Colorful Gooseberries n Folklore

Gooseberry! admit it, mouth waters at the very thought of it and the second you take a bite, you have a pursed lips and screwed up eyes, because of the inherent sour taste! 

When we came across these colorful berries at the road side in Yelagiri (a laid back high-land in Tamil Nadu in India), we just stopped by to try it out! To our pleasant surprise, we were told that these are local gooseberries (நெல்லிக்காய்)! Until then, I h'v thought that the color of these berries are shades of pale green. 

They used to sell gooseberries in front of school. All we had to do was shell out a small change and get a hand full of small sized அரெ-நெல்லிக்காய் or a big நெல்லிக்காய், of course with all the works including salt, chilli powder and blackish coarse mustard. 

Our World

If you grew up learning Tamil, am pretty sure you have heard Ovvaiyar (ஒவ்வையார்) and gooseberry (நெல்லிக்கனி/நெல்லிக்காய்) at least once! The folklore says that king Adiyamaan (அதியமான் ) once got a gooseberry which is supposed to increase his life span. The king after deep contemplation gave this to ஒவ்வையார் believing that increasing her lifespan means good to the society at large as she is not only a great poetess, but strives to bring peace among neighbouring rulers too! Such a noble hearted ruler!

Look at the ripe ones! They were not sweet, but certainly had a crispy tangy taste with a punch.
ஒரு வேளை ஒவ்வையார் உண்ட நெல்லிக்கனி இப்படி இருந்திருக்குமோ?

Madras Thorn - கொடுக்காபுளி

When I saw this in Pallavaram market, I was a little more than excited...

கொடுக்காபுளி

But, the roadside peddler was at a ever busy junction and I'd to make a huge u turn just to buy this!

கொடுக்காபுளி, until this day I didn't know the English name, thanks to google for informing the botanical and common names - Pithecellobium dulce/Madras Thorn!

This is a seasonal fruit (well, how else can I call it?!), available for a very short time in the height of summer. Taste - bitter sweet to sweet, you can't judge the taste by the color of the skin...at times the green ones are sweet too and the pink ones are bitter.

More than eating this odd tasting fruit, the thrill is in peeling the first layer of the black seeds!

These seeds are inedible and has a double layer. The outer thick black one, followed by skinny brown layer. The minute you start peeing with nails, both layers come off. So peeling that tough layer without scratching the next layer used to be our challenge in those days. Even now, I couldn't get it off:(

L' Escargot

During a photo shoot trip, pink stuff in between the rocks in the lake attracted us. At first we thought that someone might have spit chewing gums. But as we walked further, we found more of these by the lake side plants!

Intrigued, but hesitant to touch as it might be itchy, we explored further...

Reproducing! Shadow Shot Sunday 2

Ah hem...we found him...happily laying eggs by the hundreds!!!

It was hard to believe that this earthen colored escargots can reproduce colorfully! Salute to the nature!

On a different note, here are the popular escargots of Melaka...

SOOC

This is the name board of an authentic UNESCO heritage building (converted as boutique hotel) in Heerun Street, Melaka.

Edible Escargot!

The above shot is my favorite delicacy at Patisfrance, a popular pastry/cafe in town! The rich sour bread is swirled with cranberries and walnuts! I just assumed it to be a french name, period. Recently, in my French class, we came across the word 'escargot' and realized that this delicious pastry was named after snail, as it was supposed to be a look alike!

Bulgogi - Meat on Fire

It was totally a new lunch experience with expat friends. Well, our Korean friends suggested that we go for lunch at Korean House Restaurant, in Bukit Baru Malacca.

Menu

As we didn't know what to choose, our friends (Korean) Sara, Catherine and Yong Mei decided on the menu and ordered for all of us. First, we were served with rice tea...

Rice Tea

It tasted like Chinese tea. After that a stove was placed on each table, so I was assuming that something like Steamboat is going to be served...

Bulgogi

Well, it didn't look like a steamboat and when Sara said the name of the dish, I heard it as wolgoki and was unable to pronounce it properly, so she wrote on paper as 'Bulgogi', where Bul = Fire and gogi = meat in Korean! So, it was meat (beef) on fire!!!

