Re: recipes to be cherished..(former kerala thread!)
[/font]PoruLam kaai or Porul ViLankaakai as made in Palakkad:
I learnt it from my mother-in-law.
Ingredients: Parboiled rice (puzhungal arisi) –half cup, raw rice (pachai arisi)- half cup, green gram (moong dhaal or pachai payaru) – one cup, jaggery (vellam, sarkara) one cup, cardomom powder one spoon, dried coconut or copra cut into tooth-like pieces – half cup, optional: pottu kadalai half cup.
Dry roast the rices, constantly stirring until it changes colour. Dry roast the green gram constantly stirring, until the typical smell comes. Powder them both into a coarse powder. It is okay even if the powder is fine. Mix with cut copra, cardamom powder and pottu kadalai and keep ready.
To make Jaggery paagu: Dissolve jaggery in enough water and clean and filter out dirt if any. Boil with enough water in low flame until it becomes a paagu. To check whether it is right, take a teaspoon dip in paagu and dip it in a glass of cold water. If it becomes candy-like then it is ready.
Take a table spoon of paagu and mix with a tablespoon of the prepared powder and knead it tightly inside your palm to form a nice spherical b-all (just like making laddu out or boondi) , as big as a lemon. Repeat until the jaggery paagu and powder finishes off. Cool the b-alls until it becomes tight [/quote]
Sowmya,
Apparently, it is Peru(big) Vilaangkkaai (wood apple), and the urundai is made to look "as big a wood apple". A favourite of Lord Ganapathy, I believe.
Shoba
recipes to be cherished...(former kerala thread!)
Mr.Ramdass's recipes
Thiruvaathira Puzhukku:
This is made on Thiruvaathira (Aarudra Dharshanam) day in Kerala. Ladies who take fasting eat this (those who are not in Suddha Upavaasa or full fasting).
GreenGram whole (moong dhal) half cup
raw banana cut into small pieces half cup
shakkar khand (sweet potato/chakkaravalli) cut into small pieces half cup
tapioca or any other tubers can be used, generally potatoes are not used.
Coconut pieces half cup
jeera - 1 teaspoon
black pepper - 1 teaspoon
green chillies - 3 numbers
curry leaves and oil 2 teaspoon, mustard seeds.
Dry roast green gram in a dry kadai, constantly stirring until the typical fragrance comes. Add water and cook in pressure cooker.
In a separate vessel cook the tuber pieces, raw banana pieces adding salt in enough water until they become soft. Then add in the cooked green gram. Grind the coconut with jeera,green chillies and black pepper into a smooth paste. When the vegetables are cooked add in the coconut paste and bring to single boil. Keep aside. In a dry hot kadai, pour two teaspoons oil and heat. Add the mustard seeds and when they splutter add the curry leaves and pour the mixture to the vegetables+green gram mixture. Can be had with chappathi, poori etc (rice is not eaten on Thiruvaathira day), but if you are not making for that occasion you can have it with rice also.
Coconut vadai or Thenkaai Vadai:
I did see this in some other website, but it was not like the one made traditionally at Palakkad. Half cup raw rice (pachai arisi), half cup par-boiled rice (puzhungal arisi), one cup grated coconut, 3 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeerakam), salt to taste, oil to fry.
Soak both the rices in water for about 3 hours. Then grind them tightly along with the grated coconut and salt. If the dough is loose tie it into a bag using cotton netty cloth until the water drains off. Mix the dough with cumin seeds. Spread a cotton cloth (traditionally a clean “thorthu-mundu” is used). Take a small helping of dough and spread it using your palm and fingers into a disc of 3 mm thickness and 5 cm daimeter on the cotton cloth. Lay out all the dough until over. Heat a dry kadaai on flame and pour enough oil to about 5 cm depth. ( oil should also have a good depth for deep frying )When the oil gets heated, deep fry each of the discs on low flame turning them on both sides until each becomes crisp and brown. Frying in low heat for longer time makes them crisp.
Here is a Vishu special. It is called Vishu Kanhi (Kanji or conji) and this method is as practiced in Palakkad.
Vishu Kanhi
Raw rice (pacchai arisi) – half cup, par-boiled rice (puzhungal arisi) – half cup, green gram (moong daal or pachai payuru) – half cup, mochai payaru (white large beans) – half cup, salt to taste, grated coconut – one cup.
Dry roast the green gram in a dry kadaai on low fire until the typical smell comes out. Separately dry roast the mochai payaru also the same way. Put them on a dry grinder (mixer) and grind them lightly (use the lower most speed) till they become a coarse just-split powder. (The best is to use the tranditional hand-mill). The powder should not be too fine.
Mix the rices and the course gram powder together and cook in pressure cooker, after adding about 6 cups of water (or enough water to make kanji) and salt, on low flame for just two or three whistles. The rice and grams should not become too soft. If it is not enough watery, add boiled water as needed. Take out of flame and mix with grated coconut. Serve hot or cold.
Some people enjoy this Kanji after a day of storage (without refrigeration), after it becomes slightly sour of fermentation!