South Indian Cuisine

In the last month I have had the opportuntiy to take several classes devoted to the cooking of south India. Traditionally, this is vegetarian cooking and both of these classes were based on Ayurveda, India's ancient science which treats food as medicine.

Food is generally classified into six tastes--sweet, sour, salt, bitter, pungent and astringent. Ayurvedic nutrition recommends that you include all of these six tastes in each main meal you eat. Each taste has a balancing ability and including some of each provides complete nutrition, minimizes cravings and balances the appetite and digestion.

Sweet (Milk, butter, sweet cream, wheat, ghee, rice honey)

Sour (Limes and lemons, citrus fruits, yogurt, mango, tamarind)

Salty (salt or pickles)

Bitter (Bitter gourd, dark greens, turmeric, fenugreek)

Pungent (Chili peppers, ginger, black pepper, clove, mustard)

Astringent (Beans, lentils, turmeric, vegetables like cauliflower and cabbage, cilantro)

Our teachers for our first class were Ivy Amar, an American certified as an Ayurvedic Practitioner and Dr. Srilatha Ramakrishna, trained in India in Ayurvedic medicine.

Ivy and Dr. Sri

Deborah Madison observes more closely as the cooks work

One of my favorite recipes from this class was Rasam. This delicious soup is reported to digest ama (toxins),increase Agni (digestive fire) and relieves flatulence.  Rasam is rich in all the tastes, emphasizing sour and pungent. It is especially good when you have a cold or fever since it includes freshly ground peppercorn which helps to digest toxins, excess mucus and relieves respiratory pathways. The garlic is anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-fungal and also acts as a blood purifier. Rasam is usually served with rice.

RASAM

RASAM

(serves 3 to 4)

1. 1/4 cup Toor or Channa Dal. Can use Red Lentils or Yellow Split Mung which are easier on digestion
2. 4 tablespoons Ghee
3. 1 tablespoon mustard seed
4. 1/4 Tablespoon fenugreek seeds or power
5. 2 teaspoons cumin
6. 1/2 teaspoon asafoetida (Hing)
7. 2 tablespoons grated ginger
8. 4 garlic cloves, chopped
9. 1 onion, diced
10. 10-12 curry leaves or 5 bay leaves)
11. 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
12. 2 medium tomatoes diced
13. 5 cups water
14. Salt to taste
15. 1/4 teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
16. 1 tablespoon Rasam Powder*
17. 1 tablespoon Tamarind paste
18. Cilantro and a squeeze of lemon to garnish

Cook toor dal in a pressure cooker (for about 15 minutes) or on the stove top with 1 to 2 cups of water, which will take 45 minutes to an hour. Red lentils or yellow Split Mung will take about 20 minutes.

Heat ghee in a sauce pan, add the mustard seed seeds. When the mustard seeds start to pop, add the fenugreek. When the fenugreek turns gold brown, add cumin, asafoetida and the curry leaves. Add the ginger, garlic, onion and saute enough to remove any raw taste.

When the curry leaves change color, add the water, tomaotes, turmeric, salt, tamarind paste, black pepper and rasam powder. Bring to a boil.

Once the rasam starts boiling and the tomatoes are cooked, add the cooked dal and boil for another minutes.

Add the cilantro and lemon and turn off the heat.

Serve hot with rice.

*Rasam powder can be purchased in an Asian or Indian grocery or you can make your own.

Combine:  

1. 2 tablespoons toor dal
2. 1 tablespoon black pepper
3. 5 dried red chilies
4. 1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seed,
5. 1 1/2 tablespoons cumin
6. 1 1/2 tablespoons coriander seed

Blend to a powder and store in an airtight glass jar.

Comments

[South Indian Restaurant]

The method of South Indian cuisine is hotter than the North. Rice is also the staple food, as are against to the North where baked bread is more favoured.

[African Mango Cleanse]

Spot on with this write-up, I absolutely feel this website needs far more attention. I'll probably be back again to read more, thanks for the advice!