Thanda Thanda, Cool Cool

I'm looking forward to the long weekend more eagerly than ever. It's been a very busy week here en mi casa. On top of work madness there's been lots of cleaning, reorganizing and gardening to prepare the house for the upcoming visit from my in-laws. I'm just glad the week is over. I'm saying adios to San Diego for a few days to get rejuvenated and recharged. I'll leave you with a great summer cooler recipe until then - Kairiche Panha/Panhe - a sweet and sour drink made with raw mangoes. This will be the perfect addition to your Memorial Day cookout menu. A great non-alcoholic option and perfect for all the kids.

Panha is to India as lemonade is to the US. It's a favorite summer drink sweened with jaggery and scented with cardamom powder. You can add a few saffron strands for their wonderful floral aroma. If you don't have jaggery, you can use sugar in lieu. However, I love the slightly burnt/caramel taste of jaggery. If you visit anyone's house in India, you'll typically be offered a cup of tea; but during the hot and humid summer days, cold panha will come as a much needed respite. The drink is prepared with pre-made mango pulp that stores in the fridge for 2-3 weeks. Just mix a couple of spoonfuls with cold water, even ice, and you have an instant cold drink.

Panha - Green/Raw Mango Drink

Ingredients:

2 Raw,  firm mangoes

2/3-1 cup jaggery or brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder

Few saffron strands

• Cook whole raw mangoes in boiling water until fully cooked. Take out of water and let cool
• Squeeze out all the pulp, discard the seed and skin. 
• Add grated jaggery to the pulp. The exact amount will depend on the sourness of mangoes and your preference. Let the jaggery melt completely. You can cook it with the pulp for a few mins to help this process. Give it a quick pulse in the food processor to get the lumps out.
• Add cardamom powder and saffron, and mix well. This is the concentrated pulp. Whenever you want a glass of panha, mix some pulp with cold water and make it as concentrated as you want.

Have a fantastic Memorial day weekend. Let there be grilling!

Sweet And Spice, And Everything Nice

Are you one of those who love the combination of sweet and spicy? Like jam with jalapeno or chocolate with cayenne pepper? I am certainly a fan of these contrasting flavors in one dish; but if someone asked me to try Kadhi made with sweet, ripe mango pulp, I would've made a weird face. That's exactly what I did when I was introduced to this Gujarati specialty. I was visiting my friend Amishi's Grandma in India on one of our coinciding trips. Amishi and I have been very close friends through high school all the way to grad school. We've had a lot of culinary adventures together in our dorm kitchens. So I trust her when it comes to food. Nevertheless, when she told me that Aamras Kadhi (Mango puree Kadhi) was on the menu at her Grandma's place, I couldn't hide a big question mark on my face. This kadhi totally surprised me though (in a positive way) and expanded the list of everything I love sweet n spicy. I've held onto Aamras Kadhi recipe for a while. Now that Alphonso puree is available in the Indian grocery store, I decided to have a go at it.

Aamras kadhi resonates all of the wonderful flavors of besan kadhi - slight tang from yogurt, fragrance of ghee tadka and curry leaves, earthy bite of cumin, and heat from green chilies. The addition of ripe mango puree adds a whole new dimension to this already wonderful combination. Surprisingly, It doesn't get overpoweringly sweet. The savory ingredients create a perfect balance leaving pleasant layers of flavors on your tongue. If you like sweet 'n' spice, this is a must try.  Aamras kadhi makes for a very refreshing drink  - perfect for the summer days when this mighty fruit is available. It tastes great hot or cold.

Aamras Kadhi (Mango Puree Kadhi)

Ingredients:
3/4 Cup mango puree - I used sweetened canned puree.
2 Tablespoons yogurt
A couple of pinches asafoetida
1/4 Teaspoon turmeric powder
1 Teaspoon cumin seeds
1/4 Teaspoon fenugreek seeds - Optional
2 Small Thai chilies/ 1 serrano chili  - chopped
1 Spring curry leaves
2 Teaspoons ghee/clarified butter
Salt to taste
Water as needed

• Mix mango puree and yogurt together. 
• Heat ghee in a kadhai. Add cumin seeds and curry leaves. 
• Add asafoetida, turmeric and green chilies once the cumin seeds splutter. Saute for a few seconds until the tempering is fragrant. 
• Add the mango-yogurt mixture to this tempering and season with salt. Add water to achieve desired consistency. 
• Bring the kadhi to a boil then lower the heat to simmer for 2-3 minutes. 