Bulgogi comes with an assortment of vegetables and meat, so our table was filled with lot of mini-plates:) Though am a die-hard vegetarian, I must admit that the meat dishes were aesthetically presented.

Bulgogi Set

Bulgogi has Beef as the 'king', followed by sides - fried anchovies, pickled shells, fish balls, omelet and steamed egg. Then few veg dishes - pickled cucumber and radish, fresh lettuce with thin slices of garlic, lotus root fry and salad with thousand island sauce. On top of it, a small plate of bean sauce was placed for everyone and it was reddish and resembled Malaysian Sambal or Indian kara chutney!

All of us were given a small box of rice. But, by then another plate of what looked like glass noodles was placed in our table and Sara and Yong Mei told that it was vegetarian. When I said 'I dun want rice, I'll just have this noodles', Sara insisted 'no no, this is a special dish we make only on occasions and you should eat it with rice'.

1st time eating noodles as a side dish for rice!

As the owner of that place was Sara's friend, he gave us two complimentary dishes...

Pancakes

They were Kimchi pancake with crab meat (the one on top) and Veg & egg pancake (the one @ bottom). I didn't try it, because they were not vegetarian.

Overall, I was surprised to see that I had quite a choice of veg-dishes! Especially I liked the way the Koreans eat the rice. Yong Mei gave a demo on how to eat rice...take a fresh lettuce, add a spoon of rice, followed by bean sauce and meat or any side. Now, fold it and eat! It was yummy:)

Thirsty Rootbeer!

After a hot day of non-stop sight-seeing in Brunei, we took shelter @ Big Papa's for lunch. All of us were in no mood for chit-chat until we finished our grub. When we had enough strength, my kid's imagination was working overtime...

I guess, if rootbeer gets hot n thirsty it might dress up like this! Isn't this cute?

Appam Balik - Malaysian Crêpe

Yesterday at pasar malam (evening market in Malay) my daughter and I wanted to buy appam balik (traditional Malay crêpe), but the lady was just starting to light her stove, so we had to wait.

Brass Tawa

I was not hoping to take any photos, so I didn't have my DSLR with me. But, the situation was very tempting to take pictures, I'd to satisfy myself with my puny hand phone camera (Samsung BT3410).

Getting ready with the flour

Spreading

The way she swirled the flour reminded me of spreading dosai on the tawa!

Toppings

When the appam was half-way done, she sprinkled liberally with coarse groundnut and added a dash of sweet corn. Look at the appam where I've labeled 'Ratilator', it is plain without any topping. The flour was not spread evenly, which would result in soggy appam, so the seller decided that it was unfit for sale. What a professionalism!

Crispy Crêpe

Once done, she placed the crispy appam balik in this special stand! Kecil is small, and yes, 3 for RM1. There is 'besar' or large version too, which is soft, like pancakes.

Appam Balik - Besar

This appam besar is too soft and overdosed with peanuts, margarine and sweet corn. So, our choice is always the kecil, crispy version, which is also healthier, mainly because they don't add margarine!

Malaysian appam baliks are made of chickpea flour. Where as back in India, appams are made of rice and dal flour. My mom makes salty and sweet appams, sure I will be tasting it when I go home next month:)

Sinful Delicacies

Today there is joman at my mom's house in my home town and I miss it:( Joman is a Sourashtra (my mother tongue) term for feast/get-together/party and anything that involves relatives and food:) Though I can't enjoy today's goodies, I can at least satisfy myself by looking at the photos that I took at a friend's birthday party. As expected in any Indian (specifically Indians from India) gatherings, food was from Indian restaurant, that too my favorite Sri Kaveri restaurant.

Laddu

As in Indian tradition, desserts were served first. Laddu, more than double the size of meat ball, this was fresh and succulent.

Varuval

Whenever I eat Pringles or Lays, I feel some bad taste or rather dry sensation after eating. But, these hand cooked potato chips were excellent that too garnished with salt, pepper and curry leaves, it was divine.

Samosa

Here in Malaysia, curry puff is common and Samosa is its original cousin from India:) This samosa had the traditional spicy potato filling.

