Mahanandi

Weekend Reading:

Dal~Roti Minus The Dal?

It’s Delicious No Matter What You Call It!

Are You Being Served?

Seattle Events:

UTSAV
Oct 12~15 : Seattle Center (Center House food court auditorium)

Rice Noodles and Extra Firm Tofu

I indulged in junk food during our road trip, but Vijay was strict about his diet. His junk food was fruits, mainly lot of oranges and mandarins. My mood was going up and down along with the road curves we were taking, but Vijay was his usual chirpy, pleasant self the whole trip. I guess all that Vitamin C (known to cause sunny disposition in people) does effect one’s mood and also taking them was his way of dealing with unpredictable moods of his companion.:)

One of the healthy meals during our travel time was at Madison. We went to Noodles and Company (Asian fast food joint) next to our hotel for dinner. We didn’t have this chain in our part of Ohio and PA, and it’s a refreshing fast food experience we had in a while. Most of their menu was filled with decent real food like items and I went with ‘Indonesian fiery peanut saute’. As written in restaurant menu, this dish was prepared by sauteing rice noodles with fiery peanut sauce, broccoli, carrot and Napa cabbage and garnished with bean sprouts, crushed peanuts and lime wedges. You could also order tofu or chicken strips with it. Of course I went with tofu. I liked the whole combination so much, and had decided to recreate this dish at home once I reached Seattle.

If you have all the ingredients at hand, preparation is quick and easy, and it can be a filling meal.

Ingredients for Noodle Preparation

Recipe:
(for two hungry people)

Prepare Fiery Peanut sauce:

Half cup of roasted peanuts
8 dried red chillies – Indian variety
½ tsp of each – salt and jaggery(/sugar) or to taste
Take them all in blender. Add a cup of water and blend to smooth paste. This is our ‘fiery’ sauce.

Vegetables and Tofu:

Broccoli: wash and cut or separate small florets (10 to 12)
Carrot: cut to thin, vertical strips of 2 inches length (15 to 20)
Spring onions (1 bunch) – finely chop
Tofu: Extra firm variety, cut to 1-inch cubes (10 to 12 cubes)
Bean sprouts: wash and half them (about a cup)
To garnish: prepare cilantro and lime wedges
You also need soy sauce and salt to taste.

Preparation:

In a big skillet, add a tablespoon of peanut oil. Add and fry tofu cubes to pale gold color. Remove to a plate and keep them aside.

To the same skillet, add the vegetables and stir-fry them to the tenderness you desire. Then add the fiery-fragrant peanut sauce, a pinch of salt and one teaspoon of soy sauce. And also tofu cubes and bean sprouts. Mix. Cook for about 5 minutes, covered. If the sauce is too tight, add little bit of water and adjust the seasoning (salt and jaggery) also.

Meanwhile cook rice noodles (purchased at Trader Joe’s grocery shop), 2 bundles, one for each person, according to packet instructions. Take care not to overcook. They would stick to each other and become a soggy mess if overcooked. Drain and immediately add the rice noodles to skillet.

Toss the rice noddles with vegetables and peanut sauce. Sprinkle some more bean sprouts, cilantro and squeeze some limejuice. Serve hot.

Rice Noodles and Tofu in Fiery Peanut Sauce ~ Our Simple Meal Today

This sauce is really ‘fiery’. For medium fiery sauce – reduce the number of chillies to 6, for mild sauce to 4 or even less.

Kaju (cashew) Sweet from G.Pulla Reddy Sweet Shop ~ For JFI: Diwali Treats Event

You have friends visiting Hyderabad soon.

They want to bring something for you from Hyderabad.

What would you like to suggest?

Ask them to bring kaju sweet from the famous G.Pulla Reddy Sweets Shop for you.

That’s what we did. Our Maharashtrian friends from Houston made a visit to Hyderabad recently and this is what they brought us. Precious than gold and pure Andhra delight – this is a taste we crave during festival times, particularly during Dasera-Deepavali festival season.

Jumbo cashews gently fried in pure ghee and then cooked and coated with thin lace like golden jaggery syrup. No preservatives, no coloring agents, none of that artificial crap, so prevalent here, is added. Pure ingredients, simple age-old cooking techniques are used. The result is simply heaven like taste and aroma.

