Mother's Recipe #1

Cilantro Bites

My mother would have been 65 today. To continue a celebration of her heavenly birthdays here on earth, today I open the chapter to my mother's recipes to be tried out this year.

My sister and I often talk about what we miss the most from our mother. It’s the food she cooked so effortlessly! As a little girl, I used to sit in my mother’s lap and take a close look at her hands. Her hands always told me stories of garlic and coriander! Her fingers had some magic…of knowing how much of any ingredient goes into a recipe. She never followed any recipe books or cooking shows. Whatever she cooked used to be something learnt from her mother and later from my great grandmother, with a touch of her own innovation.

I used to help her in the kitchen. She would say, “Let me do my quick freestyle cooking. You can finish the dish with your artistic plating.” We made a great team!

I want to keep her legacy alive, to seek her blessings in what I do and to pass on her recipes to the next generation, so that my boys continue to remember her through food. Hence as a part of my new year resolutions, I have decided to recreate twelve of my mother’s simple recipes, one for each month.

I begin this month with one of her favourites and mine - “Cilantro Bites" or "Kothimbir Wadi”. This is a savoury snack made with coriander/cilantro, gram flour and sesame seeds. The hero ingredient here is coriander, which is generally used  as a garnish in most dishes.

Ingredients: (Amounts are from experience and intuition :)

• Coriander – 1 full fresh bunch
• Gram flour - 2-3 tablespoons per batch
• Ginger - one blob
• Garlic - 4-5 cloves
• Peanuts - a handful
• Green chilly - 2 maybe
• Sesame seeds - 2 teaspoons
• Turmeric - 1/2 teaspoon
• Coriander powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Asafetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Salt - less is more!

Freestyle method :

• Wash the fresh coriander under running water and chop it finely. Avoid thick stems.
• Mix sieved gram flour and water to form a smooth batter of dosa consistency and add the chopped coriander to it.
• Roast the peanuts and sesame seeds separately on a dry pan on the side.
• Grind a mixture of ginger, garlic, green chilly and the roasted peanuts.
• Add the mixture to the batter along with coriander powder, turmeric, asafetida and the roasted sesame seeds.
• Mix well to an uttappam consistency.
• Steam it on a double boiler for about 20minutes.
• Allow the coriander “cake” to cool.
• Cut into bite sized squares. Alternatively, it can be rolled into cylinders for steaming and then cut into round pieces.
• Pan fry until golden brown.
• Optionally, season with curry leaves, grated coconut.
• Keep one batch aside for that neat 'MasterChef- style plating' and the perfect Instagram shot.
• Allow the other batch to be gobbled up in minutes by the boys!

:: Cilantro Bites ::