Celebrating cosy cuisines in Chennai

For most of India, winter is synonymous with cold winds sweeping the plains.

Tabakhmaaz

CHENNAI: For most of India, winter is synonymous with cold winds sweeping the plains. But for Chennaiites, besides the mist-filled mornings, the mercury level below 20 degrees is the best one can get out of the season, even in its peak from December to February. And for home chefs from different communities, who’ve made this city their home over the years, now’s the time to offer a taste of their tradition to friends in the city. Vaishali Vijaykumar curates eight such heirloom staples that can warm up your soul this season.

Besan ka sheera by Gurpreet Chadha

Ingredients

• Ghee: 1 tbsp
• Atta/besan: 2 tbsp
• Water: 1/2 cup
• Milk: 1/2 cup
• Sugar
• Almonds(ghee roasted): a handful

Method

• Roast the aata or besan in ghee on a low flame till it turns light brown.
• Add water to it and keep stirring to avoid lumps.
• When it thickens, add milk and stir briskly on a low flame till it cooks. 
• Once the aata is mixed well, add sugar and let it cook for some more time. 
• Then, add the sliced almonds, at least a handful; mix well and serve hot.
• This dish has soup consistency — rich, creamy, not very easy to digest
• For kids who don’t like milk, add water and milk in a ratio of 3:1.

Sindhi khoyo by Kavitha Khatri

Ingredients

• Milk: 3 Litre
• Black dry dates (Chuara): 250 g
• Poppy seeds (khus khus): 125 g
• Almonds: 100 g
• Cashew nuts: 100 g
• Dhania Magaz (Coriander seeds coarsely ground): 25 g
• Nutmeg powder: a pinch
• Cardamoms (Elaichi): 8-10
• Sugar: 600 g
• Ghee: 3 tbsp

Method

• Soak khus khus for 3-4 hours in water and grind it into a paste with dhania magaz.
• Boil milk in a thick-bottomed pan.
• Remove seeds from the dry dates and cut them into pieces and add them to the milk.
• Blanch almonds, remove the peel and cut it into small pieces.
• Chop the cashew nuts into small pieces and keep them aside.
• Pour ghee in another pan and add khus khus paste and stir-fry till it turns light brown.
• Add this paste to the milk and add the chopped cashews and almonds.
• Add cardamom and nutmeg powder.

Ghanta Tarkari Recipe by Abhispa Saran

Ingredients 

• Brinjal: 4 medium
• Pumpkin: 1 cup, cubed
• White pumpkin: 1/2 cup cubed
• Long beans: 10-12, cut into 1-inch piece
• Yam: 1/2 cup cubed
• Parval (pointed gourd): 3-4, cut in cubes
• Kankada (teasel gourd): 3 cubes  Plantain: 2, cut in cubes
• Colocasia: 3-4, cut in cubes
• Ridge gourd: 1 medium, cut in cubes
• Elephant apple: 3-4 pieces (substitute of elephant apple is tomato: 3 medium)
• Moong sprouts: 1/2 cup
• Black chana sprouts: 1/2 cup
• Dried white peas: 1/2 cup (soaked)
• Salt to taste  Sugar: 1/2 tsp
• Haldi: 1 tbsp
• Red chilli powder: 1 tbsp
• Coriander powder: 1.5 tbsp
• Cumin powder: 1.5 tbsp
• Whole cumin: 1 tsp
• Bay leaves: 2
• Coconut cubes: 1/2 cup
• Scraped coconut: 1/4 cup
• Ginger-garlic paste: 3 tbsp
• Onion: 4 medium
• Mustard oil: 3 tbsp
• For roasted masala
• Cinnamon: 1-inch piece
• Clove: 3
• Green cardamom: 3

Method 

• Clean and cut all the vegetables. Put cubed potato, brinjal and plantain in water to keep them from turning black. Keep elephant apple aside.
• Heat oil in a big kadai or handi, add sugar and let it caramelise. Then, add bay leaves and cumin to it and let it crackle.
• Add ginger-garlic paste and sauté till the raw smell goes. In the meantime, peel and cut onions in cubes. Then, make coarse pieces in a mixer. Add onions to ginger-garlic masala and sauté.
• If you have don’t have elephant apple, skip this step. As a substitute, add tomatoes to the masala, add the dry masala powder and cook till tomatoes turn mushy and the oil separates. At this stage, add all the sprouts and mix.
• Add all the vegetables to it and cook. Mix the vegetables continuously so that the curry doesn’t stick to the bottom. Keep the lid on throughout the process so that the veggies cook faster. When they are half done, add the chopped coconut pieces. Cover till vegetables are fully cooked.
• Meanwhile, dry-roast and powder the ingredients for garam masala.
• When veggies are done, add scraped coconut and roasted masala powder and mix.
• Generally, this curry is eaten with plain rice and dal. But this curry goes well with chakuli pitha (plain dosa) or tikona paratha.

