The Best Of Samaithu Paar (13 page)

Use tender lady’s fingers for this dish. Cut the lady’s fingers into thin rings. Chop green chillies. Soak the tamarind in water and prepare a fairly thick juice. Heat 4 tsp oil. Add the vegetables and green chillies and fry well. Add the tamarind juice and salt to the vegetable. Boil well. Add the jaggery. Mix rice flour in water and mix with the ‘pachadi’ after the jaggery melts. Boil. Dry roast the fenugreek seeds and asafoetida powder. Mix with the ‘pachadi’ when still boiling. Remove from fire. Heat 2 tsp oil. Add mustard and when it splutters, season the ‘pachadi’. Garnish with curry leaves.

Ingredients

Lady’s finger
175 gms

Green chillies
5-6

Tamarind
A lump the size of a lime

Oil
6 tsp

Salt
1¼ tsp

Jaggery
One marble-sized lump

Rice flour
2 tsp

Fenugreek seeds
½ tsp

Asafoetida powder
A pinch or to taste

Mustard seeds
1 tsp

Curry leaves
(Broken) ½ tsp

To serve
4 persons

Grate the coconut. Heat oil. Fry all the ingredients, except the coconut and salt, to a reddish colour. Grind tamarind, salt, fried red chillies and fried asafoetida to a smooth paste, adding a little water. Add coconut gratings and grind into ‘chutney’. (The paste should be very smooth.) Add fried mustard and fried black gram dhal and grind lightly again. Now the chutney-like paste is ready for serving.

Ingredients

Coconut
1 (Medium)

Oil
4-5 tsp

Tamarind
A lump the size of a lime

Salt
2 tsp

Dry red chillies
7-8

Asafoetida
A pinch or to taste

Mustard seeds
1 tsp

Black gram dhal
3
tsp

To serve
4 persons

Peel onions and slice. Heat 2-3 tsp of oil in a frying pan and fry the sliced onions. Keep aside. In the same frying pan, heat 4 tsp of oil. Fry separately the chillies, mustard, black gram dhal and asafoetida to a reddish colour. Grind the fried chillies, asafoetida, tamarind and salt. Add the onion and grind further. Add fried mustard and dhal. Grind once or twice. Mix well and serve.

Ingredients

Onion
350 gms

Oil
7 tsp

Dry red chillies
10-12

Mustard seeds
1 tsp

Black gram dhal
3 tsp

Asafoetida
A pinch or to taste

Tamarind
A lump the size of a lime

Salt
2½ tsp

To serve
4 persons

Squeeze the juice from the lime. Keep aside. Grate the coconut. Keep aside. Heat 1 tsp oil. Fry 4 tsp Bengal gram dhal. Remove from fire. Grind the grated coconut with salt, green chillies and the fried dhal. Heat the remaining oil in a frying pan. Add mustard and 1 tsp Bengal gram dhal. Season the chutney. Add the asafoetida water and lime juice for flavour and mix well.

Ingredients

Lime
1 (Medium)

Coconut
½ (Medium)

Oil
2 tsp

Bengal gram dhal
5 tsp

Salt
1¼ tsp

Green chillies
7-8

Mustard seeds
½ tsp

Asafoetida water
1 tsp

To serve
4 persons

Photograph

Choose juicy limes to prepare this pickle.

Heat 2-3 cups of water in a heavy vessel. When the water begins to boil, put the limes in it. The water must cover the limes. Bring to boil. Add turmeric powder. Remove from fire and keep tightly covered. When cool, cut the limes into small pieces. Mix in the salt. Sprinkle chilli powder on top.

Heat oil in a frying pan. Put mustard in it. When it splutters, pour the hot oil (making a circular motion) over the chilli powder. Roast the fenugreek seeds to a dark red colour in a frying pan. Fry the asafoetida in ½ tsp oil. Powder the fenugreek and asafoetida together. Mix well into the pickle. Fill a bottle with the pickle and keep tightly corked.

Ingredients

Lime
6

Turmeric powder
¼ tsp

Salt
¼ cup

Chilli powder
6 tsp

Gingelly oil
¼ cup

Mustard seeds
1 tsp

Fenugreek seeds
1 tsp

Asafoetida
A pinch or to taste

Slightly slit the green chillies (on the narrow side). Keep aside.

Soak tamarind in water and prepare juice, adding ¾ cup water, a little at a time. Filter and keep aside.

Heat a heavy vessel and roast the fenugreek seeds in it till they turn a dark reddish colour. Keep aside. Heat the oil in the same vessel and fry the asafoetida. Keep aside. Powder the fenugreek seeds and asafoetida together into a smooth powder. In the same oil, add the mustard. When it splutters, add the slit chillies and turmeric powder. Fry well. Add tamarind juice and salt and boil. Add the fenugreek and asafoetida powder to the boiling liquid. Add the jaggery. Boil till it mixes well and the mixture becomes thick and semi solid.

Ingredients

Tender green chillies
100 gms

Tamarind
A lump the size of a big lime

Fenugreek seeds
½ tbsp

Gingelly oil
¼ cup

Asafoetida
A pinch or to taste

Mustard seeds
1 tsp

Turmeric powder
¼ tsp

Salt
¼ cup

Jaggery
A lump the size of a marble

Tiny little tender mangoes, pickled whole, make a favourite side dish for South Indians. The first crop of little baby mangoes (‘mavadu’) as they appear on the trees are taken and pickled. There are also special kind of trees that yield mangoes, which are suitable only for this. Mountain varieties are the best suited for this pickle.

Wash the mangoes well in a lot of water. Empty into a bamboo basket or sieve to drain off water completely. Grind mustard and turmeric into a smooth paste. Spread mangoes on a tray and smear the mustard-turmeric paste and castor oil evenly over the mangoes. Clean and wipe dry a porcelain jar. Put in a handful of salt. Add 4 handfuls of the smeared mangoes. Add salt and chilli powder. Repeat layers of mangoes, salt and chilli powder for all the mangoes. Close the lid. After two days, mix well by giving a good shake to the jar. Cover the top of the pickles with a layer of remaining salt and chilli powder. Allow to stand for at least 2 weeks before using.

Alternatively, finely powder the red chillies and salt together. Grind the mustard and turmeric into a paste. Mix the paste with the castor oil. Put into the jar. Put the mangoes over it and finally add the chilli-salt powder and mix well.

You can also boil 8 cups (2 litres) of salt with 8 cups (2 litres) of water, till the salt dissolves completely and
the water is reduced to half its volume. Remove from fire and cool well. Grind the mustard and turmeric together into a paste. Pour ⅓ cup of the salt water into the jar, the mustard-turmeric paste, a little chilli powder and a portion of the mangoes (in the order mentioned), repeating the layers till all the salt water, chilli powder and the paste are used up. This helps the mango retain its colour for a long time and prevents it from getting soft and spoilt.

Ingredients

For Mountain Varieties

Tender mangoes
48 cups

Mustard seeds
2 tsp

Turmeric root
3 (each piece 3"-4" long)

Castor oil
3 tsp

Salt
8 cups

Dry red chillies
8 cups or

Chilli powder
2 cups

For Ordinary (Garden) Varieties

Tender mangoes
64 cups

Mustard seeds
4 tsp

Turmeric root
3 (each piece 3"-4" long)

Castor oil
4 tsp

Salt
8 cups

Dry red chillies
8 cups or

Chilli powder
2 cups

Photograph