Kadachakka/Breadfruit Masala curry

 

Breadfruit

Breadfruit/ Kadachakka in Malayalam is mostly found in the tropical area of the globe.This belongs to the family of mulberry and can be eaten as raw vegetable or as fruit when ripened. This veggie is a good source of Phosphorus,maganesium,

Zinc,iron, maganese and calcium. It is a complete meal in itself and boosts immunity. Being ethnic the availability in the local market is difficult. One can buy this veggie from online sites.

Ingredients

1. Kadachakka/ Breadfruit- 1

2. Corainder seeds -4 tbs

3. Whole Red chillies- 4

4. Pepper corns- 1/2 tbs

5. The three C Powder- 1 tsp

6. Grated fresh coconut1cup

7. Shallots- 5nos

8. Ginger- an inch

9. Curry leaves a few

10. Turmeric powder-1tsp

11. Mustard seeds-1tsp

12. Salt to taste

13. Coconut oil -2 tbs

14. Water- 3 cups

Methods

Cut the breadfruit into small pieces

boil it with two cups of water in a cooker adding tumeric powder and salt, two whistle. For the masala, dry roast the coriander seeds, whole red chillies, pepper corns and the (cinnamon,cardamom, clove,) the three 'C'.

and dry grind it in a mixie to a powdered form. Keep it aside. Wet grind together grated freshcoconut,shallots and ginger to a fine paste.

Open the cooker, transfer the cooked Kadachakka to a large pan, add the powdered masala, stir and let it boil for two minutes on a low flame.  When the masala is blended nicely add the wet paste (grounded coconut shallots and ginger) add a glass of water and cook for another two minutes. Remove from flame. Take a tempering kadai. Put two tbs of coconut oil. When hot add the mustard seeds one whole red chilli and curry leaves. Let the mustard splutter, pour this tempering on to the curry stir nicely.

Your Kadachakka masala curry is ready to be served. You can serve it with steamed rice or rotis.

👇

These trees are in plenty in Kerala and South Konkan areas of India. It is known as Bakri-chajar in Hindi.

Pic courtesy Google images

Broad beans in curd gravy/ Charu Kootaan.

Broad beans belong to the family of beans with lots of nutritional value. It's full of fibre, veg protein and is a good source of folate, phosphorus,manganese,maganesium, iron, calcium vitamin B-6 and B-12. It's a complete immune booster. Include this wonder veggie into one's meal. 

Ingredients

1. Broad beans- 250 gm

2. Green chillies- 5

3. Grated fresh coconut- a cup

4. Cummin seeds-1 tsp

5. Sour curd- 2 cups

6. Raw rice- 2 tbs

7. Salt to taste

8. Pepper powder -1/2 tsp

9. Hing Powder- 1/2 tsp

10. Tumeric powder-1 tsp

11. Coconut oil- 1 tbs

12. Water- 2 cups

13. Curry leaves a few

Method

Clean and cut the broad beans into two.

In a pan boil the broad beans  adding two glass of water,salt and turmeric powder. Cook till soft. Keep aside. Soak two tablespoon of raw rice in water for half an hour. Grind together grated fresh coconut, green chillies,cummin seeds and soaked raw rice to a fine paste.

Beat the two cups of sour curd nicely. Mix the grounded masala into  the beaten curd, keep aside. Place the pan of cooked broad beans on stove pour the masala curd mixture boil for two minutes add hing and pepper powder. Switch off the flame add curry leaves and coconut oil. 

The Charu kootan is ready to be served. Serve it with steamed rice.

Pic courtesy Google images

The Morning Alarm

Once again taking you all to my nostalgic lane. Out of so many favourite pastime one of my pastime was watching the market activities sitting on my window pane. Yes "window pane" in those days houses used to have large doors and windows with broad window panes where one can sit and sip down their favourite beverages. Kolkattians are in the habit of buying their veggies, fruits and fish early in the morning. As such the market footpaths or the outer market as one would say was the place of hawkers. These small scale vendors used to lay down their products very early in the morning. The first thing in the morning was the ice truck which was unloaded on the road in front of the ice shop. These ice slabs were very heavy and were covered with saw dust,  and unloading the same was a real thing, for the labourers used to unload it by pulling it down with an iron hook and then again pulling these into the shop. These ice slabs were then supplied to the cold drink shops, fish and meat markets to preserve their goods, since, there was no refrigerator or cold storage then. The saw dust covered ice looked very dirty and I never used to like it. I always used to think why it is covered so??🤔later as I grew up I knew 'saw dust' slow down the melting process. This ice truck after arrival used to ring a bell,and the truck's reverse turn also had a rythm by the cleaner boy, who used to bang his hand on the sides to give direction to the driver, this was my Alarm Clock for this truck used to reach daily exactly by 5am in the morning. The next is the 'Phool Wali' who used to lay down her flowers ,mogra, genda, jaba phool, tulsi etc, she will be calling out " phool niye nau takhoorer janne"5takka ek mala"..... this voice will be curbed by the banana vendor. "Ek dozen kola,  du takka, du takka kheye dekhun ekdum misti". (One dozen bananas only for two rupees its very sweet like rasogulla) All these noices, rather, I would say melodies, used to break my slumber and I  used to jump out of my bed to have the view and relish the morning. The spirit it gave was immence, for I used to get inspired by them,  I always wondered how dedicated these people are,  to make a livelihood they never missed their time or duty. The best part was the radio played by the tea stalls. Oh what a wonderful mornings were those. Songs of old hindi movies used to reach my ears mixed with all those chaos around. I an ardent lover of music used to relish the melodies flowing out,  and my storage book,  my mind,  used to download all those wonderful songs in my memory bank. Those days,  all songs of Lata ji was on my tips.,I used to remember every line and just hearing the background music,  I could guess the song. Listening to these radio melodies, I grew up and hindi movie songs are a part of me now.  The repeated hearing of these songs daily made me a small gayika. And this is still a part of my daily routine. Without music and melodies I find myself listless.  My radio is always humming songs for me through out the day. And I pay my tribute to Mohd Rafi ji, Kishore Kumar ji, Mukesh ji, Manna dey ji ,Talat Mehood ji, Mehendra Kapoor ji and all  others. I  really  miss those wonderful mornings which were filled with innocence and tension free.