Trust me on this people: request, demand, harass or bribe, do whatever you have to do and make your friends bring this kaju sweet from Pulla Reddy Sweet Shop for you during their next Hyderabad visit. Little bit pricey but it is going to be the best sweets purchase you will ever make.

Disclaimer: We do not have any relations with Pulla Reddy Sweet Shop and they didn’t send us any free sweets to write this.:)

Gongura Chutney

We may be almost broke because of self-paid move and college expenses, but we sure are enjoying food like Andhra maharajas. It’s tough to feel depressed when we are able to buy a bunch of gongura leaves for a dollar and could prepare gongura chutney to our heart’s content. Good food does make a difference in one’s mood, doesn’t it?

If you are wondering what’s all this hungama about gongura, well, gongura is Andhra’s tradition. You know you are treated well and can be assured that your Andhra friend really likes you, when you see a gongura preparation on the menu. Gongura dal, chutney, dalcha and meat preparations are to name a few, that can be prepared with these wonderful leafy vegetable.

Gongura leaves are famous for their rich iron content and they taste sour like diluted tamarind pulp. When cooked and made into chutney with caramelized (browned) onions, hot chillies and salt, they turn to marvelous side dish with little effort. This super side dish is a great luxury for me mainly because of lack of gongura leaves availability in US. They usually appear for short period of time during summer months at Indian grocery shops and will get sold out quickly. The demand motivated by severe nostalgia is high. I am very proud to be able to blog about this chutney here on “Mahanandi”, finally from Seattle.

Gongura Leaves (to id: red stems and green leaves like marijuana leaves:)), Onion and Green Chillies

Recipe:

I bunch of gongura – Leaves plucked and washed
1 big onion – cut into big chunks
8 green chillies
¼ tsp of salt
2 teaspoons of peanut oil

In an iron skillet, heat peanut oil. Add and saut? the onion chunks and green chillies to light brown color on medium-high heat. Remove to a plate.

In the same skillet, add gongura leaves and stir-fry them on medium-high for few minutes until they come together and lose their bright green color. Remove to a plate and let cool.

Take them all in a mortar, add salt and with a pestle grind them to a coarse consistency.

Serve with rice, dal and a curry with little bit of ghee sprinkled on, for a traditional Andhra meal.

Gongura Chutney, Bitter Gourd Chips, Tomato Dal and Rice

Recipe source: Amma
Gongura ( or sour greens) is available in Indian grocery shops here in US.
Ga ga over Gongura (article)

Produce from Pike Place Market: Pear, Budamkaya, Poluru Vankaya(Asian Pear, Lemon Cuke & Brinjal)

For the last 3 weekends, we were going to pike place market (one of the tourist attractions of Seattle, famous for 3 F’s: fish, fresh produce and flowers. This place is like our ‘ritu bazar’ but in a grand scale.) just to browse and also for a walk. It’s about 15 to 20 minute walk from my home. Going there is easy, it’s all downhill but the return walk, oh boy, it’s steep almost 90 degree uphill, sweat inducing, power workout type of walk. Why walk, why not take car, you may ask. Of course we could, but there is a parking fee and we really should do some exercise. Particularly me who gained some weight during moving time. I have been checking out the stalls in pike place market and what I have noticed is it can be a tourist trap. But if you know where to find, you could get some good deals also. I was looking for such stalls and found two, so far. They sell some Indian vegetables like Asian pears, budamkaya (lemon cucumber or lemon cuke) and Poluru Vankaya (Thai Brinjal), along with some other farm-fresh produce. Last weekend I bought these vegetables and prepared a meal – a dal with budamkaya and a curry with brinjals and dessert is the plain fruit.

You know what we call pretty, plump babies affectionately in Telugu – “Budamkaya”. See the middle one in the photo above – this adorable, yellow colored, shot put shaped vegetable is called ‘Budamkaya‘ in Telugu and here sold as lemon cucumber or lemon cukes. Tastes mildly sweet with just a tiny hint of tanginess, like cucumber with lemon juice sprinkled on. Great on its own, lightly peel the cuke, cut into cubes, sprinkle some salt and pepper for a delightful healthy snack. We also prepare raita with yogurt, pickle (beautifully blogged by Sailaja of Sailu’s Kitchen) and dal with it. This vegetable with toor dal and in combination of rice makes an easy lunch and one of my favorite meals.

