COLACASIA STEM PACHADI (COLACASIA STEM CURRY)(CHEMBU THANDU PACHADI)

Colacasia stem curry can be served as a main dish with white rice, roti, chapati.  It can be served as a side dish for molagootal rice, dal rice etc.  Yesterday I purchased some colacasia leaves for making Patra when my aunty visited our house yesterday.  After removing the stem, I remembered my mother making this pachadi so thought of making this dish.  

GOLYACHI AMTI

Golyachi Amti is prepared by Maharashtrians.  It is a very tasty dish especially, during rainy season with rotis and hot rice, you will enjoy it.  Here, the golyas are made with Besan (gram flour).  Alternatively, you can make it with medu vada batter, dal wada batter, adai batter also for a change, this is my version.  What you have to do is make small balls of the batter and deep fry the same and put it in the gravy as given  in the recipe.

Let us look at the recipe now:

CHUNDAKKAI PORICHAKUZHAMBU (Turkey berry)

My mother used to make porichakuzhambu with fresh chundakkai,  chundakkai kept in salt and turmeric water for 10-15 days and then sauted in oil, vathal kuzhambu with the dried chundakkai ones etc.   She used to say that it is very good for stomach problems.  But in any form, whether it is fried or fresh one, I love to eat the same.

In Mumbai, I used to see them on the roads leading to L&T via Powai during 1980s.  Once I brought the plant from there as we were travelling  by scooter.  Since then, lots of development has taken place and it is totally wiped out.   Now a days, it is very difficult to see this plant.  However, I spotted the same in an open place near my society and got the chance to pluck the chundakkai.

Chunda (Solanum torvum) plants produce small perfectly spherical fruits, which was commonly found almost throughout Kerala is now almost a rare sight. People used chunadakka (the fruit of chunda or sunda) as a vegetable that goes into sambar and individual curries. Chundakka is also spelt chundakkai, sundakka and sundakkai). Its English name is Turkey berry.

The Turkey berry belongs to the potato family and is found in all tropical regions. This dried or fresh berry has many nutritive and medicinal qualities and is naturally tangy and bitter.

In home remedies, coughs are treated with the roasted turkey berry powder. It is an instant remedy for stomach problems including worm infestation, anaemia and is used as a tonic for liver complaints. It is used to control blood pressure. As an Ayurvedic herb, it has sedative, diuretic and digestive properties.

The wild-berry is preserved by soaking it in curd and then sun-drying it. As a curative it is usually roasted in a little ghee or oil and crumbled and mixed with hot rice and eaten.

 It is called as Marang in Marathi, Bhurat in Hindi.    

chundakkai poricha kuzhambu

lapsi, poricha kuzhambu and rajasthani bhindi

ADA MANGAI KOOTAN (DRY MANGO CURRY)

Ada mangai kootan or curry is  made with dried mango, tamarind pulp and sambar powder or roasted masala mentioned in the recipe.  It is  served as a main dish like sambar along with rice.

Ada manga means spiced mango dried in hot sun.    We can make pickle also out of this but the taste will be different. My grandmother used to make this and keep in the bharani.  During the rainy season, she used to make this curry and serve along with hot rice, roasted papad.  We really used to enjoy this.   The ada mangai will remain for about year or two.  So during off season also, you can enjoy.

now the mango season is still on, and the scorching heat, it is time to make this dry mangoes and keep stored for the use in the next year.  the more it becomes old, the more tastier it is. It tastes awesome.



Let us look at the recipe now: