Wilbur Sargunaraj eats and drinks his way through his father's home village in his video "The Village Way: Food." And he's clearly having a good time, even when he downs some very hot "pepper water"!
(Perhaps the antidote is Goli soda, South India's favorite carbonated drink, with a marble sitting atop the bottle to seal in the bubbles.)
To learn how to make this village fare, we turned to Vijitha Shyam, who blogs about Indian food at spicesandaroma.in. Heads up: You'll need to make a trip to an Indian grocery store to find some of the ingredients.
Murukku
Murukku is a savory teatime cracker — crunchy on the outside, but it'll melt in your mouth when you bite in. It's made with rice flour as a base ingredient and white lentils, chickpea flour or roasted chickpea powder as a binding agent. A well-flavored murukku is a treat by itself. A dash of asafoetida powder adds depth in taste. You'll need a murukku press to create the round shape — a cylindrical container that comes with mold plates of different shapes. The prepared dough is stuffed inside the press. Tighten the lid, then press down to release a circle of dough, which is then deep-fried in oil.
Ingredients
- 2 cups rice flour
- 1/4 cup white lentil flour
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1/4 teaspoon asafoetida
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 4 tablespoons cold butter
- 1/4 – 1/2 cup room temperature water
- Vegetable oil for deep-frying
Equipment
- Murukku press
- Large deep pan for deep-frying
Directions
Murukku can be stored at room temperature for up to 15 days in an airtight container.
Idly
Idly is a fermented rice-lentil cake, eaten for breakfast in South Indian homes and also mixed with water and vegetable puree and served as baby food. These fermented rice-lentil cakes are steamed in an idly rack in a pressure cooker (you can also steam them in ramekins). First, the rice, white lentils, flattened rice and fenugreek seeds are soaked in water for 4 to 6 hours. Then they are ground to a smooth batter using a wet grinder. Leave the batter out to ferment overnight at 70 to 75 F.
Ingredients
- 4 cups idly rice (sold in Indian grocery stores)
- 1 cup white lentils
- 3 fistful flattened and dried rice (also known as poha, and sold in Indian groceries)
- 2 teaspoons fenugreek seeds
- Enough water to soak and grind
- 1 tablespoon salt
Equipment
- Wet grinder (You can use a food processor, but the idly won't fluff up as much)
- Idly rack
- Pressure cooker
Directions
Coconut Chutney
Chutney with coconut is a popular dip in South India. Green chilies or dry red chillies add heat; tamarind or lemon juice adds tartness. The coconut meat provides the creaminess. When these ingredients come together, flavorful chutney is created.
Ingredients
- 1 cup coconut meat, cut into cubes
- 2 green chilies, minced
- 1 inch ginger root, minced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon roasted chickpeas
- 1/4 teaspoon asafoetida
- 1/4 - 1/2 cup water to grind them
- 1/2 tablespoon salt
- 1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
- Pinch of asafoetida
- 10 curry leaves (sold at Indian grocery stores)
Equipment
- Blender or food processor
Directions
Sambhar
Sambhar is a spicy lentil broth made with vegetables, tamarind pulp and spice powders. Its consistency is similar to a lentil stew. It is eaten with rice as a main dish.
Ingredients
- 1 cup yellow split peas
- 3 cups water
- 1 tablespoon butter or ghee
- 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 dried red chili
- 1/2 teaspoon asafoetida
- 10 curry leaves
- 1 cup red onions, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon red chili powder
- 1 tablespoon coriander powder
- 1/2 cup chopped vegetables of choice (carrots, beans, eggplant)
- 1 tablespoon tamarind pulp
- 1/2 tablespoon salt
Equipment
- Pressure cooker
- Cooking pan
Directions
Tomato Rasam
This is what Wilbur calls "pepper water" in his video: a watery soup made of tamarind pulp, tomatoes, peppercorns, cumin seeds and garlic. It is typically made from the leftover lentil stock. Like sambhar, rasam is made on a daily basis in South Indian homes. It can be eaten with hot rice or as a soup. In some homes, tamarind is replaced by lemon juice as a souring agent. In the photo at left, plums were substituted for the tomatoes for plum rasam shots.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon yellow split peas
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon butter or ghee
- 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon asafoetida
- 10 curry leaves
- 1 dried red chili
- 5 garlic cloves, smashed
- 1 inch ginger, minced
- 2 red tomatoes, chopped
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 tablespoon coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon red chili powder
- 2 teaspoon crushed peppercorns
- 1 tablespoon salt
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1/4 cup cilantro for garnish
Equipment
- Pressure cooker
- Deep-frying pan
Directions
Thuvayal
Thuvayal is a chutney that follows the same principle as an Italian pesto, substituting herbs like cilantro, curry leaves or mint for the basil; white lentils for the pine nuts; and coconut instead of cheese to add creaminess. For thuvayal, the final step is to garnish the ground paste with hot oil tempered with black mustard seeds, asafoetida and curry leaves.
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon vegetable or olive oil
- Skin of 1 long ridge gourd
- 1/4 cup white lentils
- 2 dried red chilies
- 1/2 tablespoon tamarind pulp
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened dried or fresh coconut
- 1/2 tablespoon salt
- 1/4 - 1/2 cup water
- 1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil
- 1 tablespoon black mustard seeds
- 10 curry leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon asafoetida
Equipment
- Blender or food processor
Directions
Pazhaya Sadam
That's the way to say "day-old rice" in the South Indian language of Tamil. This is a common breakfast dish made with leftover rice, soaked in water overnight and mixed with fresh yogurt and salt the following day. Shallots and green chillies are thrown on top or served on the side. This is a common meal consumed by laborers in South India, with plenty of carbohydrates.
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked white rice
- 3 cups water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup yogurt
- 10 shallots (you can cut in half but you should be able to bite into them)
- 1-2 whole green chilies or sun dried chilies
Directions
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