A soupy tale!

Grand mothers have a way of explaining things, albeit briefly!

One day she asked me to peel the skin of a few cardamoms for the kheer that she was preparing. Along with peeling the skin of the elaichi (cardamom), I peeled a bit of my own skin at the tip of my finger.

What followed was a whole lot of drama that only a ten year old girl is capable of staging!

My grandmother simply gave a cursory glance and then said this which remains etched in my memory:

“Muththathu Murngapoo mudhugula vizhundhudhunnu azhadhe.”

When translated this means,

“Do not cry because the flower of the drumstick tree fell on your back!”

I pestered her to explain and what she told me left me stunned.

“The moringa or drumstick tree has a light flower. Nothing happens to you when the flower falls on your back. Now go and fetch a few leaves from the tree. But be careful as there could be a hairy caterpillar in the tree. Stay off it,” she ordered.

In a jiffy I rushed back with the leaves...

I disappeared and in a jiffy was back with the leaves. My grandmother continued,

“These leaves are rich in iron and whenever anybody is hurt and has lost lot of blood, a soup made of these leaves help. Even the flower and the fruit of this tree are edible. Of course, you like the sambar made out of drumsticks, don’t you,” she chuckled gently, a thousand meaning hidden.

Then as she started preparing the soup, I was astounded at the ease with which she made it.

At ten, to me, there was none who knew more than my grandmother!

Here is a simple recipe of Moringa leaf soup.

Ingredients:

Drumstick leaves – 20 sprigs

Moong Dal (Yellow Lentil)  – 100 gms (cooked)

Pepper -10

Jeera (Cumin seeds) – 1 tablespoon

Salt – to taste

Butter – 1 tablespoon

Ginger juice – to taste

Corn flour – ½ tablespoon

Garlic - 4-5 (optional)

Add butter to a hot pan and add the cumin seeds. Wait till it splutters. Add the corn flour and fry it in butter for a few seconds. Add the drumstick leaves and sauté it with salt. Add water and allow it to boil.

Add enough water to the cooked dal and strain well. Add the dal water to the above mixture and boil well for about 5 minutes.

A healthy and wholesome meal!

Powder the pepper and add it to the soup. Add the ginger juice and the remaining salt.

Garlic can be added optionally along with the drumstick leaves and sauteed.

This soup constitutes a wholesome meal and is very rich in iron. It is a highly recommended dish for children, pregnant women and nursing mothers.

Drumstick leaves are loaded with health benefits. They are rich in calcium, phosphorus, iron and protein.

The same old spinach!

Hailing from the part of the world that I do, I have been fortunate enough to listen to the one line stories that grandmothers tell their granddaughters.

These stories are very simple tales and can be related through one line that usually is understood by people who grow up there.

The tales are simple but the messages hidden are not!

Here is one such tale…

A farmer and his wife lived in a hut in a village called Mettupuram. Guna, the farmer and his wife Lakshmi lived all by themselves as they were childless.

Guna used to till the small, yet a fertile piece of land that he had inherited from his father.

Every changing season saw Guna grow a different variety of crops and Lakshmi used to take the excess to the market. She traded in the market either for money or for other household things that they required.

After many years, when both Guna and Lakshmi started growing old, they had to make do with lesser produce. Eventually, Guna became very weak and could only sow rice and cultivate rice that was sufficient for the two of them.

Lakshmi never complained. She was also getting older and she started cultivating spinach behind the small hut in which they lived. But this meant that they had only rice and spinach and nothing else.

Guna complained about the lack of variety in the food cooked by his wife, but Lakshmi had, by then, learnt to ignore his complaints.

One day Guna returned from the field unusually tired and drained. When Lakshmi presented rice and spinach, Guna was overcome by a fit of rage.

He picked up the vessel containing the spinach and hurled it towards the wall.

Silently Lakshmi left the scene and slept in the kitchen. An hour later she was woken up by her husband who still seemed angry.

“Oh old woman,” he screamed at her.

As Lakshmi woke up and sat Guna continued,

“You are so shameless! Now go and remove the spinach from the wall and serve me food,” he screamed.

Smiling to herself, Lakshmi did her best!

Author’s note:

The above story is an expansion of a Tamil saying “Soranaketta vallathi sevuthukeeraya vazhichu poodu,” which when translated means,

“Oh you shameless woman, serve me the spinach from the wall!”

There are quite a few messages that we get from this simple story. It throws light on the complexity of the marital relationship. Traditionally women are known to be patient and tolerant outwardly and intelligent in a more subtle and understated manner.

