Janakirami Taste — 2 — Achumamma and his simple curry.

This is a series of writeups on the Janakiram family recipes. This is a series of blogs which brings to you all the recipes and anecdotes related to them. The blog below gives the background on the initiative.

A waft of sorts from that corner with a well.

The first in series is Moru recipe from Sheela.

Janakirami Tastes — 1 — Sheela’s Moru

Achummama, memories of him visiting the ancestral home, always with something in his pocket when we cousins are gathered together for summer vacations. He wouldn't take that out as he enters home, may be because he had fun teasing us most of the times. But the wait was always worth it. I remember eating the most exquisite coconut mithais from him, small, round and peppered with jaggery and coconut crumbs and wrapped in a white printed transparent cover. The cover is always stuck in a way, it needs a lot of efforts to get it out. So he used to make it difficult for us to have it for sure. But he would always give a handful of them for each of us who gathered around him.

Courtesy: Archanas kitchen

He was a man of very few words, but pocket full of goodies was his way to show his love for us.

In this pursuit to collect food-related memories from the family and recipes, his was the most difficult as he went from among us almost 3 decades ago. His daughter Vandana/Supru gave us a recipe which he relished with his rice and fish curry which was a staple in Malabar region.

A very unconventional vegetable for most of us is bitter gourd, you need to have the skill to make it well and make it palatable too. Most of times it turns out bitter way more than it is palatable, so it the reputed as the most avoided food by many. There is a variety of bitter gourd in Kerala which is a lot lighter green and less bitter than the usual dark green ones. Filled with loads of rich vitamins and minerals, so cannot avoid too. In the traditional sit-down sadhya they do present themselves in small quantities as chips or pickle like curry called Bitter Gourd Kichadi/ Pachadi/ Pavakka Pachadi. As sadhya is a melange of all the tastes which is meticulously included to the advantage of the body, bitter being one of the most important, they are essential and make you click your tongue every time you lick the curry of it.

Courtesy: Google images

The Simple Bitter gourd recipe as she calls it and as the man was too

Ingredients

1. Bitter gourd (1 medium size)
2. 2. Coconut oil ( 4 table spoons)
3. Mustard seeds
4. Green chili (1–2)
5. Curry leaf
6. Chili powder ( 1 teaspoon)

7. Turmeric powder (1/2 teaspoon )

8. Coconut paste

9. Shallots (3–4)

10. Salt

Procedure

Heat 4 tablespoons of coconut oil in a pan. Add sliced bitter gourd into the oil. Fry till it becomes crispy and keep it aside once done. In the same oil crackle mustard seeds. Add 3–4 sliced shallots, 1 green chili, curry leaves and sauté it. For spices add 1 teaspoon of chili powder, a pinch of turmeric. Once the raw smell subsides add the fried butter gourd and coconut paste with adequate water and salt. Let the mixture boil and there you go.

He doing his Brotherly duties for his one of 10 sisters' weddings — Sushma Aunty. Extreme left standing is Achumamma, who did have some facial features of our legendary grandfather — Padmanabhan.

Here you can the jovial self, serving something for a feast, which was many in that household.