So much excitement this morning at Akriti! The milkman, Devrag, brought Lakshmi, one of his dairy cows – she is part Jersey part Brahmi – decked out in her Pongal make-up and finery. A special feast of sugar cane, bread, coconut, and cane leaves was prepared in her honor. BTW: Lakshmi is the goddess of wealth.
We boarded the quaint NilGiris narrow gauge train at 2 p.m. for the 46 km ride between Udhagamandalam (Ooty) and Mettupalayam in the foothills.
It was in 1854 that the first plans were drawn to build a mountain railway from Mettupalayam to the Nilgiris Hills and 45 years later the first train chugged through the hills carrying liquid cargo to the British (think gin!) it was later used as a tea train, and only afterwards for passengers. PSeeing the terrain, this was quite an engineering feat. The train itself is a charming blue and cream with wooden coaches and bench seats. Lovely trim work is now somewhat dilapidated, but the impression remains. The carriages are hauled up hills by diesel steam engines, designed and built by the Swiss Locomotive Works, and a brake-man travels at the back of the last carriage – the first class carriage we rode in.
There are five stations between Mettupalayam and Coonoor – Kallar, Adderley, Hill Grove, Runnymede and Kateri – and four between Coonoor and Ooty. It was in Kallar that we stopped to add water to the engine and the engineers lubricated the camshafts and levers that turn the wheels.
The diesel train journey is quite magical as you meander through eucalyptus and tea plantations to subtropical vegetation and the views of the NilGiris.
Coconut Chutney (South Indian)
1 small coconut, meat removed
1 tsp. Salt
1 green chili
Put all together in the processor and start grinding, dry…. no water. Grade thoroughly not adding water until you must to keep going. Gradually add a bit of water, still staying mostly dry. When it comes together as a paste, add a bit more water.
1 TBLS oil
1 dried red chili, broken into pieces
1 tsp. Urad dal
12 curry leaves
1;tsp. Mustard seeds
Now heat oil to hot. Add in quick succession dal, pepper, curry leaves, mustard seeds. Do not let dal get dark. Lift pan off heat if dal browns too quickly. It should be light brown. This should take only seconds, so have your spices ready. Pour this spice mixture over the chutney. Mix now or mix later.
Khatta Meethi Baigar ( sweet and sour eggplant ) ( North Indian)
4 small hard egg plants
1/4 tsp. Oil
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. Fennel seeds
1tsp. Coriander powder
1/2 tsp. Turmeric powder
1 Tbls. Tamarind paste
25 grams jaggery
In a small bowl, put the oil and mix all the spices into it, making a paste. Slit eggplants into pieces vertically from the bottom without cutting through the top and stem. Rub the spice mixture into the cut sections of the eggplant.
Mix the tamarind paste into a bit of water to form a thick syrupy liquid. Add water to the jaggery and let sit.
2 Tbls. Oil
Asafetida, a sprinkle
1/2 tsp. Nigella seeds (black onion seed)
1 Tbls. Water
Heat oil to hot , sprinkle in asafetida. Add seeds and let them pop. Add 1 T. water and then the eggplants. Cook gently over low heat until eggplants are almost entirely soft. Add the tamarind syrup and the jaggery and it’s liquid. Bring to a boil and cook it until the sauce is thick. About 5 minutes. Cover and let sit until ready to serve.
Rawa Idli (South Indian)
2 cups water, room temperature
2 cups semolina
3 Tbls. Yoghurt
Soak semolina in the water and yoghurt for several hours.
Seasoning ingredients
12 or more curry leaves
2 dried red chilis
1 tsp. Mustard seeds
1 tsp. Urad dal, white
1 tsp.salt
2 tsp. Eno ( 1 tsp. Bicarbonate of soda mixed with 1 tsp. Of citric acid)
Put the salt into the semolina mixture. It should be a sloppy loose mixture. Add the Eno powder (or the bicarbonate and Citric acid mix) and stir it in. This makes the mix a bit fluffy.
Heat the seasonings
Put 1/2 Tbls. oil in the pan and heat to hot. Add, in order: lentils, then chili, then leaves, then mustard seeds. Toss the pan a bit. So the spices don’t burn, then pour them out onto the semolina mixture and stir.
