The Best Of Samaithu Paar (14 page)

Select a very sour and fibrous variety of mango for this pickle. Wash and completely dry a porcelain jar.

Wash the mangoes well. Wipe dry, using a cloth. Cut the mangoes lengthwise into two halves, including the seed inside. Then, cut it into small bits (about twelve to sixteen bits) taking care to keep the seed in the bits also. Spread the bits on a tray and dry in the sun for about 1-2 hours. Remove when the mango bits have dried completely. Take a wide, galvanised vessel or a tray. Place all the other dry ingredients in the tray, add the oil and prepare a smooth paste. Take a few mango bits at a time, mix them well in the paste, and put them in the jar.

Mix three-fourths of the bits like this, and mix the other quarter, all together, in the paste, and put it in the jar. Cover the mouth of the jar with a clean white cloth. Tie the cloth tightly around the mouth and keep the jar aside. Open it on the third day, and turn the pickles well, from bottom to top with a spoon. Thereafter, every day, turn the pickles well once a day, and cover again tightly. The pickles will be ready in 8-10 days.

Take a few mango bits and keep them in a separate small jar for your day-to-day use. If the bits are too big, cut them again into smaller bits and serve. It is very important that the jar should always be kept well
covered, with the cloth tied tightly. This pickle will keep for more than a year, if stored properly.

Ingredients

Mango
25 (Medium)

Chilli powder
4 cups

Salt
4 cups

Mustard powder
2 cups

Turmeric powder
1 cup

Fenugreek seeds
¼ cup

Bengal gram
(whole) 100 gms (Optional)

Gingelly oil
4 cups

Large and sour mangoes with hard, ripened seeds should be used for this recipe.

Peel the mangoes. Grate or chop the mangoes into small bits. Heat a heavy vessel. Roast the fenugreek seeds till they turn black. Remove and keep aside. Heat 2 tsp of oil and fry the asafoetida. Keep aside. When cool, finely powder the fenugreek and asafoetida together.

Heat the rest of the oil in the same vessel. Add mustard and allow to splutter. Add the mango, turmeric powder and salt. Stir the mixture well. When the mango has cooked, mix in the chilli powder and stir seven or eight times. (The mango has cooked when the water let out from the cooking mango has evaporated and the mixture forms a ball and leaves the sides of the vessel.) Mix in the prepared fenugreek and asafoetida powder. Remove from fire. Cool and bottle.

In place of chilli powder, fry 2 cups of red chillies lightly in oil. Roast the fenugreek seeds and fry the asafoetida. Powder all these three together with salt. Heat the remaining oil. Add the mustard and allow to splutter. Add the mango and turmeric powder. Fry well till all the water has evaporated and the mango has cooked. Mix in the powdered chilli, fenugreek and asafoetida. Keep on fire for some time more. Keep turning till everything mixes well. Remove from fire. Cool and bottle.

Ingredients

Mango
4 (Large) or 6 (Medium)

Fenugreek seeds
1 tsp

Gingelly oil
½-¾ cup

Asafoetida
A marble-sized bit

Mustard seeds
2 tsp

Turmeric powder
½ tsp

Salt
½ cup

Chilli powder
⅓ cup

Cut the lime into small bits. Remove the seeds. Mix with the salt and turmeric powder. Keep it covered for a day. On the next day grind the lime into a nice paste in a stone mortar or mixie/food processor. Keep a heavy vessel, e.g., white stone vessel (‘kalchatti’) on the fire and pour a little oil into it. Fry the asafoetida. Powder it and keep aside. Fry the mustard in the same oil. After it splutters, add the lime paste and go on turning, till it is cooked and forms a ball. Take care that it does not stick to the sides. Add the chilli and asafoetida powders. Mix well and remove from fire. Store in a bottle.

If there is no chilli powder, fry ½ cup dry red chillies and asafoetida in oil. Powder them together, adding half the salt. Add the other half of the salt to the lime and keep it for two days. Fry the mustard and the lime pulp, and cook. When cooked, remove from fire, add the chilli-salt-asafoetida powder. Mix well and store in a bottle.

Ingredients

Lime
6 (Large)

Salt
35 gms

Turmeric powder
¼ tsp

Oil
¼-½ cup

Asafoetida
A pinch or to taste

Mustard seeds
1 tsp

Chilli powder
6 tsp

This pickle is prepared with lime, lemon or citron leaves. They may be used separately or mixed. A non-oily pickle, it can be used as a side dish with curd rice.

