Vegetable Platter: April 2009

Avocado Yogurt Dip

South Indies - A Series on South Indian Cuisine

This year around, I plan to start a series on South Indian Cuisine. Why South Indian ?? In my opinion, South Indian Cuisine is quite an under-rated one. I often meet people who think South Indian food is all about Idli, Dosa & Sambar. Surprisingly, South Indian cuisine has much more to it than these obvious ones, Apparently, it is among the world's richest & most varied cuisine.

I am from the South & I love my roots. Ever since I entered into the blogging world, I have always wanted to showcase South Indian Cuisine in a way appealing to the rest of the world. I was really really inspired by this upscale restaurant in Bangalore, called South Indies which serves exotic vegetarian South Indian cuisine in a contemporary style. I was very impressed with the food there, & What I really loved was the concept behind it.

Since there are a very few attempts made to showcase South Indian cuisine on the same pedestal as North Indian food or probably Punjabi cuisine, here's my attempt attempt to do the same in my own small way & a sincere one at that

South Indian cuisine is distinguished by greater emphasis on rice, which is a staple grain, ubiquity of sambar & Rasam, liberal use of coconut, tamarind, & curry leaves.

Even though, coconut, red chillies, tamarind & jaggery are the most commonly used ingredients across the 4 states, each of them have their distinct tastes & methods of cooking. I will be showcasing recipes from 4 beautiful Southern States,

-- Andhra Pradesh -- Karnataka -- Kerala -- Tamil Nadu

This is NOT an event per se, but will be featured as a regular series. I look forward to recipes, ideas & contributions from my blogger friends & other readers as well. I will hand pick a recipe, either my own or from contributions sent & will feature it every fortnight/month depending on the response.

I do hope, many of my non-South Indian readers will be inspired to cook some real nice recipes, South Indian Cuisine offers.

Mail your recipes/ideas/suggestions to vegetable.platter@gmail.com

Stay tuned for a cuilnary journey, Southwards . . .

75 comments

, by Deepthi Shankar

Curry

Pindi Chana - Chickpeas Cooked in Rawalpindi Style

Sometimes you find some really great recipes in the unlikeliest of places don't you?? I don't know if it happens to you, but I seem to get some lovely stuff at such places, more often than not.

Like I said before that, I found the recipe for Chana Dal Tadka at a restaurant in Paris, & I discovered some great Chettinad Biryani in Goa, This time around I found the authentic recipe for Pindi Channa in a cooker booklet.

Pindi Chana is not your your usual Chana Masala like I had thought. For once, it does not have the quitessential onion-tomato gravy. It has the tangy Dry Mango powder along with Pomegranate seeds which gives this dish a whole new kick. And the dark brown hue comes from tea bags

Here's Pindi Chana for you in true Rawalpindi style.

You Will Need:

1 1/2 cups chickpeas/chana - soaked overnight or atleast for 5-6 hours
2 tbsp pomegranate seeds
1 tbsp cumin seeds
4 Green cardamoms
2 cloves
1 inch stick of cinnamon
2 tea bags ( use only Orange Pekoe )
1 tsp dry mango powder/amchur powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp garam masala
A small piece of ginger - grated
4 green chillies - slit lengthwise
1 tbsp desi ghee/clarified butter
Salt as per taste
Onions & cilantro for garnish

Method:

Pressure cook chickpeas in 3 cups of water along with tea bags, cinnamon stick, cardamoms, cloves & a pinch of salt. Once cooked, discard tea bags & whole spices, drain excess water & set aside
Dry roast Pomegranate seeds & cumin seeds & make a fine powder
Heat desi ghee in a wok, add green chillies, grated ginger & saute. Add coriander powder & garam masala. Add ground pomegranate-cumin seeds mixture & saute for a few seconds
Pour this evenly over cooked chickpeas. Heat this mixture until smoky & excess water had evaporated. Keep mixing in between
Transfer to a serving bowl & garnish with onion rings & cilantro

Serve with any Roti/Rice Dish of your choice. Enjoi !!!

What I really loved about this is that lovely tangy taste from Dry Mango Powder. The absence of onions, tomatoes & garlic was a welcome change. We had our with some Jeera Rice & we loved it completely.

This tastes so good on its own that it could be had as a starter/Chaat too.