Mountbatten Mani Iyer canteen at Vidya Bharati Kalyana Mandapam

It was Saturday, the day after Christmas.. I had decided to give Sabha Lunch a shot. Waited for the clock to chime 9:30 [cos that is when puliyogare travels would share the menu ] to decide where to head. Each sabha [hall] has a different caterer and there are meals from Breakfast, lunch, evening tiffin and dinner as well. So, it was such a treat for people here to go explore the treats across the sabhas during the one month. This is a trend that has picked up over the last few years, earlier the sabhas were renowned just for their evening snacks. Now, there are people who go to a sabha not for the concert but for the food.. ;o) 

Coming back, I saw the menu shared [ the toss was between Music Academy and Vidya Bharati Mandapam], asked a friend if she wanted to join in for Mountbatten Mani Iyer canteen's sappaad at Vidya Bharati Kalyana Mandayam and she agreed.Mount Sreenivasan of the famous Mountbatten Mani Iyer canteen is the man behind this company.. Few minutes later mom called asking about something, and I mentioned this plan and instantly she said she too shall join us! So, the plan was made and excitement was building. 

We landed at Vidya Bharathi Kalyana Mandayam close to 1pm, it is tucked away in a narrow lane and was quite an adventure getting there. While I waited for the friend, mom went and checked out the menu. I then went ahead and picked up three lunch coupons and made a beeline for the empty chairs. 

The menu for the day was [right side column],

The food was piping hot, and though it was weird eating on a banana leaf somewhere outside of a wedding/function, it was a good experience. I bumped into a few familiar faces, also saw how people came in groups and alone to enjoy this meal. Food was served at a good pace, there was repeat requests and servings. The meal was quite filling and for the 1st time in my life the leaf was clean when I got up . We also grabbed a cup of coffee to finish off the meal.

Priced at Rs275 it was total Value for money... 

Thiruvathirai Special

Thiruvathirai, a star, also a festival celebrated in the marghazi masam [Dec-Jan] is a day when we celeberate the thandavam (cosmic dance) performed my Lord Shiva. Another side to this day is that it is Lord Shiva's star birthday today, the star being arudhra. The one thing i remember about Thiruvathirai is lunch menu, unfortunately it consists of items i dont like, well, these days i have a nibble and dont grunt as much. What is on the menu? Kali and Thalagam.. Sounds greek and latin, well, not really, but it is a wierd combination and mix of flavours.

We were in Delhi recently, and mom made Kali cos my uncle loves it and well, that was probably the 1st time i ate some on my own [with no one breathing down my neck] and actually liked it.. Hmm... so, today at lunch, i made myself some rotis and had a spoonful of kali as well :-) [Good girl i am]

Kali is a sweet dish, while Thalagam is a graavy made using 7/9/11/13/15 vegetables [something like a heavy duty sambar] 

How are these made? For the 1st time, i paid attention to mom and gramma when they explained the dishes. So, here goes..

Kali

What you need-

Raw Rice - 1 cup

Mung dal - 1 tbsp

Jaggery- 3/4 th cup

Butter-2 tbsp

Water - 2 to 3 cups

Coconut- 1 tbsp grated

Cashewnuts- fried in ghee

How to make Kali-

1. Wash and dry the rice 

2. Dry roast the rice and daal till the rice turns light golden.

3. Grind to a coarse powder or finely [depending on your preference]

4. In a kadai, add 2 cups of water to the jaggery and let it come to a boil. When it does, run it through a sieve to make sure there were no dust or foreign particles in the jaggery

5. To this liquid, add the rice - daal and coconut. Keep stirring and add water if you feel the mixture is too thick. Like Sooji upma, the rice will absorb the water, so dont worry if it looks runny. 

6. Stir for a good 15- 20mins till the rice cooks and starts releasing ghee around the corner. 

7. Sprinkle the fried cashewnuts and serve. 

Thalagam
What you need-

Vegetables of your choice- Today gramma used 15 veggies- Carrots, yellow pumpkin, beans, potato, sweet potato, arbi, butter beans, snake gourd, flat beans, string beans, brinjal, chow chow, raw banana and so many more.... [typically Indian veggies are used] - Chop them up into bite sized pieces.

Dry red chillies- 5 to 6 [depending on how spicy you like the dish] 

Toor dal - 1tbsp

Rice- 1/2tbsp

Coconut - 1/2 cup grated

Black Sesame seeds- 2tsp

Tamarind- the Size of a small lemon

Gingely oil- 2tsp

Mustard seeds- 1tsp

Salt- to taste

 

How to make the Thalagam-

1. Just like you make sambar, soak the tamarind in a cup of warm water for 5 - 10 minutes , squeeze and set aside the tamarind juice. 

2. In a pan, heat some oil, add the mustard seeds, allow to splutter and set aside. 

3. In the pan, add some more oil and add the toor daal, red chillies, rice, coconut and sesame seeds. Saute them till they all turn light brown colour and then grind to a fine powder. 

4. In the pressure cooker put all the chopped vegetables, tamarind juice, some salt and cook till they are tender. 

5. Now add the ground powder, and water if required. Mix and allow to cook well.  

 Note: The mix should not be too runny or light, it will be like a gravy/koottu.