Pic courtesy Google images

Steamed Omellet curry

Ingredients

1. Eggs- 6 nos

2. Onion- 2

3. Green chillies- 2

4. Coriander and curry leaves a few

5. Tomatoes- 2

6. Coriander powder- 2 tsp

7. Red Chilli powder-1/2 tsp

8. Garam masala(Cinnamon, fennel, cardamom,clove crushed powder )- 1 tsp

9. Ginger an inch

10. Garlic - 5 cloves

11. Tumeric powder-1 tsp

12. Coconut milk- 1 cup.

13. Salt to taste

14. Mustard seeds- 1 tsp

15. Coconut oil - 2 tbs

16. Pepper powder 1/2 tsp

17. Water - 2 glass

18. Grated fresh coconut-1 cup

Method.

Finely chop one onion, one green chilli, and corainder leaves. Keep aside. Beat the eggs until fluffy,add the chopped onion,green chilli, coriander leaves and salt, mix well. Pour the mixture in a greased shallow round cake tin or any steel vessel. Cook the Omellete in a steamer or in a cooker without whistle. Check with a butter kinfe or fork. If the kinfe or fork comes out clean then its cooked. It takes approximately ten minutes. Remove from the steamer and let it cool.Cut the steamed Omellete into square shape or long strips.

Chop the rest of the ingredients, onion, tomotoes, green chilli,ginger and garlic. Keep aside.

Heat a Kadai. Pour the coconut oil, when hot, put the mustard seeds, let it splutter, add the chopped onion, green chilli, ginger garlic and curry leaves. Saute until the onions turn pink, add the coriander powder, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and pepper powder, fry for a minute, add the tomotoes and salt, fry until the tomotoes are soft and mushy. Add a glass of water and let it boil for 2 minutes. Add the omellete pieces and garam masala powder (Cinnamon, fennel, cardamom,clove crushed powder )cover and cook for another two minutes. Remove from flame and add  fresh coconut milk.

You can make this coconut milk with Nestle coconut milk powder or with grated fresh coconut. Pour a glass of warm water over the fresh coconut, slightly mix it with hand and churn it in a mixie for a minute, squeeze it out in a cloth. (See the pic)

Your fresh coconut milk is ready to be used. Serve the omellete curry with rotis, parathas or with any 🍞.

Pic courtesy Google images

KARINKALAN ( A curry with papad tempering)

(A combined dish made from ash gourd,greenpumkin and cow pea beans)

Ash gourd is high in fibre and water content and lowers one's calories thus promoting a good weight control. Green Pumpkin is a good source of  Vitamin A, and, cow pea beans are rich sources of micronutrients including folate,iron,copper and thiamine. A blend of these veggies together gives a packed punch of energy and is a light dinner supplement in most of the household of Kerela.

A quick and an easy recipe.

Ingredients

1. Ash gourd- 250 gm

2. Green pumkin- 250gm

3. Cow pea beans -100gms

4. Green chillies-  4

5. Mustard seeds-1 tsp

6. Par Boiled Raw rice -1tsp

7. Curry leaves- a few

8. Whole red chillies-2

9.Coconut oil for tempering

10. Kerela papad or plain urad  papad -  2 nos

11.Salt to taste

12. Water - two glasses

Method

Cut the green pumkin and ash gourd into thin and small slices, and the cow pea beans into long strips as shown in pic below.

Now boil all the three vegetables together in a pan, (if it's a clay one it will give more aroma and taste) adding two glasses of water, salt and slit green chillies cook until soft and cooked completely. Do not mash. Keep aside. Heat a tempering pan. When hot pour the coconut oil. Put the mustard seeds, raw rice,whole red chillies spilt into two and curry leaves,when the mustard seeds splutter add the magic ingredient papad cut into small pieces. Fry for few minutes, pour this tempering on to the curry and serve with steamed rice. Your simple and healthy dish is ready to be served with crispy papadam as toppings.

