The Best Of Samaithu Paar (8 page)

Knead the flour with 2-3 tsp ghee and enough water into a soft, but not loose, dough. It is not necessary to let it stand for a long time.

Pinch and roll the dough into small balls. Keep some flour on a plate. Dip the balls in it and roll into thick rounds with a rolling pin.

Heat enough ghee or vanaspati in a deep frying pan. Fry pooris while still damp. Cook both sides, turning with a flat spoon. (Do not let the pooris turn crisp.) Remove from fire. Drain the oil and serve hot with masala potato. (See
recipe
)

Ingredients

Wheat flour
2 cups

Ghee or vanaspati
For frying

To serve
4 persons

Sift the semolina. Roast in a pan to a light golden colour. Keep aside. Chop the ginger and keep aside.

Heat the oil and ghee in a frying pan. Season with mustard, black gram dhal, cashewnuts, pinched red chillies and asafoetida. Add the chopped ginger, whole green chillies and curry leaves. Fry a little and pour in the water. Add salt. When the water boils vigorously, add the semolina and go on stirring to prevent lumps. When the water is absorbed and the semolina cooked, remove from fire. The ‘uppuma’ should not be a mass but soft and powdery.

Ingredients

Semolina
2 cups

Ginger
1" piece

Oil
4-5 tsp

Ghee
3 tsp

Mustard seeds
1 tsp

Black gram dhal
2 tsp

Cashewnuts
7-8

Dry red chillies
2-3

Asafoetida powder
A pinch or to taste

Green chillies
2-3

Curry leaves
8-10

Water
3 cups

Salt
1½ tsp

To serve
4 persons

Coarsely powder the rice and dhal (preferably in a machine mill or in a mixie/food processor). Sieve and keep aside. Grate coconut.

Heat a large enough vessel which can cook 2 cups of rice. Pour the oil in it. Fry mustard, black gram dhal, pinched red chillies and asafoetida. Pour in the water. Add salt, grated coconut and pinched curry leaves. Cover with a lid. When the water boils vigorously, add the sieved rice and dhal powder, turning all the while with a ladle. Cover the vessel, placing a small bowl containing water on the lid. If the water boiled initially is not enough to cook the rice, add a little water from this bowl. Cook the rice over a slow fire, turning quite often. Remove from fire. Turn well twice or three times and serve.

Ingredients

Rice
2 cups

Red gram dhal
¼ cup

Coconut
¼ (Medium)

Gingelly oil or coconut oil
7-8 tsp

Mustard seeds
1 tsp

Black gram dhal
2 tsp

Dry red chillies
4-5

Asafoetida powder
A pinch or to taste

Water
3 cups

Salt
1½ tsp

Curry leaves
8-10

To serve
4 persons

Chop the ginger and keep aside. Heat the oil and ghee in a frying pan. Fry mustard, black gram dhal, cashewnuts, pinched red chillies and asafoetida. Add the chopped ginger, whole green chillies and curry leaves. Fry a little and add the broken wheat. Pour in the water. Add salt. Go on stirring to prevent lumps. When the water is absorbed and the wheat cooked, remove from fire. Serve hot.

Ingredients

Ginger
1" piece

Oil
4-5 tsp

Ghee
3 tsp

Mustard
1 tsp

Black gram dhal
2 tsp

Cashewnuts
7-8

Dry red chillies
2

Asafoetida powder
A pinch or to taste

Green chillies
2

Curry leaves
8-10

Broken wheat
2 cups

Water
2½ cups

Salt
1 tsp

To serve
4 persons

Chop ginger and keep aside. Fry the vermicelli till golden brown in 1 tbsp ghee. Keep aside. In the same pan, add a little more ghee and oil and heat. Add mustard, black gram dhal, cashewnuts, pinched red chillies, chopped ginger and pinched curry leaves. Fry as for semolina ‘uppuma’. Add water and salt to the seasonings. Boil vigorously. Add the vermicelli. Cook, turning it all the while. A little more water can be added, if the quantity of water is not enough. See that the ‘uppuma’ does not become very soft or lumpy. When water is absorbed, remove from fire. Serve hot.

