Filter Coffee / Traditional South Indian Coffee

This is more like a blog than a recipe. There are several nuances you need to know before you can succeed in making that perfect cuppa! Almost like an instruction manual with many do's and dont's!

Every Tamil Brahmin household swears by coffee. Making filter coffee is an art and it has to be mastered or you will end up with a 'sora vellam' (watery mess) which is a blasphemy. Meaning your coffee will not be thick and thus it will become 'inedible'!

Coffee, boiling water, sugar (optional) and freshly boiled milk* are the only ingredients required to perk your day. (*If the milk is reboiled, the coffee does not taste the same.)

Coffee beans used to be roasted to the right degree of brownish black and ground at homes. My cousin sister's (Leena Balsubramaniam) mother-in-law, (late) Mrs. Jayalakshmi used to do it until recently! But now, we use coffee powders from various brands like Coffee day, Cotha's and even Bru 'roast and ground'.

Please do not use instant coffee to put decoction.

Coffee grinder

Image source: Google images

There are two heroes while making filter coffee. One is the obvious - coffee powder. Coffee powder can be either pure or can have Chicory. The amount of chicory in your coffee powder affects the taste. Here in India, we use either Plantation coffee or Peabury coffee. This is roasted and ground and a certain percentage of chicory is added to it. The ratio starts from 60:40 (60% coffee to 40% chicory) to 90:10. The more chicory, the thicker the decoction and also lesser cost. At home, we prefer pure Plantation coffee without any Chicory.

The other hero of filter coffee is a special apparatus - the coffee filter. Typically made with brass, now it is available in stainless steel. It comes in various sizes - from holding 1 tbsp to much more. Mine can hold 3 tbsp of Coffee powder and that makes around 2 1/2 cups of coffee.

If you notice that the holes through which the coffee decoction falls is getting clogged, hold this vessel over fire with tongs. This will expand the metal and you can easily remove the coffee grains embedded. You might have to use a pin to poke out the more persistent ones! But usually a mild thumping of the heated vessel, does the trick.

The top container having perforations is placed on top of the other container which will hold the decoction. Into the top perforated container, you must add your Coffee powder and then water. Decoction will collect in the bottom container and we use that decoction to make coffee. More on that later.

Always keep the container having coffee powder tightly closed to prevent it from losing it's aroma.

Roasted Coffee can be ground in two ways - either coarsely or finely. Once you buy your coffee powder - feel it, to see if it is very powdery or has slightly bigger granules.

Finely ground

Coarsely ground

After placing the coffee powder on the top container, it must be pressed down.
If your coffee powder is too finely ground and you press down hard, the water will not be able to seep down.
If your coffee powder is coarsely ground and you don't press down enough, the water will just flow down without extracting the full coffee flavor.
So it is a balancing act. You will know the force to be applied to press down the powder only through trial and error.

Use a spoon like the one shown below to press down the powder in the top container. Usually when you buy coffee filters, an apparatus which looks like 'an umbrella hit hard by the wind' is available. But I find it useless. I prefer this bent spoon!

The water to be used has to be rolling boiling. Use filter water.

Now pour the BOILING water over the pressed coffee powder.....not from a height, but from a minimum height...pour slowly...along the edges and try to not pour at the same point; or else a small 'kuzhi' (depression) will form and then the coffee decoction will not fall evenly.

If your coffee is coarsely ground, and the decoction falls quickly and has almost no flavor, then you can try this trick. Use a wide spatula to ease the flow of the boiling water over the coffee powder.

Now cover the top container with the lid and wait for the decoction to accumulate in the bottom one. Typically this takes around 7 - 10 minutes.

Do not attempt to open the lid or the top compartment without tongs or a thick cloth.

Once the decoction falls, use this to make the most aromatic coffee; either with milk (yes!) or with hot water (why??). Do not keep the decoction open, as it will lose it's aroma. Keep it covered always. And never heat the decoction.

This picture explains very well, what I have tried to explain with one mistake. We NEVER add coffee to boiling milk, but the other way round. Always add boiling milk to decoction.
And NEVER BOIL prepared coffee. Place in a vessel having hot water, if you must.. but don't boil!

#7 is WRONG

We have special vessels for our coffee - tumblers and davarai.
We never drink from glass containers / mugs / paper cups. Always from a pair of tumbler and davarai!

