From BEARDO's kitchen: Traditional Brekkie

 

Left Over Rice with Yogurt and Stir fry Brinjal with Brewed Coffee

Had left over rice yesterday, so I decided to ferment it overnight. I guess I have given the recipe many times over. In the last post I did indicate the goodness of the fermented rice with yogurt.

But today the focus is not so much on the rice but the accompanying dish. Normally I would just chop some onions and green chillies to go with the rice, but today I prepared a simple dish to go with it.

All you need is brinjal (to be chopped small). Also chop onion, garlic and green chillies. Heat wok or pan with ghee, add the chopped garlic, stir for a minute then add onions and stir a for another minute before adding salt. Then transfer the chopped brinjal and stir for 2 minutes and then add the chopped chillies. Stir for a few seconds and close the lid, leave it for another 3 minutes or so, ocassionally open the lid and stir.

Do not let the brinjal to be overcooked, otherwise the texture becomes too mushy.

And ..... viola you have your brinjal stir fry to accompany your fermented left over rice. 

By the way you can have this brinjal with normal rice and roti's (wrap included).

I washed down today's brekkie with Turkish coffee brewed with cloves. The coffee was compliment from my sister Thara who was in Turkey recently for a holiday. Otherwise I get my regular coffee bean from Coorg, India. 

Happy trying, and Cheers Everyone.

ravivarmmankkanniappan@1057240620233.0567° N, 101.5851° E

from BEARDO's kitchen: Simple Village Meal

 

Simple Village Meal

(Dried Prawn Sambol, Ponnangkanni Keerai Kadiyal (Dwarf Copperleaf Mashed Curry), Kambu Saadham (Pearl Millet Rice) and Yougurt.

It is Saturday, and woke up kinda late, had breakfast only at 10.00am. Greeja had an online seminar to attend, and I was entrusted with lunch. So decided to go traditional, which is also rather simple to prepare, because I did not want to toil too much in the kitchen. Though my motive had self interested reason but my choice today is also a healthy choice.

Today's meal consist of three preparation, firstly the dried prawn sambol, secondly the Dwarf Copperleaf Curry and thirdly the Kambu Saadham. Lets get the picture trail going for the recipe.

Star of the day, Dwarf Copperleaf and Kambu

Main ingredient

(Pounded Anchovies, Fried Dried Prawn, Chopped Tomatoes, Chopped Onion, Diced garlic and ginger and my special Tamarind Sauce)

First item for the day is dried prawns sambol. I actually bought this nice big dried prawns from Da Nang, Vietnam. Vietnam is haven for seafood. So next time there, check out their sea food. If you are looking for dried seafood, then head straight to their local market, particularly to Con Market, where you can find all local delights. On the other hand if you are in Ho Chi Minh then go to Ba Chieu or Tan Dinh market. You must be wondering why I have skipped the famous Ben Thanh market, well it is rather touristy and the prices have become exhorbitant today.

Oopps..... lets get to business, as usual heat coconut oil in wok, once heated add garlic, ginger and onion, and saute till the onion turns light golden. Then add curry leaves.

Garlic, ginger,onion and curry leafs

When the the aroma of the curry leafs gets to your nose, add chopped tomatoes, and saute it till it becomes a little mushy.

Adding Tomatoes

At this stage pour in the tamarind sauce (I mean my special tamarind sauce) into the mixture. Bought de-seeded tamarind from Melaka a few months ago. I like to use this tamarind because it has a rich taste. In a bowl of hot water, drop the tamarind and allow it to disintegrate, then add 2 table spoon of chilly powder (add more if you want it spicier), a quarter spoon of tumeric powder, 2 teaspoon coriander powder and a teaspoon of cumin seed powder, stir well to make it into a thick sauce. 

Tamarind Sauce

Allow the combi to cook well, and then add the fried dried prawns, and stir well. Should keep stirring until the prawn sambol becomes dry. Add salt to taste. When cooking dried seafood check salt last because most dried seafood are already salted.

 

Forgive me for the stray below, that was my thirst quencher. Got it from my reason trip to Ho Chi Minh city. Always an inspiration😁

The Stray

We are done with the first item on our menu, next lets move to the Ponnangkanni Keerai Kadaiyal. The one thing I get tired doing as far as the ponnangkanni leaves are, plucking it from its stem. Thank God for me, I have my Amma, she is my saviour, she did all the plucking. Clean the vegetable and transfer it to a pressure cooker. Throw in some garlic, and add moong dhall (preferably) or in my case I used Mysore dhall (because I ran out of the former). Add water and sprinkle some hing, close the lid and cook till 2 whistle. 

