For a person with a weak stomach and will , I sure do know how to abuse it. The result - I'm down with an unclear diagnosis of a stomach bug or a peptic ulcer. Well, that's what my doctor intoned from behind his masked mouth.
But all that is secondary. What is important is that I am forgoing a lot of good food because of my ulcer. Including besan ke laddoos from Siddhi Vinayak Sweets, the flavoured, to-die for, butter popcorn from Sathyam Cinemas, my cardamom flavoured chai (tea), butter murukkus which my mom made for her son-in-law (yeah that was not meant for me in the first place. How low have I fallen?) and the good food which I served to guests for dinner on Saturday. Is there a silver lining here, I ask myself. Nope. Zilch. People tend to lose weight on a diet devoid of such succor and love. But my body fat simply loves me and has no intention of leaving me. So nope...no silver lining here.
In addition to this sacrifice which I must say makes my brain as active as a clay dough that is yet to get into the hands of a creative child, I have had to cast about for recipes which would be mild on my stomach and which can be eaten without me spending the next one hour burping surreptitiously (have you tried that?) - it would sound like a pesky pigeon trying to roost on your window sill, but this should not be confused with the more exuberant sound that the male makes to attract the female. Ah well, before I dwell deeper into the roosting and mating sounds of pigeons, let me move on with my blog entry.
So given the extent of enthusiasm I have for this project of finding a recipe that is mild on the stomach, what would I do but to choose something that is easy to make, if you get the basics right. Here's a recipe for Moru Kari (this is how we Malayalees pronounce it and it is slightly different from the Mor Kozhumbu of Tamil Nadu). Moru Kari or butter milk curry or gravy (I can't make up my mind, I'm sorry) is made as you might have guessed, from buttermilk that is a bit sour. S likes for me to make it with thick buttermilk (more curds, less water) and with some vegetable in it, like pumpkin pieces or ladies finger piece1. And though I indulge him like a good wife does, I do make on the sly, the one which mum taught me and he likes that too. Soon he shall be a convert, I am sure, as has happened with him and Puttu (ah please allow me to describe it in English. Its approved description is - Steam cake with coconut dressing. Cool isn't it? I mean Puttu sounds like the sad, boring cousin of its cool English name), but that should be another blog.
So here is the recipe for Moru Kari. I am quite poor with measurements and generally go by the feel and consistency of the gravy. So please be sure to try it once with caution. Ahem.
Ingredients:
Thin buttermilk - 3 glasses/ tumblers (you can also make a thick buttermilk by adding less of water to sour curds)
Grated coconut - 1/2 of a whole coconut
Green chillies - 3 small or as per taste (S likes it hot.)
Cumin seeds or jeera - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste
Refined oil - 1 tsp (yep, that's all is needed. This is a real healthy recipe)
For seasoning
Mustard - 1 tsp
Dry red chilli - 3 nos
Curry leaves - a sprig
Oil - 1 tsp
Method:
Make a fine, smooth paste of the grated coconut, green chillies, turmeric powder, cumin seeds and salt; adding a bit of water if required. Keep aside.
To prepare the buttermilk, add two tumblers of thick, sour curds to one tumbler of water and whisk it until it is frothy.
Heat oil in a thick bottomed pan or kadai placed on medium flame and add the coconut paste into it. Saute gently, until the raw flavor of coconut disappears. This should take about 3 minutes. Turn the flame to low and pour the buttermilk into this mixture. The curds used for the buttermilk should be at least a day old. My brother who loves this gravy, likes his moru kari to be a bit more sour. Then mum used to add curds that were more than a day old. So the bottom line is that all this is a matter of taste. Back to our recipe.
Now comes the important part. As it is buttermilk, we need to treat it with kid gloves as it can split on high heat. Keep stirring this mixture gently, taking care not to let it boil. Once light steam appears over the gravy, remove from flame and don't leave it alone just yet. Take care to give the gravy a stir every 2 minutes until it cools down. This is an important step and it demarcates the "I love cooking" types from the "Isn't it over already" types. I am sure, since you are reading this step that you are the first type and not have abandoned this recipe after the second para. Hold on you brave souls.
Between stirs, heat oil for seasoning. Once hot, add mustard, curry leaves and whole dry red chillies. Pour this with a satisfactory sizzle onto the moru kari and you are done.
I know it does look like a bit of work, but believe me after the first time, it is pretty easy to make. Only remember to never place it on the flame for longer than necessary and stir at regular intervals to not let the gravy settle.
Note:
1. If your gravy is watery with granulated debris at the bottom (I know that's not the best description, but hey things have gone wrong here and you need to be warned properly), then the gravy has split. You might still use it by stirring the contents, but this is not Mor Kari. It's your curry.
2. If you are re-heating this gravy, remember to keep stirring the contents and not letting it boil. Remove as soon as the gravy is a bit hot.
This gravy is excellent with potato fry or mutton curry. Now why would I remind myself of this? How am I going to eat this without conjuring up golden brown potatoes and dark brown, fragrant mutton curry. Sob. As I told you, no silver lining at all.
