Uthrada Sadhya / Recipe: Erissery(Nendrankaya and Elephant Yam)

Hope everyone had as lip smacking a Uthrada Sadhya today as we did.

We had Rasakalan, Erissery (plantain and elephant yam), Olan, Naranga Puliinji (a new recipe), Semiya Payasam, Pappadam and Upperi. My brother and nephew joined us for lunch.

I had given the recipe for Mathan Erissery some time back. The erissery with Nendrankaya and Chena (yam) is the one which is prepared for traditional sadhyas (feasts), especially for Onam. The recipe is a little different from Mathan Erissery.

Ingredients:

Nendrankaya (raw Nendran banana): 1 no
Elephant yam (Chena): 250gms
Turmeric powder: 1tsp
Pepper powder: 2 tsp
Jaggery: 2 tsp
Grated coconut: 3/4 cup
Jeera:1tsp

Coconut oil: 1tbsp
Mustard seeds: 1tsp
Urad dal: 1tsp
Curry leaves: 2 sprigs
Salt to taste

Method:

Cut the banana vertically (do not peel) and then chop into 1/2" thick slices. Chop the yam into similar sized pieces.

Pressure cook the vegetables, adding turmeric powder and pepper powder.

Grind half the quantity of the coconut and 1tsp of jeera to a smooth paste.

Transfer the cooked vegetables into a thick bottomed pan and boil. Add salt and jaggery. Allow to cook for 5 mnts. Add the ground coconut paste and boil again. Remove from heat. Add few curry leaves.

Heat oil in a wide pan. When the oil starts smoking, add mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds start crackling, add the urad dal. When the urad dal turns pink in color, add a few curry leaves and the remaining grated coconut. Fry on a moderate heat until the coconut turns brown in color. Pour on to the prepared curry.

njoy Erissery.

Happy Onam to all.

P.S. Nendrankaya can be substitued with other varieties of raw banana also. The taste would differ accordingly.

Atha Pookkalam

Yesterday was Atham, the first day of the Onam season. As usual, I started making small pookkalams in my front yard. Happy Onam to all!

My Garden is getting ready for Onam!

Your onam story for the week

Well another Onam is over and we are all back to our usual routine. Our handsome and charming son who now lives in the US celebrated Onam in his own way. He had invited a couple of friends, among whom was an American friend of his who loves Indian food, for his Onam dinner. When our son invited Scott, he asked him what food he was preparing for the dinner. Our son told him the menu which included aviyal. Scott asked him what aviyal was and our son said, “you will know when you come for the dinner.”

On Onam day, his friends arrived and they were all at the dinner table.Scott  (who had done an elaborate search on the Internet to find out what aviyal was) asked our son which of the dishes was aviyal. He tasted the aviyal and was very impressed and asked our son, “do you know there is an interesting story about how aviyal came into existence?” Our son asked him what the story was and Scott narrated the story about the Maharaja of Travancore at the Murajapuram Vedic seminar. Our son asked him where he found this story. Scott said, “you know, there is an interesting blog site by name “Ammupatti’s Thoughts”. That is where I picked this story”. It truly is a small World Wide Web.

Recipe: Naranga Achar (Lemon/Lime Pickle)

Today is Uthradam, the day before Thiruvonam, the busiest day for all those who celebrate Onam. My mother was reminiscing about how busy they used to be on Uthradam day with a full house bursting with all the family members. We had to prepare Kalan, Pulinji, Naranga Achar, fry Chips(Varuthupperi and Sarkkaraperatti) and if Avaniavittam follows Onam, then grind Idli batter (some 5kg rice and dal for the same), she was saying.

The Naranga Achar prepared during Onam is not the usual lemon pickle, this lemon is different in that it is much bigger in size than the usual lemon used for lemonade. The leaves of this lemon(citron) are used for making another pickle known as Veppilakatti (recipe later). So having fried the chips, and prepared puliinji, I prepared naranga achar also this time. This is a very simple pickle to prepare.