Laddu, varuval and samosa, are the starters and needless to say they are loaded with my enemy, aka, CALORIES! Well, since they are my enemies, I attacked them with a vengeance^^

Vegetable Biriyani

The main course, vegetable biriyani...

Onion Raitha

Traditional side dish - onion raitha, (onion salad in yogurt). There was vegetable kurma for vegetarians like me. But for the rest, chicken was served.

Chicken Masala

The best part in this shot is my reflection on the ladle:)

Chicken 65

Chicken 65, no one knows the real reason for this naming convention, but it is supposed to be a deep fried boneless chicken marinated with spices and yogurt.

Though I cringe at these non-veg dishes, I snapped these because of the vibrant color.

Watermelon

After eating the sweet, spicy, sour and oily stuff, water melon was very soothing. Thanks Kavitha!

Brunch @ Top of the World - KL Tower Revolving Restaurant

We planned to dine at Seri Angkasa Di Menara Kuala Lumpur (the revolving restaurant @ KL tower), several times, but we couldn't make it until recently because of several reasons! As it was a Sunday, we booked a table for their brunch buffet.

Just to get to the observation deck and enjoy the panoramic view you need to pay RM 38. Contrarily, to dine at the revolving restaurant, which is one level above the observation deck, the rate was surprisingly priced at just RM 70 per person. Since I have been to the observation deck a couple of times, I think opting to eat at the top is a much better deal for the kind of experience and the food they provide.

There was a good choice of vegetarian salads, but to be on the safe side I had requested for a vegetarian main course when we made our bookings, so I was given a plate of vegetarian Nasi Goreng (fried rice).

Though there was live music, nobody seemed to enjoy it...instead the diners were either busy watching the ever changing, breathtaking views or refilling their plates. Compared to my first experience on a revolving restaurant at Carnival Heights in Chennai (almost a decade ago), KL Tower was simply fabulous. Another bonus was that, the day was blessed with a clear blue sky and I had a chance to capture awesome shots using my cousins Canon EOS Rebel T1i!

It took about 2 hours to complete a circle, by then we were finishing our desserts.

Overall, it was memorable and I'd love to repeat it:)

Kerala Special Nendaran (banana) Chips

We went to Guruvayur temple in Kerala, on our last visit to India. Besides being God's own country, Kerala is known for its nendranka chips, which is a favorite of mine, since childhood. It has a very distinct flavor as it is made using coconut oil.

On the way back from Guruvayur temple we passed through Vadakkencherry, where we came across shops that make fresh chips, the traditional way. Um, the smell itself made us to pull aside and taste the delicacy. While our batch was getting ready, my shutter was busy capturing the action...

The Nendran banana (நேந்த்ரன்கா) used for making the chips is neither raw nor ripe.

The vendor told us that instead of regular wok and electric or gas stoves, they use brass wok on top of traditional brick stove & firewood for making the chips, to get the signature nendran chips flavor. They seemed to be proud of even their wok, you could see it from their gleam!

Slicing the nendraka in a fast mode right on top of hot oil...

Getting fried on a low flame...

 

Deftly taking the chips out after few minutes of frying...

No salt or any other flavor was added, it was divine and the taste still lingers.

Palmyra Palm - Padhini

Before my Indian holiday becomes a vague memory, I plan to post them. On the way to Aliyar dam, we saw many padhini sellers by the road side. It brought back my childhood memories and told my kid how we used to force our grandpa to buy the sweet padhini at night. In those days, they used to sell it in push carts, but now the peddlers are modernized...

Padhini or pathanir is the palm sap extracted from the barks of Indian Palmyra palm tree. Mostly, villagers extract the palm sap directly in a mud pot so that it gets fermented and becomes kallu or toddy, which is alcoholic. For padhini, the collecting mud pot is coated with chunnambu (edible soda lime calcium) so that the extracted sap is sweet and non-alcoholic. Traditionally, padhini is served in palm leaf bowls.

Optionally you can add nungu as well.

Somewhere I've heard nungu is ice apple in English, but am not sure. The drink is delicious and refreshing. Finally, when I asked if the vendor sold kallu, he just pointed at a plastic bottle hanging in his motorcycle...

Well, none of us dared to try it...