Preparation of coffee:
Boil milk.
Add sugar to Tumbler (glass).
Pour required decoction on top of sugar. (Cover the extra decoction in the filter.)
Pour the boiling milk over the sugar + decoction.
Make a froth by pouring the coffee simultaneously between the davarai and tumbler. This also helps in mixing the sugar. The more the distance between the tumbler and davarai, the more the froth.


Now find a nice place to sit. Relax...
And enjoy the best coffee of the world!

Sabudana Khichdi / Javvarisi upma for ekadeshi

Sabudana or Sago are small white balls which turn translucent / transparent on cooking. It is used in making varieties of poppadom and also to make my brother's favorite 'muthu payasam'.

Sabudana is very starchy and are made completely from Tapioca. If you which to see the the process involved in making Tapioca into sago, watch this youtube video.

On fasting days, Sabudana is allowed to be eaten. No onion and no garlic is used and meals are generally restricted to one time a day.

This helps in healing the digestive tract and other organs in disposing existing waste. This year's Noble Prize winner for Medicine, Dr.Yoshinori Ohsumi, has done research on auto-phagy...or self-eating cells. Looks like our ancestors knew about the benefits of fasting and wanted us to include this in our day-to day habits...thus ekadesi was born!

Ingredients:
Sabudana / Javvarisi / Sago - 1 cup
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Jeera - 1 tsp
Asafoetida powder / kayam - 1/2 tsp
Green chilli - 2, chopped
Ground nuts - 2 tbsp
Curry leaf - 1 sprig
Potato boiled - 1 large ( 3/4 cup, cubed)
Carrot - 1/2 cup, grated
Coriander leaf - 3 tbsp
Lemon juice - 2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Coconut grated - 1/2 cup (optional)

Method:
Wash the sago twice and remove all water. 
Add 3/4 cup of water and soak for 4 hours or overnight.
The sago would have puffed up and begun soft to touch.
Heat ghee in a heavy bottomed vessel with a tight lid.
Splutter jeera, add asafoetida, green chilly, curry leaf and ground nuts.
Fry for 1 minute.
Next add the boiled potato, salt and turmeric powder.
Mix well, reduce flame and cook covered for 1 minute.
Add the soaked sabudana, grated carrot and mix well.
Cook covered, stirring in between on a low flame for 10 minutes till it becomes transparent.
Turn off flame, add the lemon juice and garnish with coconut (optional) and coriander leaf.
Serve at room temperature.

Pasta Salad

My friend, Mrs.Chitra Laxman, made this salad for our pot luck lunch and it was 'sold-out'!

And as usual, she was very embarassed to tell me the recipe, saying instead, 'it is just a mix of everything continental, no particular recipe'.

I share here her recipe of Pasta salad. 

I have not given any measurements for the codiments, add them in by the teaspoon and taste as you go along.

Ingredients:

Pasta - 2 cups, boiled and cooled

Onion - 1 large, chopped fine

Tomato - 2, chopped fine

Capsicum / bell pepper - 1, chopped fine

Olives - handful, chopped

Baby tomato - 200 gms, halved

Olive oil - 4 tbsp

Jalapenos - 2 tbsp (optional)

Below mentioned ingredients were mixed without any particular ratio!

Salt (very less as the dressing is salty)

Pepper 

Chilly flakes

Dried basil 

Dried thyme

Dried Oregano

Store bought Italian dressing

Method:

Mix together the cut vegetables and add in the pasta.

Now add the condiments and go by your taste buds till you hit the spot!

Lady in Red is the pasta salad maker (Chitra) and behind her is the kitchen's mistress (Vani)

Chundakka Vathal / Preserving Pea Eggplant / Drying Turkey berry

Solanum Torvum / Thai pea eggplant / Turkey berry / Chundakka

Dried and preserved

This preserve is typical of Tamil Nadu. 

Chundakka is supposed to be high in Iron and is consumed when one is low in iron.

Chundakka is used to as a main ingredient in some curries and as a condiment in some. Example: Vathakozhambu and Kadamba rice.

Preserving these berries is quite easy if you have the help of Surya Bhagavan or the Sun God. It is first soaked and dried under the sun and then fried and used whenever necessary. Just like thayir milagai / curd chillies.

Ingredients:

Fresh Chundakka - 2 cups, stem and stalk removed

Curd - 1 cup

Salt - 1 tbsp

Chilly powder - 1 tbsp

Turmeric powder / manjal - 1 tsp

Uluva / methi / fenugreek seed powder - 1 tsp 

Method:

Wash and drain the Chundakka.

