My 60th Birthday and Obbatina Oota

My 60th Birthday and Obbatina Oota

It was my birthday eve last month – my 60th birthday. Mother was narrating the story about how father had specially ordered for coconut-sized laddoos for my first birthday, and how the palace was incidentally illuminated on that evening, and how the house was bustling with relatives, and how excited they were when they remarked that the palace was illuminated for the Maharani’s (meaning myself!) birthday and the story went on and on and on. Though we had heard this story a thousand times, we listened to her with rapt attention as we gazed at the star lit sky to see if we could spot a satellite or an U.F.O, just as we did decades ago. We sat around the circular cement fish pond in the large garden, chatting, laughing and remembering those good old days. We were pulling each other’s legs and shared our stories with our next generation. The white egrets looked like a string of pearls as they flew in the dusky sky. There was a ripple in the pond as the fish swished by. A friendly owl hooted from the nearby Ashoka tree. The fragrance of the Jaji flower filled the cool breeze. Nothing had changed at my mother’s place except that father was no more, and my kid brothers had taken up the reins of the household. Though the four of us siblings have branched off into four different families, the same old pranks, and our togetherness resurfaced with the same excitement, just the way it did whenever we got together. This time we got together at mother’s place since my brothers decided to perform a mammoth homam for the welfare of the clan on my 60th birthday.

The poojas started very early in the morning. It took about an hour for the vaadyars (priests) to prepare the Homa Kundam (The altar where ghee and rice was to be offered to the deity through Agni or the Fire God), and get the other articles in place. One of them drew the Lalitha Yantram using coloured rangoli powder. Lailta is the cosmic power or the Goddess who creates, sustains and finally engulfs the universe. Yantram is a geometric diagram which represents the deity. The diagram, especially its angles, is supposed to attract positive energy. The vibrations produced by the sound of the mantras, drive away all negativity and fill the space again with positive energy. The fumes arising from the Homam purifies the home and the entire atmosphere, since specific medicinal dry twigs (Sammith) are used for the purpose. All in all Homam is said to purify and heal the body, the soul and the mind.

“OM SREE MATAYAI NAMAHA”. “OM” - the seed word representing the cosmic energy… “SALUTATIONS TO THEE MOTHER “… Thus started the homam and went on and on and on till each one of the thousand and eight names of The Goddess were recited, as the vaadyars made offerings to the fire. My brothers and my husband joined them in the offering while the rest of us assisted them. Mother at 78 years, was running around with great zest and cheer. The youngsters clicked away photos and also managed to run on errands. The clanging of the vessels and the aroma of food cooking in the courtyard competed with the sound of the Mantras and the aroma of the fumes arising from the Homam.

Finally the pooja was over and all of us felt blessed. We felt even more blessed when we sat in front of rows of banana leaves awaiting the grand feast to be served. It was indeed a lavish feast , the feast being an obbattina oota! The cook served the sago payasam (a sweet porridge) first. This was followed by beans curry, ladies finger fry, sweet kosumalli, salt kosumalli, mixed vegetable koottu, cucumber pachadi, ama vadais (some vadais were even soaked in mor kuzambu), mor kuzambu, lime rice with capsicum and peas, ash gourd sambhar, sweet pongal (prasadam offered to the Goddess), a delicious rasam, papad and pickle, along with steaming hot in the center of the leaf; The special sweet of the day was Obbattu, and finally curd. The boys started an obbattu eating competition when they took ‘good care’ of each other. Some had it with ghee and the others had it with hot milk.

I remembered my mother-in –law who loved this sweet. She prepared it on all occasions as long as she lived. I used to assist her by cooking it on the tava as she patted out one after another obbattu on a banana leaf.

After returning from my mother’s place I could not resist my urge to prepare obbattu all by myself at least once. It was not a bad try and this is how I prepared it.

OBBATTU - Sweet bread filled with coconut lentil filling
Ingredients for the filling or Poornam
Bengal gram dal – 1 cup
Jaggery – ¾ cup
Fresh coconut gratings- 1 cup
Cardamom powder – 1 pinch
Method for the filling or Poornam
1. Soak dal for half an hour
2. Cook it in just enough water till tender but not mushy.
3. Throw away excess water if any left , and allow it to cool.
4. Grind dal, coconut gratings and jaggery adding the cardamom powder.
5. It will become like chapatti dough.
6. Keep this Poornam aside.

Ingredients for the Obbattu dough

Maida or plain flour – 1 to 1 ½ cups
Turmeric powder- 1 pinch
Salt – 1 pinch
Cooking oil – 3 to 4 tbsps
Method to make Obbattu dough

Mix all ingredients and knead into a dough using little water. The dough should not stick to your hands. Allow it to stand for half an hour. The more it is allowed to soak the more elastic the dough will be.
Method to make Obbattu

1. Take a lump of dough and roll it into a lemon sized ball.
2. Flatten the ball and place a ball of the sweet filling in it.
3. Bring the edges together and make a ball again so that the ball of poornam is inside the dough ball.
4. Grease a banana leaf and your fingers too.
5. Place the prepared ball on the leaf and pat it evenly on the leaf giving it a round shape as thin as possible.