Budamkaya, peeled and cut into cubes, Onion and Green Chillies

Recipe:

4 fistfuls (¾ cup) of Toor dal:
Budamkaya: peeled and cut into cubes about 2 cups
1 medium onion and 8 to 10 green chillies – all cut into small pieces
Small marble sized tamarind
½ tsp of each – turmeric and salt or to taste
For popu or tadka:
1 tsp of peanut oil
½ tsp of each – mustard seeds, cumin, urad dal, minced garlic and
Few curry leaves, dried red chilli pieces

Take toor dal, budamkaya(lemon cuke), onion, green chillies, tamarind and turmeric in a pressure cooker.

Add one glass of water. Mix the ingredients and close the lid. Pressure cook until 3 whistles. Turn off the heat and wait 10 to 15 minutes for the pressure to get released. Open the lid, add salt and with a wood masher or whisk, mash the dal to smooth consistency.

In a vessel, take 1 teaspoon of peanut oil. Heat and do the popu or tadka. Add and toast garlic, curry leaves, red chilli pieces, urad dal, cumin and mustard seeds- in that order. When the seeds start to splutter, immediately add the mashed dal to the tadka. Mix and cover with a lid.

Tastes great with rice or with chapati.

Vankaya Kura, Budamkaya Pappu and Annamu (Brinjal Curry, Lemon Cucumber Dal and Rice)

Seattle Downtown View From Our Home

Another Apartment Building Across From Us

Bharat Groceries in Bellevue (Purchased Rosematta Rice From Here), Near Fred Meyers Shop

Apna Bazar in Bellevue ~ Clean and Neat, Lot of Stuff (Near Fred Meyers Shop)

Flowers and Veggies, From Pike Place Market ~ 15 Minute Walk From My Home

Kittaya in Our New Home

Weekend This and That:
More about our cross-country road trip: From Vijay
My new shop at Amazon: Mahanandi Selections

The reason for our move is Vijay has joined a full time master’s program at a university in Seattle. He accepted the admission, resigned his job at Boardman and found part time work. And the journey started again.

We sold most of our furniture and all the big appliances. We rented a ReloCube from U-Pack and packed all our remaining belongings to fit in the container. We paid a holding deposit for an apartment in Seattle near the university. We made lists of activities, booked hotels in advance, and took all the precautions to prepare for our journey. We choreographed the whole thing like these guys in the song, and then started cross-country travel in our car with our Kittaya.

“I think whatever I shall meet on the road I shall like,
and whoever beholds me shall like me.
I think whoever I see must be happy.”

That was our motto for our cross-country road trip. Except for a couple of minor missteps, our journey went just like we planned without any major hiccups or problems. We traveled 2652 miles from Boardman, Ohio to Seattle, Washington in 5 days. On average about 450 to 550 miles each day, from 7AM to 5PM with 2 or 3 breaks in-between. Our route was I-80 from Boardman to Chicago, and then I-90 straight to Seattle. We made overnight stops at Madison (Wisconsin), Sioux Falls (South Dakota), Sheridan (Montana) and Missoula (Wyoming) and on the fifth day at Bellevue (Washington), a Seattle suburb. After crossing Wisconsin, there were few cars on the road, no speed limit or proper rest areas (most of the drive) and the weather was clear without any rain. We got a glimpse of Badlands in South Dakota but we didn?t enter the park. We made stops at Corn Palace, a corny tourist place in South Dakota and then at Mount Rushmore. We also made plans to visit Yellowstone national park but we were too tired by day 4, didn’t have much enthusiasm left to visit that place, so we skipped it. They were all near to I-90.

