Week 10: Jeere Meere Khadi

If you have been wondering (I hope you have) as to what has taken me long to publish my next blog, I have just one response. Sleep regression. Not mine, but my little one's. Ah, he was a pretty good sleeper, but has suddenly turned into this ninja warrior who fights sleep with all his might. I admire his perseverance and determination at resisting all his naps and night sleep, but obviously that has meant a teeny weeny bit of stress for us in managing a cranky, tired, and clingy dude. Anyhow, back to the challenge. It was not difficult thinking of a dish with J. While I have fond memories of the cold and refreshing Tambli from my summer holidays spent in India, its cold weather cousin - the Jeere Meere Kadhi, is a firm favourite providing comfort in the cold and wetness, i.e. typical British weather. Moreover, I have seldom come across a dish that simultaneously counters the “I should not have over indulged in my previous meal” by facilitating digestion. Simple ingredients. Simple recipe. Jeere (cumin) and Meere (pepper), alongside garlic, coconut, red chilli, and asafoetida. That's it!

Ingredients:

2 tsp cumin seeds

7-10 peppercorns

3/4 cup desiccated coconut

Tamarind (1/4th the size of a lime. Cleaned and de-seeded)

10 garlic cloves

1 tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp asafoetida/hing

Salt to taste

Method:

1. For the massol, heat the coconut oil and roast the cumin seeds and peppercorns until lightly brown. Add the hing, red chilli powder and coconut. Roast together for a couple of minutes. Note: Be really careful you don't roast the ingredients for too long as you will end up burning them. Transfer these contents into the mixer-grinder jar.

2. Finely chop, or grate the garlic and lightly roast it in the same pan in which you had roasted the massol ingredients. Add half of this sautéed garlic to the mixer jar and keep the other half aside.

3. Fine grind the roasted mixture with the garlic.

4. Now transfer the ground massol into the pan. Add water until the kadhi is like a smooth liquify texture - born too watery but no lumps either. Note: pour water first into the mixer jar to wash out the massol sticking to the sides, into the pan.

5.Add salt to taste, and the remaining roasted garlic to the kadhi. Stir to a boil.

And there you have it. Another very simple aamchi dish but just so incredibly delicious!