, that’s easy. Let’s invite jaggery and tamarind. Our friend red chilli will also be there. How does that sound?”
“Sweet and sour with a spicy-saucy attitude. Yum… I like that. My bitter blues are over. 🙂
Thank you.”
“You are welcome karela.”
Karela, Jaggery and Tamarind
Saucy Karela (Kakara Pulusu)
(makes a side dish for two meals for two adults)
4 to 6-inch length karela – 5
Tamarind pods – 4
Jaggery, crushed – 2 tablespoons to quarter cup
Red onion – 1 medium size, or shallots 2 big ones
Oil, cumin, mustard seeds, curry leaves, turmeric, chilli powder and salt
*******
Soak tamarind in water for about 15 minutes and extract thick pulp (about quarter cup needed for this recipe).
Scrape karela ridges with a peeler. Wash and cut karela into small, bite-sized pieces (about 2 cups of cut pieces).
Slice onion into thin pieces (about half cup pieces).
*******
Place a thick-bottomed skillet on stovetop. Add a tablespoon of peanut oil and heat. When oil is hot, add 6 curry leaves, a pinch each-cumin and mustard seeds. Mix with spoon and when seeds start to pop, add onion. Sauté onion for couple of minutes to soft. Add karela pieces and quarter cup of water. Cover the skillet tightly, and steam-cook karela.
Halfway through the cooking, add tamarind and jaggery. Also add half teaspoon each – turmeric, salt and chilli powder. Mix, and cover the skillet with lid again. On medium-low heat, cook until karela pieces become tender, and tamarind-jaggery sauce thickens and start to coat the karela pieces.
Saucy karela tastes sweet and sour with a touch of spicy-bitterness. Great with sorghum roti or chapatis.
Friends. We know what they will bring to the table. Mirth, mischief or musings. Like we need shadruchulu, each meet a need. When it comes to vegetable friends, I know exactly what will potlakaaya bring to the table. A delicious bajji. Traditional Andhra food, prepared during festival celebratory meals, potlakaaya bajjis make a great snack item. With a tad of unique potlakaaya sweetness and aroma, they make tasty bajjis. Give the recipe a try when you find this vegetable on your trip to Indian grocery.
Potlakaaya ………………….Potlakaaya Rounds for Bajjis
Potlakaaya Bajji
The recipe is for 12-inch long potlakaaya. Makes about 30 bajjis.
Potlakaaya – 12-inch length
Besan (gram flour) – 1-cup
Rice flour – quarter cup
Red chilli powder and salt – half teaspoon each
Baking Soda – a pinch
Peanut or Sunflower oil for deep-frying – about two to three cups
******
Prepare Potlakaaya: Pick a firm and fresh looking potlakaaya for bajjis. Wash the potlakaaya. Cut and remove the ends. With a sharp knife, cut the body into rounds about quarter inch thick like shown in the photo above.
Prepare Besan Batter: In a vessel, take about a cup of besan. Add quarter cup of rice flour, a pinch of baking soda and half teaspoon each – salt and red chilli powder. Mix thoroughly. Make a well in the flour. Add quarter to half cup of water. Using a whisk or hand, adding water if required, make a thin and smooth batter free of lumps.
Prepare bajjis: Heat about three cups of oil in a deep skillet. When oil becomes hot, dip the potlakaaya rounds into besan batter. Drop them gently into hot oil one after another. Deep fry to crisp.
Enjoy this traditional Andhra snack hot. Great on its own or with rice and daal/sambar/curd combinations.
This pagoda water fountain is a decorative item in our front room. Now it has become Kittaya’s dedicated water fountain. He seems to enjoy drinking from the fountain all the time. It is always a great sight to watch him drinking from the flowing water so peacefully, particularly during mornings when sunlight falls on him through the window.
Jayasri Srinivasan is a long time reader and a friend of Mahanandi. I thank Jayasri for this special contribution to Bhakthi~Bhukthi series to celebrate the new year festival Ugadi tomorrow.
“In Whatever Form” – A Tribute to Annamacharya
By Jayasri Srinivasan
Every so often, I like to remember, dust-off and re-touch a distant memory, much as one would open an antique chest of precious old sarees, feel their softness, air them out and put them safely back in.
I am seven years old, it’s another typical Bangalore morning-fresh and crisp, and I am suspended in that delicious, mysterious state between sleep and wakefulness. Sounds and smells slowly seep into my consciousness: the sharp sizzle of boiling water percolating through the stainless steel coffee filter, the tantalizing aroma of my grandmother’s rasam, the gentle clinking of pots and ladles as she works her culinary magic to feed and nourish us, and the pure, resonant voice of M.S Subbulakshmi pouring out of the tape recorder, drifting in the air and lingering long after the tape stops playing….
