Thursday, August 06, 2009

Bellam Pulusu

A lot of new couples and families have recently come to our city, some have moved into my apartment complex and I've had a good time meeting the new girls and inviting them over for a cuppa. The new group is mostly from Hyderabad and this sparked my enthusiasm for learning more about their cuisine.
M has always liked and favored Andhra food and I have tried some dishes from what I call my favorite,' Andhra Special', blogs. But there is always something different getting the perspective of a person who does not blog but the food still has the finger lickin' goodness!
My friend Madhavi moved to the apartment a few months ago, a quiet and gentle girl with a very friendly attitude and a huge plus in her favor was, my son liked her!
She has been my constant companion after my in-laws went back to India and has also cooked for me on days when I was tired chasing my active 1 year old all over the house!
One one of those days she came home with a steaming bowl of a hearty looking stew and told me to just mix with hot rice and enjoy! I enjoyed every morsel of this WONDERFUL stew and longed for more. What followed was an instant sit-down-here-and-tell-me-how-you-made-it session and I had it on my notepad.
I made this on a Thursday late night dinner when M comes home, tired after his long day at work and a short but exhausting flight.
This different, simple yet amazingly tasty stew was perfect after a long, long day. M usually prefers a simple Varan-bhaat meal, but this he claimed, was amazing!
I like the fact that it uses a variety of vegetables and I need not make anything else!


I have made this so many times that I eyeballed the ingredients ( you really cannot go wrong, feel free to experiment)

1- 11/2 Cup mixed vegetables ( carrot, squash, bottle gourd,yam, sweet potato) cubed
1-2 Green Chiles
1 Tomato chopped
1/2 tsp Conc. Tamarind pulp ( optional, if tomato is not sour), alternatively soak a small marble size ball of tamarind in hot water for 10-15 min, extract pulp and discard solids
*Jaggery a lime size ball
Salt to taste
2 T oil
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
1/4 tsp Fenugreek seeds
Pinch Asafetida
1/4 tsp Turmeric
Few Curry Leaves
1-2 Dry Red Chile
2T Rice Flour mixed in water to form a batter
Cilantro to garnish

Wash, peel and cube all the vegetables.
Place all the vegetables in a saucepan, cover with adequate water and bring to a boil. Cook the vegetables till they are tender (but not all mushy)
Add the green chile, turmeric, salt, tamarind pulp and jaggery
You can add the green chile when boiling the vegetables if you want it to be very hot.
Add the rice flour paste and boil, this will thicken up the pulusu
Prepare the tadka/ seasoning:
Heat oil, add mustard seeds, after they pop, add cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, asafetida, red chile and curry leaves.
Pour the seasoning over the pulusu. Mix well.
Garnish with Cilantro and serve with steaming hot rice

*The pulusu is supposed to have a sweetish taste, the selection of vegetables is therefore as mentioned above and Jaggery, which is roughly double the quantity than tamarind, enhances the taste. The chiles balance the taste with their heat.




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23 comments:

amna said...

i add bellam to most kozhambu that i make making sure its not too sweet. i love that flavour!

Priyanka Singh Mann said...

read many of ur recipies..and tried this latest one.one more thing..hope u know that ur blog featured in Indian edition of "Good Housekeeping" august issue..infact thats how i got to ur blog...congratulations

Manasi said...

Hi Nags! I am also in the habit of adding 'just a little bit' of jaggery to many Maharashtrian daals, sambars .. i like the taste!

Hi Priyanka! How did the recipe turn out?:) And U made my day,nope... my week! by giving me the news about the good housekeeping bit! I am so thrilled! Thank U!

Priyanka Singh Mann said...

Hi Manasi..
it turned out good..had it with rice..
I m sure u must be excited.long back i had sent something for my mom on mother's day to good housekeeping and they published it wth our photograph..i was so thrilled at that time..infact they have called ur blog along with few others a "delicious inspiration" keep up the "finger licking" work!!!

Unknown said...

Congratulations ! One more feather in your cap. Keep it up.

Unknown said...

Sounds tangy with the bellam. Looks healthy too.

Linda said...

Hi Manasi,

The pulusu looks so delicious -- and very interesting with the rice flour thickener. Where do we read about you in Good Housekeeping!? If there's a link do post it :)

Congrats :)

Usha said...

This stew sounds so intriguing and delicious, looking forward to trying it :-)

Manasi said...

Sunanda,THANK U!

Divya, I love the sweet-sour combo!!

Thank U, Linda, I have always used chickpea flour as a thickener and using rice flour has been a great tip! Abut the Good HouseKeeping article , I had no idea about it, Priyanka told me! I will ask my parents to pick up the Aug issue once the go back to India!

Usha, I do hope you will like it! Let me know ur opinion.

Cilantro said...

We add jaggery/ Bellam to most tamarind based gravies just to enhance the flavor. This recipe asks for more so that is what it makes it interesting.

Raaga said...

Your child is 1 already??

Time flies Manasi!

I must try this pulusu... Have not tried too many Andhra dishes despite being married to a Andhraite!

Namratha said...

Just the name is so inviting. And I so agree about learning something new from a neighbour or a friend, such dishes usually have an additional personal touch which only the person teaching can add to it. Makes it even more valuable. I'm trying this asap! :)

Vijitha said...

Hi manasi
First time here. U have a lovely space. Yummy pulusu and it looks so inviting.

Sushma Mallya said...

First time here Manasi:)....love ur blog ...tht looks very simple and nice recipe:)

Priyanka Singh Mann said...

hi Manasi...there is no link on your profile to send an email..if u can give me ur id then I can mail you the scanned images of pages from Good House Keeping..!!!

Manasi said...

Hi Priyanka, U darling U!!!!
I will fix the email thing, in the mean while, my email add is :
acokatheart@gmail.com

A Cook @ Heart said...

@ Priyanka!
Sorry dear! in my excitement i made a typo
the add is
acookatheart@gmail.com

Veggie Belly said...

There is something so wonderful about friendships that are made over food and by exchanging cultures and recipes :)

ashsdelicacies.blogspot.ca said...

nice recipe dear...u have some amazing post!!!

musical said...

Hello Manasi, how are you doing, girl? How is the lil' one?

Hugs to you both,
musical.

Mythreyi Dilip said...

Real yum!

Haddock said...

I like curries with variety of vegetables

Kalai said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
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