Pork with bamboo shoots by Kikivali Yetthomi

Ingredients

• Pork meat and fat: 1 kg
• Bamboo shoot: 1 cup
• Naga smoke chilli powder to taste
• Naga smoke chilli: 2 
• Potatoes: 3
• Salt to taste 
• Water to cook

METHOD

• Heat oil in a wok set over medium heat.
• Add the bamboo shoots to the pan; stir-fry for about three minutes until dry and fragrant. Remove from wok and keep aside. Increase temperature to high, and pour in the remaining oil.
• Stir the pork, and continue to stir-fry until it is cooked through. Season with salt. 
• Put the bamboo shoots into the wok, and heat until they sizzle.
• Add naga chilli, chilli powder, potato, water and salt. Cook and stir for one-two minutes to allow the flavour to seep into the bamboo shoots.
• Remove wok from heat; pour some oil before serving.

Tabakhmaaz by Sheikh Eiman Ehsan

Ingredients

• Lamb ribs: 1 kg
• Green cardamom: 5
• Cloves: 10
• Black cardamom: 5
• Cinnamon sticks: 1-2
• Fennel powder: 1 tsp
• Ginger powder: 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder: 1 tsp
• Ginger-garlic paste: 2 tbsp
• Salt to taste

Method

• Add six cups of water to a pressure cooker.  Add lamb ribs, black cardamom, cinnamon, green cardamom, ginger-garlic paste, fennel powder, ginger powder and salt. Cover the lid and allow it to boil. Water must be enough to cover the mutton pieces. Cook on a medium flame for two whistles or till half done. 
• Add turmeric powder and slow-cook till the meat turns tender. Take it out on a plate and allow it to cool. 
• Take one cup ghee in a pan. Place the rib pieces and cook the upper part first and then flip. Fry it on medium to low flame till it turns reddish-brown.

Besan ke pakode ki khichdi by Manisha Kumbhat

Ingredients for pakode

• Turmeric powder: a pinch
• Chilli powder: 3/4 tsp
• Besan: 1/2 cup  
• Salt as per taste
• Garam masala: 1/2 tsp
• Oil: 1/2 tsp
• Oil to fry
• Ingredients for khichdi
• Basmati rice: 3 cups
• Oil: 1 tsp
• Cloves: 3
• Green peas boiled: 1 cup
• Sugar: 3 tsp
• Salt as per taste
• Green chilli powder: 2 tsp
• Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp
• Garam masala: 1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves
• Cumin and mustard seeds: 
• 3/4 tsp

Method

• Merge all the ingredients for the pakode to form a mix.
• Pour small portions of the mix continuously into heated oil in a pan and keep flame on low till the pakodes turn brown.
• Then, remove the fried pakodes and allow them to cool. Once cool, break them into smaller pieces.
• For cooking rice, add salt and half a teaspoon of oil along with the rice in water.
• Once the rice is cooked, keep it on a plate and allow it to cool.
• In another pan, add some oil. Once it heats up, add cloves, cumin and mustard seeds along with some curry leaves.
• Finally, add the pakodes to it.
• To this, add sugar, red chilli powder, garam masala, salt and turmeric.
• Keep on low flame for a couple of minutes and then add cooked rice to the mixture and mix well.
• Garnish with coriander leaves. 

Bajra raab by Parul Bhatt

Ingredients

• Jaggery powder: 1/2 cup
• Water: 4 cups
• Ganthoda (pipramul) powder: 
• 2 tbsp
• Dry ginger powder: 1 tbsp
• Ghee: 2 tsp
• Bajra flour: 2 tbsp

Method

• Boil water and jaggery in a saucepan.
• Keep stirring till jaggery dissolves.
• Filter the jaggery water to remove impurities.
• Add gandhoda and saunth powder, mix well and keep aside.
• Heat ghee in a pan, add wheat flour, roast till you get a nice aroma or flour turns golden in colour. Toensure it doesn’t get burnt, keep stirring.
• Slowly, add jaggery water. Be careful while adding the water as the mixture thickens quickly.
• Make sure there are no lumps.
• Stir continuously and cook for five minutes on medium heat. Serve hot.

Doodh puli by Joyadrita Chatterjee

Ingredients

• Rice: 2 cups
• Stout sweet potato boiled: 1, Water as required
• Salt: a pinch
• Freshly grated coconut: 1.5 cup
• Date palm
• Jaggery: 1/2 cup
• Cow milk: 1.5 l
• Sugar: 1/2 cup

Method

• Bring water to a boil, add the rice flour and keep stirring. 
• Once it attains a paste-like consistency, add the mashed potato, salt and make it into a soft dough with no cracks.
• Take a pan, add the coconut and jaggery and let everything come together into a mass.
• Now, divide the dough into small balls; next, roll each (carefully, don’t tear it. If possible flatten it with your palm) into small poori-like shapes.
• Fill each with the coconut-jaggery mixture. Shape them into half-moons.
• Keep them aside. Boil milk with sugar and reduce it to half.
• Next, add the mixture filled half-moons into this milk.
• Keep the flame low and avoid stirring to prevent breakage. Let this simmer for 10 minutes.
• Serve warm and fresh the same day.