Crispies-1

Its summer time. During this time we Indian women process certain vegetables and other things so that they can be preserved for use even after the season is over. There are many ways of preservation. You can read about it in one of my previous posts:

http://spiceomylife.blogspot.in/2010/05/pickles-from-andhra-i.html

One of the methods of preserving is sun drying. In a country like India especially in South India where the Sun shines through out the year, we are all Sun worshipers. Because of him we get our agricultural produce, health, monsoons. 

One of the ways to preserve certain vegetables is by making crispies, known as Vadiyaalu(Telugu) or Vadis(Hindi). Vegetables are mixed with other ingredients and spices and dried in the Sun. They can be preserved for an year. These are deep fried in oil and eaten with cooked rice and rasam or sambar or as a light snack with tea or just like that in the evenings. 

These along with Poppadoms are a must in feasts and food served on all important occasions like marriages etc in my State of Andhra Pradesh. 

In earlier days we had no junk food to binge upon. We used to eat these crispies in the afternoon. They are very tasty and healthy if eaten moderately. These days we can just dab them with little oil and microwave them to avoid deep fries. 

There are many types of vadiyaalu /vadies. I am starting with those that are made in Andhra Pradesh-my state.

1. Crispies with Ash Gourd:

These are one of the most popular dishes of Andhra. These are known as Gummadi Kaaya Vadiyaalu.

Ash Gourd and Chillies

Black Gram-split and de husked

Ingredients:

Ash Gourd  1 medium

Black gram split and husked  500gms

Green chillies      250 gms

Salt   to taste

Asafoetida powder 1-2 tsps

Method 1:

• Soak gram over night in enough water.
• Cut the gourd into pieces the night before.The seeds are generally discarded.

 Cut into half

Cut into pieces along with the outer rind.

I have discarded the seeds, used the juice and the fluffy white flesh while grinding the gram.

• Put  them in a muslin cloth and wound tightly into a bundle.
• Place the bundle in a platter and place a heavy weight over it. This squeezes out all the juice of the gourd.
• The platter should be in a slightly slanting position. 
• Keep a vessel under the platter  to collect the juice of the gourd. 
• This is left over night. 
• Next day the bundle is squeezed to remove all the juice.
• Collect this juice into a vessel and keep aside.
• Next morning wash the gram well with water and leave it for some time so that the water drains off completely. 
• If you are using husked split gram washing with water will remove the husk. But keep the husk separately as it can also be made into crispies.
• Now grind the gram to a very fine but very thick paste, using gourd juice. if needed a little water can be used.
• Remove the stalks of the chillies. Cut into pieces and grind to a paste. This way you can add only that much that you require.
• It can also be ground along with the gram. But here you cannot help if it becomes too spicy.
• Add the chilly paste, asafoetida and salt when the gram is almost done. Grind for some time.
• Remove and collect in a big vessel. Mix well taste and adjust the spices. Remember that it becomes more salty and spicy on drying then when it tastes wet.

 I use wet grinder for grinding the gram.

This is how the dough looks with green chillies, salt and asafoetida but before adding the gourd pieces.

• Now add the gourd pieces mix well.
• Take a big  cotton cloth not too thin. 
• Dip it in enough water. Wring out the water.
• Lay the cloth on a mat placed on a big table, or on the floor(but it leaves patches on the floor which are not easily cleanable) in hot sun.
• Take a handful of the dough and place it on the cloth in a pyramid shape and slightly pat on the top. They should not be too flat.
• There should be enough pieces of the gourd and also dough to bind them. Excess of any of these will not be good.
• Keep mixing the dough in the vessel every time you take a handful, as the dough being heavier sinks to the bottom leaving the gourd pieces on the top.
• Keep a bowl of water besides you and wet your hands as well as the cloth if necessary.
• Place out all the dough and let it dry for 2 days. 
• On the third day you will notice that the crispies will themselves detach from the cloth. if not carefully remove them from the cloth. They should not break into pieces of become too powdery. However a few causalities will always be there:)
• If it is difficult to detach them spray/sprinkle a little water on the underside of the cloth and leave it or few minutes. It will now be easy to remove them.
• Next two days reverse them bottoms up and dry in the Sun.

