Confirmedly Authentic: Nucchinunde

It is amazing how certain foods are so strongly tied to memories; memories that are decades old, braced to childhood, to growing up, to the warmth and comfort of relishing mom’s cooked food and sometimes, also to sorely missing all of those! You get the picture.  This, Nucchinunde (nucch-in-unde), to me falls in that memory-stirring category of foods.

When the queen of blogosphere, dear Asha of Foodies Hope announced RCI for this month as Karnataka, ideas were flying in my head, one dish at a time from that category. When my Mother-In-Law made these heavenly delicious dumplings over the weekend, I really didn’t have to think beyond. This is the kind of food that you are not likely to find at restaurants. Some of these genera of dishes are even lost from one generation to the other. Here is my lowly attempt to get you the true taste of Kannada homes!

Nucchinunde is best enjoyed drizzled with ghee and dipped in “majjige-huli” aka “mor kozhambu”. You could eat these by themselves or as a side dish with a typical South Indian meal. Me? I eat them for breakfast! J

And I hope you enjoy the little Kannada tutorial along with these, authentic bonne bouche from Karnataka!

You’ll need:

• 2 cups Tuvar dal/Yellow Lentils (Thogari Bele)
• ½ cup Fresh/frozen coconut (Thengina Turi)
• ¼ cup chopped Cilantro (Kothamri Soppu)
• 6 -8 Dry Red Chilies (or to taste) (Vana Menasinakai)
• ¼ tsp Asafetida (Hingu)
• 1 inch piece of fresh Ginger (Shunti)
• 1 cup finely chopped Onion (optional) (Eerulli)
• ½ cup fresh/frozen Green Peas (optional) (Hasi Batani)
• Salt to taste (Uppu)
• Steamer (Idly mold + pressure cooker preferable) 

Method:

• Wash tuvar dal in 2 or 3 changes of water and soak for about 4 hours
• Drain the soaked dal and grind about 75% of it to a coarse consistency, without adding water (or use as minimal as possible)
• Grind the remaining 25% dal with coconut, ginger and red chilies
• Transfer to a working bowl and add the remaining ingredients. Mix well to combine
• Make dumplings of this batter by moulding the batter in your fist to shape - as in the picture
• Place the dumplings in the idly mold if using (2 dumplings per slot). If using steamer, place the dumplings in the vessel in a single row
• Steam cook for about 20 minutes until done
• Eat them hot, drizzled with ghee

 @@@@@@@@@@

Update: My MIL read the post and had a few updates to the recipe. She suggests using a couple of green chilies along with dry red clilies. Secondly, you could use about 1/4 cup of chana dal (split chickpeas) along with tuvar dal. Lastly, she indicated that ginger is opional, so leave it if out if you so wish. For a completely different flavor, you could use fresh fenugreek leaves sautéed in some oil until it is wilted, in place of onions and green peas.

@@@@@@@@@@

 

 

Flavor Burst: Minimalist Pulao

Rice. It is synonymous for food to a lot of us. It is hardly a surprise, given that rice is the most consumed grain in the whole world. History has it that in many parts of the world, eating rice symbolizes prosperity and happiness. Now that’s not hard to fathom, is it? This thought reminds me of the famous saying (famous for me at least) by a “mami” in our neighborhood back in India. In her own choicest words “Rice wonly fulfills stomach!” Right on! J 

The JFI pick for this month is Rice, hosted by wonderful Sharmi of Neivedyam. Now, when you are posed with an ingredient like Rice for JFI, how do you zero in on a dish you would want to showcase?! For me, the choice was simple: to pick a dish that brings out the flavor of rice.

I call this minimalist because of the few ingredients used and the ease with which you can whip this pulao up. And take my word for it – there is nothing minimalist about its flavor. This is a recipe from my Mom, who is an exceptional cook and my inspiration. She calls this “white pulao” or “plain pulao.” My take is that this is one heck of a colorful pulao and it is far from being plain. So, dear reader, I now present to you the Minimalist Pulao!

You’ll need: 

• 2 cups Basmati Rice
• 3 cups of water
• 2 cups of mixed chopped “pulao kind” vegetables (I used carrot, green beans, green peas and yellow bell pepper)
• 1 small yellow/white onion, sliced
• 3 green chilies/jalapenos, slit (adjust to your taste)
• 4 cloves
• 2 inch stick of cinnamon bark
• 4 pods of green cardamom
• 2 small or 1 large dried bay leaf
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp ghee (optional)
• Salt to taste

Method: 

• Wash and soak the rice in water for about 30 minutes
• In the meantime, chop the vegetables and thaw green peas if using frozen
• Heat the oil and ghee in a pot and add the whole spices – cloves, cinnamon, whole cardamoms and bay leaves
• Stir for a few seconds, taking care not to scorch them
• Add the sliced onions and green chilies. Sauté until onion is just transparent. Do not brown them!
• Add the rest of the chopped vegetables, season with salt, stir and cover the pot. Let the vegetables soften just a tad, about 4 minutes on medium heat
• Now turn up the heat to High and add the soaked rice along with the water into the pot. Stir well to combine
• Let this whole mixture come to a rolling boil on high heat. Leave it on for 5 minutes
• When the water seems to have evaporated quite a bit and the rice grains look plump, turn down the heat to low (I set it to 3 on my gas mark), gently mix, cover the pot and let the pulao cook, about 12 minutes or so, until the rice and vegetables are cooked through
• Fluff with a fork and serve with raita or simple dal