Kittaya, the darling that he is also behaved well. This was the first time that he ever traveled such a long distance with us and we were unsure how he would behave. Before our journey we went to the vet for helpful suggestions (he prescribed sleeping pills) and also visited several kitty forums to know about kitty behavior during travel time. Just like they suggested, he was calm and cool during driving time, napping or watching the road and at night time at hotels, being the new place and all, he acted anxious, making rounds, sniffing the furniture etc. The sleeping medication the vet prescribed helped him to calm down. We were reluctant at first to medicate him but he and we couldn?t sleep and so we had to give him a pill. We thought it’s best for him and also for us to get a good night sleep rather than feel anxious and half-awake at night times. He did not take food or water; neither did he use his litter box when he was in the car, during travel times. But at hotels, he accepted his favorite treats, only few. As a result he lost some weight. Once we reached Seattle and moved into our apartment, he quickly recovered, gained all his weight back.

We wanted to get settled in Seattle as soon as possible. So, we paid a holding deposit for an apartment instead of paying for the hotel stay. If we had not liked the apartment, we would have lost the deposit. But we took the risk just for that ‘home sweet home’ feeling. Being the hi-tech city and all, the rents are quite high in Seattle, particularly in the neighborhood where we were looking for. Even at 1000 dollars a month, all we could get was a small studio of 500 square foot with a small balcony. Once we reached Seattle, we checked the place, found it decent enough and moved in immediately. That’s our “moving” story.

Although I was very much tempted to regale you all about how “Fabulous/Frustrating” our moving experience with up-to-the-minute updates and photo diaries, I had to restrain myself. Mainly because, we made our move and travel itself a first and foremost priority so that we could concentrate on our journey and reach the destination safe and sound without any hitches and glitches. Not only that, we had to update family and relatives about our whereabouts. They were very concerned about our cross-country journey. With the Internet and newspapers, they do read about the things going on here, the widespread no-reason shootings and violence etc., so we had to assure them every minute of our journey that we were safe. With all this, I didn’t had much energy left for other things. This was the main reason for me to stop all my blogging correspondence. I apologize for not replying to you all, the kind and concerned people who sent me emails during this time. I sincerely hope you would understand my situation and I thank you all wholeheartedly that took time to send your best wishes and good karma towards us. I greatly appreciate and cherish it! Thank you!

Here are some photos from our journey for you interested folks. Most of these are road signs, places name boards, empty roads and views of I-80 and I-90 from our car, the regular touristy snaps.

More about our cross-country trip: From Vijay

The websites we went to for helpful tips and suggestions:
Seattle Visitors Bureau: For maps, city guides and Apartment guide
Seattle Indian.com: for temples, Indian grocery etc.
Fodor’s travel forum: Cross-country road trip tips, tips for traveling with a cat, information about Seattle neighborhoods etc
James Cross-Country trip on I-80 and I-90
Apartmentreview.com, Rent.com and SeattleCraiglist: for apartment search
And of course AAA: for detailed roadmaps, directions and hotels etc.
* Quote is from Walt Whitman – Song of the Open Road

Lancaster, PA, 04 : Photo by Vijay Singari

I have to go now; take care. See you again in October (7th) from Seattle.

On August 15th, 1947, our nation came in to our own hands. Finally we were free of uninvited people, at least physically. Since then August 15th became a day for feasts, festivities and for patriotic parades.

This year, I wanted to share the exhilarating feeling of joy and happiness through a fabulous food parade. Our food culture shows not only how diverse we are, but also shows how much patience, perseverance and perfection we have. With 40 or more food blogs (a budding new community in already well established blog medium), I thought we could all come together to celebrate this special day in a colorful way. Thanks for responding to my call with equal if not more enthusiasm and sending me these beautiful recipes from “The Land of Billion Recipes ~ Mother India”.

I’ve styled the food parade in a classic theme, with recipe photos for your viewing pleasure and complementing classical Indian music (you tube videos) for your listening pleasure. Enjoy!

