Narali Bhaat: Sweetened Coconut Rice

Every year we would all meet at my maternal Grandma's home for festive occasions. It was the happiest of times ( and the noisiest- for the elders) when all cousins could gang up for the day.  Laughter was heard from every corner and a roar of annoyance in case one of us overstepped our limits of rowdiness ( which was just as often as the laughter) till all of us ( 5 cousins) were thrown out and kept out till it was lunch time.

One such holiday was Narali Pornima / Rakshabandhan. The heavens would open up and rain would pour and we would jolt in the local trains and auto-rickshaw which offered NO protection in the pelting rain to reach 'Aajicha ghari' (Gandma's home). There is nothing as heart warming as  a Grandmother, nothing!  Her gentle hands ushering us in, handing out soft towels ( 'pancha') to dry ourselves and a hot cup of tea to warm us and her concerned voice, "barach vel jhala, mala kalji vatayla lagi hoti, mhatla  pavsaacha lakshan  bara nahi, faslat ki kay?...  aga dhamey, bas ki jara majha javal, lagech kay khelaychay ( that was for me)?" ( meaning : I was worried about you all, time was getting on and it is raining such a lot, I wondered if you guys were stuck somewhere.... addressing me: sit down beside me for a few minutes, do you have to rush to play?)

One by one  the others would trickle in and something like a routine would set in, the ladies would head into the kitchen, the gents would sit in the living room and discuss cricket, politics and we found ourselves either thrown out or thrown in one bedroom (in case of heavy rains) and the door shut to ensure sanity of the elders. 

Lunch time was invariably delayed on such a day but nobody complained. The yummy food made up for lost time.

Narali Pornima meant Narali Bhaat ! Warm fragrant coconut rice, sweetened with jaggery, served on babana leaves.  I don't  remember the other items on the menu, good as they were, we usually pounced on the star item! 

In many of my previous posts I have let it drop that the Husband has a psychological allergy to coconuts and so it's been a while since I have enjoyed Narali Bhaat . 

I made some  'Undhiyo' ( a Gujarati mixed-vegetable dish ) and had some frozen coconut left over. And so, on a Tuesday ( when the husband was FAR away from home) I made this  rice dish to share with my friends.

On a weekday ( Mon- Thurs) we are a group of 5 and gather every afternoon and spend time together, talking laughing, eating , watching a movie or simply going to the mall. We usually mix and match our meals ( bring whatever you have). This rice is fairly simple to put together and if you have an electric rice cooker, there is no monitoring !

You need:

1 cup Rice ( I used Sona Masuri)

1 cup Shredded Coconut ( fresh or frozen)

1 cup Jaggery ( this makes the rice mildly sweet, increase the quantity by 1/4 cup if you prefer a sweeter version)

4 Cloves

2-3 tbs. Ghee

Wash rice in 3-4 changes of water and set aside for 15 mins.

Heat 1 tbs. Ghee in a wok/ kadhai and add the Cloves

Add the washed and drained rice and mix well so that every grain of rice is well coated and aromatic

At this stage, I usually put  rice in the rice cooker and  add water (3 cups for Sona masuri) and set it to cook mode

In the same wok add and heat over med-high heat, 2 tbs. of the remaining ghee, add the jaggery and let it melt ( keep an eye, it tends to burn all too easily), immediately add the shredded coconut and mix well

Cook for 1 min, just until the  whole things comes together

Add the coconut-jaggery mix to the rice, stir and allow to cook thoroughly

Once done, fluff and serve.

* If you like,  crush 2-3 cardamoms and add the powder to the rice  ( once cooked)

Briefly fry cashews in ghee and add them to the rice along with cardamom powder

If using Basmati rice, use water in proportion ( 1:2 - 1 rice, 2 water)

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Ganesh Chaturthi and RCI-Karnataka!

What happens when you apparently fall asleep? What happens when you wake up, but just gaze dreamily at the ceiling, thinking of nothing particular? What happens is..... a good friend comes along and nudges you out of the semi- comatose state!!
I was a bit lazy ... okay... okay, going in reverse gear, where blogging was concerned.. but so much was happening.. we are moving to a new apartment this weekend, so in a fit of high enthusiasm M and I packed stuff last weekend and in that very fit, I dunno what I did, but messed up my right thumb, which to date, is throbbing!