Brush a bit of oil onto the idli forms. Spoon mixture into the forms, stack them and steam gently for about 12minutes.
Note: This batter can be kept in the fridge for a week or more if you withhold the Eno powder / bicarbonate-citric acid. Add that just before cooking. To turn this batter into a dosa batter, thin it with a bit of water.
Paratha stuffed with carrot / cauliflower ( North Indian)
200 grams flour
1 tsp. Salt
Water to mix
2 medium carrots, grated
2 large florets of cauliflower, crumbled fine or chopped
First mix the dough, knead it minimally and leave it to rest, covered.
Put carrots and cauliflower in two separate bowls. On top of each, put
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. Fennel seeds
Pinch of asafetida
One green chili. Dry finely chopped
1 Tbls. Chopped cilantro
1/4tsp. Chili powder
Stir up the cauliflower mixture. Do NOT stir up the carrots mixture until ready to cook. Let it sit awhile, then stir the salt and spices just before cooking.(Otherwise the salt will force liquid out of the carrots. )
When ready to cook, divide dough into golf ball sized balls and roll them out to 1/8 inch thick. Put 2 Tbls. of cauliflower or carrot into the center and gather the dough up around the filling like a pouch. Flatten the pouches with the help of a bit of flour and roll out again.
Toast the paratha on a hot griddle or skillet on one side until browned spots show. Flip it, drizzle with oil, look for slight browning and then flip it again and again drizzle with oil. Take it off the flame.
credit: Renu Kumar www.explorindya.com
Nan and I had the opportunity to attend another church service – Matins, in English and led by a very good lay preacher of the Church of South India – this time in historic St. Stephen’s Church, in Ooty.
Here is is the backstory about St. Stephen’s as written and compiled by Nan where she quotes almost entirely from what she found on the internet titled “A Journal Entry by Tristan Hunt, 2003.”
What follows is lifted word for word… photos are mine – taken on Sunday.
“… to enter the porch of St. Stephen’s is to re-enter a lost universe of Anglo-India: of duty, militarism, and racial solidarity. Here, the administrators of the Indian civil service, the soldiers of the Bengal Artillery and Light Dragoon’s, and the missionaries of Anglicanism celebrated their civilization amid the encircling jungle of the western Ghats.
“And here lie their monuments to the fallen — those who gave their lives for a vision of India. The Rev. William Sawyer ‘who having labored with a diligence and zeal for six years as a missionary to the heathen at Madras died in the faithful discharge of his duties as chaplain of this station.’ Poor Georgiana Grace, ‘the beloved wife of JC Wroughton, Esq, Principal Collector of this Province’ who died at the age of 30 ‘leaving her husband and seven children to deplore their irreparable loss’. The unfortunate Richard William Preston, a captain in the 1st Bombay Grenadiers, who ‘drowned in the Kromund River while out hunting with the Ootacamund Hounds. Thy Will Be Done.’
“The very fabric of St. Stephen’s was a statement to English imperial hegemony. It’s architect, John James Underwood, a captain in the Madras Engineers, extracted its wooden beams from the remains of Tipu Sultan’s palace in Seringapatam, some 100 miles -east of Ooty. Tipu Sultan Fath Ali Khan, the Tiger Prince of Mysore, was one of the most persistent obstacles to the expansionist ambitions of the East Indian Company. Time and again during the late 18th century, he powered through Britain’s ‘thin red line’, capturing thousands of soldiers in the process.
“Most would succumb to infection in his disease-ridden dungeons. But Sultan’s palace was also a place of more intimate fears as captive British soldiers were pressured into joining the Mysore army. As part of their induction, the hapless warriors of empire were, according to an account unearthed by historian Linda Colley, body-shaved, stretched naked over a large bowl and ‘circumcised by force’. The British army was systematically unmanned. Seringapatam constituted a site of deep horrors, both physical and psychological, for the British colonial imagination.
“It took a Wellesley — Richard Wellesley, Governor General of Bengal and brother of the future Duke of Wellington — to crush the Tiger Prince in 1799 and open up Southern India for British rule. Pictures of the killing of a tiger, complete with leather boot atop the skinned Nimal’s head, would become a favorite leitmotif for Victorian Rule in and over India.”