Drying out in the Sun.

• Once they are tinder dry store them in an air tight container.
• When needed, deep fry in hot oil. 
• It is better to heat oil in a deep frying pan, lower the heat put the crispies  in a wire mesh and lower into hot oil and take out immediately to avoid burning. 
• Place them on a blotter to drain excess oil and serve with steamed/cooked rice, Daal and Sambar or Rasam. Or just eat them as a snack with tea.

Method 2:

• Grate the gourd with the rind after cutting them into big chunks.
• Tie them in a muslin cloth and squeeze out the juice  into a separate vessel. Tie it into a tight bundle and leave over night.
• Next morning again squeeze and collect the juice.
• the rest of the method is same.

Points to be kept in mind:

I . Ash Gourd

1. It is round to oblong shape, green in colour with a white ash like coating. Hence the name.
2. The size of Ash Gourd is as per your requirement. It depends upon the size of your family and how many crispies you want to make. The gourds are available from very small to biggest size.
3. The gourd should be a matured one with tough outer rind.  Matured gourds  will have more coating of ash.  
4. It will have less water content and are easy to dry when making the crispies. Also the thick rind and spongy inner white flesh don't burn when deep fried after making it into crispies.
5. In order to know whether the gourd is matured or not, observe the coating of ash. It will have much ash. Its rind should be very tough. We usually dig in with our thumb nail. If it does not go in easily then it is matured. 
6. The gourd cannot be cleaned. It can at best be cleaned with a soft cotton cloth lightly.
7. The seeds can be used in the crispies but we usually discard them because when we dry the crispies in the sun, the squirrels or birds, dig out the seeds and make a mess of our crispies.
8. The gourd is either cut into pieces or grated. 

II. Chillies

1. Green chillies go best with this. But you can use powder of dried red chilies. 
2. Adjust the quantity of chillies according to your taste. The quantity I gave you is quite spicy.

III.  Black Gram

1. Black gram for this recipe is best if it is split but not de husked. The gram does not have much of its stickiness or binding quality, if we use cleaned (de-husked one). I use split gram with husk as it is much healthier and tastes very delicious. But you can use de husked split gram.
2. The gram should be soaked over night.
3. Next morning it is washed thoroughly to remove the husk or even when de husked one is used. The husk can also be made into vadies. Keep it separately.
4. The gram is then placed in bamboo baskets or baskets made of dried palm leaves or a sieve and left for some time to drain all the water.
5. Then it is ground well into a very thick but very soft paste using the gourd juice and a little water if necessary.
6. I use wet grinder as it is easy to grind in this with very little water.
7. If the paste is too watery, it cannot be made into crispies and also becomes very hard when dried and fried.

IV. The Cloth:

1. The cloth to be used for placing the crispies must be made of cotton and not too thin. This enables the underside also to dry along with the upper side simultaneously.
2. We use old saris or dhotis(folded into half i.e doubled) or bed linen as they have ability to absorb the moisture.
3. Don't  lay out the entire cloth at a time. It gets dried quickly.
4. Unfold a little at a time as you need it.
5. If the cloth dries off despite all this sprinkle little water to make it wet.
6. Too much water on cloth will make the crispy runny and it will not come out cleanly after drying.
7. If the cloth is dry, the crispy cannot be separated from the cloth cleanly after drying and breaks into pieces.
8. If you use a plastic sheet these crispies will not come out well though some people use it. The under side will not dry easily.

Most Important Things :

If you want your crispies to be Crisp and not hard follow these instructions very carefully:

1. The crispies should be dried in very hot Sun. Plan these only when you have enough Sun shine for at least 6 hours of the day and that too very hot. 
2. It should take only 3 to 4 days for them to dry. If it takes long to dry, they will become very hard.
3. The gram should be ground with as little water as possible , using the gourd juice but should be ground to a very fine paste.