A particularly beautiful krithi I remember from the vast repertoire of M.S Subbulakshmi songs that were such a staple in our house is a composition by Annamacharya, the great poet-saint of the 15th century. The krithi beginning “Enthamathramuna” roughly transliterated “Whatsoever be your form” is a paen to Lord Vishnu and in typical Hindu fashion goes on to emphasize his universality by extolling him as the embodiment of multiple divine forms.
Whether as a serious student of Karnatic music or as an enthusiastic rasika, the krithis of Annamacharya are part of one’s singing or listening repertoire alongside other compositions by luminaries like Tyagaraja, Muthuswamy Dikshitar, Purandaradasa, to name only a few.
Born in Tallapaka village (about 500 km from Hyderabad and 75 km from Cuddapah town) near Tirupati , the boy who would grow up to become of the greatest Telugu hymnographers was named “Annamayya” after Lord Vishnu. “Annam”, a Sanskrit word commonly denoting rice but more broadly used to denote food itself, appears in the iconic Vishnu-sahasranama-stotram- (Literally, “Hymn of a 1000 names of Vishnu”). As Adi Sankaracharya explains in his commentary on the hymn, Lord Vishnu is “Annam”. In a dual sense-he is both the “eater” (he devours the universe during pralaya-the great deluge) and the “eaten” (for the enlightened seeker, he provides spiritual nourishment).
Annamacharya belonged to the sect of Vaishnavas, specifically the Vishishtadvaita sect who believe that Lord Vishnu is the all-pervading divine being of the Universe. To the already existing theological framework of Vaishnavism, Annamacharya brought his own special humanistic interpretation. His gospel of Universal brotherhood was expressed in lyrics of transcendent beauty. Annamacharya’s Vishnu is not the exclusive deity of a defined sect or religion, he is untouched by trappings of caste and creed. Instead, his Lord Vishnu is the glorious “Supreme Spirit”, the “Divine father of all beings” and we are all his children. At this time, now more than ever, the truth of this concept becomes all the more poignant. There is no place in this world then, for anger and hatred, violence and war. It is time now for love and peace, understanding and harmony. This message of universal love and tolerance was Annamacharya’s greatest legacy, his medium was his music, and it is by embracing the spirit of this message in our daily lives that we can best pay tribute to one of the greatest poet-saints of all time.
In the first stanza of the krithi “Enthamathramuna”, Annamacharya extols Lord Vishnu thus “O Lord, you become whatever one thinks of you, you are the same Lord in whatever form one worships you.” Particularly notable is the fact that Annamacharya, being a householder himself, drew upon simple, everyday examples to illustrate esoteric truths that might otherwise be difficult to grasp. In this song, he uses a pithy and practical metaphor by drawing on the versatility of a humble kitchen staple-the ubiquitous and sustaining flour. “One can make it whatever one chooses”, sings Annamacharya, referring to flour. “The size of the pancake depends on the quantity of flour used.” An interpretation of this could be that our perception of the divine is limited only by the extent of our spiritual stamina and seeking. Whether we hedge our bets and place our faith in a beloved personal God or a universal life force, every route is unique. Each path to self-realization is valid.
Stanzas 2 and 3 contain a spiritual checklist of sorts. Annamacharya lists the various names of Lord Vishnu attributed to him by his interestingly diverse cohort of worshippers. “The Vaishnavas adoringly call you Vishnu”-sings the saint. “Those who profess a knowledge of Vedanta call you Parabrahman. Devout Saivites think of you as Shiva. The Kapalikas sing your praises as Adibhairava. The Sakteyas worship you as Goddess Sakthi. Thus, different devotees visualize you differently”. And now, gently, unobtrusively and lyrically, Annamacharya slips in two lines of such depth and meaning that one has to stop and ponder their significance. “To those that show you little regard”, says the poet-saint, “you look small. To those that are enlightened / think nobly of you, you appear lofty.” Isn’t this a stunning and sophisticated illustration of spiritual relativism?
In the concluding stanza, he continues the earlier theme. “The weakness does not lie with you. You are like a lotus in the pond that rises and falls with the level of the water. The waters of the river Ganga alone are to be found in all the wells by the riverside.” And then comes the beautiful last line of the composition. In its eloquence, simplicity and truth, it needs no further elaboration. “You hold us under your sway, O Lord of Venkatadri. I surrender myself to you and this to me, is the Ultimate reality.”
Here is the video link to the rendition by Smt. MS Subbulakshmi.
As you listen to this enchanting song composed by a saint and sung by a goddess, may you find peace and new meaning in the coming year. Happy Ugadi and Gudi Padwa!
