Thursday 15 October 2015

All about salt ....

Salterie in French means a box to store salt .  Salt has been used since ages  in human civilisation . Its a very important part of our diet .  Promising or vowing on the salt is  considered very sacred and solemn. Was it king Leer who finally understood when his third daughter said " papa I love you as much as salt in my dish . "
A salt    pig is an open salt container with its mouth sticking out like a pig . But it does not have a lid and is usually made of ceramic . So the chances of breakage are more .Salt should be aired as much as possible else it gets clogged and clumpy .   My Brazilian friend taught me to add a few raw rice to the salt  mill - the one  used to keep on the dining table and sprinkle on food while eating . The raw rice will soak in the moisture  of the salt from the mill and it wont clog while sprinkling from small holes .  But we don't use salt or pepper mills on our table much .
 You know my nature , when some thing new comes up, I have to talk non stop about it for days together . So here we go about my new salterie , my old one , the whys and hows ...

For a decade when there were just 2 of us , we didn't use much salt as we didn't cook much. Once the twins came ,  we started buying groceries to stock them and use them in  big quantities.
I bought my first big box of rock salt ( which came along with a plastic box ) from Sainsbury's as we lived in London way back then. it was a plastic box of 1.5  kg .  I have been using it till now , its been a decade since I bought it last .  I use the refill bags of rock salt now from Carrfour ( we have shifted to Paris so ... ) and fill my red and white plastic box with it . They say its inauspicious to wash salt containers so I never washed it .  It  did serve its purpose though it was a bit tough to scrap the rock salt lying at the bottom when the box was almost empty . I use a small plastic spoon to scoop out rock salt from it .  It used to hurt my wrists as the border of this  box  is wearing out . when it was time to scrap  out from its bottom .  You might ask why don't you use a longer spoon . Well the thing is , I have been using the small plastic spoon since day one and the older  a thing gets, the more attached and sentimental you become about it . Its complicated logic but hope you get it .


Like they say , learn to embrace new things .  Nothing wrong in letting go old things . I saw this pretty Salterie on Ebay. It was Ukrainian  hand made . I bought it  without a second thought .  I ordered one for 21 cms but she gave me one  of 15 cms . Said its hand made so not possible to stick to measurements all the time .  I was kinda disappointed. This is smaller and holds only up to 250 gms .  Well I am not the one to complain all the time . If you don't get what you like , then learn to like what you get . I quite liked the wooden salter . It has a hole on the side  to hold a spoon too. Looking for a silver lining , I don't have to hurt my wrists scrapping salt from its rock bottom.  and now it adorns my kitchen shelf .

I find it pretty and ubiquitous at the same time .  Would love your comments on this new  toy of mine. 

Thursday 8 October 2015

Idli Chatni pudi ... Spice powder for Idli / Dosa

My inlaws are visiting us now for 2 months .  I will become very cold from November so its better that they leave before that . I am not letting this opportunity go . Making my poor / unsuspecting MIL come and teach me  the bits and bobs right from how to hold the ladle whole frying to heavy recipes which take several hours to make . The Sweet soul she is ,  she is more than willing to stand in my cold kitchen and monitor me .
Today I sweet talked her into teaching me her  patented chatni pudi. Its called by various names Molaga pudi / gun powder / Karam Pudi / Idli pudi / Dal pudi ...
Its a melange ( to use a French term ) of various lentils and spices . Its an accompaniment for idlis / dosas and other tiffin items and makes for a quick breakfast  idea .

Channa Dal -1 cup
Udad Dal - 1/2 cup
Tuar  Dal - 1/4 cup .
Chilly powder /salt to taste .
A generous fist ful of Ground nuts
Curry leaves - a few sprigs
Mustard -1 tbsp
methi seeds - 1 tbsp
Coriander seeds - 2 tbsp
Jeera - 1 tbsp
Sesame seeds  - 1tbsp
Jaggery -  2-3 tbsp ( as per taste.  If you have children  in your family , you need to add a bit more . )
Dry desiccated coconut -  2 tbsp
Hing - a few pinches
Tamarind fruit - 1 small lemon sized ball.

In a heavy bottomed pan,  fry the 3 lentils separately till reddish brown.  Keep the dals aside separately .
In the same pan , fry ground nuts  , sesame seeds , desiccated coconut ,` methi seeds  and curry leaves separately .  You need to lightly fry the chilly powder too .  Keep them all aside in different bowls to cool down .
In the same pan then , fry 2 tbsp of oil  fry the mustard seeds / Cumin seeds and Coriander seeds  till they sputter  and become reddish .

In a mixer / blender , first lightly powder the channa dal . When its coarse , add Udad and Tuar dals  and give one round of blending . It can remain coarse at this stage  .

Add the rest -Groundnuts / curry leaves / mustard / jeera / sesame / jaggery / coconut / hing / tamarind / salt / chilly powder  and give  a nice whirl in the mixer . It should not get too soft  .
Once ground into a thin coarse  consistency, remove it and let it cool down .
Store in an air tight container . For a family of four this should remain for  a month or so and my family eats idlis / dosas etc fairly frequently .