ISHTOO

Dish of the Day- Ishtoo
Place- Kerala

Ishtoo is Kerala's traditional stew made with potatoes swimming in coconut milk. Mallu cuisine uses a lot of coconut and this is a classic example of a coconut-laden Malayali dish.

As to how its name came about, I have a theory. When they first tasted it, Britishers probably called it stew and Indians couldn't pronounce it very well so the pronounciation of 'stew' was tortured by Keralites until it agreed to be called 'ishtoo'! But this is just conjecture on my part- please don't go around quoting my theory. Although on second thought, I would love it if someone quoted me..;)

The first time I ate ishtoo was at a friend's place. Poppu calls us for an aunthentic, traditional home-cooked South Indian meal every Onam and I personally await it more than my own harvest festival! The best part about it is we get to eat on banana leaves and we have to fold it up and keep our steel tumbler on the leaf once we're done. There's just some charm to these customs which makes me proud that I'm a South Indian.

I'm dedicating this post to Mini aunty who took time out to give me this recipe. She makes the world's best fish curry, and some day she'll teach me how to..:)

How to Cook it Up:- (serves 4 people)


Potatoes..............4 to 5 medium potatoes, peeled & cubed
Onions..................1 medium coarsely chopped
Ginger..................1 inch piece
Green chillies.....6 to 7
Curry leaves.......2 stems
Coconut oil...........1 tsp
Coconut milk.......1 cup of the thick milk (first extract) and  3 cups of the thin milk (second and third extract)
Salt to taste


Directions:-

* These days, you get the dried and liquid variants of coconut milk in the market. For each cup of thick milk, you can dilute it with one cup of water and use it as thin milk. If you want to do things the old-fashioned way (and I would suggest you do that because the flavour gets enhanced in a way I can't explain), here goes.

1) Grate 2 coconuts. Sprinkle some warm water over it and knead it slightly to squeeze out the milk. Strain it using a muslin cloth and keep it aside. This is the first extract or the thick milk.

2) Repeat the kneading, squeezing, straining procedure to get the second and third extracts.

Now back to the ishtoo.

1) Boil the potatoes, onions, ginger and green chillies in the thin coconut milk and keep stirring it continuously because it has a tendency to crack.
2) Then lower the flame to a simmer and leave it like that until the potatoes get cooked.
3) Add salt and the thick coconut milk to it and let it cook for some time- but take it off the flame before it starts to boil.
4) Sink in the curry leaves and drizzle it with coconut oil.


Ishtoo HAS to be eaten with Vellayappam- a Kerala version of the Tamilnadu dosa. If not, it goes really well with hot rice too.

UZHALAKAZHANGA BONDA

Dish of the Day- Uzhalakazhanga Bonda
Place- Tamilnadu

Bonda is a slightly tweaked South Indian version of something that we all know as Batata Vada. This is the best tea- time snack and the highlight of a Bonda is it's crisp, crunchy outer covering contrasting with the soft, mashed potatoes and pungent chillies filled inside.

Bonda is the name for anything that is fried in such a manner with this particular batter. Uzhalakazhanga is Tamil for potato and the Bonda can have any filling depending on what you want. The name will change accordingly. I personally prefer Bonda as a salty snack but there are other sweet variants as well.

Bonda's signature companion is some spicy kothmir chutney. Even tomato ketchup does a good job of complimenting its flavours.:) Bonda is my comfort food- no wonder then that an entire post has been dedicated to it..;)

This is my maternal grandmother's signature dish. 'No One Can eat Just One' definitely applies to her Bondas. When we go to her place in Thane, my sister and I end up having a 'Who gets more Bondas' competition.

There's a saying that goes something like- 'Eat too many bondas, you'll starting looking like one'. This is uncannily true for this calorie- laden potato snack.

How to Cook it Up:-

Potatoes............................................3
Onion, chopped finely.....................1/2
Cumin seeds......................................1/2 tsp
Green Chillies, finely chopped......2
Curry leaves.....................................2-3
Ginger Paste.....................................1 tsp
Chickpea flour..................................1 cup
Chilli powder.....................................1 tsp
Rice flour...........................................1 tbsp
Asafoetida/Hing..............................1/4 tsp
Water
Oil

Directions:-

1) Boil the potatoes and peel them off. Then mash them before they get cold, but not uniformly.
2) In a pan, add some oil and the curry leaves, ginger paste, green chillies, cumin seeds, onion, and finally the mashed potatoes. Saute them well and then turn off the heat. Keep this mixture aside. This is the filling.
3) Mix the chickpea flour, rice flour, chilli powder and asafoetida to make a thick paste with sufficient amount of water. Add salt to taste.
4) Heat oil in a wok for deep frying the Bondas.
5) Make small balls out of the potato mixture. Dip each ball into the chickpea batter and  cover it completely. Then slowly drop it into the wok and toss it until all sides acquire a lovely golden- brown colour.
6) Serve hot with green chutney or ketchup.

* My grandmother doesn't add onions and that turns out very well too. You could try both and decide which one you like better..:)