Sunday, June 24, 2012

Mandookaparni - Bramhi leaves - Vallarai -Centella asiatica and Pashanabhedi - Omavalli - Plectranthus amboinicus

Coconut, Cabbage, Tomatoes, Gourd, Omavalli, Vallarai, Pudhina, Coriander Curry Leaves




Menu (anticlockwise)
Sweet Kesari with fried cashews and cardamoms
Vallarai Omavalli mixed green Milagu Chutney
Crunchy Cabbage Thoran
White Gourd Sambar
Mango Slices
Fresh Curd

Nothing can beat a simple sambhar nicely mixed with melting ghee. Periyamma, makes the best sambhar podi.With cabbage, I always prefer crunchy kerala style thoran, in coconut oil. And the finishing with curd was so heavenly. None of the cup curds sold in shops have that delectable fragrance of home made fresh yoghurt.

Mom plucked some Omavalli and vallarai this morning. Am wondering if brahmi and vallarai are exactly the same. Froggy vallarai mandookaparni and stone breaking omavalli pashanabhedi! Funny but fitting names! Hope the combo of all green things - pudhina, curry leaves, corriander leaves, vallarai and omavalli don't create a havoc. Vallarai is cooling, while omavalli relieves cold. I should have known, not to mix, by the contrasting feel of the leaves. I could not have made 3 different green chutneys in tiny quantities and waited for 20 minutes between eating each of them separately to manage its varied effects. Anyway, this is the last time with this odd combo; need to tell mom, not to pluck them on the same day. I need someone to cook for; without mom, i would not lift a spoon, skipping breakfast rather than cooking something. They say, every thing edible is simultaneously both a medicine and poison, it is the quantity, quality, timing, combination, seasonality etc that makes it fit.

Last Sunday, it was yummy vegetable pulao in fragrant long basmati rice, with loads of green peas, carrot beans and soya nuggets, and it was perfectly cooked and unsticky. And swami and amma came home lunch. But it does not seem like Sunday and I realized it is June 24, only now. Hardly four more days before I leave home, only 4 more days of good food!

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