Tag Archives: Food

Recipe: No Onion No Garlic Ajwaini Aloo Shimla Mirch aka Potatoes and Bell Peppers

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Another no onion no garlic recipe made during Navratri. This one has some ajwain or carom seeds in it. Carom seeds help in digestion as they facilitate the release of the e gut juices and thymol which is an essential oil from these seeds has local anesthetic, antibacterial and antifungal properties. These seeds are also very rich in fiber, minerals, vitamins and anti-oxidants.

Ajwani Aloo Shimla Mirch

Ingredients:

  • 3 large potatoes, cut into long fingers (like french fries)
  • 2 green bell peppers, cut lengthwise
  • 1 tbsp carom seeds (ajwain)
  • 1-inch piece of ginger, grated
  • 2 tomatoes, puréed
  • 1/2 cup yogurt, whisked until smooth
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1-2 tsp red chilli powder
  • 1 tsp coriander powder
  • 1 tsp cumin powder
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1/2 tsp garam masala or sabzi masala powder
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • Salt to taste

Method:

  • Heat oil in a pan and when the oil is heated, add the cumin seeds and let it splutter.
  • Add the carom seeds and let splutter and then add the grated ginger and cook for a couple of seconds.
  • Add the potatoes and a bit of salt and cook till it is half done. Add the bell peppers and cook for a few minutes.
  • Now add the puréed tomatoes and the dry spices – red chilli powder, turmeric powder, cumin powder and coriander powder and cook till the moisture evaporates from the tomatoes and the oil separates.
  • Now add the yoghurt and salt (if needed) and the garam masala/sabzi masala and cook for a few more minutes until the gravy comes to a rolling boil.
  • Garnish with coriander and serve hot with a flatbread or rice of your choice.

Sumangali Pooja Part 2

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Please read Part 1 before continuing to read Part 2

Before the sumangalis come, the house is decorated with rice flour rangolis and the lamps are lit in the home altar. Two separate big silver lamps called kuthu villaku are also kept ready to be lit just before the function starts.

When the sumangalies come, we welcome them and give them haldi and kumkum as well flowers to keep in their hair. Then the lady of the family (aka me) lights the big kuthu villakkus. We kept each lamp next to an altar, one each for a sumangali and the young girl. The altar was made using a small low stool (called palagai in Tamil) which has some rangoli done on it. On this is kept the nine-yard saree (which has been made madi in the morning) and the pavadai (for the sumangali and the kanya) and then a mirror is kept behind it in such a way your reflection is seen. This is so that any sumangalis or kanyas of the family who are dead, but who are present in the house at the time of the function can see themselves. We also decorate the mirror with a comb, haldi kumkum, flowers and some gold ornaments like chains, bangles etc. A small pooja is then performed and the entire family (including men if present) offer prayers to the ancestral women of the family and seek their blessings.

We then invite the sumangalis and the kanyas to sit down to eat on plantain leaves. Two leaves, one on top of the other lightly apart, is also kept for the God (called Swami Elai) which in some families, one member of the family would then eat. Before the women sit down (they have to first stand in front of their leaves), the lady organising this function will call the names of all sumangalis in the family. If no names can be found (like in our case), we just call for all known and unknown sumangalis of the family to come and partake the meal. The invited sumangalis and kanyas are actually eating on behalf of the departed souls.

While serving, the food served has to be served to the swami elai first and then to the others in a clockwise direction. In my place, what we did was everyone helped in serving the dishes and then just before the rice was served, the sumangalis sat down to eat. After the rice is served, all the women and girls will have to be given a drop of water from a silver cup called Panchpatram which is a small silver cup with a spoon which men usually use for their gayatri mantram and sandhyavandhanam after they have their sacred thread on.

The menu is fairly traditional and so I prepared Paruppu payasam, sweet mango pachadi, grated cucumber pachadi, raw banana curry, beans curry, ash gourd kootu, snake gourd kootu, bitter gourd pitla, mor kozambu, Mysore rasam, plain white rice, urad dal vadai, boli, panagam, neer mor (like a thin buttermilk) and a chutney made with curry leaves. My mother-in-law made the pitla at her home and also the dough for the vadai and boli which we then made in my home. A mix of sukku podi (dry ginger) and jaggery also will be kept, which is given to all after eating to enhance digestion.

Once the food is served, the lady organising the function willl do neivedhyam and show karpooram to the pudavai ilai and all the people from the host’s family will put flowers on the pudavai ilai and do namaskarams to that. Generally while putting flowers elders will tell us to pray for a wish to happen and then do it. It is strongly believed that the wishes made during this time will be fulfilled.

Once the lunch is over, the lady of the house has to clean the leaves used for eating. Then the women are given pan to eat and also asked to apply the specially prepared turmeric and mehendi and also given flowera again. We also offer them haldi kumkum again and give them the saree/blouse/pavadai. This is actually optional, but since this was the first time I was doing this, we decided to buy sarees for all plus pavadais for the little girls. I also gave them some money to make up for the lack of providing them with the oil, soap, shampoo that morning.

After this, the four of us (BB, GG, S & me) bowed down to the women and did namaskar to them and they blessed us with akshadai (rice made yellow with some turmeric which is very auspicious). They also blessed BB for his poonal and then left. We then sat down to eat.

By the time everyone went home and I was able to put my feet up, I was up on my feet for almost 12 straight hours! I was super exhausted that day.

I hope with this post, I’ve been able to shed some light on the customs of our community. This post is also a reminder for me if I have to do this another time on this function and also for BB & GG in the future. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to comment below….

Sumangali Pooja Part 1

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So last weekend, I did the Sumangali Prarthanai which is usually done by a married woman in each family or clan when there is a major ceremony happening in a family like weddings or thread ceremonies. Some families (like my mum) also do this on an annual basis.

The Sumangali Pooja is a typical brahmin function, I can’t say I have seen other communities doing this. In our community, this pooja is done to invoke to seeking the blessings of the ancestral women of the family who enjoyed a long and prosperous family life and left this world as sumangalis (those who died before their husbands) and any young unmarried girls in the family. Every family will differ slightly in the way they do this function, but by and large, the procedure should be more or less similar. Unlike most other functions or religious poojas, this function is a 100% ladies function. The men in the family are only for decorative or helpful purposes and have no real role to play. Usually, the oldest woman present will take the mantle of the master of ceremonies and lead the function as she will be the most knowledgeable of all present.

Usually, these days people have around 5 Sumangalis and 2 young girls, though you can have any odd number like 3, 5, 7, 9 or even 11 and 13! You can invite both married women from within your family or outside for the function. The day before the function, all the invited sumangalis are given sesame oil, shikhakai, and turmeric and henna in advance or in the early hours of the day of pooja. The tradition is they have to apply mehendi and take oil bath and also apply turmeric while taking a bath which is considered very auspicious. They will come home the next day by taking oil bath and wear a 9 yards saree which has been made madi (means they have to wash and dry it separately without touching other clothes or even with their hands). These days, especially in places like Singapore, where a saree is getting rarer, people may not be comfortable wearing a nine-yard saree, so sometimes, they wear a normal six-yard saree or even other clothes, come to the host’s house and then change into the nine-yard saree.

Generally, if a daughter is getting married on the girl’s side they will do it compulsorily before the wedding and keep the daughter who is going to get married as one of the pondugal. But in the boy’s house also they do the sumangali prarthanai but they can either do it before the wedding with their family members or they can either do it once the daughter in law comes into the house. This function should also be done only once a year by a family. So in our case, since I just did the function, if S’ cousin gets married anytime in the next one year, his mum (S’ aunt) can’t do it before the wedding, as it’s usually done. The ideal day of the week for this function is a Friday, but these days with people working and children in school during the week, Fridays are not practical so most people do it on a Sunday. The inauspicious time of Rahu Kaal is also to be taken into account when choosing the time. On Sundays the Rahu kaal is in the afternoon, so this function which ends at lunch is perfect to be done on a Sunday.