Yes it looks very tedious but the result is mouth watering , hygienic and healthy. I will upload pictures of fried crispies next time in here.

Hope you have understood the process and my post is clear. If you face any difficulty mail me please...

It is Time

Friends winter is knocking at our door step. For us winter officially starts with Diwali. There is a lot that can be done during winter. Abundance of agricultural produce, nature replenished after monsoons, pleasant weather(at least this part of India) all these are a time for us women to gear up for winter.

Winter is the time for hot spicy food.Yummy recipes that also nourish us can be savoured in the chilly weather. For us picnics  with friends and relatives in the month of Kartik (month starting from Diwali) is a must. It has got religious significance-that is offering special puja and prayers but all in all it is time for bonding. This calls for lots of easy to make and easy to carry food items.

Can you guess what this is?

Well drop in your comments and answers and watch my blog for the yummy recipe....

Pickles from Andhra (ఆంధ్ర ఊరగాయలు)-8

Tomato Pickles-1(टमाटर का आचार /టొమాటో నిల్వ పచ్చడి )

Tomatoes are perhaps the most popular vegetable used all over the world. Actually it is a fruit. We Indians love it so much that we use it daily in form or the other.

In India, we make chutneys and pickle it many ways.Chutneys keep for a day or some for a few days. but pickles can be stored for long. This is the season for it and tomatoes are available at a very cheap rates. I will give the Andhra recipes first.

Before pickling:

• Choose semi ripened ones. Should not be too red or too soft. They should be orange or light red and very firm to touch and less juice in them. However don't use green and unripe ones. 
• Use desi or local varieties(not hybrid variety) which are meant for cooking.These may be small but more tastier. Don't use those tomatoes which are meant for salad. The tomatoes meant for salad just has firm flesh but no taste or sourness. They also don't preserve well.
• Wash them in plenty of water, wipe them clean and leave them for an hour or two till the moisture is completely gone
• Keep all the ingredients ready at hand
• Use a glass or ceramic jar and plate/bowl and wooden spoons for mixing and storing. You can use stainless steel vessels and spoons but immediately transfer into glass/ceramic one.
• Please note this carefully. The quantity of salt and red chilli(dried red chillies) may vary- can be more or less than what I have given. For any pickle recipe I am posting, I am giving the quantities of spices as accurately as possible. But the quantities of salt and chilli may vary-depending upon the sourness of the basic ingredient like mangoes, tomatoes, goose berries, tamarind or when tamarind or other ingredient is used as souring agent . So it is better to add the salt a little at a time and keep checking the taste. Do not add all at once. The taste of salt should be slightly more than other tastes. Check the pickle after three four days for taste, as by this time the ingredients would have marinated well. If salt is less add some more. 
• Similarly is the case with chilli powder. Adjust it to your taste. My recipes are very spicy. So add a little quantity at a time and adjust according to your taste. Mix a fistful of red chilli powder of those chillies which are not spicy but just add colour to the pickle. Or better mix both spicy and coloured one and then add according to your taste.
• Do not used tamarind which is black in colour, if possible. Use new tamarind. If tamarind is old that is preserved for more than 6 months, it turns black. When this is added to the pickle its colour also does not come out properly. Fresh or newly harvested tamarind is available now and is light brown in colour. This is good.
• I use freshly pressed sesame oil (whole sesame and not husked one). This is traditionally used in Andhra for pickles.But you can use any oil of your choice including refined oil which you generally use for pickles. Experiment with various oils by pickling a small quantity and check for the taste. I feel mustard oil is too pungent and does not go well with this pickle as tomato is mildly flavoured. Similarly coconut oil may also not taste good. But groundnut oil, sunflower oil is OK.
• These pickles keep for an year and beyond that. But It is better to have fresh pickles in the season as nothing tastes better than that.