“Underwood’s decision to strip Seringapatam for the roof of St. Stephen’s was the ecclesiastical equivalent of shooting the tiger. The thick beams which had provided the foundations for the Tiger of Mysore would support the Anglican soul of Ooty. Here the soldiers, tax-collectors and British colonial elite gathered to reaffirm their victory over Tipu Sultan’s India.”
Pongal is a four day Harvest Festival celebrated in Tamil Nadu and dedicated to the Sun God. The celebration dates back over 1000 years and falls during the month of Thai (January-February) during the season when rice and other cereals, sugar-cane, and turmeric (an essential ingredient in Tamil cooking) are harvested.
The First Day
This first day is celebrated as Bhogi festival in honor of Lord Indra, the supreme ruler of clouds that give rains. Homage is paid to Lord Indra for the abundance of harvest, thereby bringing plenty and prosperity to the land.
The Second Day
On the second day of Pongal, the puja or act of ceremonial worship is performed when rice is boiled in milk outdoors in an earthenware pot and is then symbolically offered to the sun-god along with other oblations. All people wear traditional dress and markings, and in accordance with the appointed ritual a turmeric plant is tied around the pot in which the rice will be boiled. The offerings include the two sticks of sugar-cane in background and coconut and bananas in the dish. A common feature of the puja, in addition to the offerings, is the kolam, the auspicious design which is traditionally traced in white lime powder before the house in the early morning after bathing.
The Third Day
The third day is known as Mattu Pongal, the day of Pongal for cows. Multi-colored beads, tinkling bells, sheaves of corn and flower garlands are tied around the neck of the cattle and then are worshiped. They are fed with Pongal and taken to the village centers. A type of bull run also takes place where young men run and attempt to grab the bull by the horns and force in to submission.
The Fourth Day
The Fourth day is known as Knau or Kannum Pongal day. On this day, a turmeric leaf is washed and is then placed on the ground. On this leaf are placed, the left overs of sweet Pongal and Venn Pongal, ordinary rice as well as rice colored red and yellow, betel leaves, betel nuts, two pieces of sugarcane, turmeric leaves, and plantains. In Tamil Nadu women perform this ritual before bathing in the morning. All the women, young and old, of the house assemble in the courtyard. The rice is placed in the centre of the leaf, while the women ask that the house and family of their brothers should prosper.
We went to Kothagiru this morning to observe some of the rituals.
Matar(peas) Paneer
1/2 litre milk
1 1/4 t vinegar
Boil milk. Add vinegar very slowly, while stirring milk. When it has separated scrape from side of pan and drain in a sieve. Pat in to rectangular shape while pressing out excess liquid.
Matar:
Asefitada
1.5 t cumin seeds
1 bay leaf
1” piece cinnamon
1 dry red chili
2 tomatoes puréed
1/2 t coriander
1/4 t chili powder
1/4 t paprika
1/2 t salt
1c peas
1 T chopped cilantro
NOTE: when using Asefitada never use garlic and vice verse.
2 T oil in pan – heat.
Add pinch of asefitida, cumin seeds. Let pop. Add bay leaf, cinnamon stick, and chili. Add tomato purée and cook down. Add remaining dry spices to the tomatoes. Add peas and paneer.
Cut the paneer in to cubes and brown lightly in a little oil.
Sprinkle with cilantro.
Baingan Bharta (Punjab/Rajasthan)
1 eggplant
Char over open flame.
1 tomato diced
1/2 red onion, chopped finely
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1T ginger, chopped
1t garlic, chopped
1/2 t salt
1/2 t paprika
1/4 t chili powder
1/4 t turmeric
1/2 c yogurt
Handful of fresh mint.
Heat 3T oil. Add fennel seeds and let pop.
Add onion and cook until light brown. Add ginger and garlic
Add tomato and cook until soft. Remove from heat.
Peel and chop eggplant. Add to tomato mix. Add dry spices, yogurt and half the mint, chopped.
Chop remaining mint for garnish.
