Another interesting recipe from Chef(!) Rajan

Kuzhi Paniyaram is a well known delicacy of Chettinad. It is also known as Paddu or Goliappa. It can be a saltish savoury or a sweet item. I am going to share with you a new recipe I tried with Kuzhi Paniyaram, which became a big hit as a starter in a party hosted by me. Since then I have been serving it as one of the items at High Tea I host for my friends.

                                                        VEGETABLE CHEESE PANIYARAM

The base is the left over Dosa Batter. It helps if the batter is a bit sour. I normally buy branded Idli/Dosa batters from  departmental stores.

Items required for this recipe:

2 medium size carrots grated

I medium size capsicum grated

1 large onion grated

Brittania or Amul Cheese cubes cut into small pieces. I cut one cube into  6 pieces.

And salt to taste

Steps:

Mix all the grated vegetables with the dosa batter and keep aside for 30  minutes.

Take the special skillet with moulds used for preparing Kuzhi Paniyaram.  After adding half tea spoon of oil of your choice ( I use Gold Winner), place it on the gas stove and light it to medium flame. As the oil is getting warm , take a table spoon and pour half table spoon of batter in all the moulds. Then Place the cut pieces of the cheese cubes in the centre. Cover up the cheese with another half table spoon of the batter. ( The same procedure you follow when you make stuffed idlis). Wait till the cooked batter turns brown and turn it carefully to ensure that both sides are brown. Cook only in medium flame.

Vegetable Cheese Paniyaram is now ready to be served with coconut chutney or even tomato sauce.

Important tip: Don`t tell the guests that it is a Cheese Paniyaram. Let them discover it on their own. The response always will be ` Oh, it  is so yummy!`

You can try one more variation. Place a piece of Date & Cheese in the centre before you pour the balance batter.  A combination of a sweet and  savoury is ready. I liked it. I am yet to try it on my guests. Good Luck.

Prabha`s passion for Gardening

Thanks to the Lockdown,  since I am unable to go for a walk at Bessy, I go around the Corporation playground in front of my home and also  within the compound of the home every morning. Yesterday I was pleasantly surprised to see a ripe `Pomagranate``fruit on a plant among the many plants lining the inside walls of our compound. It brought back memories of my wife Prabha and her abiding interest in gardening. Her passion for gardening as a hobby was legendary both in our family & friends circles. I always used to tease her that her first love was gardening – everything else was secondary.

For over  30 years until her death in January,2013, she had managed to grow hundreds of flowering plants and other green plants. We used to have over six varieties of jasmine (Malli) :-Nithya Malli, Pavala Malli, Mullai, Jadi malli, adukku malli, & gundu malli, and over forty varieties of crotons and scores of colorful Hibiscus, Exora and Arali plants; flowering plants with no fragrance.

We even had fruit bearing trees – Sapota (chikku), Guava, Lemon sized Japanese oranges (called Kungfat) besides a coconut tree, banana tree, mango tree and even a drumstick tree!. (Of these only sapota, Coconut, mango and drumstick plants are surviving after she passed away)

In the absence of a regular gardener, Prabha used to tend to each plant herself. Every morning she would go around the compound checking,  trimming, weeding, cleaning and generally looking after the plants.  Spending  nearly 60  minutes on this particular activity. Without fail every day!

As soon as we returned  from any tour, the first thing she would  do is to go round inspecting the plants as if saying “Hey Guys, I am back to look after you!” There was a perceptible difference in the appearance of the plants as well; those drooping suddenly seemed to perk up when she went around ! I wonder if there is any truth in the belief that plants can also communicate with their patrons.

In the morning she would pluck flowers for Puja, and in the evening she would be busy collecting Nithya malli (jasmine) flower growing on our terrace. Come rain or sunshine she would spend about 60 minutes every day plucking these fragrant  flowers (nature`s aphrodisiac) and spend another 30 minutes tying them on a string to make a nice ‘maala’ for her hair or for use in the Puja room the next day.

Like all women who are crazy about gardening, when  visiting  friends and if she found  a garden around the host`s house, she would  go on an inspection tour before she even said ‘hello’ to the host! Invariably, the host pleased with the guest`s interest in his/her hobby, would  gift her a few plants which she would  promptly place in a pot as soon as we returned home  and nurture  them carefully until they  caught on. But when she tried to pluck saplings from plants in public gardens, where plucking of flowers and saplings was  prohibited and  hide the  items in the folds of her  Sari,  I used to  feel embarrassed.  

A week before she passed away, on her request, I took her around her favorite plants in the compound.  She was in a wheel chair. Suddenly, she looked up and  asked, `If I die who will look after all my children?` I was confused. Why is she asking me this question when our children were all married and we had four grand children. She clarified, `I am talking about all these plants which I have looked after for the last thirty years like my own children`. I was moved to tears. I assured her that I would look after them as long as I am alive.

