Broccoli,mung bean,green peppercorn tikki

Feels great to be back after a long break from blogging. Here's a new recipe that came to mind while I was shopping at Lulu hypermarket. Found some lovely bright green Broccoli and tounge shivering Green pepper corns feels great after u bit into it ...

Kongu Nattu Samayal

One of the best meals I've had. I had been to my native place Udumalpet close to Coimbatore in South India.I came to know about this place through a friend while I was talking to him on their food habits.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kongu_Nadu

UBM mess is where traditional Kongu meal is served. It is a farm to table concept with a difference. All that grows on the land plus the animals are organic and home grown or grown in nearby farms. The unique thing is the love and affection the couple show.

Mess is a eatery were homely food is served. Its a small farm house with a dining hall. You have to book a day in advance to savor the traditional food cooked with love. The lady of the house (Akka) is incharge of cooking and all the food is done on wood fired stoves. She is a wizard in action starts cooking at 10:Am in the morning and lunch is ready by noon. All the ingredients are farm fresh. She grinds all the spices (Masalas) by hand on a stone grinder (Ammi Kal) this has to have expertise.
I was one of the lucky one to watch her in action. She dose not talk to anyone while cooking you can hear the cows mmheeeeeeeewww and the birds chirping in the farm. After she finishes cooking you are free to ask her questions and she answers all your queries.

Turmeric plant http://www.zesterdaily.com/health/564-tumeric-vs-cancer

Later the man of the house takes over he lays a 2 and 1/2 feet banana leaf and lays atleast 16 to 20 dishes the is goat from head to tail including the blood which is made into a poriyal which is fragrant with fresh grated coconut and curry leaves. All dishes that are spooned out which should be had in sequence with the expertise of Anna who serves the food with love. Nothing should be wasted is the house rule. The grand finale house made yoghurt is so creamy. I enjoyed mine with a lil sprinkle of sugar sitting under the canopy enjoying late afternoon.





UGM mess - 0091-4294-245161. Please call up and book your place a couple of days in advance and to get your directions. Trust me this will be an experience of a life time...


Chutneys
Until then
Happy Cooking!

Kozhukattai (Modak)- steamed rice dumplings with coconut, jaggery and cardamom filling

Undoubtedly my favorite dumpling. Early memories of this dumplings where during Ganesh Chaturthi (this is made as an offering to the elephant head Hindu god -Ganesha) when my cousins and me used to wait eagerly for the prayers to finish so that we could have the fragrant dumplings.

Dosa

Dosa is a perfect meal. It is light and crispy goodness and has healthful attributes.
It is a good eat anytime of the day. There are many varieties of this crêpe. My personal favorite is the one made with rice and lentil batter. There are many versions of Instant dosas like the whole wheat, Ragi(Millet)Dosa.

Dosa's have a huge array of chutneys and fillings we'll have a few to start with.My Mom makes the best Dosa's. She is a purist making the batter at home. Most homes in South India will have an electric wet grinder. In which they make batter for dosa, idli, appam etc...

Basic Dosa Batter

Par boiled rice (Ponni or Sona Masoori) - 2 cups

Whole urad dal cleaned(White)- 3/4 cup

Fenu greek -1/2 tsp

Salt- to taste

Singara Chennai

It is a great feel to be back home. I landed in the wee hours of the night and meet up with near and dear. Slept for a while and woke up to smell flowers blooming at the window near me. I needed to eat. Well folks I will be eating in all the off beaten and the less traveled places where the locals eat. This is stop number one. All I needed was comfort food and I couldn't think of a better Comfort food than Idli, Vada, Sambhar and Chutney.

Karuveppelai Era

Karuvepellai Era (Curry leaves scented Prawns)

This is a very simple and tasty recipe which I got from a grandmother when I was travelling in a village near Vellankani.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velankanni_Town. This town and other small fishing villages was devastated during the Tsunami in 2004.

It was about 6pm and I was walking through in this small fishing village where the fisherman arrive on catamarans with their daily catch in the evenings. I saw the Annai Patti (grand mother)was sitting outside her hut and grilling some prawns on her earthen stove. I was curious and went and spoke to her. She was really warm was willing to share her recipe. I came to know that she had lost her family in the Tsunami and the local fisherman have been taking care after her.

Filter Coffee

Best thing in the morning is of steaming hot filter coffee. I love when the smell wafts through it is divine.

The Coorg Mountains in Southern India is famous for its coffee plantations.It is truly paradise.
The coffee roasted on a low temperature for a prolonged duration of time. It gives it a intense aroma. This coffee is meant for the aficionados(no decaf)

Child hood memories create a coffee craving. Growing up parents never used give us coffee due to the caffeine factor is what I concluded lately. In my neighborhood Mylapore there is a lot of little coffee roastery so the kids used to hang out late evening when the coffee bean used to get roasted.



Things Required...
Decoction
Coffee Filter
Coffee powder - 2 tbsp (Palntation A and Phebery blend)
Boiling water - to fill the top section
Filter Coffee
Milk
Sugar
Davara and Tumbler(Traditional Utensils)
The Hindu or your favorite newspaper Optional

How to go about preparing your filter coffee...


Place coffee powder in the filter section and add boiling water , close the lid and allow it to precolate.

After 10 minutes your coffe decoction is ready.

Pour the decoction into a tumbler and add sugar and hot milk.

Stretch the coffee into the davara(cup) and allow it to froth.

The most fragrant South Indian Filter coffee is ready to give your day a head start.



Coming up... Summer Barbecue...