My Aajji's Methaambaa..

Summers meant vacations.. going out .. just lazing around.. to us..summers meant visiting our native place.. our granny's home.. Pune.. Summer brings along so many things.. a quick walk in any local market will tell you that summer has set in.. cause you would have smelt rather strong fragrance of jackfruit from some cart near you.. there would be a stall selling berries..someone selling Alphonso mangoes.. Mangoes.. come summer and all set their sight on various things that this gorgeous fruit will turn into.. milkshakes.. aamras.. icecream..ambapoli..ambabarfi.. what not ..

but I used to really look forward to all the things which could be made from unripe mangoes (Kairee).. Panna.. chchundaa.. takku (a quick onion and kairee pickle).. methaambaa.. A visit to Pune would mean an opportunity to be blessed with all this.. My granny.. my dads mom used to just make summers a lot more fun.. with all her 'sathawniche' padartha.. sabudanachya paapdyaa, saandge, papad, loncha..methamba..A lot of us have tried this simple yet interesting recipe but none can ever even dream about matching up with her.. A lady whose culinary skills can only be worshiped.. a true Annapurnaa.. A sudden sense of pride prevails when I begin talking about her... a true fighter.. a true survivor..Ajji used to make some amazing recipes.. her typical traditional marathi 'Amti' used to be out of this world.. and the way she used to make us kids finish up that bowl of amti from our plates used to be amazing.. she would just mix up our rice with that amti.. some milk..some curd n there you go.. the most amazing rice dish used to be right there in front us of us.. and all the kids who were cringing at the sight of that rice would be now slurping away to glory...

Tried Ajjis recipe of methaambaa.. only she could have told if it even got close to what she used to make.. this recipe on this blog is for my Ajji.. someone who would have been so proud to know that her 'naat' now makes methaambaa... 

Ingredients
1/4 the cup of oil..
4 to 5 totaapuri unripe mangoes (washed, peeled, grated)
3 to 4 cups of sugar
2 to 3 tbsp red chilly powder
tsp turmeric powder
a pinch of asofoetida
salt to taste
and the most important of this recipe.. from which it derives its name.. methaambaa.. 
a good 1 1/2 tbsp of fenugreek seeds..

method 
pick a little thick bottomed pan for this.. this is extremely important..
heat oil in the pan.. once its warm enough add fenugreek seeds.. soon as these seeds begin to splutter add turmeric and asofoetida. now add the grated unripe mangoes..the flame needs to be on low sim.. after about 5 mins add the sugar.. keep stirring.. once the water dries up and you get a thick syrup like consistency.. add red chilly powder and salt.. adjust the amount of sugar salt and red chilly powder to suit your palette.. now give it a good mix.. and let it boil for some more time.. 
there you go... methaambaa is ready.. allow it to cool completely.. and now move it to clean glass jar.. enjoy this with chapatis or even amti bhaat.. it tastes out of this world.. 

Chimboricha Kalwan - Crab curry

This is a CKP cuisine recipe.. we have gathered it from our aajji and Aai.. The main task here is to get good crabs or as we call it Chimboryaa.. the ones which are big n full.. cutting open their fangs (naangde) is a tedious but much enjoyable task.. and so eating crabs is an elaborate process just as cooking them is.. 

Ingredients are simple..

7 to 8 nice big crabs

1 tbsp - garlic paste

1 tbsp - chilly and coriander paste.. 

in Marathi it is called Watan.. and the joy of calling these pastes watan still remains unmatched for the nostalgic kid in me.. who in her thoughts still wanders in her aai's kitchen ..where my aai used to make the most amazing Sunday lunch ever.. 

back to the ingredients..

2 tsp - red chilly powder

1/2 tsp - turmeric powder

very little - jaggery (gul)

2 onions finely chopped

some coriander leaves.. nice fresh n green

black pepper

garlic may be 1 tbsp

3 to 4 bay leaves

oil for tempering 

and salt to taste

the most important ingredient of this recipe is the ' talela masala' paste made from onions and coconut.. to make this paste.. in some oil..shallow fry a tbsp of fennel seeds.. then add onions.. fry them well and once they are nice n golden brown in color add either dried coconut or wet coconut (scraped).. once this mixture starts looking golden brown ..take it off the stove top..allow it to cool for sometime and then grind it adding just the right amount of water it will take to be made it into a fine  smooth paste..

how to make..

clean the crabs well.. there's always a lot of mud on these crabs..so cleaning them well is very important.. today I got really small sized crabs.. but these aren't the right size.. the crabs have got to be a lot bigger than these to get that perfect taste.. 

marinate these in the mixture of garlic paste..chilly coriander paste.. red chilly powder.. turmeric and salt.. 

meanwhile grind black pepper and garlic too.. the paste should not be too fine..its better if its left a little coarse.

now in a pot.. add some oil .. black pepper and bay leaves..

now add the chopped onion.. and wait till its nice golden brown..now add the black pepper and garlic paste..

add the marinated crabs to this and let it cook for a while on low flame without adding water..

now grind the crab legs.. not the bigger fangs.. just the smaller legs.. remove their pointed tips and grind

once you grind the paste will look something like this

now add little water to this and sieve it .. that juice is important.. the key ingredient.. 

now add this to the pot.. add a little water.. the gravy for this particular recipe isn't very thick.. now add a bit of jaggery..take care that you don't add too much of it.. let this boil sometime and now add the talela masala..fried onion and coconut paste.. now adjust the taste by adding salt and chilly powder.. now let all this simmer for sometime.. there's no hard n fast parameter to tell when the crabs are cooked but a well seasoned eye and nose can do this job well.. I know of a woman who waited for a very very long time for the crabs to turn soft cause she thought that's what happens to it when they are cooked.. lol..

when you are sure that the curry is ready to be served add some fresh green coriander leaves finely chopped.. 

 there you go.. this absolutely mind-blowing recipe is ready..

Enjoy this with hot steaming white rice or a nice ghee bathed paratha too.. No matter what ingredients I add to this or how well I try to make this..it can never ever taste like my Aajji or my Aai.. but this first recipe on this blog is for them.. without whom I would have never known what exactly good food means.. :-)

getting started..

A food blog has been on my mind for a very long time.. cooking is my oxygen..kitchen the most favorite part of my house for me.. one place where one can be just so sure about herself.. the ingredients never cheat you..If you use them  in the right way..then there's nothing that can go wrong.. yes I mean.. all these colorful ingredients vary in their colors..shapes..taste.. size..but they have one thing in common., they all strive.. get roasted.. chopped ..churned just to make that one dish taste awesome.. these ingredients never turn you down.. they never throw tantrums.. they never have a bad day or are never too busy for you.. they allow you to be when you are with them.. and if something goes wrong.. if u goof up while baking that cake.. then they don't frown..lol.. they don't hold a grudge.. they prepare themselves for you yet one more time ..without judging you.. 

yes.. these ingredients talk to me.. they welcome me.. & they let me be myself.. & I love them back.. I am extremely lazy at clicking food pictures.. but yes will share all of my kitchen experiences with much love here..