From Andhra Pradesh ~ The Rice Bowl of India

Endu Royalu Dosakaya Koora (Dried Shrimp and Dosakaya Curry)
From Kosta Region, From City of Victory ~ Vijayawada by Chandrika of Akshayapatra

Besan Chikki with Sorghum Roti
From Telengana Region by Pavani of Cook’s Hideout

Senaga-Pesara Payasam (Chana Dal~Moong Dal Dessert)
From Wanaparthy by Vidyanath Tirumala of Yadbhavishya

Hyderabadi Dum Biryani & Khubani Ka Meetha (With Apricots)
From Capital City Hyderabad by Radhika of Radhi’s Kitchen

Golden colored Majjiga Mirapa (Dahi Mirchi) with Rice and Dal
Traditional Andhra Meal From Me

From The Land of Nandis ~ From My Home in Nandyala
Peanut Pacchi Pulusu ~ A Refreshing No-Boil Peanut Rasam

From Gorgeous Goa

Eggless Banana Rava Cake ~ From Shilpa of Aayi’s Recipes

From Gujarat ~ The Birthplace of Gandhiji

Khichado with Wheat Berries and Toor dal
Makara Sankranti Special and A Good Breakfast Porridge ~ By Priya of Foodtravails

From Jammu and Kashmir ~ A Heaven on Earth

Modur Polav (Sweet Rice Pulao) with Saffron and Sugar ~ Part of Wazwaan
An Authentic Kashmir Recipe from a Kashmiri ~ From Anita of Mad Tea Party

Heaven on a plate ~ Kashmiri Pulao – From Archana Thomas of Spicyana
“May freedom continue to inspire the country, peace & happiness return to the valley!”

From Karnataka ~ The Land of Hampi

Badam Puri ~ Representing the Struggle for Independence
From Shankari of Stream of Consciousness

From Kerala ~ God’s Own County

Ela Ada ~ Rice Flour & Coconut Steam-Cooked Sweet
By Priya Baskaran of Priya’s Kitchen

Kaya Appam (Banana Fritters) ~ By Monisha of Coconut Chutney
Sweet fritters that are crisp to bite into and tender inside, bursting with the flavor of Bananas and Cardamom and sweetened with Jaggery.

Nenthra Pazham Haluva (Banana Halwa)
From Calicut/Kozhikode (land of Banana chips and Halwas) by Kerala Girl (KG)

Palappam (Lace, Milk Appam) From Gini of Salt and Pepper

Pal Payasam and Bonji (Rice Paysam and Lemon Juice)
Celebrating a Great Man’s Legacy, “My India and My Country” ~ From InjiPennu of Ginger and Mango

From Konkan ~ The Jewel of Western India

Gajbaje (Randayi or Mixed vegetable curry)
One of the Most Popular Dishes Among Konkanis ~ From Shilpa of Aayi’s Recipes:

From Maharashtra ~ The Land of Shivaji

Varan Phala ~ From Madhuli of My Food Court

From Vibrant Punjab

Paneer Tikka ~ From Krithika of Manpasand

From Tamilnadu ~ The Land of Temples

Appala Kozhambu (Papad Curry) ~ Celebrating the Charming City, Chennai
From Chandrika of Akshayapatra

Somass ~ A Famous Sweet from Tamilnadu ~ From Sudha Vinodh of Samayal

From West Bengal ~ The Land of Exotic Charms

Rasmalai ~ From Mandira of Ahaar

Saluting the Flag with Tiranga Entries

Congress Curry ~ Three Cheers to Independent, Progressive, Democratic India
From Menu Today

Tiranga Rice ~ A Pan-Indian Recipe Inspired by the Tri-Coloured Indian Flag
From Lulu of Lulu Loves London

Psychedelic:) Tiranga Raita ~ From RP of My Work Shop

Tiranga Spiral Parathas ~ From Roopa of Crazy About Food, From Bangalore

Tiranga Puri ~ From Sudha of Food Newbie
Beetroot, Spinach and Wheat Flour ~ Representing the Tiranga of Indian Flag

Mysore Masala Dosa in Tiranga
By Madhu Raj of Ruchi, From City of Palaces, Mysore City

Tiranga Doodh Peda ~ From Vineela of Vineela’s Kitchen
Carrot, Coconut and Pistachios for Beautiful Flag Colors of India

Independence Day Fireworks

Sweet Candy For Your Ride/Cubicle Home

Sweet, Tangy and Fragrant Candy from India ~ For Your Ride Home From The Parade

Thank you all for coming and congratulations to all the participants for the gorgeous recipe floats. Hope you had a wonderful time at the food parade.