When the wife realised that her husband was unable to till the land efficiently, she starts growing spinach in the backyard. Spinach is known to control blood sugar levels and is rich in vitamins, iron and calcium. When had with rice it is a complete and balanced meal!

Growing spinach is also not very difficult. It is the presence of mind and self-control practised by women that kept marriages alive. Men realised this and in the end submitted their egos (though they were allowed to crib and complain) and ate humble spinach!

Here is an interesting and healthy recipe. Try the Spinach kichidi and stay healthy!

Ingredients:

Spinach – 1 bunch

Moong Dal – 50gms

Raw rice- 250gms

Green Chilli – 2

Turmeric Powder – a pinch

Jeera – 1 tablespoon

Pepper – 4-5 powdered

Mustard seeds – a little

Curry leaves – a few

Coriander leaves – finely chopped

Onion – 1 finely chopped

Tomato -1 finely chopped

Ginger – 1 small piece

Ghee – 1 spoon (optional)

Salt- to taste

Oil – 1 tablespoon

Method:

Cook spinach with little salt. Grind and keep aside.

Cook spinach with salt...

Heat oil in a pan. Add the mustard seed and Jeera. Wait till they splutter. Then add the curry leaves, turmeric powder, green chilli, chopped onions and tomato. Fry with a little salt. Add the spinach paste and simmer for 2-3 minutes.

Wash and cook the yellow dal and rice with sufficient salt. For one measure of rice add 4 measures of water. Pressure cook for about 15 minutes or 4 - 5 whistles.

After the pressure settles, open the pan gently allowing the steam to escape away from you. Mix the spinach and masala paste with the cooked rice and dal.

Add the coriander leaves, ghee and pepper powder. Serve with curd/pickle.

P.S. Garam masala powder can be added optionally. 

 

Spinach kichidi is ready!

Adhiyaman's gift to Avaiyaar

Of the seven philanthropists, believed to have reached Tamil Nadu during the Sangam era, Adhiyaman was very popular.

His act of sharing the only rare gooseberry fruit with the wise Avaiyaar has earned him a very respectable place in history.

He was a part of the velir clan and one of the kadai Ezhu vallalkal. 

Adhiyaman Neduman Anji belonged to a prolific Tamil horseman tribe and ruled over modern day Dharmapuri and Salem. His capital was situated at Tagadur.

Adhiyaman was fond of the wise old Tamil poet Avaiyaar and the two became great friends. Their friendship is believed to have begun with Avaiyaar’s anger on the well-meaning king.

Adhiyaman used to delay giving her gifts to prolong her stay in his court. Not knowing the king’s true intentions, Avaiyaar got angry with him. But when he explained his true intent, the two became good friends.

One day Adhiyaman got a rare variety of a gooseberry (Nellikani). The King came to know that the fruit had the power to extend one’s life. He immediately chose to offer it to Avaiyaar.

Adhiyaman gave the rare fruit to his best friend...

“Oh, wise lady! Thousands of Kings come and go, but the wisdom of a poet like you is more precious to earth than the valour of an ordinary king like me,” said the great philanthropist, offering the fruit to the grand old lady of Tamil literature.

Author’s note:

The gooseberry fruit is termed as the healthiest of fruits as it has the highest Vitamin C content. It is an antioxidant and helps in boosting protein metabolism. Here is a recipe that you can try out with Indian gooseberry.

To prepare this you will need:

1 cup rice (cooked)

Urad Dal (2 tablespoon)

Red Chilli (3-4)

Asafoetida power – a pinch

Black Pepper – 5-6

Mustard, Jeera (cumin seeds), Kadipatha, groundnuts – for seasoning

Gooseberry – 3-4

Mint leaves (optional)

The ingredients...

Roast the Urad Dal, red chiilies. Dry grind them with the pepper. In a small wok, add 1 spoon of oil. When the oil is sufficiently hot add the mustard seed. Wait till it splutters. Add Jeera, kadhpatha, asafoetida powder and the groundnut. When the groundnut is roasted well, add the seasoning to the rice. Add the chilli/urad dal powder, salt, mint leaves. Mix well. Grate the gooseberries and add to the rice and mix well again.

This rice can be served with plain curd/raitha or pickle.

The rice can be served with pickle or raitha...

Since the gooseberries are not cooked, the vitamin and other nutrients are preserved.

Recipe courtesy: My aunt, Mrs. Varalakshmi Krishnamurthy who retired from the catering institute in Chennai.

The birth of potato peel chutney!

Avni was in a hurry to finish her day’s work and rush back home. It had been a rather busy day at office. She was waiting to step out of office, share her cab with three other strangers until she reached the railway station.