Kerela papad.⏫

Pic courtesy Google images

The old man and the little girl.

Park Circus market was one of the famous market place of Calcutta. You can get anything from a needle to furniture for your home. It may sound a bit awkward nowadays, but for us, it wasn't less than any Mall with seperate sections for every need of yours. It had a separate vegetable section, meat section,fish bazar,poultry section, utensils section, clothes section, bangles section, Needles and threads section, Stationary section, furniture bazar and, flower market and even a oil ghani. This market was in circular shape so everything was fit into a fine order. Outside the market along the footpaths were the sweet shops, pan shops, slipper shops, bakery, tea shops, fruits shop, books shops etc. And in the midst of all these was the old blind man sitting begging alms.He was always accompanied by a small girl of four to six years and also a dog. It is said by the market owners that, he got this girl from a garbage trash in a almost dying situation. He picked her up took her to the hospital and saved her. From that day onwards he is taking care of her as his own child. 

From my balcony I used to watch them. The old man had a routine too. Though he was a beggar he kept himself and the girl very tidy. Early morning he will take his bath from common corporation pipe on the roadside, and will give a bath to the little girl too, making her tidy. The dog will follow him wherever he goes and will howl on all dangers of traffic and people. He always used to sit in front of the entrance gate and the ones who enter inside the market and the ones who exit used to give him some money or eatabels. The eatabels were enough for him and the child, and moreover the sweet shops too used to feed him in the afternoon with their leftovers. 

One thing I noticed was that,he always carried a big bag, which he never used to part with on any condition, it will always be hanging on his either shoulders. He though blind used to protect the girl in all possible ways from climatic conditions and also from crooked people. Days passed by and the girl was growing up into a teen and the man becoming more older. Seeing her grow into teens, I was wondering how would the girl be safe  amidst this market place and also with all the wild activities of the night. I used to be in pain seeing them and helpless too, since, I didn't have the courage to ask my parents to keep her at our home, because every middle class family of that era, would

be in, just bread to mouth situation,so, giving help to another soul wasn't that easy. But as said "every cloud has a silver lining," I saw, one day, a van approaching that old man. 

It was a van from the Orphanage run by Mother Teresa and they had come to take that child away to their orphanage. Taking the child away from the old man wasn't an easy task. No matter what, the child will not let go the old man. It was a pathetic scene, the child howling her breath, and the old man begging the van to go back. The van went back with a promise to come back again the next day. In the meantime we all decided to make the old man understand. The major part of the discussion was done by our maid who too used to feel the pain of a destitute. She too was working for an earning to keep her large family away from begging. So she made the blind old man understand the graveneous of the situation of a girl being on road without any protection. The old man agreed and made the child too understand the same.

 Next day the van arrived, the attendents approached the old blind man to let go the child. He moved towards the van with his bag hanging on his left shoulder and clutching the girl's hand.Just as the girl was getting inside the van he stopped her. He removed his bag from his shoulder. For the first time I saw him opening his precious bag. He took out a beautiful Zari Saree in red clour and a pouch full of money. He handed over the saree and the pouch to the girl saying that he had kept it for her marriage, since, she is leaving him it's a parting gift from him. May she be blessed and live a worthy life.

Tears welled up the little girls eyes and also the onlookers.

Who would think a beggar to act or to have something precious as such? and also to part with it.?(Do remember the era). He truly played the role of a father though he wasn't her own. The van took the girl away leaving behind the blind man and the dog. My routine of watching the market place from my balcony continued and I saw the old man now taking care of his dog 🐕.

(Pic courtesy Google images)

Zimikand/Sooran/Oal/Chena fry

A brief discrption of this wonderful vegetable

Zimikand or Elephant foot yam is considered to be a staple food, rich in carbohydrates proteins and vitamin B6, a great food for diabetic patients since it helps in maintaining the sugar levels. It's also help in increasing the bowel movements, thus a relief to  the one suffering from constipation.

Ingredients

1. Zimikand 1/2 kg

2. Onion - 2 large

3. Whole red chillies - 4

4. Pepper corns -1 tsp

5. Garlic - 5 cloves

6. Turmeric powder - 1tsp

7. Salt to taste

8. Oil for frying

Method

Cut the Zimikand

into pieces (just as shown in the pic above)remove the skin and boil adding salt and turmeric powder in a cooker, one whistle. This prior cooking will help to fry it quickly and soft too. Mostly Zimikand takes longer time to cook if raw. Remove when cool and cut it into thin slices

Grind the onion,peppercorn, whole red chillies and garlic to a fine paste in a mixie. Apply/ coat the paste nicely on the Zimikand slices. Keep it covered for ten minutes. Heat a tava pour oil and place the Zimikand slices, fry on slow flame, turning the sides when the lower sides completely turns brown and crips.

Fry both sides until brown and crispy.  Remove, your

Zimikand/Sooran/Oal/Chena fry is ready to be served. You can have it like a snack or as accompaniments.

(Pic courtesy Google images)