Swatantra Din Subhakamana!

For Independence Day Food Parade, following recipe is contributed by the regular comment poster at “Mahanandi”, always entertaining ‘Kerala Girl (KG)’:

Oil Painting of Bananas

I have chosen a dish from my hometown – Calicut/Kozhikode (land of Banana chips and Halwas) from Kerala for IDFP. Kerala – the God’s own country is also land of Kera (coconut). To a malayalee, banana or the plantains probably come next to coconut but still it’s importance is written all over the malayalee’s life. Banana is one plant whose every part is useful in one or the other form. In addition to the banana fruit we also eat it’s flowers and the softer inner trunk. The leaves of the banana plant are the less sophisticated version of today’s disposable plates. Traditional Kerala cuisine is incomplete without the pleasant taste of bananas.

Another reason why I have chosen banana as ingredient for this event is I hail from Calicut – the land famous for Calicut Halwa and one of the best halwa’s I have tasted there is banana halwa (a hard jelly like sweet). Calicut is very famous for its sweets and one the famous places in Calicut is Sweet Meat Street (SM Street). It is the busiest street in Calicut and derives its name from the times when the street was lined with sweetmeat stalls. So I thought of celebrating our independence with my favorite sweet – Banana Halwa (Nenthra Pazham Haluva). The recipe source is one of the old recipe books by the great cookbook author Mrs.K.M.Mathew. Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

Ripe Bananas – 1 and 1/2 Bananas
Sugar – 2 and 1/2 cups
Water – 1/2 cup
Lemon juice – 1/4 cup
Ghee – 3/4 cup
Cardamom powder – 1/4 tsp
Cashews roasted or plain – handful for decoration
All purpose flour – 3 tsp

Method:

Pressure-cook the bananas until soft. Remove the outer skin and deseed (remove the black layer inside). Mash the bananas to a paste in a food processor or blender.

Make syrup of sugar by dissolving in 1/2 cup of water. It should be of string consistency. When this consistency is reached add the lemon juice and again allow it to reach the same thick consistency. To this add the mashed bananas.

To thicken the halwa, at this stage add flour dissolved in 1/4 cup water. Keep on stirring the mix to attain a thick mass. Add ghee little by little. When this becomes a thick mass add the cardamom powder. Mix well and pour into a pan greased with ghee. Decorate with cashews.
When cool cut and enjoy. This can be stored in refrigerator for a week minimum.

A Toast to our independence with this sweet dish!

Banana Halwa for IDFP

~ Guest Post by Kerala Girl (KG)

A food parade without candy, no way!

Here is my contribution to Independence Day Food Parade – a candy from my childhood. The main ingredients are jaggery, tamarind and cumin and the candy tastes sweet, tangy and fragrant. It’s one of those super good, can’t get enough types of candies and often prepared in our homes by loving parents.

This humble village candy is now flying high. You would see this candy often served on domestic flights in India as part of welcome kit at the beginning of the flight. The Hajmola candy they serve in flights is just like this candy and tastes similarly. Main purpose of course is to prevent nausea and jet sickness associated with air travel. Those three natural ingredients have some good ayurvedic properties that are healthy to us, that’s what my grandma says.

The recipe is simple. Jaggery, tamarind pieces, cumin and a pinch of salt – all pounded together in a mortar to smooth paste and then made into small balls. A stick is inserted for a lollipop style candy or wrapped in paper for a stylish presentation. Either way these sweet tangy candies are irresistible and lip smacking good.

Ingredients for the Candy ~ Jaggery, Tamarind and Cumin

Making the Candy ~ Pounding the ingredients together in a stone mortar with a pestle

Sweet, Tangy and Fragrant Candy from India
For the Independence Day Food Parade & For Indian Sweets 101

Our School Update ~ New Library

One thing we always wanted to do for our school is build a decent, dedicated library. We were able to get it materialized this year and the opening ceremony will be on August 15th. About 20,000 rupees worth of books are purchased for the library, most of them are from this list. All sorts of books that would interest children are purchased in Telugu, Hindi and English languages.

