The weekend was unusually moving in a sluggish pace and apart from my dance class and few errands; I very much seemed to relish being at home…with the regular cleaning and washing tasks. A few other activities were, trying out whether old traditional skirts (pattu paavaadai) still fit me , clicking buckets and mugs (innovation!!??), revising on music lessons and start a long procrastinated task of tanjore glass painting.
It was almost Sunday noon when mom reminded me of a paper cutting of “Malpua” recipe which we had collected earlier. It’s a popular sweet dish of North India – has many versions, the one we choose had khoya and flour combination with the fritters dipped in sugar syrup after they were fried . I quickly shopped for khoya and the rest were items available in our storage. Now, the fact is neither I am a born chef nor did I spend time in the kitchen anytime (other than sitting on the slab and tasting food….fresh from the pan). My favorite place of hangout used to be the huge balcony, grandpa’s hand made swing…or our farm.
My first attempts of wondering how something like “Sambhar” would so colorfully evolve and how “Pooris” would blow up artistically like small balloons started when I was 20….and already busy(?!!) with my business management(so called..) studies. I was rather forced to enter what’s defined as the girl’s arena (because mom was in complete rest) where the initial few episodes of wonder, adventure, accidents and failures happened. I certainly don’t remember the exact point where I transformed into a comfortable cook who loves her work - anyway glad I did manage….serves my crunch for variety and taste in food (plus smart ingredients).
Oops...ignoring the topic diversion, lets go back to the beautifully named “Malpua”. The most important part of the preparation was the consistency of batter which I hardly had any idea about. After all, what are mobiles for? After a little browsing for names, remembered my workplace buddy who is from Mangalore and called her up. She took enormous efforts to get me the recipe details (along with her mom-in-law who was rather sure I was going to spoil the dish and hence, displayed a stern tone).
Finally we realized that was something called “Malpuri” which was a famous sweet dish from Mangalore, very different from Malpua. Still, I convinced myself that I got to know a bonus recipe to try out next weekend and got back to action. The grand first round of Malpua turned out to be a hilarious scene with the batter spreading out like a football team in the pan (in the oil) and I had to struggle to get them all together. Past experiences warned me that perhaps the batter needed some flour and I bravely went ahead for the modification ( meanwhile, the chef got a few curses from me for mentioning wrong measurements in his article). It’s kind of a ritual that I follow, to have any good genre of music on…whilst cooking. These would be English…country music/Ilayaraja/Classical etc.. and this time, it was Yesudas, creating enough of nice impact through his melodic singing of”Muttathettum thennale...” in Malayalam. As I hummed the song…to my surprise….golden brown round cakes tastefully floated up in the pan getting a broad smile to my face. I delicately took them to add to the syrup and finished frying the rest of rounds happily.
The idea of preparing “Murukkus”(a south Indian snack) popped in from the economical thinking that we could use up the oil, plus have a spicy item too. The simple version of the dough comprises of rice flour and gram flour (4:1 ratio), sesame seeds (fried), asafoetida, chilly powder, fresh butter and salt in addition, of course water too. Again, it’s a wonderful snack less in cholesterol and fat, if prepared in the right consistency – thereby absorbing minimal oil and quickly fried. 
With the metal “Achu” (shape), one could easily explore varieties like Ribbon murukku, Thatta murukku and so on. I was tempted to have quick bites before the fourth round and climbed up on the kitchen slab for a few mobile clicks too, as mom reminded me it was already 10pm. The very update of time tickled my stomach and I suddenly felt too hungry. With a sympathetic look, I left place for mom – not to miss the hot rotis that filled my plate and appetite for the night.
Cooking Results: Malpua got 4 stars(out of 5) from brother and murukku was already known, no surprise..
Cooking Results: Malpua got 4 stars(out of 5) from brother and murukku was already known, no surprise..