Ingredients

Ginger
½" piece

Vermicelli
450 gms

Ghee
3 tbsp

Oil
4-5 tbsp

Mustard seeds
1 tbsp

Black gram dhal
1 tsp

Cashewnuts
30 gms

Dry red chillies
2

Curry leaves
8-10

Water
3 cups

Salt
1½ tsp

To serve
4 persons

Photograph

Clean beaten rice flakes. Crush and wash. Soak the tamarind and prepare 1 cup of thick juice. Mix tamarind juice with washed beaten rice flakes. Add salt and turmeric powder and mix well. Let stand for 10 minutes.

Heat oil in a frying pan. Fry the mustard, Bengal gram dhal, black gram dhal, asafoetida powder and pinched red chillies. Chop the green chillies and add. Fry well. Add the beaten rice flakes soaked in tamarind and pinched curry leaves. Fry till dry and serve hot.

Ingredients

Beaten rice flakes
2 cups

Tamarind
A lump the size of a lime

Salt
1½ tsp

Turmeric powder
¼ tsp

Oil
7-8 tsp

Mustard seeds
1 tsp

Bengal gram dhal
2 tsp

Black gram dhal
2 tsp

Asafoetida powder
A pinch or to taste

Dry red chillies
4-5

Green chillies
4-5

Curry leaves
5-6

To serve
4 persons

Heat the ghee in a frying pan and fry vermicelli till golden brown. Add water and 1 tsp salt and cook. When well cooked, remove from fire. Cool. Mix in the milk and curd (the curd should be sweet and firm) and the remaining spoon of salt.

Heat oil in a frying pan. Add mustard, chopped green chillies and chopped ginger. Prepare asafoetida water and add along with fresh curry leaves and coriander leaves. Mix well and serve.

Ingredients

Vermicelli
225 gms

Ghee
4 tsp

Water
1½ cups

Salt
2 tsp

Milk
¼ litre

Curd
¼ litre

Oil
2 tsp

Mustard seeds
1 tsp

Green chillies
4-5

Ginger
½"-l"piece

Asafoetida
A pinch or to taste

Curry leaves
5-6

Coriander leaves
2 tbsp

To serve
4 persons

Soak the black gram dhal in 4-5 cups water for an hour or two. Wash and clean well. Drain excess water. Grind into a smooth dough in a mixie/food processor with the salt. Chop green chillies and ginger. Add to the dough. Pinch curry leaves (into fine pieces) and mix with the dough. The vadais can be prepared immediately.

Heat the oil in a frying pan. Wet a piece of plantain leaf. Place a little dough on it and flatten it out into a circle (the vadai should not be too thick). Make a little hole in the centre with your little finger. Slide into the oil. Fry four to five vadais at a time in hot oil, turning gently with a flat spoon. Cook both sides to a reddish brown. Drain out the oil and serve. Continue to fry the vadais in batches till all the dough is used up.

Ingredients

Black gram dhal
2 cups

Salt
2 tsp

Green chillies
7-8

Ginger
2" piece

Curry leaves
8-10

Oil
3 cups

To serve
4 persons

Soak the dhals together for 2 hours. Wash and drain. Grind to a very smooth dough with 1 tsp salt, five or six green chillies and asafoetida. Pinch the curry leaves and 1 tbsp coriander leaves and mix into the dough. The dough can be used immediately to prepare the vadais.

The curd used for this dish must be sweet and firm. Mix the curd and milk together with 1 tsp salt. Grate the coconut. Grind to a very fine smooth paste along with the remaining coriander leaves, four green chillies and ginger. Mix the paste with the curd. Chop two green chillies. Heat 2 tsp oil in a frying pan. Fry the mustard and chopped green chillies. Season the curd.

Fry the vadais in batches. (See
Vadai recipe
) Cook till golden brown turning gently with a perforated spoon. Do not make holes in the centre of the vadai. Remove from oil. Press the vadais to drip out the oil and drop into the seasoned curd. Continue to fry the vadais in batches and soak in the curd till all the dough is used up. Soak each batch in the curd for 2 to 3 hours. The earlier soaked ones can be removed to a plate before dipping the fresh ones, if necessary. Pour any remaining curd over the vadais before serving.

Ingredients

Black gram dhal
1 cup

Red gram dhal
1 cup

Salt
2 tsp

Green chillies
12

Asafoetida
A pinch or to taste

Curry leaves
8-10

Coriander leaves
2 tbsp

Curd
2 cups

Milk
½ cup

Coconut
½ (Medium)

Ginger
A small bit

Oil
2-3 cups

Mustard
1 tsp

To serve
4 persons

Photograph