The kadhi can be eaten with roti or puri. I like to drink it by itself. The perfect finish to a meal.

Keep It Cool

The news of the east coast heatwave is making waves across the country. Every time I turn on the radio, I hear some doctor or the other lecturing on how to beat the heat that can cause dehydration and exhaustion. Drink lots of fluids, don't go out in the afternoon, have fruit juices and what not...

Growing up in India, dealing with heat was a way of life. Come May, the temperatures would soar to 3 digits making it impossible for most people to go out. Let's not even talk about the humidity. But we kids didn't care! We still wanted to make the most of our summer vacation and play to our hearts' content. After all, who wants to waste one precious month away from school cribbing about the weather! We just wore white cotton clothes, ate lots of mangoes and other juicy fruits and drank plenty of Mattha to keep us cool! Mattha - spiced buttermilk - is a popular drink in Maharashtra, especially during the summer. The drink reminds me of the numerous summers spent in my Grandma's town Paali, enjoying the cool waters of the river, climbing mango trees, picking the plummest fruits and berries, chasing cow and buffalo herds, hiking up and down the mountains and running back home to grandma, expecting a tall glass of mattha to quench our thirst!

The buttermilk was made by churning fresh home-made yogurt that produced dollops of creamy butter floating on top. Grandma would carefully separate the butter leaving just enough so the bits of solidified butter gave us a white mustache! She sometimes put up a stall at the local fair to sell this drink. Needless to say, it had the longest lines and ran out way before the closing time. My sister and I would sit at the 'cash register' feeling extremely important. I don't know if it was that, or getting to smuggle some of the mattha before getting over, made it more fun! We didn't know anything about "keeping hydrated" or "replenishing electrolytes" at the time; all we knew was, a glass of mattha made by grandma's loving hands felt really good! 

Mattha - Spicy-Savory Buttermilk

Ingredients:
1lb Lowfat yogurt
1inch Fresh garlic
1 Small green chili or use 1/2 Serrano
3/4 Teaspoon cumin seeds
1-2 Teaspoons sugar
Black salt/ regular salt to taste
Pinch of asafoetida if using regular salt
Handful of cilantro - chopped
Water as needed

• Grind the garlic and green chili coarsely in the grinder/mixer. Add cumin seeds towards the end so they get barely broken instead of becoming fine powder. 
• Mix a cup of water in the yogurt and churn it using a hand mixer or food processor. Add water depending on how thick you like the buttermilk. This actually tastes better a little thin.
• Add the paste, sugar, black salt (use regular salt if you don't have black salt and add a pinch of asafoetida to give that slightly pungent taste of black salt), cilantro and stir well. Serve chilled. 

This drink is our version of savory Lassi! Buttermilk is really good for your health and the hints of spices balanced by the sweetness of buttermilk and sugar make a great combination. All of you affected by the heat wave, make yourself a glass of this spicy, savory, and slightly sweet drink and keep yourself cool. The fortunate ones to escape it, pull out your beach chair, sip on a glass of mattha and enjoy the sun!

Beat The Heat

San Diego weather is quite notorious..while the no-snow-winters are the envy of the not so privileged ones, we have to put up with May Grays and June Glooms. Just when you think of wearing that bright colored summer dress, the clouds take over making you want to put on a boring black shirt. Well, it seems to be over now..all bright and sunny..and yeah, HOT! I've been drinking water by the gallons and it just doesn't seem to do enough in this heat. For a hot day like this, there's nothing better than a glass of chilled iced-tea!

Making a pitcher of iced-tea at the start of summer has been a ritual for me for the past 3-4 years. My GF in Utah and I would get all excited about our girly summer meals of berry salads and home-made iced teas. We would put on our cute summer dresses, set up a table on the patio and talk about all nice things in the world that suddenly made appearance after a dreadful winter.

