Vepillakkati, is made out of the wild lime / kaffir lime leaves. I am lucky to have the plant in our society and whenever, we want it, I used to go and pluck the leaves to make this.
It is a form of pickle which can be stored for quite sometime in the fridge. It is very good in taste and can be served with Curd rice, Molagootal rice or Dal rice. I used to take the pain to grind the same in the grinding stone as Ural and Ulakka is not available in Mumbai. I have a small grinding stone in Mumbai and used to make this as the taste of it is awesome than ground in the mixer.
Recently, I saw the post in Jayashree's kitchen which is made in mixer. Though it is an easy method, but I found the ancient method more tasty. It takes a long time to grind or break it in the stone. First used to put the leaves and crush it with the stone. When the leaves are almost done, then the other ingredients are put in and again break it until it is done.
Let us look at the recipe now:
Ingredients:
25 Leaves of lime
20 Red chilli
A small lime size Tamarind
A generous pinch of Asafoetida
Salt
Method:
While plucking the leaves from branch, you have to be very careful as there are thorns in it. Pluck the leaves, wash and pat dry to remove the water. Hold the leaf folded at the beginning of the stem part and pull out the leaves to remove the stem. If you are using the grind stone as shown below put the leaves first, and start grinding the same with the pestle. When the leaves are almost crushed, then you put the other ingredients and start grinding till all the ingredients are nicely mixed up.
If you are using mixer,
Put all the ingredients in the mixer and grind to a fine powder. Make balls out of it and keep it in the airtight container. serve with Curd rice, Molagootal rice, Dal rice. I even have it mixed with curd for dosa, idli
After grinding in the stone, it will look like this. If it is done in the traditional grinding stone, it takes a lot of time but the texture is different than the one we ground in the mixer.
My aim is to post all the recipes which are available that my mother, grandmother and great grand mother used to make which is forgotten by the generation. It is a nice journey to go back to the old customs and traditions to enlighten the younger generation who is not aware at all about the village life.
Recently, i have been able to collect the information regarding milagu kuzhambu which i had in one one my relatives house when we visited them in the afternoon. Hot rice, milagu kuzhambu with chutta appalam (roasted appalam, pappadam), and more over you are hungry, yummy it was. Curry leaves kuzhambu is another recipe. soon will be posting these recipes.
In the village, we use ural and ulakka to make this dish.
Ural-This
is a granite piece almost cylindrical in shape with an opening at top
which has a central portion with slight depth to keep granules to be
crushed with a long piece of wood normally that of coconut wood with two
ends fixed with metallic crushing elements. This long piece of wood
used to crush granules to powder by repeated crushing through forcing by
hand up and down by women doing house hold work in olden days Kerala,
is called Ulakka.It was a familiar sight in Kerala houses where many
women used to chit chat and crush granules to powder in their respective
urals using Ulakka ,especially during preparation for family feasts
along with functions like marriage etc.
If i happened to go to Kerala in the near future, shall try to click the photograph of this as i tried through internet, could not get one.
Ensure that you do not touch it with wet hands. If used properly lasts for 2-3 months.
Some information about the Kaffir lime, wild lime, uses and recipes taken from net.
How to serve:
Serve with Idli/Dosa with oil or curd, with Curd rice, Molagootal rice, Dal rice etc.
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Kaffir Lime
What are Kaffir Lime Leaves?
Kaffir Lime leaves are a member of the citrus family responsible for the distinctive lime-lemon aroma and flavour that are an indispensable part of Thai and, to a lesser extent, Indonesian cooking.
Spice Description
The leaves of the kaffir lime tree are a dark green color with a glossy sheen. They come in two parts: the top leaflet is lightly pointed at its tip and is attached to another leaflet beneath that is broader on its upper edge. The size of the leaves can vary quite a bit, from less than an inch to several inches long.