Select good leaves without insects. Take out the mid ribs. Powder all the ingredients together, preferably in a clean dry stone mortar with an iron pestle or in a mixie/food processor. Prepare as fine a powder as you can. Store the powder in an airtight container.

Ingredients

Lime, lemon or citron leaves
8 cups

Salt
¼ cup

Dry red chillies
10-15

Asafoetida
A pinch or to taste

Thyme seeds
2 tsp

Dry the red chillies in the sun for one day. Powder it in a mill. Separately dry the coriander seeds, pepper, turmeric, Bengal gram dhal and red gram dhal in the sun for a day. Powder these together in a mill or mixie/food processor. Mix with the chilli powder. Store in an airtight container. For daily use, store a little powder separately in a smaller airtight container. This way the powder will remain fresh.

Ingredients

Dry red chillies
350 gms

Coriander seeds
350 gms

Black peppercorns
3½ tbsp

Turmeric root
7-8 (each piece 2"-3" long)

Bengal gram dhal
½ cup

Red gram dhal
1 cap

Dry coriander seeds, red gram dhal and pepper in the sun for a day. Powder coriander seeds separately, as smoothly as possible. Sift and keep aside. Powder red gram dhal and keep aside. Fry red chillies in the oil for 2 to 3 minutes. Powder the fried chillies as smoothly as possible. Mix the coriander powder, the red gram dhal and pepper powder and the chilli powder together. Optionally, turmeric root can be ground with the coriander seeds to give a good colour to rasam.

Ingredients

Coriander seeds
3 cups

Red gram dhal
½ cup

Black peppercorns
½ cup

Dry red chillies
8 cups

Turmeric root
20 pieces (Optional)

Oil
4-6 tsp

Dry roast the gingelly seeds in a frying pan till they splutter and pop. Heat oil. Fry the dhals in the oil separately, one after the other, to a reddish colour. Pinch out the stalk from the chillies and fry till crisp. (Do not allow it to turn black.) Grate the coconut and fry to a reddish colour. Fry asafoetida.

Powder the gingelly seeds first. Add salt and tamarind. Powder well. Add the fried red chillies, coconut and asafoetida next and powder. Finally add the jaggery and fried dhals and powder till the dhals are broken. Mix well and bottle.

Ingredients

Gingelly seeds
¼ cup

Gingelly oil
⅜ cup

Black gram dhal
¼ cup

Bengal gram dhal
¼ cup

Dry red chillies
3 cups

Coconut
(Ripe) ½ (Medium)

Asafoetida powder
A pinch or to taste

Salt
½-¾ cup

New tamarind
A lump the size of a lime

Jaggery
2-3 tsp

Mustard seeds
1 tsp (Optional)

You will need a coffee filter for this. Steel coffee filters of various sizes are commonly available.

Boil 2 cups of water. Put the coffee powder in the upper compartment of the filter. Place the perforated disc over that. Pour the boiling water on the disc. The coffee decoction will drip into the lower compartment of the filter. Pour out the filtered decoction into a vessel. Boil the remaining ½ cup of water and again pour this into the filter. If necessary, mix the second decoction with the first to prepare 2 cups of decoction.

Boil the milk, stirring it two to three times. Remove from fire. Keep ⅓ cup of the milk aside. Mix the rest of the milk with the decoction. If milk is not enough, add the milk set aside. Mix sugar to taste. Dissolve, stirring with the spoon. The coffee is ready to be served. Pour the coffee into individual mugs/steel tumblers from a height to get the froth.

Ingredients

Filter coffee powder
8 tsp

Water
2½ cups

Milk
2 cups

Sugar
4 tsp

To serve
4 persons

Photograph

1 cup measure is equivalent to 250 ml.

1 tsp = 5 ml

1 tbsp = 3 tsp

A pinch = less than ⅛ tsp (literally a pinch)

Unless otherwise stated, use refined oil for all recipes.

To prepare asafoetida water, take the quantity of asafoetida, add a little water and mix well. Wait till the lump dissolves in the water. The quantity of asafoetida water so prepared would depend on the size of the lump.

To pinch curry leaves, crush them lightly in your hand before adding.

