What
Bollywood loves on its plate!
Published: May 07,201702:56 PM by
Chef Ramaa Shanker
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Staying at a celebrity’s house is a
very different experience. It’s a whole new world. The way you sit, eat, laugh
and sleep, change. You need to adapt to the environment and develop what is
seen as a snobbish attitude.
Usilampatti Kheerai Murul Adai
Chennai:
Else, you may end up being
ostracised. One cannot talk freely with the lift operator or offer chai to the
bai (maid). However, interestingly, you can discuss food and recipes with
all.
I remember staying at actor Aftab
Shivdasani’s place to set up a small mandir for him. It was a memorable
experience and I came back with my share of cooking tales from the stay.
He would call all his celebrity friends to taste my cooking and eat dishes they
never knew existed. For them, vegetarian food meant cooking with potatoes,
onions and paneer. Anything beyond that was punishment. So, I decided to
surprise them with some authentic dishes, which were healthy and tasty. It had
them licking the food off their fingers. Actors including Rahul Dev, Gulshan
Grover, John Abraham, Rajpal Yadav and the late Amrish Puri, among many others,
were great company, cracking jokes and narrating stories from their lives, both
in front of the camera and behind it. They would fill the room with laughter
and joy. I loved cooking for them. Amrish Puri gave me a rare compliment once.
He said the rajma and baingan bharta I cooked was as good as his naani ’s
(maternal grandmother). It was very special because our grandmothers’ cooking
is the benchmark for most of us. Ranbir Kapoor, a health freak, loved his
non-veg food. Like I had mentioned in an earlier article, he too loved his
grandma’s cooking. But, he was also fascinated by adai, especially the one I
made with chicken. On the other hand, John Abraham loved the healthy spinach
and lentils adai.
Adai , a crisp south Indian pancake
is usually made with different lentils, and rice, soaked and ground. I modified
this dish by adding quinoa, ragi and brown rice. All this was soaked together
and ground with red chillies and asafoetida. To the batter, I added
semisteamed palak, onions, green chillies, coriander, mint,
drumstick leaves, walnuts, basil leaves, ginger and garlic, all cut fine,
sautéed and ground.
This recipe takes me back to
Usilampatti, a village near Coimbatore, where adai is served with tomato
chutney. Kanji (rice gruel with grated coconut and salt) is served as a drink.
The town’s Amma Mess is so famous that almost every traveller who passes by,
pulls over to enjoy these dishes. Today, I share with you the recipe of Usilampatti
kheerai murual adai, that is also actor John Abraham’s favourite dish.
The writer is a chef and author of
Festive Offerings to the Gods
Usilampatti Kheerai Murul Adai
Serves 2 to 4 | Prep time — 2 hours
| Cooking time — 15 min | Calorie per adai — 190
Ingredients
Red rice: 1 /4 cup
Urad dal: 1/3 cup
Moong dal whole: 1/3 cup
Boiled rajma/ black beans or white
channa: 1 tbsp
Methi seeds: 1 tsp
Oats:1 tbsp
Any form of millet or quinoa: 1 tbsp
Toor dal: 1/3 cup
Channa dal: 1/3 cup
1 large bunch of palak, cleaned,
cut
1 small bunch of drumstick leaves
cut fine
Cumin seeds (jeera): 1 tsp
Mint and basil leaves: 1 tbsp
Chopped onions: 1/3 cup
Chopped or grated ginger: 1
tbsp
Garlic fried in ghee and chopped
fine: 6
Green chillies cut fine: 3
Walnuts: 1 tbsp
Tomatoes de-seeded and cut fine: 1/3
cup
Chilly flakes to sprinkle on
top
Dry red chillies: 4-6
Coriander seeds: 1 tsp
Black pepper powder: 1/2 tsp
Grated coconut: 1/4 cup
Oil: 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Buttermilk: 1 cup
Method
Mix the dals with rice, quinoa and
oats. Wash and soak with curry leaves, asafoetida, red chillies, rajma or
black/white channa. Soak for at least 1 1/2 hours. Grind pouring buttermilk in
it.
Heat the oil and add the cumin
seeds, coriander seeds, red chillies and pepper. Fry for 30 seconds and add the
spinach, roughly chopped, drumstick leaves, fresh coriander, methi seeds, curry
leaves, mint, basil, tomatoes, onions, ginger, garlic and walnuts. Sauté for 2
minutes until everything is slightly fried.
Grind the soaked rice-dal mixture
along with the spinach mixture and coconut with some salt and water. The
mixture can be slightly course, that’s the right texture. You can also grind it
using buttermilk.
Adai is ready to be made. Use a
non–stick tava to make crisp golden ones. Pour it on the pan like a dosa. Make
sure both sides are cooked and slightly golden. One can use gingelly oil,
coconut oil, pure ghee or olive oil to cook. Traditionally, gingelly oil is
used but most of them like it with ghee or olive oil.
Adai is usually served with white
homemade unsalted butter and jaggery, coconut and/or tomato chutney.
Tomato chutney for Adai
Ingredients
Tomatoes: 6
Big onions: 2
Red chillies: 8
Milk: 1 tbsp
Oil: 1 tbsp
Jeera: 1 tsp
Jaggery: 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp
Some curry leaves
Ginger: 1 tsp
Garlic: 4 cloves
Fresh coriander: 1 tbsp
A pinch of asafoetida
Salt to taste
Thick yogurt: 1 tbsp
Method
Place frying pan on the gas, pour in
1 tbsp oil. When hot, add mustard seeds. Let it splutter. Then add cumin,
asafoetida, broken red chillies and curry leaves. Keep this aside.
In another pan, add oil, and the cut
onions and fry. Add cut ginger, green chillies and garlic and fry.
Once onions are almost fried, add
tomatoes.
Stir until they cook well.
Add jaggery and yogurt.
Add two tablespoons of milk.
Cool the mixture for a while.
Grind it in the mixer to the desired
consistency.
Add seasoning to the chutney.
Serve hot with crispy and tasty
adai. It also goes well with dosa.
Tip for the day: Start your day with a glass of warm
water mixed with juice of one lime. Add a pinch of turmeric to it. It has many
health benefits. It keeps blood sugar and blood pressure levels in check. Also
aids in weight loss
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