******
Note: In writing this piece, I want to acknowledge the two excellent scholarly sources that I drew upon for a translation and interpretation of this song from the original Telugu. The references are listed below. References:
1) Annamacharya (1989) Adapa Ramakrishna Rao. Published by Sahitya Akademi.
2) Annamacharya-Lyrics of Humanism (1999) An anthology of some Annamacharya Keertanas rendered into English. Edited by Acharya I.V. Chalapati Rao, Translated by A.S. Murthy. Published by Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University, Hyderabad. Notes
1. In the rendition by MS. Subbulakshmi, a Tamil shloka precedes the krithi “Enthamathramuna”.
2. There is a slight asynchronicity between the sound and image in the rendition of the song.
******
About the author: Jayasri Srinivasan has been a connoiseur of music, food and everything associated with her grandparents from birth. When not doing postdoctoral research in neuropharmacology, she enjoys reading Agatha Christie mystery novels and chasing after her bouncy two year old.
“That sounds interesting. Your wish is my dish today. :)”
“We now have green and gold. To complement, let’s invite the yellow, mellow mung,” methi recommended.
“Some protein? Good thinking. Let’s get all together.”
Plants brought into home. Leaves plucked and washed. Carrots grated. Yellow mung daal soaked in water for about an hour.
When it was time for nastha, kura was made in ten minutes for chapatis. Carrot’s sweetness, mung daal nuttiness combined with methi’s goodness. It was light, yet filling and extremely tasty. Loved my meal today.
Methi, Carrot and Mung Daal
Methi Carrot
(for one or two meals for two adults)
1 big bunch of fresh methi or about 4 cups of tightly packed methi leaves
3 carrots or 3 cups of grated carrot
1/2 cup yellow mung daal. (Soak in water for about an hour)
Oil, curry leaves, cumin seeds, hing, turmeric, salt, red chilli flakes and coconut
******
Heat a teaspoon of peanut oil in a wide, thick-bottomed skillet.
When oil is hot, add 10 curry leaves, half teaspoon of cumin seeds and pinch of hing. Sauté for a minute or so, until leaves become golden brown.
Add grated carrot, soaked mung daal and methi leaves to the skillet. Mix.
Add half teaspoon each – turmeric, salt and red chilli flakes. And a tablespoon of grated coconut. Mix thoroughly. Cover the skillet with lid. Keep the heat on medium and cook, mixing in-between. The moisture from carrots and methi steams the mung daal to tender. It would take about ten minutes.
Serve this light and delicious Indian dish with chapatis or rotis.
“When I get a home with backyard, I will plant this, this and that too.”
As long as I can remember, this has been my dream about home ownership. I know nothing is owned by us forever or this won’t be permanent, but at least for now, we are home. And there is a backyard. I am enjoying tilling the land and planting the seeds with dear Vijay’s help.
The backyard space we have is in rectangular shape. In the middle, in a row, we planted fruit trees. We think this would give the fruit trees ample space to grow without encroaching on the neighbors spaces. On the sides, we placed plantar boxes suitable for raised bed gardening. After considering all the options for vegetable gardening, we have decided on raised bed method. We thought they would look clean, and it would be easy to control the weed situation. So went and bought lumber from Lowe’s. Constructed 3’x6’x2′ and 2’x6’x2′ boxes. Four for each side, a total of 8 boxes.
Here are the photos:
Fruit trees: from left to right
Pomegranate, Guava, Fig, Mandarin, Loquat, blueberries, Barbado’s Cherry. We purchased the plants from Urban Harvest and FBMG fruit tree sale.
Right Side of Rectangular space:
I have kept the four boxes for kitchen basics:
Box 1: 6 kinds of tomatoes and 1 tomatillo plant
Box 2: chilli peppers – Indian hot variety also known as Thai chilli pepper, 2 Serrano’s, 1 bell pepper and 1 chili pequin (small, round peppers similar to tadka chilli type).
Box 3: Red onions, shallots and red potatoes
Box 4: I kept it for herbs and strawberries. Right now spearmint rules the space.
Left side of Rectangular space:
In four boxes, one box is for green leafy veggies like methi, gongura and spinach. Another one is for brinjal and okra. Remaining two boxes are for beans. So far I planted brinjal seedlings, gongura, methi, and okra seeds. Also beans, Indian broad beans, cucumber, lima beans, turai, peas, and zucchini. Each variety in a row. 5 rows for a box. There is still some space left.
My wish list:
Gawar, Karela (Indian type), Lemon cucumber, Parval, and Tindora seeds or seedlings.
Green brinjal and drumstick (Munagakaaya) seeds or seedlings.
Banana (apple banana) and papaya seedlings.
Catnip for kittaya.
What are you planning to plant this spring? Any tips and advice for this garden newbie? I would love to hear from you.
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