Chakka Varatti/Jack fruit Preserve.

The game is over..and lemme shake hands with bee (who came up with the first right guess),tbc, remya and sumitha who had also guessed right! It was really nice to scroll down the varied guesses ... most of them associating their imaginations with their own regional, traditional sweets..that was the sweetest of you too...:)

Soon after finishing editing this post I was unusually prompted to search the versions of the same in blogosphere.I did find a few fine recipes of Chakka varatti, but very few in all, which made me realise that this is certainly a ‘not-so-common delicacy’, of Kerala Of course, which has yet to be tried by the bloggers..

Being aware of the “hard” reality that this is not “easy” as it sounds…in other words,”beware! my dear friends this is not as easy to prepare as you read through!:)..”..I had less confidence when it came to ‘trying-for-the-first-time’ and kept postponing until I got the right ally; my Mom!!...

Together we started chopping the ripe fruit bulbs, which was not an easy job..(she was particular ‘not’ to churn up in a mixer and wanted the tiny bits undissolved in the end product!), and proceeded to the other ingredients.’Coconut’ was avoided as we prefer without them.The mixing part was done alternatively by her and me in a 7 lt Prestige pressure cooker body.Supposed to be done in Uruli but we avoided that too as it might bring the hazard of spurting all over while boiling the fruit mixture.
After about 1 ½ hours of exertion, we came up with a kilogram of the real traditional Chakka Varatti!!!...it tasted great and was worth the effort!..

So here is the recipe…

Ingredients:

Yielded 1kg, Time to prepare 1 1/2 hrs :D..

Ripe jack fruit bulbs-chopped-6 cups(we used Varikka chakka which is preferred.Refrain from Koozha chakka as it tends to be more fibrous).
Jaggery-crushed to smaller lumps-3 cups
(If weighed, jaggery should not be less than half the weight of the fruit)
Ghee-1 ½ cups
Cardamom powder-a tsp or to flavour as you please

Method:

Pressure cook the jack fruit pieces in 3/4 cup of water until 4-5 whistles.In the mean time, melt jaggery in ½ cup of water till it becomes slightly thick.Filter impurities and add on to cooked fruit.Bring to a boil,this mixture and keeping the flame medium, keep on stirring….on and on.. adding half the quantity of ghee while stirring ..on and on..:)..continuously …( go for a long handled ladle with a flat end so that to have your hands safe from the hot splutters when the pulp boils and bubbles over)…stirring on and on...:).almost .for an hour and a half..:)..till it spreads a wonderful aroma and rolls out to a dark soft ball leaving the edges of the vessel.Add the remaining ghee and mix well along with the cardamom powder.

The darker the hue,the richer the taste and longer the shelf life of the preserve.

The three pictures here represent the stages of preparation in half an hour intervals.

Chakka pradhaman(the diluted payasam with the addition of coconut milk) , Chakka ilayappam(steamed dumplings with the fruity filling, wrapped in banana leaves)and Kumbil appam(steamed in Bay leaves as cones....to be posted soon) are mostly prepared using the above Chakka varatti/chakka vilayichathu as the base ingredient.

May-2007
Jai & Bee of Jugalbandi announced JFI-Jack fruit.Unfortunately I could not be a part of their fabulous round up as I had been away, holidaying.

I dedicate this post to you Bee..

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Guess the food in the bowl!...

Never been up with a guess game so far!..:D..Can you guess the food in the picture?

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Kozhukkattai and Paruppu payasam for Vinayaka Chathurthi.

Ganesha is the first to be worshipped, whenever we start anything hoping to go well.He in turn relieves us from the difficulties and solves our problems.

Vinayaka Chathurthi is celebrated in the month of Avani on chaturthi (4th) day which comes after the new moon.

As always, I headed to the kadai veedhi, the previous evening to get the Mun Pillayar/Clay Ganesha, yerukkampoo malai , arukam pullu, vilampazham, and the other fruits, the decorations like thennanthoranam, vazhaikkannu, chandanam and kumkumam.Then with the last minute shopping of vellam, yelakkai and the milk packs. The Mavilai thoranam was put up from leaves of the front yard mango tree and the pooja room was made the previous evening.