The largest room in the school building is dedicated for library and what you see in this photo is a part of the library with bookshelves and seating arrangement. Other side of the library (not in the photo) is for smaller kids styled in small scale. The room and the furniture are designed keeping children’s needs in mind, with comfortable seating and good lighting.

Everyone in our family worked whole heartedly to complete this project. We have to say major thanks to our dear friends Lakshmi and Prasad Anandaraman for their interest and generous contributions for this cause.

This Independence Day on August 15th is going to be very special in our school because of this new addition and the school children voted for jangri to celebrate this sweet occasion after flag hoisting.

Chillies are a religion in India! And in my home state Andhra Pradesh, the leading producer of chillies in the world, the chilli religion has a cult like following. The almighty, all-powerful chillies dictate and dominate almost every food item we consume. Our tongues are trained to accept and enjoy the fiery ruchi(flavor) of chillies from early on and the non-believers in chilli power and taste are considered wimps and babies by the believers. I tried to break away from this chilli cult, but it’s tough to do and the cravings haunted me. My taste buds cried saliva for a decent flavorful meal. They couldn’t tolerate the bland, tasteless food I was consuming in the name of suave and sophistication. “We are not babies, we are not wimps. Have mercy and have a chilli”, they salivated. I bowed and accepted the chilli power with my whole heart and now at my home, there won?t be a meal without having at least one dish where chilli – dry or fresh is added. Needless to say my taste buds are now one happy bunch.

Like us, humans, chillies also have a variety. There are lean, short, tall and stout chillies. There is mildly hot variety and there is super hot variety. Names of chillies vary from state to state and from country to country, with growers making up new names all the time. For that reason, I usually write either green chillies for fresh ones and dried red chillies for dried chillies. Using fancy, foreign sounding names for chillies is not my thing.

There are also preserved chillies – Dried chilli powder is the best-known method of preserving chillis. There is one more popular way of preserving chillies, from my home state, called “majjiga mirapa? in Telugu and ‘dahi mirchi’ in Hindi. Here fresh green chillies are slit vertically keeping the ends intact and soaked in salty, sour yogurt for about 4 to 6 days, giving time for the acid in both yogurt and chillies to work its magic of preservation. As a result, the color of chillies changes from green to light-green to creamy yellow with green tinge. At this stage, they are removed and sun dried until completely moisture free. The end result is creamy-white chillies that taste mildly hot, tangy (because of soaking in yogurt) and delicious. Usually we deep-fry these mirchis and have them as ‘middle of the meal’ kind of snack along with rice and dal. Combine rice and dal and have a small round, while eating it, in-between take a bite of majjiga mirapa. That’s how we enjoy this version of chilli.

I always hear people saying how much they would like to prepare the real deal, the ultra-authentic, home-style cuisine. Well, this is your chance to do just that. If you like chillies and if you live in an area of at least one week of super hot temperatures, then this recipe is for you.

Recipe:

Chillies:
20 fresh chillies
(Long, firm body with medium-thick skin ones are perfect for this recipe)
Yogurt:
4 cups of day-old Indian homemade yogurt, add
4 teaspoons of salt and mix
Weather:
Hot weather suitable for sun-drying the chillies

Day1: Green chillies washed and slit in the middle (keep the ends intact)

Day 1: Slit green chillies are soaked in yogurt-salt mixture. Keep them like that open(without lid cover) for at least 4 days.

Day 2: Closeup of slit green chillis soaking in yogurt-salt mixture

Day 5: Remove the chillies from yogurt and arrange them neatly in rows with space in-between on a big sheet/plate/pan suitable for sun-drying. (Notice the change in green chilli color.)

Day 8: Sun-dried Majjiga Mirapa. It took 3 days here in Ohio, for them to get completely moisture free and dry. When stored in tight lid box, they can stay fresh from 6 months to a year. To cook – deepfry them in oil until they turn to golden and serve immediately.

Golden colored Majjiga Mirapa (deep-fried) with Rice and Dal – Traditional Andhra Meal for Independence Day Food Parade

Dahi Mirchi is avialable in small packets at Indian grocery shops here in US.