The fruit is dark green and round, with a distinct nipple on the stem end. It has a thick rind, knobby and wrinkled, and one of its common names is ‘porcupine orange’. As the fruit becomes older, the color fades to a lighter, yellowish green. Though the juice is infrequently use in cooking, the zest of the rind is often used for making curry pastes.
Bouquet: The leaves and rind have a perfume unlike any other citrus, sometimes called mysterious or haunting. There is a combined lemon/lime/madarin aroma but clearly an identity of its own.
Flavour: same as bouquet.
Hotness Scale: 1
Flavour: same as bouquet.
Hotness Scale: 1
Cooking with Kaffir Lime Leaves
Kaffir lime leaves are precious to many Thai dishes, from soups and salads to curries and stir-fried dishes. They blend blend with lemon grass and lime juice in tom yam to give the soup its wholesome lemony essence. In soupy dishes, add the leaves whole or torn into smaller pieces, using them as one would bay leaves to flavour broth or stew.
Salads or garnishes require fresh leaves. Dried leaves cannot be substituted. The leaves, when young and tender, are finely shredded and added to salads and sprinkled over curries for a burst of flavour.
Being rather thick, they must be cut very fine, like threads, and the thick mid-rib removed. To sliver kaffir lime leaves finely, stack three to four leaves of similar size together and slice them very thinly with a sharp knife. It is faster to cut diagonally , which gives the hands better leverage, or roll a few leaves at a time into a tight roll before slicing. If fresh kaffir lime leaves are not available, use the tender new leaves of lime, lemon or grapefruit. They won’t have the same fragrance but are preferable to using dried kaffir lime leaves in some dishes.
When making a soup or stock, whole fresh or dried leaves may be added, as they are removed after cooking. Finely chopped fresh or crumbled dry kaffir lime leaves are used in dishes like tom yum, strir fries and curries, especially those containing coconut cream.
The flavour also combines well with basil, cardamom, chiles, cilantro, cumin, curry leaves, lemon grass, galangal, ginger, mint, tamarind, turmeric and coconut milk. Though the juice is seldom used in cooking, the peel of the fruit, with its high concentration of aromatic oils, is indispensable in many curry pastes and is one reason why Thai curries taste refreshingly unique.
The zest also imparts a wonderful piquant flavour to such delectable favorites as fried fish cakes, and it blends in powerfully with such spicy, chile-laden stews as “jungle soup” (gkaeng bpah). Because it’s strong flavour can over power the more subtle ones in a dish, the rind should be used sparingly, grated or chopped finely and reduced in a mortar with other paste ingredients until indistinguishable..
Preparation and Storage
The leaves may be recognized by their distinctive two sections. For simmering in soups or curries the leaves are used whole. Frozen or dried leaves may be used for simmering if fresh leaves are not available. The finely grated rind of the lumpy-skinned fruit has its own special fragrance. If you can obtain fresh kaffir limes, they freeze well enclosed in freezer bags and will keep indefinitely in that state. Just grate a little rind off the frozen lime and replace lime in freezer until next required. The leaves freeze well too. dried kaffir lime leaves should be green, not yellow, and are best kept under the same conditions as other dried herbs. They will keep for about 12 months in an airtight pack, out of light, heat and humidity.
Substitute for Kaffir Lime
Substitute frozen for fresh, or use lime zest from common limes (6 leaves = 1 tbsp zest). You can also substitute other citrus leaves or lemon grass.
Health Benefits of Kaffir Lime
The citrus juice used to be included in Thai ointments and shampoos, and in tonics in Malaysia. Kaffir lime shampoo leaves the hair squeaky clean and invigorates the scalp. Kaffir lime has also been used for ages as a natural bleach to remove tough stains.
The essential oils in the fruit are incorporated into various ointments, and the rind is an ingredient in medical tonics believed to be good for the blood. Like lemon grass and galangal, the rind is also known to have beneficial properties for the digestive system. In folk medicine, the juice of kaffir lime is said to promote gum health and is recommended for use in brushing teeth and gums. It is believed to freshen one’s mental outlook and ward off evil spirits
Other Names
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