On the day of Vinayaka Chathurthi I prepared Kozhukkattais/Modakams and Pasipparuppu/Moong dal payasam as neivedyam.

Ing for the outer cover of the kozhukkattai :

(Yields 45-50 nos).

Raw rice powder is specially prepared for neivedyam a day ahead.Soak one kg ponni raw rice for half an hour in water.Drain and dry grind.

Rice powder prepared by the above method-2 cups
Water-2 ½ times of rice powder
Ghee-a tbsp
A fat pinch of salt

Ing for the Filling/Pooranam:

Freshly grated shavings from a medium sized coconut
Crushed jaggery-half the quantity of the grated coconut,loosely packed in a measuring cup.
Cardamom powder-to flavour
Fresh ghee-Atbsp(Reserve half of this to grease fingers and palms while making kozhukkattais) .

To prepare the Filling/Pooranam:

Heat half the tbsp of ghee in a non stick kadai.Add the grated coconut and the crushed jaggery together.Sauté for a few minutes to melt down the jaggery pieces and steam off the water content. Mix in Cardamom powder. Keep this aside.

To prepare the rice dough, the outer covering:

For the safer side, to avoid lumps, I suggest the less exp cooks like me to mix the rice powder with 2 ½ parts of water directly, in a round thick bottomed vessel.Add oil and transfer the vessel to the stove top in medium heat, bringing to to a boil stirring all the time.The dough soon thickens to form a soft ball.Close the vessel with its lid to enhance the final cooking for a few more minutes keeping the flame to minimum.Transfer the dough to an appropriate casserole.The warmer the dough, the easier to proceed.

To prepare the crescend shaped kozhukkattais:

I prefer making them with the “poori dough presser” as it has proved handy and easier for anyone who has to proceed single handed.

I line the presser up and down with two square pieces of polythene sheets, sticking up and down again with drops of ghee and grease the sheets on the outer side as well.

Now, smear a few drops of ghee to your palms and finger tips. Take out a handful of warm rice dough from the casserole and roll them evenly into small lime sized smooth balls.

Keep one ball in the centre and press lightly to form a poori sized shape.Place the filling on the lower half, in a linear way.

Fold carefully and press the edges lightly.Let your fingers be always greased with ghee so as to avoid any sticking of dough to the finger tips.

Arrange them, steam cook for 10 minutes and you are done!.

Pasipparuppu / Moong dal payasam.

(Yields 4-5 glasses)

Ingredients:

Lightly dry roasted split moong dal-1/2 cup
Jaggery ball-1 medium-Crush to smaller lumps
Milk(boiled cow’s milk or fresh coconut milk)-a large cup
Raw rice-a tbsp
Coconut gratings-1/4 cup
Salt-a fat pinch
Cardamom powder- to flavour
A few cashews roasted in a tbsp of ghee-to garnish

Method:

1. Wash and soak raw rice in cold water for ½ an hour.Drain and grind well with coconut in a mixie, to a smooth paste, adding water.Keep aside.

2. In a pan, boil the jaggery lumps with ¼ cup of water.Melt down the lumps.Boil for a few more minutes to attain honey consistency.Cool and filter impurities.Keep aside.

3. Boil 2 large cups of water in a heavy bottomed broad vessel.Add roasted moong dal. Keep the flame medium to avoid boiling over, stirring in between.

4. When 3/4th cooked, stir in the jaggery syrup.Let it boil well and after a few minutes stir in the rice and coconut paste.Stir continuously in medium flame to avoid lumps and bring to a boil.

5. The payasam might have got thicker by now.Add salt.

6. Add milk to attain the right consistency and boil again stirring all the time.Add cardamom powder and remove from fire.If you add coconut milk, add in the final stage and let not the payasam boil too much.

7. Add even more milk if you like the diluted version as the payasam tends to get even thicker once it cools down.

8. Garnish with roasted cashews along with its ghee.

This is specially posted for dear "Lathamma" of Yum Blog for her Festival Cooking Series.

Also my submission to RCI-Tamil festivals hosted by Viji of vcuisine.