But, keeping in mind the RCI-Karnataka event, hosted this month by our very own superwoman, ASHA .I decided to make 'Kadabu'. My memories of Karnataka cuisine are linked to the small village of Badami in Karnataka. We would go to the Banshankari Temple (Kuldevi) and would stay there for a couple of days. My Mother's friend is of the Pujari family and so we always had a very pleasant time there (along with the privilege of sometimes helping in the kitchen! but the rules were SUPER orthodox and I always lived in the fear of royally messing up the whole thing and thereby incurring the wrath of the Goddess and the pujari family!)Thursday was the day of the Goddess and as usual there was a GRAND feast prepared and the rows and rows of devotees would await their turn to enter the great hall and feast!

Kadabu ( or simply put, puran - karanji) was a regular along with Chitranna, Holgi (puran poli) , Palya ( vegetable) , kousambri, and buttermilk. Thus satiated everyone would feel very happy and content and friendly with the world!! The evenings (after the sumptuous food) was my favourite time of the day, way back when I visited the temple, there was no electricity inside the Temple (they had everything in their homes) but the temple would glow in the soft light of the oil lamps. The wonderful smell of camphor, flowers would linger in the air and a flock of the womenfolk would gather in the space and sit making tiny packets of 'haldi-kumkum' and singing songs glorifying the Goddess and other dieties. These would be sung in Kannada (which I only partially understand) and full of devotion which would stir the heart and make even the most restless person feel at peace and one with the Almighty!

So this time for Ganesh Chaturthi, I decided to make Kadabu along with 'Ukadiche Modak' , Sheera and Pal payasam.

Kadabu Recipe

For the filling:

1 cup chana daal

1 cup Jaggery (or 1/2 cup jaggery & 1/2 cup sugar)

1/4 tsp Cardamom Powder

For the cover:

1 cup Wheat flour (atta)

1 tbsp oil

Water to bind the dough

OIL to deep fry the kadabu

Bind the dough for the cover, like roti dough, just a little stiff.
Wash the daal in 2-3 changes of water and put it to boil with about 3 cups water.
Cook the daal until it is soft. Drain and reserve the water, this can be used to make Katachi aamti
In a heavy bottom pan combine the daal and the jaggery and cook till it becomes a homogenous mixture. leave it to cool ,then add the cardamom powder. If you want to make the stuffing amooth, run it through the blender, I left it chunky as I do not have what is called as the 'puran yantra.Take a small lemon size ball of the dough and roll it out like a puri. Spoon 1-2 tbsp. (depending upon the size of the puri) of the filling and fold it over, pressing the edges together to seal it. Heat oil in a kadhai and deep fry the kadabu till golden brown.When serving, add a dollop of pure ghee and serve.

Ukadiche Modak :

For the filing

1 cup fresh grated coconut

1 cup jaggery

1 cardamom powdered

1 tbsp Poppy seeds (khus-khus) (optional)

For the Cover:

1 cup rice flour

1 cup +3-4 tbsp Water

2 pinches salt

2 tbsp Oil

In a kadhai, add the coconut and jaggery and cook till it is a homogenous mixture. Take care not to overcook.

Boil water in a saucepan, add the salt and oil to it. Once the water comes to a rolling boil, add the rice flour and mix well so that there are no major lumps. Cover and cook for a minute. Remove cover and mix again, cover and switch off the heat/ flame.

After a while (2-3 mins) take out the mixture and knead it into a soft pliable dough. Divide into lemon size balls and carefully using palms and fingers flatten the dough into a puri like shape, spoon the coconut-jaggery mixture into the rice dough . Carefully squeeze the sides to form petals and bring them together at the top. Do this for all of the rice dough. Cover the ready modak by a damp cloth to prevent drying. The modak now need to be steamed. I used the regular pressure cooker (without the weight/whistle)

Arrange the modak carefully and steam them for approx 15 mins.

When serving serve with a dolop of pure ghee! YUM!!

Pal Payasam (I made limited quantity)

4 tbsp Basmati Rice

2 cups Milk

5 tbsp Brown Sugar ( add extra sugar if u like it sweet)

A few threads saffron

1 cardamom powdered

1 tsp ghee

Few Raisins, Almonds and Cahews

Wash the rice and drain all water, set it aside

Heat ghee in a saucepan, lightly fry the almond and cashews, add the rice and then the raisins and saffron ( I usually add raisins at this stage for the simple reason that on a few occasions they were burnt beyond recognition and I had to chuck the whole thing) Once all the rice grains are well coated with ghee and the raisins are plump, add the milk.

