Being away from something teaches you one thing - it's real worth. I know, I sound very cliched, but there are certain moments when it is just absolutely the only truth. The past week has taught me the worth of quite a few things, especially the worth of a simple home cooked meal. I am, right now, at a place away from home, on work. There are restaurants here of every cuisine you could imagine. And quite conveniently close, too. But the kind of food you need, to fill your heart, is not really within reach. It's at a place quite far away. It's at home!
I sometimes call for room service and ask for a kadak adrak ki chai only to go back, in my head, to the tea my sister makes every evening. I even tried baingan ka bharta so that it would take me back to what my mother makes. Not even close! And, how I long for a simple Telugu Sunday meal with my father. Home haunts you! Wherever you go, whatever you do, it's always hovering above your head.
If you are as home-sick as I am right now and have access to a kitchen, please do make this simple and soul-filling Sunday meal and treat yourself!
This beautiful plate (which is making me cry right now) contains - anti clockwise - steamed rice, tomato pacchadi, nuna vankaya pulusu, south-Indian carrot salad, and seema vankaaya miriyam.
Tomato Pacchadi
This is the simplest and yummiest pacchadi to make. For non-Telugu people: pacchadi is basically chutney. It's made with fresh ingredients, usually fried/cooked a bit before grinding to a paste, and is enjoyed best with hot rice and some oil/ghee.
You need: Tomatoes, Onions, and Green chillies - all roughly chopped.
Method:
1. In a pan, add some oil and let it heat a bit. Put in the onions and green chillies and saute until they are glossy and translucent. At this stage, the chillies turn a lighter shade of green. Add some salt to taste and take them off the pan to cool.
2. In the same pan, add the tomatoes and cook until soft. Make sure they're not too soft. They should hold their shape. Take off the pan and let the tomatoes cool.
3. Once cool, blend the tomatoes, onions and chillies in a mixer until it reaches the consistency you like. Add salt if needed.
You can temper this pacchadi with some mustard seeds and asafoetida. You can also blend in some coriander stalks for extra flavour. Serve with hot rice and some oil/ghee.
Nuna vankaya pulusu
Nuna vankaya pulusu is a specialty Telugu dish. In other parts of India, it is also known by the name of bhagare baingan or such but the Telugu recipe is a bit different and if I may say, tastier than the other versions.
You need:
Brinjals - 9-10 medium sized
Groundnut seeds - 2 handfuls (toasted)
Sesame seeds - 3-4 Tsps (toasted)
red chilli powder - as needed
Jeera - 1 Tsp
Peppercorns - 9-10
Coriander seeds - 1 Tsp
Onion - 1 medium sized
Tomato - 2 medium sized
Tamarind paste - 1-2 Tsp
Salt - as per taste
Method:
1. Make cross-slits in the brinjals almost all the way through. You can do this from any direction, but I like it done from the bottom, towards the stalk. Now, keep aside in some water.
2. In a mixer, add all the other dry ingredients and make into a powder. Take the powder out into a plate or bowl. Now, grind the onion in the same mixer to a smooth paste. Using your hands, mix this onion paste to the powder you just made. This process will form a dough-like filling for the brinjals.
3. Make two parts of the mixture. One part will be used as a filling, and the other part will be used in the gravy.
4. Gently open up the slits in the brinjals, and use one part of the mixture to stuff them as much as you can. Once all the brinjals have been stuffed, keep them aside.
5. Now, in the mixer, add the tomatoes and the tamarind paste and blend. Add this to the second part of the mixture to form a gravy like consistency.
6. Take a small pressure cooker and add some oil (you can use any normal vessel, but a pressure cooker is much faster). You will need to use quite a bit of oil here for the brinjals to fry well and the gravy to be rich enough. If you don't want too much of oil, that's okay too. Add some mustard seeds and let them crackle. You can use asafoetida here is you like. Now add the brinjals and let them saute for about 2-3 minutes.
7. Now, add the gravy mixture. You will need to add at least a cup of water to the dish at this point. Mix it all well. Check for salt, and add if needed.
8. Close the pressure cooker lid and let it cook for 3-4 whistles. If you are not using a pressure cooker, keep the vessel lidded and check only after at least 10 minutes if the brinjals are done. They should be soft and melt-in-the-mouth.
9. Garnish with some coriander leaves and serve with hot rice.
Carrot Salad
The carrot salad is extremely easy to make and tastes very good. It's crunchy and light and can be eaten as a whole meal in itself if you're watching your weight. All you have to do is grate some carrots, season them with salt, squeeze in some lemon and temper with mustard seeds, jeera, curry leaves, asafoetida, urad dal, chana dal and if you like, some peanuts. That's all!
Seema Vankaya Miriyam
There are two parts to the name of this dish - 'Seema Vankaya' and 'Miriyam'. Seema Vankaya is basically Chayote (which is what Wikipedia tells me). It's quite a boring vegetable, to be honest and this dish really makes it taste fantastic. Miriyam is a dish my awwa (paternal grandmother) usually makes with bottle gourd. For bottle gourd miriyam, simply replace seema vankaaya with it. Miriyam in Telugu means pepper and that is exactly what the dish is all about. Pepper is the star here!
You need:
Seema Vankaya / Chayote - 1, diced
Urad dal - 4-5 Tsps
Peppercorns - 10-15 (or more, if you like)
Milk - 1/4 cup
Coconut - 4-5 Tsps (optional)
Method:
1. In a pan, toast the urad dal and peppercorn. You will have to toast it until you start smelling the nuttiness of the urad. Be careful to not let the urad turn brown. Grind to a powder and keep aside.
2. Heat some oil and add the seema vankaya pieces. Add salt and let them saute for a minute. Now, add the prepared powder and the milk. Put a lid on and cook, adding water if and when needed. Cook until the seema vankaya is soft but retains a bite.
3. Serve with hot rice.
Put them all together, sit with the people you love and enjoy your meal!