Here is another look:

 

A quick trip to Idly Land: With Rava Idlies and Sagu

The human mind is the fastest conveyor that no technological breakthrough can beat. With just your memories for fuel and imagination as wings, off you can go to places with just a blink of an eye. In addition, if you have a lingering, pleasant burst of flavors on your palate that remind you so very strongly of home, it surely promises to be a ride in the first class and back! A preparation that can create such a sensation absolutely deserves a special post on my blog!

You might be wondering what this write up is all about, with such gung-ho. It is about comfort, taste, simplicity, and about a little bit of history. Rava Idlies are probably nothing new to you if you are an ardent South Indian food fan. For those of you hearing about this for the first time, rava idly is a variation of the very famous idly (rice-lentil dumpling) which is a very popular breakfast preparation mainly in southern parts of India. However the idly fanfare is now spread across the country. Rava idlies are made with wheat rava or semolina instead of the rice-lentil combination and uses slightly sour yogurt to give the batter the fermented twist. The taste of these heavenly, fluffy dumplings is enhanced by using golden bits of cashew nuts and ‘tadka’ or seasonings with mustard seeds and other usual suspects to add a nuttier and denser flavor. 

And now for the trivia on its history: I recently learnt that rava idlies were first pioneered by the famous restaurant in Bangalore, MTR (Mavalli Tiffin Rooms). According to their website, they ventured into using rava/semolina for making idlies during WWII when there was a huge dearth of rice supply. I sure am glad they experimented! These wonderful creations are now wildly popular, served at fast food joints and sit down restaurants, making it a favorite among the locals and visitors alike. 

Rava idlies are served with the very versatile coconut chutney and/or a curry made from potatoes called “sagu.” Read on for the recipes for both of these; you can readily find instant mixes for making these idlies at your local Indian grocer but I find it immensely satisfying to make them from scratch. To steam these idlies, you’ll need an idly mould; I am sure you can just steam the batter in a greased vessel that fits into your steamer and then cut into pieces, but given that I have not tried it that way, I can’t vouch for its success! 

There, I made my quick trip to the Idly-land with these wonderful idlies! Wouldn’t you want a ride too?

To make Rava Idlies, you’ll need:

• 1 ½ cups of Rava/Semolina
• 2 cups of whipped yogurt, preferably slightly sour
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp of urad dal (Black gram)
• 1 tsp of chana dal (Bengal gram)
• ¼ tsp asafotedia (Hing)
• 2 tbsp broken cashew nuts
• 2-3 green chilies, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp oil
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• Salt to taste
• ½ cup finely chopped cilantro

Method:

• Heat the oil in a pot/kadai. When hot, make the “tadka” with mustard, urad and chana dal, asafotedia and green chilies
• Add the cashew bits and fry until they turn slightly brown
• Add the rava and fry until it starts to give out a pleasant aroma, on medium heat. Ensure that you don’t over roast/burn the rava. That can be a real spoiler for these idlies
• Take off the heat and let this rava mixture cool down to room temperature
• Add about 1 ½ cups of yogurt to the rava mixture, along with baking soda, salt and chopped cilantro. Mix well to make a thick batter
• Leave this batter aside for 30 minutes. After the resting time, add the other ½ cup of yogurt and mix well
• Grease the idly moulds, pour the batter into individual moulds. Steam on medium heat for 15-20 minutes*
• Allow to cool just a tad before removing these wonderful idlies. Serve hot, drizzled with ghee along with Chutney/Sagu (recipe below)

To make potato Sagu, you’ll need:

• 2-3 medium sized potatoes, diced
• 1 medium size onion, diced
• ¼ cup green peas, fresh or frozen (optional)
• 3-4 green chilies (or according your tolerance for heat)
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• ½ tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
• 1 tbsp Urad Dal and Chana Dal mixture
• ¼ tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 ½ tbsp gram flour (besan)
• 1 tbsp oil
• 2 cups of water
• Salt to taste
• Chopped cilantro for garnish 

Method:

• Heat the oil in a pan, and make the “tadka” with mustard seeds, cumin seeds, the dals and green chilies
• Add chopped onion and fry until they turn translucent
• Add the diced potatoes and fry for few of minutes, until slightly tender
• Sprinkle the ground turmeric and gram flour. Fry until the raw smell of the gram flour disappears, for just about a minute or two
• Add water, green peas if using and season with salt to taste. Stir in the sugar and allow to boil, covered on medium heat until the potatoes are cooked through and the sagu has thickened.
• Take off heat, garnish with cilantro and serve with hot rava idlies!

* I had a little extra time on hand, so I placed a few strands of grated carrot on the greased moulds before ladling in the batter to steam. This just adds to the pretty factor, really, not a must!