Roth bread – an old recipe from Rajasthan.
This particular bread is eaten at the full moon in August. Married women fast for the entire day, and they prepare this bread serving the first piece to a cow, the second piece to their husband, and only then can they break their fast and eat themselves.
250g whole wheat flour
1 t salt
1 t carom seeds (Adjuain – good for digestion)
1 T ghee
Crumble ghee and add enough water to make a firm dough. Cover and let it rest.
Punch and knead lightly until smooth and even. Break off golf ball size pieces and roll to about 1/8”thick – about 6”diameter. Crimp the edges and stamp with wedding band to make rings on surface.
Bake on dry cast iron pan. Flip and brush ghee on browned surface. Flip again with ghee side down.
Credit: Renu Kamir www.explorindya.com
Morning broke with beautiful clear skies and views of mountains in the distance.
After breakfast we set off towards Ooty with a little diversion to take a walk through some of the older tea plantations. Various shades of green covered the hillsides and Rajat explained how individual plucking of the fresh shoots provides for optimal results, whereas some farmers have the shoots removed with a scythe which damages the twig and causes the bush to coarsen and turn darker green; the financial yield from this tea is much less. If the shoots aren’t plucked every eight days, the plant can easily get out of control and revert to being a tree – as we saw on some of the plantations. The temperatures were perfect and the scenery spectacular.
We visited the market in Ooty where preparations are in full swing for the Pongal festival which starts tomorrow, Sunday. Sugar canes and bunches of neem, with its frothy white flower, were all over and people were buying to ornament their homes, vehicles, etc.
Otherwise, deliciously fresh produce was in abundance and I have complete cauliflower envy – a huge head can be purchased for 75c!!!!
Banana fact: Each guest at EVERY Indian wedding (many with 2,000 to 3,000 guests) is given a banana! Two weeks from the date, the banana merchant is contacted and given the date and numbers. Banana branches are cut, wrapped in banana leaves, and stored in a cool dark place to ripen. One of these branches holds about 600 bananas!!!
Our tuk-tuk arrived promptly to take us on the 30 minute drive to Ernakulam Junction for our train ride on the Bangalore Express to Coimbatore, and the next phase of our adventure. It took us a walk to the far, far end of the train (the trains here are looooong) and back again to find our coach with a/c and our assigned seats. The journey took almost four hours, during which food wallahs constantly plied the aisle with their “chai, chai” or “coffee, coffee”, and whatever other food items they were hawking.
Rajat met us in Coimbatore and we set off on the two-hour road trip to the NilGiris (blue mountains) with stops along the way. First stop was a large Tiffin (restaurant that is open all day serving Indian “fast food” – typically a light lunch. Ours was dosa with chutneys and sambal.
We stopped to look at plantations of curry leaf plants, something we have enjoyed in virtually every dish we’ve eaten. Rajat told us of its medicinal properties also. We were amazed by this young man who loaded two huge bundles of the leaves – each weighing about 60 kg – on to his moped and then gingerly took off to the wholesale market!
Just before starting our ascent, we stopped for a coconut milk and ate the deliciously soft meat from the coconut.
Up, up and round and round, we climbed to 6,550 feet passing lush tea plantations along the way. And here we are, in these beautiful hills, perched on the side of the hill. Renu and Ravi, our hosts, are delightful and full of stories and information.
Even though we are spending a couple of nights in Alleppey, we decided to take a day tour on the backwaters. This entailed a one-hour drive to the village of Vaikom. Our guide greeted us and organized us in to two long, wooden canoe-type boats with the oarsmen using bamboo poles to punt our way through the narrow channels.
It was so tranquil and lush, and so interesting to see life in the backwaters unfold as we floated past.
We made a visit to a hamlet where we saw spices growing. (Top l-r: cloves, cinnamon, coffee beans, tamarind. Bottom: pepper corns and nutmeg)
We learned that the cinnamon tree needs to have at least six years maturity before the bark can be peeled, and then it needs to be taken from branches rather than the trunk – which would kill the tree. Pepper corns grow on a non-parasitic vine (this one climbing on a mahogany tree). All peppercorns come from the same plant – green, red, black and white. To get white peppercorns the seeds are soaked and then the outer skin removed. The outer peel of the nutmeg is used in chutneys; inside – the flower or mace is used in cooking – especially Biriyani; peel that away and you find the nut, which is grated for use.
