Kurisappam or Pesaha Appam #coronatime

This is being posted really late but I don't want to wait another year when I may or may not get a chance to make it again. Easter came and went rather quietly this year but I am grateful to have had the chance, time and mindset to watch all the masses and observe some dear customs like making this 'appam' for the first time. I really liked the services streamed from SS Peter & Paul Church Portaloise Ireland. Maybe because they were a web presence before Covid19 the service was catered to online viewers with clarity of sound and a prayerful ambience. I did find Pope's extraordinary blessing Urbi  Et Orbi quite moving too.

Kids were quite surprised when I talked about this tradition since they never had a chance to see it before. To be honest, as a kid this tradition felt more like part of a religious ritual that took place at home rather than a food event. That happened on the actual Easter day with crisp and soft flat appams and my mom's special chicken curry. This was more of a solemn occasion when my grandfather would cut the appam with the cross (kurisu) after prayers and distribute it to everyone around the table. A small piece of turmeric which we called the 'treasure' was hidden in the appam at the time of cooking and whoever found it in their slice was considered to have received a lot of luck for the coming year. I didn't do that this year though. The focus was just on making the 'appam' at least this once. Hoping for a chance next year to make this again.

The meal with this 'appam' is to commemorate Christ's last supper and the 'appam' represents the unleavened passover bread. There was a drink called 'paal' or milk which was made out of coconut milk to represent wine which I didn't do this time. Memories of my sister and me came calling. We started off the day by singing the 'puthen pana' about the 'unleavened bread a,k,a puliyathappam' which then was picked up next morning on Good Friday about Mother Mary's sorrow on her son's fate. This was almost continuous during the day with others joining in as needed. Along with the 'kurisappam' which is steamed separately, there were appams of the same genre steamed in banana leaves for general consumption.

My oldest sister had sent a recipe that was most similar to what we had at home and I also referred an old cookbook as well as many food vlogs out there. It's been so long that I am not sure if I really got the authentic taste but it came out better than expected. Planning to try this recipe from Mia's kitchen next year since that batter texture looks more familiar.

In The Mix
roasted rice powder - 1 cup
urad dal - 1/4 cup (fried for 2-3 min and soaked for 2 hours)
grated coconut - 1 cup
shallots - 2
garlic - 1 cloves
cumin seeds - 1 tsp
water - as needed for grinding

How To Do

Add water to rice powder and combine well together. Grind urad dal and add to the rice mix. Grind coconut, shallots, cumin and garlic and add to the prepared mix. Try to add as little water as possible. This is where I may have gone wrong a bit since the consistency was not as familiar. It should be coarse and thick. Check salt as needed. Set aside for 30 minutes. Do not let it rise because after all, this is unleavened bread.

Pour batter into a greased steel pan/plate with straight sides. I used olive oil to grease but may use coconut oil next time. Place a cross on top of the batter using two strips of the palm leaf from palm Sunday.

Boil water in a larger pan with a steamer insert at the bottom. Idli steamer is good if the pan can fit inside. Once the water starts boiling, place the pan with batter into it, cover and steam for about 15-20 minutes. Appam is done once a fork or toothpick comes out clean.

I had made some 'kozhukkatta' too to make up for not doing that on palm Sunday the previous weekend as demanded by tradition.

Easy Banana Bonda #coronatime

I like to call it the banana nut bread of Kerala. Even the kids decided to give it a try when I called it by this name and liked it too! A perennial presence inside the glass cabinets of local tea shops in Kerala, this snack was my favorite over the equally good looking 'neyyappam'. Of course bonda cannot compete with the ever popular and crowd pleasing parippu vada or pazham pori. But every snack deserves its day and that day has finally arrived. And what unprecedented and trying days these are!

No matter who you talk to, where you look, the problems are the same. The entire world is on its knees because of a tiny organism.  Economies have ground to a halt and people are prisoners in their own homes. I pray that this shall soon pass from us.

On the good side of this global pandemic is the fact that all four of us are under the same roof again after my son leaving for college. Kids are schooling from home now and parents are working from home. Cooking for a full house with minimized options for buying out when also working full time is quite the challenge. I am sure this is not just my problem. I was like fish out for water the first 2-3 weeks. But now we have found our rhythm and I also find that one can be quite creative with minimum resources. And old habits shed easily in face of challenges. I no longer have any issues with bread kept in the fridge and small leftover pieces of ginger are plastic wrapped and saved for another time instead of just dumping it etc.

 Going out for groceries is akin to hunting for food where masks and sanitizer sprays are your weapons. The triumph you feel on scoring a carton of eggs or a gallon of milk before the hoarders find them is unparalleled. So also is that great feeling when at the dot of 12.00PM you are able to click into a grocery delivery slot at Amazon before it disappears in front of your eyes. Then comes the de-sanitizing regimen developed more for our peace of mind than anything else. Once the delivery person leaves the stuff at the door step, we wear gloves and bring it all inside the garage. Non-perishables are left in the garage where they stay until 24 hours for paper packaged items like snack boxes and 3 days for plastic covered items like bread and bagels. Milk, chicken and other packed perishables are sanitized with wipes and washed in cold water and dried before putting them in the fridge. Fresh vegetables are dropped contact free into a clean bag or container before refrigerating. Eggs go through their own special regimen where each gets sanitized, washed, dried and kept in clean used cartons. Peel-able fruits like oranges and bananas are just allowed to stay in a specific area in the garage for a while before bringing them in. Some bananas end up with those dreaded black spots all over with no one vying to consume them. These were used to make banana nut bread which is a favorite breakfast/snack around here.

With youtube vloggers picking up the slack during this global shutdown there is no dearth of good food vlogs. It is this vlog by Rani of salt & pepper that provided the inspiration and recipe for this bonda a.k.a undam pori. It seems very close to unniyappam which is better shaped I think.  So it was that the 2 over ripe bananas with no takers in the kitchen got transformed into these yummy snacks. I made some minor recipe changes based on what was available in the house.

In The Mix

over ripe bananas - 2 or 3
all purpose flour - 1 cup plus 1 or 2 tbsp

jaggery/sarkara or dark brown sugar - enough to make about 1 cup syrup
water - 1/4 cup
cardamom - 3
cumin - a pinch
ginger - 1/4" or less
salt - a pinch
grated coconut/coconut flakes or powder - 1-2 tbsp

option 1 rising agent

rapid rise yeast - 1 tsp
warm water - 2 or 3 tsp
sugar - 1/4 tsp

option 2 rising agent

baking soda - 1 tsp

oil -  1/2 cup or as needed

How To Do

Crush jaggery to 1/2" sized pieces for easy dissolving, add to 1/4 cup water and set on medium heat to make a syrup.

Crush cardamom, cumin and ginger and add in and stir all together. Once liquified, reduce a bit, drain and set aside to cool.

Add yeast and sugar to warm water and mix well together if using this option. No need for it to rise. 

Peel the bananas and mash all together and add the syrup. Now add in all purpose flour and mix together for a bit thicker than banana nut bread like consistency. Add in the yeast mix or baking soda. Add or reduce flour as needed.  Add a pinch of salt and coconut flakes and gently fold all together. The best feature of this recipe is that it can be made right away.

Heat oil in a pan on medium high heat. Take some batter in a spoon shape/fold it in with another spoon and gently drop into the oil once it is hot. There should be enough oil to cover more than half of the batter ball. Turn over once when sides brown and set aside to drain on paper towels. Yum😋