One good thing about Houston’s radiant weather is I could do my culinary sun salutations with ease.

Here is a traditional Bharath culinary sun salutation with Mexican pequin peppers. I bought a small pequin pepper plant last year from FBMG. It survived the snowy winter and now thriving with fresh growth and abundant fruit. A general rule of thumb with mirchis is the smaller the mirchi, the hotter it tends to be. It’s no exception for pequin peppers. The itty-bitty pequin peppers pack a punch both fresh and sun-dried as dahi mirchi. I started adding them to tadka that we season the daals and curries. Salty, sour and hot, dahi pequin peppers are a real treat.

This age-old Bharath technique of preserving the chillies in dahi is easy. The process needs some patience and lots of sunshine. Here is the photo pictorial.

Fully Mature Pequin Pepper on 5 Rupee Coin

Add a cup of pequin peppers to a cup of dahi (Indian Yogurt). Mix a tablespoon of salt. Keep uncovered for three days on the kitchen countertop. Stir once a day. Dahi acts like preserving agent here.

Drain the dahi and reserve the pequin peppers. Spread them on a cloth and sun dry under hot afternoon sun until they are completely dry. Takes about 2 to 3 days depending on the sunshine.

Salty, Sour and Spicy ~ Sun-dried Dahi Pequin Peppers

Sun-dried Dahi Pequin Peppers ~ Toasted in Tadka

From Yesteryears:
More about Dahi Mirchi (Majjiga Mirapa)
Dahi Mirchi with Cayenne

Vratha Pusham ~ Nandi Vardhanam (Crepe Jasmine) from Backyard

Morning:
2 khaman with tomato chutney
A glass of ragi ganji without sweetener

Noon:
A cup of dal (Bok choy with toor dal) in rasam consistency
A cup of leftover chard with chickpeas
A big bowl of hot cilantro soopa
Half apple and half carrot, grated and mixed with homemade yogurt

Evening:
A glass of cold ginger buttermilk

Night:
A cup of Kay’s cabbage thayir saadam. Wonderful recipe and excellent taste. Parents also liked this combination. I had it with four jackfruit chips.
A cup of Bok choy dal
A cup of hot cilantro soopa

Workout:
An hour walk: 4 miles, and an hour pilates – morning
Gardening – evening

In retrospect:
Pleasant day. But miss rice and roti very much.

Kay’s Cabbage Thayir Saadam

“Take a cup of cabbage poriyal, and add a cup of thick yogurt. Mix well. Enjoy it with your choice of pickle or side dish.” Talented Kay wrote in one of her daily food logs. I had to try and it happened today.

Like Kay mentioned, cabbage and yogurt combination make a good substitute for thayir saadam (dadhojanam) and with right texture too. I noticed that the taste improves on refrigeration. Good recipe with cabbage.

Preparation is two step:

Step 1 – Prepare Cabbage Curry: Grate cabbage extremely thin using a mandoline or grater. Grated cabbage mimicks fine rice grain/noodle in shape and texture, so the thinner the cabbage gets, the better it tastes in this recipe.

Heat oil in a skillet. Add and toast cumin, mustard seeds and curry leaves to fragrance. Add presoaked chana dal and finely chopped onions. Saute to crisp. Next goes the grated cabbage. Stir in salt, turmeric and coconut to taste. Cook until cabbage has wilted for few minutes. Turn off the heat and allow the curry to cool.

Step 2 – Add Yogurt: Serve a ladleful of cabbage curry in a bowl. Top it with homemade yogurt. Mix well and adjust salt to taste. Serve right away or refrigerate an hour for super experience.

Cabbage Thayir Saadam with Jackfruit Chips ~ For Meal Today

© Recipe and Photos Copyright 2009 Indira Singari.

Nitya Malli (Vinca/Periwinkle)

Morning:
A glass of ragi ganji without sweetener
Was in a rush, so just had few pieces of apple

Noon:
Half cup of leftover Pea Sprouts Soopa with Kale
One cup of Spinach sautéed with onion and fresh garbanzos
One cup of Tomato dal in rasam consistency

Evening:
A glass of ginger flavored buttermilk from homemade yogurt

Night:
One cup of cut carrots and cucumbers
One big bowl of hot tomato rasam
For dessert: half apple grated and added to a cup of cold soymilk. No smoothie but tasted good on this warm summer night.

Workout:
Weights and Abs class, and an hour walk at the gym – morning
Gardening in the evening

In retrospect:
Busy day, stressed out by evening and that triggered carbo cravings. Big bowl of hot, hot tomato rasam and cold ginger buttermilk saved the day.

Indian Yogurt, Ginger and Kavvam

Ginger Flavored Buttermilk (Allam Majjiga)

Ginger buttermilk saved the day many times in my life. My mother prescribes it to comfort stomachache, headache, sunstroke and lack of energy. It’s a cure-all elixir in her world. Continuing the tradition is this amma’s daughter. There is a saying in the Sutras “Just as nectar is for Gods, buttermilk is for humans”. I believe it.

Preparing buttermilk at home is very easy.

Take a ladle full of homemade yogurt in a glass. Add a pinch of salt. Churn with a Kavvam (traditional wooden churner from Bharath) until well blended. Then add a cup of water and churn again until a light froth appears on top.

To flavor the buttermilk with ginger: Take a thumb sized fresh ginger. Peel the skin and grate it finely. Take the grated ginger with your fingers and squeeze the ginger juice into buttermilk. Churn again until well mixed.

Enjoy this refreshing drink after a meal. You could also add few pieces of crushed ice or ice cubes for that cold effect. Ginger buttermilk is a neat alternative, if you are trying to avoid caffeinated drinks.

Allam Majjiga ~ for Today’s Meal