Panasa Ginjala Fry

I remember this dish from my childhood. Back then the duty of peeling the white skin off the seeds fell to us kids. But that only made the taste that much more memorable :).

The seeds from the jackfruit need to be dried out ion the sun for at least 1 day. The outer skin then becomes opaque and more visible. This white skin needs to be peeled off to show the brown skin below. Check image 1.

Ingredients:
Jackfruit seeds
Salt
Chilli powder

Method:

• Peel the white skin off the seeds. Chop into halves.
• Cook the seeds ina pressure-cooker.
• Once cooled, drain the brown-coloured water and set aside. The seeds will be soft but still firm.
• In a wok, heat some oil.
• fry the boiled seeds in the oil.
• Drain excess oil, and add salt & chilli powder to taste.

The purpose of boiling the seeds in to prevent it from absorbing too much oil while frying. Raw seeds can be fried, but they will take a long time, absorbing a lot of oil.

Serve hot with rice.

Chintachiguru Pappu

This particular recipie came about, thanks to my father-in-law. Chintachiguru (tender tamarind leaves) are available in markets in AP, but not in Bangalore. So when my father-in-law came visiting last week, he brought the leaves with him.These leaves are available only in the summer season. This is a speciality that is prepared only in AP, and by few familes only. My family happens to be one of them, so I’ve had the opportunity to learn and make it.
Even in Hyderabad, this has become a very expensive prospect, and it is also not very easily available in markets. Very few raithu bazaars have them, and is mostly found in Secunderabad Monda Market.
One can make pappu (dal) with the leaves and also chintachiguru podi. I have attempted only the pappu, and have described it below.

Ingredients:
1 cup chintachiguru (cleaned of twigs, but not washed)
1/2 cup toor dal
1 large onion, chopped into quarters
3 green chillies
1 tsp chilli powder
pinch of turmeric
1 tsp salt

For the tadka:
1tsp mustard seeds
a few fenugreek seeds (menthulu)
1 tsp urad dal (mina pappu)

Method:

• Boil the toor dal and set aside.
• Boil the chintachiguru , onions and chillis seperately
• Once done, mix with the dal and blend well, taking care not to crush the onion pieces.
• Add salt, chilli powder, and turmeric and set to cook
• In a small wok, heat oil and add the tadka.
• Once the mustard starts popping, and the fenugreek seeds give out aroma, add the tadka to the pappu.
• Cook for 10 mins and then serve.

Serve hot with rice.