Ingredients:

Citron lemon : 1 cut into small pieces
(about one cup pieces)
salt: 3 tbsp
Red chilli powder: 3 tbsp
Sesame oil: 2 tbsp.
Mustard seeds: 2 tsp.
Fenugreek (methi) powder: ¼ tsp.
Hing powder: ¼ tsp.


Method

Mix the cut lemon pieces, salt and red chilli powder in a clean and dry dish. Let it sit for half an hour. Water would have oozed out of the lemon pieces. Mix well.

Heat the sesame oil in a pan. When the oil starts smoking, add the hing powder and mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds start crackling, remove from the stove and add to the prepared pickle. Add the fenugreek powder and mix well. Naranga achar is ready for use. It is an instant pickle but will keep good for long.


The caterers when preparing this pickle in large quantities for wedding parties etc., prepare this slightly differently. Boiling water is poured over the prepared lemon pieces for immediate maturing of the pickle. This will also keep for up to 10 days.

Enjoy!

Happy Onam

Recipe: Erissery

Atham was last week. Thiruonam is round the corner. It is not Ponnin Chingam yet. All the same, Onam festivities begin with Atham. How soon time flies. I cannot believe one year has passed since we last celebrated Onam. Happy Onam to all my readers.

As usual, I started my Pookkalam on Atham day. I was pleasantly surprised to see a nicely done Pookkalam in front of a house during my walk this morning. I regretted not taking my camera along. I did the next best thing I could at that moment, I went upto the door and rang the bell and congratulated the lady of the house for the beautiful Pookkalam.

As I have said in my earlier Onam blogs, Onam means good food, happiness and well-being. I would like to give few of the Onam special recipes during this Onam season.

I will start with Erissery. Erisserry is an exclusive Kerala dish. Erisserry can be prepared using Yam and Banana, Red Pumpkin, Jackfruit, etc. Though the Onam special is erisserry made of Yam and banana, today I am giving the recipe of Mathan Erisserry (pumpkin erisserry) which is a favourite of all at home. During our younger son’s early days in America, he used to say he was not able to get red pumpkin (though when I visited US I found that varieties of squash and pumpkins were available). I used to tell him to go to the pumpkin carving during Halloween and collect all the pieces the carver would cut as waste.:) Let us get moving with erisserry.

Ingredients

cow peas : 2 tbsp.
Red Pumpkin: ½ kg
Turmeric powder: 1 tsp.
Red chilli powder: 1 tsp.
Salt to taste
Jaggery: 1 tsp.
Grated coconut: 4 tbsp.
Jeera: ½ tsp.
Coconut oil: 1 tbsp.
Mustard: 1tsp.
Urad dal: 1 tsp.
Curry leaves: 2 sprigs.

Method:

Soak the cowpeas in water for 3-4 hours and pressure cook.

Grind 2 tbsp grated coconut and jeera to a fine paste.

Cut the pumpkin into 2” pieces. Cook the cut vegetables with turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt, adding 1 cup of water. Add cooked cowpeas.Add jaggery (this is optional. If the pumpkin is naturally sweet, you may omit the jaggery). Add the ground coconut paste and boil. Remove from the stove and add one sprig of curry leaves.

Heat the coconut oil in a wide fry pan, add mustard, urad dal and curry leaves. When the urad dal turns to light pink, add the remaining grated coconut and fry till the coconut turns red in color. Pour the seasoning on top of Erisserry.

This erisserry can be served with rice, chappathis, dosa, etc.

Enjoy!

