Aai's Aluvadi

Alu Vadi or Colocasia roulades

She’s rarely on Facebook, but a chance log in brings up a close up shot of alu vadis posted by a friend from college days. She calls the friend to say how the picture reminded her of her dear Aai, who passed away two years ago.

An excellent cook, her Aai made the tastiest alu vadis, which her family loved, and even froze them in batches when she went visiting her other children in different parts of the world.

Could it be that it’s not the alu vadi she is missing, but the ritual of Aai making the vadis and her relishing the delicacy? Could she be regretting making light of Aai’s telling her to come and help so she learns how?  And rueing taking Aai’s presence for granted?

She rushes to assure the commiserating friend that she’s not sad. She struggles to say she’s reliving the happy memory of her beloved Aai.

There are three small alu leaves peeping from behind another plant sharing the pot, she tells her friend. Aai’s project, which bore leaf only now. And there’s that packet of “bhajani flour” that Aai got back from her last trip to India.

Perhaps a sign, thinks the friend. Why don’t you make some vadis? Let me send you the recipe with detailed instructions.

And that’s a start.

The friend’s daughter listens intently, sensing a lesson there.

“Mum, I must learn how to make “polis” like you before you die or become too old and infirm to make them for me.”

And mother and daughter laugh heartily.

“Natsukashii” is Japanese word similar to nostalgia, but without the pain. It is denotes a memory or emotion that allows one to relive happy memories of the past.

Is there a word to denote a future painful event that is planned happily in the present?

Alu Vadi or Colocasia roulades

Ingredients

6 large Alu (or any large leafy greens like swiss chard, kale, large leafed spinach or cabbage leaves)
1½ cups besan (preferably laadu besan – which is slightly coarse) or bhajani – mixed flour of dry roasted grains like jowar, bajri, rice, and pulses like chana daal, moong dal, urad daal etc.
2 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 or 2 tsp red chilly powder (or more)
¼ tsp ajwain powder
1 tsp garam masala or the Marathi goda/kala masala
1 tsp sesame seeds

2 tsp desiccated coconut
1 tsp khus khus (white poppy seeds)
½ tsp turmeric
¼ tsp hing
2 tbsp thick tamarind pulp (or 2 tsps if using a tamarind concentrate) or 2-3 tbsp amchur powder- this is indispensible when making alu vadi to nullify the effect of the calcium oxalate crystals in colocasia leaves that make the throat itchy!
2 tbsp powdered jaggery or brown sugar (or more)
½ tsp Eno Fruit Salt / soda bi carb (optional)
Salt to taste

2 tbsp oil for the batter
Water to make batter

Oil to shallow fry (optional)

Method

Carefully wash the alu and dry using kitchen paper. Cut the stems close to the leaf. Flip each leaf over and slice off as much of the thick veins as possible without tearing the leaves. Then flatten each leaf with a rolling pin.

In a bowl add all the ingredients and make a paste quite like a cake batter. Adjust the flavours and tastes to your liking.

On a work surface, lay the largest leaf of the bunch, deveined side up and coat the batter in a thin layer evenly on its surface. Place the next largest leaf on top of it again the deveined side up, this time ensure the broad base is placed on the narrow tip of the leaf underneath to cover the gap.

This laying of leaves in reducing size order and the alternating of leaves with narrow tip covering the broad base enables you to create a slightly even rectangular stack of leaves to roll together with a little more ease.

Repeat the process, alternating the position of the leaves as above. I used three super sized leaves for each roll.

You could use a few more leaves, but remember that you should be able to roll the stack easily. Stacking too many leaves on top of each other may make it difficult to roll.

Make sure that the paste covers the entire leaf, but coat sparsely and equally on all the leaves.

Roll the entire stack firmly, not too tight and not too loose. You could even fold the edges of the long sides a little, like you do with spring rolls.

Seal the end with some batter and rest the roll with the end tucked underneath.

You’ll get two rolls out of the six large leaves. I have used extra large leaves, so the rolls were huge. Since I was going to steam them in the steam oven, I didn’t cut them in halves.  You will need to cut the rolls to suit the size of the steamer you are going to use.

Steam the rolls in an oiled perforated steaming tray (or line the tray with baking parchment) for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a roll comes out clean. 

I steamed them in my Bosch Steam Oven, but you can steam them in a stove top steamer as well.

Cool the rolls completely. They will firm up as they cool down.

Cut medium sized slices and shallow fry them in oil.

You can even skip this part to keep them totally oil free, or try frying them in an air fryer.

Serve hot or cold, garnished with coconut and chopped coriander, or just by itself.

It makes a great accompaniment to dal and rice or kadhi and rice.

You can even make them ahead and wrap them in cling film when cool and store them in the fridge for three or four days. These rolls even freeze very well for a couple of months at least.

If you want to experiment with your guests at your next party, the rolls have a potential as killer hors d’oeuvres or canapés with different chutney toppings.

If you can’t access colocasia leaves, you can use Swiss Chard/ silver beet, mustard, kale, collard greens or even cabbage leaves. The batter can be the same, but you could tone down the sweet and sour elements to suit your taste.