Not a cute dress today..and just some leftovers for lunch, but this iced-tea was enough to keep me and hubby happy. With layers of flavors and everything your body craves in this weather, it's a perfect summer drink!

Heaven in a glass!

I drink my iced-tea without the ice :D

Ginger-Orange Iced Tea

Ingredients:
4 Cups water
3 Teaspoons sugar - or however sweet you like it
2 Teaspoons black tea or 4 Teabags
1 Inch ginger
1 Orange
4-5 Mint leaves
Ice

• Heat water, add sugar and thinly sliced/grated ginger to it. Turn the heat off at the brink of boiling.
• Drop the teabags or a cloth pouch with tea leaves in the water once it gets luke-warm. I don't like my tea bitter so I let the tea flavor seep in luke-warm water for 10-15 mins until it cools off. Keeps it light.
• Once the tea is completely cooled off, add mint leaves (crushed for more flavor), juice from half an orange and some orange slices. I had dried some mint leaves last week which I used in this tea. They added the same refreshing taste without the bold green color. Adding orange juice to hot water can turn it bitter sometimes so wait till the tea is cold.
• Add some ice and keep refrigerated. Strain some tea and enjoy with a slice of orange whenever you please! 

Each sip of this tea will give three distinct yet harmonious flavors - first the ginger, then hits the citrusy orange and then palate cleansing mint. The combination of the three leaves a fresh floral taste in your mouth. Ahhh...I can take all the heat if I have a glass of this every day!

Aajichi Purchundi (Grandma's Little Purse)

Like most kids in India, I grew up around my grandparents. Although having 'parent' attached, they have a special function in the family. They tell you bedtime stories, make goodies for you, teach you important lessons and leave the 'yelling' part to your parents :). My aaji (grandma in Marathi) pampered us to no end (pampered, not spoiled!). A very industrious woman, she always kept herself busy cooking, cleaning, gardening or reading. There were always goodies waiting for us when we got home from school and were ready to gobble whatever came our way. They were truly unique eats and almost every other thing added nutritional value to our diet - ajwain leaf bhaji, ambil (porriage made from finger millet),  whole wheat laddu and other fun stuff. Along with the good food and occasional "Kha ga raanu" ("Eat my little princess" or something to that effect), she told us why the ingredients she used were good for us. Being so informative, she knew lots of simple home remedies. One of her quick ayurvedic powders or steaming hot teas never failed to make me feel better when I was down with something. Her knowledge still doesn't cease to amaze me. I call this post Aajichi Purchundi (Grandma's Sachet/Little purse) because any time I need some comfort, I know she can pull out a little recipe from her bag of knowledge :).

My husband and I were a little under the weather last couple of weeks thanks to the ever changing spring weather. Craving for something hot to drink I thought of one of my aaji's recipes. Lemongrass tea. Lemongrass, known as Gavati Chaha in Marathi (Gavat = Grass, Chaha = Tea), grows in most backyards in India and is used to treat common cold and cough. My grandma had her own concoction which I resort to when I have a cold.

Lemongrass Tea/Gavati Chahacha Kadha

Ingredients: 

5-6 Lemongrass leaves
2-3 Cloves
3-4 Black peppercorn
1 Inch cinnamon stick
1 Teaspoon cumin-coriander powder (You can use the whole seeds, crush them slightly)
2 Tablespoons fennel seeds
7-8 Leaves of Indian basil/Tulsi (I skipped this as it wasn't available)
1 Cube of jaggery (Can use brown sugar or regular sugar instead)
4 Cups water

• Heat water and add all the ingredients as the water starts boiling.
• Keep on medium heat and boil the tea for a good 10-15 minutes.
• Cover and let it sit for 10 minutes. Strain the hot tea and it's ready to sip. 

The combination of lemongrass and fennel seeds gives the tea a sweet-citrusy flavor. Although my grandma can't make this for me sitting thousands of miles away, it's comforting to know she's just a phone call away when I need one of her home medicines or just want to hear "Kaay re majhya raja".
One steaming hot cup of this tea before bed and you are ready for sweet dreams!