6. Heat a tava and invert the banana leaf on it, peel out the raw obbattu on to the tava / pan.

7. Cook both sides on low heat until golden coloured patches appear.

My husband relished it with milk while I savored it with ghee. Bless the obbattu hang over!

Sweet Appam

Ingredients:
Wheat flour-2 cups
Shredded Coconut - 1/2 cup
Jaggery - as required
Cardamom - a pinch
Rice flour- 2 tsp
Oil or ghee to shallow fry

Method:
Add little water to jaggery and heat for 5 minutes till jaggery dissolves in water. Mix in rest of the ingredients except oil/ghee to make a thick paste. The mixture should be thicker than dosa batter. Heat kuzhipaniyaram vessel with a drop of oil or ghee in each hole. Drop the mixture with laddle and drizzle oil on top and cook on both sides till golden brown.

Tattae Idli - Plate shaped steamed rice and lentil cake

IDLI - Steamed rice and lentil cake
Idli is omnipresent in South India. Some find it difficult to understand the craze behind this unassuming white cake made of rice and lentil. But nothing like good soft white steaming idlis with a little sambar, chutney, or molagai podi with a little ghee or sesame oil, anytime, anywhere! Idli finds itself easily fitting into grand breakfast menus at festivals and weddings, as well as in the diets during convalescence . It is steam cooked, easily digestable, rich in B vitamins, and fat free (when eaten without accompaniments, of course!). Idlis are a boon to travelers carrying their meals, and have a long way to go. Its easy to handle and not at all messy!

Idli brings back some memories of our travels in the 1950s. Once, after a hectic South India tour we landed unannounced at our relative’s place in the middle of the night, as it was not safe to cross over the Dimbam ghats in the dark. Our hospitable and generous grand uncle made the neighbouring shopkeeper open the stores , and bought bread and bananas to satiate our hunger. At the crack of dawn, the ladies of the house were very glad to pack idlis for the last lap of our journey towards home. Luckily, they had ground the batter the previous day! The idlis were packed in banana leaves, which were greased and lightly heated over flame to make them pliable. The banana leaf parcel is then packed with a layer or two of newspaper, and tied with white thread. After driving for a couple of hours, father stopped by a mountain stream for breakfast. Mother opened the efficiently packed green parcel, and served the idlis on cut banana leaves that were thoughtfully kept in our basket. We hopped on to the rocks that popped out of the stream, and dangled our feet in the freezing cold water as we tucked in the luscious idlis soaked in molaga podi and gingili (seasame) oil. Those were the days when dacoits and forest brigands were unheard of. Father assured our worried mother that the pachyderms and wild animals which she was scared of, would attack only when provoked, or only when they were attacked. Father had taught us how to behave in a forest ,and we quietly enjoyed Mother Nature’s bounty listening to the sounds of the forest opening our mouths only for idlis!

Decades later, idlis continued to be a staple, and we discovered the the joy of Tattae Idli. Tattae means plate in Kannada. Idlis that are steamed in plates, rather than the traditional idli stands are known as Tattae Idlis.

My husband, came acoss an eatery that even calls itself “Tattae Idli Hotel"at Kyatasandra near Tumkur, Karnataka, during one of his work tours. He became an instant fan of the steaming soft white discs served with a simple watery potato curry seasoned with whole green chillies.

Once, realizing his work in Tumkur is almost complete, and not wanting to miss out on these idlis, he purchased a tattae idli stand. Since then I have also started preparing tattae idly at home. I usually serve it with two varieties of chutneys, sambar and a dollop of fresh melting butter on top. One Tattae idly is equivalent to three normal sized idlis and hence two of them are more than sufficient for the two of us for a wholesome meal.

The highway eaterys that serve idlis are a boon to weary travelers. It is not only filling, but can be safely eaten without any fear of harm to health, as it is steamed and served piping hot.


INGREDIENTS:
Rice – 3 cups
Black gram dal -3/4 cup
Beaten rice or rice flakes – ¼ cup
Fenugreek seeds – ¼ tsp
Salt -1/2 tsp

METHOD:
1. Soak rice, dal, beaten rice and fenugreek seeds together for half an hour.
2. Grind all ingredients into a smooth and thick batter. Add salt and blend.
3. Fill ¾ of a large vessel with the batter, cover it and leave it to rise for 12 hours.
4. When the batter has risen up to the brim of the vessel, it is ready to use.
5. Grease each Tattae or Plate of the idly stand with a drop of ghee.
6. Fill half the plate up to half its height allowing the remaining space for the idly to rise.
7. Place the stand in a pressure cooker and steam without the weight for 15 minutes.
8. Allow the steam to settle down then open the cooker. Remove the idlies from the plates using a knife or a spoon.
9. Enjoy with varieties of chutneys and sambar not forgetting to top it with a dollop of fresh butter or ghee.