Chakka Pradhaman- Jackfruit & Jaggery cooked in coconut milk

I wrote in my last post, that I used up the chakka varatti. Yes, I prepared chakka pradhaman as neivedyam for the first friday of Aadi/Karkidakam. I usually make only neipayasam on all fridays. This time I made an exception. If you have chakkavaratti and coconut milk in hand, then making this pradhaman is a breeze. In Kerala, payasam is referred to as pradhaman when coconut milk is used. Now you might think, then how come palada pradhaman where milk is the ingredient. In earlier days, Ada pradhaman was made with jaggery and coconut milk. May be later on, with the availability of milk in abundance, some chef might have come up with this version.

As in all pradhamans, you need 3 sets of coconut milk- thick, medium thick and thin. The first extract from the coconut is the thick milk and subsequent extracts are the medium thick and thin, which are called as first, second and third milk in the order of extract. Coconuts used are not very matured ones. While selecting coconut for milk extraction, look for the coconuts which doesn't have dark brown shell. The ones which has shades of cream are good. Sorry, I forgot to click pics of the coconut. It would give a better idea.

For 1 cup of chakka varatti, you will need about 2 medium sized coconuts. Take the amount of chakka varatti and coconut milk given here as an indication. You go by your instinct and it cannot go wrong. Little less or more of any quantity may not effectthe end result in a big way. So here comes the recipe

 

 

 

You need

•  Chakka varatti - 1 cup, packed
• Three sets of milk extracted from 2 coconuts.
• Chukku podi/Dry ginger powder - 1 tspn

  

Method

 

Grate the coconut. Pulse the grated coconut with very little water. Add water just enough to ease the grinding. Squeeze the milk out with the help of a muslin cloth lined on a strainer. For the successive extract, you can add around half cup of water. Keep each set of milk separately.

  

1) Take a thick bottomed vessel or kadai. Dilute the chakka varatti in a cup of hot/warm water.
 
 

 
2) Then add the third milk. Bring to boil. Simmer for 10 minutes.
 
 

 
 
3) Add the second milk and simmer in medium low heat till it thickens. You can smel the flavor of jackfruit and jaggery as it thickens.
 
 

 
Once you add the first milk, no more cooking is done. So it will dilute the payasam. keep that in mind and let it thicken well. Finally add the first milk and remove from heat. Don't leave it on heat once you add the first milk, since there are chances of curdling. Add a teaspoon of dry ginger powder. Serve hot or cold.
 
 
 

 
You can add cardamom in place of chukku podi. Chukku/dry ginger will aid in digestion and probably thats the reason why it is added.

Monsoon munches - Urulaikizhangu chips with a difference - potato chips

MONSOON MUNCHES

URULAIKIZHANGU CHIPS WITH A DIFFERENCE

Who does not like potato chips that too if it is home made? My maternal grand mother prepared potato chips with a difference. At a glance the fried chips looked like' khara sev' and no one could believe that it was all potatoes chopped so finely by my grand mother's deft hands. She cut the potatoes into thin uniform strips which resembled tooth picks! What ever grand mother prepared she did it with great passion and immense patience, turning out the best of dishes which every one in the family raved after.
After grand mother my sister has mastered the art of preparing the special potato chips. She has found a quick and easy way to prepare 'grand mother's chips' which tastes equally good. Here is her recipe for the ' urulaikizhangu chips with a difference'.

INGREDIENTS

Potatoes - 4
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Oil - for frying

METHOD

1. Wash and peel potatoes.
2. Grate the potatoes using the bigger holes in the grater and immerse the gratings in cold water for fifteen minutes. 3. Mix salt and turmeric powder in 1/4 cup of water and keep it aside.
4. Drain the potato gratings and spread the gratings on a towel to remove excess water. 5. Heat oil in a kadai and drop a handful of potato gratings into the hot oil.
6. Add 1/4 tsp of salt and turmeric powder solution while the potatoes are still hissing and bubbling.
7. Stir frequently and fry the chips evenly till the colour starts changing into a deep yellow .
8. Decrease flame immediately and remove the crispy chips using a perforated ladle and drain on a paper towel.
9. Increase flame and fry the next batch. Enjoy the yummy and addictive ' urulaikizhangu chips with a difference'.

Great Energy Efficient Lighting Article

There was a fine article in yesterday's San Francisco Chronicle Home and Garden section on Experts illuminate the future of lighting, wherein Jeannie Matteucci, a great journalist who specializes in home-related articles, interviews my mentor in lighting design, Randall Whitehead, of Randall Whitehead Lighting, Inc.

Randall is a trail blazer extraordinaire and I thank him for sharing his expertise with thousands of designers like me over the years.

Now we are moving into LEDs and, as before, Randall blazed the way. I was right with him too.

There will soon, very soon, be other new kinds of lighting to excite our senses and save our planet. Randall told me a few months ago about one that he has been watching:

Vu1 is a Seattle-based company creating a new kind of light bulb based upon an entirely new lighting concept:

Introducing: Electron Stimulated Luminescence™ Lighting TechnologyElectron Stimulated Luminescence (ESL™) Lighting Technology is an entirely new, energy efficient lighting technology. It is neither incandescent, fluorescent nor LED. 
To contrast: 

• Incandescent bulbs heat a filament to generate light. 
• Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFL) send a current through a mercury vapor that emits UV light to excite a phosphor. 
• Light Emitting Diodes (LED) create light by electrically stimulating a semiconductor material

ESL Lighting Technology uses accelerated electrons to stimulate phosphor to create light, making the surface of the bulb “glow”.  ESL Technology creates the same light quality as an incandescent but is more energy conserving. There is no use of the neurotoxin Mercury (Hg) in the lighting process.

Vu1's first offering, an R30 light bulb made to fit in recessed ceiling light fixtures, is nearing production. UL approval is due soon.

Here's a video released in July 2010:



This is so exciting! I can hardly wait to get my hands on one. I wonder too what other lighting innovations are just over the horizon?

What's next Randall?

Peggy