Chambaka for click

The good thing about blogging is that you write whenever you want and pick up from whereever you left off. Over the past few months, something or the other has kept me from penning anything down, even though I have been eagerly following all my favourite blogs. My job got busier, went to India on a vacation, attended brother's wedding which was awesome, got busy again with work; then the dark clouds of job lay-offs hovered above our heads, but now the clouds are beginning to thin out and I see the sun coming out; analogous to how spring is finally here after a harsh cold winter.

And to celebrate spring, this month jugalbandi's lovely click event's theme is 'spring'. I am sending the following picture of a bunch of rose apple called "Jambaka/Chambaka" in malayalam. Its a crunchy, slightly sour fruit. My mother-in-law first introduced them to me as pickle and I could not guess what they were (since I had never had them before). Nevertheless, the pickle was yummy and I was having them with every meal. Later she took me to her sister's (Renu Elema) house to show me how the fruit actually looks. My mother in law is herself an ardent gardner and I'm showcasing shots I took from her garden on my recent trip to India. Enjoy!

Im also trying out this new look with my blog so hang in there, if it looks weird, know that I'm fixing it up!!

Rajasthani Gatte ki kadi

There is a small village in rajasthan called Nathdwara, its the place Ive been going to since childhood on every trip to India from Africa... the places and darshan of the deities refreshes the soul and also ignites your gastronomic senses. From the prasadam that we get with all the darshan to the street food, it is the best Ive ever had. I consider my Dad a connosieur of taste and when he says that the taste of the rabdi is the most authentic, then there's no argument!

"Set amid idyllic hills, it provides a welcome respite from the searing heat of Rajasthan. The modest sized town is home to one the wealthiest temples in India. The town in it self is famous for it's exuberant festivals, miniature paintings, jewellery and above all, it's sweets. Threat of cholesterol and calories have yet to deter the culinary experts of this town who add sugar and butter to almost all dishes!! Life in the town revolves around the "Haveli" term used for all the temples of the "Pushti Marga". This is one of the most colourful sects within the devotional side of Hinduism. It also happens to be one of the few that do not advocate renunciation for spiritual growth. It is this worldly, practical and realistic view of life that lends itself to the colourfulness of the sect. ": Source

read more about nathadwara here...and here

Just outside the temple is a rabdiwala... that sells rabdi early in the morning in tiny earthenware cups. The taste is soooooo ...um..... I dont have words to describe how delicious it tastes!!! As I go through memory lanes of my childhood, we would then proceed through the small galis and shop for lovely artwork and rajasthani jewellery (little mirror work on almost everything), and then reach a place that serves elaichi doodh and besan papdi... the papdi is a long strip of steamed and fried papdi strips with the usual mustard, hing, corainder tadka with imli chutney, oh yummm. I remember the elaichi doodh to be so fragrant and soothing, God knows what they put in it!!! Right next to this place was all the tangawalas and the next highlight was taking a ride on the tanga (horse drawn traditional carriage) to the outer gali for the best dhokla I've ever had. This dhoklawala keeps his dhokla soaked in water and lots of corainder all the time!! Its the most spongiest khaman dhokla, I have yet to see a dhokla as springy as that one. The prasad we get in the evening finishes you and your day. I remember giant mathris, and ladoos with incredible taste, kadi and khichdi, gadmad ki sabzi...wow... I wanna go back and expirience it all again... This is the nostaligia that the mention of Rajasthan invokes in me. So to celebrate the special RCI: Rajasthan, I made Gatte ki kadi....

Ingredients:

For the gatte:
- 1 cup besan (chickpea flour)
- 1 tsp jeera (cumin seeds)
- 1/2 tsp ajwain (carom seeds)
- salt to taste
- water to make dough

For the kadi:
- 1 cup dahi (yoghurt)
- 3-4 whole dried red chillies
- 4-5 tbsp ghee (more like a dollop)
- 1 tbsp jeera (cumin seeds)
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- pinch hing (asafoetida)
- salt to taste
- 4-6 cups water

How to make the gatte:

Combine the besan, jeera, ajwain and salt with water to make a firm dough. The dough should not be too soft and not as hard as the dough for mathri....firmer than roti dough. Make cylindrical pipe like shapes of 20cm length and 1.5cm thickness. Drop the cylinders in boiling water and let it boil for 14-15 minutes. Drain and cool. The cylinders will have a 'skin'. Peel the skin with a scrapper like you would scrape carrots. Cut the cylinders into 4cm pieces. Deep fry the pieces (if you want to make it authentic, then it should be fried in ghee as everything in rajasthan is said to be made with ghee!, if you gasped in horror at that statement you can fry them in normal cooking oil). See kailas kitchen on some pictures of the gatte making process.

To make the kadi:

The gravy for this kadi is so simple and its the simplicity of the kadi that highlights the gatte. Heat a large pot and a dollop of ghee on high heat; add the hing, jeera, red chillies in that order while stirring. Add the yoghurt and four cups of water. Add more water if you want a more runny kadi as the gattes will eventually soak up lots of water; you can do that at a later stage too, if you find that the kadi is too thick. Add salt and turmeric and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a medium and simmer the kadi for a 10-15minutes. The gattes will soak up more and more water as they sit in the kadi. This kadi can be had with plain rice or tandoori roti.

Ive served it with a tandoori roti and a scrumptious salad... to Spicy Andhra for her lovely RCI:Rajasthan event.