With the help of a part time gardener I have been trying to keep the garden alive. Though a few flowering plants have withered away and there is  nobody to collect the Nithya malli which is still flowering copiously  every day. However I am very happy that every day I am able to collect enough flowers from Prabha`s garden and use them in my Puja room, apart from placing a flower on Prabha`s photograph every day. That is one of the ways I am continuing to celebrate her memory!

Why I attend District Conferences?

I had the good fortune of attending a Rotary District conference of District 320, the day after I was inducted as a member in RCMS in December,1977. Since then I have attended 38 District Conferences in the last 42 years as a Southerner. The four conferences I missed were because of my being out of the country attending some important  business meetings.

District Conferences were smaller affairs in those days and were held in venues which could accommodate a few hundred people. A couple of them will always remain etched in my memory for ever.

In 1983-84 it was held at a specially erected shamiana at the University Union Grounds in Chetpet, when Rtn Bhoja Shetty was the governor. The enthusiastic District Governor had appealed to Rotarians to come with their families to the conference. The organizing team was totally unprepared for the huge turn out resulting in food running short during meal times. Many delegates had to seek   nearby restaurants  for their meals,  including yours truly. The rain god also decided to shower Madras with copious rains during the conference days. This resulted in the ground around the shamiana becoming slushy and the delegates had to walk around the muddy outfield. The conference became famous as  `a muddy conference` in the Rotary world.

The first time it was held in a five star hotel (Taj Coromandel) was in 1988-89,  when Rtn C.T.Chidambaram was the District Governor. It was a grand affair marred by an incident. To the horror of the hotel management a few Rotarians from some mofussil clubs were seen washing their soiled hands in the swimming pool at the hotel during the poolside lunch session. Another reason I remember this Conference is because I was conferred the Paul Harris Fellowship by the District for my active involvement in the initial years of Polio Plus campaign as a publicity convenor working closely with Krish Chitale who was steering the campaign in the district.

As the number of Clubs and members  grew the conferences moved from a five star hotel to Kamarajar Arangam which could accommodate about two  thousand participants. It  provided opportunities for having a grand stage back drop and use of audio visual aids for making presentations. The Kamaraj Arangam could also accommodate stalls by sponsors in the foyer and there was enough car parking space in the adjacent Congress grounds. However since liquor could not be served at the Kamarajar Arangam, the Fellowship Room  was located at a meeting hall in the adjacent Sun Plaza building. For those who enjoyed  the glass  that cheers the fellowship room provided  an opportunity to  have some fun moments with not only fellow  Southerners but also with Rotarians  from other clubs.   I recall the years when the ever popular PDG  Dr. C S Ramachandran & our own PP Anil Kumar used to entertain the audience with bawdy songs. Those were the golden moments in any  conference for all the  spirited Rotarians. The `non-spirited` Rotarians  were happy attending serious sessions providing food for thought and also family oriented entertainment programmes in the evenings. Of course the sumptuous spread of food at meal times and the special gift which invariably every District Governor offered were the other incentives for attending the Conferences.

When the District membership crossed the 2500 mark, it became necessary to shift to a bigger venue to provide even grander Conferences. The Chennai Trade Centre at Nandambakkam with its massive  Meeting hall and other support facilities has been the  venue of our District Conferences since 2002-2003.

The Chennai Trade Centre has a special significance for me. It is here that WAN IFRA ( known as IFRA India earlier), an international association devoted to newspapers around the world, with which I was associated as a Managing Director  for 10 years,  hosted a mega IFRA  International EXPO cum conference in 2007. It was the first time that such an Expo targeting the newspapers of the world was being held in India. It was a huge success and I was thrilled beyond words to have pulled off a mega event with the support of a small team headed by our own Rtn Magdoom Mohammed. So any event I attend at this venue brings back pleasant memories for me.

In district conferences  I get to meet a lot of old friends from other Clubs.  In any conference while you renew old friendships you also make new friends. Though I don`t have the patience to attend all sessions, I do attend sessions which interest me; like the lecture by a popular Guruji on the second day morning of the conference. Talks by some well known speakers or interesting musical events appeal to me. And of course the meal times are special; though there has been no consistency in the quality of food served at the conferences. Having paid the full registration fee I try to have at least one lunch  and one breakfast at the venue.

Attending a District conference is like attending a wedding in the family. You will see almost every one dressed in their best attire. While the office bearers wear the uniform dress recommended by the DG, many Rotarians can be seen suited and booted- for many of them it is an opportunity  to wear the suit stitched for  their wedding reception. The festive atmosphere in all the conferences is perceptible. I enjoy it thoroughly.

It is a pity that RCMS which used to have nearly 100% attendance at the conferences has been having less than 30% in the last few years. Many green Rotarians are hardly seen and have  no idea about what the conferences can offer them.  It is important that they  attend at least one district conference in the early years of their association with Rotary!

By Rtn  PP PHF  R.V.Rajan