Pongal Musings

At The Hindu, Pongal is That Time Of  The Year when all the gals ask each other, “What’s  the color?”   Everyone received a brown package with their name on it, and everyone knew what was inside …the Pongal sari given to every woman employee . This has long been a tradition. You get one each year. The men get a pair of  veshtis, which everyone passed on to their dads or grand-dads. Or probably wore it to weddings and upanayanam ceremonies if they were in the mood for traditional. No one ever told.
But as the number of women employees,  in editorial and other departments swelled,  some color was infused into the annual tradition A week or two before  Pongal, which is a holiday , the packages arrive from Chennai, and  soon the attenders Thimma and  Venkatesh go around handing out the packets. Everyone signed for them, and  wasted not a single moment in tearing up the cover to know “what’s the color?”
Some years, the saris were silken and looked quite Banarsi or Balucherry, a couple of years we went Utkal cotton which have a linen-y feel to them, and sometimes it was   Coimbatore cotton., or printed silk.  The look on the lady’s face at the first sight of her sari almost always told the story: if the mouth zigzagged to a droop,  the sari was a disappointment.
A splash of orange, or pink,  and yellow, a muted beige contrasted with deep maroon, spelt class, and did not bring forth a droopy mouth, but a decorous smile and  eyes widened in surprise. Lunch-time buzz in the canteen was always about “I like mine better”,  “I think you are always lucky”,  “how about exchanging?”
The last question has never led to the transaction taking place, and everybody went home with what they got.  They probably gave it to their moms. Or just let it hang in the wardrobe,  so every time you looked in you’d know how many years you’d added at  The Hindu.
There have been a couple of years when we thought the guys with their veshtis were better off……and one  has often toyed with the idea of   “exchanging with the guys ” and  convert the veshtis into ” a designer sari”  . But the men probably did not want any ripples in their smoothly flowing river of domestic life, or have to explain to the wife/girlfriend the details of the deal with a female colleague……

The Pongal sari is legend, and as much a part of being a member of  ” The Hindu Undivided Family”  as waiting for the excellent coffee at the canteen, or going in there to be swamped by the aroma of fresh ground sambhar powder ……. Loading up on the “oota” complete with  palya, sambhar, rasam appalam, pickles was, always, an invitation to sin.

A White House Soup Song

The morning of the Jan 10  New Hampshire Republican Primary,  Chuck Todd informed us on The Daily Rundown that the White House Soup of the Day was Loaded Potato.
“Starch up”, suggested Chuck Todd,  “it’s a big primary night.”  Jan 11 was the first anniversary of  the 9 am news  programme and if  one got addicted to it , getting to know the Presidents through the soups slurped at The White House during their stay,  had a good deal to do with it.
On the day of the Broccoli Cheddar, Chuck reminded us that In the Poppy Bush White House, it would never have been on the menu….
Remember,  President George H.W. Bush, had declared during a news conference, “I do not like broccoli. I haven’t liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it, and I’m President of the United States, and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli. The media had also read into this demonstration  of his  assertiveness to the American public .
The Obamas hate beets, but the reason beet soups don’t figure is probably because even the chef hates it…….one day  Chuck Todd will let us know . Whether Mitt Romney likes his beets will become known if he makes it into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue  this November. If he is beeten by Obama, then its bye-bye beets till 2016…….. If unbeeten, I wonder if Chuck Todd , or his viewers will still be interested in the  Romney White House soups. Unlikely.
It’s not always about the Prez.  The White House Soup of the Day can be a commentary on  what’s going on across The Pond- Greek Lentil Stew.  Last month, this had Chuck  pondering,  ““This isn’t a good euro day, or we could be talking about how the soup and the news are somehow intertwining,” he said .
Sometimes the soup doesn’t impress Chuck.  He doesn’t care for the “starchy ones” like loaded potato, I  suspect, or he really relishes it, but would rather desist, on health grounds.  He groans when  humdrum tomato-based soups feature too often- like Roasted Red Pepper And Tomato,  or Tomato Bisque. He loves a Gazpacho on a warm summer day,  and  approves  the hearty  Chicken Noodle Soup.
However,  with  a source called Deep Broth apparently spilling the beans over presidential soups , the chefs have gotten more creative offering exotic-sounding soups like  Wild Rice vegetable, Coconut Crab.  The Sweet Potato with Coconut Milk – Too much of a sweet thing?  Chuck Todd wonders.
A soup a day, each week, all year.  Time enough to go from soup to nuts. So let’s soup up!
I wish I had kept a diary of  The White House Soup of  The Day. But  I guess Chuck Todd will probably do the book , once the 2012 elections are behind us. May be I can start from today.  Also it will be most interesting to see when Mulligatawny, and Rasam-as-soups enter the menu…….probably when a Pattar-at-heart chef  breaks into the WH kitchens…….

