A Tangy Twist - Puli Mologai or Puli Inji

My ancestors hail from a small village deep in the heart of Southern India. The family owned large tracts of fertile lands along the Kaveri river, however as they moved en mass to big cities for better opportunities they eventually sold some tracts and donated parts of the lands to faithful family retainers and farmers who tilled the land. The ancestral house was the last surviving piece of the vibrant history that had seen famous musicians and academicians emerge from its hearth!

During a family gathering, I was casually informed that I had inherited 1/9th share of a 150 year old tamarind tree that used to produce well over 2-300 kgs/year of this tart fruit! Sadly during a major storm few years ago the tree was damaged and it eventually had to be cut down to prevent it from breaking down further....well it died after that ordeal and it was the end of an era!

Previous generations enjoyed its goodness and every year like clock work, large sacks of rice, tur dal, young tamarind, huge stems of plantains (hanging clusters of over 100 bananas), ripe jack fruits (each weighing at least 50kgs) would arrive with a housekeeper and his help from the village to my Grandmas house in Bombay, and she in turn would visit each of her children to give them a share of the bounty!

The tamarind pod holds a special place in the hearts and tongue of South Indian food lovers, as quite a few dishes like Sambar, Rasam, Kuzhambu, Pulikachal and many other gravy dishes are made with tamarind pulp. I love the sweet and mild tartness of young tamarind pods, when they are a light brown shade versus the strong sour flavour of tamarind that has aged over 6 months and turned a deep shade of dark brown to almost black.

Today I made a dish that is my families repertoire of dishes that are made on special occasions like festivals and other celebratory meals. It is unique as it can be classified as a pickle or chutney. It is sour from the tamarind, spicy from the ginger and green chillies and a hint of sweetness from jaggery, to round out all the flavours! It can be eaten along with steamed rice and ghee or as an accompaniment with curd rice, but I like to have it on my breakfast toast or along with dosa.

Puli Mologai ~ Puli Inji

Puli Molagai

1/4 cup finely chopped ginger

1/4 cup chopped green chillies

1 1/2 cups thick tamarind juice (pulp  and water of about 80 gms of tamarind or size of an orange)

1/4 tsp mustard seeds 

1/4 tsp methi/fenugreek seeds

1/4 tsp haldi/turmeric powder 

1/8 tsp hing

8-10 curry leaves

1-2 dry red chillies 

Red chilli powder - optional depending on how spicy you want the dish to be

2 tbsp grated jaggery

2-3 tbsp gingelly (sesame oil)

Salt to taste

Method

Heat oil and add the dried red chillies, methi seeds and mustard seeds and let it sputter. Add hing, curry leaves, ginger and green chillies. Cook for 1-2 minutes on low heat. Add the turmeric, red chilli powder and salt. Then add the tamarind juice. Allow to cook on low heat for 10-12 minutes until a beautiful aroma is released and the gravy would have reduced by half and thickened up. Add the jaggery and cook for another minute or two. Serve warm or at room temperature. It will keep well for a few days outside or longer if stored in the fridge. This yields about 3/4 cups worth of Puli Molagai. 

Bowled over by Soup : Vegetarian Tom yum Thai

We had a hailstorm here in the middle of summer, bringing down the temperature drastically. What else is better on a cool night than a bowl of hot soup? I set the stock base simmering while I chopped all the vegetables, when my son came home, the whiff of the aroma hit the minute I opened the door and he was hungry instantly!

I love Thai cuisine just because it is such an interesting mix of herbs and spices along with the melange of vegetables making it a very healthy cuisine. 

The key to Thai cooking are its ingredients. I often have a jar of a basic Thai paste in my fridge. It is essentially a mix of Galangal, lemon grass, kafir lime leaves, fresh red chillies, green coriander stalks and lemon juice. I grind everything to as fine a paste as possible, and freeze in ice cube trays. I later store the cubes in zip top bags and use the cubes as required. Please use a separate ice cube tray or your regular ice cubes will taste of the paste.

Vegetarian Tom Yum Soup

Ingredients

4 cups water/ homemade vegetable stock

2 tbsp thick tamarind extract

2/3 tbsp of my homemade Thai paste or Tom yum soup paste

1-2 cups chopped Vegetables of you choice ( mine are zucchini, baby corn, mushroom, cabbage, red chillies and spring onions)

4-6 kaffir lime leaves

Few stalks of coriander leaf ( leaf removed, only stem)

10 basil leaves

Salt to taste

Method

Heat water add, tamarind extract, salt, Thai paste, kafir lime leaves, coriander stalks and bring to a boil. When you get a wonderful soupy aroma ( about 5-8 minutes) add the vegetables and cook further for a few minutes. Remove from heat and serve immediately with a few leaves of basil. Suwadee

Instant green chilli pickle: Get you chilli fix

Sometimes a new product or idea can spread like fire, which is exactly what happened when the chilli pepper was introduced to the Indian continent by the Portuguese who in turn brought it from either the Caribbean islands or Chile/Brazil.

Indian cooking and Ayurveda are not exactly accepting of "foreign" foods but the green chilli was quickly incorporated into our cuisine and particularly Ayurvedic medicines. The chilli pepper soon pushed aside the black pepper in many Ayurvedic formulations to cure diseases from Cholera to medicated ointments/balms to relieve joint aches. Today one cannot dream of indian cooking without the chilli in its many forms, fresh, dry, powder, marinated...

Last week I visited the produce market several times and each time I picked a batch of green chillies....I cannot understand why I did that considering we don't really consume too many chillies as the boys don't like to eat even faintly spicy foods! It's okay though, as I really needed to make a batch of Instant chilli pickle. Ever since I started eating unpolished brown rice, Jowar berries and ragi rotis...I CRAVE some chilli heat, so I always have a small jar of this pickle in the fridge. It goes well with dal roti/rice or mixed into a salad.

Ingredients

100-150 gms fresh green chillies, washed, dried and cut into small pieces
1/3 cup split mustard seeds
1tbsp Nigella seeds
1/2 cup white vinegar
3tbsp mustard oil or any oil you may have at home
1tsp turmeric powder
2-3 tbsp salt

Method

Mix all the ingredients and stir well. Store in a glass jar, preferably in the refrigerator to keep the chillies crisp. The pickle is ready to consume in a few days after the chilli heat has had a chance to mellow in the salty sour brine.