the brown eyed bookie ,

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Shankranthi Prasadam - Brown Rice Bellam Annam / Chakkara Pongal

HAPPY Shankranthi / Pongal / Lohri / Uttarayan to All!!

I remember, Mom makes this for almost every festival, basically I never used to like it. I never liked with the taste of jaggery. But this time we had a potluck and had to choose a recipe to do. Well I didn't have much choice, and I picked to do this because it would be a perfect recipe for the festival. First I was pretty nervous because I never made this and the second reason was that I wanted to make it with Brown Rice instead of white. So it was a challenge. But, the result was simply awesome, everyone liked it and even I liked it too.

Method:
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1. Wash rice in water, in a pressure cooker add milk and rice, pressure cook it for two whistles.

2. Allow the pressure to release and then open the cooker and mix the rice once.

3. In a heavy bottom pan, add jaggery, water and cardamom powder, bring it to a boil and keep stirring until all the jaggery is melted.

4. Strain this liquid and transfer back to the pan and make a syrup, until the liquid reduces to 1/3rd.
5. Now add this syrup to the cooked rice and stir until well blended and cook it in low flame for about 5 mins. (you can add more milk if you would like to).

6. Meanwhile in another pan, add ghee, when it's hot enough, add cashews and saute it until slightly golden brown, add the dried grapes and off the flame and keep stirring for a min.
7. Now add the ghee and nuts to the rice and mix it once and serve it warm or hot.

Mustard Seeds

My aunt Iyshakochamma (shown above with her grandson) makes the loveliest lemon pickle. Tart and tangy, it’s the perfect accompaniment to freshly steamed white rice. To show affection, she often sends guests off with a bottle of the potent condiment.

In 2008, my sister traveled through Bangalore airport with a jar of the pickle in her carry-on luggage. As she inched her way toward security, she caught sight of a large sign banning FIREARMS, SHARP OBJECTS, AEROSOLES and…PICKLE. Upon reaching the counter, she obediently, though regretfully, pulled out Iyshakochamma’s beloved gift. The airport clerk noted that she couldn’t take the pickle on board. Before my sister could throw it out, he asked where she got it. She explained that it was a gift from her aunt. To her surprise, the clerk offered to take it home, insisting that it shouldn’t go to waste.

Like so many Malayalee specialties, pickle gets some of it’s punch (and a bit of crunch) from brown mustard seeds. The tiny, gray-purple seeds are related to the yellow variety that is pulverized to produce ballpark mustard. However, brown mustard seeds are smaller than yellow ones and have a stronger flavor. They are available in the bulk spice section of most Indian grocery stores.

Whole mustard seeds must be heated to release their pungent flavor. In Kerala, they are commonly “popped” in hot oil using a process that’s akin to making fresh popcorn. Oil is heated and the mustard seeds are added. As the seeds release their moisture, they start a riot, ricocheting off the bottom and sides of the pan. Other aromatics such as chopped onions, ginger, and garlic are often added to produce a chutney or a vegetable sauté.

Mustard seeds are also used to flavor oil, with dried hot pepper and curry leaves, which is stirred into stews, such as sambar (pictured below).

Mustard seeds cook quickly and burn easily, producing a bitter taste. Typically one or two seeds will pop and after a few seconds the rest will start to shoot around. Once that starts to happen, watch them carefully. Quickly move on to the next step, whether it’s adding onions or removing the seasoned oil from the heat, after about a fourth of the mustard seeds have popped.