Guest Post for RCI Karnataka: Menasina Saaru

A very dear friend of mine, Mekhala who is one enthusiastic and exceptional cook, was thrilled at the idea of RCI Karnataka. She is a regular reader of many of our blogs, but since she doesn’t have a blog of her own (yet!), I invited her over to Kitchen Aromas to do a guest post for the event. Here is her entry showcasing a true taste of Karnataka, on its way over to Asha! Mekhala will address all your comments and questions directly in the comments section.

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This simple saaru is Mysore style, traditional to most South Karnataka homes. The black pepper broth, mixed with fresh soft rice and a spoon of ghee is literally prescribed for the sick and the weak, which includes women in their post-partum period. Unlike some other menasina saaru recipes, this one does not use the toor dal base. Milk is used as the base for this and it contributes to the protein content. Understandably so, since it is easily digestible by a sick person. The jaggery in it contributes to the Calcium and Iron content. In some households, this is also called Haal Menasu, literally meaning Milk-Pepper in Kannada! Pepper as a traditional healing spice aids in soothing any sore throat. Cumin helps in alleviating what is termed as ‘pittha dosha’ in Ayurveda. Curry leaves and hing add to the flavor, apart from lending their healing properties. Clarified butter/ghee aids in digestion. I love to sip this saaru like soup, sometimes without the rice. If you use rice, make sure it is super soft, else this saaru doesn’t lend well. Sona masoori rice cooked in the 1:3 (rice to water) ratio works very well. This saaru can get a little pepper-spicy; you can adjust the quantity of pepper to your tolerance level.

While too much pepper is not recommended as it increases body heat, too little renders the saaru useless for healing. So, enjoy this whenever you are feverish or have a sore throat or simply to up your spirits on a gloomy day!                                                                                                              

The recipe for this wonderful concoction follows below.

Mekhala’s Menasina Saaru – for RCI Karnataka

Ingredients to grind into powder:

• 1 tsp Split black lentils/Urad dal
• 1-2 tsps Black pepper corns
• 1 tsp Cumin
• 1/2 tsp Corriander seeds
• 2 tsps Desiccated coconut gratings
• a pinch of Hing
• 1/2 tsp Ghee

Other ingredients:

• 1 cup Water
• 1 cup Milk
• 1 tsp Crushed Jaggery
• 1 sprig of Curry leaves
• Salt to taste

Ingredients for the tempering:

• 1/2 tsp Ghee
• 1/2 tsp Mustard seeds 

Method: 

• Heat the ghee, add Urad dal and roast until almost light brown. Add remaining ingredients except coconut gratings. Roast until fine aroma wafts through the air and everything is nicely toasted, not charred. Best indicator to take off the heat is when the peppers start popping.

• Grind this with the desiccated coconut and keep aside.

• In a sauce pan, allow 1 cup of water to boil, add the ground powder, jaggery, salt and curry leaves and boil for 5-6 minutes.

• Add milk and let it boil once. Turn off the heat.

• To temper, let the mustard seeds splutter in hot ghee and add it to the broth.

• Taste for spiciness and salt. You can add more milk and jaggery to suit your palate.

• Serve with fresh, soft rice and half a tsp of ghee.

Tips:

* If your grinder does not grind ghee toasted spices, it is ok to dry roast. Grind all the spices and urad dal once before adding the desiccated coconut and grinding again into a fine powder.

* Hing can be added at the time of tempering too.

* Sugar can be substituted for jaggery but the nutritional value and special flavor are lost.

 

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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

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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.

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A gem from Grandma’s treasure: Green Tomato Chutney (Tomatokai Chatni)

The title says it all – this is a gem from grandma’s plethora of recipes; from my husband’s grandma’s magical kitchen, recreated here by my Mom-in-law. In her kitchen, grandma P whips up the tastiest traditional dishes, enthusiastically tries new dishes from her favorite TV cooking shows, imparts culinary wisdom to many and mesmerizes the taste buds of those lucky ones who get to eat what she cooks! Because of her, this great legend, I sure have come to believe that the statement “magical culinary hands” is indisputably true! With great love and wishing her best of health, this post is dedicated to lovely grandma P!  

You’ll need: 

 For the chutney:

• About 6 medium sized Green tomatoes or Tomatillos
• ¼ cup grated Coconut, frozen or fresh
• 1 tbsp of Roasted Gram/Dhalia
• 6 – 8 Green Chilies (adjust according to your taste)
• 2 tbsp Sesame Seeds
• 2 tbsp Grated Jaggery
• Salt, to taste
• 1 tbsp oil

  For Tempering:

• 1 tsp Mustard Seeds
• ¼ tsp Hing (Asafetida)
• 1 spring Curry Leaves
• 1 tsp oil

 Method:

• Dry roast the sesame seeds and roasted gram until fragrant. Keep aside
• Dice the tomatillos and green chilies. Heat the oil in a pan and add diced tomatillos and green chilies. Sauté until tender
• Place the cooked tomatillos, green chilies, dry roasted sesame, roasted gram and the rest of the ingredients for chutney, in a blender. Puree until smooth
• Remove to a serving dish
• Make the tempering by adding mustard seeds to the hot oil. Wait until it splutters. Add hing and curry leaves and sauté for a bit
• Add to the chutney
• Enjoy with hot rice (or as an accompaniment)