Ever since Cooking at Home with Pedatha happened, my gift to Pranav, my younger brother, on his birthday is an Andhra meal from this cookbook. This was how we celebrated his special day yesterday as well. His love for the book and his excitement about a traditional Andhra meal for lunch is contagious enough to keep me in this field – the world of authentic grandmother recipes. Nothing like admiration and encouragement from a bro as dynamic as him to keep me going. Thank you Pranav. Happy day always!
We made three of the Andhra chutneys and the special pepper flavoured dal. Side-dishes and charu / rasam + buttermilk added to the flavours. The other touch, apart from Pedatha’s, was a Nungu Payasam which is my own concoction and crisp Aamai vadai from a recipe by Chitvish.
In the pic above, clockwise from Vadai are the following dishes. Also adding some of my favourite links from websites where these recipes have been featured:
Curd Rice (Dhadhyōdhanam),
Rasam (Chāru),
Pepper flavoured dal (Pindimiriyam),
Mustard flavoured vegetable with raw plantains (Āva Pettina Koora),
Fresh fenugreek greens as vegetable (Menthi Koora),
Payasam with ice-apple / nungu (on the spot recipe innovated by yours truly),
Curry leaf chutney (Karivēpāku Pachchadi),
Ginger chutney (Allam Pachchadi),
Raw mango chutney (Māmidikāya Pachchadi)
with steamed rice and vattal.
Pooris, Potato roast and buttermilk flavoured with ajwain were other accompaniments.
Yesterday’s cooking was special for one more reason: My daughter Manasvi is in Chennai now and came home yesterday. She took over the ladle and donned on the role of a master chef with me as her assistant. It is a tried-and tested formula in my kitchen where many nephews and nieces come over and experiment with cooking while I assist them. It simply ignites within them the love for cooking. Yesterday Manasvi picked up the subtle nuances of Pedatha’s tempering style. She simply went on cooking one dish after another to make this Andhra meal in her unhurried happy way. All in all, fun in the kitchen and ecstasy at the dining table!
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That is a nice Andhra birthday meal for you brother! I also tried Menthi Koora from Cooking with Pedatha cookbook. I will be updating my blog today with that post. Thanks for adding my link to rasam recipe. Wish your brother a belated happy birthday!
All I need to find is raw tamarind which is like finidng the needle in hay in my part of the world Just the thought of raw tamarind is enough to make me drool.Dear Sia, How much we just take things for granted! To think that raw tamarind which is aplenty in stores and on trees in our region is a rarity elsewhere!!! I guess thats what makes us all miss home .
What a lovely birthday meal ! Thank you for linking me up. Pedatha’s book is a hit in our family.
Eating the raw tamarind chteuny was bliss for us!! My ammama would make huge balls of rice mixed with this chteuny , lots of ghee and sometimes venna. This recipe brought back a lot of memories. Thank you!!Thank you Dee lots of ghee yes that always stirs memories too. One of the dishes we cant resist either. Its amazing how Andhra cuisine can create chteunys out of so many ingredients. Even other cuisines do it, but Andhra pachchadis are really mind blogging simply because of the range .
What a beautiful gift! I can’t wait to get all of my cookbooks out of storage; Pedatha is right up on top
Best wishes as always!