I have used our traditional cutter for cutting. This is easy to use. We have to sit cross legged with one leg pinning the wooden base. This helps it to keep the cutter stable. We keep a bowl or plate underneath it and the pieces and juice get collected in them.

See how the Tomatoes look.

Ingredients:

Tomatoes             1kg

Tamarind              250-300gms

Salt                      100 to 150gms

Red chilli powder  100 gms
Fenugreek seeds    100 gms
Mustard seeds          50 gms
Asafoetida pieces   10 gms

Turmeric              2-3 Tbsp
Vinegar                 150ml

For Tempering:

Oil        500 ml
Chick pea lentil     40 gms
Black gram lentil    40 gms
Mustard seeds        50gms
Fenugreek seeds     20 gms
Dried red chillies    10-12

Method:

Cut the tomatoes into medium sized pieces. There is no need to remove the seeds. 

Add turmeric and salt. Mix well. It should be little salty. But don't worry as you can adjust the salt in the end too.
Store them in glass or ceramic jar with tight lid. Leave for three days.

After three days, the pieces will be soft and you can observe lot of juice. 

Squeeze out juice as much as you can and collect it in a separate bowl. Spread the pieces on a plastic sheet and dry it in the sun for three days. You need to turn the pieces once or twice a day, so that they dry well. 

Above you can see my pickle being dried out. They should be at least 75% dry.

This is the new tamarind-freshly harvested.

Meanwhile you put the tamarind into the juice and sun it a few hours a day. Keep stirring it a few times while in the sun. When you bring back into the house after each day, leave it till it cools down completely before covering it with a lid. Or else it will develop fungus.

Now  there are two methods here to be followed on the fourth day or on the evening of third day itself:

A. Add the pieces to the juice and leave it for two hours. The pieces will get soaked in the juice and become soft again. Now you can grind the pieces along with tamarind. 

OR

B. First squeeze the tamarind well. Since it is already soaked in the juice, the pulp is easy to extract. keep the pulp and fish out the waste. Now add the tomato pieces to get soaked. You need not grind it. I follow this method.

Again after this there are two ways:

Method 1:

1. Heat 1-2 tsp of oil in a pan. Add asafeotida pieces and let them fry well on low heat. Let it cool, powder it and keep aside.
2. Heat 2-3 tbsp oil in the same pan to smoking point. Lower the heat and add 100gms each of fenugreek seeds and mustard seeds and fry. Keep stirring it to avoid burning. Fry till you hear the crackling sound. Remove from fire, add half of the asafoetida, keep stirring it for a few minutes to avoid burning of the spices. Cool it and then grind to a fine powder.
3. Now for tempering- heat the remaining oil to a smoking point in a deep bottomed pan. Lower the heat add the lentils, fry for a minute, add the mustard and fenugreek seeds, fry for 2-3 minutes till you hear the crackling sound. Add the red chillies, fry for a minute. Remove from fire, add asafoetida. Mix well and cool it completely.
4. Now to this add the red chilli powder little by little and keep on mixing till it is completely mixed in the oil.
5. Add this to the pieces and mix well. Taste it and add salt if required. Mix well and store it in a ceramic/glass jar.  This keeps for an year. Use as required.

Method 2:

1. Under this method, store the tomato pieces after following the process at B.
2. But add salt to these pieces if required, as without adequate salt, the pickle will not last long.
3. As and when required  a small quantity of the pieces are taken and the process at Method 1 above is followed. But the quantity of the oil and all other ingredients has to be used proportionately.
4. The advantage of preparing the pickle for use each time is that it tastes fresh and tasty. In the first method when we mix everything in the beginning itself, the spices loose their freshness, the tempering also looses its crunchiness and pickle does not taste good after a month or so.
5. We can prepare the quantity required for a fortnight or so freshly each time or just before our guests arrive so that it tastes fresh.

This is how it looks. I used old tamarind as I did not have time to go to market and fetch the new one. So my pickle looks black instead of red now itself. But I have only pickled a little quantity now. I am going to make more shortly. Then I will use the fresh one.

So try this out and see for yourself. If you have any doubts or questions please mail me....

Majjiga Mirapakaayalu-Update

My Chillies are done. they have dried up nicely and taste so good when deep fried in oil.

Dried in hot Sun a nd preserved in a glass bottle.

Deep fried in hot oil

They are good with lentils, Sambar, Rasam  Curd Rice etc. They are easy to make and tasty too.

The Recipe is here:

http://spiceomylife.blogspot.com/2010/10/tasty-chillies.html

Try it out and tell me how they are...

Sri Rama Navami Specials

Rama Navami is the day on which Lord Rama's Birth day as well as marriage is celebrated. Rama is known as Marayada Purushottama. He showed how a man should lead life. A man's responsibilities and duty towards his father, mother, brother and wife as well as a king's duty towards his subjects- all this he had shown through his own life and behaviour. That is why he is respected and worshipped so much.

On this day we offer special prayers. Whether in temples or at our homes we cook a feast for offering it to the Lord. I am  sharing with you the most important recipes. These are easy to make and very healthy too.

1. Paanakam

This is a drink which not only quenches thirst but also energises us. In olden days this drink was prepared especially in summers. In marriages there is a tradition of offering this drink to the groom and his family and relatives when they arrive at the bride's place before marriage. This is a welcome drink.  This drink is filled in two pots-made of gold or silver or at least brass depending upon the status of the bride's family and offered to the groom's party. The pots become the property of groom's sisters. So for each brother's marriage sisters get at least one such pot.

This is good for health as it is made of natural resources. It can be consumed in any season but more so in summer.

          Paanakam

Ingredients:

Water       1 liter

Jaggery     250-500gms

Cardamoms  2-3

Pepper corns   1tsp

Method:

• Take chilled water if you want it so. I use water chilled in earthen ware pot. It is naturally cooled, hygienic and tasty when compared with refrigerated water.
• Grate jaggery. 
• Adjust the quantity of jaggery and pepper to your taste. I like it very sweet so I use 500gms of jaggery. Moreover sometimes the jaggery may not be too sweet. 
• Ground cardamoms to fine powder
• Crush pepper corns 
• Mix all the ingredients till jaggery is completely dissolved. Leave it for a while sand serve.

2. Vada Pappu

This is very tasty and healthy snack. It is easy to make. In fact I make it very often. This can be served as a salad too. Traditionally this was served in our marriages along with the above drink.

Ingredients:

Split and husked green lentil    250 gms

Cucumber (green)         1

Raw mango (small)        1

Green chillies               1

Fresh coconut               1/4th

Curry leaves                1-2 sprigs

Green coriander          1 bunch

Salt                            To taste

For Tempering:

Oil       1 Tbsp

Bengal gram lentil       2 tsp

Black gram lentil         2 tsp

Mustard seeds             2 tsp

Cumin seeds               2tsp

Fenugreek seeds         1/2 tsp

Dried red chillies        1

Asafoetida                1/2 tsp

Method:

• Wash the green lentil thoroughly, and soak it in enough water for 2 hours or till it is soaked. Then drain the water and keep aside.
• Peel and chop the cucumber into small cubes
• Peel and grate raw mango.
• Grate coconut.
• Chop green chilli into small pieces.
• Mix all these ingredients along with salt and keep aside
• In a pan heat oil to smoking point and lower the heat. Add Bengal gram lentil, fry for two minutes, add black gram lentil and fenugreek seeds, fry for a minute. Now add mustard seeds, cumin, red chilli broken into pieces, curry leaves and asafoetida. Fry till you hear the crackling sound. Now add this to the above mixture, mix well, garnish with finely chopped green coriander and serve.
• You can chill it for some time before serving in summer season.
• You can substitute lemon juice for raw mango when it is not available.
• Adjust the ingredients-chilli, coconut, cucumber, mango or lemon juice according to your taste. Some like more of lentil. I prefer more veggies.
• A small part of coconut and raw mango can be chopped into small pieces and added along with the grated ones. It gives some texture to the recipe.
• You can add seedless grapes and pomegranate seeds to make it more interesting.