Important festivals in September 2009

2 Sep - Onam
I have posted about Onam many times in the past of course. This year I am preparing a grand lunch at home since both my handsome and charming sons are at home.
11 Sep - Ashtami Rohini
As I explained in an earlier post about Janmashtami, this year Ashtami Rohini is being celebrated at a different time in Kerala than other states in India.
19 Sep - Start of Navaratri Pooja
Sharath Navaratri as it is known in the south, Durga Pooja as it is known in the east, Ram Lila in the north is an important festival in the hindu calendar extending for nine days starting on the Prathama after the Mahalaya Amavasya. Though the last three days Durgashtami, ahanavami and Vijayadashami are the more important days of the festival, south Indians start the navaratri pooja starting from Prathama. A display of dolls known as bomma kolu is kept in a specially decorated presentation and all neighbourhood ladies are invited to participate in the daily poojas. All the invitees are given tambulam (betel leaves, nuts, turmeric, kumkum) along with coconut and a small packet of the day's neivedyam.
26 Sep - Durgashtami
On the evening of Durgashtami, after the usual pooja, all the books are kept in preparation for the next day's Saraswati pooja. They are covered with a silk cloth where they will remain for two days. This is known as adachu pooja (close pooja). During this time, nobody reads any books.
27 Sep - Saraswathi Puja
Special pooja is done to the book pile kept and the neivedyam is palpayasam and parippu vada.
28 Sep - Vijaya Dasami / Vidyarambham
Vijaya Dasami or Vidyarambham (as it is known in Kerala)
is the day when the books are taken out after ofering the pooja. This is also the day when many children are initiated to writing and reading by making them writing the alphabet in a plate of rice. The neivedyam usually is vella payar (sweet cow peas), neyappam, vadai and payasam.

Onam 2008 Recap

Well, we have bid farewell to Mahabali (Onam primer) for 2008 and all Keralites must be taking a breather after the month long feasts for eyes, ears and most of all the taste buds. It took me almost one week to emerge from the hangover. I am reminded of the verses learnt during school days, which goes to say that even during those days, people got exhausted after the visit of Mahabali. I don’t remember all the verses, it went something as follows:

Maveli ninte varavu moolam,
Paavangal kashtathilaayi nanagal
Varnapookaadukal kandu kandu
Kannile kazcha maranju poyi
Vittupovillurakadalasittalum
Kannezhuthennu vannu
Vinnilalakkunna pooviliyaal
Annakku mannattayayi mari
Nendrapazhathodu malladichu
Konthranpallokke thakarnnu poyi
Upperi pappadam thinnu thinnittulla
Ruchiyum paraparnnu
Maaveli ninte varavu moolam
paavangal Kashtathilaayi nangal

Oh Mahabali, we poor people are put to a lot of hardship because of your arrival
Our vision has started blurring seeing the vast expanse of blooming gardens
We are unable to remove the kaajal applied to our eyes, despite rubbing with sand paper
Our vocal chords have gone hoarse after repeatedly hailing you
Our teeth are broken eating nendrapazhams
We have lost all our appetite after eating loads and loads of chips and papads

So went the verses. So I am justified in taking this week long off before concluding my series on Onam. Here then is my grand finale for Onam 2008.

We had a fantastic Onam, again with both our kids at home after a long time. We had Pazhapulissery, Kootukari, Pachadi, Puliinji, Varuthupperi, Sarkkara Upperi, Papadam, Pazha nurukku and a grand Ada Pradhaman. I shall post the recipes in due course. These days, I stagger making of the dishes across multiple days as no one is able to do justice if all the dishes are made on the same day. Hence the whole range of Sambar, Kalan, Olan, Aviyal, Erissery, Pachadi, Kichadi, Kari, Kootu, Thoran, Puliinji, etc., get spread over the season and not on Thiruvonam day. So also with Payasams. We had Semiya Payasam on Uthradam day, Ada Pradhaman on Thiruvonam and Paal Payasam on Avittam day.