Almond

Badam Paruppu

Amaranth Stem

Keerai Thandu

Anise Seeds

Soambhu (Perum Jeerakam)

Arecanut

Kottai Pakku

Ash Gourd

Pooshanikkai

Baking Soda

Soda Uppu

Banana

Vazhai Pazham

Bangalore Brinjal

Chow-chow

Beaten Rice Flakes

Aval

Bengal Gram Dhal

Kadalai Paruppu

Bengal Gram Flour

Kadalai Mavu

Betel Leaves

Vetrilai

Betel Nut

Paakku

Bhir Fruit

Ilandai Pazham

Bitter Gourd

Pavakkai

Black Gram (Whole)

Ulundhu

Black Gram Dhal

Ulutham Paruppu

Black Gram Powder

Ulutham Mavu

Boiled Rice

Puzhungal Arisi

Borneal Flakes

Pachaikairpooram

Bottle Gourd

Suraikkai

Brinjal

Kathirikai

Broken Beans

Mochai Paruppu

Butter

Vennai

Buttermilk

Moar

Cabbage

Muttakose

Camphor

Choodam

Capsicum

Kudamilakkai

Cardamom

Elakkai

Cashewnut

Mundhiri Paruppu

Castor Oil

Vilakkennai

Cinnamon

Sanna Lavangapattai

Cloves

Kirambhu

Cluster Beans

Kothavarakkai

Coconut

Thengai

Colocasia

Seppangkizhangu

Copra

Kopparai Thengai

Coriander Leaves

Kothamalli

Coriander Seeds

Kothamalli Vidhai

Country Sugar

Nattu Sarkarai

Cucumber

Kakkarikkai, Vellarikkai

Curd

Thayir

Curry Leaves

Kariveppilai

Dates

Perichampazham

Drumstick

Murungaikkai

Dry Ginger

Sukku

Elephant Yam

Chenai Kizhangu

Fenugreek Seeds

Vendhayam

Garlic

Poondu

Ghee

Nhei

Gingelly Oil

Nallennai

Gingelly Seeds

Ellu

Ginger

Inji

Green Gram Dhal

Paasi Paruppu (Payatham Paruppu)

Gooseberry

Nellikkai

Grapes

Drakshai Pazham

Greens

Keerai

Green Chillies

Pachai Milaghai

Green Peas

Pachai Pattani

Groundnut

Verkadalai

Groundnut Oil

Kadalai Ennai

Guava

Goyya Pazham

Honey

Thane

Incense Stick

Oodhu Bathi

Jackfruit

Palappazham

Jaggery

Vellam

Kerosene

Mann Ennai

Lady's Finger

Vendakkai

Lentil Beans

Kaaramani (Thattai Paruppu)

Lime

Yelumchangai

Mango

Maanga

Mango (Ripe)

Mampazham

Mavadu

Tender Mango

Milk

Paal

Mustard

Kadugu

Neem Flower

Veppam Poo

Nutmeg

Jatjikkai

Onion

Vengayam

Paddy

Nell

Par-boiled Rice

Puzhungal Arisi

Pepper

Molagu

Pineapple

Annasi

Pistachio

Pistha Paruppu

Plantain

Vazhaikkai

Plantain Flower

Vazhaippoo

Plantain Stem

Vazhai Thandu

Pomegranate

Mathulam Pazham

Poppy Seeds

Kasa Kasa

Potato

Orulaikizhangu

Pumpkin

Pooshnikai

Pumple-moses

Paplimas

Radish

Mullangi

Raisin

Drakshai (Ularndha)

Red Chillies

Milaghai Vatral

Red Gram Dhal

Thuvaram Paruppu

Refined Oil

Suddhikarikapatta Ennai

Ribbed Gourd

Peerkankai

Rice

Arisi

Rice Flour

Arisi Mavu

Roasted Bengal Gram Dhal

Porikadali

Sabre Beans

Avaraikkai

Saffron

Kumkumappoo

Sago

Javvarisi

Salt

Uppu

Semolina

Rava

Snake Gourd

Pudalankai

Sugar

Sakarai

Sugar Candy

Karkandu

Sweet Potato

Sakaraivallikizbangu

Tamarind

Puli

Tomato

Thakkali

Thyme Seeds

Omam

Turmeric

Manjal

Turmeric Root

Varali Manjal

Vermicelli

Semia

Vitis

Pirandai

Wheat

Godhumai

Wheat Flour

Godhumai Mavu

Wood Apple

Vilampazham

Yam

Senai