Wednesday, June 14, 2006

'10 dishes I miss the most' meme

I was tagged by the lady whose spice is always right - Garam Masala - for this meme. :) Thanks, GM!

I like how memes and quizzes help you get to know other bloggers better, even if you've never met them - and especially as you might never meet them in person. Reading about their recipes is one thing, but to know more about their background, about what inspires or moves them... those are the sort of details that interest me almost as much as new recipes.

This meme in particular resonated with me. I know I cook quite well, but I never enjoy my cooking as much as I do my mother's. I suppose that would be pretty much the case with pretty much everybody!

Anyhow, here are the 10 things that I miss of my mom's cooking. I guess they should be in order, but they're not. I miss them all, anyway!

1. Veppilakatti - A fragrant chutney powder made from tender leaves picked from lemon trees. It takes a lot of leaves to make a decent amount of the powder, and they HAVE to be tender, so this is a very rare preparation.

2. Melt-in-the-mouth mysorepak - a simple yet festive sweet made with sugar, gram flour and ghee.

3. Aviyal - a mixed vegetable medley made with coconut, tamarind and a bit of buttermilk.

4. Poricha kuzhambu with coconut thogayal - A family favourite.

5. Thengai kuzhambu with green plantain curry - Simple everyday food that me and my siblings could die for.

6. Kozhakattai - Steamed riceflour dumplings with a filling of coconut sweetened with jaggery and cardamom, usually made for the Ganesh chathurthi festival.

7. Filter coffee - Pete would vouch for this as well.

8. Savoury mango pachadi - usually made with pickled baby mangoes that have gone soft and squidgy and would not be eaten any other way. Waste not, want not!

9. Karuveppilai podi - Chutney powder made with curry leaves. Yum!

10. Any kalanda sadham - Lemon rice, tamarind rice, coconut rice. Especially curd rice that has been jazzed up with fried mustard seeds, cashews, curry leaves and best of all, mor milagai (chillies soaked in buttermilk and sun-dried).

Damn, gotta add one more - Semiya payasam (vermicelli pudding).

Dont want to impose this meme on anyone, but it would be great if
Ammani of Chaipani, Nupur of One Hot Stove, Mika of Green Jackfruit, and Meeta of What's for lunch Honey could find the time to take part! :)

15 comments:

GourmayMasala said...

What a list Shammi... Mysore Pak... that has me missing my Grandmother now :)

Krithika said...

I am drooling all over the screen. Your list is making me miss my mom.

archana said...

Shammi,
Thank you for visiting my blog. I can't resist being hungry after reading your list. Could you pls. post the recipe for Poricha kuzhambu with coconut thogayal when u have time. I havn't tasted it yet, but the name itself is very appetising. Thank you

Mika said...

Hi Shammi- My meme is already up (before I saw your list). Vepillai katti is so delicious. But hard to find the leaves! Kozhukkatai and a lot of festival dishes are best made by mom, I feel.

Nila said...

Nice list shammi, I miss my vaazhai thandu/banana stem poriyal. I like it very much. I have never seen one at my place now

Anonymous said...

Do give the recipe for Veppilakatti and what it is used for! I have two lemon trees so could do it (with some effort no doubt). I've never heard of this and it sounds intriguing.

I'm not Indian but curd rice is one of my favorites, and a frequent lunch stand-by. I often add cucumber to mine. I'm working up the nerve to make the sun-dried curd chilis from scratch. I think here in coastal California they'd be likely to rot rather than dry, but want to try anyhow. In the meantime I have some from the Indian store...

Anonymous said...

Archana: The poricha kuzhambu recipe is in "Vegetables - Gravy" list, and the coconut thogayal recipe (actually called chow-chot thogayal) is under "Chutneys/sauces/raita" :) Hope you enjoy those!

Diane: Veppilai katti is used as a side dish with curd rice. I'll have to get the recipe for it from my mom, though.

The ramblings of a shoe fiend said...

shyam, you and pete should come around soon - i brought 6 kgs of coffee powder with me from madras! :)

Ravi said...

Shammi, I can't stop appreciating for each one of your posts! The write-up for each recipe seems better over the other and your list in this post... wah! what should I say? I especially drooled over the thengaai thogayal/poricha kuzhambu combo. I prefer the t.thogayal mixed with rice and the p.kuzhambu as an accomplice! I used to remark that people with good culinary skills (or atleast interest towards it) are passionate people and you seem to prove it in full earnest! Thanks for a great post Shammi!!

ammani said...

Thanks for the tag, Shyam. I've done my bit on my blog. Lovely post, as ever.

Shoes, I'm inviting myself soon. We're running low on the coffee powder :D

Unknown said...

Mouth-watering list of food.

Sumitha said...

Shammi are all these items in your blog,if not plz do add them especially the karuvepilai podi.

Unknown said...

You've voted for quite a lot of my favorites Shyamala! Poritha Kozhambu, vepalakatti,karuvepala podi...yum yum yum

Anonymous said...

As always wonderful write up,Shammi..Veppilakkatti is my favorite too..

Nee said...

Hiya Shammi,
Thanks for visiting my nook :-)
Gosh, it's been ages since I had veppilakatti..."Veppilakatti with thayir saadam, vera enna venum?!"