Versatile Sattu

Last post was on a simple soothing breakfast. This time it’s again simple but very healthy breakfast. This again is a non-gas cooking. The base for the preparation is available all over the northern India, some parts of east and in Maharashtra. The base that I am going to use is called Sattu.

Sattu is made from roasted Chana (Bengal gram) and roasted wheat. These two main ingredients are grinded with the skin and mixed with specific spices like roasted cumin seeds powder, rock salt, in some cases cardamom etc in a predetermined proportaion. However we don’t have to worry about preparing the Sattu as there are lots of local brands and generics available. The problem is one may not get the Sattu in a posh supermarket but it is definitely available in corner grocery stores. Look for a known brand and a fresh one. Stale product should be avoided. Get a pack of Sattu and store it in fridge to preserve its nutritional value.

 

Sattu Manmattu 

Sattu has a mention even in Mahabharat. Dronacharya, who was the Guru of Kaurav and Pandav for martial arts, was very poor (isn’t it sad that the teachers were underpaid even in that era). He could not afford to buy milk for his son Ashvathama. The child would ask for milk to his mother and she would mix Sattu in water and give it to him as milk. The poor child realized the difference between Sattu and milk only in the later years when Dronacharya could afford to buy milk (the yearly increments and incentives must have helped Dronacharya). So Sattu goes back to that era.

There is a saying in Hindi, “Sattu man mattu, chat ghole pat pile”. (सत्तू मन मट्टू, चट घोले पट पीले) This saying highlights the convenience and versatility of Sattu. It can be mixed with anything and taken in any form. Sattu can be taken with milk and sugar with a dash of cardamom or Sattu can be mixed with buttermilk or yoghurt, salt to taste and dash of spices or just red chili powder. One can make Roti from Sattu or just temper with oil or Ghee. There are hundreds of ways Sattu can be taken, even in the form of milkshake or smoothie with desired fruits. The list is endless.

On the nutritional front, Sattu is a excellent combination of proteins and carbohydrates, that offers adequate roughage. The roasted grams give easy to digest proteins with fibers and whole wheat is well for its nutritional properties. I have to share with you a very easy, highly nutritious breakfast preparation of Sattu. Just 100 gms (about 3 ozs) of Sattu can provide enough energy and keep you fit till lunch time. I call the preparation as Sattu Manmattu. This is how it is to be made.

 

Sattu and vegetables

Take 100 gms of Sattu in a large bowl. Add salt as per your taste. Please keep in mind that we are going to add few raw vegetables to Sattu therefore you have to take in to consideration the quantity of vegetables also while adding salt. Generally we add the salt after mixing the ingredients, but in this preparation the mixture will become slightly moist and then added salt may not mix well. That’s the reason I generally add salt before the mixture becomes moist. To this salted Sattu, now add cupful of grated carrot and grated cucumber. Add one tablespoonful of olive oil or linseed oil (Flake seed oil) or any refined oil of your choice. Mix well. The grated cucumber will react with the salt and the mixture will become moist and that should be fine. Put this mixed stuff in a serving bowl, garnish with grated cucumber, grated carrot, chopped spring onion, if you like and coriander. Top it with pitted or stuffed olive, if available. Before you realize your tasty breakfast is ready. If you like you may add some herbs like dried basil or spices like freshly crushed black pepper or chili flakes. This will enhance the taste. In a variation you can temper the oil with mustard seeds and pour over the mixture instead of just adding the oil. Whatever you may have it, Sattu Manmattu tastes grate. Enjoy

PS: For the first time “eaters” of Sattu, it is advisable to keep a glass of water by your side, as Sattu tends to absorb moisture and you may feel momentary dryness in mouth. A sip of water will make you feel better. 

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Soothing Dahi Pohe

The focus so has been on snacks, specially evening snacks. Hereafter for next few posts I will give some simple recipes for the breakfast. One the most important meal in a day is breakfast. In any part of the world breakfast assumes great importance. There is an Arabic proverb that says never share your breakfast with anyone, share your lunch with a friend and give your dinner to your enemy. This is a clear message that one can skip the dinner but never miss out on breakfast.

Every country, every region has their peculiarities for breakfast. It depends on what is grown and is abundant in that region. Countries in the east like Japan, China, Korea, Thailand have rice or rice porridge or rice noodles along with fish or vegetables and cup of green tea or soup. In the European continent enjoys different varities of bread and forms like baguette, croissants etc. with butter, cheese, jam and eggs for the breakfast with grilled tomatoes, fresh fruits, juices and hot beverages. In many places its coffee while it is tea in England. In few countries muesli, oats and cereals also finds a place in the breakfast. Americans are fond of salami, becon, eggs, fresh fruits apart from cereals, bread, butter, cheese, pancakes, juices and tea. To put it simply Americans hog. It may sound odd but it’s a fact. They eat so much as if there is no tomorrow, rather it’s the last meal that they have before departing to heaven. Brazilians enjoy cheese bread, fruits and berries. In Venezuela corn bread with meat or beans is preferred. Cuban have the bread cut like sticks to dip in the coffee for their breakfast.