Here you have 2 options, the quick way to make Pal Payasam is to put it in the pressure cooker and cook for 3-4 whistles of let it slow cook in the stove till rice is completely cooked. I used the pressure cooker. After removing the vessel from the pressure cooker, add sugar and bring to a boil, let it thicken a little, lastly add the cardamom powder.

I made Sheera like I always do , but one thing is for sure, Sheera made for prasad tastes a whole lot tastier than the regular sheera!! Don't ask me how!! It just does!!

My prasad thali

Chitranna

1 cup rice

1 tsp Urad Daal

1tsp chana daal

1 green Chilli

1 Dry red chilli

Few curry leaves

1-2 tbsp Oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

2-3 tbsp. Roasated peanuts

1/4 tsp Asafetida

1/2 tsp Turmeric

Salt to taste

Juice of one med. size Lemon

1/2 tsp sugar (optional)

5-6 cashews (optional)

Cilantro (minced) to Garnish
Wash rice in 3-4 changes of water and keep aside for 20 mins. Cook rice. Once rice is cooked, spread it ona plate and allow it to cool.

Heat oil in a kadhai. Add chana and urad daal and let them turn a light brown, add mustard seeds, once they pop, add the asafetida, green and red chilli ,curry leaves, turmeric and peanuts. Saute a while.

Add the Rice, mix thoroughtly, cover and cook for 2 mins. on medium flame. Uncover add salt and sugar, mix and cove and cook for another 3-4 mins. Afte r the heat is turned off, add the lemon juice. Garnish with Cilantro before serving.

We now come to one amazing Fruitzi the Pineapple Kairas! The unusual combination of pineapple chunks with spices creating an explosion of taste in every mouthful is difficult for me to describe!! Every year during the month of Shravan, the Kannada Community in Navi Mumbai (or New Bombay as I call it) have the Raghavendra Swami Ashtotarra and SatyaNarayan pooja. They have this caterer ( who was also caters to most of our family functions) who makes the MOST AMAZING Food and his pineapple kairas is to die for, so are the Jalebis, and the sambar and the rasam and ... (stop calling me a greedy p**, what I am stating is the absolute Truth!!)

So since I have missed the food for 2 years in a row, I mean the pooja .. pooja... ahem.. yes.... I got my Mom to somehow procure the recipe... which she did from her friend, Mrs. B !

Pineapple Kairas

1 cup Pineapple chunks ( I used a can of chunks)

1 lump Jaggery

Marble size Tamarind Pulp

Salt to taste

Masala

1 tsp White sesame seeds/ til

1/4 tsp Fenugreek/ Methi seeds

1/2 tsp Urid dal

1 spoon Corriander seeds/ Dhane

2-3 Bedagi chilli

1/2 cup fresh coconut grated

Few Curryleaves

1 tbsp oil for frying masala

Heat a kadhai , add the sesame to it and dry roast till they turn a light brown.Remove and keep it aside.

Heat 1 tsp oil, add the urad daal and methi seeds and saute for about 20 seconds. Add the corriander seeds, saute. Add the Byedgi chilly and curry leaves, by now the urid daal has turned light brown, add the grated coconut and mix and cook for acouple of mins.

Grind to a paste in the blender/ chutney attachment 9 do not add too much water0

In the same kadhai, add the Pineapple pieces , tamarind pulp, jaggery and salt. Mix these 4 items together and cook for a minute Mix the masala paste in the cooked pineapple mixture and boil for 2 minutes or till the pineapple softens (time may vary if you use fresh pineapple).Your pineapple kairas is ready to serve.

If ALL that ain't enough, finish off your meal with soothing Yogurt Rice!

You need: (no measures for this!! I just did this mechanically! So used to it since my childhood!)

Cooked rice

Fresh yogurt

Milk

Salt to taste

For tempering

2 tsp oil

1 spn mustard seeds

1/4 tsp pinches asafetida

Some grated ginger (1/2 tsp, if you like ginger)

1/2 spoon chana daal + urad daal

5 curry leaves

1 dry red chilli broken into 2-3 pieces / 1 green chilly chopped

Fresh chopped cilantro (optional)

Mix the yogurt and milk in the rice, add salt .. mix well Heat oil, add chana and urad daal, mustard seeds, once the daal is nice and brown (by this time the mustard will crackle) add asafetida, ginger, chilly and curry leaves. Add the tempering to the yogurt rice, garnish with cilantro if u wish….and complete your meal!

Thank you Asha for being our hostess for RCI this month!!

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