Panasa Ginjala Oliga Chaaru

Oliga chaaru, bobbatu chaaru, kattina saaru, obbatina saaru, holige saaru—or as it’s called in your corner of the world with the Maharashtrian katachi amti being a close cousin, this dish is both paired with and a logical consequence of having made the polis or oligalu of my last post. During festival times or whenever polis/holige/obbatlu are on the menu, this chaaru is a compulsory addition. It’s simple, most of the prep is already done in the making of the polis, so it’s a no-brainer. It’s got to be made, too.

Chaarus in general are a thicker dal-based rasam, absolutely central to any traditional Telugu meal. Chaaru vunda? my father-in-law would recount asking, probably far more than he actually asked: is there chaaru? And my mother-in-law: lekunda yetla? (without it, how?), her briskness answering to his delight.

Chaarus are a specialty, from the dedicated podi to the final preparation, the thing defines your essence as cook as much as its own. Soul food. A way of demonstrating mastery of a cuisine, much like rolling chapatis would be for someone Gujarati. Then oliga chaaru stands still more unique because it’s made of the cooking water used to prepare the chana dal (or, in this case, jack seeds) for the poli poornam and some set-aside or left over poornams besides.

Now jack fruit seeds are used to make a very lovely rasam–a Mangalorean special, with coconut added in a bit like Mysuru rasam. That and the use of the classic oliga poornam to make a special chaaru and a light bulb went off in my head. I had some of the filling leftover so, I thought: why not?

Polis are commonly made in Tamil Nadu, but for some reason poornam rasams are far less common. Perhaps that’s because Tamilians generally like their rasams super sour and very clear (thelivu), whereas this chaaru has a distinct sweetness, and a thickness nearing dal or a kuzhambu. Making it feels like crossing into another region’s tastes and preferences, which I gladly did in marriage once upon a time, only to repeat that threshold-crossing in this dish. So, although this dish is the follow-up and partner to the previous post on polis, I’m switching to Telugu on this one. There’s no exact equivalent in Tamil really.

The “simplest” way to make this chaaru is really to start with the polis of my prior post, stuffed with a sweetened jackfruit seed filling that could well just have been a nice twist on barfis and nothing more. If you have the poornam (or barfi pieces) already made, then this chaaru is only a few steps away from being ready.

If not, do not fret. There are two ways to touch your nose, my Amma often would say. One just directly, the second by twisting your arm around your head. If the poli route feels like the latter, then here’s the direct method.

Prepare the palakottai /panasa gingelu

You’ll want to cook the jackfruit seeds (palakottai in Tamil, panasa gingelu in Telugu) in a generous amount of water, and save that water. It becomes the all-important, very nutritious and flavorful stock for this chaaru.

Don’t they just look like pebbles from a riverbed?

But sadly, those papery white and inedible seedcoats will have to be removed–they are inedible–to reveal this deliciously rich woody nut inside, whose woody grains and swirls are so, so, so reminiscent of jack wood itself .

You will need only about 10-12 seeds for the chaaru–to grind with coconut, green chillies, and jaggery. If you are using poornams from the poli recipe, you can use even less, up to half. Save the remaining jack seeds for a varuval/vepudu or just salt and spice them and munch away.

What you see below is a few seeds ground with coconut and green chillies (on the left) and a poornam ball or a few seeds ground with jaggery and coconut (on the right). These, crumbled into and simmered in tamarind water, a little turmeric and rasam powder added, salt-and-sweet adjusted, and the whole thing finished with a tempering in ghee–are what make an palakottai poliga chaaru.

Bit of a mishmash of the Tamil and Telugu sides of me, but it’s better than the classic oliga chaaru and more nutritious besides. Add more tamarind and make it thicker and it’s almost a puli kuzhambu. Keep it loose and all tastes balanced, and it’s a very special, seasonal, zero-waste chaaru.

Panasa ginjala oliga chaaru

A very special chaaru made with the stuffing used to make polis or obbatlu—this time with jackfruit seeds. This is usually made alongside polis and serves as an all-important accompaniment to them during festival times. A video showing the process of making the classic oliga chaaru is below, too. The jackfruit seed version is not much different, only substituting the poornam for one made with jack seeds instead of bengal gram dal.

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Ingredients

  

• Stock from cooking 1-2 cups of jackfruit seeds
• 1-2 poornam balls from making polis OR 4-5 jackfruit seeds, 2 tablespoons fresh grated coconut and 2 tablespoons jaggery
• 4-5 cooked jackfruit seeds
• 1 tablespoon fresh grated coconut
• 2 green chillies
• A lime-sized ball of tamarind
• 1½ teaspoons chaaru podi or rasam powder
• ½ teaspoon turmeric

For the tempering

• 1 tablespoon ghee or sesame oil
• 1 dry red chilli, broken
• ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
• ¼ teaspoon jeera or cumin seeds
• A pinch of hing or asafoetida
• 1-2 sprigs of fresh curry leaves

Instructions

 

• If you’re making this chaaru after having made polis, you will already have the cooking stock.
• If not: pressure cook the jackfruit seeds for 4 whistles (or simmer them on stovetop until they are knife-tender). Once the seeds are cooked, drain the water—but save it for the chaaru.
• If you’re making this chaaru after having made polis, you will also already have the poornam. If so, grind 4-5 cooked jackfruit seeds with 2T fresh coconut and green chillies. Add a little water if needed. Set aside.
• If you do not have the poornams ready, grind 4-5 additional jackfruit seeds with 2T jaggery and 2T coconut into a smooth paste, adding a little water if needed. Set aside.
• Soak the tamarind in 1 cup of water for 15 minutes. Mash well with your fingers to extract the pulp, and strain, reserving the tamarind water.
• Transfer this to an eeya chombu or other pan, add the stock from cooking the jack seeds and water enough to make about 1 litre of liquid (if required), and bring to a boil until the raw tamarind smell disappears.
• Add the turmeric powder and then crumble the poornam /the prepared sweet jackseed coconut mixture and the jackseed-coconut-chilli mixture into the simmering tamarind water.
• Let this sit for a few minutes on a medium flame.
• Next, add the rasam powder, and keep the chaaru on a simmer (do not boil) until it becomes somewhat frothy.

Temper the chaaru:

• Heat the ghee or sesame oil in a small tempering pan. Drop in the broken red chilli.
• Follow with the mustard seeds, jeera, hing. Once the spices crackle and splutter, throw in the curry leaves.
• When the curry leaves are crisping, pour this finishing oil over the waiting chaaru.
• Serve hot with a nice soft white rice like thooyamalli.

Video

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