Soothing Dahi Pohe

India has a wonderful blend of breakfast. Anything and everything is acceptable as breakfast. A simple chai biskut to a stylish American breakfast, Indians enjoy everything. Different kind of Parhatas, stuffed or otherwise, puri bhaji, dalia, halwa in the north to Sanja, Upma, in central and south India, all made from wheat. This is in addition to different kinds of bread are available all over the country. South Indian rice and dal based breakfast has gone places. Be it Dosa or Utthappa or Idli or different forms of Vada. Tea and coffee is accompaniment in North and South respectively. In places Lassi, milk and jalebi dominate the breakfast landscape.  Oats and corn flakes are miserable failure in India. Eggs do have their own place but with limitations. Indian masala omelet and anda bhurji or baida bhurji as known in Mumbai with bread or Parhata or Roti have earned their own place in Indian cuisine. These two egg preparations can be made with thousands of different combinations and all are tasty.  Cheese is getting popular but more for pizza like of preparations or Dosa or Pav Bhaji. Non availability of different varieties and high cost can be the reasons why cheese has not entrenched the breakfast tables.

There are some exclusive regional preparations. North and central India relishes Sattu. Maharashtra has Pohe and 24X7 Vada Pav, Gujaratis are fond of Dhokla and Phaphda while Bengalis may prefer Luchi and Aloor Dom. In Maharashtra Pohe are very common and are made in different ways.  Pohe/Poha is puffed flattened rice. There is thick and thin variety. Depending upon the preparation one has to choose the right one. There is one more variety of Poha that is generally used in commercially produced Chivda. For a common kitchen thick and thin Poha are usually sufficient. In Vidarbha it’s Tel Tikhat Meeth Pohe, in coastal region it’s Dadpe Pohe, both these are prepared from thin Poha. Kande Pohe is everywhere and is made from thick variety. Apart from this Poha makes different forms of Chivada that are popular. For Kande Pohe the dry thick Poha are generally soaked in water for a while before it’s cooked. I am not giving here the recipe for Kande Pohe, but for a non-gas cooking form of thick poha. This is my favourite Dahi Poha. I like it for the breakfast especially after heavy and spicy meals earlier evening. This also good for those who might have had an extra “one for the road” drink late in the night that is causing some acidity. I would suggest Dahi Poha for such condition as Dahi (Curd, Yoghurt) has a cooling effect and Poha increases the volume that offers a soothing sensation over a wider surface area of stomach, giving relief. I never advise milk in such conditions, but certainly Dahi or buttermilk or my favourite Dahi Poha do well.

Ingredients: Thick Pohe (dry and soaked) and Yoghurt

Take a curry bowl full of thick Poha. Place them in a large bowl. Add clean filtered drinking water that should be at least half an inch above the Poha level. Stir well. Pour out the water carefully. You may strain if desired. Repeat the process one more time. Now add some water that should be seen at the edge of washed Poha when you tilt the bowl by about 45 degrees. Leave the bowl on the table and let the water get soaked in for ten to fifteen minutes. In the meantime take one bowl Dahi (Curd, Yoghurt) in another large bowl and whisk it. Add salt as per taste, little sugar, half a spoonful of red chili powder as per you liking and cumin seed powder for taste. Get back to the bowl that has water soaked Poha. Move a spoon through the soaked poha to loosen it and pour the mixture of Dahi over it. Stir well to mix. You may add some water depending upon consistency that you desire and sourness of Dahi. Finally adjust salt as per your taste and your soothing breakfast is ready. As a variation Dahi can be replaced by milk (If you don’t have hyperacidity). Salt makes a way for sugar and cardamom powder is a substitute for chili and cumin seeds powder. This sweet version tastes so good with cold milk. Enjoy.

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Pickle Simple

Let me tell you about the process of cooking and types of cooks that I have seen so far. I feel cooking is something like SCM (Supply Chain Management) in management jargon. It starts right from getting right stuff in right quantities at right price and at right time for the production. Few of my friends are extremely good at it, but some fail in the raw material storage. Some stuff will get into fridge (not everything needs to be kept in the fridge) and will be forgotten till next “Operation Clean” (I call it as safai abhiyan) and something that needs to be kept in fridge will stay out to directly rest in garbage can. The FIFO (first in first out) will be missed resulting in stuff getting stale and resultant unfortunate wastage. Some individuals are great in production but not in upward and downward activities. There is another lot who is unable to properly store the finished product similar to those few who mess up with raw material storage. The final stage is of reaching it to customer and most of them are good in this. I tend to compare this with typical Kandepohe occasion in Maharashtra society. (Kandepohe is a synonym for a marriageable girl’s interview with the family of prospective groom. The girl is supposed to serve the Kandepohe dish to the ‘viewers’). So it’s not necessary that all these areas of activity are to be mastered. What is most important and desirable is the ‘production’, but presentation takes the front seat.