But all that is secondary. What is important is that I am forgoing a lot of good food because of my ulcer. Including besan ke laddoos from Siddhi Vinayak Sweets, the flavoured, to-die for, butter popcorn from Sathyam Cinemas, my cardamom flavoured chai (tea), butter murukkus which my mom made for her son-in-law (yeah that was not meant for me in the first place. How low have I fallen?) and the good food which I served to guests for dinner on Saturday. Is there a silver lining here, I ask myself. Nope. Zilch. People tend to lose weight on a diet devoid of such succor and love. But my body fat simply loves me and has no intention of leaving me. So nope...no silver lining here.
In addition to this sacrifice which I must say makes my brain as active as a clay dough that is yet to get into the hands of a creative child, I have had to cast about for recipes which would be mild on my stomach and which can be eaten without me spending the next one hour burping surreptitiously (have you tried that?) - it would sound like a pesky pigeon trying to roost on your window sill, but this should not be confused with the more exuberant sound that the male makes to attract the female. Ah well, before I dwell deeper into the roosting and mating sounds of pigeons, let me move on with my blog entry.
So given the extent of enthusiasm I have for this project of finding a recipe that is mild on the stomach, what would I do but to choose something that is easy to make, if you get the basics right. Here's a recipe for Moru Kari (this is how we Malayalees pronounce it and it is slightly different from the Mor Kozhumbu of Tamil Nadu). Moru Kari or butter milk curry or gravy (I can't make up my mind, I'm sorry) is made as you might have guessed, from buttermilk that is a bit sour. S likes for me to make it with thick buttermilk (more curds, less water) and with some vegetable in it, like pumpkin pieces or ladies finger piece1. And though I indulge him like a good wife does, I do make on the sly, the one which mum taught me and he likes that too. Soon he shall be a convert, I am sure, as has happened with him and Puttu (ah please allow me to describe it in English. Its approved description is - Steam cake with coconut dressing. Cool isn't it? I mean Puttu sounds like the sad, boring cousin of its cool English name), but that should be another blog.
So here is the recipe for Moru Kari. I am quite poor with measurements and generally go by the feel and consistency of the gravy. So please be sure to try it once with caution. Ahem.
 |
| Moru Kari - a mild, soothing gravy |
Ingredients:
Thin buttermilk - 3 glasses/ tumblers (you can also make a thick buttermilk by adding less of water to sour curds)
Grated coconut - 1/2 of a whole coconut
Green chillies - 3 small or as per taste (S likes it hot.)
Cumin seeds or jeera - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste
Refined oil - 1 tsp (yep, that's all is needed. This is a real healthy recipe)
For seasoning
Mustard - 1 tsp
Dry red chilli - 3 nos
Curry leaves - a sprig
Oil - 1 tsp
Method:
Make a fine, smooth paste of the grated coconut, green chillies, turmeric powder, cumin seeds and salt; adding a bit of water if required. Keep aside.
To prepare the buttermilk, add two tumblers of thick, sour curds to one tumbler of water and whisk it until it is frothy.
Heat oil in a thick bottomed pan or kadai placed on medium flame and add the coconut paste into it. Saute gently, until the raw flavor of coconut disappears. This should take about 3 minutes. Turn the flame to low and pour the buttermilk into this mixture. The curds used for the buttermilk should be at least a day old. My brother who loves this gravy, likes his moru kari to be a bit more sour. Then mum used to add curds that were more than a day old. So the bottom line is that all this is a matter of taste. Back to our recipe.
Now comes the important part. As it is buttermilk, we need to treat it with kid gloves as it can split on high heat. Keep stirring this mixture gently, taking care not to let it boil. Once light steam appears over the gravy, remove from flame and don't leave it alone just yet. Take care to give the gravy a stir every 2 minutes until it cools down. This is an important step and it demarcates the "I love cooking" types from the "Isn't it over already" types. I am sure, since you are reading this step that you are the first type and not have abandoned this recipe after the second para. Hold on you brave souls.
Between stirs, heat oil for seasoning. Once hot, add mustard, curry leaves and whole dry red chillies. Pour this with a satisfactory sizzle onto the moru kari and you are done.
I know it does look like a bit of work, but believe me after the first time, it is pretty easy to make. Only remember to never place it on the flame for longer than necessary and stir at regular intervals to not let the gravy settle.
Note:
1. If your gravy is watery with granulated debris at the bottom (I know that's not the best description, but hey things have gone wrong here and you need to be warned properly), then the gravy has split. You might still use it by stirring the contents, but this is not Mor Kari. It's your curry.
2. If you are re-heating this gravy, remember to keep stirring the contents and not letting it boil. Remove as soon as the gravy is a bit hot.
This gravy is excellent with potato fry or mutton curry. Now why would I remind myself of this? How am I going to eat this without conjuring up golden brown potatoes and dark brown, fragrant mutton curry. Sob. As I told you, no silver lining at all.
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