            VadaPappu


Apart from these many cooked dishes are usually offered on all religious and festive occasions. But for Lord Rama these two are must.

Summer Specials

I have been receiving so many requests for recipes on pickles, papads, crispies and other recipes for summer season. I am sorry I was busy so far travelling. Now that I am back and settled down a bit, I am going to post regularly all these.

So keep an eye on my blog for recipes on authentic Andhra pickles, papads, vadiyaalu(crispies) and many other dishes........

Its Summer Time!

Its Summer Time! This is a very busy time for us women. Well Indian women are always busy with home and kitchen. We pickle various seasonal vegetables and fruits as and when they are abundant and cheap. In Summer, we prepare so many pickles, vadiyaalu i.e crispies, dried vegetables and many more .

So join me and learn our traditional pickles, crispies, dried vegetables and other such recipes which come in handy during the rainy season when one does not get any vegetables. Moreover these are eaten as side dishes along with lentils, Sambar or Rasam.

Here I have already started with tasty dried chillies:

These chillies are soaked in sour buttermilk and then dried in sun till they are very crisp and dried.

The Recipe is here:

http://spiceomylife.blogspot.com/2010/10/tasty-chillies.html

Watch out for more such recipes

Healthy N Nutritious Snacks-2

Pidata kindi Pappu Or Masala Maramaraalu-2

In continuation of my previous post some more recipes are here...

1.  Simple Recipe-2

Ingredients:

Puffed rice                    1 cup
Ghee (clarified butter)   1 tsp or 1 Tbsp

Corrainder seeds            1Tbsp

Red chilli Powder           1/4  tsp
Salt                               To taste
Lemon juice                   to taste

Method:

• Roast coriander seeds in a hot pan carefully. Cool it and grind it to a fine powder
• Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and serve. 
• Roast the puffs for crispiness
• To maintain crispness of the puffs, mix the ingredients just before serving.
• But I like it a little soggy as the flavours of the spices take a few minutes to get absorbed into the puffs.
• Adjust spices according to your taste as this may be too spicy for Western Platter

2.  Puffs N Nuts Mix Recipe-1

Ingredients:

Puffed rice                       1 cup
Roasted Peanuts                 1-2 Tbsps
Puffed Chickpeas               1-2 Tbsps
Roasted Sesame Seeds        2 tsps
Dried Coconuts shredded    1/2 Tbsp
Ghee (clarified butter)       1 tsp or 1 Tbsp
Red chilli Powder              1 tsp
Salt                                  To taste
Lemon juice                      To taste

         Puffed Rice

         Roasted  Peanuts

        Puffed Chick Pea

          Sesame seeds

         Dried Coconut

        Red Chilli Powder

        Coriander seeds

Method:

• Some like to remove the skin of the Peanuts after roasting and cooling them. That can be done just by rubbing them between the palms. But I prefer no to remove it for its nutritional value.
• Dried coconut is readily available in markets in halves as well as in scrapped form. 
• Sesame seeds should be roasted carefully as they have the tendency to pop out.
• Sesame seeds can be used as it is or ground into a coarse powder.
• Its better to slightly roast puffed chickpea too so that it is crispy.
• Adjust the spices according to your taste as this may be too spicy.
• Mix all the ingredients and serve.
• This can also stored for some time say a week or so. Mix peanuts, puffs, coconut and sesame seeds. Avoid the lemon juice, ghee, spices including salt. Just before serving add all these, mix well and serve.
• This mixture is also eaten without, salt, spices or lemon juice.
• This combination if eaten at least a fistful once in a day or once/ twice in a week is very good for health

More recipes to come ...keep an eye on my blog.....