Rasam Powder

Dhaniya(coriander)- 1 cup
Red chillies(broken into bits) or flakes- 1 cup
Pepper corns-  1/3 cup
Jeera( cumin seed) – 1/3 cup
Tuvar dal (split pigeon pea)- 1/2 cup or 3/4 cup
hing (asafoetida) – 1/4 to 1/2 tsp.
A small stick of dry turmeric.
Dry roast all the ingredients  except turmeric ( microwave at high for 1 minute)
Curry leaves five or six.
Oil- 1 tsp
Grind to an almost fine powder along with turmeric.
Fry curry leaves in oil and add to powder and grind briefly to blend it well into the powder.
The quantity of chillies may be reduced according to taste.
This is the basic powder (rasam  podi)  for making the generic rasam.
The proportions of  the ingredients vary, according to  the secrets passed on within the family .Also,   the same batch of powder might behave differently each time it is used,  which I think is mostly a good thing, for you can expect to be surprised every time rasam is made.

How Old Is Rasam?

First, they serve caru, spiced strongly with pepper, the pungency of which penetrates like some hot vapour into the ears.........."
Tamilians have been slurping the concoction for at least 600 years. We know this from  disparaging indictment of rasam  made by the 15th century Telugu poet, Srinatha- (1370-1441) who was a Kavi Sarvabhauma (Emperor of Poets), patronised by many kings -the Kondavidu Reddys, Velamas of Rachakonda and Deva Raya II of the Vijayanagara Empire.
This writer of works like Salivahana Saptasati, Panditaaradhyacharita, Sivaratri Mahatyam, Harivilasa, Bhimakanda, Kashikhandam, Shringara Naishadham, Palanati Veeracharitra, Dhananjaya Vijayam, Sringaradipika and Kridabhiramam  covering history and mythology, was plainly unimpressed with the Tamilian idea of  a feast, which began with the ear-scorching flavour of the rasam, and included pachchadis made with mustard, whose "caustic odor" found its way straight to the brain .........The dinner in a Tamil household is a fraud", Srinatha declares scornfully.
Obviously rasam and its critics go back a long way!
Luckily, so do rasam and its devotees, and they know the difference between being  arrogant at  rasam and  arrogant about it.  Which Srinatha perhaps hadn't considered , or he would have learnt to appreciate the fine points of rasam-making and rasam-swigging.
Every rasam-maker learns soon enough that it has a will of its own and can be very temperamental. Sensitive to the mood and attitude of the cook,  the rasam knows if you are thinking dark thoughts about the spouse and not paying attention to it, and your less than best efforts at making the ingredients  add up to the most aromatic rasam could fall flat, and the magic just fly out the window, leaving your reputation as a  cook in tatters.
I've noticed that mother and the aunts look both serene and intimidating while engaged in  rasam powder making. They were probably being serene to the powder and intimidating to me. Or perhaps over time, rasam came to respect them,  and  knew better than to throw a tantrum or go into a sulk .......obviously they knew rasam and kids need to be handled with affectionate firmness.  I must be doing this right, because my rasams  do not generally flop and shame me, either privately or in public.
How many kinds of rasam?
There are many kinds of rasam, probably one for each day of the month And certainly a rasam for every mood, it  has  been around 600 years! The kind that needs the powder, the one that needs none, those that ask for tamarind, and some that ask for neither. Pepper rasam, jeera rasam,  lemon-ginger rasam.......there is an onion rasam and of course the well-known,  garlic rasam .  And a very fruity pineapple rasam.
Lucky we have all the  time in the world to savour each one slowly, languidly, and when we are done, start all over again.......or make up some new ones to add to the pantheon.