My daughter gave me a helping hand in decorating Ganesha and rolling out the rice balls, of course in between her to and fro runs to the T.V front, not wanting to miss the spl programmes aired on the day...:D

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JFI-Vazhakkai Pattinam Varuval / Crispy fried Raw Plantains.

My severe hunt for the ripe bananas ended a sad demise as they are totally 'off' season here.I had always watched with envy and awe, the heavy trucks of T.N loaded with bananas heading to Kerala, where bananas are abundant, raw and ripe, year round, and me hunting for the same in the source point!!.I had wanted so much to whip up something with the ‘real fruit’ and now left with no other choice than the raw plantains.

All I know about this raw plantain dish is that it originated from the villages of Tamil Nadu.Purely authentic, this is seen to be disappearing from the dining tables of the state!.Pattinam means a town or a city and Varuval meaning fry....and that's how the villagers have named you see..:)..
As the most of the recipes, I learned this easy to make dish from my ma in law.

This goes to JFI- Banana hosted by Mandira of Ahaar.

You need:

Raw plantain-2 nos
Red chillies-7 nos- broken to 3 pieces each
Refined oil-1/2 cup.(Oh yes, please be liberal)
Turmeric Powder-1/4 tsp
Mustard seeds-1/4 tsp
Urad dal-1 tsp
Dry Curry leaves-A sprig(optional)
Salt-to taste.

Method:

!. Remove the outer green skin using the peeler.Cut into small even sized cubes of 1cm each.Boil water in a pan adding salt and turmeric powder.Transfer the pieces to it.The water level should be just above the pieces and drain them when the water just boils and whirls round and they are ‘just’ cooked.Do not overcook.

2. Heat oil in a wide non stick kadai.Splutter mustards.Add the urad dal.Immediately add the boiled plantain cubes.(the urad dal aquires the deep brown colour during the whole process and you need not wait for them to get roasted while tempering).

3. Turn the pieces gently while getting roasted in the kadai every 3 minutes, keeping the flame steady to ‘medium’. They generally ‘drink’ oil quite well and within 10 minutes the oil must have been all absorbed!At this stage, they are half roasted, add the broken red chilly bits.Toss again and add the dried curry leaves(chillies and curry leaves are not added while tempering and are added half way to avoid getting over browned).Check salt.

4. After about 10 minutes the pieces would have turned golden brown and crisp.Toss and remove from fire.

Serve hot with Rice and ‘vengaya sambhar’ or Rice and ‘vathal kuzhambu’…of course without counting the calories!:D..

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A Break in Coorg!...

I am 'just' back from my holiday in Coorg/Kodagu, Karnataka...

As suggested by my blogger friends I am glad to share a few pictures as a separate post.

The Resort where we stayed.

The Mangalorean style entrance of the resort.

The Beautiful valley of Coorg/Kodagu in Karnataka.

The pretty Madikeri town.Kodagu district.

The Coffee plant bearing the berries.

The coffee estate.We had to walk a little through this to reach ...

..The Abbey falls.We were warned not to go near as the monsoon water rush proved to be dangerous.

The well maintained Omkareshwar Temple of Lord Shiva, Madikeri.

The Temple tank.One can see the unique combo of the Persian Muslim dome with the Hindu Golden Flag atop!!..

The 'Raja's Seat' of Madikeri,Coorg.

King Vira Rajendra Wodayar ,the last king of Kodagu, is believed to have watched the sun setting behind the beautiful misty mountains, from here.The view from this point is the pic no 3, up!.

We also experienced the adventurous and the exciting,"White water rafting" of Dubare. If you ever get a chance to do this anywhere, please go ahead.Those who do not know swimming(like me) must surely try ;)..

The drive up to the source of the River Cauvery, Tala Cauvery, and a holy bath there, washed away all our sins..:D..

Asha has a handful of childhood memories associated with this lovely place...this is specially posted for RCI-Karnataka hosted by this lucky gal :).

By the way, this is definitely NOT a cruel intention to turn her homesick and nostalgic while busy doing her fabulous round up.. ;)..:D..

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