This man was particularly fun to watch as he was washing his calf and then tried to get it out of the water! As warm as it was, I wouldn’t have minded a dip myself!
These women are making rope from coconut fiber.
We had a simple, but delicious, lunch – served in an open air pavilion type building! They probably cooked very thing out the back on a single gas ring!!
After lunch we switched to a larger covered boat, that was also a punt, and travelled one of the wider channels back to our transport.
Kathakhali is one of the major forms of classical Indian dance. It plays out a story, but is distinguished by the elaborate costumes and colorful make-up. It developed as a Hindu performance in the Mayalam speaking region of Kerala, southwestern India.
Kathakali performance synthesizes music, choreography and hand (mudras) and facial gestures to express ideas, emotions and a story. Before the actual performance, the female dancer showed us the eye and hand movements, and also went through all the emotions and performed each one in an exaggerated way.
We watched the male performer apply his face mask (make-up) before the performance.
Photos of mannequins from the Kathakhali museum.
Our goal today was to meander through town and to see the Chinese fishing nets.
Nothing really opens much before 10a.m. But it was pleasant and not too hot with a light breeze blowing.
This is an ingenious fishing mechanism and technique -it allows one fisherman to operate a 20m wide net alone. The system relies on counter balance – on the end is the net and on the other end it is balanced with big rocks. The fisherman only needs to walk across the structure for the net to sink and be submerged at high tide.
Some of the historic buildings are beautifully maintained, while others are struggling or crumbling.
This nice young man makes and plays all these instruments. His lovely young wife and daughter.
The sister of the bride told us this was a “post wedding shoot” – yes, photographers were there also!
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I grew up knowing that “Dhobi” meant washing/laundry, as that is what my father always called it! There are Dhobi ghats right here in Kochi – called Dhobi Khana. The origins of the dhobi khana lie in the colonial period, when British officers brought many Tamil villagers to Kochi to work as washermen and since 1920 they have been known as the Vannar community. To this day, most of the dhobis are Tamils. According to an article I read, there are about 40 families in the community who use this Khana. Each cubicle with wash pens and water tanks is allotted to one family.
The dhobis offer laundry services to private individuals, hostels, hospitals, and hotels. Many have been working there since they were young teenagers and are now in their 70’s and 80’s. The dhobi who was ironing let me feel the weight of the iron and told me it was 8.5kg, which I well believed!The laundry is soaked, pounded, scrubbed, rinsed, wrung and hung out to dry.
Some of the wall art at the Dhobi Khana.
Our next stop was at the Dutch Palace which the Portuguese built as a gift to King Veera Kerala Verma in about 1545. It came to be known as the Dutch Palace as it underwent major repairs at the hands of the Dutch. It now houses a museum, the Mattancherry Palace Museum. The interior has incredibly richly carved ceilings, beautiful murals and the displays include artifacts from the bygone eras of the Raj. A Hindu place of worship is on the grounds, and a spring fed pond is used as a swimming hole by locals.
This Hindu temple was on our way to the Spice Market.
Unlike the spice market in Dubai, this one consisted of some shops selling spices, to include a women’s cooperative. We picked up a few harder to find spices – like white poppy seeds and black cardamom.
We discovered that Bazaar Road was where the wholesale merchants were located. The street was a hive of activity as large trucks laden with sacks of rice, garlic, onions and more jockeyed for position to offload their loads. Men were busy counting money, giving orders, and doing book work – India still believes in the ledger!!!
This rather fancy hotel, renovated and converted from an old granary, was beautiful, but in a strange location.
We spent the (hot) afternoon wandering the streets of Fort Kochi and browsing the shops – gleefully when we came across one with a/c! As my granddaughter pointed out – there is a 100+ degree difference between here and Belfast, Maine!
A huge banyan tree outside our building.
Around a small part of Fort Kochi
Our tuk -tuk driver, Zakki.
plastic water bottles for recycling
Shopping…
