V I R U N D H U

Jackfruit Tamale

Posted by Mathy Kandasamy | Filed under Corn Masa, Experimental Efforts, Jackfruit, Jihva For Ingredients(JFI), Archives

Jackfruit is native to Southwestern India and Sri Lanka. In Tamil culture Jackfruit has a prominent part; it along with Mangoes and Bananas are refered to as ‘mukkani’ - three fruits. Jackfruits, mangoes and bananas along with some Karkandu(rock sugar) and a drizzle of honey are mixed together and are offered as Panchamirtham (roughly translated as ambrosia (w) 5 ingredients).

For all the glory of Jackfruits, I havent heard of any traditional Sri Lankan recipe for the ripe Jackfruit. Havent come across any traditional recipe in Tamil Nadu either.

If the culture in Indian Subcontinent is strong, there’s another culture equally ancient and fascinating half-way around the world. The Maya civilization. The ancient Amecian culture fascinates me to no-end. And I’m still a student and as such cannot talk much about this civilization. You can read a little here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_civilization

Tamales are ancient food dating back to atleast 5000 years. And they were developed to be used by the warriors in the ancient Americas. Kind of like the present day sandwich.

Tamales are basically, corn meal mixture filled with a sweet or spicy filling and wrapped in corn husks, banana leaves or other plants leaves and steamed.

Tamales are prepared differently in different places and have different names too.

I first tasted Tamal in a Mexican friend’s house and that night I was also introduced to a variety of food and drinks ranging from enchiladas to chile relleno to margaritas and to my first tequila shot. The taste of tamals stayed with me and I have over the years tried to cook them, but have never been able to recreate that first taste. Well, even if the Tamales turned out ok, that magical moment was missing.

That’s why Tamales are called festival food. It’s not just the work that’s involved. But all the presence of family and friends.

Even though I havent been succesful in locating the ‘tamale steamer’, I make do witht he puttu steamer.

I had excellent help from this website. This recipe uses corn oil, while most of the other recipes call for lard. The website has detailed instructions with step-by-step photos. So, I’ll just list out the ingredients and let you concoct your own version.

Recipe:

I Masa Dough Mix
2 cups Masa flour (I used MASECA instant corn masa mix)
1/8 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon canola oil
1 teaspoon coconut powder

II Filling
1 can jackfruit (some did vanish while cooking. )
1 tablespoon honey

Followed the instructions. The only changes I made were 1. addition of coconut milk powder, 2. use of warm water.

As for the jackfruit, chop them up finely, mince them a little and add honey.

Once the masa mix is spread on the corn husk, spread the filling in the middle of the mix and fold nicely. Steam for about 1 hour or so.

Note: Aluminium foil could also be used. But, the corn husk do lend a special aura.

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Mung bean leaves salad (w) Nuoc Cham

Posted by Mathy Kandasamy | Filed under Mung Bean Leaves, Experimental Efforts, Archives

I grew some Mung bean on a whim. See here.

I did not have any plans for them, when I started. But as I saw them growing, so many ideas popped up. One of them is to use them salads with one of my favourite dressings, Nuoc Cham.

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