 

The Outcome of the Pressure Cooked Item

Hold your horses, this item is not done yet. It is only the first part. Using a mallet, mash the cooked ponnangkanni leaves lightly. Then heat gingerly oil in pot. Then transfer the tampering item into the heated oil.

 

The tampering item includes, mustard seed, fenugreek, urad dhall, followed by chopped onions, and curry leaves. To give an added umpp, add the pounded anchovies into the tempering. Once the anchovies turn golden brown, pour the mashed ponnangkanni leaves into the tempred item, and stir well, till one boil then you are done.

Finished Ponnangkanni Keerai Kadaiyal

Finally we start with our Kambu rice. Soak 1 cup of Kambu (Pearl Millet) in hot water for about half an hour. Then pulse it coursely in the blender. Transfer it to a pot, add water and boil it till it starts to bubble.

Let the Kambu Boil

Meanwhile cook rice normally. Whilst the rice is almost cooked transfer the cooked Kambu into the rice and mix it well. Allow the kambu to blend well with the rice, and let it cool. 

Kambu Saadham is ready.

Viola ........ my lunch was ready. All I have to do now is to serve it and eat. This is one of the healthiest meal. It is simple to make but is flushed with nutrients and more so this meal has a cooling effect during this hot weather.

Served in Banana Leaf

Do try out and let me know. Btw the Kambu Saadham can be eaten with plain yougurt, fish curry, fried salt fish or even with plain onion and green chillies.

ravivarmmankkanniappan@1042100620233.0567° N, 101.5851° E

 

 

KARUVAATTU KUZHAMBU (SALT FISH CURRY)

 

Basic Ingredient (Potato, brinjal,tomatoes,onion,garlic and ginger and tamarind sauce)

Main Item, Threadfin Salt Fish (Ikan Kurau Masin)

Firstly heat coconut oil, and add tempering items, mustard seed, fenugreek, cumin and urad gram. Once it pops, add curry leaves.

Tampering

With Curry Leaves

Once the aroma of the curry leaves gets to your senses, add chopped garlic and sliced onions. Saute till onion turns golden then add diced garlic.

Onion and Ginger

Garlic

At this point add the chopped tomatoes. Allow it to cook for 5 min till the tomatoes turn a little mushy and seem blended with the tempering ingredient.

Tomatoes to give a rich taste

Then transfer the chopped potatoe's and brinjal. Stir well, allow the tempering ingredient and tomatoes to blend with these item. You can also add lima beans, but make sure either you soak it in water for about an hour first or semi boil it. Otherwise it may not cook well. Another option is to use the canned lima beans. Anyway to day I did not use lima beans, because I ran out of it.

Potatoes and Brinjal.

Then pour in the special tamarind sauce. This tamarind sauce consist of asam jawa, 2 table spoon of chilly powder (add more if you want the curry to be spicy), 2 table spoon of coriander powder, 1 table spoon of cumin powder and quater teaspoon of tumeric. Mix well with water, 2 - 3 cups or more if you want more gravy. 

Let the Special Tamarind Soak into the Ingredient

Close the lid and allow the tamarind sauce to cook. The best indicator to know whether it is well done, is to check on your potatoes. If the potatoes are cooked, then you will know the time is ready to transfer the fried salt fish into the curry. Btw before frying the salt fish, soak it in hot water first and dry it. This is to remove access salt, you do not want your curry to be overly salty. 

Close the Lid

Fried Salt Fish Transferred.

Allow this to cook for about 6 - 8 minutes. Taste the curry to check the salt level, and then decide if need to be added. At this juncture you can also add coconut milk. This will give a rich thick curry. For this preparation I did not add coconut milk, because I wanted my curry to have a lighter texture. 

Finally add 2 - 3 teaspoon of ghee. This will not only give a rich taste but also gives a rich aroma to the kuzhambu (curry). 

Ghee added

....and viola you have you Karuvattu Kuzhambu

This curry can be a stand alone complete meal with rice. In fact they say this curry would taste better the next day. True indeed, I had this curry for breakfast the next day with Pazhaya Soru Kanji or Neeragaram (left over rice porridge). This particular culinary item has fantastic health benefits. The fermented rice is rich in micro nutrients and minerals, particularly iron, potassium and calcium. Plus rice soaked in water would have 60% less calories then freshly cooked one. Further it can also cool down your body and can keep your guts healthy.

How do you do left over rice porridge, well thats easy. Transfer left over rice into a pot, preferably mud pot, add water submerging the rice and leave it overnight. The next day mix chopped onion, green chillies, yougurt and a little salt with the rice, blend well with your fingers. Viola you have a healthy morning breakfast. Pair it with your salt fish curry, it is simply out of this world.

Try it and let me know.

ravivarmmankkanniappan@1127070620233.0567° N, 101.5851° E