Then using a stone, break each chundakka open. ALL chundakkai must be broken open.

Now wash this open chundakka till almost all seeds are removed.

(about 6-8 washes).

Now dry this on a clean cloth till all water evaporates.

Mix together the curd, salt, turmeric powder, chilly powder and Methi powder.

Add this curd mixture to the chundakka.

Mix it well and keep aside for 1 hour, covered.

Mix again and start drying it under the hot sun in a clean vessel. Try to spread it in 1 layer.

At night, keep covered with a clean white cloth. Do not place a tight lid, as this might cause fungal growth.

In about 2- 3 days all the curd will dry and the chundakka will sound crispy when moved around.

Transfer into an airtight container and use as required.

Before using, deep fry in hot oil, till it blackens. Add it to your curry or enjoy with hot rice topped with ghee.

Podicha Pulinkary / Puli curry without coconut

Pumpkin and other vegetables cooked in a sweet and tangy gravy. 

Almost all curries made in Kerala has coconut. Coconut grows aplenty and is used in all possible ways.

Kerala is got from the name Keralam...The land of kera or coconut.

This curry is a 'freak'! No dal, no coconut. 

And thus it's reputation is not too good. 

You make this curry only on those days when you are sure no guests will come! :D

My grandmother, (late) Mrs. Lakshmy Suryanarayanan, used to make this only as the curry of dinner. I make this often!! So easy, why not?

In this recipe, pumpkin and the ground masala powder are the stars. Take time to make the masala.

Ingredients:

Pumpkin, Potato, Drumstick, Carrot - 2 cups

Tamarind ball of 1-1/2 inch diameter

Salt

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Jaggery - 1/2 tbsp

Masala powder ingredients:

Raw rice - 1 tbsp (soaked in water for 1 hour)

Dry Red chilly - 6 or more

Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp

For the tadka / garnish:

Oil - 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Dry Red chilly - 2, broken

Curry leaf - 1 sprig

Shallot / small onion - 4, cut into thin rounds (optional)

Method for making masala powder:

Take a heavy bottomed pan and fry the dry red chilli and fenugreek seeds, until the seeds start popping. Keep aside.

Reduce flame. In the same pan, add the soaked rice after draining the water and start frying. The rice will initially stick to the pan, but after some time will move around.

Fry till the rice turns golden brown. 

Turn off flame and add in the fried red chilli and fenugreek seeds.

Cool and powder. It will be quite coarse.

Method to make curry:

Cut the vegetables into slighly large chunks.

Start by boiling the potato in water.

When it gets half cooked, add the carrot, pumpkin and drumstick.

When the carrot gets half cooked, add the tamarind pulp, salt and turmeric powder.

Boil till all the vegetables soften.

Now add the powdered masala. The curry will immediately thicken.

Carefully add more water to dilute gravy.

Bring to a boil and add the jaggery.

Boil for one more minute.

Heat the oil and splutter the mustard seeds.

Then add the broken red chillies and curry leaf. (Add the shallots and fry till golden.)

Add this to the curry.

Serve hot with rice.

Sambar with Sambar-Keerai

Sambar Keerai is a herb we usually find here in South India. Sadly, I do not know it's biological or English name.

We usually make sambar with this leaf and I have not had it in any other form. Since it does not grow at home frequently and is unavailable in the market, we have it utmost once or twice a year.

The traditional recipe is very simple. Make sambar without any vegetables. Then just add this leaf to the hot gravy and cover the vessel.
But at home, my husband loves vegetables in sambar, so I make the sambar with all vegetables and add this herb in at the very end. Anyway, the quantity of this keerai available is quite less. And it wilts in the hot gravy. So it makes sense.

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Make sambar either with or without any vegetables.

Method of making sambar without any vegetables.
Boil tamarind water with salt, turmeric powder until the raw smell of tamarind goes. Now add the sambar powder and asafoetida. Boil for 2-3 minutes and add the boiled dal. Cook for 3-4 minutes more and turn off flame. Splutter and add mustard seeds, red chilli and curry leaf.

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After your sambar is ready, this is what you do.

Pictorial for the rest of the process.

Remove leaf from stalk and wash well

Cut the leaf, not too small.

Prepare Sambar either with / without vegetables

After you turn off flame, add the cut leaf into the hot gravy and cover.

Look how the leaves have wilted after 10-15 minutes.

Final product!