 

Recipe: Mango Salsa

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After the function, we had some extra mangoes. These were not the Alphonso mangoes which are super sweet, and so I was not very keen on making a milkshake out of them. We tried eating them, but since they were not very sweet, nobody was really interested in that. So instead of wasting them, I thought I’ll quickly whip up a salsa with the mangoes. The mangoes were sweet enough for the salsa, and the combination of the different vegetables was superb! Even S and BB, whom I thought would say spicy, loved it!

Mango Salsa

Ingredients:

  • 2 mangoes, chopped into small bite-sized pieces
  • 2 onions, chopped finely into bite-sized pieces
  • 1 red bell pepper, chopped finely into bite-sized pieces
  • 2 green chillies, sliced finely
  • 1 tsp grated ginger
  • 1 tsp cumin seed powder
  • 2 tsp lime/lemon juice
  • Salt to taste
  • Coriander leaves to garnish

Method:

  • Chop the mangoes, onions and red bell pepper into bite sized pieces and keep in a large bowl
  • Add the ginger and chopped chillies as well as the cumin seed powder, lemon juice and toss well
  • Add salt to taste, toss well and garnish with coriander leaves
  • Chill for a few hours if you want for a better infusion of taste

Recipe: No Onion, No Garlic Broccoli in Red Pepper Gravy

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During the 10/11 days of Navratri, I do not eat food which has onions and/or garlic added to it. So this means, we’re usually cooking traditional south Indian Brahmin food, which does not incorporate these two vegetables. After a few days of cooking traditional dishes, I was bored and so decided to make something north Indian, but to make these gravy-based vegetables without onions and garlic is a challenge. I also had two heads of broccoli which were going to spoil soon so I experimented with this dish which tried to replace garlic and onions with asafoetida and cashew nuts and sesame seeds. It was a hit and even though I made enough for the whole day, we only ate for a single meal and I had to make something else for dinner!

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No Onion, No Garlic Broccoli in Red Capsicum Gravy

Ingredients:

  • 2 heads broccoli, cut into florets, washed and kept aside
  • 2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp coriander seeds
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds
  • 1 tsp carom seeds/ajwain
  • 4-5 cashew nuts
  • 1 tsp white sesame seeds
  • 2 tsp red chilli powder
  • ½ tsp turmeric powder
  • ¼ tsp asafoetida
  • 1 tsp garam masala powder or sabzi masala powder
  • Salt to taste
  • 4 tomatoes, chopped roughly
  • 1 red bell pepper, chopped
  • 2 tbsps oil
  • Coriander leaves to garnish

Method:

  • Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and add 1 tsp cumin seeds.
  • When it splutters, add the coriander seeds, fennel seeds, carom seeds and cashew nuts.
  • Let the cashew nuts brown and then add the red bell peppers and the tomatoes.
  • When the tomatoes start to dissolve, switch off the gas and add the sesame seeds.
  • Let it cool completely and when cool, blend it into a fine paste.
  • In another clean pan, heat the remaining oil and add the balance cumin seeds.
  • When it splutters, add the asafoetida and turmeric and stir for a couple of seconds.
  • Now add the washed broccoli heads and stir-fry for a few minutes till the broccoli gets coated with the spices.
  • When the broccoli is half cooked, add the blended paste and season it with salt, red chilli powder and garam masala powder or sabzi masala.
  • Add water if the gravy is very thick and dry and bring it to the consistency you want.
  • Cook this gravy and the broccoli for a few minutes. Do not overcook the broccoli and keep it slightly al-dente.
  • Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with any rice or flat bread.

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