Date and Banana Shankarpaali

Date and Banana Shankarpaali

Even as a kid I used to love reading recipes in magazines, behind the pages of the Kalnirnay, on food packaging, newspaper life style sections... 

The style of writing recipes in those days was very simple - no precise measurements, paranoid instructions and elaborate steps - which made a dish sound so easy to make.

Take for instance, if I had read the recipe for these date and banana shankarpaali (which I haven’t) it would have probably read like this:

दोन- तीन पिकलेली केळी, एक कप बिया काढून बारीक कुस्करलेला खजूराचा बलक, चमचा भर खसखस, चवीपुरतं मीठ आणि दोन मोठे चमचे तेलाचं मोहन. त्यात मावेल तेव्हडी कणीक घालून पीठ घट्ट मळून घ्यायचं. तास भर झाकून ठेवून मग जाड पोळ्या लाटून शंकरपाळी कापून घ्यावी. कढईत तेल तापवून मंद आचे वर शंकरपाळी तळून काढावी.  गार झाल्यावर घट्ट झाकणाच्या डब्यात भरून ठेवावी.

Now imagine if one of my girls were to read this recipe:

Once they got past the Devnagari obstacle, the battery of questions would begin:

·      One banana or two? 

·      What on earth is ‘balak’? 

·      What sort of ‘chamacha’is this – teaspoon or tablespoon?

·      Who the heck is Mohan?

·      How much is ‘maavel tevhdi kaneek’?

·      If kaneek is flour, then how come dough is also kaneek?

Then finally, out of obvious relief that the ordeal of reading the recipe was coming to an end, a sudden flash of humour in Marathi to qualify a statement -

Dude – it should read, “गार व्हायच्या आधीच घरच्यांनी ती येताजाता भरून संपली नसल्यास, गार झाल्यावर घट्ट झाकणाच्या डब्यात भरून ठेवावी!”

And for all those on whom this is lost in translation, here's the recipe in English:

Sugar Free - Date and Banana Shankarpali

2-3 over ripe bananas, peeled and mashed

1 cup pitted dates, mashed or puréed

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

½ tsp salt

2 tablespoons oil

2 ½ - 3 cups atta (no fix measurements here)

Oil for deep frying

Method

In a bowl mix all the ingredients, except the atta. Slowly add the atta and knead a gradually into a firm dough. Keep covered for about half an hour. Then roll out large discs and cut into squares using a fluted pastry cutter. Heat oil in a kadhai and deep fry the shankarpalis batch by batch, on medium heat.

Remove on absorbent paper. Keep in an airtight container when cooled.

These taste best with a cup of tea.

Bhajani Stuffed Capsicum

Bhajani Bharleli Bhongi Mirchi (Capsicum with a multi-grain filling)

Bhajani is a handy multi-grain flour made with roasted grains and pulses. Sometimes, some of the grains are washed before roasting. This pre-processing makes bhajani quick to cook and easier to digest. The whole grains and pulses or lentils ensure plenty of fibre, which also gives the finished products a great grainy texture.

There are no fixed ingredients, but rice, wheat, jowar, bajra, raagi and pulses like whole chickpeas, green or black gram, or other lentils or various daals are commonly used. There are no fixed proportions for the ingredients either, but a general rule of thumb is to use more grains than pulses. Bhajani also includes roasted coriander and cumin seeds, which give it a distinct flavour.

Bhajani is used to make breads like thalipeeth and dhapatey, or chakalis. It can be made into mokli bhajani, an upma like dish that is very nutritious and easy to make. It can also be used to stuff all sorts of vegetables like okra, capsicum, snake gourds, tomatoes.

Ingredients

8 small Bhongi Mirchis (capsicums)

1 medium onion, chopped

¾ cup bhajani flour (I used a home made roasted multigrain flour made of rice, wheat, chana daal, whole matki and whole moong and spices like coriander and cumin)

A handful of coriander, chopped

2 tbsp besan (optional)

½ tsp coriander powder

½ tsp cumin powder

Red chilli powder to taste, depending on how hot the capsicum is

¼ tsp hing

¼ tsp haldi

Salt to taste

2 tbsp oil

Method

In a bowl, mix the chopped onion and sprinkle some salt. Rub the salt into the onions to bring out the moisture. Add the bhajani flour and besan, coriander and cumin powders, haldi and hing. Check and adjust the salt. Add 1 tbsp oil and lightly mix it into a crumbly mixture. There’s no need to add water, as the mixture will cook on the steam and firm up.

Wash the capsicums and slice the tops off. Remove all the seeds with a sharp knife. Rub a little oil onto each pepper from the outside and stuff with the crumbly bhajani mixture.

Arrange the capsicums on their sides in a heavy bottomed shallow pan and drizzle the rest of the oil on top. Place the pan on the stovetop and cook covered on a very low flame. Turn the capsicums once to ensure even cooking. Remove from heat when the capsicum skins are roasted and the stuffing looks cooked. This should take about 10-15 minutes.

Alternately, you could try baking the stuffed capsicums in a hot oven for about 15 minutes or until they are done to your liking.

You can serve the capsicums warm or at room temperature with any main meal or even as a starter or snack.