Onam is celebrated differently in different parts of Kerala. Whereas in the Kerala Iyer community of Palghat, Onam is only feasting and making pookalams, the other communities make pyramid shapes with a flat top, with clay called Madevar and invoke Mahavishnu and Mahabali in them and offer poojas to Neyvedyam for Madevar is Elayadai or Valsan or Poovadai as it is called by different people. Many people offer Unniyappam also to Madevar.
My sister-in-law, hailing from South Kerala, tells me about the practice of pinning flower buds on to banana stems (a la Mr Sivamony in comments here) and decorating the pookalam. She says that in their village they make the pookalams the previous evening so that they are free on Thiruvonam morning. Also the practice of making an angular pookalam on Moolam day (moola means corner in Malayalam) is unheard of in our part.
Similarly the entertainments of Thiruvonam season also differ. Whereas the boat race is the main attraction in the backwater ridden southern districts, it is Pulikali (tiger dance) in the central and northern districts. In the interior rural villages like Puthucode, it is villupattu and Kaikottikali.

The main attraction everywhere though is the Onam feast and the camaraderie .

Happy times until the next Onam!

Onam 2008

Tenth Day of Onam

Ninth Day of Onam

Eighth day of Onam

Seventh Day of Onam

Ponnin Chingam

Kalla Karkitakam left long ago and Ponnin Chingam (Golden Chingam) arrived with a bang. Festival followed festival leaving me no time to sit and write. I wanted to write a welcoming blog post for Chingam, which started with Aavini Avittam. Before I knew it was Gokulashtami or Janmashtami. I thought let me catch up before Ganesh Chaturthi. I decided to write before Onam, atleast.

Meanwhile, my handsome, charming and apparently enterprising son posted the pictures of my simple Pookalams on a day to day basis (this is an additional chore now). “The same flowers, the same combinations,” I commented. “Still, they are different,” he says. So there they are. Hope you all are enjoying.

Aavini Avittam has always been a big festival in our house, done in the proper prescribed norms, followed by Gayathri japam the next day. This aavini avittam was special as this is the first time both our sons are with us celebrating Aavini avittam, after twelve years. Our younger son had never been home for Aavini avittam after he left for the US in 1996 on an aavini avittam day. Our elder son of course, used to come home occasionally for the festival. We had a grand lunch with Rasakalan, vendakkai pachadi (lady’sfinger), beans thoran, Vella payar and Kadalaparippu Pradhaman.

For Gokulashtami, we had sweet and salty cheedais, Vella Avil and Payasam.

We offered Sweet Kozhukattai, Chundal and Payasam to Ganesha on Ganesh Chaturthi. In the evening I made Ammini Kozhukkattai, the recipe for which will follow.My son was asking me why I did not make Ulundu Kozhukattai. Well I did not have time and also I thought it would be too many things on a single day. I shall be making them soon.

We are already on the threshold of Onam. Happy Onam to all my friends!

Sixth Day of Onam

UPDATE: A couple hours and a mild drizzle later:

Fifth Day of Onam

Fourth Day of Onam

Third Day of Onam

Second Day of Onam

First Day of Onam

Thiruvonam

Another year, another Thiruvonam. In Kerala, there is a popular saying "I have eaten more Onam than you," to indicate one's seniority in age. Each Thiruvonam brings nostalgic memories of the Onam spent in Kerala during our childhood. We used to go out in the evenings searching the countryside for flowers and flowerbuds (we would put them in water so that they would blossom the next day). In the morning, we would collect the flowers from our own garden and those from the roadside fences. There were plenty of creepers on the fences with flowers of different hues. We would get up quite early, so that we would reach there before everyone else. Thankfully, to this day we have flowers in our own garden for the "pookalam." We used to get some flowers from the gardens on the road dividers on the ring roads, on our morning walk till a couple of years ago. Now there are only concrete dividers with iron grills. Beautifying the city!

We had a very busy morning, collecting flowers, making the pookalam, preparing the lunch, keeping the house ready for our guest. We prepared Sambar, kalan, aviyal, erissery, pachadi, puliinji, upperi, pappadam and payasam (rice and dal in coconut milk and jaggery). Our guest arrived early and he enjoyed the food. "The payasam was delicious," he said. My father used to like this payasam very much also, he said. (He is 78 years old, our guest, not his father).