Purple Cabbage Parcels & A mini film review on Kakka Muttai
Just viewed Kakkai Muttai (Crow's egg) the other day, it had garnered a few national awards that doesn't leave me shocked at all. From the very onset of the reel, I sat spellbound and was in awe of the photography, the child artistes and the simple storyline. It was mind-blowing! My respect grew ten fold to the slums that unravel such beautiful and down to earth stories.
I came in as a young bride back in 1992 to Chennai, Tamil Nadu and it is my greatest desire to breathe my last here amongst these most genuine Tamilians...I have always loved the chaos, the unkempt look, their songs, their movies, their selflessness and the genuine manner in which they come out of their way to help a stranger. I could NEVER experience that with my own fellow men/women (Malayalis from Kerala) Watching Kakkai Muttai I could relate to so much and have seen similar stories unfold in my life.
A leaf from my life :-At my first job, tutoring English to adults during the evening classes, I heard loads of firecrackers and loud drumrolls and the frantic screaming and dancing almost gyrating on the streets. It was a complete picture of bewilderment...I rushed out of the staff room and peered through the dust laden windows close to LIC, Mount Road... thinking there was a wedding in progress and that's when I saw a corpse seated on a chair with cotton stuffed in his nostrils and dressed in his best and paraded on that street. It was an OMG jaw dropping moment for me as a newbie to this place...and that is the beauty of Chennai. Everything is dramatic and cinematic! That is how they celebrate the death and final journey of a loved one.
The following is a beautiful song that I thoroughly enjoyed from the film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KvqNEMSCPk
I could go on about the film which has nothing to do with my recipe but those of you who haven't watched this yet, you seriously don't need a language to understand the film, it is that beautifully taken! On that note I will fondly remember one of the pizza shots that I had clicked a couple of years ago. Why a pizza shot from the myriad food pictures that I own?...to be honest, it kicked in a sense of honesty and reiterated to myself who I really am and what I carry forth with me. I was out there with a couple of props that are so part of my mundane routine as a food blogger and I got some of my best shots of a pizza that day with lovely natural light falling on them and the right boost from an encouraging friend. Pizza has something to do with the film as well! I cannot expand further as I would be tempted to go on about the movie.
Watch it on screen and there was this moment...a moment or two I admit that I forgot that I wasn't home but amidst an audience and applauded so loudly when a dosa(fermented pancake made with lentils) was drawn on a griddle with a couple of veggie toppings...it had the audience wrapped in full attention...it was such a WOW moment! Food porn at its best!
To come back to my recipe, it is fresh purple cabbage parcels to go with the colour of the accessories used in the picture of the pizza above.
I have blanched my purple cabbage leaves and pat dried them and set them aside for the filling.
I sautéed a few florets of broccoli and seasoned it with a dash of pepper and salt.
I made a small marinade with a few seedless dates mixed with two to three dry red chillies that were soaked in warm water for a while then extracted and blended well(use the grinder to get the paste) along with a handful of garlic, salt, cumin seeds and a nice squeeze of lemon. Into this marinade I diced some fresh cottage cheese/ paneer or tofu. Set it aside for a while to merge well. The dates gives us the sweetness and the lemon gives us the tanginess to this fresh salad. Ensure that it is seasoned well and refrigerated. Let the broccoli also merge well with it before you serve them in individual cabbage cups.
Take the cabbage leaves one by one and scoop the cold filling into this cup, add a lemon wedge for an additional punch and some freshly chopped coriander leaves.
The leaf along with its filling has to be rolled and stuffed into our mouth like as if one is about to chew a betel leaf with its hazardous accompaniments. GULP!
I also used chunks of yellow zucchini along with bell peppers in the same marinade and tossed it on a griddle as another side dish to accompany these cabbage parcels.
I came in as a young bride back in 1992 to Chennai, Tamil Nadu and it is my greatest desire to breathe my last here amongst these most genuine Tamilians...I have always loved the chaos, the unkempt look, their songs, their movies, their selflessness and the genuine manner in which they come out of their way to help a stranger. I could NEVER experience that with my own fellow men/women (Malayalis from Kerala) Watching Kakkai Muttai I could relate to so much and have seen similar stories unfold in my life.
A leaf from my life :-At my first job, tutoring English to adults during the evening classes, I heard loads of firecrackers and loud drumrolls and the frantic screaming and dancing almost gyrating on the streets. It was a complete picture of bewilderment...I rushed out of the staff room and peered through the dust laden windows close to LIC, Mount Road... thinking there was a wedding in progress and that's when I saw a corpse seated on a chair with cotton stuffed in his nostrils and dressed in his best and paraded on that street. It was an OMG jaw dropping moment for me as a newbie to this place...and that is the beauty of Chennai. Everything is dramatic and cinematic! That is how they celebrate the death and final journey of a loved one.
The following is a beautiful song that I thoroughly enjoyed from the film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KvqNEMSCPk
I could go on about the film which has nothing to do with my recipe but those of you who haven't watched this yet, you seriously don't need a language to understand the film, it is that beautifully taken! On that note I will fondly remember one of the pizza shots that I had clicked a couple of years ago. Why a pizza shot from the myriad food pictures that I own?...to be honest, it kicked in a sense of honesty and reiterated to myself who I really am and what I carry forth with me. I was out there with a couple of props that are so part of my mundane routine as a food blogger and I got some of my best shots of a pizza that day with lovely natural light falling on them and the right boost from an encouraging friend. Pizza has something to do with the film as well! I cannot expand further as I would be tempted to go on about the movie.
To come back to my recipe, it is fresh purple cabbage parcels to go with the colour of the accessories used in the picture of the pizza above.
I have blanched my purple cabbage leaves and pat dried them and set them aside for the filling.
I sautéed a few florets of broccoli and seasoned it with a dash of pepper and salt.
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