Avni was a thinker and she wondered how there were enough strangers to fill the empty taxi spots every day. It was close to three years now and very rarely she bumped into known faces.

She probably was not a stickler to timing or Mumbai was home to many! Just as she reached the taxi stand, she saw the last taxi leave.  

Some days are just not yours, Avni! she thought to herself.

After what seemed an eon, a cab pulled up. She took the seat adjacent to the driver’s. On an average day an empty taxi would get filled within minutes during peak hours. But as I said, it was not Avni’s day.

After a further delay of 10 minutes the cab began its journey station-wards. But after grudgingly carrying five ruthless human beings, the four wheeled mechanism came to an abrupt halt!

Was it the rains, or the age of the taxi, Avni did not know at that point in time. The passengers shouted. Though their gaze was fixed on the driver, he seemed unaffected. After they all left in search of an alternative way of reaching the station, the driver looked at his cab and was heard consoling her.

“They are ungrateful. Have they ever thanked you on those days that you have reached them to the station at the right time? Don’t mind their abuses,” the cabbie empathised with his machine-mate!

Avni was further delayed as she chose to depend on her legs to reach her to the station. Her lack of luck seemed to be shadowing her, as she saw an empty train leave the platform. The next train was crowded and Avni did not mind it.

As they say, ‘it is better to stand inside the train than outside, waiting for it!'

Finally Avni reached home, a good 40 minutes later than she had wished for! 

She washed her legs, threw her duppatta on the sofa and occupied her favourite place, the kitchen. The kitchen de-stressed her and she knew nobody would disturb her when she was in the kitchen.

If you don’t trust me on this
 one ask Avni about it. Even when she visits the rest room, her family had something to talk to her about, or they had to ask her for instructions on how to complete the household chore assigned to them. Neither did the topic of discussion change, nor did the questions!

But when Avni was in the kitchen the other members of the family knew that they would be fed shortly and Avni was a good cook.

As Avni began cutting the vegetables, she was unusually perturbed! She had left something behind and could not place a finger on what it was. She had peeled the potatoes and cut them into fine bits, when she realised that she had left her umbrella behind in office. Not that it shielded her from the rain. The Mumbai rains lashed relentlessly and people used umbrellas to protect them from the slash of speeding vehicles!

When she returned to her kitchen from her thoughts, Avni realised that she was washing the potato peel. The peel was clean and looked at her in anticipation. She searched the kitchen platform for the finely chopped potato bits. They had vanished!

She had peeled the potatoes and cut them into fine bits...

Gingerly, she opened the door below the sink and found them safely lodged in the trash can!

For a minute she felt weak at her knees. At moments like these she always trusted her daughter’s words! Avni called out to her daughter. Avni showed the potato peel and the trash can to her daughter.

“Mom, think of what you can do with the peel and I will manage the rest,” her daughter was an angel. Avni became her confident self once again and began roasting Urad Dal and red chillies.

She then sauteed the peel on the tawa. She added a few pieces of coconut and a few leaves of tamarind to the roasted Urad Dal and red chillies. She added asafoetida, curry leaves and salt to the peel before grinding all the ingredients into a chutney. She decorated the chutney with finely chopped coriander and curry leaves. She cut a piece of lemon and decorated the chutney in an attempt to make it more appetizing.

Avni's attempt at making the chutney more appetizing was a super hit!

As she laid the table she heard her daughter call out to the rest of the household.

“Mom has made something exotic today. If we cannot find out what ingredients it is made of, she says we need to clean the table and kitchen."

today!” 

Just then the neighbour rang the door bell. Avni's daughter opened the door to find the neighbour standing at her door.

"Is your mother there? Is there some sauce that I can borrow. I got some potato sticks, but forgot the sauce and my son is refusing to eat it without the sauce," the neighbour looked desperate.

Avni's daughter, promptly brought the chutney and asked her neighbour to use it as a dip for the finger chips!

After dinner Avni's daughter drew the family's attention to the empty bowl, that hitherto had served as the dwelling place of the potato peel chutney!

"Folks, the chutney you just tasted is Mom's ingenious solution to the environmental problem, the world faces today. We as a race produce a lot of potato peel and are thinking of ways of disposing them. Mom decided that every time you make a curry out of potato, you must also do something with the peel. Thus was born the potato peel chutney. It is healthy and nutritious too," concluded Avni's daughter, hugging her mother!

The entire household stood up and clapped in unison!

Note:
It has been proved that potato peels contain a number of nutritionally and pharmacologically interesting compounds such as poly phenols and glycoalkaloids. These find uses as natural oxidants and precursors for steroid hormones respectively. They also contribute as dietary fibre.

Source: http://goo.gl/Ef14nQ