Simplest Pickle

There is one more category that I must mention and that is of consultant cooks. These characters just sit in one corner and keep shooting instructions for every activity right from buying the stuff. They will instruct from what to buy, where to buy, when to buy, how much to buy and what price to buy. Similar instructions will be at every stage. Reduce the heat, cover the pot, stir gently and so on till the presentation. Finally if the stuff is good they take the credit and if it’s not up to the mark they blame for not following the instructions. Like management consultant it is not mandatory to have for any practical experience nor their age is any bar for these consultants.

There are few more categories. One category likes food and also cooking but is too lazy to cook. The priorities are FB, WhatsApp and similar. After they are relatively free from these hectic activities they realize that they are too tired and it’s too late to cook. So the best way to satisfy hunger is to order from next door home delivery joint. Once the order is placed they have a bonus time to be on the FB or on online games or chat. These good cooks get spoiled by wrong priorities. Another category is of occasional cooks. They are good cooks but the only motivation to cook is appreciation by others. Category of these species will indulge in cooking and may do a good job only when some friends are invited for dinner. They will take extra efforts to ensure everything is right so that that they get drowned in ocean of flattery. By the time they return to surface couple of days have passed and during this period the neighbourhood food vendors have gain additional business. Apart from these two derailed cooks there few more categories but let me keep it for some other day.

At a very young age I started cooking. There were certain family circumstances that took me to the kitchen, not just the kitchen but to the subjimandi, to the grocer, to coal depot (Wakhar in Marathi) to choose and buy selected items. At home we had a full time cook, Mutsaddilal Maharaj and I always felt I could do a better job than him for few dishes. He did a great job with Bagar Ghoti Dal and Pakoda Kadhi. The dough he would make for Urad Papad was fabulous. Very often I would steal the same from his safe custody. Routinely in the kitchen, we would generate lot of heat from our arguments apart from the heat from stoves.

I experimented and learned. Six females have influenced my cooking. Two of them in advisory role my mother, we called her Akka and my wife Vandana. Another two females as critic and admirer, my daughters in law Anuja and Mitali. And another two Aanya and Keva my grand-daughters who force me experiment to ensure that their generation also gets benefit of my cooking skills. I didn’t had much of chance to learn from my sisters, Kamal, Pramila and Kunda, as they were married when I entered the kitchen. Yet I did pick up few skills from them.

During my childhood, one of the accompaniments that often substituted cooked lentils (dal) or cooked vegetables (subji) was a homemade pickle. To make good pickles that would be tasty and yet last for entire year or even more without any chemicals or preservative was a real skill. In the present era there are many options in the market to buy pickles, right from branded packaged ones to unbranded loose ones that are sold in many supermarkets. Many times dal or subji may not be available with roti or cooked rice, in such times pickles are handy. Most of the families in the past would have enough stock of pickles stored in large porcelain jars, with the lids covered by clean cloth stored in cool dry place. Pickles were usually made in summer season and these were mostly pickles of raw mangoes. In winter season lemon, chilies were preferred to make the pickles. In winter the other pickles that would not last long but were delicious and tasty were made from carrots, cauliflower, turnips and seasonal vegetables. Now there is no seasonality for vegetables. The technology and transportation has made most of the vegetables and fruits available round the year in any part of the world. So it has become easy to make pickles anywhere and anytime. One of the pickles that is my favourite, very easy to make, extremely tasty and lasts for a week if not kept in the fridge or for a month if refrigerated, is raw mango onion pickle. I make it very often in the peak of winter with Mexican raw mangoes in USA. Let me tell you how this pickle, which can be a substitute for subji is made.  We call it Kanda Kairi Lonache.

Ingredients for Pickle Simple

Take one raw mango, the outwardly looking raw mango may not be really raw but that will also serve our purpose, even though raw is preferred. Chop it in small cubes of about half centimeter (about one fourth inch). Chop onions, white preferred, else any other, in similar size and quantity. Depending upon size of onion, you may need two onions for each raw mango. Mix the chopped raw mango and chopped onion in a heat resistant bowl. Add salt as per your taste. This will depend upon sourness of mango. Mix well. Heat two tablespoonful of oil in a small yoke or frying pan. Once heated add half teaspoonful of mustard seeds. Let seeds splatter. Turn off the heat. To this hot oil, add one teaspoon of turmeric (haldi) powder followed by one and half teaspoon or more of red chili powder. Now add half teaspoon of asafetida (hing) powder. Pour this hot oil mixture over mangoes and onions mix kept in the bowl. Mix well with a spoon. Be careful as the oil is hot. Let stand for a while and you can start enjoying the pickle. By evening you will notice the pickle has become juicier. The salt that you added made the trick. So if you are patient then wait for few hours before you start enjoying the pickle, but it doesn’t really matter this pickle taste great anytime. Enjoy.