What a day it was! It was raining like cats and dogs in Burgh today. I am scared to get drenched in the rain, though I like it, because of my sinusitis. But today was my day ! Yes, you guessed it correctly. I got wet in the rain; I walked in the rain today. Shhhhh….. Don’t tell my husband! I can’t withstand his boring lecture about cold, cough, etc.
It was a long day in my office, packed with meetings back to back. When I was done for the day, the clouds turned black and darkness surrounded. While I was enjoying such a pleasant cloudy evening after a sunny day, it started bucketing down. Amidst my fear towards rain, the only thing that I could think is my little plants which I left on the balcony. Tomatoes have grown big and tall.. tall means really tall. They are tender and not old enough to withstand ill wind. I informed my friends with whom I carpool, shut down my system and I was racing with the wind and rain. I was soaked to the skin. When we thought we could do with some rain, it poured down. When I began walking, I had mixed emotions and remembering my childhood memories. Usually, when it rains, I used to make paper boats and play with them in the rain water. Rain always bring the inner child out of me . In fact, bring out the child in everyone. I used to pedal to school. When it rains, I and sofi used to pedal with our full energy and race on the roads. The feel when you land with speed in the pool of water on roads is indescribable.
Rain is a language; Rain is a music for the soul; My heart was thinking about my childhood memories and my legs were literally running fast. We got drenched in the rain by the time we reached the parking lot. Parking card didn’t work at the gateway and after fifteen minutes wait, the gate opened. I was rushing and I could breathe only on seeing my little ones standing erect, fresh and green. My mind relaxed and I could feel my leg pain that moment.
It takes so much effort to grow plants from seeds and it is worth every effort you spent on them on seeing tiny buds on them. Being a farmer requires so much courage to face the natural calamities and safeguard their fields. Hats off to them.
Now, to the recipe.
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Chettinad Kuzhi Paniyaram is a very common breakfast variety prepared in the chettinad region. Paniyaram is also known as paddu or gunta ponganalu. Paniyaram is similar to Ebleskiver (a Danish sweet dish), Poffertjes (a Dutch sweet dish), Takoyaki (a sweet Japanese dish) and Pinyaram ( an Indonesian dish)
Paniyaram is prepared using Appe pan. My mom usually prepares when Dosa batter becomes sour though the batter used for ideal Paniyaram is ground using raw rice, parboiled rice, and urad dhal. Chettinad paniyaram is crisper because of the addition of parboiled rice. The addition of grated coconut and shallots makes it slightly different than the usual regular paniyarams. It can be either prepared as sweet or spicy ones. Sweet version is prepared by using jaggery whereas spicy version is prepared by using onions and chilies.
Again my love for Chettinad cuisine urges me to experiment their varieties often in my kitchen. SJ’s favorite version is Muttai Paniyaram and I am planning to try that sometime soon.
Ingredients:
- Idly rice – 2 Cup
- Raw rice – 2 Cup
- Urad dhal – ½ Cup
- Fenugreek seeds – 2 tablespoon
- To mix in batter:
- Small onions finely chopped – 10
- Green chilies chopped – 4
- Grated Coconut – 4 tablespoon
- Mustard seeds – ½ teaspoon
- Urad dhal – ½ teaspoon
- Oil – 1 teaspoon
Method:
- Soak raw rice, idli rice, urad dhal and fenugreek seeds in water for about four hours or overnight. Grind them into a smooth batter. Add a teaspoon of salt and allow them to ferment overnight, for about 8 hours.
- In a Kadai, heat oil over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add mustard seeds, followed by urad dhal, onion, and chilies and fry them till they turn brownish.
- Add grated coconut at the end and cook for about 2 minutes. Switch off the flame. Add the mixture to the batter.
- The batter should be in idli batter consistency.
- Heat appe pan over medium flame. Pour batter into the holes in the appe pan. Drizzle oil in the around the corner.
- Cook until they are cooked well and become crisper, turning the paniyaram in the mid.
Paniyaram tastes awesome with kara chutney. Here you go.
Kara Chutney:
Ingredients:
- Small Onions finely chopped – ½ cup
- Dry red chilies – 5
- Garlic – 6
- Medium sized Tomatoes – 3
- Asafoetida – a pinch
- Tamarind – half lemon size
- Salt – as required
- Seasoning
- Oil – 2 teaspoon
- Mustard seeds – ½ teaspoon
- Urad dhal – ½ teaspoon
- Handful curry leaves
Method:
- In a mixer jar, add onion, tomatoes, dry red chili, garlic, asafoetida, tamarind, and salt. Grind them into a coarse paste.
- In a pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add mustard seeds once the oil is hot. Once the seeds splutter, add urad dhal and curry leaves.
- Add the grounded paste to the mixture. Allow them to boil until the raw smell goes off.
- Cook until required consistency is attained.
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Serve spicy paniyaram with kara chutney. Enjoy a rainy evening with a flavor of chettinad.
